The Venus Flytrap is one of nature’s cunning predators even if it doesn’t have a brain!
From the YouTube Video Page:
“Hungry Venus flytraps snap shut on a host of unfortunate flies. But, despite its name, flies arent the flytrap’s only meal. As long as its prey is roughly the right size and touches two of its hairs within twenty seconds, the plant will dine on any insect or spider that comes its way. Glands in the lobes then secrete enzymes that break the dinner down into a digestible soup. Ten days later, the trap pops open to reveal nothing but a dried out husk.”
“Pickleball is a ribbon of dreams, a tale told by a genius, full of sound and fury, signifying everything! The ferocious triumph of the human will to excel is a thing of beauty to behold. All four players should be proud.” Keith via comment on – 15 Shots to Kitchen Line
This is the first paragraph of the post highlighted above…
“The Pickleball Channel uploaded this video (linked below), that shows how it took Alex Hamner and me 15 shots to make it to the kitchen line (24 more shots to win) straight to their Facebook page on February 22, 2016, and at the time of this blog post the video had 121,270 views with 1,433 people sharing this video!”
Naturally, we were interested in seeing other sections of the city so once again, we made our way “downtown” to the Ginza area where some decorations from the Tanabata Star Festival were in evidence.
Our group remained intrigued by the large street crossing at Shibuya Station (reportedly the third busiest station in Tokyo and sometimes noted as the world’s busiest street crossing*) which hosts crowds waiting to cross in many different directions.
Shibuya Station Interesting Note
There is an underground river running under the station, to the east and parallel to the JR tracks. Unlike most other Japanese department stores, the east block of Tokyu department store (which constitutes the east exit of the station) does not have retail space in the basement because of this. An escalator in the east block built over the river stops a few steps above floor level to make space for machinery underneath without digging. Rivers are deemed public space by Japanese law, so building over one is normally illegal. It is not clear why this was allowed when it was first built in 1933. [emphasis mine ]
As we watched the crowds, we saw that umbrellas were often used as parasols to shield the sun.
Below is an elevated view from inside Tokyu department store.
Also at the Shibuya Station is a park-like area where people can sit and rest in a relatively shaded area.
This park, however, is noted more for a famous statue of a dog. Hachi (Hachikō) was a very loyal Akita who so loved his owner that even after the death of his master, he remained vigilant for his return at this station each day. The people of Japan were so impressed with this display of loyalty, they erected a statue to honor his spirit.
There is also a movie based loosely on the story, Hachi: A Dog’s Tale (2009)
Shortly after our stop at the crossing, we headed for the Shinbashi, district of Minato in Tokyo where we came across the curious Nippon TV Tower Building made so by the ornate sculpture(below) attached to its side. It may be difficult to determine what this is, but the Nittere Ohdokei is the world’s largest animated clock.
Below is a YouTube Video of the animation:
Another short walk brought us our third city area garden, the Hama-rikyu Gardens, but this one had a special treat in store!
The park was once an active duck hunting pond which is commemorated by this statue.
With this history one would expect interesting and beautiful water features.
As we strolled past the lawn and shrub areas…
we could see “the treat” (a quaint old-style building) in the distance.
It was a traditional Japanese Tea House. Yama, our guide, explained the rituals associated with having tea in this setting.
As you can see below, this was green tea, very green tea!
The tea was not bitter, but it was far from sweet. The cake served with it, however, was very sweet and when eaten with sips of the tea, proved palatable although our western tastes were not accustomed to the nuances.
Some patrons dressed in a more traditional garb.
A view from the outside deck of the tea house was a reminder of the city location of this tranquil venue.
A very intriguing feature of the garden is this pine tree which was planted in 1709 and thus more than 300 years old.
A short walk from the garden was a building I was very interested in examining, the Nakagin Capsule Tower designed by architect Kisho Kurokawa. This was a very innovative building for its time. (seen in the middle of the picture below with the stacks of cube-like blocks.)
The building was designed to enable the compartments to be detachable, replaceable and connectable to accommodate various needs.
The building has been quarantined as there are asbestos and other structural issues although it was my understanding that it is still used by a few people.
Tokyo has many new buildings that are beautiful as well as functional. The modern architecture provides a strong contrast to the older buildings and long history of the city.
Of course what would a visit to a special place be without a souvenir or two (or even three)? So off we went to another city area for some shopping. The scene pictured below was typical.
Many of the young girls appeared to be more “dressed up” for a trip to the city area and often wore hats. This is another example of a small umbrella serving as a parasol.
In preparation for our visit, we read that Japan had artistic sewer covers.
In America, we have so many commodities from Japan, that this sign advertising pork “raised from high quality grain from fertile American soils” appeared noteworthy.
After a rest at the hotel and dinner, there was some exploration of the area to be had this evening of our last day in Tokyo!
Tin Man Lee has been at it again! He has created a short video about his harrowing and adventurous trip to the Falkland Islands to film penguins and other wildlife. The video will provide only a morsel of is talent as a photographer.
In addition to this beautiful video, Tin Man Lee has announced his forthcoming ebooks and video tutorial that will soon be for sale. The video tutorial will demonstrate some of the techniques he used to garner advancement of three photos for the Wildlife Photographer of the Year contest of the BBC.
You can find more information about them on his blog HERE
Thanks to Tin Man Lee for keeping us up to date with his wonderful experiences.
JBRish.com originally published this post
See previous posts about talented and extraordinary photographers HERE
“Be a bridge, not a beacon.” — Jocelyn Wyatt,executive director of IDEO.org
“We cannot bring peace to the world if we ourselves are not peaceful. We cannot bring love to the world if we ourselves are not loving. Our true gift to ourselves and others lies not in what we have but in who we are.” — Marianne Williamson
“Sometimes you find more than you are looking for.” — Unknown
“Nothing more rapidly inclines a person to go into a monastery than reading a book on etiquette. There are so many trivial ways in which it is possible to commit some social sin.” — Quentin Crisp
