October

In October, I didn't do a whole lot. Ice hockey season started again, (I actually played quite a bit of inline hockey over the summer, which was fun, but ridiculously hot) and I was really busy with work. I did get down to Tsuchiura to see a huge fireworks competition, which was cool. I didn't get any decent pictures of the fireworks, as I forgot to bring a tripod. Got a bit of video - just imagine that sort of thing repeated (almost) continuously for an hour and a half. And the full show was 2 1/2 hours - we left early to beat (a little of) the crowds. The really awesome part was hearing the boom of the explosions reverberating off the buildings behind us.

I also got to a small matsuri in Mito, with some cool fox dancing. (Videos here and here.)

While in Mito, I saw this: a 24hr vending machine for rice, 5kg or 10kg bags. Awesome. Too bad the picture's blurry...

Photos/videos on Flickr.