December Babies

Well, December is the month to get busy (師走) and some mothers have been busy over the years.

Here are some well-know boys and girls born in December:

Kaz.H.
My mum
My dad
My wife's mum
Kaz.N.
Ozzy Osbourne
Woody Allen
Tyler Banks
Little Richard
Walt Disney
Mary Queen of Scots
Frank Sinatra
Taylor Swift
Christina Aguilera
Jude Law
Jesus
Emperor Akihito
Crown Princess Masako
Oh, and Me(C)

Happy Birthday everyone

What do you want for Xmas?

Dear Santa,

How have you been? Time sure does fly.

I guess it must be getting cold at your house recently. Maybe there will be snow here too when you arrive.

I wonder if it’s not too late to ask for a present. I’ve been good this year (well, today anyway), so I think I can get a present. But, maybe not good enough for the pony I’ve been asking for every year since I was four years old.

If I may, I’d like one of those 3D pencils I saw on TV yesterday. They’re not very big, but they look really cool. I could draw pictures in real 3D.



I hope you can make me a 3D pencil. I will leave some milk and cookies next to the tree for you, and some Red Bull and donuts outside for the reindeer.

Thanks a lot,
Mr.EC

It's my Sun

A woman in Spain claims she's now the legal owner of the sun after registering
the star at a local notary public as being her property.

I guess she will never need to buy a heater or lights.

World's First Mobile Phone… in 1922

A video has been uncovered which appears to show the world’s first ever mobile phone… all the way back in 1922.

The clip shows two well dressed women in New York carrying the heavy-looking device which they connect to a fire hydrant via a long cable.

An umbrella is then erected, which appears to act as an aerial, and the pair to use the phone to make a call.

They are then shown chatting to an operator who then plays a gramophone record for them.

Mark Harris of British Pathe said, “It’s amazing that nearly 90 years ago mobile phone technology and music on the move was not only being thought of but being trialed

“One of our researchers came across the clip and we were amazed that the idea was so old, we are used to budding technologies appearing in the 1950s and 60s but this is four years before television was first demonstrated.

“The phone even has a lid which makes it the first flip-phone we are aware of, although it is probably not going to win any design awards.”

The film is still something of a mystery to British Pathe as there are limited notes with the canister, and they are appealing for anyone with more information to contact them.

Weekly Idioms

"count on" - Used to say that you are sure that something will or will not happen, or that you can or cannot depend on someone/thing.


You can count on me.
Don't count on it.
We can't count on Bob to bring any food.
I hope we can count on the weatherman being correct about tomorrow.

You can also count on an abacus.

Father and Son Ride

Just got home from a four hour ride with my six year-old son. We got a bit sunburnt, but was still a lot of fun. With the summer heat gone, it’s a great time to get out and exercise – make the most of it.
Anyone want to make a group father and son ride sometime? Let me know.

Weekly Idioms 2

Idioms for this week: "apply for" and "as far as...concerned"

"apply for" - "I'd like to apply for the manager position advertised in this morning's paper." "You can apply for an ETC card on the Internet." "What is the procedure when applying for house loan?"

"as far as...concerned" - "As far as I'm concerned, I don't think he is suitable for the job." "The schedule is too busy, as far as he is concerned."

Weekly Idioms

I've been a little busy the past couple of months, accounting for a lack of blogging or tweets. Sorry about that. Hope to stay regular, so please comment to keep me motivated.

From this week, I started introducing some useful idioms. Try to put them into your conversation or how about writing some examples for us to read here?

"a couple of" - When I woke up this morning, there were a couple of sheep in the kitchen. They wanted some breakfast, so I told them to wait a couple of minutes. One of them remembered he had a couple of things to do, so he went back outside.

a couple - 2 or 3; a few - 3-5/6; several - 5-9

"account for" - The prolonged heat this summer accounts for the prices of vegetables going up recently. The high prices accounts for a lack of vegetable for dinner.

Go Away Rain!

It's raining again! I guess we need rain to make the plants grow, but I wish it would just rain at night time so we can go about our day tasks as usual. Plus it's nice to listen to the rain while in bed.

Here are some weather words and their meanings:

http://bit.ly/avCt6T

Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge

If you want to combine cycling with a trip to NZ this November, how about taking part in the Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge - New Zealand’s premier cycling event – with a total of 12 different cycling events based around NZ's largest lake. Last year, over 11,000 people took part.

There is an event for every level of rider – a challenging but achievable 160 kilometre ride for individual riders or teams of two, three or four can participate in the team event, which is an achievable goal for new or less experienced riders. Plus there is the Extreme Enduro - eight times around the lake, covering 1280km!!!

You can enter for any of the different events online at http://www.cyclechallenge.com/ or see this 日本語　site http://www.realnewzealand.net/events_races/road/road_report_001_2010tour.html

Friday Flix

Okay, it's Saturday, but here's a movie you might like to watch over the weekend. Let us know what you think of it, or recommend a good movie you've seen recently.


'It Happened One Night'

Released in 1934, this romantic comedy stars Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert and won many Academy Awards. The story sees Ellie run away from her over-protective rich father who is trying to stop her marrying he doesn't think is suitable for her. While on the run from Miami to New York, she meets Peter who has just been fired from his newspaper company. Peter decides to help Ellie in return for writing a story about her time escaping from her father. Troubles along the way see them lose their belongings and money, along with meeting some interesting characters along the way.

Do they make it to New York? Does Ellie marry the man she wants to marry? Look for the movie in the video store and watch to find out.






Or look here - http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XODcxNjUwMjg.html

150km Swim???

Today I joined two others to ride around Lake Biwa. The weather forecast said 'maybe rain, maybe clear up' so we decided to go anyway. As we drove along the expressway, the rain got heavier -aargh.

When we got to Nagahama (http://bit.ly/bh60p0) it wasn't really raining, so we set up and headed off. The road was still wet, but not so bad. However, as we rode further, the rain started to get heavier and our clothes and shoes got soggier.

Most of the way around the lake there are cycling lanes, so on a day like today it was lucky to be off the busy road.

Unfortunately as we were so wet and the cloud was quite low most of the time, we didn't take any photos along the way, so you will have to imagine as you read this. Just think of sitting on a bicycle in the shower for eight hours and having your legs, arms, face and clothes covered in sand and dirt.

Overall, it was great trip, but here are a couple of memorable parts:

The Tsurube's Kazoku ni Kampai-style greeting with an old man and lady in a small village and asking for directions.

The policeman in the Koban who advised us not to follow the shoreline past Omihachiman Kyuka-mura as it was too narrow. So we went on the cycle lane next to the main road which ended up being overgrown with flowers.

Have a look at the map: http://bit.ly/96XzE3

Riding to the Sky, Camping at the Springs Part 2

After breakfast on Sunday, we went for a short walk to the sulfuric foot baths near Hirayu Waterfall. It was very nice to soak the feet while admiring the stunning mountains in all directions.

A short walk up the hill through the trees took us to the spectacular waterfall.

The falls are about 60meters high and apparently were found by soldiers long ago, guided by a white monkey.

If you are in the area, make sure to visit the park http://www.mjnet.ne.jp/hirayu-ootaki/

On the return home, we first stopped at the Nagawado Dam on the Azusa River.

The dam is 155 meters high and combines with two other dams along the river to supply electricity to Tokyo Electric Power Company. Next to the dam, you can visit Azusa Tepco-kan for an insight in the how the dam works, was made and lots of other hands-on displays. http://www.tepco-pr.co.jp/azusa/

After having some great soba noodles at a nice place along Route 26, we stopped in at Naraijuku, an old post town on the Nakasendo route once used to walk from Edo (now Tokyo) to Kyoto (still Kyoto). The old houses give off a flavor of centuries past, and sell a variety of local-made and traditional items.

Riding to the Sky, Camping at the Springs Part 1

At the weekend, we went camping with some friends at Hirayu Onsen near Takayama. What a beautiful location in amongst the trees and high mountains, in particular Norikura. While the others kept busy around the camping area (visiting the nearby waterfall and foot bath), two of us set off up Norikura Skyline.

We started riding from the camping ground which was pretty tough in the strong sun as the first 4.5km to the Skyline gate were pretty steep.

Once we reached Hirayu Pass, we started up the Skyline after getting a warning from the gatekeeper to look out for bears. Luckily we didn't meet any, but I would like to see a real bear sometime.

As we climbed higher, snow from the winter still remained on the side of the road, although with the recent sunny weather it probably won't last much longer.

We finally made it to Tatamidaira - the top of the highest road in Japan at some 2,700meters. It was a tough climb up, but the keeping our goal to reach the top in mind helped us complete the challenge.

At the top, the snow wall was at least 5 meters high. Many others had come up by bus to go skiing or boarding.

I hope the people who came up after us saw the MEC sign.

The ride down was a lot quicker, but the first section we were in the clouds so it was rather cold - the total opposite extreme from the ride up. Once out of the cloud, we soon warmed up again as we raced down at about 65km/hour. We could easily go faster, but I don't trust my brakes and the other side of the guard strings (not rails) is a good 200m straight drop at many points.

Back at the camp site, we were right on time for the BBQ followed by a campfire.

Go the Miso Ramen!

Last week's poll saw Miso Ramen win out against rival Shio. But I wonder which is better in hot, sticky summer?

Go the All Whites!

Big cheers for the All Whites performance at the World Cup yesterday. Let's cross our fingers for a strong performance in the next match against Italy.

http://www.nzfootball.co.nz/

Pad-padding in the Paddy

Following on from last's months tree climbing, this time my son took part in planting rice.

It was a great day for planting - nice and sunny and good to have feet in cool water, although splodgy in the mud underneath. Hopefully the summer will be a good one and help bring a good harvest later in the year.

Dog in Hole

Maybe the dog fell in this hole in Guatemala.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10649256

続参加英語ストリー June 1st

Here is the first M.E.C 続参加英語ストリー . Great work. Add to the new story tomorrow.

 Long, long ago, a man called Zanri lived in a small house by the sea.

He had a happy life with his wife and two sons and a little cute puppy.

 One day while searching for truffles, the dog fell down a deep hole.

The dog was barking but the man didn't notice it because the hole was very deep.

The dog fell for what seemed like an hour, until he landed on a marshmallow the size of a car.

The dog thought it was like Alice In Wonderland!

Walking along the Lego Brick Road, he bumped into the Sad Batter who never scored a hit.

The end.

Poll Results- Last week poll found most people think water is the best drink to have with sushi. Do you agree? New poll coming soon.

Working on Maungatautari Mountain

Here is some information about the mountain which is being protected. My mum helps out once a month to set traps to keep pests out. Below is part of her blog entry about her work last week and some photos.

http://www.maungatrust.org/

Yesterday my friend and I did our monthly trip to Maungatautari Mountain, where we replace cards in monitoring tunnels, around a section of the 47 km pest proof fence, which encloses the exterior of the 3,400 hectare mountain. These tunnels are placed 50 metres apart, right round the interior of the fence. Every second tunnel is just inside the bush, with the others right up against the fence. The section we do involves 40 tunnels. These tunnels have a white card in them, with about 8 inches of sticky black ink in the centre. In the middle of the ink section we place peanut butter. This attracks any mice, rats or other vermon, and once they have walked over the sticky black ink, to get to the peanut butter, they then walk out leaving their foot prints on the white section of the card. Once these prints are detected, traps are set close by to try and catch the offenders. Last month 44 mice were caught.

Bait trap.

Our native Kiwi were the first to be brought back to the mountain, and to date about 22 chicks have hatched. Kaka, a very squawky parrot-like bird, are also breeding well, even though the first six released from the aviary all flew away, but they are gradually returning to the mountain, as their leg tags have shown.

$18 million has been raised to actively save New Zealand's threatened wildlife from extinction on this mountain, and to date the results are proving positive. A large number of volunteers work tirelessly, along with a few paid staff, to make sure this valuable project is a success, not only for us, but for generations to follow, and the future of our country.

http://www.maungatrust.org/

Poll Results May 24

The results of the past week's poll are in.

Everyone who voted thinks this year's rainy season will last less than two weeks. I hope the poll result is accurate.

This week's poll has been updated, so cast your vote.

Trees Are Our Friends

You may have seen in today's Chunichi newspaper about tree climbing at Chubu University yesterday with John Gathright.

My son took part and climbed up about 5 meters by himself - he's only six years old. He had a great time, along with everyone else, even though it was quite a challenge for the little kids.

My son is wearing the blue helmet in this photo. Next time I want to have a try, too. These days we need to look after our trees and nature, and tree climbing is a great way to have fun and challenge yourself, while at the same time, appreciating what Mother Nature provides for us. Check out www.treeclimbingjapan.org

New Additions

You may have noticed some new parts to the site. If not, have a look around while reading the entries.

1. Twitter entries - follow us, ask a question or just let everyone what you are doing.

2. Links - some favorites to share with you. I'll add some more you may find useful. Let me know if there is site you want to link here.

3. Poll - I'll ask a question each week. Vote for the answer of your choice and see each Tuesday which is the most popular. This week asks about the upcoming rainy season.

Looking forward to blog entries, comments or tweets.

By the way, the colorful wall above can be found near PARCO in Sakae.

'Before' Picture of Motorcyclist

Here's what the motorcycling skeleton in yesterday's video looked like before he lost his skin.

And here are some photos to go with the post from mum about her hike last weekend.

----Looking out from the top of Mt. Pureora towards Mt. Ruapehu in the middle of the North Island. Can't see any snow, but won't be long and it will be all white.

----A magnificient native NZ Totara tree, 40 meters high and estimated to be between 1750-1850 years old.

Tramping in Pureora Forest - NZ

Last sunday I travelled to Pureora Forest, with the Te Kuiti Tramping Club, for a day in the bush. Pureora is a 2 hour drive from Te Awamutu. Our first stop was at Link Road, and from here we walked up through the beautiful bush, crossing a couple of small creeks, heading to the trig at the top of the mountain. The birds were singing loudly in the trees above us. These were mainly Kaka, Tuis and Fantails, all natives of NZ. And occasionally we would here the familiar swishing sound of a large fat pigeon flying from tree to tree.

Eventually we came out of the bush into the open spaces, and there in our view was the trig. To-day the weather was very kind to us - no wind, no rain, no clouds and no sleet, all of which we experienced on our last trip up this mountain. Needless to say, the view in all directions was exceptional. Mt. Ruapehu, Tongariro and Ngauruhoe in the centre of the North Island, looked almost at our feet. Mt. Egmont, further down the west coast, stood out looking very much like Mt. Fuji, and to the north were Maungatautari, Kariori, Kakepuka and Te Aroha. The view was so magnificent we decided to make it our early lunch spot.

Reluctantly, we decided it was time to head back down the mountain, then we drove to a tall lookout tower, which has been built in the bush, allowing people to climb up 8 flights of very steep steps, and look out on the canopy of the bush. The large old totara trees still towered above us, but we could look down into the centre of ponga trees.

From here it was a short drive to see another very old, and large totara tree. This old giant was estimated to be between 1750 - 1850 years old, and had a girth of 4 metres. Fortunately, this one managed to escape the bushmen's axes years ago, when they felled and milled a large percentage of our native trees. Today these trees are protected, and incur a hefty fine for anyone caught felling them.

And then it was time to head back to the cars, kick off our tramping boots, and make our way back to Te Awamutu. We all felt reluctant to leave this beautiful bush on such a perfect day, but promised ourselves we would return again, and hope that our next visit would be as perfect as this day was. Thank-you weather gods. You got it right this time!

Watch out for motorcyclists!

Fresh fun sent from my mum in NZ. No its not her riding the bike - she's way more lively. I'm not sure which country its in, but they don't speak English. Doesn't matter anyway. I think this is how they stop people writing graffiti on the cemetery wall.

Twitter your time away

As you may see on the side of the blog, I've set up the M.E.C twitter account. Let's follow each other, but try not to go round in circles. Any messages, long or short are more than welcome.

Thanks, also for the comments. I look forward to seeing you tomorrow night. We had a good Golden Week. The picture in last night's blog is of Harry (maybe not his real name) the sea turtle at Toba Aquarium. Very cool place and nice to visit Toba again after 21 years. Looking forward to a boat cruise and swim in summer.

What the.....?

Missing in action for almost six months, Mark returns to the blog realm to kick-start things, thanks to motivating students.

There's been lots happening recently, particularly the startup of new independent classes with a great bunch of students.

To keep up with the new burst of life, we're going to start tweeting, so let's keep things moving fast and fresh. Share your photos or long stories here, or follow us with a quick message on Twitter (once we've got it up and running soon).