Wednesday, October 10, 2007
American Beauty!
In the words of Pele, if football is "the beautiful game" and the world's game, there is nothing more beautiful to an American than American football! 
Ann Arbor was a pretty college town. Lots of ice cream places and book shops! We went to the football game, which was Americna in the extreme - a brass band, cheerleaders, and 105,000 people. Apparently it was the most attended game of the whole season, and the stadium is the biggest in America. So I got the full experience! The sky was blue, and I really felt I was at the ends of the earth, watching this game that means so much in America (and so little everywhere else)! Before the game we "tailgated" which basically means opening the back of the "truck" and sitting around drinking "Coors Light" from 9AM until the game at 12PM. That was a bit strange, especially as it took place on a golf course where people were playing "Bocce" - the American name for boules - on the grass!
Michigan football colours are yellow and blue just like both my college and grad school colours, strangely enough. Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford is yellow and blue, and George Washington University proudly hails what it calls "the buff and the blue"! Go figure!
Some Corner of A Foreign Field That Is For Ever England
The Soldier by Rupert Brooke
If I should die, think only this of me:
That there's some corner of a foreign field
That is for ever England. There shall be
In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;
A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,
Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam,
A body of England's, breathing English air,
Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.
-
And think, this heart, all evil shed away,
A pulse in the eternal mind, no less
Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given;
Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;
And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,
In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.
It doesn't get any better than that!
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
American Chess Master - of New Orleans
Meet Paul Morphy at www.mattfullerty.com, the last unofficial chess world champion (1837-1884). He links Europe and America as a Creole (of French and Spanish descent) born into New Orleans wealth - which he squandered in London and Paris defeating the world's great chess masters!To learn his story and meet his amazing opponents, from a General in the American Army to a British Shakespeare scholar, also see www.paulmorphychess.com
The story of Paul Morphy is one of rise and fall, the success of a grand talent and his descent into obsession! Welcome to the precarious floating city of New Orleans!
Monday, August 13, 2007
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Thursday, August 09, 2007
Monday, August 06, 2007
Thursday, August 02, 2007
American Chess Master - of New Orleans
Meet Paul Morphy at www.mattfullerty.com, the last unofficial chess world champion (1837-1884). He links Europe and America as a Creole (of French and Spanish descent) born into New Orleans wealth - which he squandered in London and Paris defeating the world's great chess masters!To learn his story and meet his amazing opponents, from a General in the American Army to a British Shakespeare scholar, also see www.paulmorphychess.com
The story of Paul Morphy is one of rise and fall, the success of a grand talent and his descent into obsession! Welcome to the precarious floating city of New Orleans!
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
What is Going On, World?
Just when you thought fizzy drinks couldn't get any more appetizing!
Makes Coke Zero look like a good idea!
Red Bull-tastic!
Red Bull is clearly one drink that was invented for British consumption overseas. I just never took to coffee all that much. And tea is tea and will always be glorious, but sometimes, well it lacks that kick. Unlike the weird-colored drink that tastes like medicine. Benzedrine, caffeine, and the other one (taurine). They always seem to hit the spot!Plus, unlike the British or American chocolate bars below, some with the same name, Red Bull is the same on both sides of the Atlantic! Same name, same ingredients!
Phew!
The World's Best Candy Bars? English, of Course
Hello England, Ever wondered why chocolate is so different in America? Or the UK? Well look no further than this New York Times article that reveals the obession and love people have for their British choccy bars!Whether it's Curly Wurly, Dairy Milk, Maltesers or Crunchie, you can get it in America at an online ex-pat store. There may even be one in your area. For one thing, Giant Supermarket in the US has an International food section. But most cities in the US have their very own ex-pat British Foods store. I hate to say it, but Google has the answer!
In the meantime check out The World's Best Candy Bars? English, of Course if you've forgotten just how amazing Cadburys and Nestle are! Hersheys is a bit bitter for the British palette and I was surprised to find they make their own version of Cadbury's chocolate!
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Sunday, July 08, 2007
Hong Kong by Night, Twice!
This is Hong Kong by night. Quite simply a breathtaking view, a bit like a panoramic Manhattan. New York is kinda a line of impressive skyscrapers, Hong Kong is more of a circular habour with buildings everywhere! The most impressive sight was the combined lights and fireworks show that happened at 8PM every night. Plus if you turned on the radio there was synchronized music - like Chinese elevator music - to go with the show! We watched from our YMCA corner suite! Everything was in celebration of Hong Kong's 10-year anniversary as ending its 300 years under the British. It is currently the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and in 50 years will be fully Chinese. Quite simply, I had an amazing time.
This is Hong Kong from up on the hill behind Hong Kong Island. What a sight! You take the cable car up the mountain to get this view of the whole Fragrant Harbor (the translation of Hong Kong)!
Hiroshima Peace Memorial, Atomic Bomb Dome or A-Bomb Dome
This is a special building in Hiroshima, Japan. It was a governement building that has been preserved as one of the few buildings within the A-bomb blast zone of 1945 that survived the bomb. Basically the atomic bomb dropped at 8:15 on the morning of 6 August 1945 by the B-52 Enola Gay exploded 600 feet above this building, and the blast was so close and direct that the walls were aligned and withstood some of the impact. The horrors of the bomb as an isolated incident are recreated in the Peace Museum in Hiroshima as a testament to those who lose their lives in what was essentially a firebomb causing terrible destruction. Knowing that A-bombs of 1000 times the capacity of the one dropped on Hiroshima is a sobering thought, given that means bombs exist to kill 7 million people, whole cities, and essentially usher in a "nuclear winter" and the end of the whole party. I really don't know what to say other than Hiroshima is a lesson in history, WWII, fascism, military aggression, and the innocent people - and children as ever - that caught in these moments. As a curio the above building gives you the very eerie feeling of reality to stand below the spot where an atomc bomb detonated. Hiroshima was city with a military history, but was only chosen on the day over the other potential targets because it had clear skies overhead...
Karaoke, the Japanese way
What can I possibly say about Karaoke in Japan? It is awesome! You basically wander into any high-rise in Shibuya, a district in west Tokyo, and get ushered up in an elevator and presented with your own room. Watch out for groups of multiple Japanese relaxing after work in the adjoining room with beers and microphones! For once the equipment is really easy to use, plug-and-play, and the sound is really good. You can order your drinks, but they don't seem to mind you smuggling them in from the local Family Mart or 7-11 (also called 7-and-iHoldings whcih amused us without explanation!) And that's Karaoke baby! 1000 sounds, and no money back on your vocals or vocal chords!
I began to realize that Japan is a small country, and so not unlike England, has some kind of represeive mentality, or at least a respect for space and privacy. Thus Karaoke is a private deal and not a bar-entertaining deal. Small bars in skyscrapers, in Kyoto and not just Tokyo, outnumber larger more public bars. But the winner has to be the private booths at McDonalds. Who wants to eat their double Fish o' Fillet burder (fish is big in Japan naturally) in public when you can get a private booth! The other place we found was a private DVD-viewing store, mostly for Anime, and run by teenagers like a bowling alley - but basically offering you a video and a booth to watch a movie or Anime film in the middle of the day if you feel like it! The idea of "the private area in public" seems to be very "big in Japan"!
Buddhist temple
Beautiful Buddhist temple in...Katie remind me where this beautiful Buddhist temple was? Kyoto?
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