http://www.nihonbunka.com/blog/ For Blog]]> en-us 2012-05-02T13:41:41+09:00 http://www.nihonbunka.com/blog/archives/000249.html Mary's problem (Jackson, 1982) is not that she is in a physical room isolated from the world of experience, but that "Mary" is a part of a thought experiment, a word, or what a word expresses, and she lives in... timtak 2012-05-02T13:41:41+09:00 http://www.nihonbunka.com/blog/archives/000247.html President Obama recently spoke of protecting American goods, (AP, 2012) including from copyright theft overseas. The US has reason to be concerned. While Asia is often described as the factory of the world, north American companies such as Microsoft, Apple... Philosophy timtak 2012-01-26T20:12:39+09:00 http://www.nihonbunka.com/blog/archives/000246.html Originally posted as a response to "A DREAM IS A REBUS:" A PRIMER OF DREAM-CONSTRUCTION Lately I have had a dream or that was clearly a rebus. I dreamt of a tragic tie (in a competition) with the singer Bob... timtak 2011-12-27T10:53:05+09:00 http://www.nihonbunka.com/blog/archives/000235.html The Japanese are totemists, like a lot of people were once all over the world. I have emmigrated to Japan and my son is, culturally, Japanese. What became of all the other totemists? What became of the mighty Sioux, nation... timtak 2011-02-21T09:15:12+09:00 http://www.nihonbunka.com/blog/archives/000234.html Today I ran a 10K run at 44 minutes 10 seconds coming in 69th out of about 400 male runners, and 29th out of 250 in my 40-plus age group. I am feeling tired and chuffed. I am 45 years... timtak 2011-02-20T21:37:08+09:00 http://www.nihonbunka.com/blog/archives/000233.html I may have blogged about the Meanging Maintenance Model before but here it is again. Steven Heine is a leading cultural psychologist and professor at the University of British Columbia. In recent years he has branched out, or homed in,... Philosophy timtak 2011-02-18T22:56:22+09:00 http://www.nihonbunka.com/blog/archives/000232.html timtak 2011-02-10T20:17:59+09:00 http://www.nihonbunka.com/blog/archives/000222.html I have been claiming, or at least thinking, that there is something "imaginary" (term swiped from Lacan) about Japan. My understanding of these terms are from a very simple reading of Lacan, and James Mead, and indeed my own experience.... timtak 2010-10-10T18:47:59+09:00 http://www.nihonbunka.com/blog/archives/000221.html The "logic of the supplement" is a really bad name for how some things can have an important role as a foil, scapegoat, sacrificee, or supplement, and be both of lesser and central importance at the same time. Consider a... Philosophy timtak 2010-10-10T18:47:39+09:00 http://www.nihonbunka.com/blog/archives/000220.html I was looking at Ayn Rand on YouTube and rather enjoying her personality. And saw her refutation of God and liked that too. She said, that while it is impossible to prove a negative - to prove the non-existence of... timtak 2010-10-10T18:47:11+09:00 http://www.nihonbunka.com/blog/archives/000219.html For context see here. The following is fiction. The first person is female. Some people get very nervous when they get on airplanes, but most people don't appear to be. A big chunk of metal the size of a block... timtak 2010-10-10T18:46:23+09:00 http://www.nihonbunka.com/blog/archives/000218.html Two of the best scenes from David Lynch films are lip synch scenes, where someone lip synchs the words to a romantic song. I am thinking of the scene in Blue Velvet where a drug dealer called Ben lip synchs... timtak 2010-10-10T18:45:23+09:00 http://www.nihonbunka.com/blog/archives/000217.html Characters like "Dirty Harry," and Jim McClane (Die Hard, 1988) are often described as "anti heros" since their gruff, unkempt, anti-social demeanour conflicts with their do-good, heroic image. On the face of it then, the anti-hero as portrayed by these... timtak 2010-10-10T18:44:52+09:00 http://www.nihonbunka.com/blog/archives/000216.html This may be the first time I have reviewed a song. I can't get it out of my head. The song is "Rouge no Dengon", sometimes translateda as "Message in Rouge," by Matsutoya Yumi. Ms. Matsutoya is one of the... timtak 2010-10-10T18:43:01+09:00 http://www.nihonbunka.com/blog/archives/000215.html There are a few movies in which machines take over the earth. In the "Terminator" series of movies, the machines get so bolshy that they decied to wipe out those irrational humans. In other films however, such as the recent... Dream Life Movie Spoilers timtak 2010-10-10T18:42:35+09:00