Kanazawa Station
Sake tasting at the station
Kanazawa Castle
Bar Mikaduki
Omicho Market
Japan 2022: Takaoka
For some reason the luggage belt at Toyama airport has a very large plate of fake sushi
Daibutsu of Takaoka
Castle Park
Woke Joke Part 5: Lost the motion to dismiss
Unfortunately, the court granted the university’s motion to dismiss (ruling here). My wife was a little freaked out by how calm I was when I found out (this came in right before my trip to Japan, hence the late posting). I’ve found Stoic philosophy to be of great comfort while dealing with the university and my colleagues during the past few years. One aspect of Stoic philosophy is...
Japan 2022: Otaru
I decided to spend my last day before my flight to Toyama by visiting the port city of Otaru, which is about an hour outside Sapporo. First stop: breakfast at the Sankaku fish market. My breakfast resto Breakfast View of Otaru from Mt. Tengu Dried squid is amazingly tasty Japanese soft-serve ice cream is far better than in the U.S. I decided to try another Michelin-rated ramen place in Otaru. The...
Japan 2022: Sapporo
I had planned several days of hiking the alpine peaks of Daisetsuzan National Park, but that was out of the picture due to my knee. I decided to spend the time in Sapporo while waiting for my flight to Toyama. I’ve taken a lot of trains in Japan, but nothing like the six-hour local from Wakkanai to Sapporo: a single car, powered by diesel from the smell, that slowed several times while the...
Japan 2022: Rishiri-Fuji
I decided on Rishiri-Fuji because it’s one of the remotest mountains in Japan and is on the 100 most famous mountains list (hyaku-meizan). It’s an extinct volcano almost 6,000 feet high. Still snow on the mountain in June Taking a break in the emergency hut At the hut I ran into a Japanese guy that I had chatted with at the trailhead. He asked to hike with me, which was a little...
Japan 2022: Rishiri Island
Since I arrived late morning, I put off Rishiri-Fuji for the next day and instead drove a circuit around the island.
Rishiri harbor
I stopped for lunch at Miraku for some Michelin-rated ramen.
There was a street fair around the corner …
… with a performing monkey
Japan 2022: Wakkanai
Magnetic sign on my Tokyo hotel door
I was supposed to fly to Rishiri Island, but the second leg was cancelled due to high winds. So I took the six-hour bus from Sapporo to Wakkanai and grabbed the ferry the next day.
Wakkanai is so far north that the street signs are in Japanese and Russian
Rishiri-Rebun ferry
Wakkanai harbor
Japanese-style berth
Wye Hill Brewery in Raleigh cancels conservative moms’ reservation
Why are they such sexists?? A Raleigh restaurant is at the center of a controversy. Wye Hill canceled a reservation after learning a group of conservative women was planning an event at the restaurant on Friday. The head of the group booked the reservation Tuesday for 30 people and it was canceled two days later. A spokesperson for the Wake County chapter of Moms for Liberty said the event was...
Charlotte public school accuses 1st grader of distributing porn because he watched a video of himself going potty!
We need to rebuild public ed from the ground up. First step is firing administrators like these: Pearce was stunned when his first-grade [special needs] son was accused of distributing pornography to his class last week. By the time he was notified, his son had already undergone extensive questioning, and the Assistant Principal had already filed a sexual harassment complaint with the district...