Serendipity Moment

While working in Japan I spent a few days in a city named Shizuoka. While there I asked for directions from a woman who worked at an info booth in a very busy spot in the downtown portion of the city. After I found the area of the city I was looking for I returned and thanked the woman at the info booth again. We chatted for a bit, exchanged contact info, and I left. I returned to my home city of Kofu the next day. After this we exchanged emails a few times but we were never able to meet again for various reasons. This was about six months ago on the other side of the planet.
This afternoon I'm sitting on a bus leaving the downtown area of Vancouver and a woman gets on and sits down in the seat beside me. She starts to study some English material that she has with her. We strike up a conversation, exchange contact info and agree to meet again at a later date. We ended up getting off the bus at the same stop so decided to go for a coffee in the area where we both live. It was while sitting in a cafe having coffee that we discovered that "HO-LY FU-CKING SHIT!!!" this is the same woman who I got to know briefly in a Shizuoka, Japan info booth on the other side of the planet six months ago. She now lives down the street from me. Neither of us thought we would ever hear from the other again. We're going to a festival and watching the fireworks together this Saturday, Canada Day. She was feeling as tingly about the whole thing as I was.

Swan Rescue

I watched the sweetest drama unfold today. I was walking along a path they have by the ocean in West Vancouver and noticed a swan that was trapped in a sort of a well type thing in the pond where he lived. The bird was trying very hard but couldn't free itself. Others noticed me noticing the bird and soon a small crowd gathered. I called the fire department to report the trapped bird. They referred me to the SPCA for West Van who referred me to the emergency response person for animals in distress. A few minutes pass and the beautiful bird starts to panic. The panic effort to escape gives the impression that he may hurt himself in the process. A guy watching this with me grabs a log with another guy, walks out into the pond, dips the log under the swan's ass and kind of helps/ scoops it out of where it was trapped. The small crowd went wild, clapping and cheering. As soon as the swan got out the trap it swam across to where another swan and about 5 baby swans were waiting. The two adults did this thing where they puff up their necks to each other and wrap them around each other in a kind of hello. Then the swan family swam off together. It was the sweetest thing to see.
I had been pricing high end digital cameras moments before I watched this scene play out. I decided to buy the camera at a later date, walk outside and watch this scene with the swan unfold before me.

Sunny Day at English Bay

I spent this sunny afternoon with a friend in the English Bay area of Vancouver. J.C. what a beautiful place. People playing frisbee or guitar, kids running in low tide with soccer balls and their dogs with them, your typical Sunday sunbathing crowd. Great day.
I have inhaled more second hand pot smoke while walking around greater Vancouver this month than most people would in a life time.

www.pepyride.org

These people do absolutely wonderful work:

http://pepyride.org/the_pepy_ride.html

And if we ensure that little sociopathic females from New Zealand don't steal any more money from starving kids, I'm sure they will continue their charitable efforts well into the future.

Breakdown

I may have to break down and buy a decent digital camera shortly. I don't think I can stand it much longer without one:

http://scottnicholsgallery.com/

http://ptoledano.com/

Internet Comedy

I recently finished watching a TV show on my computer for the second time. The name of the series is NewsRadio. Dave Foley, Phil Hartman (his last work), Jon Lovitz et al. Funny? You don't know from funny until you watch this TV series long enough to get a sense of the characters. Some of the funniest TV ever made.
I was in downtown Vancouver when Brazil won their world cup football match the other day. It was neat to see all the people come streaming out of the cafes and bars with the Brazil flag colours all around, singing that 'O-le, Ole, Ole, Ole' song.

KofuWeb.com breaks 700 mark

www.KofuWeb.com has had in excess of 700 unique visitors. Not sure if that's a lot or not. I think it's neat that more than 700 different people have looked at my little old web site.
That site was just a practise run to get the applications down. The next one is going to have much more mass appeal, whatever it ends up being.

Parallel Universe

While watching the bit torrent files of the TV program called Six Feet Under I was introduced to some very interesting concepts about death and the prospect of parallel universes existing for us while we chug along in this one.
I had a dream of late that really made me think on this. In my dream I was living in an apartment with a woman who had a profound impact on my life. Marie-Josee is/was her name. She is no longer with us, in reality. In my dream she was with me in our apartment. I was working at something and she was still in bed. She was talking to herself in her sleep. She spoke French in her sleep as French was her first language, Marie-Josee. In my own dream, I listened to her mumble to herself while she dreamt in bed. She then woke up, got out of bed, and walked to our apartment washroom, still mumbling to herself in French, but now half awake to go take a pee. MJ had one endearing little pimple on her left shoulder. I noticed it just before she closed the door to the washroom behind her, in my dream. Then I woke up. Here.
Parallel Universe.

Jazz Festival

Elvis Costello, the Shakespeare of Pop, is playing at this year's Vancouver International Jazz Festival.
http://www.coastaljazz.ca/index.cfm?page_id=3

'Almoooooooooooooost blue
There's a girl here
And she's
Almoooooooooooost you.'



I can't wait to go to that concert!

Mere Countries

I am spending time with a woman of interesting origins of late. She was born and raised in Shanghai to Chinese parents. She lived in Yokohama for a number of years while attending university. And now she is in Canada to further her studies. We interact in English and very broken Japanese while I try to learn about her Chinese heritage and language.
When I get tired during our exchanges I end up trying to express myself in French.

Big Interview

I have an interview in two hours for a job I would really like to get. Don't want to jinx things so I won't mention details of where the job is. Not the most lucrative post but would be a lot of fun, I think.
I was remembering a moment from Japan this morning. I was wandering around Tokyo with my camera looking for anything interesting when I heard the most beautiful chanting/ singing. The source of the sound was inside a nearby temple. I went to the doorway and stood just outside out of people's view but with a clear sight line of what was happening inside. It was a Buddhist funeral service and a group of monks were chanting very beautifully in unison. Neat moment.
I will be buying a season pass to this little spot next year: http://grousemountain.com/
I baked cookies in an actual oven the other day. Double chocolate. With milk. It's the little things that make it nice to be home.

The Painting Begins

I have started a new form of creative expression, painting. It is a fantastic release. The theme of the first one is the cosmos. Spiral galaxies, star clusters, super novas. It has a sort of Dali colour feel. I've seen complete garbage selling for a small fortune in some galleries here of late. "Oui, oui, ma cherie. Je t'aime aussi. Buy another of my paintings then let's go back to bed." teehee The persona starts. I need to start wearing a beret and coverall pants with one shoulder strap undone everywhere I go.

Frustrating Dream

An incredible idea for a web site came to me in a dream the other night. The name flashed out at me, something, something.com. The concept behind the web site seemed brilliant, in the dream. I was getting very excited about the prospect of attempting to put the site together. I even told myself, in my dream, that I have to write down the details of the dream/ web site idea as soon as I wake up. I write down the dreams that I remember in a dream log I keep by my bed, as some are aware. Unfortunately, I could remember none of the details from the dream about the idea I had for the web site, except that it was brilliant and that I should write it down as soon as I wake up. Damn! I think the word 'new' was in the title. New... something.com. It wasn't meant to be. I could get hypnotised to remember it I suppose. If I ever meet a hyponotist I'll hit them up for a little selective recall.
I visited an area called Horseshoe Bay yesterday: http://www.bcadventure.com/adventure/explore/vancouver/cities/horseshoe.htm Gorgeous spot.
A guy tried to sell me one flat bike tire on the street recently. I need that like I need a baseball bat to the face while walking down Granville Street on a sunny afternoon.

Hot Economy

I had my first paycheque here in Vancouver, B.C. before I moved into my apartment. That is the best indication of how the economy is doing in this part of the world. Got paid before I had an address.