Author Archives: spikekalashnikov

So we break the ground on a new residential complex at the university. This involves a shinto ceremony that goes like this. First call gods/ spirits/deities, broonies down to us by using a shinto priest who sings. Then ask for … Continue reading →

Gentle stroll around the stalls at the Zakimi fair. Once a year street festival around the castle just behind my place -food, pottery, stuff, instruments, dancing, singing, storytelling. The weather has cooled. Remarkable how many people we bump into that … Continue reading →

So last week I was in Yokohama. Very enjoyable. Time came to leave. It is very early in the morning as we head for the airport. Cab to the bus station which looks like at 5 star hotel. We get … Continue reading →

In my previous message I described how my Mac had committed hari kiri in sympathy with the decease of Steve Jobs. I was very sad but at the same time awed that my much beloved MAC should choose that day … Continue reading →

“Space: the final frontier” my Mac Classic would announce as it hummed into life. Its tiny black and white screen would light up and it would sit there panting with expectation, full of mischief. If waited too long flying toasters … Continue reading →

So Hitomi leaves. This is a pity as she is a lot of fun. We have a party. We have a party  – a very international affair. Here is Johnson on drinking: Johnson harangued upon the qualities of different liquors; … Continue reading →

So, once again Scotland don’t quite make it. Do I care ? No, not really. They fought valiantly. They led both Argentina and the Saxon strangers until the last few minutes and then threw it away. Both matches were replete … Continue reading →

That’s what Wordsworth thought anyway. At work, beside the water thing, there is a plastic box. It has taken me all this time to work out what it is. It is a box full of food. Kit Kats, Pot noodles, … Continue reading →

My very learned brother is a prize winning writer! Hooray I can bask in reflected glory and bore people at parties by dropping names. His book won the British Medical Association’s “Best Anaesthesia book of 2011”.    The judges wrote this: … Continue reading →

Youngest son Ben as a very small child would sneak into our bed very early in the morning, put his lips very close to my ear to whisper,”Do you like poisonous mushrooms?” Mushrooms on Okinawa are ludicrously cheap, $1 for … Continue reading →