YIDFF 2015

Once again a fabulous few days at the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival. Highlights this year were undoubtedly the three-part Battle of Chile, closely followed by the 16mm films shot for the Palestinian solidarity movement in Japan and the talk by Adachi Masao afterwards. As Lebanon and Chile feature in my Global Issues Through Music course, this was a great chance to see the full versions of footage I’d seen crop up piecemeal in various documentaries, such as Ken Loach’s Chilean section of the 9.11 film.

It wasn’t all cinema, though. After the screening of Good Bye Schloendorff with live accompaniment by Wael Koudaih aka Rayess Bek, Yann Pittard and Maki Nakano, we were treated to a mini concert of music ranging from Turkey and Lebanon to Bretagne. We also managed an afternoon trip to nearby Yamadera for some hiking and soba (sorry Naoki if you’re reading this!).

Roll on YIDFF 2017.

Long, hot summer

In the dog days of the summer now … great to catch up with some old friends in the past month, including one I hadn’t seen for over ten years, and make some new ones.

Trying to get some reading done in our new house but distracted by the usual work/non work-related stuff. Research projects have all but stalled, but need to get back to writing soon before term starts.

And before netflix hits Japan …

Mystery Birthday cake

Many thanks to the kind unknown person who left a beautiful birthday cake in my mailbox in the staffroom!

New Year’s Day

o-sechi, sake and a Suzuki Seijun marathon planned for the evening … what could possibly go wrong?

New Year’s resolutions

Write more, read more … and upgrade my work bag. I got five years out of my Middelburg conference bag, so hopefully I’ll be using the Heidelberg one as long.

“J” is for Jazz

Flicker shows her approval of Moomba Jazz ’76

AILA 2014

Just back from Brisbane, where I attended the International association of Applied Linguistics conference.

I don’t think I’ve been to an event on this scale since the MLA in Chicago, and AILA was not only well-organised, but a friendly and rewarding experience. Although I was disappointed in some of the keynote speakers and main sessions, the overall standard of the individual presentations I attended was exceptionally high. With applied linguistics covering such a broad range of research it was a great opportunity to see lots of different approaches to looking at language.

The session I took part in began with a talk by Nicola Galloway from Edinburgh University, and I highly recommend anyone who can make it to go and see her present at Sophia University on September 1st.

ISLS Akita

I gave a paper at the International Society for Language Studies conference in Akita a couple of weeks ago. It was my first time at this particular conference as they are usually held in North America, so it was a great opportunity not only to attend the conference, but also to visit a part of Japan I’d never been to before.

ISLS was truly an international gathering, with delegates from North America and the Caribbean as well as Asia, though few from Europe. The venue, Akita International University, was also ideal.

Researching entertainment options, I spotted an interesting looking Jazz kissa, and a jibiru restaurant, but was totally unaware of the Tohoku Jibiru Matsuri until I stumbled on it by chance on the Saturday night. Photos here, though sadly none from the conference itself.

 

Spring movie roundup

One of the plus sides of long haul flights to Europe is being able to catch up on films I’ve missed, or in some cases that haven’t made it to Japan yet.

Plane movies:
Now You See Me. Enjoyable caper movie with Melanie Laurent
Blue Jasmine. Woody Allen back on form.
Inside Llewyn Davis. Coen Brothers. Enough said.
Rush. Surprisingly decent look at Hunt and Lauda’s rivalry
20 Feet From Stardom. Great doc about backing singers
1100 AM. Odd Korean sci fi film. Missed the crucial ending scene as we were landing

DVD:
Hidden Fortress. Great Kurosawa film with Mifune Toshiro in fine form. Interesting to watch George Lucas in the extras hedging on how much he took from this movie for Star Wars
Spirits of the Dead/Tales of Mystery. Three short films based on Poe works by Roger Vadim (awful), Louis Malle (OK) and Fellini (classic)
Realism no Yado. Decidedly offbeat comedy from 2003 from the director of Linda Linda. Highly recommended.

Only a couple of trips to the cinema since getting back:
World’s End. Enjoyable sci fi/zombie/male mid life crisis effort from the Shaun of the Dead team
Chaplin’s The Kid and Josef Von Sternberg’s Docks of New York at Baus Theater with wonderful live accompaniment by guitarist Marc Ribot

Margins and Norms

This event, hosted by Aix-Marseilles Univ., was probably one of the most interesting and inspiring conferences I’ve been to in recent years. Not just for the quality of the presentations – the food was pretty good too. Cakes and coffee at lunch …

Although much of the focus on the first day was on early attempts to standardise English, particularly through dictionaries, the chronological approach worked really well.

I presented on day three under the heading of “Mapping New Norms” as part of a panel on “New Englishes”, together with delegates from Univ. de la Nouvelle Caledonie and Univ. de Strasbourg.