Day 274 2016: Some days it just takes one...

Day 274: ...one photo and you're done.

But wait, it isn't quite so limited today. Just that it could have been...

As I was walking to the bus stop, I noticed a rather large spring protruding from the bushes. Of course, one takes a pic. There is a car mechanic across the road, it might have come from there. I don't know. I don't know if cars have purple springs (actually, it is a truck size spring). And it is purple, so to must be captured and preserved. 

Worth preserving, I'm not usually a humorist

And so I made a little joke on social media about Autumn running late because Spring was still hiding in the bushes or somesuch. It put a spring in my step for the rest of the day.

There were some signs and shines in the early clouds

...which was needed to get to the early class (again) to get students engaged in reading a text on politics. In a class students are required to take, it can sometimes be an uphill battle to succeed, but when the class was over, one or two came up afterwards and expressed some views. 

Just another day on the port

And interesting dialogue ensued. Sometimes it just takes one, or two, and it can be worth the early start and crowded trains. 

No, really. 

[Camera : iPhone 6s, 6.36am; Lumix TZ-85, 8.22am, 12.07pm; 30 September 2016] 

Day 273 2016: Keep the wheels turning...

Day 273: ...keep the minds ticking over

Teaching is an interesting profession. Like most other jobs, it has its highs and lows. It has its moments when you think 'remind me why I do this?' and moments when, conversely, you don't need any reminding. 

Today was two parts the former, three parts the latter. How do we get students to talk about politics? It's a challenge...

Not to mention today's added extra highlight: my turn to present a research seminar, in front of my peers and new colleagues...as these things go, they never go quite the way you imagine them beforehand but there you go...even as professional educators, we're always learning new ways to do things, new ways to keep on going. 

So between class prep and presentation prep, there wasn't a lot of time for much else.

The sun caught my eye on the warehouse roof in an interesting way...

Reflected light 

...briefly. 

And then, as I departed the campus in the evening, it was reassuring to see that regardless of the events of the day, that big wheel...

Colouring in

Fade out

Fade in

It just keeps going

...it just keeps spinning around. There's something in that for all of us.

I think. 

[Camera : Lumix TZ-85, 12.15pm, 6.49pm; 29 September 2016]

Day 272 2016: The signs are there...

Day 272: ...it just feels different

Early early start today to make the first class at 9.00am in good time for setting up the room and materials. It is OK for now, but in a few weeks time, I expect it will be quite dark. 

You see, regardless of the 100% humidity and high 20s temperatures, the day/night combo knows autumn is here and winter approaches. You've only got to look on the ground...

Holding up the sky

Just fallen...

A little worn out

And while those leaves caught my eye on the way to work this morning, so did the briefly eerie light over the port at one stage as the rain clouds approached. 

Rain approaches

There is something about particular atmospheric lighting that is always tricky to catch in a snap. But is does intrigue the photographer's eye within. 

With the three hour lecture done by lunchtime, it was time for a brief rest and then, like the tug...

Press on 

...press on for there remain two classes and a research presentation before the week is out. 

[Camera : iPhone 6s, 6.13am, 7.47am; Lumix TZ-85, 3.12pm, 3.13pm; 28 September 2016]

Day 271 2016: It is supposed to be autumn...

Day 271: ...and it probably is...

...somewhere. Just not here and not yet. With humidity at 100% at 10.00 last night, I woke this morning hoping things might have improved but no. It was still 100% when I got to the campus, right through the early classes and up until I had to have a formal photo taken for work (always concerned that I will cause a crack in the lens). Not the best conditions. 

It has dropped. It is sitting around 90% at the moment, such a relief...

But the weather did make for some interesting atmospheric phenomena. (Did I mention the 'autumn' temperatures are sitting around 30 deg C?)

For example:

It looked particularly grey

And fog!

And the clouds grew and grew

Who can resist a boat in green and mauve?

It's a race to the end

And a somewhat stunning closing vista

And at the end of a long day, it is up and at 'em to do it all again tomorrow...humidity, temperatures and all. 

[Camera : Lumix TZ-85, 8.20am, 3.32pm, 4.20pm; iPhone6S, 8.11am, 4.47pm, 5.37pm; 27 September 2016]

Day 270 2016: Observing the dock on the Bay...

Day 270: ...and far far away

That rain we were wishing away last week has temporarily evaporated. In its place, mid-summer temperatures and similarly high humidity. And just when I was getting used to putting on warmer clothes.

Not that I'm complaining. Of course.

Monday is not a teaching day but a major preparation day for the forthcoming three 9.00am start classes and a few others. This week too, I have a major research presentation to make in front of colleagues, the first one I've had to do here. 

So there is not much time to look up from the desk, although one should. And mostly, each time I did, it was the movement on the water that caught my eye...

Wake...

...to rippling effect

It seemed to be floating the haze at times

Water taxi jr

Racing to the end

To a sudden calm and stillness

I sometimes imagine, in a far off place and time, I might put down the camera and pick up some paint brushes to try and paint what I see in these almost abstract, almost subject-free images. To paint the stillness. To capture the colour...

But that time is far far away. For now, it will have to be the click of the shutter that captures my imagination. 

[Camera : Lumix TZ-85, 12.26pm, 2.53pm, 3.56pm, 4.31pm, 5.01pm; 26 September 2016]

Day 269 2016: From old industrial...

Day 269: ...to new modernity

Today was a day with a bit of a difference. I went just south of Tokyo to Kawasaki to see a classical music concert with a friend.

Now thirty or so years ago, if you'd said 'let's go to Kawasaki for a concert', one might have raised a sceptical eyebrow or both...

Kawasaki was, for decades, part of Japan's industrial heartland. Factories. Industry. Machines. Heavy heavy transport (and pollution). 

But probably not music.

Post-industry though, it is re-inventing itself and today, besides the classical concert (Berlioz's Faust, performed by the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra) there were young people of all ages waiting in anticipation for there favourite bands to appear. 

The Mall

Waiting for a band

Umbrellas (at which point, I found out we weren't supposed to take photos [??])

Architectural feel

The venue

The Symphony Hall

Clouds 

Glass-sides

Architectural style 

Another angle

Greenery

Candid station pic 1

Candid station pic 2

One the way to the concert

Random station pic 1

Random station pic 2

Music and architecture. Not a bad day out away from the books. All ready for tomorrow. (Although I was encouraged to get back to my clarinet playing, and soon.)

[Camera : Lumix TZ-85, 12.01pm-12.35pm; 25 September 2016]

Day 268 2016: There's a theme developing here...

Day 268: ...quite accidentally on purpose...

As it happens some days. On my way to work on an overcast day full of rain potential, walking to the bus stop, I noticed a bit of a pattern...

See if you see it...

I know, it's not supposed to be there

Nor is this one

These definitely shouldn't be here

I think this is supposed to be here

And these are thriving in the rain

Greenery against stark background. (OK, except for the one in the middle, and the last one, but you get the picture...) [*apologises profusely for pun]

No, some days I don't know the hows and whys of the pictures either. 

Suffice to say that by lunchtime, it was raining again and I finished the day with some shopping in the rain, including a pair of shoes, and although a pair in my size wasn't available in the shop, there was a pair in the warehouse so they will be delivered to home on Monday...at no extra charge. Japan.

One theme that is well-developed is the rain. We are wondering if it will ever ever go away.

Let's see what tomorrow brings.

[Camera : iPhone 6s, 9.38am, 9.40am, 9.45am, 3.14pm, 3.15pm; 24 September 2016]

Day 267 2016: Same, same...

Day 267: ...but different

Friday. Morning. Same bat time. Same bat place. Same early batty time. Same batty batty weather. Rain. 

So, dear reader, you're expecting the same wet weather pics of the port, no? Yes? No?

No. Not today. Although everything lined up to offer much of the same, today, there was a short detour at lunchtime to catch up with a longtime friend and colleague who was involved in an event at the Tokyo Big Sight...the large convention centre near the uni that I've looked at from a bit of a distance over the last six months, but never really approached. 

Until today.

Under the 'big sight'

Cornered

Pointed

Glass

Stairway to ...?

Take a ...seat

Now there's a bit of familiar

Which came first, the tree? The structure?

This is...

...this, and I don't know why either.
Something for Bunnings perhaps

And it made me realise, I really should get out and about and explore my local (work) area a little more closely, and with the big cam too. There is quite a lot here in terms of urban landscape and architecture, which I do enjoy exploring with the lens.

Perhaps when there isn't quite so much on in terms of classes and meetings and...on it goes. 

One day. 

[Camera : Lumix TZ-85, 12.01pm-12.04pm, 12.46pm-12.51pm; 23 September 2016]