In this age of reality TV, cheap exhibitionism and superhuman feats, is there still space for the common man? Justyn "Jup" Brown's reply is a resounding yes. When talking about himself, the 39-year-old New Zealander says, "I'm just a plumber," even though his eclectic talent ...
FROM ABOVE, by Paule Saviano. Contents Factory, 2011, 256 p.p., ¥8,000 (hardcover) The twentieth century had, among other things, the dubious distinction of being one of the bloodiest, deadliest times in world history. Wars, genocide, mass murders, etc, aided by the best technology available at ...
My New Year's resolution back in January was to survive this year, and many more to come, which means keeping myself and my family as far from harm's way as possible. Unfortunately, staying healthy in the atomic age is far from easy, particularly after the ...
Coincidence can shape people's lives in many ways. Ask Mark Hammond, and he will certainly agree. Indeed, chance seems to have pushed his life and artistic activity into unpredictable directions. While attending college in the United States, he was more interested in broadcast journalism and ...
Question: What am I doing outside my home at 6 a.m. with a gas can, a pump, and stalactites under my nose? Answer: I'm swearing. I know, this is only half the answer, but at zero degrees Celsius my brain has the tendency to freeze up. ...
Last of two parts When talking about books, there are not as many polarizing issues as the contrast between chain bookstores and independent booksellers. Many people blame the former group for the gradual disappearance of the latter. Without demonizing the big chains, independent shops have traditionally ...
First of two parts In these fast times of visual candy, instant gratification and attention-deficit disorder, how can book lovers pursue their "slow food for thought" pleasure while avoiding both Amazon.com and the impersonal big chain bookstores? For foreigners who live in or around Tokyo ...
There are people for whom traveling means reading a guidebook on the couch in their home, or lounging by a swimming pool in a posh sea resort. Then there are those who, like Sarah Outen, can't wait to go out there and see the ...
Halloween is that time of the year when the occult, macabre and humorous come together to create a festival of fear and fun for all the family. A celebration of death and demons with its roots in pre-Christian Europe, the summer's-end spook-fest has morphed ...
If supernatural beings are a form of energy strongly connected to violent death and tragic events of the past, then Japan is the perfect breeding place for such phenomena, says Lilly Fields, a "certified paranormal investigator" who has lived in Japan for more than ...
