Happy Christmas!

The weather has cooled, just in time for the strange ritual of eating a hot dinner in the middle of summer. A lot of us still do things upside down here and I know that my mother will have the whole shebang - roast turkey and ham and vegetables and a steaming home made pudding. Perfect for a winter climate, though perhaps a little eccentric in the southern hemishere.

Its a strange quiet day, when people stop doing what they normally do and indulge in excesses of eating and drinking, of bonhomie (false or otherwise) and piety. They greet people they normally wouldn't and spend hours in the company of those they can barely abide. I rather like it though.

Just a verse from Mr Betjeman to tail things off for the day. And perhaps, as a reminder....

'And is it true? And is it true
This most tremendous tale of all,
Seen in a stained-glass windows hue,
A Baby in an ox's stall?
The Maker of the stars and sea
Become a Child on earth for me?'

(from, Christmas)

Christmas and all that....

Christmas tomorrow. Today its an absolute stinker, pretty close to 40 degrees with strong westerlies chewing up any available cooler air. If anyone lights a match near the bush - well, there'll be trouble.

Last night we watched The Polar Express. I suppose we should have been forewarned by the fact that its a children's Christmas movie, but then, some of those are rather good, are they not. Yes, the special effects and animation were interesting for a while, but after that, the absence of a decent storyline or even moderately interesting characterisation had us yawning half way through. Really, a great opportunity missed because of a piss-poor script.

I love Christmas, but I do have a bone to pick with Claus. Here is a person who touts a philosophy of peace and goodwill to all, yet who flagrantly sides with the wealthy at Christmas time. You would think, given the capacity of this gentleman to travel worldwide in one night, and with an army of toy-making elves at his disposal, that he might do something about the imbalance between rich and poor on this one night of nights. But no, the rich get their expensive cars, jewellery and branded excess, whilst the poor settle for cheap plastic rubbish. Perhaps Mr Claus believes in trickle-down economics . Perhaps he is a tool of market forces.

But I have this to ask. Where's the level-playing field Claus? Where's the compassion? Where's the heart? Have a think about that next time you shove Rolex watches down the chimneys of Toorak and St Ives. Spare a thought next time you swan through the showrooms of Porsche or Ferrari in search of baubles for your mates at the big end of town....

Trouble at Yes

Yesterday we received the sad news that Lorraine's father had died. Lorraine is one of the teachers working for us at Yes in Sanda. She will come home this week and we will try to find a couple to replace her(and her husband Ian) by mid January, when the next term commences. They have done such a great job and are no doubt much loved by students there.

Finding good people is difficult. There are lots of people who have pretty good teaching skills, but who fall down in the managing a home and business department. And visa-versa, of course. And the Japanese really hate changes to teaching staff. No sooner have they gotten used to one group of foreigners, when a brand new group hove into view.

If worse comes to worse, and I hope that it doesn't, then I might have to jump on a plane and spend a few weeks in Sanda. I really don't want to leave Nadia at the moment - 5 and half months pregnant and all, and such a great time to be together.......

Something will come along, I'm sure.

Not more football....

Afraid so. With a World Cup only six or so months away and Australia and Japan in the same group, is there anything else to talk about? I've just joined a soccer forum here:

http://forums.soccerfansnetwork.com/

and have made a few tentative postings under the pseudnym, wakarahen. As I told a Japanese friend, that's because I don't know anything at all. Football's a passionate business and some of the posters get very het up over their teams and the opinions of others. I replied to an American poster whose method seems to be to shout his views over the top of everyone else and then to accuse them of anti-Americanism if they dare to disagree or put another spin on the stats he presents. (Could this be George Bush in disguise?) No reply as yet.

Now to Group F. I don' t think that the top spot is in serious doubt. Even if Brazil aren't at their best in Europe, and who knows, they should still take first place without too much trouble. So Australia will fight it out with Croatia and Japan for the second spot. Sad to say, both of the latter have improved since the last World Cup (or so informed opinion says) and Australia is a little creakier, a little older. The wild card is Australia's new coach, Guus Hiddink, whose tactical mastery may be sufficient (if our team plays very well and we have some luck) to get us over the line. The other results in the group will be critical too and it will probably come down to last match against the (very good) Croatian team.

Hmmm interesting times ahead......

World Cup Draw 2006

So, we are together with Brazil, Croatia and my 'other' homeland, Japan. A very tough group indeed, perhaps the second toughest. We are having broadband mondai so I must be brief now. More later on this historic occasion........

Just Waffle

I've just started revising a little Japanese after two months of slacking off. I discovered at least one reason for my laziness - the grammar was starting to get much harder. Or perhaps I should say, there was just too much to remember. I guess I've reached a high beginner point in my written studies (though I still haven't learned Katakana) though my conversation is very much still at the beginner level. Really by the time you can reply 'This is the man who came to the party yesterday' (In romaji, 'Kino pati ni kita hito desu') the conversation has moved along somewhat. Having the modifying clause before the noun isn' t helpful either. I enjoy learning grammar but it's application is difficult, to say the least.

Nadia's tummy is getting bigger and bigger and there are still five months to go. We swim most days though the weather until recently has been lousy- the strangest spring and early summer I can remember. It' s getting hard to her to get comfortable in bed and this can only get worse, really. Poor thing!

The FIFA draw for Germany 2006 is on Friday, so we're getting a little excited. The US National Coach has caused a bit of a stir by saying that he expects Trinidad and Tobago and Australia to be the weak links. Methinks this man may be eating his words at a later time. If the US played quality opposition on a regular basis rather than lightweights from its own confederation, then its ranking may be somewhat different. Now Australia is in Asia, we should start to climb the ladder, if, for no other reason, than the fact that we will be playing more games against better teams.

On Thinking

I often wonder what it would be like to be dumb. Or I should say, not so bright. Hardly a day passes without some grim reminder of how intelligence, so highly prized in Western civilisation, is sometimes a burden.

Today, for example, I read that intelligence, or at least a lot of it, has a correlation with Parkinson's Disease. There seems also to be a link between braininess and depression. There is data that suggests that the more educated you become, the less happy you are.

Maybe all this will be turned on its head by future research, but the adage about the happy guy with his six pack and TV set seems somewhat true. Live simply, live happily, heh?

All this thinking! My mind is never still, always restless, twitching and shifting between considerations of the self (oh, please to be spared from these!) and the myriad problems of the world. Right and wrong, truth and beauty, life and death (one more dichotomy and you're sacked - ed) oh yes, and God, do the circuit of my mind daily.

But if I look up from the computer, through the window, and beyond the neighbour's roof, I can see an endless expanse of sky. Nobody has got around to changing that, just yet.

Not harping, just.....

I had a quick scan of the blogs yesterday concerning the now notorious case of Nyugen Van, and opinion seems pretty much divided. Perhaps this reflects the recent poll (SMH) that showed that 47% approved of the state execution of the young man, astonishing if you ask me. Approved of! So many rednecks still in my own country! And to think that even the conservative Prime Minister of this country opposes capital punishment! How he must rub his hands at the prospect of wooing all those ignoramuses.

One site in particular grabbed me. I won't give it the oxygen of publicity (to quote Mrs Thatcher) but it was located in Queensland (for US readers, think Arkansas, Tennesee etc.). The author seemed still lost in the Soviet era, as he proudly displayed some witless anti-communist propaganda, alongside the predictable diatribe in favour of death sentencing. This was nobly topped off with an attack on Christianity and then an appeal to the spirit of the Enlightenment. He seemed blissfully unaware of the superb contradictions, all within a breath of each other.

Perhaps I'm a little too ascerbic. But life and death are serious matters, are they not? And snuffing out a life in an opinion poll strikes me as seriously deficient behaviour.

So remember, (as I often remind myself) , 'There but for the grace of God go I'

Craziness Part 2

The death penalty was abolished in Australia in the mid 1960's, so many Australians have never confronted its unforgiving reality. This morning Nyugen Van was executed, for reasons related in my previous post. Its important, I think, that any debate about capital punishment be free of nationalist or racist arguments or imputations, so those opposing Nyugen's execution would be well advised to steer clear of attacks on Singapore. At some stage or other, most countries have practised execution as a legal punishment, so really, no one nation can have a clear conscience in this matter.

Proponents of Nyugen's slaying (surely, 'serving of sentence', -ed) have offered very little to justify themselves. Most stand behind glib maxims (such as 'You do the crime, you do the time') or point, somewhat unconvincingly, to the problems that drugs bring. The first is too stupid to really respond to (Nobody is arguing against 'doing time', just against state sanctioned murder). The second invites us to look at the drug problem as if it were as simple matter that a few bullet points could deal with. Kill the drug mules and you will stop the problem. (Perhaps the problem started when individuals decided to become drug users.) And, look at all the suffering. Well, of course, but the causes are far more complex that those offered, and are hardly solved by killing a few low level couriers.

The arguments are largely irrelevant anyway. Nobody has argued that drug mules shouldn't get a long time in prison. Nobody has argued that they shouldn't be punished. We are simply arguing that the death penalty is an immoral and outdated act. It deters no-one. It diminishes everyone. It makes the state equally criminal and perhaps more so, since the balance of power between the individual and thre machinery of legal systems is totally unequal. It is anti-human.

To cite the Bible again, 'Thou shalt not kill'.

Nyugen Van, Rest in Peace.

Capital Crimes

There has been a huge and somewhat divisive debate in Australia in recent weeks over the proposed hanging execution of Nguyen Tuong Van in Singapore, scheduled for tomorrow. Let me say at the outset that I am opposed to capital punishment per se.

The young man concerned was attempting to smuggle heroine into Australia and has been incarcerated for two years, pending the 'completion' of his sentence. Drugs like heroine are a curse and ruin the lives of many people. They decimate communities and create huge ripples of misery. They invariably lead to other acts of criminality.

Yet the taking of any life by any authority as a matter of justice is the purest act of hypocrisy. The crime committed is redoubled by the state, who are de facto accomplices. The state becomes the murderer. There is no justice, merely retribution, justified by lofty, though frequently mendacious claims of protecting the community, upholding standards, defending the weak...etc.... That citizens buy this comes as no surprise. Is it any different to being conned by the advertiser or lured by the glossy magazine. Is it little more than a matter of scale?

The final comment is best left to someone who was unjustly executed and who recognised the frailty of human judgement. Jesus, when confonted by an angry crowd who desired to put a woman to death for adultery, simply said. 'Let he who without sin cast the first stone.' Naturally there were no takers.

Capital punishment is wrong. State sanctioned killing is never justified.