Vertiginous

You see teeth? Seek help!

XPan on the Rails

Half of a roll of very expired TMax 400, courtesy of Skorj. Pushed half a stop and developed in ’secret sauce’ (a unique blend of shetland pony urine and bulgarian eau de toilette).

An Afternoon in Nepal

Feminism, that’s the ticket!

Japan’s terrible errors are by now well known. … It resisted the feminist revolution, leading to a baby strike by young women.

It is Japan we should be worrying about, not America – Daily Telegraph, Ambrose Evans Pritchard.

I’ve seen some stupid things written about the population decline in Japan, but that is probably the most stupid.

If it’s all the same with you, Ambrose, i’ll carry on caring about the US and the UK.

Typical

Just finished dinner. It was really good. Thought it would be interesting to write down. It’s only three dishes:

• spinach (boiled for less than a minute)
• shitake mushrooms (grilled)
• rice vinegar
• shoyu
• seasame

and:

• lettuce
• mizuna
• cucumber
• carrot
• olives (4)
• egoma seeds

with:

• white beans
• chick peas
• onion
• green pepper
• red chilli
• green chili
• tomato (raw and a splash of italian bottled)
• cucumber
• chiptole tabasco
• balsamic vinegar
• egoma oil (1 teaspoon)

Oh, and a glass of red wine.

All of which is pretty typical for one meal a day… except the egoma oil (it’s a sort of shiso i think), which i decided to add because i’ve been getting tired this week. Was worried that i hadn’t got enough of the omegas.

Incredibly satisfying.

A Razor Thin Slice of Autumn

October Diving

The weather this autumn just hasn’t been diver friendly – my favoured diving spot seems to have been closed far to many days; big storms sitting of the coast; typhoons making landfall in honshu in October… When it wasn’t closed the conditions haven’t been great. What a mess. Last month saw me taking Matt diving on a Saturday, and at Futo Yokobama. For the love of Gub!

This month there were a couple of likely looking windows in the weather, so on short notice we went off to IOP to play in the surf. Was really nice to be back. Futo really doesn’t do it for me  - the whole experience is so different. IOP is relaxed and scenic… and that’s just out of the water. In the water it’s all drama and mystery. I’ve been diving there for years and never get bored with the place. All the variety and complexity in the rocks, the big drop offs, walls… ah, still so in love. But a cruel mistress – there hasn’t really been a proper day of summer diving, with blazing blue skies, clear still water, and  that heat in the shallows where the water has been wallowing, soaking up the sun. Still, there is always next year.

Next month i’m off to Australia to dive on the Great Barrier Reef. It’s the time of year when the visibility is supposed to be spectacular. I’m expecting to be blown away… hope it doesn’t disappoint. Don’t think i’ll manage to fit in another dive before that adventure, but if the weather improves… maybe.

Magical Station Light

ByeByeRat

Really. Wonder what those frequencies do to rat ears…

Have to admit it’s a great piece of product naming!

Ripples

Not much to say. This is in the gardens of some museum in Meguro.