2010

Have a good year!

Cheerleaders

I just don't get them. Really. The smiles, and the "We are number one"s (well who really wants to be a number two?) ... but they do make for good photos.

The Dome

Whatever you say, boss

"Containing just a little more alcohol, this delectable liqueur has a rich flavor of barley."
....だそうです。

For Will

Japanese Yoof

The Channel

Kickin' it in Alfriston

Well, You Can Wish Can't You?

Saw this in the car park at Asda in Brighton Marina.

England Has Many Good

Old Stuff At Mother's

Shizu

Buddah In The Wall

Photographs that tell half truths. I could have been somewhere more interesting than I was, but I wasn't, and there was the entrance to a small basement Izakaya near Nagoya station with an interesting display of small statues behind a lattice of bamboo. Next door to the Izakaya? Probably another one, or a petrol station or hotel, and it was on a busy main road. But could you tell how everyday and even a little tacky it was just from the photo? Not really, because the camera doesn't lie but the person holding it can bend the truth.

Plain and Colour

Koizumi

Rainy

Well, it is rainy season.
I tried to add a little vignetting using the TiltShift Generator featured on Ben Curtis's 'Snapper Talk'. Sadly it refused to save it, telling me that the file must be an image file. I am most confused.

Football (not soccer)

Spent three days last week in Nagano with the school's football club. Together with students from a high school from Kyoto, my students were instructed by two under 18 coaches from Spain.

In Japan as America, football is known as 'Soccer', but the Spanish coach and I agreed that football by any other name...

Higher Education

From selection of photos of lectures and lessons. See more pics here, and learn more about where it came from here.
It was an education just taking them.

Beep

Shopping at the supermarket today reminded me of the old gag about watching your job or you will be replaced with a computer. Pictured above is the latest addition to the checkout lines in Japan's Jusco chain, the DIY register.
Hook your bag onto the holders (bottom left) and then scan in your items yourself and pay. The holder weighs your bag it seems, and then check for the weight of all that is being scanned to make sure you are not being a cheeky tea-leaf.
The whole operation of about 14 machines is monitored by 2 staff.

Delicious Tomato Sauce