Trafalgar Square is in the heart of London, and is home to Nelson’s Column, one of the UK’s most famous landmarks. It also contains an empty plinth (the base for a statue). For the last few years, various artists have contributed temporary artworks to occupy the plinth. Now is the turn of Antony Gormley, one of Britain’s most famous artists.

His idea is to have real people, who have volunteered, to stand on the plinth for one hour, each and every hour between 6th July and 14th October 2009. That will be 2,400 people, doing whatever they want to do for sixty minutes. The project is called One & Other, and it is happening right now. You can watch the event live at this website:

UK Web Archive

If it were you on the plinth, what would you do?

There are some great artists playing at Summer Sonic in Osaka this year, not least Sonic Youth and Aphex Twin. My number one recommendation however, has to be Phoenix. I saw them at Club Quattro in Shinsaibashi in 2006, and it was one of the best gigs I have ever seen. They come from Paris, although they sing in English, and their songs have a very distinctive sound: melodic, simple, and always memorable. Their new album “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix” has just been released. I prefer their previous album, “It’s Never Been Like That”, but the new one is definitely worth a listen, especially the single “Lisztomania”:

Summer Sonic 2009 – Phoenix – 1901

If you get the chance, see them for yourself at Summer Sonic:
PHOENIX | LINEUP | SUMMER SONIC 09

イマジン語学スタジオでは、英会話を学んでいただく場所として、できるだけ快適な空間作りにこだわりました。使用している椅子もこだわりの一つです。開店の際に内装を手掛けてくださったisDesign（兵庫県芦屋市）の岡田さんが勧めてくださったのが、スウェーデンの家具メーカー・ラムホルツ社のキャンパスチェアでした。シンプルですが曲線が奇麗でとても気に入っています。

北欧家具はここ数年日本でもずっと人気ですが、90年代にデザインされたこのキャンパスチェアが今もなお人気なのは、飽きのこないシンプルなデザインだからだと思います。木製でクッションはないのでもちろん柔らかくはありませんが、硬い椅子だからこそ脳が働き集中力が高まると聞いた事があります。デザイン＆用途とも上手く調和しています。

In April my mother and aunty came to Japan for a holiday. They went to many places including Kyoto, Hiroshima, Nara, Hakone and Takayama. Luckily, I was able to join them on one of their trips. We went to a place which was different from anywhere else I had previously visited in Japan: Koyasan, the home of Japanese Buddhism.

After taking the local train and then a cable car high up into the mountains, we arrived in this extremely beautiful location and then took a bus to our Shukubo. The monks at our Temple lodging were really friendly and helpful and they prepared a simple but tasty vegetarian meal for us in the evening and, in the morning, we were invited to attend the morning meditation ceremony – a very interesting experience!

Koyasan is such a quiet and relaxing place, it was nice just to walk around the area and see the temples and cemetery, and take in the fantastic scenery and fresh air. We only stayed for one night but I think we all felt a positive effect from the place so, if you haven’t already been, I’d definitely recommend a visit to this unusual but magical part of Japan.

With the cherry blossom in full bloom, and the sun shining brightly, it seemed like the perfect time to visit Kyoto. There were lots of beautiful things to see as ever, but the highlight for me was a gentle stroll down The Philosopher’s Walk（哲学の道）.

The last time I was there was in the autumn and the maple leaves provided a bright red backdrop to the canal and its many bridges. This time however, the colour scheme was a wash of pale pink, with the slightest gust of wind causing a blizzard of petals to fall into the water. It reminded me that nothing lasts for ever, so it’s better to simply enjoy the moment while you can.

いま展示している山内裕美さんの展示替えにともなうパーティを、先日行いました。よくギャラリーで展示会初日に行う「レセプション」のようなものです。英語では ‘Launch party’ と呼びます。（ Lunch じゃないですよ。）

パーティには、メンバーさんをはじめスタッフや作家さんの友人も参加いただきました。50名近くの方が来てくださり、おかげさまで今回も楽しい時間を過ごすことができました。芦屋だけでなく大阪、西宮や神戸からの方もお越し頂きました。中には東京からのお客様も。お越しいただきまして本当にありがとうございました。この場をかりて御礼申し上げます。

前回の展示とは雰囲気がまたガラっと変わった空間になりました。ご興味のある方はパーティに限らず、作家さんの作品を見るだけでも来て頂ければ光栄です。

This is a popular competition in Europe, which takes place in spring every year. Each European country performs a song, and then they vote for the best one. It’s Europe’s version of the Red & White Music Festival（紅白歌合戦）. It started in 1956 and is always hosted in the country of the previous year’s winner. This year the lucky country is Russia!

To be honest, most of the songs are pretty bad, but it’s a lot of fun and there are many ‘interesting’ songs and costumes. Probably the most famous act to win Eurovision is Abba. They won in 1974 with their song “Waterloo”, and after that they became popular all over the world. My favourite Eurovision song is called “Making your mind up” by Bucks Fizz – it won in 1981 (representing the UK – yay!), and is a perfect example of a catchy, Eurovision pop song!

Check it out:
1981 UK: Bucks Fizz – Making your mind up (1st place at Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin)

For more information about this year’s contest in Moscow, go to:
Eurovision Song Contest

I love trying food from countries I’ve never been to. It’s a great way to visit new places without having to get on a plane. In that spirit, I’ve just come back from Sweden – and I can highly recommend it. We went to Ikea the other day, with great plans for buying a new coffee table. We couldn’t find any furniture we liked, but the Swedish food store was great. We bought lots of foods we had never tried before, and had a Swedish feast. In the picture is some gravlax (a sauce made from dill which goes very well with salmon), smoked salmon (one of my favourite things), Swedish blue cheese, and pickled herring with dill (a Swedish speciality), all on dried bread flavoured with cardamom. It was delicious – I’ll definitely be visiting Sweden again soon.

One of my favourite trips in Japan was to Naoshima, a beautiful island in the Seto Inland Sea. We travelled by car to Takamatsu and then took a ferry to the island. I remember seeing a huge black and red pumpkin on the pier waiting to greet us as we arrived.

This was one of many pieces of contemporary art on display, some in museums and some on the beach! We stayed in a fantastic hotel designed by Tadao Ando, and ate a gorgeous dinner there later that evening. We were on the island for less than twenty-four hours, but it felt a lot longer. The combination of fresh sea air, amazing art, tasty food and the beauty of the location resulted in an unforgettable trip; I’ve been recommending Naoshima ever since!

For more information about Naoshima:
ベネッセアートサイト直島

イマジン語学スタジオでは、タイムテーブルの中でご都合の良いレッスン時間をご自由に選んで予約いただけます。月曜日を除く土日祝日も営業しています。毎週異なる曜日・時間に予約いただいている方も多いため、ご予約頂いた一営業日前にブッキングメールとしてお知らせしています。何時の予約だったのか前日にメールで確認いただけるので大変便利です（このサービスを利用いただくには、メールアドレスの登録が必要です）。

レッスン終了後には、担当させていただいた講師よりメールでメッセージが届きます。当日習ったレッスンの復習にもなり、後で読み返せる事ができ、英語で書かれたメールを読む練習にもなります。返事をいただく必要はないのでプレッシャーになることもありません。ご心配なく。