Thursday 13 October 2011
Wednesday 12 October 2011
Japan
Prof Tommy Koh published an essay entitled Why I Believe in Japan recently. In it, he praised the Japanese people for their resilience, unity and civic-mindedness, and attributed their survival through Earthquake, Tsunami and Nuclear Disaster to the same.
Yet, at the same time, he mentioned that it was time for Japan to 'open up and embrace the world'.
I do not disagree with his assessment.
I have spent a little time in Japan, and found that theirs is a culture that was founded on very strong traditions. Every japanese that I had met was excruciatingly polite, some to the point that I was wondering if I was being mocked or pitied. There also appeared to be certain unspoken signals which passed between, which I, as a 'gaijin' was unable to decipher.
And despite my ability to understand (in a limited fashion) kanji and (in an even more limited fashion) hiragana and katagana, I was often lost whenever I tried to find my way in the Tokyo railway system. According to friends of mine from Kyushu who were with me then, they had a smiliar problem. It was the system and its layout that made it complicated, sometimes beyond the explanations available on the maps.
Then there was the culture shock that I received at Akihabara. Needless to say, the presence of young women dressed in diaphanous replicas of schoolgirl uniforms was unexpected. Yet, everyone elsed passed them by as if they were a normal sight. Perhaps they were, just not to me! And imagine how I felt when I visited Harajuku after that!
To a tourist, or someone taking a course there, these were all little quirks of the country that made for good stories. But it also shows how closed off Japan has become. It is as if its people live in a separate world. Even Tokyo is distanced from the other parts of the country.
So, yes. Japan needs to open up further. And perhaps it will.
But not in my lifetime, I think.
Yet, at the same time, he mentioned that it was time for Japan to 'open up and embrace the world'.
I do not disagree with his assessment.
I have spent a little time in Japan, and found that theirs is a culture that was founded on very strong traditions. Every japanese that I had met was excruciatingly polite, some to the point that I was wondering if I was being mocked or pitied. There also appeared to be certain unspoken signals which passed between, which I, as a 'gaijin' was unable to decipher.
And despite my ability to understand (in a limited fashion) kanji and (in an even more limited fashion) hiragana and katagana, I was often lost whenever I tried to find my way in the Tokyo railway system. According to friends of mine from Kyushu who were with me then, they had a smiliar problem. It was the system and its layout that made it complicated, sometimes beyond the explanations available on the maps.
Then there was the culture shock that I received at Akihabara. Needless to say, the presence of young women dressed in diaphanous replicas of schoolgirl uniforms was unexpected. Yet, everyone elsed passed them by as if they were a normal sight. Perhaps they were, just not to me! And imagine how I felt when I visited Harajuku after that!
To a tourist, or someone taking a course there, these were all little quirks of the country that made for good stories. But it also shows how closed off Japan has become. It is as if its people live in a separate world. Even Tokyo is distanced from the other parts of the country.
So, yes. Japan needs to open up further. And perhaps it will.
But not in my lifetime, I think.
Monday 10 October 2011
Digging through the Old Stuff
Looking through the junk that I had accumulated over the years, I was pleasantly surprised to find my old PSP console. Ancient 1.5 version. And still with Final Fantasy Tactics loaded!
That, to me, was one of the best games that I've ever played. And now that I have dug it out of plastic box limbo, I'm going to take it on one more time. Ha!
I've also found a number of old CDs, mostly from my Celtic period. Of course, there's the Tori Amos and the Kate Bush collections too. I missed these dreadfully when I was setting up my iTunes library. Well, better late than never - they'll be joining my Symphonic/Gothic Metal soon enough. I'll have to make some time one of these evenings, I think.
Then, I found some of my old ramblings, when I was trying to convince myself that I could be a writer. Looking over some of the scribblings I made, it was hard to keep myself from wincing in embarassment. Yet, I suppose they were my ideas, and I would not be doing them justice if I abandoned them now. So... I shall rework some of them. Perhaps putting them onto some closed blog may ensure that they survive. We'll see.
Strange how old things are beginning to take over my life again. Even though I have new books and new music to fill my days. Maybe I should list down some of my more recent acquisitions as well, just so that I may remember when this blog becomes old too.
That, to me, was one of the best games that I've ever played. And now that I have dug it out of plastic box limbo, I'm going to take it on one more time. Ha!
I've also found a number of old CDs, mostly from my Celtic period. Of course, there's the Tori Amos and the Kate Bush collections too. I missed these dreadfully when I was setting up my iTunes library. Well, better late than never - they'll be joining my Symphonic/Gothic Metal soon enough. I'll have to make some time one of these evenings, I think.
Then, I found some of my old ramblings, when I was trying to convince myself that I could be a writer. Looking over some of the scribblings I made, it was hard to keep myself from wincing in embarassment. Yet, I suppose they were my ideas, and I would not be doing them justice if I abandoned them now. So... I shall rework some of them. Perhaps putting them onto some closed blog may ensure that they survive. We'll see.
Strange how old things are beginning to take over my life again. Even though I have new books and new music to fill my days. Maybe I should list down some of my more recent acquisitions as well, just so that I may remember when this blog becomes old too.
Thursday 6 October 2011
Death of Desire
Steve Jobs has died.
My last post was about one of his last innovations, the iPad 2, and how it has recently become a part of my daughter's life. It had been the object of her desire for some time now, and only just fulfilled. My wife's iPhone 4 was a gift that I bought her last year, for our anniversary. My mother has the iPad 1. She uses it for her Sudoku and to keep her connected with her friends, not to mention her Korean drama fixes. On top of that, she has an iTouch, which she uses to carry her music around, and to record her karaoke sessions.
Me? I use my trusty iPad 1 for meetings, for surfing the net, for games, for mail and facebook. And for updating this blog (which I don't do often enough). Like everyone else, I have come to enjoy the snazzy style of the i-range of Apple products, and love the man-machine-interface that has become so much a part of life. I confess to have been disappointed by the latest item, the iPhone 4S, put on offer, and could not help wondering what dear Mr Jobs would have thought of it. Or how he might have made the presentation (in a more snazzy, stylish manner, I was certain!)
Steve Jobs took technology and made it desireable.
Here is a man who took a practical item, and made it personal. And made it desireable.
Not the iPhone, not the iPad. I am talking about the Mackintosh computer. It was the first one to ever use a mouse as a pointing device. I gawked at it when I first saw it at the Computer Room at the University, and reveled in its ease of use. I desired one, but like other lowly students, could not afford one.
Then came the upheaval at Apple and Steve Jobs was out.
Then he was in again, and the iMac hit the stores. Again, I was caught up with the desire to possess one: so sexily colourful!
The hits just kept coming: iBook, iPod, MacBook, MacBook Air, Mac Mini, iPad and iPhone.
The personal computer, as my friend Trebuchet mentions in his own ode to Jobs, become truly personal. It was a fashion statement, a lifestyle choice, a necessary piece of technology, a means to an ends and an end in itself, in some extreme cases. It is hard to conceive of life without these items.
Steve Jobs is dead.
Suddenly, there is an empty place. An empty space. Who shall step into his shoes? Who will envision the next Big Thing? Who will make it happen?
Whoever it is, let us hope that the object remains one of desire.
RIP Steven Paul Jobs. You will be missed.
My last post was about one of his last innovations, the iPad 2, and how it has recently become a part of my daughter's life. It had been the object of her desire for some time now, and only just fulfilled. My wife's iPhone 4 was a gift that I bought her last year, for our anniversary. My mother has the iPad 1. She uses it for her Sudoku and to keep her connected with her friends, not to mention her Korean drama fixes. On top of that, she has an iTouch, which she uses to carry her music around, and to record her karaoke sessions.
Me? I use my trusty iPad 1 for meetings, for surfing the net, for games, for mail and facebook. And for updating this blog (which I don't do often enough). Like everyone else, I have come to enjoy the snazzy style of the i-range of Apple products, and love the man-machine-interface that has become so much a part of life. I confess to have been disappointed by the latest item, the iPhone 4S, put on offer, and could not help wondering what dear Mr Jobs would have thought of it. Or how he might have made the presentation (in a more snazzy, stylish manner, I was certain!)
Steve Jobs took technology and made it desireable.
Here is a man who took a practical item, and made it personal. And made it desireable.
Not the iPhone, not the iPad. I am talking about the Mackintosh computer. It was the first one to ever use a mouse as a pointing device. I gawked at it when I first saw it at the Computer Room at the University, and reveled in its ease of use. I desired one, but like other lowly students, could not afford one.
Then came the upheaval at Apple and Steve Jobs was out.
Then he was in again, and the iMac hit the stores. Again, I was caught up with the desire to possess one: so sexily colourful!
The hits just kept coming: iBook, iPod, MacBook, MacBook Air, Mac Mini, iPad and iPhone.
The personal computer, as my friend Trebuchet mentions in his own ode to Jobs, become truly personal. It was a fashion statement, a lifestyle choice, a necessary piece of technology, a means to an ends and an end in itself, in some extreme cases. It is hard to conceive of life without these items.
Steve Jobs is dead.
Suddenly, there is an empty place. An empty space. Who shall step into his shoes? Who will envision the next Big Thing? Who will make it happen?
Whoever it is, let us hope that the object remains one of desire.
RIP Steven Paul Jobs. You will be missed.
Wednesday 5 October 2011
iPad 2 White
I have just purchased an iPad 2 for the daughter.
It was a promise that I made to her, to encourage her to put in more effort with regards to her Mandarin tests. Three full-marks on her weekly assessments would gain her a white iPad 2, I told her. And after a few fumbles (we made the deal in March after all), she finally succeeded. So an iPad I got her.
Now some folk will say that I'm spoiling her rotten. That she's going to grow anti-social by immersing herself into the game-world and ignoring everything else. Doubtless all the tiger-mothers out there will condemn my move as a piss-poor parent.
Yet...
Imagine her howls when she discovered that there were no game apps included in the machine. Nevertheless, she was happy enough with her new toy, and promptly made a new deal with me:
Full marks at any test/assessment (including spelling tests) will mean I load up one more game for her.
With the year-end assessment tests (I don't like to call them exams this young) coming up, it's no skin off my chin. More pressure on the sprog. Besides, when all the results are tabulated and released to us parents, it will in the midst of the holidays. Time enough for her to play to her heart's content, and get bored with her games when school starts again next year.
To quote Hannibal: I love it when a plan comes together.
Heh heh.
It was a promise that I made to her, to encourage her to put in more effort with regards to her Mandarin tests. Three full-marks on her weekly assessments would gain her a white iPad 2, I told her. And after a few fumbles (we made the deal in March after all), she finally succeeded. So an iPad I got her.
Now some folk will say that I'm spoiling her rotten. That she's going to grow anti-social by immersing herself into the game-world and ignoring everything else. Doubtless all the tiger-mothers out there will condemn my move as a piss-poor parent.
Yet...
Imagine her howls when she discovered that there were no game apps included in the machine. Nevertheless, she was happy enough with her new toy, and promptly made a new deal with me:
Full marks at any test/assessment (including spelling tests) will mean I load up one more game for her.
With the year-end assessment tests (I don't like to call them exams this young) coming up, it's no skin off my chin. More pressure on the sprog. Besides, when all the results are tabulated and released to us parents, it will in the midst of the holidays. Time enough for her to play to her heart's content, and get bored with her games when school starts again next year.
To quote Hannibal: I love it when a plan comes together.
Heh heh.
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