Greetings from Downtown Tokyo: An ATS Member Reports

Originally posted by robile
reply to post by SMR

 

Whats your deal? This is someone reporting to others what he sees from his particular location. Should we be disappointed that he's not near the epicenter like many other unfortunate people?

Thanks for the thread OP and keep updating us.

I kinda understand SMR's point here. It does seem that emphasising the opulence and the thread count (of the Japanese hotel sheets?) is disrespectful to the Japanese.

Then I thought about it a bit more, read the posts again and saw them from a completely different perspective. I think there's a few hints in there that I missed the first time. Now I'm really enjoying them.

Sure, if Silent's intention was to emphasis how opulent a life he is living at the expense of the poor people affected by the earthquake and tsunami, that would be in incredibly poor taste. But when I thought about it, I decided I had no evidence for that. Besides, I have no idea how much money was in Silent's wallet before the disaster.

What I did learn is Tokyo is calm, beautiful, orderly, the hotels have great room service and fine linen and apparently completely safe at this time.

Originally posted by SMR
Nobody is around because there is what you could say is "a mass exodus" in Tokyo
No hearsay on that. Actual video at airports.

Look. I know some think I am being mean but read his posts again. The guy sounds like he wants his front row seat this disaster.
He is not obligated to be there yet stays with champagne glass in hand.
I just find it a little upsetting that while he is comfortable, others are suffering. By no means am I saying for him to be in harms way like others. Just don't come here to post all happy go lucky about what you are seeing and boasting about what luxuries you have at hand. I find that in bad taste.
I don't hear Anderson Cooper letting everyone know what comforts he has despite those around him.

Maybe it was his attempt at humor in this bad situation.

I'm on the West Coast, and while far removed from Japan, I still have a bottle of cheap champagne in the fridge if this turns out to be a SHTF scenario. If I were actually there right now... yeah, I would probably be one shot short of alcohol poisoning. We all deal with these situations differently, this is just how Silent does it.

reply to post by silent thunder


It's nice to know you're fine & dandy, and so calm. Sipping that fine Champagne while others are living in a hell all around you. Bravo. Why?

reply to post by Dendro

Is it ironic that you use that avatar ...

I am fine...far better than most, actually, considering the luxurious appointments of which I have availed myself for this jaunt

DUH! NOT WINNING!

reply to post by SMR


This isn't a contest. From his original post it sounded like he was there already before the earthquake and opted to stay. If you don't like how the posts are being written then don't read them. There are far more offensive threads with people cheering for what happened in Japan because they think they are superior or God has punished the country.

You're admonishing silent for apparently not doing more, why doesn't the very hotel he is staying in do it? They have far more resources to help and house than just him alone.

oh dear Silent.... looks like the emphasis of the EQ has moved to your bottle..

just remember, you may be seeing peace and calm in Tokyo, but what we are seeing is a devastation beyond the likes of anything before
An emotional rollercoaster to say the least, people dead or dying, freezing, starving, lost..... etc etc, very very sad

Take care friend

Just one question Silent. When do plan on gett'in you're butt up out there ?

I bet your family is ripping their hair out?

A contest of what ? Not sure where you came with that. Not trying to compete with anything here.

Arrive in Tokyo - Everything is cool
Major earthquake and tsunami - UH-OH!
Major issues with nuclear reactors - UH-OH!
Meanwhile those who can, leave, while member silent thunder tells us he rather enjoy his "luxurious appointments" despite friends and family telling him to leave.
Some members reading the title probably thought this would be a well informed message from someone who is in the thick of it, but instead got a few images of his "proof" sign and a list of all his accommodations.

Like I said. Maybe it was attempt at humor to lighten the mood in a rather scary situation.

Silent thanks for posting your pics and giving us your perspective from where you are. Stay safe and well. I for one appreciate your updates!!

Good morning ATS. Thank you all so very much for your positive thoughts and contributions. And thank you for the less-than-positive comments as well. As always, I appreciate and respect all views.

I am currently assessing my options, which include A) staying on; B) leaving for another part of the country, or C) bugging out all together. We shall see.

I'd like to address one point in particular before I go on. Some of you have criticized my jaunty tone and my admittedly flagrant materialism in the face of this crisis, I can understand why this would come across as disrespectful, or at the very least in bad taste. However, look at it from my perspective. This is not me "lording it over those poor people" or thumbing my nose at human suffering. My life is on the line just as much as anyone else's in this city right now. Mine is the response of somebody in the middle of it all, not on the outside.

In times of stress and danger, people react differently. Some people freeze up, some panic, some get aggressive, some get into gear, some crack jokes. My reaction is often to grin at death, to look to humor and to run riot toward the sensual.It's a very useful coping mechanism, keeps me relaxed, loose, alert, enjoying life. Awake and aware, my friends. Dead certain and crazy alive.

And as for luxury stuff, well, Tokyo is and has been for many years a place of luxury, both for me personally and for people in general d and in the public imagination. Lots of people come here to roll out the red carpet, to enjoy the finer things in life. What better time to celebrate the essential spirit of this noble, depraved, ecstatic, effervescent, hard-driving, never-sleeping city? Do you think I'm the only one living it up? The bars are packed, the contraceptives are sold out at the drugstore. People need to feel alive.


Let me share a well-known Japanese Zen Koan used in traditional Rinzai Buddhist training with you:

A man traveling across a field encountered a tiger. He fled, the tiger after him. Coming to a precipice, he caught hold of the root of a wild vine and swung himself down over the edge. The tiger sniffed at him from above. Trembling, the man looked down to where, far below, another tiger was waiting to eat him. Only the vine sustained him.

Two mice, one white and one black, little by little started to gnaw away the vine. The man saw a luscious strawberry near him. Grasping the vine with one hand, he plucked the strawberry with the other. How sweet it tasted!
Source

Do you like fresh, sweet strawberries? I know I do.

Some of you have insinuated I'm being selfish and should do more. This I take actual offence at. You don't know me. You don't know what I've already done. You don't know what i'm doing now, or what I will do in the days ahead. You don't whether and how deep my ties with this community run, how much I have invested in this city, personally and professionally. To my critics: How much money have you donated, both in actual terms and as a percentage of your assets? What other services have you made available to others? That's what I thought. And really when you come right down to it, what makes you any different than me, other than the fact that you happen to be in one location and I happen to be in another? If I'm open to criticism for not doing enough, what makes you so exempt, other than the increasingly-irrelevant fact of physical location?

I understand people not liking my "style." That's OK. It takes all kinds, you know? This isn't the first time I've been in a stricken place or a dangerous situation, and I act the way I do for a reason: Because it works for me. Would you rather have me go put on ashes and sackcloth and hide under the bed? Would that help anyone? If you are offended, I would simpy say, as always: please don't read the thread. As for the rest of my readers, I hope you'll put up with a little flamboyance and whistling past the graveyard.

More pics and responses later. As I'm sure you can imagine, things are a bit hectic right now. No mimosa this morning...

Peace

reply to post by silent thunder


Good to hear you're alright.

Talking to a lot of my friends and colleagues, a lot of people are looking down at Tokyo for reassurance right now, it's like if Tokyo life is progressing as normal, everything's going to be fine. So, hell, order the beef - but to be perfectly honest, I'd suggest some scallops, or maybe some oysters. The beds have been destroyed up here, and the supply in Japan is going to be limited for the next few years.

Can't help but notice you left out the tip of Tokyo Tower in your pics, though - they were showing the bend on the news the other day. Is it noticeable in person? If it doesn't pose a threat, I hope they leave it.

Take care of yourself, been wondering where you were at in all of this. Reading ATS lately puts me in danger of firing my computer out the window. Lots of really ignorant SOBs on the Japan threads. Tough to take sometimes, so I've been avoiding it.

Read the card on the back of the hotel room door. More quakes are a certainty for the next two weeks.

/vox

"I have a high-end Geiger counter. "

Seems kinda unusual to be travelling with that.
Very useful, given the situation.

Do you always carry one about your person?

Would you care to share the name of the company on the calibration sticker and the serial number?
Not after any personal information, just proof that you have a calibrated "high-end Geiger counter".

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof.

OK, not 'extraordinary' perhaps, but very unusual for someone to be visiting such a place at such a time with such a piece of equipment.

reply to post by silent thunder


Bravo!.... Bravo!!! Good form!!! S and F for you!!

reply to post by silent thunder


Thanks for your posts. I have no problem with your tone at all and I find it laughable that people say you are living well "at the expense of others." Unless you stole your sheets out of their cold, lifeless fingers I don't think it is at "their expense."

One of the reports out of Chernobyl said that by far the largest medical problem from that incident was psychological. Indeed, people in the US taking iodine pills and racing to flee the West Coast are cases in point. I mean, do what you've got to do to keep yourself squared away, but it's a complete over-reaction. I think you've showed calm in the face of the screaming mimis yelling "Get out! Get out!" and that has a beneficial calming effect. I trust you to know what is best for yourself.

The question of your having a geiger counter IS interesting. I'm not calling you out on it from a position of doubt, but why do you happen to have that thing with you? I mean, I carry some strange things in my luggage sometimes, but I never would have thought "Geiger Counter." Just curious is all.

Alright my friend, we have thoroughly enjoyed your little expose' and can put no measure on how much we have appreciated your on the spot reporting, however.

Now is the time to start thinking about you and getting to safety. RedNeck has posted a plethora of information in another thread as someone who knows a little something about the construction of Nuclear reactors and you are in for a bad time in the near future. Its not worth it - get your hiney home.

Think back to our youth, the two worst possible scenarios of our time, The Russians attack or a nuclear reactor melts down. Well number two is happening right in your back yard.

Come on home friend, then you can tell us all about it.

reply to post by silent thunder


Not that this really matters to anyone, I am sure, but that is a far better post than your first.
It it good to see that you addressed some of the negative remarks here even though you didn't have to.

I do hope you are safe and plan on just getting out. There is no reason for you to put yourself is danger. I know the situation that surrounds you is beyond what some could imagine.

Be safe. Be cautious. Be smart.

OK I will come clean about the Geiger counter: It wasn't mine and I didn't bring it here. On Monday evening I wanted to find one and called all over the city looking for one, but no luck. An associate introduced me to a researcher who was taking measurements at different places and he let me use it briefly yesterday afternoon. It's gone now but I am trying very hard to her access to another one.

Once again stay safe, glad you are alright.Sorry you didn't get your mimosa what a shame.They're great for breakfast.yummmm!!!!!!! Good luck getting a geiger counter.Hope you find one.

Originally posted by silent thunder
OK I will come clean about the Geiger counter: It wasn't mine and I didn't bring it here.

Copy that.

Please continue...

No personal disrespect OP, just clarify the facts.
What are those?

What else would you like to "come clean about"?

No pressure - in your own time...

Originally posted by ommadawn

Originally posted by silent thunder
OK I will come clean about the Geiger counter: It wasn't mine and I didn't bring it here.

Copy that.

Please continue...

No personal disrespect OP, just clarify the facts.
What are those?

What else would you like to "come clean about"?

No pressure - in your own time...

This line of questioning/investigation leads me to believe you are inspector clouseau without the humor.

Second line - stopped short to keep me from being off topiccool: