Imperial Palace

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    Old Coot’s ‘Memories’ Of Imperial Palace’s Black Swans Were All A Bit Cuckoo

    Japan is often held up as a potential source of a black swan event in the financial world, but much closer to home, I have had a decades-long “memory” of black swans in Tokyo. But it looks like my recollections of the graceful birds symbolic of the state of Western Australia were more than a bit cuckoo. My mind is convinced that there used to be at least a pair of black swans living the Imperial Palace moat in Tokyo in the 1990s, but no amount of searching has been unable to unearth any evidence, and I have no proof myself. I could have sworn I saw them, especially as…

  • Bye-Bye Brompton in Pal-ace

    For me, riding a Brompton bike is about more than mere cycling. I didn’t realize it when I first picked up one of the prestigious folding bikes a bit over a decade ago. At the time, I just wanted a fold-up bike that wouldn’t break after a few rides as other collapsable cycles I had purchased seemed prone to doing. What I didn’t know was that bikes need care and maintenance. I know, dumb, but that was what I thought. Having spent most of my time until then on ultra-durable mama-chari that are virtually unbreakable, I believed all bicycles were like that. So the Brommie used to get me upset…