AWOL

Unlikely to be posting here for a few days - in the middle of changing country of residence. Bye for now.

Pitchfork off

Villagers mob angry intruder. Dracula? Frankenstein? No, Google.

God save us

Talking of crazy people, you have to love this billboard from West Virginia.

Shiv off

I lived in India for nearly 3 years. It's a country that I love and respect. The people are beyond compare for their spirit, passion and genuine belief in free speech and democracy - the world's largest.

All that is except for the bullies of the fascist Shiv Sena movement. The intimidatory antics of this party are endlessly documented, but today they excelled themselves. The lawyer who had, with incredible bravery accepted the brief of defending the one living terrorist had her house surrounded by these people, and has now been forced to withdraw her defence.

What sad people they are. Democracy demands a fair trial. with representation, for even the most dubious of defendants. However these thugs disrespect that spirit and letter in order to... what?

Wet dream

One of Tokyo's more unusual days out is Oedo Onsen Monogatari. A very tacky Oedo era village recreation, but a superb onsen with some excellent baths. My friends even tried the feet-eating fish... I wish I had discovered this with a little more time left before leaving.

Travel metamorphosis

Worst airport in the world? That will be the Franz Kafka international airport in Prague. Watch why, here.

My favourite web page

Ice scream

The day after Christmas Day (Boxing Day), a bunch of raving lunatics plunge into the lake called The Serpentine in the heart of London's Hyde Park, for a swim in the freezing waters. Sheer, eccentric, madness.
Which therefore doesn't explain why, at 1.30 this afternoon, my daughter and I plunged into the freezing waters of the swimming pool at The American Club in Tokyo for what they aptly call the Polar Bear swim. Four hours later, I'm beginning to defrost.

Study together

In case I didn't mention it, I started a distance-learning MA in Islamic Studies at the beginning of this year. This week I got my first homework back. It was a bit of a shock to have a piece of writing critiqued in an academic way, once again. The comment that I hadn't included enough relevant dates was a bit of a throwback.

In unrelated news, my daughter has taken up knitting. Youngest of the young fogey's.

A new world?

Escaping from the relentless misery of the daily news, (best satirised by Rory in this piece), I have spent a couple of interesting days at the 5th World Islamic Economic Forum in Jakarta. It's the only place where I have sensed a feeling of guarded optimism about the future.
Two clear strands emerged. Firstly, that there is a clear belief among the delegates that the end of this turmoil will see a clear re-balance in favour of the new economies of the East and the South, away from the discredited economies of the West. Secondly, that Sharia, Islamic banking has been clearly vindicated as an ethical alternative to the corruption of Wall Street, the City of London and their branches in Frankfurt, Tokyo, etc.
Inshallah...

Nuts

I have decided I would like to become Brazilian. (Not get a Brazilian, as somebody misinterpreted this wish last night.) It's a wonderful country - great scenery, wonderful food and drink, beautiful girls of many races, superb football - and a laid-back and sensible approach to life.
How this contrasts with my own benighted country, with its endless nannying and rule-bound bureaucracy. I just renewed my passport, and based on this experience, would like to renounce my membership and sign up to become um brasileiro.

The Real Thing

Real Madrid 0, Liverpool 1

Oddly enough, that was the score the last time we played them, in the European Cup final back in 1981. (The magnificent Alan Kennedy goal.) We reign in Spain.

A close shave

Wet shave or dry? I've always been a wet shaver, enjoying the early morning ritual. It has recently become more pleasurable, thanks to my introduction to the wonderful shaving oil produced by the David Somerset skin-care company. Despite the rather odd brand promise on their website it is actually a great product. I wonder what other new daily pleasures can be discovered...

Kwai not?

Prompted by a discussion with a friend who is doing some volunteer work in the Kanchanaburi province of Thailand, I just watched the movie which (for Westerners) made it famous - Bridge On The River Kwai.
This film won the Oscars for best film, director, actor, screenplay, music and editing in 1958 (and numerous other awards).
Yet, watching it, the plot is extraordinary. The first half hangs on the right of British officers not to do manual labour, while enlisted men are marched off to work. This position is supposed to elicit deep sympathy, and when the Japanese finally back down, the enlisted men rejoice. Maybe I'm naive, but I find this not only historically unlikely but also even unsympathetic in 1957.

James Stewart, where are you?

I get vertigo incredibly easily. Standing on a step-ladder will do it. Therefore today has been traumatic. First of all going to a fairground (Joypolis) with the daughter and having to endure her strange sense of fun. Then, later, watching the magnificent - but terrifying - film about Philippe Petit, the Frenchman who was the Man On Wire between the twin towers of the World Trade Center, back in 1974. It's terror, but mercifully not as we know it these days.

The music of time

On Monday night, Coldplay were winning the Grammy award for the best song of the year, and on Wednesday I saw them play live with 15,000 other fans at the Saitama Super Arena. How cool is that?

You would have spotted me. I was the one with the Blackberry, trying to get some work done, while my two 10 year old guests went berserk. The march of time.

Beyond the dreams of kings...

I was described today in a letter as being a 'man of significant wealth'. If only it were true! Unfortunately, however, the only person who espouses this opinion is somebody who is being paid to try and take a lot of it away. (And being paid by me, oddly enough.)

God's work

Imagine that you have been offered a new job, but in order to get it you have to reverse a strong opinion which you have previously held. You have two choices, I would think. Either you turn down the job offer, or you lie in order to get the job. The third option - that you genuinely change your mind - is highly unlikely, though remarkably convenient.

I wonder which option 'Bishop' Richard Williamson will take? Either way, I wouldn't want him in my business. But then maybe we have different ethical standards from those of his prospective new boss.

Bak to Skule

I may have written about this experience on my old blog, in which case apologies for the repetition. Today I had a chilling experience - explaining what advertising is and how it works, to an audience of 65, 10 year old children - my own daughter sitting in the front row. Give me the worldwide board, any day. They wrote some good ads though. (The little girls, not the worldwide board, obviously.)

Northside Johnny

Once in a while, you hear the name of a band and you somehow know that their music will be sublime. It's just the name.

In the lazy summer of '77 I heard about a beat combo called Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes. I knew they played the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, NJ, along with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band and Little Stevie and his Disciples of Soul. However all of this was a dreamland to a lost boy in Bishop Auckland, Co. Durham, UK, struggling through his 'A' Levels.

Bruce went on to be an international megastar and Democrat poster boy. Little Stevie became Steve Van Zandt, political rebel and then Soprano. Southside Johnny though - I don't know what really happened, but I do know that, when I listen to this ensemble, years fade away and a town twinning between NJ and BA which only ever existed in my mind, nevertheless lives on forever.

Lloyd almighty

This week, directors of the the British bank, Lloyd's, paid a consultancy firm to sound out shareholders (44% now their government) about a new bonus and incentive scheme to increase their personal remuneration.

On the same day, a man in Los Angeles killed himself and his family in despair over his financial problems after having lost his job.

As EM Forster might say, Only Connect.

Curry favour

Meanwhile, this is being widely circulated as the best airline complaint letter ever, sent to Richard Branson of Virgin. (Thanks to The Economist's excellent Gulliver travel blog for the reference.)

DEC out

Apparently the BBC think this is political. I'm sure the children filmed would agree.

Tooth ache

My daughter needs braces. The total cost of which, in Japan, is the same as her pocket money for the next 20 years. Now I know why people become dentists. "She'll look wonderful", he said as he drove away in the Lamborghini...

Lender be

If you haven't done so already, try Kiva. It's a service (for want of a better name) that forwards donations via micro-lenders to small entrepreneurs all over the developing world. As they re-pay the loan, the money is returned to you. As a result you feel like you are doing something useful, but the money actually comes back. (Neither of which is true with Citibank, for example.) You get to pick the individual recipient of the loan, which gives it a personal feel. You can even join a lending team - in fact I've just founded one - you can join it here.

Time for a change?

Bush walking

Blair given top medal by Bush. Now isn't that just sweet?

55 years later

"And how strange, I thought, that a nation which had suffered so many wrongs in the course of its long and sorrowful diaspora was now, in single-minded pursuit of its own goal, ready to inflict a grievous wrong on another nation - and a nation that was innocent, too, of all that past Jewish suffering.
Such a phenomenon was not, I knew, unknown to history; but it made me very sad, nonetheless, to see it enacted before my eyes."

The Road to Mecca, Muhammad Asad, 1954

Benign Benin

If you're looking for something a little different to listen to, may I recommend The Vodoun Effect by the Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotounou. This is a collection of African Funk recorded between 1972-1975 in Benin. Some wonderful enthusiasts at a label called Analog Africa recently put together this delightful set together with a 44 page book detailing the history of these incredibly obscure pieces of vinyl. It's gorgeous.

New dawn

Happy New Year! Sorry for the lack of posts - I was away on holiday. May all our troubles be little ones ;)