Thoughts and experiences from this simple creature, called Chris. How well do you know him? Do you even care? Probably less so, after reading this:

Thursday, May 31

The first time I had to empty my shoes before entering my home

Boy, did it rain this afternoon!
I was out on my bicycle, shopping in some used goods stores not too far from my home (about 2km away).
I found some good deals:

This bike was outisde at this old 'shed', full of crap, run by a few old guys.
I asked one of them how much they wanted for this sweet folding bike with front and rear shocks and a folding basket.
He told me it was "sold out" (I think that's his way of saying he has already sold it).
Damn.

Oh well.

At another place, I picked up a head torch.
"What the fudge is a head torch?", you may ask. Or you may not.
A head torch is a torch that is worn around the head, via elastic straps.
Here's a pic of the one I bought.
I bought it for 1,300yen.
Not cheap, not expensive.
It seems to work okay.
Why buy this thing?
Well, on 6th July, I plan to mount the Fuji.
Yes, I am going up the biggest live volcano in Japan. Heck, the 12th biggest in the world! I plan to go up at night and catch the sunrise in the morning.
Hope the weather holds - unlike today.

The next place I went to was the Treasure Factory.
This place had some good deals. Here are the best:

I liked this fridge, very much.
It's only 8,800yen.
It comes with a 6 month guarantee.
I'm thinking of using it as a second fridge or, more specifically, a 'beer fridge'.
Every guy needs one. I'll cover it in beer bottle caps on small magnets and stock it ful of my favourite booze! Cool!
Here's a photo of the inside. You can see I can stand large bottles inside the door on the bottom and normal 350ml bottles half way up.
I can also fill the insde with a combination of cans and bottles. Awesome!!! I'd put the power on low to keep the beer at a nice cool but not too cold temperature.
For quick extra cooling, I can put a bottle or two of my choice into the small freezer compartment and hey presto! However, most of the beer I like to drink is of the weissen or ale or stout variety, so there's no need to cool those babies too much.

This is a little similar (same price, too) to a wine cooler I found in another recycle store. This one also had a guarantee of 6 months, but it is smaller.
However, it has a glass door, so you can see the booze inside! I'm not sure if it can cool the beer enough, as it is designed for wine and so may only go down to 10C, which is not too bad.




Hmmm... decisions...

I did buy two things.
The first was this barbecue:

It looks okay.
I found an identical one in the same store for 1500yen. Not bad.
However, you can see the rpice tag on this baby - 300yen!
Wow! I pulled it out of the box to check the condition and see if anything was missing. Everything was there and in very good condition (just a little burned patch in the centre but it will rub off no problem).

The other bargain I found was this:

It's a cooler bag. It's a designer label (but that is NOT why I bought it!). It's a nice convenient size. It can fit 6 or maybe 8 cans. It has a divider than can also be placed over the top to aid insulation. It has a front pouch which can hold nuts and snacks or other small things. It also has a carrying handle and a shouler strap.
Sweet. How much?
300yen. I thank you.

Well, I came out of the last store and looked at the clouds.
They were ominous, to say the least.
I figured I'd better get home.
As I was crossing a bridge, I took this photo:
The city up ahead is Kawasaki.
It's not very far away but you can see the clouds have already darkened the area whare I was standing. Nasty.

Soon after then, the clouds opeened up and the rain came.
Boy, did it come down.
It was as if the heavens themselves were projectile vomitting the very oceans onto my head.
I managed to get home but I was totally and utterly drenched.
Like the heading of this post, it was the first time that I have had to empty my shoes and wring out my socks before entering my home. I put my tousers in the washing machine to spin dry. My shoes are still wet.
I think it has finally stopped raining now.
We had about 70mm in one hour.

Fight! Fight! Fight!


"Ouch!"

Had a fight in class, today.
Not me, personally.
2 senior high school first year students.
Short but sweet.

Saw something was up when the one guy came over and punched the other guy to his left in the shoulder.
The other guy then stood, up, smiling all innocent like.
Before I could get to them, the first guy walked up to the other guy (who was now also standing) and headbutted him in the face.
They then started to grapple.
I managed to get between them and thankfully neither of them hit me or ripped both my testes from their housings.
It took me a while to get the first guy to let go of the shirt of the second guy.
I had to make myself sound as calm as possible and slowly ease his grip off the other boy. I figured this would work bettter and was the best thing to do, trather than have the students witness me grappling with two boys on the floor, in the middle of the classroom, clothes ripped to shreds, an occasional teste out of its housing...
The Japanese teacher then rescted by thinking that everything was finished and we could continue with the lesson, but I persisted.
I realised this was not over, whatever it was.
The Japanese techer then left the class wioth the first boy and had a talk with him.
The other boy (who didn't seem to do anything wrong) listened to me and sat down and we continued with a good lesson.
Then the teacher called for the second boy, who left the class. I continued teaching and eventually the teacher returned, sans students.
I assumed that the boys were with the homeroom teacher and the head of the year, in the teachers' room.
After the lesson was over I tried to explain to the students that it was not okay to resort to violence to solve your problems and if you did, then there would be consequences of those actions.They should try to talk about their problems, and not bottle them all inside, or try to forget about them or ignore them.
I think most understood.
The boy who went crazy is not such a bad boy. He just snapped.
But once he snapped, and the adrenaline started flowing, he then went into overdrive and headbutted the other boy and didn't recognize the teachers as symbols of authority.
Later, after calming down a little, he realised what had happened was not normal and he responded to the teachers' calm requests to let go and leave the clasroom.

I must admit, my blood was up and the adrenaline was flowing.
I tried my best not to sound alike a cross between Mickey mouse and Larrry the Lamb but I think it was easy to hear a slight shake in my voice.

BUt the kids were okay, as they usually, are.
I went to see the ehad of the year after my lesson, to find out what really happened and what was to be done about it.
It seems the angry boy is still in the nurses room and no one has decided what to do.

I tried to recommend that the boy recieve some kind of consequential punishment for what he did.
Also, the boys who taunted him (it turns out the other boys were calling him by a nickname he didn't like) need to be reprimanded.
What the boys did was wrong, but that in no way jsutifies the violent reaction the first boy gave.

Reminds me of the recent story about the boy who was angry with his mother and brother and so in the day, he bought a saw and that ngiht he cut off his mother's head and arm and carried his mother's head to the police station.
He didn't kill his brother because he said he was too tired, after killing his mother.

Great.
Stories like this eseem to be more and more common.
Joe Bloggs snaps atnd lashes out, wihtout warning or perhaps, reason.
Human beings can only take so mcuh stress before they find an outlet.


People here neeed to talk more and they need to be more aware of what is right and wrong and why. They need to understand that, yeah, of course they have the option to gouge out the smoking guy's eyes as he puffs away in the no smoking area of the cafe, right next to you. however, once they have done that, they msut realise that they will be held responsible for their actions and there will be consequences.

The textbook we use this year is called empathy.
Seeems ironic.
Where is the emapthy in Japanese contemporary society?

My friend was sitting at a bar.
At one end were 4 smokers.
He was sitting at the other end, about 10 seats away from the smokers.
He had just recieved his meal when a middle aged man came in and sat down - right next to him.
He then started to light up a cigarette.
MY friend politely pointed out that he was about to eat a meal and could the guy not smoke next to him.
So what did the guy do? He just held the unlit cigarette in his mouth for 20 minutes, whilst my freidn ate.
After my friend finished, the guy lit his cigarette.
Uncaring, or jsut plain stupid?


A few times, I have been sitting on the train, in an almost empty carriage.
A Japanese person gets on and immediately walks up the carriage and sits down - directly opposite me!
WTF? How can I explain to them that this will now mean we both have an uncomfortable journey, trying not to stare at each other.
Why can't they understand this?
I jsut now continues ot stare straight ahead, as I was doing before they sat down.
They then seem angry that I am staring at them!!! At times, I just save time and simply get up and move.
Then I'm sure that person feels upset that I didn't want to sit near them.
Idiots.
Or am I missing something? I'm pretty sure it's not my magnetic personilty or fantastic looks, because I have neither.

I love this country but some things about the way the people act make me want to scream.




But that would be bad, so I am expressing my feelings and talking about it, trying to remain open to a new interpretation.

Wednesday, May 30

Fixed my camera - again

I had a problem with photos on my camera.I kept geting blotches in the top left corner. These showed up worse in high contrast areas like sky shots.
Here's an example:
The blurry splodges are a pain in the a**se and are due to dust on the CCD.

Well, I knew from experience that I could probably fix this.

Before commencing my do-it-myself fix, I took a 'before' shot, to compare to an 'after' shot, after I'd finished.
I chose the wall of my apartment, since it's white(ish).

Here's the 'before' shot:
You can see the main two blurry patches, in the top right of the shot.
I figured there will be at least 2 pieces of dust or hair on the LCD.
Often with this camera, the lens openenig out tends to suck air into the lens cavity.
somtimes, dust can also get sucked in and stick on the LCD or inside the lens.

Well, I got my MP3 player jacked up (rock - of course), got a nice cool Beck's out of the fridge and set to work.
I'd unscrewed the main 7 screws holding the body together ad then proceeeded to remove the LCD screen from the body.
Then I removed the metal housing for the LCD screen, along with the 2 retaining screws.
Finallly, I removed the 2 scres holding the CCD in place over the lens.

I carefully (and without sneezing) pulled back the housing for the CCD.

It was then that my suspicions were confirmed.
I could indeed see 2 nasty ass pieces of dust (as opposed to 2 nasty pieces of ass dust -how they got on the sensor beggars belief) on the sensor (click on the picture to see full size version):
Dayam!!!!

I need to blow away the dust with a small air pump I had from my cheap camera kit.
It did the job.
I was very carefull not to touch the lens or the CCD sensor.
It was then that I dropped a screw onto the lens.
Nuts!

Luckily I had a magnetically tipped screwdriver and I easily picked the bugger out of there.
Then I carefully reassembled the whole shebang and took an 'after' shot of my wall:
Voiala!!!!
Lovely. Job done.
Les than 20 minutes.

Give it up for Thomas and Tony!!!!

Thomas and Tony!
These 2 German boys in leiderhosen rocked the house at the German beer festival in Hibiya park, Tokyo on Saturday, May 26th.

(The festival continues unitl Monday, June 2nd, so head on over and get a little of the leiderhosen experience!)


Here's a selection of some of their performances:
(I'm sorry, I was very, very drunk)

One of their first songs. I have no idea what it is, but by then I pretty drunk. Even the kids got into the mood. I think I was very, very scary that night. Harmless - but scary. Apologies for my commentary. I was plastered.


They are SO happy to see us!!!!


What could they possible top that with?
How about a little rocking, all over the world? Yes, it's Status Quo!!!

Great stuff!


In between every song, they broke things up with a drinking break.
A great way to get everyone to drink. Make it into a song!


By now,the feeling was getting relaxed and the people had been dancing for a while, so the boys switched into slow mode with an easy dancing country and western number - Achy Breaky Heart.


Here's a final one, from the boys in tight leather pants:
(Gotta love those dance moves)

Thomas and Toni, please don't go, go, go, go, go!


Labels:

Saturday, May 26

What ever happened to...

What happens to the characters, after the movies are finished?
I mean, even predators have to pay the rent:


Here's one of the chief centurions, trying his hand at standup comedy.
Poor guy, he does his best.

"Oh, wow...what a wonderful audience..."

Friday, May 25

Let's look at that fryer again...

I went back to the recycle store (as well as a few others), on my nice new (but used) double shocks (front and back) folding sweet 21 speed 'cool as' bike. The deep fat fryer was still there.
If I hadn't had already discovered a cheap deep fat fryer that enabled me to fry more than just a handful of chips at the same time, without exorbitant cost, then I would definitely buy this.
However, I DID discover a cheap deep fat fryer that enabled me to fry more than a handfull of chips at the same time, without exorbitant cost - so I didn't.

It's still there.
Still at just 2,000yen.


Let's take a closer look at it:

The only weblink I could find was this page.
Wow! It lists this as 6,220yen!


Opening it, we can see the apparently spacious interior.

You can see the handle folds out and there is a release catch for the top hatch on the bottom (strangely enough, whenever you try to feel around near the bottom, you find there's a catch and this fascilitates a quick release).

It seems in pretty good condition.



Looking at the front, you can see the rotary dial for temperature selection.
It goes up to 190C (that's good). There is also a power on off switch (mine only has the power socket (a real pain in the a**se).

Taking the basket out, it is obvious how accomodating and inviting this receptacle of meshed steel would be to any tempted crinkle cut chips or, say, some gullible garlic mushrooms or perhaps a couple of highly suggestible breaded asparagus di-I mean sticks.




Oh, yes, this looks like a good sized basket.
Very inviting indeed.


I wonder...








Yes!

I can easily fry my own face!


Cool.








You can see the maximum level allows for expansion due to bubbles and splishy splashy (scientific terminologies - I wouldn't expect you to understand) when you add the frozen chips too fast (perhaps change the word 'you' with 'Chuwy' and 'too fast' with 'from a great height').
You can also see the indentation due to the circular heating element (it wasn't me).

Looking at the back, you can see the warning (pah! - didn't stop me taking mine completely apart and cleaning it with kitchen cleaner and several rolls of kitchen paper - now, I suspect the interior enamel paint is coming off, into the fat and hence soaking into the chips. This will require quite a few repeated uses to determine if any detrimental effects are to be observed) notices and the electric cable.

Here is a graphic and completely unneccessary and uncalled for and totally explicit photograph of a bottom.

You can see that I like to type the words 'you can see' quite a lot. You can also see that the sticker shows the make and item number.
Good condition.





There you go. It even comes with the original box.

A snap at 2,000yen.

Bargains so far I've seen in the recycle stores:

Best bargain is probably the Zojirushi coffee machine.
I have two and they wrok fine. Good things about these kinds of machines are that the filter is kept in the machine when you pour the coffee (so stupid nasty spillage from still wet filter holder on top of the jug), the jug is large and works well. The water tank is therefore also large. This one has a coffee mill built into it. Awesome! French coffee! This was for sale at just 1500yen, the bargain of the day.
It is in very god condition.
Heres the pic from a webiste selling this particular model (the normal price is 8000yen!):


Lan hub. On a special price. This is new in the box. The price HardOff was offering here was cheaper then the price for an identical model, used in the junk section! 30% off the already discounted price. Bargain. I got one and it works.


Deep fat fryer.
Now this baby is slightly larger than the one I ahve at home and it seems in better condition than mine was when I bought it. They are asking 2,000yen at a small Kawasaki recycels tore. Bargain. Good sized basket.
Doesn't require that much oil. Goes up to 190C so great for chips and or chicken fingers (the good kind).


Fondue set.
This one seems like you cna actually make a meal outof what you fondue as it is slightly bigger than the usual tiny toy sets.
Think it was a good price too, at Kajigaya hard off. About 1500yen?




Magnetic darts, 1500yen.
Dart board is soft and can hang anywhere.
Darts are small but the magnets are industrial strength and they work!
Hours of fun and no pierced eyeballs.









Lan card, 500yen. Buffalo's recommended price 3,980yen. Sweet.





Well, that's it for now.

Got a new sweet bike

"Yesssssssss!"
Dude, check out my new sweet bike.
It's awesome.
It's called 'The Attacker'.
It totally rocks.


It's got:
  • shocks (front and back)
  • mudguards (front and back)
  • big chunky tires (front and back)
  • good working brakes (front and back)
  • 21 gears (shiomano index system - 3 front, 7 back)
  • folding mechanism (so I can take it on the train)
  • light aluminium frame (same weight as my tiny silver bullet folding bicycle!)
  • folding pedals (left and right)
  • awesome cool sweet name The Attacker - grrr)

Picked it up at a local recycled goods store for just 5,980yen. Sweet!!!!
Actually registered this one for a mere 500yen so now when the cops stop me, I'm ready!
I've already been around the town on The Attacker.
There is a little rust in places becasue I think it's been left outside for a while but everything works fine. The chain is good. Spokes fine.
Bearings seem ok. Brakes work very well.
Gear shift was stiff at first but now has loosened up.
All in all, totally useable condition and rockatastic!
Great price. There are much worse bikes for double or triple the price.
It's soooo light. I'm now playing with the saddle and handlebar positions, to give me the best riding position.
A nice bike.
Maybe I'll do some sweet jumps on it later...

Monday, May 21

That classic crime fighting duo: The Trotters

Classic scene from a classic British comedy series, Only Fools and Horses. The programme revolves around a dodgy London street/market salesman (Del boy) and his younger brother (Rodney). The accents are London (cockney) accents. Maybe not so easy for the international viewers.
Some of their shows are so funny.

Frenzy? Optimus prime? Orgasmatron?

Nice collection of Transformers (they're robots, in disguise).

But who can resist the orgasmatron? No one!

My name's John.

"...and I just wanted to crochet in peace, but you people just won't leave me alone.
Now I've been made to make yet another sequel.
Well, it got bloody this time."



Rambo 4. Sheesh.

Friday, May 18

Breakdancing baby:

Monday, May 14

The Book, ver1.01


Something from Norway.

Thursday, May 10

Who da man? - Godzilla!! (Damn straight)

Wednesday, May 9

Sepultura - and Pavarotti?

Just had to embed this baby.
Can't get the song out of my head.

Thanks, Steffan.

Tuesday, May 8

Thai festival!

The 2007 Thai Festival is going to be on Saturday/Sunday, May 12th/13th!!!
It's one of the best parties of the year.


I always get totally smashed.


300yen beers!!!!


Okay, to see my photos from the Thai festivals of 2005 and 2006, just click HERE.
They are on OFOTO, a free album site.

Here are some movies from 2006:

Circle of freaks:

Title says it all.

Scottish rant:

I have absolutely no idea what he's saying - but then, he IS from Scotland.

Dave - baglady

Kiwi Dave, demonstrating the latest in plastic fashion.


Grandpa, where are you? (part1)

Grandpa, where are you? (2) - buying dirty magazines!

Granpa, where are you? (3)


Well, of course, we were very, very drunk.

Here's some more proof:
Remember that slobbery monster in King Kong? The one that tried to eat the leading lady but instead got eaten by a t-rex/allosaurus? Just to jog your memory, here's a pic:
Remember?

Now, here's Neil, auditioning for the part (I think he does rather well):


Here's how he ended up (classic):



So, what do you say?
Up for 2007?
"What do you say, big boy?
Are you man enough for Sven and I?
Ready to 'double team'?"


Also, even though this has little to do with the Thai festival, I just HAD to stick it in:

Thursday, May 3

Say, who gets to make the coffee in your house?

- just make sure it's not HIM:

From a normal guy in a normal 50s home (with swords on the wall, just above the stuffed falmingo - just like any home).
"Just take a look with the magnifying glass and you will see..." ...absolutely no difference.
Can you see the scientific flavor buds? This is real science, folks - you just wouldn't understand.
Designed to capture that famous 'Maxwell House' flavour.
Uh... ...should they be advertising that?

Sorry to nitpick, but by the time he's been talking, the already cooling water from the kettle will have been poured into a cold glass jug then poured into another cold cup with an extra wide brim so the coffee would have cooled considerably. A cup full of luke warm, 'Maxwell House' tasting coffee.


He makes the coffee in his house - because his wife left him, months ago and also he can't be arsed to make real coffee.

p.s. This commercial may also contain the very first attempt of a white man trying to rap.
Peace. Out.

Wednesday, May 2

Eclusive secret footage from within North korean nuclear fascility:

Many braved great dangers to bring you this footage:

5 new swear words:

New, from 'Apple', the i-rack: