Plenty of Nothing

Crabapple Sky

Matchbox Diary

An Osaka antiques dealer has discovered a diary dated 1959-61 written on the inside of matchboxes. Story. It really ought to be published as a smart phone novel.

Unarigoe, Chapter 5, Page 17

Tekisui Ishii

This is a book illustration by Tekisui Ishii, to be found opposite page 20 of Etsu Inagaki Sugimoto's A Daughter of the Samurai (1934 Doubleday edition). Note the snow on the trees and the girl's bare toes. The signature in the lower left spells Tekisui in katakana. Ishii also illustrated Etsu Sugimoto's A Daughter of the Nohfu, and Chiyono (a daughter of Etsu) Sugimoto's Picture Tales From the Japanese. All of these people seem to have lived and worked in the United States in the 1920s and 30s.

Saints Versus Terrors

Celtic Park in black and white days.

It's the final of the Scottish Cup today: Dundee United versus St Johnstone at Celtic Park. This is the first time since 1998 that the final has not been played at Hampden. The national stadium is under renovation for this summer's Commonwealth Games. It's Dundee United's tenth trip to the Scottish Cup final. They have won twice. St Johnstone have never reached the Final before in all their 130 years. Therefore it is the duty of all good Christian men and women to support the team from Perth against those tangerine bastards.

If St Johnstone win they will become only the third saint to take the Cup, after Bernard and Mirren.

[Saints win 2 - 0 !]

Q: Totting up all competitions (SPFL league games and playoffs, UEFA Champions and Europa Leagues, the Scottish Cup, Scottish League Cup, and Scottish Challenge Cup)(but excluding friendlies, which are often hard to distinguish from reserve matches), what SPFL club played the most games in 2013-14? A: Celtic, with 53 (38 Championship + 12 UEFA Champions League + 2 Scottish Cup + 1 Scottish League Cup). Q: The fewest? A: Arbroath, with 39 (36 League One + 1 loss each in the Scottish Cup, Scottish League Cup and Scottish Challenge Cup). Morton played 42, thanks to a decent Scottish League Cup showing.

Premiership Promotion Playoff action this week: First leg (midweek): Falkirk 1 - 1 Hamilton. Cowdenbeath 1 - 1 Dunfermline. Stirling Albion 1 - 2 East Fife. The second leg is tomorrow. [Hamilton 1 - 0 Falkirk. It'll be Hibs versus Accies in the Premiership playoff. Dunfermline 0 - 3 Cowdenbeath. Cowdenbeath remain in the Championship. Dunfermline remain in League One. East Fife 0 - 2 Stirling Albion. Stirling are promoted to League One. East Fife are demoted to League Two.]

AFC Champions League Round of 16 second leg results: Jeonbuk 0 - 1 Pohang. Pohang advance to the quarterfinals in August. Osaka 1 - 0 Guangzhou, but Guangzhou win on aggregate. Western Sydney Wanderers 2 - 1 Sanfrecce Hiroshima. Seoul 1 - 2 Kawasaki Frontale. Seoul and West Sydney advance thanks to the away goal rule. So all the Japanese clubs are out.

Sevilla won the UEFA Europa League Wednesday.

Yesterday US Boulogne visited Orléans. Orléans won 3 - 1.

Tomorrow Grulla Morioka visit FC Machida. [1 - 1.]

Limited Edition St Johnstone Cup Final Beer. Source.

Head 2

Aoi Matsuri

It's Aoi Matsuri, the day Kyoto dresses up like Heian times. Aoi is commonly translated hollyhock, though the Japanese plant doesn't resemble these at all. Source. See also.

Splat #2

Wheeled Grebe

A toy grebe from Japan. See it at the Mingei International Museum in San Deigo.

Rising Fog

Riesengebirge Landscape With Rising Fog (c. 1819) by Caspar David Friedrich. The painting is in the Pinakothek in Munich. Reisengebirge is on the Czech/Polish border.