Finally, after living in Japan 6 years, I did it !I had planned to visit the beautiful turquoise-blue coral reefs of Miyakojima. But my timing was wrong. Rain had been forecast for the entire week.

Then, as I watched TV at my place, an image appeared like the scene from "Close Encounters," when Richard Dreyfuss sees that mountain over and over on his TV.

The image I saw, however, was Mt. Fuji. I said to myself, "Of course! I should trek to Japan's most famous symbol!" And the weather forecast was perfect, as sunny days were predicted for the whole week.

Not that I had never thought about going to Fuji before, mind you. It was just that it always seemed to be obscured by clouds, and I didn't want to spend my time and money on shooting clouds (not that that is always bad... I have seen and shot many interesting cloud shapes).

I found a Fuji day-tour online and off I went. The skies were cloudless. But as our bus approached Mt. Fuji at 10:00am, our tour guide said clouds were approaching Fuji and the driver would try to hurry. We all wondered if our trip would be in vain. But soon I discovered that clouds are what make Fuji mystical. The mountain seems to manufacture its own weather system, displaying its magical powers.

Fuji was everything I hoped it to be and more! Two Fuji images are now on my website (near the end of the "Landscapes" webpage):

http://web.me.com/rtschudi/rob-photo.com/Welcome.html

▼▽▼▼【講師】Rob先生のバックナンバー━━━━━━━━

・【Umbrellas】2010.11.26 (Fri)

These days I watch less and less television. In fact, when the system in Japan switches from analog to digital next year, I am planning to quit watching TV altogether. All I need is a DVD player and a computer and...that's it.

Actually I am kind of lying when I say I don't watch TV because I tend to watch quality drama or comedy on my computer. The US is producing some of the best drama ever these days. The production and writing is second to none and I'd much rather watch a quality drama than a movie these days. Movies tend to shove all their plot into 2 hours so they always feel rushed. I like a drama that is a slow-burner.

When I was a kid, TV was my babysitter. I watched everything and anything on the box. I even watched programmes for the deaf! Why did I do that? I think it's because I had nothing better to do.

These days I regret having wasted so much of my childhood in front of a TV set. TV is such a passive medium that we don't need to use our brains much. In England we call it "the idiot box". I think the reason is obvious.

There are so much better things to do in life than watch TV. Let's do them! (Unless there is a good quality US drama on...)

Recommended TV: The Wire, The Sopranos, Mad Men

▼▽▼▼【講師】Anthony先生のバックナンバー━━━━━━━━
・【SHOCKING FOOD】2010.09.24 (Fri)

▼▽▼▼【講師】Rob先生のバックナンバー━━━━━━━━

･【Rain】2010.10.29 (Fri)

There was once a Captain of a ship. His ship was big, expensive and impressive. "I have the best ship in town." said the Captain. "You certainly do!" said the First Mate, who was second in command on the ship and always agreed with the Captain. "We will catch a lot of fish!" said the workers on the ship, because the ship was a fishing ship, with big nets made by the workers, who worked very hard and made beautiful fishing nets.


"Yes, we will catch a lot of fish" agreed the Captain "But I want everyone to know that we will only catch Tuna! All other fish are not welcome in my ship's nets!" Everyone was very surprised by the Captain's strange preference for Tuna. All the workers on the ship were confused. Everyone in the town wondered why the Captain would do such a thing. No body questioned the Captain however, because it was his ship and also the Captain looked so much like everyone thought a Captain should look. He had a white beard and blue eyes. He wore a white Captain's hat and a beautiful blue jacket with brass buttons. He had a deep rumbling voice that made people pay attention. When he stood on the deck of his ship, he looked so much like a Captain that everyone thought "That is what a real Captain should look like!"


The ship set out carrying all the nets made by the workers. They reached an area with a lot of fish and threw the nets in the water. "What a beautiful day!" said the Captain. "Yes sir! Beautiful sir!" said the First Mate. The workers pulled the nets out of the water and they were full of fish - tuna, salmon, bonito, mackerel, even some squid and an octopus! "Take out the tuna and throw the rest back!" said the Captain.


"The rest back!" said the First Mate. The crew of workers was confused by this but, as one worker quietly said to another "It is his ship, what can we do?" All the fish were thrown back into the water, and a small pile of Tuna was left on the ship. When the ship got back to the town, people were disappointed. "Where is the salmon?" they said "Where is the mackerel, where is the bonito?" "Tuna is the best fish!" shouted the Captain "Delicious and Nutritious!" "That's right" said the First Mate "Nelicious and Dutricious" The people scratched their heads in bewilderment and this strange behaviour. That night, people did not have enough to eat, because there were not enough fish. The Captain and his family ate well however, because the Captain always had plenty of food. The next day, the workers said to the Captain


"Captain, we have some holes in the bottom of the ship. We need to repair the ship or the boat will leak." "Ships should not have holes" said the Captain "If a ship has a hole, water will come into the ship." "Yes, we know" said the workers patiently "That's why we need to repair the ship." "Ships should not have holes" said the Captain. "Yes, we know ships should not have holes" said the workers even more patiently "That's why we need to repair the ship." "Ships should not have holes" repeated the Captain. "No holes" said the First Mate

The ship sailed out again to catch some fish. Again the nets caught a lot of fish, and again the Captain commanded all the other fish besides tuna be taken out of the nets and thrown away.
When the ship returned to the town, the people saw that the Captain had caught only tuna and they quietly asked the workers why the Captain insisted on throwing the other fish away.
"We don't know" said one worker "We spend a long time making the nets but the Captain does not ask us for our opinions."
That night, the people in the town did not have enough to eat. Their stomachs grumbled loudly, their children's stomachs grumbled loudly but the Captain's family ate well because the Captain always had a lot of food - the Captain's family owned a large farm and always sent him a lot of food.

The next day, the workers said to the Captain
"Captain, the sails on the ship are torn and broken. They will not catch the wind in the way that sails are supposed and the ship will not move as well as it should. We need to repair the sails now before they get any worse!"
"The sails should not be torn said the Captain. Torn sails are no good."
"Yes, we know" said the workers patiently "That's why we need to repair the sails."
"Torn sails are no good" said the Captain.
"Yes, we know torn sails are no good" said the workers even more patiently "That's why we need to repair the sails."
"Torn sails are no good" repeated the Captain.
"No sails" said the First Mate.

The ship sailed out again to catch some fish. Again the nets caught a lot of fish, and again the Captain commanded all the other fish besides tuna be taken out of the nets and thrown away.
When the ship returned to the town, the people saw that the Captain had caught only tuna and they became angry.
"Why didn't you bring us all the fish!" they demanded "We are hungry! Our children are hungry!"
"You people do not know anything about ships or fishing!" said the Captain angrily. He had never been challenged before.
"This is my ship!" said the Captain. "I like tuna. I do not like salmon. I do not like mackerel. I do not like bonito. If I want to catch only tuna, I will catch only tuna. This is my ship!"

One little girl stepped forward and said
"Captain, if we had enough tuna for everyone to eat, then there would be no problem, but we do not have enough to eat and we need more."
The Captain was outraged by this comment from the young girl. Confident young women with good ideas always made him nervous.
"This is my ship!" he protested.
"Captain it is true that this is your ship, but this is our town!" said the people, and with that they picked up the Captain and threw him in the water.

"Hooray!" said the people.
"Hooray!" said the workers on the ship.

The ship was renamed "The United Town People's Democratic Collective Liberation Water Vessel" and from that time on, was run by a committee of elected officials with a chairperson who changed each week.
If the ship needed repairs, it was done quickly and efficiently.
The ship caught all kinds of fish and everyone had enough to eat.




The End.

▼▽▼▼【講師】Eddie先生のバックナンバー━━━━━━━━

・【The World of Door Handles】2010.10.08 (Fri)

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Posted By: Eddie Palmer on November 19, 2010