Seventh heaven beckons with this album review of Low-Life by New Order. Review Number: 7Review Date: 13 May 2025 Album: Low-LifeArtist: New OrderCountry: EnglandRelease Date: 1985Genres: Synth-Pop, Dance-Pop “Let’s go out and have some fun.” Not a small step for a band, but a giant leap for Mancunians. Just as New Order’s second album Power, […]
Images of Morioka, Kanazawa and Fukushima. March 2025. “Morioka is the capital city of Iwate Prefecture located in the Tōhoku region of northern Japan. The area of present-day Morioka has been continuously inhabited since the Japanese Paleolithic period. “Kanazawa is the capital of Ishikawa Prefecture in central Japan. The name ‘Kanazawa’, which means ‘marsh of […]
Images of Kawasaki and Takasaki. January 2025. “Kawasaki is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, one of the main cities of the Greater Tokyo Area and Keihin Industrial Area. “Takasaki is a city located in Gunma Prefecture. Takasaki is famous as the hometown of the Daruma doll, theoretically representing the Buddhist sage Bodhidharma and in modern […]
Images of Yokosuka, Shizuoka, Hamamatsu and Utsunomiya. November and December 2024. “Yokosuka occupies most of Miura Peninsula, and is bordered by the mouth of Tokyo Bay to the east and Sagami Bay on the Pacific Ocean on the west. “Shizuoka is the capital city of Shizuoka Prefecture, and the prefecture’s second-largest city in both population […]
From Machiavelli to musketeers, it was a memorable year for literature. Here’s my list of 51 books read and rated in 2024. (* Indicates it has been read before.) Five stars The Tale of Genji, Murasaki Shikibu, c. 1021The Inheritors, William Golding, 1955The Satyricon, Petronius, c. 63-65Julius Caesar, Shakespeare, 1599*Oedipus Rex, Sophocles, c. 429 BCThe […]
A review of Michael Radford’s film 1984. Review Number: 5Review Date: 30 October 2024 Title: 1984Director: Michael RadfordStars: John Hurt, Suzanna Hamilton, Richard BurtonCountry: United KingdomRelease Date: 1984Genre: Dystopian Sci-Fi, Drama “April the 4th, 1984. To the past, or to the future. To an age when thought is free. From the Age of Big Brother, […]
Images of Tallinn, Arvo Pärt Centre, Narva and Tartu. May-July 2024. “Tallinn is the capital and most populous city of Estonia. It is situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea. It is located 187 km (116 miles) northwest of the country’s second-largest city, […]
Images of Vilnius. July 2024. “Vilnius is the capital of and largest city in Lithuania and the second-most-populous city in the Baltic States. Vilnius is notable for the architecture of its Old Town, considered one of Europe’s largest and best-preserved old towns. The city was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994. The architectural […]
Images of Riga. June 2024. “Riga is the capital, primate and the largest city of Latvia, as well as the most populous city in the Baltic States. Riga was founded in 1201, and is a former Hanseatic League member. Riga’s historical centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, noted for its Art Nouveau/Jugendstil architecture and […]
Images of Helsinki. June 2024. “Helsinki is the capital and most populous city in Finland. It is located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and serves as the seat of the Uusimaa region in southern Finland. Approximately 675,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.25 million in the capital region and 1.58 million […]