Kevin Riley Inc

Archive for the ‘General News’ Category

Every year, we start off our string of summer festivals (Natsu Matsuri) with the Aizen Matsuri. This is held along one of Osaka’s main streets (Tanimachi Suji), near the large Shittenoji temple complex. It’s a 15-minute walk from our place and a great way to kick off summer. However, every year, we get lambasted by a deluge of rain (this is our Rainy Season). This year, we were in luck. Not too hot. Not too cold. No rain. Just right. Even Goldilocks would have been happy.

We strolled the numerous stalls and grazed with delight. Here, Rieko is eating Karaage (deep fried chicken). This vendor had gone the extra and created Karaage in three flavours (garlic, curry, and soy sauce). A smart move, as he has to compete against a number of other Karaage vendors.

I found one of my favourites, Koro Koro Bataa (round pieces of cooked potato, browned on a large cooking surface, and served with butter) Koro Koro means to roll around and Bataa is the Katakanaized version of butter.

Woopee! After full out 7-day weeks, working on Video Production Lab Workshop, Platinum Online Income Club, and The State Of Online Video, I finally took a day off. Rented a car and drove us to Iga Ueno – the old training grounds of the Ninja. A beautiful drive, out of the concrete jungle and into the wooded hills. Also, realized I hadn’t driven a car for 6 months.

The minute we got to Iga, we had to get into our Ninja costume.

Toured the Ninja house, which was full of secret panels, spy holes, and places to stash weapons.

Next, a Ninja demonstration. And, I had the opportunity to throw some Shuriken. LOL, threw them so hard the real Ninja had to exert some force to pull them out of the board. Said I should be a Ninja. Maybe my next career.

Rieko decided that it looked like fun and she wanted to try to. She soon found out that they are deceptively heavy.

Then, up the hill to visit the castle. I love these massive stone walls we have in Japan. You’ll find these, and the massive stone steps, everywhere. I don’t envy the poor sods who had to lug these by hand.

At the top of the hill, the beautiful castle. We just stood on the steps. Didn’t enter the castle here, because …

… there’s only one way for a Ninja to enter a castle.

Having worked up a Ninja appetite, we headed off to a nearby Sukiyaki restaurant that dates back to a long time ago. Up the stairs and down the longest hallway.

We had our own room (could have fit 20 of us in there) and a Nabe full of succulent Iga beef, vegetables, noodles, and tofu. Absolutely delicious, and I think it was made more so by us being totally pampered as the lady cooked the meal in front of us.

It’s Golden Week again. The weather finally decided to cooperate and quit acting like winter – just in time to give us sunshine for our BBQ.

Golden Week is the biggest holiday in Japan, with many getting the whole week off and three days being national holidays. It’s always at the beginning of May and usually getting quite hot. It’s a time for people to flock to beaches, fill up the parks, and clog the highways and trains as they go on travel.

Our friends Angel and Lin wanted to go BBQ in a park – not an easy feat in Osaka. Not only do we have a very low park to population ratio, but not many allow BBQing – or there are ridiculous fees and regulations (such as not bringing your own meat, so you have to buy their stuff). Rieko did her diligent searching online and found us a great park up north of the city.

Even there, the hordes had arrived. The easier riverside was crowded with families, and worse, screaming children. So, we forded up and across the river. Slippery rocks and icy water did make it a challenge to pack all the BBQ stuff to a remote spot – and we longed for Sherpas – but we managed to get a small spot where no others had dared to venture.

Rieko enjoys watching Angel and me work, as we assemble the BBQ. It’s always great to watch others work.

Then, once we got the charcoal going, it was time for some bubbly to celebrate our adventure and impending feast. Angel, his girlfrien Lin, Rieko, and the long-armed photographer.

Mmmmm, meat! We bought some long strips of Kalbi (a beef cut that I don’t know in English) and they were fantastic. Also, first time, grilled pork ribs and they were delicious.

Then, a few small trout – which took a number of dexterous moves and strategically placed chopsticks to get cooking just right. Lots of work, but quite tasty. I was the meat guy, so I let Angel be the fish guy.

Ahhh! Then, it’s time to digest all that meat. The rocks were surprisingly comfortable.

November 11th. Remembrance Day … Armistice Day … Poppy Day … Veterans Day. Whatever you call it, it’s a time to remember all those who fought in wars. When I lived in Canada, we always had Remembrance Day and I always wore a poppy. It was a time to remember my father, who had fought the Japanese in the Pacific Theater of World War II. Now, I live in Japan.

Strange as it may seem that I live in the land where once Mitsubishi Zeros took off and tried to kill my father, he would understand. He came here twice in the 1970s. He never held any bad feelings for the Japanese. It had been war – nothing personal. He knew that it is not the people, but the politicians who start wars. It’s not the poor soldier, stuck in an ill-fitting uniform and forced to go and fight for something he may not believe in, who is to blame.

The one thing that Remembrance Day always taught me: It’s not about glorifying war. It’s about honouring those who were sent off by the faceless others to die in some land beyond their borders. War is not something to honour. Peace is!

So, on this Remembrance Day, I urge you to consider peace. To gain peace, we first need understanding. Understand the differences in culture, religion, politics, and all those other things that can seem foreign to us in a far away culture – and even something to fear. But, no matter our differences, we are all the same under our skin. We want to live, eat, breathe, love, and just go about our lives.

Today, look at your fellow man as a brother – not an enemy. Don’t look at a Muslim as someone to hate or fear. Don’t look at an American as a part of what at times appears to be an arrogant country. Instead, look at the person in front of you. Learn about their differences. Learn why they do things that seem foreign to you. With understanding comes tolerance. And we could all use a lot more of that in this world.

Tomorrow, I’ll return to the regular channel. I’ll be Kevin Riley, who shows you how to build a profitable online business, how to create info products, and how to market online. But today, it’s a few minutes of silence and a remembrance of those brave souls who sacrificed everything because of intolerance. Let’s not have any more wars.

I just got a thank you note for all of us who participated in the IM Dream Team giveaway event. It came from the folks in Mustang, Nepal and they sent 4 pictures of the kids who you helped with your involvement.

Thank you so much for helping these kids get a better education. Imagine the difference you have made in their lives.

As you can see by their present schoolroom furnishings, $3417 is going to make a world of difference here.

May even one day get a little more playground equipment.

Have a very Merry Christmas knowing that your promo efforts put some happiness and hope in these kids’ lives.

Again … Thank you!

In September, you joined me in supporting Dr Mani’s Tweet-A-Thon. Now, you get to meet the lovely young children whose lives you helped to save. Because of your generosity, these children will get to live their lives the way children should — running around, having fun, skinning knees, growing up and falling in love.

Look at their faces and feel proud about what you did. This is what we can do when we work together. We can save lives!

Meet Subina

She’s seven years old and a 2nd year primary school student in Tiruppur. She had a hole in her heart (called a ventricular septal defect). Money from the Tweet-A-Thon provided her surgery. She’s now resting at home and recovering nicely.

Meet Sujithra

She’s only four years old and had a hole in her heart (called an atrial septal defect). Your help in the Tweet-A-Thon made sure she got surgery, and now she’s already running cheerfully around her house and progressing well.

Meet Mukundan

He’s a nine year old 3rd grader who had a hole in his heart (also a ventricular septal defect). Because we got involved in the Tweet-A-Thon, he had sugery and is now recovering smoothly.

Meet Dr Mani

Here’s the hard-working visionary who makes this all possible. He’s the heart surgeon and the fund raiser. And, you can help him perform more surgeries on children with heart defects. Help pay for the necessary medical equipment.

You can still help. Click here to help out today and create more smiling children’s faces.

The Private Workshop at Warrior Forum is up and running well. Members are surpassing my expectations with stellar participation and I’m predicting a great number of successful infopreneurs coming out at the end of six weeks. They’ll be building product lines and establishing a business that delivers a great income forever.

With everything running so smoothly, Rieko and I took off to Universal Studios Japan today for our yearly Hallowe’en visit. Pumpkins and ghoulies where everywhere. Rieko even managed to pluck some nuggets out of a large Jack’o'lantern.

We rode the Spiderman ride, the high-speed Hollywood Dreams coaster, and the Snoopy ride (that’s the scariest one). I even managed to find a cute girlfriend in Snoopy Land.

Then, it was off to the Keihan Hotel for their World World Buffet. We were a little early, so we had the whole place to ourselves and a half dozen people waiting on us hand and foot. Altogether a great day.

Then, I got to come home, check in at the Workshop, and see that my busy beavers have been working away on their Day 3 task quite nicely.

To all Private Workshop members

Keep it up and join me — taking days off in the middle of the week whenever you want. You really are working on a business that can deliver you a fantastic lifestyle.

This morning, Old Cranky — my main PC that I use for product creation and most of my functions — crashed and burned. He is steadfastly refusing to re-boot — just sits there sulking. He’s miffed because he got bumped by the wastebasket. Obviously, he’s not a Monday morning PC.

Now, the unfortunate part is, since I am notoriously negligent about backing up my HD, all the videos, etc for Mission: Make Money Online are locked in Old Cranky’s innards. He’s off to the PC hospital tomorrow (wouldn’t you know it, today’s a national holiday here) to have the videos surgically removed.

Please bear with me as the launch is further delayed. I promise, it will be worth the wait. And you’re going to love the promo video — a few Warriors have seen it and loved it. Look forward to it.

I’ll get this great package out ASAP.

Thanks for your patience.

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Video highlights

My new program will launch on Tuesday, October 3rd. This will be a unique program specially prepared for those new to Internet marketing. It has been designed to not only educate the Apprentice Marketer, but also to motivate and guide. The program has some original features … you can find out more about these by requesting a JV partner info pack.

A chance to get involved in a unique launch

The launch of my new project will also have some unique features, including a very intriguing promo video shot on location in Europe. If you qualify as a JV partner, there will be a whole lot more promo material — all personalized for you. Even the video will be personalized for you.

Find out more now

To get some more info and get involved in this project during the pre-launch phase, please click here for more information.