His name is Jero. His blog is here (both links JP lang. only).

(thx T)

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I still prefer this one, tho:

It made so much sense when I found out in Japan that the number for the popo fire department was 119, because like so many other aspects of Japanese culture, it was the exact opposite of what I was used to. Namely, 911. But it is kind of strange that Thailand has taken the only unique left in that series and dubbed 191 the number for emergency services countrywide.

So the real question is, why don't they standardize the number for emergency services worldwide?

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Flava Flav says "Ho!"

This origami tutorial kind of made me miss my island home on Awaji, with miles and miles of tetrapod coastline. The more times you see tetrapods, the more they start looking natural, beautiful even.

Definitely the best movie poster, ever.

Comes with its own website, too: WWNPHD?

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Kumar Trivia:

• Kumar is supposedly gay in real life


• Kumar was a terrorist on 24


• Kumar was the name of a terrorist state on The West Wing


• Kumar loves Obama

That is all.

Previously in this series: David Palmer for President

"For what those West Wing fans stunned by the similarity between the fictitious Matthew Santos and the real-life Barack Obama have not known is that the resemblance is no coincidence. When the West Wing scriptwriters first devised their fictitious presidential candidate in the late summer of 2004, they modelled him in part on a young Illinois politician - not yet even a US senator - by the name of Barack Obama."

See the full article here: LINK

All I know is that John McCain ain't no Arnie Vinick.

Cosmically sublime.

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My older cousin, Susumu, sat next to one of the members of Jefferson Airplane (don't remember which one - sure as hell wasn't Grace Slick, but there were many members over the lifespan of the band) on a plane ride from LAX to Osaka back in the 90's. He said something to the effect that it was cool talking to someone who was so famous when he grew up.

Myself, I'd rather sit on a plane for twelve hours with Don McLean and have a chat about his greatest hit so someone could finally give this guy some closure.

On ebay:

The World's Greatest Music Collection
3 Million Records, 300,000 CDs, 6 million+ Song Titles

"Every recording in the collection was purchased by the collection's owner over the past fifty years and represents a lifetime of work and his desire to see the music preserved for future generations. Advancing age and health concerns are forcing the owner to sell...

The new owner of this magnificent collection will also acquire (1) the rights to Spin-Clean, the owner's patented vinyl record cleaning system, considered the best on the market by audiophiles the world over, (2) the rights to Discmist CD cleaner, (3) CD Saver 2-part archival CD storage sleeves, (4)Yellow Jacket 45 RPM acid-free archival storage sleeves, (5) ownership of the owner's six publishing companies and eight independent record labels, and (7) more than $100,000 worth of antique recording and listening devices and other music memorabilia currently on loan to a museum."

This collection would totally look good in my room.

Clive Thompson (the Giant Squid Overlord) has just put up a very interesting post: Why C-section births might cause eczema in babies

Now, in the midst of making some very important choices about how our boya is going to be born, this type of information is key in confirming our choice in a natural birth, if at all possible. We know that the C-section is a valuable tool, indeed a life-saving one as proven time and time again, but the reasons we have heard for having one out of want instead of need recently really cause some concern.

Some women who have had them (numerous times in some cases) claim that it's the only way to go, because it's relatively painless and easy. Holy crap, does that reasoning worry me. Some women have advised Nam to have one because of vaginally expansive reasons, which I will not get into in detail, but suffice to say that said women are afraid I will leave my wife if she has a natural childbirth... And some have just been brainwashed by a booming medical business that states that Caesarians are safer and less stressful on the infant and mother - never mind that that stress might be the entire point of natural childbirth.

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On a flip note, if you read the article linked from Clive's post you probably came across the reference to Lund University in Sweden. I've been there, and it's the only place in the world where my eczema acted up besides Japan, for the exact same reason it acted up in Japan - the extremely dry winter conditions.

What is the Red Cross Fair?

Every year in February, for Chinese New Years, the downtown area of Mahasarakham (Maha Sarakham) around the clock tower is swarmed by vendors and street sellers of every kind of unsanitary food and useless street fair item imaginable. Entire avenues are blocked off for a few weeks, both officially, with rolling steel roadblocks, and unofficially, with sheer human mass. This is the Northeast Thai version of Carnival, sans dancing or fucking in the street, since that would take entirely too much energy (this is the tropics, after all). Somewhere at the center of activity is the real fairground area complete with rickety-ass fair rides of death, rigged game booths, sideshows with brightly illustrated signs ten times more interesting than what's inside, and even more of the same unsanitary food stalls and useless crap-sellers. In a word, heaven. But to be a bit more honest, it's just like a fair back home after all is said and done. Except for the motorcycle show.

I saw the "climbing motorcycle show" last year and regretted not having a video camera at the time. The rider was the craziest guy I've ever seen, pulling stunts I'd never even imagined. I won't even try to describe them. Suffice to say, they were some of the most amazing riding tricks I've ever seen - in person, on TV, on the net, EVER.

When the Red Cross fair rolled around this year, I knew I had to get it on film. Unfortunately, it seems that they've cleaned the show up a bit; it didn't have the same impact it had last year, and the rider was different this year. It's of course possible that it was just his day off, but I prefer to believe that he died in a blaze of glory, trying to pull an inverted somersault while doing his stuff.

They've added a car to the show (a Nissan NV) this year and have given the children active roles in it. This is pure hubris, and one can only hope the gods turn a blind eye. Anyhow, without further ado:

From 12 o' clock, clockwise:

• Samoo - A special delicacy of ground pork and a whole bunch of special herbs, from the Ubon area. Nam's mom made a pot of it for us a few days ago, and she's the only person we know who can make it.


• Sukiyaki-sliced beef we found at the local Tesco. I fried it in butter/sesame oil with garlic and sprinkled with coarse ground salt, pepper, and kaffir lime.


• Deep fried tabtim (hybrid tilapia, pink/orange in color). They fry these (and any other fish) up for you at Tesco.


• Tom Ka Gai, spicy/sour chicken soup with coconut milk


• Thai version of a mixed salad with local tubers, pumpkin, and fresh tomatoes

(Thanks to everyone who wrote congratulations - we miss you all!)

Oh, and I'd just like to point out my outstandingly awesome parking skills as seen in this photo...

Earth, sky, sea, and rain
Is she coming back again?
Men of straw sneak a whore
Words that build or destroy
Dirt, dry, bone, sand, and stone
Barbed-wire fence cut me down
I'd like to be around
In a spiral staircase
To the higher ground

And I, like a firework, explode
Roman candle lightning lights up the sky

In the cracked streets trampled under foot
Sidestep...sidewalk
I see you stare...into space
Have I got closer now?
Behind the face

Oh...tell me...
Charity dance with me
Turn me around tonight
Up though a spiral staircase
To the higher ground

Slide show, sea side town

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Above is a partial view from the front of our new house. The view was a major reason why I wanted to build a house here in the first place. If you look closely, you can see the top of my university's administration building (it's a kilo or two away in a straight line, unfortunately, there is no road running straight there):

Since you can see that building from my house, the reverse is also true, of course, and when this house was being built, I used to take my camera and a zoom lens up to the roof in between or after the Master's classes I taught there. I would take photos of the workers dumping trash in the pond or peeing in my backyard and go confront the foreman with it later, saving the photographic evidence for when he swore in front of the developers that nobody would dare do such things (yeah, I'm pretty much the client from hell).

That roof was also my bug-out area when I needed a smoke or wanted somewhere to relax for a few minutes. The door to the roof was always open and it was often the coolest part of the building with constant breezes, even on the hottest days. You could look over the waist-high wall surrounding the perimeter of the roof onto the parking lot, which was green with all the old trees that make my university so nice to walk around, and the people and cars looked like miniature toys scattered across the floor... The nicest part about going up to the roof was that you were pretty much guaranteed your privacy. I went up there at least a couple times a week for six months, and saw maybe four other people in that time.

It's funny what kind of thoughts go through your head when you're looking at people you may or may not know from 16 stories up. I know what I always think of. But there's a big difference between wondering what it would be like and actually stepping off...

Yesterday, one of our seniors jumped off the roof of the administration building and died. What this boy was thinking, I have no idea. The chances are, I don't even know who he is.

But it still makes me sad thinking about it.

did i mess the whole site up again?

to be deleted...

"This blog is devoted to stuff that white people like"

Excellent insights.

I could start a blog called Stuff Japanese-Americans Like, but everybody already knows all we like are studying, gardening, and eating buckwheat soba noodles.

If you think you got skills like the Commander-in-Chief, show us whatcha got: Beatbox the Beagle Basset Hound

Move over, Rahzel:

This made my day. Thx A!

Do you really want to know the whole story, or is the photo just fine by itself? Actually, there's more photos available so you better go check it out: Meet the world's smallest bodybuilder

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Almost as shocking is this other item KC pointed out today: Gary Coleman reveals he's been secretly married

I can't believe this video's been out longer than a year and I'd never seen it. What a great career-capper.

I have no idea why Sixapart (who make my blog software) and Dreamhost (my webhost) are so intent on screwing with me in collusion, nor why it's so hard to implement a simple blogroll in MT 4, but I do know that I managed to lose my sidebars - no search, no archives, no recent photos, no (unused) tag cloud space... and even though it's unintentional, I'm kinda digging this minimalist design. I might stick with it for a while.

My e-mail is above (at the top of my main blog page); shoot me a message if you need to find an entry in the archives (e.g., "sunrise tacos") and don't know how to use google with a filter for this site only.

...or is it the First World that's fucked?

First check out this article:
The Bacon-Wrapped Hot Dog: So Good It's Illegal

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Now, which of the following do you think is harder for me to explain to a classroom full of average Thai kids?

1. Why it's illegal (and a jailable offense) to sell grilled hot dogs where I'm from


2. Why street vendors where I'm from have to watch out for cops, health and safety officials and extortionate gangs


3. Why any of the above parties can't be universally placated with a free meal now and then

If they outlawed (and enforced) hot dog grilling in Bangkok alone, 20,000 people would have to change careers. Luckily, most of the changing would be done by just selling different stuff on the cart the next day, but still...

I think the whole name/theme is just cursed: My sister named her Shi Tzu, "Jak," after Jack Sparrow, and it was always doing stupid stuff like running into windows, too.

UPDATE: This is Jak

Posted because I had to - I saw this image from my childhood (GOOOOO JOE!) in a dream recently, and it's been sitting on my desktop waiting to be posted ever since. If my blog actually serves as a bridge from the dream world to this one, cool.

For me, GI Joe was badass, especially this guy.

What say you?

You might remember a quick post I wrote a couple months ago about some awesome guitar hero parodies that were getting a lot of attention on YouTube. I hope you got to see a few of those hilarious vids, because they're all gone now: Copyright Vampires Delete Guitar 'Shred' Videos from YouTube

Here's a followup article as well: Humorless Metalheads Shut Down Popular YouTuber

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As a side note, I can't believe that wankorama-master Yngwie Malmsteen indirectly made my blog twice in a single month.

While I'm on this Japan stint:
Turn down your sound and watch this video (it's a must-see), then optionally poke your own eyes out/pierce your ear drums.

There's obviously a problem when someone decides to add pesticides to Japan's foreign-produced frozen food supply, but is the best answer for Japan truly another "buy local" scheme? I can see about 6,200 problems with this, not including shipping. I mean, this is the same country that makes airports for airlifting vegetables (which probably had the net effect of driving more agro business to China since it cost - duh - too much to ship fresh produce by air), right?

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In other Japan-related news, all of you from the camera-toting, chrysanthemum-kissing, anime-addict set are OFFICIALLY NO LONGER WANTED AT TSUKIJI FISHMARKET. That's what you get for questioning the validity of scientific whaling, yo.

Do not watch this video if:

1. You don't like hearing the F word


2. You haven't seen the BBC's Planet Earth (which is, by the way, one of the best nature documentary series ever made)

This somehow sounds like a rework of the feudal tale about the daimyo being entranced by a certain peasant's skill with basket weaving...

"In the early morning hours in mid-December, an amazing masterpiece of epic pink proportions appeared above the Melrose strip. Not MOCA's Murakami billboard itself, but rather a young curator's fantasy art show..."

To the citizens of the United States of America:

In light of your failure to elect a competent President of the USA and
thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of
your independence, effective immediately.

Her Sovereign Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, will resume monarchical
duties over all states, commonwealths and other territories (except
Kansas, which she does not fancy), as from Monday next.

Your new prime minister, Gordon Brown, will appoint a governor for
America without the need for further elections. Congress and the
Senate will be disbanded. A questionnaire may be circulated next year
to determine whether any of you noticed.

To aid in the transition to a British Crown Dependency, the following
rules are introduced with immediate effect:

1. You should look up "revocation" in the Oxford English Dictionary.
Then look up "aluminium," and check the pronunciation guide. You will
be amazed at just how wrongly you have been pronouncing it.

2. The letter 'U' will be reinstated in words such as 'colour',
'favour' and 'neighbour.' Likewise, you will learn to spell 'doughnut'
without skipping half the letters, and the suffix "ize" will be
replaced by the suffix "ise."

3. You will learn that the suffix 'burgh' is pronounced 'burra'; you
may elect to respell Pittsburgh as 'Pittsberg' if you find you simply
can't cope with correct pronunciation.

4. Generally, you will be expected to raise your vocabulary to
acceptable levels (look up "vocabulary"). Using the same twenty-seven
words interspersed with filler noises such as "like", "know whad I'm
sayin'?" and "you know" is unacceptable and inefficient form of
communication.

5. There is no such thing as "US English." We will let Microsoft know
on your behalf. The Microsoft spell-checker will be adjusted to take
account of the reinstated letter 'u' and the elimination of "-ize."

6. You will relearn your original national anthem, "God Save The
Queen", but only after fully carrying out Task #1 (see above).

7. July 4 will no longer be celebrated as a holiday. November 2 will
be a new national holiday, but to be celebrated only in England. It
will be called "Come-Uppance Day."

8. You will learn to resolve personal issues without using guns,
lawyers or therapists. The fact that you need so many lawyers,
self-help gurus and therapists shows that you're not adult enough to
be independent. Guns should only be handled by adults. If you're not
adult enough to sort things out without suing someone or speaking to a
therapist then you're not grown up enough to handle a gun.

9. Therefore, you will no longer be allowed to own or carry anything
more dangerous than a vegetable peeler. A permit will be required if
you wish to carry a vegetable peeler in public.

10. All American cars are hereby banned. They are crap and this is for
your own good. When we show you Japanese, Korean and German cars, you
will understand what we mean.

11. All intersections will be replaced with roundabouts, and you will
start driving on the left with immediate effect. At the same time, you
will go metric immediately and without the benefit of conversion
tables. Both roundabouts and metrication will help you understand the
British sense of humour.

12. The Former USA will adopt UK prices on petrol (which you have been
calling "gas") - roughly $6/US gallon. Get used to it.

13. You will learn to make real chips. Those things you call French
fries are not real chips, and those things you insist on calling
potato chips are properly called "crisps." Real chips are thick cut,
fried in animal fat, and dressed not with mayonnaise but with vinegar.

14. Waiters and waitresses will be trained to be more aggressive with
customers.

15. The cold tasteless stuff you insist on calling beer is not
actually beer at all. Henceforth, only proper British Bitter will be
referred to as "beer," and European brews of known and accepted
provenance will be referred to as "Lager." American brands will be
referred to as "Near-Frozen Gnat's Urine," so that all can be sold
without risk of further confusion.

16. Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors as
good guys. Hollywood will also be required to cast English actors to
play English characters. Watching Andie MacDowell attempt English
dialogue in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" was an experience akin to
having one's ears removed with a cheese grater.

17. You will cease playing American "football." There is only one kind
of proper football; you call it "soccer". Those of you brave enough
will, in time, will be allowed to play rugby (which has some
similarities to American "football", but does not involve stopping for
a rest every twenty seconds or wearing full kevlar body armour like a
bunch of nancies).

18. Further, you will stop playing baseball. It is not reasonable to
host an event called the "World Series" for a game which is not played
outside of America . Since only 2.1% of you are aware that there is a
world beyond your borders, your error is understandable.

19. You must tell us who killed JFK. It's been driving us mad.

20. An internal revenue agent (i.e. tax collector) from Her Majesty's
Government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all
monies due backdated to 1776.

Thank you for your co-operation.

John Cleese

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(forwarded from my dad)

UPDATE: As Erik notes in the comments (thanks!), this wasn't written by John Cleese, and it's from two election cycles ago!

It's a busy time for me at work and I've been on a trip this week. Nothing much to blog about yet; go check out this site for some deep thoughts (by Jack Handey, of course).

I first felt the baby moving a few weeks ago. Nam first felt it a month or two ago; it's apparently hard for a first-time mother to tell movements of the fetus apart from digestive and other normal movements. Now, though, there is no mistaking it; he wakes his mom sometimes by moving around so much.

• Sometimes if you tap or pat lightly, he taps back from the inside.


• He grooves to a good beat and seems pretty chill when something soft is on.


• Sometimes when I sing him a song, he pounds the walls for an encore. (So far one little, two little, three little Indians is his favorite even though I tell him the PC version should be counting Native Americans. He replied "I likes me a good curry." What the hell does that mean? How the hell does he know a good curry from a bad one?)


• His favorite TV show so far is The Shield, he likes to watch Vick Mackie kick ass.


• He pretty much hates that Baby Einstein stuff - dancing dolls and teddy bears are for girls, he says.

Put very simply, this video exudes everything that's good about Japan (in the original Japanese, that is; quite a bit is lost in translation, but it probably still delivers the same end effect.)

Can ASCII art and a Studio Ghibli soundtrack make you cry?

Do you know the real story behind this iconic photo? I sure didn't.

Go check it out: Eddie Adams & the Most Famous Photo of the Vietnam War

The link above may act funny; if it does, wait a few minutes and try reloading the page.

(Apology in lieu of attribution: My browser crashed and I can't remember where I saw this link today, but props to whoever found it.)

LOL

don't mess with the JB*, yo.

//

*Jason Bourne

twitter is dead? long live twitter!

It's been so long since I've posted about 24 (and after seeing last season's wussification of Jack, perhaps that's a good thing), but I knew the silence had to be broken when Sammy sent this link: DENNIS HAYSBERT - 'PRESIDENT' HAYSBERT: 'I'VE PAVED THE WAY FOR OBAMA'

"The actor thinks his role in the hit television drama gave Americans a taste of what the country might be like if a black man was in charge - and they liked what they saw."

He landed on my pants leg, and started the long walk into the light. However, I don't like organisms I don't know by name dying on me, so I brushed him off and he flew off weakly, eventually landing on the ground.