Author Archives: spikekalashnikov

My learned brother Ian has spent a lot of time researching the life of Sir Ernest Shackleton, who is famous for Antartic exploration and for being the inspiration for Oscar Wilde’s “The Importance of Being Earnest.” Anyway, he has just published a … Continue reading →

So my return ticket is for the 5th January. I looked at it once about 2 months ago and noticed that the flight left late at night. However looking again just now by accident, I notice that the flight actually … Continue reading →

The goal of this  trip was to visit Ruby Lake Wildlife Reserve in Nevada. The website is very seductive, http://www.fws.gov/Refuge/Ruby_Lake/ It does not however mention that it is virtually inaccessible in the winter, that the lake is frozen and the whole … Continue reading →

Ben and I head towards the Sacramento wetlands in the car with no name  to observe geese and to check on my future home. I intend to die in a camper on the back of a pickup truck and this … Continue reading →

So I wake up to a very wet and blowy Xmas day in Okinawa. Mind you it is still 20 degrees but it feels chilly. I bumble around and finally find myself at the airport. I fly to Taipei. I … Continue reading →

I go to Tokyo for lunch. I get up at 5:30; hightail it to the airport for the first flight. It is a 2.5 hours flight, which gives me a wonderful window to read a book that brother Ian recommended. … Continue reading →

Why is it that very rare birds fly into windows more than common birds? Why is it that cats catch Bullfinches, Goldfinches and Hawfinches in preference to Sparrows?   Maybe this is evolution. These birds are rare because they have … Continue reading →

I went to Tokyo last week and ate this   When I go to Tokyo I like to stay at the First Cabin Hotel at either Haneda or Narita airports. I have written about these places before but they are … Continue reading →

You will remember that I mistakenly ordered 29 kilos of mutton when Ben was here. This fills every nook and cranny of freezer space I possess and there are 4 legs of lamb in  a freezer at the university. Today, … Continue reading →

  I love to have a project and right now I have a meaty one – the thwart. Readers will remember that I went down to the woodyard to negotiate a new thwart. Anyway this is what my buddy, the … Continue reading →