Hello

How is everyone?

My 3rd summer in Japan is looming ominously on the horizon...we are currently in the rainy season and the heat/humidity/sweatiness levels are well and truly on the rise...I am slowly becoming more and more thankful that I will be spending the majority of the summer in a nice air-conditioned office. My blood's too thick for Nevada, er Nagoya. Always work a Hunter S. Thompson quote in if you can, that's what I say.

Still, the evenings are rather pleasant so I walk home after work most evenings. Which reminds me...I have created a short Google maps tour of my immediate surroundings. Check it yo!

Also, against my better judgement, I have uploaded several photographs taken by myself during work outings.

• Iwase-san's leaving party
• Fujie-san's welcoming party

I seem to be reading random Wikipedia articles in my idle moments (yeah, I know, it's inaccurate, but I never remember the details so who cares, hehe). I happened across the story of abandoned former coal mining facility Hashima Island (aka Battleship Island, pic left) and found it quite interesting. It's probably, like, a metaphor and stuff. Gnarly slideshow and more sober description here.

Also, I hate to sound like the Wikipedia front page, but did you know that Japan still has the death penalty (for homicide and treason only)? I didn't, until they hanged a 1980s serial killer shortly after the recent Akihabara massacre.

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Reporting in

Evening all!

The weather is slowly but surely increasing in temperature...as is the humidity...luckily I have my new Hello Kitty hand fan to keep me cool (see left...maybe you can't quite tell from the photo but she has a fan in her head...yes I was slightly drunk at the time of purchase, thanks to a friend's leaving party at work...it's amazing what they sell in convenience stores nowadays).

Just got finished watching a very bizarre movie (Japanese movie? Bizarre? Surely not) named Party 7, lent to me by my lovely workmate Ikeda-san. Plenty enjoyable though, especially Captain Banana. Also made me want to watch more Japanese movies, for language acquisition purposes. If anyone has any recommendations, let me know.

Still buying records on occasion. Whereas everyone else is clamoring after the latest iPod Nano or what have you, I seem to have gone in completely the opposite direction. I am consistently amazed at how collectible certain slabs of vinyl can be...rooting around in a used record store earlier today, I saw one record displayed with a 100,000yen price tag (about $1000 USD)...it seemed to be some hideously obscure private pressing put out by an avant-garde theater troupe in the 1970s...scary. I've been playing a slightly less rare 1976 LP by sultry chanteuse Yoshiko Sai (佐井好子) rather a lot recently...very lovely, comes heartily recommended if anyone out there fancies hunting down the CD re-issue...

Been playing lots of Nintendo DS games (I'm quite tempted to buy a Wii but I'd have to get a TV first)...including a rhythm game for children based around the vaguely disturbing anime character oshirikajirimushi (ass-biting insect):

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