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It happened in...

May

Time to pack the bags / and time to unpack the bags / CHAMPIONS!

29 May

It was hot and still today - just right for fireflies.

We went down to Shinsuisou (remember?) at dusk, and down around the koi pool, there they were, the dancing green lights, slowly glowing and fading, all together. We walked into the fields in the valley, where even more pulsed green. We stayed awhile as they drifted silently around us.

In other news, the long-awaited internet event, Ricewatch, has finally begun. Overoften is reportedly "immensely proud" of this groundbreaking development.

27 May

I don't really enjoy being in large crowds of folk, but I think given the choice I would've made an exception in this case.

26 May

Ahahahaha! Ahahahahahahahahahaha! Woooo!

Which is about as coherent as I'm feeling this morning. I've just got home, it's 9am, the football's just finished.

Never seen a game like it. An abject first half, a half time write-off. Then he brings Hamann on, and it's a different team. 3 goals in six minutes and everybody's blinking in disbelief. And Jerzy Dudek plays the game of his life to see Milan off.

I'm too stunned to get my head around it. I'm working later so I should try to get some sleep, but I don't want to wake up and find that this has all been a horrific and cruel dream.

Late edit: Risked a kip, and it's still true - Liverpool are the 2005 Champions of Europe. Been scouring the internet all day for pictures. Message from Momo to say he's got a video copied and ready to collect. Can't wait to watch it all again without the stomach churning.

25 May

It's just before midnight, and I'm off into town to collect the collective. Then it's all eyes down for the impending cardiac arrest that will be...

LIVERPOOL v MILAN

24 May

The g/u/e/s)t)b)o)o)k's (that should keep it from turning up in any web searches) up and running again if you fancy leaving any messages. Though if it turns into a repository for spam parasites peddling crap again, I'll have to lose it for good and find some alternative. Some of the older messages have been archived because the data file was too big.

22 May

My birthday's come early - and my thirst for gadgets has been slaked. For now at least. I'm now the caretaker of this no-nonsense wee fella. Now it's just a simple case of mastering the Japanese language so I can figure out the user manual.

20 May

OK, it's early in the morning, we're dressed in camouflage gear, and we're hunkered down outside the town hall, armed only with proof of address certificates, passport, new gaijin card, a letter from my boss to prove I have a job, records of both my salary and tax payments, and a signed document from my wife to prove I'm not making it all up.

The enemy could make their move at any moment, so I need to keep as alert as possible. Fortunately, I'm wired to the gills on cappuccino. Wish me luck.

18 May!

Back to work, and problems, problems, problems. I was only gone a week! Toys will be confiscated.

And of course, being a year since my last dedicated foray into semi-professional form-filling, I had to go and collect my new 'Alien Registration Certificate' (known alternatively as the 'Gaijin card') today. And off I troll to the Immigration office with this sacred item, and a quire (yes, a quire) of forms which, to the untrained eye, appear to ask the same questions and fulfill the same purpose as each other (and of course contain exactly the same information as last year's) but are nevertheless dreadfully important in the battle against red tape.

And of course on arrival (and I can laugh about it now, oh yes), I'm asked where the additional documents and certificates might be that I was never asked for in the first place. Oh joy, I can see where my next day off is going.

17 May

Well, being in England was ace. And the mere 6 days didn't actually go half as quickly as I feared they might. Was a pretty busy week. Heathrow, Higham, Ewelme, Brockley, Heathrow. Visitors to England who inevitably gravitate to London really should be encouraged to go elsewhere, where they'll get a better impression of the country.

I'm sitting here with a pile of new books (all 17 of 'em), which compelled the airline staff to append a warning label to my luggage (to the effect that the handlers risked a slipped disc), but fortunately not to charge me excess baggage. And if you think that's excessive, you should see my KitKat collection. Ah, happy days...

16 May

Back from England. Had a wonderful time, but too exhausted to write it all up at the moment.

The guestbook's been taken down temporarily as it's been latched on to by a bunch of spammers. Will try putting it up again soon when they've seen enough error messages.

12 May

Happy Birthday, Mum!

6 May

It's been raining torrentially for 24 hours now. And Smiling Tone has won the General Election. I'm not saying the two are connected in any way, mind.

The fact that he's still there so soon after the Iraq scandal, with a reasonable majority, is a testament to the resounding lack of quality in the opposition. And it seems the Tories are at last seeing sense (that's political sense, rather than the traditional kind) and are going not only to replace their leader, but first also change the way their leader is elected, so that only the parliamentary party votes, rather than every party nutjob up and down the country. And of course the Liberals are pleased enough with the crumbs that feed their lack of ambition. Why would you claim a perpetual third place as any sort of victory? Make yourselves electable and stop bleating about an electoral system which doesn't suit you. OK, so it doesn't. But no one's going to change it for you, so that requires some degree of pragmatism, one feels.

Watching the results come in over the internet wasn't the same as watching the TV coverage (for example, I wish I could have seen Paxman savaging that dreadful arse George Galloway, but I'll made do with the interview transcript, thanks), but the deciding result was called at 4.30 in the morning (12.30 here) and it was effectively all over. Not hugely exciting, but at least it was over quickly and painlessly, unlike certain other elections in certain other countries.

Late edit: Found a video of Paxman vs. Galloway. Galloway is as odious as one would expect, but I can't help wonder if Jeremy is burning bridges. I read that he's no longer the golden boy with those upstairs at Wood Lane, so is he getting it all out of his system while he can?

4 May

I'm so tired.

But happy.

Got home at 6 this morning after watching Liverpool sidle their way into the Champions League final. The sun was shining and the birds were singing, and all was, and is, well with the world. (Anyone who wants to dispute the goal might be reminded that really it should have been a penalty and a red card for Cech, so all's square. 6 minutes of injury time though? That was a heart attack waiting to happen, that was.)

So, presuming it's Milan in the final, can Liverpool beat them? No. Just like they couldn't possibly beat Bayer Leverkusen. Or Juventus. Or Chelsea.

And I've just realised I've broken my duck. I've actually watched Liverpool win a live game for the first time in 18 months...

3 May

Another day up in the mountains, but it was more alpine than tropical today. From up in the meadows, the view on a hazy day is... nothing. Like nothing exists down there, just the occasional mountain peak in the distance.

In other news, it has been decided that pouring a glass of beer into your computer is not necessarily a bad thing, if the computer is switched off at the time. As for when it's switched on, the experimenter refused to be drawn on that question, mainly because she had been banned from further experimentation, and besides, had run out of beer.

2 May

The men went hunting today.

Shooting, to be precise. Or imprecise, as it's better known. The shoots were bamboo, and the only weaponry to hand was shovels and picks. And we dug up quite a number of the hairy blighters. And when I say hairy, I really do mean it. But once they're stripped bare and cooked, they'll look quite different. Very tasty.

It was a lovely cool day up in the mountains. Up in the clouds the vegetation enjoys more or less perpetual damp, and so very different from the pine forests of the lower, gentler slopes, the more vertiginous heights really resemble a jungle. There are roads up there, but none that you'd want to drive on twice. And while it's hot and stuffy down in the valley, it's cool and breezy up there.

1 May

I didn't get to go, but the missus got all dressed up and went to a friend's wedding. (This wasn't a deliberate snub to me, I just don't know her friend, and so as tradition dictates, I get to stay home and play games. Everyone's a winner.) Now that's some outfit, isn't it?