Better To Be Quiet About It, But It Wasn’t All Bad

This has been a terrible year for the world, but from a personal viewpoint, it has actually been a bit OK, spending less money, riding like a madman and having a quiet life of basic solitude undisturbed by the need to accommodate others.

It would be nice to have the stability we had before the pandemic, and fear has become a deeper part of my life than before. I am very grateful for Japan’s serious approach to the pandemic and the support my company has showed for us, even though we are also footing a lot of the bill and I’ve had a nominal pay cut in the form of increased costs that used to be covered by the company such as transport, power and air conditioning. Hopefully, thgings will return to normal next year. And, at least I’m not dead.

Cop A Gander At These Rippers Too...

  • May It Be That Way

    May is Kangaeroo.com’s favorite time of the year. Normally, dry, warm and sunny, flowers bloom and the month is a visual and sensual delight. This year has been unseasonably sodden, but that’s good practice for the upcoming rainy season that will begin in early June. Normally, May is a great time for relaxing and cycling, but this year has also been a bit different. Kangaeroo is on the move and has spent most of the month getting ready for the shift. In that regard, the lousy weather has been a bit of a godsend, limiting the temptation to get on a bike and get away from it all. It might…

  • |

    「Naughty」と「Nice」コリアの五輪メダル表で北朝鮮が豪フリーペーパーに激怒

     オーストラリア東海岸3都市に無料で配れるフリーペーパーmXが2012年ロンドン五輪メダル表に「Naughty Korea」と「Nice Korea」と北朝鮮と韓国をそれぞれ表示したことに対して北朝鮮の国営通信社である朝鮮中央通信社(KCNA)が猛烈に怒りを示した。  KCNAはmXのメダル表が「イジメ」「オリンピック精神違反」「浅ましい」など、同紙を強く批判した。  「Naughty」は「悪い」という意味が「Nice」の反意語としてよく使われ入るし、その場合「やんちゃ」というニュアンスもある。  批判に対してmXが配布されているシドニー、メルボルン、ブリスベーンの各編集長が共同声明を発表した。  「mXはニュースに対しての非礼な解釈がよく知られている。表は、世界が二つのコリアがどのように見られていることをユーモアを込めて示そうとしただけで、北朝鮮でも韓国でも選手や国民に対して軽蔑する意図が全く無かった」といった。

  • Trying To Kid Myself On Children’s Day

    Blessed with glorious weather and little wind, it was almost appropriate I spent the first part of Children’s Day trying to kid myself that I am something of a decent cyclist. I did manage to build up an almost acceptable pace considering the countless number of traffic lights I had to deal with on a quick trip in and out of central Tokyo. Blessed with a day off as part of the Golden Week series of holidays, I headed into town to attend a meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous near Tokyo Tower. The group was filled with sanctimonious, pious souls, so I left feeling like I could speak in tongues, but…

  • Mondayitis….Every Day!

    Monday is gloomy and depressing in my soul-sucking job, with today being particularly so because I am the sole native English speaker working and we are inundated with work and every effort I make berated for its shortcomings. I woke feeling painfully gloomy, was shortly greeted by a Zodiac reading forecasting an awful day, my Wahoo didn’t work, and I just can’t spark myself to get into action. Yet, I was blessed on the morning ride. The full beaver moon setting over the Tama River was simply breathtaking. I stopped before starting and went back to pick up a real camera so I could capture it’s beauty (but made the…

  • Tour de Kagoshima-Kyoto Day 10: Nara to Kyoto

    Our tour has reached Kyoto, remarkably with only minor injuries and not a single puncture in the more than 11,000 kilometers the cyclists covered collectively since setting out from Izumi, Kagoshima Prefecture, on the morning of October 1. The group battled a barrage of rain on the most prominent of climbs on Mount Aso and Koyasan, but got through unscathed each time. The tour drew to a close in a journey between the two ancient capitals of Nara, where participants frolicked with the deer roaming freely through the city and saw its lauded Great Buddha at Todaiji, and Kyoto, where the group lunched at Inari Taisha Jinja. Only a farewell…