No Better Time To Ride In The Land Of The Rising Sun

Now’s about the best time of the year for me to cycle in Japan. Being an early riser, I hit the road just before the sun rises in the sky. The upshot is that I get to see some beautiful skies to start off most days.

Today was a bonus as there were some delightfully whispy clouds, plenty of color and gradation to greet me and my bike.

I stopped in a few different places to capture what I thought were increasingly beautiful scenes as I moved on. It was a bright start to something of a bright day.

My finger has healed as well as it is going to. There will be no amputation, as first hinted, nor an operation or continued use of antibiotics. My finger will be permanently disfigured, painful and unable to move. It’s nice not to be in a splint after several months.

I’ve been waiting for an hour for a phone update from the Yokohama Bird Clinic on Dino‘s condition. I didn’t expect to receive an all-clear on my finger today, so it came as a joyful result. I’m praying something similar happens for her. It didn’t.

Cop A Gander At These Rippers Too...

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    かきを食う客ならBig Oysterが究極なかきだ！

    南オーストラリア州セドゥナという町では、同町の海産物関係の伝統の象徴としてオーストラリアの「Big Things」ひとつであるデカイかきのBig Oysterがある。 　セドゥナは元々捕鯨用の拠点として１９世紀で出来た町だったが、この数十年ではかき業が盛んとなり、1991年かきを称えるオイスターフェストという祭りを開催する。 　コンクリート製のBig Oysterは元々同祭り用の山車のために作られたが4回その任務を果たして町の中に永遠提示するようになった。 　セドゥナは砂漠であるナラボア平原の境界にあるので、東から西へ行くと最後の町であり、逆方向で行ってれば平原の終わりのシンボルとなるところのだ。 Ceduna Oyster Festival 2009 from CAAMA on Vimeo. 大きな地図で見る

  • Bikkie/クッキー

    bikkie Australian English 1) This is the typical Australian term to describe a biscuit or cookie. 2) It is also used to refer to the amount of money a person earns in the form of salary or wages. 日本語 １）    クッキー ２）    給料。サラリー。ギャラ。お金。 Plain English 1)    Cookie 2)    Money Strine Dictionary

  • Nuddy/裸体

    Australian English To be naked, or nude. The same state is also sometimes described as being “starkers.” 日本語 裸体。ヌード。裸。Starkersというオージー英語（豪語）もときどき使う。 Plain English Naked, nude, in a state of undress. Strine Dictionary

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    Winter is probably the worst time of the year to try to grow plants from cuttings, except, like for me, you’re desperately trying to avoid doing something unpleasant and you’ve been handed unseasonably fine weather. So, instead of taking a trial test for a potential new job as I could have done sitting in front of a computer for a couple of hours, I looked up how to propagate a grevillea. It seems the process is pretty easy (at least from the standpoint of the pros giving the advice online), but a lot of the available information was for the southern hemisphere and Australian conditions. And, then I found some…

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    「やばいリンガル」Grouse （最高！）

    　 「フェーマスグラウス（Famous Grouse)」は世界中で有名なウィスキーであり、grouseは米・英語圏ではライチョウの意味だけど、オージー英語になると完全に意味が異なる。さて、どのように？ 　Outside of Australia, grouse is the name of a bird, most notably the one that gives its name to the globally recognized whiskey Famous Grouse. But what happens when the word gets Down Under?

  • Sun Shines As The Sun Goes Down On The Sundance Kid

    Today it’s taking me ages to get anything done, mainly because of inherent laziness, but also a tinge of sadness. Despite being geeted by yet another delightful sunrise, I also learned of the death of Robert Redford, one of my favorite actors whose roles included the younger of the titualar characters in the 1969 movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. I woke really early and prepared to get out, but stuck around watching YouTube too long. The upside was getting the sunrise in the form of a big red disc that I like to refer to as an Apocalypse Now! sunrise because of its resemblance to the image sun…