From the Japanese web (and elsewhere) - May, 2008
May 19th, 2008 by Ad Blankestijn
- In Neomarxisme, Daniel Morales writes expertly about a neglected collection of short stories by Murakami Haruki (”Dead Heat on a Merry-go-round”) from the mid-eighties and its pivotal importance in understanding Murakami.
- “He who would travel happily must travel light,” said Antoine de Saint Exupéry. His maxim has been translated into practical advice in this post on Lifehacker. Also see the website: One Bag, The Art and Science of Traveling Light. At least for my business trips in the region, I have already been practicing light travel for many years. The only thing you have to be careful about is not to splash coffee over your one and only suit…
- This has nothing to do with Japan, but it is too good not to mention: on the website of the Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam I found a complete registration of a concert they gave on April 19 of this year together with American musical duo CocoRosie (sisters Sierra Rose Casady “Rosie” and Bianca Leilani Casady “Coco”). A magnificent spectatacle - I was new to CocoRosie, but their weirdly decadent songs (”freakfolk” it has been called) fit remarkably well with the pieces by Ligeti, Ives, Part, Menotti and Bartok. Conductor is Susanna Mälkki. The whole program has been archived as streaming video (of very high quality - watch it full screen!).
- And finally something else that also has nothing to do with Japan, but everything with how I access the internet at home to write these posts: After several aborted attempts (because the software was not ready yet for general users) I have finally made the change from Windows to Linux! This is thanks to the fabulous new Ubuntu release 8.04 “Hardy Heron.” Installation was a breeze, it recognized all my hardware and peripherals without a hitch. It is fast, safe (no need for anti-virus software anymore!), very easy to use, beautiful to see and … free (Open Source). I was already using Firefox and Open Office, so in that respect it was not such a big step. When you are not satisfied with Windows (or dislike the proprietariness of the Mac) and want to try something new, I can warmly recommend Ubuntu - you can even try it out from CD-Rom, without having to install it, or else install it for a trial as a file under Windows (with dual boot), without in any way mixing up your existing system.
Ubuntu! Great! I switched about a year ago or so, it’s been a bumpy road for some things but a breeze compared to earlier versions of Linux I had tried.