January 29, 2003
lunch at desk
Not much exciting stuff going on at the moment, so I thought I'd share my lunch with you. The basement of my building has quite an array of restaurants, but I like to get little dishes at Salad Bag, located right next to McDonald's and its 59 yen hamburgers. Today, for a total of 750 yen, I got a salad with little fishies in it (they are fried; Japanese version of croutons?), shirae konyaku, and a shrimp/ broccoli stir-fry.
On my way back up to the office, myoga (Japanese ginger, 'Zingiber mioga')producers from Kochi prefecture were giving out free samples. I have no idea why they thought giving a bunch of office workers their produce would be a smart promotional gig. Most workers are men. I bet there will be a lot of forgotten myoga in desk drawers today...
As I ate, I found a little snippet in the paper about mobster-related “fatal knifings” in MIE prefecture. I’ve never been to this area that I share a name with and actually never hear much about it. Not sure this mobster business is the enticement I've been needing.
Another article was about how money offerings by JR commuters to a 2.5 meter replica of Nara’s Todaiji Buddha hand had been stolen. The thief took 1,000 yen and an envelope of beer coupons. Here are some quotes from the public:
“What a stupid thing to do – I can’t believe it.” (70 year old man)
“It is so thoughtless – to steal offerings from a deity.” (44-year-old company worker)
“If money was left like that, I think anyone would have been tempted. He probably needed it...It would make you worried later, you know, bad deeds catching up with you? Maybe that’s why no one usually takes the money.” (Vocational school student)
i want to see pictures of peoples faces, closeups, your camera is sort of weak so i want to see you get very close to someone's head then say something, anything, maybe a strange comment, i don't know, then take a picture of their face at close range. mostly the pics i have seen are sort of blurry and that is okay for they are sometimes too dark too. challenge yourself. challenge me. get close enough to see people's eyes better. the eyes!!
Posted by: mu-lan at January 30, 2003 01:56 AMi like mie's phone.
Posted by: wakapuppy at January 30, 2003 02:06 AMmu-lan ... easy on the close up there! Most ppl do not like it when you invade their personal space. How would you like it if I stuck my head in your face? Not a pretty image right?
I am sure you also realized this is a camera from a cell phone, so blurriness is to be expected. Mie is taking pictures to give you an imagery of her life and the things around her. If you want to see eyes check out hunkabutta.com, he has lots of eyes for you to look at, even a close up shot of his infected EYES.
Mie, awesome site!
Posted by: TepidT at January 30, 2003 03:53 AMi was thinking more of the train, where personal space is non-existent short of your body cavities, and even those are not sacrosanct thanks to the infamous chikan. but i guess i will get used to squinting. it was a suggestion but sometimes those come across like commands - so what you tepidt are saying is maybe i should get off my derriere and go take my own pics? or rely on mikes pinkeye? hahahaha. just kidding. the site is cool, maybe i expect too much of my own petulant wishes. i want to offer encouragement to "streetttcchhhh" i guess. but again tepidt i am aware those are my issues, not mies. point well taken, i will be quiet re the phone.
Posted by: mu-lan at January 30, 2003 05:47 AMMie県 (Prefecture) is a must ! That is where they hold the Japan Formula 1 Gran Prix, @ Suzuka, each fall.
Posted by: Gem Stevens at January 30, 2003 10:16 AMStealing money from a Deity - I'm just amazed it doesn't happen more often. What did Dylan sing way back in 1964? - Times they are a-changin'
Posted by: Peter at January 30, 2003 11:19 AMI want more photos of bug-eyed dogs.
Posted by: Dav at January 30, 2003 01:12 PMWow! Never thought my "lunch" entry would get so much discussion going. Thank you, thank you!
Regarding the phone, yeah, the more I use it, the better I wish it was. Definitely could use a flash. And when I take pictures, I basically have to have everyone freeze for a good 2 seconds or else all is lost. But I leave the fantastic photography to those with real cameras, like Hunkabutta. I can't be discreet because my phone makes this loud ridiculous 'click' sound when I take pics. For movies, I managed to change it to animal sounds (haven't found the volume switch though) so the movie starts with a meow & moo and ends with 2 barks.
But I like to be guided. I'll keep your 'up close' comment in mind, mu-lan. I just gotta say though how happy I am to get encouragement from everyone!! Truly.
And now I know why I'll some day have to visit Mie prefecture...
Posted by: Mie at January 30, 2003 06:38 PMOh yeah, I'll be on the look out for more of those fancy ugly dogs...the ones that are running Japan into serious debt : )
Posted by: Mie at January 30, 2003 06:41 PMI think all ketai cameras have that noise. You can change the noise, but you can't set it to silent. So that rules out taking any pictures of how crazy crowded it gets on the train during rush time.
But I'm glad you aren't allowed to disable the shutter nosie. It prevents denshya chikan from wreaking all kinds of havoc with their discrete mini-cameras.
OK, I just wanted to see the post about your lunch go into double digits.
Keep blogging,
Ian
Go Mie - but you don't have to go all crazy like mu-lan says. your lunch is fine. in fact, you should be an inspiration for people who doubt they can come up with all that color-saturated pro-looking cool-angled stuff like mike.
Posted by: wakapuppy at January 31, 2003 06:07 AMRecent comments have inspired me! I'm just doing what I normally do and having fun at the same time with my phone. But knowing I'll get reactions makes me wanna find neat stuff to post : )
I agree about the shutter noise. Never know what people are doing with technology nowadays. I hear surveillance equipment is gaining popularity here...to catch spouses having affairs, for landlords to spy on tenants, for parents to check up on kids...people are into weird stuff. Too much time on their hands...
Posted by: Mie at January 31, 2003 09:57 AM