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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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Thursday, November 28, 2002 |
 I watched two more episodes of the X-Files this evening, but I had to finish at a real cliffhanger- with Scully having been abducted from the top of a mountain by aliens!
(Not that the outcome isn't obvious, of course, even if I hadn't seen the whole series about six times already...)
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Came across an interesting piece of software, EarthDesk. It places a map of the world, with night and day updated automatically, on the Mac desktop. It even shows the lights of cities in the dark areas of the planet.
My desktop (at about 1.30 pm) now looks like this (I have the map centred on Hiroshima):
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Japan Recollections
For some reason, this evening I recalled an amusing episode from my first year or so in Etajima. I was on a ferry from Nomi, the neighbouring town, to Hiroshima, and because it was a fine day, I was outside enjoying the fresh air and the scenery. About three minutes after the ferry had left the port, a stooped old lady went rushing down the stairs from the passenger deck to the car deck, shouting (or rather, croaking), 'Stop the ferry! Stop the ferry!' Amazingly, the ferry did stop, and one of the crew went to find out what had happened. It turned out that the lady had left her bag of potatoes at the port! (What she was doing taking a bag of potatoes to Hiroshima is anyone's guess, but that's a different matter...)
Anyway- even more amazingly- the ferry turned round, and went all the way back to the port, just so this little old lady could pick up her little bag of (little?) potatoes! It then set off again to Hiroshima. Incredible- this sort of thing could surely only happen on an island like this!
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There was a report on the news this evening that the temperature in Higashi-Hiroshima (where I was at University for a year) dropped to -3.4 degrees last night. And I thought Etajima was cold!
Actually, the coldness in Etajima doesn't always seem to be connected directly to the temperature, so it's possible that the island might indeed feel colder than Higashi-Hiroshima. Perhaps because it's an island, the coldness in Etajima seems to be a really bitter, biting cold, one that really chills you to the core, even if the temperature itself isn't actually that low. Certainly when I went to Fukushima last New Year, the temperature was lower than in Etajima, and there was snow on the ground (something that hardly ever happens here), but I didn't really feel it was cold. When I came back to the (theoretically warmer) island, though, the bitter chill really struck me; in fact, the first thing I did the following day was go out and buy a new kerosene heater!
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Actually, speaking of cooking, I made a discovery the other week which I meant to mention earlier. It's table garlic, which is like table salt (same little glass pot, etc.), but, well, garlic, rather than salt. I suppose it's basically very finely ground garlic, or powdered garlic, but in any case, it's really useful. For example, I use it every time I cook bacon, but it goes well with so many other things too. Pasta, toast, ice-cream...
(Actually, I've not tried it with ice-cream. Yet...)
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Is there no limit to this man's culinary talents? (No, don't answer that.) Not content with Mince and Cheese Udon last week, nor with 'Super Deluxe Porridge' (porridge made with a generous helping of ice-cream) this morning, I came up with... (drumroll)... Mozzarella Cheese Bacon and Eggs this evening! So easy to make (Cook bacon and eggs. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese on bacon and eggs.), and damn good too! It's amazing how many things go with mozzarella cheese...
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Hiroshima sports are in the news for another reason today, as well, albeit indirectly. Koba Takeshi, a former manager of the Hiroshima Carp baseball team, has announced that he plans to run for Mayor of Hiroshima in the election due to be held on February 2nd next year. According to an article in the Japan Times, Mr. Koba led the Hiroshima Carp to the first Central League championship when he became the team's manager in 1975 midway through the season.
Given the attachment of the people of Hiroshima to their baseball team, I wouldn't be surprised if Mr. Koba walks the election...
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I also spent some of the afternoon working on a few alterations to the design of the Breakfast Show homepage. It's not that different to the previous design, really, although there are a few subtle changes (for example, I changed the indentation of the entries), and one really unsubtle one (the big kanji to the left of each entry!). The kanji, by the way, is the 'washi' of 'Washibe', and it means 'eagle'.
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An article in the Electronic Telegraph today prompted me to spend some of the afternoon enjoying a pursuit in which I've not indulged for quite some time... watching the X-Files. I played the first four episodes of Series 2, and most enjoyable it was too. I might even watch the movie this evening...
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Important news in Hiroshima at the moment (or, depending on your point of view, news of no interest whatsoever). Sanfrecce (the Hiroshima football team) are fighting relegation, and the match which will decide everything is to be played against Sapporo on Saturday, in Sapporo. To avoid relegation and remain in the J1 League, Sanfrecce have to beat Sapporo, but it's not that simple, if I understand correctly. In addition, every other team has to lose by at least fourteen goals, the temperature has to be 26 degrees centigrade, and there needs to be a plague of locusts in the grounds of Osaka Castle. Or something like that.
In any case, fingers crossed...
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Web sites worthy of mention...
Janitor
A site lampooning 'President' Blair and the New Labour 'project', which in my book makes it a site most definitely worth mentioning! We need more sites like this...
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Non-killer killer flu or not, it's good to have a day off. I'm going to take things easy, and enjoy my kotatsu (I am certain that kotatsu should be regarded as a contribution to winter customs worthy of ranking alongside anything else in the world), my iBook, and perhaps a conventional book or two as well. A sort of midweek Sunday...
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I'm still alive, and in fact I feel a great deal better. Obviously it wasn't killer flu after all.
I wonder if I'd have recovered so quickly if I'd been to the hospital and got medicine, instead of putting my faith in good old orange juice? I suspect not...
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© Copyright 2003 Nathan Duckworth.
Updated: 8/1/03; 8:57:37 pm.
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