Brushing Up All Right

Our bottle brush has finally burst into bloom, and what a glorious show she is putting on for us!

Mrs. Kangaeroo has let loose with her amazing talents again and made plenty of bouquets using the delightfully scarlet flowers, and now I’ll deliver some to Mother-in-Law Kangaeroo to mark Mother’s Day, as it is here in Japan and in many other parts of the world today.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mums around the world, and heartfelt thanks to my mum, who’s still kicking on (and probably will be for eternity the way she’s going).

Cop A Gander At These Rippers Too...

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    メルボルンがまた世界１住み易い都市、豪４つ都市がベスト１０に

    　メルボルンが２０１１年２年連続世界一番住みやすいとなっている、と英国エコノミスト・インテリジェンス・ユニットがクオリティ・オブ・ライフ調査発表を１４日付行った。 　ベスト１０にはメルボルンをはじめ、４つのオーストラリアの都市が入っていた。アデレードが５位、シドニーが７位とパースが９位だった。隣のニュージーランド・オークランド市が１０位とオーストララシアが圧倒的に上位を占める。カナダもバンクーバー、トロント・カルガリーの３都市もベスト１０入り。 Melbourne rated world’s most liveable city in Economist Intelligence Unit’s Global Liveability Survey

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    Ringo’s Ring-in, Awesome Aussie Anime Highlight the Fab Four’s Oz Oddities

    Just as the Beatles created an iconic scene with their 1966 arrival in Tokyo wearing traditional Japanese happi coats, so too did the Fab Four make waves when they toured Australia two years earlier at the height of Beatlemania and establishing a quirky relationship with Down Under at the same time. 　羽田空港にてハッピー姿で飛行機から降りたビートルズが日本で1996年講演の代表的な場面となった同様、その2年前オーストラリアに訪ねた時も「豪州らしい」イメージがあると同時に同バンドがオーストラリアとの一味違う関係を築いた。 Australia’s archetypical Beatles image features the Fab Four standing around while holding didjeridoos, an indigenous Australian instrument that Ringo Starr on the far left of the picture appears to be tackling with greater fervour than bandmates Paul McCartney, John Lennon and George Harrison. 　その典型的な「オージーっぽい」場面は、1964年6月に撮られた4人が豪州先住民の楽器であるディジェリドゥを吹いている写真だ。立派な写真だが、問題が一つあった。 It’s a great pic, but the only problem is that Ringo’s involvement in the…

  • Well, At Least We Found Out

    Kangaeroo’s housing estate has recently been afflicted with a spate of bicycle thefts and vandalizations. As an avid cyclist, this hit Kangaeroo hard. Mrs. Kangaeroo’s winter gloves were stolen, forcing her to head out into the freezing cold winter morning with her hands unprotected from the elements. Kangaeroo’s spare road bike and the death machine were also vandalized and various equipment and accessories were stolen. Enraged, Kangaeroo headed to the police to report the issue, even if only to be able to received formal notification to enable making an insurance claim. Astonishingly, instead of largely ignoring a bicycle-related theft issue, as is customary among police in Japan, the officer was…

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    The Lions Won’t Eat You…As Long As You Can Outrun The Gazelle

    Blessed with more time than I’d expected yesterday afternoon, I got to have some fun with the statues at the closed Yokohama Zoorasia. My Astuto bicycle got some great shots running away from wild animals, including a pack of lions chasing a gazelle. It reminded me of my schooldays, when I was the slowest runner in the entire school, and a friend joked that it wouldn’t matter if a wild animal chased our group down, as all they would need to do would be to run faster than I could. Painful, but true! I’d often toyed with a visit to Zoorasia, so was glad to finally make it, and pleased…

  • Kangaroos Played a Part in Germans Being Big in South America BEFORE World War II

    Postwar South America became somewhat notorious as a haven for Germans fleeing the defeat of the Third Reich in World War II, but some Teutonic types had already made it big in Argentina before the Nazis…and kangaroos had something to do with it, albeit an extremely minor role. Kangaroos served as an advertising figure for Sarrasani, a world-famous German circus between the wars. Sarrasani was formed in the German city of Dresden in 1901 by Hans Stosch, a clown with the stage name Giovanni Sarrasani. The circus was best-known for its elephants, but also employed lots of “exotic” peoples such as Japanese, Javanese and Sioux Native Americans, as well as…