[A]Auriental Studies
momo
I stumbled accross a passage in Interesting Times which should have
been annotated.....aha!!!!!!
Take a look at this:
Corgi 1995/ page 111
"Rincewind stared glumly at the wall. Peasants of the Empire, Rebel!
You have nothing to lose but your heads and hands and feet and there's
this thing they do with a wire waistcoat and a cheesegrater....."
Rings a bell???..... weeeeelllll, it's been borrowed and slightly
adapted from "Karl Marx's Communist Manifest" (no, I do not expect
anybody to be familiar with it....hehehe;). One of the more famous
quotations goes..... <Proletarians of all countries, Unite! You have
nothing to lose but your chains!>
Kinda goes with the spirit, doesn't it;) So everybody, sit back and
think this over, then decide whether to lynch me..... be kind with the
cheese grater, though;)
Momo
ANDREW ROBERT BREEN
momo <momo...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>Hiya,
>I stumbled accross a passage in Interesting Times which should have
>been annotated.....aha!!!!!!
>Take a look at this:
>
>Corgi 1995/ page 111
Maybe time for some
S
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Space.
>"Rincewind stared glumly at the wall. Peasants of the Empire, Rebel!
>You have nothing to lose but your heads and hands and feet and there's
>this thing they do with a wire waistcoat and a cheesegrater....."
>Rings a bell???..... weeeeelllll, it's been borrowed and slightly
>adapted from "Karl Marx's Communist Manifest" (no, I do not expect
>anybody to be familiar with it....hehehe;). One of the more famous
Why not? It's an important book and well-written. Old Karl only
turned turgid when writing 'Capital'. Before that he was a journalist,
and a good one. It was, after all, Marx who said that 'history repeats
- the first time as tragedy, the second as farce' (that was apropos
of Louis Napoleon).
>quotations goes..... <Proletarians of all countries, Unite! You have
>nothing to lose but your chains!>
>
>Kinda goes with the spirit, doesn't it;) So everybody, sit back and
>think this over, then decide whether to lynch me..... be kind with the
>cheese grater, though;)
The description of the wire jacket appears to be inspired by the
scene in George MacDonald Fraser's 'Flashman and the dragon', though
it not have been suprised if pTerry had got it directly from the
same source as GMcDF - the descriptions of the 1860-61 Anglo-French
vs. China war given by James Bruce, Earl of Elgin.
--
Andy Breen ~ Interplanetary Scintillation Research Group
http://users.aber.ac.uk/azb/
"Time has stopped, says the Black Lion clock
and eternity has begun" (Dylan Thomas)
momo
hotaru, in message news:<9sivjp$e3vb$1...@central.aber.ac.uk>...
> In article <e4b855d9.01111...@posting.google.com>,
> momo <momo...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> >Hiya,
> >I stumbled accross a passage in Interesting Times which should have
> >been annotated.....aha!!!!!!
> >Take a look at this:
> >
> >Corgi 1995/ page 111
>
> Maybe time for some
>
> S
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> P
>
>
> O
>
>
> I
>
>
> L
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> E
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> R
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>
> Space.
Sorry about that. Typical newbie mistake...... I'm disgraced;)
>
> >"Rincewind stared glumly at the wall. Peasants of the Empire, Rebel!
> >You have nothing to lose but your heads and hands and feet and there's
> >this thing they do with a wire waistcoat and a cheesegrater....."
>
> >Rings a bell???..... weeeeelllll, it's been borrowed and slightly
> >adapted from "Karl Marx's Communist Manifest" (no, I do not expect
> >anybody to be familiar with it....hehehe;).
>
> Why not? It's an important book and well-written. Old Karl only
> turned turgid when writing 'Capital'. Before that he was a journalist,
> and a good one. It was, after all, Marx who said that 'history repeats
> - the first time as tragedy, the second as farce' (that was apropos
> of Louis Napoleon).
>
Because it is something that people of my age don't usually
discuss.... it is also not placed under the categorie of everyday
knowledge. Just tried to be polite;) Sorry if it went down the wrong
way....
I totally agree with you...... as Marx also said
'The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class
struggles.' Which also implies that history follows certain rules,
repeating itself.
> >One of the more famous quotations goes..... <Proletarians of all countries, Unite! You have
> >nothing to lose but your chains!>
> >
> >Kinda goes with the spirit, doesn't it;) So everybody, sit back and
> >think this over, then decide whether to lynch me..... be kind with the
> >cheese grater, though;)
>
> The description of the wire jacket appears to be inspired by the
> scene in George MacDonald Fraser's 'Flashman and the dragon', though
> it not have been suprised if pTerry had got it directly from the
> same source as GMcDF - the descriptions of the 1860-61 Anglo-French
> vs. China war given by James Bruce, Earl of Elgin.
Would you mind going into detail there? Haven't heard about that one
and am always eager to learn more:)
Mata ne,
Momo
P.S.: Japan's isolation (not even that long ago) was just as
self-imposed as the Empire's in Interesting Times. (Is it neccessary
to add a spoiler space here???) I have had some interesting chats with
my teachers in Otawara and when asked, why Japan joined Germany in the
Second World War, they were completely clueless at first. Then they
said, that Japan didn't even want to side with Hitler, it just so
happend, that England was on the list of Germany's enemies.... so they
had a common foe. Japan, slowly being forced to open itself to the
outside world, wanted to preserve the Japanese way of life..... that's
"all there was to it", apparently. Maybe I got some of the facts
wrong, but it surely looks like the Auriental mentality is based very
much on the Japanese people's. More of that later..... if asked for;)
M
keith edgerley
momo wrote:
> Hiya,
> I stumbled accross a passage in Interesting Times which should have
> been annotated.....aha!!!!!!
> Take a look at this:
>
> Corgi 1995/ page 111
>
> "Rincewind stared glumly at the wall. Peasants of the Empire, Rebel!
> You have nothing to lose but your heads and hands and feet and there's
> this thing they do with a wire waistcoat and a cheesegrater....."
>
[snip]
If this wasn't annotated before, I strongly suspect this was because it
was widely recognized, as it for most people it is a commonplace.
Rincewind's adaptation is thus bitterly ironic.
If you want a punning parody of Marx, there is the quote from Adlai
Stevenson's 1956 presidential campaign:
Eggheads unite! You have nothing to lose but your yolks.
(he may even have originally said something like "Ovocephaloids unite...")
(During the campaign, a woman called out to him: "Senator, you have the
vote of every thinking person!"
Stevenson called back "That's not enough, madam, we need a majority!")
He also said:
"My definition of a free society is a society where it is safe to be
unpopular."
and
"In America, anyone can become president. That's one of the risks you
take."
Far too intellectual for the average American, he lost to Eisenhower, who
never managed to construct a complete sentence in his life.
I
--
Keith
Let us now praise famous men [...]
Such as found out musical tunes
Mengmeng Zhang
> a...@aber.ac.uk (ANDREW ROBERT BREEN) wrote, radiating wisdom like a
> hotaru, in message news:<9sivjp$e3vb$1...@central.aber.ac.uk>...
>> In article <e4b855d9.01111...@posting.google.com>,
>> momo <momo...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>> >Hiya,
>> >I stumbled accross a passage in Interesting Times which should have
>> >been annotated.....aha!!!!!!
>> >Take a look at this:
>> >
>> >Corgi 1995/ page 111
>>
>> Maybe time for some
>>
>> S
>>
>>
>> P
>>
>>
>> O
>>
>>
>> I
>>
>>
>> L
>>
>>
>> E
>>
>>
>> R
>>
>>
>> Space.
> P.S.: Japan's isolation (not even that long ago) was just as
> self-imposed as the Empire's in Interesting Times. (Is it neccessary
> to add a spoiler space here???) I have had some interesting chats with
> my teachers in Otawara and when asked, why Japan joined Germany in the
> Second World War, they were completely clueless at first. Then they
> said, that Japan didn't even want to side with Hitler, it just so
> happend, that England was on the list of Germany's enemies.... so they
> had a common foe. Japan, slowly being forced to open itself to the
> outside world, wanted to preserve the Japanese way of life..... that's
> "all there was to it", apparently. Maybe I got some of the facts
> wrong, but it surely looks like the Auriental mentality is based very
> much on the Japanese people's. More of that later..... if asked for;)
Well, China was certainly not fond of Western intrusions either. Even the
Cultural Revolution in the the 60's (IMO the greatest evil perpetrated on a
people by its own government in the latter half of the 20th century) was
severely anti-West. Remember that China in Chinese literally translates to
"Middle Country".
MZ
--
It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is
invisible to the eye. - Antoine de Saint-Exupery, _The Little Prince_
The three rules of the Librarians of Time and Space are: 1) Silence; 2) Books
must be returned no later than the date last shown; and 3) Do not interfere
with the nature of causality. - Terry Pratchett, Discworld
Denis Feldmann
"Mengmeng Zhang" <meng...@mail.utexas.edu> a écrit dans le message news:
9slpv7$7oa$1...@geraldo.cc.utexas.edu...
Fos sheer size of said people, surely. But the Red Khmer deportation policy
of all urban population of Cambodja (spelling?) is a nice runner-up, dont
you think so?
ANDREW ROBERT BREEN
momo <momo...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>a...@aber.ac.uk (ANDREW ROBERT BREEN) wrote, radiating wisdom like a
>hotaru, in message news:<9sivjp$e3vb$1...@central.aber.ac.uk>...
Um - Gaijin showing ignorance here, but what's a hotaru?
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>> >"Rincewind stared glumly at the wall. Peasants of the Empire, Rebel!
>> >You have nothing to lose but your heads and hands and feet and there's
>> >this thing they do with a wire waistcoat and a cheesegrater....."
>>
>> >Rings a bell???..... weeeeelllll, it's been borrowed and slightly
>> >adapted from "Karl Marx's Communist Manifest" (no, I do not expect
>> >anybody to be familiar with it....hehehe;).
>>
>> Why not? It's an important book and well-written. Old Karl only
>> turned turgid when writing 'Capital'. Before that he was a journalist,
>Because it is something that people of my age don't usually
>discuss.... it is also not placed under the categorie of everyday
>knowledge. Just tried to be polite;) Sorry if it went down the wrong
>way....
True - I have to confess that I'd only read it once until a few years
back. Going out with a woman who used to be a CPGB[1] diehard does
wonders for one's book collection :)
>> The description of the wire jacket appears to be inspired by the
>> scene in George MacDonald Fraser's 'Flashman and the dragon', though
>> it not have been suprised if pTerry had got it directly from the
>> same source as GMcDF - the descriptions of the 1860-61 Anglo-French
>> vs. China war given by James Bruce, Earl of Elgin.
>
>Would you mind going into detail there? Haven't heard about that one
>and am always eager to learn more:)
George MacDonald Fraser is an anglo-scots author who has written a series
of books which start from the premise that the villain of 'Tom Brown's
schooldays' (a famous victorian novel) grows up to become Sir Harry
Flashman, victorian military hero (and secret coward and cad). The books
are very funny (and provide a very accurate view of some odd corners of
19th century history). In 'Flashman and the Dragon' he's in China in
the 1860s during the Tai-Ping war (the Tai-Ping were a utopian and maybe-
christian sect which revolted against the Beijing government in the 1850s
- think of them as a 19th century Khmer Rouge, but working on a larger
scale..), sent in to negotiate with the Tai-Pings and the Imperials and
along the way seducing the Empress of China. Sir Harry could not be
easily mistaken for Rincewind, but it would be hard to say who'd make
it to the door faster if danger threatened.
http://www.pangloss.ca/flashman/Chronology.htm
is useful as an overview of the series, and has some useful links.
James Bruce was a senior British diplomat of the era, and was the
political chief of the Anglo-French military expedition to Beijing
(this was the period when the west was forcing China to open its
markets to such benefits of western civilisation as Opium by armed
force - Bruce, to his credit, despised this process but took charge
because anyone else would be less sympathetic to the Chinese case
- this is important regarding what happened). Some of the British
and French political officers and several soldiers were taken prisoner
by the Chinese (Imperials, not Tai-Ping) and some were tortured to
death - this involving in some cases a very tight-fitting wire
jacket (which forced the skin to bulge out between the mesh) and
a sharp knife (to cut said skin). All very nasty indeed. MOst
of (all) the soldiers killed like this were Indian troops - maybe
whoever did it didn't think they would be considered important.
In retaliation Bruce had the Summer Palace of the emperors destroyed.
This is all covered in Flashman and the Droagon, but that draws very
heavily on Bruce's own memoirs.
[1] Communist Party of Great Britain.
John
"Mengmeng Zhang" <meng...@mail.utexas.edu> wrote in message
news:9slpv7$7oa$1...@geraldo.cc.utexas.edu...
I believe also that the Nazis had to use some pretty ludicrous arguments
amongst themselves to allow orientals in to the club of Aryan Peoples.
Still, looking for the ludicrous in Nazi Germany is like looking for hay
in a haystack.
>
> Well, China was certainly not fond of Western intrusions either. Even the
> Cultural Revolution in the the 60's (IMO the greatest evil perpetrated on a
> people by its own government in the latter half of the 20th century) was
> severely anti-West. Remember that China in Chinese literally translates to
> "Middle Country".
Is this in the sense of there being three worlds, Heaven, the neatherworld
and Earth, i.e. the Middle Country?
keith edgerley
John wrote:
> > Well, China was certainly not fond of Western intrusions either. Even the
> > Cultural Revolution in the the 60's (IMO the greatest evil perpetrated on a
> > people by its own government in the latter half of the 20th century) was
> > severely anti-West. Remember that China in Chinese literally translates to
> > "Middle Country".
>
> Is this in the sense of there being three worlds, Heaven, the neatherworld
> and Earth, i.e. the Middle Country?
>
Usually the expression used in English is "central kingdom". And it means just
that; that the rest of the world was clustered around China.
BTW, in WWI Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire were referred to as the Central
Powers.
Joerg Neidig
> >
> > Well, China was certainly not fond of Western intrusions either. Even the
> > Cultural Revolution in the the 60's (IMO the greatest evil perpetrated on a
> > people by its own government in the latter half of the 20th century) was
> > severely anti-West. Remember that China in Chinese literally translates to
> > "Middle Country".
>
> Is this in the sense of there being three worlds, Heaven, the neatherworld
> and Earth, i.e. the Middle Country?
>
No. Actually it is the geographical middle. Japan is called Land of
Morning (where the sun rises) (nihon in hiragana). That means the
Chinese called Japan that way and since the Japanese stole the writing
characters from China they kept the name. There is also a country the
Chinese call the Land of the afternoon sun, but I forgot which.
Joerg
momo
True.
But I guess they were desperate. Shame though that 1) Japan wanted to
join and 2) Germany fooled themselves to let them. Would have been
better for both countries then, if they hadn't...... if you think
about it though, it is difficult to imagine what would have happened
to Germany.... but Pearl Habor, Hiroshima and Nagasaki would be better
of for sure.
>
> >
> > Well, China was certainly not fond of Western intrusions either. Even the
> > Cultural Revolution in the the 60's (IMO the greatest evil perpetrated on a
> > people by its own government in the latter half of the 20th century) was
> > severely anti-West. Remember that China in Chinese literally translates to
> > "Middle Country".
>
> Is this in the sense of there being three worlds, Heaven, the neatherworld
> and Earth, i.e. the Middle Country?
>
Well, let me add to that list. Tawain is the "North Country" in
Japanese. That doesn't really fit then, does it.
Leave it up to you to figure that one out:)
Mata ne,
Momo
momo
> In article <e4b855d9.01111...@posting.google.com>,
> momo <momo...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> >a...@aber.ac.uk (ANDREW ROBERT BREEN) wrote, radiating wisdom like a
> >hotaru, in message news:<9sivjp$e3vb$1...@central.aber.ac.uk>...
>
> Um - Gaijin showing ignorance here
<snip>
You know Gaijins? That makes me want to hug you;)
<snip>
but what's a hotaru?
Hmm, it's a glow-fly, glow-bug.... the kind that blinks in the dark;)
Very lucky to catch one here in Japan. I was just trying to be
eloquent.
Well, I do hope to have shed light onto the matter;)
Mata ne,
Momo
Beth Winter
> a...@aber.ac.uk (ANDREW ROBERT BREEN) wrote in message news:<9sm8br$fv0l$1...@central.aber.ac.uk>...
> > In article <e4b855d9.01111...@posting.google.com>,
> > momo <momo...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> > >a...@aber.ac.uk (ANDREW ROBERT BREEN) wrote, radiating wisdom like a
> > >hotaru, in message news:<9sivjp$e3vb$1...@central.aber.ac.uk>...
> >
> <snip>
> but what's a hotaru?
>
> Hmm, it's a glow-fly, glow-bug.... the kind that blinks in the dark;)
> Very lucky to catch one here in Japan. I was just trying to be
> eloquent.
ITYM Firefly ^_^
--
Beth Winter
The Discworld Compendium <http://go.to/thediscworldcompendium>
"To absent friends, lost loves, old gods and the season of mists."
-- Neil Gaiman
John Leith
wrote:
>In article <e4b855d9.01111...@posting.google.com>,
>momo <momo...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>>Hiya,
>>I stumbled accross a passage in Interesting Times which should have
>>been annotated.....aha!!!!!!
>>Take a look at this:
>>
>>Corgi 1995/ page 111
>
>Maybe time for some
>
>S
>
>
>P
>
>
>O
>
>
>I
>
>
>L
>
>
>E
>
>
>R
>
>
>Space.
>
>>Kinda goes with the spirit, doesn't it;) So everybody, sit back and
>>think this over, then decide whether to lynch me..... be kind with the
>>cheese grater, though;)
>
>The description of the wire jacket appears to be inspired by the
>scene in George MacDonald Fraser's 'Flashman and the dragon', though
>it not have been suprised if pTerry had got it directly from the
>same source as GMcDF - the descriptions of the 1860-61 Anglo-French
>vs. China war given by James Bruce, Earl of Elgin.
I would imagine that they both got the information from source (Death
of a thousand cuts etc.)
All the best
John Leith
--
nos...@birdy.dircon.co.uk - That is really my e-mail address.
AFP Code 1.1a AC$ d+ s:+ a UP++ R+ F++ h+ P5+ OS--: C++++ M- pp--- L+ c
B+ Cn PT++ Pu40- 5++ !X MT+ eV+>+++ r++++ y+++
http://www.appiehouse.co.uk
ANDREW ROBERT BREEN
momo <momo...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>a...@aber.ac.uk (ANDREW ROBERT BREEN) wrote in message news:<9sm8br$fv0l$1...@central.aber.ac.uk>...
>> In article <e4b855d9.01111...@posting.google.com>,
>> momo <momo...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>> >a...@aber.ac.uk (ANDREW ROBERT BREEN) wrote, radiating wisdom like a
>> >hotaru, in message news:<9sivjp$e3vb$1...@central.aber.ac.uk>...
>>
>> Um - Gaijin showing ignorance here
>
><snip>
>
>You know Gaijins? That makes me want to hug you;)
(!)
><snip>
>
>but what's a hotaru?
>
>Hmm, it's a glow-fly, glow-bug.... the kind that blinks in the dark;)
>Very lucky to catch one here in Japan. I was just trying to be
>eloquent.
Aha - I've seen them (only been to Japan twice - Tokyo this year
for a short trip but just over two weeks in Toyokawa, near Nagoya
last year - got to see Fuji too).
I can live with being called a firefly (Rufus T.?)
momo
> In article <e4b855d9.01111...@posting.google.com>,
> momo <momo...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> >a...@aber.ac.uk (ANDREW ROBERT BREEN) wrote in message news:<9sm8br$fv0l$1...@central.aber.ac.uk>...
> >> In article <e4b855d9.01111...@posting.google.com>,
> >> momo <momo...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> >> >a...@aber.ac.uk (ANDREW ROBERT BREEN) wrote, radiating wisdom like a
> >> >hotaru, in message news:<9sivjp$e3vb$1...@central.aber.ac.uk>...
> >>
> >> Um - Gaijin showing ignorance here
> >
> ><snip>
> >
> >You know Gaijins? That makes me want to hug you;)
>
> (!)
Oops, was that a bit over the top? Well, if something else certainly
proclaims me not being Japanese, then it's being very spontaneous;)
>
> ><snip>
> >
> >but what's a hotaru?
> >
> >Hmm, it's a glow-fly, glow-bug.... the kind that blinks in the dark;)
> >Very lucky to catch one here in Japan. I was just trying to be
> >eloquent.
>
> Aha - I've seen them (only been to Japan twice - Tokyo this year
> for a short trip but just over two weeks in Toyokawa, near Nagoya
> last year - got to see Fuji too).
Saw the Fuji, was told not to go anywhere it.... as this volcanoe
might be magnificent from far, _far_ away; however, slowly but surely
it is disappearing under a mountain of 'gomi', i.e. trash. The state
of Japan doesn't bother about the state of it's Holy Mountain, so
sanitary equipment and such likes are non-existent and all that's left
of the symbol of Japan is.... empty beer bottles.
Ever been to a place where foreigners are pointed at by little kids
and stared at by men (not in your case, I hope) who are already way
past their 'sell-by' date? Strangers (the same old men, to be exact)
take a picture of you on the street? Well, I'm always happy to meet a
fellow gaijin (i.e. part-time sufferer;).
>
> I can live with being called a firefly (Rufus T.?)
I said _radiating_ ;) Just about tolerable, was it? And who's Rufus
T.?
Eh, should we keep this thread [A]?
Mata ne,
Momo
P.S.: The pictures for Fujisan mean 'rich brave man mountain'....
hmmm. And, you know, there are heaps of Maruyama(s) in Japan which all
mean 'round mountain'.... *braincells start the perilous journey
throug the twisted routes of my mind to make sense of this*;)
Speaker-to-Customers
"momo" wrote ...
> ANDREW ROBERT BREEN wrote ...
> > I can live with being called a firefly (Rufus T.?)
>
> I said _radiating_ ;) Just about tolerable, was it? And who's Rufus
> T.?
Rufus T. Firefly is a character played by Groucho Marx in one of the Marx
Brothers films; "Duck Soup", I think.
Paul Speaker-to-Customers
ANDREW ROBERT BREEN
momo <momo...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>a...@aber.ac.uk (ANDREW ROBERT BREEN) wrote in message news:<9sor0l$a64g$1...@central.aber.ac.uk>...
>> In article <e4b855d9.01111...@posting.google.com>,
>> momo <momo...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>> >a...@aber.ac.uk (ANDREW ROBERT BREEN) wrote in message news:<9sm8br$fv0l$1...@central.aber.ac.uk>...
>> >> In article <e4b855d9.01111...@posting.google.com>,
>> >> momo <momo...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>> >> >a...@aber.ac.uk (ANDREW ROBERT BREEN) wrote, radiating wisdom like a
>> >> >hotaru, in message news:<9sivjp$e3vb$1...@central.aber.ac.uk>...
>> >>
>> >> Um - Gaijin showing ignorance here
>> >
>> ><snip>
>> >You know Gaijins? That makes me want to hug you;)
>> (!)
>Oops, was that a bit over the top? Well, if something else certainly
>proclaims me not being Japanese, then it's being very spontaneous;)
Hey, I didn't say I was objecting ;)
>Saw the Fuji, was told not to go anywhere it.... as this volcanoe
>might be magnificent from far, _far_ away; however, slowly but surely
>it is disappearing under a mountain of 'gomi', i.e. trash. The state
>of Japan doesn't bother about the state of it's Holy Mountain, so
>sanitary equipment and such likes are non-existent and all that's left
>of the symbol of Japan is.... empty beer bottles.
Aha. I didn't actually get onto the mountain either. Was out doing
some work at Fuji radio observatory which is in the foothills of
Fuji when the mountain popped out of the clouds.
>Ever been to a place where foreigners are pointed at by little kids
>and stared at by men (not in your case, I hope) who are already way
>past their 'sell-by' date? Strangers (the same old men, to be exact)
>take a picture of you on the street? Well, I'm always happy to meet a
>fellow gaijin (i.e. part-time sufferer;).
Yep. Toyokawa was like that. Never actually had someone ask to take
a picture of me, but the rest is fairly familiar.
>I said _radiating_ ;) Just about tolerable, was it? And who's Rufus
>T.?
Rufus T. Firefly, president of Freedonia (think a small bit of Ueberwald,
maybe bordering Lancre) in the Marx Brothers film 'Duck Soup'. Played
by Groucho, of course.
momo
> In article <e4b855d9.01111...@posting.google.com>,
> momo <momo...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> >a...@aber.ac.uk (ANDREW ROBERT BREEN) wrote in message news:<9sor0l$a64g$1...@central.aber.ac.uk>...
> >> In article <e4b855d9.01111...@posting.google.com>,
> >> momo <momo...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> >> >a...@aber.ac.uk (ANDREW ROBERT BREEN) wrote in message news:<9sm8br$fv0l$1...@central.aber.ac.uk>...
> >> >> In article <e4b855d9.01111...@posting.google.com>,
> >> >> momo <momo...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> >> >> >a...@aber.ac.uk (ANDREW ROBERT BREEN) wrote, radiating wisdom like a
> >> >> >hotaru, in message news:<9sivjp$e3vb$1...@central.aber.ac.uk>...
> >> >>
> >> >> Um - Gaijin showing ignorance here
> >> >
> >> ><snip>
>
> >> >You know Gaijins? That makes me want to hug you;)
>
> >> (!)
>
> >Oops, was that a bit over the top? Well, if something else certainly
> >proclaims me not being Japanese, then it's being very spontaneous;)
>
> Hey, I didn't say I was objecting ;)
Glad to hear that, I wasn't apologizing;) Just trying to shed light on
such... fluffy behavior.
>
> >Ever been to a place where foreigners are pointed at by little kids
> >and stared at by men (not in your case, I hope) who are already way
> >past their 'sell-by' date? Strangers (the same old men, to be exact)
> >take a picture of you on the street? Well, I'm always happy to meet a
> >fellow gaijin (i.e. part-time sufferer;).
>
> Yep. Toyokawa was like that. Never actually had someone ask to take
> a picture of me, but the rest is fairly familiar.
>
Did I say they ask? No, they just point and it clicks. Had that happen
for at least 8 times so far and moments like make me wish I had the
Luggage by my side..... but let's not give into blood-thirsty thoughts
like that.
> >I said _radiating_ ;) Just about tolerable, was it? And who's Rufus
> >T.?
>
> Rufus T. Firefly, president of Freedonia (think a small bit of Ueberwald,
> maybe bordering Lancre) in the Marx Brothers film 'Duck Soup'. Played
> by Groucho, of course.
Can't say I know the movie; am familiar with Groucho, though.
By the way, what made you go to Japan? If you tell me, I might
remember what my reason was. It must have been something along the
lines of, 'I'm fascinated by the culture', but that was the picture
that had been fabricated by the media of my home country, an image of
the past. Theme of the 'gokugo'-class is Japan's economy's and
society's sprint down-hill. People have given up trying to catch it,
but just waiting for it to crash now, so they have a chance to rebuild
the entire thing. Got any Views on that?
Mata ne,
Momo
ANDREW ROBERT BREEN
>By the way, what made you go to Japan? If you tell me, I might
>remember what my reason was. It must have been something along the
>lines of, 'I'm fascinated by the culture', but that was the picture
>that had been fabricated by the media of my home country, an image of
Much simpler than that for me both times - first was to do some work
with some people at Toyokawa, second was to attend a conference in
Tokyo (well, Itabashi, to be precise). I'm a scientist who studies
the outer regions of the Sun and one of the other groups that does
the same thing is based in Toyokawa, so off there I went to talk
to them.
http://users.aber.ac.uk/azb/images/me_fuji.jpg
is from that trip - me in front of the telescope near Fuji, but
with the mountain hidden by clouds.
>the past. Theme of the 'gokugo'-class is Japan's economy's and
>society's sprint down-hill. People have given up trying to catch it,
>but just waiting for it to crash now, so they have a chance to rebuild
>the entire thing. Got any Views on that?
Not sure - Toyokawa, though, was almost scarily like when I grew up
in the North-East of England before industry collapsed there. Lots of
small factories doing fabrication work - very industrial. I could
very easily see all those jobs getting sucked off to $LOW-WAGE-COUNTRY
and Toyokawa turning into Sunderland-not-on-Sea.
Suggest any subsequent stuff goes to E-mail, as this isn't even
remotely pTerry-relevent.
sabras
the world, that momo said " Glad to hear that, I wasn't apologizing;) Just
trying to shed light on such... fluffy behavior." was just incidental
Fluffy thinking? is that anything like fuzzy logic
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ANDREW ROBERT BREEN
sabras <sab...@ntlworld.com> wrote:
>out of the depths of time a saying passed on by mouth to mouth went around
>the world, that momo said " Glad to hear that, I wasn't apologizing;) Just
>trying to shed light on such... fluffy behavior." was just incidental
>
>Fluffy thinking? is that anything like fuzzy logic
I think that's "woolly thinking". Fluffy thinking is more - bursar, maybe?