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It happened in...

July



30 July

After seeing Uchu sensou (War of the Worlds) last week, we went to see Sutaa Uoozu: Episoodo 3 (Star Wars: Episode 3, to you and me).

Wasn't particularly excited about seeing it, but when the theatre went dark, and the music started, and the words "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away..." started to scroll up the screen, I realised that 28 years after the first one, this would be the last time I sat in a cinema to watch a Star Wars film.

And what a parting shot it is. The CGI is astounding, particularly (for me) any scene in which Yoda using his light sabre is. And the birth of Darth Vader... Eek! Go and see it now.

29 July

The inaugural Open House Bowling Championship takes place and is lifted by yours truly with a high score of 179. Hoorah! Title to be defended soon.

26 July

Champions League, second qualifying round, first leg, Kaunas 1 Liverpool 3 - notable probably more for the fact that Jamie Carragher scored his first goal in 7 years, than for anything else.

25 July

Still not sure how I feel about the shooting of Brazilian electrician Jean Charles de Menezes in London by armed police. Part of me sees the execution of an innocent man. A single shot from a distance would be the 'split-second decision' that the Met are currently underlining. A chase, a tackle and 8 shots to the head don't stand up so well to that analysis. If the officers really believed him to be a suicide bomber, they did get awfully close to him. And despite the fact they had photographs of the man they were looking for, someone still felt sure enough that this was their man. Why? Because 'they all look the same'? And at the simplest level, a quick check under the jacket would have revealed no explosives. If there was time to wrestle and restrain him, there was surely time for that.

And while of course we continue to support the police in these unique times, none of this makes any sense. We recognise that the job has become intensely more difficult recently, but this has made it exponentially so. Will someone hesitate to shoot in future? And what if not shooting is the wrong decision next time?

24 July

Don't mention the cricket and nor will I. Ahem. All eyes down for the second test at Edgbaston then.

23 July

Happy Anniversary, Mum & Dad!

22 July

News filters through of 4 more bombs in London exactly 2 weeks after the last. Smaller devices and seemingly less efficient organisation on the part of the bombers means no casualties this time, but now Londoners are truly on the back foot. The only crumb of comfort that can perhaps be taken from this is that if no one was killed, this means that the bombers can still be caught. Keep looking.

21 July

It's finally here...

At Lord's, where incredibly England haven't beaten Australia since 1934, it's the first day of the first Ashes test.

And it's a predictably fruity start. The wickets tumble, and the blood flows. England make a scorching start by bowling the Aussies out for 190, with Harmison taking 5. Freddie seems up for it too.

But old man McGrath, with maybe a point to prove, destroys the England top order, and at the end of play on day one, England are 92-7, still nearly 100 behind. Don't buy tickets for Sunday.

20 July

Today marks another development in the US rush to the extreme right, and if you think this another boring political rant, think again.

Liberally-minded thinkers across the USA were chewing their nails at the beginning of the month when Supreme Court judge Sandra Day O'Connor announced her retirement. Viewed as a valuable centrist, her position was crucial to the balance of the Supreme Court. With the President being the appointer of new judges, and those judges being appointed for life, this was then a chance for the incumbent cabal to further their agenda way beyond this presidency.

And many will be throwing their hands up in despair as Bush appoints the staunch conservative 'Honest' John Roberts (remember this an American political description, where moderates are considered leftist and 'liberal' is hurled around as an insult), and the establishment slide to the further reaches of the right continues, except that now it has a deep untouchable conservative foundation for many years. So where will the next Democrat charge to power come from?

19 July

TNS 0 Liverpool 3

On the day that Liverpool announce that they're going to sign lanky streak of stuff Peter Crouch for seven million quid (err...) they also stick another 3 past Total Network Solutions and pass safely into the Champions League second qualifying round where next week they'll meet Lithuanian FBK Kaunas, who beat Faroese champions HB Torshavn 8-2. Time to do some research.

Oh and Harry Sicknote Kewell is to have another operation. Hernia, this time. Another 6 weeks out. Well won't he be missed...

17 July

If you agree with Uncle Monty that flowers are the whores of the plant world, then what follows should do nothing to dissuade you from that view.

The strumpet lilies were the centre of attention when these insatiable butterflies turned up. It was an orgy of filth.

Has no one any shame any more?

13 July

Liverpool 3 TNS 0

Well... Good job Stevie G stayed, eh?

Only 40 odd days after lifting the cup in Istanbul, Liverpool are back in action in the qualifiers for the 05/06 competition. Far from convincing by all accounts, but I'm not complaining.

10 July

Have just been intensely irritated by an announcement from US Secretary of State Ms Rice (do you suppose the name Condoleeza is derived from 'condescend'?)

She hopes that Londoners will follow the example of New York "which suffered just as London is now suffering". Well, Ms Rice, I think that that's unlikely. As noted yesterday, there was no hysteria, and people will not bay for more blood - the British approach is not to attack, but to continue.

Londoners' reference point will be their own strength, built up over years of attacks from outside. Whilst Ms Rice seems to believe that the attacks on the World Trade Center were the first ever terrorist actions, she appears to forget that the British have been dealing with bomb attacks for more than 30 years. And if Ms Rice is sincerely concerned that the network of evil behind these attacks is uncovered, she'd better not remind herself where the IRA did a vast part of its fundraising.

Selective memory you have there, Ms Rice.

9 July

Found out about the London bombs last night. Difficult to put into words what it's like to see something so familiar, yet not recognise it. When the context is completely taken away. How can suicide bombers now be a British phenomenon? It's impossible, yet the 24 hour looped news broadcasts are showing these disjointed images, made even more vivid by footage from mobile phones taken in the midst. People patiently trudging up a dark staircase to street level. A bus with the top floor peeled off. People in business suits spattered with blood.

I've had answers from everyone I emailed. Some were close, some very close, but all are OK. But there's no hysteria. There's strength and a determination that normal life will not be taken away.

Though lives will. 50 people are now dead. Hundreds lie injured in their homes or hospital beds.

8 July

Time for Simon to head north, to Osaka, so I say goodbye to him at the station as he boards the shinkansen. The news later informs us that the monsoon should be easing slightly as it's starting to head north. For Osaka.

7 July

It's been raining non stop for 4 days now - so much for seeing the natural beauty of Kyushu. Someone chose just the wrong time to be visiting. Fancy coming in the middle of the monsoon...

3 July

Time to jump in the van and head up country for some temple-ing.

First stop is Kurume, where you round a bend on the road and in the distance see a colossal statue of a mother holding a child. This is the Jibo Kannon statue at Naritasan temple in Kurume and is some 60m high. There's a staircase up the middle of it, so if you're feeling particularly energetic or foolhardy, you can climb to the top, but be warned those calf muscles will be like rocks the next day.

Jibo Kannon is the buddha of mothers, so is a protector of children. Jibo literally means "loving mother" while Kannon is the Buddhist goddess of mercy. Around the base of the statue there are numerous unusual pottery buddhas, some just plain ugly, others in facial contortions. We never worked out why.

Then we head for Dazaifu to the Tenmangu shrine, with it's enormous camphor trees and huge ponds full of terrapins.

But as spirit and energy drops, so do moods, and we head of for the only remedy that will help. Ice cream.

1 July

It's been a lazy couple of days, doing the usual tourist things around the city, and today, despite the forbidding looking clouds, we head up to the top of Mt Aso. As we approach, the peak is invisible behind a blanket of grey cloud. Once we're at the peak itself, we're unable to see more than a few feet, but persevere nonetheless. We're two of about six people there, most of whom have the same sheepish expressions that we do. A scene of spectacular natural beauty it might be, but today it'S mostly white and not much else.