Random Thought of The Day - Monkeys

Question: What's the difference between a group of 14-year-old Japanese students and a pack of monkeys?

Answer: Not much!

This afternoon at school was crazy, but a lot of fun!  I had the entire contents of my pencil case raided and examined by some very excited and curious English students.  I hope I got everything back!

Aussie Word of the Day

Welcome to today's edition of AWOTD.  I have decided to include a few related words in this one post.

bush n. Aust. 1 natural vegetation; tract of land covered in this; uncultivated land. 2 rural as opposed to urban life; the country as opposed to town or city.  

bushfire n. fire burning (often extensive) areas of natural vegetation.

bushman n. Aust. person skilled in travelling and surviving in bush; person who lives in the bush.

And finally:

bushranger n. Aust. hist. person engaging in armed robbery, esp. living in bush as outlaw.

The most famous bushranger in history was, no doubt, Ned Kelly who was known particularly for the iron mask he wore.  He was captured and executed in 1880 at the Old Melbourne Gaol at about age 25.

All definitions taken from the Australian Oxford Mini Dictionary (4th Edition, 2011).

Aussie Word Of The Day

Welcome to a new sub-series of my blog.  It is called "Aussie Word Of The Day"!  Today I was reminded of the many great Australian words in the English language that are unique to our culture and country, and felt that since the rest of the world is so deprived of such amazingness, that I would be kind and share our jewels of lingual greatness for all to enjoy.  

So I shall be posting an Australian English word with it's uniquely Australian meaning as a regular segment from now on.  All definitions will be from the Australian Oxford Mini Dictionary (4th Edition, 2011).

And so here it is: the first Australian Word Of The Day (or AWOTD for short):

Aussie colloq. n. Australia, Australian person.  adj. Australian.  

Don't worry, they will get much more wild and exciting than that ;)

Book Club - Jane Eyre

I have heard the name "Jane Eyre" so many times, but had never read the book.  In fact, I really knew nothing about the story, except it was about a woman called Jane Eyre.  A couple of months ago I decided it was time to find out for myself.

I must say I was pleasantly surprised.  As much as Charlotte Bronte probably tires of being compared to her sister, Emily,  I'll admit I was perhaps expecting another Wuthering Heights.  But this book was far from it.  

Having said that, there were a few things which would have been handy to know before I commenced reading the book.  Firstly, I was a bit shocked at the very beginning at being confronted by the emotional and somewhat physical abuse of a child.  I have to say, it was rather horrible!  But after getting past those initial chapters, things ease up a little.  

I also realised that a comprehensive study of the French language would have been a handy prerequisite to this book.  There is a character who comes from France and actually speaks in French quite a lot, which Bronte soon ceases to translate.  Basically I have no idea what she said in most of the book.  But all I could really do was trust that what she said could not have been too consequential to the storyline, as that would otherwise be a little unfair!  I will probably never know.  

Those two things aside though, I thoroughly enjoyed the book, which does have a few twists and turns in it.  Jane Eyre is indeed a woman who shows great strength and moral integrity through considerable trials and difficulties.  She strongly values the marriage institution (anyone seeing a contrast to Wuthering Heights yet?) and refuses to give in to related temptations.

Funnily, this probably isn't one of those books where you will fall in love with the male lead character - at least I didn't!  I kind of wondered what she really saw in him a lot of the time, but hey - the book is about Jane and not me, and it was always clear that she had deep feelings of affection for him.

While there is a love-story in this book (but much more than just that), it was not entirely predictable.  It was interesting to contemplate after, how if things had gone "smoothly" without the suffering and trials of endurance in the middle, they would not have ended up as happy and as well suited as they did.  It suggests that sometimes (or often) the hard way is actually the best way.  When we take the easy road we sometimes compromise things of greater importance.

Jane Eyre was a great book to read, because it was much more than just a love-story and  presents so much for contemplation.  It shows growth and strength of character, and I also like it because Jane holds to moral standards, but also stays true to her heart's desire.  It demonstrates that having standards does not mean having to compromise true love.  You can indeed have both.

Random Thought of the Day - Dreams

Have you ever had a dream that someone you know did something terrible, then you woke up and realised they didn't really do it...but you're still mad at them?  (I'm glad I could find this Garfield comic, because it demonstrates it perfectly!)

Well, I'm experiencing that right now! Haha.  They are usually so nice and lovely, and last night in my dream they turned so evil!  It was so real and so awful!  Hopefully it will fade away soon and I'll remember they never actually did anything and are completely innocent...for now... ;)

The original - uncut

I recently had another letter to the editor published in my local newspaper back home, where I voiced some concerns on recently proposed legislation.  I may seem like a quiet person with not much to say, but get me on the right topic and I've got plenty.  This is one of those topics.  

I've sent in a couple of other letters before which were also published, on the topics of prostitution, and legalising "soft" drugs.  I'm basically always writing about politics and law.

Well in reading the version of this most recent letter that was printed in the paper, I found  that it was edited a fair bit.  So here is my original version - uncut!

So our premier, Lara Giddings, has pledged Tasmanian tax-payers’ money to a fight to legalise same-sex marriage in Tasmania.  What this means is redefining the definition of marriage from what it currently and legally is to include same sex couples.

The noticeable fly in the ointment here is that The Australian Marriage Act 1961 clearly defines marriage as being between a man and a woman only.  This is the Australian Federal Law. 

This means that despite our premier’s fight to change this definition in Tasmania, such marriages will still not be recognised according to Australian Federal law, as they will contradict what is written in the Marriage Act, under the Australian Constitution.

As some people may not be aware, in Tasmania there is already a legal provision for same-sex couples, in that they can register their relationship with Births, Deaths, and Marriages and receive a Deed of Relationship certificate.  (I’m sure no one would object to them holding a ceremony and celebration at this time either.)  This document functions much the same as a marriage certificate in proving and allowing rights in areas such as wills, property division, guardianship, health care, statutory compensation schemes, state taxes, fees and licences, and state superannuation and pension schemes.  It even gives them the legal provision to change their name, as does a marriage certificate.

So what rights exactly does Lara Giddings need to fight for here, with money that is much needed elsewhere? 

If she is serious about going all the way, this will lead to an inevitable (and very expensive) High Court battle to essentially separate Tasmania’s marriage laws from this definition under the Australian Constitution. 

Now, I know we like to joke about Tasmania being its own country sometimes, but do we really want to start separating ourselves from the protection of the Constitution? 

If Lara Giddings is successful in such a separation, where will that leave Tasmania?  Probably drifting down Bass Strait without a paddle…

Why, Oh Why?

Hello my dearest readers.  Today I am featured as a guest blogger on Random Japan, a blog by my lovely and humorous Irish friend, Ciara!  She invited me to write about the reasons why I came to Japan.  So if you'd like to have a read of this amazingly profound post, head on over by clicking the photo below.

Book Club - The Cat Who Went Up The Creek

Looking for something to read (in English), I discovered the library at Hikarigoaka park, and to my delight they have English books!  The first one I read was The Cat Who Went Up The Creek.  Being a cat-lover the title caught my eye and I thought I'd give it a go.  The blurb on the back implied it was some kind of murder mystery.

I soon discovered the book wasn't really about a cat, as such, but about a part-time journalist, Jim Qwilleran, who owns not one, but two Siamese cats.  Don't cringe when too much when you hear their names...Koko and Yum Yum.  Yes.  As you can probably guess, these are two very pampered felines.  But as Qwilleran says, they're the only family he's got.  There are times when I kind of rolled my eyes at their high social status, but I told myself it's just part of painting the character and I should worry more about the storyline.

Speaking of which, I thought it would be a pretty standard who-dunnit storyline.  The scene for murder set-up, the suspects laid-out, the character comes across and heavily ponders clues, before finally the light-bulb moment occurs and they know who the culprit is and face a dangerous moment of confrontation, before gaining victory and making the killer known to the police who show up just at the right time.  

Well, this book is a little different!  If I didn't read the blurb I probably wouldn't have realised it was a murder mystery.  There's some mystery initially which the main character, Qwilleran attempts to solve, but it soon becomes apparent that it is of little consequence.  Instead, it leads into the events which gradually build to form the greater mystery, of murder and motive.  But this is still somewhat hidden among the other events within the book.  In fact, when the first body is discovered (by Koko, the cat who went up the creek, incidently), not much attention is given to it by Qwilleran.  Kind of like "Hmm that's unfortunate...I wonder what's for dinner?"  You almost want to say "Hey!  A dead body!  Aren't you going to investigate?" But after calling the cops, he literally does nothing.  

The book continues, with other events and people and happenings, eventually leading to another murder.  Along the way, Koko sniffs out a few clues and even predicts or senses the second murder.   Despite not getting a huge amount of attention throughout the story, we are told that Koko has a bit of a gift for sensing these things and pointing out clues.  It is through this and other circumstantial evidence that Qwilleran, in consulation with his detective friend, eventually determines who the murderer is, and the motive.  But there is no confrontation, no confirmation of the motive itself, we told of the arrest which has occurred and are left to accept Qwilleran's theory as fact, and trust the instincts of the cat who went up the creek.

While a little unconventional, I did enjoy reading the book.  The people within it are interesting and it kept my interest going hearing about them and little connections in the history of the people and place.  The story keeps moving along at a nice pace.  I'm not too good with names though, and a lot of names are dropped along the way which the reader is expected to remember and piece together, so I got a little lost in the subplots at times.  I was also amused everytime it mentions Qwilleran stroking his moustache (i.e., in thought), as I kept forgetting to picture him with a moustache.  I'm not really a big moustache fan, but I guess it suits his character.  But anyway, it was overall an enjoyable read and I was a bit sad when the book was over.  

What are your thoughts?

Random Thought of the Day - Procrastination

You know, it's really interesting the variety of things we do in order to procrastinate.  There is no one way of doing it, and it usually involves far more than just sitting or lying and doing nothing.  In fact, I can become highly productive when I am procrastinating.  It's sometimes motivation to clean my whole house!  Or send that important email I've been meaning to.  Or exercise my brain to write a somewhat intellectual Book Club blog post (as I was doing just now).  They are usually pretty useful or interesting things that I do when I procrastinate.  The problem, however, lies in the fact that there's something else more urgent that I should be doing first.  Like now...

The variety and creativity of the things I do when procrastinating got me thinking.  Maybe I could write a book about procrastination?  So basically, I would end up procrastinating that task for several months, then list all the things I did instead of sitting down and writing it.  The book would practically write itself!

What are some interesting or unusual things you have done as a form of procrastination?

I want a pet jellyfish, and some garden eels!

I don't know how I do it, but every time I choose to go somewhere, I always manage to pick the busiest days!  It's just my talent.  So it was with the Sunshine Aquariam at Ikebukuro this week, but I still managed to have a good time (it was a close call though! So many screaming kids!).  One of my favourite things was the jellyfish arch, where I took this photo, watching them float and swoosh around and pondering how amazing they are to look so animated and fun without a brain.  I watched them as the edge of their "mushroom" top contracted and propelled the jellyfish forward, resulting in a beautiful flowing movement of the tentacles.  It was whilst enjoying the tranquility of this scene that I decided it would be pretty cool to have a pet jellyfish.  You know, just sit in the living room watching him do his thing.  He'd want a decent sized tank obviously, maybe a few friends. 

I also came across these guys at the bottom of a different tank (photo "borrowed" from google).  They look like little snakes sticking out of the sand.  I thought they were unusual and pretty cool, but it was in the gift shop when I saw what they were called that I really decided I liked them. Garden Eels!  Sounds so homely!  As you can see, there are two kinds here: the spotted garden eel and the splendid garden eel.  How cool would it be to have these in the tank at home too, swaying to and fro with the gentle current, like leafy seaweed?  

I think once I have a more stable place of residence and don't foresee the imminent international transportation or disposal of all my possessions, I shall invest in some kind of home aquarium.  Preferably with jellyfish and garden eels!