Finally!!!

After 2 years, hundreds of hours of frustration and many, many new grey hairs, papa finally finished Zuma!!! 2 years ago when mama and papa went to Canada, papa's parents got them the PC game and since then, try as he might, papa was unable to finish the game...until tonight!!! August 4, 2008 is a historical day of victory in Roots' house! There are 13 levels in the game and papa had 12 frogs going into the 12th round (mama generally has 27+). It was scary for a while as papa lost frogs left, right and centre, finally completing level 12 with only 3 frogs left, looking defeat in the eye as he went on to level 13. He gained a frog in his first attempt at level 13 but then lost it, finally finishing the game by the slimmest of margins. It doesn't sound like much, but tonight was the culmination of 2 years of cursing and swearing and sweat and tears...(papa is a little weird sometimes...). But then again, small victories are sometimes the most important...

*Note: Mama was able to finish the game within a month of getting it 2 years ago. She generally finishes the game now with almost 30 frogs and scores about 2.8 million points (papa got a little over 1 million...loser...).

As for me, I just like chillin' with my posse...

Nice Evenings and Dark Knights

It's been so hot in Tokyo lately. Low to mid 30's and humidity in the 70's and 80's. Mama bought me a new shirt that says "Roots Boy" (in case I forget my name and gender). When I go for a walk, mama wets it and puts it in the fridge before putting it on me for my walks. It's nice and cool so I don't get as lethargic and tired when I go out in this weather. I walk really slowly until we start heading home and then I will walk at a regular pace again.


Papa took me for a walk today to see the Naka-Meguro summer festival but it was so hot that papa thought that he would have to carry me home.


Sunset was beautiful a few days ago. Mama was able to capture the moment......and a few friends decided that I make a good pillow... I finally found my old friend the Lion today. He's seems to have been hiding for a few months but he's a lot of fun to play with...


I also figured out how to freak people out and win staring contests!
Yesterday, mama and papa went to see The Dark Knight. They said it was really good, much better than Batman Begins. They were lucky enough to get tickets to the sneak preview a week ahead of its Japan premier next week. Heath Ledger was perfect as the Joker. He was brutal with just the right amount of mental instability to make it gruesome yet believable. He and Christian Bale brought about a certain realism to a fictional story, interpreting a comic book to help us understand the crazy world that we live in today (papa also liked the disappearing pencil trick that the Joker did). Batman has finally returned to its roots as a dark hero in an even darker world where sometimes bad people do bad things for no reason at all...just for the thrill of "seeing the world burn". This movie showed the darker side of being a hero, and even of just trying to do the right thing. Not everything is black and white with a pretty ribbon nicely wrapped around it. Sometimes the best of a person also brings out the worst and vice versa...we see it in all of the main and supporting characters, and we see it every single day in our regular lives. We were taken on a journey through the darker side of humanity where there is a very thin line dividing psychopaths and heroes. Papa highly recommends this movie...so far it's his favorite of the year.