Summer Events

It has been a great summer here in Japan. I decided that if I was to be here, I would have to not let the infamous humidity get in the way of having fun and going on travels. In fact, summer is in a way the best time to be here, what with all the festivals and fireworks to be seen, though it is a season I usually escape as being away from air-conditioning in this region makes you sweat in minutes. Now I'll tell you a little about some of the things I've been lucky enough to see- it'll be a long one-

Star Wars Celebration Japan

Some of the main stars from the original trilogy and far more of the lesser-known contributors made it all the way to Japan for this celebration of 30 years of Star Wars here (coming on to 31 for the English speaking countries), as did Glen and me, diehard Star Wars fans as we are. It was also a chance to see some exclusive footage of the upcoming 'Star Wars' movie- Clone Wars, actually an animated piece directed by the man who brought us Ghost in the Shell. It seems that computer animation and unrealistically drawn characters are the way the series is heading now, what with a similar TV program coming.

What was one of the biggest hits here were all the fans dressed up as their favourite characters, many of them hailing from the so-called '501st Legion', who are strangely enough celebrating an imperial movement that surely was thrown into the dustbin of history many years ago (in a galaxy far, far away) by one Luke Skywalker? There were also a few wookies, a scantily-clad Leia longing on a full-size dewback, bounty hunters and galactic emperors, not to mention what seemed to be (but probably wasn't) a real-life R2 unit!

Luke himself was there, well Mark Hamil was, sitting in a conference he quite clearly didn't want to be at,as he would rather be known for his present (relatively unknown) projects, such as the 'Spore' graphic novel and a part as The Joker in Batman on radio than his early adventures. Apparently, he said he'd only go if they flew his entire family, business class and gave them a luxurious hotel room to stay in. Still, when the questions from the fans did come, I was overcome with an emotion that only Star Wars can give me, as he recounted how he'd asked Lucus if Luke could go to the dark side- "No- that's just not Luke, that isn't what he does. You're thinking as amn adult, but this is a movie for kids" was the reply- ironically so, given that a very much for kids set of prequels would explore that very theme in the case of Annakin.

Yes, I did get to socialise with some of the lesser stars. I took a photo with, Raymond Park, who played Darth Maul and got a photo signed by Jake Lloyd, who played the childhood Anakin. "Iconic of the series" was how he described it and I couldn't agree more. I also got to see Peter Mayhew , who played Chewbacca (yes, he is tall and, actually hairy, on his head at least), but who i didn't see were Anthony Daniels (C3PO) and Mark Hamil (except in the conference), as they stayed hidden in booths people came to autographs in.

Fireworks by Teganuma Lake

We found a good spot to put our mat down on to reserve it and then went off to get some food. Barbequed corn on the cob, yakitori, fried potatoes and of course some drinks were all there, not to mention some pineapple on a stick. Having set up my tripod, I tried for some shots.

Afterwards we met my old friend Micheal and his other half, for some izakaya drinks and chat.

Sankeien Garden, Yokohama

Going to visit my old friend Matt in Yokohama, we went to the Sankeien Garden. The site of an old samuri ruler (I think!), it had a great museum detailing how life was before cable TV and air-conditioning and you know, it wasn't half bad! People paddled their feet in water instead, or sought the shade of a tree- remember those green leafy things that used to grow where the parking lot is now? Well, by being in that museum, we had the best of both worlds, and I even got to try my hand at making some macha myself.

Outside, some beautiful lotuses were in bloom.

The garden itself is lush and shady, with the regular rythmn of insects and birds.

You can even see my YouTube video of the place.

We decided to make our way to the garden's famous pagoda, but the signposting had made it inaccessible to anyone but a Zen Master. Fortunately, we received enlightenment before the place closed, but ultimately, there wasn't all that much to see up there!

Kashiwa Matsuri (Festival)

For some reason there seemed to be more people than ever there this year. At times you could hardly move, which put a lot of people off staying there for too long.  It also had a wild and vibrant atmosphere that I never encountered before, especially around the area of the taiko drumming and floats. Swept up in the crowd, who could feel separate from it all?

I went both days, going with Yoko on the first day, where we both met our students, which was actually a nice feeling as I felt less like a stranger in the crowd. I stayed later that day, to see the night-time dancing. The next day I went with Yuko, just for a few hours, but enough to have some Tai curry, watch some local dancing and finally narrowly avoid a tremendous thunderstorm crashing and rumbling through the night. It led to a detour in which we got my first ever dehumidifier, which has made sleeping a lot easier in my air conditioner-less bedroom.

Sendai's Tanabata Matsuri

Thanks to a suggestion from Matt, and now having caught the festival fever, I made my way all the way to Sendai on the Joban line to catch this timeless display of art and energy. Tanabata is a festival in which people generally hang prayers or wishes on a small branch of bamboo, to celebrate the union of two young stars in the milky way, who according to the legend only get to see each other this one day a year. Talk about a long-distance relationship! I personally think it is a way to introduce the concept of 'cosmic time', as for a star our year is but a second, but that's just me.

Sendai, where it is held, is an impressively wide-roaded city for Japan, so it never felt all that cluttered, though it was certainly packed for the festival. The enthusiasm here, like many festivals in Tohoku, is unbelievable. It was clearly the event of the year for the region and with good reason. The creative displays and the sense of wonder of it all just sweeps you away in another world. There was also a great procession of dancers, from the modern cheerleaders and brass-bands to mysterious ancient creature-costumes from the depths of Tohoku's misty past. Whilst a lot of it was just a chance for mums to see their kids or for local clubs to have a 'happio' (performance), some of it was really good and it was all both sincere and sincerely appreciated by the crowd. The food was a lot better than usual, with some of the best yakitori and roasted corn I've ever had- though I was very hungry!

I stayed a few days, two of which had the festival (which only runs for a couple of hours each day, then the decorations get covered up to protect them). I made some day trips nearby, seeing a temple with a gorgeous garden, complete with coy fish, turtles and dragonflies, where I spent a few hours doing photography and videos, soaking in the serene atmosphere. There was also an unusual shrine, decorated for Tanabata and in a striking mix of black and gold, apparently a unique one. My other day trips were to...

Matsushima

Renowned as offering one of the top three views in Japan,  this certainly is a beautiful island to visit. Amazing temple gardens, including one in Entsuin, designed by a secret Christian, incorporating hidden crosses in the patterns and a rose garden made from flowers brought from Italy, there is certainly a lot to see here.

There are also the great views of the smaller islands nearby and the coast, all of them covered in matsu (pine) trees. Small bridges lead to other mini-islands, offering other perspectives and views of striking, sea-side sunsets. I was lucky enough to meet three girls in yukatas there who I photographed and hung out with for a time. Nothing like meeting the locals to bring a trip to life! 

I also went on a boat-ride around the islands, one of the more amusing things on this being the seagulls sweeping around the sky to scoop up tossed snacks midair. There is also one of Japan's first aquariums, featuring a number of items, including a large mambo fish, seals and penguins and my favourite, aurora jellyfish, which keep changing vivid colour in unison, for no apparent reason other than to entertain the likes of me.

Another thing here was the sea-food. I got sashimi oysters (kaki) that were so easy to eat, all my fears of them coming straight back up again (and perhaps those of the chef!) were averted in an instant. afterwards I felt full of the clean, endless energies of the sea, almost like i was walking on air- or water, I suppose, though I never tried. Coming back the next day to see more, I tried a sashimi bowl, which was just as incredible, including sea-urchins and fish eggs that usually I would have to leave behind, but when they are so fresh they taste of nothing but the sea, who can resist!?

Like any trip, there were all kinds of possibilities in the area, only some of which I experienced, though I would certainly like to go back, perhaps in the winter, as one of the chefs told me it looks great in the snow and isn't really too cold- at least by his standards.

Kisarazu Matsuri

Yuko told me about this one morning and I was off there on the train quicker than you can say, 'don't forget your camera'. It was another chance to use my '18 train pass' and see some fireworks, so there was no need to think about it all. There were some dances, mainly by the local hip-hop and Hawaii enthusiasts, but with a fun-loving atmosphere to it all. Some amazing taiko drumming was to be found and the rather cruel (I thought) trained monkey act, where the owner gets hard currency and his pet, well, peanuts I suppose! The crowd was full and vibrant and , as I had my trusty D300 along, I took quite a few candids for the collection- something these outdoor events are so good for.

The big hit was the seaside fireworks, and luckily, as I went over to see an incredible view of the sunset, so also did I spy the perfect spot- flat grass and a good(ish) view of the explosions to come. The whole event was pretty drawn out, due to the long, pregnant pauses between displays, which wasn't such a bad thing as it gave me time to get my camera ready. One funny thing was an elementary-school boy sitting near me asking if he could join his dad for a beer! Natural to want to be like dad, I suppose.

This year I've been enjoying the fireworks more than ever. They may be an old technology, but they can't be beat by anything else for the sheer 'wow' factor of colourful lights in the sky. Seeing the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony convinced me of this, even though some of the impossible bits were of course CG.

After all that, I was back to the packed station, but lucky enough to get on the first train back, so no waiting around for me.

Sorry for the long gap here at PF. I have managed to keep up my flickr/pbase posts but pretty much overlooked blogging for some time.  Once you get out of the habit it is hard to get back into it- well not exactly hard, but just it gets overlooked in favour of the other 10,008 things that beg for my attention, especially those especially the last 8 of them (just to keep you guessing what they are!) Here I'll talk about my current craze- A/V..

I have made some major strides in the audio/ home-theatre department, including, a few months back, a pair of headphones which surpass all my other pairs by a long shot, though at the price they should. It was a revelation and continues to be one; realising how alive and dynamic recorded music can be opened my ears to the sheer beauty of it- and yes, this includes all kinds of music, from Mozart to Eminem. The music comes to life like never before, seeming to hang in the air around you, with full bass (which for some may be over-powering, but for me, just the thing to get me going). One thing they have that I have never encountered before on headphones is their bass impact. Sudden scenes in movies have me literally jumping in my seat- just as they should. My only 'complaint'- if you can call it that- is that they are sometimes too refined for their sources, though as (see below) I can now get my hands on Blu Ray disks more easily, this is less of a problem.

After a lot of umming and erring, I also went out just the other day and got my first receiver- the Denon AVC-2308-SP. No, I didn't do any side by side comparisons, aside from those or features and price. The fact that it was less than half price and somewhere in the middle of Denon's line made it a no-brainer. There are many models beyond this one, but it does everything I need and has great audio quality, especially with music. I also picked up a pair of speakers, the Denon SC-T55XG also on clearance, which really fill my room with sound, especially with the sub. Since then, I got the matching center (not an easy find, many said it would be impossible) and some other speakers for the rears. I am now an official Denon fan and that is purely related to the satisfaction I get from their products. which give me far more pleasure than grief. I am also an Apple and Sony fan for the same reasons.

Now that Tsutaya rents Blu Ray disks, I've been able to see them conveniently- not being one to buy any but my very favourite ones as after all it's only those I'll see again. The sharpness and colour in them is at times breath-taking, though I'd say that their main selling point- resolution at 1080p- is most of all a way of making use of the increasingly common large screens and not their only advantage. The more varied, natural colours compared to DVD- there are simply more of them- make scenes more extraordinary, the same way they impress me on my walks or in photos. Also, the new audio formats on Blu Ray offer the kind of smooth, seamless sound that we previously only got on CD's, as they are lossless recreations of the studio originals. Voices and background music benefit a lot from this and we are finally free from the overly-compressed Dolby Digital of last generations standard, with soundtracks that breath. The beauty of the PS3 is that it decodes all of this- the only downside being the need for HDMI equipment to receive it (hence my choice of receiver). For all of this, the extra detail in the visuals is the most astonishing thing. Just last night I watched the Blade Runner Final Cut and saw details in the background which I had never seen before- paintings especially made for this epic could be seen in  their full glory and the bright neon lights of the future LA were all the more mesmerising. I still think the original cinema release is the best, with Harrison Ford's film noir voice-over, but that's another story.

I find that HD is just as good for older, grainier material as for the smooth, new stuff. In some cases it is even more suitable there, as we are pretty acclimatised to movies looking good but not perfect, a hang-over from the whole 'cinema atmosphere' thing. It's also an enormous jump for films I've only ever seen on VHS to see them at last as originally intended- as I found with Full Metal Jacket. With newer releases, such as Happy Feet, you know you are there in the cutting edge of technology, with unbelievable detail in every respect. High prices and lack of content are holding Blu Ray back, but I hope it can succeed- as however convenient downloaded content may be, it can't match the subtle qualities- qualities which I can see a lot of people overlooking.

Just to say, aside from wishing you all a happy Valentines Day, that a couple of my photos are on display at a gallery in Tokyo, right now. From February 14th-20th, they'll be at an exhibit with the theme Japanese Style, being held by the Royal Photographic Society, Japan Chapter, which I was invited to join as a guest. The gallery is Kitamura Gallery, near Exit 2 of Shinjuku-Gyoemmae Station, on the Marunouchi subway line. I'm very excited about the whole thing! Here are some links for information-
Gallery Kitamura (Japanese) 
Gallery Kitamura (English)

I just got back from a very enjoyable opening party with the members at a Chinese restaurant right by the gallery. I'm hoping for this to be a good opportunity to show my work and also make contact with other, similar-minded people.

If you can come, I'll be there over the weekend, for most of the day on Saturday and Sunday. Hope to see you there! As for which photos are on display... you'll just have to come and see for yourself.

This is incredibly geeky and I kind of feel sorry for the call centre guy- but this just makes me laugh and laugh! Actually, it's so good I wonder if it really is real?

Whilst I'm on this trip of getting to know myself better, I thought I'd find out what kind of an aura I have. Rather than pay a lot of money for a Kirlian photograph (and possibly find out something I really didn't want to hear!), I did it the easy way, by answering a few questions on the Internet. I kind of like the idea of this, as 'life coach' is a role that appeals to me and one I often find myself in and I like even more the concept that I have 'ideas to change the world'. Who wouldn't!-

Your Aura is Violet

Idealistic and thoughtful, you have the mind and ideas to change the world. And you have the charisma of a great leader, even if you don't always use it! The purpose of your life: saying truths that other people dare not say Famous purples include: Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Susan B. Anthony Careers for you to try: Political Activist, Inventor, Life Coach

I tried to resist it for God knows how long, but finally I cracked and got a Wii. Having some friends over for diner later in the day is what did it as, like it or not, there's nothing on the fabulously hi-tech PS3 to hold a group's attention other than blu-ray movies or DVD's (not so true when I have just one friend over for racing/shooting games, though). It was time for some family fun, big style.

And fun it is- all kinds of mini-games and sports simulations had us laughing out loud. Thanks to the sturdy controller straps, too, nothing got smashed to pieces, either. I'm actually hoping to use it to get exercise without leaving my very cosy apartment, especially in the winter months.

How long it holds our attention remains to be seen, but certainly Wii sports seems like it should be interesting for, perhaps, ever, what with tennis, baseball, bowling, golf and boxing. May the fun never stop! May the games begin!

Researching supercomputers, with a view to learning more about technologies of the future- a theme that longer-term readers of this blog may be familiar with- I just found an interesting article about a team's achievement in mimicking, if not actually simulating, part of a mouse's brain using a 'Blue Gene' super-computer- the world's fastest. When you consider just how complex this is, even not working at full-speed, you start to realise what an amazing, if slightly disturbing, achievement it is-

SF concepts of robots thinking like humans or brain-like functioning computers have just made their first steps.

A team has managed to simulate half of the complicated way of functioning of a mouse brain cortex on a supercomputer. The "cortical simulator" was achieved with the BlueGene L supercomputer.

Previous smaller simulations enabled the researchers to assess thought patterns how they form in real mouse brains, but the new simulation is faster and more realistic.

However, mimicking brain tissue is extremely complicated due to its complexity, huge numbers of neurons and the astronomic potential interactions they can form.

There are about 8 billion neurons in half of a mouse’s brain (in humans, over 50), and each neuron forms up to 8,000 connections with others. Imitating this gives way to "tremendous constraints on computation, communication and memory capacity of any computing platform", noticed the team made of investigators James Frye, Rajagopal Ananthanarayanan, and Dharmendra S Modha from the IBM Almaden Research Lab and the University of Nevada.

The BlueGene L supercomputer has 4,096 processors, each one possessing 256MB of memory.

The virtual mouse brain mimicked 8 billion neurons that made up to 6,300 synapses each. 

So from now, all we need is a fast enough computer and to map out the human brain on it (preferably that of an Einstein type). Then, we speed that up by various factors and leave it in a room from which it can make all the important decisions for us, whilst the human race lounges around drinking cocktails on beaches. Um... wait a minute, what if it decides we're no longer useful at that point?! Scratch that idea!

Coming of Age Day came and went this week, bringing streams of brightly coloured kimonos into the city streets on what was otherwise to be a rather drab, overcast day. It's a day when girls who reach the age of 20 go to city hall for a ceremony, I suppose to mark their transition into adulthood, reminding me of the Jewish Bat Mitzvah (the Bar Mitzvah for girls, though that's at 13). Kashiwa is a fun city and very near me (like 5 mins on the train), so I went there with camera in hand. Luckily for me, the first photo I took was of a girl I trained for the English speech contest way back when she was a Jr. High School student. She was happy to pose for me and of course it was good to see her after so long.

There was a real spirit of fun in the air and I took a lot of photos. Most of the girls started laughing and giggling when they saw me and flashed up 'peace' signs as they like to be photographed. I also got a lot of candid photos and, looking at them afterwards, was surprised how often the bright kimono colours matched the lurid advertising that is so popular in Kashiwa (or 'mini-Shibuya' as it is also known). I actually think some of them were my students as they seemed to recognise me and they looked familiar, but having taught thousands by now in this area it's kind of hard to know for sure without actually speaking. 

I had a look around for the ceremony Hall, but it seemed to be really far away and by the time I set off in earnest for it, the ceremonies were probably over. So, Kashiwa served as a suitable 'open air studio'. They were all so natural and happy it made for a good choice. There were also some amusing contrasts- girls in kimonos outside the arcade-game centers they like hanging out in, or the classic motif with a keitai (mobile phone). The sometimes wild hair-styles seemed to go well, perhaps more so here than with regular clothes.

Then, after a few hours, they were all gone, like the vanishing cherry blossoms. That's the thing in Japan, nothing seems to last very long. but while it's there, it's imbued with the vividness and magic of the moment- like bubbles destined to vanish. Luckily, there is always another festival here and always other things going on. that's Japan! Note: You can see more photos of the day here.

Here is a really nice blog, written by a new friend of mine I met in Kashiwa. Whilst I like going to see the temples and shrines, she actually gets involved in all the ceremonies, not to mention martial arts. It's called Basic Black and you can see it here-http://www.erizabesu.typepad.com./. It is interesting to read the blogs of other 'foreigners' here (foreigner being a pretty strange word, seeing as we are all residents of the same planet after all), seeing what they get out of their life here and how they respond to living in what is for all of us a very different culture to that in our home countries. This is one reason why I recommend to my students, past present (and future!) to take a look at these very pages. There is a lot we don't find the time to talk about and the nature of English teaching can be restrictive, if only because of the students' levels. Of course, we are not here only to teach English, but also to experience the wonderful cultures of Japan. The fact that these cultures- and there are many of them- can speak deeply to us, too, shows that underneath all the layers of society, we all aren't so different after all.

Cliches aside, recently I've become pretty interested in not only astrology, but other forms of 'divination' as well. It's not so much a way to see the future for me, as a way to clearly and impartially see what goes into making the present. With the law of synchronicity, all things relate to each other, so the patterns of cards, the falling of coins and the movements of planets are all part of that same universal pulse.

Mostly, these methods are a bit of hassle, as you have to have your I-Ching or tarot cards at the ready and to know what , but a new way has made an appearance- the online computerised version! I found this site, called

You just type in your name and your question (though I doubt it actually reads either, though it may effect the process in some mysterious way) and any one of a number of methods will give you your 'answer'. I tried it and it 'works', that is, it seems relevant to the question and made me much more aware of the factors involved and how I wanted to proceed. It certainly offers you more methods than you could dream of, especially regarding tarot cards (an area I used to be a bit scared of, to be honest, until I realised that the morality involved in 'properly' interpreting them is just the same as that in The Bible, the I Ching, the Bhagavad Gita, or whatever, all about being honest and natural). There are umpteen types of decks and spreads (card arrangements) there, and the interpretations flash right up on the screen. I personally like doing it on the big TV, on my PS3, as it is more relaxing in the living room.

Other methods offered are runes of various kinds, a simple coin toss (you can even choose between different country's coins) and a 'yes- no' pen that will tilt in the direction of your answer. One of the most interesting things there is a 'personal profile' that will use numerology to find the 'value' of the letters in your name and then find an appropriate tarot card, rune, words and famous historical figures that correspond to you.  Here is my information, you just type in your information there to find your own one. To be honest, it makes no sense at all to me, though it is interesting that my tarot card and rune seem to coincide, however far off the mark they seem to be!

Gideon Philip Davidson

Nickname:
Starfire

Birth Name:
Gideon Philip Davidson

Birthdate:
9/25/1972

Tarot Card
(Equivalent of "9/25/1972")

The Chariot: Victory through might. Advancement through bold action. Change through force. Order established through vigilance. A trying situation mastered by balancing opposing forces against each other. Discipline, individual effort and endurance will turn the tide.

Rune
(Equivalent of "Gideon Philip Davidson")

Uruz symbolizes the Auroch, a member of the ox family that became extinct long ago. This rune represents the strength, bravery, and endurance of this animal of old. Uruz portends the ability to meet problems head on and to overcome them. When the world was new, warriors used to test their strength against the Auroch. Hence, this rune has come to represent the masculine principle and the capacity to meet a challenge.

Birth Mates
(Equivalents of "9/25/1972")

Elle Macpherson, Erwin Schroedinger, Faith Hill, George Bernard Shaw, Halle Berry, James Gandolfini, Josh Hartnett, Kate Beckinsale, Nelson Mandela, Nick Cave, Oliver Stone, Pancho Villa, Penelope Cruz, Stanley Kubrick, Yasser Arafat

Public Role
(Equivalents of "Gideon Philip Davidson")

Words that embody things that may be a part of you are "Lace".

Words that embody people or things in your periphery are "Adversary, Affair, Alien, Anticipation, Apocalypse, Arm, Camera, Celebration, Coin, Consort, Deck, Demand, Devotion, Dream, Duke, Globe, Home, Invention, Joke, Jubilation, Key, King, Life, Lock, Monster, Moonlight, Rapport, Resistance, Submission, Surrender, Synergy, Trumpet, Typhoon, Universe, Vortex".

Private Persona
(Equivalents of "Starfire")

Words that embody your presence are "Atlantis, Freemason, Knowledge, Playboy, Society".

Words that embody the people or things that you interact with are "Allure, Ghost, Heroin, Husband, Jungle, Knight, Leather, Romance, Rough, Spite, Wealth, Whore, Worm".

Words that embody people or things in your periphery are "Constellation".

As evidence that there is something in this, it says that Adolf Hitler and Osama Bin Ladin share the same tarot card, name value and birth path. Seeing all the words flying around in correspondence with my name made hardly any sense to me, reminding me a bit about all that stuff about lucky numbers and colours fortune teller say to people. I am into knowledge and understanding, not superstition- which is not at all to say that this is an example of the latter- just that believing it without understanding it would have that effect.

I expect that in time a lot of this stuff will be exposed to the light of science and be found to hold deep and important truths. In the mean-time, it is a good route to understanding yourself (depending of course on whether your religious views can accept it), or others. They offer a totality of possibilities in a microcosmic form, opening the way to intuitive understandings of the whole that our rational mind baulks at. What we can consciously choose to do is to always make sure to look for the positive in all things- something I always encourage those around me to do, too, as our outlook decides the direction we take. Whilst we won't always find what we expect, we will certainly experience what we really want to! Feeling makes reality, what we feel becomes real.

One thing I've become very interested in over the holiday season is astrology. I'm personally a libran, represented by the scales- a symbol of harmony. Reading about it's qualities it really does seem to apply to me really well. I always want to have a harmonious environment and get along with everyone, even to a fault and I love balance in all it's forms. I find it hard to make decisions as it seems so important to make exactly the right one, though when I do it is generally right. I also have a taste for art, nice surroundings and avoid things that are crude or unpleasant whenever I can- but enough about me! What does your star sign mean to you?

Many people will tell you that astrology is just a load of old hocus-pocus and maybe it ultimately is. but it certainly fills in the gaps as to understanding who we really are and gives me a way of understanding why relationships with others and even our lives as a whole, play out the way it they do, with their otherwise surprising bends and turns, and our own otherwise baffling (even to me) desires. Life is all a journey of coming to terms with who we are and moving towards who we want to be- generally a more perfect embodiment of our sign's best qualities.

Anyway, here's a little about us Librans, with more where that came from and all the other signs, here-

You’re born under the sign of Libra, which represents the element of air, or the intellect. You’re most definitely a thinker — you like to use your mind to tackle problems. Libra is the seventh sign of the zodiac, which refers to relationships of all sorts and your connection to the world around you.
People know you as someone who loves to socialise. Your outgoing nature and love of communicating brilliant ideas to people around you is one of your strengths. You’re rarely at a loss for words … even on your worst day you have the gift of the gab!
You not only have the ability to share your ideas in a very natural way; you also have charm in the way you convey your feelings. This is another of your very positive traits. Even people who don’t agree with what you have to say can’t resist you and will usually behave well around you — you’re simply a nice person.
Your love of communication makes you an excellent mediator and negotiator. Coupled with the fact that you’re always reasonable in the way you deal with people, this means your friends and co-workers can always depend on your having a balanced viewpoint, even in the fiercest of arguments.
In fact, if there’s a problem with you, it comes out of the fact that you’re so good at seeing all the sides of a problem and staying impartial. This makes it hard for you to commit to one side of an argument — you don’t want to be seen as biased, and you want everyone to like you!

 (Venus, the 'Libran' planet)

... An interesting site to explore is this one, as it lets you find out something about the specific day on which you were born, which is far more specific than the generalities of you 'sun sign'. For me though, as a libran, who is apparently always seeking greater harmony and developing relationships with those around him, the details of compatibility are the most interesting. I can certainly see a lot of truth to this in my own life and the people around me and it is much more refreshing than seeing things in terms of people's backgrounds or cultures, as astrology talks about universal attributes which we all share.

So which sun sign are you? Do your daily or birthday horoscopes make any sense? Do you find what is said about your relationships to wring true, or ring hollow? For me one explanation for why this may all make sense is the one offered by the famous Psychologist/ Psycho-therapist Carl Jung. He says that if everything in the universe is connected and changing synchronistically, seeing the way the stars move or the way coins fall, or even the lines on our hands or left-over tea leaves sit, all reflects a small part of this great whole, but a connected and reflective part. That is, they have a pattern in harmony with everything else, that with the right knowledge can be interpreted so as to explain other things, seemingly unrelated. Who really knows, it is all about having a feel for these things after all. But I think there is a lot of truth in them, at least in terms of the nature of our present, if not our as-yet undecided future.

As you may already know if you have visited my Flickr or Pbase galleries, there's a new love in my life. She's beautiful, slim and feels great to hold- she's actually kind of sexy. We're getting really close, even though it's just the start of the relationship and she seems to go with me wherever I go, I just don't have the heart to leave her behind. Before we get too carried away, I'll add that her main purpose in life is taking photos- in fact that's all she ever does, being no more than a D300 CAMERA!

Having used my rusty old D70 for the last 4 years (a longer time in camera years than in dog years), it was high time for a change and Nikon's new wonder kept me from drifting into the Pentax, or any other camp, meaning that I can use all my old lenses. It is fantastic with 'high Isos', meaning that photos of fast moving things, or in low light are more feasible than before. The photos also come out of the camera with wonderful colour, contrast and sharpness- gone are the days of spending hours doctoring each photo before showing everyone. One of the greatest things about it is the huge, clear LCD on the back. It means you can see much more clearly than ever before what you just took a photo of, bringing new life to things like black and white or trial and error experiments. Of course, sooner ort later all the digital cameras will have these capabilities- it's just good to have it in the here and now.

You can see a whole load of my new photos with it here (there are also some in the Winter Celebrations gallery, on this very blog) and see my Tech-Talk video-podcast on it just below. It really has changed my photography for good, though ultimately a cameraman is only as good as his (or her) own imagination- if your imagination sux, so will your photos, so open your mind to the Force!

Happy new year everyone! I hope you have had a great festive season, eaten your fill of turkey (or, in Japan, perhaps chicken and pizza) and sent good time with your loved ones. Now it is time for a bright new year, the year of the rat- yes, that's me, having been born in 1972 and rats are good in Chinese mythology just as dragons are, I'll have you know.

Hope you had a good Christmas, if you celebrate one. As for us, we got a mini tree (doesn't even come up to my knee), a conifer, from the plant-shop opposite, along with a matching pot. It was very cute, with it's decorations. The lights were too heavy for it, though, so we put them on the nearby light stand and transferred a bow from a present to the tree!

Then we were lucky enough to find a whole, roasted turkey in Takashimaya at a reasonable price, which saved a whole day of roasting in my underpowered oven, which we just used for the roastie potatoes and vegetables. It was a lovely Xmas meal and cinema Forest H had a special screening of Pirates of the Caribbean III for the occasion.

For new years we basically stayed in until it had come. I was amazed by the full-HD images from around Japan, showing the snowy noth and people going to bath on the beaches. The beautiful temples, shrines and kimonos were in our living room as never before and you didn't even have to get cold. Later on we went to the shrine and said a prayer- well we actually did the latter later because of the long lines. whilst suwa Jinja is a beautiful place, they didn't have so much realia as Kita Kogane offers. The sacred fires were plastic replicas and there was no sake on offer. I even had to go to a vending machine to get my new years amazake!

I went back there over the next few days, taking pictures of the celebrants. It is an amazing place for photography, due to the light coming in patches through the trees and of course the mood was fresh and pure for the new year. Akemashte omedeto gozaimasu!