Titanic Sad -- Over 40 Other Ships Horror !

Many Disasters Worse Than Titanic Occurred at Sea

 

This is a book sent to me by the author, David L. Williams.

There won't be a Mad Mike Review for a few reasons. One being, I'm still reading.

Another reason, one of my photos was published in it and I like to be impartial.

It's pretty tough doing an unbiased review when the author sends you an autographed copy.

But, I will tell you, reading this, is educational and it is a true, horror story.

In more than 40 other disasters at sea the number of casualties exceeded those of the Titanic's.

 Who would have ever known ?

People are Standing in Line

All my Ryukyu friends are waiting for me to finish reading this book.

And, I told Mr. Williams, I'd try to read a chapter a day.

But, I'm a slow reader.  Every time I finish reading, I hide the book, somewhere.

Sometimes it's at home.  Sometimes it's in my office.

It took a half hour to find it today, stashed away in my backpack.

Hey !

  If you had an autographed book would you let it get exposed to Grand-kids or Ryukyu Dudes ?

Me neither.

Everybody should just go to The History Press and get their own books.

That's what I recommend.

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Sinking the Tsushima Maru (対馬丸) A Sad Day in History 1944

Titanic Losses 1,513---Tsushima-Maru 1,515

A Year Later the Silence About Fukushima, Japan is Deafening

No.  The photo above is not the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

It's a coal burner in Kin Cho Kin Okinawa, Japan.

We're over 1,000 miles away from that nuclear disaster and today is the one year anniversary.

Around the country a few moments of silence are being held in commemoration.

The silence is deafening.

Not just in Japan.  The silence around the globe is deafening, to me.

The silence about nuclear power.  It's unbelievable.

Now, I've never been an activist.  And, don't think I have the time to become a good one, either.

The Fukushima incident convinced me.  Nuclear power is no good.

Greedy power companies and governments want to keep building them.

But, nobody wants one in their backyard.

No one wants the waste associated with them, either. Unless, they want to kill you.

The stuff has a shelf life (for killing) that must be a month of eternities long.

The people who create it aren't all that sure about how long they can safely contain it.

You might be surprised if you knew where the stuff goes.  So, I won't tell you.

Shortly after last year's disaster I became interested in SOLAR POWER.

And, I'm glad we never had any nuclear power plants on our islands.

We live far enough away from mainland Japan to keep attracting tourists.

The silence in memory of all those who lost lives and land in last year's disaster, I'll observe.

The silence about the nuclear power is deafening.

Is there any nuclear material nearby you ?



Flower (Photo) An Orange Hibiscus From Okinawa, Japan

Here's one for my flower loving friends. First thing this morning, heading to the big city, I asked my shooting partner, Doc (GOYAREPUBLIC), if he wanted to get some photos of this hibiscus before they disappear again.

Every morning, when I walk my dogs to the beach I pass by this hibiscus plant. When it blooms it has some beautiful flowers. Early morning is when the light hits them just right. Lately, we've been having some cloudy and rainy days. It always seems when the light is right, either I don't have my camera with me, or the darn thing isn't blooming.

Yesterday, when I walked the three mutts by the place, I saw this gigantic flower blooming, the sun was hitting it perfectly and there was no wind blowing. 

So, I walked the dogs real fast.  I was going to take them home and grab a camera to shoot the hibiscus.

By the time I got home, the weather turned miserable.  So, I turned miserable, too.  That's what I do.

Today, two of us, with a car full of cameras drove out of our way to snag some shots.  We were headed to Naha, the capital of Okinawa. The first thing we shot before leaving my village was this flower.  It was cloudy and windy but, it had to be done today. 

Sometimes, with an assistant, you can make shots that would be impossible when you are alone. 

At least one person can keep an eye out for the police.  That's if someone calls them because they don't want you on their property, shootin' their flowers.  It was Sunday morning, over here so, I think everybody was still sleeping. Nobody bothered us and we got the flower shots and escaped. Hah !

And, what a day it turned out to be.  I got a pile of Sunday Silly Signs photos for future posts.  Some great shots of Okinawan Sanshin, even a dude playing one for us.  Eisa Dancers, in conjunction with an FM Radio Station, were performing right in front of my camera.  They were helping raise relief funds for the disaster victims up around Sendai, Japan and, I even took some food photos.  So, there's enough pictures for me to post here, even if I don't get out with the camera for another week.

For now, this Orange Hibiscus will have to do the trick.  I started researching, because I like to find scientific names for all these things but, with over 200 kinds of Hibiscus, I'm lost.  You could name it the Orange Hibiscus from Okinawa owned by the people who sleep late on Sunday and don't call the police because they didn't know two foreigners were in their yard taking pictures if you want to, I guess.

OTHER FLOWER-RELATED POSTS YOU MIGHT ENJOY ARE:

CHERRY BLOSSOM

EASTER LILY

GOLDEN TRUMPETS

ORCHIDS

ORCHID LOVERS PHOTO ESSAY

PURPLE IRIS

Find an American Girl in Japan (Photo)

This is Taylor Anderson, an American girl from North Carolina.  She teaches in Japan.

She was in the area of the earthquake and tsunami.

Her father and I have email contact with each other.

No one has heard from her or seen her in the past week.

The town of Ishinomaki was hit hard by the disaster but, reports indicate, the area she would have been traveling through as the tsunami hit was relatively unharmed.

I can tell you, having a daughter missing for over a week is pure torture that no parent should ever have to experience.

The Embassies of Japan and the USA are busy with lots of things right now, I know.

Everyone is busy.  I just want to help the Andersons find their daughter.

An American girl in Japan stands out in the crowd.  So, if you can spare five minutes, help me circulate this photo and find Taylor Anderson.

More detailed information is available at MATADOR PULSE and I may be reached through my Facebook page Mike's Ryukyu Gallery. Thank you for your support.

This link, if you scroll down, gives the best updates JAPAN PERSON FINDER with information from friends and coworkers searching, on the ground, for Taylor Anderson. There is still hope!

How Far from Japan's Disaster and Fukushima Nuclear Powerplant is Okinawa?

                                            Map Courtesy of WORLD ATLAS.Com

Here is a map to give those concerned with the distance between Okinawa and Fukushima, Japan a better idea of how far away from the disaster we are in this southernmost Prefecture.

The distance from Okinawa to Fukushima is 1151 miles or 1852 kilometers according to the good folks I met at TRUE KNOWLEDGE.COM.

Having just finished a few hours trying to find accurate links to post here for those who have been visiting my site and telling me the difficulties they've had researching the same things, now I know. It isn't easy sorting through all the information. There's way too much and what you may find isn't always accurate.

If you have friends or family living in Okinawa they are probably a lot farther away from the nearest nuclear power plant than you may be. If I thought any nuclear stuff was headed this way I'd run like a chicken because I don't want to find out if I'm allergic to the stuff. We're all safe. OK?

For those who'd like a bigger Google Map and want to scroll, enlarge and all that fancy stuff ( I don't know how to use) I got you this link from MAPLANDIA.COM .  They call it Ryukiu Islands Region (We call it Ryukyu Islands) so, I have no idea where they came from but, it is a great map. The red thing dead center on the map shows Naha, the capitol of Okinawa.

You can click on that red dot and drag your mouse to the south and go all the way up north, above Fukushima and Sendai, if you want to. I'll be going to try it again as soon as I finish this blog.

One more source I found, you might like is GIDEON RACHMAN'S BLOG. They use a different kind of English than me, too. Maybe he's from England or somewhere like that. But, he has updates continuously so, I'm keeping this site bookmarked, even if I have to ask one of my friends from the UK to translate for me.

ANOTHER ENGLISH LANGUAGE SOURCE WITH FREQUENT UPDATES IS ASIAN CORRESPONDENT.

Hopefully, this gives everyone a better picture as to how far away Okinawa is from Fukushima and let's all hope there is no disaster to worry about at, or near, anyone's nuclear power plant.

RELATED POST: EARTHQUAKES, OIL SPILLS, TSUNAMIS, NUCLEAR DISASTERS, AND COAL

Kijimuna Sightings in Okinawa, Japan (Photos) Be Proud !

          This little guy may be seen almost anywhere you go in Okinawa, Japan.  He is Kijimuna.

Kijimuna is a mischievous character in Okinawan folklore. He can be a friend or foe, depending on which folk tale you want to believe. There are too many versions of the story out there for me to explain here so, I'll just give you some of the generally accepted stuff.

Everybody agrees the guy is a red-headed munchkin who lives in trees, loves to go fishing and is friendly. Sometimes he helps you and sometimes he causes disaster.  He can bring you good luck or bad luck.

                          Here you see four Kijimunas (all males) performing onstage at a festival.

                And here we have a couple, a Mr. and Mrs. Kijimuna sitting on a park bench.

Some versions of the Kijimuna story will tell you that the character helps you catch lots of fish but, he only wants the fish eyes. He takes them and lets you have the catch.

There are several tales of Kijimuna bringing both good luck and bad luck to people he encounters and most of them will tell you, two things a Kijimuna hates are Octopus and Breaking Wind. 

Anytime you want to get rid of them, when they're being mischievous, toss one of those in their direction.

There are other versions, I can't recall whether I read them somewhere, heard them while sitting around a campfire, or in one of the few barrooms I've visited over the years. The old wise men just don't write.

They would disagree with the Breaking Wind theory and tell you otherwise.

Call it the Okinawan Ben Franklin Kijimuna Theory, if you like.  Some people believe, the proper way to greet a Kijimuna when you have a sighting is to BE PROUD AND FART LOUD.

This theory has been exhaustively tested by yours truly in the field and I'm proud to announce, none of my Kijimuna sightings, anywhere in Okinawa, Japan has ever lead to bad luck, misfortune or disaster for me.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to run home and stir a pot of beans I've been cooking for a few days.

Never Delete In-Camera. NEVER EVER !

This post is a reminder for me and, I hope, a lesson for everyone who shoots with a digital camera. I've read it a thousand times and probably told friends hundreds of times "Never delete photos you've taken in your camera. Always wait until you download, then delete after viewing the shots on your computer monitor".

This past weekend, I attended an exotic Festival that takes place in the northern area of Okinawa. I had been planning the shoot for months in advance, got a magazine interested in the story, made 3 liaison visits to the remote location and even arranged to have a translator accompany me. The Festival and exotic rituals take place only once every two years

Loaded-up with 2 cameras, 5 sets of fully-charged batteries and 5 SD cards, tripod, cable release, toothbrush and paste, moist towels, camera cleaning gear, a back pack and hiking boots; what could possibly go wrong?

Let me tell you what went wrong. I decided to DELETE ONE BLURRED SHOT IN-CAMERA.

A couple of enthusiastic party-goers came stumbling towards my tripod in the dark and I moved twice to prevent them stumbling over it. This took place as I was hitting DELETE and paying more attention to them, than I was to what I was doing. Over 100 shots of an important event for my assignment are gone forever!

What's the photo here got to do with all this? That's my Grandkids sketching the events I lost. They're making the sketches from shots I took of someone else's photos while I'm looking for a magazine that likes sketches, as well as, photos in their articles.

NEVER DELETE IN-CAMERA !