Inspiration is the bonsai’s trump card. But it’s a person who makes it that way, you know. Look over there, at the black pine. Now that’s inspiration. See there? An old tree gives us a lesson in life. Strange, isn’t it? … Continue reading

Inspiration is the bonsai’s trump card. But it’s a person who makes it that way, you know. Look over there, at the black pine. Now that’s inspiration. See there? An old tree gives us a lesson in life. Strange, isn’t it? … Continue reading
Japan’s music sensation: a band chosen by its fans – msnbc.com. WANTED: R.U. 18–23 with the ability to sing/dance? R.U. streetwise, outgoing, ambitious, and dedicated? Heart Management Ltd. are a widely successful music industry management consortium currently forming a choreographed, … Continue reading
Banzai Babe Ruth: Baseball, Espionage, & Assassination During the 1934 Tour of Japan by Robert K. Fitts – The Washington Post. I talked about spies and Richard Sorge in spy only a couple of weeks ago. Then today I read an article … Continue reading
Is popular music becoming sadder? — Marginal Revolution. I heard about this study on BBC radio. Well I don’t know. Sad songs have been around for a while. My winner is Hurt by Johnny Cash from 2002 over Suzanne by Leonard … Continue reading
Patrick Swayze died in September 2009 of pancreatic cancer. He was in a few popular movies, for example Road House and Dirty Dancing. I liked him very much in Point Break (which was directed by Kathryn Bigelow, who won the … Continue reading
As I came over Windy Gap They threw a halfpenny into my cap, For I am running to Paradise; And all that I need do is to wish And somebody puts his hand in the dish To throw me a … Continue reading
A few days ago I wrote a casual post called the fugitive about a cool escaped penguin. I talked about the The Fugitive and Blade Runner. Then real life caught up. Aum is a Japanese cult. Aum members committed terrorist attacks … Continue reading
Wind Forest Fire Mountain 風林火山 (furinkazan) was the motto of Takeda Shingen. Takeda was a Daimyo in the warring states period of Japanese history. He was also known as the Tiger of Kai. He had a legendary rivalry with Uesugi … Continue reading
The other day someone asked me how you remember the number of days in the months in English. We use this little rhyme. It sounds very old. The rhyme one with alone could come from Shakespeare. Thirty days has September … Continue reading
This is a quick post linking a couple of recent blog articles. In in the zone: limitless I talked about the movie Limitless. Another story of an addictive drug is A Scanner Darkly. That was based on a science fiction novel … Continue reading
Wood you believe how good school could be . . . | The Japan Times Online. This is an interesting article by C W Nicol about the advantages of using wood in construction. Following his advice wood was used in … Continue reading
When taken as directed (one pill per day for seven consecutive days), NZT has been shown to be 97.3% effective in improving memory, hand-eye coordination and a host of cognitive abilities. NZT-48 home page I don’t have delusions of grandeur, … Continue reading