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05.01.02
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Right after I post this message I'm going
down to Akihabara, the electronics district,
to meet Makis. He's going to help me buy
an electronic kanji (Chinese character) dictionary and an air
rifle.
I'm buying the electronic dictionary because,
as some of you might know, I've recently
found a renewed zeal for studying the Japanese
language.
I'm buying the air rifle because, as most
of you probably don't know, we have a terrible
pigeon problem on our balcony. Our balcony
is dirty beyond belief because pigeons roost
there. They roost there because they were
born on the neighbouring balcony, which was
abandoned, but has recently been netted off.
Now they live with us.
There is pigeon pooh and feathers and broken
eggs galore. They carry disease. We need
our balcony to dry our laundry and to let
Jack get some fresh air.
We've tried everything to dissuade the pigeons
from roosting on our balcony: wires along
the railing, nails along the siding, blocking
their landing spots, fake birds of prey,
you name it.
I've never killed anything in my entire
life,
but I think I'm about ready to 'bust
a cap'
into one of these birds.
As you might have guessed from this rant,
the pigeon issue has been weighing heavily
on my mind for quite some time. I really
disdain killing anything, but I feel that
I've reached my limit, and I find myself
trying to work up the nerve to do it.
04.29.02
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On Saturday we went down to Hamamatsucho
station on the Yamanote line. I wanted to
photograph a canal with some riverboats that
runs under a raised highway near the station.
Unfortunately, those pictures really didn't
turn out so well, but on the way home we
stopped at Ameyoko-cho market near Ueno station.
It's a hectic little place and it reminds
me more of Singapore or Hong Kong than Tokyo
-- lots of crammed, open-air shops. In fact,
I think a lot of the people who own the stores
there, as well as the people who shop there,
are actually foreigners from other Asian
countries.
We picked up a few deals on groceries and
I got a lot of good photos.
04.27.02
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I'm officially on Golden Week holidays. I
have ten days off, counting this weekend
and next.
For some strange reason, Japanese people
often are reticent to take holidays when
everyone else continues to work, which is
usually how we do it in the West. I guess
they feel some sort of group-pressure guilt.
To solve this problem what they usually do
is have official holiday times when everyone
has to take a holiday, that way no one is
left to work in the office.
It makes sense on the surface, but the problem
is that the country more or less shuts down
for a week. Also, transportation and accommodation
prices go through the roof because everyone
is trying to book a room or a flight for
the same week.
On the good side, the trains here in Tokyo
are noticeably less crowded because so many
people return to their home towns to visit
family.
We're going to take advantage of the
smaller
crowds and our own free time and hopefully
go on some photographic excursions.
------------------------------------
In other news, congratulations to my
sister-in-law
Julie for her recent engagement to
Rene,
a guy who happens to be from the same
part
of Eastern Canada as my mother.
I guess these Spicer girls have a 'thing'
for East Coast luv'n.
04.24.02
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Happy nine month birthday to Jack. He's doing
great -- standing, eating, babbling, etc.
I've even got him to play the maracas, it's
true, I've got the video to prove it and
I'll put it up online soon.
Being a father is a lot more fun than
I expected
it to be, and, yes, as matter of fact,
I
did expect it to be fun.
I don't know exactly what it is about
babies,
they just offer hours of entertainment.
Someone
should rent them out or something...
they'd
make a fortune.
I guess that's what the Cabbage Patch Kids
were all about.
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