The Adventures of Ed the Librarian: December 2006

Sunday, December 31, 2006

Happy New Year 2007

My 2007 New Years Resolution is to make new friends...and I start at midnight. Hello, new friend.

Saturday, December 30, 2006

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts had a two hour line. The line queued back and forth in the store, outside on the patio, up the stairs, around the corner, and then half way across a bridge. The top picture is the end of the line. You can just make out the Krispy Kreme sign on the building in the far left of the picture.

How many did we buy? Three dozen...HOT.

If You Love Sushi, Like I Love Sushi

After I have finished eating at a conveyer belt sushi restaurant. The fresh sushi kept coming!

The plates have different pattern for the prices. At the end they count the patterns and the stack to get your bill total. My total for this sitting 3500 Yen.

Friday, December 29, 2006

Big Drum

Me next to the Big Drum at the Meiji-jingu Shrine

Domino's Delivers

Domino's delivers AND gets cool helmets. I want a Domino's helmet.

Poor Little Dog

Please don't litter...it could hit a dog in the head.

Dancing at the Tokyo Loose

Old Dude Dancing

I hope I can bust a move like he can when I am his age.

Other Food Choices

Mmmm..Pork

Keeping Warm for the Winter

The babies of the statue have wool caps on to keep warm.

Japanese Cemetery

Thursday, December 28, 2006

Fish Heads, Fish Heads, Roly Poly Fish Heads

Fish Heads, Fish Heads, Roly Poly Fish Heads, Fish Heads, Fish Heads, Eat Them Up Yummm

YouTube - Barnes & Barnes: Fish Heads

Lyrics to Fish Heads by Barnes and Barnes
Fish Heads**********
Fish heads, Fish heads
Roly poly Fish heads
Fish heads, Fish heads
Eat them up, Yummm
Fish heads, Fish heads
Roly poly Fish heads
Fish heads, Fish heads
Eat them up, Yummm
In the morning
Laughing, happy
Fish Heads
In the evening
Floating in the soup
Fish heads, Fish heads
Roly poly Fish heads
Fish heads, Fish heads
Eat them up, Yummm
Ask a Fish head
Anything you want to
They won't answer
They can't talk
Fish heads, Fish heads
Roly poly Fish heads
Fish heads, Fish heads
Eat them up, Yummm
I took a Fish head
Out to see a movie
Didn't have to pay
To get it in
Fish heads, Fish heads
Roly poly Fish heads
Fish heads, Fish heads
Eat them up, Yummm
They can't play baseball
They don't wear sweaters
They're not good dancers
They don't play drums
Fish heads, Fish heads
Roly poly Fish heads
Fish heads, Fish heads
Eat them up, Yummm
Roly poly Fish heads
Are never seen drinking
Cappacino in Italian restaurants
With Oriental women...Yeah
Fish heads, Fish heads
Roly poly Fish heads
Fish heads, Fish heads
Eat them up, Yummm
Fish heads, Fish heads
Roly poly Fish heads
Fish heads, Fish heads
Eat them up, Yummm...
(Yummm)
Fish heads, Fish heads
Roly poly Fish heads
Fish heads, Fish heads
Eat them up, Yummm
Fish heads, Fish heads
Roly poly Fish heads
Fish heads, Fish heads
Eat them up, Yummm
YEAH!!!!!!!!!

by Barnes and Barnes
From the album:Voohbaha!

Introducing Stevia from Pocari Sweet

MMmmmmm..Stevia.

Hachicko

Hachicko the Dog

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hachiko

Hachikō, sometimes known in Japanese as 忠犬ハチ公 (chūken hachikō, lit. 'faithful dog Hachiko'), was an Akita dog born in November 1923 in the city of Odate, Akita Prefecture. In 1924 he was brought to Tokyo by his owner, Eisaburo Ueno, a professor in the agriculture department at the University of Tokyo. During his owner's life, Hachiko saw him off from the front door and greeted him at the end of the day at the nearby Shibuya Station. Even after Ueno's death in May 1925, Hachiko returned every day to the station to wait for him, and did so for the next 11 years.
Affection between the professor and the dog was immediate. The professor named the pup "Hachi" and added "ko", a common term of endearment. For his part, Hachiko accompanied the professor everywhere he could. As he grew, Hachiko took on the traditional traits of an Akita; his ears stood upright, and his tail curled up and to the left. Professor Ueno reportedly took great pride in owning a purebred dog of a breed that had a history going back 30 centuries -- especially as the number of purebred Akitas in Japan was dwindling at the time.
When the professor died, Mrs. Ueno closed the house and moved, giving Hachiko to some of her husband's relatives who lived several miles from the station. The Akita refused to stay with them. As soon as he was let out, he trotted back first to his old house, then to the train station to await his master. Ueno's gardener, Kikuzaburo Kobayashi, lived close to the station and took over Hachiko's care.
Hachiko's devotion to his lost master moved those around him, who nicknamed him "faithful dog", though some speculate that he kept returning because of the handouts he received from street vendors (upon his death, a necropsy revealed remnants of what were apparently yakitori skewers in his stomach).
In the first years of his vigil, Hachiko was treated as little more than a tolerable nuisance at the train station. In 1928, a new station master came to Shibuya Station. He quickly grew very fond of him and allowed him free run of the facility. Hachiko still kept his schedule, but also was allowed to remain in the station throughout the day, sleeping in a storeroom set aside for him by the new station master.
That same year, another of Ueno's former students (who had become something of an expert on Akitas), saw the dog at the station and followed him to the Kobayashi home where he learned the history of Hachiko's life. Shortly after this meeting, the former student published a documented census of Akitas in Japan. His research found only 30 purebred Akitas remaining, including Hachiko from Shibuya Station.
Ueno's former student returned frequently to visit the dog and over the years published several articles about Hachiko's remarkable loyalty. In 1932 one of these articles, published in Tokyo's largest newspaper, threw the dog into the national spotlight. Hachiko became a sensation throughout the land. His faithfulness to his master's memory impressed the people of Japan as a spirit of family loyalty all should strive to achieve. Teachers and parents used Hachiko's vigil as an example for children to follow. A well-known Japanese artist rendered a sculpture of the dog, and throughout the country a new awareness of the Akita breed grew.
In April 1934, a bronze statue in his likeness was erected at Shibuya Station, and Hachiko himself was present at its unveiling. The statue was recycled for the war effort during World War II. After the war, Hachiko was hardly forgotten. In 1948 The Society for Recreating the Hachiko Statue commissioned Ando Takeshi, son of the original artist who had since died, to make a second statue. The new statue was erected in August 1948, which still stands and is an extremely popular meeting spot. In some way it could be a simile for the commitment of people and lovers meeting each other at Shibuya Hachikoguchi (Shibuya Hachiko exit). A similar statue stands in Hachiko's hometown, in front of Odate Station. In 2004, a new statue of Hachiko was erected on the original stone pedestal from Shibuya in front of the Akita Dog Museum in Odate.
Hachiko died on March 8, 1935, of filariasis. His stuffed and mounted remains are kept at the National Science Museum in Ueno, Tokyo.
Hachiko was the subject of the 1987 movie Hachiko Monogatari. He is also the subject of a 2004 children's book named "Hachiko: the story of a loyal dog", written by Pamela S. Turner and illustrated by Yan Nascimbene.

Heated Toilets with Flushing Sound

Flushing sound masks the bodily function sounds you may make.

Monday, December 25, 2006

DOM ARIGATO, MR ROBOTO

I MADE IT TO TOKYO!

KIDDYLAND, SHRINES TEMPLES, SUSHI!

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Pickled Snake Head Fish

MMMMmmmmm...That's good Eatin'!

Monday, December 18, 2006

In order to keep from freezing in the Garden City pool...

In order to keep from freezing in the Garden City pool tonight, I donned my 1/2 inch thick wetsuit. This wetsuit is the same wetsuit I wore when I was a student research diver for the University of Miami conducting bethipelagic research in the Tongue of the Ocean in the Caribbean, testing the siltification of the South Florida canals in coordination with anaerobic environments, accidental in situ alligator census studies, an intern at the Chesapeake Bay Mesocosm at the Museum of Natural History at the Smithsonian Institution which included sample collecting on the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers (the best part was the leeches) and the Assateaque Island National Park, performing 90 foot deep dives in Virgina flooded mines...and now I get to wear it to swim in the pool in Garden City.

Pump It Out

What do you do when the roads flood and you don't have any drains for the rain runoff?...YOU PUMP IT OUT...actually in Qatar you get people to pump it out for you with big water trucks with long sucking hoses. Where does all the oily and polluted water go after the truck's tank fills up? Only the pumper knows.

A Day Late, A Dollar Short

They took down the construction wall and cleaned up the construction mess at the construction site my car was pushed into AFTER I wrecked my car on the wall and all the trash.

Actually, I did half the work for them of dismantling the fence by crashing into the fence.

If all that hadn't been there, I would have had less damage done to my leased car.

Oh well not my problem any more.

White Elephant Candlestick

I got the coolest Indian handicraft candlestick as a white elephant gift at David and Mohana's Christmas tree trimming party. The orange in the candle stick goes with the brown and orange decor of my living room.

Qataris celebrate a Gold Medal Win in Football (Soccer)

After the Qatar won the gold medal in football (soccer) in the Asian Games, Qataris cruised up and down the Corniche inside and outside their cars.

Sunday, December 17, 2006

Amy at Taly

SO where do you go for food after partying until 2am at Legends at the Rydges Hotel in Doha, Qatar?

Taly, near the Doha Airport, has late night food service and take away (carry out, for the Americans).

Airport and airline workers eat here during their shifts which go on morning, noon, and night.

"Hypothermia" in the Compound Pool

I tried to go swimming in our pool this past weekend, but it was a little cold (blue color added for emphasis). Here is a picture of me shivering in the middle of the day.

Tenants of our compound have tried to get the management company to raise the temperature in the pool, but so far to no avail.

I (we) will keep trying to get the pool temperature raised so I can swim and be able to feel my extremities during and afterwards.

Shirley Temple Yogurt

Western style fruit yogurt is expensive in Qatar. The locally made yogurt is bland and sour, but cheap. If you add grenadine to the local yogurt it tastes like expensive Western yogurt without the expense.

Things Happen in Threes - Broken

I got into car accident - car broken.
I caught my cell phone case on a chair and it snapped - cell phone case broken.
I put my glasses on my face and one of the arms broke off - glasses broken.

Car is getting fixed, the leasing company gave me a loaner.
Nadim gave me a case he isn't using of the same phone he has.
I put on my other pair of glasses and I will get an eye appointment and new glasses when I am in the States next.

Saturday, December 16, 2006

Make Sure to Keep Hydrated in the "Desert"

Water cooler order at work.

The Village is Missing One of its People

You find the most interesting items in the stores here. You wonder how some things got through the customs authority of the conservative muslim state of Qatar.

This cap I found at the Wear House clothing store. On the cap is the shirtless figure of a man with muscles and six pack abs. He is wearing a nautical captain's hat. He has a medal pinned to his rather well-endowed "package" in his tighty-whitey briefs (not boxers).

Apparently he won a medal for having a large member of the armed forces.

He is also holding a rhinestone encrusted barbell.

Friday, December 15, 2006

Car Accident Continued

The leasing agent told me he would pick up the car Friday morning and take it to the police station for inspection and to get the police report.

He called me at 4pm Friday to tell me that he had gone in the morning and that the police officer wasn't there. That makes sense because almost everything in Qatar is closed on Friday morning including government offices.

He came by my villa at 4pm Friday afternoon and asked me to go with him to the police station to explain the dents and scratches to the officer.

We went to the new police station for our district.

The other police officers on duty found the officer in the building. The officer handed the leasing agent the report but said that he didn't have the two stamps he needed to complete the report, so we would have to come back Saturday so he could get the two stamps and stamp the report. Then that would make the report official.

The leasing agent asked if the officer needed to see the car after it had been washed. The officer said he had seen the car parked in the parking lot. However, the police report didn't mention all the dents and scratches in detail like it needs to in order for the insurance company to cover all the repairs. The leasing agent wasn't too happy.

In the police officers defense, the new police station still hasn't finished being built. They still had plastic covering all the chairs and part of the building wasn't completed with wet plaster and construction dust in the offices, so I am not surprised that they don't have all the stamps needed to operate as a fully functioning police station yet.

From what I could see, I don't even think they had bars on the jail windows yet. I guess the prisoners stay in their cells by the honor system.

Camel Tchotchke

Some camel swag to spruce up the decor of my villa. Jealous?

Jack Wash

When the police officer came to the scene of the my accident, he said that he couldn't assess the damage to my car with the car covered in mud. He told me to go to a car wash to get the mud off the car and then bring the car by the police station for him to inspect it.

John and I took the car to the Jack Wash.

Jack Wash....huh-huh

Maybe I should Jack Wash every week. I shouldn't Jack Wash too much. I definitely don't want to Jack Wash everyday, that would be too much jack washing.

Thursday, December 14, 2006

I Crash Better Than Anyone I Know.

I was in my first car crash here in Qatar.

I was driving along a main road and a Qatari woman (she was wearing an abaya) came from a side street (not stopping or yielding) and clipped by back bumper at an angle. I tried to swerve, but she hit my back bumper in such a way that it caused me to go into a uncontrolable spin.

My car spun into a construction site BACKWARDS. The car has a dent where she hit me.

Most of the damage was caused when I crashed into the construction site's white aluminum fence, cinder blocks, wood pile, and copper tubing.

Below is what the wall and cinder blocks, wood pile, and copper tubing looked like after I crashed into them.

I am OK, the car is driveable, although the front left tire blew, either by the swerving or running over debris in the construction site.

The Qatari woman is OK. Her front license plate was a crumpled. She had a cell phone earpiece microphone in her ear, so I am guessing she wasn't paying attention to the road because she was talking on her cell phone.

My car is a lease and the police determined that it was her fault, so my leasing agency will have to do all the running around to get my car fixed.

I am fine, but let me tell you, this was the most fun in Qatar I have had so far.

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

What Street was it?

What street was it?

No, Wasit Street in Doha, Qatar.

Dad's R Us

Jeans from Target
Shirt from The Wear House in Doha, Qatar
Jacket from Dad's R Us (hand-me downs from my father)

It's suppose to get chilly tonight in Doha, Qatar. The forecast calls for Chance of Rain. Overcast. Low: 60° F. / 16° C. Wind light. Chance of precipitation 50%.

This weekends forecast calls for:
Friday Clear. High: 69° F. / 21° C. Wind North 6 mph. / 10 km/h.
Friday Night Scattered Clouds. Low: 62° F. / 17° C. Wind ENE 6 mph. / 10 km/h.
Saturday Chance of Rain. Partly Cloudy. High: 71° F. / 22° C. Wind SE 13 mph. / 21 km/h. Chance of precipitation 30%.
Saturday Night Chance of Rain. Partly Cloudy. Low: 69° F. / 21° C. Wind SE 11 mph. / 18 km/h. Chance of precipitation 20%.

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...60° F. / 16° C...I need to put on my Dad's R Us corduroy jacket.