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01.16.02
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Here I am on the Yamanote train again. I'm
on my way home from work. Just me, my trusty
IBM ThinkPad laptop computer, and about two
million stone-faced, impeccably-dressed Asian
strangers.
No matter how many times I use this
computer
in unusual locations, I don't think
that
the 'neat-o' factor will ever wear
off.
Have you ever wished that your life was like
a novel? Well it is. A 1950's futuristic
sci-fi book.
We live in a truly wondrous age. Don't forget
it, and never take it for granted.
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In other news, I've decided to coin
a new
term: Butta. Its an adjective meaning
'cool',
'hip', 'great', that sort of thing.
Let's see our new word in action...
There have been a lot of butta sites
posted
in my dynamic links page lately.
You should all check out frankieboots.com. He takes great pictures and posts a new
little gallery every few days, and the best
part is that he sets music to each gallery
(note: if you have a slow connection you
might not want to wait for the music). He
doesn't give much information on the pictures,
but if you check the title bar at the top
of the window it often gives you a clue as
to the location of the photos. My favourite
is the derelict smallpox hospital.
Another butta site is documentedlife. It's an autobiographical adventure structured
heavily around yearly photos. It also goes
into the author's genealogy. Very well written
and put together.
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(In other site news, here is where, unbeknownst
to me, my sassy songbird wife Karen has broken
into my code and is inserting this paragraph.
What a smart cookie!)
01.14.02
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It's Monday and here in Japan it's a national
holiday -- a three-day weekend. I don't know
why it's a holiday, I think they just chose
the day arbitrarily. Like Canada, Japan tries
to have at least one three-day weekend a
month.
Just in case you're wondering where I am
right now, I'll tell ya -- I'm in the Narita
Airport cafeteria. Jack and Karen should
be arriving in about 45 minutes. Their plane
was delayed for an hour so I came here.
The cafeteria looks surprisingly like any
Denny's around the world, the only difference
is that people are using chopsticks and wearing
fine-looking clothing. Not a beer belly hanging
over the lip of greasy track pants in sight.
No three-year-old runners covered with paint
from last year's renovations to be seen.
Yes, people certainly take care of their
appearance in Japan.
I, on the other hand, am unshaven, wearing
army pants with a small hole in the right
leg, construction boots, and Karen's black
hoody which says DISSENT on the front. I
am surprisingly rough and threatening looking
if I do say so myself. And just think, if
I were back in Canada I'd just be another
Joe-anybody coming out of the doughnut store
getting into my pick-up truck. But here in
Japan, I'm something much more. I am ominous.
Yes, that's my take on things. What in one
country is 'slack-dressed-beer-slob' is in
another country 'big-rough-looking-stranger'.
It's kind of empowering, don't you think?
Anyway, time to go to the gate. They should
be here soon.
01.12.02
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Only two more days until Jack and Karen
come
home. I'm itchy with anticipation.
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Today's pictures have a night-time theme
and a streetsy feel.
01.10.02
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The pictures in today's post were taken
in
December, about a week before we went
back
to Canada.
Normally I'm not a big fan a graffiti, but
the sheer size and scope of the murals around
Sakura-Gicho train station in Yokohama are
in a class all their own.
The station's tracks are on a raised platform
that runs parallel to a major road. All along
the base of the platform, for about a kilometer,
is mural after mural of graffiti art. Of
course, it seems that this graffiti was sanctioned,
if not commissioned, so it lacks that bad-boy-vandalism
quality that graffiti usually has. The plus
side of this though it that some of the artists
obviously took their time while painting
and there are a lot of really high-quality
pieces.
I took over 100 photos that day, and my intention
was to stitch them all together and let you
walk the length (actually only half the length)
on the scene. Unfortunately, the software
that I thought could do this for me actually
can't. So, you're stuck with a few still
shots of some of the cooler pieces that were
tucked in corners and such, and a few smaller
sections of the kilometer-long mural stitched
together.
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In other news, I officially stopped looking
in the mirror because I got so fat over the
holidays I can't stand the sight of myself.
Thanks for nothing mom....
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