Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Monday, May 14, 2007
日記
Suzuki-sensei set me homework during my two week trip to Australia: a diary. The machine translation which follows the original text here is by far the more interesting of the two. Flowchart: Writing --> Babelfish --> Better Writing. No shit.
二目日：古いもの
今日は骨董屋に買い物行った。 父さんは常に色んな「骨董品」と言うか、「ジャンク」と言うか物を収集します。彼はEbay でこのごろ売買します。 私は Captain Cook の伝記を買い、古い本屋の裏にある部屋で署名された「チョッパー」と言う有名な Melbourne の殺し屋の自伝的な本を発見しました。それぞれ 3 ドルだった。 これらの生命に両方とも同じ価値があることはおかしいだと思いました。
お父さんは真鍮物を大好きです。古い doorknocker、栓抜き、Trench Art とか。古いビンもよく収集します。 美しさもあるんですが、これらの関係のある話のほうが大切だと思う。父さんは 1 本 の "Cod's Tonic Water" と言う怪しい万能薬が持っている。このビンから私達は英語の言葉 'Codswallop' を貰います。
Misaki は古いリングを買った。ガラスの円で赤い薔薇が収監されている。
三目日：GHOSTS
私達は南海岸に運転した。 古代森林の深さに。 お父さんは数年前、伐採道の端で、失われたゴーストタウンの跡を見つけた。 今は秋ですね。この季節に、隠れた物ははっきりされます。ヨーロッパの植民地化の跡は落葉樹のユーカリ森林の灰色っぽい緑と対照した。住居のまぼろし。建物の石造の基礎。野性的になった薔薇のもつれ。
私達は燃えるような カシ、クリ、Peppercorn、ポプラ、シラカバの木に囲まれたプールの横でピクニックをしました。古い巨大の保護の枝の下で偶然に苗木を育ちましていた 人間は一度ここに住んでいた。今、生命の記憶はこの波を渡る奇妙な土地からの持って来た木としかない。
五目日：偶然一致
今日、私達は古い山火事を見張りための木を登った。空に橋を渡って歩いた。 そこにから、世界は違っている見る。 後で、海の横に小さな村に止まった。Misaki と父さんはトイレに行っていた時、私は道の横に Snottygobble と言う木の下のベンチで座った。 突然、砂利で車のブレーキの音を聞こえた。私の高校時代の友達 Mostyn が来た！。 彼は５年間ロンドンに住んでいて、一週間だけオーストラリアに来ました。 こんな同時発生。。。シュールな不陰気がした。
不必要な言うことんですけれども、私達は直ちに一番近いパブに喋るためにまっすぐに行った。
九目日：殉職石
今日は Freycinet の国立公園でハイキングすることを行った。 それは不思議で、独特な場所である。巨大なピンクっぽい茶色の岩で作った Titan のケルンのような山である。
峡谷を通って3 時間ハイキングした。
白い Ghost-gum の木、やさしい黄色い花があるのミモザの木。太陽で浴びているWallabyとトカゲ。
遠い向かいに、Wineglass Bay に着いた。息がつけないように綺麗な遠隔の地です。
夕焼けは荘厳だった。空は燃えている石炭のように光った。、血の真っ赤、毒投げ矢のカエルのオレンジ、ギャルの eyeshadow のライラック、中とろのピンク、 オーストラリアの土の繊細な黄土。
その所は現実の世界のように感じた。外側にすべて場所は薄い影だけ。
WORLDLINGO TRANSLATION:
Two eye day: Old ones
Today shopping went in the antique house. The father color is calls “the antique” always, or calls “the junk”, or collects the thing.As for himEbay So it buys and sells recently. As for me Captain Cook You bought the biography, you signed at the room which to the reverse side of the old bookstore is famous, “chopper”MelbourneThe autobiography book of the hit man was discovered.Respectively 3 It was dollar. Both as for being the same value is strange in these lives, you thought that is.
Brass ones we love the father.It is old doorknocker Corkscrew,Trench Art .You collect also the old bottle well. There is also a beauty, it is, but you think that the story which has these relationships is more important.As for father 1 Book “Cod's Tonic Water " The doubtful panacea where with you say has.From this bottle as for us English word 'Codswallop' You receive.
Misaki The old ring was bought.The red rose commitment is done with circle of the glass.
Three eye day:GHOSTS
We drove to the Nankai bank. In depth of ancient forest. The father several years ago, in the edge of the lumbering road, found the mark of ghost town which is lost. Now fall the shank.In this season, those which hide are clear.The ash of the eucalyptus forest of the deciduous tree seductive green it contrasted the mark of European colony conversion.Vision of house.Stone foundation of building.The entanglement of the rose which becomes wildly.
As for us, [kashi] and the kind of chestnut which burn, “Peppercorn] Picnic was done with side of the pool which is surrounded in the wood of the poplar and the canoe birch.Accidentally the nursery stock you were brought up under the branch of the protection of enormous it is old The human had lived one time here.Now, as for memory of life there is with only a wood which has from the strange land which crosses this wave.
Mixture day: Accidental agreement
Today, we watched old Yamabi thing and climbed the wood of for the sake of.Crossing the bridge the sky, you walked. The empty, the world is different there, you see. Afterwards, on side of the sea it stopped in small village.MisakiWhen with as for the father having gone into the rest room, as for me on side of the road “Snottygobble” With it sat down with Kinosita's bench which is said. Suddenly, sound of the brake of the car it was audible with the gravel.Friend of my high school age Mostyn Came! . He having lived in 5 annual London, just one week came to Australia. Such syndrome.。。[shiyuru] non- gloomy did.
However the unnecessary thing which says it is, we went in order to at once to talk closest pub straightly.
Nine eye day: Death in harness stone
Today Freycinet Hiking with the national park it did. That being strange, is the unique place.The enormous pink [tsu] [po] it was and made with the rock of brown Titan It is the mountain like the kernel.
Passing by the gorge 3 Time it hiked.
It is white Ghost-gum The wood, there is an easy yellow flower the wood of the mimosa.It pours with the sunWallabyWith lizard.
In distant opposite side,Wineglass Bay It arrived.In order for breath not to attach, it is clean remote area.
The evening glow was dignified.The sky shone like the coal which burns.The orange of deep-red of blood and frog of poison throwing arrow, galeyeshadowLilac and in and pink of [ro], delicate loess of the Australian earth.
As for the place like the actual world you were moved.Just the shadow where the place is thin entirely outside.
二目日：古いもの
今日は骨董屋に買い物行った。 父さんは常に色んな「骨董品」と言うか、「ジャンク」と言うか物を収集します。彼はEbay でこのごろ売買します。 私は Captain Cook の伝記を買い、古い本屋の裏にある部屋で署名された「チョッパー」と言う有名な Melbourne の殺し屋の自伝的な本を発見しました。それぞれ 3 ドルだった。 これらの生命に両方とも同じ価値があることはおかしいだと思いました。
お父さんは真鍮物を大好きです。古い doorknocker、栓抜き、Trench Art とか。古いビンもよく収集します。 美しさもあるんですが、これらの関係のある話のほうが大切だと思う。父さんは 1 本 の "Cod's Tonic Water" と言う怪しい万能薬が持っている。このビンから私達は英語の言葉 'Codswallop' を貰います。
Misaki は古いリングを買った。ガラスの円で赤い薔薇が収監されている。
三目日：GHOSTS
私達は南海岸に運転した。 古代森林の深さに。 お父さんは数年前、伐採道の端で、失われたゴーストタウンの跡を見つけた。 今は秋ですね。この季節に、隠れた物ははっきりされます。ヨーロッパの植民地化の跡は落葉樹のユーカリ森林の灰色っぽい緑と対照した。住居のまぼろし。建物の石造の基礎。野性的になった薔薇のもつれ。
私達は燃えるような カシ、クリ、Peppercorn、ポプラ、シラカバの木に囲まれたプールの横でピクニックをしました。古い巨大の保護の枝の下で偶然に苗木を育ちましていた 人間は一度ここに住んでいた。今、生命の記憶はこの波を渡る奇妙な土地からの持って来た木としかない。
五目日：偶然一致
今日、私達は古い山火事を見張りための木を登った。空に橋を渡って歩いた。 そこにから、世界は違っている見る。 後で、海の横に小さな村に止まった。Misaki と父さんはトイレに行っていた時、私は道の横に Snottygobble と言う木の下のベンチで座った。 突然、砂利で車のブレーキの音を聞こえた。私の高校時代の友達 Mostyn が来た！。 彼は５年間ロンドンに住んでいて、一週間だけオーストラリアに来ました。 こんな同時発生。。。シュールな不陰気がした。
不必要な言うことんですけれども、私達は直ちに一番近いパブに喋るためにまっすぐに行った。
九目日：殉職石
今日は Freycinet の国立公園でハイキングすることを行った。 それは不思議で、独特な場所である。巨大なピンクっぽい茶色の岩で作った Titan のケルンのような山である。
峡谷を通って3 時間ハイキングした。
白い Ghost-gum の木、やさしい黄色い花があるのミモザの木。太陽で浴びているWallabyとトカゲ。
遠い向かいに、Wineglass Bay に着いた。息がつけないように綺麗な遠隔の地です。
夕焼けは荘厳だった。空は燃えている石炭のように光った。、血の真っ赤、毒投げ矢のカエルのオレンジ、ギャルの eyeshadow のライラック、中とろのピンク、 オーストラリアの土の繊細な黄土。
その所は現実の世界のように感じた。外側にすべて場所は薄い影だけ。
WORLDLINGO TRANSLATION:
Two eye day: Old ones
Today shopping went in the antique house. The father color is calls “the antique” always, or calls “the junk”, or collects the thing.As for himEbay So it buys and sells recently. As for me Captain Cook You bought the biography, you signed at the room which to the reverse side of the old bookstore is famous, “chopper”MelbourneThe autobiography book of the hit man was discovered.Respectively 3 It was dollar. Both as for being the same value is strange in these lives, you thought that is.
Brass ones we love the father.It is old doorknocker Corkscrew,Trench Art .You collect also the old bottle well. There is also a beauty, it is, but you think that the story which has these relationships is more important.As for father 1 Book “Cod's Tonic Water " The doubtful panacea where with you say has.From this bottle as for us English word 'Codswallop' You receive.
Misaki The old ring was bought.The red rose commitment is done with circle of the glass.
Three eye day:GHOSTS
We drove to the Nankai bank. In depth of ancient forest. The father several years ago, in the edge of the lumbering road, found the mark of ghost town which is lost. Now fall the shank.In this season, those which hide are clear.The ash of the eucalyptus forest of the deciduous tree seductive green it contrasted the mark of European colony conversion.Vision of house.Stone foundation of building.The entanglement of the rose which becomes wildly.
As for us, [kashi] and the kind of chestnut which burn, “Peppercorn] Picnic was done with side of the pool which is surrounded in the wood of the poplar and the canoe birch.Accidentally the nursery stock you were brought up under the branch of the protection of enormous it is old The human had lived one time here.Now, as for memory of life there is with only a wood which has from the strange land which crosses this wave.
Mixture day: Accidental agreement
Today, we watched old Yamabi thing and climbed the wood of for the sake of.Crossing the bridge the sky, you walked. The empty, the world is different there, you see. Afterwards, on side of the sea it stopped in small village.MisakiWhen with as for the father having gone into the rest room, as for me on side of the road “Snottygobble” With it sat down with Kinosita's bench which is said. Suddenly, sound of the brake of the car it was audible with the gravel.Friend of my high school age Mostyn Came! . He having lived in 5 annual London, just one week came to Australia. Such syndrome.。。[shiyuru] non- gloomy did.
However the unnecessary thing which says it is, we went in order to at once to talk closest pub straightly.
Nine eye day: Death in harness stone
Today Freycinet Hiking with the national park it did. That being strange, is the unique place.The enormous pink [tsu] [po] it was and made with the rock of brown Titan It is the mountain like the kernel.
Passing by the gorge 3 Time it hiked.
It is white Ghost-gum The wood, there is an easy yellow flower the wood of the mimosa.It pours with the sunWallabyWith lizard.
In distant opposite side,Wineglass Bay It arrived.In order for breath not to attach, it is clean remote area.
The evening glow was dignified.The sky shone like the coal which burns.The orange of deep-red of blood and frog of poison throwing arrow, galeyeshadowLilac and in and pink of [ro], delicate loess of the Australian earth.
As for the place like the actual world you were moved.Just the shadow where the place is thin entirely outside.
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Vorloncai!
Upon derive override sealed derived its previewed? No one answers while constant basis drill sergeant says, upcoming elections. Defeated worm mangled, mscreated. Engineers discredit army. Botched cooks, spoil broth. Hardware optical fingers in pies. Ideologies suck, themselves.
Horror spawned press realized suddenly. Extremely open gestures similar to flesh. Immense NOGO committie blocker nervous, neoprimal. Guts decided, heck recognized. Successor died and cried, graphic nor truthfully feared bigname. Technology keeps
track, frequently preloads.
Rant overall stability exception amazingly longer than semiot. Sense-annoying prefix ways. Battaile, frozen, Patrick Saint. Less thans proven is raised. All chins patchguarded.
Elitist bashing plays pipe. Working fine, kill brief. Drugs prepare skill, forever! Describe realistic exciting fantastic. Devastator because.
Copious amounts of Chan.
Impressed Martin Dolphin. Wignall Thick Herequot. Unique figured resize frustrates mice. Abusive Eula Entourage. These bash thought. Maximized resolution scream. Meat Hall unmoving.
Scenario deletes reflections. Exposes the aged because, vacation retched. Ways of sign symbol cyrillic kills. Cluster traits.
Universal time. Week month months year! Matter condensed, phased. History future, corner hall fame.
Tonight: super rinkblade woody, tourney startrib. Government wikileak archives. Specific toolspirit.
That, this. Article applies. What pay, yet unheard of. Who does nuthin. Condensed phase. Soft academic adherence. Advanced Chinese. Heap variant simple data structure hyphen. Codes death evolution composer. Overpaid workers. The breakneck pace escalates turf. Hijacking election ideas. Newest spectator sport. Fiber light.
Vorloncai!
Monday, March 12, 2007
Moirae
Last Saturday I taught a class I titled: Mysteries. The week before, students had been asked to research a mystery as homework. The class was then divided into three groups and each was given the task of discussing and presenting to the others a single mystery. After this each group was to present explanations or solutions. These could be as scientific or fantastical as the students desired. This particular class came up with a tale I think worth relating.
THE MYSTERY
Yoko (not her real name) is a young woman who has spent each summer for the last 10 years or so on a tiny island near Okinawa called Miyako-jima. She usually travels there with her sister, to escape the various pressures of life in Tokyo. She spends her vacation time wandering the island, shopping, snorkeling, and enjoying the local customs, festivals, and cuisine.
Two summers ago, while walking through a forested area she had explored many times, she and her sister became strangely lost. After wandering for some hours, they came across a glade they had never seen before. In the glade, three old women were dancing and singing old Min'yō songs (Okinawan folk music). They were accompanied by a small plastic battery-powered CD/cassette player.
The first woman was around 50ish and extremely friendly and garrulous. She invited the girls to dance and sing. She talked non-stop about nothing in particular, offering the girls tea. Yoko described her as mother-like.
The second woman was younger, and silent. She never spoke, but danced.
The third woman was ancient, in her 90s, and blind.
After twenty minutes of dancing these old dances, the girls decided they needed to move on. The talkative woman led the girls to a small white car parked nearby and drove them out of the forest, back to a nearby road where there was a small store. She cheerfully bought the girls icecream and bid them farewell, returning the way she had come.
The next year, Yoko returned to the island, and sought to find the glade again. When she returned, however, there was nothing to be found but a tall stand of old trees. The glade had disappeared.
THE RATIONAL EXPLANATION
Yoko had made a mistake on her return to the island, and failed to find the glade that is undoubtedly still there.
THE FANTASTICAL EXPLANATION
Yoko had met the three Fates. The glade was an otherworldly place, outside of normal space and time. The white car was a supernatural conveyance (white is the color of death and of Japanese animistic gods.) This meeting with the Fates hinted at some great change to come.
THE MYSTERY
Yoko (not her real name) is a young woman who has spent each summer for the last 10 years or so on a tiny island near Okinawa called Miyako-jima. She usually travels there with her sister, to escape the various pressures of life in Tokyo. She spends her vacation time wandering the island, shopping, snorkeling, and enjoying the local customs, festivals, and cuisine.
Two summers ago, while walking through a forested area she had explored many times, she and her sister became strangely lost. After wandering for some hours, they came across a glade they had never seen before. In the glade, three old women were dancing and singing old Min'yō songs (Okinawan folk music). They were accompanied by a small plastic battery-powered CD/cassette player.
The first woman was around 50ish and extremely friendly and garrulous. She invited the girls to dance and sing. She talked non-stop about nothing in particular, offering the girls tea. Yoko described her as mother-like.
The second woman was younger, and silent. She never spoke, but danced.
The third woman was ancient, in her 90s, and blind.
After twenty minutes of dancing these old dances, the girls decided they needed to move on. The talkative woman led the girls to a small white car parked nearby and drove them out of the forest, back to a nearby road where there was a small store. She cheerfully bought the girls icecream and bid them farewell, returning the way she had come.
The next year, Yoko returned to the island, and sought to find the glade again. When she returned, however, there was nothing to be found but a tall stand of old trees. The glade had disappeared.
THE RATIONAL EXPLANATION
Yoko had made a mistake on her return to the island, and failed to find the glade that is undoubtedly still there.
THE FANTASTICAL EXPLANATION
Yoko had met the three Fates. The glade was an otherworldly place, outside of normal space and time. The white car was a supernatural conveyance (white is the color of death and of Japanese animistic gods.) This meeting with the Fates hinted at some great change to come.
Monday, March 05, 2007
Monday, January 08, 2007
the narrow road to the deep north
xmas eve first in sugamo, scrubbing a stone woman clean with a cloth. pulling out the thorns of the fast-fading year. thorns and sins, gone. in japan, end of year parties are called 'year-forgetting parties.' washed clean. in ginza later, in a vampire-themed restaurant drinking blood-wine and stealing kisses in the shadows. lights, love.
the following morning misaki and i went to st. mary's cathedral in mejiro. built in the shape of a crucifix; to be seen by god above, or people browsing google earth. inside the morning mass had finished, and we were almost alone in the vast chamber, while the organist continued playing; an immense beautiful sound of atonal ecstatic droning. moved to tears, i prayed.
later we wandered through kagurazaka and finally caught up with the watados for xmas dinner. first an exclusive family-run restaurant; sushi and nihon-shu; later a chinese/vietnamese place. 紹興酒
31st we headed to misaki's homeland of akita, a tiny blue one-carriage train, a narrow road to the deep north. snow. chasm-like valleys. ridges of pines and firs. cobalt blue lakes, cold and bottomless. white rice fields; geometric patterns of canals and irrigation channels. torii of plain white and grey, weather-worn wood. crows, geese, swans. rumors of bears. natural hot springs. steam and cracking bones.
on the night of the 31st we got wrecked with misaki's friends; a great bottle of scotch + umeshu = headache; the next morning a hot bath and then to the shrine for the first visit of the new year. suekichi. 'luck-at-the-end.' i stopped for a while to watch a man burn his hamaya; literally, 'demon-slaying arrow.' he then purchased a new one, to absorb the evil of another seasons' turning.
aunt miho was gracious and her food magnificent. we stayed in a room lined with a thousand videos and books on dancing, of her late husband, a dancer of the nihon-buyo. misaki's extended family gathered, four generations deep, from 90 to 4. kiritanpo, kurikinton, morokoshi. menkkoi and 'dabe.
later we travelled by train north along the misty coast of the japan sea. stone beaches and shattered cliffs. seagulls and the ice-shrouded peaks of the shirakamisanchi world heritage area. we visited the house of dazai osamu, the great japanese novelist. i was fascinated with a framed quotation he had in an upstairs room:
"J'ai l'extase et j'ai la terreur d'être choisi." from Paul Verlaine's Sagesse (wisdom.)
still later, in the old preserved samurai-town of Kakunodate i came across a picture of a soldier laying his spear on the ground as he delivers an urgent message to his commander. his standard, a long-legged centipede, and the balanced lines of his weapon, his arm, his gaze, stayed with me all that day and the next.
the following morning misaki and i went to st. mary's cathedral in mejiro. built in the shape of a crucifix; to be seen by god above, or people browsing google earth. inside the morning mass had finished, and we were almost alone in the vast chamber, while the organist continued playing; an immense beautiful sound of atonal ecstatic droning. moved to tears, i prayed.
later we wandered through kagurazaka and finally caught up with the watados for xmas dinner. first an exclusive family-run restaurant; sushi and nihon-shu; later a chinese/vietnamese place. 紹興酒
31st we headed to misaki's homeland of akita, a tiny blue one-carriage train, a narrow road to the deep north. snow. chasm-like valleys. ridges of pines and firs. cobalt blue lakes, cold and bottomless. white rice fields; geometric patterns of canals and irrigation channels. torii of plain white and grey, weather-worn wood. crows, geese, swans. rumors of bears. natural hot springs. steam and cracking bones.
on the night of the 31st we got wrecked with misaki's friends; a great bottle of scotch + umeshu = headache; the next morning a hot bath and then to the shrine for the first visit of the new year. suekichi. 'luck-at-the-end.' i stopped for a while to watch a man burn his hamaya; literally, 'demon-slaying arrow.' he then purchased a new one, to absorb the evil of another seasons' turning.
aunt miho was gracious and her food magnificent. we stayed in a room lined with a thousand videos and books on dancing, of her late husband, a dancer of the nihon-buyo. misaki's extended family gathered, four generations deep, from 90 to 4. kiritanpo, kurikinton, morokoshi. menkkoi and 'dabe.
later we travelled by train north along the misty coast of the japan sea. stone beaches and shattered cliffs. seagulls and the ice-shrouded peaks of the shirakamisanchi world heritage area. we visited the house of dazai osamu, the great japanese novelist. i was fascinated with a framed quotation he had in an upstairs room:
"J'ai l'extase et j'ai la terreur d'être choisi." from Paul Verlaine's Sagesse (wisdom.)
still later, in the old preserved samurai-town of Kakunodate i came across a picture of a soldier laying his spear on the ground as he delivers an urgent message to his commander. his standard, a long-legged centipede, and the balanced lines of his weapon, his arm, his gaze, stayed with me all that day and the next.
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
parataxis
from a recent conversation online; and from me being laid up with the flu this weekend and having far too much time on my hands; a list of things i like; to be updated; for the benefit of my own poor memory more than anything
BOOKS
1001 Nights, Abe Kobo, Aeschylus, Aesop’s Fables, Albert Camus, Aldous Huxley, Aleksandr Pushkin, Aleksandr Solzhenistyn, Alexander Pope, Alfred Jarry, Andre Breton, Andre Gide, Anthony Burgess, Anton Chekhov, Antonin Artaud, Aristophanes, Aristotle, Ariwara no Narihara, Arthur Miller, Arthur Rimbaud, August Strindberg, Baruch Spinoza, Beowulf, Blaise Pascal, Bram Stoker, Carlos Fuentes, Charles Baudelaire, Charles Dickens, Charlotte Bronte, China Mieville, Christopher Marlowe, Cicero, Claude Levi-Strauss, Daniel Defoe, Dante, Dazai Osamu, DH Lawrence, Don DeLillo, Donald Barthelme, Doris Lessing, Dylan Thomas, Edgar Allan Poe, Edmund Spenser, Edward Gibbon, ee cummings, El Cid, EM Forster, Emile Zola, Emily Bronte, Ernest Hemingway, Eugene Ionesco, Euripides, Ezra Pound, F Scott Fitzgerald, Flannery O’Connor, Ford Madox Ford, Francis Bacon, Francois Rabelais, Frank Herbert, Franz Kafka, Friedrich Nietzsche, Fyodor Dostoyevski, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Gene Wolfe, Geoffery Chaucer, George Bernard Shaw, George Eliot, George Herbert, George Orwell, George RR Martin, Georges Battaile, Gertrude Stein, GK Chesterton, Graham Greene, Gunter Grass, Gustave Flaubert, Guy de Maupassant, Harold Pinter, Henrik Ibsen, Henry David Thoreau, Henry James, Herman Hesse, Herman Melville, Herodotus, HG Wells, Homer, Horace, Isaac Babel, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Italo Calvino, Ivan Turgenev, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, James Joyce, Jane Austen, JD Salinger, Jean Baudrillard, Jean Cocteau, Jean Cocteau, Jean Genet, Jean Paul Satre, Jean Racine, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, John Barth, John Milton, John Steinbeck, Jonathan Swift, Jorge Luis Borges, Jose Saramago, Joseph Conrad, JRR Tolkien, Julius Gais Caesar, Kawabata Yasunari, Knut Hamsun, Kurt Vonnegut Jr, Leo Tolstoy, Leonardo Da Vinci, Lewis Carroll, Longinus, Lope de Vega, Lord Byron, Mahabharata, Marcel Proust, Marco Polo, Marcus Aurelius, Margaret Atwood, Mark Twain, Mary Wollenstonecroft Shelley, Menander, Mervyn Peake, Michel Foucault, Miguel de Cervantes, Mishima Yukio, Moliere, Monkey, Nakagami Kenji, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Neal Stephenson, Nikolai Gogol, Norman Mailer, Octavio Paz, Orhan Pamuk, Oscar Wilde, Ovid, Pablo Neruda, Patrick O’Brian, Patrick White, Paul Valery, Paul Verlaine, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Peter Carey, Petrarch, Machiavelli, Philip K Dick, Philip Larkin, Philip Roth, Pindar, Plato, Plautus, Plutarch, Primo Levi, Ralph Ellison, Ramayana, Raymond Chandler, Richard Wagner, Robert Burns, Robert Frost, Robert Louis Stevenson, Roger Zelazny, Rudyard Kipling, Saint Augustine, Saki, Salman Rushdie, Samuel Beckett, Samuel Butler, Sappho, Saul Bellow, Seamus Heaney, Seneca, Simone de Beauvoir, Sir Thomas Malory, Sir Thomas More, Snorri Sturlson, Sophocles, Soren Kierkegaard, Stanislaw Lem, Stendahl, Stephane Mallarme, Tennessee Williams, The Apocrypha, The Bhagavad Gita, The Eddas, The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Holy Bible, The Nibelungen Lied, The Qur’an, The Saga of the Volsung, The Tibetan Book of the Dead, The Upanishads, Thomas De Quincey, Thomas Hardy, Thomas Hobbes, Thomas Keneally, Thomas Mann, Thomas Pynchon, Thucydides, Truman Capote, TS Eliot, Ursula K Le Guin, Victor Hugo, Virgil, Virginia Woolf, Vladimir Nabokov, Voltaire, VS Naipaul, W. Somerset Maugham, Walter Benjamin, WH Auden, Wilfred Owen, William Blake, William Butler Yeats, William Empson, William Faulkner, William Gibson, William Shakespeare, William Wordsworth
FILMS
Akira Kurosawa, Alfred Hitchcock, Bernado Bertolucci, Billy Wilder, Brian De Palma, Charlie Chaplin, Christopher Nolan, Clint Eastwood, Darren Aronofsky, David Cronenberg, David Fincher, David Lynch, Dennis Hopper, Ed Wood, Federico Fellini, Francis Ford Coppola, Francois Truffault, Fritz Lang, George Lucas, George Romero, Hal Hartley, Ingmar Bergman, Jane Campion, Jean-Luc Godard, Jim Henson, Jim Jarmusch, Joel and Ethan Coen, John Cassavetes, Ken Russell, Kevin Smith, Luis Bunuel, M. Night Shyamalan, Martin Scorsese, Mel Brooks, Milos Forman, Oliver Stone, Orson Welles, Pedro Almodovar, Peter Jackson, Peter Weir, Quentin Tarantino, Richard Linklater, Ridley Scott, Rob Reiner, Robert Altman, Roman Polanski, Sam Mendes, Sam Peckinpah, Sam Raimi, Sergei Eisenstein, Sir Richard Attenborough, Sofia Coppola, Spike Jonze, Spike Lee, Stanley Kubrick, Steven Spielberg, Terry Gilliam, Tim Burton, Todd Solondz, Walt Disney, Werner Herzog, Wes Craven, Woody Allen
MUSIC
ACDC, Air, Aphex Twin, Arcade Fire, Asian Dub Foundation, At The Drive-In, Atari Teenage Riot, Autechre, Avalanches, Bad Brains, Basement Jaxx, Bauhaus, Beck, Belle & Sebastian, Ben Folds Five, Bill Laswell, Billie Holiday, Bjork, Black Francis, Black Sabbath, Blur, Boards of Canada, Bob Dylan, Bob Marely & The Wailers, Bobby Digital, Bonnie Prince Billy, Boris, Brian Eno, Brian Wilson, Bruce Springsteen, Buena Vista Social Club, Buffalo Springfield, Burzum, Byrds, Can, Cannibal Corpse, Captain Beefheart, Cat Power, Celtic Frost, Chopin, Chuck Berry, Cibo Matto, Clannad, Claude Debussy, Cocco, Cocteau Twins, Coldplay, Converge, Cornelius, Cream, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Daft Punk, David Bowie, Dead Can Dance, Deerhoof, Deftones, Denki Groove, Depeche Mode, Dire Straits, Dismemberment Plan, DJ Shadow, DJ Spooky, Dmitri Shostakovich, Doc Watson, Dr. Octagon, Duke Ellington, Ed Rush, Einsturzende Neubauten, Eminem, Emperor, Enigma, Enslaved, Enya, Eric Clapton, Fantomas, Filter, Foo Fighters, Frank Black, Frank Sinatra, Franz Ferdinand, Fu Manchu, Fugazi, Fugees, Gary Numan, GG Allin, Ghostface Killah, Glenn Gould, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Gojira, Gordon Lightfoot, Gorillaz, Grandmaster Flash, Green Day, Guns n’ Roses, Hang On The Box, Harry Nilsson, High On Fire, Husker Du, Ice Cube, Interpol, Isis, Jackie-O Motherfucker, James Brown, Jane’s Addiction, Janis Joplin, Jeff Beck, Jeff Buckley, Jimi Hendrix, Joan Baez, John Cale, John Coltrane, John Frusciante, John Lennon, John Zorn, Johnny Cash, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Joy Division, Kate Bush, Kid 606, King Crimson, King Tubby, Kiss, KMFDM, Kraftwerk, Kyuss, Lamb, Laurie Anderson, Led Zeppelin, Lee Perry, Leonard Cohen, Liars, Lisa Gerrard, Living Color, Lolita 18, Lou Reed, Low, Ludwig Van Beethoven, Madness, Manic Street Preachers, Massacre, Massive Attack, Mastodon, Mayhem, MC5, Mekons, Melt Banana, Merzbow, Meshuggah, Metallica, Michael Jackson, Mick Turner, Midnight Oil, Miles Davis, Miranda Sex Garden, Misery Index, Moby, Modest Mouse, Moebius, Mogwai, Muse, My Bloody Valentine, Neil Young, Neu!, Neuraxis, Neurosis, New Order, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Nick Drake, Nile, Nine Inch Nails, Nirvana, Notwist, Number Girl, NWA, Olivia Tremor Control, Om, OOIOO, Opeth, Orbital, Pachelbel, Pantera, Passengers, Patti Smith, Paul Simon, Pavement, Pearl Jam, Pelican, Pere Ubu, Peter Gabriel, Philip Glass, Pink Floyd, PJ Harvey, Placebo, Planxty, Plastic Tree, Portishead, Prince, Public Enemy, Queen, Queens of the Stone Age, Rachmaninov, Radiohead, Rage Against the Machine, Rapture, RC Succession, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Regurgitator, REM, Rodelius, Roots, Rovo, Roy Orbison, Rush, Ry Cooder, RZA, Sebadoh, Shizuo, Sigur Ros, Simon & Garfunkel, Skinny Puppy, Slayer, Sleater-Kinney, Slowdrive, Smashing Pumpkins, Smog, Sonic Youth, Soundgarden, Sparta, Squarepusher, Steely Dan, Steve Earle, Steve Reich, Sunn O))), Sunny Day Real Estate, Super Furry Animals, Supergrass, Swans, Syd Barrett, Syrup16g, Talking Heads, Television, Tenacious D, The Allman Brothers Band, The Band, The Beach Boys, The Beastie Boys, The Beatles, The Beta Band, The Birthday Party, The Boredoms, the brilliant green, The Chemical Brothers, The Chieftans, The Clash, The Cops, The Cure, The Dirty Three, The Doors, The Fall, The Flaming Lips, The Folk Implosion, The Fureys, The Jesus And Mary Chain, The Kinks, The La’s, The Mars Volta, The Music, The Orb, The Pixies, The Pogues, The Prodigy, The Raincoats, The Ramones, The Rolling Stones, The Saints, The Sex Pistols, The Slits, The Smiths, The Stone Roses, The Stooges, The Stranglers, The Strokes, The Velvet Underground, The White Stripes, The Who, The Yardbirds, Thelonius Monk, They Might Be Giants, Thom Yorke, Thorns, Tom Waits, Tommy February6, Tool, Tori Amos, Tortoise, Tracy Chapman, Tricky, Turbonegro, TV On the Radio, Two Lone Swordsmen, U2, Underworld, UNKLE, Van Morrison, Vangelis, Venom, Violent Femmes, Waylon Jennings, Ween, Weezer, Wilco, Wolf Eyes, Wolf Parade, Wu-Tang Clan, X Japan, Xiu Xiu, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Yo La Tengo
BOOKS
1001 Nights, Abe Kobo, Aeschylus, Aesop’s Fables, Albert Camus, Aldous Huxley, Aleksandr Pushkin, Aleksandr Solzhenistyn, Alexander Pope, Alfred Jarry, Andre Breton, Andre Gide, Anthony Burgess, Anton Chekhov, Antonin Artaud, Aristophanes, Aristotle, Ariwara no Narihara, Arthur Miller, Arthur Rimbaud, August Strindberg, Baruch Spinoza, Beowulf, Blaise Pascal, Bram Stoker, Carlos Fuentes, Charles Baudelaire, Charles Dickens, Charlotte Bronte, China Mieville, Christopher Marlowe, Cicero, Claude Levi-Strauss, Daniel Defoe, Dante, Dazai Osamu, DH Lawrence, Don DeLillo, Donald Barthelme, Doris Lessing, Dylan Thomas, Edgar Allan Poe, Edmund Spenser, Edward Gibbon, ee cummings, El Cid, EM Forster, Emile Zola, Emily Bronte, Ernest Hemingway, Eugene Ionesco, Euripides, Ezra Pound, F Scott Fitzgerald, Flannery O’Connor, Ford Madox Ford, Francis Bacon, Francois Rabelais, Frank Herbert, Franz Kafka, Friedrich Nietzsche, Fyodor Dostoyevski, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Gene Wolfe, Geoffery Chaucer, George Bernard Shaw, George Eliot, George Herbert, George Orwell, George RR Martin, Georges Battaile, Gertrude Stein, GK Chesterton, Graham Greene, Gunter Grass, Gustave Flaubert, Guy de Maupassant, Harold Pinter, Henrik Ibsen, Henry David Thoreau, Henry James, Herman Hesse, Herman Melville, Herodotus, HG Wells, Homer, Horace, Isaac Babel, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Italo Calvino, Ivan Turgenev, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, James Joyce, Jane Austen, JD Salinger, Jean Baudrillard, Jean Cocteau, Jean Cocteau, Jean Genet, Jean Paul Satre, Jean Racine, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, John Barth, John Milton, John Steinbeck, Jonathan Swift, Jorge Luis Borges, Jose Saramago, Joseph Conrad, JRR Tolkien, Julius Gais Caesar, Kawabata Yasunari, Knut Hamsun, Kurt Vonnegut Jr, Leo Tolstoy, Leonardo Da Vinci, Lewis Carroll, Longinus, Lope de Vega, Lord Byron, Mahabharata, Marcel Proust, Marco Polo, Marcus Aurelius, Margaret Atwood, Mark Twain, Mary Wollenstonecroft Shelley, Menander, Mervyn Peake, Michel Foucault, Miguel de Cervantes, Mishima Yukio, Moliere, Monkey, Nakagami Kenji, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Neal Stephenson, Nikolai Gogol, Norman Mailer, Octavio Paz, Orhan Pamuk, Oscar Wilde, Ovid, Pablo Neruda, Patrick O’Brian, Patrick White, Paul Valery, Paul Verlaine, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Peter Carey, Petrarch, Machiavelli, Philip K Dick, Philip Larkin, Philip Roth, Pindar, Plato, Plautus, Plutarch, Primo Levi, Ralph Ellison, Ramayana, Raymond Chandler, Richard Wagner, Robert Burns, Robert Frost, Robert Louis Stevenson, Roger Zelazny, Rudyard Kipling, Saint Augustine, Saki, Salman Rushdie, Samuel Beckett, Samuel Butler, Sappho, Saul Bellow, Seamus Heaney, Seneca, Simone de Beauvoir, Sir Thomas Malory, Sir Thomas More, Snorri Sturlson, Sophocles, Soren Kierkegaard, Stanislaw Lem, Stendahl, Stephane Mallarme, Tennessee Williams, The Apocrypha, The Bhagavad Gita, The Eddas, The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Holy Bible, The Nibelungen Lied, The Qur’an, The Saga of the Volsung, The Tibetan Book of the Dead, The Upanishads, Thomas De Quincey, Thomas Hardy, Thomas Hobbes, Thomas Keneally, Thomas Mann, Thomas Pynchon, Thucydides, Truman Capote, TS Eliot, Ursula K Le Guin, Victor Hugo, Virgil, Virginia Woolf, Vladimir Nabokov, Voltaire, VS Naipaul, W. Somerset Maugham, Walter Benjamin, WH Auden, Wilfred Owen, William Blake, William Butler Yeats, William Empson, William Faulkner, William Gibson, William Shakespeare, William Wordsworth
FILMS
Akira Kurosawa, Alfred Hitchcock, Bernado Bertolucci, Billy Wilder, Brian De Palma, Charlie Chaplin, Christopher Nolan, Clint Eastwood, Darren Aronofsky, David Cronenberg, David Fincher, David Lynch, Dennis Hopper, Ed Wood, Federico Fellini, Francis Ford Coppola, Francois Truffault, Fritz Lang, George Lucas, George Romero, Hal Hartley, Ingmar Bergman, Jane Campion, Jean-Luc Godard, Jim Henson, Jim Jarmusch, Joel and Ethan Coen, John Cassavetes, Ken Russell, Kevin Smith, Luis Bunuel, M. Night Shyamalan, Martin Scorsese, Mel Brooks, Milos Forman, Oliver Stone, Orson Welles, Pedro Almodovar, Peter Jackson, Peter Weir, Quentin Tarantino, Richard Linklater, Ridley Scott, Rob Reiner, Robert Altman, Roman Polanski, Sam Mendes, Sam Peckinpah, Sam Raimi, Sergei Eisenstein, Sir Richard Attenborough, Sofia Coppola, Spike Jonze, Spike Lee, Stanley Kubrick, Steven Spielberg, Terry Gilliam, Tim Burton, Todd Solondz, Walt Disney, Werner Herzog, Wes Craven, Woody Allen
MUSIC
ACDC, Air, Aphex Twin, Arcade Fire, Asian Dub Foundation, At The Drive-In, Atari Teenage Riot, Autechre, Avalanches, Bad Brains, Basement Jaxx, Bauhaus, Beck, Belle & Sebastian, Ben Folds Five, Bill Laswell, Billie Holiday, Bjork, Black Francis, Black Sabbath, Blur, Boards of Canada, Bob Dylan, Bob Marely & The Wailers, Bobby Digital, Bonnie Prince Billy, Boris, Brian Eno, Brian Wilson, Bruce Springsteen, Buena Vista Social Club, Buffalo Springfield, Burzum, Byrds, Can, Cannibal Corpse, Captain Beefheart, Cat Power, Celtic Frost, Chopin, Chuck Berry, Cibo Matto, Clannad, Claude Debussy, Cocco, Cocteau Twins, Coldplay, Converge, Cornelius, Cream, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Daft Punk, David Bowie, Dead Can Dance, Deerhoof, Deftones, Denki Groove, Depeche Mode, Dire Straits, Dismemberment Plan, DJ Shadow, DJ Spooky, Dmitri Shostakovich, Doc Watson, Dr. Octagon, Duke Ellington, Ed Rush, Einsturzende Neubauten, Eminem, Emperor, Enigma, Enslaved, Enya, Eric Clapton, Fantomas, Filter, Foo Fighters, Frank Black, Frank Sinatra, Franz Ferdinand, Fu Manchu, Fugazi, Fugees, Gary Numan, GG Allin, Ghostface Killah, Glenn Gould, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Gojira, Gordon Lightfoot, Gorillaz, Grandmaster Flash, Green Day, Guns n’ Roses, Hang On The Box, Harry Nilsson, High On Fire, Husker Du, Ice Cube, Interpol, Isis, Jackie-O Motherfucker, James Brown, Jane’s Addiction, Janis Joplin, Jeff Beck, Jeff Buckley, Jimi Hendrix, Joan Baez, John Cale, John Coltrane, John Frusciante, John Lennon, John Zorn, Johnny Cash, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Joy Division, Kate Bush, Kid 606, King Crimson, King Tubby, Kiss, KMFDM, Kraftwerk, Kyuss, Lamb, Laurie Anderson, Led Zeppelin, Lee Perry, Leonard Cohen, Liars, Lisa Gerrard, Living Color, Lolita 18, Lou Reed, Low, Ludwig Van Beethoven, Madness, Manic Street Preachers, Massacre, Massive Attack, Mastodon, Mayhem, MC5, Mekons, Melt Banana, Merzbow, Meshuggah, Metallica, Michael Jackson, Mick Turner, Midnight Oil, Miles Davis, Miranda Sex Garden, Misery Index, Moby, Modest Mouse, Moebius, Mogwai, Muse, My Bloody Valentine, Neil Young, Neu!, Neuraxis, Neurosis, New Order, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Nick Drake, Nile, Nine Inch Nails, Nirvana, Notwist, Number Girl, NWA, Olivia Tremor Control, Om, OOIOO, Opeth, Orbital, Pachelbel, Pantera, Passengers, Patti Smith, Paul Simon, Pavement, Pearl Jam, Pelican, Pere Ubu, Peter Gabriel, Philip Glass, Pink Floyd, PJ Harvey, Placebo, Planxty, Plastic Tree, Portishead, Prince, Public Enemy, Queen, Queens of the Stone Age, Rachmaninov, Radiohead, Rage Against the Machine, Rapture, RC Succession, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Regurgitator, REM, Rodelius, Roots, Rovo, Roy Orbison, Rush, Ry Cooder, RZA, Sebadoh, Shizuo, Sigur Ros, Simon & Garfunkel, Skinny Puppy, Slayer, Sleater-Kinney, Slowdrive, Smashing Pumpkins, Smog, Sonic Youth, Soundgarden, Sparta, Squarepusher, Steely Dan, Steve Earle, Steve Reich, Sunn O))), Sunny Day Real Estate, Super Furry Animals, Supergrass, Swans, Syd Barrett, Syrup16g, Talking Heads, Television, Tenacious D, The Allman Brothers Band, The Band, The Beach Boys, The Beastie Boys, The Beatles, The Beta Band, The Birthday Party, The Boredoms, the brilliant green, The Chemical Brothers, The Chieftans, The Clash, The Cops, The Cure, The Dirty Three, The Doors, The Fall, The Flaming Lips, The Folk Implosion, The Fureys, The Jesus And Mary Chain, The Kinks, The La’s, The Mars Volta, The Music, The Orb, The Pixies, The Pogues, The Prodigy, The Raincoats, The Ramones, The Rolling Stones, The Saints, The Sex Pistols, The Slits, The Smiths, The Stone Roses, The Stooges, The Stranglers, The Strokes, The Velvet Underground, The White Stripes, The Who, The Yardbirds, Thelonius Monk, They Might Be Giants, Thom Yorke, Thorns, Tom Waits, Tommy February6, Tool, Tori Amos, Tortoise, Tracy Chapman, Tricky, Turbonegro, TV On the Radio, Two Lone Swordsmen, U2, Underworld, UNKLE, Van Morrison, Vangelis, Venom, Violent Femmes, Waylon Jennings, Ween, Weezer, Wilco, Wolf Eyes, Wolf Parade, Wu-Tang Clan, X Japan, Xiu Xiu, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Yo La Tengo
Saturday, August 26, 2006
夏休み
8/12 夕立
in the late afternoon the clouds open and water falls, all of sudden and with force
i am reminded of the monsoons in malaysia
the waves
a basket of freshly washed linen
still wet, dripping white
overturned on the street
8/13 大凶
on the thirteenth day, among the swords and cameras at sensoji, i draw a dark fortune
crippled, i grip my cane with a bird-like claw, my palm black with bruises
i see a girl and her grandmother standing before the steps
i am reminded of death; of joy
8/14 サムライFRANCAIS
a carpenter, he swims the kamogawa at night, burns incense each morning at the altar, wears a white headband ringed with symbols of power and strength
while he vaccuums the tatami
8/14 稲荷
In the 19th year of Oyei, Oji no Tachibana of the Hoshoji at Inari met with a serious accident and his life was in danger. The god of Inari took possession of a girl and said through her mouth, ‘If the Kwanze performs some plays for me, the sick man will recover.’ Seami, quoted in The Noh Plays of Japan, Arthur Waley
we find, deep in the heart of the mountain, down strange turnings and rough paths, a font of water springing pure and strong from the rock. surrounded by stone foxes, stern gazes locked on us, we bathe our feet in the stream, rest a while, and pass on
8/16 大文字
the character 大 burns brightly on the mountain; a man with arms and legs stretched wide to their utmost. the man is the universe. the man is endless
later, on stone islands in the kamogawa, we send fire flowers into the night sky. young people laugh, and i feel both a child and an ancient, and i feel i have once stood where they stand, and have laughed just so
8/18, 8/24 踊り
in juuban, the 盆 movements are simple and gentle, short cycles, shuffling forward and back, a slow happy dance, calling the spirits of loved ones
in otsuka, the 阿波 is passionate and strong, the drums roll like stormclouds, the summer rains filling the rice with sunlight.
the women are beautiful and their movements are free. torchlight flickers on strands of hair sprung loose from a straw hat, sticking with sweat on the nape of the neck
the air is bright with rhythm and laughing drunken abandon; happiness
8/23 ゲーム
A field of autumn leaves. A white table. A white seat at each edge. Four businessmen approach, place briefcases neatly, take seats. Ties slowly removed and folded, hair combed, one cracks a can of citrus cola like a nut, crisp and clean. From jewelled cases they take cards, decks prepared for the occasion, slight adjustments after a strictly casual glance at the opposition, a card here and there replaced, a shift of focus, chinks in armor, thin blades. The cards are layed on the table. The game begins.
8/24 BIG FUCK-OFF GLASSES
in harajuku, the mirrorshades are huge
8/25 SPIRALS > CIRCLES
perfection is overrated
if you go in circles you go nowhere
far better, then, to deviate
to move in a spiral
to build momentum
and power through orbital movement
and to fling oneself outwards
ever widening arcs
looping back in for another revolution
passing so close to the line but never crossing
ever hastening
reaching terminal velocity
what is that centre?
and if i break from it, where to in the void?
ON THE DAY that was meant to be the last, I returned to the temple and received a second fortune. It reads:
All of your family members should be patient and careful. You had better believe in gods or Buddha. Everything will go slowly and not progressive because devils will give you damage, and many mistakes and misunderstandings will happen.
Even if you might lose treasure, it will appear again. Do your best, then the situation will change and you can get good fortune.
Thursday, July 27, 2006
bright the hawk's flight on the empty sky
ハヤブサは飛ぶ / the hawk's flight
Only in silence the word,
only in dark the light,
only in dying life:
bright the hawk's flight
on the empty sky.
[Ursula K. Le Guin, A Wizard of Earthsea]
These day's I have been reading (and re-reading) UKLG's A Wizard of Earthsea in both Japanese and English. It serves as a form of language study for me, and a subject for discussion at my weekly tea-and-conversation meetings with my next-door-neighbour Mrs. Watado. She is also reading the book at the moment, on my recommendation and in preparation for the upcoming release of Miyazaki Goro's animated version, ゲド戦記 (lit. The War Journal of Ged.)
It's such a fantastic novel, I am eager to see the film. I will go see it on the 11th of August, probably at the Roppongi Hills cinema complex where I saw ハウルの動く城 (Howl's Moving Castle) 2 years ago. This will be the 3rd Ghibli movie premiere I have seen while living in this country. They seem like milestones to me somehow.
As I discussed with Mrs. Watado this morning, though, the translation into Japanese is a little odd. The long, flowing sentences of the opening passage in particular, sketching the isle of Gont where the boy Ged spent his youth, are truncated and cut into mere descriptive text. It makes me wonder how much I have lost of the countless books I have read translated out of their native tongues into English. It makes me want to study Ancient Greek and resail the wine-dark seas of The Odyssey, to get lost again in the twisting paths the Spanish Labyrthinths, to take up arms once more against the kenning guile of the skalds and their Edda.
影を放つ / the loosing of the shadow
meanwhile, i am reading a lot of blogs from lebanon. i wrote myself an email from my phone:
soundtrack to an insane world
vicarious
black swan
packed in a subway car
immersed in the blogosphere
歌詞
vicarious
the universe is hostile
so impersonal
devour to survive, so it is
so it's always been
we all feed on tragedy
it's like bood to a vampire
vicariously i live while the whole world dies
much better you than i
black swan
buy a ticket and get on the train
cause this is fucked up, fucked up
レバノン戦記
http://lebanesebloggers.blogspot.com/
http://cedarseed.livejournal.com/
http://abuaardvark.typepad.com/
http://chercheusedor.blogspot.com/
http://www.michaeltotten.com/
。。。
Sunday, July 09, 2006
"I felt completely fine and safe. I climbed out. I got out of the car and I said, 'Thank you,' and he was gone."
Soundtrack: The Flaming Lips, "Feeling Yourself Disintegrate." The Soft Bulletin.
The Holy Grail tonight (France or Italy?); appearing on three TV channels. Learning Italian curses.
Kidney's 37th; an old hand-held pinball bikini-girl strip game. A Hanshin Tigers' doll with a revolving face. A bottle of Awamori. Almost buying chrysanthemums.
Marla's farewell; a woman who won't leave me alone. A dream of a Japanese urban cat biting my hand and not letting go; Peacock's insight. Irishmen in the neighbourhood; Osakan okonomiyaki, beer and Herzog.
The White Diamond; mysterious caves that must not be seen. A kingdom of swifts. Staring through a bubble. What does he see? Missing fingers and a man falling to his death in the jungle. A rooster and his master: Marc Antony.
Big Muff vs. Rat. Doomed.
Miximizing: invited by two girls to this insular japanese web. Nickname: ランス
But two beautiful Korean sisters: ランツ; perhaps closer.
A Peruvian party at Noriko's place in Niiza; a room full of smiling people dancing the salsa with Lucero; so many stories, so little time.
Words: Pabo. Boji. Ippoda. Bafanculo. Filio di putana.
http://brazilianmusic.com/
http://www.doom-metal.com/
Things to do: make a garden, get laid, learn spanish, learn korean, buy a new acoustic and study latin patterns, get inked, learn to dance.
And finally, the Tribe moves on:
/salute
/log
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
scratchings
a strange day, this sixth of the sixth moon. the last few weeks have been dominated by music. two formations: barhof; earbleeder. long wanderings of the city taking cellphone shots by the hundred. on a sunday morning, extreme noise in a studio / okonomiyaki and beer and fish&chips and tales of witches demons and bats with two irishmen and a yank / extreme noise in a studio. on the next, 17th century gaelic music / experimental wadaiko minimalist jazz / contemporary koto pop / death-/core-/power-/thrash-metal with three japanese ladies an elderly 2nd-world war veteran and a bunch o scrubs. and the house cd was ‘prayers on fire’. kathy's kisses!
and someone finally recognized my tshirt.
the ‘deranged nightmare’ i mentioned to paul; scribbled sometime in the early morning:
talking to my father. hearing music – islamic chanting like i heard that day in malaysia, words with meaning, profound, divine, like angels, sounding like angels.
i explain, but he doesn’t hear the music – again and again – finally I imitate the sound and he listens. somehow my father is hillel slovak.
he says they are the voices of WAR. this word vibrates with epic, universe-spanning demonic undertones. his eyes are concerned. “be quiet.” he tells me. “cover your mouth.”
he is holding a silver teaspoon and places it over his mouth, the bowl facing outwards. he opens his mouth, and there is a sun inside. a golden sun, divine. the spoon is like a lens and the light flares as it passes through it. the light bathes me and rends me and opens me to be seen. it burns me. agony. like a tight fist of fire clenching the muscles. he looks into me and nods, saddened.
i open my mouth. there is another sun within me, blood-crimson. it burns him. he accepts it.
and to he i and to i he.
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