Here is a photo of a stainless steel bin at the ice cream palour in Seibu Department store, and as you can see there is a reflection of the three of us...
Nice ice cream... Kihachi, if you're interested. I had chocolate. They call it Soft Cream, rather than ice cream. It's the sort that comes out of a tap, you know what I mean.
But outside there was a flavour of winter - cold, cloudy and chilly. I wore my fleece. On reflection a sensible choice.
Friday, October 29, 2004
Wednesday, October 27, 2004
Rescue
The casualty figures from the earthquake, and also the typhoon, can so easily become merely dehumanized statistics. But yesterday the tradgedy of the disaster was brought home to me and all who watched the rescue attempt of a mother and her two small children, trapped in their car for the last 3 days.
I turned on the TV and almost all channel were showing live pictures of the rescue workers trying to reach those trapped in the car, which lay almost completely buried under large ugly rocks.
They pulled out the little boy, aged 2, and it looked like this was going to be one of those fairy tale ending they like to show on TV... but it was not to be. The mother was brought out next and was pronounced dead. I read later that they think she died almost instantly. Then work continued on trying to reach the little girl. That was 4:00pm and I had to leave for work. When I got home later yesterday evening they were still working... and they were still there this morning... As I write this at 12:30 lunchtime Thursday they are still trying to reach her, but it looks increasingly as if she is already dead. The Japanese news media doesn't not like to report bad news and so will wait until it is all over and the little body has been taken to the hospital and the doctors at the follwing news conference announce their news.
That little 2 year boy, Yuta, was trapped in that car under those rocks for 92 hours... When I looked at my own son sleeping peacefully in bed last night, not much younger than Yuta, it was just heart breaking and very upsetting to think of what has happened to that poor family.
This has not been a good week.
I turned on the TV and almost all channel were showing live pictures of the rescue workers trying to reach those trapped in the car, which lay almost completely buried under large ugly rocks.
They pulled out the little boy, aged 2, and it looked like this was going to be one of those fairy tale ending they like to show on TV... but it was not to be. The mother was brought out next and was pronounced dead. I read later that they think she died almost instantly. Then work continued on trying to reach the little girl. That was 4:00pm and I had to leave for work. When I got home later yesterday evening they were still working... and they were still there this morning... As I write this at 12:30 lunchtime Thursday they are still trying to reach her, but it looks increasingly as if she is already dead. The Japanese news media doesn't not like to report bad news and so will wait until it is all over and the little body has been taken to the hospital and the doctors at the follwing news conference announce their news.
That little 2 year boy, Yuta, was trapped in that car under those rocks for 92 hours... When I looked at my own son sleeping peacefully in bed last night, not much younger than Yuta, it was just heart breaking and very upsetting to think of what has happened to that poor family.
This has not been a good week.
Tuesday, October 26, 2004
John Peel
I recieved an email last night with the line:
"Hear about Peel? Sad day"
I hadn't but some heart chilling dread tightened in my stomach. I went to the BBC News website and saw the news.
I really was stunned; couldn't believe the news; I thought he would always be around, never even thought about the fact that he might at some point die. I'm sure being able to listen to John Peel on the radio was one small aspect in my thinking of moving back to the UK, and now I'll never be able to hear his show again, or Home Truths. It really is the end of an era; an era that began for me back in the late 1970's, all through the 1980's; tuning in at 10:00... I can't think of another British public figure who I cared about or respected more than him. In no small way he influenced the kind of person I am today. I probably wouldn't be listening to the music I do if it weren't for him. I feel empty, as if I've lost something I can never get back; like a part of my life has gone, and in a way it has. He was a part of my youth and younger years. I now realize that I took him for granted; thought he would always be there; that he would be there when I finally did move back to the UK (or when I finally did get the radio working on the computer). But I waited too long and now he's gone; gone forever. No more Festive 50... 2003 was the last one. One less reason to go back to the UK? But it wasn't just the fact that he played the music that defined my youth; it was his whole approach to music and to life that made him such a great man. He was open, honest, loved life, music. He did what he loved and there no pretence about what he did or said, which is what made him so different from all the other Radio 1 DJ's, until very recently. He did what he loved and made no apology for what he loved, did it with passion and with a dry, self-deprecating and warm humour. He is a role model for living a good life that I would gladly follow. A well-rounded human being. A great man who will be sorely missed, by everyone and by me.
"Hear about Peel? Sad day"
I hadn't but some heart chilling dread tightened in my stomach. I went to the BBC News website and saw the news.
I really was stunned; couldn't believe the news; I thought he would always be around, never even thought about the fact that he might at some point die. I'm sure being able to listen to John Peel on the radio was one small aspect in my thinking of moving back to the UK, and now I'll never be able to hear his show again, or Home Truths. It really is the end of an era; an era that began for me back in the late 1970's, all through the 1980's; tuning in at 10:00... I can't think of another British public figure who I cared about or respected more than him. In no small way he influenced the kind of person I am today. I probably wouldn't be listening to the music I do if it weren't for him. I feel empty, as if I've lost something I can never get back; like a part of my life has gone, and in a way it has. He was a part of my youth and younger years. I now realize that I took him for granted; thought he would always be there; that he would be there when I finally did move back to the UK (or when I finally did get the radio working on the computer). But I waited too long and now he's gone; gone forever. No more Festive 50... 2003 was the last one. One less reason to go back to the UK? But it wasn't just the fact that he played the music that defined my youth; it was his whole approach to music and to life that made him such a great man. He was open, honest, loved life, music. He did what he loved and there no pretence about what he did or said, which is what made him so different from all the other Radio 1 DJ's, until very recently. He did what he loved and made no apology for what he loved, did it with passion and with a dry, self-deprecating and warm humour. He is a role model for living a good life that I would gladly follow. A well-rounded human being. A great man who will be sorely missed, by everyone and by me.
Sunday, October 24, 2004
Gift
The planet is not built to a human scale, and sometimes that fact is graphically illustrated by an act of nature that blindly brushes away buildings, roads and lives like so much fluff.
Every day of your life is a gift, and as you may not be here next week to enjoy it, then enjoy and appreciate today.
After the earthquakes in Niigata yesterday, a lot of us here in Tokyo had better smile and take what Monday morning has to offer with appreciation, and then check our earthquake supplies...
Every day of your life is a gift, and as you may not be here next week to enjoy it, then enjoy and appreciate today.
After the earthquakes in Niigata yesterday, a lot of us here in Tokyo had better smile and take what Monday morning has to offer with appreciation, and then check our earthquake supplies...
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