.....aaaarrgghhh me hearties....

EVERY YEAR I get more and more stoked that my birthday is indeed, International-Talk-Like-A Pirate-Day .

Here's a link kindly provided by Richard (aaargh, there be gold in it me bucanneer chum) for those needing a little help.

Now go outside and see how many men you can fit on a dead mans chest.

Scurvy Knave.

b.

...i love it when a plan comes together...

So we recently bade a fond farewell to a Mr. S Turner and a Dr and Mr Reeve. Their respective, overlapping visits were a swell time that included singularly too many deep fried squid legs, as well as a disturbing trend towards the consumption of vast amounts of french fries covered in cheese, bacon and mayonnaise. (Mr Archbold was mentioned in dispatches.)

We managed to fit in Kyoto, Hiroshima, Miyajima, a Beer Garden extravaganza, smatterings of raw horse, some Playstation madness, some swell-a-rific beer-y good times, and an awful lot of good old fashioned nattering amongst what was a tightly packed schedule.

It is always so much fun to have folk come and visit and we have been very lucky in that most of greater Auckland, not to mention some of outlying Christchurch has slept on our couch and eaten dried squid on our floor over the past 4 years. It means alot and we thank you all.

Before that I found myself winging my way to sunny NZ for work and was joined for a weekend by the lovely Tom "Welcome Back Kotter" Symons and the ever radiant Kerryn "Vigil" Moses. Managed to catch up with folk in the Auckland town in a seedy bar for a few hours and to be frank, that was about enough.

Since we bade farewell to Mssr. Turner on Friday, we have been catching up on much needed sleep and, oh yes, detained for two hours by undercover police officers at a nightclub at 2 in the morn. Not for being foreign mind, just for being a little less Japanese than perhaps they would wish (sigh). The assembled foreigners - shoved into a corner by the 5.0. managed to belt out a reasonable version of Kumbaya (sp?), but I think the significance of it was lost on the poor chaps with their burgeoning clipboards.

Big news in the last 24 hours is the superbly orchestrated known-to-everyone-but-Nic arrival of Darren "I Go To Kindy" Ede from sunny London Towne. It would seem my wife still has a mouth like a sailor when surprised late in the evening and as such I will be drafting letters of apology to our neighbours later this afternoon.

On a sad note, I was a little bummed to hear about the passing of Mr Brock. I have whiled away many hours in front of the mighty, mighty Bathurst 1000 with nothing but a large crate of beer and good friends to keep off the chill, and he will be sadly missed. I am reminded of a newspaper clipping I carry in my wallet to this day about an incident at Bathurst whereby some young hooligan (no doubt) broke into Peter Perfects car and scarpered with his laptop. It was later found, back on the seat from whence it was pilfered with a note upon which was simply scrawled...

"Sorry Brocky"

I reckon that's brilliant.

Hope you are all mouy (sp?) bien. In fact I hope you are all super bien.

Tata.

b.

...woooohooooo!!!!!!!!!...

what better way to celebrate the end of the rainy season......than with more rain?

but this time folks, its worth your while...

thunder!!
lightning!!
wooohooo!!

we've had lightning and thunder continuously for the last two hours. now the rain is here and the fun continues!!

this is the real deal folks.

fork lightning all over the place, rolling thunder that shakes the house and sets off car alarms.

wooooooooooooooohoooooooooooooo!

i love this time of year.

out.

...and STILL no sleep...

Right-o.
So not that much has been going on here in sunny Japan as of late so I thought I'd enlighten you to another reason why I'm sleepy...

The Damnable Frogs:

We live in the city, although through some quirks of the Japanese Agricultural Bureuacracy, we have a rice paddy over the fence. It's pretty big. Generally it's quite a lot of fun having it there. I say a cheery hello to the ANCIENT guys who look after it when they are planting, harvesting and tending, and it's a nice reminder of the passing of the seasons.

However.

With rice paddies and spring, come frogs.

And they just don't shut up.

And as it's hot at night now (like mid-high 20's all night) we sleep with the screen doors open.

Generally it goes like this:

Sun goes down.

We go to bed.

Frogs go:
RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-
RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-
RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-
RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH

All.

Night.

Long.

Except for random times when they all stop in an instant. Then it is blissful, pure, golden, tantalising silence.

Until one of the little bastards goes...

RAH?

And all his mates go...

RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-
RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-
RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-
RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-
RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH

So thats pretty crap.

Tooroo.

...sleepy...

So I'm pretty sleepy this morning...

Reason Why I'm Pretty Sleepy This Morning 1:

That Bastard On His Bike:

So it's starting to warm up here in Japan land. Its over 20 degrees at night so we sleep with the doors open. Not so bad. Quiet street and all that. Until about 3 o'clock this morning when one of the circular delivery chaps delivers (as he does) his circulars by moonlight....

...on a motorbike...
...with a muffler problem....
...and squeaky brakes....
...and a squeaky kickstand...
...with a cold...

So we hear as he turns the corner into our street....
...squeaks to a halt outside the first house...
...kicks down his squeaky kick stand...
...coughs...
...hoicks...
(presumably delivers a circular)
...gets on his bike...
...kicks up the squeaky kick stand...
...revs the engine...
...kicks it into gear and tears 5 metres up the road to the next house, whereby he...

...squeaks to a halt outside the second house...
...kicks down his squeaky kick stand...
...coughs...
...hoicks...
(presumably delivers a circular)
...gets on his bike...
...kicks up the squeaky kick stand...
...revs the engine...
...kicks it into gear and tears 5 metres up the road to the next house whereby he...

...you get the idea...

It continued like this all the way up our street until he got to our house whereby he decided to really outdo himself.

...etc...
...etc...
...etc...
...coughs...
...hoicks...
...sniffs...
...coughs...
...hoicks...
...runs up stairs...
...trips...
...falls...
...swears...
(definately delivers circular)
...HOPS DOWN STAIRS ONE AT A TIME HAVING PRESUMABLY INJURED HIMSELF BY TRIPPING UP THEM SECONDS BEFORE...
...swears at every step...
...etc...
...etc...
...etc...

Reason Why I'm Pretty Sleepy This Morning 2:

Enormous Bloody Earthquake At 5:01 This Morning:

This was probably one of the biggest earthquakes I have ever been in. It started as a low rumbling that went on for a while then suddenly kicked into quite the rolling, shaking mess. It was cool fun. Turns out it was centered a couple of hundred kms away and 140 kms deep, but it was most severe right here in sunny Hiroshima. Just on 5 on the Japanese scale. Rolly and jumpy, but no real damage.
The news reports are the best following a quake like this. Crack teams of reporters are sent out immediately to find as much gore and horror as they can. Luckily in this instance there was none. Which leaves the reporters in quite a quandry. they KNOW people will be tuning in to get the reports of the earthquake and see if there is a tidal wave alert, but the also KNOW that not really all that much happened. Which leads to excellent interviews like the ones this morning:

Excited TV News Reporter Talking Exclusively To EyeWitness:
"So! The Earthquake! Lucky to be alive-aaah! Tell us all about it-aaaah!!

Exclusive EyeWitness:
"The ground shook for a bit and then it stopped"

Excited TV News Reporter Talking Exclusively to EyeWitness:
"You must have been terrified! So close to death-aah!!"

Exclusive EyeWitness:
"Eh? Not really. The ground did shake a bit. But then it stopped"

Or the guy that ran to the train station to hear about any carnage on the rails...

Excited TV Reporter Talking to Rail Spokesperson:
"So-aaah. Any horrible train wrecks!"

Rail Spokesperson:
"No. The ground shook for a bit and then it stopped. All our emergency systems worked and we were back on schedule within minutes"

Excited TV Reporter Talking to Rail Spokesperson:
"Commuter Chaos! Underfunding? Employee dissatisfaction? Outmoded training and management styles?"

Rail Spokesperson:
"No. The ground shook for a bit and then it stopped. We were back on schedule within minutes"

Excited TV Reporter:
"Obviously still shaken from his near death ordeal...Back to you in the studio"

Teeheehee. So thats the talk of the town at present. We're OK. Things are good. Hope all is well.
Yours.
Sleepy Berin.

...seoul...sole...soul...

We went to Seoul recently. It was fun. And only an hour away. Here's some snaps...


We stayed at the W Hotel Seoul, which was nifty, swell and terrific rolled into one handy BONKERS little package. This is the jacuzzi in our room overlooking the river. Nic refused to point blank to call me Mr Bond. Which hurt a little.


This is me plotting my Complete World Domination (CWD), as well as promising myself to be on the lookout for Those Damned Pesky Kids (TDPK) and reminding myself NOT to reveal all of my Dastardly Plans (DP) to them by way of gloating while they are in some sort of Completely Implausible And Easy To Escape From Death Contraption(CIAETEFDC). All in the hotel bar. Veeery convenient.


This was the pool. Also bonkers.


Oh. And I met Spidey. He is buff with a capital "B". So he was happy to meet a like-spirit in myself. He also always has time for a "Look Both Ways When Crossing The Street Kids" Thumbs Up. What a guy...


'nuff said


...cotton. Acres and acres of cotton. We went to an entire department store of fabric. This was the basement. IT WAS ALL COTTON. In the classic wall-to-ceiling-city-block-sized-fire-trap layout. The next floor was buttons....ALL BUTTONS...and so on. Nic went a little feral and threatened to "cut me" when I suggested that 4 hours on the 4th floor (BEADS...ALL BEADS) was enough. The security guards helped me get the QuikUnpick out of her deathlike grip.


We went to the DMZ. About an hour and a half from Seoul City. Thats North Korea straight ahead and the blue buildings are half in the North and half in the South, the concrete line you can see between the two is the border. It was a strange place to be.


These guys were bitchin'.
Technically I'm standing in North Korea here.
Through that doorway behind me I could hear all the fun of the Kim Jong Il Appreciation Society. All I had for protection was this cat. Check out the Shiny Helmet that I can only guess says "STEP TO ME. I WILL KICK YOUR COMMIE ASS" in Korean on the front.
These guys were everywhere - they all stood like this - rock solid to attention the whole time we were there. The kicker for me was that they all kept their fists clenched THE WHOLE TIME as if barely holding back their pinko-commie-kicking-tae-kwon-do-skillz. Then there was the Ray-Bans, the GOLD raybans. I gave this guy a hug and told him he could be my wingman ANYTIME...


Here's another look. This guys right foot is in South Korea and his left foot is in the North. Seriously, the Ray Bans? Brilliant.


The tallest flagpole in the world.
160 Meters tall and the flag weighs 270 odd kilos. They have to whip it down as soon as rain threatens 'cos it'll bring the whole thing down if the flag gets too wet.(...)
Charm, adds a bit of charm.
Thats North Korea over there - looks a little.....bleak. Note how the trees are all gone from their side of the fence. I was informed very gravely by a Japanese chap on my return that the North Koreans cut all the trees down because they "...hate nature...". He refused to accept that it might be because they are "...bloody freezing..."
Still.
Bloody big flag that...


...thats a lot of cassette tapes. I felt pretty old looking at these. I haven't seen this many tapes since I don't know when...and so neatly stacked!!


This is Nic at the biggest BBQ Restaurant in the world - seats 1600 people. That's a lot of beefy goodness to be cooked over charcoal at your table.
Still.
We managed.
Mmmmm. Beefy goodness....


Continuing the food theme, this is Nic with the Pancake From Beyond. It's got sugar and cinnamon folded into a little joey pouch inside it, then it's deep fried to all buggery. Mmmmmm. Deep Fried Goodness...


But this, ladies and gentlemen, this one took the cake....
THIS is the food of the future.
THIS will take us to Mars and back.
Soylent Green isn't people you drooling-right-wing-gun-nut-freak! Soylent Green is A-HOT-DOG-ON-STICK-WITH-THE-CHIPS-ALREADY-ATTACHED!!!!!!!
(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
I don't know if you can tell from the photo, but I am actually crying a tear of joy over the triumph of the human spirit here.
Would you look at this!!!
The chips!!
They're ALREADY attached!!!
They are FRIED into place!!!!!
Unbeleivable.
Richard - you were mentioned in dispatches.
Truly a life changing discovery.
I can't go on...


Close-Up...
THE CHIPS ARE FRIED IN PLACE FOR PETES SAKE!!!!



There's a lot of Kimchi in Korea.
And it's bloody good. This was at one of the main markets in Seoul. Where we saw a guy skinning a pig in a alleyway. Thats what I'm after in a market. Pig skinning. And hots dogs with chips fried into them (did I mention those?)


Again at the market. Ready to eat Pigs Trotters that look like something out of "A Very Dahmer Christmas"
Mmmm. Pork.


Me and the tank that stopped that Nazi Bastard. The mighty, mighty T-34.
For some reason there was a whole bunch of Soviet hardware lying about the place...nice tank, as far as they go...


These guys were a hell of a funny. We saw them at the War Memorial Museum - they were Korean Army Recruits on a field trip - presumably to take the piss out of their forebears - check out their poses vs. those of the statue behind them...

So yeah. Seoul was good fun. Get along in there.
Not much happening at present. Watching the appreciation of the Yen vs. the depreciation of the kiwi dollar with much glee and hand rubbing.

Hope all is well hither and yon.

Tooroo.
B.

...this. oh...and that...

We got back from a week in Seoul recently. Bloody good fun it was too. I'll post some piccies as soon as our sick computer returns from the doctors. In the meantime, some this, and some that.

NEW CAR:
We took our car in to get its bi-annual shaken check-up recently - it's like a warrent of fitness and costs NZ$1000 JUST TO TAKE THE TEST. Anything that is deemed wrong during the test must then be fixed. Ever wonder why there are so many used Japanese cars in NZ?? They are, by and large, ones that have been traded in after these damnable tests became too expensive.
Anyway, we had bought the car 3 years ago for 400,000 yen (and, admittedly put 50,000kms on it in that time) so when the car-chap came back from doing the pre-test lookover shaking his head and laughing, we knew we were in trouble.

Long story short: 400,000 yen to fix the car

And so it was that we decided to dump it and get a new one (keep an eye out for it in NZ). After asking around hither and yon, it was actually a car dealer friend of a friend in Gifu, where we used to live, that sorted us out a replacement for our 1995 Black Mitsubishi RVR Sports Gear.....a 1996 Black Mitsubishi RVR Sports Gear...(although the new one is a turbo - woohoo!)

So it was that, briefly, we owned two cars that were essentially exactly the same. Arch suggested we take them head-to-head, but my Gran Turismo skills(z) far outweigh Nics and so it just wasn't worth it.

All excited we were, traipsing back up to Gifu on the Bullet train to get our new car....filled out the endless paperwork....jumped in.....

...and it was just the same as the old one....

...bugger. Really did want some new buttons and dials and the like but alas. It was identical. Still, goes like a cut cat and is in good nick, so we remain happy.

FIRST FLOOR (DAMMIT):
So every year everyone in the City Hall were I work starts to get nervous around the end of March. This is because, in the interests of broadening everyones abilities and avoiding (shudder) s-p-e-c-i-a-l-i-s-a-t-i-o-n, people are, more or less randomly, flung hither and yon about the place. That is, someone who used to be working in a Community Center is suddenly working in the Statistics Division, the Tax guy finds himself in the Sewerage and Wastewater Office and the poor woman that ran the Library now works in the Municipal Housing Section.
As such, the first 3 months or so involve an awful lot of:

"...what's my extension number again..."
"...ummmm...don't know, I'll call my predecessor..."
"...who are you?"
"...woops, predecessor's busy talking with their predecessor..."
"...where the hell is the coffee machine..."
"...which is the best toilet to use around here..."
"...no really, who the hell are you?"

...and the like. I think it's funny as hell. Luckily my job just ticks over, although this year I have been moved from the Planning and Coordination Division, to the Civic Activities Division.

HOWEVER:
I have been moved from the comfortable confines of the 4th floor to the 1st floor, where every Tom, Dick and Suzuki-san comes to sort out whatever needs sorting. So, yeah, just imagine rows upon endless rows of desks bathed in flourescent lighting....and there I am....
It's actually working out OK, have been called on to do heaps more translation stuff for random foreigners at the Tax desk and the like, so thats super.

Righto.
Dashing back to work.
Tata.
B.

...yeah...fun...

So I really like my job.

Last Friday I gave a speech at Miyajima island, which became part of our city last November. Following it, at the obligatory "have-a-nice-cup-of-tea-and-a-natter" session attended by some of the town elders they regaled me with tales of Miyajima past.

In particular they informed me that the cigarettes and tobacco given to them by New Zealand occupying forces after the war, was....

"The best tobacco I have ever had..."

This was greeted by furious agreement, much nodding of the head and a round of "yep", "delicious" and "mmmmm" by the assembled folk. Then, to a one the five elderly chaps present all mimicked the PERFECT Roll-Your-Own style roll-lick-roll-pinch. It bought a tear to my eye.

What was most interesting was, after extrapolating their ages it became obvious that some of the Kiwis stationed here with J-Force after the war were in fact encouraging smoking in minors. But still, never let it be said they didn't appreciate it.

In other work related news, I just had a chap come to the office and try and convince me for 40 minutes that 9/11 was faked with radio controlled aircraft. One theory to be sure, but made all the more vague and unintelligable as he INSISTED on speaking in English and, rather unfortunately, had a commanding grasp of only about 5 English words (not including, interestingly, "Nine", "Eleven" or "Aircraft" - although in all fairness when someone sticks both arms out, stands up, walks a figure eight and goes "brrrrrrrrrrrrrr" in a crowded office, you get the picture pretty quick.)

No one knows where he came from, and with full respect to my collegues, no-one tried to intervene. They were more than happy to sit there and let me take one for the team.

And bloody good on them too.

As I said, he insisted he speak in English and anytime I tried to enquire about the finer points of his story in Japanese, he would stare at me, raise his fingers to his lips and say...

"...Radio Controlled..."

After 40 rollicking minutes of perfecting my 1000 yard stare he pulled out a pocket radio mid sentence, and, locking eyes with me, put the headphones in and strolled out of my life.

I will miss him.

...cos sometimes you just need to go "aaaaaaw"...

now in fantastic "link-o-vision"

cuteoverload...

odd...

A phone call came through to the office the other day, and as I fumbled for the phone, it was answered by someone else. Her cheery salutations were cut short and a fairly "furrowed" expression appeared on her brow. She explained calmly and politely that unfortunately the section chief wasn't here and no, neither was the chairperson. She continued to do this several times. Following the conversation she described it as going a little something like this:

Her: "Hello, Pla...."
Caller: "Gimme the Section Chief"
Her: "Sorry, he's not here..."
Caller: "Gimme the Section Chief"
Her: "Sorry, he's not here..."
Caller: "Gimme the Section Chief"
Her: "Sorry, he's not here..."
Caller: Gimme the Section Chief"
Her: "Sorry, he's not here..."
Caller: "Gimme the #$%'% Section Chief"
Her: "Sorry, he's not here..."
Caller: Gimme the #$%'% Section Chief"
Her: "Sorry, he's not here..."
Caller "Alright, Gimme the #$%'% Chairperson"
Her: "Sorry, he's not here"

This went on for a while.
When she had hung up I asked her who it had been.
Calm as a summer breeze she looked up and replied:

"Oh. An extortionist."

Turns out they get about 3 or 4 calls a year.

Odd.

London for Christmas 2005-2006: The Piccies

Chips and some sort of petro-chemical by-product (Salad Cream?) - those wacky poms and their heart disease...


We dialled 666 and an upside down police man appeared!
(with special thanks to Marg and Bill Sewell for the "Big Book of 1000 Great Jokes", Xmas 1980)
Hell of a blue-steel by Darren though too just quietly. Its like he's chiselled. Out of rock.


Stern, but exuding a certain Regal-ness in the green.
We were going to have Xmas tea at Kensington with her and Phil, but she burnt the Turkey after popping out to the balcony for a fag.
So we ordered pizza instead.


Afternoon Tea at Claridges.
Quite....English.
Good scones. I bucked the trend by having a Chinese tea that is only picked on two days a year, at dawn. Good fun and chock full of faff.
Special thanks to our resident pom Polly for hooking us up with the culcha.


Rudolph Hess' crashed plane.
The actual one.
At the Imperial War Museum.
BONKERS.


Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese.
You'll note it says RE-built 1667.
Oh yes. Been around the block a few times that girl.
Coal Fires. Fine Company. Big Glasses. Good Beer. Yum.


New Years Eve - No Hat, No Dancin`.
Bloody Good fun.
We met a guy that looks like Arch who makes a living selling cheese. His chum, who looks a lot like Mr Michael Weight, spent the whole evening with an apple and a bow and arrow trying to convince people to "just give it a bloody go".


New Years Eve again.
Free Tube using at 5 in the AM.
Still fresh as daisies.


My Pwincess at the Tower of London.
Check out the bloody package on the suit of armour though!!
Who gets THAT excited about lugging around half a tonne of sheet steel?
The bloody Poms.
That's who.
Seriously. Wouldn't that make it MORE of a target?


Tower Bridge smooch.
You learn pretty quick around the Poms not to call this one London Bridge. It brings on much rolling of eyes and gnashing of teeth, and not a little "tut-tut"-ing.


Arch, Nic and Lamb.
Mmmmm.
Lamb.
Berin came back a Fatty.
A Fatty McPatty.


Blurry Nic from the top of St. Paul's Cathedral.
Looking out over the wobbly Millenium Bridge and the Tate Modern and the mighty, mighty Thames (brown though). St Paul's was a big highlight. We went there for Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, which was very moving (even for a heathen such as myself), and then back a few days later in fully fledged "Tourist Mode". My Fear-Of-Heights-Induced fingernail marks are still on the stonework at this uppermost balcony.


Big Ben....Not so big.
More of a medium/fair-to-middling Ben (oh for gods sake I KNOW it's the bell they're talking about...but still....not so big.) I felt lied to. This was that time my face was made of play-doh too.

So there you go.

Ye Olde London Towne.

Two greasy, lamb-jus-stained, Yorkshire-pudding-grabbing, warm-hand-pulled-ale-swilling, grumbling-about-the-weather, Hampstead-One-Titsworth-Upon-Buggery-One, where -in-the-hell-did-I-put-that-Empire, double-Gloucester-cream, Essex-Sussex-Westhamptonsheathshire pudgy thumbs up from this punter.

Bloody good fun.

Great thanks to; the Richard Archbold, the Smiths, their combined flat and it's god-sent central heating, the Weights, their bonkers cat, the Ede, that Polly girl, her extended lot, that Jess lady, the Simki, that Jones chap and the meat and cheese counters at Harrods (I openly wept. Sobbed. Lamented.)

Good one.

Toodle Pip.

Berin.

Oh. And Happy New Year.

yeee-ouch

root canal = not bunches of fun

--end of transmission--

Virgin GALACTIC people...

I **love** the fact that there are some multi-ba-squillia-jilliia-naires out there that still remember what its like to dream like a child...

"I like space...SURELY people want to go there...NASAs too busy being the NSA's donkey boy...bugger it, I`m going to make a Spaceport..."
- Richard Branson (not so long ago)

I vote Richard Branson to be President of the World.

winter-y

More snow this morning, woohoo! The last lot has all melted, but I walked to work in an steadily increasing flurry storm, again with a dopey grin on my face. It's pretty fun.
Just a short post today, mainly to share with you somewhat of a miracle I have just witnessed in the bathrooms here at work...
I strolled in to spend a penny and was stopped dead in my tracks by a guy I will be now referring to solely as "the multi-tasker" or maybe "weirdo"...

There he was, carefree, happy as you please, using the urinal, talking on his cellphone AND.........

.......brushing his teeth.

Thats dedication.
Thats devotion.
Thats turning the night time into the day.

Toodlepip.

wOot!!!

Morning all,
From across the mighty, mighty Pacific I greet you one and all.
I am grinning like a tool.
Two reasons - The Pixies and Snow.
Thats right.

Grinny Reason #1:

The Pixies.
We went and saw them last night at a 10th floor 500 person club in downtown Hiroshima. The place was tiny, the Cosmic Wheels have played bigger clubs for gods sake (especially when I was managing them so expertly).
Nic said not only did she have tears in her eyes when it all kicked off, but that it was even better than the Jimmy Barnes concert at the Palmerston North Rainbow Stadium!!
(I kept trying to get this across to the band by yelling "Jimmy Barnes bad! Pixies good!" but got threatened by the Hiroshima Australian Consulate Representative for "defacing a national icon". Go figure.)
Golly.
But those Pixies eh? It was about the Rock n' Rolly-est show I have ever been to. There was rock and there was roll by the bloody handful. Go on they said, fill yer boots up.
And we did.
Some observations-
- Francis is a very very big man who can growl with the best of them. He also has a lovely smile.
- Kim was smoking heaps of cigarettes and I thought that she was cool...She also smiles ALOT. And she has an odd glazed look in her eye...ALOT.
- Joey (also known as "the other guitar playing guy") looks nervous and dare I say it..."shifty". But it would seem that he can play a guitar like he is ringing a bell.
- Drummer guy, like all drummer guys, just looked sort of manic. He also bashed hell out of the "skins".
It was BONKERS.
It was CRAZY BONKERS.
It was, as they say, "Bitchin'"
Crikey it was good.
As I said, the club was teeny tiny (a third, MAYBE the size of the Kings Arms??) and we were in the second row. We could have reached out and touched Francis' prodigious belly if that wasn't so icky.
Interesting way of getting in too...
All of the tickets are individually numbered depending on when you bought them after they went on sale. Nic and I were the 118th and 119th people to buy tickets. As such we had the 118th and 119th places in line. Thats right. In line. The club is on the 10th floor of a department store (?) (which means that after the show is over and you sweatily, stinkingly, grinningly, deleriously stroll out of the club and down the stairs, you are greeted by a wave of Japanese late night shoppers, the harsh glow of flourescent lighting, and christmas carol "Muzak" as you walk passed stores called "Happy Shine" and "Go-Go Fine Land")

Anyway - the line...

So. 10th floor. Everyone has to line up going down the emergency exit stairs, in ticket number order and that is the order you are allowed in. Sort of weird, but sort of good, but mostly weird.

So yeah. The Pixies. Tick that off the list. You guys have really got to go. They were ace.

Grinny Reason #2:

Snow

So we got home last night and it was cold, but not cold, cold. And we wandered off to beddie-bies. We tried to engage each other in polite conversation, but our ear drums seemed to have been turned into some sort of hideous paste by Mr. Frank Black.

Anywhoo. Wake up this morning, do my same rant about the distinct lack of insulation in Japanese houses, whip open the curtians and....(excuse the crap photo from my crap phone)

Thats right. 10-12 cms of snow overnight. Woohoo!! I freaking LOVE it when it snows. There's that crazy snowy old light, everything is a little muffled (might just be permanent hearing loss - see above post re: bitchin' Pixies concert), the snow squeaks under your feet. Yeah. Snow totally rules.

Thats our car covered with snow.

Mmmm. Snow.

As if that wasn't enough, we had a phone call last night from none other than Jarrod B. Ward Esq. all the way from sunny Kansas city.

He sounds very, very well indeed and that, amongst other things, warms the cockles of my heart.

I wish it would warm my toes though.

Turns out my shoes aren't what would be termed "waterproof" and seeing as I left home extra early this morning to turn my 10 minute walk to work into a 40 minute frolick in the snow, I now have icy cold toes. I may dip them in filter coffee. Hmmm.

So there you go people. I am one happy little camper. Things are super well, and we are looking forward to winging our way to the UK for Xmas in 3 or so short weeks.

Be well all.

Lots of love,

Berin and Nic.

...and he lived to tell the tale...

morning all,
no posts recently. busy don't you know.

BUT!!

last night we went out for work drinks. yum. we went to a restaurant that specializes in fugu - thats right, the deadly, deadly, deadly-puffer-fish. actually its safe as to eat deadly-puffer-fish, anyone who prepares it at a deadly-puffer-fish restaurant has to have a deadly-puffer-fish licence and blah blah blah, but still, to say you've eaten the deadly-puffer-fish fugu ahhhh. now thats a story.

it was yum. chewy. deadly. but yum.

the lowlight of the evening was realizing the bit of deadly-puffer-fish I had been served from the bubbling deadly-puffer-fish stew was in fact the mouth of the deadly-puffer-fish, just plain hacked off the rest of the deadly-puffer-fish. not alot of meat around those deadly-puffer-fish teeth.

the highlight of the evening however was deadly-puffer-fish-fin-sake. yep.

heres a crap picture from the crap camera on my crap phone.

basically you get the fin from the deadly-puffer-fish and you grill it all to hell, and then you drop it in a cup and pour scalding hot sake all over it, put a lid on the cup, wait a couple of minutes, then whip the lid off , light the fumes, and THEN drink it.

then as your vital organs start succumbing to the deadly-puffer-fish poison coursing through your veins (or as in my case you bemoan the bereftness of fine cured meats in Japan to your boss' boss) the cup is filled and refilled time and again by kimono-clad ladies-in-waiting.

as is your beer glass....

and your wine glass....

i feel terrible.

oh please god, make it stop.

my knee says its going rain on thursday...

morning all.
quick note.
my mum and dad came and said a cheery hello over the last 10 days. we threw them on a plane out of Hiroshima airport on sunday after fun-filled days and sake-filled nights celebrating the best 30 years of their lives. i'll post piccies soon.
highlights included; beer, introducing them to my old host family for the first time, antique shopping binges, sake, strolling in the Japanese wilderness, backing into a wall, more sake, the mayor of my city giving them tickets to see kabuki at a 1600 year old stage on a sacred island shrine (!!), whipping them at rulos game, watching mum, dad and nic running across a national highway taking pictures of rice paddies because the light was "just right" and then backing into a wall, birthday goodtimes, hanging with the biggest wooden buddha dude in Japan and bunches of other stuff.
on a slightly odder note:
i was informed yesterday amid much giggling that one of the female workers in the city hall follows me when i walk past her because i "smell the best out of everyone in the building"...
...this scares me.

yours, smelling "stalker-tastic" and looking over his shoulder,

berin.

Hmmmm...

tenuous, reserved, a shade nauseous and a very, very, very curious...

woohoo...

next stop...30.

he dug a hole...

bwilliant...

http://grad.icmc.usp.br/~cipriani/bighole.php?lang=en

interestingly, we discovered a new watering hole last week where you write in chalk on the toilet walls - they are all blackboard-type-stuff - (Paul, whats the technical terminology? No wait!! Tom!! Pop quiz...) and all I could think of to write - in my state at the time - was exactly

"he dug a hole"

i thought it was prophetic.

rock n roll folks.

b

slow

My, that was a slow moving typhoon. I came home from work at midday and hung around all day playing playstation waiting for it to hit, finally on the evening news they said it would start getting hairy at 11pm.
At 10:58 there was such an enormous gust of wind that the house felt like it was being lifted and the roof starting saying "oi".
So it blew and it rained and it rained and it blew. And all through it there was one lonely cricket outside, croaking away, in the typhoon. Bonus points for trying I guess.
So. We're all a-ok.
Off to walk the grounds and inspect the damage.
Tata
Berin.