High quality problems.

texts from last night:

"(404): I just left the house and 2 chicks are in the kitchen making breakfast. Might want to get up.
(812): I'm up, no shirt, and staring at a breakfast casserole. Who are these girls?"

Training - P90X Day 6.

Kenpo X

Clever bit of video - "What's your favorite Japanese Word? - 一番好きな日本語は何？ Japanese 4 Morons: 101st Lesson."

A plethora of YouTube's Japanophiles combine into one unstoppable mega Voltron robot video.

Personally, I couldn't pick just one. I'd have to go with 3 - chikara/power 力, tanren/training 鍛錬 and shibakuzo/I'm gonna kick your ass! 芝九蔵. I don't know if that last kanji is right... I've never actually seen it before and Google only'll get you so far. The only reason shibakuzo even makes the list is because one of my Jr High kids taught it to me - trying to get me to say it to another one of the teachers. Those wacky teenagers :) But chikara and tanren I just like, so much that I etched them on my skin for all of time.

August again, so that means a whole new batch of JETs...

...and ALTs start setting up new blogs chronicling their Japanese adventures [if you get an error message on that link, hit refresh... Blogger is being tricksy.] And you can very effectively blow a whole Saturday morning clicking around. Like, um, I just have. Ah well, it's interesting to see the bright eyed and bushy tailed, aglow with their plane flights, orientation at Keio in Tokyo - where they are still apparently serving the same buffet breakfast - settling into their new homes... Nostalgic/natsukashii, indeed.

The best thing from all that clicking around was this though - English Teacher fulfills childhood dreams of boys everywhere | brb, in Japan

As a high school English teacher in Japan, I also toss some pop culture in to motivate my students to learn the language. My students know Beyonce... the single and PV came out, so I learned some of the dance...so my students could laugh at their silly sensei.


Sheer ALT brilliance.

Training - P90X Days 4 & 5.

Day 4 - Missed wkout. I suck.
Day 5 - Legs & Back, Ab Ripper X, Bridge 2x20, 20m on the back arch

Ku'e.

Low-key party planned for Hawaii's big 5-0 - USATODAY.com:

"HONOLULU — Sandra Reyes strolled across the empty grounds of Iolani Palace on Wednesday and fully understood why state officials are not marking the 50th anniversary of Hawaii's statehood today with too festive a celebration.

"I can see why they would be afraid," said Reyes, who lives in the Oahu community of Makaha, which is part of the largest concentration of Native Hawaiians in the world. "You have to understand the history of Hawaii."

When Hawaii became America's 50th state in 1959, the area surrounding the palace — the heart of the Hawaiian monarchy — exploded in a celebration of cannon fire, marching bands and a parade. Half a century later, about 1,000 demonstrators who would rather see Hawaii's independence restored are expected to rally outside the Hawaii Convention Center today, where a more subdued commemoration will take place.

"We want to show how U.S. imperialism has spread across the Pacific and across the world," said Lynette Cruz, an organizer of the Hawaiian Independence Action Alliance. "It'll be fun.""

[Kue - Honolulu Magazine - November 2004 - Hawaii:

"In Hawaiian, kue means 'to oppose, resist, protest.' It's a word central to the development of what has become known as the Hawaiian sovereignty movement, a cause shaped by 30 years of struggle-battles over eviction, land development and the U.S. military presence in the Islands."]

At least it's based on something real and of worth - "Food and wine as collateral for bank loans."

All I get are these little slips of green paper [or electronic bits] that supposedly represent some vague idea of... something? [Fiat money is all made up consensus reality, folks. You're welcome.]

Food and wine as collateral for bank loans - Boing Boing:

"Italian banks may soon accept high-end prosciutto and wine as collateral for loans. The Italian agriculture minister is into the idea..."

Your "You want me to be *more* cynical and pessimistic? Really?" News of the Day.

Color me unsurprised and increasingly distrustful.

Neo-nazi hate blogger paid by FBI to incite, says attorney - Boing Boing:

"David Kravets at Wired Threat Level blog reports that Hal Turner, a notorious shitbag "hate blogger" in New Jersey who was charged two months ago with threatening to kill judges and lawmakers, was secretly an FBI "agent provocateur" paid tens of thousands of dollars by our government to broadcast white supremacist rhetoric."

Hit & Run ; New Coward Confirms it: Republicans Politicized Terrorism! - Reason Magazine:

"Here's a report that, if the story behind it is true, is both totally unsurprising and worthy of our notice and contempt:

In his new book, the first Homeland Security chief, Tom Ridge, accuses top aides to President George W. Bush of pressing him to raise the terror alert level to influence the 2004 presidential election.

Ridge, a former Republican governor of Pennsylvania, says that he refused the entreaty just before the election from Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Attorney General John Ashcroft...

"After that episode, I knew I had to follow through with my plans to leave the federal government for the private sector...""

More details at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Publisher's blurb here.

You're a true patriot, Tom Ridge. When faced with senior administration officials deliberately trying to scare the crap out of the American people to win an election–a tar-and-featherable offense, at minimum–not only did you decide to eventually quit some day, you rushed out and told citizens about their duplicitous leaders in just five short years! For profit!

A banal point to remember, but foundational: Government is materially incentivized to frighten you, about everything. Power–surprise!–corrupts, no matter which set of angels happens to be exercising it this year. Which is why some of us don't gladly give the stuff over to Washington, D.C.

UPDATE: ...Ridge was telling a similar story to USA Today back in May 2005."

CIA hired mercenary assassins (or assassin trainers) in plan to bump off Qaeda leaders - Boing Boing:

"In 2004, the CIA hired Blackwater USA contractors as part of a covert program to find and kill top operatives of Al Qaeda, according to statements from current and former US officials."

Rick Steves - 'Travel as a Political Act' Lecture.

Big fan of Rick Steves... his podcasts, travel philosophy, I even have several of his pieces of luggage and travel gear. This is the beginning of an excellent lecture he recently put online.

"It's occurred to me since about 9/12 that the role of a travel writer needs to be like a court jester during the Middle Ages...

When you travel, if you're halfway awake it's a broadening experience...

When I see a 'God Bless America' sticker I think 'As opposed to what?'"

"I got no trouble with hedonism. I'm a Lutheran. But travel should bring us together..."

"I was raised thinking cheese was orange and in the shape of bread..."

"I have learned... that if more people had a history degree and thought about it, we'd be a lot better off...

Anytime you're surrounded by teary eyed Germans, something exceptional is going on...

Across the board in our society people want us to be dumbed down. They just made the President of Reader's Digest the President of Public Broadcasting. Geez, that should blow a whistle... why do they find Public Broadcasting to be so threatening? Because it wants us to be smartened up instead of dumbed down. It's inconvenient if we really want to get into stuff..."

"The fact is we don't know exactly how things happened!"*

*That's the only time he's speaking the truth. But they KNOW you're going to hell.

Sad thing is, even I - heathen that I am - know a handful of the standard rationalizing, incoherent responses to this one. [Psst! One is incest! HAHA!]

But this is the quality of intellectual rigor of the folks in charge of the churches. Do well to remember that.

New Humanist Blog: How did Cain and Abel have kids?:

"...a Catholic priest, who seems to be played by a young Edward Norton, on Fox News in the States asking 'theological' questions posed by the public. Unfortunately for him, it doesn't take much to stump him – watch as he struggles to deal with the question 'If God created Adam and Eve and they had Cain and Abel, with who exactly did Cain and Abel create children with? In other words, how did Adam and Eve's kids have kids?'"

Random Coolness.

Fractal tattoo.

Modern scarification - before...

...after.

Watched over vacation.

One thing you can say for 20+ hours flying from Asia to the U.S., plus the KAL "choose your own entertainment" option... you sure can watch a bunch of movies.

Taken - Liam Neeson just laying waste to the bad guys in what's probably the best action movie I've seen in some time.

I Love You, Man - Paul Rudd, as always, pretty damn funny.

He's Just Not That Into You - an abomination of a film that betrays the very treatise and suppositions that made the general tone of the book worthwhile. All sacrificed at the altar of the typical cheesy romantic comedy plot. Not a single redeeming character in the film to root for.

Strictly Bolshoi - interesting ballet documentary.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine - this was bashed pretty hard when it came out. I kinda dug it though. No work of art, and a couple plot-holes you could drive a truck through, but both Hugh Jackman and Liev Schreiber chew the scenery and make it work.

Adventureland - sold as a comedy [in the airplane preview at least], more of a coming of age drama. Kind of okay. A bit cliched. Well acted though. Ryan Reynolds does dysfunctional well.

Up - The latest Pixar film. Fun, touching, enjoyable. Darker than I expected, which was nice.

GI Joe - Holy god was this a horrible film. Horrendous acting, people in leading roles without a hint of talent or believability, bad jokes, cliched visual and plot points lifted from a dozen other, better flicks. Snake Eyes has lips. Cobra Commander is Darth Vader. The President of the United States is British. It could not even be saved by ninja fights or women in skintight leather. Of which there was not enough. Two thumbs waaaaaaay down.

Ghost Town - oddly surprising that movie with Ricky Gervais and Greg Kinnear could be so joyless and unfunny.

On vacation a bunch of my TV viewing was at the discretion of folks I was staying with, as such I watched a great deal of HGTV and NCIS. HGTV is actually kind of fun, and Clean House rocks kinda hard. But then I used to enjoy the hell out of Trading Spaces back in the day. NCIS is a really competent, well acted procedural. The plot twists can be seen coming a mile away, but Mark Harmon has character and gravitas. Though I can't watch Michael Weatherly without remembering that he dated Jessica Alba when they were on Dark Angel, because I'm shallow like that. But Big Brother made me want to jab my own eyes out with a spoon. Dumb, dumb TV.

Also watched UFC 101, True Blood, Eureka, The Closer, The Philanthropist, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Monk, Burn Notice [summer season finale - predictable, but well done] and Robot Chicken.

What I Read over vacation

Halting State - didn't enjoy it as much as Stross' last book I read, Glasshouse, but the combination future fic/hard sci-fi/police drama/caper was entertaining and deft. Excellent airplane read.

Read the next few Robert Parker/Spenser books - Ceremony, Valediction and The Widening Gyre. All were excellent/recommended, but of the three I enjoyed The Widening Gyre most, simply because it resonated with some stuff in my own life. Ostensibly about blackmail and politics [which, published in 1983, it's remarkably prescient on the influence of the religious right and religiousity in politics] but really, fundamentally, a treatise on relationships in the guise of a private eye novel. At least for me, anyways. Particularly of long-distance relationships, which insightfully and synchronistically applies to my current conditions. Cutting very close to home in terms of assumptions, autonomy, expectations, romance... and, well, everything my life seems to be, these days.

To wit:

"But missing you is a price I have to pay in order to become completely me. At least for a while. And goddamn it, it's a price I am glad to pay. I sort of expected you'd understand better."
"I kind of hoped I would too," I said.

...

"You still can't get outside your own view. You can't understand someone without a goddamned code. You don't see that for millions of people, male and female, the workplace is the code."
I shook my head. "You have committed yourself to everything I've worked my all my life to stay free of.
"I know," Susan said.
"You endorse a way of life I find not only uninviting, I... disapprove of it."
Susan nodded.
"I always assumed," I said, and twiddled with my wineglass as I said it, "I always assumed that someone who found ihis or her identity they way you're finding yours was..." - I spun the stem of the wineglass slowly between my fingers and watched the round bottom circle slowly on the table linen - "shallow."
Susan's gaze on me was steady. "It's a view you tend to impose on anyone close to you. You believe things very strongly. It burdens people."
I nodded. "A person might need to get away from me," I said. "To develop her own views."
I stopped twirling the wineglass and picked it up and drank some wine. Then I took the wine bottle from the bucket and poured some more into Susan's glass and mine.
"The thing is, you're not shallow," I said. "And if you were, it wouldn't matter. Not only would I follow you into hell. I'd follow you into AT&T."

The Wheels of Darkness - An 'Agent Pendergrast Book' picked up for $5 at a drugstore back in the US. I've read a bunch of Douglas Preston/Lincoln Child books. Always entertaining, if ultimately somewhat forgettable. And Pendergrast is a fine Holmes pastiche. With a smattering of pulp heroes and a pinch of Lovecraft.

"Don't think for a minute that I believe I'm better than the rest of the horde. I'm as guilty of the fundamental flaws of bestial man as anyone. And one of those flaws is self interest. I am worth saving because I wish my life to continute - and I'm in a position to do something about it."

"There's a scientific explanation for everything... there are no such things as miracles or magic - only science we haven't yet discovered."

"Lead me into all misfortune. Only by that path can transform the negative into the positive."

Also some older Batman graphic novels - Son of the Demon, Bride of the Demon and Birth of the Demon. Ra's al Ghul is a great villain.

Miami seems like a magical place.

Everybody does indeed live in their own world. [She's definitely in shape though...]

Via Now this is clothing!!! (6 pics) » Izismile.com - In fun we trust! Pictures, photos, videos, flash, games, celebs, hot stuff:

"These pictures were taken in Miami. What can I say, a very bold girl..."

Training - P90X Day 3.

Shoulders&Arms/Ab Ripper X
20m on the back arch, Shoulder Dislocates x10

I feel ya.

Via http://xkcd.com/

"Auto Phone Sex."

After about 1:30, I was just crying laughing.

I only hit 4 of the 7, so I still have a little bit of a life.

Via The Circle of No Life – The Next Web

How Bush is better than Obama.

That blogpost title was just painful to write. Nevertheless true.

I don't even know if I agree with the push for universal health care, but I do know that the Democratic Party's tendency to retreat at every juncture fills me with loathing. If you're gonna have principles, freaking fight for them, for Christ's sake. Spineless.

Matt Taibbi - Taibblog – Obama’s Pre-emptive Health Care Surrender - True/Slant:

"...But the notion that our president not only does not have any use anymore for a public option, but in fact “will be satisfied” if there is merely “choice and competition” in the market is, well, disgusting.

I’ll say this for George Bush: you’d never have caught him frantically negotiating against himself to take the meat out of a signature legislative initiative just because his approval ratings had a bad summer. Can you imagine Bush and Karl Rove allowing themselves to be paraded through Washington on a leash by some dimwit Republican Senator of a state with six people in it the way the Obama White House this summer is allowing Max Baucus (favorite son of the mighty state of Montana) to frog-march them to a one-term presidency?

To quote Method Man’s Calvin “Cheese” Wagstaff character from The Wire, “This is some shameless shit right here.”"

Kind of where I've ended up as well.

I was an ethical vegetarian for a few years, and have run the gamut of pesco/lacto/ovo/etc as well, but ultimately it seems to me, right now, that this makes the most sense. The vegetarianism as religion angle is thought provoking as well, and explains a bit of that resonance I had with it, what with my Catholic upbringing and all.

Vegetarian and Vegan Tear Jerkers | Free The Animal:

"...about vegetarian or vegan “health.” The most valid data on that score is that comparing apples to apples, i.e., the anthropological record: that repeatedly and consistently demonstrates strong and robust skeletons and teeth amongst hunter-gatherers, in stark contrast to those diseased skeletons, rotten teeth, and even diminished stature of agricultural populations. This is not in dispute; and furthermore, there has never existed a vegetarian hunter-gatherer population, much less vegan.

Now, while I’m all for humane treatment of animals right up to the moment of death (and willing to pay for it), this video was not particularly shocking. I’ve hunted birds & deer and dressed both, fished, and raised broiler chickens and rabbits. I was the one (at age 13 -15 or so) who did the executions — axe for the chicks, club for the rabbits.

We endeavored to treat them very well during their lives, and to make their end of life very quick (as well as out of sight for those in wait). I have always abhorred animal trophies of all kinds. We were brought up to respect animals and that the only justification for killing them was for the food.

The problem with you folks is that it’s all emotion and feelings with you. You are simply not dealing properly with the reality of human existence and the requirements for survival and happy flourishing.

In the end, y’all remind me of the born-again Christian fundamentalists I grew up around. It’s always about denial, penance, guilt — and over man’s very nature (’original sin’). Vegetarianism offers the very same unearned guilt trap..."