Is Nothing Sacred Anymore?

I have to be honest, I hate old people using technology! Call me selfish, but dammit! I enjoy the privacy (as ironic as that may be). It's like there is always a question regardless of how many times you've explained it before: how do I do this? or that? YOU JUST DON'T! While there are some folks that are probably more computer proficient than I, they're not the folgies I know!
HM has decided that we should target a younger crowd by using Facebook and Twitter. I'm on Facebook, and as you may have already read, I rant and rave on there to my miserable heart's content! Now, he takes THAT away! He can barely turn his computer on and now he tries to torment me, and others, in our virtual world of freedom. Is nothing sacred anymore???

Hey there, Stranger!

I've been gone a while...I know this. So I wanted to get back into the swing of things with a bang (yes, pun FULLY intended).

I debated whether or not to post the following pictures, but they're just too good not to! I warn you, some are graphic and not for the faint-hearted but while it was tons of fun...it was also a CULTURAL EXPERIENCE.

Last Sunday, BH, Mrs. AK and Mister Mrs. AK went to the Kawasaki Fertility Festival. We had been warned, but it was a must see. We were immediately greeted by flags and that's how we knew we were THERE!

There were tons and tons of people there. A lot of Japanese folks and definitely a lot of Americans. From what I read, this has been a tradition for a gazillion years and ladies of the night would go to the shrine and pray that they'd avoid diseases and such. Now it's changed a bit, I'd say... When we first got there, there were quite a bit of people and then in a matter of an hour or so it was packed! It really didn't seem as though the park could accomodate that many people. Safely. But I hate to sound like a wet blanket...

We soon became hungry. I had had some Lucky Charms on the way there and after 2 hours or so, this little piggie was hungry! BH of course had had Gatorade for breakfast. All together now: GROSS! So we found a radish stand, but again...gross! So we moved along and found a potato stand. I thought it was a fried baked potato stand and my tummy immediately went "Oink!" Alas, it was not. It was a boiled potato that was undercooked on a styrofoam tray with chopsticks to jab at it with. Miraculously, I didn't end up wearing said potato.

After giving up on my potato and crepe (which had BANANAS in it!), we walked around a bit. They had a couple of stands selling novelty items but everyone was gathered near the front of the shrine and so we thought things were going to start and headed in that direction. Well, the parade didn't start for another hour or so. We decided to make the best of things and become one with the Japanese. Why not in front of a giant pink mushroom a la Alice in Wonderland? PEACE!

We moved along to the street where the parade was going to go through and waited patiently. First a priest and some cantors came down the street to perhaps bless something or other. It was in Japanese, so I have no idea what was said. One of them had the fiercest shoes that Victoria Beckham would envy! Then the portable shrines came bobbing down the street. After they came and went, we went back to the park, listened to some taiko drummers and then it was time to go. We decided to skip the bus and head over to Hard Rock for some yummy-ness and finally home! All in all, it was an interesting trip.

Highlight: Spending the whole day with BH.

Not so much: Whole lotta ass