Heyhey in rockers and welcome to the lobby ! it's been a crazy month here in Buffalo, NY. Not only has my Rock and Roll Ikumen time continued as I spent time alone with my daughter here at home while my wife was touring with the amazing Osaka punk band Shone Knife, but there were also some pro surfers, some devastating weather and a move to a new home in this month's madness.. let me continue..

My daughter and I finished up our month alone together as I discovered all of the awesomeness of Strawberry Shortcake, Shimajiro, Fairy Princesses and all of the amazing things that make a 2.5 year old girl the most enthusiastic thing I've evr encountered (and quite probably the cutest thing on the planet). We had many bathtimes, mealtimes, playtimes, book times and bedtimes over our month of being without mommy and we laughed through nearly all of it! I love getting to spend time with my daughter, but it really was really going to be nice to have my wife home with us. So after a quick van ride from Brooklyn to Buffalo (and after an amazing final show from Shonen Knife's N. American tour) we drove the van full of band gear (minus the band who returned to Osaka via CHINA!) back to Buffalo and mommy and hana were reunited with a few dances and many conversations about all of her adventures while mama was gone. All was returned to ''normal'' for a moment and then papa took a looooong nap).

But there is no rest in our family for long, just days after returning to Buffalo, we packed up our house and moved into a townhouse cross town, it's located right down the street from our GCR Audio recording studios here in Buffalo as well as my daughter's new school, so it seemed like the right thing for us to do. With days of frenetic packing behind us we filled a truck with our belongings and made the move!

Shortly after our move I boarded a plane to do some charity shows in Los Angeles and New York City with the band. We did an acoustic set for professional surfer and all around badass Rob Machado and his Rob Machado Foundation helping out folks in the San Diego area with Beach cleanups and environmental issues in their community. Our friends Run River North, Switchfoot and a few other artists were on the bill as well and the event, now in its third year was a huge success for all involved! WE then boarded a plane for NYC and the next day performed a set at a fundraiser for the Dysautonomia Foundation in Manhattan at the Edison Ballroom. A whirlwind of a trip, but nothing compared to the whirlwind we landed in when I arrived back in Buffalo.

Together again as a family unit and safely in our new home we began to unpack and get ourselves settles in the new place when we were hit with a well known phenomenon in our part of the world called ''Lake Effect Snow'. Now mid November is not normally a snowy time for Western New Yorkers, but this year we had a surprise in store for us. In a 24 hour period the southern portion of Buffalo received over 2 meters of snow coming off of Lake Erie and burying the city forcing a 4 day driving/pedestrian ban in parts of the city. The military was called in to help clear the snow for this tragic event which took 13 lives by the time the weather broke and the skies began to clear. So, to complicate things, as I type this month's column it is 50 degrees and all of the snow is now melting, threatening to make a lake of it's own right where the snow fell, so precautions are being taken for potential flooding here as well. I wish for the best and I know the city of Buffalo is strong and resilient having faced this type of situation in the past, they will make it out the other side of this event with a good attitude and a few lessons learned.

I leave in about 2 hours for the airport and another trip to Japan for some great times including a visit to my inlaws with Hana chan to celebrate Shichi Go San and get our little Hana dressed up in her first kimono and spend time with our family in Japan. I'll also be shooting an episode of an online children's English show called ''Kodomo Challenge Live Jugyo'' with my friend and Benesse/NHK host Jason Hancock during the trip as well as meeting with some of our Good Charamel Records artists to make plans for 2015's J-Rock releases in North America! Top that with a trip to Tokyo Disney and I think we're going to be having a blast, I love hearing Mickey speak Japanese!

And as always, I'll fill u in on our recent trip as we always have great adventures (and tons of great food including my favorite CURRY!) when we visit Japan! That's it for this month, hope everyone is having a great fall. Talk soon.

Peace !

Robby