Cicada

Just when I thought I'd have to pack it in for the evening, I heard it out on my balcony. They're noisy little buggers, but usually pretty quiet at night. This one's a beauty--I really recommend clicking the image to get a closer look.

Moving right along...

Yeah, um... I got nothin' to say, and no pics to post... When does hockey season start?

Untitled

Boulevard

Matsuri

Things Are a Bit Cloudy...

The day after my 50th birthday I have only one thing to say: my head hurts...

On a Park Bench

Another sappy pic on my birthday (from the cell phone):

This is what it looks like...

... when I'm happy...

This is what it looks like...

... just before you get kicked in the head (goofy cell phone pic):



Happy Birthday to me!

Train Passing By

Tank

Clouds, Water

Fond Memories

I remember one time, back when I was just barely old enough to get a drink in Nova Scotia, I was leaving a tavern with a good buddy of mine. There had just been a fight or something outside because we saw a bunch of people milling about and several policemen and a couple of police cars. We were talking about something important (whether Sabbath would survive post-Ozzy, or some other equally pressing philosophical issue of the day), and it was just a regular Friday night, so we didn't really pay much attention to what was going on outside the tavern.

Anyway, we're walking and talking, and we get about 200 meters from the tavern when, in mid-sentence, my buddy turns around and yells at the top of his lungs, "why don't you fucking pigs fuck of and go fuck yourselves!?" Now, although I was somewhat startled at the timing of this little outburst, I wasn't especially concerned about it, because a) back then that was the generally accepted mode of greeting to any and all police we happened to encounter, and b) I thought we were too far away for them to have actually heard it. We continued walking and conversing for a few moments...

Suddenly, as if from nowhere, a police car comes screeching to a halt directly alongside us. I remember saying, "hope you ain't got no plans tonight," to my friend, as two cops jumped out of the car and moved toward us. My friend just shrugged, and as the police approached I started to feel a little uncomfortable. Justifiably, as it turned out, because when they came up to us they didn't grab my buddy, they grabbed me! And they didn't simply grab onto me, they grabbed me and hauled me directly to their car and threw me in the back. One moment I was standing on the sidewalk, and the next I was in the back of a cop car.

It's not often in my life that I've been at a complete loss for words, but at that moment I was dumbfounded. And even when, after a few seconds, I regained my wits, I thought, "what the fuck can I possibly say right now?" I mean, I guess I could have told the police that they had the wrong guy, this is a miscarriage of justice, it was my friend who said those mean things! Well, actually, I was kinda pissed off, so that's what I felt like saying. But of course I didn't. My buddy, in the meantime, was doing an admirable job of trying to convince the police that he was the guilty one, that they should be hauling him away. The cops were having none of it, however. Actually, my buddy was so clearly embarrassed by what was happening that I started laughing.

I was still laughing as they drove me away to the drunk tank. And really, what else was there to do?

Weekly Photo Challenge: "Tatterdemalion"

Glenn and Dave are back to their dictionary-busting ways with this week's Photo Challenge, "tatterdemalion."

How about a creature who consists pretty much entirely of rags? The fellow below, "kuma-san" (Mr. Bear) has been my daughter's faithful companion since the day she was born. Admittedly, he's seen better days...

JapanEZBEAR (!)...

Fence Post

Black and White Reality (4)

Moon Over Water

Ashi Onsen

Onsen (lit. hot springs) can be found pretty much anywhere in Japan. In Kyushu (and probably in other parts of Japan) many roadside parks and rest areas have these small, wading pool-like onsen where you can kick off your shoes and give your feet a relaxing soak.



My daughter--in many ways the most Japanese person I know, although I can't really explain what I mean by this--my daughter loves these places.

Black and White Reality (3)

Judas Priest Shreds

This is incredibly hilarious. Enjoy!

Fence

Hmm...

Black and White Reality (2)

Goofing Around with the Cell Phone Camera

In the car, waiting for mommy...

In the war against The Zombie Menace...

... the sharks are our friends. Absolute must-see viewing!



[H/T: Lawyers, Gun$ and Money. Go ahead and click through--you won't be disappointed!]

Deer Me...

Black and White Reality (1)

Another Chain

I'm very aware that cell phone pics are not usually associated with "quality," but I find my cell phone camera to be a great way to kill time (sitting in the car, at the park, at the mall, wherever...), and occasionally some interesting shots are born from my boredom (well, they're interesting to me, and it's my fucking blog, blah blah blah...). Here's one I took at the park a few days ago.

A Creepy Picture My Daughter Took

At 5 years old my daughter has already joined the ranks of the avant garde. Her technique involves sitting in the dark and pointing the camera to where she thinks something is. She takes the shot, the flash goes off, and then she checks to see what she got. For some reason, this picture creeps me out a bit.

Laundry

Electric clothes dryers are not very common in Japan. This is a pretty common sight:

Random

Nothing Special

Vending Machines, No. 37

Wet

Dale Leo Bishop

I'm not an activist, or anything, and I think I've only written one post here (oh, and a brief follow-up) on the topic, but...

Capital punishment is fucked. I mean, I think it's so fucked that it really bugs me that I have to argue the point: if it's wrong to kill someone in cold blood, then the death penalty is fucking murder (and never mind the fact that killing murderers is nothing more than sheer laziness in whatever society still happens to practice this particular form of barbarism). And what really sticks in my craw is how many death penalty proponents claim (falsely, so it seems) to be Christians. I hate to tell you this, assholes, but you cannot be both a Christian and support the death penalty. I guess you'll all be seein' my atheist ass in hell (assuming you all believe a single fucking word of the shit you spew, that is).

So why am I on about this tonight? Why am I interrupting an otherwise enjoyable evening of getting drunk, listening to tunes, and generally annoying my friends on the web? This is why:

Next week, the State of Mississippi is going to strap Dale Leo Bishop to a prison gurney and shoot him full of deadly chemicals. He's going to die for murder although he killed no one. He's going to die even though his case was grossly mishandled by a lawyer who refused to present mitigating evidence of the horrible abuse Bishop suffered as a child and his life-long struggle with mental illness. He's going to die even though the man whom prosecutors admit is the one who committed the murder has been spared, while Bishop has been condemned to execution by lethal injection.

Please, read the whole story. There's a link at the end where you can write the Governor of Mississippi (at this point Bishop's only hope). If I can do it from here in Japan (and I did), you can do it too, wherever you are.

Moonwires (3)

Weekly Photo Challenge: "Music"

Without any further ado, it's time again for Glenn and Dave's Weekly Photo Challenge. This week's theme is music. (Be sure to check out Glenn's interpretation of the singing frog from the old Bugs Bunny Show... What? You clicked and there was no music...? Hehe...)

Here's music to my ears:

Moonwires (2)

Homesick

Listened to Sloan's new album on the way to work today. Saw a story on the web about a guy I used to play with in one of my first bands. I see that one of my old watering holes has "pitcher and pizza" for $12.50. Hmm... beer and pizza on the sidewalk of Spring Garden Road... Halifax in the summer...

Fuck it. Back to work...

YRZ in the Evening

A Gentle Reminder

Re: all the hubbub over this recent New Yorker cover.

From Wikipedia:

[...] Although satire is usually meant to be funny, the purpose of satire is not primarily humor in itself so much as an attack on something of which the author strongly disapproves, using the weapon of wit.

Have we got that straight now?

I'm sorry, but...

... deserting an army one volunteered to join is not the same as avoiding an involuntary draft. The Canadian government has decided to deport American army deserters. I think they've made the right decision.

Moonlamp (2)