From Elder JJZ: On a more serious note[1], really interesting connection between Japan and the establishment of the rice industry in Texas. We know many of the people or descendants mentioned in this article . They put up with a lot of bad stuff in the 1900’s but aren’t bitter, made a good life for […]
Category: Asia
In the previous BLOTT, we reviewed Elder X’s claim that WLBOTT had a wanton disregard for reality. It should be noted that Elder X is from Canada. Because of the language barrier that exists between Canada and the United States, we’re not sure of Elder X meant wanton or wonton. First, we had to educate […]
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Pho the Love of God
Pho, the delicious Vietnamese soup, is always on the menu at the WLBOTT Test Kitchen and Cafetorium: The Ladle & Lube. Pho-rcaster: Fortunes and Pho In our tireless search to increase shareholder value, we will be opening a pho restaurant that includes certified, twine-based fortune telling. We are calling it Pho-rcaster. For a small fee, […]
There’s a pretty cool story about the Korean tidal energy project at Sihwa Lake. Here’s the net: Success! The International Hydropower Association has an interesting overview of the project: The 552.7 GWh of [annual] electricity generated from Sihwa tidal power plant is equivalent to 862,000 barrels of oil, or 315,000 tons of CO2 – the […]
Now let’s follow some semi-sequiturs related to The Golden Temple. A Conversation with Elder G Elder G: You’re thinking of the Golden Temple in Amritsar, India—also known as Sri Harmandir Sahib. It’s one of the holiest sites in Sikhism and home to the world’s largest free kitchen, called the Guru Ka Langar. Here’s a breakdown […]
WLBOTT has long been fascinated by the Sikh Golden Temple, in the Punjab region of India. We are especially fascinated by the free communal meals, called “Langar”, and the generosity and egalitarianism shown by the Sikh community. The Golden Temple (also known as the Harmandir Sāhib lit. ’House of God’, Punjabi: harimandara sāhiba pronounced [ɦəɾᵊmən̪d̪əɾᵊ saːɦ(ɪ)bᵊ], […]
Today we look at the stories portrayed in the 1964 Japanese ghost story anthology film, Kwaidan. The Black Hair “The Black Hair” (黒髪, Kurokami) is adapted from “The Reconciliation” and “The Corpse Rider”, which appeared in Hearn’s collection Shadowings (1900). An impoverished swordsman in Kyoto divorces his wife, a weaver, and leaves her for a […]
Lafcadio Hearn’s short story, Mujina, from Kwaidan – Stories and Studies of Strange Things, depicts a creepy Japanese supernatural creature called a noppera-bō, or mujina. No-Face / Spirited Away No-Face is a fascinating character in the Japanese animated film Spirited Away. Insightful article on Comic Book Resources: The CBR is a pretty cool web site. […]
The following short story is from the 1905 edition of Kwaidan – Stories and Studies of Strange Things, by Lafcadio Hearn. Illustrations by Elder G. MUJINA On the Akasaka Road, in Tokyo, there is a slope called Kii-no-kuni-zaka,—which means the Slope of the Province of Kii. I do not know why it is called the […]
Lafcadio Hearn, author of the book Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things, moved to Japan in 1890. He initially arrived to work as an English teacher in Matsue, a city in the Shimane Prefecture. Hearn became deeply fascinated with Japanese culture, folklore, and traditions, eventually settling in Japan permanently. He married a Japanese woman […]