Japanese bureaucracy...exposed!

Here are two humble little pictures which succinctly capture the true spirit of hear no evil see no evil. Enjoy!

So far so good. PET bottles on the left, cans on the right. Easy.




















But HOLD ON! What's this deceit I see before me? Shame, shame, shame!




















Now I've exposed the truth of the matter to the world, I'm off to enjoy my Laphroaig single malt, with a few episodes of The Office.

Back despite lack of popular demand...

Having successfully connected the old work horse to the interneto, I've taken it upon myself to resurect the old blog. It's good to be back. Wedding plans are coming along swimmingly and before too long, the real countdown begins. About a month and a half to go. Before that particular big day, however, another looms...my next finance exam. Yes, I'm still at it. Wish me luck. Oh, with a heavy heart I moved out of Legend Ukima last February. It was not terribly sad to say goodbye but for a first home in Japan, it made a good one.

Mickey and friends...

Consider this blog pitied...

You may be interested to know a certain picture caught my eye as I was strolling through the new release section of my local Tsutaya Video Library. A picture of a certain team. A certain A-Team, that is! Given the spate of Mr T/Chuck Norris emails circulating at present, I wanted to prove how 'in the loop' I am by posting a shot of that infamous gang of outlaws on my you-know-what. After all, someday the mountain might get 'em, but the law never will...















Wow. Brings back memories, don't it? I remember I had the whole A-Team bendable figurine set, with their little guns and army uniforms, and Face had removeable pants. What was really kick-ass though was their black van, which had a totally functional sliding door. It even opened to reveal the figurine of a bound and gaged high school girl wedged under the back seat. I never made the connection back then, but now I guess she had something to do with why they were being hounded by the Law.

For something really shocking and awesome, GUESS WHAT! After taking this photo, I finally put two-and-two together. Hannibal didn't go to the stockade or die, or anything like that. He got a job teaching English in Japan, and as luck would have it, ended up right alongside your's truely. Check him out...




















Nah, only kidding. It's not Hannibal. It's Adam. Wish it were Hannibal though...

An update for Andy...

Proving myself, once again, to be a great and loyal friend I have gladly accepted Andy's request to add more pics to this here Blog. "Who's Andy?" you ask. If his dreams or yore have been realised he's the man who may one day be firing a RPG or automatic assault rifle into your face, or lobbing a grenade through your window, or placing a black hesian bag over your head and applying live wires from a car battery to your neck. That's why I'm more than happy to accomodate his desire to see a few pictures of the place he once called work, and the city he once called home. Missing you, you old scallywag!

Here's a lad you should remember...decidedly Irish as usual. Irish Joe hits the gym as equally hard as he hits the books and I reckon his head could take a punch or two.




















Dick Richards was having a good day until the homeless man called, demanding the return of his knit.







































And Larry thinks it's funny. Shame Larry, shame. Whatever you do, "Don't turn around". You know what I'm saying...




















One big bunch of losers. Notice I'm not in it? The girl sitting down was new this day. She quit the very same afternoon. Can't says I blames 'er.















The tatemono below sits diagonally across from our building, while the tatemono below that is our building! Freaky.







































So to those of you who do not know Andy, and have no interest in him or his lifestyle of violence and mayhem I apologise, and thank thee all for suffering the indignity of not being addressed personal like, like Andy just was, as above, now. Thankyou. You are all, dear readers, dear.

Snowed...

Saturday last week. It snowed like a bastard in Tokyo today. As Victoria burns, I slip and slide around the place in my damp, inappropriate footwear. While standing at the local eki (train station), I noticed this sign and thought, "If only those crazy Victorians would take heed."















...indeed.

The snow let up by Saturday night. It was only a day's dumping, but it made for both a miserable and pretty interesting sight. Anyway, it's not like we've never seen snow before, but compare this shot of Shinjuku to that of a summer's day in the July archive.















Bring back summer. That's all I'm sayin'.




















This is not me. He's far too well prepared, as he trecks through the park at the end of my street.