Joe Bloggs

Beautiful night for rubbish

You have to put your dustbins out the night before the dustbin men come here in Cairns, because they come so early. It is in fact just one man and because the streets are so wide, the bins are the big kind which the truck just picks up with an extending arm and tips into the incinerator. (If they didn't come so damned early I'd take a photo and show you.) We also have a separate yellow-top bin for re-cyclable stuff (glass, plastic etc.) which gets collected once a month.

I told you all of that because I've just taken the rubbish out and it was a crystal clear night with stars shining so bright it was a humbling experience. (That insignificance I mentioned a few days back.) I'll confess I know very little about the sky at night (I'm afraid if I was up that late, Patrick Moore and his programme of that name got short shrift from my channel changing digit), but I thought I saw Orion. I'll have to ask an expert if Orion is visible at this time of year in the southern hemisphere and also check if there is an observatory here in Cairns somewhere to learn a bit more about the southern sky. I wish I'd watched Patrick a bit more!

The veil shrouds once more

Well there's some good news on the environment front with latest research suggesting a slowing in the rate of destruction of Earth's protective veil of ozone. Scientists are putting it down to the global CFC (those pesky chlorofluorocarbons most commonly found in refrigerators and aerosol cans) ban that began in 1989 with enactment of the Montreal Protocol.

The school the boys are at has stocks of sun-block creams for use during sports events and they are required to wear hats when outside (enforced rigorously during the summer I've been told) the class room. Generally I've noticed the Aussies are very concerned about UV levels and I suspect this is one peice of news the Sunshine State will greet with much cheer ... as should we all.

If you're interested in science news, you could do worse than bookmarking the New Scientist website where the first story I've linked to comes from.

More body parts wanted

Following on from my entry of a couple of days ago where a Manchester museum was returning some Aboriginal skulls to Australia, I see that The Natural History Museum in London is facing possible court action if it doesn't return some Aboriginal human remains it has in its possession. The museum is resisting even though there is an agreement between the governments of both countries to encourage the repatriation of Aboriginal body parts held in the UK.

If you don't already know it, and this problem aside, The Natural History Museum is one of the coolest museums in London. Definitely worth a visit if you're in town.

Bye Bye Beetle

We had two of them in the family at one time or another though I wasn't driving then. Yes folks the good ol' Beetle (and we are only talking about the classic beetle - not the plush new trendy one that one sees rather a lot of in affluent suburbs) is to be no more. The last factory to produce them (in Puebla, Mexico) is ceasing production today.

The classic Beetle had environment issues (falling foul of U.S. regulations as far back as 1977) and in Mexico was considered a kidnapping liability. Beetles comprise the majority of the taxi population in Mexico City making it too easy for kidnappers and street robbers to block off the two doors and impossible for passengers to escape.

Not sure if it is a sad day or not, but Hitler's little baby is still a cool car. The very last Beetle will be sent to Volkswagen's headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany.

Aboriginal Spirits and Elgin

A museum in England is going to be handing back four Aboriginal skulls collected more than 100 years ago in Australia. Apparently they have been gathering dust in the vaults of the Manchester Musuem and the return is particularly significant because Aborigines believe the spirits of their people cannot rest in peace until their bones are laid in their native ground.

Will this lead to other museums returning artefacts to their native lands? I can't see the trend continuing myself. The Greeks have been screaming to get the Elgin Marbles back for god knows how long. Would you give the Marbles back to the Greeks? I would if they could guarantee its safe keeping and if they promised not to put them back on the Parthenon itself. They'd last about 50 years there before the Athenian traffic fumes erased them from history.

Number Plates - 2

Tasmania, Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territories: Good ol' Tassie. I think it is almost considered as much an 'outback' as the Northern Territories. ACT speaks for itself. Although not so evident in this picture, the Northern Territories plate is actually that very particular Australian red. The national anthem refers to the nation's "golden soil", but there is no doubt that the colour that defines the nation is the red of the lettering of this plate - or the Ayers Rock red.

New South Wales:  I guess the 'Toward 2000' plate refers to the Sydney Olympics. The blue plate was in commemoration of the 100 years of the Commonwealth of Australia. The First and Premier state plates are referring to the fact that NSW was the first Australian state to be established.

Name change accomplished

I've found myself neither surprising nor surprised, so the Donkey is making way for a final name change. The blog is now officially called Joe Bloggs.

Also not very surprising is that I'm not the only Joe Bloggs on the corner. I'm not sure what he/they are blogging, but a cursory glance didn't reveal any posts from any Joe! [I did think of my name first and then go looking to see if someone else had had the same idea, but you'll have to take my word for that. :+) ]

Anyway, update your links (if you have one of course) and I promise no more name changes. Joe Bloggs is here to stay!

The best loos

Our loos are the best. Do you want one? It'll only set you back $4,000 (about £3,000).

And if this be treason

Arthur Miller is probably my favourite modern playwright. This may well be because I haven't seen enough of Pinter (and that which I have I've found difficult). Ditto Beckett. David Mamet doesn't have the gravitas and, good as they are, the likes of Osborne and Alan Ayckbourn are too parochial.

I was interested to read that Miller is about to exorcise the ghost of his marriage to Marilyn Monroe by writing a play called Finishing the Picture. I was even more interested to read that Miller is not liked much in the United States. The linked article suggests this is as much for his perceived "defiling of Marilyn's memory" as anything else, but I wonder if it is also a legacy of when he was brought to trial for contempt of Congress in the 1950s. (Charges he was eventually cleared of.) Here is an article from the June 1957 edition of Esquire Magazine in which John Steinbeck defends Miller and hits out at the 'if you're not with us, you're against us' culture at the time of the McCarthy witch-hunts. All the more relevant because that very culture is rearing its threatening head again under the current U.S. administration.

Laughing Fox

I'm not sure about you, but I am explicably drawn to subject matters to which I am doggedly opposed. When I had to go to Tokyo a lot a few years back and stay in a hotel with an abundance of foreign TV channels, I used to find BBC World a bit of a turn off and CNN ... well ... predictable. Now Fox on the other hand was hypnotisingly fasicnating. Never have I watched so much propaganda dressed up as news. I think their signature phrase is "We report. You decide". Laughable to the extreme. Here's a brilliant Doonesbury strip that totally explodes that particular lie. Oh, and why "explicable"? Well, I can watch the Beeb on the Net and bits of CNN on satellite TV at home, but I wouldn't watch Fox if I had good access to it. It was precisely because my access was limited that made it even more alluring. (And, of course, I like to keep abreast of my own prejudices i.e. my loathing of Fox News.)

Bambucicletas

Stronger than steel. Grows without fertilizer and while growing emits more oxygen than the equivalent amount of wood pulp. The first thing to flower after the bomb flattened Hiroshima. The only building still standing after the earthquake in Costa Rica in 1992. What is it? (A good Jeopardy question if ever there was one.) The answer is, of course, 'bamboo'. You only have to see all the skyscraper scaffolding in Hong Kong to know that the first sentence of this entry must be true. Well, how about a bamboo bicycle? Like the linked article says, "The bicycle is one of the world's most brilliant inventions", and that bamboo is pretty special material to make it with.

Mona Lisa, Mona Lisa, Men Have Peed You

At the risk of dragging the tone of the blog further down than I did yesterday with the 'pee' line, one of my readers told me they have been known to pee in the snow! Well it appears my reader has company. Six members of a German team took less than five minutes to urinate a line drawing of Da Vinci's Mona Lisa at some competition in Norway. Of course the next question is what on earth is that little story I've linked to doing on an Indian website?

(With many, many apologies to Nat King Cole for the crass title of this entry.)

Pee Tree

We were coming back from 2 Fast 2 Furious (fun bubble-gum that the boys enjoyed because it had everything they like i.e. fast cars, stunts, bit of humour, fast cars and more stunts) when we saw a guy peeing against a tree just outside the cricket ground - where Bangladesh are putting up a fight by the way. Noriko noted that it's the same all over the world - men seem to need something to pee against! She has a point. It isn't often you see men flailing in thin air. What do you think?

Number Plates - 1

Queensland: Not too sure about that 'Smart State' plate. What exactly do they mean? Fortunately, one doesn't see too many of those around. The locals appear to have settled on the 'Sunshine State' - by far the biggest majority sport it.

Victoria and South Australia: It rains a lot in Victoria - or so convention has it - and maybe that helps their gardens! The Adelaide Festival of Arts in South Australia is one I hope to go to one day.

"But dude, it's a joint event"

You gotta love that title, especially when you know it's a story about a legal wrangle surrounding a marijuana rating contest.

Tassie Devil

The Tasmanian Devil is in trouble with some kind of cancer-like disease attacking the world's largest surviving carnivorous marsupial population. Go to this excellent page if you want to read, hear and see more about the little devil. It was hunted to near-extinction in the 19th century and only received legal protection as late as 1941. Its population has since grown, but this new threat is obviously a concern.

And the stars look very different

Well if not different, certainly more numerous. Using nifty equations that extrapolate the brightness of all the galaxies in one sector of the universe to calculate the number of stars out there in the firmament, Australian scientists have come to the conculsion that there are 10 times as many stars as grains of sand on Earth. As a friend used to say, now imagine if all those galaxies put together are just a speck of dirt in the fingernail of a gorilla in some bigger picture. Is that sufficient insignificance to start your day?

So what song is the title of this entry from?

Wahrheit durch Vollständigkeit

If ever there was an argument to be made for ironclad independence for publically funded broadcasters, the BBC have proved it in their recent battles with the British government and now the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is doing the same with its own government. The country's Communications Minister made 68 allegations of bias against the network's flagship current affairs radio program AM (sounds very much like the BBC's Radio 4) with regard to its coverage of the Iraq war. Fortunately, ABC's own complaints review body has comprehensively rejected the allegations saying, "The AM program could neither be an advocate nor adversary for the American, Australian, British or Iraqi position in the war." Precisely. Incumbent political parties only seem to appreciate this kind of viewpoint when they are out of power and politicians the world over are as fickle as the party-line they tow.

Bugger

There are many hit TV programmes I've missed over the years by having lived in Japan. I think it is safe to say any personal growth that has been achieved over those years has not been hindered by my lack of access to western TV. That's not to say Japanese TV is anything to write home about - those I have written home to will testify to the fact that I have maintained a silvery silence on the subject. Here in Australia we have the television on because the main reason for our visit is to give the boys maximum exposure to English. So they watch their Japanese cartoons - in English of course - and they have become the biggest fans of 'The Simpsons' - two words that are sung in the house and not spoken.

The big hit programme that finished today was Big Brother and I'm at a loss (admittedly a little less of a loss than I was before we came, but still at a loss) as to what it is that draws people to this kind of tripe - both to go into prison for anything up to three months constantly on camera, and to watch it from the other side of the camera. It seems to take boredom on to new levels. New frightening levels. But I did say I was "a little less at a loss" and that is to say when you've had these faces in your living room for 3 months, it could be that they become part of the furniture. ('Bugger' was the winner's signature word by the way.)

As I've been writing Annie Lennox has been interviewed via satellite and she mentioned something which maybe provides an answer to some of the issues raised by this need for exposure. She said that over the last 5 to 10 years there has been a tremendous growth in the "industry of celebrity". Is it that we all want to be celebrities? Andy Warhol's 15 minutes of fame clearly isn't long enough for this new TV age.

Aussie Slang

There are, as one might suspect, dictionaries of Aussie Slang, but the following are words that I've actually heard used here in the 10 days or so we've been here.

No worries: You're welcome. (Most often heard in shops after I've thanked them for serving me.)

Fair Dinkum: Real. Honest. Genuine. (I've heard this most often as a question meaning "really?")

Grog: Alcohol. (Again, not exclusive to the Australians, but it brought a smile to my face when my taxi driver used it if only because it has been such a long time since I last heard it.)

G'day mate: Does this really need a definition. Is this used anywhere else in the world?

Dunny: Toilet. (Definitely the toilet and not a bathroom with a bath in it. The Australians definitely get that - separating, in speech, the toilet from the bathroom - from the British. In both cases, it comes from the days when toilets were outside.)

Name change approaching

So what is the Surprised Donkey name all about? I have to shamefully admit that it is a direct rip-off from the Bikkuri Donkey hamburger restaurant chain in Japan. (That link is to their website, but it is all in Japanese, so don't expect much enlightenment unless you - and your computer - can read Japanese.) Bikkuri means 'to be surprised' in Japanese. I always thought it would be a great name for a pub in England, but as I am unlikely to be running or owning one of those, I thought I'd use it as my blog name when the first name that came to mind, Azekatsu Ambler, started grating.

I am now approaching my third moniker for this site, and though the new one is not very original either, it is far more appropriate. So don't be surprised if you see a new name up here shortly! Oh, how fickle this blogger is.

He's left us ...

While we're talking about Looney Toons, here's an image that needs no explanation - for fans anyway. So which voice was your favourite?

ACME Products

I remember when TV was a new thing to us - everything beyond the electric bulb was new to us on arrival in England in 1967 - and we were hooked on all the Looney Toons cartoons, we used to ask Dad "What does ACME mean?". He used to give us the dictionary definition, "the highest point - in this case it just means the best". Over time, ACME came to mean the cool gadgets and products a hapless coyote used to try and capture a certain Road Runner (and other members of the Looney team for other uses). Well now there is an illustrated catalogue of all the anvils, bed springs, bird seeds, toasters etc., from the ACME product range. Those were the days weren't they?

Dodge the Duck

A fun-fair isn't a fun-fair without a good Dodgem Car ride. The boys didn't seem to be dodging anything though! Do you see what I meant about the prizes?

Show Time

As predictable as the first ever cricket Test Match between Australia and Bangladesh going on in Darwin at the moment, the boys lapped up the rides and both had their heads spinning within the first two rides.

Desperately Seeking Asylum

For a country "built on immigration", Australia takes a very heavy hand with asylum seekers. Those arriving without passports or visas face mandatory detention in centres often described as "concentration camps". The man at the heart of immigration policy is Philip Ruddock. He is not very popular in some quarters, but as the Sydney Morning Herald (quoted in the linked BBC article above) says about the political argument surrounding the issue "This is an area of deep and serious division in public opinion, that, however, is not reflected in a contest of ideas between the two main political parties," suggesting a change of government won't change the situation.

Dark and Stormy Night

So you thought my writing was suspect. Here's the winning entry from this year's Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest: They had but one last remaining night together, so they embraced each other as tightly as that two-flavor entwined string cheese that is orange and yellowish-white, the orange probably being a bland Cheddar and the white . . . Mozzarella, although it could possibly be Provolone or just plain American, as it really doesn't taste distinctly dissimilar from the orange, yet they would have you believe it does by coloring it differently.

The contest, sponsored by the English Department of San Jose State University, is named after the British novelist Edward George Bulwer-Lytton, whose 1830 novel Paul Clifford began with the now notorious line: "It was a dark and stormy night."

Cairns Show

It's the biggest event in North Queensland and "an exposé of North Queensland's agricultural, industrial, retail and service industries". What it certainly is is a fairground from my youth. Hardly surprising then that the boys love the place. Rides to make you giddy, prizes that give 'anachronism' a fresh new coat of meaning and an enthusiasm that is as refreshing as it is beguiling. Yes, the Cairns Show is in town and the boys' school closes for the final day (tomorrow) of the show to allow the students to sample its delights. We'll be going (the boys are determined to giddy themselves sick) and it'll be my first chance to get my camera out and take some pictures.

What's the show about though? Let me quote the website, "Being a country show, there's displays of beef and dairy cattle, horses, goats, poultry, and agricultural products. There's wood-chopping, the noisy excitement of the rock-drilling and the horse expo. There's the irresistible animal nursery (it's bigger and better this year) or you can check out the latest vehicles from all the top auto dealers. In the evening, sit back and thrill at the Holden Stormriders precision driving team, marvel at the buffalo stunt show, cheer the Horseman from Susan River, laugh at the crazy antics of the Nyree Stunt Cars, and be dazzled by the spectacular fireworks finale." In a nutshell!

The Fisherman's Tale

Noriko was intent on finding some fresh fish and wanted to go to a shop she had spotted on the way from the airport on our arrival last week. It was quite easy to locate – Cairns' size has its advantages – and having bought our whole Tasmanian salmon I approached a member of staff about the recent adverts I'd seen on TV slamming the proposed protection of the Reef. The staff member just smiled sweetly (something people here do a great deal and I thank them for it) and said she knew nothing, but a man who turned out to be the owner of the shop furnished me with the fishermen's point of view.

"The greenies are telling the public a pack of lies. If they get their way, the only fish people will be able to eat in Cairns will be from fish farms and I've flown over those green pools of slime they call farms (and where the restaurants get their fish!) and let me tell you, you don't want your kids eating that. Not unless you want horns growing out of their heads when they get older. I'm also a conservationist. I believe in sustainable fishing. The reef is not over-fished though some line fishermen have over-fished some areas in the past. We are good for the people of Cairns, but if they put into place the regulations I think they will, we'll all be in trouble."

He said a lot more, of course, and his main concern definitely seemed to be about the investment that he and other fishermen had made in their boats, and the fact that they would not be compensated should they not be allowed to fish there anymore (though he himself fishes almost the entire eastern coastline of Australia so he certainly won't be put out of business), but he also countered the claims made by the 'greenies' he despised so much. He told me to get in touch with a particular organization for more facts and I told him I would. In the meantime, read the first two paragraphs and spot a flaw in his argument. To be continued.

Shirtings and Suitings

It's interesting to see what happens to people's mother tongues when they've been away from their home country for a long time. I remember the American nuns that taught us in Gaya, India started to speak a form of Englindi (a bad attempt at compounding English and Hindi) after a while and this was particularly evident when they stuck 'ing' at the end of nouns. The classic Indian tailor's shop will advertise 'shirtings and suitings' (or the other way around).

Today the boys started karate at a local dojo and the sensei that runs it with his wife has been in Australia for over 28 years. Now, I know that Japanese people have difficulty talking to someone in Japanese when they are in an environment where they do not expect that person to know the language i.e. me in Australia, but the sensei and his wife were having trouble talking to each other in Japanese not just me. I'm sure when they are at home they have no problem (or at least I hope not), but they really seemed to be caught between two worlds - not sure whether to talk to each other in English or Japanese and ending up with a mish-mash of both. I hope that never happens to me and I don't think it will if only because in Japan we have a lot more access to English than the Matsumoto karate family could ever have had to Japanese in Australia. And, of course, thank heavens for the advent of the Net.

Stress

When we were here last year, the country was suffering under major drought conditions. We noticed the hills around Cairns look much greener this year suggesting they’ve had a bit more rain recently, but what is not in doubt is that the environment here is under severe stress. Not only is this Save the Koala Month, later on this month we have National Tree Day. They need to plant the trees after all that was burnt down in the fires earlier in the year and the koala people make a good point when they say "koalas are not living in people’s backyards, but rather people have moved into theirs". You know what happens when undesirable neighbours move into the area – things go downhill fast - and the koalas need all the help they can get to improve their neighbourhood.

Some say "No!"

There are some dissenters in the pack and they are local. So local that they feel they don’t need a website. These guys (through TV ads) say that there are 500 jobs at risk and the cost to the economy will be something like 45 million Australian dollars if the Reef gets any more protection. The WWF obviously has more resources – witness website - and therefore aiming at a wider audience. Let’s hope the Reef wins.

The Reef needs your help

It appears the Great Barrier Reef is in trouble and the Australian branch of the World Wildlife Fund has a campaign on to try and get more protection for this World Heritage area. Problems include, prawn trawling which destroys up to ten times more creatures than are actually harvested and millions of tonnes of sediment and chemicals pouring into the reef lagoon every year. Join Sir David Attenborough and sign WWF Australia's e-petition calling for a comprehensive network of marine sanctuaries in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.

Anachronicity

Maybe it is just Cairns, but I get the feeling that being thousands of miles from the nearest center of civilisation has resulted in an anachronistic cloud hovering over the country. A cloud that separates now and then to let little bits of modernity through - but only very slowly and only a little bit at a time. As far as the muzak in the shopping malls is concerned, the clouds last opened back in the late 60s early 70s and the clothes in the shops last saw sunlight in the early 90s - though maybe I think that because they seem to be wearing what I am wearing &+). As for the cars, well some people must have cloud-moving powers or, more likely, bank balances because they have the latest Toyota/Mitsubishi/Honda/Nissan (yes folks the Japanese have bought that paritcular monopoly set lock, stock and barrel), but the general populace is driving straight and is driving a mixture of 70s/80s/90s vehicles. I'm quite taken by this anachronism thang.

[edit] Just as I finished posting this, someone in the neighbourhood started blasting out (really loud) Comfortably Numb. Is there anybody out there? Sure is! [/edit]

Australia

Three things always strike me about Australia when I arrive in the country. Its birds and especially the cackling Galah. Its people and especially its young people. Finally, its trees.

They're not brilliant links, but it's difficult on a dial-up!

Shun Tanemoto & James Bulger

The news story that is gripping Japan as we head out to Australia is that of the murder of 4-year-old Shun Tanemoto. I haven't followed it closely myself, but the police are holding a 12-year-old boy on suspicion of throwing Shun off a multi-story car park. The parallels between this incident and the James Bulger murder 10 years ago appear close enough to ignite the same sorts of debate in Japan as they did in the UK after the capture of James's killers. Of all the articles you will find on the Guardian site linked above, this Blake Morrison article is particularly worth reading.

What an utterly sad piece of news to close from Japan on. See you in Cairns.

Blog of Blogs

Well maybe not quite, but pretty damned good. If you're tired of reading my claptrap and want a wider world view you might want to bookmark The Guardian Weblog. I was going to highlight a particular link from there, but there are just too many to choose from. Go there and take a look. You could do a lot worse. A lot worse.

Magic Tiger 49

I don't really want to blog too much about sport - it can be such a boring subject if that particular sport, or sport in general, isn't your cup of tea. But the Hanshin Tigers deserve a mention. Perennial losers - or as the American press puts it "cellar dwellers" - they come into the light once every 20 years or so and win something. The last time they sent their fans into delirium was way back in 1985 - the year before I came to Japan. Even a year later people were talking about the sorts of things that happened after the victory which included that of a Kyoto University professor not setting exams for his students in celebration of the miracle that a Tigers championship season always is. The Tigers epitomise their home city of Osaka and as an Osaka-based economist quoted in this excellent New York Times article (yes they're even talking about it in yonder metropolis) says, "Basically, Hanshin fans are against centralization, against power and against money". Yep, that sums them up, the typical second-city syndrome.

Victory last night against Hiroshima meant that the Tigers now have a magic number of 49. If you don't know your baseball, you won't know the game is almost completely about statistics and one of the most fascinating of all (to this non-playing Brit anyway) is the magic number. Basically, it means any combination of Hanshin victories and losses by the second placed team (the much despised Tokyo Giants - boo/hiss) to a total of 49 will see the Tigers crowned champions. Put another way, if the Tigers win tonight the total becomes 48. If the Giants lose as well then it becomes 47. The Tigers are champions when the total reduces to zero. The prediction is that will happen sometime in late August. I hope they hit a bit of a slump before then because I want to be here when it happens. Go Tigers, but slow down!

Well travelled frog

You all know the story - gnome sits in garden ... gnome goes walkabout ... gnome sends photos of his trip around the world. (No links, but it's been on Japanese TV so that's a fact then!). Well a certain frog has decided to get in on the act. A well travelled and well fed frog ... meet Kaeru. (Kaeru is the Japanese word for frog by the way.)

Dodgy friends? Dodgy President!

I probably mix with dodgy types, but recently more than a handful of Americans I know here in Japan have expressed the sentiments emblazoned on this T-shirt. (For those who don't/can't follow the link, it says "I'm sorry my President's an idiot. I didn't vote for him.", in six languages.)

Now before you start haranguing me for my dodgy (I wouldn't have them any other way!) friends, you should know it was none other than George W.'s speechwriters that wrote (and Dubya duly delivered): "In a free society, diversity is not disorder. Debate is not strife. And dissent is not revolution." Now, if only his administration would practice what his speechwriters have him preach.

The T-shirt link comes to you via a comment I read on Lisa's excellent blog.

Embers

Finished reading this on the plane back from Los Angeles last week and discussed it tonight with four friends. A very deft, if narrow, exposition of freindship seen through the eyes of a General in the crumbling Austro-Hungarian empire. Sándor Márai develops this almost theatrical monologue very well with the use of flashbacks and quiet observations that hit the mark like a crack huntsman (hunting plays a big role in the plot). Although highly recommended, in the end the lack of breadth made this a slightly unsatisfying novel. Here's an example of the somewhat confined picture the author paints on his main theme: And yet, beyond their roles and their lives in society, beyond the women, something else, something more powerful made itself felt. A feeling known only to men. A feeling called friendship. I don't think so Sándor. Though I do want to read more by him.

The Beeb and Flak

I have a long-held theory that you know the BBC is doing its job properly when it gets attacked by the incumbent administration. Though the Conservatives tend to throw (if not land) more punches during their periods of power, this time it is Tony Blair's government that wants the Beeb to apologise for claims made in a report on Radio 4's Today programme that Downing Street had "sexed up" a dossier on Iraq's weapons capabilities. Well Aunty's fighting back, demanding that Downing Street withdraw its claims of bias. Instructions on how to don a flak jacket must come with the job description. You gotta love the Beeb. They're the best.

Second Serve

Haven't watched much Wimbledon this year - come to think of haven't watched much these 17 years! What I am noticing as I watch the men's final now though is how much further behind the baseline the court is balding. The power tennis played by both the men and the women means the players have to stand further back if they are to have any chance of returning serve, but it is the second serve that tells the real tale of the current men's game. They don't see the ball as quick as players of yester-year. Or at least as my all-time fave McEnroe did. He used to stand one yard within the baseline to receive the second serve. These guys stand one yard behind. Where's the finesse? Where's the artistry? I don't regret the 17 barren years I didn't spend in front of the TV in the last week of June and first week of July!

Here's a review of what appears to be a fascinating new book on Maestro McEnroe.

Monopolised

On rainy Sunday afternoons in London in the late 60s and early 70s, we used to occupy ourselves with games of Monopoly. What better way, then, to spend a wet Sunday in Kyoto than playing an Australian version of the game we bought last year. Actually there are a lot of better ways to spend your time, but it has an appeal to young children (at least our youngest) that is difficult to comprehend this far down the time line.

Do you know the history of Monopoly though? The official version varies considerably from the unofficial one which claims that the "homemade monopoly had been played in Philadelphia, New York, Boston and many other American cities since about 1910--twenty odd years before a trumped-up corporate story claims it had been originally created by Charles B. Darrow". In fact the guy at AntiMonopoly.com has won a legal battle with General Mills (the then owners of Monopoly) that went as far as the U.S. Supreme Court to prove the heritage of the game.

More information than you ever wanted to know about the game, but if it is inclement weather where you are, you might be more interested in following the above links than three of us here were in playing the game!

Depressed

Me? No, no, no. The economy here. I've just caught one of the last trains back from Osaka (just before midnight) and the train was nigh-on empty i.e. had no trouble getting a seat. Even a few years back it would have been packed. Furthermore, there was absolutely no queue for the taxi when I got out at Kyoto. A sure sign of the economic malaise gripping the poor soul that is Japan these days.

Bum information

Don't worry this isn't another missive on obesity - though as an aside why is it that the bum balloons the most and first in the human body? No, it seems I have been feeding you bum information on the amount of rain falling in Japan this rainy season. (What a very British/Japanese blog this is, all I ever seem to talk about is the weather!) Anyway, a news item on NHK TV (the Japanese, in their blissful ignorance, like to refer to it as their BBC) said that this rainy season has been low on rain, with the Tokyo region getting only 52% of an average year's rainfall and the Osaka/Kobe/Kyoto (Kansai i.e. where I am) getting 72%. Could have fooled me - indeed they have. It has rained every day and billions of kilolitres at a time! The deluge continues as I write. :+(

The Battle for the Poop

"Out on the African savanna, a fresh and moist pile of fine-grained antelope dung is a nutritious treasure aggressively fought over by a melee of critters. The spoils go to those with the craftiest strategies to snatch and stash a piece of the pie." Does that grab your attention? Want to read more? Follow this link.

You gotta hand it to scientists. They leave no pile unturned in order to unravel the secrets of our universe. All of which leads on nicely to what I was actually doing in Chicago. I joined a large-ish group of scientists, NGOs and concerned citizens at the 10th World Lakes Conference. Although the focus was Global Threats to Large Lakes, many subjects on a whole range of issues were discussed and the aim of these conferences is to try and get attention for the plight of freshwater on this blue Earth of ours. Water covers 71% of the Earth's surface but freshwater comprises less than 3% of our total water supply ... and we don't even have access to all of that. There is a real crisis out there. You should listen up.

Matrix Replicated

Japan is a country that does fanaticism really well. Take a look at these pictures of fans of the latest installment of the Matrix in Tokyo recently. More Agent Smiths than you could shake a stick at.

Went to see the film in Chicago and liked it. I know people were complaining about the fight scenes being too long, but not for this SFX fan. Yes, the dialogue could have been cut (nay, slashed), and considering it is written and directed by the directors of Bound maybe they could have worked more on their humour as well, but all in all it left me waiting anxiously for the final installment.

Fat, Fatter, Fattest

What little part of the brain that is still functioning can't help but run over things that happened in the States. A conversation I overhead on the Chicago subway was brought back to me after watching an ABC report (on satellite TV here in Japan) on the world's biggest food company deciding it wants to tackle obesity head on rather than face possible litigation in the way tobacco companies have in the past.

So, that conversation. Very fat woman talking to fat woman (in Japan it would probably be termed 'super fat woman' talking to 'very fat woman'): "He just has to get more meat on him. Man, he is just skin and bones. He's healthy, but so skinny". The thin person in question wasn't there, but it made me think a lot about perspectives and where we stand makes a huge (pun intended) difference on how our opinions are formed. I'll be writing more about fat and obesity from Australia - a country that has possibly an even bigger problem than America in that area!

Some facts on obesity gleaned from that ABC report. The incidence of obesity in the United States has doubled in the last 10 years in the case of adults and tripled for children. Obesity is now considered an epidemic in America. I would have to agree. In the case of Kraft, its parent company is Philip Morris - yes that's right, the tobacco giant. Heading litigation off at the pass must come with the territory.

Back from the Land of the Gun

In the Land of the Rising Sun, things haven't changed much in the 12 days I've been away. It still raineth - no sign of the end of the rainy season yet - and the local baseball team (well they're not that far away in Osaka) Hanshin Tigers keep on winning. The latter is very good news indeed and I'll go into more detail at a later date about how the Tigers winning has a really positive effect on life in this part of Japan.

I've been telling a few people here that though I had a really good time in the States, there is an underlying tension there which is sufficiently discomforting to make one glad to leave. I also don't think the tension has much (if anything) to do with the heightened terrorism alert there right now. I hope I go to the U.S. many times in the future, but I know I will never go to live there. Now I'd better get off-line before I totally alienate my American readers. :+(