les
Les and I used to do a radio show, on KFJC-FM in Los Altos Hills, called The Hellfire Club. We met at the radio station and became pals read quick-like. As with Howard, we have a lot of things in common. Music is on the top of that list and The Hellfire Club was a celebration of the most out-there "music" possible: music that challenged the conventions of what was "alternative" but ultimately bland. Les lives in LA and works for a major record company. We took a trip to Tokyo in the fall of 2002 together and I showed him a good time by playing tour guide.

tom and carol
Tom and Carol both work in the computer industry and I have worked with both of them at a few different companies. Tom's hobby used to be programming but it turned into a job so now his hobby is semi-professional cooking. And damn, does he do his hobby well. He spent 6 weeks at the CIA (Culinary Institute of America) a few years ago. Although he was a great cook before going to the CIA, he's even better now. For several years I have served as his sous-chef for the two large parties he has each year in which he cooks for his friends: in the summer and around his birthday in December. I always look forward to cooking at these events--they are always lots of fun and filled with hard and satisfying work. Check out http://www.poubelle.com/birthday2000.html for some photos of one of his events. BTW, that lamb dish was prepped, cooked off and plated by me!
Carol and I have photography in common. For about a year now, we've been threatening to start working together as soon as we can find a well-lit (sunlight) barn or old Victorian mansion. Maybe we'll do an exhibition some day...

neville and jane
I met and worked with Neville at WebTV (who was then bought by Uncle Bill and the Evil Empire) as co-managers for the WebTV Japan project. Neville is my main link to aikido as he introduced me to it and encouraged me to give it a try. Both Neville and Jane have been doing aikido for many years and are very experienced. Jane has been teaching classes in aikido as well and in fact, I look forward to her classes at our dojo. Neville teaches too but in the style of his (and my, albeit unofficial) sensei, Takeda Yoshinobu Shihan who has his dojo in Higashi-Totsuka (near Yokohama) in Japan. Neville holds a "study-group" twice a month at a local dojo which I sometimes attend. Neville's favorite saying is, "ii-naaaaa" (say eee-nahhh) which means "oh that's great isn't it" in Japanese.

soma-san
When I first met Soma-san, I only had the chance to get to know him for about 10 minutes. Two years later, I was highly and strongly recommending him to be the manager of QA at WebTV Japan. Why? I just knew that he'd be great. And he was. Since we kind of reported to each other (I was his counterpart here), we became good friends. Soma-san is pretty laid-back though and not too much fazes him. He's hilarious in a usually unintentional way which makes him a joy to hang out with. He and his wife Kazumi are rabid X-Files fans (as am I) and so I used to send him tapes of freshly aired episodes (which his local video store in Japan doesn't get for 9 months after the season is over...). They also love cold weather and made a semi-legendary trip to Alaska a few years ago which yielded some excellent photographs. Although we both no longer work for WebTV and have remained best friends. We always have a great time together whether here in California or in Tokyo.

kaba
I worked with Kaba (Kabata-san) who also worked in the office at WebTV Japan. She was Donna's counterpart (see below) in Tokyo until she left the company. She lives and works in Tokyo, with her husband Tai, as a usability specialist. Kaba and I have had some amazing conversations as she knows tons about Japanese history and a lot of other things too, plus she's real fun to just hang out with. She speaks perfect English as well and cuts me a ton of slack when I try to speak Japanese, which I don't do very well yet. She is my partner in crime in the "cool places to go" in the Japan section of the turbine.com website. Kaba and Tai are among my best friends in Japan and I jump at the chance to see them whenever I can.

andy and suszi
I met Andrew Todd McFadden when I worked at WebTV. To me (and many others) he is known simply as "Fadden" (which bugs the hell out of his mom). At first Fadden scared the hell out of me because he is so freakin' smart and really doesn't put up with any crap...but after I got to know him, he has become one of my best friends. We also braved the "reality distortion field" together by working at a company called "Rearden Steel" (aka MOXI) for over two years. At first it was a blast but by the end we were both glad to be rid of it. We ate one hell of a lot of lunches together during those two years and we both did buckets-full of commiseration (some of which ended up in Brutal, imagine that...) We also have martial arts in common: he a jiu-jitsu practitioner and me an aikido-ka. We used to teach each other moves at work just for grins. Now Suszi is the love of Fadden's life and they recently were married--hey, and I got to be one of the groomsmen...nice. I'm not sure Suszi knew what she was in for when we all met for the first time but I do remember the word "porn" being strewn about with reckless abandon. I'm sure she was shocked beyond all belief. Since then, we've grown to be good friends and just the three of us have so many common interests (and just as many uncommon ones...) that it's always a blast to get together and just chat the night away. And more often than not, the work "porn" is quickly mentioned and then we move on...

shelley
I met Shelley on one of my many trips to Japan. Shelley spent five years teaching English in Japan before returning to the UK where she was born. I was introduced to her by my former business partner Juntaro. Much to his chagrin, Shelley and I hit it off famously. So famously that she did a music/dance performance with me as my live debut (and first-ever live show) in Japan. Go here and read about it. Shelley lives smack in the middle of the UK with her friend Richard and works at a university doing editing.

brian
Brian works in the computer industry, as do I, but I met him at the radio station. He, Les and I tended to gravitate to one another there. Brian is just plain fun to hang out with. Brian and I are quite adept at working the crap tables in Vegas. especially at 5 am in the morning. We also "eat like men" (don't ask...) on a semi-regular basis. When Les joins us, it's like a bacchanal.

jonna
I met Jonna while working at a startup company 10 years removed. She worked in Human Resources and I was the manager of a somewhat troubled QA group so we spent a lot of work time together. After I quit twice (!) in the same year, we became good friends. Jonna's an interesting person because I think that she is one of those people who, at first glance, looks very by-the-book proper but is a real wild person inside. Jonna and I have perfected the art of whining and going out for conversation over dinner.

pam
Pam was my first manager at that company named after a piece of fruit. Once I moved to another group and did not work for her any more, we became good friends. Not that we weren't good friends before--I just put the work relationship first in those cases. Over the years, we have become quite close, confide in each other and see each other at least once a month to eat Persian food. Well, sometimes it's not Persian but you get the picture. Pam started her own consulting company from scratch and still works in the computer industry.