Saturday, February 1, 2003

What I did today Today, I... Went all the way to the office just to get the trousers for my taiko uniform, because like a fool I'd left them under my desk there; Downloaded the new versions of iPhoto and iMovie, and spent quite a while playing with them; Decided against going into Hiroshima (see above); Went to Gokurakutombo with Takedomi-kun, from 7.30 until nearly midnight.

Japan A-Z Setsubun Setsubun (literally, 'season division') is a festival held on February 3rd. This is the day before spring starts, according to the Japanese lunar calendar; in other words, Setsubun refers to the division between winter and spring. The term originally referred to the eve of the first day of any of the setsu (the 24 divisions of the calendar). Later, though, it came to be applied more specifically to the last day of the setsu called Daikan ('great cold'), which corresponded to the eve of Risshun (the first day of spring), the New Year's Day according to the ancient calendar, and the traditional beginning of spring. Since the traditional celebration of New Year fell at roughly the same time as Risshun, Setsubun became associated with the rites of purification, etc., regarded as an essential preparation for the coming year and the spring planting season. It is customary nowadays to throw roasted beans into the air, and to shout 'Oni wa soto, Fuku wa uchi' ('Devils out, happiness in'). This bean-throwing rite has been performed on Setsubun since the Edo period (1603-1867); beans are believed to be effective against evil spirits. Throwing them around in one's house will protect the house and family from misfortune. One is also supposed to pick up and eat the number of beans that corresponds to one's age, to ensure health and luck in the coming year.

When the first version of iPhoto came out, I took one look at it and decided it wasn't for me. Perhaps I'm paranoid, but I'm always sure that I'm going to lose files, and so before I entrust the organisation of my files (be they MP3s, digital photos, or whatever) to a program rather than looking after them myself in the Mac's Finder, I need to be sure that using the software doesn't mean doing something irreversible, and that I'm not losing anything in terms of functionality. Unfortunately, I couldn't be absolutely sure of this with the first version of iPhoto, and in addition I didn't have enough hard disk space to keep all of my photos together, which is what using iPhoto would have entailed. Which is why, having read the details of the new version of iPhoto on Apple's website, I was eager to take another look at it; it seemed this time round to offer all the features I wanted, but which were lacking from the first version. It's possible to archive albums to CD-ROM, for example, although with my 120-GB hard disk, space is less of a problem, although I like the safety of having everything backed up on a CD. Anyway, I'm not disappointed with the new iPhoto, having played with it today; already most of my photos are stored in it. This time round, far from losing some of the functionality provided by the Finder, iPhoto seems like it will offer some very significant advantages. I look forward to exploring it further.

Today is apparently the fiftieth anniversary of television broadcasting in Japan. To commemorate the occasion, NHK (like the BBC in Britain) has opened a new high-definition broadcasting station.. at the South Pole. Throughout the afternoon and evening, they were broadcasting live from the South Pole; the project is to run until the end of the year. The scenes from the Pole were, I have to say, quite magnificent: a complete and utter wilderness, of course, but a hauntingly beautiful, alluring, wilderness.