Archive for the ‘General’ Category

Nobody Knows (誰も知らない - 'Dare mo Shiranai'), directed by Kore-eda Hirokazu, is a fictional reconstruction based on the true story of 4 children who were abandoned in a Tokyo apartment in 1988 ("Affair of the Four Abandoned Children of Nishi-Sugamo"). It was a very moving film for me, especially as it seemed so disturbingly possible. […]

'Sayonara', starring Marlon Brando, was set in post-war Japan. Brando plays a Korean war flying ace who is stationed in Kobe in 1951. This is meant to encourage him to marry the general's daughter, but somehow he gets distracted by a female Japanese performer. This is a no-no in post-war Japan, with 'strict' regulations against […]

Dubya loved to crow about the "freedom" and "peace" that he brought to the "Iraqi people", since the "victory" in Iraq. The USATODAY poll of April 2004 showed that the majority thought of the Americans as occupiers (71%), not liberators (19%) and that the invasion brought more harm (46%) than good (33%). While they are […]

What price safety? United flight 811 out of Honolulu on 24 Feb 1989 lost a cargo door while on climb through 22000'. This caused a large rip in the side of the aircraft and 9 passengers died. The National Geographic doco on the incident was scathing in its attack on the US NTSB (National Transportation […]

When we are very busy at work, we have little energy or time left at the end of each day to get our finances in order. Then the day arrives when we start thinking about how to fund our retirement. I wish someone had sat me down when I was young and helped me on […]

The movie "Hotel Rwanda" was profoundly disturbing. Having institutionalised the ethnic distinction between Tutsi and Hutu based on skin colour, height, and width of noses, the Belgian colonists in the 1930s gave the minority Tutsi (lighter, taller) greater power and opportunities than the majority Hutu (darker, shorter). Years later, the jealousies boiled over into the […]

A trainee teacher I talked to was about to set out for his probationary teaching period in 'the country' (I saw some very rough schools out of Siem Reap). He will be paid US$25 per month for the 2 years. When he is a fully qualified teacher, he will get $40 per month. Those working […]

What a great movie! It was brilliantly filmed (you know it is a real photographer behind the lens when the light is superb - shots are taken at dawn and dusk, there is lovely backlighting and some superb angles, like the shots of the Zeros coming in above the woman hanging out her washing - […]

It was good to see Titanic again - it is a great movie. Once again we see the amazing folly of man - and the over-importance men place on size and power. (I liked the scene where Rose comments to the Captain that Freud would have enjoyed analysing their emphasis on size and one of […]

I am still trying to figure out why the Chinese are so scared of Falun Gong. Here in Singapore we occasionally get leaflets via letter box from the 'organisation' (they point out clearly they are not a religion nor a political group). The one that arrived yesterday told us of the 'miraculous' healing experiences in […]