An actual court decision...

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA ORLANDO DIVISION AVISTA MANAGEMENT, INC., d/b/a Avista Plex, Inc.,

Plaintiff,

-vs-

WAUSAU UNDERWRITERS INSURANCE COMPANY,

Defendant.

______________________________________

ORDER

This matter comes before the Court on Plaintiff's Motion to designate location of a Rule 30(b)(6) deposition (Doc. 105). Upon consideration of the Motion - the latest in a series of Gordian knots that the parties have been unable to untangle without enlisting the assistance of the federal courts - it is

ORDERED that said Motion is DENIED. Instead, the Court will fashion a new form of alternative dispute resolution, to wit: at 4:00 P.M. on Friday, June 30, 2006, counsel shall convene at a neutral site agreeable to both parties. If counsel cannot agree on a neutral site, they shall meet on the front steps of the Sam M. Gibbons U.S. Courthouse, 801 North Florida Ave., Tampa, Florida 33602. Each lawyer shall be entitled to be accompanied by one paralegal who shall act as an attendant and witness. At that time and location, counsel shall engage in one (1) game of "rock, paper, scissors." The winner of this engagement shall be entitled to select the location for the 30(b)(6) deposition to be held somewhere in Hillsborough County during the period July 11-12, 2006. If either party disputes the outcome of this engagement, an appeal may be filed and a hearing will be held at 8:30 A.M. on Friday, July 7, 2006 before the undersigned in Courtroom 3, George C. Young United States Courthouse and Federal Building, 80 North Hughey Avenue, Orlando, Florida 32801.

DONE and ORDERED in Chambers, Orlando, Florida on June 6, 2006.

Hotel Granvia Kyoto (1 week business stay)

My standard room at the Hotel Granvia in Kyoto. Actually, Kyoto's not a bad place to have a major IT conference. It just that rainy season makes it so humid that no one ever wants to step outside of the conference-hotel facilities.

京都駅内（上？）グランビアホテルでのスタンダードダブルルーム。羽毛布団もクィーンサイズのベットは広々でした。

English Karaoke Bar in Shinbashi

Went out to an English Karaoke Bar in Shinbashi, during last week's trip to Osaka/Kyoto/Tokyo. Sang mostly Depeche Mode songs and some techno songs with a relatively sedate American-song loving Japanese crowd.

This bar called Bruce, has an amazing collection of 12,000 songs, from standard to hip hop to techno, all on the high quality Cyberdam Karaoke system. The sound was amazing. No a karaoke "box" but a Karaoke "room" with old style 50's mikes and drinks and dancing for all.

Here is their DM song list. The instrumentals sounded almost original (wonder who played Alan Wilder's riffs).

A Question Of Lust
A Question Of Time
Barrel Of A Gun
Dreaming Of Me
Enjoy The Silence
Everything Counts
Home
In Your Room
It's No Good
Just Can't Get Enough
Master And Servant
Never Let Me Down Again
Only When I Lose Myself
People Are People
Personal Jesus
Policy Of Truth
Somebody
Useless
Walking In My Shoes
World In My Eyes

ANA Lounge at Narita Terminal 1-South Wing

時差ぼけですが、今回の日本出張は面白い「デザイン見学」できてよかったです。

先ず、伊丹乗り換え待ち成田第1ターミナル南ウイングで留まった6月2日オープンしたばかりANA＋スターアライアンスが運営している国内ラウンジを紹介します。

ANAラウンジは、ANA運航国際線で到着の、ファーストクラス、ビジネスクラスを利用のお客様に提供している。また、国際線到着便の有無に関なく、国内線で出発になるスターアライアンスゴールドメンバーのお客様にもご利用できるらしい。

デザイン的はスタイリッシュで、無線ＬＡＮ・有線ＬＡＮまでそろってとても楽な、便利なラウンジです。そうそう、ブロードバンド映像サービスでワールドカップを観れた。

3,000m²の広々としたラウンジを第4・5サテライト内に設置。シャワーやマッサージチェアなどの リラックスアイテムや「Noodle コーナー」、「SAKE Bar」など、個性豊かなサービスをご用意している。

Deep within the Wasatch Mountains...

Isn't this overkill for an online photo storing and printing service? From www.photomax.com

Located deep within the rugged Wasatch Mountains, the Photomax Vault is best described as "solid as granite" and is protected by its unique location from floods, earthquakes, fires, and man-made disasters.

Some interesting facts about the Photomax Vault:

* By virtue of the vault's location within the granite mountain, temperature and humidity remain
constant and meet or exceed all federal requirements for archival storage.

* The vault's unique fire retardant construction is supported by both ionization detectors and the latest fire suppression extinguishers.

* The vault has four sources of electric power in case of disaster.

* One year was spent blasting the vault out of the side of the mountain. Its 200 feet of solid granite overburden will withstand any force known to man.

* Along with the natural security of the mountain, the most modern and efficient security systems are used, including armed guards, closed-circuit TV monitoring systems, and an electronic alarm systems monitored by professional security companies.

* The entrance to the vault is protected by three separate security gates, closed circuit television, and a 12,000 pound door capable of withstanding a nuclear blast.

* The granite has the characteristics of a solid piece of rock and would suffer little or no internal deformation or damage to the vault interior during an earthquake.

宇宙鉄人キョーダイン

Used to appreciate these when I was little. A TV series started in 1976 in the vein of Masked Rider (same author in fact). What I had were the plastic rubbery toys, not the 超合金 metal kind. Never got to see the TV series, though.

Earlier this year the DVD was released in Japan. Four different titles and rather costly at about $80 per title. The illustrated book is a collector's item and fetches upto $600 online at a Japanese hobby shop.