“Lap dancing is the ultimate nightmare of man.
It’s porn that can see you.”

— Steve, from Coupling

Crow's Nest


Time for another look at Kinkakuji, this time with a well-placed observer.

Kinkakuji roof, with crow

Nothing says purity like a dragon


Higashi Honganji is a large temple just north of Kyoto Station. This is the place Fledge was referring to in a comment to my pictures from four years ago, where the purification basin has a dragon fountain.

Purification basin at Higashi Honganji, Kyoto

Tricky to get a decent exposure of a shaded object with bright white tents behind it (they were celebrating the 750th anniversary of their founder), but I think I managed.

"Leaves are for tourists..."


“​…I’ve got work to do.”

Pollination at Kyoto Botanical Garden

Stratos 4 Advance


One of the things I discovered on my recent trip was that there were ten OVA episodes for Stratos 4, continuing the story. They were subbed by SS-Eclipse, whose torrent is still seeded, but since I discovered this by finding the DVD box set at a decent price, I only needed the softsubs, which were also floating around out there.

Hills on fire


I’ve been trying to space out the insane-fall-colors pictures, because it’s so easy to overdose. And this was on a cloudy day.

Fall foliage on the Hozu River

I think if you set your camera to “vivid”, you’d crack the lens after a while.

Life on the river


As always, the boatmen on the Hozugawa Kudari river-boat ride are cheerful and funny. I just wish I could keep up with their jokes.

Hozugawa Kudari boatman

Moats aren't just for duckies


Black swan at Hikone Castle

They bought crackers


Nara deer in hot pursuit

“Need a clue, take a clue,
 got a clue, leave a clue”