This is from CNN:

"In a breathtaking discovery, scientists working on a remote Indonesian island say they have uncovered the bones of a human dwarf species marooned for eons while modern man rapidly colonized the rest of the planet.

"One tiny specimen, an adult female measuring about 3 feet tall, is described as "the most extreme" figure to be included in the extended human family. Certainly, she is the shortest.

"This hobbit-sized creature appears to have lived as recently as 18,000 years ago on the island of Flores, a kind of tropical Lost World populated by giant lizards and miniature elephants." They used to make tools and had their own language.

"It is arguably the most significant discovery concerning our own genus in my lifetime," said anthropologist Bernard Wood of George Washington University, who reviewed the research independently.

So, maybe once upon a time, humans and Hobbits lived side by side. And all those folk stories about Dwarves and Elves and stuff, so breezily dismissed by cynics today, might well have been true. I can imagine somewhere like Iceland or Ireland, where food is scarce, it would be the perfect place for a tribe of little Dwarves to live. And maybe in Iceland they live on (although according to the stories I heard in Iceland, they are dying off because they have been infected with some kind of AIDS-like disease, and they can't reproduce.)

Here in Japan at the moment, it is earthquake central. You probably heard about it on the news. I decided to stop being a wuss about earthquakes and enjoy the fear factor. I have got an American friend who lives near where the big earthquake hit on Saturday night (Niigata Prefecture). He was working at an English conversation school teaching a university professor when the Big One hit. Books started flying out of the shelves, furniture was turning over, kids were screaming -- and the professor sat at the table totally impassive, sitting there like a rock, arms crossed, face showing no sign of emotion. The American, meanwhile, was getting a little panicky, thinking about ducking under the table... when suddenly the professor started laughing. "What are you laughing at?" the American said. "I am laughing because I enjoy watching you squirm," the Professor said. "You Americans, you always show too much emotion. This is the Japanese way, the Samurai way. Never show fear. Never lose your dignity." And he went on sitting there, while the earthquake raged.

That is the kind of poise I want. Total mastery over the senses. Perhaps if I stay in Japan long enough, I will pick it up.