Random Thought

I was walking around an area not far from my neighborhood when this thought struck me: Does it seem feasible to anyone else that any fresh water shortages Japan may suffer could be caused by the clusters of soap lands scattered throughout major metropolitan areas?

For those of you unfamiliar with soap land, you can read wikipedia's entry here. *

*Please note that this does not constitute an endorsement of wikipedia, but rather a laziness on the part or the idle monkey trainer. And the first few sentences seemed fairly accurate.*

* Or, so I have heard from a friend of a friend.

Location, location, location.

Only in Japan would the above pictures be displaying the perfect place for a late summer barbecue. This place had it all:

• Directly under a commuter rail bridge;
• Loose rock of various size and shape;
• An area scrubbed clean by the localized flooding of a recent typhoon;
• Mud, left by the aforementioned typhoon;
• Twelve-foot high graffiti.

It's all about location.

Learned something new.

You learn something new everyday, or so the saying goes. Here is what the idle monkey trainer learned over the last few days:

• 10% of world GDP is related to the aviation industry
• 94.3% of Japanese females in their 20's own a Louis Vuitton item
• It is possible to cleanly shave 99.99% of one's face and still leave intact a clump of 6-inch long hair growing from a solitary mole on the face. (This really is anecdotal and based on the Thai guy and Chinese guy I met over the weekend. At first I thought it was simply neglect or obliviousness to the hair, but realized that the shampooing and styling of one such patch of mole hair constituted a conscious effort at cultivation and required, I would assume, great patience.)
• The toilets in the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo are the nicest public restrooms on the planet. Each stall features floor to nearly ceiling walls and door (to prevent unsolicited advances by rogue Senators, and others), a "washlet" (heated seat with shower function) and soothing classical music kept at a reasonable volume. The soap dispensers and faucets are all automatic, so one does not have to touch anything.
  

Part time work?

Being an idle monkey trainer, it is at times necessary to supplement my income with part time work. Would you care for some Japanese sweets?

"Why don't snails shells get dirty?"

A question that has apparently been of some debate in certain circles. The issue was perhaps put to rest for a group of about fifty attendees at a seminar of that title on Wednesday in Chiba (next to Tokyo). I am a bit disappointed I missed it, and am, therefore, still in the dark on this pressing issue.

The seminar was presented as part of an analytical instruments show, and was geared toward children with the hope of getting kids interested in analytical instruments, or science, or snails. Only time will tell how effective the effort is. The organizers plan to continue these children-oriented seminars in coming years, and I, for one, look forward to more thrilling topics.

Might I suggest a topic for next year: Why are moths' wings dusty?