Australia welcomes 2013!

Happy New Year, 2013…at least in Australian Eastern Standard Zone areas.
Melbourne New Year 2013This photo is a shot over central Melbourne in the early moments of the new year.

Cop A Gander At These Rippers Too...

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    Monkeying Around With Shared Kobe Steel(e)s

    Of the many commonalities shared by Australia and Japan, perhaps one of the quirkier ones is that both countries are home to a Kobe Steele known for monkeying around. Australia’s Kobe Steele founded the Orangutan Foundation International Australia (OFI Australia), and was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2021 for her services to conservation and the environment. Japan’s Kobe Steel Ltd., meanwhile, monkeyed around in a far less noble way, falsifying inspection and quality data on steel, aluminium and copper products for years, affecting hundreds of customers and resulting in billions of yen in fines after causing one of Japan’s most significant industrial quality scandals in recent…

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    Chiba Company Rapt To Choose A Roo For Wrapping

    Kangaroos are the choice of a company symbol for packaging-materials trading company Kawawa Co., Ltd. from Nagareyama, Chiba Prefecture. Kawawa chose to use a kangaroo to symbolize their operations because it represents “the spirit of wrapping,” according to the company’s website. Although the company has nothing to do with Australia, it chose to represent itself with the country’s national symbol because its pouch is a natural metaphor for wrapping, carrying with care, and protecting what’s inside. Even beyond the company’s official explanation for using a kangaroo logo, the choice is very logical for Japanese commercial design. The pouch representation is perfect for packaging. A kangaroo’s pouch is one of the…

  • The First Class First Nations Film Festival

    For a measly 1,000 yen I got to get a totally unexpected and delightfully amazing full day’s entertainment, a couple of souvenirs and an all-round wonderful time at the 2024 First Nations Film Festival held by the Australian Embassy in Tokyo at EUROSPACE. I’ve always been sympathetic to the cause of Indigenous Australians as I’ve understood it, but in recent years I’ve developed a bit of empathy fatigue, or even borderline antipathy, as the blame for society’s shortcomings are increasingly laid at the feet of all white men. So when Mrs. Kangaeroo expressed an interest in going to the festival after seeing an ad on Facebook, I wasn’t overly keen,…

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    How Does An Aussie Garden Give Time To Paws?

    One of the highlights of our Aussie garden in suburban Tokyo over the years has been kangaroo paws, except for this year. 一つのハイライトだったはずの東京郊外の我が家のオージーガーデンも、今年ばかりはカンガルーポーが冴えなかった。 We initially planted a couple, but in the darker corner of the garden, and after the first couple of years one died and the other was sickly and did not bloom. 最初に植えたのは2株だったが、庭の暗い隅に置いたこともあり、数年で片方は枯れ、もう片方も弱々しくて花をつけなかった。 We’ve achieved much greater success planting from seed. In fact, our kangaroo paws did so well we could give plants to most of the neighbors, as well as friends and colleagues. 種から育てるようになってからは、ずっと成功率が高くなった。むしろあまりに元気に育つので、近所のほとんどの家や友人・同僚にまで株を分けられるほどだった。 This year, though, only two of about 12 different kangaroo paws have bloomed (though my next-door neighbor’s have flourished!). ところが今年は、12株ほどあるカンガルーポーのうち、花を咲かせたのはたった2株だけ（隣の家のは見事に咲き誇っているのに！）。 July can be…