Far Out

There is an unreal quality today. I am in a state of stunnedness subsequent to last night’s fun. It is also the lowest tide in the history of the universe.

The tide is like far out

The tide is like far out

The coast line is populated by people gathering food from the sea. You may not see many in the photos but believe me that there are lots. They know.

Not Polish

Not Polish

Folks ’round here know that today is the day to browse through the pools.

Sea thing waiting for the water to come back.

Sea thing waiting for the water to come back.

Coral normally underwater

Coral normally underwater

Old lady hunts octopus

Old lady hunts octopus

Big bag of shells

Big bag of shells

Why have Barcelona lost their magnificence?

Why have Barcelona lost their magnificence?

 

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In Which Our Hero Misses the Garbage

The garbage cycle means a lot to me. Burnable garbage, which has to be in bags that have red runes on them, are picked up on Saturdays and Wednesdays. However the really important thing is that cans, glass bottles,plastic bottles and the like, are only picked up on the 2nd and 4th Saturdays of each month. If you get out of synch with this collection you are in big trouble. You have hampers of cans and empty bottles lying around your bedroom for weeks and when you finally put mountains of alcohol detritus out on the street, everyone takes you for a dipsomaniac. ” I have a lot of parties,” you mouth to disapproving Okinawan matrons in passage by the house.

Garbage in the secret garden

Garbage in the secret garden. Reminds me of pre Thatcherite Britain.

This morning was a big garbage day. It was perfectly timed as there was a party last night and I drifted through the halls of revellers safe in the knowledge that all the crap would disappear first thing in the morning. Woe I went to bed too late and by the time I awoke the garbage trucks had been and gone. Was there ever a  stronger admonition on the evils of drink?

Well, on the other hand, it was a great party.

Ireland, France, Germany, Palestine, somewhere East Europe, Okinawa

Ireland, France, Germany, Palestine, somewhere East Europe, Okinawa

The party was for Amy. She is a darling.

The party was for Amy. She is a darling.

She had the genial idea of adding dry ice to Okinawan colon cleansers. One hell of a cocktail.

She had the genial idea of adding dry ice to Okinawan colon cleansers. One hell of a cocktail.

Gigot - too big for the Cobb

Gigot – too big for the Cobb

Maybe chust a small one

Maybe chust a small one

J'aime les femmes

J’aime les femmes

Krista with Miyagi- sensei

Krista with Miyagi- sensei

Happy, happy, joy, joy

Happy, happy, joy, joy

Doggie

Doggie

Shoe fun

Shoe fun

And after April, when May follows,  And the whitethroat builds, and all the swallows!  10 Hark, where my blossom'd pear-tree in the hedge	  Leans to the field and scatters on the clover	  Blossoms and dewdrops—at the bent spray's edge—	  That 's the wise thrush; he sings each song twice over,	  Lest you should think he never could recapture	  15 The first fine careless rapture!	  And though the fields look rough with hoary dew,	  All will be gay when noontide wakes anew	  The buttercups, the little children's dower	  —Far brighter than this gaudy melon-flower!

And after April, when May follows,
And the whitethroat builds, and all the swallows! 10
Hark, where my blossom’d pear-tree in the hedge
Leans to the field and scatters on the clover
Blossoms and dewdrops—at the bent spray’s edge—
That ‘s the wise thrush; he sings each song twice over,
Lest you should think he never could recapture 15
The first fine careless rapture!
And though the fields look rough with hoary dew,
All will be gay when noontide wakes anew
The buttercups, the little children’s dower
—Far brighter than this gaudy melon-flower!

J'aime les femmes part 2

J’aime les femmes part 2

So pretty!

So pretty!

In the bath. Can't remember why.

In the bath. Can’t remember why.

Yet never did I breathe its pure serene Till I heard Chapman speak out loud and bold: Then felt I like some watcher of the skies     When a new planet swims into his ken; Or like stout Cortez when with eagle eyes     He stared at the Pacific—and all his men Looked at each other with a wild surmise—     Silent, upon a peak in Darien.

Yet never did I breathe its pure serene
Till I heard Chapman speak out loud and bold:
Then felt I like some watcher of the skies
When a new planet swims into his ken;
Or like stout Cortez when with eagle eyes
He stared at the Pacific—and all his men
Looked at each other with a wild surmise—
Silent, upon a peak in Darien.

Brugmansia fun

Brugmansia fun

J'aime les femmes 3

J’aime les femmes 3

Am I squeezing Hisashi's shoulder too hard?

Am I squeezing Hisashi’s shoulder too hard?

They ate the lamb

They ate the lamb

The first electron positron collisions took place in that steel bowl. I am not joking.

The first electron positron collisions took place in that steel bowl. I am not joking.

I missed the garbage.


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Success is not Final, Failure is not Fatal

I try very hard to get away from work early-ish these days because I want to fish for squid. The tide is high at around 6:30, the sea is calm, it is warm and sultry,

The orange circle is the sun.

The orange circle is the sun.

so what better after a day in an office and meeting rooms than to hunt the elusive squid?

Tonight there was great excitement as I actually got a bite, or maybe there is a specialist term for when a squid attacks the jig. Up to now I have wandered out from the house and cast and reeled in as in a theatre.  I am an actor strutting my time out on the stage. I have no real belief that there are actually squid out there and indeed I do not care. As I have previously stated,  the world of the imagination is usually more satisfactory than reality.  I imagine the squid are out there and I imagine that I will catch one. The fact that I never have makes no difference at all as I have imagined the moment of catchingness many times. It is very exciting.

My rod

My rod

This evening everything changed. I was reeling in, with a mind so blank that I was almost comatose when I realized that the line was resisting. Damn, caught the rocks, so I give a big jerk whereupon a squid comes catapulting out of the water, arcs into the much-have-I-travelled-in-the -realms-of-gold-sky, escapes from the barbs to plop down into the sea once more.

I am at a loss what to think.

The Brugmansia is doing very well.

The Brugmansia is doing very well. However no perfume.

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Big Data Sets

Beijing is a smoggy place. This is an excepted truth. However I have been to Beijing I think 6 times and each time it has displayed clear blue skies and sparkling prospects.

What does this mean? My experimental data on Beijing gives the result that it is a city of pure air. This underlines the importance of large data sets. I mean if the LHC had only run for a short time the lads may have been tricked into believing that the Higgs had a mass of half a pound of tupenny rice. It is very easy to get things wrong – especially about other countries when travelling.

A little learning is a dangerous thing;
drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring:
there shallow draughts intoxicate the brain,
and drinking largely sobers us again.

Hai!!

Anyway a trip to China is always a blast. I do not actually like it there much. In comparison with Japan, the folks are loud, uncouth and lack courtesy.  But, and this is a big BUT, they are full of energy, conviction, drive and common identity. I have seen the future and it works.

One day in a life.

Get up real early and catch subway across Beijing. It is rush hour and it is impossible to get on the first 3 trains as they are totally packed. The people standing around get on the train but I do not. Subway travel is a competitive sport in Beijing.

The tube

The tube

Although I am not up to the battle, the trains are clean silent and come every minute.

I am the first at the Forbidden City.

Good Morning

Good Morning

Bad smog

Bad smog

Imperial Pussy Cat

Imperial Pussy Cat

Imperial Cherry Blossom

Imperial Cherry Blossom

Thing with hole in the middle.

Thing with hole in the middle.

Get to airport, fly to Okinawa and sleep in my own bed.

 

 

 

 

 

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Breakfast in America

Well, in Beijing in actual fact. I get up early and for recreation I go for a tramp. The street is lined by various breakfast stalls.

Early morning smog.

Early morning smog.

Boiled beef and carrots

Boiled beef and carrots

Magaret Thatcher was guilty of offenses against minors

Margaret Thatcher was guilty of offenses against minors

Now is the time to buy gold

Now is the time to buy gold

Dumplings by trash

Dumplings by trash

If it weren't for the alligators I 'd sleep out in the woods.

If it weren’t for the alligators I ‘d sleep out in the woods.

 

Toilet over there.

Toilet over there.

Where is the smog? I must be in the wrong part of town.

 

 

 

 

 

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April in Paris

Well, not really – truth be told this is April in Tokyo.

I arrive very late at night and this is what I eat and drink at 12:00

I arrive very late at night and this is what I eat and drink at 12:00

So, in the hotel there is a hand-held controller for the various toilet related activities

So, in the hotel there is a hand-held controller for the various toilet related activities

Still some blossom left

Still some blossom left

I think this is a statue of Margaret Thatcher

I think this is a statue of Margaret Thatcher

And I thought the azalias in Achamore were impressive

And I thought the azalias in Achamore were impressive

Tokyo = Gigha

Tokyo = Gigha

Putting together the front page of the Mainichi Shimbun. It will be about Madame Thatche rwho is een as a world statesman along the Roosevelt, Mandela, Adenauer, lines around these parts. Maybe they are right.

Putting together the front page of the Mainichi Shimbun. It will be about Madame Thatcher,who is seen as a world statesman along the Roosevelt, Mandela, Adenauer line around these parts. Maybe they are right.

One of the entrances to the Imperial Palace from Mainichi Shimbun conference room. This newspaper, not the biggest, has 21 science writers and a circulation of of 4 million without any tits. Japan is where journalism happens.

One of the entrances to the Imperial Palace from Mainichi Shimbun conference room. This newspaper, not the biggest, has 21 science writers and a circulation of of 4 million, without any tits. Japan is where journalism happens.

La Dame au Camelias beside a road in Tokyo

La Dame au Camelias beside a road in Tokyo

Tufted Ducks hanging out by the subway station

Tufted Ducks hanging out by the subway station

Tokyo is a great city.

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Vade retro satana!

The title of this blog has nothing to do with its content. I am just curious whether a satanistic title will attract hundreds of readers. The readership of the blog seems to depend on the glamour of the title. My most popular blog ever was entitled “Porn and Bagpipes.” It attracted thousands of hits from bagpipers all around the world.

There is definitely a winter in Okinawa. Not like the winters of yore with Good King Wenceslas and lying thick and even, but more of a perhaps I shouldn’t go outside because I will  have to put on a sweater sort of winter.

I think the main ingredient in season change is light. I do not know if you have noticed but there is less light in the evening in winter. Now in Okinawa it gets light around 6:00 am and gets dark around 7:00 pm. The obvious result is that I can catch some desultory squid fishing after I get home.

Yep

Yep

I don’t catch anything but I absorb tranquility.

Emails should be restricted to 150 characters

Emails should be restricted to 150 characters

A little baby sea snake popped her head out of the water to say “Konichiwa.”

Hello little sea snake

Hello little sea snake

Get back Satan.

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Happy Birthday Mummy

Today is my Mother’s 90th birthday. Happy birthday Mummy!

She has always been a faultless person.  An example of kindness, judgement and good humour. Would we could be more like her.

So those of you who read this, please raise a festive glass to Mary Calder.

She didn't like the present I gave her

She didn’t like the present I gave her.

 

 

 

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Jiggety Jig

*”To market, to market, to buy a fat pig,

Home again, home again, jiggety-jig.”

The recognized method to catch squid around here is called jigging. You cast your jig into the sea and jig  it up and down as you reel it in. The squid is a ferocious animal. When it spies your jigging jig, it zooms out and wraps its tentacles around it, becoming horribly entangled in the cruel barbs of the jigging jig.

The Frost is All Over

The Frost is All Over

I love to eat squid and so go out in front of the house as the sun goes down to fish. I have been encouraged by watching this guy reel them in.

The white plastic bag is full of squid.

The white plastic bag is full of squid.

He has given me tips but for some reason I have not caught any. But who cares?

Stand out there as the sun goes down, listen to the sea, cast out your jig, suck beer. It is pretty good.

A jig is also a dance. Listen to these jigs. Maybe I should play them as I fish.

planxty – after the break – 02 – east at glendart – brian o’lynn – pay the reckoning (double jigs).mp3

More info:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ucg0I7ogpM

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Flags

As children, well more  accurately as a child,   I remember being taken by the Scottish name for Irises. We call them Flags. It seemed like a very good name for a flower rather than the usual impossible to remember flower nomenclature, such as antirrhinum.

So, on Okinawa, where I live, there are fields and fields of Flags. I spent a semi mystical afternoon amongst them surrounded by gently smoking green jungly hills.

Who wants flowers when youre dead? Nobody.

Who wants flowers when youre dead? Nobody.

Since Iris is the Greek goddess for the Messenger of Love, her sacred flower is considered the symbol of communication and messages. Greek men would often plant an iris on the graves of their beloved women as a tribute to the goddess Iris, whose duty it was to take the souls of women to the Elysian fields. Who would have guessed?

Since Iris is the Greek goddess for the Messenger of Love, her sacred flower is considered the symbol of communication and messages. Greek men would often plant an iris on the graves of their beloved women as a tribute to the goddess Iris, whose duty it was to take the souls of women to the Elysian fields. Who would have guessed?

These my sky-robes spun out of Iris woof.

These my sky-robes spun out of Iris woof.

Cool scarecrow made from a buoy.

Cool scarecrow made from a buoy.

It is a very beautiful place with acres of flowers. They are a  little bedraggled today following the storm this morning. I buy some to put in my office, which is being transformed as I write.

Office decoration. I will probably remove the paper.

Office decoration. I will probably remove the paper.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYeFcSq7Mxg

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