July 1998

  • A disaster hit Papua New Guinea this week. Most newscasters used -- prounouncing with varying degrees of success -- the Japanese word tsunami ( tsu "harbour" + nami "wave") instead of the easy-to-say English term "seismic sea wave" or the scientifically incorrect "tidal wave". As a coastal city, Victoria is vulnerable to the same kind of devastation, so people who live here should heed the Tsunami Warning System.
    The Great Waves A good educational site about tsunami
    What to do if a tsunami is coming
    (21 July 98)

  • It's not completely ready for prime time, but you still might enjoy taking The Runker's Virtual UVic Campus Tour!
    (16 July 98)

  • I've added a weather box to the index page. Now you can see if I'm shivering or sweltering here in Victoria BC! The box is a free service from Weather Underground.
    (15 July 98)

  • I've posted a preliminary page about Fukue Island, Goto Archipelago, my family's ancestral home.
    (14 July 98)

  • There's an update at the Nikkei Nexus.
    (12 July 98)

  • I've posted a page About Japanese Coins.
    (10 July 98)

  • Happy Canada Day! The First of July is the birthday of Canada as a nation. The city of Victoria celebrated with an impressive fireworks display in the Inner Harbour tonight. This holiday was once known as Dominion Day, reflecting a time when Canada was a dominion of the British Empire. Some people want to see a return to colonial times:

    Canada's true national holiday
    (01 July 98)

  • Happy Together (Hong Kong 1997; Dir: Wong Kar-Wai) ***
    This film explains in part why it is that you can find a Chinese restaurant wherever you go in the world. Two restless souls venture from Hong Kong all the way to Argentina in an attempt to patch up their relationship. They run out of money and break up, get together, and break up again. One of them takes a series of jobs in Buenos Aires, including a stint as a cook in a Chinese restaurant, and saves enough money to return home, alone. Fairly standard storyline, but director Wong's visual style and breathtaking shots of Iguazu Falls make this worthwhile. Wong's earlier Chungking Express was better, though.
    (01 July 98)

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