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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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Tuesday, October 29, 2002 |
 It's an even smaller world than I thought when I wrote the previous post. This lunchtime, I was looking at ways of getting to Takayama, a town in Gifu Prefecture known as 'Little Kyoto'; I was thinking of making a detour there if I go to Tokyo at Christmas.
Then, this evening, I watched the seven o'clock NHK News as normal. At the very end of the news broadcast there is always a live shot of somewhere in Japan; this evening it was nowhere other than Takayama! The coincidence is greater because in over four years of watching the NHK News at least three or four times a week, I've never seen the shot from Takayama before...
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It's a small world. I saw the lorry with the chandelier again on the way home this evening, and who should be driving it, but the father of Otsu-kun, the elementary school boy who comes to kagura practices!
It might not yet be impossible to get photographic evidence...
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The BBC is conducting a poll for the Greatest Briton ever. Well, as the Electronic Telegraph comments, and I think myself, there shouldn't really be any contest; surely Shakespeare should be the Greatest Briton. The English language is a thing of power and great beauty, lyrical and inspiring in the right hands; and there can have been few better hands than those of Shakespeare. Now, more than ever, it's imperative that we recognise this and act to value and preserve our extraordinary linguistic heritage from an ever encroaching laxness, slovenliness in language.
Personally, I believe that Shakespeare should be followed by Winston Churchill, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, and Queen Elizabeth I. Interestingly, my opinion isn't too far off the popular vote; Shakespeare stands at 4th, Brunel at 1st, Churchill at 2nd, and Elizabeth at 7th. Patriotism dictates that I should vote for the present Queen; but the BBC has seen fit to limit the choices somewhat artificially. In particular, including Diana without including the Queen smacks of popularism.
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An interesting article on the BBC website about how as digital cameras get smaller, they're becoming more and more pervasive, meaning that people are taking more and more pictures of things that wouldn't normally merit a photo taken with conventional film. Absolutely true- I realised this as soon as I bought a digital camera myself.
Anyway, the site gave me an idea. I don't have a camera on my mobile phone- I purposely chose one without a phone- but my trusty Clie does have a camera. I don't use it for important photos because the quality isn't good enough, but I think I'm going to set up a site of all the (sometimes completely random) photos I take with the Clie. Or I could even include the photos in the Breakfast Show. In any case, in a sort of jumble-sale sort of way, it could be interesting...
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Only a few more days to Hallowe'en; Wendy's gone to town decorating the outside of her apartment with skeletons and bats. There's an article on Salon.com about how Hallowe'en is in fact only about a century old- which is what I've been telling my elementary school students for the fast five years now. I suppose someone has to set the trend...
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Web articles worthy of mention...
An article on some of the emails sent to Saddam Hussein. Apparently his email inbox was able to be opened by guessing the login name and password... so, sounds like a professional set-up there, then!
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For the first time in weeks, I have absolutely nothing to do today at work. It means I can catch up on all the little things that need doing, but wich don't have specific deadlines, and so get put aside until a day like today. It's a very pleasant feeling indeed.
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After the preview of winter yesterday, this morning is a glorious autumn day. A highlighter-pen-blue sky, and air so sparklingly clear you'd think it'd just come out of a dishwasher advert. A real pleasure to stroll to work. If only every day until April could be like this...
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© Copyright 2003 Nathan Duckworth.
Updated: 8/1/03; 8:52:07 pm.
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