花見をしようと言う物なのだ。

Gleetings fliends. I've taken a break from downloading UFO videos off of the internet to enjoy one of the best things that Nippon has to offer: 花見 (meaning: Hanami).

花 (hana) means flower, or "Frower" if you're not into the whole brevity thing. This character also makes appearances in words like Hanabi (fire works). 見 (mi) means to look, see, view or watch. A long time ago, a Japanese Big Brother removed words from the language, so they only have this one word to relay the fact that the rods and cones in their eyes are functioning and are transmitting said data to the brain for processing. That is double prus goo.

Hanami Attempt Part One



I met up with an acquaintance of mine near the Kosugi "river" to do some hanami and have a few sugar-free beers. There were no flowers near us, but you can see that further upstream there were from the fact that there are petals in the "river". Move over Sherlock Holmes. Anyway, a Crane showed up andhung around for a while.

Hanami: The Next Generation

Why get dressed for hanami if you can just stumble out on to your amazingly well-kept lawn and do it in your pajamas? This is a shot from the garden of my private hanami trees. This weekend, I get to watch the proles scramble for spots around the fishing pond while I get to frolic under these trees in my PJs and blast loud music like some kind of party member. Here, you can also see the shed that blew over last year and my amazing picnic table, which uses its magical powers to draw all dead bugs to it.

How do you like that wall I made to keep the masses out? Pretty sweet, eh?



Here is a close-up of a Sakura frower. I took all of these photos with my 1 yen phone, not my $200 digital camera, as one would suspect.









Here is shithead enjoying its new hobby of climbing trees and getting stuck in them. You can just see the road behind her. The foreground is off-limits to proles for hanami as the plants are over grown. I've been doing my civic bit by dumping Steve's used kitty-litter over there too, just in case there is a Japanese person out there who isn't afraid of getting the smallest amount of dirt on their clothes.







Here is a shot I took as I was laying on the ground looking up. Having a few beers under the trees at this time of year makes the experience a bit surreal, especially in the right spot. Almost like a dream, minus the bikini girls and the Stanley Cup. This will probably be the last time for a very long time, if not forever, to enjoy this, so I will. It is crazy to think that in Canuckistan you can marry your father, get free crack pipes and sponge off the government for your whole life, but you can't have a beer under a tree in spring.

Home Coming

In recent news, it seems that a lot of people have caught the spring bug. Champ E is thinking about going back to school and getting some certificates and stuff. Metal M is starting his new job as a Trucker or something. Me, well, I've gotten a lot of possible job leads off of the internet and apparently the job section of the paper back home is as thick as a phone book. I'm looking forward to moving out of Megacity One and into a small, quiet community. A few friends have been whining that I should move to Toronto, home of the once mighty Maple Leafs. Come on. How could I live in a pretend centre of the universe when I have lived in a real one? Compare for yourselves.











Yonge and Dundas: The centre of the centre of the universe.














Shibuya: Just one small part of this centre of the universe

Work is going very well

I've just been self-supervising myself here over the past week or so. I'm doing very well at this career of "inbetween-jobs". In fact, it is the career that I always seem to turn back to. Even though I did get promoted this time around, it is a bit of an uncertain industry.

I rented the BBC 2's The Office on DVD. I laughed so hard sometimes I almost cried. I know it is cliche and all but, the boss on that show must be based on a past boss of mine, a co worker to others on that project. The hair, the constant tie fiddling, the drinking, the jokes. Seriously, if he lost the beard and a few pounds, deadringer. Although, we didn't cal him "Mr.Toad" We called him "Slippery".

The jobs are plentiful and the roads made of gold in Alberta at the moment. I've been getting a couple of postings per day from the internet. I'll be on another path in a month or so. Change is as good as a rest and all that.

As for hockey, the Leafs might just fart their way into the playoffs this year. I would rather they didn't make the playoffs than get in and then knocked out in the first round by Ottawa, the other team I love to hate. Maybe the Leafs coach there should use a better psychological ploy than tough-love on his players. How about tough-hate? I.E. Go earn your $4 Million or I'll chop your balls off.

Soon it will be Cherry Blossom time again. It is the best 3 or 4 days in Japan a year and its very surreal. You get to go outside where everything has become pink and drink beers under a dome of flowers. It's like an unofficial Christmas of sorts. Great stuff. I'll take some photos when it all happens.

Word to the wise: Women get turned on, not by what they see, but by what they hear.

Happy St.Patrick's Day + 1

As I am writing this, many readers are out and about enjoying HSPD 2006 by drinking green beer at a strip club somewhere in Toronto. Was the Silverdollar Saloon or the Milliondollar Saloon this year guys?

I had a blast yesterday hitting a couple of hot spots in Tokyo and then mellowing out in my old stomping grounds in Yokosuka. It must've been fun, cause this is the first time I've woken up at noon in like 5 years.

Faith Beggorah!

The Wizard

Things are moving along all according to plan. Went to the local athletics complex early this morning to exercise and use some of the nautilus equipment. Not as many Yodas as usual.

Tough schedule today. I have to whip by the school and throw everything in a garbage bag and leave it for the janitor. But before that happens, I have to take a quick shower, do some laundry and have a coffee out on the porch with the cat and look at the mountains, trees and birds. Soon it'll be Cherry Blossom time.

I feel like that Sabbath tune The Wizard today. If you have the album listen to it. If you don't, go out and liberate a copy from somewhere. Free the Sabbath. Keep it real. You have to try and remain focused when confronted with things that make no-sense. Examples? Here are two.


I had to croceed and take this picture for my friend,s scrapbook.










No trick photography here. This is a Japanese toilet, not a urinal.

Aura of Recalcitrance

Today I emancipated myself from work in Japan. I took control of my life and am ready to re-invest in the most important thing of all: myself.

The dude flies free, no longer bound to outdated feudal dogma under an atom thin layer of socialism. Now I commune with the future.

Floating like a leaf down the river of life.

Finally, today is all sunshine, rainbows, puppy dogs and everything good.

It's all about the Bacon and the Sparrows.

There is a lot of shit that could be getting me down going on in my life and around the world, but today I feel great. I am on some sort of natural high that the pleasent weather has brought with it. Spring is here. 2006 is going to start in earnest.

Soon I'll be home, overlooking the endless steppe with the north wind in my face and the falcon at my breast.

Today, I understand.