Stik-Fas
Image by jronaldlee
They're just plastic, but they're so much fun. They're Stik-Fas, and in this picture I have attempted to pose them to show (left to right) joy, fear, anger, and sorrow.
We first bought these for one of the girls who wanted to "build her own" action figures. They're pretty small, and hard for kids under 8 to put together (and dangerous for toddlers/babies). They're about the size of an old school Star Wars action figure, so the individual parts are pretty small.
P1010124
Image by bsabarnowl
Hello all!
Here you will find pictures from the rest of our weekend in the Tokyo area. We went to see the Daibutsu, or the Great Buddha of Kamakura. It is made of copper and was built in 1252 AD and took about 10 years to complete. The Daibutsu survived a tidal wave that wiped out all of the surrounding buildings. So originally it was inside a temple but is now outside. It is pretty spectacular outside because as you walk up the hill you see it looming behind the gate to the area with mountains framing the background.
Before we saw the Daibutsu we went to a temple where they, among other things, take babies that are 50 days old to be blessed. There is a long long lantern-strewn walkway lined with shops and cafes leading up to this temple. At this place there was a 1000 year old Ginko tree. You'll see it, it's the one with a giant rope tied around it. There were some little girls there in Kimono feeding pidgeons. Also there, and I'm not totally clear on why, was a huge wall of sake in colorful barrels. You can see Naoko and I posing in front of the sake, nice! We had lunch at a nice cafe where you sit on floor cusions and put your feet in a carpeted pit that has a heater under it - very nice! Everyone should sit at a table with a heater under it. It's the best thing ever!
We are now in Aizu-Wakamatsu, Naoko's hometown. The surrounding area really looks like West Virginia because of the similar mountains and small towns. We got to Naoko's house last night and everyone was waiting for us to eat dinner. Her family was really nice and friendly. They clapped when we came in. We ate dinner and had some broken conversation. I really need to make Japanese a priority! Everything is working out great. Enjoy the pictures.
Love,
Tommy
DSCN2845
Image by bsabarnowl
Hello all!
Here you will find pictures from the rest of our weekend in the Tokyo area. We went to see the Daibutsu, or the Great Buddha of Kamakura. It is made of copper and was built in 1252 AD and took about 10 years to complete. The Daibutsu survived a tidal wave that wiped out all of the surrounding buildings. So originally it was inside a temple but is now outside. It is pretty spectacular outside because as you walk up the hill you see it looming behind the gate to the area with mountains framing the background.
Before we saw the Daibutsu we went to a temple where they, among other things, take babies that are 50 days old to be blessed. There is a long long lantern-strewn walkway lined with shops and cafes leading up to this temple. At this place there was a 1000 year old Ginko tree. You'll see it, it's the one with a giant rope tied around it. There were some little girls there in Kimono feeding pidgeons. Also there, and I'm not totally clear on why, was a huge wall of sake in colorful barrels. You can see Naoko and I posing in front of the sake, nice! We had lunch at a nice cafe where you sit on floor cusions and put your feet in a carpeted pit that has a heater under it - very nice! Everyone should sit at a table with a heater under it. It's the best thing ever!
We are now in Aizu-Wakamatsu, Naoko's hometown. The surrounding area really looks like West Virginia because of the similar mountains and small towns. We got to Naoko's house last night and everyone was waiting for us to eat dinner. Her family was really nice and friendly. They clapped when we came in. We ate dinner and had some broken conversation. I really need to make Japanese a priority! Everything is working out great. Enjoy the pictures.
Love,
Tommy
DSCN2833 Naoko Checking out her Food
Image by bsabarnowl
Hello all!
Here you will find pictures from the rest of our weekend in the Tokyo area. We went to see the Daibutsu, or the Great Buddha of Kamakura. It is made of copper and was built in 1252 AD and took about 10 years to complete. The Daibutsu survived a tidal wave that wiped out all of the surrounding buildings. So originally it was inside a temple but is now outside. It is pretty spectacular outside because as you walk up the hill you see it looming behind the gate to the area with mountains framing the background.
Before we saw the Daibutsu we went to a temple where they, among other things, take babies that are 50 days old to be blessed. There is a long long lantern-strewn walkway lined with shops and cafes leading up to this temple. At this place there was a 1000 year old Ginko tree. You'll see it, it's the one with a giant rope tied around it. There were some little girls there in Kimono feeding pidgeons. Also there, and I'm not totally clear on why, was a huge wall of sake in colorful barrels. You can see Naoko and I posing in front of the sake, nice! We had lunch at a nice cafe where you sit on floor cusions and put your feet in a carpeted pit that has a heater under it - very nice! Everyone should sit at a table with a heater under it. It's the best thing ever!
We are now in Aizu-Wakamatsu, Naoko's hometown. The surrounding area really looks like West Virginia because of the similar mountains and small towns. We got to Naoko's house last night and everyone was waiting for us to eat dinner. Her family was really nice and friendly. They clapped when we came in. We ate dinner and had some broken conversation. I really need to make Japanese a priority! Everything is working out great. Enjoy the pictures.
Love,
Tommy
26062008
Image by citizen higgs
OUR GENERATION WAS FORMED THROUGH THE ABSURDITY OF WAR.
www.flickr.com/photos/russell-higgs/2400866726/
said André Malraux
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malraux
Recently here in Britain there was a TV ad for Heinz Deli Mayo.
In this ad a man is in a kitchen and is portrayed in the role of mother and wife.
Another man, the husband/father character, kisses him on the cheek.
Now it's bad enough that the creators of this ad consider it to be "humourous" to see 2 men kissing and behaving as if married with kids, but apparently some people have actually complained and have said the ad was "offensive" and that it is "inappropriate to see two men kissing". Other complaints believe that the ad was "unsuitable to be seen by children".
And subsequently Heinz have responded to these mind numbingly bizarre opinions by withdrawing the ad.
www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/jun/25/advertising.gayrights
Why is it that some people are more comfortable seeing two men holding guns, than seeing two men kissing?
Meanwhile, more absurdity, in Scotland: "TAXPAYERS HIT BY £200,000 BILL FOR NAKED RAMBLER CASE"
www.express.co.uk/posts/view/49367/Taxpayers-hit-by-200-0...
Steve Gough, known as the Naked Rambler, the man who walked the entire length of Britain without wearing any clothes, has spent the past two years almost continuously behind bars in Scotland for a number of "breaches of the peace", and he is currently in a segregation unit in Glasgow's Barlinnie Prison. He refuses to wear clothes at any time, either in prison or in court.
The article goes on to inform us that the average prisoner costs around £34,000 a year, but that figure is higher in segregation units.
His lawyer, John Good, is reporterd to have said that, by the time his client is due to be released in October, the stand-off with the authorities will have drained up to £200,000 from the public purse.
He also stressed that Steve Gough is prepared to spend at least 10 years in prison defending his right to be naked.
REWIND..........
They kept me and Vincent Bethell in segregation cells when we were continuously unclothed in 2000
Naked Protest picture archive 2000-2001
www.flickr.com/photos/russell-higgs/53700518
my letter from prison jan 2001
www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2001/jan/05/guardianletters1
jury unanimously acquits Vincent Bethell jan 2001
www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4115569,00.html
and meanwhile, taking part in this year's World Naked Bike Ride in London (where the police have a policy of NOT arresting naked participants) there was a man named Will Golden, a man born without genitals.
Here's his flickr profile and photos....
www.flickr.com/people/willynillyuk/
www.flickr.com/photos/willynillyuk/
Now a man like Will poses an interesting situation in the context of Protesting Naked, because when the police do arrest Naked Protesters their emphasis is ALWAYS an absurd preoccupation with Genital Visibility (as though there were some almighty difference between the visibility of human genitals compared with the visibility of human elbows or noses etc). So how would the prosecution attempt to proceed if Will, a man without genitals, were arrested and put on trial I wonder?
and finally....
"Baby's bottom censored by store"
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/7474968.stm
A woman who wanted to give a birthday cake to her son featuring a photo of him as a baby was forced to have it censored because it showed his bottom.
Gail Jordan, 41, had gone to Asda in Liscard, Wirral, on 13 June with the photo of her 21-year-old son David taken when he was five months old.
Staff at the supermarket refused to scan the picture onto a cake as it featured nudity.
They eventually printed the image onto the icing with a star over the bottom.
