"Always lend a hand when things go down." - Cmdr Stone (ROCK AND A HARD PLACE - Peter David)

An old timer who often prefers older ways of doing things. For example, all the photos here were taken with 30-odd-year-old 35mm SLR cameras (a mix of Asahi Pentaxes and Olympus OM1/2s) which I far prefer to the delicate, overengineered digital toys out nowadays.

I'm an 'M' who has a high Inquisitiveness Quotient and thus am often asking questions - which can bother people, especially bureaucrats and politicians.

I used to be a happy-go-lucky optimist, but experience has taught me the wisdom of George Bernard Shaw's saying about how "the power of accurate observation is often referred to as cynicism by those who do not possess it."

I was born and live in Canada, but have generally felt more at home in my stays in Japan.