May
20, 2023 - Immigration to the USA by country, 1820-2023
Immigration to the
USA by country, 1820-2023
(If player above is not visible, you can view video
at YouTube here.)
U.S. immigration flows by country, 1820s to 2010s
(Source: metrocosm.com)
May 18,
2023 - A Texan's Map of the United States
As is often said, you can take the boy outta Texas, but you can never
take Texas outta the boy, ha ha.
And we Texicans are very proud folks... after all, EVERYTHING is bigger
in Texas... big houses, big cars, big buildings, big people, big Texas
longhorns... yes, big everything.
And this very old postcard cracks me up every time. Just LOVE the
nicknames given the other states. Funny stuff!
A Texan's map of the United States (photo credit:
etsystatic.com)
May 9, 2023
- Rei Banno, 11-year-old Japanese Girl, Prepares to Climb Mt.
Kilimanjaro
Rei Banno, an 11-year-old Japanese girl, is gearing up to conquer Mount
Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest peak.
For the young climber living in Kofu, Yamanashi Prefecture, central
Japan, climbing the 5,895-meter mountain in Tanzania is what she has
"always dreamed of." Rei and her mother hope to travel to Africa as
early as this summer, if they manage to secure funds for the journey.
Rei became a mountain lover when she participated in a local mountain
climbing event at the age of 4 and completed a 43-kilometer traverse
course along the Yatsugatake mountain range that straddles Yamanashi
and Nagano prefectures at the age of 7.
She spends weekends touring mountains across Japan together with her
48-year-old mother, Naomi, and friends. Rei is currently in the midst
of her challenge to conquer the 300 famous mountains in Japan and has
already conquered the 100 most famous mountains in Yamanashi at the age
of 6.
Rei began voicing her desire to climb Kilimanjaro around the time when
she was 7 years old and has high hopes for the journey, including
communicating with guides and other climbers.
She also wants to eventually complete the 7 summits, the tallest peaks
on each of the 7 continents.
Rei Banno, 11-year-old Japanese mountain climber (photo credit:
nippon.com)
April 29,
2023 - Happy Golden Week!
Yep, it's that magical time of year again. Today,
Showa Day (昭和の日, Shōwa no Hi), is a national holiday in Japan and kicks
off the week-long holiday period known as Golden Week, often
abbreviated simply as GW.
Well, GW has another meaning in my life.... not only my initials but
also my nickname, courtesy of my most beloved family and friends since
my childhood days.
Needless to say, GW is one of my favorite times of the year in Japan
because everywhere you look, my nickname is plastered on countless
advertising signs all over the city. It's nice to be so famous, ha ha.
The sign below I spotted a few years ago at the local KFC. Yee hah!
KFC GW sign in Tokyo
And how could we forget about the gorgeous koinobori (鯉幟, carp
streamers)? To celebrate Children's Day (こどもの日, Kodomo no hi), May 5,
one of the 4 national holidays during this week-long holiday period,
"koinobori (鯉幟)," or carp streamers, are flown around the country in
honor of Japanese children in the hope that they will grow up healthy,
strong, & happy.
A typical koinobori set consists of, from the top of the pole down, a
pair of arrow-spoked wheels (矢車, yaguruma) with a ball-shaped spinning
vane, a mounting windsock (吹流し, fukinagashi), and finally the
koinobori. For the windsock above the koinobori, one kind is the
5-colored windsock (五色吹流し), based on the 5 elements of Chinese
philosophy.
Nowadays the koinobori typically consist of the biggest (black)
koinobori for the father of the family, next biggest (red or pink) for
the mother, and an additional, smaller carp of a different color for
each child in decreasing order by age.
Koinobori (鯉幟, carp
streamers) for Children's Day, May 5, 2023
(If player above is not visible, you can view video
at YouTube here.)
April
25, 2023 - Floating in the Falling Universe of Flowers (チームラボプラネッツ)
"A seasonal year of flowers bloom and change with time, life spreads
out into the universe. Flowers grow, bud, bloom, and in time, the
petals fall, and the flowers wither and die. The cycle of birth and
death continues for perpetuity. The artwork is not a pre-recorded image
that is played back; it is created by a computer program that
continuously renders the artwork in real time. As a whole, it is
continuously changing, and previous visual states are never replicated.
The universe at this moment in time can never be seen again."
Floating in the
Falling Universe of Flowers (チームラボプラネッツ)
(If player above is not visible, you can view video
at YouTube here.)
April 16,
2023 - JR Station Booths in Tokyo
JR Station Booth in Tokyo
How 'bout a private work space at a Tokyo JR train station? These
station booths are popping up across Japan's capital, providing
commuters a chance to conduct business too urgent to wait till they get
to the office.
The booths can be reserved from 7:00-21:30 & are rentable for ¥275
per 15 minutes, payable by credit card, Suica transport IC card, etc.
They come equipped with power supply, dedicated Wi-Fi, USB, & a
screen for video calls.
Inside a JR Station Booth
(photo credit:
https://maiuma.com/station-work/)
April
3, 2023 - Retirement speech
Having recently acquired "retired" status, today I was reminded of a
retirement speech I'm so happy I didn't hear from MY boss:
"As a symbol of our gratitude, we'd like to present you this special
gold watch to serve as a reminder of your many years with the company.
It needs a lot of winding up, is always a little late, and every day at
quarter to five, it stops working."
Mar. 24,
2023 - Spring has sprung!!
The springtime flowers in Japan bring a non-stop exhilarating display
of brilliant colors and sweet fragrances to titillate the senses. The
plum blossoms begin in mid-February, followed by the absolutely
breathtaking cherry blossoms, and then a continuous overlapping of
blooming periods for azaleas, camellias, wisteria, magnolias, peonies,
roses, tulips, pansies, irises, hydrangeas, etc. that last well into
mid-summer.
What you see now in the album linked below is just the start, so
I'm planning to add more pics to it in the weeks ahead! Stay tuned and
check
back soon!
Updates:
- 39 new pics added Mar. 27
- 13 new pics added Mar. 31
- 8 new pics added April 4
- 14 new pics added April 12
- 15 new pics added April 18
- 19 new pics added April 19
- 19 new pics added April 30
- 10 new pics added May 8
- 22 new pics added May 18
Mar. 17,
2023 - Happy 70th Birthday to Mr. HAA3
Congrats to my lifelong good buddy on completing 70 laps around the
sun and his promotion to septuagenarian status! All the best to you, my dear friend,
for
many more wonderful years ahead. Luv ya, brother...
Happy 70th Birthday
to Mr. HAA3
(Background music: "World on a String" by Neil Young)
(If player above is not visible, you can view video
at YouTube here.)
Mar. 10,
2023 - Spring is in the air!
Spring is in the air!
Feb. 28,
2023 - Emma Jo, Live in Tokyo, Feb. 27, 2023
Kansas City country singer/songwriter Emma Jo thrilled the crowd in the
Crocodile live house in Tokyo on Mon. Feb. 27, 2023 as part of her Asia
tour! This amazing rising star knocked it outta the park! Don't miss
her pretty pink boots in the "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" song!
Emma Jo, Live in
Tokyo, Feb. 27, 2023
(If player above is not visible, you can view video
at YouTube here.)
0:00 Tucumcari on My Mind
3:19 Folsom Prison
6:39 Queen of the Silver Lining
11:25 In the Ozarks
16:00 Kansas City in the Autumn Time
20:00 I’ve Been Everywhere
24:01 Straight into Mine
29:43 These Boots Are Made for Walkin'
34:27 Walk
39:03 Jack & Jim (encore song)
Feb. 27,
2023 - 2023 Cherry Blossom Forecast
Because of a mild winter and warmer than normal temperatures which are
expected to continue into March, this year's cherry blossoms are
forecast to bloom 7-10 days earlier than in a typical year.
Cherry blossoms can be viewed virtually everywhere in Japan, but the
secret of catching them at full bloom is surfing the cherry blossom
front, as it progresses from southwest to northeast across the
archipelago, as seen in the map below.
This year in Tokyo the cherry blossoms are expected to begin opening up
on Mar. 17, with full bloom expected 1 week later on Mar. 24. Can't
wait!
I finally got a
(round tuit).
For the past year I've been wanting to pull together all the pics &
video clips I have of my lifelong good buddy who went to be with the
Lord a year ago today. So now I am finally honoring that wonderful guy
whom I admired so much.
If you get a chance, you might appreciate my tribute page for Tom (whom
I liked to call T-squared) that I just uploaded today. Miss you,
T-squared!
20s – Learning
30s – Experimenting
40s – Mastering
50s – Reaping
60s – Guiding
70s – Leaving a Legacy
80s – Maximizing Your Zone of Genius
90s – Savoring a Life Well Lived
The Stages of Life
(Source: Dan Miller,
48days.com, Episode 869, Feb. 10, 2023)
Note: I'm not at liberty to say which stage of life I just entered. I'm
afraid that top secret is highly classified...
Feb. 10,
2023 - Tobu World Square (東武ワールドスクエア)
The Tobu World Square theme park (東武ワールドスクエア), an open-air
architectural museum, exhibits 1/25 scale reproductions of world famous
architectural structures and historic relics. The park displays
skillful & authentic miniature replicas of over 100 architectural
structures from 22 countries, including 48 registered as World Heritage
Sites.
The next time you're in Japan's Tochigi Prefecture, you can visit the
world's most famous landmarks in less than 2 hours and save all those
airfare and lodging expenses.
Jan.
30, 2023 - Diamond Fuji viewing season from Tokyo
The first 2-week Diamond Fuji viewing season of the New Year from Tokyo
has now begun. Diamond Fuji (ダイヤモンド富士) is a phenomenon which occurs
when the sun sets into or rises out of Mt. Fuji's cone, setting off
sunbeams that resemble a glittering diamond. Several years ago I
totally geeked out and put together a listing of the best high-rise
spots in Tokyo to view Diamond Fuji with recommended dates, sunset
times, and links to Google maps: Diamond Fuji Viewing Spots, Dates, and Times in Tokyo
Diamond Fuji, Jan. 29, 2023, 16:54 pm
Jan. 28,
2023 - Mt. Fuji in Winter
I just love it when Fujisan puts on her beautiful white winter coat…
(and so very thankful I am not attempting to climb the nation’s tallest
peak about right now)
Mt. Fuji white winter coat
Jan. 24,
2023 - Your daily dose of humor
A woman was flying from Melbourne to Brisbane. Unexpectedly, the plane
was diverted to Sydney.
The flight attendant explained that there would be a delay, and if the
passengers wanted to get off the aircraft, the plane would re-board in
50 minutes.
Everybody got off the plane except one lady who was blind. A man had
noticed her as he walked by and could tell the lady was blind because
her seeing eye dog lay quietly underneath the seats in front of her
throughout the entire flight.
He could also tell she had flown this same flight before because the
pilot approached her, and calling her by name, said, "Kathy, we are in
Sydney for almost an hour. Would you like to get off and stretch your
legs?"
The blind lady replied, "No thanks, but maybe Max would like to stretch
his legs."
Picture this:
All the people in the gate area came to a complete standstill when they
looked up and saw the pilot walk off the plane with a seeing eye dog!
The pilot was even wearing sunglasses. People scattered. They not only
tried to change planes, but they were trying to change airlines!
Have a great day and remember... THINGS AREN'T ALWAYS AS THEY APPEAR. A
DAY WITHOUT LAUGHTER IS A DAY WASTED!!!
Pilot with seeing eye dog
[Note: Snopes.com has rated the above story "false", but I felt it was
just too cute NOT to post, ha ha.]
Jan. 8,
2022 - S.O.S.: Slower, Older, and Smarter
An Airbus 380 is on its way across the Atlantic. It flies consistently
at 800 km/h at 30,000 feet, when suddenly a Eurofighter with a Tempo
Mach 2 appears.
The pilot of the fighter jet slows down, flies alongside the Airbus and
greets the pilot of the passenger plane by radio: "Airbus, boring
flight isn’t it? Now have a look here!"
He rolls his jet on its back, accelerates, breaks through the sound
barrier, rises rapidly to a dizzying height, and then swoops down
almost to sea level in a breathtaking dive. He loops back next to the
Airbus and asks: "Well, how was that?"
The Airbus pilot answers: "Very impressive, but watch this!"
The jet pilot watches the Airbus, but nothing happens. It continues to
fly straight, at the same speed. After 15 minutes, the Airbus pilot
radios, "Well, how was THAT?
Confused, the jet pilot asks, "What did you do?"
The Airbus pilot laughs and says: "I got up, stretched my legs, walked
to the back of the aircraft to use the washroom, then got a cup of
coffee and a chocolate fudge pastry."
The moral of the story is: When you’re young, speed and adrenaline seem
to be great. But as you get older and wiser, you learn that comfort and
peace are more important.
This is called S.O.S.: Slower, Older, and Smarter.
Dedicated to all my senior friends ~ it’s time to slow down
and enjoy the rest of the trip.
Online resources for preparing and presenting scientific posters, including design layout, sample posters, poster templates, and sample student posters.
Listing of the 25 highest mountains in Japan, complete with pics, videos, and descriptions, based on the 2-decade climbing experience of Gary J. Wolff.
Listing of Mt. Fuji Yoshida Trail mountain huts, including website URLs, phone numbers, elevations, and sleeping capacities, as well as links to the Fujinomiya trail hut sites.
The most frequently asked questions about climbing Mt. Fuji, including info on routes, maps, videos, transport access, traffic stats, weather, and climber stories.
Click link to see an amazing animated bar chart showing immigration to the USA by countries ranked year-by-year from 1820 to 2023. Also, you will see a colorful static graph showing U.S. immigration flows by country from the 1820s to 2010s.
As is often said, you can take the boy outta Texas, but you can never take Texas outta the boy, ha ha. :-)
And we Texicans are very proud folks... after all, EVERYTHING is bigger in Texas... big houses, big cars, big buildings, big people, big Texas longhorns... yes, big everything.
And this very old postcard cracks me up every time. Just LOVE the nicknames given the other states. Funny stuff! :-)
(click link to see funny Texan's map of the United States)
I went to Italy during last summer's vacation. I visited Venice, Rome, and Florence. My first reaction was scorching sunlight and a big population of smokers
Rei Banno, 11-year-old Japanese Girl, Prepares to Climb Mt. Kilimanjaro
Rei Banno, an 11-year-old Japanese girl, is gearing up to conquer Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest peak.
For the young climber living in Kofu, Yamanashi Prefecture, central Japan, climbing the 5,895-meter mountain in Tanzania is what she has "always dreamed of." Rei and her mother hope to travel to Africa as early as this summer, if they manage to secure funds for the journey.
Rei became a mountain lover when she participated in a local mountain climbing event at the age of 4 and completed a 43-kilometer traverse course along the Yatsugatake mountain range that straddles Yamanashi and Nagano prefectures at the age of 7...
What’s the email address for submitting the required off-season Mt. Fuji climbing form?
Hi Gary! I've really enjoyed reading over your website and getting to learn more about you and your adventures in Japan. My wife and I are visiting Japan
Is it possible to climb the Mt. Fuji trail to the 6th or 7th station in June 2023?
hi i am visiting Lake Kawaguchiko in June 2023. i am wondering if it is possible to visit mount fuji and maybe take the trail from 5th station to 6th or
Despite being a relatively easy climb, Mt. Shirouma-dake is without question one of Japan's most dangerous peaks, claiming lives just about every year.
Online resources for preparing and presenting scientific posters, including design layout, sample posters, poster templates, and sample student posters.
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And we Texicans are very proud folks... after all, EVERYTHING is bigger
in Texas... big houses, big cars, big buildings, big people, big Texas
longhorns... yes, big everything. 
(round tuit). 
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