[jules' pics] ume

I think I might have missed the magnolia. They don't usually flower for long around these parts, but this year they've been shot out of the branches on to the ground extra quick. Anyway, here are some more ume.


Meanwhile, I have to slightly take back part of this, as I finally found some sympathy. Mind you, it was among middle-upper rather than middle-management. Even if nothing comes of it, it was a relief to find someone who actually thinks it is wrong that of the 3 best performers in the project, two were rewarded with demotion and pay cuts, while the third merely gets to be disgruntled at having no reward. The response of everyone else supposedly in power has been to "explain the rules", which is their way of obfuscating. Still, it is little shocking to have found out who are and are not our supporters! Unfortunately our non-supporters rise in power in JAMSTEC while our supporters drift or are elbowed away, so I'm not sure we'd get another 5 years after this one. It is the end of the financial year, and many people seem to be leaving climate science at JAMSTEC. I expect JAMSTEC to continue to sideline the climate science over the next few years, and guess that remnant of RIGC will absorbed into some other larger part sooner of later. The proposed merger of the different JAMSTEC-like institutes in a few years time could be the wild card that makes or breaks RIGC.

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Posted By Blogger to jules' pics at 3/31/2012 06:50:00 PM

NOC NOC Who's there? Not as many as you thought....

Sad but generally unsurprising news from the UK, where it seems that the latest installment of austerity means another round of scientists losing their jobs, including up to 15 (out of 45) at the small lab where we used to work.

Mind you, I wonder what on earth NOC was doing with a 35-strong (or more?) "Directorate of Science and Technology" in the first place! Sounds like someone might have been building themselves a little empire there...which brings back memories of our time there.

Over here, the approach is one of salary cuts all round, which from our point of view seems preferable, though it may not be so good for those on a tight budget. Although we are not officially civil servants, I think this is going to apply to us, on top of JAMSTEC's recent disgraceful behaviour. But this additional cut is not actually JAMSTEC's doing and given events of the past year, it would be difficult to complain too bitterly. It's not like they are cutting our pay down to UK levels :-)

Do Panic!

It's funny watching this from afar. It would be funny watching it close up, so long as I didn't happen to be in urgent need of petrol :-)

Not sure if it's entirely fair to blame the Govt - I'm sure that no-one pays a blind bit of notice to anything Francis Maude usually says, so he can't have expected to be taken so seriously this time. The press is having a field day of course, accusing everyone but themselves. And it's so much more fun than talking about corruption at the heart of Govt, tax cuts for the rich, or the flatlining economy. It's just one of those "tipping points" (did I really say that?) where we can all have a jolly good laugh and no-one is really to blame.

Better hope the ATM-fillers don't talk about striking or the banks would be cleaned out in minutes.


(Hat tip to Helen for the picture, hat tip to the CTC for encouraging a bit of panic bicycle buying)

[jules' pics] bio power pruning

With looming summertime electricity shortages, the trees have been pruned so they can be easily plugged into the grid.

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Posted By Blogger to jules' pics at 3/28/2012 08:26:00 PM

[jules' pics] kawazuzakura

[Kamakuragu, Kamakura] This is an early cherry blossom, called kawazuzakura. It also is very late this year - I associate it with travel to the Wimmin's Conference, which takes place at the end of January. Meanwhile the magnolia are already starting to come out and the more common sakura wont be far behind...

I wonder if this far superior photo is of the same tree. Anyway, its good to see that the new cool D800 has already done Kamakura.

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Posted By Blogger to jules' pics at 3/28/2012 01:29:00 PM

[jules' pics] Let's Park Too

James said that people would think I was exaggerating about Sunday morning hobby parking of weird cars outside Starbucks on Motomachi Street, Yokohama, so I've been keeping up surveillance. I know a few dog breeds, but my car breed knowledge is more of the "that's a red one" kind.
Feb 26th:
Black and silver, with big ears and curly bits, which I also saw last Sunday driving into Kamakura as we were riding out. Cocker Spaniel.
A flat white one with a funny shaped nose. Bull Terrier.
A little red one with a white spot. Chihuahua. Also seen in central Kamakura, last Monday.
Mar 19th:
Shiny black, obviously a Flat-coated Retriever. Not sure why they've painted its toes orange.
Mar 25th:
Very white. A Samoyed.
I'm not sure whether it is the miniature schnauzer that is the small and grey and hairy breed that is very popular here. I think this one is cute, but I suspect it eats a lot?

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Posted By Blogger to jules' pics at 3/26/2012 08:42:00 PM

[jules' pics] ume

err.... Ume varieties of deep pink, pinkish and yellowish...

[Engakuji, Kita Kamakura.]

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Posted By Blogger to jules' pics at 3/26/2012 12:30:00 PM

[jules' pics] paperbush

Some more not-ume flowers. This is mitsumata (paper bush). Not only are the flowers pleasant smelling, they are also furry!
Furry buds at Engakji in January last year,
...and the same bush, last weekend
But Egaratenjin has the bigger blooms. Furry buds formed in January this year,
...and big yellow balls last weekend.

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Posted By Blogger to jules' pics at 3/25/2012 05:38:00 PM

[jules' pics] Living it up...

Usually when I attend a posh Oxbridgy event I try to admire the view, enjoy the food, be room filler, and actively avoid the important guests as much as possible, simply because I am sure they will be better entertained by others. This explains how I have dined on several occassions with the Crown Prince of Japan, but never even told him how much I like his shiny hair, suit and shoes. However, last night it all went wrong and James and I ended up with the Ambassador to Japan on one side and the head of Exeter College (Oxford) on the other. The main difficulty for me is alcohol tolerance. Being almost half Japanese, my tolerance is quite low, but it takes a couple of glasses of wine before the honoured guests rise to their full intellectual height, by which time I am well on the way down. Anyway, while embarrassing myself, I learned a great deal - that blogging is bad because words are valuable and people should be paid (in cash) for them, that no journalism in the UK happens outside of London, that the cut in the high end income tax rate is a very good thing, that suggesting that people might be considerate towards each other (in the context of drivers, cyclists and pedestrians) is "banal", and that politicians are wonderful people who only "obfuscate" because normal people can't draw the right conclusions when the hard numbers are laid in front of them. I supose that makes it sound terrible, but it really was a lot of fun, and I have taken these messages to heart, particularly the first one, so will make a suitable contribution towards their valuable time and words when I receive my next shiny begging letters from Oxbridge.

On the way home, 2 of the 3 trainlines between Tokyo and Yokohama were down (due to suicide, as usual), so everyone got on one line, and it was an amazing sardine ride, and we got home very late.

[View is from the Ark Hills Club, Roppongi, Tokyo]

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Posted By Blogger to jules' pics at 3/23/2012 10:40:00 AM

[jules' pics] springing spring

At last the flowers have come out. Usually the first tree blossoms are ume "plum", but with the delay I think we are going to get a lot of different things blooming close together. These are not your normal ume... ...but are oubai "yellow plum". They have a nice jasmine like smell, much stronger than ume. [at Zuisenji, Kamakura]
There is more to come...
Anyone else think the new D800 looks groovy? Pity about the paycut... or perhaps I use it as a sympathy bargaining point?

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Posted By Blogger to jules' pics at 3/22/2012 01:53:00 PM