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Tokyo Sasumata Incident
One of my YouTube vids from six years ago shows police in Maha Sarakham using a sasumata (a nonlethal man-catching staff of samurai-era design) to subdue a knife-wielding suspect at our local bus station. I posted about it at the time and there are a couple links (amazingly still live) about other incidents down at the bottom. Weapons similar to the sasumata have a long history in many cultures. They were known as “man-catchers” in Europe and used until the 18th century, although their non-lethality may be up for some debate: The flanges on the top of that are spring-loaded and were designed to open up after it was thrust…
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espresso
At my friend’s place out on the MSK bypass. I’ve been working weekends for the past couple weeks and I’m tiiiiiired.
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kreb
I came upon this little guy on my daily walk at the old MSU campus a couple months ago, when it was raining every day and the roadside ditches were filled with water.
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SUZU
Thailand, where old Japanese trucks go to thrive once again. @ Maha Sarakham University old campus
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Ship’s Bow
A friend opened a new café out on the Maha Sarakham bypass (ring road) next to her parents’ restaurant. The deck I was standing on when taking this pic is actually shaped like the bow of a ship. It’s a very popular place for selfies: Huareu Café หัวเรือคาเฟ่
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Somtam/Somtum
AKA Spicy Papaya Salad, (unofficially) the official dish of northeast Thailand. When served on a pink plastic plate, you know it’s the real deal.
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pod thing
This is outside a new café in our neighborhood, the name of which totally escapes me. This is mostly because cafés open and close so frequently here, it’s hard to remember most of them.
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New Beatles Song – Now and Then
Bruh. I expect there will be a future of AI-generated John Lennon creations in the not-so-distant future, but for now, this will do… Is this the last song to be released with his real voice?
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Hatsukoi Redux: School’s Out in HD
Back in 2006, I became a bit obsessed with a video I found on this newly-purchased video sharing (or was it video dating?) site called YouTube. It was a 2-minute ad shot in Hong Kong for Nintendo featuring a catchy tune with enchanting vocals called Hatsukoi by Mayumi Kojima (小島麻由美). I blogged about it back then, and looking at the comments, it actually led to a meetup in real life that led all the way to Thailand (where are you, bro?). That video has disappeared and reappeared (only on YT) several times over the years, always in [potato x potato] resolution, and I’ve tried to keep the post for it…
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Fiat and Fowl
Just a few of the wonders to be seen at my local garage’s work yard. My ’71 Kujira Crown is still sitting in the back yard. It was damaged pretty badly in the floods last year, and I don’t want to start fixing it unless it can be done right, which is more than I can afford at the moment. Sad.
