Monday 31 October 2005
So yesterday I went to the International Centre.Venue for the Foreign Artists Exhibition.Runs Tuesday through Sunday.Apprehensive.The taxi driver tried to make conversation.I tried to resist correcting his mistakes.My inner child Bob,grammar monitor was screaming in my head.I suppressed him.Barely.Incidentally why is one of the first questions always"How many sheeps is there in New Zealand?".Must remember to choose a non-agarian country next time.
Upon arriving at the fourth floor I was met by a choas of activity.People signing up and organizing their stuff in the display room.I felt immediately humbled.Awkward.Seemed many paintings and photography.Real art rather than the kids stuff and rainy afternoon filler that most people see as paper mache.I dont think i'll do much to dispel that image.
I tried to find an area away from most critical gazes.
A large beer can holding pony tailed man advanced towards me,arm extended.Yeech human contact.I briskly shook his clammy hand.Jim,one of the main organisers was very friendly and helpful.He advised me about the display and lighting.I arrived at 11:30 and left at 2pm.
Id sketched out where and how I wanted things displayed.It took longer than I thought to space and pin stuff.Plus other people came round to look and made encouraging noises.Mostly.This matronly woman steamed over glanced dismissively at my efforts uttered "Paper mache" and sailed away.At least she was honest.I noticed later while doing the rounds said woman was displaying these stereotypical watercolor prints of hydrangeas and other flora.Chocolate box stuff.
I'll go back on Friday and mix with the masses.On Sunday after the end of the exhibition theres a small party which should be interesting given the variety of nationalities involved.Yesterday I met a German,some Brazilians and Mexicans as well as a mixture of English,Irish and Aussies.
Was kinda funny leaving the pigs and frogs behind.I imagine its much like a parent letting go...the challenge is out in the real world to survive the criticism of others...whatever.
THE MACHINIST
Watched this recently.Amazed at Christian Bales physical transformation.He lost about 4 stone.Looks like a cross between an Aids victim and a concentration camp survivor.The story itself is perplexing and confusing.Like Memento it plays round with time and it keeps you guessing what has,had or will happen.The movie itself is shot in mostly blue,gray industrial tones.Very moody.All the reviews Ive read speak of all the references to Polanski,Kafka and other literary things.If I were more educated or knowlegeable id have picked them and sagely nodded"ah that shot was a homage to Polanski".
Not being a film litterati however Im unburdened with this so I could enjoy this DVD even at a superfical level.
ROSA PARKS
Couldnt let the week pass without some comment about this woman.None of the students at my school knew her and only a few teachers.I had to do a history course at Teachers College so was at least familiar with her name.
Briefly on December 1 1955 she refused to give up her seat as required on a Montgomery bus to a white man.Her subsequent arrest led to a 381 day boycott of the bus system organised by Martin Luther King.I read this week in a newspaper that her act of defiance sparked the creation of the civil rights movement in America.Both Rosa and her husband later lost their jobs,were harassed and threatened and moved to Detroit.
Rosa received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1996 the highest award the U.S government can give a civilian.This week to finally honor her life her body will lie in state in Washington an honor usually reserved for Presidents and other high profile people rather than a 42 year old seamstress who felt " I had a right to be treated like any other passenger"Rest in Peace.
RANDOM THOUGHTS
Many Japanese words sound similiar.Can be amusing or embarassing.Take for example the words for cat "neko" and the word for meat "niku".I'll let you imagine the scene when you confuse the two in a butchers shop.....
More Spelling Mistakes.
You would expect that December 25 and the shopping extravaganza that revolves around it from the end of October to early January would at least be spelt right.Of all the words in the English language surely this word has reached some kind of awareness in terms of spelling.But no! Imagine my disgust when i saw a sign in an upmaket boutique displaying the following example of the "cold-blooded murder of the English tongue" ok drum roll please and execution squad at the ready...the crime against humanity read "Merry Cristmas".I know its only missing an "h" but surely such a well known person or persons and common expression should be spelt correctly.Needless to say Bob my inner grammar Nazi was beside himself, It was all I could do to walk by.Bob wanted me to rip up the offending message or point out the error which would be lost on the shop staff. Should the sign be displayed next week I'll have to take a photo of it and see if I can get it on this blog.....
Monday, October 31, 2005
Monday, October 24, 2005
Cant Get No Connection
Monday 24 October 2005
So 3 Fridays ago I did it.Finally gave in and bought a shiny happy Apple notebook.I'd been wrestling with the idea of getting an internet connection and updating my computer.I have an old computer I bought off a roommate some four years ago.It chugs along with a good video game card.Unfortunately its prone to crash and frequently requires rebooting.
I wanted something more stable,reliable,modern.Having seen the versatility and user-friendliness of Macs firsthand in Prague last year while getting my TEFL certificate I set my heart on one.A couple of other factors swayed my decision.First an Apple store recently opened in Nagoya.Secondly since my building has been painted Ive been beseiged by door to door salesmen selling cheap internet deals.So I finally caved in and signed up
The actual ISP deal is quite sweet the first 2 months service are free.Its easy enough even for an illiterate non Japanese speaker like me.The ISP company offers a free English support phone line.Which is good as their equipment only comes with Japanese manuals.Likewise the Mac which has an internal English manual only.The whole process takes a month or so from sign up,delivery of modem and installation by their staff.Or Not.The staff at my work handled the phone calls and arranged for the installation date.
So last Friday a company rep duly arrived.he entered my humble apartment and bowed duly while removing his shoes.So far so good.
NOT OK COMPUTER
There followed a sharp intake of breath and much wailing and gnashing of teeth as he cast his eyes on my new computer.
"Muzukashii"....difficult he uttered as his eyes rolled toward the back of his head.Evidently he wasnt conversant with the Apple O/S or Macs.
He arrived at 12:30 pm.Left at 3:00pm.In between there was a lot of fiddling.Much hand wringing.Head shaking.Muttering Repeated calls to his companys support line.As suddenly as he appeared he choked out a dispirited "Chotto Matte"....please wait a moment ....and departed.Defeated.
I continued to dust and clean my apartment.Resigned to the fact that things are never as simple as they seem.
At 4pm another rep turned up.Again the bow followed by the anguished pained look.I was beginning to feel guilty for having purchased such an inconvenient machine in the Land of Windows.
NO CONNECTION HOME LIKE A .....
However by 5pm he'd managed to get me connected to the Net.His cellphone battery died as a result of prolonged calls to the support line for instructions and inspiration.I gave him mine.Round 5:15 he handed me back my phone.A friendly American woman on the other end explained that my password had an error in it.As a result there was a problem connecting me to the company email and other services.They would send me another in 6 days.I thanked her and praised the persistence and patience of her co-workers.The now beaming Japanese man left.Happy that I understood the situation and happier still that he didnt have to explain it to me in English.
I resumed washing the mugs I used to make my visitors tea.Having nothing to do all afternoon and standing round like an expectant father I find in such trying circumstances a cup of tea has certain curative soothing powers.
End result....a fibre optic "hikari" connection fully operational.Which Im happy with...till a student told me that its probably only fibre to the building and once there cable is used from the apartment buildings server to the individual apartment computers resulting in significant reduction in speed...whatever...
GLUE MONDAY
Been putting the final touches on my paper mache pieces ahead of this weekends Foreign Artists Exhibition.I have to take my works down to the Nagoya International Centre Sunday morning to set up for next weeks display.Between the computer saga and paper mache I havent had much time to read or watch anything of note though am currently enjoying a collection of O Henry short stories.He has a wry turn of expression and a freshness that makes it easy to see why he continues to be popular....
So 3 Fridays ago I did it.Finally gave in and bought a shiny happy Apple notebook.I'd been wrestling with the idea of getting an internet connection and updating my computer.I have an old computer I bought off a roommate some four years ago.It chugs along with a good video game card.Unfortunately its prone to crash and frequently requires rebooting.
I wanted something more stable,reliable,modern.Having seen the versatility and user-friendliness of Macs firsthand in Prague last year while getting my TEFL certificate I set my heart on one.A couple of other factors swayed my decision.First an Apple store recently opened in Nagoya.Secondly since my building has been painted Ive been beseiged by door to door salesmen selling cheap internet deals.So I finally caved in and signed up
The actual ISP deal is quite sweet the first 2 months service are free.Its easy enough even for an illiterate non Japanese speaker like me.The ISP company offers a free English support phone line.Which is good as their equipment only comes with Japanese manuals.Likewise the Mac which has an internal English manual only.The whole process takes a month or so from sign up,delivery of modem and installation by their staff.Or Not.The staff at my work handled the phone calls and arranged for the installation date.
So last Friday a company rep duly arrived.he entered my humble apartment and bowed duly while removing his shoes.So far so good.
NOT OK COMPUTER
There followed a sharp intake of breath and much wailing and gnashing of teeth as he cast his eyes on my new computer.
"Muzukashii"....difficult he uttered as his eyes rolled toward the back of his head.Evidently he wasnt conversant with the Apple O/S or Macs.
He arrived at 12:30 pm.Left at 3:00pm.In between there was a lot of fiddling.Much hand wringing.Head shaking.Muttering Repeated calls to his companys support line.As suddenly as he appeared he choked out a dispirited "Chotto Matte"....please wait a moment ....and departed.Defeated.
I continued to dust and clean my apartment.Resigned to the fact that things are never as simple as they seem.
At 4pm another rep turned up.Again the bow followed by the anguished pained look.I was beginning to feel guilty for having purchased such an inconvenient machine in the Land of Windows.
NO CONNECTION HOME LIKE A .....
However by 5pm he'd managed to get me connected to the Net.His cellphone battery died as a result of prolonged calls to the support line for instructions and inspiration.I gave him mine.Round 5:15 he handed me back my phone.A friendly American woman on the other end explained that my password had an error in it.As a result there was a problem connecting me to the company email and other services.They would send me another in 6 days.I thanked her and praised the persistence and patience of her co-workers.The now beaming Japanese man left.Happy that I understood the situation and happier still that he didnt have to explain it to me in English.
I resumed washing the mugs I used to make my visitors tea.Having nothing to do all afternoon and standing round like an expectant father I find in such trying circumstances a cup of tea has certain curative soothing powers.
End result....a fibre optic "hikari" connection fully operational.Which Im happy with...till a student told me that its probably only fibre to the building and once there cable is used from the apartment buildings server to the individual apartment computers resulting in significant reduction in speed...whatever...
GLUE MONDAY
Been putting the final touches on my paper mache pieces ahead of this weekends Foreign Artists Exhibition.I have to take my works down to the Nagoya International Centre Sunday morning to set up for next weeks display.Between the computer saga and paper mache I havent had much time to read or watch anything of note though am currently enjoying a collection of O Henry short stories.He has a wry turn of expression and a freshness that makes it easy to see why he continues to be popular....
Monday, October 17, 2005
Gardening At Night 17th October 2005
Gardening At Night
Back home in New Zealand its now spring.Back home before coming to Nagoya I rented half a house which came with a sizable backyard and a vegetable patch.
I was reminded of my veggie garden as I meandered through the streets to work today.Here and there wedged between houses are small plots of cultivated land.
Back home I grew tomatoes,lettuces,various other vegetables and at last count 10 varieties of sunflowers.Spring was a busy time after the inactivity of winter.Different seeds and plants had to be selected and purchased.Fallow earth had to be tilled,turned over and fertilised.None of this chemical fertiliser.All natural leaf mold,grass clippings,blood and bone,chicken shit and seaweed were dug in.
A huge pear tree which provided shade over the garden produced an abundance of pears.The surplus I also dug in .Greedily devoured by worms,insects,birds and a resident family of hedgehogs who earned their keep as pest control agents.Often you could hear and see them at work their raspy,asthmatic breathing at dusk.
There were three main plots in which I rotated the crops as per my battered Yates Gardening bible.Along the fenceline I grew sunflowers of various hues and heights.
Ranging from the dwarf pompom types to the 2-3 metre regal Russian specimens with their large seed bearing heads providing food for the local sparrow population.
I also recall getting home after work and spending an hour or so each night weeding ,
watering,staking trimming and the numerous tasks required maintaining a garden.
Towards summer after the initial crops had been sown Id anticipate which kind of lettuces to sow for summer salads.Would it be the flashy frilly red green breed or a more reliable older conservative type.One summer I even tried to grow the yellow oval shaped low acid Italian tomatoes ...with mixed results.
Gardening is a very contemplative dare I say hands on interest.I envy the old men and women I saw today bent double in their plots.Here in Nagoya I only have a small balcony populated by a few desultory cacti and a listless rubber plant.Hardly enough challenge to keep my gardening skills up to par.
The Dictators
With its 165 or so pages of references and notes to say Richard Overys "The Dictators Hitlers Germany, Stalins Russia" is impressive is both an injustice and an understatement.The book is his attempt to put both regimes into their historical,political and social context.
Chapters deal with the ideas,political,social and cultural ambitions.Its an engrossing read.I just wonder how long it took him to assemble all the sources and then distill the results of such scholarship into such a compelling and coherent read.
One of the more interesting chapters deals with the relationship the dictatorships had with the existing social organisations such as the churches,trade unions and the legal systems.The use of terror,periodic purges and control of public opinion is described in some detail.
I never realised the extent to which the ideas of eugenics and biological engineering were used and subverted to murder ,castrate and sterlise not only Jews but other "asocials" or deviants such as gypsies,mentally ill,handicapped children and sexual offenders ....all in the pursuit of a superrace.
The sheer detail and density can be overwhelming at times I glazed over the chapter on controlling the economy.
Overall though, one of the weighty works of my year and thought provoking.How its possible for a regime or cliche to gain control then change and establish its own mindset and inculcate the younger members of its society.
The author also tackles the problematic idea of dissent.An ordinary citizen may baulk at some of the regimes policies yet happily comply with others when there is pressure from your conscience, fear for your job,family and reputation as well as state coercion in the form of concentration camps.
As he puts it however both systems didnt arise from some alien visitation but were populist dictatorships fed by mass participation and accepted by significant fractions of the population.
All in all it took me a month or so to read which in my opinion seems a fair trade off given the quality ,depth and wealth of detail in this 651 page book.
Bagels and a Blue Monday
One of the small joys and consolations of Mondays as I make my one and a half hour trek to deepest ,darkest Nagoyas suburbs is the thought of having bagels for lunch produced at the shopping centre bakery.When I first was assigned this task some 3 months ago there were three types baked...plain,blueberry and cheese.Proudly displayed.
Slowly but surely the display shrunk along with the disapperance of the cheese bagels.Imagine my horror today when I arrived to find the display completely gone and only the plain stodgy bagels hidden in the corner.Seems bagels havent been selling like hotcakes and their popularity has faded due to the fickleness of customers.
As if to compound matters ColdPlays new album was being played on our schools sound system.The predictable repeated rise and fall in each melody seems sure to induce either sea sickness or insanity caused by frequent exposure.....
Back home in New Zealand its now spring.Back home before coming to Nagoya I rented half a house which came with a sizable backyard and a vegetable patch.
I was reminded of my veggie garden as I meandered through the streets to work today.Here and there wedged between houses are small plots of cultivated land.
Back home I grew tomatoes,lettuces,various other vegetables and at last count 10 varieties of sunflowers.Spring was a busy time after the inactivity of winter.Different seeds and plants had to be selected and purchased.Fallow earth had to be tilled,turned over and fertilised.None of this chemical fertiliser.All natural leaf mold,grass clippings,blood and bone,chicken shit and seaweed were dug in.
A huge pear tree which provided shade over the garden produced an abundance of pears.The surplus I also dug in .Greedily devoured by worms,insects,birds and a resident family of hedgehogs who earned their keep as pest control agents.Often you could hear and see them at work their raspy,asthmatic breathing at dusk.
There were three main plots in which I rotated the crops as per my battered Yates Gardening bible.Along the fenceline I grew sunflowers of various hues and heights.
Ranging from the dwarf pompom types to the 2-3 metre regal Russian specimens with their large seed bearing heads providing food for the local sparrow population.
I also recall getting home after work and spending an hour or so each night weeding ,
watering,staking trimming and the numerous tasks required maintaining a garden.
Towards summer after the initial crops had been sown Id anticipate which kind of lettuces to sow for summer salads.Would it be the flashy frilly red green breed or a more reliable older conservative type.One summer I even tried to grow the yellow oval shaped low acid Italian tomatoes ...with mixed results.
Gardening is a very contemplative dare I say hands on interest.I envy the old men and women I saw today bent double in their plots.Here in Nagoya I only have a small balcony populated by a few desultory cacti and a listless rubber plant.Hardly enough challenge to keep my gardening skills up to par.
The Dictators
With its 165 or so pages of references and notes to say Richard Overys "The Dictators Hitlers Germany, Stalins Russia" is impressive is both an injustice and an understatement.The book is his attempt to put both regimes into their historical,political and social context.
Chapters deal with the ideas,political,social and cultural ambitions.Its an engrossing read.I just wonder how long it took him to assemble all the sources and then distill the results of such scholarship into such a compelling and coherent read.
One of the more interesting chapters deals with the relationship the dictatorships had with the existing social organisations such as the churches,trade unions and the legal systems.The use of terror,periodic purges and control of public opinion is described in some detail.
I never realised the extent to which the ideas of eugenics and biological engineering were used and subverted to murder ,castrate and sterlise not only Jews but other "asocials" or deviants such as gypsies,mentally ill,handicapped children and sexual offenders ....all in the pursuit of a superrace.
The sheer detail and density can be overwhelming at times I glazed over the chapter on controlling the economy.
Overall though, one of the weighty works of my year and thought provoking.How its possible for a regime or cliche to gain control then change and establish its own mindset and inculcate the younger members of its society.
The author also tackles the problematic idea of dissent.An ordinary citizen may baulk at some of the regimes policies yet happily comply with others when there is pressure from your conscience, fear for your job,family and reputation as well as state coercion in the form of concentration camps.
As he puts it however both systems didnt arise from some alien visitation but were populist dictatorships fed by mass participation and accepted by significant fractions of the population.
All in all it took me a month or so to read which in my opinion seems a fair trade off given the quality ,depth and wealth of detail in this 651 page book.
Bagels and a Blue Monday
One of the small joys and consolations of Mondays as I make my one and a half hour trek to deepest ,darkest Nagoyas suburbs is the thought of having bagels for lunch produced at the shopping centre bakery.When I first was assigned this task some 3 months ago there were three types baked...plain,blueberry and cheese.Proudly displayed.
Slowly but surely the display shrunk along with the disapperance of the cheese bagels.Imagine my horror today when I arrived to find the display completely gone and only the plain stodgy bagels hidden in the corner.Seems bagels havent been selling like hotcakes and their popularity has faded due to the fickleness of customers.
As if to compound matters ColdPlays new album was being played on our schools sound system.The predictable repeated rise and fall in each melody seems sure to induce either sea sickness or insanity caused by frequent exposure.....
Monday, October 10, 2005
Something In the Air
Something In The Air
Monday 10 October 2005
So we havent had a head teacher at my small English conversation school for the last four months.We coped.With the paperwork.With all the attendant problems that arose.Not total anarchy.Relaxed atmosphere.No sweat.No condescension in the ranks.
Till last week.
We got a new titled teacher.A kind of uber-head teacher.In charge of 5 schools.In his mid twenties.On the way up.Going places.
He stinks.Literally.Physically.Badly.Excessively.
"His epidermal pores show no signs of being obstructed " to steal a phrase from O.Henry.
Not to mince words he exudes a sweet sickly earthy aroma.A great unwashed fuming overripe stench.Body odour and noxious cigarette cigarette breath.Lethal.
So thick it lingers long after he exits the room for a clandestine nicotine fix between classes.Leaving those poor souls behind gagging in his sullied wake.For the sake of anonymity I'll call him Tony because thats his name.
The Pong Remains the Same
There are a number of things about this situation that get up my nose.Firstly,how can he be so unaware,so oblivious of his lack of personal hygiene and its impact on those he works with?Secondly, why hasnt someone tried to clean the air and brought the matter to his attention?
Sure he's in a position of authority which makes it all the more difficult to broach this problem.
Finally, if i do poke my nose in,how do I do so without raising a stink?
Do I tell him alone, diplomatically and sensitively or do I form a tar soap and lather lynch mob and outright confront him?
Or should I just wash my hands of the whole thing and sweep it under the carpet?
Then again am I duty bound to tell his superior about this scenter of distraction and get his boss to deal with it?
Never had to deal with this problem before, never thought I would ether.
Self Indulgent Weekend
It rained last Friday and Saturday.I stayed in.Armed with the just released third series dvds of "The Sopranos" and one litre of Hagen Daz classic chocolate I made some real progress at finishing my paper mache bits and pieces for the Foreign Artists Exhibition on October 31.The advance advertising says there will be some 60 artists so Im feeling somewhat ambivalent and a little fraught whether I can justify displaying my flying pigs,paper mache brains and broken hearts among the photography,painting,poetry and sculpture.
I really enjoyed The Sopranos.As one of the writers said in a commentary the characters evolve and develop.Unlike say the one dimensional cardboard Friends.
By the end of the third season things have become pretty bleak for most of the cast.A few continuing and developing story lines will expand in the next season im sure.Its interesting the way things are never cut and dried,people,motives never completely black and white.
Things are never resolved neatly in one programme but may linger until the end of a season or dwell on to the next.The show seems to treat its viewers with some sembalance of intelligence,no join the dots,signposted in your face exposition.You are rewarded for watching diligently;some comment about an event in another show or series brings recognition and realisation otherwise missed.The mixture of violence and gallows humor, the unstable personalities for me make this an enjoyable series to view.Roll on series 4 whenever it gets released here in Japan I can only speculate.
Thank You.
Last and by no means least something pleasant to end on.Much appreciation to the reader who emailed me about two Alex McCall No 1 Ladies Detective Agency books I was unaware of.
I hastened down to the local bookshop last week and ordered them.Should be here by Christmas according to the staff.
Thank you :)
Monday 10 October 2005
So we havent had a head teacher at my small English conversation school for the last four months.We coped.With the paperwork.With all the attendant problems that arose.Not total anarchy.Relaxed atmosphere.No sweat.No condescension in the ranks.
Till last week.
We got a new titled teacher.A kind of uber-head teacher.In charge of 5 schools.In his mid twenties.On the way up.Going places.
He stinks.Literally.Physically.Badly.Excessively.
"His epidermal pores show no signs of being obstructed " to steal a phrase from O.Henry.
Not to mince words he exudes a sweet sickly earthy aroma.A great unwashed fuming overripe stench.Body odour and noxious cigarette cigarette breath.Lethal.
So thick it lingers long after he exits the room for a clandestine nicotine fix between classes.Leaving those poor souls behind gagging in his sullied wake.For the sake of anonymity I'll call him Tony because thats his name.
The Pong Remains the Same
There are a number of things about this situation that get up my nose.Firstly,how can he be so unaware,so oblivious of his lack of personal hygiene and its impact on those he works with?Secondly, why hasnt someone tried to clean the air and brought the matter to his attention?
Sure he's in a position of authority which makes it all the more difficult to broach this problem.
Finally, if i do poke my nose in,how do I do so without raising a stink?
Do I tell him alone, diplomatically and sensitively or do I form a tar soap and lather lynch mob and outright confront him?
Or should I just wash my hands of the whole thing and sweep it under the carpet?
Then again am I duty bound to tell his superior about this scenter of distraction and get his boss to deal with it?
Never had to deal with this problem before, never thought I would ether.
Self Indulgent Weekend
It rained last Friday and Saturday.I stayed in.Armed with the just released third series dvds of "The Sopranos" and one litre of Hagen Daz classic chocolate I made some real progress at finishing my paper mache bits and pieces for the Foreign Artists Exhibition on October 31.The advance advertising says there will be some 60 artists so Im feeling somewhat ambivalent and a little fraught whether I can justify displaying my flying pigs,paper mache brains and broken hearts among the photography,painting,poetry and sculpture.
I really enjoyed The Sopranos.As one of the writers said in a commentary the characters evolve and develop.Unlike say the one dimensional cardboard Friends.
By the end of the third season things have become pretty bleak for most of the cast.A few continuing and developing story lines will expand in the next season im sure.Its interesting the way things are never cut and dried,people,motives never completely black and white.
Things are never resolved neatly in one programme but may linger until the end of a season or dwell on to the next.The show seems to treat its viewers with some sembalance of intelligence,no join the dots,signposted in your face exposition.You are rewarded for watching diligently;some comment about an event in another show or series brings recognition and realisation otherwise missed.The mixture of violence and gallows humor, the unstable personalities for me make this an enjoyable series to view.Roll on series 4 whenever it gets released here in Japan I can only speculate.
Thank You.
Last and by no means least something pleasant to end on.Much appreciation to the reader who emailed me about two Alex McCall No 1 Ladies Detective Agency books I was unaware of.
I hastened down to the local bookshop last week and ordered them.Should be here by Christmas according to the staff.
Thank you :)
Monday, October 03, 2005
Art For Arts Sake
Art for Arts Sake
Monday 3 October 2005
"Art is inconcievable without risk..without freedom and boldness of imagination.Real art comes as a surprise.You cant foresee the unpredictable, or regulate the unruly" Boris Pasternak
I was reminded of this passage last Saturday when i saw a small exhibition of Pop Art at a local gallery.All the heavy weights were there Hockney,Lichtenstein and of course Warhol.
Pop Art or "popular art " began in the 1950s and 60s as a reaction to the more obscure less accesible movements. On display were not only paintings or huge canvas prints (one with Lichtensteins trademark dots was almost hypnotic ) but there were also steel sculptures,collages a refrigerator packed with metallic foodstuffs and an installation labelled Civilisation 2..an accumulation of garbage packed into a clear waist high plastic box.
The last exhibit was a reclining nude couple done in all too realistic plaster and resin which drew a lot of interest from the curious crowd.
Overall an interesting show but i felt it was somewhat dated.Maybe it was shocking in the 60s some of it seemed passe .Maybe because some of the works have become so well known and part of every day life it no longer comes as a surprise and as relevant or challenging as it was once.
The Dictators
The Pasternak quote comes from Richard Overys excellent history of Hitler and Stalin titled "The Dictators".One of the chapters deals with Cultural Revolutions in both Russia and Germany.It describes in detail the efforts of both regimes to control art, culture and its expression through political regulation and centralisation.
In Germany for example a Reich Chamber of Culture was set up which was divided into 7 subordinate chambers which were further divided into further areas of control.Thus the Chamber of Visual Arts had control of a Chamber of Landscaping.
As well as government regulation, censorship and purges were used to control what the state saw as culture.Hundreds of artists,film directors ,writers were excluded from membership of state regulated organisations in both countries.Papers were closed down,books ,music were vetted.On the other hand state patronage was given to those whose work promoted each systems cultural outlook.Each state actively used the relatively new media of film and radio to literally broadcast its view to its population.
I'll give a more detailed review of the book in the near future when ive had time to digest it.
The Broken Umbrella
This is the name of a small Japanese eatery in Tajimi where I work.Taken there one night last week.Off a sidestreet past a pachinko parlor you enter a gap in a wooden wall about half the size of a normal door.No signage. Just a broken bamboo umbrella hence the name.
Upon entering we were warmly greeted by the two women proprietors.The small interior is U shaped in configuration.Customers sit on cushions round the outside while the women serve drinks and cook inside the U shape.Dark painted pine and shelves laden with customers numbered bottles pass as interior design and decoration.Local pottery dishes are used for crockery.On the U shaped wooden counter food is set out.Fish with their glazed eyes and gaping mouths stare at you from one end while fresh clumps of mushrooms,vegetables and meat crowd and vie for your attention.In the background muted jazz plays.I settled for some kebahs of grilled pork and onions and a large bowl of mushrooms sauteed in butter and ginger.Very friendly and comfortable atmosphere despite my lack of Japanese and surprisingly cheap compared with similiar places in the big smoke of Nagoya.
Movies
Watched The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.Wes Andersons latest offering.A pisstake of Jacques Cousteau and his TV marine documentaries.On a deeper level it might be seen as a modern Moby Dick with Bill Murray as Ahab chasing his own whale in this case a Jaguar shark.Like the Royal Tenebaums its also about relationships...family,paternal and general.
One of my favorite scenes involves the antics of a killer whale performing in the background of a scene with Murray and Blanchett.Its very difficult to concentrate on the conversation as the whale performs various tricks and barrel rolls.
The soundtrack involves one of the sailors performing David Bowie standards in Portugese while some of the marine animals are animated surrealistic creations.Both these things add to the quirkiness of the movie.a strong cast including Willem Dafoe and Jeff Goldblum hamming it up.I also liked Angelica Hustons character as Zissous ex-wife.T
The DVD has a commentary with Anderson and some other people involved with the film.Its somewhat difficult to hear at times as its done in a restaurant where they worked each day surrounded by other noisy diners.There are though some interesting insights into characters and some observations on Proust which seems somewhat highbrow in these days of "The Dukes of Hazzard" and its ilk.
Random Thoughts
My horoscope last Sunday said i should end "unproductive friendships".Got me thinking.What qualifies as an unproductive/productive friendship.Can you quantify,cost analyse a friendship?
Can you make a profit and loss account, a financial statement?
Credit or debit the drinks and presents you have showered and shouted friends.Do a cost benefit chart? Do friends gain value over time? Can I write off a failed relationship as a tax loss.Do friendships appreciate or depreciate over a tax year?
Can I write some friends off as charity cases? Are they tax deductible?Should I send a monthly statement or invoice those friends who made me wait and waste my time? Do I send out final notices that friendship services will be terminated in 30 days should payment not be forthcoming?
What amounts to a productive friendship?The reinforcement of your own biases,prejudices and conceited opinions by other like minded idiots?The knowledge that someone shares your own skewered views?
I think it Gonna Rain
Scavenging in the local used cd shop happened upon a Jools Holland and Friends cd.Amazing some of the stuff that winds up here..ive found some rare New Zealand material on the shelves.Anyway theres a nice cover by David Gray...mournful comes to mind.
Weatherwise its finally decided its autumn and abruptly dropped the temperature by 5 degrees.Its probably the most pleasant time of the year bar the early days of spring.No more cockroaches and lower humidity make for better sleeping patterns.I seem to have survived another summer here with some vestige of sanity.Another postive is the variety of food available in season the mushrooms and nashi pears are probably my favorite though the local oranges or mikans run a close third.
Mac Attack
Still looking at getting an Apple G4 IBook.Went to the Apple Shop and got another quote.Only 188,000 yen.Six months ago I was quoted 230,000 yen and that was without the new Tiger o/s.
Having only used Windows Im not sure if i can make the jump and handle the innovation.Its my own kind of cultural revolution in a sense.....
Monday 3 October 2005
"Art is inconcievable without risk..without freedom and boldness of imagination.Real art comes as a surprise.You cant foresee the unpredictable, or regulate the unruly" Boris Pasternak
I was reminded of this passage last Saturday when i saw a small exhibition of Pop Art at a local gallery.All the heavy weights were there Hockney,Lichtenstein and of course Warhol.
Pop Art or "popular art " began in the 1950s and 60s as a reaction to the more obscure less accesible movements. On display were not only paintings or huge canvas prints (one with Lichtensteins trademark dots was almost hypnotic ) but there were also steel sculptures,collages a refrigerator packed with metallic foodstuffs and an installation labelled Civilisation 2..an accumulation of garbage packed into a clear waist high plastic box.
The last exhibit was a reclining nude couple done in all too realistic plaster and resin which drew a lot of interest from the curious crowd.
Overall an interesting show but i felt it was somewhat dated.Maybe it was shocking in the 60s some of it seemed passe .Maybe because some of the works have become so well known and part of every day life it no longer comes as a surprise and as relevant or challenging as it was once.
The Dictators
The Pasternak quote comes from Richard Overys excellent history of Hitler and Stalin titled "The Dictators".One of the chapters deals with Cultural Revolutions in both Russia and Germany.It describes in detail the efforts of both regimes to control art, culture and its expression through political regulation and centralisation.
In Germany for example a Reich Chamber of Culture was set up which was divided into 7 subordinate chambers which were further divided into further areas of control.Thus the Chamber of Visual Arts had control of a Chamber of Landscaping.
As well as government regulation, censorship and purges were used to control what the state saw as culture.Hundreds of artists,film directors ,writers were excluded from membership of state regulated organisations in both countries.Papers were closed down,books ,music were vetted.On the other hand state patronage was given to those whose work promoted each systems cultural outlook.Each state actively used the relatively new media of film and radio to literally broadcast its view to its population.
I'll give a more detailed review of the book in the near future when ive had time to digest it.
The Broken Umbrella
This is the name of a small Japanese eatery in Tajimi where I work.Taken there one night last week.Off a sidestreet past a pachinko parlor you enter a gap in a wooden wall about half the size of a normal door.No signage. Just a broken bamboo umbrella hence the name.
Upon entering we were warmly greeted by the two women proprietors.The small interior is U shaped in configuration.Customers sit on cushions round the outside while the women serve drinks and cook inside the U shape.Dark painted pine and shelves laden with customers numbered bottles pass as interior design and decoration.Local pottery dishes are used for crockery.On the U shaped wooden counter food is set out.Fish with their glazed eyes and gaping mouths stare at you from one end while fresh clumps of mushrooms,vegetables and meat crowd and vie for your attention.In the background muted jazz plays.I settled for some kebahs of grilled pork and onions and a large bowl of mushrooms sauteed in butter and ginger.Very friendly and comfortable atmosphere despite my lack of Japanese and surprisingly cheap compared with similiar places in the big smoke of Nagoya.
Movies
Watched The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.Wes Andersons latest offering.A pisstake of Jacques Cousteau and his TV marine documentaries.On a deeper level it might be seen as a modern Moby Dick with Bill Murray as Ahab chasing his own whale in this case a Jaguar shark.Like the Royal Tenebaums its also about relationships...family,paternal and general.
One of my favorite scenes involves the antics of a killer whale performing in the background of a scene with Murray and Blanchett.Its very difficult to concentrate on the conversation as the whale performs various tricks and barrel rolls.
The soundtrack involves one of the sailors performing David Bowie standards in Portugese while some of the marine animals are animated surrealistic creations.Both these things add to the quirkiness of the movie.a strong cast including Willem Dafoe and Jeff Goldblum hamming it up.I also liked Angelica Hustons character as Zissous ex-wife.T
The DVD has a commentary with Anderson and some other people involved with the film.Its somewhat difficult to hear at times as its done in a restaurant where they worked each day surrounded by other noisy diners.There are though some interesting insights into characters and some observations on Proust which seems somewhat highbrow in these days of "The Dukes of Hazzard" and its ilk.
Random Thoughts
My horoscope last Sunday said i should end "unproductive friendships".Got me thinking.What qualifies as an unproductive/productive friendship.Can you quantify,cost analyse a friendship?
Can you make a profit and loss account, a financial statement?
Credit or debit the drinks and presents you have showered and shouted friends.Do a cost benefit chart? Do friends gain value over time? Can I write off a failed relationship as a tax loss.Do friendships appreciate or depreciate over a tax year?
Can I write some friends off as charity cases? Are they tax deductible?Should I send a monthly statement or invoice those friends who made me wait and waste my time? Do I send out final notices that friendship services will be terminated in 30 days should payment not be forthcoming?
What amounts to a productive friendship?The reinforcement of your own biases,prejudices and conceited opinions by other like minded idiots?The knowledge that someone shares your own skewered views?
I think it Gonna Rain
Scavenging in the local used cd shop happened upon a Jools Holland and Friends cd.Amazing some of the stuff that winds up here..ive found some rare New Zealand material on the shelves.Anyway theres a nice cover by David Gray...mournful comes to mind.
Weatherwise its finally decided its autumn and abruptly dropped the temperature by 5 degrees.Its probably the most pleasant time of the year bar the early days of spring.No more cockroaches and lower humidity make for better sleeping patterns.I seem to have survived another summer here with some vestige of sanity.Another postive is the variety of food available in season the mushrooms and nashi pears are probably my favorite though the local oranges or mikans run a close third.
Mac Attack
Still looking at getting an Apple G4 IBook.Went to the Apple Shop and got another quote.Only 188,000 yen.Six months ago I was quoted 230,000 yen and that was without the new Tiger o/s.
Having only used Windows Im not sure if i can make the jump and handle the innovation.Its my own kind of cultural revolution in a sense.....
Monday, September 19, 2005
Blog Day Afternoon
19 September 2005
Im writing this during my lunchbreak at work.I usually jot down a few ideas and flesh them out at the internet cafe.Cheaper and easier to catch the errant spelling mistakes that seem to occur with alarming frequency.
This being a National Holiday "Respect for the Aged Day"I had a 10a.m start which meant getting up at 7a.m to ensure enough time to catch the 8.20a.m subway train that connects with another train which gives me sufficent time to then catch a bus which leaves me with time to walk to the shopping complex where my school is located.
If nothing else Ive become adept at reading timetables in Japanese and improving my time-management skills.
Anyway this day is given over ostensibly to celebrate the more age advanced members of Japanese society.Those citizens who crowd public events such as the Expo site leeming-like ...(280,000 people visited the Expo yesterday),those sterling individuals who jump queues with impunity,who remain oblivious to frantic bell ringing as they weave back and forth on the footpath.Those beloved people who find it necessary to yell down their cellphones on crowded public transport or smoke in a packed elevator regardless of others discomfort.
Random Thoughts
Finished the fourth and final book in "The Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency" which i wrote of last week.Was interesting to learn a little about this former British colony that became independent in 1966.Apart from diamonds and being the home of the Khalahari Bushmen i knew nothing of this landlocked African country.Also enjoyable coming across a new writer and a memorable character and setting.There was the added bonus i got 3 of the 4 books in half price book sales but i still probably would have bought them given the quality of the writing.
Wee Beasties
Not quite a plague but Ive been eradicating cockroaches at the rate of 4-5 a night for the last 2 weeks.If I work a late shift and come back round 10.15pm I can usually find 1 or 2 scuttling for cover under the sofa or TV.Others just seem to wander in from the balcony as I leave the door ajar to air out the apartment if its been locked all day.
Jog Day Afternoon
Ran 10km on a running machine at my gym last Friday.Hadnt intended to but the instructions were all in Japanese and the thing was so hard to stop.I eventually decided to just jump for it whereupon the machine shut down and emitted a loud ringing noise which a staff member evidently shut off while i stood there sweating and bowing my apology profusely.
There were no serious after effects though my right ankle swelled up a little and my left knee protested; the remmants of a soccer injury.However all things considered I'll battle on and attempt to get in shape for the 10km race late November.....
Im writing this during my lunchbreak at work.I usually jot down a few ideas and flesh them out at the internet cafe.Cheaper and easier to catch the errant spelling mistakes that seem to occur with alarming frequency.
This being a National Holiday "Respect for the Aged Day"I had a 10a.m start which meant getting up at 7a.m to ensure enough time to catch the 8.20a.m subway train that connects with another train which gives me sufficent time to then catch a bus which leaves me with time to walk to the shopping complex where my school is located.
If nothing else Ive become adept at reading timetables in Japanese and improving my time-management skills.
Anyway this day is given over ostensibly to celebrate the more age advanced members of Japanese society.Those citizens who crowd public events such as the Expo site leeming-like ...(280,000 people visited the Expo yesterday),those sterling individuals who jump queues with impunity,who remain oblivious to frantic bell ringing as they weave back and forth on the footpath.Those beloved people who find it necessary to yell down their cellphones on crowded public transport or smoke in a packed elevator regardless of others discomfort.
Random Thoughts
Finished the fourth and final book in "The Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency" which i wrote of last week.Was interesting to learn a little about this former British colony that became independent in 1966.Apart from diamonds and being the home of the Khalahari Bushmen i knew nothing of this landlocked African country.Also enjoyable coming across a new writer and a memorable character and setting.There was the added bonus i got 3 of the 4 books in half price book sales but i still probably would have bought them given the quality of the writing.
Wee Beasties
Not quite a plague but Ive been eradicating cockroaches at the rate of 4-5 a night for the last 2 weeks.If I work a late shift and come back round 10.15pm I can usually find 1 or 2 scuttling for cover under the sofa or TV.Others just seem to wander in from the balcony as I leave the door ajar to air out the apartment if its been locked all day.
Jog Day Afternoon
Ran 10km on a running machine at my gym last Friday.Hadnt intended to but the instructions were all in Japanese and the thing was so hard to stop.I eventually decided to just jump for it whereupon the machine shut down and emitted a loud ringing noise which a staff member evidently shut off while i stood there sweating and bowing my apology profusely.
There were no serious after effects though my right ankle swelled up a little and my left knee protested; the remmants of a soccer injury.However all things considered I'll battle on and attempt to get in shape for the 10km race late November.....
Monday, September 05, 2005
Dont Leave Me High Dont Leave Me Dry
Dont Levee Me High Dont Levee Me Dry
Monday 5 September 2005
For some perverse reason RadioHeads "High and Dry" sprung into my mind all week.High rotation.Possibly Hurricane Katrina and the resulting floods.Funny how ones mind works at times.
Meanwhile Typhoon 14 bears down on Japan.The largest typhoon so far this season.Should arrive Wednesday.Lots of heavy rain and strong winds.Unless it petulantly decides to veer towards Taiwan and mainland China at the last instant.
Pornography
:books,films etc that show sexual activity in order to cause sexual excitement.
Oxford Dictionary.
Im not sure if Id consider "9 Songs"from the fertile mind of Michael Winterbottom as porn.Certainly theres sexual activity.A lot.Between the 9 songs.Explicit.Physical bonding.
9 songs 8 bands 1 couple.A review called it "fucking rubbish" which is a tad harsh while another criticised the dull dialogue.Sure it lacked the penetrating wit of say Intolerable Cruelty but who wants to live with a wise cracking partner 24/7.Besides which is more realistic?
The actors themselves werent exactly outstanding either and the music-contemporary rock groups of the Franz Ferdinand ilk hardly whipped me up into a sexual frenzy either.
An interesting movie conception but I enjoyed his earlier 24 Hour Party People and the recent Code 46 much more...a bit of an anti-climax really.
Book Bargains
Managed to purchase a couple of bargains last weekend.Half price.Literature in English in Japan is hellishly expensive be it in magazine ,book or text form.Most of the people I work with dont read either so its difficult even swopping stuff thats not the Da Vinci Code or requires crayons.
Anyway I got a short history of Japanese baseball and Ichiros effect on the MLB and its Japanese counterpart.Also I got a rather serious 700 page tome comparing Hitler and Stalin as dictators.I think it will give me a hernia lugging it back and forwards to work.
Currently enjoying a light entertaining book "The No 1 Ladies Detective Agency" by Alexander Mcall Smith.Set in Botswana the main character is a kind of African Miss Marple who invesigates missing persons cases and the like.Shes a vehicle or a conceit.......
(i hesitate to call her" a tool" after seeing "9 Songs") for the author to describe his impressions of the African landscape historically,socially and geographically.Id always lumped the African continents people into the one stereotypical basket.After reading this book however I can now appreciate how each nationality is distinct and has its own character merits and failings.
Simply written I was reminded of Rumpole of the Bailey in terms of characters and its recounting of human behaviour and foibles.The concept of people being promoted beyond their talent it seems is a universal problem.
Running on Empty
This years entry form for the annual 10k Nagoya fun run arrived in the post last weekend.Havent missed a year.Except for 2004 last year when I was tooling around on crutches for 2 and ahalf months having broken my damn right ankle in Prague.Not sure if its up to trainning and running that distance.I`ll have to check it out on a running n\machine at the gym later this week.Ive got almost 2 months to pysche myself up or out of it.Would be a shame to miss it and i could do with the exercise as well.
The Only Living Gaijin In Konan
Its funny.The help shift school where I work is only 20 minutes by train from Nagoya.Yet I might as well be in deepest,darkest Africa for all the odd stares and finger-pointing that goes on every Monday.As if I was some object of curiosity.From another planet.
Maybe Im paranoid but such a view seems justified when this morning I was pestered not once but twice by well-meaning if somewhat naive passers-by.Peppering me with their questions as I was drinking a Starbucks coffee.
Trying to read I was."Where live you?" and "Do English you speak" in their best Yoda English.
I replied in kind.
To the first question i said in my best Japanese phrase learnt by rote to combat such situations"I come from Mars".
To the second inquiry a brusque "Mais non je suis francais".
Both answers had the desired effect the inquistors were vanquished and left bewildered while i finished my coffee and my book.Yes i know im rude and its hardly a good cultural exchange but really i would have thought with the increase in overseas travel and the number of foreign visitors to the Expo a more enlightened attitude would have began to prevail..zut alors....
Monday 5 September 2005
For some perverse reason RadioHeads "High and Dry" sprung into my mind all week.High rotation.Possibly Hurricane Katrina and the resulting floods.Funny how ones mind works at times.
Meanwhile Typhoon 14 bears down on Japan.The largest typhoon so far this season.Should arrive Wednesday.Lots of heavy rain and strong winds.Unless it petulantly decides to veer towards Taiwan and mainland China at the last instant.
Pornography
:books,films etc that show sexual activity in order to cause sexual excitement.
Oxford Dictionary.
Im not sure if Id consider "9 Songs"from the fertile mind of Michael Winterbottom as porn.Certainly theres sexual activity.A lot.Between the 9 songs.Explicit.Physical bonding.
9 songs 8 bands 1 couple.A review called it "fucking rubbish" which is a tad harsh while another criticised the dull dialogue.Sure it lacked the penetrating wit of say Intolerable Cruelty but who wants to live with a wise cracking partner 24/7.Besides which is more realistic?
The actors themselves werent exactly outstanding either and the music-contemporary rock groups of the Franz Ferdinand ilk hardly whipped me up into a sexual frenzy either.
An interesting movie conception but I enjoyed his earlier 24 Hour Party People and the recent Code 46 much more...a bit of an anti-climax really.
Book Bargains
Managed to purchase a couple of bargains last weekend.Half price.Literature in English in Japan is hellishly expensive be it in magazine ,book or text form.Most of the people I work with dont read either so its difficult even swopping stuff thats not the Da Vinci Code or requires crayons.
Anyway I got a short history of Japanese baseball and Ichiros effect on the MLB and its Japanese counterpart.Also I got a rather serious 700 page tome comparing Hitler and Stalin as dictators.I think it will give me a hernia lugging it back and forwards to work.
Currently enjoying a light entertaining book "The No 1 Ladies Detective Agency" by Alexander Mcall Smith.Set in Botswana the main character is a kind of African Miss Marple who invesigates missing persons cases and the like.Shes a vehicle or a conceit.......
(i hesitate to call her" a tool" after seeing "9 Songs") for the author to describe his impressions of the African landscape historically,socially and geographically.Id always lumped the African continents people into the one stereotypical basket.After reading this book however I can now appreciate how each nationality is distinct and has its own character merits and failings.
Simply written I was reminded of Rumpole of the Bailey in terms of characters and its recounting of human behaviour and foibles.The concept of people being promoted beyond their talent it seems is a universal problem.
Running on Empty
This years entry form for the annual 10k Nagoya fun run arrived in the post last weekend.Havent missed a year.Except for 2004 last year when I was tooling around on crutches for 2 and ahalf months having broken my damn right ankle in Prague.Not sure if its up to trainning and running that distance.I`ll have to check it out on a running n\machine at the gym later this week.Ive got almost 2 months to pysche myself up or out of it.Would be a shame to miss it and i could do with the exercise as well.
The Only Living Gaijin In Konan
Its funny.The help shift school where I work is only 20 minutes by train from Nagoya.Yet I might as well be in deepest,darkest Africa for all the odd stares and finger-pointing that goes on every Monday.As if I was some object of curiosity.From another planet.
Maybe Im paranoid but such a view seems justified when this morning I was pestered not once but twice by well-meaning if somewhat naive passers-by.Peppering me with their questions as I was drinking a Starbucks coffee.
Trying to read I was."Where live you?" and "Do English you speak" in their best Yoda English.
I replied in kind.
To the first question i said in my best Japanese phrase learnt by rote to combat such situations"I come from Mars".
To the second inquiry a brusque "Mais non je suis francais".
Both answers had the desired effect the inquistors were vanquished and left bewildered while i finished my coffee and my book.Yes i know im rude and its hardly a good cultural exchange but really i would have thought with the increase in overseas travel and the number of foreign visitors to the Expo a more enlightened attitude would have began to prevail..zut alors....
Monday, August 29, 2005
Nobody Said It Was Ise
Nobody Said It Was Ise
Monday 29 August 2005
Currently reading Syd Fields "Going to the Movies" about his life and career as a script writer.He shares his insights and experiences and illustrates his own theories by dissecting some famous movies.He breaks down each movie discussed such as Annie Hall, ChinaTown,The Wild Bunch and Pulp Fiction into its basic elements.He offers his own critical way of viewing a movie.Whether its linear or non-linear, whether it uses flashbacks or not they still have in his opinion a start,a middle and an end or resolution.He also discusses the process of script writing and his own philosphy...better to write something that can be improved than to write nothing at all.He gets his best ideas he says while lying in a hottub.I tend to get some of my ideas while swimming, I keep a notebook handy just in case i forget them.Must be something to do with the water and its creative powers..whatever..
Anyway after 2 years working as the head of the story department for a hollywood film company he read over 2000 film scripts.Of these he only found 40 good enough to submit to his companys financial partners for production consideration.
I doubt whether Field would have submitted a drab offering I watched recently"Wicker Park".With a wooden Josh Harnett and an equally uninspiring Coldplay soundtrack.After reading of the great efforts required to get a movie to the production stage I wonder why they bothered.
Similiar Sounds Different Meaning
Often students will mishear things.Sometimes comical.An example from last week." A buddy of mine " was misheard as "A bottle of wine"
Stupid People
Despite Aussie Schapelle Corbys conviction earlier this year to 20 years jail for trying to smuggle 4.2kgs of marijuana into Bali some Australians just wont learn.Another 11 await either trial or drugs charges in Indonesia.John Howard the Aussie PM,hardly a man of great intellectual standing himself given his staunch support of one George W Bush, called the drug smugglers "silly"."Its beyond belief that any Australian could be so stupid as to carry drugs into a country in Asia" he was quoted as saying in the Japan Times this week.Trust me John from personal experience it aint at all surprising.
The Japan Times article did include an unintentional pun when it described 9 Australians as having been arrested in "a joint drugs bust".Of course this is the same paper whose editorial recently pleaded for "More concrete efforts to be made to reduce the number of minor accidents in residential and shopping areas"....mmm concrete aint the most appropriate adjective surely.
Speaking of stupid people one shouldnt forget the gentle folk at Japan Tobacco either.In a last gasp effort to stop the decline of its consumers the company is offering 5kgs of gold bars and other prizes as part of a promotion for its "Smart Smoke" cigarettes.They apparently are a new reduced odourless cigarette.mmm "Smart Smoke" a great oxymoron.May the current low of adult smokers 29.4% continue to decline.
Random Thoughts
The weathers been stinking hot the last week.Nagoya avoided the wrath of Typhoon number 11 but has been basking in its aftermath...high temperatures and humidity.Bring on autumn with its lower temperatures and dry air.
Im still awaiting a reply from the organisers of the Foreign Artists Exhibition.I sent in my application some weeks again but have yet to get a reply.Ive been busy completing a couple of paper mache things in the event im successful.The humidity tends to slow down the whole drying process.If you get too impetuous and dont wait till each layer is sufficently dry and hardened you end up with a big pulpy moldy mass.Anyway Ive got till November to complete the various bits and pieces I want to display..just a matter of waiting with fingers crossed for a positive response...shoganai..
Monday 29 August 2005
Currently reading Syd Fields "Going to the Movies" about his life and career as a script writer.He shares his insights and experiences and illustrates his own theories by dissecting some famous movies.He breaks down each movie discussed such as Annie Hall, ChinaTown,The Wild Bunch and Pulp Fiction into its basic elements.He offers his own critical way of viewing a movie.Whether its linear or non-linear, whether it uses flashbacks or not they still have in his opinion a start,a middle and an end or resolution.He also discusses the process of script writing and his own philosphy...better to write something that can be improved than to write nothing at all.He gets his best ideas he says while lying in a hottub.I tend to get some of my ideas while swimming, I keep a notebook handy just in case i forget them.Must be something to do with the water and its creative powers..whatever..
Anyway after 2 years working as the head of the story department for a hollywood film company he read over 2000 film scripts.Of these he only found 40 good enough to submit to his companys financial partners for production consideration.
I doubt whether Field would have submitted a drab offering I watched recently"Wicker Park".With a wooden Josh Harnett and an equally uninspiring Coldplay soundtrack.After reading of the great efforts required to get a movie to the production stage I wonder why they bothered.
Similiar Sounds Different Meaning
Often students will mishear things.Sometimes comical.An example from last week." A buddy of mine " was misheard as "A bottle of wine"
Stupid People
Despite Aussie Schapelle Corbys conviction earlier this year to 20 years jail for trying to smuggle 4.2kgs of marijuana into Bali some Australians just wont learn.Another 11 await either trial or drugs charges in Indonesia.John Howard the Aussie PM,hardly a man of great intellectual standing himself given his staunch support of one George W Bush, called the drug smugglers "silly"."Its beyond belief that any Australian could be so stupid as to carry drugs into a country in Asia" he was quoted as saying in the Japan Times this week.Trust me John from personal experience it aint at all surprising.
The Japan Times article did include an unintentional pun when it described 9 Australians as having been arrested in "a joint drugs bust".Of course this is the same paper whose editorial recently pleaded for "More concrete efforts to be made to reduce the number of minor accidents in residential and shopping areas"....mmm concrete aint the most appropriate adjective surely.
Speaking of stupid people one shouldnt forget the gentle folk at Japan Tobacco either.In a last gasp effort to stop the decline of its consumers the company is offering 5kgs of gold bars and other prizes as part of a promotion for its "Smart Smoke" cigarettes.They apparently are a new reduced odourless cigarette.mmm "Smart Smoke" a great oxymoron.May the current low of adult smokers 29.4% continue to decline.
Random Thoughts
The weathers been stinking hot the last week.Nagoya avoided the wrath of Typhoon number 11 but has been basking in its aftermath...high temperatures and humidity.Bring on autumn with its lower temperatures and dry air.
Im still awaiting a reply from the organisers of the Foreign Artists Exhibition.I sent in my application some weeks again but have yet to get a reply.Ive been busy completing a couple of paper mache things in the event im successful.The humidity tends to slow down the whole drying process.If you get too impetuous and dont wait till each layer is sufficently dry and hardened you end up with a big pulpy moldy mass.Anyway Ive got till November to complete the various bits and pieces I want to display..just a matter of waiting with fingers crossed for a positive response...shoganai..
Monday, August 15, 2005
Automobiles,Trains,Planes
15 August 2005
Its Obon holiday week.When the locals return to their ancestral homes to remember their dead relatives.Theres a huge exodus.Trains,planes and other forms of public transport are crammed to over-capacity.Highway traffic jams extending 30km arent uncommon.
It was the twentieth anniversary Friday of the worlds worst aviation accident involving one aircraft.In 1985 a JAL Boeing lost most of its tail fin and crashed into the mountains of Guma Prefecture.20 years on its still the subject of TV dramas and news coverage of victims families making their annual pilgrimage to the crash site.Much easier recently with the building of a road within 800 metres of the memorial.
520 odd people perished.The playback of the final minutes of the pilots audio as they wrestled with the uncontrollable plane made for harrowing listening even in Japanese.It ended with the metallic voice warning "Pull Up Pull Up" and then a loud hissing noise.Some of those who survived the initial crash at 6.58pm died during the night as rescuers lacked adequate trainning in night flying and hovering their helicopters.Well it was 1985 after all.
BOOKS
I recently read Paul Austers New York Triology.Three longish short stories.Interesting style.Difficult to get into.Difficult to relate to any of the characters or their situations.Not sure if the style of writing was meant to keep you at arms length and dispassionate.I found it hard to warm to.
Also read Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K Jerome.A pretty easy read about boating on the canals and rivers of 1920s,1930s England.Not too taxing.The author has a relaxed almost conversational style with plenty of asides and irrelevant tho interesting bits and pieces about such things as old Roman sites and early English history.It made barging and boating seem very leisurely compared with the life portrayed in Young Adam a recent dvd I saw starring Ewan McGregor.McGregors character worked on a barge ,living with a family.It was pretty grim invoving deceit,murder and extra-marital affairs.The photography made all the characters and scenery dull,grey and lifeless.
DVDs
Speaking of dvds i was impressed with Geoffrey Rush as Peter Sellers in the HBO tv film The Life and Death of Peter Sellers.As well as having a striking physical resembalance to Sellers Rush also had worked out some of his mannerisms.As one review stated Sellers was a first rate mimic and comic but a third rate human being.I recommend this, having for some reason passed over it till now.
I also revisited a personal fav of mine Dinner Rush.No real stars more an ensemble cast effort.One night in a hip New York restaurant.Character driven plots.Diners and staff providing the action.The extras on the dvd add little as such.There is a soundtrack extra which runs for an hour or so with some relaxing bossa nova, south american music.
The movies also got a surprise ending I forgot about .The kitchen scenes are shot like action scenes sometimes slowed right down as you see various cooking arts on display.Evidently the director cut his teeth on music videos and owns several restaurants including the one where the movie was shot.Again well worth a look.
Opps! Conflict of Interest?
At the moment the issue of asbestos and people dying from asbestos related diseases has raised its ugly dusty head in Japan.Despite the dangers of asbestos being known since at least the 1970s little or nothing appears to have been done here either to stop its use or provide help for those who suffer from its impact.
Whatever, last week the head of the Environment panel looking into the question of asbestos has had to resign.News reports state that the head of the panel a professor no less was an adviser to the Japan Asbestos Association,a group of asbestos manufacturers.He decided to step down as the connection would "have a negative impact on the panels image." no kidding prof!!
He even appeared in a promotional video in 1994 "Natural Resource Asbestos That Contributes to Society".I find it hard to believe a so-called intelligent man didnt consider there would be some conflict of interest and should have refused the panel appointment in the first place.
Lets Go to Shopping...More Bad English
Each Monday recently i work at a newly constructed shopping centre.It was flooded with families today.Its a holiday.Its hot.Its summer.Naturally if you are Japanese you head lemming like to your nearest retail outlet.As opposed to the beach.Ocean.Or any other healthy outdoor pursuit.
Anyway there are a couple of examples of bad english i wish to share...
"With safety,relief and the delicious meal please chosen and enjoyed your dish and drinks"
and the other glowing example of how well the english language has penetrated Japanese consciousness...
"Our professionally trained chefs create sweets ready for you to enjoy as well as simple"
If I could only just get a ladder and some paint I'd be much happier....
Its Obon holiday week.When the locals return to their ancestral homes to remember their dead relatives.Theres a huge exodus.Trains,planes and other forms of public transport are crammed to over-capacity.Highway traffic jams extending 30km arent uncommon.
It was the twentieth anniversary Friday of the worlds worst aviation accident involving one aircraft.In 1985 a JAL Boeing lost most of its tail fin and crashed into the mountains of Guma Prefecture.20 years on its still the subject of TV dramas and news coverage of victims families making their annual pilgrimage to the crash site.Much easier recently with the building of a road within 800 metres of the memorial.
520 odd people perished.The playback of the final minutes of the pilots audio as they wrestled with the uncontrollable plane made for harrowing listening even in Japanese.It ended with the metallic voice warning "Pull Up Pull Up" and then a loud hissing noise.Some of those who survived the initial crash at 6.58pm died during the night as rescuers lacked adequate trainning in night flying and hovering their helicopters.Well it was 1985 after all.
BOOKS
I recently read Paul Austers New York Triology.Three longish short stories.Interesting style.Difficult to get into.Difficult to relate to any of the characters or their situations.Not sure if the style of writing was meant to keep you at arms length and dispassionate.I found it hard to warm to.
Also read Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K Jerome.A pretty easy read about boating on the canals and rivers of 1920s,1930s England.Not too taxing.The author has a relaxed almost conversational style with plenty of asides and irrelevant tho interesting bits and pieces about such things as old Roman sites and early English history.It made barging and boating seem very leisurely compared with the life portrayed in Young Adam a recent dvd I saw starring Ewan McGregor.McGregors character worked on a barge ,living with a family.It was pretty grim invoving deceit,murder and extra-marital affairs.The photography made all the characters and scenery dull,grey and lifeless.
DVDs
Speaking of dvds i was impressed with Geoffrey Rush as Peter Sellers in the HBO tv film The Life and Death of Peter Sellers.As well as having a striking physical resembalance to Sellers Rush also had worked out some of his mannerisms.As one review stated Sellers was a first rate mimic and comic but a third rate human being.I recommend this, having for some reason passed over it till now.
I also revisited a personal fav of mine Dinner Rush.No real stars more an ensemble cast effort.One night in a hip New York restaurant.Character driven plots.Diners and staff providing the action.The extras on the dvd add little as such.There is a soundtrack extra which runs for an hour or so with some relaxing bossa nova, south american music.
The movies also got a surprise ending I forgot about .The kitchen scenes are shot like action scenes sometimes slowed right down as you see various cooking arts on display.Evidently the director cut his teeth on music videos and owns several restaurants including the one where the movie was shot.Again well worth a look.
Opps! Conflict of Interest?
At the moment the issue of asbestos and people dying from asbestos related diseases has raised its ugly dusty head in Japan.Despite the dangers of asbestos being known since at least the 1970s little or nothing appears to have been done here either to stop its use or provide help for those who suffer from its impact.
Whatever, last week the head of the Environment panel looking into the question of asbestos has had to resign.News reports state that the head of the panel a professor no less was an adviser to the Japan Asbestos Association,a group of asbestos manufacturers.He decided to step down as the connection would "have a negative impact on the panels image." no kidding prof!!
He even appeared in a promotional video in 1994 "Natural Resource Asbestos That Contributes to Society".I find it hard to believe a so-called intelligent man didnt consider there would be some conflict of interest and should have refused the panel appointment in the first place.
Lets Go to Shopping...More Bad English
Each Monday recently i work at a newly constructed shopping centre.It was flooded with families today.Its a holiday.Its hot.Its summer.Naturally if you are Japanese you head lemming like to your nearest retail outlet.As opposed to the beach.Ocean.Or any other healthy outdoor pursuit.
Anyway there are a couple of examples of bad english i wish to share...
"With safety,relief and the delicious meal please chosen and enjoyed your dish and drinks"
and the other glowing example of how well the english language has penetrated Japanese consciousness...
"Our professionally trained chefs create sweets ready for you to enjoy as well as simple"
If I could only just get a ladder and some paint I'd be much happier....
Monday, August 08, 2005
Pests
Monday 8 August 2005
Seems this week I`ve been targetted by pests.Both animal and human.Invaded by a force of 5 cockroaches over the week.Their hard armoured shelled bodies like mini hummers.Obviviously seeking respite from the appalling heat of the last week.The temperature drops to an average 25degrees at night.Humidity remains high.
I`ve developed this lingering summer cold due to constant exposure to the debilitating effects of air-conditioning.Sore throat.Dry eyes.Arid nasal passages.Sweaty ears.
The cockroaches give away their positions and betray their arrival with the soft pitter patter of their feet across my now fading tatami mat flooring.If I`m sleeping I awake bolt upright and swoop down full of vengengance like some wolf on the fold as poem goes.I capture the wee beastie and despatch it forthwith into the toilet or pitch it headlong over the balcony.
If only I could do the same to my human invaders.Equally obnoxious.Numerous and even less welcome.There seems to be an infestation of Mormons in the area recently.The genus I really loathe is the sanctimonious North American variety.Easily spotted.It wears ill fitting dated clothing.Its loud.It usually travels in pairs.Must be for its own protection.It has its own touchy feely vocabulary though I`ve learned not to speak to them beyond my initial and final"You're Mormon sons of Satan arent you?.
I just cant understand with so many domestic problems why they cant go soul saving in America.Doesnt charity begin at home?And why Japan why not Iraq?
I've tried reasoning with them e.g "How can you reconcile the fact that President Bush is a committed and devoted murderer and Christian or vice versa.
But what really annoyed me was the visitation last night by a particularly stupid pair.It wasnt just that they visited on a Sunday.The Lord's Day of Rest.Nor was it their hypocritical peace,love and waterbeds attitude.What really got my blood boiling was their timing.It was the day after the 60th Anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima.Completely unaware.Completely stupid.So I battered them with innane questions such as " How come God lets bad things happen to good people?" and "Can you really get to Heaven even if you are a Mormon bigamist ?" before they left.
Best advice...dont open your door to them.
CULTURE
I braved the crowds and saw the Van Gogh In Context exhibition on Friday.Its just opened but for a limited time his Sunflowers painting is on show....once the worlds most expensive piece of canvas and oil.The "Context" part of the show has works by his contemporaries and stuff he was influenced by.Its an attempt to place him,what he influenced and what influenced him.Thus there are some Monets and Signacs paintings as well as a famous Japanese woodblock artist and prints that Van Gogh collected.
One of his Japanese style paintings is on display as well as drawings and sketches for a Paris magazine with a Japanese flavor.Unfortunately,there were no signs or information in English.Not surprising really as I was the only non-native I saw.
It was interesting just sitting and observing people.Some folk would just trot past each frame.Barely give it a glance before moving to the next one.Others took longer.Pondered,took their time to notice the brushstrokes,the patterns and swirls,thickness of paint.Others,less patient,polite,oblivious to others blocked or walked in front of others view.There was the odd cell-phone going off.Choas as the embarrassed owner is swarmed by officious gallery staff and cut down by the glares and tut-tutting of disapproving elders.Affronted that the atmosphere be tainted by such a barbarian thing.
The paintings themselves were quite wonderful.The Sunflower painting for example...the leaves of the middle flower appear almost 3d so thick has the oil paint been applied.The paint has been applied in a circular manner imitating the head of a sunflower.In some of his calmer period paintings you can see the paint has been less thickly used and the patterns themselves appear less violent.
One of my favorites on view was one of an aslyum garden.The sky was a light blue and judging by the absence of violent brushstokes and thick paint must have been completed in one of his more pleasant tranquil times.Evidently theres some co-relation.Whatever,it evoked a peaceful scene and the presence of brighter cheerful colors gave it a less sombre light.
Thank you Robert Hughes...Im no art critic.I know nothing of it.I cant get my head round Cubism be it Rubik or Picasso.I like accessible stuff,not the chocolate box stuff of Rockwell or the drippy works of Pollack.Stuff you can understand nothing abstract.Stuff that lasts.
DODGEBALL
From one extreme to another.I also enjoyed Dodgeball, the movie now available on DVD.Hardly in the class of Van Gogh.Though they both left an impression on me.
It was good to watch a movie so unpolitically correct.Its been awhile since i've heard the word "muff-diver" in a mainstream movie.Or such lines as "Its like watching a bunch of retards trying to fuck a door -handle".Starring Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller (who must be suffering burn-out or overexposure soon),it was surprisingly funny.I couldnt believe some of the things I was laughing at.Someone getting hit by spanners and wrenches thrown by their coach in practice.
Unsophisticated,but fun.Which made me wonder is one mans Picasso another mans Dodgeball?...
Seems this week I`ve been targetted by pests.Both animal and human.Invaded by a force of 5 cockroaches over the week.Their hard armoured shelled bodies like mini hummers.Obviviously seeking respite from the appalling heat of the last week.The temperature drops to an average 25degrees at night.Humidity remains high.
I`ve developed this lingering summer cold due to constant exposure to the debilitating effects of air-conditioning.Sore throat.Dry eyes.Arid nasal passages.Sweaty ears.
The cockroaches give away their positions and betray their arrival with the soft pitter patter of their feet across my now fading tatami mat flooring.If I`m sleeping I awake bolt upright and swoop down full of vengengance like some wolf on the fold as poem goes.I capture the wee beastie and despatch it forthwith into the toilet or pitch it headlong over the balcony.
If only I could do the same to my human invaders.Equally obnoxious.Numerous and even less welcome.There seems to be an infestation of Mormons in the area recently.The genus I really loathe is the sanctimonious North American variety.Easily spotted.It wears ill fitting dated clothing.Its loud.It usually travels in pairs.Must be for its own protection.It has its own touchy feely vocabulary though I`ve learned not to speak to them beyond my initial and final"You're Mormon sons of Satan arent you?.
I just cant understand with so many domestic problems why they cant go soul saving in America.Doesnt charity begin at home?And why Japan why not Iraq?
I've tried reasoning with them e.g "How can you reconcile the fact that President Bush is a committed and devoted murderer and Christian or vice versa.
But what really annoyed me was the visitation last night by a particularly stupid pair.It wasnt just that they visited on a Sunday.The Lord's Day of Rest.Nor was it their hypocritical peace,love and waterbeds attitude.What really got my blood boiling was their timing.It was the day after the 60th Anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima.Completely unaware.Completely stupid.So I battered them with innane questions such as " How come God lets bad things happen to good people?" and "Can you really get to Heaven even if you are a Mormon bigamist ?" before they left.
Best advice...dont open your door to them.
CULTURE
I braved the crowds and saw the Van Gogh In Context exhibition on Friday.Its just opened but for a limited time his Sunflowers painting is on show....once the worlds most expensive piece of canvas and oil.The "Context" part of the show has works by his contemporaries and stuff he was influenced by.Its an attempt to place him,what he influenced and what influenced him.Thus there are some Monets and Signacs paintings as well as a famous Japanese woodblock artist and prints that Van Gogh collected.
One of his Japanese style paintings is on display as well as drawings and sketches for a Paris magazine with a Japanese flavor.Unfortunately,there were no signs or information in English.Not surprising really as I was the only non-native I saw.
It was interesting just sitting and observing people.Some folk would just trot past each frame.Barely give it a glance before moving to the next one.Others took longer.Pondered,took their time to notice the brushstrokes,the patterns and swirls,thickness of paint.Others,less patient,polite,oblivious to others blocked or walked in front of others view.There was the odd cell-phone going off.Choas as the embarrassed owner is swarmed by officious gallery staff and cut down by the glares and tut-tutting of disapproving elders.Affronted that the atmosphere be tainted by such a barbarian thing.
The paintings themselves were quite wonderful.The Sunflower painting for example...the leaves of the middle flower appear almost 3d so thick has the oil paint been applied.The paint has been applied in a circular manner imitating the head of a sunflower.In some of his calmer period paintings you can see the paint has been less thickly used and the patterns themselves appear less violent.
One of my favorites on view was one of an aslyum garden.The sky was a light blue and judging by the absence of violent brushstokes and thick paint must have been completed in one of his more pleasant tranquil times.Evidently theres some co-relation.Whatever,it evoked a peaceful scene and the presence of brighter cheerful colors gave it a less sombre light.
Thank you Robert Hughes...Im no art critic.I know nothing of it.I cant get my head round Cubism be it Rubik or Picasso.I like accessible stuff,not the chocolate box stuff of Rockwell or the drippy works of Pollack.Stuff you can understand nothing abstract.Stuff that lasts.
DODGEBALL
From one extreme to another.I also enjoyed Dodgeball, the movie now available on DVD.Hardly in the class of Van Gogh.Though they both left an impression on me.
It was good to watch a movie so unpolitically correct.Its been awhile since i've heard the word "muff-diver" in a mainstream movie.Or such lines as "Its like watching a bunch of retards trying to fuck a door -handle".Starring Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller (who must be suffering burn-out or overexposure soon),it was surprisingly funny.I couldnt believe some of the things I was laughing at.Someone getting hit by spanners and wrenches thrown by their coach in practice.
Unsophisticated,but fun.Which made me wonder is one mans Picasso another mans Dodgeball?...
Monday, August 01, 2005
Pryotechnics
August 1 2005
The humidity,rain and heat of the rainy season have been replaced by the humidity and heat of summer.In addition there are the cicadas.Big cricket like insects.The size of your thumb.Ive been awaken the last few mornings by their urgent metallic rasping.It has the same effect as fingernails being dragged across a blackboard.Or sirens on Stukas.Im instantly alert unable to return to sleep,lying inert bathed in a sweat atop a soaked futon.
Summers not all that bad.As I noted last entry the summer sumo tournament is in July.As well there are numerous firework festivals and smaller local festivals to take your mind off the weather.
Tajimi, where I work had its annual fireworks festival yesterday.As usual the area in front of the train station is given over to various performers and performances during the day.Closer to the river where the fireworks are set off both banks are lined with stalls selling food,drink and other diversions.
Among summer treats you can try choco-bananas;bananas dipped in chocolate,eat soba noddles,partake of grilled eel or corn cobs or even baked octopus balls.
The traditional bowls of shaved iced make a welcome appearance.It comes in an assortment of flavors.My favorite being a thick sickly blue syrup "Blue Lagoon".My least favorite has to be a concoction that involves mixing a couple of spoonfuls of azuki beans (red soya beans) into the shaved ice.
The diversions include trying to capture goldfish with what amounts to a tea strainer.This involves a fair degree of skill as the paper scoop soon gets wet rendering it well nigh impossible to catch anything.Usually the vendors give you a wimpy little goldfish out of sympathy for your pathetic efforts.Insult is added to injury when 1 day later you return home to find said fish floating upside down in the aquarium you bought specially for it.
Anyway the fireworks at Tajimi are by all accounts modest when compared to larger cities and displays.Seems theres some kind of rivalry a Freudian pryomania envy .Whatever, the display lasts for one hour 7.30-8.30pm filling the air with gasps and cheers from admiring locals watching their taxes going up in smoke.
There are the rare accidents associated with such events.A few years ago a number of people were crushed to death after too many people got on a bridge after a display ended.Then theres the occassional mishap with explosives and spontaneous combustion.
The festivals also offer the chance to parade about in your yukata and geta.Yakata are the cheaper,lighter equivalent of a kimono and have in recent years enjoyed a popular resurgence particularly with the younger generation.Teamed with geta-laquered wooden sandals, they are the fashion item of summer.The yukata come in a rainbow of colors and the obi or waist band sets it off stylishly.Cheap imported Chinese fabric and hemp have made them more price friendly.My favorite being a purple and pink get up with a Hello Kitty motif and matching fan protruding at a rakish angle from your obi.Enough already.
Random Notes
Oceans 12...Why?Take the money and run.My God what was I thinking when I rented it?What a travesty..Id read the reviews,should have known better.Not really any plot.The running joke seems to be on the audience.Lots of dead space and scenery changes to mask how dire and threadbare it all is.
Internet Suicide Pacts
Read an interesting article recently about a morbid trend in Japan.Internet suicide pacts.You meet like minded people via websites set up for such purposes.Internet suicides usually die in groups of two,three,or four.The largest group thus far has been seven found last October.
Why the complusion to die in a group? i hear you ask.According to Yukiko Nishihara, a counsellor "the answer has to do with Japanese society and its tendency to organise itself into hierarchical groups.Japanese have weak individual identities and feel more secure losing themselves in and identifying themselves with a group." Yikes was my first reaction when i read this .If this wasnt worrying enough theres also the comment that "consistent with Japanese psychology,the rise of internet suicide has provoked a reaction of helpless panic".
Not only in this area either.One only has to think of the slow reaction after the Tokyo earthquake recently.Earthquake reports were delayed due to outdated computer programs and some officials didnt bother to answer their phones and return to work as required.
One shudders to think of a possible terrorist attack in Tokyo.The loss of life and carnage due to the inefficient buck-passing bureaucracy doesnt bear thinking about....
The humidity,rain and heat of the rainy season have been replaced by the humidity and heat of summer.In addition there are the cicadas.Big cricket like insects.The size of your thumb.Ive been awaken the last few mornings by their urgent metallic rasping.It has the same effect as fingernails being dragged across a blackboard.Or sirens on Stukas.Im instantly alert unable to return to sleep,lying inert bathed in a sweat atop a soaked futon.
Summers not all that bad.As I noted last entry the summer sumo tournament is in July.As well there are numerous firework festivals and smaller local festivals to take your mind off the weather.
Tajimi, where I work had its annual fireworks festival yesterday.As usual the area in front of the train station is given over to various performers and performances during the day.Closer to the river where the fireworks are set off both banks are lined with stalls selling food,drink and other diversions.
Among summer treats you can try choco-bananas;bananas dipped in chocolate,eat soba noddles,partake of grilled eel or corn cobs or even baked octopus balls.
The traditional bowls of shaved iced make a welcome appearance.It comes in an assortment of flavors.My favorite being a thick sickly blue syrup "Blue Lagoon".My least favorite has to be a concoction that involves mixing a couple of spoonfuls of azuki beans (red soya beans) into the shaved ice.
The diversions include trying to capture goldfish with what amounts to a tea strainer.This involves a fair degree of skill as the paper scoop soon gets wet rendering it well nigh impossible to catch anything.Usually the vendors give you a wimpy little goldfish out of sympathy for your pathetic efforts.Insult is added to injury when 1 day later you return home to find said fish floating upside down in the aquarium you bought specially for it.
Anyway the fireworks at Tajimi are by all accounts modest when compared to larger cities and displays.Seems theres some kind of rivalry a Freudian pryomania envy .Whatever, the display lasts for one hour 7.30-8.30pm filling the air with gasps and cheers from admiring locals watching their taxes going up in smoke.
There are the rare accidents associated with such events.A few years ago a number of people were crushed to death after too many people got on a bridge after a display ended.Then theres the occassional mishap with explosives and spontaneous combustion.
The festivals also offer the chance to parade about in your yukata and geta.Yakata are the cheaper,lighter equivalent of a kimono and have in recent years enjoyed a popular resurgence particularly with the younger generation.Teamed with geta-laquered wooden sandals, they are the fashion item of summer.The yukata come in a rainbow of colors and the obi or waist band sets it off stylishly.Cheap imported Chinese fabric and hemp have made them more price friendly.My favorite being a purple and pink get up with a Hello Kitty motif and matching fan protruding at a rakish angle from your obi.Enough already.
Random Notes
Oceans 12...Why?Take the money and run.My God what was I thinking when I rented it?What a travesty..Id read the reviews,should have known better.Not really any plot.The running joke seems to be on the audience.Lots of dead space and scenery changes to mask how dire and threadbare it all is.
Internet Suicide Pacts
Read an interesting article recently about a morbid trend in Japan.Internet suicide pacts.You meet like minded people via websites set up for such purposes.Internet suicides usually die in groups of two,three,or four.The largest group thus far has been seven found last October.
Why the complusion to die in a group? i hear you ask.According to Yukiko Nishihara, a counsellor "the answer has to do with Japanese society and its tendency to organise itself into hierarchical groups.Japanese have weak individual identities and feel more secure losing themselves in and identifying themselves with a group." Yikes was my first reaction when i read this .If this wasnt worrying enough theres also the comment that "consistent with Japanese psychology,the rise of internet suicide has provoked a reaction of helpless panic".
Not only in this area either.One only has to think of the slow reaction after the Tokyo earthquake recently.Earthquake reports were delayed due to outdated computer programs and some officials didnt bother to answer their phones and return to work as required.
One shudders to think of a possible terrorist attack in Tokyo.The loss of life and carnage due to the inefficient buck-passing bureaucracy doesnt bear thinking about....
Monday, July 25, 2005
Sumo They Do and Sumo They Dont and Sumo its just as well
Friday 22July 2005
For 2 weeks each July Nagoya hosts one of the six big annual sumo tournaments.As usual, in the interests of cultural enlightment,a genuine Japanese experience and a memorable day out I dutifully attended.As I have each year.Its a celebration of color and calories.
This year I got along to the gym round 11am.The basho(tournament) runs for 15 days and daily from 9 am to 6pm.The cheaper seats had already sold out so I opted for a slightly more expensive seat in the nose-bleed section high above the ring and the closer more expensive seating..a single cushion near the ring can set you back about 32,000 yen.The good thing about arriving early is once you have secured your seat its possible to occupy one of the closer seats until you get evicted by its rightful tenant.I got thrown out about 5 times throughout the afternoon.I progressively worked my way back to my seat round 5pm as the stadium filled up.
The leading wrestlers in the higher ranks begin their bouts from 3.45pm each day.
Early on theres just a smattering of spectators the majority elderly Japanese with the odd loud obnoxious foreigner who gets worse as the effects of alcohol take hold.
In the last hours the place resembles a beehive with its murmuring drone and the fluttering paper fans beating rhythmically like so many wings.
As to the wrestling itself.The bouts themselves are very entertaining if somewhat brief.In fact the pre-fight rituals of stretching,bowing and glaring at ones opponent usually last longer than the actual confrontation.
After the intial face-off which resembles nothing more than a side of beef propelling itself towards another side of beef both wrestlers grapple and paw each other attempting to throw,shove,trip,bodily lift (or a combination of all these moves) out of the ring.
Before the start of the last 2 top ranks daily competition theres a kind of fashion parade as the wrestlers dressed in their finely embroidered silk uniforms circle the ring.Cameras flash and combat soon continues.
While watching these behemoths engage in these rituals the adoring hordes consume copious amounts of alcohol,sake and boxed lunches.I indulged my inner sumo by slurping down a bowl of chanko..a hearty chunky mixture of beef,fish,chicken and vegetables swimming in a thick greasy broth which forms the staple of a sumo wrestlers diet.
Theres been an increase in the number of foreign wrestlers participating and graduating to the higher ranks, notably from Mongolia and Bulgaria.Conversely theres been a decrease in the number of Japanese wrestlers prepared to commit to such an arduous lifestyle.
As a whole the sports losing popularity.Most spectators are elderly.Younger Japanese being more content to watch the more popular soccer and baseball leagues.
SuperSize Me
Speaking of grossly overweight obese humans I watched Morgan Spurlocks documentary SuperSize Me recently.I thought it was a well-rounded examination of American eating habits and the food industry as a whole.Because all of the publicity centered on his 30 day McDonalds binge I was unaware it also examined school lunches and other weighty issues.
I enjoyed watching the incredulous looks of disbelief of his 3 doctors as his health deteriorated and the glee with with his vegan girlfriend related his hampered performance.An informative amusing dvd.
I also caught Sideways about 2 friends odyessy through California's vineyards.A roadtrip.Before one of the friends gets married.One last chance for both of them.I cant say more otherwise I`d spoil it..but I do recommend it.A slightly maudlin ending it stars Paul Giamatti who's becoming one of my favorite actors with his weary hang dog look.
Last but certainly not least I watched the finale to season 2 of The Sopranos.Now Im eagerly waiting for my video store to get the remaining series.The last episode involved the execution of a principal character and several things were left in the air.Each dvd usually has some extra features.The most interesting are the commentaries by the various directors and producers involved in producing the series.They often provide a slant or insights which i wouldnt have noticed or thought important.Rivetting stuff...
For 2 weeks each July Nagoya hosts one of the six big annual sumo tournaments.As usual, in the interests of cultural enlightment,a genuine Japanese experience and a memorable day out I dutifully attended.As I have each year.Its a celebration of color and calories.
This year I got along to the gym round 11am.The basho(tournament) runs for 15 days and daily from 9 am to 6pm.The cheaper seats had already sold out so I opted for a slightly more expensive seat in the nose-bleed section high above the ring and the closer more expensive seating..a single cushion near the ring can set you back about 32,000 yen.The good thing about arriving early is once you have secured your seat its possible to occupy one of the closer seats until you get evicted by its rightful tenant.I got thrown out about 5 times throughout the afternoon.I progressively worked my way back to my seat round 5pm as the stadium filled up.
The leading wrestlers in the higher ranks begin their bouts from 3.45pm each day.
Early on theres just a smattering of spectators the majority elderly Japanese with the odd loud obnoxious foreigner who gets worse as the effects of alcohol take hold.
In the last hours the place resembles a beehive with its murmuring drone and the fluttering paper fans beating rhythmically like so many wings.
As to the wrestling itself.The bouts themselves are very entertaining if somewhat brief.In fact the pre-fight rituals of stretching,bowing and glaring at ones opponent usually last longer than the actual confrontation.
After the intial face-off which resembles nothing more than a side of beef propelling itself towards another side of beef both wrestlers grapple and paw each other attempting to throw,shove,trip,bodily lift (or a combination of all these moves) out of the ring.
Before the start of the last 2 top ranks daily competition theres a kind of fashion parade as the wrestlers dressed in their finely embroidered silk uniforms circle the ring.Cameras flash and combat soon continues.
While watching these behemoths engage in these rituals the adoring hordes consume copious amounts of alcohol,sake and boxed lunches.I indulged my inner sumo by slurping down a bowl of chanko..a hearty chunky mixture of beef,fish,chicken and vegetables swimming in a thick greasy broth which forms the staple of a sumo wrestlers diet.
Theres been an increase in the number of foreign wrestlers participating and graduating to the higher ranks, notably from Mongolia and Bulgaria.Conversely theres been a decrease in the number of Japanese wrestlers prepared to commit to such an arduous lifestyle.
As a whole the sports losing popularity.Most spectators are elderly.Younger Japanese being more content to watch the more popular soccer and baseball leagues.
SuperSize Me
Speaking of grossly overweight obese humans I watched Morgan Spurlocks documentary SuperSize Me recently.I thought it was a well-rounded examination of American eating habits and the food industry as a whole.Because all of the publicity centered on his 30 day McDonalds binge I was unaware it also examined school lunches and other weighty issues.
I enjoyed watching the incredulous looks of disbelief of his 3 doctors as his health deteriorated and the glee with with his vegan girlfriend related his hampered performance.An informative amusing dvd.
I also caught Sideways about 2 friends odyessy through California's vineyards.A roadtrip.Before one of the friends gets married.One last chance for both of them.I cant say more otherwise I`d spoil it..but I do recommend it.A slightly maudlin ending it stars Paul Giamatti who's becoming one of my favorite actors with his weary hang dog look.
Last but certainly not least I watched the finale to season 2 of The Sopranos.Now Im eagerly waiting for my video store to get the remaining series.The last episode involved the execution of a principal character and several things were left in the air.Each dvd usually has some extra features.The most interesting are the commentaries by the various directors and producers involved in producing the series.They often provide a slant or insights which i wouldnt have noticed or thought important.Rivetting stuff...
Sunday, July 17, 2005
Orwell,Don Quixote,Baseball and Toads
Friday 15 July 2005
Retreated to the relative coolness of the ice rink that occupies the first 3 floors of my apartment building.Exceedingly hot and humid today..even my eyeballs are sweating.
32degrees outside humidity 99.9% air conditioning factor high.
Despite the apparent lack of activity on this site i've been reasonably busy,what with books ,dvds and other trifles to distract me from the opressive mid rainy season weather.
Orwell
Well, i laboured through Orwells essays.To be honest i skipped a few of them.His stated wish was to 'make political writing into an art.' He did have some interesting thoughts on Don Quixote and Sancho describing them as 'a dualism of body and soul in fiction form' ....'the two principles noble folly and base wisdom that exist side by side in nearly every human being.'
Again i think hes an author better sampled or picked at rather than consumed in one sitting.
Don Quixote
Seems you cant read much of anything these days without a mention of Don Quixote.A CNN sports writer Bill Syken lists it as his favorite novel.
Claims that William Faulkner read it once a year.The Venezeulan government is giving away 1 million copies to celebrate its 400th anniversary.By way of honoring the book Syken listed 11 Quixotic tasks or quests doomed to failure though heroic..as an example he gave Leyton Hewitts quest to beat Roger Federer..currently Federers beaten him 7 times in a row.
More interestingly for me given that ive just finished reading MoneyBall by Michael Lewis was the 11th quest.The 11th quest is for lowpay moneyball teams to win a baseball World Series.Oakland couldnt do it and this year Syken contends the Twins and the Nationals will also fall short.
Ok lets backtrack and fill in the gaps...Moneyball is a novel about a low budget MLB team the Oakland A's.The 2 principal characters are Billy Beane the A's general manager and Bill James , a baseball writer who elevated the use of baseball statistics into an art or science called 'sabermetrics'.In a nutshell Beane uses sabermetrics to build a team and trade players to remain competitive.Given the disparity between MLB budgets (Beanes budget was at one time $40 million against the New York Yankees $120 million) Beane wanted to adopt a more objective system rather than the traditional subjective scout based approach.
The book claims using such a system the A's have remained competitive.It traverses the evolution and adoption of sabermetrics.It has been questioned by many.This week in the local paper Bobby Valentine manager of Lotte thought it was an unworkable system.In 'Faithful' Stewart O'Nan and Stephen King also expressed doubts based on 'the standpoint of strategy and business morality'.The fact that the Twins had managed to 'put together a better, steadier team with even less money' was also stated.
Now i thought a book about baseball statistics would be boring but in fact it was the reverse as Stephen King wrote 'the book was jaw-dropping'.Bring on the second half of the baseball season..
Toads
In between these books i also re-read 'The Wind in the Willows' a childhood favorite.I think Orwell would see Rat and Mole as the Don and Sancho paradigm.Toad represents the moneyed,priviledged,corrupt classes while the weasels and stoats are the disaffected masses.
Im currently reading 'Fermalts Last Theorem' another numbers book like Moneyball but this time with Pythagoras,triangles and the world of mathmatics.Only read 39 pages but am intrigued already.
Cool Reception
Went to a wedding party last Sunday afternoon.Very Japanese.Very organised.Ran like clockwork.Started as stated at 1pm on the dot.Finished at precisely 3pm.One was mailed an invitation with the directions and the cost..yes one pays over here to attend such celebrations...apparently i got off lightly at 6,500 yen.
Glad i caught a taxi it took the driver 3 circumnavigations of the same block before even he found the building.
The seating comprised separate tables for the locals and one for the gaijin i.e anyone else.Dead on 1pm a staff member armed with an unnecessary mircophone given the small size ofthe room began proceedings.After the happy couple paraded in their traditional European style suit and white wedding dress complete with veil and train there followed speeches in Japanese and English.Some drinks and food arrived and several games including Bingo were also played.Finally a piece of sponge wedding cake brought proceedings to an end.Very pleasant company and surroundings...tho my senior area manager reminded me of some photos taken 5 years ago...in my defence i plead mitigating circumstances..it was hot,it was summer..the bar's air conditioning was broken and finally your honor it was a case of mistaken identity...
Retreated to the relative coolness of the ice rink that occupies the first 3 floors of my apartment building.Exceedingly hot and humid today..even my eyeballs are sweating.
32degrees outside humidity 99.9% air conditioning factor high.
Despite the apparent lack of activity on this site i've been reasonably busy,what with books ,dvds and other trifles to distract me from the opressive mid rainy season weather.
Orwell
Well, i laboured through Orwells essays.To be honest i skipped a few of them.His stated wish was to 'make political writing into an art.' He did have some interesting thoughts on Don Quixote and Sancho describing them as 'a dualism of body and soul in fiction form' ....'the two principles noble folly and base wisdom that exist side by side in nearly every human being.'
Again i think hes an author better sampled or picked at rather than consumed in one sitting.
Don Quixote
Seems you cant read much of anything these days without a mention of Don Quixote.A CNN sports writer Bill Syken lists it as his favorite novel.
Claims that William Faulkner read it once a year.The Venezeulan government is giving away 1 million copies to celebrate its 400th anniversary.By way of honoring the book Syken listed 11 Quixotic tasks or quests doomed to failure though heroic..as an example he gave Leyton Hewitts quest to beat Roger Federer..currently Federers beaten him 7 times in a row.
More interestingly for me given that ive just finished reading MoneyBall by Michael Lewis was the 11th quest.The 11th quest is for lowpay moneyball teams to win a baseball World Series.Oakland couldnt do it and this year Syken contends the Twins and the Nationals will also fall short.
Ok lets backtrack and fill in the gaps...Moneyball is a novel about a low budget MLB team the Oakland A's.The 2 principal characters are Billy Beane the A's general manager and Bill James , a baseball writer who elevated the use of baseball statistics into an art or science called 'sabermetrics'.In a nutshell Beane uses sabermetrics to build a team and trade players to remain competitive.Given the disparity between MLB budgets (Beanes budget was at one time $40 million against the New York Yankees $120 million) Beane wanted to adopt a more objective system rather than the traditional subjective scout based approach.
The book claims using such a system the A's have remained competitive.It traverses the evolution and adoption of sabermetrics.It has been questioned by many.This week in the local paper Bobby Valentine manager of Lotte thought it was an unworkable system.In 'Faithful' Stewart O'Nan and Stephen King also expressed doubts based on 'the standpoint of strategy and business morality'.The fact that the Twins had managed to 'put together a better, steadier team with even less money' was also stated.
Now i thought a book about baseball statistics would be boring but in fact it was the reverse as Stephen King wrote 'the book was jaw-dropping'.Bring on the second half of the baseball season..
Toads
In between these books i also re-read 'The Wind in the Willows' a childhood favorite.I think Orwell would see Rat and Mole as the Don and Sancho paradigm.Toad represents the moneyed,priviledged,corrupt classes while the weasels and stoats are the disaffected masses.
Im currently reading 'Fermalts Last Theorem' another numbers book like Moneyball but this time with Pythagoras,triangles and the world of mathmatics.Only read 39 pages but am intrigued already.
Cool Reception
Went to a wedding party last Sunday afternoon.Very Japanese.Very organised.Ran like clockwork.Started as stated at 1pm on the dot.Finished at precisely 3pm.One was mailed an invitation with the directions and the cost..yes one pays over here to attend such celebrations...apparently i got off lightly at 6,500 yen.
Glad i caught a taxi it took the driver 3 circumnavigations of the same block before even he found the building.
The seating comprised separate tables for the locals and one for the gaijin i.e anyone else.Dead on 1pm a staff member armed with an unnecessary mircophone given the small size ofthe room began proceedings.After the happy couple paraded in their traditional European style suit and white wedding dress complete with veil and train there followed speeches in Japanese and English.Some drinks and food arrived and several games including Bingo were also played.Finally a piece of sponge wedding cake brought proceedings to an end.Very pleasant company and surroundings...tho my senior area manager reminded me of some photos taken 5 years ago...in my defence i plead mitigating circumstances..it was hot,it was summer..the bar's air conditioning was broken and finally your honor it was a case of mistaken identity...
Thursday, July 07, 2005
John Wayne Miller..R.I.P
July 7th 2005
The Japan Times newspaper I daily pick up from my local Lawson convenience store has recently been filled with news stories of Iraq.The elections,suicide bombings,the mounting toll of American troops and civilians..opps collateral damage.
Its hard to get ones head round all those numbers.Hard to identify.Hard to empathize.
Till May 27ths edition.A page length article from THe Washington Post.All about the death of one soldier.John Wayne Miller.21 years old.Just another death.Killed by a sniper.Played video games.Loved pranks.Worked for Walmart.Night-shifts.Joined the Iowa National Guard.
All those figures.Humans.Flesh and Blood.Raised and loved.Grieved over.
All that lost potential....mottonai
The Japan Times newspaper I daily pick up from my local Lawson convenience store has recently been filled with news stories of Iraq.The elections,suicide bombings,the mounting toll of American troops and civilians..opps collateral damage.
Its hard to get ones head round all those numbers.Hard to identify.Hard to empathize.
Till May 27ths edition.A page length article from THe Washington Post.All about the death of one soldier.John Wayne Miller.21 years old.Just another death.Killed by a sniper.Played video games.Loved pranks.Worked for Walmart.Night-shifts.Joined the Iowa National Guard.
All those figures.Humans.Flesh and Blood.Raised and loved.Grieved over.
All that lost potential....mottonai
Saturday, June 25, 2005
Faces Come Out Of The Rain....
Saturday June 25th 2005
So far like many things in this country..government reforms...the long awaited economic recovery this years rainy season has been a non -event.
I recall my first taste of the rainy season back in 1999.Weeks of grey leaden skies.Monsoonal rainstorms.Puddles drowning poodles and small kids.This year apart from the obligatory showers that force every one to buy or steal umbrellas nothing...nada..zilch.
Its as if the climate control skipped.Switched straight to summer mode .High humidity.Searing sultry temperatures.30degree plus heat.
The rice paddies planted so incongruously between houses and any available space have already begun to dry out.Some areas further south have started to enforce water restrictions.
Checking Out Chekhov
Was given a collection of Anton Chekhovs short stories to read which i noted earlier.My only previous experience of his work was in Phillip Lopates book "Getting Personal" where he tells about trying to teach 10 and 12 year olds 'Uncle Vanya'.
As i stated earlier Chekhovs stories revolve around relationships,failings,longings, and perceptions-the differences between appearance and reality.Though set in 1890s Russia the themes are pretty universal.I found them a little depressing maybe because I read them all at the same time and wasnt reading much else..stories of unhappy people trapped in circumstances in which they have little control or are forced to do things for their family or the sake of their livelihood.
Anyway i thought i would cheer myself up with the latest offering from Ben Elton titled 'Past Mortem'.Probably his darkest effort yet.It begins lightly and entertainingly enough.Then you realize the murder/mystery /love/story is being used as a vehicle to address the issue of bullying and its results upon its victims and others.
Eltons earlier novels dealt with issues such as the environment(Stark) or drugs (High Society) in a light-hearted,satrical manner.Obvivously due to the subject matter Past Mortem is more serious and at times the writing is pretty graphic.While not in Chekhovs league Elton does share his gift of insight into human nature.As with his earlier books there were passages that provoked me to smile and grin in recognition.
It will be interesting to compare this thoughtful book with Nick Hornbys latest centered on suicide.Two advance reviews Ive read dont appear particularly promising but what do critics know..
Still plodding warily through some essays by George Orwell..damn dry some of them.More comment when i finally finish them.More out of a sense of duty than any enthusiasm.I think its his continual Marxist socialist arguments that appear to me outdated.
Bada Bing
Speaking of being outdated.I happened upon the first series of 'The Sopranos' the HBO tv series.Just released here on DVD.Well better late than never.Spent the last 2 Saturday mornings engrossed in the first couple of episodes.Intriguing.Certainly a different New York to that which the women in Sex and the City inhabit.
Random Thoughts
Make Mine a Minke
A fast food chain in Hokkaido began selling whale meat burgers this week.
By coincidence the International Whaling Commission began meeting this week too.The meat comes from so-called research whaling.Surely studying an endangered species by further depleting its surviving numbers is pointless.One company offical is quoted as saying "People in other countries may think eating whale is strange but it is our culture".
Using the "cultural card" in this case is as illogical and ridiculous as trying to justify research whaling.
Just because something is part of ones culture doesnt necessairly make it reasonable or justifiable in principle or even lawful.
Female circumscision is part of some cultures. Can one reasonably condone its continued practice.
Ive noticed some Japanese get very touchy about criticism be it whaling or visits to shrines that contain Class A war criminals.In fact discussion about controversial matters is limited.It seems criticism is taken personally,an affront to ones character and identity.
Rather than deal and discuss issues of friction a defensive mode is adopted.
Rather than seek a compromise a"but its our culture" pose is struck or in the case of educational textbooks a tit for tat position is adopted.
Its interesting watching this countries reaction to international criticism.
So far like many things in this country..government reforms...the long awaited economic recovery this years rainy season has been a non -event.
I recall my first taste of the rainy season back in 1999.Weeks of grey leaden skies.Monsoonal rainstorms.Puddles drowning poodles and small kids.This year apart from the obligatory showers that force every one to buy or steal umbrellas nothing...nada..zilch.
Its as if the climate control skipped.Switched straight to summer mode .High humidity.Searing sultry temperatures.30degree plus heat.
The rice paddies planted so incongruously between houses and any available space have already begun to dry out.Some areas further south have started to enforce water restrictions.
Checking Out Chekhov
Was given a collection of Anton Chekhovs short stories to read which i noted earlier.My only previous experience of his work was in Phillip Lopates book "Getting Personal" where he tells about trying to teach 10 and 12 year olds 'Uncle Vanya'.
As i stated earlier Chekhovs stories revolve around relationships,failings,longings, and perceptions-the differences between appearance and reality.Though set in 1890s Russia the themes are pretty universal.I found them a little depressing maybe because I read them all at the same time and wasnt reading much else..stories of unhappy people trapped in circumstances in which they have little control or are forced to do things for their family or the sake of their livelihood.
Anyway i thought i would cheer myself up with the latest offering from Ben Elton titled 'Past Mortem'.Probably his darkest effort yet.It begins lightly and entertainingly enough.Then you realize the murder/mystery /love/story is being used as a vehicle to address the issue of bullying and its results upon its victims and others.
Eltons earlier novels dealt with issues such as the environment(Stark) or drugs (High Society) in a light-hearted,satrical manner.Obvivously due to the subject matter Past Mortem is more serious and at times the writing is pretty graphic.While not in Chekhovs league Elton does share his gift of insight into human nature.As with his earlier books there were passages that provoked me to smile and grin in recognition.
It will be interesting to compare this thoughtful book with Nick Hornbys latest centered on suicide.Two advance reviews Ive read dont appear particularly promising but what do critics know..
Still plodding warily through some essays by George Orwell..damn dry some of them.More comment when i finally finish them.More out of a sense of duty than any enthusiasm.I think its his continual Marxist socialist arguments that appear to me outdated.
Bada Bing
Speaking of being outdated.I happened upon the first series of 'The Sopranos' the HBO tv series.Just released here on DVD.Well better late than never.Spent the last 2 Saturday mornings engrossed in the first couple of episodes.Intriguing.Certainly a different New York to that which the women in Sex and the City inhabit.
Random Thoughts
Make Mine a Minke
A fast food chain in Hokkaido began selling whale meat burgers this week.
By coincidence the International Whaling Commission began meeting this week too.The meat comes from so-called research whaling.Surely studying an endangered species by further depleting its surviving numbers is pointless.One company offical is quoted as saying "People in other countries may think eating whale is strange but it is our culture".
Using the "cultural card" in this case is as illogical and ridiculous as trying to justify research whaling.
Just because something is part of ones culture doesnt necessairly make it reasonable or justifiable in principle or even lawful.
Female circumscision is part of some cultures. Can one reasonably condone its continued practice.
Ive noticed some Japanese get very touchy about criticism be it whaling or visits to shrines that contain Class A war criminals.In fact discussion about controversial matters is limited.It seems criticism is taken personally,an affront to ones character and identity.
Rather than deal and discuss issues of friction a defensive mode is adopted.
Rather than seek a compromise a"but its our culture" pose is struck or in the case of educational textbooks a tit for tat position is adopted.
Its interesting watching this countries reaction to international criticism.
Monday, June 06, 2005
The Kids Are Alright (well some of them)
Monday 6 June 2005
Had to teach a class of kinder kids (3-5 year olds) at another school last week.Absolute hell.You can have up to 8 rioting,attention deficit,high on food additive kids yelling at 120 decibels for 40 minutes.High frustration.Little in the way of educational value.More like baby-sitting at this age.Think Sartres 'No Exit'.Think Murder.Think Anarchy.Kids karate chopping each other while another rips open the plastic deodarizer container and commences to eat the contents...mmm.
There are 3 categories of kids classes.Kinders 3-5 years,Juniors 5-8 years probably my most least hated age group and the Seniors 8-12 more serious and less extroverted than the juniors.
Actually my favorite kid is a man to man student a 3 year old girl Mii.
Mii is pretty sullen and never cracks a smile.She has a listless,world weary air which for one so young is to be commended.Even encouraged.
She speaks more English than some of the adult students in my regular classes.Obvivously she has things worked out and has decided things cant get much better from now.
What lies ahead for Mii?...An educational system bent on rote learning,six day school weeks punctuated by exams and cramming, graduating to a short pointless career opening supermarket doors bowing and grinning in a banal manner then onto a loveless marriage 1.3 kids and then the obligatory rounds of shopping,coffee mornings with the girls and English conversational school lessons that seem to make up a typical Japanese womens days.
Random Thoughts
1.In 2004 for the first time in Japan there were over 1 million people aged 90 years or over.
2.For the fifth straight year the number of suicides has topped(pun intended) 30,000 people.One expert said if you took into account the number of unsuccessful attempts the number would be nearer 300,000..about the population of my hometown in New Zealand.
3.The rainy season is almost upon Japan again.A month long period of rain and high humidity..not my favorite time of the year.
4.Am currently reading and enjoying a short story collection by Chekhov.Full of doom,bitterness,failed relationships and lost oppurtunities.Must give it to Mii to read...
Had to teach a class of kinder kids (3-5 year olds) at another school last week.Absolute hell.You can have up to 8 rioting,attention deficit,high on food additive kids yelling at 120 decibels for 40 minutes.High frustration.Little in the way of educational value.More like baby-sitting at this age.Think Sartres 'No Exit'.Think Murder.Think Anarchy.Kids karate chopping each other while another rips open the plastic deodarizer container and commences to eat the contents...mmm.
There are 3 categories of kids classes.Kinders 3-5 years,Juniors 5-8 years probably my most least hated age group and the Seniors 8-12 more serious and less extroverted than the juniors.
Actually my favorite kid is a man to man student a 3 year old girl Mii.
Mii is pretty sullen and never cracks a smile.She has a listless,world weary air which for one so young is to be commended.Even encouraged.
She speaks more English than some of the adult students in my regular classes.Obvivously she has things worked out and has decided things cant get much better from now.
What lies ahead for Mii?...An educational system bent on rote learning,six day school weeks punctuated by exams and cramming, graduating to a short pointless career opening supermarket doors bowing and grinning in a banal manner then onto a loveless marriage 1.3 kids and then the obligatory rounds of shopping,coffee mornings with the girls and English conversational school lessons that seem to make up a typical Japanese womens days.
Random Thoughts
1.In 2004 for the first time in Japan there were over 1 million people aged 90 years or over.
2.For the fifth straight year the number of suicides has topped(pun intended) 30,000 people.One expert said if you took into account the number of unsuccessful attempts the number would be nearer 300,000..about the population of my hometown in New Zealand.
3.The rainy season is almost upon Japan again.A month long period of rain and high humidity..not my favorite time of the year.
4.Am currently reading and enjoying a short story collection by Chekhov.Full of doom,bitterness,failed relationships and lost oppurtunities.Must give it to Mii to read...
Monday, May 23, 2005
Theres Something About May
Sunday 22 May 2005
Nothing of note to report since I last wrote.May brings out the lethargic side of me.Its as though Mother Nature draws her breath after the excesses of cherry blossoms before hurtling headlong onto summer and the rainy season.This brief hiatus results in some fairly unpredictable moody weather.Low humidity days full of energy followed by petulant,sullen sweaty ones.
Did watch a reasonable video recently.'Pieces of April` with Katie Holmes ( late of Tom Cruise and Dawsons Creek fame)..Was well executed.What I liked was what John McTiernan(director of Die Hard movies) calls "the reveals".This movie doesnt treat you like a kid with great clunky music or huge neon flashing arrows to let you know whats going to happen.Rather you learn about Aprils dsyfunctional family through more subtle means..a photo, a gesture,a camera angle.Slight but enjoyable.
Things that make you go WOW
Ocassionally you see,hear,read,experience or more rarely meet someone or something that stays with you.You think about it at odd times or something else triggers its memory.
I encountered this when I was meandering through an exhibition on the human form at a local museum one recent Friday.
The exhibits included some early bits and pieces from Egypt and the usual crowd pullers ie a pretty Renoir and a minor Van Gogh.The Impressionist school is very popular over here in Japan seems there was some cross-influences going on..but thats for another future blog entry...
However the piece that struck me was towards the end of the display.
It was a life size plaster and resin relief by an American artist John Ahearn.Seems he`s developed a method of making moulds and casts of the local populace.Not just their head and shoulders either.In some cases whole body moulds.He then colorfully and realistically paints them.
The piece in question was oval in shape.It depicted 2 brothers.The elder had his arms encompassing the younger one.The elder brothers head rested on the youngers shoulder.Very simple but effective.While I stood there admiring the detail I noticed it also drew other people over to it.They were also attracted to it,maybe it was the shape or theme of a family circle...
Random Thoughts
The Tiger Cafe behind the NHK bulding in Sakae central Nagoya does a reasonably priced cambert and walnut wholemeal sandwich.And a better than average cup of coffee thanks to a shiny silver Italian machine the size of a small wheezing steam locomotive.
One can sit on the sidewalk in comfortable wicker chairs grazing and gazing at the natives laden down with their designer bags and labels or admire the cars parked kerbside.
Or pause and snigger derisively into ones cup as you notice the tall Ukranian girl from the floor above your apartment arm entwined with a Japanese gentleman old enough to be her father being frogmarched down the street..And i thought my job was bad..mmm...
Sunday 22 May 2005
Nothing of note to report since I last wrote.May brings out the lethargic side of me.Its as though Mother Nature draws her breath after the excesses of cherry blossoms before hurtling headlong onto summer and the rainy season.This brief hiatus results in some fairly unpredictable moody weather.Low humidity days full of energy followed by petulant,sullen sweaty ones.
Did watch a reasonable video recently.'Pieces of April` with Katie Holmes ( late of Tom Cruise and Dawsons Creek fame)..Was well executed.What I liked was what John McTiernan(director of Die Hard movies) calls "the reveals".This movie doesnt treat you like a kid with great clunky music or huge neon flashing arrows to let you know whats going to happen.Rather you learn about Aprils dsyfunctional family through more subtle means..a photo, a gesture,a camera angle.Slight but enjoyable.
Things that make you go WOW
Ocassionally you see,hear,read,experience or more rarely meet someone or something that stays with you.You think about it at odd times or something else triggers its memory.
I encountered this when I was meandering through an exhibition on the human form at a local museum one recent Friday.
The exhibits included some early bits and pieces from Egypt and the usual crowd pullers ie a pretty Renoir and a minor Van Gogh.The Impressionist school is very popular over here in Japan seems there was some cross-influences going on..but thats for another future blog entry...
However the piece that struck me was towards the end of the display.
It was a life size plaster and resin relief by an American artist John Ahearn.Seems he`s developed a method of making moulds and casts of the local populace.Not just their head and shoulders either.In some cases whole body moulds.He then colorfully and realistically paints them.
The piece in question was oval in shape.It depicted 2 brothers.The elder had his arms encompassing the younger one.The elder brothers head rested on the youngers shoulder.Very simple but effective.While I stood there admiring the detail I noticed it also drew other people over to it.They were also attracted to it,maybe it was the shape or theme of a family circle...
Random Thoughts
The Tiger Cafe behind the NHK bulding in Sakae central Nagoya does a reasonably priced cambert and walnut wholemeal sandwich.And a better than average cup of coffee thanks to a shiny silver Italian machine the size of a small wheezing steam locomotive.
One can sit on the sidewalk in comfortable wicker chairs grazing and gazing at the natives laden down with their designer bags and labels or admire the cars parked kerbside.
Or pause and snigger derisively into ones cup as you notice the tall Ukranian girl from the floor above your apartment arm entwined with a Japanese gentleman old enough to be her father being frogmarched down the street..And i thought my job was bad..mmm...
Saturday, April 30, 2005
Catcher on the Fly
Friday 29April 2005
Todays the start of Golden week the longest period of annual holidays for the local worker drones.Roads are choked,planes ,trains and other forms of public transport are booked to over-capacity as leeming-like the hordes stream back to their home towns and grandparents before literally turning around and heading straight back home again.
Traffic congestion and jams up to 40km in length arent uncommon.Because of the way the calendar falls this year the holiday period is slightly longer..peak congestion is predicted for May 3 or so. If todays weather is any indication it'll be a good time to travel.
Im collecting my thoughts under a shady tree in Shirotori Park,a local Japanese style garden.It has this lovely lush lawn..green almost unnaturally steroid green that goes down to one of the artifical ponds.The gardens come complete with its own traditional Japanese tea-house,ponds,Japanese bridges and waterfall.the ponds are stocked with ducks and koi or goldfish.Some of them are quite large.In various colors such as pink,orange and yellow.
Its fun feeding the koi though they make these disgusting,urgent sucking noises as they compete for the fish pellets you can purchase at the tearooms.
Today with the temperature around 28degrees, a light zephyr keeping the humidity down its very pleasant.Being a Friday the gardens are virtually deserted..the odd guilty salary man and his furtive looking secretary seeking a few snatched seconds of solace.
Enough babbling...I finished "Faithful" the Bosox book celebrating their 2004 World Series year. A good read though Ive found my thoughts and vocabulary littered with the odd baseball expression such as "double-play" and i wear my 2 pairs of work shoes on a weeks rotation.
Currently reading some short essays and articles by George Orwell who apart from being a novelist also wrote and commented on various issues of his day.Still also being entertained by the exploits of Don Quixote.Its ingenious and totally unbelievable how many coincidences and stories can be linked into one story .The 40 minute odd ride to work seems just long enough to polish off 2 to 3 chapters and marvel at the writing.Im still only about half way through too.
Coincidences
Speaking of coincidences while reading 'Faithful' I happended to glance up and see a Giants/Dragons game on TV.The Tokyo Giants are the Japanese equivalent of the New York Yankees having one of the biggest payrolls and are the most popular team in Japan.The Dragons are the local Nagoyan team who won the Central League last season.I dont follow the local baseball its so slow and with only 6 teams its very repetitive with 160 odd games each year.
Anyway...one of the Giant players was none other than Gabe Kapler who played for the Boston Red Sox last year so it was nice to place a face to a name id been reading about over the last 2 or so weeks.
Turn the Page
Another example of life intersecting my reading occurred after Id read a blog article about Jimmy Page of Led Zep fame.The article which described the chance sighting of Page in a London KFC was well-written and funny containing a humorous analysis of Pages order and eating habits.That same afternoon picking up the months edition of Uncut magazine who should adorn the cover but none other than Mr Page complete with a free cd of guitar classics chosen by him....kismet..serendipidity...go figure..
Train in Vain
Pretty horrific train accident occurred near Osaka this week.One of the worst post-war rail accidents.106 people killed over 400 odd injured when a 7 car train derailed and slammed into a nearby apartment building.Seems the 23 year old driver had overshot the previous train platform and was speeding to make up for the 90 seconds he was behind schedule...the crash investigation continues..
Random Thoughts
Ironic that my English language school should have wallpaper in the new kids room covered in French words ..zut alors et merde..whatever next? must have been a cheap job lot...
Todays the start of Golden week the longest period of annual holidays for the local worker drones.Roads are choked,planes ,trains and other forms of public transport are booked to over-capacity as leeming-like the hordes stream back to their home towns and grandparents before literally turning around and heading straight back home again.
Traffic congestion and jams up to 40km in length arent uncommon.Because of the way the calendar falls this year the holiday period is slightly longer..peak congestion is predicted for May 3 or so. If todays weather is any indication it'll be a good time to travel.
Im collecting my thoughts under a shady tree in Shirotori Park,a local Japanese style garden.It has this lovely lush lawn..green almost unnaturally steroid green that goes down to one of the artifical ponds.The gardens come complete with its own traditional Japanese tea-house,ponds,Japanese bridges and waterfall.the ponds are stocked with ducks and koi or goldfish.Some of them are quite large.In various colors such as pink,orange and yellow.
Its fun feeding the koi though they make these disgusting,urgent sucking noises as they compete for the fish pellets you can purchase at the tearooms.
Today with the temperature around 28degrees, a light zephyr keeping the humidity down its very pleasant.Being a Friday the gardens are virtually deserted..the odd guilty salary man and his furtive looking secretary seeking a few snatched seconds of solace.
Enough babbling...I finished "Faithful" the Bosox book celebrating their 2004 World Series year. A good read though Ive found my thoughts and vocabulary littered with the odd baseball expression such as "double-play" and i wear my 2 pairs of work shoes on a weeks rotation.
Currently reading some short essays and articles by George Orwell who apart from being a novelist also wrote and commented on various issues of his day.Still also being entertained by the exploits of Don Quixote.Its ingenious and totally unbelievable how many coincidences and stories can be linked into one story .The 40 minute odd ride to work seems just long enough to polish off 2 to 3 chapters and marvel at the writing.Im still only about half way through too.
Coincidences
Speaking of coincidences while reading 'Faithful' I happended to glance up and see a Giants/Dragons game on TV.The Tokyo Giants are the Japanese equivalent of the New York Yankees having one of the biggest payrolls and are the most popular team in Japan.The Dragons are the local Nagoyan team who won the Central League last season.I dont follow the local baseball its so slow and with only 6 teams its very repetitive with 160 odd games each year.
Anyway...one of the Giant players was none other than Gabe Kapler who played for the Boston Red Sox last year so it was nice to place a face to a name id been reading about over the last 2 or so weeks.
Turn the Page
Another example of life intersecting my reading occurred after Id read a blog article about Jimmy Page of Led Zep fame.The article which described the chance sighting of Page in a London KFC was well-written and funny containing a humorous analysis of Pages order and eating habits.That same afternoon picking up the months edition of Uncut magazine who should adorn the cover but none other than Mr Page complete with a free cd of guitar classics chosen by him....kismet..serendipidity...go figure..
Train in Vain
Pretty horrific train accident occurred near Osaka this week.One of the worst post-war rail accidents.106 people killed over 400 odd injured when a 7 car train derailed and slammed into a nearby apartment building.Seems the 23 year old driver had overshot the previous train platform and was speeding to make up for the 90 seconds he was behind schedule...the crash investigation continues..
Random Thoughts
Ironic that my English language school should have wallpaper in the new kids room covered in French words ..zut alors et merde..whatever next? must have been a cheap job lot...
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
Hold Me Closer Tony Danza
Friday 15 April 2005
Glorious Friday spring morning.22degrees.A light wind tickling the last of the cherry blossoms."Peachy" as some of my younger colleagues would utter.The blossom front is on the retreat up north to Sendai and Hokkaido.
Abandoned my apartment.It reverberates with drills,grinders,and heavy equipment.Ocassionally the sky darkens.Partial eclipse,no its just one of those elevator things complete with gawking peeping Tom workmen.I cheerily wave back at them.Nothing is going to destroy the good vibes engendered by todays weather.I'm currently sitting in a park under aforementioned fading flora.Brushing away the petals which stipple my pad as I chronicle the events of the last week.Shouldnt take too long.
I`m about halfway through 'Faithful' a book by 2 die-hard Boston Red Sox fans.Its a game by game account of their 2004 World Series season.One of the authors is Stephen "some people have accused me of having an overactive imagination" King and a fellow writer and friend.Both long term fans.Thus far its been highly readable and entertaining .I've put aside Don Quixote and a couple of other tasks as I reach the climax of the book.Yes I know that the Bosox finally erased the so-called Curse and not only beat their foes the Yankees but also won the World Series for the first time in 80 odd years in fairy tale like circumstances.
Think 'Fever Pitch'.Think rip off movie.Think Nick Hornby.Think Drew Barrymore.Think Farrelly Brothers.Think how unoriginal.
Im no baseball fan but im betting any one who has supported a bad luck team will find something in common with these two.The book records their thoughts through diary entries and emails about the team,baseball and related things such as pro sport,terrorism,society and steroids.Some of their superstitions are funny e.g hitting the mute button,turning round or wearing ones cap inside out,or even turning the tv off to provide more mojo.
An interesting feature is that all the Japanese players in the MLB who are mentioned even Matsui who plays for the "Evil Empire" get good wraps.I'll have more to write when i finish it.
Move It On Over
The other event was my place of employment moved .Yesterday.From its cockroach infested location to a more spacious spot across the hall.Decked out in fresh paint and Hello Kitty pink carpet.Its all very clean and smells of paint and carpet glue.We have an enlarged teachers room with its own sink.Luxury.There are however no windows.The existing ones have been covered with signage.The Voice Room where students can (but dont,wont,cant) freely converse and discuss the issues of the day in a friendly ,supportive environment (I jest not) is now a boring sterile space.There are also 2 new Kids rooms.My company seems to think of kids being a new revenue stream or cash cows .The powers that be seem to have forgotten that Japan has an ageing greying society with an almost negative birthrate and increasing marriage age and decreasing family size.Still Im no Thomas Malthus so who am I to question policy.
Speaking of policy.Our company made the paper again.Seems its been avoiding paying almost one billion yen in social and medical insurance to the government.Annually.The government report is due out May or early June or maybe will be swept under the carpet.It may result in multi-billion backpayments to the government.Im crying crocodile tears...
Apart from 'Faithful' i read an insignificant book called "Polite Fictions..Why Japanese and Americans seem rude to each Other".Written by 2 Japanese women who i presume have married Americans.Its a bit dated ..1982..and a little stereotypical.There are also the odd jarring JapEnglish errors e.g "more oftener".Putting these aside there are some interesting bits.
Seems Japanese regard conversation like a bowling lane.Each person takes a turn to bowl a topic.The topic may or may not have anything to do with what went before or even after.Theres a pause while the pins are reset and the next person bowls.Its slow, methodical.Very disconnected and deferential.Unlike"American" conversation which is portrayed as a tennis game if only 2 people participate or a volleyball game if there are more than 2.In the tennis example the server hits a topic which the receiver must return.Conversation is related and linked.If its a team conversation anyone can contribute.No turn taking no deferring.More spontaneous.
In practice its difficult no well nigh impossible to get a natural "American " conversation.Its learned habitual and difficult to change.Usually its one student dominanting .The other students sit silently.Mutely.Meekly.Silence is seen as being polite.Hell of a way to spend 40 minutes in a Voice class .No sense of continuity.No expansion.No initation....
Bugger its my day off and im ranting about work...off for a coffee and a read....
Glorious Friday spring morning.22degrees.A light wind tickling the last of the cherry blossoms."Peachy" as some of my younger colleagues would utter.The blossom front is on the retreat up north to Sendai and Hokkaido.
Abandoned my apartment.It reverberates with drills,grinders,and heavy equipment.Ocassionally the sky darkens.Partial eclipse,no its just one of those elevator things complete with gawking peeping Tom workmen.I cheerily wave back at them.Nothing is going to destroy the good vibes engendered by todays weather.I'm currently sitting in a park under aforementioned fading flora.Brushing away the petals which stipple my pad as I chronicle the events of the last week.Shouldnt take too long.
I`m about halfway through 'Faithful' a book by 2 die-hard Boston Red Sox fans.Its a game by game account of their 2004 World Series season.One of the authors is Stephen "some people have accused me of having an overactive imagination" King and a fellow writer and friend.Both long term fans.Thus far its been highly readable and entertaining .I've put aside Don Quixote and a couple of other tasks as I reach the climax of the book.Yes I know that the Bosox finally erased the so-called Curse and not only beat their foes the Yankees but also won the World Series for the first time in 80 odd years in fairy tale like circumstances.
Think 'Fever Pitch'.Think rip off movie.Think Nick Hornby.Think Drew Barrymore.Think Farrelly Brothers.Think how unoriginal.
Im no baseball fan but im betting any one who has supported a bad luck team will find something in common with these two.The book records their thoughts through diary entries and emails about the team,baseball and related things such as pro sport,terrorism,society and steroids.Some of their superstitions are funny e.g hitting the mute button,turning round or wearing ones cap inside out,or even turning the tv off to provide more mojo.
An interesting feature is that all the Japanese players in the MLB who are mentioned even Matsui who plays for the "Evil Empire" get good wraps.I'll have more to write when i finish it.
Move It On Over
The other event was my place of employment moved .Yesterday.From its cockroach infested location to a more spacious spot across the hall.Decked out in fresh paint and Hello Kitty pink carpet.Its all very clean and smells of paint and carpet glue.We have an enlarged teachers room with its own sink.Luxury.There are however no windows.The existing ones have been covered with signage.The Voice Room where students can (but dont,wont,cant) freely converse and discuss the issues of the day in a friendly ,supportive environment (I jest not) is now a boring sterile space.There are also 2 new Kids rooms.My company seems to think of kids being a new revenue stream or cash cows .The powers that be seem to have forgotten that Japan has an ageing greying society with an almost negative birthrate and increasing marriage age and decreasing family size.Still Im no Thomas Malthus so who am I to question policy.
Speaking of policy.Our company made the paper again.Seems its been avoiding paying almost one billion yen in social and medical insurance to the government.Annually.The government report is due out May or early June or maybe will be swept under the carpet.It may result in multi-billion backpayments to the government.Im crying crocodile tears...
Apart from 'Faithful' i read an insignificant book called "Polite Fictions..Why Japanese and Americans seem rude to each Other".Written by 2 Japanese women who i presume have married Americans.Its a bit dated ..1982..and a little stereotypical.There are also the odd jarring JapEnglish errors e.g "more oftener".Putting these aside there are some interesting bits.
Seems Japanese regard conversation like a bowling lane.Each person takes a turn to bowl a topic.The topic may or may not have anything to do with what went before or even after.Theres a pause while the pins are reset and the next person bowls.Its slow, methodical.Very disconnected and deferential.Unlike"American" conversation which is portrayed as a tennis game if only 2 people participate or a volleyball game if there are more than 2.In the tennis example the server hits a topic which the receiver must return.Conversation is related and linked.If its a team conversation anyone can contribute.No turn taking no deferring.More spontaneous.
In practice its difficult no well nigh impossible to get a natural "American " conversation.Its learned habitual and difficult to change.Usually its one student dominanting .The other students sit silently.Mutely.Meekly.Silence is seen as being polite.Hell of a way to spend 40 minutes in a Voice class .No sense of continuity.No expansion.No initation....
Bugger its my day off and im ranting about work...off for a coffee and a read....
Saturday, April 09, 2005
Trees Company...
Friday 8 April 2005
Well the cherry blossoms have finally made their all too brief annual appearance.They`re at their peak this weekend about 7 days after they first bloom.Prompted by increased temperatures and intense media attention they petulantly put out their pink petals.
The local park, adjacent to my train station where I make my daily pilgrimage to the chalk face will be packed these next few nights in homage to the florid flowering flora.
Crowded with drunken rosy-faced salarymen.Crowded with budding under-aged students with their portable karaoke boxes.Crowded with party people.
Crowded.Vomit.Beer.Petals.
At 7a.m these mornings the park is relatively serene,echoing with the sound of crumpling beer cans as the local homeless divide the spoils of the night before and crows scrap over leftover food or greedily swallow the drying deposits of vomit that dot the park.
Oblivious to all this activity one can spy the odd huddled body covered in spent petals lying on the blue tarp sheets that serve as picnic sheets under the trees.Another victim of gross intoxication .
By 8a.m the park is taken over by dogwalkers,commuters and students criss-crossing to work or college.
Random Thoughts
The Aichi 2005 Expo which opened in March has had a few hiccups.The ban prohibiting patrons bringing their own food into the parks has been lifted..ostensibly it was to prevent food poisoning but in reality it was to secure a captive market for the high prices the Expo`s food stalls were charging.Anyway that ban has sensibly been lifted.There remain problems.
One of my students handed me an English version of the Expo site map.It was riddled with Japanese -English errors.You would think with all the money and resources squandered on this project someone would have proof-read the map.Some examples.."the low-ride bus is thoughtful of handicapped people"..even if you disregard the non-pc use of "handicapped" how can an inanimate object like a bus think?...the phrase "wide-ranging tourist " is used.Is this an obese tourist?One can go on an "aerial stroll" when you ride the gondola...sounds kinda risky.
Oh there are more ...
...you should ask assistance from the guides"lightly"mmm like i was going to ask them "heavily"?In the event of an emergency happening you should follow the guides and not use "self-judgement to evacuate"And so the list goes on ..grab that dictionary and find any random word and put it in.Meanwhile "you should not make a dangerous action" nor" ravage" in the park.
Its embarassing and frustrating.Its supposed to be world-class and professional.The Japanese Government wants a permanent seat on the UN Security Council..well until they sort out the teaching of English and proof-reading and bring the standard up I dont think its appropriate even without taking any political or historical considerations into account.
I would more than happily have voluntereed my services to proof read any written material for the Expo.In fact I helped a number of students who were working as volunteers to check their English before they worked.
Im not the only one critical of signage and mispellings..a local monthly magazine included a photo of a sign at the Expo which stated "No Smorking"...sigh
Paint
The start of spring apart from signalling the coming cherry blossoms also heralds the start of the annual painting season.Buildings all over the city get a face lift and new paint job before the onset of the rainy season.This year is no exception and my 14 floor apartment building is also undergoing this lenghty process.
There are ropes and pulleys and gantries and scaffolding and cones and flashing lights festooning the sides of the building.It looks like a space shuttle launch site.It means hammering and drilling.
Banging.Dust and noise.For three months.From 8 a.m to 5p.m.7 days a week.Unless it rains.
It means no sleep-ins.It means nosy workmen.It means strange people on my balcony.
Change
Spring also means change.The end of the last financial year March 31 and the start of the new one on 1 April. New jobs, the start of the new school year..the closing of poorly performing businesses and the opening of new ones.
My school will shortly move across the hall and occupy an old opticians offices.We finally get to have our own kids room..this means we can hold our own classes of up to 8 kids..Im over-joyed.
Speaking of failing businesses the KFC outlet which occupied part of the ground floor of my apartment building suddenly closed March 31.
April 1 bye bye Colonel.The life sized replica of the Southern gentleman was loaded unceremoniously loaded onto a truck.I fondly saluted his departure while workmen continued to gut the premises of its equipment.At the time of blogging the retail space remains vacant.
Well the cherry blossoms have finally made their all too brief annual appearance.They`re at their peak this weekend about 7 days after they first bloom.Prompted by increased temperatures and intense media attention they petulantly put out their pink petals.
The local park, adjacent to my train station where I make my daily pilgrimage to the chalk face will be packed these next few nights in homage to the florid flowering flora.
Crowded with drunken rosy-faced salarymen.Crowded with budding under-aged students with their portable karaoke boxes.Crowded with party people.
Crowded.Vomit.Beer.Petals.
At 7a.m these mornings the park is relatively serene,echoing with the sound of crumpling beer cans as the local homeless divide the spoils of the night before and crows scrap over leftover food or greedily swallow the drying deposits of vomit that dot the park.
Oblivious to all this activity one can spy the odd huddled body covered in spent petals lying on the blue tarp sheets that serve as picnic sheets under the trees.Another victim of gross intoxication .
By 8a.m the park is taken over by dogwalkers,commuters and students criss-crossing to work or college.
Random Thoughts
The Aichi 2005 Expo which opened in March has had a few hiccups.The ban prohibiting patrons bringing their own food into the parks has been lifted..ostensibly it was to prevent food poisoning but in reality it was to secure a captive market for the high prices the Expo`s food stalls were charging.Anyway that ban has sensibly been lifted.There remain problems.
One of my students handed me an English version of the Expo site map.It was riddled with Japanese -English errors.You would think with all the money and resources squandered on this project someone would have proof-read the map.Some examples.."the low-ride bus is thoughtful of handicapped people"..even if you disregard the non-pc use of "handicapped" how can an inanimate object like a bus think?...the phrase "wide-ranging tourist " is used.Is this an obese tourist?One can go on an "aerial stroll" when you ride the gondola...sounds kinda risky.
Oh there are more ...
...you should ask assistance from the guides"lightly"mmm like i was going to ask them "heavily"?In the event of an emergency happening you should follow the guides and not use "self-judgement to evacuate"And so the list goes on ..grab that dictionary and find any random word and put it in.Meanwhile "you should not make a dangerous action" nor" ravage" in the park.
Its embarassing and frustrating.Its supposed to be world-class and professional.The Japanese Government wants a permanent seat on the UN Security Council..well until they sort out the teaching of English and proof-reading and bring the standard up I dont think its appropriate even without taking any political or historical considerations into account.
I would more than happily have voluntereed my services to proof read any written material for the Expo.In fact I helped a number of students who were working as volunteers to check their English before they worked.
Im not the only one critical of signage and mispellings..a local monthly magazine included a photo of a sign at the Expo which stated "No Smorking"...sigh
Paint
The start of spring apart from signalling the coming cherry blossoms also heralds the start of the annual painting season.Buildings all over the city get a face lift and new paint job before the onset of the rainy season.This year is no exception and my 14 floor apartment building is also undergoing this lenghty process.
There are ropes and pulleys and gantries and scaffolding and cones and flashing lights festooning the sides of the building.It looks like a space shuttle launch site.It means hammering and drilling.
Banging.Dust and noise.For three months.From 8 a.m to 5p.m.7 days a week.Unless it rains.
It means no sleep-ins.It means nosy workmen.It means strange people on my balcony.
Change
Spring also means change.The end of the last financial year March 31 and the start of the new one on 1 April. New jobs, the start of the new school year..the closing of poorly performing businesses and the opening of new ones.
My school will shortly move across the hall and occupy an old opticians offices.We finally get to have our own kids room..this means we can hold our own classes of up to 8 kids..Im over-joyed.
Speaking of failing businesses the KFC outlet which occupied part of the ground floor of my apartment building suddenly closed March 31.
April 1 bye bye Colonel.The life sized replica of the Southern gentleman was loaded unceremoniously loaded onto a truck.I fondly saluted his departure while workmen continued to gut the premises of its equipment.At the time of blogging the retail space remains vacant.
Monday, March 28, 2005
Space...`No-one gets a life rehearsal as specks of dust we`re universal'...Indigo Girls
Monday 28 March 2005
Space in its various guises has figured one way or another in my last couple of weeks.Bear with me.
The first incident occured one Saturday morning .Cleaning my apartment.I came upon a dusty Indigo Girls cd.Fallen behind a bookshelf.Forgotten.One of the tracks was 'Galileo' their tribute to the great thinker and philospher.I'd just finished (finally)Stephen Jay Goulds book which featured Galileo.It was as much a chore to finish the book as it was cleaning my apartment but I felt duty-bound to do both.
The second tenuous link with "space" turned up in Philip Wrights book simply titled "Tank".Very interesting even riveting reading at times.Wright examines its history from WW1 to the first Gulf War.He looks at the tank not only from a military view but also its role as a social and political icon.The book opens with a chapter about the famous Tianamen Square photo and ends some 440 pages later suggesting the SUV is the suburban desendant of the tank.In between Wright traces the development and use of the tank,its leading thinkers such as Fuller and Liddell Hart, current thinking and leading practitioneers such as the Germans notably Rommel and the Israelis who used tank tactics so decisively against their Arab neighbors particulary in the Six Day War.One thinker described the tank as " a mobile protected space with a direct fire weapon."
The third albeit more disturbing incident occurred in of all places a Starbucks cafe.Late last Wednesday morning.I was happily sipping my insipid lukewarm overpriced beverage, complete with eco-friendly toxic plastic container trying to feign interest in my colleagues monologue about the latest work injustice.Sitting near us to our right was your typical salaryman.He was of the small furtive variety with matching receeding hair and battered brief case.Nothing unremarkable.He sat staring at us the entire lenghth of our visit till his antics forced us to leave.
Anyway at one point he fished out from his briefcase a portable razor.He then proceeded to shave or rather hold the loudly buzzing razor on his bottom lip.And left it there.Oblivious to the glares I gave him.The razors noise made polite conversation well-nigh impossible.No one else seemed perturbed.
Maybe attending to ones bodily needs and functions in a public place in Japan is tolerated.Its not uncommon to see men urinating in streets or women applying makeup and using eye lash curlers on trains.
Surely theres some line between public and private space where certain things cant be done?
Is it ok to breastfeed in public, change an infants diapers in Mcdonalds or publicly pick at various orifices and examine the results left on your fingertips..yeech..maybe Starbucks needs to have a non-shaving zone as well as a non-smoking zone...
Of more serious import are the curent 'space' disputes Japan has with three of its neighbors..Russia,South Korea and China over various contested islands.Such disputes can only harm relations particularly with South Korea which since the joint staging of the World Cup seemed to be improving...meanwhile President Putin has put off visting Japan in part due to the ongong territorial disputes...
Random Thoughts
Still waiting for the first sign of cherry blossoms,the weather has been cold and it snowed last Monday seems the blossoms are late arriving this year..
Space in its various guises has figured one way or another in my last couple of weeks.Bear with me.
The first incident occured one Saturday morning .Cleaning my apartment.I came upon a dusty Indigo Girls cd.Fallen behind a bookshelf.Forgotten.One of the tracks was 'Galileo' their tribute to the great thinker and philospher.I'd just finished (finally)Stephen Jay Goulds book which featured Galileo.It was as much a chore to finish the book as it was cleaning my apartment but I felt duty-bound to do both.
The second tenuous link with "space" turned up in Philip Wrights book simply titled "Tank".Very interesting even riveting reading at times.Wright examines its history from WW1 to the first Gulf War.He looks at the tank not only from a military view but also its role as a social and political icon.The book opens with a chapter about the famous Tianamen Square photo and ends some 440 pages later suggesting the SUV is the suburban desendant of the tank.In between Wright traces the development and use of the tank,its leading thinkers such as Fuller and Liddell Hart, current thinking and leading practitioneers such as the Germans notably Rommel and the Israelis who used tank tactics so decisively against their Arab neighbors particulary in the Six Day War.One thinker described the tank as " a mobile protected space with a direct fire weapon."
The third albeit more disturbing incident occurred in of all places a Starbucks cafe.Late last Wednesday morning.I was happily sipping my insipid lukewarm overpriced beverage, complete with eco-friendly toxic plastic container trying to feign interest in my colleagues monologue about the latest work injustice.Sitting near us to our right was your typical salaryman.He was of the small furtive variety with matching receeding hair and battered brief case.Nothing unremarkable.He sat staring at us the entire lenghth of our visit till his antics forced us to leave.
Anyway at one point he fished out from his briefcase a portable razor.He then proceeded to shave or rather hold the loudly buzzing razor on his bottom lip.And left it there.Oblivious to the glares I gave him.The razors noise made polite conversation well-nigh impossible.No one else seemed perturbed.
Maybe attending to ones bodily needs and functions in a public place in Japan is tolerated.Its not uncommon to see men urinating in streets or women applying makeup and using eye lash curlers on trains.
Surely theres some line between public and private space where certain things cant be done?
Is it ok to breastfeed in public, change an infants diapers in Mcdonalds or publicly pick at various orifices and examine the results left on your fingertips..yeech..maybe Starbucks needs to have a non-shaving zone as well as a non-smoking zone...
Of more serious import are the curent 'space' disputes Japan has with three of its neighbors..Russia,South Korea and China over various contested islands.Such disputes can only harm relations particularly with South Korea which since the joint staging of the World Cup seemed to be improving...meanwhile President Putin has put off visting Japan in part due to the ongong territorial disputes...
Random Thoughts
Still waiting for the first sign of cherry blossoms,the weather has been cold and it snowed last Monday seems the blossoms are late arriving this year..
Saturday, March 12, 2005
Should I go or Should I stay now?
Friday 11March 2004
Indecisions bugging me.So...like I work for this English conversation school company.Big.Impersonal.High turnover.Low brow.For the last 6 years.On a yearly contract renewable at the company`s pleasure.Sometimes a small bonus to sweeten the new contract.Usually not.C`est la vie.Most instructors dont renew their first contracts.Not a career option more an extension of college or university playing at being professional.A living but not a life.Safe,sedate,boring,banal.
Last week I received a company letter.In a nutshell i`ve to begin paying into a universal Japanses pension fund.My company neglected to tell me this some 6 years ago.The company`s only targeting those with 5 or more years servitude with it.Its not a trival financial deduction either..about the same as one months rent..each month.
If I agree to pay Id be bringing home less than someone who`s been here only 2 years.Yes I know you can eventually claim and get a refund when you leave the country but thats not the point.I have a pension fund already.I have no more security of tenure than a person who`s on their first contract.If I leave within six months of starting a new contract theres no benefit to either party.
My company says its a universal system yet is only forcing those with longer service to join...will it make up the 5 years that Ive not paid into the fund..If its universal all employees should be made to join not just the more experienced ones...maybe im naive..maybe its a sign to change jobs ,companies even countries.
The thought of moving 5 years worth of accumulated junk, books, cds etc is giving me ulcers.I'll have to see what the repercussions are...maybe an NHL type lockout..
Random Thoughts
Spring,Sprang,Sprung
The local meterological service predicted cherry blossoms will be doing their brief thing again around March 31 this year..Already the daphne bushes at the base of my apartment building have suddenly exploded into bloom.Even up on the 5th floor you can get the ocassional cloud of seasonal sickly sweet lemony scent drifting into the apartment mingling with the everpresent year round acrid diesel,carbon monoxide fumes and greasy KFC chicken stench from the outlet below.
Movie Trailers...
Dvds as Ive noted before usually have a host of extra features including here in Japan both the original English and Japanese trailers.Ive noticed that the Japanese trailers usually do a pretty fine job of revealing the whole story and giving away the plot.For example the trailer to 'Field of Dreams' shows Kevin Costners character playing baseball with his dad...the director/producer Ron Shelton on the dvd was surprised both the trailer and theatre posters revealed the whole point of the movie..no alarm.. no surprises
The same thing occurs with the trailer of 'The House of Sand and Fog'..you dont need to see the movie..any sense of antcipation or doom or dread is destroyed by the trailer..i didnt need to understand all the Japanese spoken to understand what the story-line and outcome would be...sigh
Incidentally I enjoyed `The House of Sand and Fog` some nice flawed believable characters who thought they were in the right.
Also enjoyed `Code 46` with Tim Robbins and Samantha Morton a kinda futuristic cloning plot by Michael Winterbottom..one of the cities used to show the near future was Shanghai with both its modern centre and various skyscrapers overshadowing the older residential areas..the night shots reminded me of BladeRunner..plus the langauge they spoke was a jumble of English mixed with Chinese,French,Spanish which could well be the way people will speak..no dominant unified language just a hotchpotch of well-known phrases lifted from other languages and cultures.
Of note also was the appearance of former Clash member Mick Jones doing a version of their classic song which provided the title for this weeks blog...great stuff plus you get the full version on the DVD as an extra..could possibly be one of my top 5 songs .....
Indecisions bugging me.So...like I work for this English conversation school company.Big.Impersonal.High turnover.Low brow.For the last 6 years.On a yearly contract renewable at the company`s pleasure.Sometimes a small bonus to sweeten the new contract.Usually not.C`est la vie.Most instructors dont renew their first contracts.Not a career option more an extension of college or university playing at being professional.A living but not a life.Safe,sedate,boring,banal.
Last week I received a company letter.In a nutshell i`ve to begin paying into a universal Japanses pension fund.My company neglected to tell me this some 6 years ago.The company`s only targeting those with 5 or more years servitude with it.Its not a trival financial deduction either..about the same as one months rent..each month.
If I agree to pay Id be bringing home less than someone who`s been here only 2 years.Yes I know you can eventually claim and get a refund when you leave the country but thats not the point.I have a pension fund already.I have no more security of tenure than a person who`s on their first contract.If I leave within six months of starting a new contract theres no benefit to either party.
My company says its a universal system yet is only forcing those with longer service to join...will it make up the 5 years that Ive not paid into the fund..If its universal all employees should be made to join not just the more experienced ones...maybe im naive..maybe its a sign to change jobs ,companies even countries.
The thought of moving 5 years worth of accumulated junk, books, cds etc is giving me ulcers.I'll have to see what the repercussions are...maybe an NHL type lockout..
Random Thoughts
Spring,Sprang,Sprung
The local meterological service predicted cherry blossoms will be doing their brief thing again around March 31 this year..Already the daphne bushes at the base of my apartment building have suddenly exploded into bloom.Even up on the 5th floor you can get the ocassional cloud of seasonal sickly sweet lemony scent drifting into the apartment mingling with the everpresent year round acrid diesel,carbon monoxide fumes and greasy KFC chicken stench from the outlet below.
Movie Trailers...
Dvds as Ive noted before usually have a host of extra features including here in Japan both the original English and Japanese trailers.Ive noticed that the Japanese trailers usually do a pretty fine job of revealing the whole story and giving away the plot.For example the trailer to 'Field of Dreams' shows Kevin Costners character playing baseball with his dad...the director/producer Ron Shelton on the dvd was surprised both the trailer and theatre posters revealed the whole point of the movie..no alarm.. no surprises
The same thing occurs with the trailer of 'The House of Sand and Fog'..you dont need to see the movie..any sense of antcipation or doom or dread is destroyed by the trailer..i didnt need to understand all the Japanese spoken to understand what the story-line and outcome would be...sigh
Incidentally I enjoyed `The House of Sand and Fog` some nice flawed believable characters who thought they were in the right.
Also enjoyed `Code 46` with Tim Robbins and Samantha Morton a kinda futuristic cloning plot by Michael Winterbottom..one of the cities used to show the near future was Shanghai with both its modern centre and various skyscrapers overshadowing the older residential areas..the night shots reminded me of BladeRunner..plus the langauge they spoke was a jumble of English mixed with Chinese,French,Spanish which could well be the way people will speak..no dominant unified language just a hotchpotch of well-known phrases lifted from other languages and cultures.
Of note also was the appearance of former Clash member Mick Jones doing a version of their classic song which provided the title for this weeks blog...great stuff plus you get the full version on the DVD as an extra..could possibly be one of my top 5 songs .....
Saturday, March 05, 2005
Where have all the homeless gone?
Nagoya City is holding the 2005 Expo which starts later this month.The theme`s caring for the environment.Ironic.Site development involved the clearing of forest providing refuge for an endangered species of Japanese bird.Sigh.
Theres been a furious amount of construction prior to the opening.A new airport has been built.I can think of at least 2 more unnecessary shopping complexes (one complete with ferris wheel) which have been built in anticipation of the increased tourist demand to shop.There`s also been the erection of overhead signs dividing footpaths into pedestrian and cyclist zones.Perversely this seems to have increased the number of collisions Ive observed as both parties stray onto the others territory.Once again the main culprits appear to be old ladies on foot or pedal-powered who consider themselves above such mundane things as road rules.
Anyway more disturbing has been the recent disapperance of homeless people and their blue tarpaulin covered structures from highly visible public places such as parks,under overhead bridges and Central Park in Sakae in the middle of Nagoya.Police and local government officals have been steadily removing these tent-like villages.Today around the TV tower in Sakae council workers were raking soil and grass seed over an area formerly occupied by a row of tents.
I dont know where the occupants have been relocated but i can hazard a guess as to why.It wouldnt do to let foreign tourists see how one of the worlds richest economies deals with its underpriviledged and poor.Better to hide them away than deal with the problem via any welfare or benefit policy to help them.
One of the recently dispossessed has set up digs in my apartment stairway.His collection of plastic bags and neatly rolled up futon in a corner while he spends his day looking for bottles and cans to recycle.
Hunter Thompson and Arthur Miller
Both men made their own unique contribution to literature.Ive read stuff by both.Judging by obituaries alone you`d think Thompson will be the more missed and more valued.Yet how can you compare 'gonzo journalism" with Willy Loman...its like comparing ColdPlay to Zevon
Random Thoughts
I watched "The Fog of War" a dvd length interview with Robert S McNamara former Secreatary of Defence during the Kennedy era as well as Korea and Vietnam.Although completed prior to 9/11 and the Afghan and Iraq wars the parallells were obvivous.Unclear objectives,increased military involvement,no clear exit strategy..sounds all too painfully familiar.Add to this the younger McNamaras striking physical similarity to Rumsfeld and you have an absorbing informative 90 odd minutes.
I never realised that on 10March 1945 over 100,000 Japanese in Tokyo were incinerated or that 50 square miles of Tokyo(the equivalent of New York City) were razed to the ground by a massive B29 raid equipped with incendiary devices..shades of the firebombing of Dresden..
Nor did I know that 40% of Nagoya was also destroyed.One of McNamara`s life lessons or tenets is that "in order to do good you may have to engage in evil."A thought provoking movie with an obvivously intelligent still sharp 85year old man justifying and making peace with himself and his decisions.Im sure after his death more interesting things will come to light about Vietnam and other conflicts.
Books
Recently read Douglas Couplands "Hey Nostradamus".The first novel of his Ive read.There were some intersting characters and ideas such as immortality,God, and relationships floating about in this "Columbine school masacre-like " story.I`ll probably read another of his sooner rather than later.
Also read James Gleicks "Isaac Newton" an easy 191 page read.I cant say I really grasp completely Newtons principles but the book left me wondering what this eccentric gifted man could achieve today given computers,scientific instruments and financial backing.You tend to forget that something as simple as paper and printing we take for granted had to be invented so that things could be recorded and passed down for others to build on.As Gleick points out the Renaissance wasnt just about rediscovering the old laws and theories propounded by people such as Aristotle it was more about moving on from them and either proving them correct or finding alternatives to the earlier ones.Gleick put it far more concisely.sigh.
Theres been a furious amount of construction prior to the opening.A new airport has been built.I can think of at least 2 more unnecessary shopping complexes (one complete with ferris wheel) which have been built in anticipation of the increased tourist demand to shop.There`s also been the erection of overhead signs dividing footpaths into pedestrian and cyclist zones.Perversely this seems to have increased the number of collisions Ive observed as both parties stray onto the others territory.Once again the main culprits appear to be old ladies on foot or pedal-powered who consider themselves above such mundane things as road rules.
Anyway more disturbing has been the recent disapperance of homeless people and their blue tarpaulin covered structures from highly visible public places such as parks,under overhead bridges and Central Park in Sakae in the middle of Nagoya.Police and local government officals have been steadily removing these tent-like villages.Today around the TV tower in Sakae council workers were raking soil and grass seed over an area formerly occupied by a row of tents.
I dont know where the occupants have been relocated but i can hazard a guess as to why.It wouldnt do to let foreign tourists see how one of the worlds richest economies deals with its underpriviledged and poor.Better to hide them away than deal with the problem via any welfare or benefit policy to help them.
One of the recently dispossessed has set up digs in my apartment stairway.His collection of plastic bags and neatly rolled up futon in a corner while he spends his day looking for bottles and cans to recycle.
Hunter Thompson and Arthur Miller
Both men made their own unique contribution to literature.Ive read stuff by both.Judging by obituaries alone you`d think Thompson will be the more missed and more valued.Yet how can you compare 'gonzo journalism" with Willy Loman...its like comparing ColdPlay to Zevon
Random Thoughts
I watched "The Fog of War" a dvd length interview with Robert S McNamara former Secreatary of Defence during the Kennedy era as well as Korea and Vietnam.Although completed prior to 9/11 and the Afghan and Iraq wars the parallells were obvivous.Unclear objectives,increased military involvement,no clear exit strategy..sounds all too painfully familiar.Add to this the younger McNamaras striking physical similarity to Rumsfeld and you have an absorbing informative 90 odd minutes.
I never realised that on 10March 1945 over 100,000 Japanese in Tokyo were incinerated or that 50 square miles of Tokyo(the equivalent of New York City) were razed to the ground by a massive B29 raid equipped with incendiary devices..shades of the firebombing of Dresden..
Nor did I know that 40% of Nagoya was also destroyed.One of McNamara`s life lessons or tenets is that "in order to do good you may have to engage in evil."A thought provoking movie with an obvivously intelligent still sharp 85year old man justifying and making peace with himself and his decisions.Im sure after his death more interesting things will come to light about Vietnam and other conflicts.
Books
Recently read Douglas Couplands "Hey Nostradamus".The first novel of his Ive read.There were some intersting characters and ideas such as immortality,God, and relationships floating about in this "Columbine school masacre-like " story.I`ll probably read another of his sooner rather than later.
Also read James Gleicks "Isaac Newton" an easy 191 page read.I cant say I really grasp completely Newtons principles but the book left me wondering what this eccentric gifted man could achieve today given computers,scientific instruments and financial backing.You tend to forget that something as simple as paper and printing we take for granted had to be invented so that things could be recorded and passed down for others to build on.As Gleick points out the Renaissance wasnt just about rediscovering the old laws and theories propounded by people such as Aristotle it was more about moving on from them and either proving them correct or finding alternatives to the earlier ones.Gleick put it far more concisely.sigh.
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