142 Breakfast at S

Fruits and egg is my ordinary breakfast.

But with a spoonful of wild blueberry and a great deal of chopped truffe in omelette, you know this is not ordinary. My friend and I cheerfully compared our dishes with Mr. Brule's smart breakfast at Penninsula. True nourishment lies in not only the food, but in the frank and lively conversaion over it.

Well, does anyone still say my diet is poor?

141 Above Cloud

雲の上はいつも晴れ。

別にどうというほどのことはない、ピンボケの夕日ですが、このときは思わず窓際の席の人に頼みこんで窓にカメラを向けさせてもらったほど、美しい景色でした。飛行機の外といえば空、雲、太陽しか見るものはない、どころか、いつもそれに見入ってしまうのです。

空と太陽は、地上で見ていてもまあ同じかもしれません。
でも雲は絶対に違います。

地上では絶対に見ることのできない至近距離の雲。上昇する機体が雲を抜けて晴れ渡る瞬間、夜空の雲の隙間から見える地上の街の光、気流で揺れながら厚い雲の壁をすり抜けて進む翼、眼下に極地の雪原のように広がる雲海。その向こうに、さえぎるものもない青空と太陽。

そして同じ時間、すぐ隣の航路で同じように幾多の機体が飛んでいる筈なのに、他の飛行機の影さえ見えず、動くものは自分の機体だけという不思議な光景（飛行機の”車間距離”はよほど遠いのでしょうか）。

こんな原始的で圧倒的な景色を思う存分楽しめるのに、なぜ人は飛行機の外にあまり興味がないのでしょう？

140 Il Trovatore

Again Verdi's masterpiece, again METopera, "Il Trovatore".

How could I describe this vendetta drama? Two brothers (neither of them know it) are killing each other and two women stand between them as a  sourse of obsession--- one for love and other for hate. Every one of them are blindly single-minded (if not egoistic) and their acts are passionate but somehow stupid. They never stop to think twice and rush to the tragic end.

It's ultimately a revenge drama, but there seems to be no plot, no conspiracy, no plan for assasination (so different from "Simon Boccanegra"). The four characters act with sudden impulse. What makes them chase their goal are fear, blind love and jealousy. For example the heroine Leonora dies for love with almost instant decision. It's surely noble, but not as emotional as the touching fate of La Traviata nor as fragile as innocent Ophelia.

With all the astonishing lack of sensibility (I thought opera must be something more solemn and intelligent) however, it's powerfully attractive with Verdi's rich and heavenly beautiful music. When the elaborate music meets the madness, in the rough gypsy camp or in the dark dungeon, it sparkles with tense and excitement. It's an odd but gorgeous entertainment.

*Supplementary comment: I even imagined that what if Leonora was truly a younger sister who had been hidden because Count family feared another curse to their third child...and the brothers never knew their sister...even so, it might be only a little trick in this great chaos.

139 Future

I get sometimes surpised and overwhelmed at how so many people wish to create stable plan for their future. And how they obey their own order and follow the To-Do-List to accomplish the masterplan.

I simply don't understand why they find the future to be easily materialized if they don't miss the steps previously decided and laid before them. Future is such an unpredictable thing and free from evaluation. If you imagine the vision of yourself 10 years after, the value would be changed in 10 years.

Life is not a solid architecture that needs a perfect masterplan. Life is a living thing that is unexpected, never be completed and will always roll  forward. Future is an extension of present days and not a fixed goal.

But having a dream and expectations for the future is another thing. It's not a masterplan but a source of power to brighten and strengthen the present life.

138 Dandelion

最近書きたかったことはいろいろあり、「雨季のはじまり」か、「人間をBalance Sheetに例えると人のCapitalとはいったい何か」でなければ「類語辞典について」か、1週間迷っているうちに家を空けたため、何を書くつもりだったかすっかり忘れてしまいました。

はかない、まとまらない考え事を潔く消し去るのはこんな鮮やかな景色です。

近頃見なくなりましたが、たんぽぽはノスタルジーと新鮮さを同時に感じさせる花です。

137 High and Shore

After more than 2 months of uneasy days I landed a skyscraper at bayside Tokyo. It's no wonder these high-and-shore buildings are now the last choice to live in, but I dare to say the vision was magnificent enough to think twice of it.  

I saw thousands of city lights beyond achitectures surrounded by curving motorway, with the round bay where some ships are taking passengers on board in the dim light of dusk.

(note; please do not mind the unusual red light in the photo, that's just a reflected inside light. Not U-F-O or anything like that.)

These are surely an achievement. Achievement of a solution to help this crowded metropolice work beautifully and enable people to inhabit and work comfortably. I'm not in a position nor be qualified to talk about city planning after 3.11 but let's not just forget these challenges and achievements, even though the value has changed.

136 Media

Blog is the interior.
It's eventually your place. If others like it it's better.

Facebook is the exterior.
It's colorfully, tactfully decorated your signature.

Twitter is the swing door between them.
It's a voice cast over the open door, "What's happening now?"