Bo Laurent

Mourning Steve Jobs

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 15:50:12 -0700

Mourning Steve Jobs

Okaka kale

Sun, 02 Oct 2011 19:40:00 -0700

Chop kale into bite-sized pieces. You might want to use a nice Japanese knife. I used this one.

Rinse dirt off the kale, and add to a pot, with perhaps a quarter cup of water added to the drops clinging from the rinse. Apply low heat until tender.

Strain, grate a bit of fresh ginger over it, then add a generous handful of quality katusobushi, and drip a bit of quality tamari. Almost vegan, very good for you, and quite tasty.

Ugetsu Monogatari

Tue, 20 Sep 2011 20:09:00 -0700

First gathering of Japanese Film Buffs occurs Tuesday evening, September 27 2011 07:00 PM, in Santa Rosa. We begin with—what else—Ugetsu Monogatari, by Kenji Mizoguchi (1953). The year 1953 was something of an Annus mirabilis in film history—a year that saw important films by Bergman, Fellini, Ozu, and Mizoguchi. Japan had only emerged from United States occupation (and American censorship of Japanese film) in 1951. Mizoguchi is known for his theme of acceptance of what cannot be changed; for his strong female characters; and for the cinematography of his films. Check out the long crane shot establishing the hut of Genjiro (the story’s principle) at the opening (you’ll have to attend the showing; I can’t find an online clip to link to).

“Quite simply one of the greatest of filmmakers,” said Jean-Luc Godard of Kenji Mizoguchi.

‘Scots Guardsman’ steam train, UK

Mon, 15 Aug 2011 17:50:14 -0700

‘Scots Guardsman’ steam train, UK

Omoni in moss garden, Hakone. Click photo to see more of my...

Sun, 03 Jul 2011 20:20:00 -0700

Omoni in moss garden, Hakone. Click photo to see more of my photos from that Japan trip.

Successful corporate culture can’t be taken for granted. Toyota “unremembered” its...

Tue, 03 May 2011 14:42:10 -0700

Successful corporate culture can’t be taken for granted. Toyota “unremembered” its cultural commitment to quality. http://bit.ly/lrf8HW

I watched Thelma and Louise this evening. It struck me: the...

Wed, 27 Apr 2011 23:24:19 -0700

I watched Thelma and Louise this evening. It struck me: the ending is exactly a 心中 (shinjū) moment. In Japanese culture, when two or more people who are bound by love (either romantic love, or familial love) choose death together, it is called shinjū. Shinjū is a popular theme of Japanese literature and film, but it is a relatively rare theme, or an impulse that is difficult to empathize with, in Western culture.

Data interpretation as business opportunity

Sun, 27 Mar 2011 19:55:17 -0700

The problem isn’t that specialised companies lack the data they need, it’s that they don’t go and look for it, they don’t understand how to handle it.
—Hans Rosling, “A Data State of Mind“

Data enables market efficiencies. There should be plenty of business niches where most of the players have not yet noticed that market data is available, or have not yet figured out how to find the data and use it for decision-making and pricing. This represents a business opportunity. (Or lots of them.) A great deal of public data is probably productizeable, if appropriately interpreted.

That part of Japan devastated by tsunami three times/100 years. Utagawa depicted strange mixture of...

Thu, 24 Mar 2011 20:32:00 -0700

That part of Japan devastated by tsunami three times/100 years. Utagawa depicted strange mixture of fire & flood 1896: http://bit.ly/hxHlmu.

Click through to see my photos from Girona, Spain. Girona has...

Thu, 24 Mar 2011 09:07:00 -0700

Click through to see my photos from Girona, Spain. Girona has one of the best preserved city walls in Europe.

Last sunset of 2010 over Lake Joanna, Eustis FL.

Wed, 23 Mar 2011 22:36:00 -0700

Last sunset of 2010 over Lake Joanna, Eustis FL.

This pheasant posed for pictures outside my office window. My...

Wed, 23 Mar 2011 21:56:48 -0700

This pheasant posed for pictures outside my office window. My home is in a vernal wetlands; in the early morning, it’s usually misty like this.