Forces of nature
Hmmm…. Getting kind of boring around here. What would liven things up some?
I know: Another typhoon! This one is set to land in Shizuoka Prefecture and to pass right over Tokyo. My luckless boyfriend, who’s lived in western Kyushu through the hammering it’s gotten this summer, has followed today’s entrant–the strongest typhoon to hit eastern Japan in over ten years, apparently–here for the three-day weekend. Luckily, the leading edge of the storm didn’t keep his plane from being able to land, though a few dozen other domestic flights have already been canceled. He just cellphone-mailed that he’s on the ground and on his way here.
Also luckily, we shouldn’t need to grab more than maybe a liter of milk from 7-Eleven, since I made sure everything was stocked for his arrival anyway, including another Columbo DVD. I’ve already watched it, it is true, but I’ll gladly sit through at least one of the episodes again: Vera Miles and Vincent Price play the owners of rival cosmetics companies seeking the formula for a wrinkle-erasing miracle cream. Does it get gayer than that? Oh, and the murder from which the plot is generated involves vengeful Miles impulsively hitting a young Martin Sheen on the head with a microscope, her eyes wide and lip curled in that wonderful fury TV murderers always get right before they bash someone’s skull in. I know it’s anachronistic, since the show was recorded in 1971, but I see it as vicarious revenge for all of us who feel insulted by the hamhanded propaganda orgy that is The West Wing.
Anyway, in the last few days, it’s become apparent that there are, in fact, at least a few people reading here from within Japan, so stay safe, everyone.
Added at 11:50: Looks like I jumped the gun. I was looking at the Nikkei site and figured that if the 9:00 a.m. post said the storm was about to make landfall, it probably had by two hours later. It hasn’t.
Light rain and light wind here in Edogawa-ku. It’ll have to do better than this to get my attention.
It’s coming down pretty good here, but straight down. I can’t see any wind at all. Of course, NHK’s showing Shizuoka (where they’re now predicting landfall) from various foreboding angles. I expect them to start playing the theme from Jaws in the background any second. We’ll see what happens.
Well, that was thrilling for about 5 minutes. I mean, I’m glad there were few casualties (I think one or two people swept away and three or four who were hurt falling off balconies), but of course, NHK news has talked about nothing else all day, and the necessity of keeping the patter going when there was really nothing more to say led to the usual newscaster inanities (“As you can see, the wind is very strong, and, as so often happens in such cases, that means the air is moving rapidly over the ground…”). It’s a shame for all those people who planned to travel over the three-day weekend, though.
Yup, I’d officially call it a non-event here in Edogawa-ku.