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Poor Andy is suffering from it today, but after cooking a three course meal at home, we headed out to QnA. The line was way too long so, ahem, we went to The Peel.

Nigel and I left pretty early (not before taking some funny shots) but Andy and co. clique-ed on till late.

To flex my Japanese, I'm translating Yoshiro's weblog into English.

Andrew had this great idea this morning for himself, Nigel, Eri and I to drag our hung-over selves to the Preston Market. After a pleasant train journey, we found that Preston Market isn't very busy on a Sunday - it's not even open.
We ended up having the most random and interesting day ever. We bought Indian Bhuja Mix and Tapioca Chips, and finished it off by completing a three course meal from a lazy susan on the main street. Yes, all in Preston.
That's jellyfish.

It's the end of a era. I've worked happily at Phillippa's for the past two and a bit years. I've decided to move on, but the experience has been invaluable, and while no mere words could really voice my appreciation for that place, I'll say that I'll remember the good times, and take away a lot of things learnt.

Phillippa's has been good for me on so many levels, so to everyone who has been part of it, THANK-YOU!

I took a few photos today with some staff and regular customers.

I've got an iPod nano. In Black. It's perfect with my B&o headphones.

The more I use it, the more I'm reminded of it being like one of those things you saw in Beyond 2000 back in the 90's.

It's size, clarity, and functioning is so good, that its form is more like a discovery than an invention.

--

I think it would be able to play video if it had a software update. Have you seen the way it scrolls through photos?

Even my Operating Systems Lecturer was beaming has he started today's lecture. For the afternoon I forget my stresses, hop into the gym, pick up some Heinekens and cook up a BBQ T Bone for dinner with Andrew and Eri.

All this amidst reports from our friends in the Northern Hemisphere of summers sputtering to a halt in California, and Nashi fruit trees bearing in Japan.

With the warmer days, I've rediscovered the sport of running outdoors. After months of plodding-mixed-with-bursts-of-frantic-sprints on the conveyor belt in the gym (interval training), I am once again enjoying the sense of movement that my legs have to offer.

Try this: get a good running song going on the iPod, and an adjacent tram on either High St (downhill) or Toorak Rd (uphill), and chase it along the footpath. You'll not only get an audience from the passengers and driver, but an adrenaline pumping and instant incentive to RUN AS FAST AS YOU CAN.

Leap trumphantly over fire hydrants and park benches when you win.

If you can do this a couple (a few) times you'll end up more winded than any Tamagotchi conveyor strap ever will.

Addition:

By request, here are my running songs:
Rippin Kittin (Glove Tension Dub) - by Golden Boy with Miss Kittin
Lola's Theme (Extended Vocal Mix) - by Shapeshifters
Identity (アイデンティティ）- by 椎名林檎（Shiina Ringo)
KUROI ORUFE - by 椎名林檎

I've been looking greedily at the ΣBook ('Sigma Book') and the LIBRIé for a while now. The LIBRIé uses eInk technology, just like in this watch. And look what Fujitsu has come up with. Colour, bendable eInk displays. I found a comic on Panasonic's site that details the development of the ΣBook It offered insight into the validity of eBooks also. Here's a brief summary.

Back in June of 2001, Mr Hayagawa of Matsushita (We'll just call it Panasonic, their electrical division) traveled to Taiwan to research an idea of his. He was a man who read many books, 2 a day in fact, whether it be a magazine or short story. He was sick of the clutter that the books caused in his small apartment.

In Taiwan he found a device that enabled readers of Chinese to read all the downloaded text they wanted, all on a lightweight device. From that moment he was inspired to invent something for Panasonic that would allow Japanese readers to do the same.

Back in Japan, he jumped online and found a few websites who sold eBooks. Once of them was the eBook Initiative Japan (EBI).

Visiting Mr. Yusuke Suzuki, CEO of EBI, he learnt a few things about why books are made of paper.

1. On screens such as in the Taiwanese example, you can't really see the characters very well. They don't look nice are are thus difficult to read, and a deterrent to the average reader.
2. Publishing companies are in danger of digital text as readers move away from the printed word, and stop buying books.
3. There's the problem of copy-write, and of the books proliferating about without bounds.

He also told him why eBooks should be developed.
1. Books made of paper that aren't sold have to be thrown away.
2. Printing on paper could become a bit of a problem when paper resources become too precious.

Ever since it was invented, 'The Book' hasn't changed at all. Mr Suzuki said that to digitise the culture of book reading, Mr. Hayagawa would have to mimic the experience exactly. What Mr. Suzuki suggested was a high definition paper-like, dual display. Essentially, just a book.

Mr. Matoko Satou came enthusiastically on board later that year to organise some content for the new book. He took it around to some digital and traditional print houses. They asked him some disheartening questions:
1. There's no search function?
2. It's not even a touch screen?
3. In this age of mobile phones and color LCDs, this this is going to be just black and white?
4. It costs to produce content, who's going to shoulder that responsibility?
5. It's fine for you to just make the device, but what's in it for us?

All valid points. Mr. Satou however put it down to the fact that they just hadn't seen a working prototype just yet. His plastic dummy had simply failed to impress the full idea on them.

That november, Mrs. Tomomi Kaga, with her experience in the business of content licensing and distribution, suggested the locking of books downloaded through a user's PC for reading on the recently named "Sigma Book".

By January 2003, the project had a lot of momentum, and they decided that the Sigma Book was to be sold in book stores, not electronics stores.

...

The book was completed by February 2004, the final stages of it's development and testing completed, and by the 20th of that month, it was released in stores across Japan.

After the release, Suzuki told how NASA had expressed interest in the books for astronauts reading in space - the lightweight and high capacity of the books made them a good candidate for the space program.

Reading this historical comic gave me a general sense of what it must be like for a company develop a technology right from idea through design and production and then finally rolling it out.

I still feel however, that the final design is not quite there. I would like to see something with the following characterists:
1. The ability to read plain text on the device, as well as copy-write proprietary formats (I'm all for protecting writers interests, but there's just so much useful plain text out there too).
2. Automatic downloading of subscribed materials. The news, for example, each morning.

What I think they've done well.
1. Making it as much like a book as possible. Dual screens.
2. Using eInk (in the LIBRIé) Makes for reading like paper with very low energy consumption.

To be perfectly honest I've never actually paid for an eBook - the hacker sense in me drives me to seek them through other means. If I had something nice to read them on though, I would buy them, however.

Saw Fashion Assassin @ Wonderland. See the photos.

See the photos from the show.

Last night, Nigel, Dion, Brian, Kim and Mathieu go to (lunch) Box Hill for Karaoke. So much fun. I could do it regularly! A couple of beers, fried chicken and chips, good singers, bad singers. It's an all Asian extravaganza. We stayed until 1 when they kicked us out. It's great that you can have some of the most multicultural experiences right here at home. I even tried my hand at a Chinese song, 童話. Even after learning Chinese for just one and a half semesters I was surprised at how many words I could read. Anyway while I was probably meant to be practicing for my Chinese oral on Thursday, I was out in Box Hill (I felt like a tourist) singing Karaoke.

See the photos

Does anyone else get that strange feeling when they leave their stomping ground and venture out into other suburbs? I get it even after two and a half years in the city. I blame it on not having a car to roll around in, or is it because I'm from a small town?

I was searching today for artistic wallpaper to put on my second screen. Artwallpapers.com had a large selection for free, and I was interested in the section 'Military', as it reminded me of a large full colour book on Chinese Propaganda posters I saw in a bookshop in Sydney. There wasn't anything but a bunch of grey photos of ships in there, so I googled and found Stefan Landsberger's page which gives examples of his collection of Chinese Propaganda Posters and also a description and historical description of each.

I find the images strangely eerie and disturbing like the ones that cover 'The Great Leap Forward', and some just funny, like this podgy taikonaut baby. Take a look, you can look at the samples provided by category.

I'm selling out. I'm factoring out all paper work over to those fabulous engineers at Blogger to take care of all my chronological posting and formatting needs.
It's the way of the future, I can't fight it any more!
So...
Give me some time to work out how the other sections of the site are going to follow suit. I think it looks a bit nicer, although I can't take the credit! What do you think? You can leave comments now too.

There's even an RSS feed if you prefer.

Actually the upkeep of the old site was turning out to be a bit too time consuming. I'll try and customise to make the layout more individual.

願い | A Wish
by ケツメイシ | Ketsumeishi
edit by ケツメイシ｜YANAGIMAN｜NAOKI-T
Translation by Mathieu





暗い世界　暗い時代の果て
A dark world, at the extremity of dark times
笑い合い　笑いたいのに　なぜ
Though I want to laugh, and laugh. Why...
涙を流すの　声を殺すの
tears streaming, voices murdered
人の上に人はいないのに　なぜ
Even though no person is above another person... why...

争い事　絶えない世の中
Disputes, constantly in the world
また歴史は同じ道をたどる愚かさ
still history is foolish enough to follow the same path

罪のない子供　力ない者から
Children with no crimes, people with no power
消されて行く　その優しい心が
We go on wiping out those gentle souls
その銃の重さ知らないが　命の重さ伝えたい
We don't know the weight of guns, but we want to tell of the weight of lives

ばらまかれた 欲望のかたまり との戦い
Conflicts between mobs of the blatantly money greedy
まだ終わらない　止まらない
It's still not over, it doesn't stop
誰のため　何のため　兵士さえ戦う意味も知らず
Who's it for... what's it for... soldiers don't even know the meaning for which fight
人々のため　国のためなら　なぜまた黒い雨を降らす
For the people? If it's for the country then why does black rain still fall*.

神さえ止められない　祈りさえ届かない
God can't make it end, prayers don't even make it through.
持たざる者が　泣くしかない
People with who have nothing, can only cry.

また　いつ笑い合えるのか？
When can we laugh again?
この歌　心に響くのか？
Will this song sound in people's hearts?

暗い世界　暗い時代の果て
A dark world, at the extreme of dark times
笑い合い　笑いたいのに　なぜ
Though I want to laugh, and laugh. Why...
涙を流すの　声を殺すの
Tears streaming, voices murdered
人の上に人はいないのに
Even though no person is above another person...

また世界のどこかで　起こる様の果て
Anyplace in the world, as soon at it happens
メディア　電波　ニュース　ネット
With Media, Radio, News, Net
載って届く　ここまで
Get On it and Get It - Anywhere

守る者があって頼る物があって
We've people to protect, we've things to depend on
皆　同じ様にこの星に生まれた立って　何で？
All people - born and stand in the same way on this planet. What for?
容赦ない　船玉が子供達に降り注ぐ
No pardons, funadama rain down incessantly on all the children

望まない　
Without hope -
ミサイルをまたミサイルで　撃ち落とす
Missiles are shot down by Missiles
その影で　誰かまた　でかい兵器売り飛ばす
And in the shadow, there's someone selling off more huge weapons

その理由で　もう一度考えろ　罪と罰
With all of that - rethink it - crime and punishment
過ちも薄れる　戦いを続ける
Faults too are fading Fighting continues.
思いやりに愛を　足さないを崩れる
Put effort into loving. Do away with such inadequacies
鳴り響く銃声の中に生きる執念は
There's tenacity living in the midst of the resounding blasts of gunfire

お互い様ならば　もう止めにしないか？
If we're all as one, why don't we just give it up already.
憎しみや怒りからは　もはや何も生まれない
Nothing can come from hate and anger
浮かれたい　ただ笑い声のでかさ比べたい

Burst it out. I just wanna do is compare the size of our laughing voices.
繰り返す人はまた　同じ事がどこかで

Those repetitious people, doing the same thing someplace somewhere
届かね　俺の声で　もう　もはやそこまで
They're not getting it - Hear my voice, again and now to there

暗い世界　暗い時代の果て
笑い合い　笑いたいのに　なぜ
涙を流すの　声を殺すの
人の上に人はいないのに　なぜ

朝昼晩　
Morning noon and night
いつ点けてもテレビから流れるくらいニュース
Whatever time you switch the TV on there's dark news flowing from it
目を背けずに見るが瞑りたくなる目
I don't turn my eyes away - I look - but by eyes just wanna shut
塞ぎたくなる耳を手の平で
I feel I wanna close up my ears with the palm of my hand

僕らに何が出来るかも分からず　歌い続ける
Us guys don't know what we can do. We keep singing
この声の先は遥か彼方に　いやまずは傍にいる君の元に
Send your voice ahead and away far off yonder - NO first of all get it straight to him beside you
届いたなら　まずは君一人
If you receive it - for starters just you alone

でも変わってく　この先のヒストリー
But history from now, it'll all change
人　一人の命の重み　感じて変わっていこう人類
People. Humanity - change it so that the import of a single person's life gets felt
笑顔で　暮らす事の意味
With smiling faces. The meaning of living.
笑顔を奪い去る　事の罪
Oh the crime of snatching away a happy face

いつまでも止まらぬ　権力主義なくすため日々 託す僕らの思いを
Never stop - to get rid of authoritarianism
Entrust this thought of ours day after day

暗い世界　暗い時代の果て
笑い合い　笑いたいのに　なぜ
涙を流すの　声を殺すの
人の上に人はいないのに　なぜ

* Japanese call the rain that fell after the bombs were detonated in Hiroshima and Nagasaki「 黒い雨」'Black Rain'.

Translation notes.
1. The word 暗い (kurai) used in the chorus sounds a lot like 'cry' in English, which sounds fitting to the tone of the song.
2. I translated 載って届く　ここまで to 'get on it and get it - anywhere' because I feel the lyrics are trying to stress with ここまで the state to which the world has become overloaded with information, and the line gives the feeling of 'We have come to the point where we can get anything anywhere'.
3. Translated 星 to Planet, rather than star, as this makes more sense in English (The meaning is clearer)
4. Does anyone know what funadama is?
5.影で could also mean 'on the other hand / side, but it sounds better with the more literal translation 'in the shadow'.
6. 思いやりに愛を　足さないを崩れる Was very difficult to translate. They are sentence fragments and thus don't make sense when stated literally in English. Any suggestions?

There's this spot at Armadale station where I sit or stand in the sun while waiting for the train. I don't go all the way down to the platform until just the last minute, because even the feeble Melbourne rays of winter are warmer than the shadows. Anyway I was sitting here waiting for the train and saw the early risers of Armadale, mostly women who drive down in any kind of Toorak Tractor (Armadale has plenty too you see) as pictured. It's so quaint. Behind the wall of 4WD there's a few ladies with kids.

I woke in the morning thinking about doing exactly this, only to find that it had already been done. Plenty of people don't like this advertising campaign, including me.