Sunday, July 31, 2016

Koike Becomes Tokyo Governor

NHK and other media announced that Ms Yuriko Koike will win Tokyo governor election right after closed the polls. Among two other main candidates, Koike looked preferable to them. Torigoe looked too left and Masuda looked as a puppet of the LDP Tokyo branch. 
Koike will be the first Tokyo's female governor. I hope she won't step down by scandals like former two governors. 
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Saturday, July 30, 2016

Busy Busy

I've been busy for work. And I'll be busy this moth. Thanks for my customers. I'm dying for busy. 
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Friday, July 29, 2016

1000th Post

My blog posts have reached 1,000 today. I began to post in 2008, but once I stopped posting. I restarted to post in November 2013 and since then I've been posting a blog every day. 
I'm not good at writing in English, so you can find lots of mistakes in my posts. Forgive me, this blog is only for my fun. I just enjoy writing something in English. 
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Thursday, July 28, 2016

Life of Pi

I took "Life of Pi" for my next audiobook. I once read the book in English. It was really interesting story. But to tell the truth, I had hard time to reading the novel because of my poor English skills. 
I prefer listening to English novels, so I'll try it again if I can understand it well. The recording time is over 11 hours. I can enjoy it at least a week. 
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Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Tear Down This Wall Speech

I'm listen to an English audiobook about American history lecture. One of the topics today was the Cold War. In the lecture, I could hear a famous President Reagan's Brandenburg Gate speech. I used to listen the speech many times. I even read aloud again and again. I really like the famous "Tear down this wall" address. 
And I realized that the audiobook was left only 30 minutes now. It has 24 hours long lectures. I finally came here. I'll finish if tomorrow. I have to search next audiobook later. 
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Tuesday, July 26, 2016

A Massacre in Japan

Nineteen handicapped people were killed and others were injured by a knife attack in Kanazawa prefecture. The suspect, Uematsu, broke into a facility for people with disabilities around 2:30 a.m. and attacked with knives.  
According to news reports, Uematsu shouted 'I want to get rid of the disabled from this world.' It was insane and too selfish thought. The massacre seemed well prepared. 
This was a grim and unforgivable masscre. Police and prosecutors should investigate this case in detail. The extreme penalty is not enough to the murderer. 
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Monday, July 25, 2016

The Invention of Television

Today's American history was about television. Television has changed the world. In 1940s, TV broadcast started in the US. It became popular rapidly, and influenced the world. 
If television wasn't invented, JFK wouldn't be the president of the United States, the Vietnam war would last longer. 
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Sunday, July 24, 2016

Izumo Goes to Koshien

I went to watch the final of Shimane high school baseball taurnament today. Izumo high school won over Risshodai Shonan and advanced to Koshien for the first time in their history. Izumo is a public school and it was the first time in 12 years for public schools to go to summer Koshien. 
Almost every audiences there seemed to cheer Izumo high school. That was a great advantage for the team. I was sorry for Risshodai Shonan high school then. 
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Saturday, July 23, 2016

American History

I'm listening to an American history lecture with Audible app. The era was FDR and Great Depression. 
The US GDP dropped two thirds. F. D. Roosvelt became the president of the United States and he worked hard especially the first 100 days. 
The next topic was The Manhattan Project. Einstein's letter was the starter. 
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Friday, July 22, 2016

Pokemon Go Becomes Available in Japan

At last, Pokemon Go has released in Japan. The app was first released in the US, Australia and New Zealand on 6 July. And since then, the game has been a global phenomenon. 
My son has got the app and enjoy catching monsters. He even caught them in the living room. I don't play Pokemon, but it looked fun and funny. 
In the US, a news reporter played Pokemon Go in the White House while canference and was pointed out by the Press Secretary to the President. 
They said that playing Pokemon outside may be dangerous. You should be careful on the road. 
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Thursday, July 21, 2016

Russian Athlete Banned for Olympics

Russian track and field athletes won't participate Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro this year. The games will start next month. 
The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) claimed that Russian authority lead doping to Russian athletes. They even swapped positive urine samples for clean ones to pass doping tests. 
I'm really sorry for the athletes. I don't think that most of them can reject doping becaus of pressure from the government. Russian authorities should revival the facts to the world. 
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Wednesday, July 20, 2016

The American Civil War

I'm listening to an American history lecture audiobook. Now, I'm at 1880s, after Jim Crow law had passed. The American Civil War lead Emancipation Proclamation, but it was like the time slipped back to before the Civil War. 
The lecture I'm listening doesn't have specific explanation for the American Civil War. I used to listen to VOS's The Making of a Nation. The program was far more detailed, so I was unsatisfied. Audible has the American Civil War lecture. That is 24 hours long. I think I should get the lecture next. 
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Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Republican Convention

I follow some media on Twitter and Facebook. Today's main news was Melania Trump's speech at US Republican Convention. She is Dnald Trump's wife. 
Her speech was obviously similar to one of a Michelle Obama's speech. Melania Trump copied Michelle's famous 2008 Democrats Convention speech.  
How come Trump's stuff didn't notice Melania's plagiarism? Didn't she practice her speech in front of the stuff? Didn't professional writer write the speech? It was a mystery. 
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Monday, July 18, 2016

Riding Motorbike

My older son enjoys riding motorbike. He took three days off and came home this week. He got up early in the morning and rode has bike. He said he liked riding in the mountain areas. 
When I was young, I also wanted to ride mortorbike, but I only took 50cc bike license. I would buy many mortorbike magazines and read Kataoka Yoshio's novels. Someday, l would get the license and ride a motorcycle.   
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Sunday, July 17, 2016

PL Gakuen

Japan's high school baseball giant PL Gakuen team has vanished. Only 12 seniors were in their last game this summer. They didn't have sophomores and juniors because PL had stooped recruiting new players any longer. 
The glorious baseball team won seven Koshien titles and has provided many professional baseball players. 
What happened to PL Gakuen? One of the reasons might be violences in the team. Sometimes, violence cases bitween students were reported. Graduates often said that they had a very strict rule that juniors had to obey seniors with no reasons. If so, the vanishment would be a deserved result. 
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Saturday, July 16, 2016

Transportation Revolution

I listened to American history lectures with Audible app this morning. One of the topics was transportation revolution in the US. 
The first step was steam boats. Steam boats could shorten traveling time. Rivers played important role for early American transportation. Many big cities appeared along river side. 
And then many canals were made for boats. Many cities combined with canals. Building canals cost a lot. Railroads replaced them. 
That was the outline. 
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Friday, July 15, 2016

Industrial Revolution in America

I'm listening to American history lectures in English with Audible. Industrial revolution was a theme today. The lecture showed how American industrial Revolution started and spread across the nation. The starter was textile industry. 
Another topic was Marbury v. Madison case in 1803. The judge was the most important case in the United States Spreme Coart. But I couldn't understand why it was so important. I read the Wikipedia, but it was so difficult to understand for me. Somehow, I really enjoyed these lectures.
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Thursday, July 14, 2016

Weekly Newspaper

I have a subscription to The New York Times Weekly Review.  The newspaper is only 8 pages long, but I couldn't read through whole articles yet. 
I'm trying to read every articles. If I had a lots of vocabulary, it woul be easy. I should build up my vocabulary more. I have to use dictionary more often. 
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Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Tokyo Governor Election

Tokyo Governor election campaign will start tomorrow. A LDP candidate and other candidates are about to run in the election. 
I don't live in Tokyo, but I'll pay attention to the election. Tokyo is the capital city in Japan and it will be the 2020 Olympics host city. Voters in Tokyo should study candidates policy well and go to vote. 
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Tuesday, July 12, 2016

Philippines Wins Against China

China has claimed almost all of the South China Sea, including reefs and islands also claimed by Philippines and other countries. But, the Parliament Court of Atbitration denyed China's claim on the territory. 
The arbitration said there were no historical evidence of China's territorial right. The court also said that China had caused "severe harm to the coral reef environment" by building artificial islands. 
This judge wouldn't directory influence China's behavior on the water, but it would be a diplomatic pressure on China. 
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Monday, July 11, 2016

American History Lectures

I'm listening to an audiobook, Turning Points in American History with Audible. It was 48 lectures by Professor Edward T O'Donnell. I wasn't sure who he was, though. 
These were really interesting lectures for me and I really enjoyed listening to them. The begging of the audiobook was in the 17th century in Massachusetts. French immigrants tried to settle there then, but they withdraw from it. 
The audiobook is 24 hours long, so I can enjoy long time. 
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Sunday, July 10, 2016

Voting

I went to vote for the Upper House election. I've never missed elections since I had got voting right. I live in Shimane and this prefecture has been marked the highest voting rate every time. 
I can't believe so many people don't use their right to vote. I thing the government should impose a fine on abstain from voting like Australia. 
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Saturday, July 9, 2016

Tired

I was so busy this week. I didn't study English much. But that's ok. 
I finished an audiobook "Certain Girls" and the next one is an American history lecture. I used to listen a VOA radio program "The Making of a Nation", so l'm a little bit familiar with American history. I think I would enjoy the 24-hour audiobook.  
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Friday, July 8, 2016

Busy Busy Busy

I've been very busy. I start working from 3:30am and finish at around 9pm. I can take free time in the afternoon and I try to study English at the time. But I easily fall asleep in the afternoon while opening some English books. My English skills would drop down I guess. 
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Thursday, July 7, 2016

Hot Day

It was reall hot today. It should be the rainy season now, but it seems like midsummer. The temperature was over 30 degrees. I was dying to the heat. 
It will rain tomorrow, so the heat will let up. I can survive tomorrow. 
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Wednesday, July 6, 2016

Elections

The Upper House election is held on next Sunday. Soon after the election ends, Tokyo governor election campaign will start, but main political parties still can't find their candidates. 
If you want to stand as a candidate, you have to away from your current status. If you are a lower house representative, you have to quit the job before the election. I don't think it's a good rule. It should be changed. 
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Tuesday, July 5, 2016

Sun Burn

My older son had a training for sea rescue at beach. It was really hot today. The temperature was about 35 degrees and the sunlight was so strong. He said that he didn't wear sunscreen. He was crazy. Of course, he is suffering a terrible sunburn now. He called to my wife and asked how should he do. We are sorry, but we don't know. Just cooling the body, I think. He might learn the importance of using sunscreen on a day like today.
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Monday, July 4, 2016

Distinguish the Working of Verbs

I'm not good at reading English. Vocabulary and grammar both are my problem. I wasn't serious about English grammar, but I shouldn't ignore the importance. I knew that. Actually. 
I bought "Using Your Brain to Read English" by Yoshiri Minai. It describes how to define verbs. If you can distinguish the working of verbs in a sentence, you can understand it correctly and you can do it with using dictionary, the author said. 
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Sunday, July 3, 2016

Messy Garden

My tiny Japanese style garden looked so messy. It was covered with weeds. So messy. I tried to clean them up in the afternoon. 
It rained hard in the morning and the garden was wet. It helped me to weed the yard. I did it with listening to audiobook with Audible app. It was hot and humid then, so I got sweat hard. Before I got heatstroke, I quit that. I have to continue that next weekend. 
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Saturday, July 2, 2016

Hot

It was really hot and humid today. I really wanted to go skiing. I was almost melting down. The temperature in summer has been rising unbelievably. 
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Friday, July 1, 2016

Practical English Usage

I bought an English reference book, Practical English Usage. Someone recommended the book on Twitter. 
It arrived from Anazon today. I thought the book was a workbook like Gremmar in Use, but it was a reference book. 
I glanced it and it was interesting for me. I could kill time with it. I'll put it in the living room and will read it often for fun. 
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