Monthly Archives: October 2005

Japanese Smoking Etiquette

One of the things that bugs me about Japan is that smoking isn’t yet universally considered a habit so vile that smokers are treated as social pariahs. Maybe it’s because so many smokers here are middle-aged men, and men get … Continue reading

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iTunes Australia, where you pay more for less

iTunes Australia is finally out. But tracks are $1.69 each, and albums are at least $16.99. When I lived in Melbourne, I used to buy CDs from Dragonfly Discs. There, I could buy classic CDs like David Bowie’s Low for … Continue reading

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An article and an interview

About two weeks I had my first ever paid-for article published. “Are Videogames Conservative?” appeared in the September edition of The IPA Review (57:3). Today, Libby Price, a presenter on Melbourne radio station 3LO, got in contact with me to … Continue reading

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Six, already?

Today, Apple released iTunes 6. This is the most gratuitous major version bump I’ve ever seen. Sure, new iPods came out today that play video. It’s about time. And the iTunes music store also carries short films and TV shows … Continue reading

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Ôta, I hardly knew you

Last Tuesday, I confirmed that I had a job interview with Berlitz in Ôsaka, on Thursday. I called in my resignation from NOVA, with one day’s notice, at about 11:30. By 11:00 the next morning, I’d sent my luggage to … Continue reading

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A month in Japan (part the fifth)

After a whole weekend in Tôkyô, I was broke, and feeling like I couldn’t wait to get out of Ôta so I wouldn’t have to spend 4000¥ every time I wanted to do something interesting. Also, I’d finally settled in: … Continue reading

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Tôkyô Game Show 2005 or a month in Japan (part the fourth)

Note: I compressed the thumbnails too much when posting this, so please click on the the images to see the full-size, full-quality versions. Saturday 17 September Even though Tôkyô was 2 hours and about 3000¥ in train fares away, I … Continue reading

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A month in Japan (part the third)

Monday 12 September The LDP won the election! Hooray! Gotta love that Koizumi Junichiro: he’s a gutsy guy, and he’s got great hair. Monday, I got up early to climb Kanayama, the local mountain, as I’d intended to the day … Continue reading

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A month in Japan (part the second)

So, I’ve been slack. What started out as a series of posts on two weeks in Japan still hasn’t been finished after a month here. It’s been long enough that I’ve started to forget what days I did things on, … Continue reading

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