28 July, 2005

Close your eyes

» BBC News | Blink and you really do 'miss it'
25 July 2005

Another interesting article from BBC News. According to the article, parts of the brain are temporarily "switched off" when we blink, scientists have found.

28 July, 2005

Discomfort of strangers

» BBC Magazine | The discomfort of strangers
26 July 2005
By Sean Coughlan

Interesting article from BBC Magazine. It's about recent trends of Tube travellers, created by the bomb attacks on London.

Marcus, who says his family are Greek-Cypriot, has devised a strategy to avoid "odd looks" on the Tube (which he attributes to his Mediterranean appearance).

To make himself seem non-threatening, he now wears a Make Poverty History wristband and makes a point of reading the Economist.

Being on the receiving end of such a hostile atmosphere has persuaded Leila, a white convert to Islam, to stop travelling by Tube altogether.

"I sensed people's fear of me because of my Muslim dress. Sometimes people even preferred to stand rather than sit by me, leaving an empty seat next to me."

Mr Fitzgibbon [psychologist from the north London-based consultancy, Fitzgibbon Associates] says fear is a natural response to a threat - but the prolonged media coverage, and the way that people continue to talk about the bombings, can generate a response that is greater than the actual threat that exists.

25 July, 2005

Hawaii, Oslo

When I stayed in Oslo, I bought some DVDs of Norwegian films. This is one of them. In fact, I'd known this film, since Styleboost introduced, in September 2004, the film's official website as a masterpiece. Although I didn't understand Norwegian, the site featuring kaleidoscopic visuals was convincing and impressive. Since then, I'd been thinking of buying it if I had a chance to go to Norway. And finally I've got it.

I'm not going to write in detail and don't have skills of writing reviews. But briefly. The set is in Oslo, where various characters lead their lives. They are not directly related each other at first, but they are mutually interrelated in the end of the film.

At the beginning, I found the film a bit slow and a story line complicated. But as the drama unfolded, I got into it. It was fantastic.

The film is directed by Norwegian Erik Poppe.

» Hawaii, Oslo

24 July, 2005

Breakfast observer

One of the things I'm looking forward to when I stay at a B&B is that English breakfast. It typically consists of;

*Baked beans (taste like soft beans cooked with ketchup)
*1 salty bacon
*1 fried egg, fully covered with oil
*2 too-soft-textured sausages
*2 fried tomatos (If you're not lucky enough, you may get tinned ones, which are gross.)
*some fried mushrooms (They are mostly gross.)
*Some slices of toasts (Sliced very thin)

*Tea or coffee
*Orange juice (If you're not lucky enough, you may get ones of Tesco's cheapest brand.)

And they come on a hot plate. It's so hot that nobody can touch. I don't know why the plate is so hot. The recipe of this British traditional dish is been a mystery for a long time for me.

However, I'm not a breakfast skipper and therefore always eat it up. And I kind of like it.

23 July, 2005

Cardiff Graduation (1)

I went to the UK for the graduation ceremony.

Just two days after the London explosions took place, I flew from the Narita airport to London Heathrow.

On Friday night, the night before I left, I was at the office to finish up my work. At that time, I hadn't done any packing yet, of course. After I got home, I started packing. Half aspleep condition blured my criteria and I kept putting some clothes in my suitcase and taking some out of it. It was around 4am that I managed to finish packing. Next morning I had to wake up at 6 to go to the airport.

I had no time to prepare and had to work until the last minute. Well, having a job means this. But I'm lucky to have a week off for this trip. I should appreciate the office.

This was how my trip began.

9 July
There were plenty of vacant seats on the plane. I love flights like this. No kids screaming and no fight for an armrest. Yes, this is a pleasant flight.

On the same day at 4pm (local time), I arrived at the Heathrow airport. Yes, I came back to the UK again. It was last December when I left the country.

What I realised first was tight security. There were many armed police officers in terminal buildings. Also the airport was crowded with many Asian and Arabic people. This is also another aspect of the UK.

I headed straight to Cardiff, not going through the London central. It was 3 hour coach trip from the Heathrow to Cardiff. No sooner did I get on a coach than I fall asleep although I slept quite a lot on the plane. When I wake up, the coach was already around Cardiff and the clock struck 9 o'clock.

Being exhausted I was desperate for a bed. I slept all the way to Cardiff, but I still needed to lie down and get proper sleep. At that night, somehow, many of accommodations, from expensive Hilton to shabby B&B, in Cardiff were fully booked. After trying many B&Bs, I ended up in a small B&B on the Cathedral Road. And I jumped to a bed without making any contact with my classmates.

10 July
After breakfast I went for a walk. I walked through the beautiful Bute Park and the campus, and headed to the city centre.

Shopping time. I bought a brown shirt at a H&M and browsed through a DVD floor at a HMV. I also bought a pair of sandals, because it was a boiling day.

After enjoyed shopping, I called Jens. He was at Howell's, the only department store in the city, which he like to be. What I saw when I got there was him dressing like Laurence Llewelyn Bowen, interior designer, - a white jacket and a flower-printed shirt. He was just trying them on. But it made me laugh. I don't know if he kept wearing them until my coming.

At that night, I, unexpectedly, and my friends went to R.E.M.'s concert at the Millennium Stadium. Cardiff was the first live since the London Hyde Park gig was cancelled owing to the London blasts. The audience seemed less excited at the beginning, however the gig was warming up as it went on. Maybe because I was standing on the 3rd floor of the stadium. In the middle of the concert, vocal Michael Stipe dedicated "Everybody Hurts" to the victims of the London explosions. He also wore a uniform of Wales's rugby team. He's a good man. You can check a review at here.

It was after the concert that I met up again with Meghan. She came to me, shouting my name. Afterwards we headed to "nice" Incognito. I was glad to come to this "nice" pub again. When I was in Cardiff, I didn't like Incognito very much. But I and my friends always ended up there every time when we went out. Although I was ready for anything that was going to happen at Incognito, the pub was almost empty. What would happen at this empty pub? Was it because of Sunday late night? Or the R.E.M. concert, which made people drunk enough? Well, what was left inside the pub was just Seung-A's loud voice. What was left in my mind was disappointment and kind of frustration.

This was how the day ended.

To be continued.

21 July, 2005

London alert again

Just after I left London, explosions took place in 4 different places over London. On the last day of my trip, I was in London to meet my friend and took a bus and an underground. It was two days ago. Disgusting, isn't it?

18 July, 2005

Vesterålen

After I flew to Oslo, I came far up north, Stokmarknes, one of the main cities in Vesterålen. This area may be more famous for Lofoten, which is the islands located next to Vesterålen.

I flew from Oslo to Evenes (the Harstad/Narvik airport), and took a bus to Stokmarknes, passing through Sortland.

I will write more as soon as I get back to Japan.

Posted at 22:16. There is still the sun. Yes, this is the midnight sun.

14 July, 2005

Summer in Oslo

After the graduation ceremony, I flew to Oslo. With hot days reaching over 25°C, I cannot remember how cold it was when I came here in Christmas in 2003.

People are enjoying the sun in the park. Trees are greener than anything else. It doesn't get dark until the midnight. Well, probably I can say this. Summer is the best time to visit Oslo, although I like the city in winter.

I'll put some photos soon.

Posted at 21:08.

9 July, 2005

Leaving to the UK

Tomorrow I'm leaving to the UK for the graduation ceremony. Having seen the news of the London explosions, I'm bit nervous. I can say it is a very very bad timing to travel. But I cannot change the schedule and the ceremony will take place as planned.

After meeting my classmates and professors and attending Monday's ceremony, I'll head to Oslo, Norway. And then, going up north - Narvik, where my friend, Jens, lives.

If I have internet connection there or anywhere during my trip, I'll update this blog.

7 July, 2005

LONDON UNDER ATTACK

Two people are killed and many more injured in terror attacks on London's transport network.

The Metropolitan Police advise people to stay where they are and not to call the emergency services except in life-threatening situations.

» BBC News

6 July, 2005

London 2012

5 July, 2005

The Beautiful Occupation

I'll write more later.

4 July, 2005

Japan ticket confusion

» The Age | Japan ticket confusion
4 July 2005
By Deborah Cameron

Ambitiously the organisers had booked one of the city's larger venues, a 20,000-seat auditorium, but it was only half full when performers, including Icelandic singer Björk and Japan's most popular rap musicians took the stage.

» Reuters | Björk rocks Tokyo as Live 8 marathon kicks off
2 July 2005
By David Dolan

While awareness of Live 8 is high in Britain, other countries on the concert schedule have had little time to prepare and faced public apathy.

The lack of publicity in Japan, the world's second largest aid donor, restricted the size of the audience early on, but fans at the Tokyo concert said they sympathised with its aims.

If I tried every means available for a ticket, there would have been a chance for me. However, you know, I was too busy to do so. What a shame.

3 July, 2005

Do they know it's for Africa?

» Reuters | Björk rocks Tokyo as Live 8 marathon kicks off
2 July 2005
By David Dolan

In Tokyo, the 10,000-seat venue was full by the end, although many in the crowd said they came mainly to see headline act Bjork give her first live performance in two years.

» Reuters | Björk rocks, but did Live 8 Tokyo crowd get point?
2 July 2005

Japanese rock fans flocked to Tokyo's Live 8 concert on Saturday, but it was Icelandic singer Björk more than the more serious message about poverty that seemed to be the main draw.

"If Björk wasn't here today ... I wouldn't have been that thrilled about getting a ticket," said 27-year-old Tsunenori Sakai, one of around 10,000 people who filled the sweltering convention center.

Hanae Aoki agreed. "Today we are here because of Björk," she told Reuters. "I've been a fan of hers for years."

During the Tokyo concert, Japanese subtitles running below documentary excerpts about poverty were so small that many people in the crowd could not read them.

However, the message was not totally lost. Björk, for one, expressed the feeling of hopelessness she felt in the face of Africa's crippling poverty and disease.

Here are some quotes from bjork.com:

I look at the news, I see people starving, I am crying. I'm a total mess. You try to think how you're going to break through this cobweb of problems and bureaucracy and how on Earth anybody is going to make any change.

I guess sometimes I feel there's not much hope to change anything... but I have to say, when I started to see in the news that Bob Geldoff was gonna get people together, it sorta felt that maybe there was about 5% hope -- which is better than zero!

It seems to me that the politicians of the rich countries are almost like this VIP that are untouchable - and then the rest of the public of their own countries and of all the other countries of the world are like the "other" chunk that don't have a voice... so, I would like to say that I am part of that huge chunk, which actually is about... 95% of the world!

2 July, 2005

Countdown to Live 8

» BBC News | Countdown to Live 8 shows begins