“The Heart is Strange” by xPropaganda – Heaven from ABBA in Hell

In my previous post I mentioned the appropriateness of finishing a book on nuclear culture having just given a presentation on a related subject at a conference in Cologne, where we also visited a nuclear shelter. That wasn’t the only bit of synchronicity that happened. While I was in Cologne, xPropaganda (the current name for…

Book Review: “British Nuclear Culture” by Jonathan Hogg

I have been reading this book carefully for a few weeks now, but it’s appropriate that I reached the end this week. I first came across the book when I heard the author, Jonathan Hogg, speak at Troubling Anniversaries Conference in 2021. Now, like coming full circle, I’ve just finished the book having given a…

Music Review: Pet Shop Boys Live

Having previously done a review of a concert that featured Altered Images, Tom Bailey, and The Human League, I’m doing one about the Pet Shop Boys concert that I went to last night. This was the second time that I have seen the Pet Shop Boys (one of my favourite acts), and again, like both…

“Hiroshima – Nagasaki – Fukushima – Articulations of the Nuclear. The Case of Japan” Conference

As noted in my previous post (Splitting Atomic Symbolism: Words, Images, and Sounds of a Nuclear World), last week I attended the “Hiroshima – Nagasaki – Fukushima – Articulations of the Nuclear. The Case of Japan” Conference at the University of Cologne. It was a fabulous conference and I wanted to say some more about…

Splitting Atomic Symbolism: Words, Images, and Sounds of a Nuclear World

Last week, I attended the “Hiroshima – Nagasaki – Fukushima – Articulations of the Nuclear. The Case of Japan” Conference at the University of Cologne. It was a fabulous conference and I will do a further post about it. In this post I will say a bit about my presentation. It is planned that a…

Favourite Photos: Nagasaki Hypocentre

On some days I just do a short post that primarily revolves around a favourite photo without much accompanying text. This picture was taken during trip to Nagasaki in 2020. I chose this image as my mind is focussed on the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and other nuclear issues, due to attending a…

Favourite Photos: Genbaku Dome

On some days I just do a short post that primarily revolves around a favourite photo without much accompanying text. This picture was taken during trip to Hiroshima in 2013. I chose this image as my mind is focussed on Hiroshima, and other nuclear issues, due to attending a conference at the University of Cologne…

“Japan Sinks – People of Hope” – Japan Gets That Sinking Feeling… yet again.

I have previously written a post about the two movie versions of Nihon Chinbotsu (日本沈没) known as ‘Japan Sinks‘ in English. I had studied the two versions discussed in that post for my article about disaster movies. After that I came across an animated version of the story on Netflix (see “Japan Sinks 2020” –…

Book Review: “To Hell and Back” by Niki Lauda

This book had been on my wishlist for quite some time, but I held off on getting it. The main reason for this was a silly reason in many respects. One of my favourite films is ‘Rush’ (dir. Ron Howard, 2013) and it contains one of my favourite sequences from any film and I was…

Book Review: “Family Money” by Chad Zunker

I got this book as part of Amazon Firsts, where you get a free book a month or so before the main release. I’d not read any books by this author before, but I will certainly be having a look at the others he has written. Usually when I review a book, rather than go…

Is it the End that Counts? The Blades are in the Playoffs

Yesterday I did a post discussing how It’s The Journey, Not The Ending, That Counts. I also suggested that one of the reasons why I feel like this is thanks to my exposure to Japanese literature/culture. But there is an elephant in the room. What about the world of sports? Surely here it is the…

It’s The Journey, Not The Ending, That Counts

I have been planning on writing this post for a while now, but hadn’t found the right time to do so. A few things came together over the last week which meant that the time seems right. As noted in a number of posts – for example, most recently Being Prepared For An Accident –…