The Quiet Ripple Defines The Pond

When people come to stay they usually want to go diving. Who wouldn’t? It is er good. I have been searching for an extra BCD and regulator for some time so that we do not have to mess around hiring stuff, wasting time instead of getting down to the core activity.

From the amazing Okinawa Yard Sales I find both

http://www.okinawayardsales.com/search.jsp?w=scuba&x=0&y=0

Michael Branigan models

Hooray.

Michael runs an excellent design studio in Chicago and we have collaborated over the years. http://sandboxstudio.net/

A huge hermit crab from the garden

Michael, who is trying not to acquire prostate cancer, eats it.

We go kayaking. It is a disaster as on the first capsize the kayak fills up with water thus becoming very heavy and unmanageable leading to serial capsizing.  The water is warm so who cares. Eventually we walk the boat back to land.

About to capsize again

Michael missed his flight to Tokyo, my fault, slept in a capsule hotel in Tokyo when he finally got there, then was diverted to Anchorage before eventually getting back to Chicago.

So, Sandy and Zandra live in the most amazing place. It is a dead-old château in a mountain valley that is essentially the same as it was let’s say 300 years ago.

Desirable detached residence

You gaze from the courtyard out over a landscape devoid of advertising panels, pylons, freeways, surface to air missile pits and the usual visual paraphernalia of modern life. It is also very quiet as traffic is almost unknown in le Valromey.

November silence

We eat and drink with determination.

Kipper and poached egg for breakfast

Cassoulet!

We spend the rest of the time clearing the woodlands that surround the château.

Slash and burn

I have always loved clearing woodland. You are outside in the brisk November air and essentially being very destructive with a chain saw and a bonfire. Yet you are clearing the forest, making it look nice and tidy whilst harvesting loads of firewood.

Nice Defender

You sweat and grunt and get hot from the fire and do a lot of exercise so that you are stiff and creaky as you open another bottle in the evening.

Jeremy slashes, Sandy burns

This is not Okinawa just in case some readers are confused.

Inside, the rooms are big, full of wonderful curios and antiques. Wood burning stoves heat the place to coziness and if want more wood you just go out to the forest and cut down a couple of trees.

Entrance hall

Dining room

Zandra is a ceramicist.

Check Zandra’s site.

http://zandrascreations.com/

Gettin fou and unco happy

Sandy plays hard to get

I want to retire here with Sandy and Zandra. I could be a manservant who cleans the forest rather than the silver. Thanks McGillivrays. I finish lunch and go to Okinawa.

I am writing this on the plane from Munich to Tokyo. Across the aisle there is an old grey haired couple who look frightened. We are at the back of the aeroplane in Class Z. Occasionally a slick young man comes up from Business class to speak to them. How could you sit in business whilst your Granny is in coach?

Ye canna shove yer granny aff a bus

A classic of Scottish song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VCWROijdwM

To ITER, where I used to spend my time. Much has changed. There is a brand new HQ building that is very long and thin.

It was a gloomy sort of day

Once inside you look down long, long corridors and expect nurses to burst out of rooms with a patient on a trolley. I think it was designed to stop people talking to each other.  There are also vertical concrete strips on the front of the building., so that when looking out from an office there is a strong impression of incarceration . You can hear people crying, “ I am innocent!”   as you walk down the endless corridors.

The site is coming along and the magnificent Sabina guides me around.

Miss Fusion

Things that ITER will sit on

I fly from Okinawa to Tokyo to Frankfurt to Geneva. I get to Geneva at 7:50 on Tuesday morning having left Okinawa at 7:00 on Monday evening. Perfect trip – every flight on time.

photo of my coat at 5:30 am in Frankfurt

Geneva is cold and very grey.

Scene 1

Conversation with Geneva cab driver, he is leaning against his car smoking.

“Le CERN s’il vous plait.”

“Quoi?”

“Je veux aller au CERN”

“ Le CERN?”

“Oui.”

“Quoi?”

“C’est une grande labo de physique a 5 kms d’ici.”

“Je connais le CERN”

“On peux y aller?”

He takes a couple of puffs, throws his cigarette in to the road.

“Montez “

This is not Okinawa.

Scene 2

Prof. Sir Chris Llewellyn Smith is having a 70^th birthday celebration of talks by very smart people. A couple of talks focus on the political build up to the approval of LHC and the establishment of the experimental collaborations. I had forgotten most of this and wow it was not easy. Everlasting praise to Chris for getting it all done.

He also had a galvanizing influence on the fusion community and I was able to work with him on this also. Happy Birthday Chris.

Here is the program

http://indico.cern.ch/conferenceDisplay.py?confId=199172

Many, many old friends.

Chris and Rolf

Alvaro, Francoise, John

Fabbiola

Herwig, Sergio, Cashmore.

We have drinks and dinner.

Then upstairs to Bedfordshire after many hours without sleep. It is miraculous what you can do in a couple of days.

“I saw England’s King from the top of a bus
I don’t know him still he seems to know us.”

I was reminded of these lines from “The Mountains of Morne” when I met the Emperor and Empress of Japan today.

Here is the song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmgZyUUQIDk

The Imperial Couple was very gracious, happy and smiling.

We had been preparing this for months. I say we but in fact it was their household and security that did everything. We just said yes.

Jonathan says Hello

Very few people actually got to see them because of security concerns, which I feel was a great pity, especially for our Japanese colleagues. Their Empress and Emperor were at the University for 3 hours but only a handful of staff saw them.

Empress with students

Anyway you can read full story and watch the video here:

http://www.oist.jp/pressrelease/their-majesties-emperor-and-empress-japan-visit-oist

I was privileged to meet them and they even shook my hand. This was odd as we were told essentially not to breathe in their presence but they were as friendly as can be.  This has always been my experience. VIPs are normally charming and helpful whereas their courtiers are scared and obnoxious.They did not however seem inclined to talk about whisky that much. This is strange.

I have a housewarming party. I plan a roof top, beach dance party  but forget it is getting on for the end of November and for once Okinawa lets me down by producing a truly miserable day. It rains, gusts and is chilly – a sub tropical chilly of  18 degrees.

Undeterred we have a great night.

Spot the banana

Irish women are the best. A pint of Okinawa Colon-Cleaner.

A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.

Some people go to the beach in the rain but most stay inside and do pyramids.

Healthy citizens are the greatest asset any country can have.

After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.

I’ve always wanted to go to Switzerland to see what the army does with those wee red knives.

Anyway the point of this tale is that I cooked roasted a leg of lamb and two lumps of beef, of which I ate not a bit. This morning I felt hard-done-by. I got another leg of lamb and cooked it just for me.

Meat candy

What pleasure, recover from very late night by walking up and down the beach collecting shells as the gigot cooks in the Cobb. Today of course the weather is beautiful and the wave are crashing into the reef with a very white whiteness. All is well in the world and tomorrow I meet the Emperor and Empress of Japan and catch a flight to Geneva.

Jatta!

Noah offered the MacNeil clan chief a place on the Ark, but the MacNeil turned down the offer, saying that he had a boat of his own.

The MacNeils clan stronghold is Kishmul Castle in  Barra. The castle is in a bay that is called Castlebay.

My Father’s favorite song was Kishmul’s Galley. He knew about half the words but sang it with great gusto, especially the stanza:

“Here’s red wine and feast for heroes

And harping too,
O hio hu!

Sweet harping too!

O hio huo faluo! ”

Costs a fortune to heat

Here is the whole song.

Here it is sung in Gaelic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrWpWsLgsvE&feature=related

I did not think the bongos were played much on Barra.

Anyway I now have a boat. My wonderful, previous neighbors, Jordan, Conni and Heidi have a sea canoe, which is now kept under my deck. They kindly allow me to use it. It is called a Cobra Fish n Dive.

Kishmul’s Kayak

I can just pull it down to the shore, paddle out to obscure parts of the reef in front of the house and er fish and dive.

Sailing homeward to Mingulay

I am very excited! Bright sunshine, warm azure sea, pull exotic fish out for my supper, flop over the side and dive down  to Turtletown, drink cold beer on the way home, sing Kishmul’s Galley.

Under the boardwalk

I do not actually have to do any of this.  I now have sufficient props to make the daydream a possibility. This is key.  I usually find imagining stuff is more fun than doing it.

I remember taking the boys to school many years ago only to find that the road was blocked by an overturned tanker of Beaujolais Nouveau. At the  time I lived in France close to le Beaujolais. It was 7:30 on a Thursday morning in November, in fact  the third Thursday of November,  yea  the hallowed release day of Beaujolais Nouveau. The truck was bound for the lucrative Swiss Market but foundered on the rocks of Farges. There were rivers, pools, becks, streams, puddles,tarns, slaps, burns, lochs of wine, all purple in the early dawn light.

20 years ago Beaujolais Nouveau was a big deal in France.

The band played Beaujolais Nouveau

Today it is still a big deal in Japan. I am having a party on Saturday, which turns out to be an inauspicious day as many friends are going to Beaujolais Nouveau Parties.

As I write I am sipping, er, shnurting Beaujolais Nouveau. The shops are full of it.

How does this stuff get from Macon to Okinawa?

Do you believe this, “Poulet Pere et Fils depuis 1747?”
I think it is a scam.

Do they still do Beaujolais Nouveau elsewhere?

So, the last  few days.

I have a lunch on Saturday.

It is Julia’s birthday.

It is Hisashi’s birthday

The festive board

That night  is the 7th anniversary of the Smugglers Irish Pub.

Before the drink takes hold

Band members, the owner and bystander

The evening progresses

Here’s to you Mary, Tara and Laura

Some Hibisci

Tehilalla

Traynesha

Alondra

Brandisha

I get up the next day, Sunday, and go diving.

Underwater stuff

I go to Tokyo

Tokyo in the Fall

I come back again and go to the dentist.

OK? Pain?

Root canal girls

Less than 4 days.

I never really entertained the possibility that Obama would be beaten by Romney until a couple of days before the election. Then I was brought into the overall looniness by the lamentable media coverage. “To Close to Call! Neck and Neck! Romney Darling of America!”  ” I don’t like sponge cake!” fumes Romney.

Nowhere could I find, “Obama will win this.” Can’t be bothered to write much about this but this election was another example of media failure. People, they want you to buy their newspapers and go to their sites. It is not in their interest to state conviction on an election result. Plot, character, uncertainty sells.

Anyway I think Obama is a great politician.

Did you listen to his acceptance speech? It is uncomfortable for Europeans as he speaks with conviction about fundamentals. Hope, trust, unity, pride, humility are not easy for us to talk about. He does it.   He is sincere.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKQV9bEcV28

So here’s to you Barack Obama – long may you reign.

Come to my party Barack. Bring Michelle and the kids.