After The Festival

After The Festival, originally uploaded by Jaqaroo.

These three guys had been taking part in a festival in Shinjuku today. It was one of those carrying a Mikoshi, a portable shrine, festivals. If it's so hard why not just put the bloody things on wheels!

Built in Obsolescence

Built in Obsolescence, originally uploaded by Jaqaroo.

Went for a walk the other day and found this Play Station 2 dumped in an untended flower bed. There is a message here somewhere about the way the world is moving and I'm going to let you figure it out. Something to do with globalization, brands, the erosion of diversity, the dumbing down of culture and civilization, the tyrany of technology...

Yellow & Black

Yellow & Black, originally uploaded by Jaqaroo.

Looking a little like a bee, this is actually a level crossing near my apartment. It was repainted recently.
My old apartment, when I was still single, overlooked this pedestrian level crossing, and I could hear the "bong, bong, bong" chimes every 3 to 4 minutes until nearly 1:00 am, and sometimes during the night too. I got used to it after a few weeks of course and soon the trains and bonging didn't really bother me - I almost stopped noticing them. But why get used to it? Why not move to a better apartment without the noise and the rumble of trains?
In the end I did move and was glad I did although it's always uncomfortable moving, and slightly scary, but you know it's the right thing to do. Life is too short to put up with second best.

E

E, originally uploaded by Jaqaroo.

The times they are a changing... finally.
New job and jobs; goodbye to the old, hello to the new... the more things change the more they stay the same? We shall see.
This morning, Saturday morning, I was up at the crack of dawn... it was so early that I was up before my son! That's how early it was. I was teaching a new student, a new class, for a new company, and of course nothing was quite how I was told it would be or how I expected it would - just that it was different material, no tape player... usual stuff, no problem, happens all the time, do something else, joke about it, it ain't the end of the world or the class.
Then off to Waseda for some serious listening and grammar with people who had paid their own money to be told the difference between the Present Perfect and the Present Perfect Continuos... I have been using that grammar my whole life but recently I have decided I don't know enough... did you spot it?
So now I have just the one day off, until June hits and Select gently slides away to starboard and drifts towards the horizon. Not too far away though as I am still doing two classes for Them, but at least now I'm not on the same ship.

Recent Bees buzzing around my mind: voice recorders vs. mini MP3 players with voice recording... why? Because I want to be able to record every second of my entire waking day... don't ask why.
Reason 2.0 - the software that is finally gonna make John a big balloon in the Electronica and ambient music scene!

It's been a busy few weeks, and when I look back on them at the end of the year I will this as the turning point... where I'm heading now is a good question but I think we are afloat again and on a new heading... hoist the mainsail! Full steam ahead!

We Went Up A Mountain And Came Down A Hill

IMG_3017, originally uploaded by Jaqaroo.

Hiking in Chichibu last weekend with William. Lovely day and a good walk.
The beard and moustache also had a lovely day, and in fact were so taken with the mountains and the sheer nature of it all that they decided to stay! I'm think Golden Week might be the next best growing season.