I am English and of modest means but I absolutely loved the Royal Wedding and all the pomp and pageantry that went with it. If anyone could not feel proud to be British that day, then I feel they must be missing something in their lives, I'm not sure what. I think the Royal Family are incredibly inexpensive to the country when you consider what they bring in through tourism and prestige. I'd rather pay extra for their presence and maintaining the status quo, than for all the benefit scroungers, health tourists, support for migrants who don't integrate, binge drinkers and anti social behaviour which must cost the country a fortune, with little in return. Heaven help the U.K. if we ever ditch the Monarchy and become just another boring backwater of republican western Europe. There's no such thing as equality and there wouldn't be under a republic either. I prefer the richness of the aristocracy and I think Britain holds it's place in the world politically, socially and economically, not to mention militarily, because we have the Royal Family. I don't care for all of them, but as an institution they are a valued treasure and must be maintained. I loved the way Miss Middleton bowed her head at the required moments out of respect. I feel a bit sorry for her in a way, what she's letting herself in for, for the rest of her life, but yes, for many of us thankfully, it was a glorious day and I'm so glad to hear that so many in America and elsewhere, enjoyed it all as much as we did. I am very proud of it and do so without feeling in any way inferior to any of them, just appreciative that we have this here.

Because it is a widely held belief outside of Japan I'll probably get in trouble for saying it, but no. That has not been my experience. Fujiyama is the tallest and most sacred location in Japan and is recognized as "The" countries symbol. It is by far the most depicted landscape in all of Japan. Back in the day, it was believed that the great Kami's/God's of Japan resided at the top of Fujiyama, and until the latter 1800's, foreigners were not allowed to set so much as one toe on the mountain. While Fujiyama depictions may be more prevalent in goods produced for foreign customers, it in no way excludes an item intended for a domestic market. Of course, if an item depicts Fujiyama, a Crane, and a fuku/seiko/shiawase kanji, that would be kind of like putting Mt. Rushmore, The Statue of Liberty, and an American Bald Eagle on a plate. That would seem to indicate that it was intended for tourist/foreign markets. KWIM? In the case of this bowl, it is more typical of what you might see in a Japanese home... the depiction of Fujiyama simply lending that the hall/location pictured is religiously sacred. However, it really isn't very common to see "titles" of a depiction on the underside of items intended for domestic sale. So, while the depiction itself may be more "authentic", titling it on the underside would seem to indicate an intended outside market. I'm no expert, but the opinion is free :-)

Hi, Natal, it was this morning's Diane Rehm's show. I reread what I wrote and should have stated associated with the oil and gas industry as many suspect the correlation lies with the W VA gas extraction taking place near the epicenter of yesterday's quake. There are oil extraction problems as well, but I mistyped. Long before yesterday's rumble, there have been lots of concerns raised about the gas exploration/extraction fracking. Congressional hearings are underway because of the serious water depletion associated with the practice as well as the water, soil & air pollution from fracking, not to mention uranium and several hundred other toxins involved. I'm not very confident that our government will take appropriate measures at this juncture. WY, CO, NY, W VA, VA, AL, and LA are just some other states where the alarms are being sounded. Of course, TX where this practice originated is deeply affected though long controlled by big oil & gas as is our home state, LA. Lawsuits are being filed in several states, but this is a huge problem that by and large the public is not tuned into yet. It's frightening how short term big oil and gas interests might outweigh our preservation.

Whew, I'm glad there doesn't appear to be any serious damage from yesterday's quake. Being a CA native, I've experienced hundreds of quakes but the largest was the 1971 Sylmar jolt. Right after it happened, the USGS said it was 6.8 but it was later revised down to 6.6. Still, it was fierce! I was 20 years old, newly married, & living on the second floor of an older apartment building in Tustin near the Santa Ana line. My memories are that the quake hit at 6:05 a.m.; but Wiki says it was 6:00:55 a.m. I was standing at the bathroom sink brushing my teeth getting ready to head off to work. My husband was at the other end of the apartment. At first, neither of us much reacted but as the quake built in intensity he yelled at me to get out of the building. By that time, everything in the apartment was toppled over, the kitchen looked like a war zone, & our bed had flung itself through the sliding glass doors leading to our miniscule balcony. We ran outside barefoot & still in our nightclothes. The shaking lasted one full minute...a very long time. We got outside & there were lots of other people all of us scared. A hole opened up in the road about 3' long & a few inches wide lifting the pavement. Stucco was flying off the apartment building into the street. We decided we were better off back inside. It all happened so quickly it's like a blur in my memories. Anyway, all TV & radio stations were knocked off the air so there was no communication in the first few minutes. Within 30 minutes the stations were back on the air with emergency power. Still though, nobody knew where the epicenter was or how bad the quake had been. Shortly after the quake there was an aftershock that was almost as large as the initial quake but it didn't last as long. Communications just weren't as good in '71 as they are now. I called my Dad at his office knowing he would have been on the road at the time of the quake. Mom had been killed 5 months earlier & Dad was still reeling from that so I knew the quake would have really jarred him. He'd been on the 605 freeway at the Cerritos exit when the quake hit. It moved his car to the right 3 lanes of traffic. Dad said he thought he'd had a heart attack. It took him a couple minutes to realize what had happened. Back then, the 605 was not heavily traveled & there weren't a lot of other cars around so no accidents. Both my husband & I went to work as normal because we didn't know what else to do? I was working for Allergan Pharmaceuticals & our offices were still in the old facility in Tustin. The Irvine tower was nearing completion & we were scheduled to move into the new facility within a month. I got to work & couldn't get inside...too much damage to the building. We all just hung around outside talking for hours. Most of us had sustained damage at home & didn't want to return there & it felt safer in a group. We still didn't know how bad it had been. There just wasn't the news helicopters & stuff then as now. By mid-morning, we knew it was bad. The VA hospital collapsed & lots of freeway overpasses were down. I remember the worry that the dam was going to break & flood thousands. I eventually went back home but by then the fire department was at our building & wouldn't let anybody inside. So, I went to where my husband worked. They were all gathered outside in the parking lot. He worked for Varian (an electronic company) & there were tons of overhead wires in the building that had come down so they couldn't get inside their facility either. We just hung out there in the parking lot for a couple hours huddled around our car radios. Dad's house had some damage but it was superficial so we went to his place to stay the night. Dad's secretary lived in Huntington Beach. Her place was damaged to the point she was afraid to stay overnight in the house (she was a widow) so she was also at Dad's. We had to find a new apartment. Ours was too damaged to live in for months. We were so lucky though. Had that quake hit an hour later the roads would have been packed with commuters on their way to work. The death toll would have been much greater. The movie 'Earthquake' came out about a year later (not sure of exactly when?). It was about the quake. We went to see it at the Pantages Theater. They had placed vibrators under all of the seats & at the moment the quake hit in the movie they turned on the vibrators! Everybody in the theater screamed!! It was just like going through the quake again...I've not liked disaster movies since. Once you've been through a big quake like this one or that horrible Loma Prieta quake you just never forget it. And your senses get very fine tuned. Years later, I was living in southern NH. I woke up early in the morning & shook my now DH awake saying, "Wake UP! We've just had an earthquake!" He told me I was dreaming...go back to sleep. Well, the next morning, sure enough...we heard on the morning news there'd been a quake at the Canadian border. DH has never experienced a quake so I guess that's why he didn't sense it like I did? Everything is so much better today. Better building codes, communications, news availability, emergency services, etc. If you drive from LA & head over the Grapevine you can still see the fault breaks from the '71 quake. I was last over the Grapevine Jan. '06 & pointed them out to DH. I am very glad everybody's OK & that damage is minimal. /tricia