In the past month I've had to replace the water pump and some skinny rubber hoses in my Crown as well as the radiator in the Cefiro. I had been refilling the water in the Crown every morning as it seemed to be losing 500cc or so per day. I could see where it was leaking from and figured it needed a new pump soon. The thing is, since I only drive it to work every day, I could afford to wait. Reversely, I couldn't afford repairs right away so I just prayed for the old gal to soldier on until I could raise the scratch, and that she did. The shocker was what happened after the pump was changed out and the water replaced with proper coolant (it had been filled with water since I bought it, I think) - the running temp dropped damn near thirty degrees (celsius) on average. It went from 87 degrees at cruising speed to just below 60! Awesome.

Then, last week I noticed green coolant spatter in the engine room of the Cefiro and saw that the entire seam running around the top of the radiator was slightly leaking... Bad news! I always tell my wife to keep an eye on the temp gauge so that sweet-ass VQ30 under the hood doesn't burn out... But really, this is a non-priority for non-gearheads who've never seriously overheated an engine. So that radiator had to get looked at, stat.

The Nissan dealer said it was very lucky we brought it in when we did because it was on the verge of catastrophic failure. Here's the kicker: The stock Nissan radiator is made largely of plastic and costs 10,000 Baht ($300). An all-metal one made for my car by a third party supplier costs half that. It has the disadvantage of being heavier than the Nissan one. On the other hand, it can actually be fixed. So in this case at least, genuine parts were not the way to go (this is not always the case, though, as many of the cheapie parts here come from China marketed especially for the SE Asian market and are total crap).

The story behind this clip: This is footage from tryouts for an advisory role (martial arts) for a movie.

I can't believe I'd never seen it before; it's just so classic:

note: yes, that Afroninja

Previous Max colors:
coppermine max
blue max

OMG - that's better than Steve Vai's, Eric Clapton's, and everybody else's covers put together.

There are rumors of an imminent coup in Bangkok again. It may happen, it may not. Our house and family is protected by sheer distance. The only reason I write about this at all is in case telecom service is interrupted; there's really nothing to worry about.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I ask that you have an open mind about this post, because the conclusion may surprise you - it sure surprised me.

Here I am with my pal Mickey Rat:

Mickey was a gift from Max's babysitter's husband, who went hunting for the fat critters in the rice fields last Friday night. Mickey came dressed and with all fur removed, and upon first inspection seemed clean enough... Why then did the mere sight of Mickey's long tail cause such feelings of repulsion and disgust in me? Therein lies the irony: Originally, we were to be given a much larger present, but it was determined that such a large specimen might turn us off to rodents all together (This was excellent foresight on the giver's part.).

To sum things up, I fought through all the icky feelings and prejudices and decided on the spot that Mickey was going to roast on my trusty ghetto grill that very evening. I would call up some friends both to bolster my courage and share this important experience with someone. I had a plan, I had a rat... and I was going to eat it.

Ingredients for J's Special Field Rat Marinade

• 1 tbsp. salt


• 1 tbsp. nampla (refined fish sauce)


• some ground black pepper


• 1/2 cup milk


• 30cc cheap whiskey


• whatever crusty remains you can sweep out of your herb drawer


• enough water to immerse rat

The milk is a trick I've seen used by grilled chicken vendors. I'd like to believe that there are enzymes in milk that help soften the meat, but the vendors just tell me they do it because that's how they were taught by their friends. Unscientific bitches.

Anyway, I digress. Mickey was bound for the grill.

We (by that time friends had arrived) cooked the main course of the night quite slowly. First I seared both sides over the hot spots of the coals and then slow roasted 20 minutes to a side. The skin was quite fatty, like a suckling pig, and drips of juice caused merry flameups over the coals. It smelled... good. After the rat was halfway done, I also started grilling chicken wings which I had marinated in a same same but different kind of marinade. The idea was to use the chicken as a control, since basically everyone says everything takes like chicken.

So what does a fat, juicy field rat that's eats rice almost exclusively (the people who hunt them know because they open their stomachs to see) taste like? Scroll down for our verdict:

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IT WAS DELICIOUS.

I couldn't believe how good it was... First of all, it was perfectly grilled, but you could perfectly grill a marinated penguin and it probably would not taste very good. This was choice meat.

Yes, I would eat it again.

Yes, it did have overtones of chicken. No, it wasn't smelly or gamey or gross in any way. The marinade and slow cooking rendered the meat soft yet pleasantly textured. The skin was crispy and closest to a roast suckling pig, I think.

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So the next time you encounter a story about how rat meat is coming into fashion in India again or how grilled rat outsells chicken in the Vietnam countryside, just remember: It may not just be because rat meat is cheap. It may very well be because it tastes good.

Well it took a whole day, but I finished our nengajo (traditional Japanese New Years cards) design! Yay! Max helped out by drooling on my keyboard and now all we have to do is get them printed, handwrite addresses and short greetings (mommy's job), and send them out in the post!

Since we changed addresses from last year we want to get the drop on everybody before they send cards to our old address... But to be quite honest, we have been bad analog correspondents - we haven't sent cards since we left Japan (didn't send very consistently then either, although we did the very last year we were there).

Time to take a nap with baby until midnight.

You may have heard by now about Google's partnership with LIFE magazine: 10 million photos recently released, most of which have never been seen by the public. You can check out the site here: http://images.google.com/hosted/life

I started playing with it today and was really impressed. I think I'll integrate it into an upcoming lesson for the computer class I'm teaching.

I don't really know why, but I started out searching for one thing and got drawn down another path, and then another, and then I finally ended up looking for photos of internment camps - and WOW - there's photos in here I've been looking for all my life it seems... they show a level of detail to the camps that I've often wondered about but never had the resources to look up. So I'd like to share some of the better ones I found, and they are very good - taken by the likes of Dorothea Lange, Hansel Mieth, and Carl Mydans. So without further ado:

1. Posted notice informing people of Japanese ancestry of imminent relocation


2. Japanese Americans registering for mandatory alien relocation


3. Japanese-American girl waiting alone atop family baggage for bus to an assembly center


4. Nisei Japanese-Americans participating in flag saluting ceremony at relocation center in forced internment during WWII in fear of "fifth-column" activity aiding Japanese enemy.


5. Japanese-American soldiers on leave visiting their families


6. Japanese reading in library at alien relocation camp.


7. Interior of oriental style apartment at relocation camp.


8. Young Japanese Nisei playing guitar in the stockade at Tule Lake Segregation Center


9. Japanese Americans shopping in grocery store at the Heart Mountain Relocation Camp


10. Japanese-American family working on their farm after returning from internment camps

Notes: Check out the caption on #6 (are they really Japanese?). Also, if you zoom in you can identify magazines. #7 is horribly staged but a great insight into what rooms could look like. I swear there's a set of swords in the background (maybe bokken?). #9 Besides the box of Arm & Hammer and the Oxydol, I don't recognize any of the product labels...

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The title of this post refers to what the internees were offered when they finally got to go home.

I can't believe there's still idiots in this day and age that defend internment... Actually, maybe that's one of the reasons this subject is still important.

I'm having fun opening gmail in a browser window every time and staring into an angry supernova.

This is the best film I've seen in a long time:

Who's that blue robot cat from the future with the Homer Simpson eyes?

Knockoffs sometimes (unintentionally?) kick more ass than the original items.

Yes, I am aware that this is a huge waste of time, but D got me hooked on this free gladiator game, and although I'm busy with this and that, every spare minute is spent doing a Russel Crowe impersonation online. So, come join me, fellow wannabe Romans:
http://s5.gladiatus.com/game/c.php?uid=109056

Here's a healthy dose of Voltron to balance out OP's recent time in the limelight:

(seen at Boingboing)

Yearbooks of Japanese-American high school students interned at Tule Lake. I can't remember which of my relatives was at Tule Lake...

(thx Junie)

Max just burped right in my face so I let a big dog belch rip point blank.

He laughed so hard I had to change his diaper.

Version 3.0.3 to be exact.

Error content:

"The page you are trying to view cannot be shown because it uses an invalid or unsupported form of compression."

Can anybody using Firefox please see if you get the same error (click here) and post results in the comments?

(Please ignore the content on that blog, I'm revamping it for classroom use)

Other browsers seem to be unaffected. Clearing the cache didn't help. Resetting Prefs didn't help. Burning joss sticks and mumbling to the Buddha didn't help.. And I'm not using a proxy. Hmm...

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Related:

This is very curious: Opening the directory produces the error.
http://cosmicbuddha.com/tempblog/

However, specifying the index file does not.
http://cosmicbuddha.com/tempblog/index.html

//

A thread on this error in the Firefox support forum

UPDATE: I just moved over to my laptop; Firefox updated to version 3.0.4 and is having no problems with the link, so... Good. But weird.

(from teh internets)

After I returned home from my uni's "International Camp" last Thursday I was surprised to find the boy hadn't waited for me to pass some milestones:

• His first tooth came out (lower left incisor). I found this out when he grabbed my finger and bit down on it. Hard.


• He now fits into the white baby Nikes (pictured above) cousin Kana gave me in Japan almost ten years ago as a birthday present (Her simple explanation: "You and Nam should make a baby."). Somebody in Nara please pass this factoid on to Kana.


• He can now laugh properly but prefers to do this wheezing, gacking chuckle kinda thing that's both disturbing and hilarious. He can carry on with this sound for several seconds and it somewhat resembles a baby pterodactyl call.


• He now holds out both hands when he wants me to pull him to his feet and stiffens his neck in anticipation.


• He has almost grown out of size S Mammypoko diapers (he previously wore size Newborn and will be moving up to size M soon).


• I saved the most important milestone for last (I wasn't even aware this was humanly possible): He can fart, belch, and cough at the same time, with the hiccups!

Cuz it's all about O-REGON, yo:

"1989 Cadillac Sedan Deville Pimp mobile for sale. Perfect for the up and coming pimp who isn't quite ready to step up into an Ex-calade. This fine example of Motor vehicle pimpery comes stock with no hubcaps, because as you know any real baller is just gonna drop dubs on it anyway. The stereo isn't working, but then again, a real mac like you is going to drop some change to make this bitch rumble. The trunk is extra large in case you have a ho who steps out of line, you can put her in there. A good feature because if you spend enough time with hos, eventually you're going to have to lock a bitch up. in case of drive-bys where you need to light up some suckers that have been perpetrating this car has a special window that comes off its tracks so you don't have to wait for it to slide down. Just roll up on that fool, drop the window, and blast him with that burner."

(via)

Yesterday we want to a local temple for mommy's birthday. Maxie stared at the big buddha for a long time, and then he started fussing because he was hungry.

We've been busy.

I am preparing many photos for posting here.

In the meantime, be happy that I've found proof of indigenous gay cowboys in Thailand:

One last link in between packing and waiting for baby Max to wake up for his midnight feed: Lost "Horrors" Ending Found on YouTube

Ten years ago, "Little Shop of Horrors" was available on a DVD including the toothier alternate ending -- for exactly five days. But Warner Brothers failed to secure the proper copyrights for the alternate ending -- and the DVD was recalled. For the next decade, producer David Geffen and Warner Brothers wrangled and promised to restore the original ending, until Warner Brothers finally discovered in 2007 that it had already been burned in a studio fire.

But while Hollywood argued, the coveted footage quietly slipped onto YouTube.

It sounds awesome... Alas, I have no time to watch it until I get back.

The English Program at my university is leaving tomorrow at 5:30 AM for a four day trip to a national forest in Saraburi for our annual English Camp. It will be sad to leave the baby and Nam for so long, but it should be fun...

why not.

Last week a few of us teachers were asked to visit some classes being taught on a volunteer basis by our Business English major students out in Kalasin. We went out without much info and assumed these were classes being taught at a school. As it turned out, one of our student's family had created an ad hoc classroom outside their house and was hosting free lessons for two weeks since schools are mostly on holiday during October. Children from their village as well as neighboring villages attended, with younger kids coming in the morning and older ones in the afternoon, perhaps 30 kids per session.

The classes were being taught by a few of our students who stayed at the house for the duration of the project.

We went and basically had a lot of fun thinking up activities on the spot... I sweat a lot as it was a really hot day, so I can honestly say that I contributed a lot of salt to my polo shirt.

Our student's house/farm has a shrimp pond out back, so our reward for lunch was huge platters of steamed prawns, raw prawns with garlic, and epic tom yum goong with shrimp the size of mini-lobsters in it.

We also helped out with the afternoon class and took a quick trip to a popular "beach" up the road just a couple kilos, at the Lampao Dam reservoir.

All in all it was a great day, and the dedication of our students really impressed us. When asked why they were doing it, they said they didn't want to just waste their holidays away. Well done!