Much excitement in Japan as the cherry blossom season gets under way, a few days earlier than usual (oh yes, that'll be the global warming). Those Hanami parties (ostensibly for viewing the blossom and thinking deep thoughts about the transience of life etc) sound like fun. As an excuse for getting drunk and having a good time, 'going to view the cherry blossom' could hardly be topped - but somehow I can't see it catching on over here.
The Japanese tendency towards exquisitely refined sensibility in one direction and sadistic brutality in the other seems puzzling, but is hardly unique (are they even different directions?). One thinks of all those concentration camp officers with their precious string quartets, of fastidious AH and his dainty manners - or indeed of refined cineaste and crooner Kim Jong Il ('I'm so ronery'... OK, maybe that was fiction). We humans are a strange bunch (observes Nige, admitting defeat and looking forward to cherry blossom time in Kensington Gardens).
By the way, was there ever a more unsuitable name for any product than Cherry Blossom shoe polish?
Thursday, March 27, 2008
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A blog about, among other things, imaginary ideas - What ifs? and Imagine thats. What if photographs looked nothing like what we see with our eyes? Imagine that the Berlin Wall had never come down. What if we were the punchline of an interminable joke? All contributions welcome.
Seems like the British equivalent this spring is harumphy, and involves going to the new Heathrow T5 to view the baggage carousels, contemplate the transience of British organizational skills and think deep thoughts about disembowelment of BAA officials, etc. No problem about "getting drunk and having a good time" as chances are you'll be watching the carousels for a very long time before your baggage appears. In fact after a few days you may conclude that the appearance or non-appearance of your baggage are both equally unreal and find yourself applying to join a monastery.
ReplyDeleteHo ho, very good, Mark - Harumphy could apply to other dispiriting spring rituals I'm sure - the Ikea visit, the garden centre outing...
ReplyDeleteCherry Blossom shoe polish. I'm sure many a child has tasted it.
ReplyDeleteTrey Parker and Matt Stone apparently sent a DVD of Team America to Kim Jong Il... wonder what he made of it.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, was there ever a more unsuitable name for any product than Cherry Blossom shoe polish?
ReplyDeleteKiwi then?
What colour, sir?
You can see your face in a well-polished kiwi, Snakepit.
ReplyDeleteAre the sakuras in Kensington Gardens already blossoming?
ReplyDelete