Damn, life has been so serene recently, I have literally had to pinch myself to tug my mind back to reality. A mate dragged me back into the real world fiercely and abruptly today. And that was because the mate died. It was not completely unexpected. Some might say it was God’s will. He had come close before. And had survived multiple bouts of cancer. Vexastiously, things had spiralled downward this year, though. And maybe even futher back. I realized that even though we had shared some of the most intimate details of our lives on an almost daily basis…
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For various reasons, I got to look at YouTube for the first time in years this morning and, by sheer coincidence, got to see a video captured exactly 10 years ago to the day. The footage came from a fire that had broken out on the spectacular Rainbow Bridge, which links the Tokyo mainland (well, another reclaimed section) with the artificial island of Odaiba. I was working in the Yokoso Rainbow Tower, an exceptional work of architecture that reflected the flavor of the then-recently burst economic bubble when it was completed in 1995. I’d just finished my lunch break and…
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My hospital killed me, I learned today. It was part of a mix-up caused by our dinosaur (actually, it was my fault as I let her chew up my appointment reservation slip without noting any information that it contained, and then taking too long to follow up on it). Normally, every three months I go for a routine check-up to the hospital, where I have been receiving treatment for the past 15 years. I’d last visited in March, so knew I was due to go back again, and rang through during the week to book an appointment for this morning.…
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We’ve just had a wonderful weekend enjoying the pleasures of the Tama Hills Recreation Area, which combines luxurious quarters with wild, somewhat terrifying scenery reminiscent of what a world without humans might look like. It’s the latter that continues to delight me in the bi-annual visits we’ve been fortunate to make over the past decade or so, though such opportunities may about to draw to a close. We will enjoy them while we can, though. Related posts: Tour de Kagoshima-Kyoto Day -1A: Tama Hills to Haneda Bromocalypse, Now! Satoyama Blessed By Wonderful People in 2023 Powered by YARPP.
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Australia is often referred to as “the lucky country,” which most people use favorably, but was actually a derogatory term coined by journalist Donald Horne in his book of the same name, and with April 25 a landmark date in Aussie history now called ANZAC Day, it got me thinking about fortune and the role it plays in lives. Australia had the misfortune to fight its first day of war as an independent, federated country on April 25, 1915, and thousands of young men were brutally mowed down in meaningless slaughter in the ill-fated Gallipoli campaign of World War I…
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For much of my life, I was something of a political animal, tempered by social requirements, but eventually tamed and then driven into apathy by circumstance. However, given a chance this week to watch a series of brilliant documentaries about Australian politics with a Tokyo connection, I felt stirrings of an old flame. Mark Willacy, a journalist for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation who was based in Tokyo as its North Asia correspondent from 2008 to 2013, interviewed more than 60 current and former Australian politicians for the three-part documentary series, Nemesis, that aired over the past couple of weeks and…
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自民党が裏金問題などは日本で政治スキャンダルが依然として相次ぐが、オーストラリアも情けない政治家が多数いて、恐らくその典型的な例が元副首相で元国民党党首であるバーナビー・ジョイス氏。 上記の街中で倒れている泥酔オッサンは先週のジョイス氏。国会後の集会で処方箋の薬を飲みながらお酒も飲んで倒れたという。 世論で大騒ぎとなりましたが、国民党からも連立パートナーである保守系の自由党にも制裁・処罰なしでそのまま政治家として継続出来ます。 同氏が「処方箋の通り、<飲めば害を与える効果もあり>のとおりだ>」というが、謝りも懲りている様子もない。ジョイス氏はこの赤恥の常習犯だ。 ジョイス氏そもそも田舎の支持者が多い国民党有権者のため農家らしい格好やしぐさをするが、実際に政治家になる前に農家と関係なく都会にある名門私立学校を卒業した後金融界を減って会計士となり、ほとんどの友人が裕福層である。 保守系の政治家で同性婚反対など、伝統的価値観の提唱ながら4人を一緒に育った妻と結婚している間に2018年に数十年若い秘書と子供を出来ちゃって家族を捨てて秘書と同棲することになった。秘書と一緒にテレビのインタービュー中、ジョイス氏が「(当時)おなかの中の子供が誰のか分からない」と言って認知を逃げるような行為をしたが、後になって自分の子供だと認めた。以降、結婚して今二人の子供を夫婦として育ているが、ジョイス氏の行動によってマルコム・ターンボール元総理が言われている「ボンク・バン(性行為禁止法)」を保守連立政治家に命じた。 その前、2010年代半ばオーストラリア政治家の間で大問題となった二重国籍問題も巻き込まれた。オーストラリアは二重国籍が認めているが、国会議員が適用外。ジョイス氏が厳しく(当時)野党員を追求し二重国籍である者の辞表を追い詰めた。 が、数年たったら、ジョイス氏自身がニュージーランド国籍も取得していることが判明。議席は失わないで同国籍を破棄したが、偽善的な立場を触れない。だが、ニュージーランドは、このことに対して、2017年にジョイス氏を「ニュージーランド人・オブ・ザ・イヤー」としてノミネートした(受賞しなかった)。 ジョイス氏が秘書と出来ちゃった婚事件で国民党党首を辞表した。しかし、連立パートナーであった前首相スコット・モリソン氏がコロナウイルスの大流行中、外遊中時、ジョイス氏がちゃっかりと国民党の党首投票を呼びかけ世論も連立内で嫌われても国民党内の圧倒的な指示によって再び党首となった。恐らくモリソン氏が国内にいれば、国民党内の投票を辞めさせただろう、と多くのアナリストが推測する。 ジョイス氏も国際的なスキャンダルに巻き込んでいる。2015年にジョニー・デップ氏と当時の妻アンバー・ハード氏がオーストラリアで撮影した際、ハード氏の愛犬を正しい入国手続きをしなかったことに対してジョイス氏が猛反対し、その犬たちを安楽死させるように強く主張した。デップ氏が謝りビデオを作成してことを済んだがジョイス氏の過剰反応が国内外でかなり批判された。 ジョイス氏が国民党党首を2022年選挙敗戦に伴って辞めたが、今でもシャドー内閣の野党の重要人物である。 考えRooも恥をたくさん起こした。特におい酒を飲んだ時。人のことを言えない。が、納税者の血税を受けながらジョイス氏のような行為をしていません。民間企業だったら許されるような行為ではないと思う。そして、保守系連立は犯罪は非社会的な行為に対して厳しい見解を示しながらジョイス氏に対してルールが違うように見えるのが不思議と思うのは考えRooだけじゃないと思う。 Related posts: 豪色濃い「EMPIRE」のMiss A in a Bubble豪姫がもしかして世界で最も柔軟な女性? 「牛糞チョコ」が南豪で大ヒット中! なでしこジャパンvs豪州マティルダズ戦 Hungover Australian PM Lauds Australia-Japan Relations Powered by YARPP.
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Possibly the most meaningful part of my Australian seeds experiment arose today when I transplanted my kangaroo paw seedlings. The great experiment, which I expected would result in me proving to have a green thumb and presenting all my gardening mates with exotic plants has proven only that I am all thumbs. I’ve killed nearly everything I planted, even the everlasting daises and golden everlastings that appeared to be growing so well. I bumped them off by putting them in a hothouse on a boiling hot day, then giving too much fertilizer to the plants that survived. A desert pea…
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Being greeted by the sublimely serene sight of fully blooming wisteria in the outer suburban wonderland of Yakushiike Park only to have the calmness crushed by the piercing squeal of a little prick abusing and haranguing me for riding a bicycle in the park wasn’t really what I had been expecting at 5 a.m. As the angry man hurled invective at me, I felt my blood boil and the urge to smash him in the face was becoming almost uncontrollable. He screamed loudly, fiercely and incessantly as I tried to take photos of La Cangura amid the flowers. I envisaged…
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Japan will finally re-open its doors to unrestricted travelers in October 2022, over 2 1/2 years since imposing strict entry requirements (especially on foreigners) due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With the yen at its weakest against most major currencies since the early 1990s (and effectively even weaker still in real terms as the yen of the early 1990s carried far greater purchasing power than the yen of the 2020s), tourists are predicted to flock back into Japan. Japan is one of the world’s great tourist destinations and it is Kangaeroo’s belief that the hospitality of many Japanese people show toward…