I sense Summer's approach.
It's an almost tangible feeling that prods at the consciousness.

Unfortunately, it's nothing as romantic as the fragrance of the seasonal flowers coming into bloom or noticing how the sky turns that particular shade of gold at sunset.

No ... it's the smell of sweat on the trains. You really take it for granted from mid-Autumn until mid-Spring when you don't even notice it at all then suddenly ... WHAM! ... whoa ... give that man a Right Guard! I swear, it's fine at first, then somewhere down the line, some sweaty guy, almost always 30 pounds overweight, enters and either sits next to you or stands in front of you and assaults the olfactory senses in a way which really should be illegal.

I'm tempted to carry a can of deodorant with me and liberally coat their underarms or other offending bits with a thick layer of 'Noxious-Vapours-Be-Gone(tm)'. I really think that I could do that and not incur any wrath for a number of reasons:
1) This is Japan and the Japanese generally avoid confrontations like they would their mother-in-law.
2) They may actually be needing and lacking that short fragrant burst of 'Man-in-a-can' (that sounds wrong but I don't know why).
3) I'm almost a foot taller than everybody else and if it's one thing everyone instinctively knows, it's that you don't mess with the big guy. Not fat big, but BIG big. (I'm not BIG big but I think I'm close enough) ^_^

[Edit]
Typical. A couple of hours after my previous post and it starts raining, bringing the temperature back down to a pre-Summer-ish 16 degrees.

Mr. Cikoch was a biology instructor at a snobby suburban girl's junior college. During class one day he asked his student, "Miss Simison, would you please name the organ of the human body, which under the appropriate conditions, expands to six times its normal size, and define the conditions."

Miss Simison gasped, and then said, "Mr. Cikoch, I don't think that is a proper question to ask me. I assure you my parents will hear of this. "With that she sat down red-faced.

Mr. Cikoch then called on Miss Hakar and asked the same question. Miss Hakar, with composure, replied, "The pupil of the eye, in dim light."

"Correct," said Mr. Cikoch. "And now, Miss Simison, I have three things to say to you. One, you have not studied your lesson. Two, you have a dirty mind. And three, you will some day be faced with a dreadful disappointment."

Gee ... thanks Kelly.
You and your music baton ... go and 'officially' pass to random people.
Good thing I'm such a nice guy (with nothing else to do).

Total volume of music files on my computer:
41.64GB - 6962 Songs - 25.7 Days

The last CD I bought was:
Summer Session - MP Records

Song Playing Right now:
Motion Dive - Life Extension

My Top Five (dance):
The Ring Shifter - Dino vs Dado
Become One - Gataka vs Apocalipse vs Anaphobia
Deeply Disturbed - Infected Mushroom
Universo Parallelo - Protoculture
Around the World - Yahel

My top five (everything else):
D-tecnoLife - UVERworld
Asterix - Orange Range
Another You - Cromok
Winter Fall - L'Arc en Ciel
Low Ride - War

The baton has been officially passed to:
Sel
Sneexe
Yo
Pat

I absolutely LOVE things like this.
They amuse me no end ^_^

The first module I signed up for on my Masters course is called New Grammars.
That title alone should have raised a reg flag and sounded an air raid klaxon of some sort.
Grammar is notoriously complex and virtually impossible to fully comprehend. So why did I choose this? I dunno ... it's a required module and I'm gonna have to do it sooner or later. In retrospect, I should have elected to do it later since there are two summer semesters where each semester is two months long as opposed to the normal time period of four months. Whee ... I'm doing the second hardest module in half the time.

There are some pretty funky nuggets of information you pick up though.
For instance, my lecturer was telling us about a guest lecturer who had recently visited from Russia. She often corrseponds with one of the resident lecturers here in the uni and is extremely fluent and articulate with the English language. During the course of her seminar, she mentioned that articles are impossible for a learner of English as a second language to fully and naturally assimilate, no matter how advanced the learner might be. To illustrate this point, she called on her penfriend and said 'Wouldn't you say that in any given page of my writing, there are at least two article errors in it?' ... 'Yeah, that sounds about right'.
Native speakers have no problems with using the right article even if the speaker has all the intelligence of a boiled turnip.
Apparently, this is because the speaker, or indeed writer, assumes that the recipient has some predetermined knowledge about the subject being referred to.
So the only way to acquire this skill is to be born into an English-speaking family.

Well, I thought it was pretty interesting.

In yet another episode in 'Let's put Aeric-sensei on the spot', two of the boys at school intercepted me at the gate. Normal enough ... it's 8 in the morning and everyone's coming to school. Had the usual 'ohayo, Aeric-sensei' and then this very surreal conversation took place.

St: Sensei, do you have a girlfriend?
Me: No.
St: Do you like Japanese girls?
Me: Yes (but not exclusively so).
St: Do you like any of the teachers in school?
Me: Eh? Well ... (trying to be diplomatic and not fuel the fires of gossip at the same time).
St: Ahh ... there aren't any good ones here, eh?
Me: *chokes then laughs*
*chime*

Thank the stars! Saved by the bell (although I did walk into the staffroom trying not to laugh). And the thing is, that boy looked like he was being really sincere AND he looked like he sympathized with me. Ah ... kids today ...

They're everywhere now.
In every toilet stall I walk into, they're there ... waiting ... patiently ... waiting to perform their insidious duties to turn you to the other side.
I speak not of little gremlins bent on testicular mischief (wait, can I say that?) but of those wondrous toilet seats replete with blinking lights and water nozzles which greet you as you enter.

Okay, that last part was a lie but wouldn't it completely freak you out if a toilet said 'Welcome Aeric ... ah ... that curry was a mistake, wasn't it? Not to worry, press my buttons and you'll be right as rain'

Upon making my offering to the porcelain goddess, a strange curiosity filled me (no doubt to fill the sudden void).
Note: the last sentence was probably more graphic than strictly necessary and should not have been read by the squeamish. First time visitors, it's not usually like this. Promise.
I had seen these technological marvels before and I had never known anyone to actually use it. Doubtless you will have heard of the joke involving the toilet with the three seashells. And I strongly suspect that it is this joke which has instilled a dormant fear in every male lest he be tempted to press the 'third seashell' (those not familiar with the joke, try to find someone who does. Failing which, ask me what the 'third seashell' does).

However, I elected to roll the proverbial dice and see where this would lead me. I have to admit that the decision was made on the strength of one particular factor ... the buttons were labelled in English ... AND ... there were instructions on the wall. Technically, that's two factors but anyhoo ...

Right ... time to learn something new ...
First 'seashell' ... warm water ... hmm ... not entirely unpleasant ... there's even a little knob to adjust the water pressure (it is with much relief that I report the lack of an 'enema function').

Second 'seashell' ... unlike the joke, it was not a jet of warm air. It was however, labelled as a 'deodorizer'. No, it didn't spray my arse with a rose-scented mist. I think it just sucked the noxious vapors through some sort of filter judging from the whiring that ensued upon activation.

No 'third seashell' ... and my gratitude will know no bounds ...

Conclusion: The conveniece offered by modern toilet seats prove to be just that. A convenience and not a necessity (unless you're the type who wants a soggy bum upon completion of a particular transaction). Some offer more functions than others. I lucked out by discovering one of the more basic models which had comprehensive instructions in English to allay any fears I might have had. I have seen others which will play a flushing sound ... no doubt to cover up the sounds of one's ... err ... efforts. Others have both bidet and water jet functions. The availability of both on the same seat are slightly puzzling seeing as they are virtually the same for all intents and purposes.

I wonder if a tv show will do a report on this ... not National Geographic ... maybe Lonely Planet or Urbanation ... hmm ...

Fondly known as baseball.
I went to my first baseball game tonight. Sean had an extra ticket since his fiancee's brother couldn't make it which worked out pretty nicely for me.
Quite a matchup too seeing as this was the first time the Yomiuri Giants was pitted against the Orix Buffaloes.
The game turned out to be a little dull as it wasn't much of a game. The final score was 2-1 in favour of the Giants. Pretty much the pitchers' game. Hardly any bases stolen and the game was over in under two hours. But still quite a lot of fun for me ... the fact that they had beer there might have had something to do with it.
They now have field seats where people can sit right on the field and be a part of the game. There are only enough seats for maybe a handful of families and Sean reckons that they are corporate owned which is quite believable. It's only a matter of time before someone is taken out by a line drive to the head.
They even had a remote-controlled blimp with a camera floating around now and then. I would have paid good money to see the batter take that thing down with a well placed fly ball.
Oh! We had tickets for the Junior Suite which basically meant that when we ordered beer or food, there are serving wenches to bring it to us. The mortals down below however, had to make do with the regular people walking around with snacks and refreshment. There were maybe two dozen girls walking around the stadium with kegs strapped to their backs. Full blown beer kegs. On their backs! Dispensing beer!
They should never give me that job. I can see it now ... 'Here you go, sir! One for you, one for me!'
A very enjoyable night out. And to wait for the crowd to disperse after the game, we went to the local batting cage to hit a few balls.

The blimp!

Warm-up time before the game.

The Giants' mascots mingling with the spectators on the field.

Bottom of the 5th and the cheerleaders are out.

The Beer Lady at work. That's a keg on her back!

Check out the Giants' fans completely occupying that side of the stadium.

How 'bout that? Guess I'm pretty nerdy. Not Uber-nerdy but nerdy nonetheless.

Just came back from my first class today for my TESOL course in New Grammars. Good lord, this is going to turn my brain into tossed salad.

Just in defining what 'grammar' means is difficult enough.
There are various schools of thought; the Traditional Grammarians, the Structural Linguists and the Generative-Transformational Linguists.

Today was just the introduction and we looked at how the English language evolved from the virtually unintelligible Old English (AD450 - 1066) to Middle English (1066 - 1500) into what it is today.

The evolution of the language has been forcibly stopped since about the 1750s when the first grammar books came out and told people what was right and what was wrong. But interestingly enough, it has been postulated that the English of the future is today's contemporary Black English Vernacular, sometimes called Ebonics. Very cool stuff.
For a taste, here's a passage from John Chapter 3 translated into BEV by Ralph W. Fasold.

It was a man named Nicodemus. He was a leader of the Jews. This man, he come to Jesus in the night and say, "Rabbi, we know you a teacher that come from God, cause can't nobody do the things you be doing 'cept he got God with him."

Jesus, he tell him, say, "This ain't no lie: If a man ain't born over again ain't no way he going to get to know God." Then Nicodemus, he ask him, "How a man going to be born when he already old? Can't nobody go back inside his mother and get born."

So Jesus tell him, "This ain't no lie, this the truth. The onliest way a man going to get to know God, he got to get born regular and he got to be born by the Holy Spirit."

Now where can I get my hands on a bible like that?

Well well well ... it looks like I'm getting some pagehits from all over the shop ... Oz, Turkey, The US, Singapore, Sweden and Canada.

Welcome one and all to the randomness.

Glad to see my 'fishing' paid off ;)
Many thanks to Sel for that exceptionally cunning plan.

Hi alaysia! *waves*
Wonder if SillyCelly has visited yet... not sure ... it looks like the s'pore hits are from someone else ...

And everyone, feel free to sign my guestbook.

Golden Week didn't feel especially golden. Nor was it even a week. In fact, unless you decide to use up one of your precious paid holidays to pad it out, most of the working population hasn't had a proper 'Golden' Week for the past couple of years as there was always a working day inconveniently placed right in the middle of it.

Nevertheless, I did have a pretty good time going for a little trip to the mountains with Jin, Tomoko, Bill, Chiemi, Steve and Ayu. There was an outdoor music festival in Kiyosato in Yamanashi prefecture and since it was at the tail end of Golden Week, it was just a good a time as any to relax and enjoy the outdoors.

With the gates opening at one in the afternoon and the campsite being the best part of five hours away from Akasaka, Jin and Tomoko elected to stay at mine the previous night. Otherwise, they'd have to wake up at six in the morning. ugh ...
The train ride there was quite pleasant and not that crowded as people going places were mostly already there. However, the bus going from Kiyosato Station to the Koma Village campgrounds was full of people. Crap ... what to do? Only one bus an hour and if we waited too long, we may not get a good place to set up our stuff. The bus driver seemed convinced that we would stil be able to fit into the bus despite us lugging around vast amounts of bags and tents. Err ... whatever, dude. Okay ... let's go!
*cram cram* *stuff stuff* Right! Let's get REAL friendly, people!
Going uphill in a bus, with people getting on and off at every stop with you right in the middle of the bus was not my idea of fun. But we made it in the end (after much jostling and profanity).
The people manning the entrance gates took our tickets, attached little plastic bands on our wrists and gave us bin bags for our rubbish. The logistics people certainly planned for almost every contingency, even arranging for more than a dozen porta-potties at the site. There were some chalets you could rent for the duration of the festival but most elected to rough it out in tents and actually, that seemed like the best way to do it.
We found a good place near the road, near the dance area, near the food, and near enough to the toilets.
Magic!
Tents pitched, chairs brought out, let the lounging commence!
The air was considerably cooler than expected and it was a sign that it would get really cold later that night.

After everyone got settled, we went for a walk to check out the little stalls and the different areas. The Ambient area had little lights set up everywhere and more mirrorballs than was strictly necessary. Very cool place to chill out. And there was a hammock!
The Dance area was empty save for the stage which had already been set up earlier. With the first DJ slated to start at six-thirty in the evening, everyone was just taking it easy for the timebeing.

Oh man ... I've got some new neighbours. Crap. More people looking for a place to set up arrived and being a little late, have run out of good places so they've decided to encroach on our space. Oi! We're not Poland! Go invade somewhere else!
Babi ... I've got someone's tent immediately in front of mine with maybe two or three feet of clearance. Oh well ...

1830
The peace was broken with the rhythmic thumping of a solid bassline.
Game on!
Everyone flocked to the dance area and it was on!

We all intermittently alternated between the campsite and the dance area to get some rest and to get some sleep if we needed it but man, what a party. It got pretty cold at night and I was thankful that Tomoko told me to bring some cold weather clothes since it felt like winter had come back for a last pot shot at everyone.

The music lasted until eleven in the morning when everyone started packing up and preparing for the long trek back to Tokyo. Poo! Most of us had work the next day. A Friday! Eeeeyah!!! Whylah! *sigh*
Oh well ... it was a good trip camping out under the stars with some good friends and meeting some pretty interesting characters.

I finally feel rested enough and coherent enough to blog about it so here it is. Sorry it's a couple of days late. Here are some pics.

Arriving at the campsite

Steve and Ayu

Crazy person in the mountains

Laying back and taking it easy

Who would have thought so many ppl would go to the mountains for some music.

Check out the snow!