just press the pink boobicle button

just a coupla clicks a month might do the trick...
i detest fwd:fwd:fwd's but i'm glad i got this one kel...

Please tell ten friends to tell ten today! The
> Breast Cancer site is having
> trouble getting enough people to click on their site
> daily to meet their
> quota of donating at least one free mammogram a day
> to an underprivileged
> woman. It takes less than a minute to go to their
> site and click on
> "donating a mammogram" for free (pink window in the
> middle).
> 
> This doesn't cost you a thing. Their corporate
> sponsors/advertisers use the
> number of daily visits to donate mammogram in
> exchange for advertising.
> 
> 
> 
> Here's the web site! Pass it along to people you
> know.
> 
> <http://www.thebreastcancersite.com>

festival tips

this is outstandingly gorgeous
i have been waiting patiently for the sumida site to display its tips for the big event
i was so excited to see an english information button
THIS IS WHAT I FOUND

Information of the Sumida River fireworks display



1. When should I be there to get a good spot for show?



      The best way to get a good spot is to make good friends with people around
      the place and

      to be invited the family party. :-)

If it is difficult, you should find a place
to sit down yourself. The only way to sit down in a good place is to go there
earlier than anyone and keeping the place being there.

      You must be careful to know where you can stay. You can't stay in any roads
      to walk around.

      (Police will scold you!)



2. What should I bring?



Ground sheet and portable
chair and some beer!

      With ground sheet you may be able to keep a place to sit down. But you
      must be careful

      not to be stolen the place by the other people.



3. Where should I go?

Sumida park (along the sumida
river).

You can get there by subway(Toei asakusa line or Ginza line). Station
to get off is "Asakusa."

      In the day it may be very crowded. If you want a place to sit down, you have to get to

      the park earlier than anybody.



fireworks are shown from

      7/30 SAT 7:10PM to 8:30.



      have
fun!

      

      This information was created by cooperation of Mr. Ron.

THUS I AM NONE THE WISER
and may very well be getting there at 9am
unless you know any nice families?

j j junkie

i have often been dubbed a crack whore, as a term of endearment in much the same way that i entitle my own mummy a mama san (the brains beyond the whole seedy operation)

but i had never been open enough to fully accept the reality of this title...until now

it dawned on me whilst resting on one of my favourite thinking places - the dunny...that i have been harbouring this addiction for well over a decade and whats more it seems to be worsening rather than dissipating

it all started in a poorly lit, badly ventilated, carpeted squared side wing of the first university i attended, some mates in my class had told me about  the adventures and the highs that i would encounter, it wasnt long before i was trying it for the first time

in the early days it was a real group thing, it was fresh it was new and mostly came in small doses... but things changed the more i got the more i wanted, as things changed and grew and my paypacket increased it made it even easier for me to access - i am ashamed to admit that in the beginning i even took out a student loan to fund my obsession

these days i am on it every day, much of the old group has dispersed and i now find myself doing it alone most nights, on the weekends i indulge day and night - sure my mates and loved ones know about it, its no big secret - they accept me for who i am
im sure they often wonder why and wish i was spending my time more wisely and some probably worry about me alot...but i cant help it

its true
THE INTERNET is my crack
and i am its girl-who-works-for -a-mama-san

ps i saw a cute tshirt that had 'crack whore' scribbled on it in one of my fav shops in shinjuku today...unfortunately it cost 12 600 yen

crooked as a dogs hind leg

this is how arse about face things have gotten (please note in an attempt to embrace my ever slipping away aussieness i have made a promise to myself that i will bloody well try to include as much australian talk into my on and off line bull crap, as i can muster) when my corker of a mum emailed me this arvo and said 'g'day darling 'ow many bottles o grog do yous want?' i replied with 'oh mother dearest, i really dont care for any liquor at this present time' (or something like that)
it hit me a good couple of hours later that there was once a point on my life when i would have gnawed a tit off (i actually dont call them tits i think it a filthy disgustin' word - i call them boobicles as in icicles, testicles, cubicles) for a big duty free bottle of absolut...alas those tit gnawing days are over.

(fact is a bottle vod is pretty cheap here- so i no longer have to scab duty free off my mama)

earthy feeling

saturday 4:35pm

holy fuckin shit
there i was happily playing dress ups and the apartment started to move in a very alarming way
my first reaction is frozen with fear my second reaction is always to piss bolt anywhere usually outside - despite advice not to!
so i bolt to the door, hearing other english voices also flying down from the upstairs apartments i feel relieved, then i look down and realise i am dressed in a brightly coloured kimono and green lace tabi socks - too shitting myself to care i fling the door open and scream 'oh my god' (really loudly now that i come to think of it) just as the upstairs neighbours whom i have never met, but one of which i now realise is the girl that oddly looked me head to toe in the street the other day (at which time i was NOT wearing a brightly coloured kimono and green lace tabi socks), rounded the stair well and were met with the site of me door wide open in my finest dress up clothes screaming the lords name in vain

things i have learnt from this afternoons earthquake:
- i feel better knowing there are lots of english speakers around me
- i also feel better that other foreigners are at home on the weekends sitting on their arses instead of out exploring this amazing city
- a cell phone will be useless in a big emergency...i called zume straight away and the friggin thing kept telling me to please wait and that lady with the cute voice kept telling me that the tokyo lines were busy - when we finally got through zume said the lady with the cute voice had also been telling him the same!
- i really should study alot harder , there are times when knowing more japanese and kanji would really come in handy
- there are times when a triple vodka and tabacco laced with valium would also be handy (gonna have to go with the triple vodka this time)

just watching the news now - was between 4 and 5 in places - real close to tokyo
epi centre in chiba
dont worry the precious shinkansen is ok but some other trains have stopped
some cool footage of tv studio shaking and the shibuya crossing looking pretty much unphased (sales are on - no time for earthquakes)...looks like a few unstable structures have come down
plan to go have that vod now to calm my nerves while i watch as the news pans across the same footage for the next 56 hours

mum im ok! hope you get to feel an earthquake when you are here! its bloody scary

i am a minidisc

after a good read of udon soup i found myself suckered into another mind numbing online quiz
currently feeling decidedly behind the times after being classified as a minidisc
but according to the quiz i am just so fresh and you are all filthy stinking hippies

               

            What
            Audio Format are You?

GO ON...numb your mind too

ps sometimes secrectly wish i was a hippie

rectal rocket

life with arse jet
looked up from my book when i heard a man screeching the words asu jeto
turns out its an 'earth chemical'

3 letter word

for someone who has never studied or lived outside of japan, zume
has awesome- no stupendous english ability. his motivation is
bewildering and his moxie is enviable. of course in the last year of
knowing me he has been challenged some what to get a grip on a twisted
contorted style of english language. i often hold back with the
colloquialisms and the thick raw slang, but he's pretty quick and whips
out a good 'jeezus christ this place 'as gone to the dogs' (half of
which he already knew himself) often his knowledge and questions about
'my' native language are beyond me...

last night i went downstairs to find him mucking around on the
mac, he was showing me some stuff he thought was pretty cool...and i
noticed a small dictionary pop up in the top corner as i looked closer
at the word in the box i giggled as i saw what he had been searching
for - there were the three letters R-A-T

later i giggled again as i remembered that earlier that day
on the escalators up to tower records i had called him a 'rat
bag'

away with the breeze

i've never been one to rave about fireworks, in fact back home i would often be heard ranting about how the local bussinesses and government spent way too much money on ridiculous pretty lights in the sky that simply drifted away with the breeze, when there were plenty of worthy causes starving for funds.

i had heard many times how the japanese put on a spectacular display in the night sky. not wanting to be beaten i took a japanese friend to an australia day fireworks display on the brisbane river, a few years back. i excitedly bought lil plastic aussie flags and waved them around after a go of extremely dodgey aussie style karaoke. i was proud to show off our pyrotechnical skills and waited anxiously jumping up and down to the bad, bad hot hits that were being pumped from the speakers of a brissie radio station (i do believe there was a bit of barnsie and farnsie). after kicking in the dust for a while the countdown was on and the pretty lights were soon to astound us.

after a short burst of action in the sky, a few embarassed side glances and a couple of is-that-it? that-cant-be-it's...i dumped the flags and was back on my friggin-waste-of-money band wagon. said friend went on to try and describe with all his might the glory of japanese hanabi.

check out these old pics
australia day joy 2003

the shame the let down  -pathetic australia day fireworks 2003

i am so ready to see what tokyo has to offer
here are just a few

Sumida River Fireworks Festival July 30
7:30-8:30pm (but some set up camp as early as 9am)
20,000 fireworks (whistle)
about 1 million apparantly go to check these babies out 
we plan to be there with them
Nearest stn: Asakusa or Kuramae. www.kanko-sumida.com

Meijijingu-Gaien Fireworks Festival
Aug 1
7:30pm
10,000 fireworks
good viewing from the surrounding stadiums
we got tickets for just 1000 yen from lawson but you can pay up to 6000yen for good seats (man they must be good fireworks)
Nearest stn: Sobu Line, Sendagaya

Tokyo Bay/Harumi Pier Fireworks Festival
Aug 13
7-8:20pm
12,000 fire works
Nearest stn: Oedo Line, Kachiodoki.
 www.city.minato.tokyo.jp

 

sparkles and smoke

camped by the yamanote train line last night we abondoned our bicycles for the bright lights of hanabi. in australia fireworks are not sold at the local store they are much harder  to come by so this was a first for me...i was a little apprehensive about my first pyrotechnical experience having had it drummed into my head that they are dangerous and yes i still agree setting things on fire is just not a safe practice but this was a fairly tame bout of pyromania. i expected lightning, fire, big bangs, hissing, screaming, explosions, trees burning to the ground - the works. alas our lil pack o fireworks were no more than mac daddy sparklers - but still very very fun
and we took a load of pics check out our first hanabi photo album - more to come as this season starts to get hotter and brighter
we are planning the big one - the sumida river fireworks fest - no im not gonna get there at 9am to get a spot but we do plan to get there early to catch the river side worm - all are welcome email me if you wanna come and share some of our big huge blue thingie that everyone sits on (tarp, mat, leisure seat??) OR if you have been to the sumida hanabi before and have any tips!!

ignorance is bliss

why do they write this kind of earthquakey stuff ?
japanese telepathy
'are you thinking what i'm thinking?'
'yep, lets party like its 1999?'

japanese aliens??

in europe they have crop circles and in japan they have rice field art
i will never really know if crop circles were made by aliens because there is just too much conflicting evidence...
and i will never really know if aliens created this amazing ukiyoe art on the rice fields of aomori because i cant friggin read kanji properly or understand half of what is bloody said on the news...
i suppose i could ask zume but that would take the fun out of it - so i will just have to make up my own story and reasoning in my own fantasy world

thanks to kissui.net for reminding me how amazed i was when i saw a shot of this on the tele the other night

trouble in tokyo

update: that was quick - he's back already - I THINK!! ? I HOPE
what has happened to masa?
the on the ball investigative genius, bringer of the truth tokyo style is having some trouble...what will we do without masamania

hot harajuku girls

the streets of harajuku are still their catwalk, despite being a sweltering 32 degrees in the shade. dressed in full gear the girls are sweating in out

some can still muster up a pretty good pose

some bring their own shade

seems the heat has not detered the on lookers either

girls who wish they were harajuku girls

and those who couldn't be further from looking like a harajuku girl if they tried

 

 

 

but if you are clever, you know that there is always something worth coming out in the heat for...

just around the corner just a few steps away from the lace and lollipops are the sites that make the sweat worthwhile...

HARAJUKU BOYS!

what the hell is a ground cherry?

for weeks i had been anticipating the ground cherry markets...the ad in the events column said "Ground cherry market held on the 46 000th day according to Buddhism"
So wrapped up in the idea that this market was only held every 46 000 days or 126 years i neglected to actually research it. i day dreamed long and hard about the kind of things that would be sold at a market that was only held every 126 years - friends speculated jokes about staff turnover and profit flew thick and fast...and then the day finally came - meeting at shibuya we excitedly jumped on the ginza subway and chatted our way to asakusa to sample the fine wares of the market only held every 46 000 days. wandering from the station to the sensoji temple, the site of the markets, i spied on peoples shopping bags eagerly to see what kind of goodies they were picking up for a bargain. much to my surprise, it seemed that plants were very popular. thinking to myself that i didnt really need any new plants i again daydreamed about the treasures i would find. still we watched as more people flooded out of the site with green leafy plants. as we neared the entrance i saw the tops of the market stalls and was ready to wet my pants with excitment (actually i really nearly did pee myself but only because i had drank so much tea on the train ride to asakusa then serached frantically for a toilet only to go into a public toilet that was so hiodeously repulsive i could not bring myself to swat over it, i had to waddle around bladder bulging until i could hold no more and ended up having to release in a toilet of which the smell is still lingering up my nostrils...but by that stage it was an emergency so i just rolled up my pants, held my nose, closed my eyes and upon finishing reached for the tissue to find not only was there no paper but there was not even a holder for it... ah well i was so overjoyed with the feeling of relief that no dunny paper seemed like a tiny drama at the time...)
so as we serged into the market crowd, money jingling in our pockets and eyes on full alert for cool bargains....we quickly realised this was exactly what the ad said a " ground cherry market" thats right all that was being sold was thousands and thousands of ground cherry plants, rows of stalls all with identical green leafy plants with a strange droopy looking tomato that looked like it had been on the vine for 46 000 days. and EVERYONE was buying them. when we asked if the strange fruits could be eaten the gorgeous lady at the stall said with a huge smile "ah no they are for happy"

if i had bothered to do my research i would have realised that the ground cherry markets are held ever year not every 46 000 days
"Ground Cherry Market

Held on the 40,000th day according to Buddhism, this bustling market at
the famous Asakusa temple is said to give visitors divine grace
equivalent to 46,000 consecutive daily visits. Bargaining for ground
cherry pots is encouraged. July 9, 10, Sensoji Temple, 2-3-1 Taito-ku.
Info: www.asakusa-kankou.com"

 

on top of mt fuji all covered in ???

so the big man is officially open for climbing and mama is coming to town so it just seems right that we get ourselves sorted and we skip to the top!
but i kinda have this sick feeling in my gut - cant work out if it is the giddy feeling of excitment due to the fact that i will be making my ascent to the top of the almighty devine structure that i have admired since childhood or if it is the muddled guts feeling of fear and terror...either way a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do!
not wanting to go unprepared i have naturally been sniffing around for other peoples stories... some tell a glorious story of achievement and others tell a sickly story of hell like pain
a recent story in the tokyo notice board written by john gunning describes the feeling of altitude sickness as
"downing 10 different cocktails in an hour before eating six portions of garlic cheese chips then dancing to  speed trance in a nightclub with no air conditioning and about 300 people above the legal limit packed in" you know ive probably done that many times before all in the name of fun...i'm just not sure i want that feeling on top of a huge volcano
and then there are others who paint a much more serene picture: unthinkable 1
so im off to the camping store today to get sorted...wish us luck we have a few more weeks to get pumped up for it and pray for a crystal clear gorgeous sunrise!

aparto 2

for anna II

in tokyo, bizarre but true, one rarely hangs out at friends homes. this may be partly because many peoples apartments are just far too small to entertain guests and partly because it is such a wide spread city it is often easier for everyone just to meet in a central location. so its true, anna has not been to our new aparto even  though we have been living there for a few months now (granted she also has a new bubba...) and right now she is far far away not even in the country
so here are some pics of the place

yokatta yukata

where else is a girl supposed to find her mama san a funky summer yukata to wear to this seasons hottest hanabi parties...

no not big boy dining...

uniqlo

at just 3990 yen its this seasons fashion must have...and just check out the range of designs www.uniqlo.com
ladies yukata
mens :(

yukata update: i ended up getting two gorgeous yukata from a teeny tiny shop in the back streets of asakusa. the kimono clad ladies that fitted me also picked a stunning summer smock for my mama. sorry uniqlo is great for all things cheap and cotton, but they cant beat the authentic service and the special feeling offered  by the more traditional boutiques

boys boys boys

its always great to have new boys come into your life!



hi finn sorry the weather has been pretty sucky lately, but maybe the surf is alright xx oo
hey nico hope you had a fun flight with mummy to visit your grandma,grampa and uncie jake, in utah xx oo