The Japanese moon probe Kaguya is busy working to send back some videos of the moon. The one linked here is a composite of two: the first is the Earth rising on the lunar horizon, and the second is the Earth setting. If you don’t have eight minutes to watch the whole thing, I recommend sliding up to the half-way point to see the Earth set: very cool!
There were some cameras about, recording the fires as they swept through Southern California. Here’s a time-lapser from UCSD:
Here’s what the area around Swami’s in Encinitas looked like:
Let’s hope we don’t have any more of these fires for a LONG time…
I have had a lot of people asking about the situation in San Diego. So far, things seem to be okay with all the people I know. There are a few sources I use to keep track of what is going on there. The good folks at Channel 8 have been providing updates and maps that are useful. The latest google mashup they have there is particularly useful. Since much of the trouble that concerns me is in the North County area, The North County Times has been a good source, too. And, if you can believe it, even the City’s homepage has some useful information.
To get an idea of the devastation, I’ll link to a couple of clips that have been shown around the world. First, a little background: when I was a high school kid, I drove a 1968 VW beetle. This was back in the day when all we had were radios to listen to (man, I miss good radio…). Every afternoon, after school, and after swimming or water polo practice, I would turn on the radio and listen to “The Cruiser” on KGB. Anyone who has spent any time in San Diego knows about Larry Himmel. In fact, I kind of met him in 1979 when—silly me—I tried to refuse selling him a beer when he walked into the main bar at the Hotel Del Coronado at 1:55 am, 5 minutes before California’s law prevents the sale of alcohol. One of the cocktail waitresses (would that be ‘prepared beverage waitperson’ these days?) said I should sell him a beer, so I did.
Anyway, he is a well-known guy in San Diego, reporting on human-interest stories and cracking jokes. Here is the video of his house burning down, covered by none other than himself (I saw this video in Japan on CNN and Fuji TV’s news):
Later, after the fire was just about out, he took a walk around his house:
Larry, our hearts are with you.
There’s a festival held here each year for the shrine next to Kumamoto Castle. We went up to the shrine at first. We were more than an hour early, and it was blazing hot, so we headed back down the hill. The group above show some children playing taiko (Japanese drums). I’ll let the videos do the talking, but I have to say I had a major case of operator-error that day! My favorite one had a series of four taiko groups, including one with women and another with young children. They all sounded great! For some reason, when I got home, the two videos I has taken of the groups were not to be found on my camera… Boo hoo!
These men are dressed as Shito priests:
Some of the mikoshi (I guess ‘float’ works here) were carried:
Others were on wheels:
Some groups were small, and some had many members. This one seemed to be a blend of two:
This group was working all the way down the shopping arcade:
Check out the festival next time you’re in town during the end of July…
Johnny Depp was in Japan recently to promote the third rendition of Pirates of the Caribbean. For some reason, when he visits, he goes to the show Gakko he Ikou hosted by the Japanese Regis Philbin—Mino Monta—and Johnny’s V6. I like a couple of Johnny’s groups: SMAP because there are some talented and clever people in the group, and TOKIO because they do some very interesting things to promote traditional Japanese culture and raising awareness of the environment. The V6 group has none of the qualities above.
Anyway, Johnny is wheeled into the studio, and the above video is the result. You be the judge: interesting, weird, over-the-top, or ???
There are a lot of places to escape to from just about anywhere in Kumamoto. One that is up the hill past the airport is called something like Milk Farmland. It costs ¥300 to get in, and there are various animals to watch and pet as your heart desires. There are a couple of small petting zoos and friendly people to answer your questions. There are at least three pigs, formerly known as mini-pigs and pot-bellied pigs (someone forgot to tell them that because they’re huge!), roaming around.
There is also a fully working dairy, and you can often see the machines in action, sucking the white stuff out of the cows patiently waiting their turn. Part of this dairy, obviously, is for raising the little ones. The video above shows one of them frolicking around a bit too much. She was in shock after her fall and didn’t move much at all after that.
The dairy goods are on sale in the form of tasty soft-serve and a whole bunch of products such as cream, milk, butter and cheese. Part of that complex also has a good all-you-can-eat restaurant serving locally grown food (when we were there, it was ¥1,500 for adults and ¥840 for kids). There were all kinds of food to choose from, including drinks and desserts.