River Unknown

I walked up the nearby river today and, for the first time, brought my camera with me. I always come across quite a few strange things by the river. Today I hiked up to the bamboo beach, through the old gypsy camps in the forest, past the coelophysis grove and onto Kaizokujima, an island known, by me, to be a haven for monkey poachers.


The Bamboo Forest. If the crisscrossing paths show evidence of the Gypsy's home base, the camp size clearings are undeniable proof.


Directly opposite is the Coelophysis Grove. To say that there aren't dinosaurs in this cretaceous clearing would be ludicrous, but to turn your back on it would be fatal.


This is the view that the shikaru have of you while you're walking by on the beach. There are some swimming just below the surface on the far side of the river, you may be able to make out their shapes. Trust me, you don't want to get any closer than I was when I got this shot.



As I was returning home I came across this shredded bird carcass. I thought that maybe I hadn't noticed it earlier but then I observed the untrampled feathers over my footprints from earlier. Something had made short work of this bird. Whats more, small bird prints circled the area while no predator prints could be found anywhere. The monkeys? Coelophysis? shikaru? Another river mystery.

Bike safety

My spring vacation consisted of two weeks sitting behind my desk at the office. I'm so glad to be back in the classroom teaching again. Two new English teachers transfered to Yakushima this year, both are really nice, though one is so shy I haven't been able to get but a few words out of her.
A few days ago the police came to the Junior High school and showed us the equivalent of a red asphalt video but for bicycles. It was all done with dummies on bikes being rear-ended and side-swiped at 20 and then 40kph. I thought the advice they gave was pretty good.

She's Back!

My friend Luke told me he wanted to start a comic and sent me this idea (the words are his). There isn't actually a story but I thought it at least deserved an illustration.
I actually don't know anything about Jane Fonda (big surprise right)

The Goodbye Party

It's the end of the Japanese school and work year and many of the teachers and government workers are transferring to the mainland. My boss, Kamada Sensei, is one of the people transferring so I went to the ferry terminal to see him off. It turns out that there is a big get together every year for all the teachers leaving. Students and cooworkers made signs, sang songs and yelled bonzai.
At the end the passengers threw down rolls of paper tape that everyone held onto until they were torn in two.
Kamada Sensei was a great guy, I'm planning on visiting him next time I go to Kagoshima.

Planet WS415

Click for Full View please

I made this planet up today at work, using photoshop and some online references. It pretty much took me the whole day to figure it out. I used textures of the moon, mars, and Korea to get the land. It seems to be missing stars, but actually the reflection of a planet is bright enough to knock out the background starlight.