神谷千尋 - 空よ海よ花よ太陽よ

HY - NAO

榎本くるみ - イエスタデイズ ～大切な贈りもの～

冨田ラボ - アタタカイ雨 feat.田中拡邦 (MAMALAID RAG)

KOKIA - 歌う人

KOKIA 歌う人
Uploaded by utadalove

Bartok - Romanian Dances

Jan A. P. Kaczmarek - The Park On Piano (from Finding Neverland)

豚インフルエンザ拡大状況マップ

View H1N1 Swine Flu in a larger map

元ちとせ - あなたがここにいてほしい

手嶌葵 - Alfie

手嶌葵 - 虹

Internet Symphony

YouTube Symphony Orchestra

Rie Fu - Life is like a boat

Anton Webern - Langsamer Satz

押尾コータロー - 桜・咲くころ

Maria Mena - I'm on your side

城之内ミサ - かたりべ

小田和正 - さよならは言わない

エストニア大使館

今日見た中では一番好きな大使館。形と場所がいい感じにマッチ。

大使館通り

キプロス大使館に行って大使から話を聞いた。去年のキプロス行き授業のおまけ（？）。キプロス大使館（一番上の写真の茶色い建物）はいわゆる大使館通りにあるので、周りも大使館でいっぱい。なかなか壮観なエリアです。






引率してくれた教授は「ワシントンではこういう機会を気軽に作れるからいいね」と言ってました。確かに。

Departures

「おくりびと」がアカデミー賞受賞。

英語版タイトル「Departures」がなんか上手いなぁという感じがする。と言うか、むしろ元のタイトルよりいいかもしれない。死者の送り出しと主人公の新たな門出という意味合いが一語に含まれてるし。

受賞ページに載っている過去にノミネートされた日本映画のタイトルを見ていると、日本語そのままだったり、直訳だったり、イマイチな感じがする。DODES'KA-DEN、なんてサイテー。何のことかさっぱり分からない。映画自体を見ていないので内容は知らないけど、今回の受賞はそういう細かい部分も含めて改善された結果・・・なのかも。

※関係ないけど、昨年のノミネート作品「それでもボクはやってない（I Just Didn't Do It）」は日本の司法制度の遅れを指摘する格好の材料になってしまったみたい。。この前のインタビューでCSISのMike Greenが引き合いに出してたくらいなので・・・。

（追記）
映画サイトをやっててよかったと初めて思った - Tech Mom from Silicon Valley（2/23）に邦画PRについて書かれてました。

松竹も...最近は海外PR担当者が積極的に情報を流したり、プレスイベントに招待してくださったりするので、特に今回の「おくりびと」については（これも松竹）、意識して継続的にニュースをカバーしてきた。おそらくは、アカデミー会員に対するPRや海外プレス対応なども、前回の「清兵衛」のときよりもずいぶん積極的にやったことだろう。今回の受賞には、そんなことも貢献しているのかもしれない、などとも思っている。

週末授業

この週末は朝9時から夕方5時まで授業。Practionerとしての心構えのレクチャーだけど、ややセラピー系？で何だかよく分からないままに終わりそうな予感。周りもそんな雰囲気。。

とは言え、この授業の講師のおかげで3月のゴルバチョフの講演会のチケットを入手。3月にも同じような授業があるが、そこにはノーベル平和賞ノミネートの元エクアドル大統領が来るらしい。何故か大物に縁のある春。

National Symphony Orchestra: Charles Dutoit, conductor/Yuja Wang, piano, plays Prokofiev

RAVEL - Le Tombeau de Couperin
PROKOFIEV - Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 16
STRAVINSKY - The Firebird (complete ballet)

状況が日に日に切羽詰まって来ている中、演奏会へ行ってきました。Charles Dutoitでお気に入りのクープランの墓が聴けるということで我慢できなかった・・・。

プログラムはまさにDutoitの演奏会という感じ。クープランの墓はきらびやかな音の花火。プロコフィエフのピアノ協奏曲は重戦車。驚異的な速さのパートをいとも簡単に弾いた中国人のYuja Wangには終演後ブラボーの嵐。火の鳥も鮮烈なクライマックスで幕を閉じ、こちらも聴衆は総立ちの拍手。

素晴らしい出来でした。一流の指揮者が紡ぐ音は異次元。

Quotes of the Day

Technology is dominated by two types of people: those who understand what they do not manage, and those who manage what they do not understand.
- Putt's Law

http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/877.html

情けないニュース

１．今ニュースを見たら地元の市長が収賄で逮捕されたと出ていた。最初から胡散臭かったがやっぱり・・・。収賄の額も半端で余計に小物ぶりが露呈する結果に。。。

２．酔っ払い前大臣の件。事が明らかになった途端、「これまでも酔っ払ってたのを知ってた」という報道多数。じゃあ、何で今まで書かなかったのか・・・。社会の木鐸が聞いて呆れる。日本の報道機関は信用してはいけません。。。

３．修士論文、遅々として進まず。。。

CSISでインタビュー

CSISのMike Green氏にインタビュー。

インタビュー依頼元の希望を打ち砕くような内容だったが、自分としてはもやもやしていた部分がすっきりした。以前のインタビューもそうだったが、何の肩書の無い上に英語も拙い学生に忙しい中しっかりと意見を聞かせてくれるのには感激。そういう姿勢は見習いたいものです。

まぁ、そんな立場になれるかは別として。

広沢タダシ - サフランの花火

広沢タダシ オフィシャルウェブサイト

リスケ

今日の午後に入っていたCSISのMike Green氏へのインタビューは来週に延期。忙しい中時間を作ってもらえるだけでもありがたい。

ほとんど家の中で過ごす日々が続くとだんだん時間の感覚がずれてくる。気を付けねば・・・。

aiko ピクミンの替え歌を歌う

笑。

真冬のポメロ

フィリピンのダバオで食べて気に入った果物、ポメロ。最近近くのスーパーに並びだした。嬉しくてすぐに購入。このサイズで2.5ドル。


皮をむくとこんな感じ。あとはひたすら手でもいでいくのが正解。果肉が硬めなのでデリケートに扱う必要は全く無し。


やっぱり美味しい！しばらくはポメロ漬けになりそうな予感。。。

SAISでインタビュー

-10℃の寒い朝、SAISまで行ってインタビューをしてきた。インタビューしたのはSAIS教授のRust Deming氏。元国務省次官補代理 朝鮮半島・日本担当。

肩書がすごくてインタビュー前は大丈夫だろうかと思っていたが、いろいろ話してくれるいい人だった。インタビュー後の雑談で「神戸総領事館に勤めていたので生田神社とか懐かしいなぁ。」と言われ、親近感がさらにアップ。

大したインタビューでは無かったけど、いい経験でした。

眼鏡破損、再び

今朝起きて眼鏡を持った途端、左の鼻当てが外れた。買ってからまだ2ヶ月も経ってないのに・・・。


去年同じ部分が破損した時は折れていたので修復不能だったけど、今回はねじが外れただけ。早速Eyeglass Screwdriver（日本製。一番良さそうだった。）をAmazonで注文。今はスペアのを掛けています。

しかし、、何故こうも鼻当ての不具合が続くのかは不明。一度も落としてないし、普段置く時も負荷のかからない箇所なのに。。

2月

2月になった。そろそろ本腰を入れて論文を書かないといけな時期。

テーマはSocial Exclusionが中心になりそう。とにかく量を書く、それが今月の目標。言うは易し。。。

この週末

1月24日
Mount VernonのGeorge Washingtonの私邸観光について行く。建造物は特に何の面白みも無かった（古いヨーロッパの建物と比べて、”作りました”感に溢れていた・・・）ものの、景色は最高。久々に心地よい自然を満喫。



夜は単独行動でNSOのコンサート。
Emmanuel Krivine(Conductor)/Yundi Li(PIano)のRavelのピアノ協奏曲は素晴らしかった。Yundi Liのピアノは力強く豊穣。Chopin弾きと言われているけど、Ravelとの相性も抜群だと思う。

1月25日
朝方4日間一緒だった同居人が帰国。出発予定時刻10分前にPCを開けてインターネットを始めたのには参った。早めに行くという観念が無いのにはある意味感心する。。その後、洗濯と部屋の掃除。

真冬の観光

昨日から部屋に客が1人泊まっています。アフガニスタン人。格安IP電話を使ってパキスタンにいる両親とパシュトゥン語で話すのを聞いていると、世界は広いなぁと感じます（笑）。昨日はジョージタウン、今日は世銀・ホワイトハウス～合衆国議会議事堂を案内するも、とにかく外は寒くてしょうがない！


今日はArmitage International訪問にくっ付いて行き、生のRichard Armitageを一瞬見ました。ワシントンDC圏にいることを再確認。

Obama's inauguration speech

間違いなく、歴史になる日。

BBC - Moment of history as Obama sworn in

My fellow citizens:

I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and co-operation he has shown throughout this transition.
Key words used by President Barack Obama in his inaugural address.

Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms.

At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because we, the people, have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, and true to our founding documents.

So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.

Serious challenges

That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.

These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land - a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.

Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America - they will be met.

On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.

Nation of 'risk-takers'

We remain a young nation, but in the words of scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted - for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things - some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labour, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.

For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and travelled across oceans in search of a new life.

For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and ploughed the hard earth.

For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn.

'Remaking America'

Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift

This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions - that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.

For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act - not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. All this we will do.

Restoring trust

Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions - who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage. We reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals

What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them - that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply.

The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works - whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account - to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day - because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.

Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control - that a nation cannot prosper long when it favours only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our gross domestic product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on the ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart - not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.

'Ready to lead'

As for our common defence, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our founding fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and we are ready to lead once more.

Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with the sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.

We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort - even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the spectre of a warming planet. We will not apologise for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defence, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.

'Era of peace'

For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus - and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.

To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West - know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.

'Duties'

As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages. We honour them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment - a moment that will define a generation - it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.

For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.

Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends - honesty and hard work, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism - these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths.

What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility - a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.

'Gift of freedom'

This is the price and the promise of citizenship.

This is the source of our confidence - the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.

This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed - why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than 60 years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.

So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have travelled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:

"Let it be told to the future world... that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive... that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it]."

America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.

Thank you. God bless you. And God bless the United States of America.

レミオロメン - 夢の蕾

-11℃

外はかなり寒い。。。明後日から雪が降りそうなので、明日は買い物に行かねば・・・。

DC帰還

陽光のサンフランシスコ、雪化粧のシカゴを経て、一か月ぶりにＤＣに戻って来た。ワシントン深夜着だったものの、何の問題もなくタクシーで帰宅。

短期決戦（予定）のMaster's Thesisが終われば、無事卒業への道が開ける。そこまで頑張るのみ。