The Scene I was Most Impressed

Hello! It has been a while since I post the last article. From today, I will write articles about movies! Probably you know I am interested in movies, for I wrote many articles related to movies last year.

Today, I am going to tell you about my most impressive scene. Come to think of it, there are so many scenes I love, so it is very difficult task to choose one. If I must choose one, I will pick this scene.

That is, the opening sequence of Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. I chose this because it was the first contact with movies.  Indiana Jones is the very first movie I remember watching in English with subtitles when I was an elementary school student. Although I saw it in VHS on the small display of TV,  I remember how exciting it was.

There are many scenes I love, but this is the most impressive scene for me because I recognized how amazing movies were.  It may be worth telling you how I got to like movies as the beginning of the new year.

London 2012: NZ body calls for sheep shearing to join Olympic sports

I am very tired. I took 5 examinations in these three days, and submitted itinerary for ski-trip. There are two more examinations to go in this week. It is NOT an  official examination week, is it? I would like to finish this blog writing as soon as possible and go to bed, but I have to prepare for the examination of German on the tomorrow morning. It would be better for my body if I could have been absent from the part-time job today.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-16588903

This is a very interesting topic. Actually, sheep shearing is really hard. Maybe harder than golf. When I stayed in New Zealand, we (my school members) visited the Sheep World, where staff performed how to chase sheep with dogs, how to feed baby sheep, and how to shear.  They said that it was very important for sheep to shear, because without shearing their fur get so heavy that they cannot move. It seemed very difficult for me to make sheep silent and shear, but actually it was not as difficult as I had thought because they are very calm and obedient to let farmers shear. I thought sheep understood shearing good was for themselves.

Also, we learned that there were many shearing championships. It takes great efforts and time to shear one sheep beautifully and speedy without hurting them. The article says,” Ivan Scott, the current male world record holder, earned his world eight-hour solo title by shearing 749 lambs.” What a great record it is! I don’t know how one man can keep shearing lambs as long as eight hours.

However, I think eight hours competitions is a little too long for Olympic… I am afraid that few people in Japan would care about the results if shearing would become an official event. It is difficult for Japanese to get a gold medal in shearing, as we can imagine.

Two kittens have ’18 extra toes’ between them

Hello! The examinations are coming soon… I have to work hard on German.

I have a cat. I do not remember whether I described about her, so I will introduce her one more time, just in case. My cat is 7 years old and she is Russian blue. Her name is Jasmine. She has really beautiful fur, and very cute.

I love cats. I cannot help saying hello when I get across one on my way home.

They are really lovely, no matter how many toes they have. Please take a look at this picture below.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-16474354

I cannot believe my eyes even if I look at it again and again! I wonder how the foot pads look like. Cats are very good at making use of their bodies, so I do not think they have any difficulty living their lives. Perhaps they can move with much less sounds than other ordinary cats do due to the pads.

In 21st century, I am sure that they can meet the owners who love them from the bottom of the heart. However, what about other eras? When witch trials were common and many ordinary innocent women were killed, I doubt that they could survive. Probably they had been killed because  they had been regarded as the pets of witches, tools of magic, or so on.

If they were born in ancient Japan, people had been also terrified at them. The legend of monster cat was very common in Japan. One proto type of the monster cat has 12 foots as appears in My Neighbour Totoro. Also, other proto type has  two tails and  can walk and talk as human beings do. These days, few people believe in it, but most people have heard of the legend.

Cats have some kind of mysterious atmosphere, so it is natural that people often regard them as the pet of witches, messenger of the god, and other spiritual existence. However, I do not think so when I see my cat sleeping happily in kotatsu. Cats are cats, and nothing else.

Touchless smartphones and TVs could be on sale in 2012

Happy new year! This is the first post in 2012! I chose a happy article as the first of this year.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-15970019

I am very excited to read this news! I have heard that Japanese companies were trying to develop this touchless control technology, but have never imagined that this could be on sale during this year. Moving devices without touching seems the technology in near future. However, the near future is coming in front of us.

Come to think of it, I find one example that this touchless technology have already been on sale: ‘kinect’ for Xbox 360, the video game. It enables us to control game characters without using any controllers. Thus, I think it is quite possible to make touchless smartphones, computers, and TVs for sale.

Then, let’s imagine how the world will change if this kind of computers prevails. The article says that the use of GPS car navigation system while driving will be possible.  Also, it says that we do not have to look for the TV controller to switch the TV on. This technology will enable every age to use the devices easily, so it can reduce digital divide. Small children, the elderly people, and the handicapped probably cannot use computer devices as the ordinary adults do.

I hope everyone in the world can use computers and other devices equally, and that this revolution in 2012 will help  overcome the gaps.

 

(Well, however, this technology has no meanings to me for today; because I do not have a smartphone, my own TV, or a tablet. I want smartphone best of the three, because other family members including my little sister have one but me.)

Andrew Lloyd Webber predicts 2012 theatre ‘bloodbath’

 

I am very sorry that I completely forgot to write last week’s post. I was so happy to take winter holiday that I forgot about blogging. Very sorry… (The concert of the mandolin club was fantastic!) So, I have to write one more another article by next Wednesday to catch up.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-16362975

I had never thought that the next Olympics have an effect on the West End theaters, but come to think of it, it seems very reasonable that visitors who come to see Olympic games will not feel like going to theaters.Therefore, many programs will close during the Olympics.  According to another article, for example, the musical Sweeny Tod, which will open in the West End in March, will take a break during the Olympic games. Not only theaters but also museums or other leisure spots will face to a difficult situation this summer.

However, there is still possibility that the number of the visitors to West End will increase. All the people who go to London for the olympic games will not watch sports everyday during their stay because probably they cannot get a ticket, or they probably intend to go sightseeing during the matches. I think such people can visit theaters and other famous spots as other ordinary tourists do. I expect that most of them are families, for not all of the family members have interest in other activities like shopping, sightseeing, and visiting theaters. Thus, I think the number who will visit theaters in summer will decrease, but will not be zero. (For my part, I will definitely go to see some musicals next year!! I regret I could not go to see any in the theaters.)

This will be the last post in 2011. I wish you have a happy new year!

 

 

2011: The year when a lot happened

Tomorrow is the first pay–day of my part-time job! I am looking forward to it because it will be the first salary that I earned by myself. Also, I am looking forward to the Christmas this weekend! I am going to the concert of Keio Mandolin Club on 24th. They will play the nutcracker! It is very nice program for the Christmas.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16089232

Christmas is coming!! That is, the end of the year is also near me. In this year, there are so many things happened around the world that I did not remember till I read the article.  

The biggest thing for me was the earthquake in March. I had never encountered a disaster before 3.11. The movie of tsunami on TV was very shocking to me. However, I do not think the disaster has ended. Still, there are many people suffering and mourning. The argument of the existence of the nuclear power plant has not finished, either. Probably  people living in Japan can affected by radiation, more or less. The earthquake has finished, but the disaster has not finished yet.

It seemed that many sad news were broadcasted.  2011 will be memorized for centuries and centuries. It is true that 2011 was a saddest year, but I do not think it was a worst year, because we have learned a number of things. We lost many things, but each of us gained something from 2011. This will be memorable year in the history.

Japanese man in mystery survival

Hello. I have kept working continually for 5 days, and got very tired and sleepy now. I want to go to bed as soon as possible…

Winter is really sleepy season, I think. If  possible, I would like to stay in bed all day long. However, I do not want to keep sleeping for as many as 24 days in cold weather.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6197339.stm

I was very surprised to read this news! How human beings could be alive without eating and drinking in a cold mountain?  I was relieved to know he is fine.  I cannot imagine what if my body temperature would be 22 Centigrade degree. I do not know why TVs do not  broadcast about him in Japan. 

His statement is said to be very alike to hibernation state, so he recovered completely. In science fiction stories, there are many situations called “cold sleep.”  In such a story, someone makes  another person in a hypothermic state and sleep for centuries. So when he or she wakes up, it will be far-away future from the time when he or she  was living. I do not know this technology will be developing now, but this news can be helpful to those who want to make SF come true. Or maybe, it has started  coming true. There is a rumor that Mr. Walt Disney is not dead but keeps sleeping in a low temperature until cure for his disease will discovered. I do not think it is true, but perhaps someday this cold sleep technology will become possible.  

 

Kepler 22-b: Earth-like planet confirmed

Finally, our concert which we were devoting to our life was finished. I think it ended in great success, and I did my best. I had a really good time, and I hope that the audience did too. 

In this blog, I had not talked yet that I am also belong to astronomy circle. I like looking at sky, and we have a total eclipse of the moon on December 10th. I am looking forward to watching it!! Also, there is very interesting news about a planet.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16040655

Kepler 22-b is a planet, which is 600 light-years away from the earth, and it has very close surroundings with the earth. It lies in habitable zone in a Kepler system. It means that Kepler 22-b keeps a certain distance from the a fixed star, Kepler 22. It have not confirmed yet what type of planet Kepler 22-b is. However, it is possible that H2O exist in the form of water, because the average temperature is 22 degrees centigrade.

I think it is a great discovery. the distance of 600 light-years is very far for us, but from the view of astronomy, it is not far away from the earth. Probably, water exists ,  the air exists, and living things exist in Kepler 22-b. It is very exciting to imagine that we would have a neighbour in a near planet. How wonderful it would be!

The research has just started and there are many things that we do not know, but I assume that soon some information about our neighbour planet will be uncovered.

Lady Gaga emails fan to praise anti-bullying campaign

Next Sunday, the concert of Ensamble Famille, big band circle  which I belong to,  will take place. We have practicing really hard. I am a little nervous, however, at the same time, I am looking forward to the concert! I think that it is going to be very exciting concert.  

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-15909854

At first, I had no interest in Lady Gaga. I just thought that her fashion and performance were very strange. That was all what I was thinking about her.

However, when I got to know more about her, especially about her attitude to the weak people, I was very impressed and I liked the way she acts.Her acts are based on the knowledge that she has a great influence on many people.  Her voice will reach all over the world. With her great influence, she is trying to make the world better.  This is why I sympathize with her.

She is always on the side of those who are in the weaker position, for example, the homosexual or bisexual people, the bullied, victims of disasters, and so on.  I agree with her, especially to her attitude to the bullying.   Those who have an experience that he or she has once been bullied, will have to live with the sad experiences forever.  On considering this, the bullies should not be forgiven.  She says, “I’m going to be working as hard as I can to make bullying a hate crime”. It seems to me that she is also very angry about bullying, and so am I. I wish that the bullying will vanish as soon as possible.

Kimono culture – a dying art?

This month, I was working hard on Mitasai, and finally it all finished. Then I can focus on the concert of the big band circle held on the December 4th.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-15739403

I finished the presentation of the Japanese tradition and have improved it (although I forgot fixing one thing.)  I introduced the Japanese tea ceremony. Tea meetings are held in tea room, and at the formal tea meetings, almost all the people wear kimonos. The Kimono is one of the Japanese tradition,and is also related to many other Japanese traditions, for example, tea ceremony, flower arrangement, kabuki, and so on.

 Most Japanese regard kimonos as a tradition, but do not regard them as a clothes that we wear in our daily life. I do not wear them except in ceremonies. However I like them. I am proud of them. I would like to wear them as daily life clothes someday, or at least know how to put on them by myself. It is true that kimonos are traditional art, but at the same time, they are also living culture. Kimonos should not die out. 

To protect the kimono culture, it is often said that we, the young, should be more interest in them.  To more precisely, it seems to me that the young do have interest in kimonos, but it is difficult to wear them every day because the way of putting them is complicated, or they are very expensive. So one way to solve this problem is that we should study how to put on them and how to behave in kimonos at school. Then there would be necessities to buy kimonos more and more, then the maker would sell kimonos for pupils at low prises. Thus, we could be familiar with kimonos.