Japan has a long history of jisei, or death poems. Jisei is the “farewell poem to life.” These poems were written by literate people, often monks, royalty or courtiers just before their death. A Jisei from Prince Otsu in 686 BC is one of the earliest recorded death poems. Not all death poems are writtenContinue reading “Jisei: Haunting Japanese death poems from history”
Tag Archives: History
Helen Keller’s Fierce Friendships and Bold Legacy
Helen Keller was not just some blind lass from the last century. She was a fierce socialist, pacifist, author and sufragette who believed in birth control, workers rights and women’s rights. The first blind person to complete a Bachelor’s Degree, she was a bold trailblazer with a sweet nature. Keller won hearts all over theContinue reading “Helen Keller’s Fierce Friendships and Bold Legacy”
Travel: The ancient moorish town of Conil De La Frontera, Andalucia
At least 7 years ago now, I WWOOFED in Andalucia, helping out with cleaning and cooking at an Andalucian B&B villa just outside of Vejer De La Frontera.The work was far from easy although I did happen to live in a mountainside cabin (cheap fibro, but yet still my own for a wee while). I loved the location and the cabin.
Who is Poly Styrene?
“I once said I would shave my head if anyone tried to turn me into a sex symbol, and I did it. It was more for emotional reasons, too, but I really felt strongly about not prostituting myself in order to be heard.” – Poly Styrene
The Most Beautiful Relics From The Industrial Dawn
It’s funny to consider power plants and sewerage plants as beautiful, but these old buildings certainly trump any industrial building built in the last few decades. Relics from the dawn of the industrial age, they were designed with immaculate attention to detail and a timeless aesthetic. Nowadays they either accumulate weeds and cobwebs in obscurity,Continue reading “The Most Beautiful Relics From The Industrial Dawn”
Ancient word of the day: Landschapspijn
Landschapspijn comes from Dutch and translates to “landscape-pain”, “place-pain” (Dutch). This is a word with no real equivalent in English.
Film Review – Utopia directed by John Pilger
Utopia is veteran and respected journalist John Pilger’s attempt to tell an extraordinary story, one hidden from the eyes of everyday Australians, of Australia’s first people. Pilger uses words like apartheid and hidden genocide to describe it. And the evidence he presents in this documentary is overwhelmingly convincing. It’s difficult to do justice to thisContinue reading “Film Review – Utopia directed by John Pilger”
Franz Kafka on reading books
A book must be the axe to crack open the frozen sea within us. We need books that affect us like a disaster, that grieve us deeply, like the death of someone we loved more than ourselves. We need books like being banished into forests far from everyone, like a suicide.
Travel: Himeji Castle, Japan
Himeji Castle was the first place in Japan to become a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1993, after this there were dozens of others named. It’s actually the largest and arguably most impressive castle in in Japan and has 83 buildings. It takes hours to walk around inside of it, like a medieval Disneyland, it’sContinue reading “Travel: Himeji Castle, Japan”
Ambient album review: The Fifty Eleven Project by Kasper Bjørke Quartet
Just a few weeks shy of his 35th birthday, Kasper Bjørke, a Danish ambient producer, discovered a tumor. The next five years of his life were spent in the clinical surrounds of hospitals and clinics. So he decided to document his feelings into his newest release, The Fifty Eleven Project. It’s deeply moving, fragile ambientContinue reading “Ambient album review: The Fifty Eleven Project by Kasper Bjørke Quartet”
