Monthly Archives: October 2015

Pox-eclipse

Posted on October 7, 2015 by d4vid

  Not even Japan and its tennis courts were spared.  Makes sense.  It’s the tell of us all.

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Daikatana

Posted on October 7, 2015 by d4vid

  This is the biggest sword I have ever seen.  I paced it out at 9 (David) feet long.

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Chasing

Posted on October 7, 2015 by d4vid

  TLC’s advice be damned, I visited the Kegon Falls where Lake Chuzenji debouches into the Daiya River. Took a 100 meter elevator ride through bedrock down to the base of the falls at sunset.  As impressive as anything I’ve seen … Continue reading →

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Griffith

Posted on October 7, 2015 by d4vid

There is an apocryphal story that a thrifty Golden Age movie producer1 once said, “A tree is a tree, a rock is a rock, we’ll shoot it at Griffith2 Park!” I thought of that quote while riding through the Nikko … Continue reading →

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Lloyd

Posted on October 7, 2015 by d4vid

This somewhat underwhelming (yet somewhat overwhelmingly pink) wooden edifice of the Nikko Train Station built in 1915 was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Coincidentally, I’ve been reading David J. Peterson’s The Art of Language Invention.  He claims that the proper … Continue reading →

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Irresistible

Posted on October 7, 2015 by d4vid

 The two English nouns on this sign made the trail irresistible.  Abyss?  Bears???  Sign me up! What North America lacks — but what Japan shares with Europe — is the chance of rounding a trail in the middle of nowhere … Continue reading →

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Hungry

Posted on October 7, 2015 by d4vid

  Pretty sure this bear is saying “Imma eat this sign!”

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Kawaii

Posted on October 6, 2015 by d4vid

 Kyoto was pleasant but Nikko is proving to be majestic as fuck.  Plus, my room here is super kawaii.  I can see and hear the Daiya River from my window.  And, I mean, just look at my room key.  Just … Continue reading →

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Aesthetics

Posted on October 6, 2015 by d4vid

  Toured the Kyoto Imperial Palace.  Beautiful, especially the gardens.  But clearly the obsession here was with aesthetics.  This is a stark contrast with China’s Forbidden City, every aspect of which screams You are minuscule and irrelevant and the emperor is … Continue reading →

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Loki

Posted on October 5, 2015 by d4vid

 Mythologies separated by half a world, but this immediately made me think of the serpent dripping venom on Loki.

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Quincy

Posted on October 4, 2015 by d4vid

I can’t help but notice that a not insignificant number of Japanese women look like Rashida Jones.

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Afoot

Posted on October 3, 2015 by d4vid
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Parody

Posted on October 3, 2015 by d4vid

See, this is why being in Japan melts my brain.  We’ve already established that I treat foreign languages like cryptanalysis.  So I see this bus go by with a sign on it that reads 市バス. 市 is easy.  I know … Continue reading →

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Racist

Posted on October 3, 2015 by d4vid

Lots of people give up on figuring out change when visiting a foreign country — I’m looking at you, Eli — but I make it a practice to true to get rid of as much small change as I can, … Continue reading →

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Lynchian

Posted on October 3, 2015 by d4vid

Just watched a beauty cream ad on Japanese television which used the Julee Cruise vocal version of the Twin Peaks theme song. I can only assume their slogan is “Maybe she’s born with it.  Maybe she’s dead, wrapped in plastic.”

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