I lifted my head from writing my novel, today, to find that Christopher Hitchens had died. There are few people in this world who hold themselves to the same standards as they hold others, even fewer who do it publicly in the genuine hope that they might help to better society, Christopher Hitchens was one…
I’ve been getting a little ratty because I haven’t had a chance to write since preparation for the move pushed its way into the obsessive part of my brain, where my writing usually resides, around 5 weeks ago. Since arriving in Bangkok, the aforementioned part of my brain has, gradually, been vacated but the writing…
The Athenian Murders by José Carlos Somoza My rating: 1 of 5 stars An interesting idea which the author, unfortunately, simply does not pull off. The internal logic is flawed, as is the logic of his (straw man) detective character. The author’s presentation of philosophy and logic, as well as Plato’s theory of the forms…
Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World by Jack Weatherford My rating: 5 of 5 stars Utterly engrossing, and filled with information we should all know to combat all of the disinformation about Genghis Khan and the Mongolian Empire which still passes for common knowledge. I honestly believe that this book should be…
Even if we don’t write historical stories, or military suspense with technical details, all writers have one subject which they must all research: happiness and how humans pursue it. Even the most evil of evil villains, we believe, is motivated by their own belief that their actions will bring them some form of happiness. In this…
Because nothing should take itself too seriously, especially conventions about innovation and ideas, here is Tom Reilly taking a comic look at the TED in 2006. Enjoy!
This week’s talk is from Elizabeth Gilbert, author of “Eat,Pray, Love” and many others and is a must watch for all writers or anyone who loves a writer (or artist for that matter) and would like to understand them a little better. Let me explain. Each week from 7-10pm Sunday GMT (5am Monday, Japan time)…
In my RSS travels, I recently discovered a source of inspiration about which I am no doubt very, very late on the uptake. It wasn’t that I hadn’t heard of TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) I just didn’t know there was a place we could go to hear the speakers (rather than hoping the ABC would…
Tony McNicol is a photojournalist based in Tokyo who has a great blog which covers his experiences both as a photographer and in Japan generally and, of course, always has great photos! Recently Tony did a piece on Miyazaki Hayao, one of my favourite directors, and he was given permission to take some photos inside…
As the hostess of this month’s Matsuri, I posed the question: What has Japan taught you about yourself or your home country? A few brave souls took on the challenge, dug deep and provided us with the posts outlined below. If you submitted your post via the blog widget and did not also put a…
