WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A new chemical compound, part-cat  and
part-human, may provide an end to misery-making cat  allergies,
U.S. researchers reported on Sunday.
http://reuters.uk.ed10.net/t/105CE/QP8U8/OS/4C5PV
Posted for the interest of certain cat-owners and cat- ( Read more... )

Happy birthday my dear lilitufire!

Yes, I did lose track of the number of days, so your card will not be there today (even though I know you are not)...

Oh well, I'm sure I'll find some way to make up for that :)

Just caught up with my expenses for the last several months... Yen 1,108,210 (~£5,500) claimed in six claims.  That and the fact I've finally completed negotiations of this year's pay rise (back-dated to last July) - also to be paid in April, should give me a cash-flow boost ( Read more... )

Elephant family are popular with us.
Their humming makes us feel happy.
Seen on a paper shopping bag being carried by an older (60+) Japanese man in the lift in my office building.

"PARIS (Reuters) - Funds with more money under management charge
lower fees than those with only a small amount of assets because
of economies of size, says research group Fitzrovia, a Lipper
company."

I'm sure there's more to the story than the headline, but based on the précis given it sounds like a misuse of statistics to me. It would be ( Read more... )

[Well almost] I'm currently in the air over Canada en route to New York for the remainder of this week.  Have a client dinner tonight, followed by teaching a training course for a group of international Internal Auditors tomorrow, meetings on Wednesday and leaving the US on Thursday afternoon to arrive back in Tokyo just in time for the leaving due ( Read more... )

fissiparous - adjective

1. Reproducing by biological fission.
2. Tending to break up into parts or break away from a main body; factious.

Seen used as 'fissiparousness' (noun) in this article on the North Caucasus in The EconomistI like The Economist (as those who read here regularly will know), finding it well written and informative and ( Read more... )

For those who haven't already read about it on lilitufire's journal, here is a taste of Sapporo's 56th Snow Festival...

( Cut for size... A 15m high castle of snow! )

If these are the best British songs of the last 25 years... please!
Brits25: Best song award
Joy Division: Love Will Tear Us Apart
Kate Bush: Wuthering Heights
Queen: We Are the Champions
Robbie Williams: Angels
Will Young: Leave Right Now

Source: The Guardian
Now, I know this is a very personal and subjective thing, but Will Young on a list of ( Read more... )

Well, as promised, a brief post from the BA lounge at Heathrow as I start my journey back to the Tokyo mayhem that I'm sure will await.  I've had a remarkably restful few days away from all contact with a work computer, email and other distractions - which has given me some opportunity to recharge my batteries.  I'm convinced I'll need them all and ( Read more... )