On Moving Ground

11 April 2011

Living in Japan one always lives with the knowledge that there will be earthquakes, it sits on the junction of five tectonic plates, yet they were easy to dismiss, despite wonderings about the "big one" coming up in conversation now and again. Occasionally the ground would shake and one would say, "it's an earthquake", but it would pass and life would continue on much as usual. It was just another part of living the Japanese life.

I remember being rather disappointed, when I first visited Japan, at not experiencing an earthquake; it was something that I admittedly took all too lightly. In the several years that I've been here since only once did I feel a fairly big shake, and that was also my first real experience of earthquakes. I remember almost being excited however this quickly turned to grave concern when I realised how seriously the Japanese I was with took the situation. Earthquakes, and indeed Mother Nature, are not something to be taken lightly...[read more]

Filed Under : Thoughts | Life

Plum Blossoms

15 February 2011

Something a little different. I recently bought a fairly decent digital SLR camera. The other week I was out and about and took these shots of the first plum blossoms of the year!

Plum Blossoms

Filed Under : General

Terror, Torture and Jack Bauer

19th January 2011

Last year saw the end of an era in TV with both Lost and 24 coming to a close. These were probably two of the best, controversial and, indeed, polarising shows of the last decade, but where as Lost was pure hokum, 24 had it's fair share of real world parallels. In fact some say it's popularity could be said to have been a result of coming so soon after the tragic events of 9/11 when the air was full of talk of conspiracy theories and terrorists. And while 24 was undoubtedly influenced by real world events it has also exerted some influence on reality itself. The US Army, reportedly, had to call the show's producers to request they toned down the use of torture on the show as it was having a negative effect on new recruits.

Some people would surely argue that TV shows and movies, and even video games, have little or no impact on real life, and are rather a reflection of it, but this view seems naive and, on some level, irresponsible. An article in the Economist talked about the "CSI Effect" that is causing trouble in American courtrooms, where jurors have unrealistic expectations about what forensic science can prove, after seeing the TV Show "C.S.I." As already mentioned 24 has also had a tangible impact on people's views on the use of torture and what is acceptable in the War against Terror. The flow of ideas, therefore, must be seen as two-way, each affecting the other, art reflecting life and, as Oscar Wilde said, life reflecting art...[read more]

Filed Under : Thoughts | Comment

Book & CD Stack

9th August 2010

Haven't done this for a while!

Books:
"On the Pleasure of Hating" - William Hazlitt;
"Don Quixote" - Cervantes;
"Semiotics - The Basics" - David Chandler;
"Turning Back the Clock" - Umberto Eco;
"Terror and Consent" - Phillip Bobbitt

Music:
"Progression: Art of The Trio Vol.5" - Brad Mehldau Trio;
"Real Book Stories" - Wolfgang Muthspiel / Marc Johnson / Brian Blade;
"Rabo De Nube" - Charles Lloyd Quartet;
"The Five Peace Band" - Chick Corea & John McLaughlin;
"Worlds" - Aaron Goldberg

Filed Under : General