Here it comes

Well, Japan is upon me. In about 16 hours, I will be on a plane to Narita. I'll let you know on Twitter when I land.

The flag of Kosovo (test)

The Flag of Kosovo by Zachary Harden (USA)

The Kosovo flag has six stars that represent the six major ethnic groups in the country; Albanians, Serbs, Turks, Gorani, Roma (including the Ashkali and Egyptians) and Bosniaks. Below the six star arc is the map of Kosovo, colored in gold; all of the elements are centered on a blue background (known as a field in vexillology). The designer of the flag was Muhamer Ibrahimi. The current design is a modification of what he had earlier; Ibrahimi had a blue flag with five gold stars surrounding a white map of Kosovo.

While the ratio of the Kosovo flag is a height of two and a width of three (2:3), the other construction details of the flag are not certain. The color shades of the flag are provided as follows from the following sources:

Government of Kosovo (CMYK):
*Blue field: 98-52-0-36
*Kosovo: 0-19-51-18
*Stars: 0-0-0-0

Kosovo Thanks You (Red, Blue, Green and HTML Hexidecimal:
*Blue field: 24-56-132 (#183884)
*Kosovo: 219-187-91 (#DBBB5B)
*Stars: 255-255-255 (#FFFFFF)

On February 20th, 2008, a law was passed by the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo regarding the state symbols of Kosovo. Chapter 2 of the law, titled “On Use of State Symbols of Kosova” (Law Nr. 03/L-038), lists not only where the flag of Kosovo can be displayed but also how it is used. All government and public institutions are required to display the flag inside and outside their buildings; other organizations can display the flag inside their offices if they choose to do so. The flag is also used at all meetings that the Government of Kosovo is involved, and vehicles used by Kosovar officials while overseas. All citizens have the right to display the Kosovo flag, along with other flags of national communities.

In the following circumstances is when the flag of Kosovo is always present:
1.The Presidential residence, the Assembly of Kosovo building and government minitries
2.All border checkpoints
3.At Kosovar embassies and consulates overseas
4.During official national holidays

The state flag is also required at the following events:
1.The departure and arrival receptions of the President of Kosovo, President of the Assembly of Kosovo and the Prime Minister when the trip will take them abroad
2.Official state receptions for arriving heads of state
3.Events of a cultural, historic or athletic in nature (just to name a few) that Kosovo is taking a part of

The national flag can be flown on based on suggestions from the government or as long as it does not violate the law. Damaged flags are to be retired in a respectful manner.

When displaying the national flag, the physical position must be on it's left (when looking at a group of flags). When the flag poles are placed where they cross each other, the Kosovo flag must be placed first (once again where it is on the left). When another country's flag (in this case, Japan) is flown beside the national flag, the national flag must once again be on the left. It is important to note that with international flags, they must be the same size as the Kosovo flag and the poles must be the same height. When flags of cities, national organizations and other groups are flown, they must be flown right to the national flag or the Kosovo flag can be flown at a center pole. Once again, no flag can be larger than the flag of Kosovo and no flag can be flown above it. The only exceptions is that during international conferences, the flags will be arranged in alphabetical order. During times of national mourning, the flag of Kosovo is flown at half-mast (or half-staff). Black ribbons can be attached to a pole that has the national flag permanently affixed. The flag can be used to cover the coffins of distinguished citizens, but they must be removed before internment or cremation.

T Minus One Month

Well, I am going back to Japan again and I honestly cannot wait. My main purpose for going to Japan this year is for the 23rd International Congress of Vexillology at Yokohama City. I am going to meet many friends for the first time in the flesh, so I hope it goes well. I am planning to get a few books from Japan and Croatia, so I will come home with a heavy ass bag. No paper by me this year, though I was begged to by the organizers.

Unlike last year, I am not going to use a Japanese carrier. I decided to go with Singapore Airlines because it is very cheap. Under 900 USD for a round trip flight from LAX to Nartia was a steal. In comparison, I paid about 1300 for a flight (combined with JAL and American, also had flights from San Diego to LA and back). I will also be staying in manga cafes, so my lodging will be completely different. Sure I loved Touyoko Inn and the AP Hotel in Osaka, but I am looking to go budget. Also no cell phone for me this time; I'm Skyping my way through Japan. I will try and keep yall updated here, at my facebook and also at my Twitter page. I got finals now, so see yall in a bit.

Kimi ga Yo again

Been tied up for the last few months, so I been quick updates on my facebook instead of here, my apologies.

Anyways, I been tapped to help compose the new edition of the book [National Anthems of the World] by M. J. Bristow. One of the countries I have been working on was, of course, Japan. I been working extensively on trying to make the music, lyrics and other information about [Kimi ga Yo] (君が代) correct. Believe it or not, there was major screw ups even with the lyrics. Anyways, a new version should be out eventually and you can see the work that myself, Bristow and others put in this new volume.

Still alive

I'm here, but just doing more posting on facebook than anything else. I wish there was a way I can import from facebook to here.

Future plans

Oh boy, this is going to be a tough one to write. As some of you who know me too well, or are dating me, I am going to relocate from California to Arkansas in the middle of 2009. This move isn't being done by choice; my father is leaving the Marine Corps after 28 years of service. We are given one more move by the government, so we're trekking to granny's house (literally). I don't like it, but there is nothing much I can do. I can't survive in California based on my current income. Plus, several of the people that I hold dear to me are also relocating, so no use staying around here.

What does this mean? Well, I got one more semester at Palomar left. I am in the process of picking classes for it, and I get to sign up for them officially in the next few days. I am not sure when I will leave my job, but it will have to be done before I relocate. I am just glad I get to file out the taxes and all of that stuff before I bail. I still plan on going to ICV 23 in Yokohama, Japan, but I am not sure for the duration of my stay nor I am not sure if I will make sidebar trips. I'll try and keep folks posted about this as much as I can.

Belarus and Barack

A short message from President Lukashenko, regarding the US elections:

"President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko has congratulated Barack Obama on his election as President of the United States of America."

I didn't expect much, but I hope that President-elect Obama (whom I voted for) could try and help thaw whatever relations we have with Belarus.

JOAB-DTV Channel 26

This is not my doing, nor my work, but I wanted to give some props to the owner of The Television Close Down And Start Up Blog. He recently did two posts about the two Tokyo Digital TV stations, JOAX-DTV and JOAB-DTV. The post I am going to highlight is from JOAB-DTV, which is the NHK Educational TV Channel. I chose that post specifically because it has the Hinomaru and "Kimi ga Yo" play when television programming ceases for the night around 1 AM Tokyo time.

As I told the owner, the recording of the anthem is performed by the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra. The orchestra is conducted by Akio Watanabe at the time of the recording. The recordings were released on a CD called "Kimi ga Yo" in 2006, and these include versions by him, a choir, a piano and choir and also a brass band. I am not sure when the exact recordings were made, but I know they have at least been around since 1998 when I discovered the first of the five recordings.