Reuters......dateline 27.7
The Australian Treasurer, Peter Costello, blamed the Whitlam Government for the blowout in inflation figures yesterday.
'The ghost of the Whitlam Governemnt can pick and choose whichever quarter it likes to intervene in. We have had years and years of success under my policies only to see this big government interference in my leadership aspirations...er... I mean.....sound economic management.'
Mr Costello cited shonky loans dealings as amongst the causes of the CPI rise.
'I have it on good authority that Kim Beazley, Gough Whitlam, Paul Keating and Jim Cairns were involved in shonky illegal loans dealings with a man named Larry. As a result, the price of a yellow fruit called a banana has shot up.'
Mr Costello added
'This Larry is the shonkiest of offshore brokers. What sort of former Government resorts to these underhand measures. Do I have to remind everyone of the jobs for the boys, faceless men, economic incompetence, kemlarrylani, Juni Morosi, big sending Labor days? Doesn't eveyone remember how we harved inflartion and stopped talking about Rhodesia midflight?'
Asked about his leadership aspirations Mr Costello was circumspect,
'I'm not buying into that one. John Howard is the leader. He is the man who brought us a fistfull of dollars (surely, years of economic growth, ed.) and that's not to be trifled with.'
Saturday, July 29, 2006
Sunday, July 16, 2006
The weather has been damnably humid and hot. Heat I can take up to a point, humidity I can't. It feels like we are immersed in an endless sauna bath. The effect at night is little better. We are spending more time downstairs at night and running the air-con to get things a little cooler and dryer. Such is the climate in a maritime country.
Our old friend Satoshi popped around today and was much taken with Tom's progress. We see very little of him nowadays. Not since he started work in Moriyama. He is already beholden to the company, working long hours and backing up on Saturdays every fortnight. His holiday next month will be 5 days with a weekend at either end. Its just the way things are here in Japan. Workers never consider their entitlements as real, and neither does management. The unions are too weak and too conciliatory to make a difference.
And everyone is just so busy, so scheduled up.
Our old friend Satoshi popped around today and was much taken with Tom's progress. We see very little of him nowadays. Not since he started work in Moriyama. He is already beholden to the company, working long hours and backing up on Saturdays every fortnight. His holiday next month will be 5 days with a weekend at either end. Its just the way things are here in Japan. Workers never consider their entitlements as real, and neither does management. The unions are too weak and too conciliatory to make a difference.
And everyone is just so busy, so scheduled up.
Thursday, July 13, 2006
chopstick blues
Tom reached his fourth month today and he celebrated with a lot of grumpiness and a huge poo. The latter threatened to engulph his nappy and the sofa, like some massive typhoon, and he grinned with self-satisfaction and the ensuing mess he had made. I suppose this kind of information is really of interest only to new or newish parents.
After much effort, we still havent recruited any new students lately. Its a fact that leaves us wondering whether Sanda is just English-schooled out. There are so many small and large competitors now that students can shop around. Theoretically, market forces should dictate that the best schools survive, but this ignores the fact that the biggies can pour a lot of money into advertising and making their premises modern and attractive. We are both thinking that if matters don't improve by Christmas, then we will have to reconsider our options, as they say. But I do expect things to get better for us.
The World Cup is over and the undeserving Italians have their mitts all over the trophy. Italy played really well in only one game, against the Germans. The rest of the time they were content to play a kind of waiting game behind packed defences, a game replete with time waisting, diving and negativity. I hope that Fifa can make some rule changes that challenge this kind of play. Perhaps making the goals a little wider, having video replays for incidents in the box and acting coaches on the sidelines to watch for ham performances would help.
After much effort, we still havent recruited any new students lately. Its a fact that leaves us wondering whether Sanda is just English-schooled out. There are so many small and large competitors now that students can shop around. Theoretically, market forces should dictate that the best schools survive, but this ignores the fact that the biggies can pour a lot of money into advertising and making their premises modern and attractive. We are both thinking that if matters don't improve by Christmas, then we will have to reconsider our options, as they say. But I do expect things to get better for us.
The World Cup is over and the undeserving Italians have their mitts all over the trophy. Italy played really well in only one game, against the Germans. The rest of the time they were content to play a kind of waiting game behind packed defences, a game replete with time waisting, diving and negativity. I hope that Fifa can make some rule changes that challenge this kind of play. Perhaps making the goals a little wider, having video replays for incidents in the box and acting coaches on the sidelines to watch for ham performances would help.
Sunday, July 09, 2006
what's in a.....
I read today that the Crowes had named their new baby Tennyson, an interesting choice to say the least. I'm not fond of surnames masquerading as Christian names, though this one might spark new interest in the Victorian poet. The Crowes cited their mutual love of one of Tennyson's early sonnets as their inspiration, a poem that I studied eons ago in my first undergraduate degree. It's soaked in the kind of twee sentimentality and hand-on-forehead histrionics beloved of the Victorians. But I must admit, that's one of the reasons I love a lot of Tennyson's work. And probably also Thomas Hardy.
So, for the record, here's the sonnet; #10 from memory.
IF I were loved, as I desire to be,
What is there in the great sphere of the earth,
And range of evil between death and birth,
That I should fear,—if I were loved by thee?
All the inner, all the outer world of pain
Clear Love would pierce and cleave, if thou wert mine,
As I have heard that, somewhere in the main,
Fresh-water springs come up through bitter brine.
’Twere joy, not fear, claspt hand-in-hand with thee,
To wait for death—mute—careless of all ills,
Apart upon a mountain, tho’ the surge
Of some new deluge from a thousand hills
Flung leagues of roaring foam into the gorge
Below us, as far on as eye could see.
So, for the record, here's the sonnet; #10 from memory.
IF I were loved, as I desire to be,
What is there in the great sphere of the earth,
And range of evil between death and birth,
That I should fear,—if I were loved by thee?
All the inner, all the outer world of pain
Clear Love would pierce and cleave, if thou wert mine,
As I have heard that, somewhere in the main,
Fresh-water springs come up through bitter brine.
’Twere joy, not fear, claspt hand-in-hand with thee,
To wait for death—mute—careless of all ills,
Apart upon a mountain, tho’ the surge
Of some new deluge from a thousand hills
Flung leagues of roaring foam into the gorge
Below us, as far on as eye could see.
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Kulcha
When I'm in Australia I'm bored and when I'm in Japan, I'm just too busy. The former state is brought on by my not having a job in teaching anymore and lots of time on my hands; the latter, by, well, just being in Japan. Everyone is busy here and if they have a gap in their planners, it will invariably be filled in short order.
I'm wondering when the Japanese, whose cultural history and artifacts suggest a great capacity for reflection, ever have time for this faculty. Or if they ever really did. Or if modern living has left them with no time at all. Its hard to say, but the distractions of the modern age are perhaps too many and too tempting. Who would prefer to wander the gardens of an old temple when they can tune in to 30 TV channels, five of which are showing baseball? Or to learn the koto or shamisan when pachinko and J-Pop are on offer?
The Japanese express surprise when foreigners (and forever we will be foreigners, alas!) show interest in the ephemera of Japanese culture, such as geisha and sumo. Why are you interested in shinto or want to learn calligraphy? Perhaps these kinds of questions arise from the notion that westerners, particular Americans and Australians, exist in a cultural desert. Of course, some do, but such an assumption ignores the pantheons of learning passed on since the Greeks. The great tradition of thinking that stretches back for two and a half millenia and which informs the modern mind. Or at least, should inform it.
During the cherry blossom season, Japanese gather under the boughs to celebrate the new but fragile flowers that bloom above their picnic mats. They spend much time just looking, observing the buds and the minutae of each blossom. Its wonderful just to watch them watching. That level of reflection is perhaps missing from everyday life here, if, for no other reason, than the fact that the schedule needs to be filled. And free time is wasted time. Change is always possible here, but only if, somewhat dangerously, the Japanese give themselves space to think in.
I'm wondering when the Japanese, whose cultural history and artifacts suggest a great capacity for reflection, ever have time for this faculty. Or if they ever really did. Or if modern living has left them with no time at all. Its hard to say, but the distractions of the modern age are perhaps too many and too tempting. Who would prefer to wander the gardens of an old temple when they can tune in to 30 TV channels, five of which are showing baseball? Or to learn the koto or shamisan when pachinko and J-Pop are on offer?
The Japanese express surprise when foreigners (and forever we will be foreigners, alas!) show interest in the ephemera of Japanese culture, such as geisha and sumo. Why are you interested in shinto or want to learn calligraphy? Perhaps these kinds of questions arise from the notion that westerners, particular Americans and Australians, exist in a cultural desert. Of course, some do, but such an assumption ignores the pantheons of learning passed on since the Greeks. The great tradition of thinking that stretches back for two and a half millenia and which informs the modern mind. Or at least, should inform it.
During the cherry blossom season, Japanese gather under the boughs to celebrate the new but fragile flowers that bloom above their picnic mats. They spend much time just looking, observing the buds and the minutae of each blossom. Its wonderful just to watch them watching. That level of reflection is perhaps missing from everyday life here, if, for no other reason, than the fact that the schedule needs to be filled. And free time is wasted time. Change is always possible here, but only if, somewhat dangerously, the Japanese give themselves space to think in.
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