Seoul Survivor

It's hard to believe (but believe it you must!) that I spent the weekend in Seoul and took a total of six pictures. That's right, six pictures, and pretty crappy ones at that. I took three shots from the window of my hotel room and three shots out on the street just outside my hotel (click to enlarge).

Apparently Seoul has a population of about 10 million, and it is the second largest metropolitan area (23 million) in the world, behind only Tokyo. I've been in the two largest cities in the world! Have you?

Actually, although my hotel was pretty much exactly in the center of Seoul, these shots don't really give you any sense of just how big the place is.

There's some kind of old castle in the foreground of this shot.

Not far from my hotel there is a large wall-like structure with a big mural "painted" on it.

As you approach it, however...

... it becomes clear that the "mural" is actually a mosaic, made up of thousands of photographs.
It's not too late to get Phoctober!

Random Shots

Ouch... Back to work after a busy weekend in Seoul. Feeling weak, can't talk...

Some random shots (click to enlarge):

"Say cheese!"

One of the lesser-known Japanese monsters is Snakezilla... or, whatever...

Some, er, funny rocks arranged funnily...

A bridge; it looks old...

A tree, a burial mound, and a couple of people...

Hey, is it still Phoctober?

Vending Machines, No. 3

Please accept my apologies for being very slow responding to comments and not visiting anyone else's blog this week. I'm going to a conference in Korea tomorrow and I've been really busy getting my shit together.

I'll be back next week, but in the meantime, a couple more vending machines (click to enlarge):

Vending Machines, No. 2

One in black & white (click to enlarge):

Flowers

Here in Miyazaki flowers bloom year-round. Right now it's cosmos season. My family and I went for a look (click to enlarge):











Cosmos bloom in October? Man, that's Phoctober!

Again This Evening

This evening before dinner I went out for a walk with my daughter and our dog. I took a few pics (click to enlarge):











The moon isn't toppling in any of these pics, but it's still Phoctober!

Vending Machines, No. 1

What started out as an idle threat a week or two ago has, at the goading of a couple of readers (you know who you are), become a reality. This post marks the launch of an exciting new photographic series on this humble blog. Yes, that's right, it's the first post in my "Vending Machines" series.

Now, some may see this and say to themselves, "So what? Who gives a shit about a blog with pictures of Japanese vending machines? Besides, it's probably been done before... and better!" Ha ha ha!! You're probably right. Now go away...

After this initial post, I will not generally be making any comments at all in this series. No, I will let the "magic" of the photos themselves do the talking (except, perhaps, in unusual situations). In fact, "no information at all" would be a good description of the goals of this series (and of my personal outlook on life)...

Ladies and Gentlemen, Vending Machines, No. 1 (click to enlarge):

[UPDATE: Taffiny thinks this one should be titled "Buddies". Works for me...]




It's about now that vending machines in Japan begin stocking hot drinks, making this a very Phoctober post...

The Berlin Wall... in Truro, Nova Scotia

I almost forgot about these...

I was a bit surprised on my recent trip back to Canada when, strolling down the main street of Truro, I came across a few sections of what used to be the Berlin Wall... (Click to enlarge.)







There's a definite connection to "fall" here, so let's Phoctober these ones! Huh? Oh... that "fall"...

This Evening

In case anyone looked at the previous post and thought to himself, "shit, Kyklops is losing his mind," we return you to our regular scheduled programming.

A few pics I took this evening (click to enlarge). And go over and say hi to Maht and the Phoctoberers when you're done here.

A Dead Cockroach and a Set of Keys

There's no height to which I won't climb, nor depth to which I won't stoop, dear reader, to bring you whatever happens to take the fancy of my sick, twisted mind at any particular moment of any given day.

Behold, a dead cockroach, conveniently placed beside a set of keys in order that the viewer may better be able to get a sense of scale:



You won't find this in The Louvre, I guarantee you...

Today in a Park...

... I took a few pictures. That's all. (Click to enlarge.)











I almost forgot-- have you been Phoctober yet? (Sorry Maht, I can't help myself!)

Introducing... Sakura-chan!

The newest member of my family. I'm smitten...









I apologize for the complete (but momentary) collapse of "cool"...

Old Folks' Day

The third Monday of September is "Respect for the Aged Day" in Japan. In practical terms, it's generally a celebration of grandparents, and it's pretty common for school kids to do something special for Ba-chan (Grandma) and Ji-chan (Grandpa). Here in Miyazaki most (or perhaps all?) of the elementary schools had the kids draw pictures of their grandparents, and then put them all on display at the local shopping center.

Now, you may be wondering why in hell I'm posting about this now, some three weeks after the fact. Well, it so happens that I took some pictures of the above-mentioned drawings while at the shopping center with my daughter a few weeks back, and I'd forgotten about them until today, while I was trying to capture a shot of the corpse of a giant spider that I found in my office... well, that's another story! They were shot with my cell phone, so they're not up to the usual artistic standards of everything else here (har har). Still, I found the kids' drawings to be colorful and interesting. It was also interesting how drawings from different schools were done using different "techniques" (er, almost as if they came from, um, like, different "schools", if you know what I mean...).

Anyway, here are a few of them (click to enlarge). Oh yeah, let's get Phoctober!

Randomly Phoctober!

My pal Maht over at The Moon Topples is running a series in which he's posting photos everyday for the month of October. He's calling it "Phoctober" and everyone's invited to join in. Here you are, Maht...

A couple of vending machines. I'm sure it's already been done, but I'm thinking of doing a series of these.

Some odd-looking lights.

Technicolor dreams...

My daughter playing around an odd fountain.

I love this kind of scene, but I'm not really sure why.

Kyklops' legs! Some silliness for Verilion and Absolute Vanilla (you both know why!).