As Japan now awaits the approach of yet another typhoon (Typhoon Trami,
台風24号, the 5th super typhoon of 2018), it continues to be a busy, busy
Pacific typhoon season so far this year.
According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, there have already been
36 tropical cyclones this year, with 10 of them developing into
typhoons. And there are still 2 more months left in the 6-month Western
and Central Pacific's typhoon season which runs from June 1 to November
30.
Sept. 21,
2018 - Attentive, studious, conscientious Japanese university
students...
...eagerly hang onto every word of their professor's intellectually
stimulating lecture.
And how about the stunningly gorgeous, exposed structural support
decor to provide an aesthetically pleasing learning environment in
this brand new science & technology building which opened just this
week?!
Sept.
16, 2018 - GW's Sept. 2018 Houston vacation video
Don't miss the kaitenzushi, the English lesson on how to talk "Texan,"
& the cute hummingbirds!
GW's Sept. 2018
Houston vacation
(If player above is not visible, you can view video
@ YouTube here.)
0:00 Landing at Houston Bush Intercontinental Airport
4:34 Conveyor-belt sushi bar (kaitenzushi, 回転寿司) next to ice skating
rink in Galleria shopping mall
5:11 Tractor driver JW shovels cleared brush onto bonfire on Windlinger
Ranch in Kerrville
6:39 Steve gives quick English lesson on how to talk "Texan"
7:23 BUSY, BUSY hummingbirds enjoy hummingbird feeder
12:09 Yoga instructor Willie conducts free session for 17 participants
13:24 JP's famous Texas BBQ
14:15 Notre Dame Catholic Church, Kerrville, Texas
14:17 Landing at Tokyo Narita Airport
It was a grrrrreat vacation. This trip was especially meaningful as I
got to see SO many of my family and friends, including at the annual
get-together on my friends' 263-acre Kerrville ranch, as well as a
reunion of my old college roomies in Austin, one which I hadn't seen in
nearly 40 years! I hope you enjoy the pics, hosted
by Flickr.
My video will be coming shortly...
Click collage above to view entire album at
Flickr.
Aug. 27,
2018 - 8 Types of People at the Grocery Store
I just LOVE this! Believe me, I've seen ALL 8 types, and I've been a
few of the types myself...
8 Types of People
at the Grocery Store
(If player above is not visible, you can view video
@ YouTube here.)
Aug. 26,
2018 - FutawaACE (Afternoon Club of English)
Yesterday I was invited back by the FutawaACE (Afternoon Club of
English) in Funabashi, Chiba as a guest speaker. My topic this time was
GW's
August 2017 Alaska Adventure.
As part of my talk, I thought it would be fun to put together a short,
2-min. animated slideshow of
my favorite pics from that amazing 2-week vacation, using the
"Memories" feature in the iOS Photos app.
I hope you enjoy it as much as I believe they did.
Photo Highlights of
GW's August 2017 Alaska Adventure
(If player above is not visible, you can view video
@ YouTube here.)
Highlights of GW's
August 2017 Alaska Adventure
include hiking in and exploring Denali National Park for 4 days, a day
trip to the Arctic Circle, a visit to the famous Chena Hot Springs,
sitting on Santa's lap at the North Pole, seeing Wrangell-St. Elias
National Park (America's largest), a 5-hour ranger-guided wildlife boat
cruise in Seward, and most notably, catching 2 HUGE silver salmon in
the Lower Kenai River!
Aug.
18, 2018 - Peacock butterfly (クジャクチョウ)
Life is full of pleasant surprises! It wasn't until just a couple days
ago when
for the very first time I was introduced to the beautiful peacock
butterfly (クジャクチョウ, kujakuchou).
The peacock butterfly is commonly found in Europe and temperate Asia as
far east as Japan. Its 4 large peacock-style eyespots have been the
subject of extensive research in their role as an anti-predator defense
mechanism.
The one below was captured by Facebook & hiking friend Danny Soh at
elev. 2,000 m (~656 ft) in Nagano Prefecture (長野県). WOW, thanks for
sharing, Danny!
Aug. 13,
2018 - USA victorious in Women's Softball World Championship
"USA repeated as Women's Softball World Champions today in Chiba,
Japan, after a memorable finale against the host team, in front of
almost 12,000 fans at ZOZO Marine Stadium. The American team defeated
Japan, 7-6, on a walkoff single by Kelsey Stewart in the 10th inning,
and went undefeated in the tournament. USA also secured a berth in the
Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
It was one of the best softball games in the history of the World
Championship. The best 2 teams in the world clashed in a classic
battle, that will last forever in the memory of thousands present at
the stadium, and millions watching around the world."
And I was there to see it with my own eyes!! Yee hah!
USA women's softball team celebrates repeating as World Champions on
Sun. Aug. 12, 2018 in ZOZO Marine Stadium in Chiba, Japan, as losing
pitcher Japan ace Yukiko Ueno looks on in disbelief
(photo credit: World
Baseball Softball Confederation)
Don't miss the VERY exciting final play at the 39:00
mark in my video, the game-winning single by Kelsey Stewart with 2 outs
and 2 strikes in the bottom of the 10th inning. Wow, how about those
jubilant USA players who piled on top of their hero between 1st &
2nd base, forming a mountain of joy?!
Aug. 5,
2018 - Free yukatas for Gaijin!
Today's USA vs. New Zealand women's softball world championship game
coincided with Narashino City's Obon Matsuri, so Gaijin got free
yukatas! Wow.
Plus, USA beat New Zealand 7-0, and thus along with Japan & Puerto
Rico are still undefeated after 4 games in the 2018 Women's Softball
World Championship. Today was my lucky day (twice)!! Yee hah!
Free yukatas, Akitsu Stadium, Narashino City, Chiba, Japan
2018 Women's Softball World Championship
July 31,
2018 - New Zealand vs. Italy Women's Softball Game, 10 am, July 30, 2018
This exhibition game played at Konodai Baseball Stadium in Ichikawa,
Chiba, Japan paired these 2 countries' national women's softball teams
in advance of the 2018 Women's Softball World Championship to be held
in Chiba, Japan from Aug. 2-12. New Zealand, the Visitors, is in black;
Italy, the Home Team, is in blue.
New Zealand starting pitcher: Courtney Gettins
Italy starting pitcher: Greta Cecchetti
Final score: New Zealand 4, Italy 3
Don't miss the New Zealand team performing the Haka traditional Maori
war cry at the 4:54 mark!!
New Zealand vs.
Italy Women's Softball Game, 10 am, July 30, 2018
(If player above is not visible, you can view video
@ YouTube here.)
0:00 Ballpark entrance banner
0:06 Panorama of softball field and New Zealand batting practice
1:06 New Zealand hurlers warming up
2:09 Pre-game coach & umpire conference
2:42 Intro of New Zealand starting lineup
4:54 New Zealand team performs Haka traditional Maori war cry
6:36 Top of the 1st inning (beginning of game)
13:47 Bottom of the 1st inning
16:53 Top of the 2nd inning
25:25 Bottom of the 2nd inning
28:03 Top of the 4th (the Kiwis scored all 4 of their runs this inning)
38:18 Top of the 5th inning
40:21 Bottom of the 5th inning (new New Zealand southpaw relief pitcher
Rita Hokianga)
41:46 Top of the 6th inning (new Italy southpaw relief pitcher Alice
Nicolini)
47:44 Bottom of the 6th inning
56:32 Bottom of the 9th inning (end of game)
July 29,
2018 - School's Out For Summer
In celebration of my spring semester finishing yesterday, I'm playing
this Alice Cooper hit from 1972 almost non-stop. 16 classes of over 400
university students on a 6-days-a-week teaching schedule have seriously
kicked my butt, in what was probably the busiest I've ever been in my
6-decade-plus lifespan. Whoo, I'm now breathing a big TEXAS-size sigh
of relief. School's Out For Summer!!
School's Out For
Summer, Alice Cooper, 1972
(If player above is not visible, you can view video
@ YouTube here.)
July 22,
2018 - Texas Exes, Japan Chapter, 2018 Annual Meeting
Last month, for the first time in nearly 20 years, I had the pleasure
of attending the annual meeting of the Japan Chapter of The University
of Texas at Austin Ex-Students Association. At one time, the Japan
Texas Exes was the largest overseas UT alumni club in the world.
The meeting is always held in Tokyo in June, when current students, who
are home for the summer break, can meet those of us who graduated up to
a remarkable half-century ago.
It's always a fun time for my alma mater's alumni, as well as new and
prospective Japanese students, to socialize and reminisce about
memories of our days on the UT Austin campus. This year I met business
owners, professional engineers, fellow professors, and even a former
neurosurgeon at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Research Center in my hometown
Houston.
I still remember one Texas Exes meeting several years ago, when I saw a
guy who, like me, was also studying civil engineering at the time and
whom I often
saw doing research in the concrete lab. This gentleman went on to earn
his PhD and was working with the Honshu-Shikoku Bridge Authority at the
time we reconnected. What an amazing coincidence!
Texas Exes Japan, Tokyo, June 9, 2018
July 15,
2018 - Death toll from torrential rain reaches 210
As of 8:30 pm Sun. 7/15, here are the latest stats on the record
flooding and landslide devastation in western Japan:
- 210 deaths
- 22 people still missing
- 4,800 people in 14 prefectures staying at evacuation shelters
- more than 162,000 households still without running water
And yesterday it was reported that 8,100 landlines and Internet
connections were cut off.
The Japanese Red Cross Society and the Central Community Chest of Japan
are both organizing cash grants and support funds for the affected
people in western Japan.
If you'd like to help out the disaster victims, please click the links
below:
As of 6 pm Sunday, July 8, 69 people in western Japan are dead and 6
remain in critical condition from flooding and landslides, with at
least 62 missing.
Hiroshima Prefecture was the hardest hit with 29 fatalities, and 20
were killed in Ehime Prefecture.
Fatalities were also reported in Okayama, Hyogo, Kyoto, Shiga, Fukuoka,
Kochi, Gifu, Yamaguchi, and Saga prefectures.
Some cities and towns have received more rainfall in 1 day than they
usually receive in an entire month. Rainfall totals of over 100 mm (~4
in.) in 1 hour, over 600 mm (~24 in.) in 24 hours, and over 1000 mm
(~40 in.) over the past few days have been recorded.
Western Japan 24-hour rainfall totals, as of 6:20 am, Sat. July 7, 2018
(red bars indicate >100 mm (3.9 in.), the tallest one (551 mm)
belonging to Motoyama, Kōchi)
(Source: http://www3.nhk.or.jp/weather/rain/index.html#ko=nk;)
July 2,
2018 - Mt. Fuji climbing season starts (山開き)!!
Climbers celebrate with banzai cheers at the summit of Mt.
Fuji, with the rising sun in the background at 4:29 a.m. on July 1,
2018.
(photo
credit: Hiroshi Kawai, asahi.com)
For the most frequently asked questions about climbing Mt. Fuji,
including info on routes, maps, videos, transport access, traffic
stats, weather, and climber stories, please visit Climbing Mt.
Fuji (富士山) - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ), the most visited
page on my entire site.
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