It's the worst snow Bournemouth's seen this week, although still not comparable to London. I started making a snowman with big intentions but I was lonely and freezing, so this is the result:
(She - she has nice lips - is strong, however; propping up the chair!)
We celebrated in style tonight, throwing beans around the flat (sorry Grandma) and each taking turns to be the 'oni' (monster) under attack. We also beckoned 'fuku' (luck) indoors.
Oli and I both ate our age in the beans.
There are a lot of developments regarding the London move, and when they become a little more concrete I'll explain them. Off to the capital tomorrow - if the coaches aren't cancelled. I hope it will prove a few more steps along the process.
For tomorrow to go smoothly (weather/transportation/suitable rent/job contract) it looks like I'll need that luck after all.
Tonight we had Bird's Eye Potato Waffles because, well, they're waffling versatile. And £1 for a box of 12 at the moment in Iceland. Oli and I had 6 a few days ago and I went to stick the rest in the oven tonight but I could only count 5. I searched high and low, in the freezer and at the bottom of the box, the mystery thickening to the point where I considered submitting it for an episode of Lost.
I was close to demanding my 12th of a pound back from Captain Birdseye (as well as demanding to know his Benjamin Button-esque secret to lose 30 years) or accuse Oli of snacking on one on his way to work.
But then there were 6.
The End.
(There's a Short Story Writing Competition in Bournemouth coming up. Do you think this is the type of thing they're going for?)
How can a country be so unprepared and useless in responding to snow outside of, say, East Africa? I understand airport runways closing are inevitable but nearly all of the London public transport shutting down?
It's times like these that Britain's undeserving of it's Great prefix.
Anyway, good news is, I've brought the snow back to celebrate!
It's a tough fight between Darwin and Shakespeare to top my list of the most important Brits in history. Given it has been 150 years since the former published his 'The Origin Of Species' and the BBC have dedicated a season to him, I'll allow Darwin the top spot for the time being.
Just now, David Attenborough presented an incredible programme, highlighting the scientist's discoveries, with a beautiful and simplified animated section (towards the end) illustrating the evolution of life from the simplest organisms in the oceans to the rise of the insects, mammals and other complex plants and animals on land. As if they read my mind, the very clip has been made available online. If you only watch one thing I recommend, it's this. Actually I suggest watching it here in all its HD (and larger size) glory.
Beautiful, hey?
The Open University are even giving away free wall posters documenting the Tree Of Life. Yes, free! Just type your postcode in and you're away.
The next programme 'Darwin's Struggle' is on tomorrow (Monday) BBC4 at 9PM.
(Hit the blog title to go straight to the main BBC Darwin website.)
Who is that unmasked man in the mirror?
I suppose I could've been the blue monster from the previous post to the fancy dress party but I'd rather be a hero than a villain.
Coincidence - the day I received the costume, I found a small spider in my hair. Gross, yes. Weird, also yes.
Red alert, red alert.
Setsubun - my favourite festival - is on Tuesday (3rd February). There're a lot of monsters roaming around so will someone out there here my call and prepare some beans to throw around.
To jog your memory, here are my previous two experiences of the festival. The first was low-key but fun, and the second was insane - remember satsuma throwing in the snow?
Isn't that amazing, I've been doing the blog so long I'm able to link to three previous entries!
Hollwood's biggest couple and their six (yes, six!) children have taken on Tokyo to promote the Benjamin Button film*.
One thing though. Take off your hat!
*One of the last big Oscar nominated movies I want to see, along with Revolutionary Road. Milk was brilliant.
...now it's officially the Chinese New Year. Google were ever so kind to remind me it's the year of the cow/ox, and they even included my favourite kanji (fuku - luck), although I'm not sure the relevance.
To make the supermarket trip a little less dreary, here's a fun way to add some pizazz to the products. 
Barcode Revolution, a Japanese company, added pictures to the barcodes, giving them life whilst still being fully functional. A huge list of them can be seen here.
This is an alternative inauguration, a magic show by the man of the hour himself. It helps to know that a 'mikan' is a type of orange in Japan.
Want to be Mario? In a really substandard reality?
Here's your chance. Welcome to 'Nintendo Amusement Park'.
Go wild.
Not sure why this happened but it did. A real life Mario experience.
I love how happy they all are at the end.
Whatever your eyes tell you, this is not a cow. This is a goat born in Narita (between the airport and Tokyo). Actually, it's a kid but you get the point.
The News should be full of more of these stories.
I can finally give a Barry-esque grin now: I finally knew something the Eggheads didn't. (Ok, so they guessed it correct but that's irrelevant.) The question was about Yakult Swallows playing in Japan. I even know their colours, mascot (a swallow of course) and stadium, as well as most of the rules. I also know the price of a hotdog there.
Other Egghead and BBC quizzing news (but slightly more mean) - one unfortunate name and an unfortunate-placed word.
I said it was mean.
Now I have your attention. I could've equally used the word "Sex" on its own and undoubtedly you'd be intrigued (although sorely disappointed) but I have readers who may find it objectionable.
I was just reading about 'Google Whoring' (sorry, again) on the Times Website's comment central section. It's a method of including popular words in your headines to make your blog/website more favourable in search engine results, even if it's irrelevant to the contents.
I'm not a particularly good Google whore (nor am I a Pretty Woman - is that relevant?) as I shy away from pop culture issues on the whole. However, I thought it might be fun to see who can make up the best headline full of popular Japanese ideas in the comments section. I'll go first (check the comments for it, and add your own!)
Isn't the sound of thick snow crunching underneath shoes the best? 
Shame then that this is Sendai again. Bournemouth may have had the coldest temperature of the UK last night (-6) but only brought frost with it. Where's the snow?
When the whale died in the Thames a few years back, The Sun used the caption "Farewhale". I could have equally used the title "Goat-ed" but the news is too depressing for that. My friend, the goat in Buais, died.
An obituary: He was an absolute beauty. When we first met he approached cautiously and sealed the deal with eating some veg I offered him. From then on he'd spring out of his shed and bleet me until I fed him, and then watched me with those big eyes until I was out of sight.
He broke his leg and had to be put down. To make it worse, he'd survived Christmas! I want to scream out, "Whyyyyyyyyyyyy him?" but it won't bring him back. Instead he will be forever memorialised on this blog doing what he loved best: eating and looking.
Let this be a lesson: life is short so eat all the cabbage you can.
