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Broadcasting to an audience of three (and a goldfish)...
Comment, ramblings and musings... life through the eyes of a Japanologist...
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Wednesday, September 11, 2002 |
 Web sites worthy of mention...
bloghop.com
A weblog portal which allows users to search for and rate weblogs.
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Taiko (JMSDF)
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Hashioka
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Photographs
Yes, more photos! (Perhaps there wasn't really a need for an exclamation mark there, but what the heck...)
The novelty of scenery might be wearing a little thin by now, so today's photos are of Shinkansen in Tokyo station, taken earlier in the year (on more than one occasion, which is an excuse for there being more than one photo of each type of Shinkansen...).
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Meeting for Festival Etajima after lunch. Well, in fact, rather than a meeting, an uchiawase- a sort of discussion and planning gathering- for the groups doing stalls at the Festival (of which the International Club is one). Todaka-san went too, so all I had to do was just sit and look interested, really- although this is more difficult than it might sound when the talk is predominantly of such things as fried noodles...
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Had lunch in the Naval Base, the first time in a while. The security didn't look any different to normal, really, although there was a table near the gate with a big sign reading 'hand luggage searches'. Presumably this is because of today being what it is, unless of course the JMDSF is operating commuter flights from Etajima. I suppose we'll know if the next time we go there's a sign for passport control...
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Web articles worthy of mention...
A superb article from The Spectator about September 11th last year. I think that the description of the weather as 'sadistically beautiful' is inspired; it reminds me a lot of accounts of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.
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Today is the first anniversary of the bombing of the World Trade Center in New York.
I remember last year, the news was first reported late on Tuesday evening, but I'd already gone to bed. I never watch television in the morning, either, so I was completely unaware that anything had happened. That morning I was teaching in the Naval Base, and I remember thinking that it was odd that the guards at the gate were wearing combat gear and carrying guns, and that it was suddenly very difficult to get into the base, but I simply thought that there was a graduation or something at which somebody important would be present. After checks and phone calls, I was allowed into the base, still completely unaware of the fact that anything had happened. It was only when I got to the teachers' room that someone asked me if I'd heard; 'heard what?' was my reply, of course.
Something of this magnitude really does take time to sink in. I suppose in a way it's like the shooting of President Kennedy or the death of Diana in that people really do remember what they were doing when they heard the news. I heard the main points (as far as they were known at the time) from a teacher in the base, and I spent much of the afternoon reading the internet and watching the BBC's coverage, but even then the sheer scale of what had happened was such that it simply didn't register properly.
An horrific day. One year on, it's good to see that it's being commemorated in Britain in a dignified and appropriate way, as well as in New York.
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...or perhaps I won't. According to an article on RandomMaccess, iCal is bug-ridden and generally useless. I suppose I'll have to see for myself, but still, it doesn't sound particularly promising...
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Checked my email this morning to find that iCal, the calendar application from Apple had been released. Downloaded it straightaway; I'll have a play with it tonight.
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Breakfast Show Staple Randomhaiku of the day (from The Genuine Haiku Generator)
creaky timid slick
ripple slobbers fiendishly
hostage pulling clocks
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I think it's fair to say that we're at the beginning of autumn rather than the end of summer, now. This morning was cool and fresh; almost pleasant. The temperature will still rise during the day (my Mac says it's 29 degrees at 11 o'clock), but the mornings and evenings are no longer overbearingly stifling. I'm really looking forward to late October and early November, when the nights are chilly enough to be able to get my kotatsu (a table with a heater underneath) out, and get warm and cosy under the blankets...
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© Copyright 2003 Nathan Duckworth.
Updated: 8/1/03; 8:37:53 pm.
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