Monthly Archives: February 2016

I have a wooden chest. Not a wooden heart. Elvis Presley has a wooden heart. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hlbu6SsjlSE I found my chest deep in the cellars of the house as what I had in France. The house had previously been the town bread … Continue reading →

Yep, that’s it; after weeks of dreary weather the Spring has arrived. Okinawa throbs. I go to buy some petunias. I buy lots of bedding plants to make my house look pretty. Each one is 45 yen. There is a … Continue reading →

For the unlearned amongst you, the Juushichigen is a 17 string Koto. One of the most enjoyable things I get to do is to guide the cultural program at the university. We do a lot of exhibitions and concerts and … Continue reading →

What a hard day. I have always wondered what it is like to have a perversion. Do you sit at the desk all day with every fiber straining to get home to put on the rubber suit, to set up … Continue reading →

So, we had a big thing at the university on Sunday. To get in the right frame of mind, I polished some silver. To celebrate the thing, we have a party at the house. The food is incredible but hardly … Continue reading →

So, another hymn of praise to life in Japan. Today is a public holiday. Japanese Foundation Day (Kenkoku Kinen no Hi). It celebrates the foundation of Japan, commemorating the ascension to the throne of the mythical first emperor, Emperor Jimmu in 660 B.C. … Continue reading →

On the way back from Toronto I spend a day of meetings in Tokyo. You have to love Tokyo. Er, take my word for it.   Youhei and I do 4 separate meetings in different parts of town from 11:30 … Continue reading →

The city in which I am in also boasts excellent Irish music. I go to a session in a bar called Dora Keogh. There is much academic discussion the the correct pronunciation of Keogh. Is it just ‘key’ or maybe … Continue reading →

Anything useful that I have learned came from The Children’s Encyclopedia which I read, all 10 volumes, several times, from cover to cover, when I was 9. Our set must have been published in the 1930s and it had wonderful … Continue reading →