Did you watch any of the Euro 2012 games? As usual I supported England, & as usual I was disappointed. However, I was pleased that Italy beat Germany & made it to the final. I was especially impressed by Italy`s Andreas Pirlo. He had an excellent tournament & was great to watch. He also seems to have a good character & good manners. But he reminds me of the crazy killer in the movie `Silence of the Lambs`.
What do you think?
I`m sick at the moment, and feeling a little blue, so... let`s check out some blues music! This is "Somebody Loan Me a Dime" by Boz Scaggs, from early in his career (1969). Later, around 1976, he changed his music style and his image and that`s when he became really big (=famous) and had several hits. I remember hearing them on the radio when I was a kid.
To be honest, I`m not a big fan of blues music. I didn`t listen to it much when I was growing up in Australia, where it`s less popular than in America. Also, I think it`s hard to get into (=become interested in) blues when you have a steady job, nice accommodation, and a wife who hasn`t left you for another man!
Wikipedia says Boz Scaggs used to be popular in Japan. Have you heard of him?
Winter and early spring are too cold for camping, but if you wait too long, suddenly rainy season arrives and you have to wait another month or two for a clear weather.
Fortunately this year I managed an overnight (= one night) camping trip in Sekigahara before the rains started.
I saw a couple of snakes, a couple of deer, and lots of big, black swallowtail butterflies. I`m afraid I didn`t take any photos of them, but please enjoy this picture of my campsite. Nice spot, isn`t it?
The last time I saw a Porsche 356 Speedster like this was a year ago, in Chita Peninsula. This one was a bit closer - outside an office just two streets away from my school.
I don`t know if it belongs to staff or a customer. If it`s staff, I can go & admire it sometimes on my lunch break. Maybe the owner will notice me & offer to take me for a drive in it!
Or maybe he`ll complain to the police.
Nice car!
What a great place Ichinomiya is - cool cars, wacky [crazy] festivals, both Meitetsu AND JR train lines, The Bohme English Academy, and today... an eclipse! This area was an excellent place to watch the moon pass in front of the sun between about 7am & 8am this morning, and unlike other places in Japan, there were no clouds in the sky around here.
I bought special glasses in order to watch it. It was pretty amazing, and quite thought-provoking. As I watched, I thought about the sun & moon...
the universe...
life...
God...
breakfast...
Did you watch it? Did you stand in the garden in your pajamas, hoping the neighbours wouldn`t see you?
Last weekend I finally got round to watching the famous 1967 movie, The Graduate. I really liked it.
A young Dustin Hoffman
Simon & Garfunkel
A red Alfa Spider
Scenes full of retro
Pathos & humour
A bitter-sweet ending
These are a few of my favourite things!
I bought a used copy of the book by Charles Webb in Australia & brought it to Japan with me, but when I started reading it, I discovered it was missing some pages. I was quite disappointed.
So I can`t recommend the book yet, but I can recommend the movie.
These are some of the souvenirs I got in Okinawa:
(clockwise from left)
- chillis in Awamori alcohol
- a pineapple
- candy
- a lunchbox cloth
- `Shisa` lion-dog figures
- black sesame & salt seasoning
The pineapple was a gift from the landlady [ooyasan] of the cabin where we stayed. She is the owner of a pineapple farm. We ate a lot of pineapple while we were there...
I really enjoy beachcombing - walking along the beach, looking for interesting things to collect.
Here are some of the things I picked up from the beach at Ishigaki Island. I found a lot of small cowrie shells, which I like. Unfortunately they`re quite sun-bleached (dry & white). Maybe one day I`ll try to polish them and make them shiny.
Do you like beachcombing? What do you like to pick up?
While we were driving at night on Ishigaki Island, we saw an animal crossing the road. I was able to get out and take a photo before it escaped.
Can you guess what it was?
UPDATE: Answer is in comments
Here are some more photos I took on Ishigaki Island:
- hibisicus flower
- butterfly (sorry, I don`t know what kind)
- palm nuts
- silver-eye bird
- Ishigaki Island beer
*click on the picture to enlarge
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