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Typhoon Tokage
I always used to laugh when I saw somebody use an umbrella in high winds, seemingly being pulled around by an invisible donkey until the inevitable point where the umbrella is pulled outward like a double-jointed flagellate. No more. That shit happened to me today and I almost got my eye poked out. After so many close calls with BB guns in my youth, it would just be wrong to lose an eye any other way. Yes, friends, it’s another installment of this year’s hit quiz show, Name That Typhoon! Hint: Today’s typhoon has a Japanese name. What’s that? I thought the Japanese didn’t name their typhoons and simply numbered…
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Alternative Sushi
My nomination for recipe of the year: Hostess Twinkies Sushi
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Cheerful Monday People…
Must die. Please God, make them go away. I asked one of the girls why she was all smiles today. She said it was because the new fax machine we ordered came in this morning. She said its sparkling newness was a good omen for the rest of the week. Oh. Well then. The thing is, I can’t figure out if she was high on the reefer and making fun of me, or if this is just a sign that the Japanese take their trademark happy worker bee thing a bit too seriously.
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Free E-books: The Baen Free Library
If you like (mostly science) fiction, you should definitely check out the Baen Free Library. On the home page you will find a mission statement by the head “librarian,” Eric Flint, who explains why the books in the library, even though most of them are also available in paper form, are made available for free download. After ordering several paid subscriptions in order to read sequels to books I found in the free library, I can say that I agree with Mr. Flint’s reasoning 100%. I greatly admire what these people are doing. Over the past couple years I’ve read every book available for download in the Free Library (I…
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N. Mancer Returns
William Gibson is blogging again: http://www.williamgibsonbooks.com/blog/blog.asp
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i left my hairy beast
Damn, this is the funniest thing I’ve seen all week: Absolutely hilarious eBay ad for motorcycle helmet (First seen at Gen’s blog, but the eBay page he linked to got taken down.)
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Well Done
Back in January, in this post, I wrote about Japan’s de facto online price comparison site, kakaku.com. Much like Buy.com and other American equivalents, kakaku is constantly expanding their listings – from all manner of new and used electronics to insurance plans, hotel rates, and sports equipment. Even so, I was surprised to visit their page for the first time in quite a while this morning and find their newest listing: Funeral services. Link: http://www.kakaku.com/sougi/ I’ll translate the instructions for you: STEP 1: Select desired funeral plan and region. Plans available are Cremation Only (I assume there’s a further choice of Regular or Extra Crispy), Family and Relatives, Standard (40…
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Ask C. Buddha: Celebrity Dreams
Jen e-mailed about the newly-created Nick Nolte’s Diary and asked why celebrities are “always writing about dreams and feelings and flowery shit.” Well Jen, that’s simple. Celebrities are, for the most part, total fucking pansies with a shitload of free time between making horrible movies, getting jasmine-infused honey colonics, and modeling for “charity.” As for the “vivid dreams” which are a trademark of their web writings, celebrities can obviously afford better drugs and booze than the rest of us.
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Phuket Breeze
It was a glorious sunset over the mountains and we walked the endless rows of fruitstands and tourist giftshops in search of seafood. As we neared the plaza concentrated with seafood stands, a young man approached and invited us over to one of his tables. Other stall owners caught movement out of the corners of their eyes as they performed various tasks – wiping down tables, setting out plates – and also came over to beg our patronage. “Cheapcheap!” “You want snapperfish?” “You want crab?” “Good seafood! Best!!” We were the very first customers of the night in the whole plaza, and we were being greeted accordingly; we quickly became…
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Roadkill in Japan
Have you ever thought that your presence in this world wouldn’t be missed much if you suddenly died? You may be right. Whoever ran over the black cat and just left it there in the middle of my parking lot so all cars coming in or going out would run over it again and again, fuck you. I wrapped it in my carwash towel and placed it in a nearby caged dumpster; luckily today was trash day. This roadkill thing really gets to me, though. Roadkill is never cleaned up in Japan. When my pal Gatson’s dad came to visit, he observed this is because “it’s no one’s job to…
