Here is a song I made last year.

It's called "Where Is My Mind".

Its 2010 already! My my how time does fly...

Here's Louis Fowler, contemplating life...

It's raining here in Tokyo. Me and Patrick went to Ikebukuro while Harumi and Louis stayed home.
Bought Patrick some new shoes, 2 pairs, Asics.
Then we bought my lunch bread for next week - first week back after the 2 weeks off for Louis's arrival. After the bread we went to Kuhachi and had a Choco Banana and a coffee. The back on the train and home.

Gosh...it's very dusty in here... I haven't been in this blog since last summer... August 2007... although I don't think anyone else has either. It's deserted! Needs a bit of work and a tidy up.

I've just opened the Cargo Cult Trading Post a so hurry over and get your Cargo Cult T-shirts now!

Gnome

Gnome, originally uploaded by Jaqaroo.

A plaster gnome type thing, sitting on top of a gate post at the enterance to a local elementary school.

Cold Stone Creamaries

Cold Stone Creamaries, originally uploaded by Jaqaroo.

Chocolate ice cream from Cold Stone Creamaries in Roppongi Hills. Not bad at all.

Tokyo Sky

Tokyo Sky, originally uploaded by Jaqaroo.

A jet flies over Shinjuku, while on the ground I look up and take a photo of it.

Liverpool Chair in Dean & Deluca Tokyo

Liverpool Chair in Dean & Deluca Tokyo, originally uploaded by Jaqaroo.

Look at this. A chair all the way from Liverpool finds itself in a Dean & Deluca coffee shop deli in Marunouchi,Tokyo.
The secret life of furniture.

Clock & Blue Sky

Clock & Blue Sky, originally uploaded by Jaqaroo.

More blue sky. And with winter not so far away I can look forward to many more blue sky days - Tokyo winters are dry and clear, unlike England, where it's gray and wet most of the season.

We are almost into the second week of Novemeber and things are moving along: the new job is looking more manageable although still challenging.
I should not be thinking about what I might do after the six months, but I find myself day dreaming of elaborate travel plans.

Persimmon Signal

Persimmon Signal, originally uploaded by Jaqaroo.

I love it when the sky is blue. What I really want to do is is simply photograph the sky, without any subject in it all all, and then post a series of blue photo... but it's already been done... in a way - Derek Jarman.

The Phoenix and Drum

The Pheonix and Drum, originally uploaded by Jaqaroo.

The Phoenix and Drum sonds like a British pub name. I remember there was a number of pubs that started with The Phoenix and ....something.
I'm not sure if the metal bird on top of the drum is actually a phoenix. This was taken down our High Street at the weekend; some kind of small festival was about to take place.
It's nice to feel like a phoenix sometimes, don't you think? To rise from the perceived ashes of failure, to be born again. Life should be lived forwards.

iPod Nano

galleryimage011, originally uploaded by Jaqaroo.

This is now my number one object of desire. I want one!
My old iPod has been a good and faithful friend for the last couple of years, and continues to be one. Never let me down; always lifted my spirits when the pressures and stresses of the day would have crushed me.
One of the original, first generation, 10 gig iPods, he is getting a little on the heavy side these days. And of course I don't help by insisting on wearing those "Egg" headphones...but the sound man! The sound!
So recently I've been thinking it would be nice to have something really small. Something that would all fit in half a shirt pocket or less, and weigh nothing. There's a lot of them out there. The iPod Shuffle of course...I would like to stay to loyal to Apple. Then there's the new Sony Walkman stick, which looks very nnice, I have to admit: small, long battery time. And then a long list of other really small MP3 players.
But this morning I'm reading on the BBC about Apple's new mobile phone, and they mention in passing that Jobs also annouced the iPod Nano.
How far can these things go? I mean, what is going to be available 10 or even 5 years from now? Perhaps it will be like the mobile phones. In Japan they got smaller and smaller until they became like little toys and almost impractical to use. So then they got bigger again but with new features. So I think future iPods will come with cameras (still and video), video play back, GPS, you name it, plus capacity for a 50,000 songs. It's coming.

Peeandpoo

peeandpoo, originally uploaded by Jaqaroo.

Don't mess around with the Tokyo City Parks Department. They don't mince their words and they don't fudge it when it comes to calling a spade a spade and a trowel a trowel. If there is any peeing or pooing in the park they'll know about it and they will be all over you like...well, like something unplesant that you would rather not have all over you.
The bushes have eyes.
Later there is a sign which say,
"Parents, please do not let your child pee or poo in the park as dogs play and have their lunch on the grass".

Garamasala Chips

Garamasala, originally uploaded by Jaqaroo.

Came across these Garamasala flavoured chips in my local Mini Stop a few days ago. Nice packaging I think. The chips are small, triangular, thin cracker kind of things and have a liberal dusting of garamasala powder on them. I don't think it would be advisable to eat the whole bag (55g) at one sitting, even though at first you may not think the bag contains so many chips.
Life's a bit like that sometimes... don't you think? You think you can handle the spice, and at the time you can, and it all goes down quite nicely, very tasty, but then you can't get the taste out of your mouth, or out of your head for the rest of day. Beware the bright packaging of pop culture!

Last Call for Summer (min min min)

min min, originally uploaded by Jaqaroo.

Hot again today, a real August sorching Sunday. In the park we went to in the morning the cicadas were still calling, but not for much longer I think. The end of August is in sight and I always feel that September is autumn, at least the beginning of autumn, not matter how hot it reaches, and it can still reach pretty bloody high.
The last day of August is your last official day to have a crack at Fuji. I didn't go last week; a combination of doubtful weather and doubtful motivation and committment. The weather turned out fine and now I regret not going. But I have another chance next weekend, the last weekend of the official climbing season, although early September can be very good.
Next week is a regualar working week, which I am very happy about, last week I taught no classes and made no money. It may still be summer time, but without money the living can be far from easy. Let's Go!

Coming Soon to a Subduction Zone Near You!

raven2, originally uploaded by Jaqaroo.

Well, about an hour ago, at 11:45, we had a pretty strong earthquake. The epicentre was off the coast of Miyagi; the nearest city was Sendai, and it measured about 6.8.
Here in Tokyo things were swinging and shaking and it went on for quite a while.
I consider this our second warning in as many weeks. After the last earthquake (the biggest in Tokyo for 13 years no less) I decided it was definitly time for action and to get prepared. Here's the list of things to buy and things to do:
Water
Gas for the camping gas stove
Batteries for the flashlight
Candles
Food
Cash, in small denominations
Decide on what do, where to meet etc.
So far I haven't done anything... it's so easy to let yesterday's earthquake slip to the back of one's mind. And then again I have been reminded that under my feet, deep deep down there, several plates are moving, sliding, building up stresses and tensions that one day, perhaps tomorrow, perhaps next year, will give way and this whole city of cards will come tumbling down. And if that happens then it's a brand new game and priorities are suddenly turned on their head. What you took for granted one day will be swept away the next. The convenience store life style that so many in this city live in will be gone as quickly as the stock in the local 7-11. People will be lining up for 7 hours for a small bottle of water. Money will not mean as much as how much food and water you had stored before the earth moved.
The supermarkets are full of food right now. Now is the time to prepare... or get the hell out. The trouble is you can't really imagine that it will actually happen. It's seems like a story that everyone tells but that is just a story. Or perhaps you can believe it but what you think will happen is far from the reality of what is actually going to happen. On NHK 30 minutes ago they showed shop staff picking up the bottles that fallen of the shelves. Some people think that's what it will be like - just picking up a few fallen objects and then carrying on as before.

The ravens know more than they are willing to tell. They will all far away when the big one hits, laughing their feathers off and preparing for the feast.

Cats

Cats, originally uploaded by Jaqaroo.

Some little ceramic cats I found on a stall in Ueno park after visiting the zoo last week. Funny, the animals in the zoo had similar expressions on their faces.

Look Out Cleveland

Look Out Cleveland, originally uploaded by Jaqaroo.

A word here, a call there, a meeting here and there and the next thing you know the road has changed and you are headed in a new and very interesting direction. Although I have to say that though the mountains look spectacular, the way the figures raise so dramatically to what I was used to down in the valley, those peaks are not a little scary. But I know from experience that appearances can be deceptive, especially in the case of mountains. What looks so steep from the safety (and dullness) of the valley in reality maybe perfectly easy to scale. There is a foreshortening in our perception and that foreshortening can scare us unnecessarily.
Now I've been invited to the base of the mountain, I'm clipped in and I've been given the all clear to start my ascent. No doubt there will be the occasional falling stone, a tricky patch of ice or a difficult pitch but I'll deal with those as I encounter them.
The view should be pretty good from up there. And now if you'll excuse me I have to pack...
Which reminds me I'm seriously considering a Fuji climb next week. Looks like it'll have to be a solo climb, but that's OK, perhaps I need the space to do a little high altitude pondering.