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05.07.04
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Well, we're back to Tokyo photos again. Did
you miss them? I kind of did.
Goodbye sunny Thai beach; hello fluorescent
Japanese subway. Goodbye chicken coconut
curry; hello tuna sashimi. Goodbye...Can
you think of any more? Put them in the comments.
It's funny, while growing up in Canada all
of Asia seemed like one big homogenous expanse.
I never really appreciated the cultural and
geographical diversity of the region. In
fact, some of my friends and family still
refer to all Asian people as Chinese (in
a well meaning, if ignorant, way of course,)
i.e., "That Chinese fella down at the
corner store just gave me a present because
I'm always in there buying smokes."
Meanwhile, the guy working at the convenience
store could be Vietnamese or Korean or whatever.
The difference between people from various
European countries, especially the northern
and southern ones such as Norway and Greece,
seems both vast and distinct to me. However,
I know that a lot of my Japanese friends
couldn't tell a Spaniard from a Swede if
their life depended on it, so I guess it
goes both ways.
05.03.04
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People seemed to get a kick out of the Swedish
sun god pictures from my last post, so here
are three more sun god bonus pictures for you.
I know that he's got a pretty crazy bathing
suit on in the pictures, skimpy and yellow
and all that, but actually, he seemed like
a fairly nice guy. He just really, REALLY
loved to sunbathe. I mean, he had an intimate relationship with the sun. He was like a solar sponge,
laying there on his towel sucking up the
photons. As soon as he would walk out on
to the beach the rest of the island would
grow dark because all of the sun's rays would
be drawn towards him.
Although Karen and I couldn't bear to be
in the searing Thai sun for longer than 30
minutes at a time, this guy, the sun god,
would camp out on the beach in front of our
bungalow from 9 in the morning until 6 in
the afternoon. He would literally roast himself
like a hot-dog under a heat lamp, all day
long.
Every morning he would have a Snickers bar
and a coffee for breakfast. Although I never
spoke to him myself, I overheard him talking
to a couple of Germans. I don't recall exactly
what they were talking about, but I do remember
him saying that, "Sweden, in the summer,
is the most beautiful place in the world."
For some reason, that stuck in my head:
"Sweden,...the
most beautiful place in the world."
Ever since hearing that I've wanted to go
to Sweden. Maybe I'll get the chance to one
day, but let's just hope that not everyone
there has the same taste in swimwear.
04.29.04
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I hope you're not getting too tired of the
Thailand pictures yet. I was only there for
three weeks, but it looks like it's going
to take me six weeks to show all the pictures.
Actually, I think that one or two more
postings
should do it. Then we'll all be moving
back
to Japan, photographically speaking
that
is.
Today's pictures are all from one of the
most idyllic places I have ever been in my
life: Ao Thong Nai Pan Noi beach on Koh Pha
Ngan, Thailand.
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You may have seen this already, because it's
been going around the web, but in case you
haven't you should check out this guy's auction
of his ex-wife's wedding dress (now ended).
It's almost too funny and well written
to
be true, as if it's just somebody making
up a character, but I can't really
say for
sure.
04.25.04
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I recently came across two interesting articles
on weblogging.
The first is an insightful look at the future
of weblogging according to Nico Macdonald:
www.theregister.co.uk
The author makes the important distinction
that while the rise of weblogging has made
it easier for people to become publishers,
it hasn't made it any easier for them to
become journalists; hence, the generally
poor quality of writing and uninteresting
content that is found on most web logs.
The second article is actually a bit trite,
and I can't say that I agree with much in
it, but the subject hits home. It's about
child rights and the representation of children
on web logs.
news.bbc.co.uk
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In other news, my Mom's still here.
She's
having a great time playing with Jack
from
the moment he gets up to the moment
she gives
him a bath and puts him to bed.
We went out for dinner tonight and had kimchi nabe and maguro sashimi and she loved it.
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