day 13

...was probably one of the best days that we had on this holiday

started off with us heading to Harajuku station on the Yamanote line, which was the best way to access the Meiji Jingu shrine, Omotesando Hills and Harajuku...

we headed straight into the Meiji Jingu shrine first as we were fairly early and wanted to avoid the usual tourist crush into this place which is one of the most popular sights in Tokyo...the sense of calmness as you walk into this shrine is palpable and we had fantastically blue skies...perfect for photo-taking...

after that, we ran across the road into Omotesando Hills. now this is a fairly new shopping district with wide boulevards that reminded me somewhat of Champ Elyssee in Paris...no surprises since the Japanese have been admirers of things French for a long while already...upmarket shops on the main boulevards were complemented by fascinating small shops selling cult labels and esoteric stuff in the back alleys...

then off to Harajuku...little that i say about this place hasn't been said before...it's a complete mess of "crazy" people...chock-a-block with teenagers and youths in all forms and sizes...and some in strange outfits to boot...you could literally sense the buzz and energy that emanated from the whole area...very cool!

that night, we had our most expensive meal in Japan...a quality table BBQ with loadsa Matsuzaka beef (many different cuts - ribeye, filet mignon, short rib, tongue etc) plus tontoro pork, king crab, scallops, squid, chicken, prawns....the list goes on...

and yes, i had to waddle home...

1. couldn't this actually be a scene from a railway station in france??
2. big wooden torii guarding the entrance to the Meiji Jingu shrine
3. i was soooo into the photo-taking that i didn't care about dirt...
4. a gardener going about his business
5. floral offerings
6. lil
7. gorgeous blue skies
8. caught again
9. amongst flowers
10. managed to catch a closeup of this fella
11. eaves
12. the hovering blue over meiji
13. enjoying the day
14. perspective
15. artist
16. stopping for a spot of lunch
17. into the omotesando back lanes
18. nice and quiet
19. spots of colour
20. what's she looking at?
21. automotive freedom
22. the perennial girl's favourite
23. beeline for burberry
24. couldn't this be a scene from the champ elysee?
25. a picture says a thousand worlds
26. fashion police?
27. colour play
28. geek culture very much alive
29. youth
30. colour play
31. harajuku crowds
32. psychedelic building
33. the strange ones out at play
34. cute couple
35. ginza lights
36. ah, rub a dub dub here comes the grub

michael moore's open letter to congress...

...regarding the big 3 (Ford, Chrysler and General Motors) who are currently teetering on the verge of complete meltdown and catastrophe...good read...and i'll be damned if it doesn't sound do-able...but the thing is, who going to put their cojones on the line and be the one to chart out the future restructuring...it'll take a person with nothing to lose, i reckon...

let's see what the future brings...but in the meantime, do have a read...it's entertaining enough anyway...

===

Saving the Big 3 for You and Me ...a message from Michael Moore
Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008

Friends,

I drive an American car. It's a Chrysler. That's not an endorsement. It's more like a cry for pity. And now for a decades-old story, retold ad infinitum by tens of millions of Americans, a third of whom have had to desert their country to simply find a damn way to get to work in something that won't break down:

My Chrysler is four years old. I bought it because of its smooth and comfortable ride. Daimler-Benz owned the company then and had the good grace to place the Chrysler chassis on a Mercedes axle and, man, was that a sweet ride!

When it would start.

More than a dozen times in these years, the car has simply died. Batteries have been replaced, but that wasn't the problem. My dad drives the same model. His car has died many times, too. Just won't start, for no reason at all.

A few weeks ago, I took my Chrysler in to the Chrysler dealer here in northern Michigan -- and the latest fixes cost me $1,400. The next day, the vehicle wouldn't start. When I got it going, the brake warning light came on. And on and on.

You might assume from this that I couldn't give a rat's ass about these miserably inept crapmobile makers down the road in Detroit city. But I do care. I care about the millions whose lives and livelihoods depend on these car companies. I care about the security and defense of this country because the world is running out of oil -- and when it runs out, the calamity and collapse that will take place will make the current recession/depression look like a Tommy Tune musical.

And I care about what happens with the Big 3 because they are more responsible than almost anyone for the destruction of our fragile atmosphere and the daily melting of our polar ice caps.

Congress must save the industrial infrastructure that these companies control and the jobs they create. And it must save the world from the internal combustion engine. This great, vast manufacturing network can redeem itself by building mass transit and electric/hybrid cars, and the kind of transportation we need for the 21st century.

And Congress must do all this by NOT giving GM, Ford and Chrysler the $34 billion they are asking for in "loans" (a few days ago they only wanted $25 billion; that's how stupid they are -- they don't even know how much they really need to make this month's payroll. If you or I tried to get a loan from the bank this way, not only would we be thrown out on our ear, the bank would place us on some sort of credit rating blacklist).

Two weeks ago, the CEOs of the Big 3 were tarred and feathered before a Congressional committee who sneered at them in a way far different than when the heads of the financial industry showed up two months earlier. At that time, the politicians tripped over each other in their swoon for Wall Street and its Ponzi schemers who had concocted Byzantine ways to bet other people's money on unregulated credit default swaps, known in the common vernacular as unicorns and fairies.

But the Detroit boys were from the Midwest, the Rust (yuk!) Belt, where they made real things that consumers needed and could touch and buy, and that continually recycled money into the economy (shocking!), produced unions that created the middle class, and fixed my teeth for free when I was ten.

For all of that, the auto heads had to sit there in November and be ridiculed about how they traveled to D.C. Yes, they flew on their corporate jets, just like the bankers and Wall Street thieves did in October. But, hey, THAT was OK! They're the Masters of the Universe! Nothing but the best chariots for Big Finance as they set about to loot our nation's treasury.

Of course, the auto magnates used be the Masters who ruled the world. They were the pulsating hub that all other industries -- steel, oil, cement contractors -- served. Fifty-five years ago, the president of GM sat on that same Capitol Hill and bluntly told Congress, what's good for General Motors is good for the country. Because, you see, in their minds, GM WAS the country.

What a long, sad fall from grace we witnessed on November 19th when the three blind mice had their knuckles slapped and then were sent back home to write an essay called, "Why You Should Give Me Billions of Dollars of Free Cash." They were also asked if they would work for a dollar a year. Take that! What a big, brave Congress they are! Requesting indentured servitude from (still) three of the most powerful men in the world. This from a spineless body that won't dare stand up to a disgraced president nor turn down a single funding request for a war that neither they nor the American public support. Amazing.

Let me just state the obvious: Every single dollar Congress gives these three companies will be flushed right down the toilet. There is nothing the management teams of the Big 3 are going to do to convince people to go out during a recession and buy their big, gas-guzzling, inferior products. Just forget it. And, as sure as I am that the Ford family-owned Detroit Lions are not going to the Super Bowl -- ever -- I can guarantee you, after they burn through this $34 billion, they'll be back for another $34 billion next summer.

So what to do? Members of Congress, here's what I propose:

1. Transporting Americans is and should be one of the most important functions our government must address. And because we are facing a massive economic, energy and environmental crisis, the new president and Congress must do what Franklin Roosevelt did when he was faced with a crisis (and ordered the auto industry to stop building cars and instead build tanks and planes): The Big 3 are, from this point forward, to build only cars that are not primarily dependent on oil and, more importantly to build trains, buses, subways and light rail (a corresponding public works project across the country will build the rail lines and tracks). This will not only save jobs, but create millions of new ones.

2. You could buy ALL the common shares of stock in General Motors for less than $3 billion. Why should we give GM $18 billion or $25 billion or anything? Take the money and buy the company! (You're going to demand collateral anyway if you give them the "loan," and because we know they will default on that loan, you're going to own the company in the end as it is. So why wait? Just buy them out now.)

3. None of us want government officials running a car company, but there are some very smart transportation geniuses who could be hired to do this. We need a Marshall Plan to switch us off oil-dependent vehicles and get us into the 21st century.

This proposal is not radical or rocket science. It just takes one of the smartest people ever to run for the presidency to pull it off. What I'm proposing has worked before. The national rail system was in shambles in the '70s. The government took it over. A decade later it was turning a profit, so the government returned it to private/public hands, and got a couple billion dollars put back in the treasury.

This proposal will save our industrial infrastructure -- and millions of jobs. More importantly, it will create millions more. It literally could pull us out of this recession.

In contrast, yesterday General Motors presented its restructuring proposal to Congress. They promised, if Congress gave them $18 billion now, they would, in turn, eliminate around 20,000 jobs. You read that right. We give them billions so they can throw more Americans out of work. That's been their Big Idea for the last 30 years -- layoff thousands in order to protect profits. But no one ever stopped to ask this question: If you throw everyone out of work, who's going to have the money to go out and buy a car?

These idiots don't deserve a dime. Fire all of them, and take over the industry for the good of the workers, the country and the planet.

What's good for General Motors IS good for the country. Once the country is calling the shots.

to weed out the chaff...

how clever!!!

don't be sucking on this ham too hard eh?

gosh!!!?!!

disgusting horse-interferer

what the shit is wrong with people like this??? blardy warped bastard!

Man jailed for having sex with a horse

Leeroy Le Gallais, 46, broke into the animal's stable on two separate occasions to perform sex acts on the terrified animal.

During his first attack he used a bucket to stand behind the horse, called Calico, but was caught after leaving his underwear at the scene. He was given a three-year probation order, but just months later returned to have sex with the same horse at the Castel Stable in Guernsey.

On the night of the second attack, on April 25 this year, Calico's owner Michael Wortley checked on the animal in his stable at 6.30pm. The 20-year-old bay gelding was covered with a blanket but when Mr Wortley returned in the morning the blanket was on the floor.

A mounting stool that was left outside the stable had been taken inside and police immediately suspected Le Gallais was responsible. After the second attack Calico was seen 'box walking', or moving sideways, a common sign of stress.

Le Gallais, of St Peter Port, Guernsey, was jailed for three years at Guernsey's Royal Court after admitting having sex with the animal. He told the court: "I had a few beers, I went to the stable and interfered with the horse."

read more about the idiot HERE.

"booby" trap indeed!

those criminals are taking things a little too literally!!

Ugandan men have been warned by police of a "booby trap" after several were knocked out by chloroform smeared on women's chests by criminal gangs. Victims of the attacks have been discovered by police officers naked with all their possessions having been stolen by the gang, who use the women to lure their prey and rob them when they fall unconscious after intimate activity.

Fred Enanga, a spokesman for the country's Criminal Investigations Directorate, called on all men, and particularly travelling businessmen who tend to carry more cash than locals, to take caution. He said: "It's a serious situation and people have to be aware."

Mr Enanga said: "They apply this chemical to their chest. We have found victims in an unconscious state. You find the person stripped totally naked and everything is taken from him. And the victim doesn't remember anything. He just remembers being in the act of romancing."

read more HERE.

what's that again??????

hah???

for those not in the know, it's Mothers I'd Love to beFriend........not! for enlightenment, see HERE.

saw this....for real???????

go figger...this is purportedly barack obama's resignation letter from the united states senate...does anyone know whether this is real?

the PMS dictionary

i can just imagine the seriously-grumpy face!!!

• ATOMIC - Go ahead. Try me. See what happens…
• BITCH - This may not be monthly, but it’s obvious now.
• CHOCOLATE - Give it to me… in solid, syrup or liquid form. I don’t care. Just hand it over or see A.
• DEMANDING - I am suffering so I can give life to a little person later. I deserved to be spoiled.
• ETERNITY - It feels like this lasts this long…
• FRIENDS - Other women are needed to empathize. Men need to stay away.
• GROSS - I feel disgusting and dirty and I hate it.
• HURT - What I’m going to do to you if you don’t hand over the chocolate.
• INGENIOUS - Because I just am.
• JUGS - Tender and retaining water.
• KLEENEX - To catch my random tears as I eat my chocolate.
• LAZY - Because to move is to hurt.
• MASTICATE - What I’ll do to the chocolate.
• NAUSEOUS - Can’t wait to experience actual morning sickness.
• OBESE - How I always feel during this time.
• PAINED - Head, stomach, back, legs, body… everywhere aches.
• QUACKERS - Because this drives me nuts!
• REGURGITATE - What I’ll do after I’ve had too much chocolate.
• SLEEPY - My muscles are moving of their own according. I’m tired.
• TYLENOL - My BFF right now.
• UPSET - My emotions are at all extremes, but somehow all equal crying.
• VIOLENT - Don’t taunt the animal. Just drop the chocolate and run.
• INEY - You would too if it felt like the Lord of Dance was dancing on your belly.
• XY - The chromosomes of the bastards who don’t have to suffer monthly.
• ZIT - Those things that always pop up right before my period.

virtuosity...

the original song, of course, was CANON in D Major by johann pachelbel, but this version rocks out big time...original arrangement by taiwanese chap JerryC...

frickin' awesome!



check him out on his webby HERE.

and why would anyone want to steal these?

somewhere out there is an entire city of suddenly-well-bosomed women!

fake of course...hahahaha...

130,000 inflatable breasts go missing in Australian high seas
More than 130,000 inflatable breasts have been lost at sea en route to Australia. Men's magazine Ralph was planning to include the boobs as a free gift with its January issue.

The cargo is worth about $200,000, which is another blow for publisher ACP's parent company PBL, which is already in $4.3 billion of debt.

A spokeswoman for Ralph said the container left docks in Beijing two weeks ago but turned up empty in Sydney this week. The magazine has put out an alert to shipping authorities to see if they have the container, but if they don't turn up in the next 48 hours it will be too late for the next issue, she said.

Ralph editor Santi Pintado urged anyone who has any information to contact the magazine. ``Unless Somali pirates have stolen them its difficult to explain where they are,'' Pintado said. ``If anyone finds any washed up on a beach, please let us know.''

more HERE.

randy old goat...

at his age, his heart (or maybe his balls) might just explode!

Wife called police after husband, 82, took Viagra
Police in Palermo, Italy, said they were called to an elderly couple's home by a wife who was afraid her husband's Viagra-driven advances would harm his health.

Officers said that the woman, who is in her 80s, feared that sexual contact with her 82-year-old husband, who had taken Viagra, would cause his heart to give out. ''So much passion at the age of 82, with all the aches and pains he has, could prove lethal", the woman was quoted as saying to police.

Police said the man was "furious" when they arrived but calmed down after relatives arrived. The officers said they left the situation in the hands of the man's family.

read HERE.

day 12...

...saw us making a dash to the fushimi-inari taisha shrine just outside central kyoto, and thereafter heading back from kyoto to tokyo on the hikari express again...

originally, we had intended to take the morning easy but decided to do the fushimi-inari last minute...and it was a decision that was well-founded

the shrine was bloody fantastic! if you had watched Memoirs of A Geisha, you'd remember the scene where Zhang Ziyi had run down a parth that was lined with vermillion shrine gates (known as torii) all the way...this is the place where it was filmed...

and as we were fairly early, there weren't many people and the surroundings were eerily quiet...combined with the cool clear weather (as it is somewhat up a hill and forested), it was quite surreal...

we got back to tokyo late evening around late evening and decided to call it a day, buying bento boxes back for dinner instead of going out...we were pooped...

i'm listening to...

...Dakota by Stereophonics....the first US chart hit for this welsh alternative rock group hit #34 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks...it was also featured on the soundtrack of Veronica Mars.

they're not big in the states but definitely hot-stuff on the continent...having 5 consecutive albums hitting #1 on the album charts in the UK...

kickass song...enjoy!




Stereophonics Lyrics
Dakota Lyrics

wait just a minute here...

...what the heck kind of picnic is this???

alamak!

one black eye coming right up! totally hilarious!

does it comprise of...

...HOLY MACKEREL?!??

this is priceless!!!

OMFG!!!!

Huge water bill mystifies homeowners…

Jennifer and Jim kept getting huge water bills. They knew beyond a doubt that the bills weren’t representative of their actual usage, and no matter how they tried to conserve, the high bills continued. Although they could see nothing wrong, they had everything checked for leaks or problems: the water meter, outdoor pipes, indoor pipes, underground pipes, faucets, toilets, washer, ice maker, etc., all to no avail.

One day Jim was sick and stayed home in bed, but kept hearing water running downstairs. He finally got out of his sick bed to investigate, and stumbled onto the cause of the bills. Apparently this was happening all day long when they were not at home.

Knowing that few would believe him, he taped a segment of the ‘problem’ for posterity.

bad dog!!!

leaving a pressie of his own for his owners...awwww how thoughtful!

wonder if they are gonna...

...arrest him for possessing a "concealed" weapon???

Mysterious samurai saves Police in UK

A samurai sword wielding vigilante has come to the rescue of two Police officers when they were attacked by an armed gang in South Shields, England.

A group of men had forced their way into a house and were ransacking the place when passing plain-clothes officers were alerted by a woman inside screaming. The criminals outnumbered them and were armed with a hammer, knives and chains and attacked the Police officers.

As one of them stabbed at a Policeman with his knife, a mysterious do-gooder appeared from nowhere and attacked him with a samurai sword.

One of the burglars began running away but was stopped by the stranger who struck him on the arm with the sword. Two of the criminals were arrested, but in true hero style the samurai disappeared before police could speak to him. A third man was arrested later and two more are still being hunted.

Police are especially keen to trace the man with the sword who came to the aid of their officers, and have asked for anyone with information to call them.

don't mess with the candy-man!

sadass fella...getting beat up with a candy cane...useless!

Neighbor uses lawn decoration to subdue knife-wielding man

When a drunken neighbor came over and threatened his Thanksgiving guests with a kitchen knife, one Del Paso Heights man allegedly took matters - and a plastic candy cane - into his own hands.

In what police said was self-defense, the man used the two-foot plastic lawn decoration to beat 49-year-old Donald Kercell until police could take Kercell into custody, said Sacramento Police spokesman Sgt. Norm Leong.

Kercell allegedly became intoxicated, went over to a neighbor's home on the 3600 block of Dayton Street early Thursday evening and began waving a kitchen knife at people gathered on the lawn, Leong said.

When Kercell cut a few people's clothing, Leong said, a man at the home decided to fight back. Other people at the home called police.

Leong said the candy cane-wielding man does not face any charges. The knife-wielding man, however, was arrested and booked into the Sacramento County Main Jail on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon.