August 27, 2012
Oh HELL No
Worst.
Possible.
Path.
Bye bye Big Easy
Possible.
Path.
Bye bye Big Easy
Despite the ensuing calamity, neither Katrina nor Rita were direct hits on New Orleans. In the hours after Katrina everyone was rejoicing that the city had dodged a bullet as the winds were a strong category 1 and the surge barely topped the leeves. Only after Biloxi and Pascegoula were being hit did the New Orleans levees break (I guess the local politicians had been spending their levee money on hookers and blow ). New Orleans was flooded, Biloxi and Pascegoula were razed.
Mississippi 2005: What a direct hit looks like.
Mississippi 2005: What a direct hit looks like.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
08:13 AM
| Comments (5)
| Add Comment
Post contains 119 words, total size 1 kb.
August 26, 2012
Sic Itur Ad Astra
Neil Armstrong
There is pressure to hold a state funeral for him. I think that is certainly appropriate as he is a greater hero and gentleman than many of the Presidents so honored. However, a more fitting way to honor him is to ensure that we become a space-faring civilization.
War hero, aviation pioneer, astronaut, and the first man to set foot on the moon, Armstrong was by all accounts a humble and decent man. He was also absolutely crucial to the Apollo programs success. Ace puts it succinctly.
Both Gemini 8 and Apollo 11 nearly ended in disaster, but Armstrong's cool head saved them both.
His death is a grim milestone....of the12 men who walked on the moon, one third are now dead.
No one, least of Armstrong, would say the Apollo program was a one man show. But at several key moments, its success or failure was on him
At each of those moments he delivered. He then spent 40+ years not tarnishing that legacy. What a loss but we were blessed to have had him
Both Gemini 8 and Apollo 11 nearly ended in disaster, but Armstrong's cool head saved them both.
His death is a grim milestone....of the12 men who walked on the moon, one third are now dead.
There is pressure to hold a state funeral for him. I think that is certainly appropriate as he is a greater hero and gentleman than many of the Presidents so honored. However, a more fitting way to honor him is to ensure that we become a space-faring civilization.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
05:13 PM
| Comments (2)
| Add Comment
Post contains 182 words, total size 2 kb.
Weird Mac Issue
I got home the other day and discovered that the trash on my iMac would not empty.
Additionally none of the 4 browsers would refrain from utterly locking up.
I tried to switch partitions but the computer told me that I had to wait until the trash was emptied.
This went on until last night when it occurred to me that most of the things in the trash were from an attached thumb drive I was trying to clear. I ejected the thumb drive and the trash emptied immediately.
So I tossed the thumb drive and now I'm back online.
Additionally none of the 4 browsers would refrain from utterly locking up.
I tried to switch partitions but the computer told me that I had to wait until the trash was emptied.
This went on until last night when it occurred to me that most of the things in the trash were from an attached thumb drive I was trying to clear. I ejected the thumb drive and the trash emptied immediately.
So I tossed the thumb drive and now I'm back online.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
02:38 PM
| Comments (2)
| Add Comment
Post contains 103 words, total size 1 kb.
Sendai and Kurihara
In the previous post, I mentioned the "Sendai fiasco".
I was originally going to head up to Hokkaido, but a series of delays meant I'd missed the last train to Aomori from whence one gets on the night train to Sapporo. I took the Shinkansen back to Fukushima and decided to get a hotel, but none were to be had. All the hotels were packed because of a festival or something. It was pouring rain so couldn't really take pictures and I got back on the last train to Sendai. I could not help but note that for a radioactive wasteland Fukushima sure looks busy.
.
Hotels were hard to come by in Sendai as well, I ended up spending 140 bucks because no single rooms were available. The next day I ambled back to the station.
I decided to head out to Kurihara and get some pictures of, the earthquake recovery, which I'm told is spectacular. Additionally nearby Matsushima is supposed to be quite scenic and Ishinomaki is the town where that beached whaling ship was turned into a museum.
Of course there is the matter of scale, and the fact that the local rail line was shut down a few years ago due to the improvement of the roads. There is a bus service however, so I took that.
I got off in Kurihara next to the town hall and started hoofing it to the next bus stop. One thing that interested me is how much this area reminds me of semi-rural parts of Virginia. There are lots of strip malls and stand alone stores with big parking lots.
Sticking to the areas around the train stations gives one a skewed view of the country.
Eventually, I got farther out into the countryside and followed the road towards Ishinomaki.
Coming to a fork in the road, I spied a sign that actually had the distance on it....24K.
"Oh"
Well 15 miles wasn't necessarily a deal breaker, especially since it was downhill, but I'd been hiking with determination for nearly 4 hours, so it was demoralizing. Furthermore, I needed to ensure I could secure transportation from there. Finally, I hadn't eaten all day and was becoming quite aware of being in the sun. I decided to find a place to eat and get my bearings. This turned out to be a noodle shop a bit down the street.
I ordered some ramen and asked for directions. I asked about nearby train stations and was told that there weren't any. I asked about bus stops and was told that there weren't any. This I found perplexing as I'd gotten off a bus to get there, so I pulled out my bus schedule and asked for assistance in finding the stops. The waitresses were incredulous, 'that bus stop was over 15 clicks up the mountain'....'Hey Mr. You're really sunburned!'
None of the bus-stops on the schedule was in Ishinomaki and all were farther than the one I had gotten off at. If I proceeded to Ishinomaki I'd be getting there only a little before dusk and then have to secure transportation out that might not be available, for one thing I'd have to hunt for train stations. I reluctantly decided to head back to the bus stop.
The return trip was longer, not only because it was uphill but also because my feet began to hurt mightily. It turned out that the insoles in my 3 week old hiking shoes were disintegrating, leaving my heels on spiky hard plastic things...this grates after a while.
This was bad.
There are NO size 11 and a half (wide) shoes in Japan, certainly none out there.
I hobbled back to the bus stop, and at the convenience store across the street I purchased a pint of Pocari's peculiar perspiration. I crossed the street, sat in the shade and rejoiced in my timing as the bus was due in mere moments. As I sat there I noted a bus pull up on the other side of the street.
The neuron smouldered.
I drank a swig of the drink.
The neuron fired.
"At bus stops the bus will stop on whichever side of the street it's going..that is the opposite side that it put you out on"
The bus pulled away...
Profanities were uttered.
There would be another bus...in 2 hours.
I ambled around the area and looked at this scenic little pond behind the convenience store. It evidently was a dug to get material for the road but was deepened made part of the drainage system and stocked with fish.
I went into the store twice more. There was a nice old lady there who finally asked what I was doing in the area. I told her I was waiting for a bus. She then revealed that this store had seats for people waiting for the bus...right across the room concealed behind the asparagus crates.
I was able to sit down next to a fan...for the last 20 minutes of my wait.
The bus arrived and, being on the right side of the street this time, I got on it and returned to Sendai Station. I'd planned to get a hotel and make good on the trip the next day, but, upon noticing that there was a bit of blood coming through my socks, I instead hopped on the bullet train and beat a hasty retreat to my maison near Ikebukarou via Utsunomiya and Omiya. That's when I realized the full gravity of the issue I was having with my shoes. I decided to wear 3 pairs of socks on my next forray, but I rested for a day , elevating my feet and giving my sunburned hide a respite. I went to the SKYTREE the next night.
I was originally going to head up to Hokkaido, but a series of delays meant I'd missed the last train to Aomori from whence one gets on the night train to Sapporo. I took the Shinkansen back to Fukushima and decided to get a hotel, but none were to be had. All the hotels were packed because of a festival or something. It was pouring rain so couldn't really take pictures and I got back on the last train to Sendai. I could not help but note that for a radioactive wasteland Fukushima sure looks busy.
.
Hotels were hard to come by in Sendai as well, I ended up spending 140 bucks because no single rooms were available. The next day I ambled back to the station.
Of course there is the matter of scale, and the fact that the local rail line was shut down a few years ago due to the improvement of the roads. There is a bus service however, so I took that.
I got off in Kurihara next to the town hall and started hoofing it to the next bus stop. One thing that interested me is how much this area reminds me of semi-rural parts of Virginia. There are lots of strip malls and stand alone stores with big parking lots.
Over here we have Manny Moe and Jack..In Japan it seems to be Laurel and Hardy.
Sticking to the areas around the train stations gives one a skewed view of the country.
Eventually, I got farther out into the countryside and followed the road towards Ishinomaki.
Coming to a fork in the road, I spied a sign that actually had the distance on it....24K.
"Oh"
Well 15 miles wasn't necessarily a deal breaker, especially since it was downhill, but I'd been hiking with determination for nearly 4 hours, so it was demoralizing. Furthermore, I needed to ensure I could secure transportation from there. Finally, I hadn't eaten all day and was becoming quite aware of being in the sun. I decided to find a place to eat and get my bearings. This turned out to be a noodle shop a bit down the street.
I ordered some ramen and asked for directions. I asked about nearby train stations and was told that there weren't any. I asked about bus stops and was told that there weren't any. This I found perplexing as I'd gotten off a bus to get there, so I pulled out my bus schedule and asked for assistance in finding the stops. The waitresses were incredulous, 'that bus stop was over 15 clicks up the mountain'....'Hey Mr. You're really sunburned!'
None of the bus-stops on the schedule was in Ishinomaki and all were farther than the one I had gotten off at. If I proceeded to Ishinomaki I'd be getting there only a little before dusk and then have to secure transportation out that might not be available, for one thing I'd have to hunt for train stations. I reluctantly decided to head back to the bus stop.
The return trip was longer, not only because it was uphill but also because my feet began to hurt mightily. It turned out that the insoles in my 3 week old hiking shoes were disintegrating, leaving my heels on spiky hard plastic things...this grates after a while.
This was bad.
There are NO size 11 and a half (wide) shoes in Japan, certainly none out there.
I hobbled back to the bus stop, and at the convenience store across the street I purchased a pint of Pocari's peculiar perspiration. I crossed the street, sat in the shade and rejoiced in my timing as the bus was due in mere moments. As I sat there I noted a bus pull up on the other side of the street.
The neuron smouldered.
I drank a swig of the drink.
The neuron fired.
"At bus stops the bus will stop on whichever side of the street it's going..that is the opposite side that it put you out on"
The bus pulled away...
Profanities were uttered.
There would be another bus...in 2 hours.
I ambled around the area and looked at this scenic little pond behind the convenience store. It evidently was a dug to get material for the road but was deepened made part of the drainage system and stocked with fish.
I went into the store twice more. There was a nice old lady there who finally asked what I was doing in the area. I told her I was waiting for a bus. She then revealed that this store had seats for people waiting for the bus...right across the room concealed behind the asparagus crates.
And I was all like " Why are there crates and crates of medicine for Aspergers!?"
I was able to sit down next to a fan...for the last 20 minutes of my wait.
The bus arrived and, being on the right side of the street this time, I got on it and returned to Sendai Station. I'd planned to get a hotel and make good on the trip the next day, but, upon noticing that there was a bit of blood coming through my socks, I instead hopped on the bullet train and beat a hasty retreat to my maison near Ikebukarou via Utsunomiya and Omiya. That's when I realized the full gravity of the issue I was having with my shoes. I decided to wear 3 pairs of socks on my next forray, but I rested for a day , elevating my feet and giving my sunburned hide a respite. I went to the SKYTREE the next night.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
08:18 AM
| No Comments
| Add Comment
Post contains 998 words, total size 7 kb.
SKYTREE by Day
Well, the next day I decided to head back to the Tokyo SKYTREE and see the view during daylight. SKYTREE opens at 08:00 so my initial plan was to be there at eight, but after getting up at six and going to the station it occoured to me that this would involve being on the Tokyo mass transit system during rush hour.
Ummm....no.
I left a bit after 8:30.
Although the Tobu Line runs the train to the Tokyo SKYTREE, the Tobu-Tojo Line is a spur line from Ikebukaro and does not connect to the rest of the Tobu network. Thus several transfers were involved.
It's important to note that the wondrous and magical JR Railpass does not work on the Tobu Line, (or the Tokyo Subway for that matter) so if one wants to go to see the SKYTREE one must actually pay to ride the train. The JR Yamanote line is railpass friendly and is generally the go-to transportation method for tourists in Tokyo as it circles the city and hits all the biggest train stations, so directions to the SKYTREE are best given from there. Take the Yamanote line to either Ueno or Nippori and transfer to the Keisei Line. Ueno is an awesome stop in its own right with the museums and park, but the transfer in Nippori is much easier as the JR and Keisei lines are right next to each other, whereas in Ueno they are separate stations about two blocks apart. Anyway, from Nippori, or Ueno, get on the Keisei main line and then get off at the Sekiya station. If you see a post office you are using the wrong exit, instead you should see a train station across the street (yes it is a street, not a bikepath, you can get run over so look both ways) handicapped access is on the other side around the block to your left. This is the Tobu Railways' Ushida Station. It's not Sekiya, which might be important to remember on the way back (derp).
Well, the next day I decided to head back to the Tokyo SKYTREE and see the view during daylight. SKYTREE opens at 08:00 so my initial plan was to be there at eight, but after getting up at six and going to the station it occoured to me that this would involve being on the Tokyo mass transit system during rush hour.
Ummm....no.
I left a bit after 8:30.
Although the Tobu Line runs the train to the Tokyo SKYTREE, the Tobu-Tojo Line is a spur line from Ikebukaro and does not connect to the rest of the Tobu network. Thus several transfers were involved.
It's important to note that the wondrous and magical JR Railpass does not work on the Tobu Line, (or the Tokyo Subway for that matter) so if one wants to go to see the SKYTREE one must actually pay to ride the train. The JR Yamanote line is railpass friendly and is generally the go-to transportation method for tourists in Tokyo as it circles the city and hits all the biggest train stations, so directions to the SKYTREE are best given from there. Take the Yamanote line to either Ueno or Nippori and transfer to the Keisei Line. Ueno is an awesome stop in its own right with the museums and park, but the transfer in Nippori is much easier as the JR and Keisei lines are right next to each other, whereas in Ueno they are separate stations about two blocks apart. Anyway, from Nippori, or Ueno, get on the Keisei main line and then get off at the Sekiya station. If you see a post office you are using the wrong exit, instead you should see a train station across the street (yes it is a street, not a bikepath, you can get run over so look both ways) handicapped access is on the other side around the block to your left. This is the Tobu Railways' Ushida Station. It's not Sekiya, which might be important to remember on the way back (derp).
Go through the underpass to the other side (or stay on that side if you used the handicapped access) and get on the train going to Asakusa. The second to last stop is the super-modern SKYTREE Station (also sometimes referred to by its old name Osihage).
Now you just have to climb up 4 floors to get in line.
Or not....
You see, during the daytime, even though the line is shorter one doesn't simply walk into Mordor, the line to SKYTREE. One does get in line. However, this is not the line to get into the tower but rather the line to get a time-stamped ticket that allows one to queue up 2-3 hours later to get into the line to get tickets so that one can get into the line to get into the tower.
The reason for this has nothing to do with flow control, it's so people suddenly have 2 to three hours to kill wandering around the super expensive shops under the SKYTREE.
I walked across the canal and got some fried chicken at a Lawsons.
My relatively early arrival was for naught. I got a ticket to get into line between 13:30 and 14:00...to START the 2 hour + line to the top. By the time I got up the haze had started rolling in.
I should have braved the pushers.
The view of Mt Fuji would be awesome if there weren't a thunderstorm over the mountain.
I should note that the glass floors are much more impressive by day.
By the end of this my feet were really hurting as my 3 week old shoes shoes had started to disintegrate during the Sendai fiasco over the weekend, so instead of walking the 6 miles to Ueno as had been my plan, I limped down to the train and went home, taking a rather spectacular detour due to the fact that I forgot that Sekiya Station is where you get off going to SKYTREE, but Ushida is where you get off going back.
Now you just have to climb up 4 floors to get in line.
Or not....
You see, during the daytime, even though the line is shorter one doesn't simply walk into Mordor, the line to SKYTREE. One does get in line. However, this is not the line to get into the tower but rather the line to get a time-stamped ticket that allows one to queue up 2-3 hours later to get into the line to get tickets so that one can get into the line to get into the tower.
The reason for this has nothing to do with flow control, it's so people suddenly have 2 to three hours to kill wandering around the super expensive shops under the SKYTREE.
I walked across the canal and got some fried chicken at a Lawsons.
My relatively early arrival was for naught. I got a ticket to get into line between 13:30 and 14:00...to START the 2 hour + line to the top. By the time I got up the haze had started rolling in.
The view of Mt Fuji would be awesome if there weren't a thunderstorm over the mountain.
By the end of this my feet were really hurting as my 3 week old shoes shoes had started to disintegrate during the Sendai fiasco over the weekend, so instead of walking the 6 miles to Ueno as had been my plan, I limped down to the train and went home, taking a rather spectacular detour due to the fact that I forgot that Sekiya Station is where you get off going to SKYTREE, but Ushida is where you get off going back.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
03:15 AM
| No Comments
| Add Comment
Post contains 682 words, total size 5 kb.
August 20, 2012
On observation deck of SkyTree.. MY GOD I CAN SEE FOREVER!
UPDATE: Well, I'm not sure why that posted 4 times from my Blackberry....It appears that reception at the TOKYO SKY TREE is 4 times as good as normal! (There...fixed...)
This is the best of a series of terrible pics. The pictures from the observation decks do not do justice to the view at night. I was looking at a train pass below and thought to myself "golly, that looks fake!"
Then I realized that Tsuburaya and the guys at Toho were GENIUSES!
I ordred ice crean at the sky tree cafe, it was rather pricey and is the only time I've ordered a dessert on this trip. However, it gave me a chance to sit by the window. The ice cream was soft serve vanilla over corn flakes. This was bizarre but it begs the question "Why has no one here thought of this!?"
The view from the top is truly awe inspiring. It's a far different effect than, say, the Empire State Building, because Sky Tree has no nearby peers, at night one can see as far as the big Ferris Wheel and out into the inland sea. The rivers with their tour barges are especially neat.
Note that I arrived at 10 minutes to 6 and got to the top at 8 pm...on a weeknight. The line for tickets was almost as impressive as the view.
No video that I took was any good but I did take this which flashes on one of the windows of the upper observation deck periodically.
That little Eiffel Tower looking thing in the background...that's Tokyo Tower.
I note a startling lack of MASER cannons around the facillity. Given the trouble the previous "highest tower in Tokyo" had with giant caterpillars, moths, pterodactyls, giant apes (both mechanical and organic) and sundry other assailants, I can only see this as a major oversight.
This is the best of a series of terrible pics. The pictures from the observation decks do not do justice to the view at night. I was looking at a train pass below and thought to myself "golly, that looks fake!"
Then I realized that Tsuburaya and the guys at Toho were GENIUSES!
I ordred ice crean at the sky tree cafe, it was rather pricey and is the only time I've ordered a dessert on this trip. However, it gave me a chance to sit by the window. The ice cream was soft serve vanilla over corn flakes. This was bizarre but it begs the question "Why has no one here thought of this!?"
The view from the top is truly awe inspiring. It's a far different effect than, say, the Empire State Building, because Sky Tree has no nearby peers, at night one can see as far as the big Ferris Wheel and out into the inland sea. The rivers with their tour barges are especially neat.
Note that I arrived at 10 minutes to 6 and got to the top at 8 pm...on a weeknight. The line for tickets was almost as impressive as the view.
No video that I took was any good but I did take this which flashes on one of the windows of the upper observation deck periodically.
That little Eiffel Tower looking thing in the background...that's Tokyo Tower.
I note a startling lack of MASER cannons around the facillity. Given the trouble the previous "highest tower in Tokyo" had with giant caterpillars, moths, pterodactyls, giant apes (both mechanical and organic) and sundry other assailants, I can only see this as a major oversight.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
05:42 AM
| Comments (5)
| Add Comment
Post contains 321 words, total size 2 kb.
August 16, 2012
Yeah, That TOTALLY Looks Like a Destroyer to Me
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
10:35 PM
| Comments (5)
| Add Comment
Post contains 9 words, total size 1 kb.
Oh Joy...
...oh wait. This isn't joy that I'm feeling...this is that other thing. It appears that Taliban forces have stormed and entered a Pakistani air-force base....but not just any base...
That...SUCKS!
This report is 18 hours old as I type this but at the time it was posted the battle was apparently ongoing.
Worryingly, the militants may have good reason to attack the base. W.araich says that the site is home of Pakistan's nascent drone program, and a Telegraph report from 2009 said the site was thought to house Pakistan's nuclear weapons
That...SUCKS!
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
02:56 PM
| No Comments
| Add Comment
Post contains 93 words, total size 1 kb.
August 11, 2012
Time to See What All the Fuss is About
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
09:30 AM
| Comments (6)
| Add Comment
Post contains 9 words, total size 1 kb.
Flummoxed
I've been drawing blanks in conversations here.
Basic stuff like expressing aspirations, have me utterly muddling.
Part of this may be that I'm more aware of this now and part of this is because I hadn't cracked a Japanese book since I dropped out of school in April. Still, basic first semester stuff has given me trouble, I was so bewildered by some katakana the other day I was momentarily afraid I'd had a stroke. This is why I was so inordinately pleased by the conversation with the lady at the retirement home. It wasn't any great feat, just very basic greetings and back and forth questions, but I didn't seem to bollox it.
Then this evening I went into a Nepalese restaurant and was utterly flummoxed by the waiters greeting.
He'd addressed me in English.
Basic stuff like expressing aspirations, have me utterly muddling.
Part of this may be that I'm more aware of this now and part of this is because I hadn't cracked a Japanese book since I dropped out of school in April. Still, basic first semester stuff has given me trouble, I was so bewildered by some katakana the other day I was momentarily afraid I'd had a stroke. This is why I was so inordinately pleased by the conversation with the lady at the retirement home. It wasn't any great feat, just very basic greetings and back and forth questions, but I didn't seem to bollox it.
Then this evening I went into a Nepalese restaurant and was utterly flummoxed by the waiters greeting.
He'd addressed me in English.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
09:08 AM
| No Comments
| Add Comment
Post contains 137 words, total size 1 kb.
Less Than Ghostly, But Still Quite Strange
I'd read all about how the town of Kiosato was an abandoned ghost town. I'd just missed it on my previous trip and this tasked me immensely. So I went down the Koumi Line again, from Sakuradai and got off in Kiyosato.
My first indication that a Japanese Detroit did not await me was the huge number of people that got off the train with me (who had got on at the previous station). However, most of them didn't linger...they got on buses and departed, no doubt for the many interesting tourist attractions that are around the town. This actually IS a working town....and it seems to be a major tourist area, but there are a LOT of abandoned businesses here.
Given its fate it would seem I was right...
Lots of abandoned buildings and a few businesses, some of which seem to be doing well, especially the souvenir shops near the train station and a sweets shop that has a very art deco design...and no scary EGLs with pointy things painted on the door...
The thing is that the town is quite picturesque...
...until you get up close and see that maybe half the buildings are abandoned.
One of the business models that seem to be thriving here....retirement homes.
The lady in the doorway asked me to come up and we had a friendly conversation in which I did not actually make a fool of myself....something of a first on this trip for anything beyond simple purchases.
It's not exactly a ghost town and there is a lot of activity around it, but its damned peculiar especially since the non abandoned bits are fully functional and pleasant. It's like Detroit without the blight, a very surreal experience.
(I understand that there is a much more fully abandoned area on the other side of the tracks near the highway. I could not go that far afield due in part to the rather ominous shift in tone the sky was taking)
I'd read all about how the town of Kiosato was an abandoned ghost town. I'd just missed it on my previous trip and this tasked me immensely. So I went down the Koumi Line again, from Sakuradai and got off in Kiyosato.
My first indication that a Japanese Detroit did not await me was the huge number of people that got off the train with me (who had got on at the previous station). However, most of them didn't linger...they got on buses and departed, no doubt for the many interesting tourist attractions that are around the town. This actually IS a working town....and it seems to be a major tourist area, but there are a LOT of abandoned businesses here.
The view from the station
Just outside the station was what appeared to be a maid cafe which specialized in sweets...I would have thought that this would have a very real marketing problem as maid cafe's seem to be mainly aimed at men, and sweets cafes are aimed primarily at women here in Japan. I gather that part of the problem is that the buses take people directly to their destinations now and the new highway (interprefectural?) allows it to be bypassed altogether.
Given its fate it would seem I was right...
But it still has chairs on the deck
Or perhaps their mascot scared everyone away...The thing is that the town is quite picturesque...
...until you get up close and see that maybe half the buildings are abandoned.
The lady in the doorway asked me to come up and we had a friendly conversation in which I did not actually make a fool of myself....something of a first on this trip for anything beyond simple purchases.
It's not exactly a ghost town and there is a lot of activity around it, but its damned peculiar especially since the non abandoned bits are fully functional and pleasant. It's like Detroit without the blight, a very surreal experience.
(I understand that there is a much more fully abandoned area on the other side of the tracks near the highway. I could not go that far afield due in part to the rather ominous shift in tone the sky was taking)
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
06:11 AM
| Comments (1)
| Add Comment
Post contains 435 words, total size 4 kb.
So I Asked Myself...
...was it still there?
When I arrived in Omiya the other day I noted that I was not far from Washinomya...less than 40minutes by train and I decided to pop in and see if the Lucky Star stuff was still in evidence.
To my surprise, this was in the station...(It had not been on my previous visit) so my initial impression was yes...
It's somewhat more subdued, only half the prayer tree has the Otakufied prayer boards and the big Konata flag outside the restaurant is gone, but it still seems to be an active and ongoing thing that has somewhat diversified. The two Hiragi sisters are now the official town mascots.
The normal side of the prayer tree.
Click here to see the other side.
Here is a short shakey-cam video that gives some idea of the scale of the place.
When I arrived in Omiya the other day I noted that I was not far from Washinomya...less than 40minutes by train and I decided to pop in and see if the Lucky Star stuff was still in evidence.
To my surprise, this was in the station...(It had not been on my previous visit) so my initial impression was yes...
The normal side of the prayer tree.
Here is a short shakey-cam video that gives some idea of the scale of the place.
The centuries old resturaunt interior is now less anime related but it does have autographs of the seiyu on the walls. It also has added a few chairs to cope with the increasing number of western visitors. It continues to serve traditional Japanese food for a surprisingly good price.
But now it's called the Hiragi twins shrimp tempura...650 yen.
But now it's called the Hiragi twins shrimp tempura...650 yen.
Actually the Washinomiya Shrine restaurant was about the best lunch I've had here thus far, and was a good part of the reason I went back. (I haven't even visited Akihabara yet this trip)
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
04:47 AM
| Comments (2)
| Add Comment
Post contains 239 words, total size 2 kb.
Comfort Food
Top to bottom for increasing levels of despair...
Top to bottom for increasing levels of despair...
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
03:39 AM
| Comments (4)
| Add Comment
Post contains 10 words, total size 1 kb.
I Have Regained E-Mail.
My E-mail is back up.
I only have 185 e-mails to slog through now.
It is raining which cut short my day trip...which was then lengthened by some sort of accident on the rail line to my house.
My blisters are about healed and the ankle, while twitchy, is better. I may brave the last day of Comiket tomorrow, I may just bumble about Tokyo. Depending on how my ankle is, I may be far afield indeed by Wednesday.
I only have 185 e-mails to slog through now.
It is raining which cut short my day trip...which was then lengthened by some sort of accident on the rail line to my house.
My blisters are about healed and the ankle, while twitchy, is better. I may brave the last day of Comiket tomorrow, I may just bumble about Tokyo. Depending on how my ankle is, I may be far afield indeed by Wednesday.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
03:35 AM
| No Comments
| Add Comment
Post contains 83 words, total size 1 kb.
Why Norfolk?
Word is that Mitt Romney is going to announce his veep pic in my home digs of Norfolk VA. This seems odd...
Of course, being politics, the rest of the post is below the fold...
Picture, unusually, is slightly related...
Of course, being politics, the rest of the post is below the fold...
Picture, unusually, is slightly related...
I'm sorry, what is the Virginia connection here?
more...
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
02:55 AM
| No Comments
| Add Comment
Post contains 365 words, total size 3 kb.
August 10, 2012
"I Try To Go Straight...But They Keep Dragging Me Back In"
So I'm looking for shrines and such and places that are of historical interest. JNTO, The Japanese National Tourism Organization, has a category for "Sacred Places"
This is the categories icon on their website...
This is the categories icon on their website...
Oy...
UPDATE: Actually, she's not a bad choice for that category's mascot all things considered.
But I still laughed.
UPDATE: Actually, she's not a bad choice for that category's mascot all things considered.
But I still laughed.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
08:04 AM
| Comments (3)
| Add Comment
Post contains 64 words, total size 1 kb.
I deleted them...
It was supposed to just be a day trip in anticipation of going south
today.
However, I missed a station and ended up way out towards ( but not readily accessible to) Nagoya. I schlepped about on trains, got off, hiked, had a grand old time while I got sunburned, got blood blisters on the bottoms of both feet the size of silver dollars, and re-injured my ankle, all of which would have been fine except that I deleted ALL my pictures and video from the camera.
Auugh...auugh I say.
Anyway, I turned around, got back on the train and went back to make good on at least some of the pics.
As expected, the herd of deer I'd filmed earlier did not return...and the lighting was bad on the return trip...still...
note the rocks holding down some of the roofs.
Much good food was had on the unexpectedly multiday trip and the AQA hotel chain is the bomb. I'm unsure what AQA stands for...I'm told by an unnamed source that its Anatidaenian Quacktacular Awesomness, but I have my doubts. The hotel has a Japanese bath, free breakfast and full laundry facilities and is one of the cheapest places I've stayed in in Japan. Also, the poached eggs were perfect.
The return trip was via bullet train to Omiya at which point it got circuitous again...this time almost on purpose, but that's another post.
In the meantime, I had so much fun I need to heal for a bit. This is a scientific indicator of a successful vacation.
However, I missed a station and ended up way out towards ( but not readily accessible to) Nagoya. I schlepped about on trains, got off, hiked, had a grand old time while I got sunburned, got blood blisters on the bottoms of both feet the size of silver dollars, and re-injured my ankle, all of which would have been fine except that I deleted ALL my pictures and video from the camera.
Auugh...auugh I say.
Anyway, I turned around, got back on the train and went back to make good on at least some of the pics.
As expected, the herd of deer I'd filmed earlier did not return...and the lighting was bad on the return trip...still...
note the rocks holding down some of the roofs.
Note the paving of the river..I assume it is more erosion control than flood control.
Aside from loosing the pics it was a fairly successful and quite pleasant trip.
Aside from loosing the pics it was a fairly successful and quite pleasant trip.
The return trip was via bullet train to Omiya at which point it got circuitous again...this time almost on purpose, but that's another post.
In the meantime, I had so much fun I need to heal for a bit. This is a scientific indicator of a successful vacation.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
03:21 AM
| No Comments
| Add Comment
Post contains 290 words, total size 2 kb.
August 06, 2012
SHAKEYS EXISTS!
OK, it exists in the strange fold in time-space that is Ikebukaro. It's just past the east exit of the station across from the Helllo Kitty store.
From 11:00-16:00 they have a pizza buffet, or as the Japanese call it,"Viking Style" (except at Shakeys, where they still call it a buffet...). Anyhoo...the pizza joint of our childhoods is still around...but like all things brought back from the dead it's warped and strange. You see the Japanese have some VERY strange ideas about what goes on pizzas. This is not actually a bad thing as there is a very wide selection.
The ambiance, however, is vintage Shakeys. Be advised that this place has American sized drinks. I ordered my first coke since arriving and, being used to the Japanese sizes I ordered a large..I received a bladder burster that would have given Mayor Bloomberg a conniption.
I'd seen Shakeys for the first time in 20 years or more when my friend BOB! took me to Japan in 2007. I never found it on subsequent trips and had assumed it had faded into oblivion here too. Today...I wasn't actually looking for it, I was just doing some shopping, as it poured down rain all day.
My ankle is much better and I'm taking it easy and studying Japanese the rest of the evening, as it is still rainy. It's supposed to clear up tomorrow and if my ankle has continued to improve I'll go much farther afield.
The ambiance, however, is vintage Shakeys. Be advised that this place has American sized drinks. I ordered my first coke since arriving and, being used to the Japanese sizes I ordered a large..I received a bladder burster that would have given Mayor Bloomberg a conniption.
I'd seen Shakeys for the first time in 20 years or more when my friend BOB! took me to Japan in 2007. I never found it on subsequent trips and had assumed it had faded into oblivion here too. Today...I wasn't actually looking for it, I was just doing some shopping, as it poured down rain all day.
My ankle is much better and I'm taking it easy and studying Japanese the rest of the evening, as it is still rainy. It's supposed to clear up tomorrow and if my ankle has continued to improve I'll go much farther afield.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
03:39 AM
| Comments (4)
| Add Comment
Post contains 247 words, total size 2 kb.
Day of Fire (Or Not)
Some years ago, when I visited Japan I arrived at my destination as a typhoon approached only to find its charred remains of the maison I had rented.
So you can understand my trepidation when I ambled from the coin laundry up to my current maison and saw this...
Oh dear...
That firetruck that passed me a few minutes earlier..it stopped in front of my apartment...
Oh dear oh dear...
Then other units arrived...this was getting worrisome.
A few minutes later one of the tenants came down..put on his shoes walked out and turned right around and took his shoes off ran into the building and emerged again.
I noted that the firefighter had taken off their boots before entering.
I was detecting a lack of urgency.
So..I walked in, switched into my 3" too short slippers and shuffled up the stairs to see my hallway blocked by 6 firemen and their female supervisor.
It turns out that the tenant next door to me had suffered a catastrophic failure of his door lock...and had been locked in for 3 days. He'd put a note under the door that morning...I'd thought it was a plea for quiet and made a note to look at it with my kanji dictionary after I got back.
Poor dude had to to go to the head real bad..so he called his mom...and mom called the fricking fire department.
Japanese locks are damned impressive. It took 40 minutes to get him out.
I was pleased as punch that there was no fire so I made a quick post about my computer woes and zipped out to catch the train. Later that aftternoon as I returned, I stopped at an Indian restaurant that was up a narrow staircase outside the station. I was impressed with how dimly lit and smoke filled it was. It was packed. This despite the dense smoke and lack of air conditioning. To me this indicated that the food must be damned good.
In fact, the restaurant was on fire...well, some of their nan bread had got away from them and ignited..I gather that the chef threw it into the tandoori oven, which in this place was an iron fire pit. This prevented the spread of flames but filled the whole place with smoke for about 15 minutes. No one left. I took this as a good sign.
The curry was indeed excellent BTW.
I've been taking it easy the last few days and not going on extended hikes because of this....
...which is actually much better than it was a few days ago. I hurt it trying desperately to make it to a plane that turned out to be 3 hours late. I'm on the mend but I haven't wanted to push it.
So you can understand my trepidation when I ambled from the coin laundry up to my current maison and saw this...
That firetruck that passed me a few minutes earlier..it stopped in front of my apartment...
Oh dear oh dear...
Then other units arrived...this was getting worrisome.
A few minutes later one of the tenants came down..put on his shoes walked out and turned right around and took his shoes off ran into the building and emerged again.
I noted that the firefighter had taken off their boots before entering.
I was detecting a lack of urgency.
So..I walked in, switched into my 3" too short slippers and shuffled up the stairs to see my hallway blocked by 6 firemen and their female supervisor.
It turns out that the tenant next door to me had suffered a catastrophic failure of his door lock...and had been locked in for 3 days. He'd put a note under the door that morning...I'd thought it was a plea for quiet and made a note to look at it with my kanji dictionary after I got back.
Poor dude had to to go to the head real bad..so he called his mom...and mom called the fricking fire department.
Japanese locks are damned impressive. It took 40 minutes to get him out.
I was pleased as punch that there was no fire so I made a quick post about my computer woes and zipped out to catch the train. Later that aftternoon as I returned, I stopped at an Indian restaurant that was up a narrow staircase outside the station. I was impressed with how dimly lit and smoke filled it was. It was packed. This despite the dense smoke and lack of air conditioning. To me this indicated that the food must be damned good.
In fact, the restaurant was on fire...well, some of their nan bread had got away from them and ignited..I gather that the chef threw it into the tandoori oven, which in this place was an iron fire pit. This prevented the spread of flames but filled the whole place with smoke for about 15 minutes. No one left. I took this as a good sign.
The curry was indeed excellent BTW.
I've been taking it easy the last few days and not going on extended hikes because of this....
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
03:16 AM
| No Comments
| Add Comment
Post contains 466 words, total size 3 kb.
7 Minutes of Terror
...had a happy ending.
Curiosity has landed on Mars.
Oh and by landed...I mean not impacted...that's an important distinction.
Oh...well then...
Curiosity has landed on Mars.
Oh and by landed...I mean not impacted...that's an important distinction.
Oh...well then...
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
02:30 AM
| No Comments
| Add Comment
Post contains 25 words, total size 1 kb.
<< Page 1 of 2 >>
95kb generated in CPU 0.0708, elapsed 0.4196 seconds.
78 queries taking 0.396 seconds, 438 records returned.
Powered by Minx 1.1.6c-pink.
78 queries taking 0.396 seconds, 438 records returned.
Powered by Minx 1.1.6c-pink.
