The cultural options in a metropolis like London are (or should be) vast and sometimes it is difficult to choose. But I had no doubts when I looked at the flyer for the National Gallery exhibition on Thomas Cole (1801-1848). I didn't know this English born American painter but I did know his paintings. Something we learn soon after we walk into the room is that Mr. Cole was not painting landscapes only for aesthetic reasons but because he was an eager environmentalist and cam

When you reach a Buddhist temple in Japan you will be received by fiery faces and imposing muscular bodies. I am not talking about the monks who inhabit the temple but about the Nio, a pair of scary looking gate keepers who guard Buddhist knowledge and tradition. They are not the only ones; gods, demi gods, demons and warriors stomp their feet, slash the air with blades and show their teeth in temples across the country. They are the Kami. Gods of the Wind and Thunder, Heaven