Okinawan Style Campaigning in the Rain: A Short Photo Essay

In Case You Haven't Already Guessed

 

 

Whoever designed me, didn't put any political bones in my body.

Last night, on the way home, I was invited to this political event and said "OK."

There wasn't anything important on my schedule so, I agreed to go, if the weather was nice.

It turned out to be, a not so nice day.

But the people out there being supportive, impressed me so, I went and got wet, too.

Backing up a bit off the highway, seemed like a good idea.

The participants were all happy, waving and smiling at every passing vehicle.

There was hootin' and hollerin' accompanied by a live band.

It made you feel like dancing in the rain.

So, that's what a bunch of people started to do.

That got me thinking.

The next time some pretty girl invites me to an electoral campaign in the rain.....

...the best thing to do, would be, leave the damn cameras at home !

A Million Views: It Happened Sometime Last Night !

One Million Views !!!

This happened a lot faster than I could have ever imagined.

The Blogger thing just took-off and hit 1,000,000 overnight.  Before I woke up.

The view-meter was at 1,000,061 when I got here this morning.

Here is the Screenshot

 

The contest is over. It will probably be this weekend before we determine the winner.

One million views, on a blog from Okinawa, Japan is a pretty big deal.

Call me a redneck, if you'd like. There's a little secret, I should probably tell you.

Five years ago, I didn't know how to turn a computer on so, I called a friend named, Joe.

And, he came over. He showed me where the power button was and hooked me up.

Then, we got the internet thing and wired me to the World Wide Web.

Through many trials and lots of errors, this blog got where it is today.

And, I made some great friends, around the world, along the way.

This internet thing, I used to be scared of may really take-off, someday.

Dontcha think ?

 

What Happens Next

 

The Blog and Facebook Pages, where contest entries were made, will be printed.

With the Ryukyu Dudes assistance we will pick the winner.

As promised, this will be a random selection, done redneck style. 

No fancy machinery, other than a pair of scissors and somebody's baseball hat.

Snip all the names from the contest entries and throw them in a hat.

Then, somebody just reaches down and pulls out the winner.

We'll find a pretty girl.  Thataway, nobody can say the contest was rigged. She does the picking.

Maybe, I'll even wear a tuxedo, or a T-shirt that looks like one.

Dang.  I hate getting all dressed up.

This thing is gonna hafta wait 'til the weekend.  But, we'll getterdun. 

Meanwhile, I'd like to thank everybody for visiting here.

Now, this whole internet thing gets me wondering, sometimes.

Do you suppose that meter would break if it hit, let's say 1,000,000,000,000 views ?

The Trip from New York to Okinawa, Japan (Photo Essay)

Home safe and sound and here's a quick recap of the journey from JFK International Airport to my favorite place in the whole wide world, Okinawa, Japan.

It all started off with a delicious steak and cheese sandwich.

Then, this humongous Delta airplane headed towards Tokyo, Japan.

A pretty Japanese girl who spoke English got stuck next to me.

She was somebody important, I think. It looked like she was working on a Doctorates Degree, or something.

Trust me. I know a bibliography when I see one.

So, I went to sleep.

The next thing you know, about 13 hours later, there was Japan down below.

The plane stopped and I got off in Tokyo.

Right off the bat, I was lost. But, three hours is enough time to figure everything out.

Tokyo has airports and planes all over the place.  

You just have to find out which terminal to go to for your next flight.

Next time I think I'll take a boat.

Here are all the weary travelers on a small Japan Airlines flight headed to Okinawa.

Looking out the window as the plane was landing in Naha Okinawa, Japan I could see that rainy season was already started.

 Lucky for me, RyukyuRu and RyukyuRusty showed up with some beer and stuff for me at the airport. 

They even had my yellow flip flops waiting for me in the parking lot.

There's one of my feet on the bar.

We had a little party until the wee hours of the morning.

A trip from New York to Okinawa is a big event that seems to take up a whole day.

That got me wondering.

Maybe there's something we could do to make those planes fly faster. 

Visit my homepage for the PHOTO OF THE DAY

 

Sunday's Silly Sign (Photo) May 22, 2011

First, I just realized, the world forgot to end, yesterday.
The doom and gloom prophets blew it, again.  Hah !

Today's silly sign I found in a remote location but, don't want to tell you where in Okinawa, Japan I found it.

These signs really were intended for city people, I think.

Look how big their beer cans are. They must be rich folks if they can afford to throw those things away.

Just walk downtown with an open alcohol container and on Main Street they have an arrow telling you to turn so you can throw the cans in a blind spot. They toss them away like they never heard of the word recycle.

Country folks don't do stuff like that. Did you know, you can build a house with beer cans, if you put your mind to it ?

Once I built a dog house and a mailbox from the same kind of cans.  Whenever a new mailman or newspaper delivery lady got assigned to my neck of the woods they didn't have any trouble finding me because everything was covered with Georgia Coffee cans, the Original Version. They'd paste a label, over the address, saying,"Georgia Coffee House" on everything so the new delivery person could find me easy.  All they had to do then, was look for my fancy decorations.

  I was like redneck celebrity !

Really, I shouldn't make fun of city people. 

When I was young, I'd go there to look for girls.  That's what lots of country boys do, ya know.

Once, this pretty girl in the city was dancing with a fireman's pole and wearing just her underwear.
She knew I was concerned, probably from the look on my face. 

She pulled some money from somewhere down there and said, "Here Sunnyboy, go buy a hamburger". 

So, I did because I figured she must be hungry.

But, when I got back with her hamburger, she was gone.  Well, I'm no dummy. I ate the burger.

To make a long story short, some city folks ain't that smart, if you know what I mean.

That's why the government posts silly signs showing them blind spots for their beer cans. 

My friend has one of these city-people's signs on his country store and I snapped this photo of it to show you but, I think he may have just borrowed it from one of the big towns to impress visitors.

We don't want anybody snooping around, like, G-men so, I promised not to reveal the location. 

You never know. 

Maybe we'll save up all our beer cans and someday, start up our own Silly Sign Business. 

If the government ever decides to quit wasting paper, they could buy metallic signs from us. 

They could rivet them to stuff and they'd last forever,  I bet !

Mud Festival in Okinawa, Japan (15 Photos) One Pretty Girl

              It gets real busy for me around this time of year.  It's Golden Week in Japan.

While I was coming home on the ferry from Ie Shima, The Mud Festival in Kin Village Okinawa took place.  So, I had to dig up these photos from the last Mud Fest I attended (Dorunku Asobu).

             If you like mud, it doesn't matter how old or young you are, everyone is invited.


A field is flooded with water from tankers with plenty more kept on hand to keep the red clay nice and juicy.


      If tossing a ball, swimming or splashing isn't enough fun for you, you can try riding a bicylce.

                   Wooden planks spanning cement blocks are used to make a bicycle bridge.

             Not many riders have the skills it takes to get all the way across to the other side.


                  Sometimes their buddies do things, like throw rubber balls, to distract them.

               Once in awhile a couple of riders start at the same time to see who'll win a race.


                               Other kids, just get bored and work their mud-diving technique.


    School is out for a whole week so, teachers join in and demonstrate their riding ability/agility. Hah!

            This kid was really persistent.  After a few failed attempts, I was sure he'd make it.


                                  But, he ended up making my favorite splash of the day.

      So, I left the flooded field and looked for something else to do.  I found this pretty girl singing.


When I went back to have another look at the mud I spotted my Grandson (center) and tried to get away before he spotted me. I was afraid he'd ask for a ride home.  I would have said, "I'm walking, let's go."

If you'd like to find a Mud Festival, just memorize these words "Dorunku Asobu" and ask around. 

They don't advertise these village events in any English language media, I've ever seen.

Dorunku Asobu, sounds like "Drunk" but, that's not what it means.  It means playing in the mud.

They have festival foods, live bands and plenty of other things to do at these events, including a few people who actually go there to get drunk.  I just go to take photos of the kids in the mud and if I see a pretty girl, by chance, I'll shoot her, too.  And, I usually hide from my Grandkids !


For more about Golden Week in Okinawa:

APOGEE PHOTO MAGAZINE

JAPAN UPDATE

Azalea Festival in Higashi-son Okinawa A Pretty Girl and an Alien

If you like flowers, you'll love what's going on up in the Village of Higashi-son in northern Okinawa, Japan.

               How about 50,000 or more of these Azalea flowers covering the hillsides?

     There's a footbridge named "Azalea Bridge" crossing  between two hills covered with Azaleas.

A good pair of walking shoes and a jacket would be what to wear. It can get windy and a little chilly. 

   It was windy the day I took these photos and the petals of the flowers were getting blown off.

       So, instead of shooting pretty flowers, I found this alien and got a girl to hold it still for me. 

                        She signed a release form for me so I could publish the photo. 

                Then, I got her email address on the form so, I could send her the picture.

I sat at a table in her food tent and ordered some pizza.  Then, along comes this woman who happens to be the pretty gal's mother.

She's wondering "What's that old foreigner doing" and "Why is my daughter giggling and looking at his camera"?  I can read the frown on her face. The daughter says, "Look Mom. He took my picture".

Groan. Why didn't I just shoot the azaleas blowing in the wind and get the heck off the mountain ?

Think quick. Think Quick. Think quick. Think of something to make the older gal smile. Think! Quick!

So, I say "Huh, you don't look old enough to be her mother. You're her older sister, right?"
Well, that got her to crack a smile and she says she's the gal's mother.

While I'm still in Quick Thinking Mode, I look back and forth at both of them and say "Well, now I see where your daughter got those pretty eyes."  Hah!

It worked like a charm but, just to be on the safe side, I ordered another pizza. Don't ask why.

Anyone planning to visit the Higashi-Son Azalea Festival needs to get up there soon. It ends on March 21, 2011.

Miss Uruma City

MISS URUMA LAST NIGHT

IT WAS HOT ENOUGH TO MELT FLIP-FLOPS YESTERDAY

ABOUT 6:30 THE SUN WAS SLIDING DOWN BEHIND THE HILLS

IT WAS TIME TO SWITCH BATTERIES, SD CARDS AND ISO'S

BUT, WAIT

SNEAK A SHOT OF A PRETTY GIRL IN WESTERN ATTIRE

I ZOOMED IN

I COMPOSED A SHOT WITHOUT ASKING PERMISSION

NO PRETTY GIRL IN HER RIGHT MIND

WOULD LET A SWEATY OLD MAN WITH A CAMERA

TAKE HER PICTURE IF HE ASKED

SO, I DIDN'T ASK

I WAITED FOR HER TO TURN HER EYES

TO JUST THE RIGHT POSITION

CLICK

GOT HER

SHE HEARD THE CLICK

SHE TOLD THE BOSS

SOME SWEATY OLD MAN

SNAPPED A PHOTO

WITHOUT ASKING FOR PERMISSION

To be continued.....