Drizzle

I have a feeling that's going to be the word for today... Yesterday was the first day of 'ugly humidity' for this summer, but thankfully the temperature has eased off so far today.

I thought my DVD burner was back in business but a restart later and things are back to normal, ie. making coasters with 100% reliability... arrgh! I can't afford to buy a new PC, but since this one's now gone past three years, I guess it's something I have to consider. I DON'T want to have to buy one with Vista, but since M$ are withdrawing it soon, I may have no choice. Poo.

Aside from that, I'm 36, with no romantic prospects, no kids, no house, in a job with no chance of promotion or a pay rise. How's your life? (Gawd, the drizzle is taking its toll today, isn't it!?)

At least I can fill my head with knowledge: sweet, silly, useless knowledge.

Guerilla Gardening has hit the New York Times, so now it's jumped the shark already?

In Australia, the signs are that the economy is starting to slow down. In China, however, the stock market has plummeted over the past few months, and other signs are not as promising for the nation to continue its incredible growth over the past few years. This, of course, will have repercussions for countries like Australia and Japan.

Australia's Number One (for fat people)!! Yeah!!!

Japan's showcase eco-friendly house for the G-8 summit features technology that is standard for most modern Western homes... Yawn.

A restaurant in China makes every dish with beer, sweet, nourishing beer.

Crop Circles are still around. Will the madness never end?

Want a gun? Talk to the UK.

High fuel prices have seen fishing fleets kept in port in Europe, but now it's spread to Japan as well. While on the subject, here's a very interesting article about North Korea as a canary for how the fuel/food crisis could play out.

Bush/McCain's idea of starting wholescale offshore drilling is a crank. Not only is the current price of oil not being driven by actual supply/demand, but it'll take at least ten years for any proceeds of such a policy to finally hit the market. At least it'll make the oil companies happy - and that's really what it's all about, boys and girls.

In today's Global Warming is Crap story, the sea is rising faster than scientists first thought. How's about a nice country house? All the hot air is making vegetarians even more smug than usual.

You're retired with nothing to do, so what do you do? How about build a treehouse? Bonus points for building it in a mango tree that grows four different kinds of mangoes.

I think I probably wrote something about Dumpster Diving or being a Freegan before, but here's another take on it. I must admit it sounds attractive to me, but being Japan, I'm sure it'd be severely frowned upon. (I've never tried it here, to be honest) The closest I get is cruising the half-priced goods after work for stale bread and slightly crusty looking vegies!

I so want the talking Jesus doll!

Forget drizzle, now we have heavy rain and lightning!

This is just ridiculous. A 12 year-old got a court to overturn her father's grounding for breaking a house rule. Sweetheart, suck it up.

Pseudo-science story of the day: eating a cheese sandwich could help you get a raise. Yeah, right. In other news, the Ultimatum Game is stupid. I'd just give them the $10 - sheesh, it's 10 bucks!

Thailand occasionally gives Japan a run for its money in the weirdness stakes. Today, some schools have three toilets - one for transvestite students.

In Hong Kong, speakeasy kitchens are the way to go to get the best treats for your stomach. I'll have to look into this when I finally make my way there.


Breaking News - I managed to go a whole post without trashing Obama. Wow...


The rain has passed - for now. Time to eat and get a new mobile phone. Mine needs a new battery, but it's cheaper to get a new phone than a replacement battery!