[jules' pics] 5/18/2009 08:45:00 PM

Which one is the intertube?, originally uploaded by julesberry2001.

Given the extent to which otherwise photogenic scenes are ruined by cables, I'm surprised the Japanese camera companies don't lobby the government to get all this stuff put underground.

(photo taken in an otherwise twee bit of Kamakura)

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Posted By jules to jules' pics at 5/18/2009 08:45:00 PM

Japanese exports down!

Not another boring re-run of the global economic meltdown, but I'm talking about the number of Japanese researchers prepared to run the risk of a foreign sojourn. In the last 4 years, "the number of Japanese researchers going overseas for extended stays is declining, from 3,053 researchers in 2002 to 1,742 in 2006" (from a pdf newsletter which I was sent but I see it is now on the web here) the main reason for this being that it is hard for them to find positions to return to in Japan. People here seem to rely on their PhD supervisor for contacts and opportunities for many years after graduating, and are much slower to leave the fold than is usual in the UK. Also, in a country where children who have had the misfortune to spend a few years abroad find that they need special schools to help them "reintegrate" I suppose the possibility of some dangerously mind-expanding overseas experience is a threat that should be taken seriously.

Actually, I'm glad to report that climate science appears to buck the trend, as quite a few people here have spent time abroad at some time, albeit many of these are short-term visits with a guarantee of a safe return passage. We started out the same way, actually, with a leave of absence agreed, as we were only offered one 1-year contract between us initially in Japan, and had permanent jobs in the UK. But recently there has been at least one long-term departure from here for colder wetter climes.

[jules' pics] 5/15/2009 04:52:00 AM

Daiyuzan Saijo-ji Temple, Kanagawa, originally uploaded by julesberry2001.

An enormous temple, with enormous trees, this is just a small front gate. After 100-200m of climbing, the temple buildings finally cease and a path up the mountain starts. Over the other side of the mountain were hazy views of Fuji-san capped in snow, and down the other side, a refreshing onsen. This all happened on Tuesday this week, the holiday we earned through attending the PAGES workshop last month.

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Posted By jules to jules' pics at 5/15/2009 04:52:00 AM

[jules' pics] 5/13/2009 09:28:00 PM

Viennese pelicans, originally uploaded by julesberry2001.

Yesterday we dined with Naruhito, the Crown Prince of Japan. At least he was but a profiterole's throw from were we were seated, and we nicked some of his special (it had extra sherry!) trifle. I wonder if any of you can make the connection to pelicans (perhaps William C. has the best chance)?

(photo taken at Vienna Zoo, which is in the grounds of the Schönbrunn)

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Posted By jules to jules' pics at 5/13/2009 09:28:00 PM

[jules' pics] 5/12/2009 11:30:00 PM

Let's Zen, originally uploaded by julesberry2001.

"Keep this going and step forward, through the back door of the room. Where does it lead? To your cave. Step forward into your cave.That's right. You're going deeper into your cave. And you're going to find your power animal..." And the cool things about the nothingness of Zen gardens is that each time you visit a different animal may appear. (Zuisenji, Kamakura)

[For the hard of understanding (WC): pretend it is an empty zoo enclosure and imagine what sort of animal might be housed there.]

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Posted By jules to jules' pics at 5/12/2009 11:30:00 PM

[jules' pics] 5/10/2009 06:02:00 PM

Japanese nationalism, originally uploaded by julesberry2001.

Not so cute or hairy, but fortunately armed only with a canon.

(They have, sadly, taken to polluting the area around the station at Yokohama, with their very loud racist nationalism. To their credit the shoppers look rather ashamed as they walk past. Not that they do anything about it of course; they've been brain-washed since infancy to put up with unreasonable noise pollution.)

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Posted By jules to jules' pics at 5/10/2009 06:02:00 PM

More EGU

Those who are desperate for more info about all the exciting things that happened at the EGU can have a look at the various web streams, mostly the press conferences with a few medal lectures thrown in for good measure. It's some lame Windows Media nonsense but I'm sure Mac users will be able to work out how to deal with it (if not, you can just do what I did and download flip4mac, install it, and work out the URL of the relevant video stream (eg here) to open directly in Quicktime).

Most excitingly, you can now find out everything you wanted to know about palsa mires but were afraid to ask by listening to the joint press conference from the uncertainty sessions. Best not all pile in together or you might crash the EGU servers.

While I'm writing, EGU attendees will also have recently received an invitation to participate in a questionnaire. While it doesn't directly address the Exxon issue, there are questions about sponsorship and also opportunity for free-form commentary on anything that you want to say. Don't hold back...

[jules' pics] 5/10/2009 01:24:00 AM

kemushi, originally uploaded by julesberry2001.

awww... kawaiiiiiii!!!!!

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Posted By jules to jules' pics at 5/10/2009 01:24:00 AM

[jules' pics] 5/09/2009 01:04:00 AM

red and green, originally uploaded by julesberry2001.

Some of the "new green" (shinryoku) is actually red, although it then turns green, and then later on still it all turns red again. And yes, the unthinkable has happened; the rain stopped and the sky went blue. (Kamakura)

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Posted By jules to jules' pics at 5/09/2009 01:04:00 AM

More press release hype...sigh...

I suppose this sort of thing is so common it's hardly worth mentioning, especially if I cast my net wider than climate science. But given my interest in cycling and especially dodgy statistical analyses thereof, it caught my attention.

"Cyclists killed in Britain up by 11% in three years" screamed one headline. And looking at the press release, this is the only number given: the relevant sentence is "The number of cyclists killed or seriously injured fell from 2000 to 2004, but rose again by 11 per cent from 2004 to 2007, despite the amount of cycling staying broadly constant."

Note first that 11% refers to the number killed or seriously injured, of which the latter is overwhelmingly dominant (about 95% of the total). There are only about 100-150 cycling deaths a year, so there are bound to be large interannual fluctuations for that anyway. But more importantly, the full report - even the executive summary which is cunningly concealed by the sneaky trick of prominently displaying it on the main web page for the report, and which therefore no journalist will have bothered to read - also says that deaths for cyclists have dropped by a whopping 27% since 1994-1998, which is the baseline for official targets etc. However that doesn't make for an attention-grabbing headline, so didn't make it into the press release. While the recent blip up since 2004 (which was deliberately cherry-picked as the lowest point in the record) might be worth thinking about, it is hard to see it as conclusive of a real trend. Cycling levels are not measured very accurately and a few well-time tube strikes in London could easily get a lot of people on their bikes.

One can imagine the equivalent headline "global temperatures drop x.xx since 1998". Well we don't have to imagine it, since it's the sort of nonsense the septics regularly come out with. But I expect Govt departments to do rather better than that. Harrumph.