I’ve already read three of this year’s six Hugo-nominated novels, and am highly unlikely to read two of the remaining three, but since I have voting rights, and want to be as responsible as I can about this, I started on Palimpsest by Cat Valente last night. The language is very rich, and I’m not… Continue reading On the Fragile Suspension of Disbelief
Category: Japan
Compare and Contrast
Mike Hoye rides the Tokyo subway and takes a picture of it: Here’s my view of the same scene (from this Flickr set): I really hope he was sitting down when he took that.
Caw!
In honor of the Japanese crow story in today’s Links Dump, here’s a filler post with a picture of a Japanese crow:
Shinto Love God
I’m kicking myself for not using this as a filler post a couple of weeks back when it was Easter: This is from one of the shrines at Kiyomizu-dera in Kyoto– the temple with the gigantic wooden platform looking out over the city. The sign at the lower right identifies it:
The Japanese Directions Theory of Pedagogy
We had a great time on our visit to Japan last summer, but we had one incredibly frustrating experience, on our first day in Yokohama. We couldn’t bring three full weeks’ worth of clothing with us, so we brought a bit more than one week’s worth, and planned to get things cleaned there. The hotel… Continue reading The Japanese Directions Theory of Pedagogy
Warning! Leering Demon Hand Zone!
Lest you think that people in the US are uniquely alarmist about threats to Chiiiiillllllldrruuuun, a picture from last summer’s trip to Japan: I have absolutely no idea what that says, but it sure is lurid.
Let’s Zen!
Wow. I’m cranky today. I really need to be more Zen about things. Here’s a picture to meditate on: This is the famous “Crane and Turtle” garden at Konchi-in in Kyoto. It’s one of very few gardens absolutely known to have been designed by the great garden-desing master Kobori Enshu, out of the huge number… Continue reading Let’s Zen!
Japan Photo Albums
As a Christmas present for her grandparents, Kate put together a coupld of albums of pictures from our Japan trip, including this shot of What Japanese Commuter Trains Look Like to Me: (That was taken standing up looking straight ahead on a train from Tokyo to Yokohama. The Japanese have the best trains in the… Continue reading Japan Photo Albums
Pow!
In the same basic spirit as yesterday’s knit cephalopod picture, here’s a sign from Takayama that we really liked: I’m not sure exactly why the octopus has punched the fish to the moon, Ralph Kramden style, but Kate and I got a kick out of it. I’m also not sure what it says– something to… Continue reading Pow!
Kate and the Dragon
There’s a chance that, if I make a serious push this week, I can have a first pass through the book complete before Christmas. So, of course, I’m procrastinating madly. I understand it’s traditional to post pictures in these circumstances, so here’s one of my favorite shots from the Japan pictures: This is Kate getting… Continue reading Kate and the Dragon