Brazil over Ghana 3 to 0

What a fun game this was! Ghana was so fast and with many wild shots at the goal mixed with shots right at the goalkeeper. I enjoyed the speed and hustle of Ghana in this game. At times, it seemed the Brazil defense would just relax and almost allow Ghana to take their shots. Brazil played intelligently waiting for the prime chances at the goal. Then out of nowhere the Brazil offence would assemble and peg a goal via long pass or some coordinated line of effort.

World Cup Soccer: Italy vs Australia

Considering Australia is not a soccer-crazed country, they put up a major fight against Italy. Australians handled the ball skillfully and had the ball a majority of the time. When Italy got a red card (perhaps unfairly) and became only ten members, things looked pretty tough for Italy. But shooting machine and strategists that they are, Italy managed to get very close to the Australian goal in the final minutes and draw a foul and penalty shot. (Some said this penalty shot was unfairly awarded) Totti whacked it in the left corner of the goal for the one point of the game. Referee judgment can be a decisive factor in who wins or loses in soccer. But as a spectator I thought the Italians were pretty much storming the Aussie goal whereas the Australians rarely had a good shot at the Italian goal. I think the best team won. Experience is God.

World Cup Soccer and Japan

At 4 am this morning Japan time, the Brazil - Japan match aired on TV. Japan needed to win this game by good margin for any chance to continue on in this World Cup. Everyone knows Brazil is one of the strongest teams in the world if not the strongest. Dramatic defense by Japanese Goalkeeper Kawaguchi kept the Brazilians at bay for a time. Then Japan surprised everyone by scoring the first goal of the match, (Alex passes to Tamada who then executes a powerful well-placed strike to the corner of the goal). But later the Brazilian strikers began storming the goal. Ronaldo got 2 of the next 4 points for the Brazilians to win 4 to 1. It was good action however. In soccer anything can happen.

Nagoya in Summer

Nagoya is by no means a pretty city in summer. Number one in Pachinko (gambling parlors) and coffee shops, Nagoya is a city of cheap pleasures with scanty nature. However, we do have a large port where the ocean meets the land and the wind blows. There is also a large and historic castle with pleasant surrounds. And downtown has a tower imitating the Eiffel Tower with a long but narrow belt of greenery. And today I rediscovered a lovely little temple between my house and Kanayama. There are pockets of beauty throughout Nagoya if one find the time and eye to look!

The Crucible in Nagoya

Nagoya Players performed The Crucible this weekend in Nagoya. Not bad! Good performances and well-casted. Seems this play is still relevant today. The mass hysteria associated with what is good and evil, and the dilemmas created by strict application of the law! In wake of the Da Vinci Code this play is another prod for us to think deeply about what we accept as real. Will we impartially investigate new ideas and interpretations of the past? Will we be honest in our search for truth?

Free Teachings of Hilda Charlton

The great thing about the Internet is being connected at the speed of light to innumerable sources of knowledge. And fortunately, many of these are free. Hilda Charlton was a spiritual teacher originally from the Bay Area in California who went to India to meet many spiritual masters 40 plus years ago. Most of her teachings focus on love and God and techniques and tools for developing awareness. Many of her talks and book excerpts are available on the net for free. http://www.hildacharlton.com/

Macha Tea

Macha Tea is a type of Japanese green unfermented tea. This tea is most unusual in that it comes in a fine powder form. Instead of steeping the tea, the tea is "whisked" up into the hot water using a tool made from bamboo. The result is a foamy and gently bitter beverage that is very nutritious (you drink the pulverized tea leaves). This is tea for the Japanese Tea Ceremony that goes back 2000 years. Macha goes great with sweets and is easier to make than some other teas. Of course water temperature and tea to water ratio are important.

Marimba

On Saturday evening I attended a marimba concert in Fushimi. What an unusual instrument. The soloist used 4 mallets, 2 in each hand. Experimentally sounding music, almost alien-like at first. Later, accompanied by piano and violin the girl played more familiar arrangements and more classical in nature. I was surprised to find marimaba bars are made of rosewood and a large marimba plays 5 octaves of music. Researching Wikipedia, I read that though similar, the xylophone is pitched an octave higher than the marimba and is played with harder mallets. Marimba is an African word and it is thought this percussion instrument originated in Africa. In the early 1960's Keiko Abe (famous Japanese marimba player) began popularizing marimba in Japan with her many concerts, radio and TV programs.

Candles

What is it about a candle? Such a soothing light. Something about the flicker of the flame like a life force, bright but extinguishable. Candles have been around since the ancient Egyptians, and are mentioned in the Bible. Come to think of it, they have been a major source of light for thousands of years as we have had electric lights less than a century.