おめでたい奴 A Simple-minded Man

 

おめでたい奴

人間は物事を勝手のいいように解釈するようだ。勝手に導き出した結論によって心配するというようなことがある。

実は、恥ずかしながら、上記のような体験をしたのでここに記しておきたい。

小生は物語を書くことを趣味としている。その範囲は長編、中編、短編、掌編、はたまた童話や児童ものにまで及ぶ。広範囲だからと言って自慢している訳ではない。今までに数えきれないほど落選している。

　今年の1月に応募したのは「アンデルセンのメルヘン大賞」である。我ながら素晴らしい作品ができたと思った。主人公は地球君だ。地球君が土星や木星や彗星や月をうらやましく思って、自分もあのように美しくなりたいと思う。彗星が近づいてきて、「地球さんほど美しい星はないですよ」という。自分では気が付かなかったが、端から見ると美しく見えるのかと思い直し、他の星々をうらやましく思うのを止める話である。

大賞を受賞すると、３０万円とデンマークペア旅行などが副賞として授与される。

ここから、あらぬ妄想が沸き起こり「もしペア旅行が当たったらどうしよう」と気になり始めた。わたしは８１歳だし女房も後期高齢者だ。デンマークまでの長時間飛行に耐えられるか。ロシアのウクライナ侵攻でモスクワ経由は駄目だろうから、コペンハーゲン空港までの飛行時間は１４時間ぐらいになるかと思った。エコノミークラスの飛行だから、私達夫婦は体がもたない。もし、ペア旅行が当たったら、主催者に頼んでビジネスクラスに代えてもらうしかないと思った。差額はこちらが負担するのは勿論だ。あれこれと心配することが多くなって来た。「何と言ったって、体を鍛えておかなければ、デンマーク旅行は無理だと思い、毎日５０００歩き、階段を登り、運動をして体を鍛えた。

結果の発表が正式には４月２日であったが、先日主催者からぶ厚い角封筒が届いた。落選なら便箋一枚しか入っていないので、ひょっとして入選したかと思った。

ドキドキして開封したら、なんと……。

落選。

残念、無念。でも良かった。もう心配しなくて済む。ゆっくり眠れる。

この３か月間、あれこれ空想するのは愉快であった。次回も狙ってみよう。次回の締切は来年１月１０日の予定だ。

A Simple-minded Man

Man tends to interpret his environment as he wishes. He even worries about the consequence he has deducted from the interpretation.

    In fact, I am ashamed to confess that I myself suffered from such a situation.

My hobby is writing stories that covers novels, short stories, and children’s tales. Mind you, I am not boasting about my writing, for a great number of my pieces have been rejected so far.

I applied for the Andersen’ Fairy Tale Contest this January. I thought my piece was excellent. The protagonist is the Earth. She envies other planets such as Saturn, Jupiter, Comet, and the moon. She wants to be as beautiful as those celestial bodies. Comet approaches her and declares, “You are the most beautiful stars in the universe.” She first does not believe what Comet says because she cannot look at herself from a distance. Later, however, she thinks it may be true. In the end she does not envy them, but is proud of herself.

If I win the first prize, the organizer, the Andersen Group, will give me 300,000 yen an airline pair tickets to fly to Denmark.

Here, my imagination got the better of myself and wondered what if I won the first prize. I said to myself, “I am 81 years old and my wife 77. Can I endure the long-distance flight? Since Russia is invading Ukraine, the airplane cannot use Moscow Airport. Therefore, the flight may take more than 14 hours to fly to . The prize tickets are economy class. So, my wife and I cannot fly for such a long time squeezed in narrow economy class seats. I should ask the Andersen Group to change the economy class seats to business class ones. I am ready to pay for the balance amount.”

I continued to wonder day after day for three months until the prize winners’ announcement. I thought I had to strength my muscles for the severe flight to Denmark. I began to walk more than 5000 steps a day, climbed stairs in subway stations, and took daily exercise.

The official announcement date was April 2, but the other day, earlier than the announcement, I received an envelope from the selection committee. Usually, the envelop that announces rejection is thin, but it was thick. So, I thought I might have won the prize.

My heart pounding, I opened it.

And alas, I was rejected. The envelope contained five picture post cards that showed the pictures of a scene in the last year’s winners’ fairy tales.

I was sorry not being selected, but I enjoyed myself for three months during which my imagination ran wild.

I am going to apply for the next year’s contesMan tends to interpret his environment as he wishes. He even worries about the consequence he has deducted from the interpretation.

    In fact, I am ashamed to confess that I myself suffered from such a situation.

My hobby is writing stories that covers novels, short stories, and children’s tales. Mind you, I am not boasting about my writing, for a great number of my pieces have been rejected so far.

I applied for the Andersen’ Fairy Tale Contest this January. I thought my piece was excellent. The protagonist is the Earth. She envies other planets such as Saturn, Jupiter, Comet, and the moon. She wants to be as beautiful as those celestial bodies. Comet approaches her and declares, “You are the most beautiful stars in the universe.” She first does not believe what Comet says because she cannot look at herself from a distance. Later, however, she thinks it may be true. In the end she does not envy them, but is proud of herself.

If I win the first prize, the organizer, the Andersen Group, will give me 300,000 yen an airline pair tickets to fly to Denmark.

Here, my imagination got the better of myself and wondered what if I won the first prize. I said to myself, “I am 81 years old and my wife 77. Can I endure the long-distance flight? Since Russia is invading Ukraine, the airplane cannot use Moscow Airport. Therefore, fhe flight may take more than 14 hours. The prize tickets are economy class. So, my wife and I cannot fly for such a long time squeezed in narrow economy class seats. I should ask the Andersen Group to change the economy class seats to business class ones. I am ready to pay for the balance amount.”

I continued to wonder day after day for three months until the prize winners’ announcement. I thought I had to strength my muscles for the severe flight to Denmark. I began to walk more than 5000 steps a day, climbed stairs in subway stations, and took daily exercise.

The official announcement date was April 2, but the other day, earlier than the announcement, I received an envelope from the selection committee. Usually, the envelop that announces rejection is thin, but it was thick. So, I thought I might have won the prize.

My heart pounding, I opened it.

And alas, I was rejected. The envelope contained five picture post cards that showed the pictures of a scene in the last year’s winners’ fairy tales.

I was sorry not being selected, but I enjoyed myself for three months during which my imagination ran wild.

I am going to apply for the next year’s contest. The dead line date is January 10 in 2025. The dead line date is January 10 in 2025. 

君たちはどう生きるか（映画） The Boy and the Heron (animation)

 君たちはどう生きるか（映画）

人生論の映画と思い、映画に行かなかった。

ところが、最近、アカデミー賞を受賞した。長編漫画賞受賞らしい。

アカデミー賞を受賞するくらいだから見る価値があると思って観てきた。漫画の画像と音響効果は巧くできていた。登場人物、動物など表情を上手く描いていた。

ところが、話の筋がさっぱり分からない。何かの目的達成のために主人公が努力する映画でもない。二番目の母親との葛藤を描いてもいない。話すことができる鶴の化物の意味、ペリカンの意味、大叔父の存在の意味、死んだ母親が溶ける意味、ふわふわ浮く丸い物の意味、反戦映画でもない。

正直、つまらなくて映画の途中で帰ろうと思った。でも、金を払ったから最後まで見たが、何が何だかさっぱり分からない映画だった。

宮崎氏は一体何を伝えようとしていたのか。どこが良くてアカデミー賞を受賞したのか。

１００点満点で１０点ぐらいの映画であった。時間と労力と金の無駄であった。

The Boy and the Heron

I did not go to see this movie because I thought it told how young people should live.

Recently I learned that the film won the Academy award for the best animated feature. I went to see it for I thought it would be worth seeing.

The graphics and the sounds were excellent. The characters and the animals were also well made.

However, I did not understand the whole plot.  It was not a film where the protagonist works hard to attain his goal. It does not describe the conflict he faces against his step mother.  I did not understand the meaning of the speaking strange spooky crane. Nor I understood the meaning of his great grandfather. What does the melting mother mean? What are the floating objects in the air? It is not antiwar film, either.

Since the film did not attract me at all, I often thought I would quit seeing it. But I paid a lot of money for the ticket. So, I endured till the end. It was worth 10 points out of 100.  The movie was waste of money and time.

 

 

AI アナウンサー AI Announcer

 AI アナウンサー

最近のNHKのニュースを読むアナウンサーはAIである。以前と違って、読み方がとても巧く、まるで人間のアナウンサーが読んででいるように聞こえる。しかも、一定のリズムで、淡々と読み進め、間違ったり、とちったり、詰まったりはしない。完璧なアナウンサーである。

ところが、余りにも完璧であるので、聞いていて嫌になることがある。機械が読んでいるからだ。少しぐらいは間違えてもいいのに、全く間違えないのは愛嬌がない。NHKのベテランのアナウンサーでも、時々間違えることがある。

それまでは、二三回たて続けに間違えると、プロのアナウンサーのくせに、間違えるとは怪しからんと思っていたが、これでいいのだ。To err is human.という言葉があるが、だれにも過ちはあるもの、この世に間違いをしない人はないのだ。アナウンサーが間違えると、ほっとする。人間らしい。血肉を感ずる。人間のアナウンサーだ、と安心する。怪しからんと思うどころか、結構なことではないか。

そのうちに、AIアナウンサーも態と間違えて読むようになるかもしれない。A

AI Announcer

Recent NHK TV news is read aloud by an AI announcer. It reads smoothly and rhythmically without making any mistakes. It never stutters nor mumbles. To hear him or her reading some news, you would think it is read by a professional announcer.

However, I feel uneasy listening to it because an artificial intelligence or, I should say, a machine is reading it. Naturally, the way it reads is impeccable. I even detest it. Why doesn’t it make any mistakes? It is cold and heartless. I know that even NHK’s veteran announcers sometimes nod.

      Until recently I had blamed them for their mistakes. “Oh, again. He shouldn’t make any mistakes. Isn’t he professional?” I used to say to myself.

But that is all right. To err is human.  Anybody will make a mistake. There is nobody in the world but makes an error. When an announcer makes a mistake, I forgive him. He is not a machine but a human. Because he is a human announcer, I am relaxed. Isn’t it nice that an announcer is human?

     Probably in the near future, an AI announcer may stutter.