Cherry Blossom Viewing in Hatsukaichi

April 9, 2019 David Hurley 0

We had the perfect weather for the cherry blossom season this weekend and so I went out on Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon to see the blossom. Saturday Evening Hanami and Dinner Party Hatsukaichi is a suburb of Hiroshima. Actually, nowadays it’s a city in its own right. Anyway, it’s [Read more…]

Farewell To The Last Of The Heisei Graduates

March 8, 2019 David Hurley 0

Yesterday I attended the graduation ceremony and graduate party for the Heisei 30 graduates of Hiroshima College of Foreign Languages (HCFL). It struck me as I watched the formal Graduation Ceremony that these are the last students to graduate during the Heisei Era (平成時代) as the current emperor will abdicate [Read more…]

Opening moves of the Jobava London system.

The Pub Chess Bluffer Unleashes(?) The Jobava London…

February 28, 2019 David Hurley 0

Last Wednesday I “unleashed” a surprise attack against my regular chess partner, Dr. M, by deploying the Jobava London system, after watching the first of Simon Williams’ YouTube videos on the topic. Simon is an erstwhile quaffing partner of mine. We met during the British Chess Championships in Llandudno in [Read more…]

Remembering Henchard’s Act of Violence…

February 14, 2019 David Hurley 0

Back in June 1981 I was revising for my English Literature and Communications A-Levels. One of the books we’d been studying was The Mayor of Casterbridge and one of the quotations I learned by heart back then has stuck with me ever since. The quotation is: Henchard’s act of violence [Read more…]

English Conversation MASHU Up!

February 3, 2019 David Hurley 0

On Friday evening one of my English teaching colleagues picked me up at Itsukaichi station and drove up the hill to her clients at the Inokuchidai MASHU hair and beauty salon. The idea was to give her students a one-off 60 minute English conversation session with a native English speaker, [Read more…]

Brigid Whom The Poets Adored

February 1, 2019 David Hurley 0

The first of February is Saint Brigid’s day, or Imbolc, the Gaelic festival of the beginning of spring, sacred to the goddess Brigit, many of whose attributes were later attributed to Saint Brigid of Kildare. One of her attributes is that she can turn water into beer, presumably without going through [Read more…]