Another one to add to my collection of MOZE tags.  I am not sure why I dig his tag so much.  Partially I think it is because MOZE is active in my neighborhood.  And the other is I just love the way the tag just flows.  So, here it is a MOZE sticker slap.

Can you’ll all out there see this back alley.  Just there waiting.  A little slice of siding cake just ready to be put into it’s proper dimensions.

Ya’ll dig it?

I was lucky to have to visit immigration to pick up my visa today.  Ok, so I wasn’t really lucky, the immigration building in tokyo is a 15 minute walk from a little known station, and a good nearly 30 minute walk from Shinagawa station.  At least on the way back to Shinagawa station, the sun was high and the weather was cool without being cold.

I found a little back alley that pulled me to walk down as I was making my way to the gleaming Shinagawa station.  There were the back of stores, the entrances to offices, and even a tiny fish market.  They were all wedged in there between the narrowest of alley ways.  They were just there waiting for me.  Lovely winding Tokyo.

The weather was cool and dry after a night of sudden rain.  As I made my way back to Ichikawa station I stopped in front of a closed indoor tennis and ballet school.  The withered vines covered the wall, and I was staring into an empty display case, that wasn’t really empty.  It was a good end to a new beginning or is it the other way around?

This is a statue in my neighborhood. It is literally with in a 30 second walk from my front door.  I have passed it countless times.  I think I may have even photographed her once or twice, but today was something else.  Her cold stone face, with long double braids was adorned with a warm lost knitted cap.  She looked much less cold than usual.  We cool stone skin was kept a bit warmer.  At least a bit warmer until the owner of the lost cap finds it again resting atop her head.  Still this other sculpture has captured my heart, but this one did for the time that she was wearing the knitted cap.

me and my girl

I saw this little lost towel tucked into a fence on my way home last night.  There they were the three little monkeys staring at me.  Well, at least one was staring at me, because one of them had his hands tight over his eyes.  At one time I used to think this was a good policy to have, because if one follows it then one should be able to stay out of trouble.  Yesterday I started to think about it in a new light.  If one sees evil shouldn’t he/she speak out about it?  If one hears evil doings aren’t we obligated to speak up to correct the wrong?  I think I still agree about not speaking no evil.

When I was seeing evil in the wake of September 11, 2001, I spoke up with my lens.  I felt the need to understand the duality of the evil that had been perpetrated and the evil in the response to it.  When by brothers in Miami saw the horrible conditions in Hati, they journeyed down to the devastated country to lend a helping hand.  These actions were only possible because we opened our eyes and saw the evil, and we we moved to reacted to it.

With all the horrible words being slung around the world as easily as dust in the wind, it is time for us to stand up and say enough.  When we see or hear evil, we must not speak the evil, but we must combat the evil with light.  With light that is so bright that the evil will have no place to hide.

Found this poor little doll early in the morning suffering from a crack in her head.  I hope she finds someone to take care of her soon.

The temperature has been hitting the freezing point over the last couple of days.  There was even a light dusting of snow on Saturday, but I missed it because I slept in that day.  Today I found the fountain in Kondai frozen over.  It was only for a  fleeting, because as soon as the sun reached high enough to hit the fountain, it quickly melted.  I am still waiting for a solid amount of snow. Once or twice a year of snow is enough for me.

In my continuing series of lost and found objects, I came across this rhinestone studded hair clip in my neighborhood. It was just shinning in the setting sun.  The sparkles of those rhinestones, and the glint of the golden paint.  Such a gaudy and beautiful object.  Just sitting there on top of a electrical box at a traffic light.  Sometimes it is the simplest of pleasures to brighten my day.  So, be on the look out for that shine.

Another in my series of images taken on my urban hike between Shinagawa and Ginza.  This one was somewhere around Shimbashi.  A great little Chinese greasy spoon joint.  Don’t know if I would venture in for a bite, but time to pause for a snap was an absolute must.

From my journey the other day.

All the bits and pieces needed to be found on the side of a house.

On my urban hike a few weeks ago, I came across this lovely little house.  Everything was so neat and tidy.  There was absolutely no unused space.  I am still always amazed at how orderly everything can be.  Every object and piece of building material seems to be perfectly placed.

Recently, I have just been to busy to leave the house. I spent the whole say in front of my computer screen writing.  I was going over some images I captured the last time I was wondering around downtown.  This one just popped out at me.  As I gazed into the image, I saw nothing but rectangles.  Aged, dirtied, and beautiful urban fragment under the JR Line in Shimbashi.  I got lost in the shapes.  I just couldn’t help it.

They try and they try, but they can never stop art.  Art will always survive, even when it is just a faded, scrubbed image of what it initially was.

On a beautiful winter day I hopped on the train and headed for the happening spot of Harajuku.  It was a great day to be out.  The sun shone brightly as the crisp air blew around the back alleys and streets of Harajuku.  I am always amazed at how the Japanese have managed to fit so many people, stores, and streets in such chaotic order.  There is no wasted space.  Every bit of useable, and livable space has been built on.  All the pieces fit together with no margin or error just like a jigsaw puzzle.  Sometimes is seems to me that if one house was taken out of the picture, the whole neighborhood would collapse like dominoes.