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Credits: TheTalkingDad.com & FeedWind.comRecent Posts: M Thomas Apple Author Page
A brief rant about Netflix: No, that’s NOT what “original” means
This is not a complaint about Netflix in general (well, not necessarily, but anyway). Without Netflix, I might have gone, shall we say, a little… …this past winter. I’ve been working temporarily in Montréal, several thousands miles of miles apart from my family, and being able to watch movies and older TV shows has been […]
Super-Earth! Um. Yay?
After completing its first year of observations in the southern sky, NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite has spotted some intriguing new exoplanets only 31 light-years away from Earth. Um. “Only” 31 light years. One planet is 22% larger than Earth, has a surface average of around 490ºF, and a year of just under 4 days. […]
The Trappist Family of Planets has a hard core!
In February of 2017, a team of European astronomers announced the discovery of a seven-planet system orbiting the nearby star TRAPPIST-1. Aside from the fact that all seven planets were rocky, there was the added bonus of three of them orbiting within TRAPPIST-1’s habitable zone. Since that time, multiple studies have been conducted to determine whether or […]
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Category Archives: festivals
End of an Era: Goodbye, Nursery School
And so it begins. The end of the start of the rest of my children’s childhood. By which I mean our youngest daughter graduated from nursery school / kindergarten. Thinking back, we’ve been coming to our local nursery school every … Continue reading
Who was that Masked Flu Avenger?
Looking back now, I can laugh. The first week of February was rough. My wife had to work both weekend days, at the end of an already exhausting end-of-semester work week. I had also had little sleep. The previous month, my … Continue reading
O-shougatsu
New Year’s lasts one night of drinks and one day of college football in the US, but in Japan the holidays lasts for three days. Actually, for many the New Year’s holidays start on December 29th, giving the typical worker a … Continue reading
Summer Festival: Beat your own drum!
Four months ago, we gave away our long-used/abused baby barriers. Yesterday, we helped our children celebrate their nursery school’s summer festival. Time flies… Once again, my wife volunteered to be a member of the Ai-go-kai (愛護会, literally “love protection association,” … Continue reading
Nursery Schools: Part II (Finally)
As I posted some time ago, we were fortunate that my oldest daughter was able to enter a city-approved nursery school. We were even more fortunate to have first choice on a new housing plot that wasn’t even technically on … Continue reading
Nenmatsu-nenshi
I’ve spent the past five New Year’s at my in-laws’ house in Kagoshima, in the southern island of Kyushu. “Family” consists of my wife’s parents, my brother-in-law (who works at a hospital and is usually on call and/or working throughout … Continue reading
Hina Matsuri
Last Wednesday (March 3) was the Hina-matsuri in Japan. Hina-matsuri (usually translated as “Doll’s Festival,” sometimes “Girl’s Festival”) is celebrated by setting up a display of dolls in the house by families that have female children. Since our daughter is … Continue reading
