In my attempt to extract myself from the death-grip of the aural tentacles of Margo Timmins but still remain within the idiom of alt-country (insurgent or otherwise) and all the plainitiveness and longing that goes with it, I’ve shifted to listening to two albums by Freakwater: End Time and Springtime. You’d think the former is [...]

I’ve been struggling to throw together this talk for U of Michigan all day. The topic is “U.S. Military Bases as Tourist Sites in Okinawa.” I have a lot of intersting material, but getting it out and organizing it is proving slower than expected. I just write slowly these days. I don’t even want to [...]

Julia and Ken with Kaya My friends Julia and Ken Yonetani, whom I met in Okinawa, had a baby girl last month! Her name is Kaya (very cool). Julia sent me the URL to their Flickr photostream and I just had to post this photo of theirs. I think they look so cute. Seems they [...]

Very weird, almost as if someone’s messing with me. Just a while ago I got an email invitation to join the Flickr group “Intense Emotions.” I got the invite from Gogi, who has an interest in Asia (moving to China from Melbourne) and added me to his contacts list (he liked a Japan photo I [...]

fan-fun!! This was my first fave photo from Rav. I’m quickly becoming a fan of her photos. I love the contrast of the sharp angles and circular motion of the fan while it is all held together by the uniformity of the wood (in basic color and substance). I’d say it is such a Japanese [...]

Oddly, I got a lot of unsolicited smiles from a wide variety of people today. It started in the Vanderbilt Recreation Center with some older guy (not quite geezer, but the type you wouldn’t expect to say anything to any stranger) saying hi and smiling (I know what you’re thinking: gym, older guy, smiles… stop [...]

I finally got around to downloading The Cowboy Junkies latest (2004) album, One Soul Now, from the iTMS. Yes, I’m still drowning myself in Margo Timmins’ enthralling voice and The Junkies soul-strumming rhythms. This album is heavier on the bass and electric guitars, with a twang of funk in some cuts, compared to previous works. [...]

In the film Field of Dreams the most tear-wrenching scene for any boy who has played catch with his father or for any father who has played catch with his son is when the ghost of the dead father appears from the corn field and plays catch—finally—with his son, Ray Kinsella (the Kevin Costner character). [...]