Ippoippo

Ouch. That’s a nasty looking typhoon. Went through pretty much the same area where we used to live too.

Yuko’s cousin is coming out to the UK, though it turned out he wasn’t that affected. His flight was ‘only’ delayed by 90 minutes. Will find out later today if it was a bumpy take off.

Talking of Japan… this has to be one of the most stupid ‘Commentary’ articles I’ve read at Japan Today.

And finally… well, there is going to be a big media scrum now.
I must admit, when the whole affair started, I had a ‘bad feeling’ about the parents. However, it was just a bad feeling, and I would be daft to say they were innocent or guilty. Even now, we’d be stupid to jump to conclusions.
Now, if you live in the UK, you would have certainly been exposed to the media frenzy around this case, especially the printed media like the The Daily Express and The Daily Mail.
Those papers have been rather supportive to the McCanns. In fact too supportive. They ignored the obvious questions about why they left their children alone while they went out to party in the evening. These papers instead decided to be typically xenophobic/Little England and bitch off about the inept foreign police.

So, with this announcement, how long before they change their tune and quietly forget their previous stance on the subject. Going by previous evidence… not long.

At last, something decent on TV.
Heroes has finally arrived onto Digital Terrestrial TV in the UK (after some showings on Satellite and Cable) over at BBC2.

First two episodes were last night. It’s quite amusing because there is a Japanese character, with some bits being in Tokyo (well, maybe not all bits… there were some rather onset shots of what was meant to be a Tokyo back-alley).
So, I’m having fun trying to understand a lot of it… not doing to bad at times. Of course, the character Hiro can speak some English too (the actual actor is very good at English… ).

Yuko enjoyed the show in general, as well as the Japanese segments. She was quite quick to point out that Hiro’s work friend though didn’t seem very Japanese, as his accent was wrong, and he looked Korean. Turns out she was right… that chap is a South Korean.
Doesn’t bother me too much, as I can’t pick up his fake Japanese accent… though now it’s be pointed out, I can see he isn’t Japanese.

Anyway, we’re both looking forward to the next episodes.

YATTA!!!

Some stuff on the BBC about the upcoming elections in Japan. Here and here.

It got me thinking. Koizumi, the previous PM, was very media savy… whereas Abe is considered quite dour and boring (even if it was thought he was quite clever and intellectual). So, the media savy one leaves, and it all goes pear-shaped for the government.

Hmmm, I wonder if this will be repeated here in the UK, with Blair (Koizumi) and Brown (Abe).

In other Japan news, Japanese air traffic controller are introducing further English language tests. Ummm, why weren’t they doing this before. This follows on from ANA and JAL introducing extra tests for their pilots a little while back.

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And finally, in unrelated news. As I sit here in the office, having a mini-break, whilst doing some extra hours (boo-hiss!), I get a text message from Yuko. She’s acting like a giddy school kid at the moment, because David Tennent (aka Dr. Who) has showed up where Yuko works. Not sure if they are filming stuff up there, or if he was passing by. No doubt I’ll hear all about it when I get home though

That’s today’s random links.

First up, we have something on some rather interesting displays at a Japanese shop, selling computer games.

It looks like NOVA has got itself into more trouble… which could end up meaning there’s going to be lots of unemployed English teachers in Japan. (Mind you, from what I’ve heard, a large proportion of them aren’t there because they have a genuine interest in teaching English).

Finally, I just love Japan and it’s pointless marketing gimmicks, titles and awards… especially when given to rather bemused non-Japanese personalities.