a motley Dutch assortment

Someone just wrote, asking me the title of a book I had mentioned before on the blog. It was fairly clear that the reader meant Peter-Paul Verbeek’s What Things Do.

I sent him the Amazon link, and while doing so noticed that Verbeek’s book was #4 on the list of books by Dutch authors, a category I didn’t realize Amazon used for its English books. So I clicked on the list of bestselling Dutch authors, and found quite A MIXED ARRAY OF BOOKS. The Dutch are nothing if not versatile. (I hope that’s a permalink to the exact list I saw, but maybe it will change every hour and won’t be quite as funny by the time you click it.)

I especially love the subtitle of THIS ONE. The product description is good too, just not quite as good as the subtitle.

cassette Walkman abolished

This is one of those news items that first surprised me (“They were still making those?”) and then saddened me (“I had a great time with mine in the early 1980’s”). But Sony has DROPPED THE CASSETTE WALKMAN.

Actually, come to think of it, I bought one as late as my first year in Cairo, to listen to Arabic lessons.

The technology of the cassette Walkman is obviously feeble now compared with what’s available. But it was exciting technology 25-30 years ago. I remember people getting excited about each small advance: the anti-jolt technology, or whatever it was called, so that you could jog while listening to music. And if I’m remembering correctly, at one point they added a second headphone jack so that you could listen along with a friend.

Speculative Realism in Japan

This is great: a SPECULATIVE REALISM article in the Japanese Wikipedia. (Though for all I know, the article could be filled with insults.)

I’m delighted, but actually not too surprised. I’ve been told before that continental philosophy people in Japan and South Korea often have an almost unnerving awareness of what’s going on in the Anglophone world. If you’ve published a SUNY Press book, I am told, then they’ve probably heard of you in Japan.

Actually, what this article really does for me is inspire a powerful wish to return to Japan. I had a really, really great time in Japan, and would be happy to live there for a year someday. EgyptAir has direct Cairo-Osaka flights, so it’s actually pretty easy.

When I went to Japan, however, I flew a more complicated route: Cairo-Dubai-Seoul-Tokyo. That Dubai-Seoul flight was very long, but for me also felt pretty adventurous, since I’d never flown over that part of the Asian land mass before. I had a window seat, and there were major electrical storms over Siberia and Mongolia that night.

On the way back to Egypt from Japan I stopped in Seoul, which I also loved.

In fact, Seoul is among the most surprising cities I’ve ever visited, in the sense of being the least like what I expected:

*it’s in a pretty mountainous area; in fact, there’s a mountain right in the center of the city

*despite being a megacity, it is also extremely nature-friendly; walk 10 minutes from the center of Seoul and you’re in a national park

*that Metro system is great; the trains are fast, coverage is excellent (airport included), and the rides are pretty cheap

As for Japan, it’s hard to name one highlight. I landed in Tokyo but immediately went all the way down to Hiroshima for a conference. On the way back up I used my rail pass and crawled slowly toward Tokyo.

Actually, Tokyo itself was also a surprise. I was expecting a densely packed megacity, but Tokyo is more like a half-dozen nearby medium-sized cities linked by rail. It never felt especially crowded to me, unlike Cairo.

prisoner

Mike Watson of Logical Regression has asked me to post this:

http://www.salonikisolidarity.org.uk/

“Simon Chapman was put in Greek prison on false charges in 2003 and was beaten repeatedly during his stay. He was released after going on hunger strike, but now faces a retrial 7 years later. He is innocent and has video evidence to prove that this is the case. Please visit the above site and post it to blogs, etc. Simon’s a decent and well informed activist whom I’ve had many a good chat with. He once coughed all over my Waitrose cheese selection repeatedly over the course of one evening, but still I maintain his undoubtable innocence here. Please read up and do the same! Simon is a friend whom I respect for being so well versed in politics and political philosophy. It’s be a great help if you could get his plight across… Money is needed to fund his case, but any support from the public in spreading the word is appreciated.”