Manifique France, Merci Beaucoup Mon Cheri

Mrs. Kangaeroo and I had the trip of a lifetime visiting France, which was just magnificent from top to bottom.

I’d never have taken a trip like this without Mrs. Kangaeroo’s inspiration, so I thank her from the bottom of my heart.

Cop A Gander At These Rippers Too...

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    「やばいリンガル」 Thongs

    　今、オーストラリアは真夏に向かっているので、町の中では多くのオージーがthong姿を見せてくれるようになる。しかし、それを他の英語圏の人に言ったら、彼らは顔を赤らめるだろう。何でだろう？オーストラリアでのThong姿は、全然恥ずかしくないのに。 It’s approaching midsummer in Australia and many Aussies would now be getting about in thongs. Tell that to someone from another English-speaking country and they may assume it would be a time for red faces. Why thongs? And why so embarrassing?

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    Goodbye Possums…

    Barry Humphries, the creator of characters such as Dame Edna Everage – the Moonee Ponds housewife famous for her flamboyance and shouted greeting of “Hello Possums” – Sir Les Patterson and Sandy Stone, and himself an entertainer and icon of Straya in many parts of the world, has passed away. Humphries died aged 89 on Saturday following complications from a recent hip surgery. Personally, I wasn’t a great fan of the Moonee Ponds housewife — Dame Edna Average is my name for her — but she had her moments and was a wonderful example of Humphries’ acerbic, anti-Establishment wit that Australian author Kathy Lette described this morning as his brilliance…

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    豪産肉輸出成長は、、、らくだ！

    オーストラリアの野生動物と言えば、まずらくだ、、、と言い難いだろうが、実際に世界最大野生ラクダの数が最も多くの国が豪州であるだ。 　元々らくだはオーストラリアにいなかったが19世紀イギリス植民地時代からインドから持ってこれて野生化し、数十年たったら環境問題を起こした。今、オーストラリアで野生ラクダが約100万頭がいると予想されている。豪の野生ラクダ頭数が約９年毎で倍増することも予想されている。 　一方、ラクダの自然発祥地である中近東では、1960年代からラクダの数が急速に減り、ラクダ肉やミルクの重要が依然として高い。 　オーストラリア産ラクダが昔から競駱駝（？？？、、、要するにレース用）のラクダの輸出があったが、2009年から肉食用のラクダ輸出が産業化し、急成長している。今年、およそ6000頭のラクダをサウジ・アラビアとアラブ首長国連邦を中心に中近東諸国へ輸出する予定だ。 　オーストラリアでの野生ラクダの環境破壊が依然として継続が続くが、輸出により数が大幅に減る上に立派なビジネスチャンスを与えているので不幸中の幸いかもしれない。 参考： Australian Feral Camels Turning a Pest into Profit

  • Yakuza Battle! 多摩川での仁義なき戦い！

    My normal morning ride was rudely interrupted today when I had to stop at a set of traffic lights I usually only use for reference because there were dozens of cops loitering there. Japanese authorities have a tendency to over-react, so even though there were at least 30 officers, several patrol cars, an ambulance, paramedics and firefighters hanging around the Hino Bridge area, I didn’t think too much of it. I did think it a little strange that the bike path was roped off and cops mounting guard and patrolling on foot. It was only after discovering news on Facebook that I had witnessed the aftermath of a vicious battle…

  • Death Revival

    Today looks like it’s going to be all about Lazarus-like feats centered around reviving death in all sorts of ways. First there’s the Death Machine; the name I give to my recumbent bike because riding it always feels like it could be fatal with each ride. It needs a tune, new chain and brakes to get back to fighting fitness. Hopefully, this won’t lead to a chain-reaction effect requiring increasingly more parts and labor, as is often the case. That segues into dealing with another form of death: that of my career. I can’t find a job and it seems like my working life might be over. I understand I…