There is no picture today because I didn't do very much of anything, and don't feel like rooting through my stock footage for a new picture. So instead you get to contemplate the beauty of my background a little more. How great!
The only thing that I did today was go to a Shinto Fall Festival, and that was pretty dang cool. It wasn't really the sort of thing one could take pictures of, so I didn't. It was definitely a cultural event, but without the hokey campiness and condescension that usually marks Cultural Events of other cultures in America. There was this great silent play thing with big booming drums and pipes and other such traditional Japanese music. It was mostly silent, at least, with occasional bits of incomprehensible and very classical Japanese chanted or warbled at odd moments. The general plot of the play, such as I could make out from the explanation of the priest Owen and I asked afterwards, was that once upon a time, back in the time of gods and great men, there were a bunch of demons harassing this village where Hiroshima is now, running around like hooligans, taking the village's women, and other such devilry. So, the men of the village petitioned the Sun Goddess (I think sun goddess, anyway) Amiterasu to save them, which she did by sending down a couple of heroes (or maybe gods, I wasn't clear on that). What you actually saw, of course, was a couple of guys in traditional dress poncing about, waving fans and bits of paper at a guy in a devil mask who was poncing with the rest of them. The poncing/dancing/posing was actually really cool, with some sumo-like stomping and posing decorated by a lot of elaborate fan flourishes. The devil mask also managed to be really scary somehow, which I don't think I've ever seen in a mask before.
Overall it was very cool, I'd give it three and a half stars. I think everyone should go see it, as it's the feel-good hit of the season. Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez gave the performances of the lives as Men in Funny Hats.
