48 hours

In exactly 2 days I'll be walking through the door of my apartment in Japan, and for quite a while I am NOT looking forward to going home. I've had such a great time here in Adelaide for the past 10 weeks, but sadly all good things come to an end...

2008 looks like it will be a year of many changes and many new things to do. It could be good.

Time to look back at some predictions from the year gone by - at least for technology. Also time to look forward with one of the best sets of predictions I've read for a while.

Also this was a good read about the state of music production at the moment, and more specifically about how mp3s are killing good sounding music. I have nothing against mp3s myself, but buying the CD has often opened up the mix so much compared to anything obtained online. All I need now is a lot of storage for all the CDs I want to get!!

More stuff n nonsense

Four words: Home-made French Onion Dip. Oh yeah.


Traversing the airwaves last night I came across a couple of good docos that summed up a lot of the recent geopolitical situation (even though they were made in 2005). One, called "Crude Impact", summed up the effect of the recent oil/war shenanigans quite well. The other, "Energy War" (can't find any links online...), was, at times, a mouthpiece for Thomas Friedman (who tended to say the same thing three times in each segment - a bit in love with himself too...), but there were enough other voices to make it more balanced. It added more politics and climate issues to the mix, as well as a small call to action. Pretty thought provoking.

More food for thought...

First off, a very interesting article bringing to attention the terrifying fact that because so much DU (Depleted Uranium) ammunition has been used since 1991, the amount of radiation released has totalled more than 10 times the amount released by all previous nuclear testing. It's really scary reading - and important too.

With Kosovo likely to declare independence in the near future, powerful European nations and the USA and Russia are jostling for position. Fasten your seatbelts, it could be a bumpy ride.

There are some ideas for Christmas presents for dictators, and other twits.

Oh yeah, and "As of year-end 2006, the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) reported that American jails and prisons held a record-breaking 2,258,983 men and women, and that one in 31 adults are now under some form of correctional supervision." Not a police state at all... yet... developing...

Happy Happy Joy Joy, Lalalala Hmmm Hmmm...

veisalgia

Plenty of it around, I hear...

So, today I'm off to the cricket. Should be a fun exercise in Australiana.

The worst thing about the cricket is the beer. I used to work at the cricket when I was a uni student. At that time West End was the sponsor, so at least the beer was locally made. Unfortunately most real South Aussies will only drink West End is there's nothing else to drink. To make matters worse, since booze-related problems have always been an issue at the cricket, they made a brew with only half the alcohol content of standard lager exclusively for the cricket. Half the taste too, so the punters reckoned.

Nowadays XXXX is the main sponsor of the cricket, so we have to deal with the Queensland version of the beer most people wouldn't touch. I can tell you, it's awful. Truly.

At least they sell the local nectar of ambrosia at the oval.

On this track, there was a good article about hangovers.

There was another one about how some 'healthy' foods are not so healthy - some pretty obvious, some not so.

Lastly, with desalinisation plants all the rage in Australia, a timely article about how industry and the utilities companies could save oceans of water just by switching to using sea or waste water, instead of plugging into the mains.

More Zep.

Quite a few online bits and pieces about the Lep Zeppelin reunion gig from yesterday including set lists. (Oh, and to show that Zep fans have extraordinary good taste, it looks like Naomi Campbell had her bag stolen from the gig! Sucker!) Looks like they had heaps of TV cameras there so hopefully a DVD will be released soon.

In other news, another piece about how carbon dioxide may not necessarily be the only influence on global warming. It pulls up short of advocating burning all your garbage and buying nothing but Hummers, but it looks like people are doing that anyway...

The other side

I guess I shouldn't be exclusively a bad news bear. Some good and interesting stuff is happening around the place.

Take in England for example, where they're looking at massively expanding their use of wind power. We should be doing the same thing here in Australia - we've got the space! (as well as expanding our use of solar and geo-thermal power generation...)

And today's 'interesting scientific thingy' goes to Noctilucent Clouds - or clouds that glow in the dark. Sounds a bit spooky, and there's speculation that they're somehow related to climate change, but the pix are awesome.

Share and enjoy

Best comment ever.

From The Age:

A writer for a column called The Religious Write asked, "Religion remains an important influence in Australia's region. Can we use it to build ties? How? Are there better ways?"

To which one witty commentator replied,

"I don't think religion can be used to build ties. Ties need to be built from some kind [of] fibre, which is then woven into a fabric and cut and sewn into the classic tie shape.

You could use religious motifs to decorate ties, I suppose, but this may well end up offending people who feel their religious motifs need more respect.

All in all, probably best to keep religion completely separate from ties and corporate menswear in general."

Hear hear, my humour-infused keeper of all things mirthy.

Oh, and Led Zeppelin have played their first concert in quite a long time. That's LED ZEPPELIN. Gonna get that one...

Sorry, but...

... can anyone please tell me why a church needs to have armed security guards?

I mean, apart from the obvious answer of, "So they can kill the armed psychotics who try to break in and kill every one," (which begs another question of how psychos seem to find it so easy to lay their mentally-impaired hands on guns... but anyway)

Another interesting point is how many of these psychos seem to come from 'deeply religious' family backgrounds as well...

Something isn't working, people!

To summarize...

With so much going on at the moment, it's good that there are journalists out there who can take such a voluminous amount of information and sum it up for us in a way that's comprehensible.

Today's offer takes in the current state of the US presidential elections, which, unfortunately, affect us all, as well as the furor over the Rape of Nanking.

Tonight, I am going for a walk, reading and strumming the guitar. Summer TV is now in full effect; there is absolutely nothing I'm interested in watching tonight!

Bad news... and a little good.

Gotta love the USA - at least those that dwell behind its white-housed walls.

Firstly, they think they can destroy e-mails without impunity, except since Watergate that's illegal (and an impeachable offense...)

Secondly, they think they can now kidnap anyone, anywhere, anytime, for any reason.

From the article: "Until now it was commonly assumed that US law permitted kidnapping only in the “extraordinary rendition” of terrorist suspects. The American government has for the first time made it clear in a British court that the law applies to anyone, British or otherwise, suspected of a crime by Washington."

Thirdly, they really have no idea what's happening in Iraq, or they really know what's going on and are hoping it just goes away...

Makes fiction look like a documentary...

This looks like a fun movie.

At last it looks like China has begun to see the benefits of going organic - not to mention the dollar signs whizzing past its eyes... A small glimmer of hope, but a long way to go.

And I'm growing a beard.

Aaaah yes.

Another day in paradise... more or less. Yesterday was pretty mucky, with hot (37) temperatures followed by strong winds, thunder and a brief rainstorm. Today's looking better though. The only place in Australia getting any decent rain at the moment is around Sydney - and that's been hardly enough to raise the level of water in storage. The drought lingers on...

So, another day, another massacre in the USA. Another massacre in the USA, another swag of reports avoiding the elephant in the room; that people can still buy assault weapons more easily than a decent meal. Seriously, I could only find one report (from an Aussie newspaper) that said anything about gun control. Yay - journalism!

In other news, America's "teenage birth rate rose for the first time in 15 years, surprising government health officials who had no immediate explanation." I'll give you guys one guess.

Actually, two.

Also, the US Coast Guard has reeled in about US$4.7 billion worth of cocaine so far this year. Interestingly "the street value of the drugs seized or removed last year by the Coast Guard equals roughly half the agency's total annual budget," which leads to some interestingly speculations about what happens to the drugs, once seized...

Also, Pizza Hut (in America, unfortunately) has instant cardiac arrests on sale - for a limited time! Also, The Whopper is 50 years old - much like the special sauce, and beer isn't just for drinking - or spraying across the white t-shirted chests of buxom college girls.

Ye Update

Well. It's been quite the couple of weeks.

First there's been the big events with the election and the change of government. If you've been under a rock or in Outer Uzbekistan, there was an election last weekend and the Labour Party won so we now have a centre-right government instead of a slightly more to the right centre-right government! The new bunch seem like decent people and it's certainly time for a breath of fresh air. We'll all be watching with interest to see how they fare.

I watched the saga unfold on the telly (ABC, naturally!) at my friend's house with beer and pizza. The pizza delivery guy made a mess - when he delivered the pizzas one of them had slipped to one end of the pizza box! Not good! They supplied a fresh one after I called to register my unhappiness. My mate's girlfriend decided that this election stuff was boring so she spent a couple of hours surfing the Net and watching Star Wars! My friend had to do some much needed girlfriend maintenance the next day!

As far as my current casual job is concerned, it finishes next week. They're getting a full-time trainee so my time is done. It's been great to get some new skills under my belt (if you want fuel injectors stripped, cleaned, tested and kitted up - I'm your guy!) as well as spend a heap of time with my best mate. I'm sure he'll remind me to take him out for drinks to say thanks!

The weather's been lovely. I've watched cricket and basketball matches, been to the beach and the park, been people watching and garden viewing. It's been just wonderful.

I have just over a month of this to go then it'll be back to Japan; cold weather, hustling about trying to get everything together before my new job starts on the 7th of January. Yay...

Dry

One of the big things that really really hit you when you come to Australia is how dry it is. The nation is in the midst of a drought that has lasted more than 5 years in some places.

How do you deal with that?

On a practical, everyday level it involves doing things to minimize your domestic water usage, like take short showers, recycle grey water for the garden, install drip watering systems, rainwater tanks, extensive mulching, plant native species, etc.

The government also enforce restrictions such as not washing your car and limiting watering your garden to once a week.

So are all gardens dead and dying? To the contrary, a lot are looking beautiful right now.

A couple of good sites here and here provide some good points on what causes drought, as well as its impact on Australia. This one also looks at the drought situation in the U.S. but this article goes a long way to explaining the current global impact of drought.


Another thing I've noticed is how frightfully expensive houses are. Adelaide is one of the fastest growing housing markets in Australia - at least as for as appreciation of prices is concerned. This is despite interest rates rising in order to put a dampener on inflation.

The cause is hard to pin down, There have been a variety of influences at work over the past few years. For example, people have been investing in second (or third) homes - as individuals or part of investment companies; the economy has been growing steadily for the past ten years and so some people have had more to invest. There's also been the resources boom, causing high demand in certain parts of the country.

The population growth is outstripping the rate at which new homes can be built. Also people want their own home. There are rarely medium or high density projects going up outside of the city centre (and there are a lot of them going up anyway - with the apartments getting snapped up by investors, rather than tenants) and the long term planning isn't to develop regional residential centres based around shopping and business hubs.

Whatever the reason, I am even less likely to be buying a house here in the near future!


Znet had a couple of good articles, one about the possible implications of genetic testing for race, the other looking at how George Bush does actually kowtow to terrorists and the protagonists of genocide - namely in Turkey.

Also there was this delightful story of a maths text book in the U.S. being sent back after 109,263 errors were discovered in it!

A lot happens...

... in a month.

Nova has collapsed.

I've got a new job starting in January - teaching English to (mostly) kids in Tatsuno, which is the city next to Himeji.

And I'm now in Australia!

My new job requires a driver's license, so the easiest way to get that was to sign over my Australian one. The only problem was that I needed to have spent three months in Oz to qualify. So that's why I'm here now.

So, I'm working at my best friend's company. Ironically, I'm driving every day as part of my job, so I'm getting a lot of practice!

I'm starting to relax after the stress of the past few months. I'm getting back into the Aussie swing of things. The weather is coming good, there are all the awesome summer type activities to enjoy.

So, that's how my last month has been.

And more

A bit more Nova stuff.

Here are some translations from Japanese articles I've alluded to below.

Here, here and here.

Today is supposed to be the 'real' payday. So far, no money has arrived, and it looks very unlikely.

There have been no faxes from HQ either promising payment, so it looks like they have no idea either. (or they're just regarding their employees with utter contempt - either way, it's not good)


In other, more interesting news, scientists have dated the emergence of homo sapiens back 40,000 years or so - to about 160,000 years ago.

Also, my favourite conspiracy theorist, Alex Jones, has a new movie coming out.

More Nova stuff

There was quite a bit of coverage of yesterday's 'strike' on Japanese TV and in the press. (and here too)

As for me, I spent today at the office of my new employer, learning about their teaching methodology and observing some lessons. I officially start in January so I hope going in early like this makes a good impression...

I start my paid holidays on Friday. My 'last day' is November 23. Aaaaah.

.....

We probably won't be getting paid, but what the hey... it's holidays!

Getting up to date...

With Nova's demise starting to go into action, today's going to be quite an action packed day.

The General Union are going to pay a visit to the labour standards authority here in Osaka to petition for the payment of wages as well as for them to do something about the company in general for breaking any number of laws.

This article describes the fundamental dodginess behind the latest wheeling and dealing to try to keep the company afloat, although it looks like that's all fallen through as one of the main people involved was arrested the other day on insider trading charges - and Nova was implicitly linked through the article (in Japanese though, so I won't post it). Companies from the British Virgin Islands indeed...

What most people want is for bankruptcy to be declared so that teachers can get most of their back wages paid and they can claim unemployment benefits if they're eligible. Arresting the president of the company for his repeated violations of the labor standards law would be a start.

At least the Australian consulate has said they'll help out Australian citizens. Hopefully I won't need it.

Today could be my last day at Nova...


Some music to lighten things up.

It was good to see that one of my favourite Australian bands, Art Of Fighting, got some nice coverage in the news recently.

Also I want to see the Ian Curtis biopic.

And I made another webpage for my band - which has been linked on my Facebook page - so I'm waiting for the sales to come rolling in... errrrmmmm....


This (October 15th - as it would currently be in the U.S. - so behind the times!) being Blog Action Day, it's about time I did a bit of an alternative energy roundup. This year's theme is the environment.

With Australia's almost complete non-participation in the development and use of alternative energy at an all time low, hurting our economy (thanks John. are you looking forward to the 24th?), at least someone is doing something about getting better and better technology out there.

From California comes a fellow who's invented a way to make small amounts of electricity from small amounts of wind. Ideal for small communities in under-developed regions of the world. Very cool.

A company in Japan has developed a method for manufacturing spherical solar cells which would be much better at collecting sunlight during all times of the day. That makes for much better overall efficiency and economy. Bewdyful! Sugoi!


Lastly, a few interesting tidbits to mull over.

a) What made America great was optimism, according to this article. That's something which is now is stunningly short supply...

b) There's a new country in the world, Richistan. It has no specific geographic location, but it's growing and silently separating itself from the rest of the world.

c) A couple have been driving their way around the world. 156 countries down, 35 to go.

and, d) Photos and footage from World War II - in colour. (with a 'u', dammit!)

Recent stuff

A fair bit of Nova news to catch up on.

News of the company hit the Aussie papers again. They've stopped recruiting in Australia. The sub-contractor recruiting company I went through has also cancelled their contract with Nova.

The government has ordered Nova to comply with an order to refund students who've cancelled their contracts. Word is that some students haven't been refunded up to six months after cancelling - including some of my ex-students.

In today's paper there was a story of a potential investor in the company, purchasing options of 200 million shares, raising about 70 million yen. For the record there are currently about 60 million shares issued in total by Nova, and Nova needs about 10 BILLION yen to settle its debts to students as well as pay outstanding debts and wages. If the companies who purchased the option decide to buy, then that'll raise only about 7 billion yen. It'd be a welcome shot in the arm, but it wouldn't do much in the long term. Sales are still bad.

Related: here's a calculator to work out how much unemployment benefits you can get in Japan through Hello Work. It's a lot less than people on the internet were saying. Babelfish is useful for translating the Japanese to English.


Going home isn't much of an option since I'd likely have to undergo training of some kind, and stories like this don't exactly provide inspiration. Fancy trying to study as well as work up to four part-time jobs just to make ends meet! Thanks Mr. Howard!

If you still want to try to help the environment, then here's a list of easy things to do.

You may have no choice regarding your flat-screen TV since most of them churn through more electricity than your fridge!

At least in New York you can still get a good night's sleep - thanks to your very own Sleep Concierge!

Another thing to do might be to plant some trees - or buy a block of land next to yours and make it into a park since that'll lower the temperature somewhat...

You can also keep telling yourself that things really are getting better. Sure, we don't have wonderful things like rampaging disease and dying before you're 40 of old age, but there's such a thing as willingly putting your head in the sand too!


And finally, just in case you don't know - there's been a genocidal war going on in Afghanistan for six years now...

I like David Letterman

But wait!

There's more!

I got moved from one school to another school this week - and now that school is closing next week! Yeeesh.

More Nova stuff has hit the English language press. Some of it is hearsay, but since no one up top is contactable or saying anything, there isn't much else to go on at the moment. Even the people who work in Head Office have as much clue as anyone else. It really is a shambles.

I've been reading up on my Japanese regulations and working out the best course of action.

There are "End of Nova" parties springing up spontaneously all over Japan as the foreign staff do what they do best when faced with stress- they drink!


When all else fails, I don't turn to the bottle (thankfully!), I turn to the Internet! Aah, the Internet. Teacher, mother, secret lover.... provider of work (hopefully!).

For Japanophiles and linguists here's a list of English words in Japanese. Anyone who's taught English in Japan may have a chuckle at this.

I found out that Jackie Chan has pretty good taste in movies. But also I found out that Lois Maxwell (*the* Miss Moneypenny) has passed away...

I found out that Subway can be worse for you than McDonalds - steer away from the cookies people!

I found out that boyhood is slowly, but surely, being banned. We're about to see a generation of tubby Emo-kids with no balls come through the system. Is that REALLY what we want?!?

Oh, and Yay! George Bush is gearing up to attack Iran updates! More on the war on terror, the war against the people of the Earth, the war against Nature, the war against freedom (not Bush's definition)... Oh it's so good to be alive right now!!

But some guys in Paris are fighting a war against the desecration and destruction of that city.

And anything that includes the figure, "The amount of energy thrown out by the burst was 10exp33 joules or the equivalent to the amount of energy that around 185.3 billion average Australian homes would use in a year," has got to be good!

Peace, Love, and Blue Smarties to you...

Waiting...

Still haven't been paid.

This blogger sums up the situation quite well.

I'm looking for a new job while suppressing the knots in my stomach and the rising tide of rage and cynicism. Cynicism is winning. Rage is simmering. The knots won't go away.



In America you're more likely to be tasered and beaten by a police officer than attacked by a terrorist - and it's getting worse. Thank you George Bush and the New Police State.

In China, the Three Gorges Dam is turning into an ecological disaster. Thank you Communist Dictatorship and Blind Progress.

In New Zealand some idiot tried to lower their Mitsubishi Lancer by loading rocks into the boot. Thank you Rampant Stupidity.




Update: We got paid on Friday afternoon. In full. I'm amazed...

More stuff

But no news on the Nova front.

A Colorado university has come up with a new and cheaper way to mass produce solar cells.

The Japanese tradition of using proverbs based on the gut is disappearing...

Sealand is in the news again - this time over a plan to launch its own communication satellite. Legal downloads of copyrighted material anybody?

Want a Dead Body Diploma or join the Order of the Octopus? Come to Japan!

Tuesday...

... is D-Day for the company - as well as my (apparent) pay day. We. Shall. See.

More reports have been popping up in the mainstream press here in Japan and the boards are the usual frenzy of rumour-mongering and doomsday scenarios.

There may not be so many people left in Japan to teach by the time I want to retire anyway...

I think I slept last night for a while...

Some quickies.

This certainly made me smile (and even laugh) amongst all the stress and strain of the past few months. I might try some of these in the 100yen shop and see if they cross cultures!

Do travellers who boycott countries do any good?

A quarter of Africa's GDP ends up in the pockets of its leaders...

It's always interesting for me as a linguist and pop-culture fan to find out where the two meet. Here's the origin of the phrasal verb, "to jump the shark", or the moment when something loses its credibility and sinks into the abyss of mediocrity... 30 years ago this month.

In the end I end up dreaming of finding a big pile of money outside my front door one morning and travelling the world...

Dream on.

"A state of flux"

That's the best phrase I've heard to describe what's happening at the moment.

The news about Nova closing branches has finally hit the mainstream Japanese press. Included in that are also reports about Nova getting evicted from its schools as well as evictions of teachers due to non-payments of rent.

The main thing the press is picking up on is that they are closing around 200 of about 900 schools. Nova's press releases have denied that the schools are closing, but are 'merging' and this is not part of an 'organizational decision' . That sounds like doublespeak to me.

The Australian press has also picked up on the story. Given that a major proportion of recruits come from Down Under, it is a worthy news story.

So, in this state of not being paid, I find myself thinking about what will happen next. I want to stay in Himeji, my home sweet second home, but realistically, the chances of picking up another regular job are slim. The best I could hope for is to become an ALT - working in the school system. That takes me back to school, which was something I wanted to avoid. Another alternative is to move 'close' to Himeji - like Kobe.

I could just pick up private students and open my own school! Hmmm.... no. Risky with a capital 'R'.

While the Japanese private English education industry is going through tough times, closer to my real home things are also not so good. Recent figures show that Australia spends less on publicly funded education than most other OECD countries. Also Australian school students spend less time on learning core subjects such as mathematics, science, languages etc. than most other OECD countries. No wonder parents are trying to send their children to private education in droves.

Here is a very well written article about problems with children these days - namely being disrespectful to elders and undisciplined. It firmly points the finger at parents (thankfully! As a former high school teacher I am truly tired of teachers being burdened with child-raising duties) who lavish their charges with excessive praise and few limits.

Enough heavy stuff. I'm getting exhausted with wondering if I'll have a job next month...

Here are some awesome examples of 3D paintings in public places. There are some amazing optical illusions here!

Also (with apologies to Adam and Jodi) Coldplay is torture.

Catching up

And what a week it's been so far.

If you haven't heard, our pay has been delayed. The English-language Japanese press has been largely silent about it which has been rather disappointing. Then again, with so few actual facts to go on it's been especially frustrating for all of us as well. All the regular instructors were paid today (5 days late) and us slightly up the ladder should be paid tomorrow.

The internets have been filled with rumours and speculations about the demise of Nova.

My hope is that we pull through - for my own selfish reasons (I don't want to have to pull up roots and relocate - plus I like the job) as well as for the sake of the students and staff. Realistically I'm preparing myself (and K) for anything. As one of my friends said, the company is in a state of flux, and 'flux' means 'change', which means we have to keep our options open.

Games. Fun and.

So I turn to the internets for info, but also escape.

So I found this uplifting story of a family who jettisoned their car and ended up with 35% more money from what they didn't spend on it!

I found a nice little list of places to avoid for my next holiday - except perhaps Chernobyl...

And finally, it wouldn't be a week in Japan without finding out something incredibly weird as well as something very indicative of the culture here...

Sometimes the posts just write themselves.

Here's hoping that the Vietnam/Cambodia thing is still a 'go'...

Ladies and Gentlemen

We have a new definition of 'loser'.

Life. Get one.

Haircut. Get one.

Well....

....maybe not as tasty as it seems.

Healthy? Well.... I'll let history decide.

Errrrmmmmm......

From the 'Only in Japan' files, comes this delightful story about soy sauce that you can put on ice cream.

That's right.

wow

35 years of development in Shinjuku, Tokyo, compressed into 10 seconds. Wow, indeed!

At last...

(Yummay!)

In the light of last night's crushing loss (88 points was it? Why, yes, 88 points. 88 points you say...) in the rugby and the poor showing at this year's World Athletics meet in Osaka (one bronze medal was it? ...) it's good to see that Japan can be the world champion at something other than producing beautiful women (not that there's anything wrong with that).

Say hello to Ochi Yosuke, your Air Guitar World Champion for 2007! Maybe it was that sweater that got him over the line. Raaawwwrrr!

Best. News. Ever.

Gawd...

Will someone please just bite the bullet and impeach Bush already!? Or perhaps just send him off to The Hague?

At least before he does something really, really stupid (as opposed to everything else he's done so far) like this. Or this.



At least the Australian government are now trying something to entice the Japanese back to Australia - apart from fixing the horrific exchange rate (hmmm???). The "Where the Bloody Hell are you?" campaign didn't exactly translate well into Japanese ('so, where are you?') and I think I only saw the ad on Japanese TV TWICE in the past year. Not exactly spending big on getting it out there...

Also, let's face it, for such an outwardly polite and genteel nation (at least the ones who have enough money to spend on big overseas trips) that kind of invitation wouldn't go down well at all.

So, it's back to the drawing board and time to come up with an oldie but a goodie - pawn Australia's World Heritage sites, and likely tack on a few koalas for good measure.

Quickies...

I have this evening to catch up on posting some stuff for the memory hole, so here goes...

(in order of being discovered... excuse the randomness)

It's OK to be a night owl - like yours truly. Now in Europe work hours are being adjusted to suit them. Thankfully!

Japan is weird.

A good article looking at the forgotten holocaust of Armenians by the Turks during World War 1.

The Sexiest Movie Assassins... aaaahhhhh... Miho.....

The top 10 most influential albums that sucked on release. I own two of them, which I thought was pretty good going!

An interesting article about a new type of battery that may finally kill the infernal combustion engine.

But driving would never be the same without Jack.

Australia is continuing to become a nation of idiots. Let's hope our children never learn to sue us.

Actual headline: "The world's leading micro artist has finally made it big"

On September 13, boycott pasta in support of the fine Italian nation. The price of pasta (as well as other basic foodstuffs) has gone up 30% thanks to (you guessed it) bio-fuels.

And I'm spent!

Oooh....

That's tasty!

That's a Woodley Queen Adelaide 1999 Regency Red - Shiraz / Ruby Cabernet / Cabernet Sauvignon. Opened tonight and going to be drunk in a hurry. It's magnificent!

The pasta sauce in the background is onion, bacon, mushrooms, eggplant, tomatoes, red wine and basil. Also pretty spiffy, if I might say so myself!

Argh...

I have to work eight days straight from today... a combination of doing a swap for someone and changing shifts as I'm changing schools. Not fun, but I had a pretty good run before with getting short weeks when changing.

So this may be the last post for a while as I think I'll be shoring up my energy by actually trying to sleep or something radical like that.

Some of the usual suspects for you.

Firstly, the global war against food is heating up, both in the US and here. The first article really goes into a lot of detail about how bio-fuels will really end up causing famine for two billion people. Scary and anger-inducing reading.

While on the subject of the US - there's this story about how there are 90 guns for every 100 people there. That's the most in the world, by the way. Other tidbits from the story, "About 4.5 million of the 8 million new guns manufactured worldwide each year are purchased in the United States, " "There is roughly one firearm for every seven people worldwide. Without the United States, though, this drops to about one firearm per 10 people," and "U.S. citizens own 270 million of the world's 875 million known firearms," What a fun place to live! It boggles my mind how the whole place hasn't dissolved into civil war again. Then again, with the military/police having a lot of the biggest and baddest guns, I guess that keeps the population in place. That and having them glued to the screen...

There were also a lot of terrible fires in Greece this week. They nearly burned Olympia, but they managed to destroy a lot of towns and villages and ruin the livelihoods of thousands of people. Very sad...

But, oddly, the articles that stuck out for me this time were mostly of a positive nature.

There was an interesting one about the upcoming Speed Racer movie. Any movie that uses a camera that needs bodyguards is going to be interesting!

Also there was this article about how to become more energy efficient. It still trumpets solar as the way to go, although there are a lot of interesting wind turbines out there, which I'm becoming more interested in - primarily as wind power can be harnessed any time of the day or night.

An Aussie comic, Brendon Burns won the main prize at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this year. There are quite a few videos of him on YouTube, including a session where he faces off with Mark 'Chopper' Reid! Quite a funny vid, but be warned, the language is not suitable for kidlets.

There was an interesting questionnaire/quiz thing about if you're a traveller or a tourist. Normally I don't do these kinds of things, but this one piqued my interest. I scored 22 so that puts me in 'Traveller' status, which was a pleasant surprise. I thought I'd be a tourist, but hey...

Finally two food stories. One about the horrific varieties of deep-fried fare available at the Texas State Fair. You can buy deep fried latte, Coke, guacamole, peach cobbler, sweet potato pie and cookie dough! Yoiks, I can feel my arteries hardening as I type... The other contains some interesting Middle Eastern rice recipes. I can't really do them here in Japan, but that lamb dish at the end looks very tasty indeed (Mum, are you reading this? Hint! Hint!).

That's it. I'm off to work. Catchya later!

Quote of the Day - so far

It's only early on my weekly trawl through the internet on my day off, but I thought this was a goodie - a pearl - a shining little diamond.

"While you don't want your daughter to look like Britney Spears, she doesn't want to look like a failed Supreme Court nominee from the Bush administration." - from Slate

Aaaah Bush!

Long will that name reverberate throughout history.

If you want a comprehensive list of reasons why Bush et al. should be thrown into Guantanamo Bay (at least they'll get free health cover - unlike the rest of America) then Rolling Stone magazine has an article for you.

Also, Bush gets a 'D' for History.

Really, if it wasn't for Americans being some of the nicest people around, it'd be so much easier to hate that country. (My own beloved PM also being a prime example of how not to judge a book by its cover.)

No, really

This has to be one of the silliest articles I have ever read.... or one of the most obvious cries for help and pleas for a decent job.


"The standard unit of length shall be the EU standard (Florentine) linguine (unboiled at sea level), defined as 1lg, representing 14cm, 0.02784 perches, 0.462 Japanese shyaku or 0.0007568 Ancient Greek stadium ptolemeys

For greater than 1lg, the following should be used:

• Double-decker bus = 65.85lg
• Brontosaurus = 15 double-decker buses laid bumper-to-bumper
• Length across known universe at shortest point = 136 trillion brontosauruses laid nose-to-tail"

So now you know....

Heaven and Hell

A mix of pleasure and pain - much like my life really....

Pain before pleasure... hmmmm....

'1984' a step closer as English police can arrest you and ban you from public places if they 'think' you're going to do something illegal.

War in Iran a step closer as FOX News steps up its war drumming - much like the Iraq debacle before as this video demonstrates.

And if you're in Thailand - think twice about the salmon...

Now the pleasure...

I want one of these!!

And a group of actors and improvisers get up to pranks and fun times in NYC. Read all about it. I like their style.

It's official

Fitness will kill you - especially if you're an overweight 50-something Japanese salaryman who's been smoking and drinking most of his adult life and you decide to start jogging...

In the US, they'd better see you smile, especially in the airports, otherwise the next sound you hear will be the snap of latex against skin... Orwell would've had a field day.

Also, in travel news, one of my next destinations may not be around by the time I get to visit it...

How 'bout this heat?!?

Had fun yesterday. It got up to 35 degrees here which made for a nice afternoon and evening of 'let's go into as many air-conditioned places as possible'. In Gunma Prefecture it got up to 40 though - and 3 people died of heat stress around Japan. Now, I've experienced hotter... but it certainly wasn't very pleasant dealing with the heat yesterday... and this weather looks set to continue until next week - yay!

You remember that awful sci-fi 'Minority Report' with Tom Cruise flying around the future with a future-predicting mutant? No? Well, the future in that movie is one of 3D advertising appearing mysteriously before your eyes everywhere you go. Sounds like fun? Well - now they have the technology...

The Western press has finally picked up on the story of Net Cafe refugees - part-time workers who can't afford an apartment so they stay the night in 24-hour internet cafes. It goes on a little how this new 'working poor' are an example of how Japan has changed over the past few years since the bubble-burst. I'm here baby, and let me tell you - Japan is starting to look more and more like the rest of SE Asia - in not a good way...

Japan could take a leaf out of Russia's book though. Faced with a steadily declining population due to a low birth rate combined with a high death rate, some parts of the country now have an official 'procreation day' with a chance to win money and prizes if they give birth to a child on Russia's National Day. Interesting idea. Japan has quite a number of public holidays spaced throughout the year so perhaps enterprising local governments could set up similar competitions...

It's always nice to read how my worst years are just ahead of me... not.

But it's also good to read that they're making progress with some research too.

Yay!

Some things to get really angry about....

All I need...

this song sums up so much about how I feel right now

Aaah life.

It's bigger. It's bigger than you and you are not me.

Profound(?)

Anyway.

Life is pretty interesting.

Today's been so bloody hot that after going to the gym I've squandered the hottest part of it sitting in front of the computer reading every post of a friend's blog from 2002 to the present. Actually 'squandered' is probably not the best word to use. It certainly (while providing a valuable insight into part of the working of my friend's mind - and what a mind it is!) made me think about my own blog and how - really - I don't write much about myself and what I'm thinking.

To be honest, I fear that if I did write a lot of my thoughts I'd, a) get sued, b) lose some of my close friends (I didn't know you thought THAT!?!) or c) be afraid of what might come out. There's also d) that there's not enough space for my thoughts and I don't want any potential readers of this blog to be bored. If you are a reader, I hope you're not bored - then again, too bad if you are really!! The Internet is big enough for the both of us.

I choose to reveal my thoughts to only special people - perhaps only those who are really like-minded enough to handle the brutal honesty and stupidity of my outbursts. To them; you're special to me, and I apologize.



Today's internet musings are brought to you by a girl in England who drank 14 shots of espresso and ended up in hospital. Good for you, girl! Coffee is good for you, but the way...

There's a story about how an archaeological team from Australia has discovered more of the ancient city of Angkor in Cambodia, including some now covered by towns surrounding the site. I'll be there for the New Year so this'll only add to my already whetted appetite.

By the way, the horrid artist's representation of what 'life' was like in the city probably neatly shows the reason for its (and possibly our) downfall; a huge military with a small civilian population supporting it.



Finally, it is time to remember the passing of Anthony H. Wilson, the "indefatigable broadcaster, music mogul, social activist, football fan, writer and exhibitionist" who put Manchester on the international music map more than once, and gave me some of the defining music of my teenage years. Thank you.

Quote of the Day

"If there's a job to be done, you do it and get it over with and go on to the next thing,"

- Irene Morgan Kirkaldy (1917-2007)

Read her story - she's today's hero(ine)

Heh heh heh...

I want one.

Quote of the Day

Aaargh! My eyes!

"Years ago I asked my dad for a boob job and he said it would cheapen my image. So I decided not to do it." - Paris Hilton

Things that make me smile

It's Saturday - for a start. Actually I'm smiling because after today I'll have the next four days off. On the way home from work I walked past queues of cars jamming the roads out of town on the way to their Obon holidays. Aaaah, sweet memories of being stuck in traffic... distant memories fading fast.

Smiling.

I'm also smiling because today I found another reason why Coldplay sucks.

I'm happy because I have proof that cycling is better than taking public transport or driving - and it's nothing to do with the environment.

I'm happy because there is at least one part of Iraq that's safe enough for tourists to visit.

I'm pleased at the prospect of enjoying a meteor shower - if only I can find a place dark enough... sweet cosmos-enhanced bliss...

And I'm amused because someone received a phone bill totalling more than the entire global GDP and the telephone company seriously expects the poor guy to pay it.

" "If the company wants to seek legal action as mentioned in the letter, I'm ready to face it," .... "In fact, I can't wait to face it," he said. "

Good for him.

More heroes

What is it about today?

So many heroes - and they all happen to be women as well. Today should declared Heroine Day ...

1) A elderly pensioner in England tends a flower bed in her town - except it happens to be on public land - so she's been told she has to wear a fluorescent jacket, use traffic cones and have a supervisor or else she will risk going to jail. She tells them to stuff it up their collective jumper. And good for her.

2) An Australian tourist is told she can't have pretzels on an American flight, mutters "Fair Dinkum" ("Oh really?" in Aussie-ben) and gets arrested for 'swearing at the flight attendant'. Linguistic Terrorist.... sounds like what I do for a living.

Heroes

Are sometimes those who go against the grain.

As troop levels in Iraq reach an all time high, we should reflect on these words...

"Some of us must say, Let’s step back for a moment, let’s just pause just for a minute, and think through the implications of our actions today so that this does not spiral out of control.”

“As we act, let us not become the evil that we deplore.”

The woman who said these words on September 14 2001, Barbara Lee, a US congresswoman, was certainly a light in the upcoming darkness...

"After speaking those words, Rep. Barbara Lee voted no. And the fevered slanders began immediately. She was called a traitor. Pundits went crazy. Death threats came."

Heroes are also those who stand up against a system that fails them, like this US soldier, who now stands accused of her own rape. The story is as unbelievable, terrifying and ridiculous as it sounds.

Heroes are also those who stand up for their rights in the midst of repression and bullying. This journalist did that, and was treated like a suspected terrorist. Her story is important reading for those who want to go to the US - for any reason - as well as for those who really need to know how their rights are being eroded slowly but surely.



And if you want a long, healthy life; never work in France.

And the No.1 foreign dude in Japan for 2007 is....

...this guy.

Billy Blanks! Who? Remember Tae-Bo? Well, anyway, its creator, Billy Blanks is really hot in Japan and has been a staple of late night tele-shopping for the past year or so, hawking his Billy's Boot Camp DVDs. They have been funny to watch, that's for sure. They got some big tough-sounding Japanese guy to do his dubbing but he sounds like a radio announcer speaking down a cardboard tube...

Billy visited Tokyo last month (and appeared on many of the top TV shows) and since then sales have been rocketing - now surpassing 1 million units. In a way, good for him. He's found something that has hit a nerve with the Japanese consumer that isn't based on 'kawaii' and is raking in the cash.

Maybe Mr. Abe could take a leaf out of his book instead of spending millions of yen on building rooftop gardens for his pet dog and perhaps spend some time focussing on his job, which is.... errrrmmmmm.... running the country? Or perhaps passing some legislation that could actually help Japan meet its own Kyoto targets?

...but which?

It seems like Australia is becoming more and more like the US every day.

Like the US, Australians will soon be able to have their telecommunications tapped by the secret services for any reason, any time, without any kind of permission or notification. Like the US, this is being forced through the parliament without much time or opportunity for the lawmakers to peruse the legislation, or consult or raise questions about how or when or why this is happening. Even this website could become evidence. Big Brother is most definitely watching...

At least the Europeans are starting to put some pressure on the draconian measures imposed on them by the US immigration stupidity. It's a case of petty tit for tat, but I guess once US businesses start losing out on opportunities in Europe, then they'll put pressure on their government to do something about it.

That is if there's a US left. News today about how the Chinese are threatening to unleash the power of their holdings of US currency if the US forces them to appreciate the value of the yuan. That could cause a crash in the value of the US dollar - and could jeopardize my holiday to Vietnam and Cambodia at the end of the year (not to mention the work reunion in Las Vegas next year!). Bastards!

Mr. Bush is getting more and more unpopular day by day, as we know. This was an amusing footnote to the recent bridge tragedy in the US. "Nope" to a photo opportunity for the president? Good on ya, son!

So which is better, Australia or the US? Possibly Australia, but I only think so because of the way the US economy looks likely to have big troubles over the next few years. Australia's 'haves' are likely to weather the storm better than most Americans for now. A US collapse will be bad for all of us though.

Japan also has vast holdings of US currency, and would also (unwillingly and regretfully) dump it in the wake of a China-triggered collapse. Perhaps they are already diversifying their reserves in case...

Maybe we'll see more American teachers arrive over the next year or so - looking for a safe haven to ride out the storm!

Been a while

... since I cooked something different. I hot the road on my bike today and picked up some nice spicy stuff from America-mura here in Himeji. Tonight's feast was made using some Indonesian Sambal Fried Rice paste. The funny thing about it was that one of the ingredients listed was 'flavour enhancer' and underneath it said that it was actually 'yeast extract'. Now if you're an Aussie, that can only mean one thing - Vegemite! Sure enough, there was a familiar flavour to the Indonesian fare tonight... my wife didn't complain at all! (She hates the black stuff) In fact she wants it again! (Score!)



It's also been a while since I did some Bush bashing. For all his trumpeting about freedom and progress in Iraq, he's doing a great job of making things worse.

I enjoyed reading the story of the Iraq soccer team's victory in the recent Asia Cup. It's a terrible shame that the players can't go back home, since they'll likely be killed as part of the sectarian violence. But good on the captain of the team for explicitly placing the blame at the feet of the US forces and calling for them to leave.

There's also this lovely story of how Filipino construction workers were kidnapped and forced at gunpoint to work on constructing the new US embassy in Baghdad. Nice one Bush! America! F**k Yeah!

Just don't mention the missing AK-47s...

What's going on?

Yes ma'am!

Now, you know I'm a big fan of coffee, and actively seek out news stories that can demonstrate clearly and unequivocally that everyone (by that I mean YOU!) should partake in at least one or two fine cups of java on a daily basis. Today is no exception. Today we learn that coffee (and caffeine in general) can help memory - in women.

Huh??? Not fair! But that would explain why my wife can remember things much better than I can.


ALSO!

Today we have more semi-religious wingnuts to laugh at. Say hello to the Sungazers.

How staring at the sun directly can lead to greater well-being is beyond me. Their optometrists must be rubbing their hands with glee as I type...


AND

A well thought out piece on the sheer lack of good female superhero rolemodels for girls. I *would* recommend Æon Flux (not that Æon Flux - THIS Æon Flux!) however I think if I ever had a daughter I'd wait until she hit her teens before I introduced her to the wily ways of one of the 90s greatest cartoon characters. That and Buffy - maybe Xena too... I think I would be influencing her to become quite an interesting character!

"I have a daughter who kicks ass!"

Not such a bad idea, actually!

Aaah Adelaide...

... you've done it again!

At least there aren't any serial killers involved!






In other news, I'm two down, eight to go!

Everyone needs a hobby!

Affordable???

From today's Australian:

Chew on these stats for a moment:

* The national median household income is $874 a week, or almost $45,500 a year.

* The national median income for a household with a mortgage is $1569 a week, or just over $81,500 a year.

Translation: If you are paying off a home loan your household income is typically 80 per cent higher than the median income for all households.

Aaaah FORGET IT!

I think I'll have my big American car with the whale skin hubcaps, baby seal fur skin steering wheel, blood-diamond encrusted gear shift and shark fins on the back, thank YOU very much!

— Traditional nappies are as bad as disposables, a study by the Environment Agency found. While throwaway nappies make up 0.1 per cent of landfill waste, the cloth variety are a waste of energy, clean water and detergent

— Paper bags cause more global warming than plastic. They need much more space to store so require extra energy to transport them from manufacturers to shops

— Diesel trains in rural Britain are more polluting than 4x4 vehicles. Douglas Alexander, when Transport Secretary, said: “If ten or fewer people travel in a Sprinter [train], it would be less environmentally damaging to give them each a Land Rover Freelander and tell them to drive”

— Burning wood for fuel is better for the environment than recycling it, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs discovered

— Organic dairy cows are worse for the climate. They produce less milk so their methane emissions per litre are higher

— Someone who installs a “green” lightbulb undoes a year’s worth of energy-saving by buying two bags of imported veg, as so much carbon is wasted flying the food to Britain

— Trees, regarded as shields against global warming because they absorb carbon, were found by German scientists to be major producers of methane, a much more harmful greenhouse gas

Today's scary quote of the day

"More than 70,000 bridges across the country are rated structurally deficient like the I-35W bridge, and engineers estimate repairing them all would take at least a generation and cost more than $188 billion."

- TIME magazine

Stuff and nonsense

Dateline: Himeji
32 degrees - feels like 40
Looks like the typhoon's going to pass west of here - ah well.... another fizzer!

Looks like coffee is good for you today - especially if you're a woman! It won't stop me from trying though.

An oldie, but a goodie. What happens when people get married an hyphenate their names? Hilarity, I tells ya. Don't these people check?!?

Today's moron is this guy who got the Blue Screen Of Death (BSOD) tattooed on his arm. Now, while I may have a new-found appreciation of tatts (I really do, you know) this is just stupid. You won't find me down the tattoo parlour anytime soon...

In fifty years Australia will be inhabited by sociopathic heathens, but at least they'll be able to read and write nicely...

But, some good news on the solar cells front. The efficiency rate keeps going up and up. This lot won't be commercially available until 2010 (*WHY* not now!?) but at least we have progress!

And to finish - one of the most sarcastic analyses of the gneration gap(s) in business I've come across for a long time!

Nah nah nah...

The Japanese are an interesting bunch. Most will take you at your word, which makes a lot of fun for us Australians, My wife couldn't understand a thing my grandfather said, even though she was fond of him. That's because a) he spoke fluent Ozzi-ben (Australian English) and b) everything he said was a joke. I've learned to my detriment (several bruises) that Japanese wives can't take a joke - or understand when you're telling a blatant lie for fun!

One of my co-workers today let me in on telling some porkies to some of our students to the effect that Australia was a really dangerous place. Our reputation has been suffering enough as it is, without someone telling lies and not explaining to the victims that they were joking and it's not really like that. Sure, Australia is no picnic, but this guy made it sound like the country was full of serial killers and Mother Nature stalking the countryside just looking for some innocent Japanese tourists to obliterate!

Anyway...

/end rant



Today's greenie enviromentally friendly bit of info.

If I could build a house, I'd get a couple of these hooked up for sure - free wind-powered electricity (after a few years)?? Sign me up!

Light and Dark

The morning read is always a mixed bag for me. At least on my day off I can go at a slightly more leisurely pace and actually not just skim articles for information. That and a large mug of Vietnamese coffee goes a looooong way to help soothe the nerves after a busy week at the office.


Light.

Caffeine (and exercise) are good for you. Just ask these mice.

Wolves in Yellowstone National Park are helping trees grow.

The World's Worst Poet? (they haven't read mine yet... and they never will!!)


Dark.

Australia will continue to turn into the US under a future Liberal government. Just ask these Americans how it is to live on minimum wage.

Ethanol really really sucks. I know I've said it before, but we really need something better. This article sums up a lot of what's happening very neatly.

Japan's legion of internet cafe refugees continues to grow. The world's second largest economy is also home to a growing army of underemployed and underpaid temp workers. They can't afford a place to live, and so camp out on the floors of 24-hour internet cafes. The future looks bleak.

Here comes another one!

Looks like we're in for some more stormy weather. Shame, since the weather is SOOOOOO nice right now!

Apparently there's a saying in Japan that the 10 days after the end of rainy season are the best weather for the year. It took one typhoon to end rainy season this year - and it looks like another's going to kill the good weather we've been having ever since!

We'll see....

Of course I'm paranoid

Everybody says so!

And for all you wacko apocalypse-obsessed, end-of-the-world die-hard survivalists, here is the definitive shopping list rated from 1-100 in terms of what will go first! Duct tape at #53?? I think not!!

Also, for you fascist watchdogs out there, here is a very good article about how [gasp! not Bush/Cheney!] Putin is taking more than a leaf out of Hitler's book on how to grab power and hold onto it, thanks to the newly minted Putinjugend...

The image of another sign of the impending apocalypse was brought to you by this site... SCARY!!!!

Stuff and nonsense

Today was Unagi Day in Japan! Unagi, for those not in the know, is eel which has been roasted over an open fire while being basted in this awesome soy-based sauce. It is heavenly! Never having had eel before I came to Japan, I sit here a very satisfied convert. Tonight's dinner was the unagi-don you see above. Sumptuous, creamy, savoury, oooohhh I'm getting hungry again just thinking about it!

Good news abounds today!

Firstly, Paris Hilton has lost her $60 million inheritance! Family patriarch, Barron Hilton would get a big shake of the hand from this peasant.

[Update: Or maybe not...]

Secondly, here's a list of 'food hell', kitchen creations that have only served to lessen our culinary pleasure through the ages. While Japan has two entries, I'm glad to note that Australia has exactly none! (Don't tell them about the Pie Floater!)

But with the good, there's the not so good...

I have had a soft spot for flight attendants ever since I read 'Air Babylon', but this article explains in fair detail the hardship that many flight attendants are going through in the US. Think before you give them a hard time in the air next time eh.

Also, this is my life...