And the Clouds Go By...

Sunday morning boredom. Nothing to say. Some pics (click to enlarge):

Random Ramblings...

Are we what we do? Is it inconceivable that, say, the best French chef in the world might actually hate French food? Would this make him, somehow, less professional? Isn't the very essence of "professionalism" doing the very best job you can while putting your personal feelings aside? Is it inconceivable that the best person in the world for some particular job might actually hate that job at the same time as she's trying to re-define it?

Would you say that what someone does is ultimately more important than what he says? (Think carefully, lest ye become an existentialist!)

What would you say about a guy who didn't give a shit what he did for a living, as long as it kept his family in food and clothes, etc.?

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Personally, I think the world would be a better place if everyone liked White Zombie.

Random Miyazaki Pics

A few more pics taken near where I live, in case anyone's curious:


Tachibana-dori, Miyazaki's main street.


City "center".


Takachiho-dori, which intersects Tachibana at the center of town.


Some cranes; a pretty common sight.


A parking area for bicycles near the train station.

My Brain Hurts...

Yes, this is about right...

The Morning Walk of a Dork with a Camera

This morning I woke up feeling... no pain!! I've still got some numbness in my right arm and hand (from the pinched nerve I've been whining about recently), but it doesn't hurt any more! I felt so good that today I resumed my regular morning walk. I took along my camera (click to enlarge)...


Starbucks has only been in Miyazaki for about a year, and already there are three outlets. This one is only a 5-10 minute walk from my place. It wasn't open yet when I took this picture, but you'll notice that this Starbucks has a drive-thru (I've never seen this in Canadian Starbucks shops). Yes, now you can wait in the comfort of your car while the schmuck in front of you orders a half-caf double decaf latte...

Resistance is futile... Actually, I'm quite happy to see foreign pc companies make inroads in Japan because, frankly, the big Japanese pc makers (Sony, Fujitsu, NEC) suck...

The front of Miyazaki's train station.

The back of Miyazaki's train station.

Miyazaki's space station is just down the street.

He may be a dork with a camera, but his choice of hockey teams is beyond reproach...

Tantalizing...

Tantalus' punishment [...] was to stand in a pool of water beneath a fruit tree with low branches. Whenever he reached for the fruit, the branches raised his intended meal from his grasp. Whenever he bent down to get a drink, the water receded before he could get any.

As you can clearly see in the picture on the left, the "mystery money" I told you about last Friday is still there, unclaimed, in the toilet. Not only that, but some Samaritan has taped it to the wall of the stall, probably in the hope that the "owner" will see it and, in a rapturous fit of recognition, know it as his own long lost cash, and that will be the end of it. Really, though, I think the time for such an outcome has come and gone (just like the original possessor of the money).

You may call me a cynic, friends, but I believe this latest development is but the opening gambit in what might prove to be a long, tense battle of nerves. Only one thing is certain--somebody is going to get that fucking money. But who? I suppose only time will tell, but...

Students are off on their summer holidays, as are most teachers. The corridors are empty, the toilets unused. It's hot. I'm thirsty. Nobody would know (would they?). I grow weary...

Toilet Paper Money

A few days ago, while in the toilet down the hall from my office, I noticed something a bit odd. Sitting there on top of some spare rolls of toilet paper was a one thousand yen note (worth about ten dollars). It had every appearance of having been placed there intentionally (to what end I can only speculate). As if that weren't odd enough, when I went to the same toilet today, the money was still there. As I sat there I pondered the strangeness of this...

How did the money arrive there on top of the toilet paper? Several scenarios occurred to me:
1) It fell out of someone's pocket, perhaps as he was standing up/pulling up his pants. The next person in the toilet found it and set it in a "safe place" with the expectation that the owner of the money would return to look for it.
2) Someone (for some reason) was sitting on the toilet with the money in his hand. At the point when he had to access the toilet paper (surely a "two hand" task for most of us) he set the money down in a clearly visible place, expecting to pick it up again when he was finished his "business." He must have forgotten about it.
3) The money was placed there as a temptation to the greedy and dishonest. Leaving the stall with the note would result in the sudden appearance of a television crew and the extreme humiliation of the one who so foolishly fell into their trap for a lousy ten bucks.
4) The money was strategically placed on the rolls of toilet paper as a political statement decrying the evils of capitalism and showing us that, really, it's all just "ass-wipe."
5) The money appeared there by means of a magic spell or through time travel or it came from another dimension. Perhaps a little bird flew in the open window and left it there.

Such were my musings as I sat there. But then some deeper, more troubling implications began to dawn on me. How could ten bucks sit there, so vulnerable, and for so long, without somebody just picking it up and walking away. This is, after all, a university. There's enough there for two beers at a bar, six beers at a supermarket; enough for three packs of smokes. Ten bucks is ten bucks, after all. I wondered if this were an indication of some deep-seated stupidity among students at Japanese universities. Or, perhaps, this was a sure sign of the stereotypical Japanese "honesty" that I so frequently hear about.

Anyway, it was at this point in my speculations that I detected someone else entering the restroom, so I decided that it was time to wrap things up and get out of there and back to work. It so happened that I had my cell phone in my shirt pocket, so I decided to take the picture you see accompanying this post as "evidence."

Actually, taking this picture proved to be something of a minor embarrassment for me. It was not until the very moment when my thumb was applying pressure to the "snap" button that I remembered: my phone always makes a very audible "camera shutter" sound when I take pictures. It did so this time. Immediately I heard a gasping-type sound from the other side of the cubicle. "Fucking shit", I thought to myself. Whoever that is on the other side knows there's someone in the toilet taking pictures! He's probably wondering what exactly I'm taking pictures of and what kind of fucking retarded pervert I am.

About 20 minutes later I felt that enough time had passed for me to safely leave the toilet. I don't think anybody saw me slinking back to my office...

In the Wake of Poseidon...

A few post-typhoon photos (click to enlarge)...

Stormy Weather

Another typhoon rolled through Miyazaki today. Here's what it looked like from the various balconies of my condo:

Better L8T...

Between work and my ongoing physical pain I haven't been able to post much lately. A couple of weeks ago my online bud Daniel tagged me with the "8 Things" meme. I haven't forgotten you, Daniel! I've already done this one (about a month ago) but, being the egotistical swine that I am, it shouldn't be too difficult for me to come up with eight more "fascinating" details about me and my life.

1. The last band I ever played in once opened for the legendary Blue Öyster Cult. It was the proudest moment of my life, up to that point. After we played the first set (and we fuckin' rocked!), BOC came on and blew us off the stage (naturally). It was a bar gig, so we had to go back on and play the last, early-morning set (finishing about 3:30 am). As we were playing I saw my girlfriend leave with guitarist Buck Dharma. The other guys saw it too. I'm intimately familiar with the concept "the highs and lows of life"...
2. I can't fucking stand "reality" TV shows (unless "The Osbournes" counts as a "reality" show).
3. My favorite sandwich, which my father taught me how to make, is sardines on toast with mustard and sliced raw onion. Damn, it's been about 10 years since I had one...
4. Somebody (I really don't remember who) once said something like "you should try everything twice because you may have missed something the first time." This has been a guiding principle of my life.
5. My Dad served (as a member of the Canadian Army) with the UN in Korea (before he met my mother) and later in Cyprus. My father was both a good man and a soldier (listen up, kids!). He was proud to have served with UN peace-keeping forces (listen up, Americans!). It would be an understatement to say that my father's military service, and his stories about that service, have informed my own opinions about the role of the military in world affairs.
6. As a "Canadian living and working in Japan" I derive a perverse pleasure from referring to Canada as the "old country."
7. I miss Canada terribly.
8. I love my family dearly.

From the Balcony Today...

This is what I saw (click to enlarge)...

Kinda sums up Japan; low-tech, high-tech...

A couple of guys unloading rice at the "rice depot" across the street.

The sun shining through the clouds (another typhoon is coming tomorrow, by the way).

Ditto...

A botched shot, but oh so almost-cool (like a scene from Star Trek, or something).

Gay Marriage Will Destroy the World!!

I can't seem to get too worked up about lesbians for some reason... BUT I KNOW THEY'RE EVIL!!



[Via Multi Medium via Cliff Schecter]

This is... good....

No comment...

Arts and Sciences

Back in my grad school days I used to work part-time as a bartender. One of my co-workers at this job, and a fellow grad student, was a young woman who was doing a PhD in Biology. I was doing a lowly MA in Classics, and I was 10 years older than her ( I didn't enter uni until I was in my 30s). Sometimes we would drink, and talk, and argue. We often argued about the "utility" of study in the "humanities." She was a real "scientist" so I usually forgave her generally unforgiving views of the humanities.

One night we were at a party. My friend didn't drink much, because she always had lab work, reports, and a bunch of other stuff to do every day. At this particular party I got completely blotto, and found myself hugging the toilet, if you know what I mean. Anyway, my friend finds me and figures this is a good time to "get one in".

"Jesus, Rick, look at yourself. You humanities students are something else. Do you guys ever, like, study or anything?"

I've got puke on my chin. I'm drunk, I'm sick, I'm wasted. I look at her and say, "For Christ's sake, what the fuck do you think I'm doing now?"

A Real Pain in the Neck (and Shoulder and Upper Arm and Elbow...)

It hurts to use my computer. It hurts to sit down in front of my computer. It hurts thinking about using my computer...

I've been out of action all week because of the pinched nerve I mentioned in my last post. Two doctors, more ineffective painkillers, and a few days of "rehabilitation" later, I'm actually in worse shape (subjectively, at least) than I was a week ago. I'm only posting something now because, well, the pain has become my companion, if you know what I mean. That, and it's my birthday today, so pain be damned.

My wife has said she'll permit me to drink beer tonight if I don't take any painkillers. Sounds good to me! Hopefully I'll be back in a few hours to catch up on what you guys have been up to and maybe post some nonsense or other...

Whine and Cheese...

I've had a nagging pain in my shoulder for a few weeks. A couple of days ago the pain began radiating down my arm, so I went to the hospital. Turns out that one of the vertebrae in my neck is somehow not quite where it's supposed to be and is pinching against a major nerve coming out of my spine. It's not as serious as it might sound, but it hurts like fuck and has been hurting like fuck for about a month. I'll likely have to be decapitated or something.

The Japanese medical establishment doesn't seem to have a clear conception of what a "painkiller" is supposed to do. I certainly have never taken any here that were good for anything worse than a headache or toothache. Thankfully I can supplement the crappy pills my doctor prescribed with a few beers and some aspirin...

Random Zoo Photos, Pt. 2

A few more pics from the zoo (click to enlarge):

Damned if I know what kind of bird this is...

Birds of a feather...

Not speaking...

I like the colors in this one.

Random Zoo Photos, Pt. 1

The day after last weekend's typhoon my wife and I took our daughter to the zoo. Here are a few random pics (click to enlarge):

This kangaroo cracks me up. Something about its posture...

Just friends...

Rosemary's baby?

I live in a condo, so I can't put any flamingos on my lawn. I can put them on my blog, though...

Taking It on the Chin(chin)...

Sigh... just when I start to think that things are going smoothly and I'm beginning to "fit in" around here, I go and put my foot into it yet again. Last night after I returned home from work my wife pulled me away from talking to our daughter to inform me, somewhat sternly, that I have, yet again, caused an uproar at our daughter's kindergarten. Before I explain, perhaps some brief background is in order for those unfamiliar with daily life in Japan...

Readers might be familiar with the fact that the Japanese are not as hung-up on the body and bodily functions as North Americans (and perhaps English-speaking people generally) often appear to be. I think one reason for this (maybe the main reason?) is that, from the time they are born through to the end of elementary school, boys and girls in Japan share the same changing rooms and, in kindergarten at least, the same washrooms. (I know that elementary school kids change their clothes together, but I'm not sure if they use the same washrooms.) These kids typically are not "ashamed" of their bodies and the things their bodies do because they've seen it all and have learned at an early age that there's nothing to be ashamed of.

Related to the above, it's also customary in Japan for immediate family members to share a bath, and there's nothing unusual about a mother being in the bath with her young son, or a father with his young daughter. In fact, in our household it's generally my "job" to give my daughter her evening bath, so we share the tub together. (Yes, my 4-year-old daughter has seen me "naked". Hundreds of times. If anyone is shocked by this then I respectfully suggest that that's their problem.)

Anyway, it should be clear from what I've already written that my daughter knows the difference between a boy and a girl (well, she knows the physical difference). And, like most Japanese kids, she also has a pretty rich vocabulary for describing those differences. She knows, for example, what "chinchin" (ちんちん) means. In Japanese "chinchin" means "penis". A few nights ago, while we were in the bath, she asked me how to say "chinchin" in English. I was reluctant at first to tell her, but then, in a chain of perfectly logical but fatally flawed reasoning, decided that since she already knew what a "penis" was and knew how to say it in Japanese, there could be no harm in telling her how to say it in English. "Penis," I said. "Penis," she repeated and, apparently satisfied, she nodded her head and seemed to forget about it...

Back to last night, my wife, looking somewhat exasperated, pulled me aside and asked me if I had taught our daughter how to say "chinchin" in English. Suddenly I felt all cold and sweaty. In the realm of possible questions a man might be asked by his wife, this was one question I had never considered, one combination of words that had never occurred to me. Without yet knowing how or why, I knew with dread certainty that I was guilty, trapped, doomed. I made blubbering noises as my mind frantically tried to figure out what had happened, what had gone wrong. Finally, feebly (having drawn a blank), I said that yes, I had told our daughter the English word for "chinchin"...

According to my wife, who heard it from my daughter's kindergarten teacher, yesterday while my daughter and the other kids were changing into their swimsuits, my daughter pointed at one of the boys' "chinchin" and said "Penis! In English "chinchin" is penis!" This new word spread like wildfire among the children, and apparently the boys (being, after all, boys) were especially taken with this new word. "Chinchin is penis!" "Hey! I have a penis!" "This is a penis!" "I pee with my penis!" What a scene it must have been! As my wife was telling the tale I was trying to keep a straight face (and I was certain that I caught a fleeting, quickly-stifled smile on her face too). My wife finished with an admonishment to be more careful about the words I teach our daughter.

"But really, dear, what's the big deal? What's the harm?"

"What's the big deal!?"

"Yeah, the whole thing sounds kinda cute and funny to me."

"Oh really? Tell me, do you have classes next Wednesday?"

"What? No, you know classes finish this week. Why?"

"Next Wednesday is parents day. It's in the morning, so it's mostly just the kids' mothers because the fathers are at work."

"Umm... yeah?"

"I have to work next Wednesday. You don't. You're going. Have fun..."

Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright

In the forests of the night,

What immortal hand or eye

Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

[William Blake, "The Tiger"]

Take Me to the River...

In the previous post I said I had some pictures of the Oyodo River, which is rather swollen thanks to typhoon Man-yi (feel free to insert your own dirty jokes here...).
Anyway, with no commentary from me, here they are:

Take Me to the Bridge...

So, typhoon Man-yi has come and gone (to Tokyo, I hear). Miyazaki allegedly bore a direct hit, but from where I was sitting in my condo it seemed to subside just as it was getting going. It's still quite windy as I write this, but this sucker is long gone (from Miyazaki).

Anyway, I took a drive over to the Oyodo River before dark to see how high it was after all the rain we've gotten. It's quite swollen, but I've seen it in worse shape (I'll post some pics in an upcoming post).

The pics below are all of the same bridge over the Oyodo River (there are several, but this one had the best "background"). Sorry if it seems like I'm beating a subject to death, but the greys in these shots simply blew me away (click to enlarge).