Going Through Motions

Work seems to be settling down.

I still hate only getting one month at a time.

But it seems to be the only available option for me at the moment.

I’m enjoying watching the sparrows in the park while I eat my lunch beside the water.

Cop A Gander At These Rippers Too...

  • Big Red Bike Tour Stage 7: Anything You Can Do We Kanda Better

    Despite having literally cycled hundreds of thousands of kilometers in and around Tokyo, I’d never cycled the full length of the Kanda River Cycling Road until the Big Red Bike Tour Stage 7 today, and boy had I missed out. We started at the beginning of the path at Inokashira Park in Kichijoji and pottered downstream at a very leisurely pace amid sapping heat under cloudless, blue skies. Kichijoji has traditionally been rated as the most liveable part of Tokyo, and the area is a delight. The cycling path tracks the Kanda River as it flows through the leafy western suburbs of Tokyo. Eventually, the river flows into the back…

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    「やばいリンガル」Packet（パケット）

    　英語圏では「Make a packet – パケットを作る」と言うと、何かを包装すると いう意味になるだろうが、オージー英語では違う。どのように違うか見てみよう。 Make a packet anywhere else in the English-speaking world and you’d be creating a parcel, but that’s not how it goes in Aussie English.

  • Don’t Think!

    A good mate of mine often quotes William Shakespeare’s Hamlet by reminding me that, “There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” Kangaeroo is prone to over-thinking, and this week is looming as a tough one. There’s plenty on the schedule, both professionally and privately. And it’s still bloody cold and dark. Moreover, riding up some hills yesterday and being easily overtaken and outpaced by another old codger, then hearing my heavy breathing along the river this morning sparked another reminder from Hamlet that I am fat and scant of breath! But in better news, the relatively mild weather of the past few days has hinted…

  • 車こそ、ボーガン文化最大の“アートフォーム”

    もし「ボーガン文化が本気でサブカル化する領域をひとつ選べ」と言われたら、 迷わず 車 と答える。 特にこんなラインナップが“ボーガン美学”のど真ん中だ。 オーストラリアは、 ホールデン vs フォードのライバル関係を軸にした“労働者階級カー文化” を独自に発展させてきた。 その中でも特に重要なのが—— ユート（ute）はボーガン文化の“万能シンボル” ユートはオーストラリアで特別な存在だ。 同時にこういう役割を持つ。 つまり、 ユート1台で人生の全部をまかなえる という感覚がある。そして忘れてはいけないのが、 オーストラリア特有の存在。 フーン（hoon）という現象 フーンとは、 “車を使ってやんちゃなことをする人”のこと。 などがセットになっている。 フーンとボーガンは完全に同じではないけれど、 重なりまくっている。ボーガン文化の“車の章”を語るとき、 フーンはほぼ必ず登場するキャラクターだ。

  • Mini Miracle

    One of the tiniest, daintiest, cutest little creatures I get to deal with has a back story of incredible strength and resilience, having bounced back from the brink of death to literally be thriving. I’m referring to our dwarf wattle, who is blooming brilliantly in what is proving to be a remarkable journey testifying to the power of nature. The wattle, a miniature shrub version of the better-known acacia trees like the golden and silver wattle, was grown from seed that I brought back from Australia. The dwarf wattle seeds initially sprouted extremely well, but I made the mistake of adding them to tiny terracotta pots that gave them virtually…