Miki's Fat City

The first interview I interpreted after Lasik is Stu Hamm. One of truly great bass players who has a great sense of humor. It was only 3 days after my surgery. My eyes were okay but I got a headache every time I looked at the computer screen more than 1 hour so I ended up asking my friend Aki to transcribe it for the magazine. She did a great job. Thanks, Aki! Stu told us his 10 year old daughter Charlotte read Japanese when we gave him the latest issue of Bass Magazine right before his interview. I asked how come and he said, the public school she goes to is one of the best schools in SF, has a great education system and the Japanese class is a part of that system. Wow! He says she communicates easily in Japanese with Japanese Sushi chefs. She played in a marching band at Sakura (cherry blossom) Festival in SF while her father was in Japan. He wanted to bring her to Japan this time but decided not to because of that festival. I'm always amazed by great players when they c...

Had Lasik on April 15. I didn't even think of it before someone told me one of my colleagues had one 2 years ago because of the surgery fee. It's about 180,000 yen, which you need to think for a while to make your decision, right? But probably my mind was almost made up when I started thinking about it - thought for a week, called the clinic and had it 2 weeks later. Pretty quick, huh? ;) The actual surgery was an interesting experience. My heart beat like an intense death metal kick drum for a few minutes on the operating table right before making the first flap (lid). Once you experience it, it's no big deal. You just start thinking how your eyes will see things from this time on. At least that's what I thought. It was like many red & white blinking lights of a UFO (just like the one in the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind) coming down onto your eye, then you don't see anything for a sec because it's too bright. Next thing you see is a tin...