Sunday, December 26, 2010

Hoff Greetings for the Year of the Rabbit – 2011兔


In 2010 Anton (20) took an apartment off campus with a friend for his sophomore year at USF. His Tokyo summer internship at RAGE was a great success. He’s now officially a business major and worked part time at the San Francisco Japan Town video shop.

Thor (18) visited colleges on the west coast in June and is now in his senior year at ASIJ. His summer internship with Cartoon Network involved translating for the integration of a newly acquired company into Turner Broadcasting’s Japan operations. He’s studying hard to get into his first choice – University of Washington in Seattle; he’s already accepted at USF and Hofstra.

Naomi’s students at Sacred Heart middle school sewing class continue to inspire her. She has a regular round of tennis weekly and has taken up golf again with a new set of Taylor Made clubs. She has also begun a new career as costume designer for ASIJ’s plays. The first batch of fish have all died, so she’s restarted with three more.

Paul continues FTSE work throughout Asia Pacific focused on major pensions and sovereign wealth funds. He also specializes in helping ETF managers launch funds based on custom FTSE indices. In June Paul and Thor shared a week of campus visits in Portland, Seattle and San Francisco, then he and Naomi visited Norm and Barb Quinn on St Thomas & St John. Paul and Kimiko Owens celebrated their 60th with a big Izu party featuring flamenco dancers and a jazz band with Hideaki Yoshioka on piano.

The photo is of a noren Naomi made for the entrance to the restaurant where the Aka Tora 60th birthday was held. Anton and Thor got a shock seeing it hanging there!

This last picture is of Naomi with our good friend Mayumi Jones at the Masseys' party celebrating their second departure from Japan. This time to Sydney.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

FTSE Tokyo Team in late 2010

Roger dodging himself

The Sarradins at home in the west Parisien suburbs



I knew Denys in Osaka in the mid 1970s. We reconnected when I found him in the INSEAD alumni book.

Mr Adrian Hope & his martini one night in London

La Tour Eiffel - 2010 at the end of November









I wandered near the Eiffel Tower on a Friday, going to art museums, taking photos, watching the tower and dodging the weathers changes.

Saturday, October 09, 2010

Monday, September 06, 2010

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Lenny Bruce


I took Lenny Bruce's autobiography off the shelf to reread his description of what had influenced him in his life. At the end of How to talk dirty and influence people he says:

I have been influenced by my father telling me that my back would become crooked because of my maniacal desire to masturbate...by reading "Gloryosky, Zero!" in Little Annie Rooney...by listenting to Uncle Don and Clifford Brown...by smelling the burnt shell powder at Anzio and Salerno...torching for my ex-wife...giving money to Moondog as he played the unturned pails around the corner from Hanson's at 51st and Broadway...getting hot looking at Popeye and Toots and Casper and Chris Crustie years ago...hearing stories about a pill they can put in a gas tank with water but the "big companies" won't let it out - the same big companies that have the tire that lasts forever - and the Viper's favorite fantasy: "Marijuana could be legal, but the big liquor companies won't let it happen"...Irving Berlin didn't write all those songs, he's got a guy locked in the closet...colored people have a special odor...James Dean is really alive in a sanatorium...and Hitler is waiting to book me for six weeks in Argentina...
It was an absurd question.
I am imfluenced by every second of my waking hour.

I can relate to that last sentence...every second of my waking hour!

Monday, August 09, 2010

Nothing special

Just a damn good saxophonist.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

A Poem from a hotel


May the wing of winds please her mind
May the light of love please her soul
May the sweetest scent of all kind
May her dream, fold on fold she finds

Sunthon Pu
1786-1855

Flying the Malay Colors in Izu

Saturday, July 17, 2010

My wife asleep


A peach margarita and a few glasses of sake with dinner really puts her out quick.

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Tokyo Boating compliments of Dick Schultz




Dick has the licence and the marina membership to rent motor boats. Yeah, Dick!!!

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Santa Clara's Library Storage System

Farallon with Levines






A great dinner at San Francisco's Farallon with Russell, Olivia and Barbara. Oysters started us off into crab cakes, walleye, scallops, duck, dessert and fine wines. It was great to see them at the end of Thor's college search.

Friday, June 25, 2010

Thor's 20th


Thor finished this round of college visits at Santa Clara University. We've seen twenty schools, four of which were Jesuit like SCU. He liked them all - BC, Seattle, USF and SCU.

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Back to Oyster C



I can't get enough of the scampi at Oyster C. Had a lovely night eating French, Namibian, Irish and Dutch oysters.
This was a bad hair night. I had run from the hotel where I had a late afternoon swim.

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Dinner with the Marshalls at the Hong Kong Club




Roger and Miki were in Hong Kong, so I invited them to dinnner Saturday night at the prestigious Hong Kong Club. We had a leisurely, delicious meal.

Sunday, June 06, 2010

Mr Churei's report on the Akatora Kanreki Party


赤沢通信(65)号外 「赤寅会」抒情 *  安芸潮 赤沢村の属する行政区域は八幡野ですが、国道135号線に沿ってささやかな店舗群が並び、伊東市から来ると左手に相模湾、右手に大室山が控えています。海側の一帯には温暖な気候に恵まれた別荘地のほか役所の出先機関や郵便局・学校・消防署などが点在し、山の手側は夏の暑さを凌ぐに適したいくつかの別荘地が散在しています。ただひとつのパチンコ遊戯館以外どこにも華やかな歓楽施設はありません。ところが、時にといっても何年に一度という程度の頻度ですが、素晴らしく華やかなダンス・シヨウやジャズのライブが開かれる機会があるのです。地域の名だたる美女や美男は言うに及ばず、関東一円は当然として国籍もアメリカや中近東というのはちょっと定かではないのですが、数十名の名士たちが集まってきます。眉唾物と思われるかもしれませんが、これは夢幻の世界のことではなく、現実の話なのです。さて、今回の会の名は「赤寅会」、場所は建物の二階全部を借り切った「そば処えびな」に招集がかかりました。名誉ある招待を受けたのは私ども夫妻を含めて、極めて限られた人たちです。時は平成二十二年五月二十九日土曜日の夜。この会を企画し、主宰したのはポール・ホフならびにオーエンズ貴美子。(以下もすべて敬称略)片や体重百二十キロ、背丈二メートル弱の巨人、片や日本人離れした背丈の色白の才女、ともに東伊豆周辺でその存在を知らぬ人はいないぐらいの有名人です。ポールは祖先を辿ればノルウェイから南下したNorman ConquestのVikingの血を引いていますが、憎いことにこれがなかなかの美男子。マイクもほら貝もなしに朗々たる日本語と英語を駆使しててきぱきと会を進行させます。フラダンスを皮切りに賑やかに始まったパーテイはたちまちフラメンコダンサーたちの情熱的な踊りとステップで会場を熱気の渦に巻き込みました。貴美子は踊りとカンテ(歌い手)の一部を受け持って赤寅の女王の貫禄を示したのはさすがです。(因みに赤寅とは赤いちゃんちゃんこを着せられた還暦祝いのメンバーを指しています)延々五時間を越えて八幡野の夜を煌煌と輝かせたパーテイの圧巻はなんといってもまずフラメンコ、中でもカンテのゆきじ、こと杉村有紀代。その声量・苦悩に満ちた表情としぐさは流浪の民ジプシーの血を受け継いだ魔性の雰囲気があります。床を踏み鳴らして舞う名だたるダンサー数名の見事なリズムにはただうっとり。会場はアルコールの香気の中で一気に盛り上がりました。続いて一服の休憩の後にベース、ドラムとサックスのリードでジャズのライブです。即刻そのテンポを頂点に引きあげたのはピアノの吉岡秀晃、宮崎生まれで岐阜・関東をはじめとする全国ライブで一躍ジャズ界にのし上げてきた経歴を知らずとも、たちまち聴衆は魂を奪われて陶然・陶酔そして小刻みにリズムを踏み始めます。何よりも吉岡秀晃自身の微笑のあふれる躍動的な表情がいい。ダンステンポに変わると、ポールがこらえきれずに中央の舞台に駆け上がって腰をくねらせ奇声を上げると会場はもう手が付けられません。建物を揺るがして老若男女が踊り狂う有様です。若いころ多少はジャズに熱中したといっても今即座に思い出せるのはサッチモやプラッターズくらいのもの、そんなど素人でしかないのに、私は演奏が一段落した合間を見計らって初対面の吉岡秀晃に会って握手を求めたのです。「いや素晴らしい演奏!あなたの表情は特に魅力的ですな。ところで余計なお世話ですが、あなたは女性ファンとトラブルを起こす卦が出ていますよ。ご用心!」咄嗟のひと言に相手は虚を突かれたか一瞬真顔になりました。彼の親友の平崎建築士に話すと「満更当たらずとも遠からず。彼は驚いたでしょう」とにやりと笑ったものです。(平成二十二年六月)

Saturday, June 05, 2010

Tokeso - the passion flower


Today's flower from the fence between our house and the landlord. A harbinger of the rainy season....
Blue Green Fish Vase

The hydrangeas at the back of the garden

Our backyard


I regularly use the Jacuzzi to relax. Naomi wanted it, but she rarely gets in it. Nobody cuts the backyard. So it grows full of weeds. The landlord next door is just as bad. He has a gardener come to trim everything twice a year. I think they're coming soon......

Mussells Saganaki


I enjoy the Greek food at Santorini in Seoul. Where else are you going to get mussells saganaki on the peninsula???

Anton & Thor at the Izuvian sylvan abode


Anton's home from USF and working at RAGE, an Akasaka PR firm. Thor is going to be a Senior at ASIJ next year. Soon he'll start his college applications.

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Kanreki Party in Izu






Thanks everyone for coming!
--
Fortune favors the prepared mind. - Louis Pasteur

Akatora Noren


Naomi made a noren for the party. We took the tiger face from a Christian Audigier iPhone cover bought for HK$10 in the Mongkok market in Hong Kong.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

What a day for golf!

Dan Videtto is a member at Narita GC, so I called him up and got a foursome to go out on a perfect day. We played Bingo Bango Bongo. This is also the course where Tiger played before he went off to Australia with one of his Bimbos.