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This journal is written by Kuma (Felis catus) and Kuma's owner Y (homo sapiens). We have moved from Japan to Australia in 2011.

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2016-04-20 22:53   Jasper Jones

Y (Kuma's owner)

I think that anyone has favorite books. One of my favorite books is "Jasper Jones" written by Craig Silvey. The reason I read this book was because I wanted to read an Australian author's books. I didn't have any idea about Australian books, so I searched for books through the internet, and found a book which has a good reputation.

Jasper Jones

It is a story of a remote area in Australia during the Vietnam War. The leading characters are Charlie Bucktin, a boy who loves reading and Jasper Jones who is believed to be a trouble maker. Before I started to read, I expected that the story was a kind of mystery, but it was not so simple. From the beginning, I was absorbed in reading. I'm not going to write the details of the story in case you read it.

I heard that this story was going to be a movie.

Usually, I don't expect much from movies when I had read the original books because some movies dramatized the stories a little bit, and that made me feel something was wrong.

However, there are some movies that didn't disappoint my expectations. For instance, an old movie "Gone with the Wind" was really good. I had read the original book before I saw the movie, but the movie was also good.

I don't know why but I think the movie "Jasper Jones" would be a good one.

I'm really looking forward to seeing it.

| | Category Misc.

2016-04-20 09:30   Humanity and robots

Y (Kuma's owner)

I think most people love movies. I love movies too. My favorites are heart-warming, funny movies like comedy, and science fiction.

I have been trying to see movies a lot because it's good for improving hearing in English, and also most DVDs have subtitles, which is very convenient for me. Even if I can't catch the words, I can understand what is being said by reading the subtitles.

However, I have an issue that it is quite difficult to understand the jokes in comedies. I need to know the background of the society or country where the movie has been made, otherwise there's nothing funny. Another reason for difficulties with comedies is the slang words. I didn't learn slang words at school. One of the few comedies that I could understand was "Back to the future". Therefore, to me SF movies are much easier than comedies.

My recent favorite SF movie is definitely "Interstellar". There are so many SF movies with beautiful 3D graphics. I love them too, but sometimes I feel a bit disgusted by the design that is conscious of the near future.

One of the reasons I like "Interstellar" is the shape of robots. The robots in the movie, TARS and CASE are not humanoid type of robots, they are just boxes. Yes, they really are! Maybe I have seen so many humanoid robots in movies and got tired of them.

I can understand that it's fun to see humanoids. Their bodies are similar to ours and we can feel familiar with them, but still I prefer TARS and CASE. If robots can move in any way, by wheels or caterpillars, I think that's enough. There's no need for them to be humanoids. To me, having a head, eyes, and even a mouth are extra parts.

Another reason I like "Interstellar" is that TARS and CASE have a sense of humor. Despite their mechanical looks, they can make jokes. That makes me feel that they are more human than humanoid robots.

If I could have a robot, I would choose the one that has a sense of humor set to 70%*, rather than a humanoid. Let me see, 50% is good enough at the moment, maybe.

*In the movie, the robots can be set to have a sense of humor of any percentage.

| | Category Misc.

2016-04-18 10:00   Waiting for autumn

Y (Kuma's owner)

Finally, autumn has arrived and is just around the corner. Yes, I mean it has not arrived here yet. Today is a bit hot. I am still wearing short sleeve T-shirts and short pants, and writing this journal using an electric fan. See, it's not autumn.

I've been waiting for autumn because I bought vegetable seeds that can be sown in autumn. I've got broad beans, snow peas and snap peas. I have some Japanese vegetable seeds as well that I have bought from an online store. How convenient online shopping is!

Peas

Australia is a land that has peculiar vegetation and it is very strict to inspection of live plants and animals. So, I'm happy that some gardening nurseries sell Japanese vegetable seeds. If they don't sell Japanese vegetable seeds, I don't think I would have grown them because it takes lots of time and trouble for applying seeds for quarantine.

Daikon

Since I started my kitchen garden, my refrigerator has not been jammed, because I can pick vegetables when I need them. I don't have to keep them in the refrigerator which is good.

People who love growing vegetables used to say that they can eat safe food. That's right, but more than that, gardening is good for my health. I believe gardening is a kind of sports. Digging holes, carrying heavy soil and heavy sprinkling make it a sporty hobby.

Autumn is coming soon. The busy gardening season will begin.

Komatsuna

| | Category Gardening