About the Author
Hello, this blog is about my life as a father, Buddhist and Japanophile / Koreaphile. Any useful information I can pass along will hopefully make the Internets a better place. Thanks for reading!
Category Archives: Dune
Coffee and Tea: My Adventures and Woes
This post is dedicated to reader “Kendall” who inquired about this recently. Coffee has been my life for years. I am sure I have spent thousands of dollars in the last 10 years drinking nice coffee from the many excellent … Continue reading
Appearances Can Be Deceiving
Wow, I recently found out about this song and video by the provocative Korean group, Brown Eye Girls (mentioned here as well), and I had to share it. The song, Cleansing Cream, is quite an inspired piece of cinematography, but … Continue reading
The Water of Life
The spice extends life. The spice expands consciousness. –Dune, 1984 This is me grinding some excellent coffee by Caffé Vita, a local “micro-roaster” here in Seattle. Many parts of the world are famous for wine varieties, but Seattle? Coffee. We … Continue reading
Posted in Dune, Seattle
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Suck it up!
I found this in an old notebook of mine recently. It was something I clipped out of an issue of GQ Magazine probably 9 or 10 years ago, then taped onto the inside of the notebook cover: I think that … Continue reading
Posted in Dune, General, Literature
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The Trouble with Power
This is one of the last poems found in the Hyakunin Isshu anthology. I found it thought-provoking: [93] 世の中は Yo no naka wa つねにもがもな Tsune ni mo ga mo na なぎさこぐ Nagisa kogu あまの小舟の Ama no obune no 綱手かなしも Tsuna … Continue reading
Posted in Dune, Japan, Religion, Taoism
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Harvest Time!
As October draws to a close, it’s harvest time. It’s fitting that the first poem of the Hyakunin Isshu poem anthology talks about this: 秋の田の Aki no ta no かりほの庵の kariho no io no 苫をあらみ toma wo arami わが衣手は waga … Continue reading
Shogi Master vs. Machine
The game of shogi or Japanese Chess is something I haven’t discussed in a long, long, long, LONG time in this blog.1 For a time before I moved to Ireland, I played Shogi regularly with co-workers and a few Japanese … Continue reading
Posted in Dune, Japan, Shogi, Technology
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Bad Habits
Recently, while looking for a different quotation I found this one from the Dhammapada: 371. Meditate, O monk! Do not be heedless. Let not your mind whirl on sensual pleasures. Heedless, do not swallow a red-hot iron ball, lest you … Continue reading
Posted in Buddhism, Dune, Religion
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Speaking out against Domestic Violence
This is pretty off-topic from the usual blog-ness, but a while back on Twitter, someone had posted a link to this article in The Guardian, featuring the story of Patrick Stewart and his troubled youth under his abusive father. Yes, … Continue reading
Posted in Buddhism, Dune, General, Religion
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Dune and the Absolute
From the book God-Emperor of Dune: In all of my universe I have seen no law of nature, unchanging and inexorable. This universe presents only changing relationships which are sometimes seen as laws by short-lived awareness. These fleshly sensoria which … Continue reading
Posted in Buddhism, Dune
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