Ed Pas' Journal

30 Jun 2005: Comme Ça Dogs

Clarification of yesterday’s post, with a handful more pictures of Comme Ça dog mannequins.

29 Jun 2005: Same-sex Parenting, Comme Ça Style [3 Comments]

A view of a Comme Ça street-level display window, showcasing same-sex couples with their families.

28 Jun 2005: Comme Ça, Baby [2 Comments]

We’ll visit the baby section of the Comme Ça Store in Riverwalk Kitakyushu, and see what the mannequins are up to for Christmas dinner.

27 Jun 2005: Should Never Reproduce? [1 Comment]

A couple, one with questionable text on his shirt, reminds me of a minimalist opera.

26 Jun 2005: Dotcom Fortress

A pachinko parlour in rural Japan evokes memories of the late-90s stock market boom. And bust.

25 Jun 2005: A Poet’s Birthday

It’s birthday time for my good friend, performance poet Steven Ross Smith. I even have a sketch I did of him, from the first day I met him back in 1989.

24 Jun 2005: Bicycle Poetry [3 Comments]

Today I have, for your entertainment, edification, and reading pleasure, three found poems, discovered on bicycles in the bike shelter next to our building.

23 Jun 2005: Demonstration Class at Jarrod’s School [2 Comments]

We went to a demonstration class at Jarrods school. We didn’t understand much, but these photos will give you an idea of what a Japanese Grade 4 classroom looks like.

22 Jun 2005: Fire Drill [1 Comment]

In which I compare the differences between the organized chaos of Canadian fire drills with the meticulous, organized down-to-the-minute style of Japanese school fire drills, where only the Assistant Language Teacher is confused.

21 Jun 2005: Shrine Guardians 4: Epilogue [1 Comment]

The final installment of my series about Japanese shrine-guarding lion dogs, where obscure references are explained, and mysterious poetic wisdom is shared.

20 Jun 2005: Shrine Guardians 3: Legend of the Lion Dogs [1 Comment]

The story of how two brothers create the islands of Japan and plant the seeds for the Shinto religion, in their rivalry over a beautiful young woman.

19 Jun 2005: Shrine Guardians 2: Further Fieldwork

Continuing from yesterday’s post, today I have many more pictures of lion dogs from shrines further afield than Kitakyushu.

18 Jun 2005: Shrine Guardians 1: Research & Reality [2 Comments]

Are they lions or dogs? Why is one open-mouthed and the other close-mouthed? Secrets of the Japanese shishi—also known as koma-inu—revealed at last!

17 Jun 2005: Culinary Herbs: Too Rare or Too Dear [1 Comment]

Reminded by Lia’s brief mention of cilantro, I find and expand on something I wrote in April about the difficulty of finding affordable herbs in Japan

16 Jun 2005: 13 Ways to Find My Blog

Ed analyses his web logs and highlights some of the wackier search phrases. Hilarity ensues.

15 Jun 2005: The Book Stops Here [1 Comment]

Nonstandard answers to the meme questionnaire about books: ownership, most recent bought & read, and most personally meaningful.

14 Jun 2005: Amy In Japanland: Tobata Taxi Adventure

In honour of my sister-in-law’s birthday, here’s a fictionalized account of the last leg of her journey from Korea to our apartment.

13 Jun 2005: Coding Exhaustion, Plus a Tobata Festival

I’ve finished most of the heavy coding, and have a photo from the Tobata Gion Oyamakasa festival that gives an idea of how I feel after having coded all day.

12 Jun 2005: Elegy: Julian Pas (1929-2000) [6 Comments]

Remembering Julian Pas, who passed away five years ago today.

11 Jun 2005: More Tinkering, Plus Battle Robots [1 Comment]

News about site maintenance, plus robots, monsters, and monkeys. Oh my!

10 Jun 2005: Lia Has A Blog Now

Tonight Lia finally succumbed to my haranguing and asked me to set her up with a blog.

09 Jun 2005: System Maintenance: Disappearing Images

I’m messing around with file names and locations. Things should return to normal shortly.

08 Jun 2005: Torii At Miyajima

A short photo post of the famous “floating” torii of Miyajima at Itsukushima Shrine in Hiroshima.

07 Jun 2005: Tea Time [1 Comment]

A brief account of part of a cycle tour from Ukiha City to Hoshino Village in the tea-growing region of southeast Fukouka.

06 Jun 2005: 13 Views Near Yatsurugi Shrine [2 Comments]

A couple of standard photos of an ancient rural shrine, and then a lot of pictures of the pink flowers and greenery that took me completely by surprise.

05 Jun 2005: Kimonophile Given Silk Jacket In Payment for International Intercourse

Many adventures during the annual Tobata Iris Festival in Kitakyushu, this post contains innuendo but should be suitable for all ages.

04 Jun 2005: Iron Chef Sighting at 7-11 [2 Comments]

In which I talk about Michiba. At 7-11. And give praise to Japanese convenience stores.

03 Jun 2005: Not a Street Sign, But Just as Fun

A sign featuring a design list, complete with non sequitur.

02 Jun 2005: Yield to Abductions

Rubber-boned men? Aliens masquerading as schoolgirls? A simple sign misinterpretation makes for intriguing speculation.

01 Jun 2005: Warning: Dangerous Sign Interpretation

A nonstandard interpretation of a standard Japanese road sign.