Japan Today: Japan News and Discussion

More reasons to read wiki
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/08/wikitrust

Watershed (television) We don't have this term- or that meaning for this term, rather - in the States.

The list of games available on the Virtual Console in Japan. Saves me a lot of time trying to decipher the Japanese title.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Vi ... 28Japan%29

I'm reading about the green beard effect. Didn't recall it was called like that in Dawkins' Selfish Gene.

I have to admit that I was slightly disappointed that the red fire ants were not actually growing green beards.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demon_with_a_Glass_Hand

James Cameron was accused of stealing elements from this Outer Limits episode for Terminator ('84). He settled out of court, and had to credit writer Harlan Ellison at the end of Terminator.

I'm trying to figure out what the extinct animals on Australia, Madagascar and New Zealand looked like.
Here's the elephant bird from New Zealand
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moa

And from Australia, the marsupial lion
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marsupial_Lion
and marsupial rhino
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diprotodon

Madagascar's elephant bird
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aepyornis_maximus
the gorilla sized lemur (no pics! )
Archaeoindris

The John Cabot page. Had to prove to someone that he is in fact Italian and not English. When I was growing up, the textbooks all called him John Cabot. They probably still do.

'Supernatural' Season 5, as well as supernatural.wikia~ It's a guilty pleasure.

Cabot's an interesting chap

Anyway, this is for you Mr. Trot

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demonoid

Interesting, def. I've read that page before, but not the most recent paragraph at the bottom. Wiki really has it all.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Lonely_Cow_Weeps_at_Dawn

( )

Don't think I have heard of the term "pink film" before now.

The so-called watershed hour is 9pm here - after that a lot of it degenerates into a no holds barred frenzy of swearing, nudity and anything crude/rude that appeals to your average moron. It's the 'lowest common denominator' factor and never over estimating the intelligence of the audience.

I think the term is mainly used in the UK, where TV has degenerated into a tabloid form - cheap, tacky programmes, spiced up with shock and awe techniques. It's pretty boring to watch. I've not watched much UK TV in the last 10 years because of this phenomena - I've probably missed some good programmes, but searching through the dross for anything good just isn't worth the bother.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wu_Ming

Not Chinese. Italian!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_Kasztner

Looks like this guy who saved more Jews in WWII than Schindler was assassinated in Israel!

Presenteeism.

It's been hijacked by the H1N1 virus to mean people who show up at work while sick.

The original definition related more to employees who physically show up at work but do little while there.

Griffith Observatory's wiki page. Am currently listening to Beefheart's Observatory Crest and it is said to refer to this observatory. Said wiki page also says there's a lego model of the observatory in Legoland California.

Fentimans, a botanical brewery. Am currently drinking their Curiosity Cola - nice. I drink cola about 4 times a year. I thought it's be an American product, but it turns out they're British! I guess I could have looked at the label as well.

from sagredo's link, i went to World_of_Coca-Cola
who cares about disneyworld now?!

Catching up with Richard Nixon. Growing up, he was a curious media figure. For some reason, he remains an interesting character to me. As a kid, he was just before my time, but I remember him coming up in Mad Magazine a lot (the Nixon three dollar bill) and he appeared in a textbook I read sitting poolside. Bizarre. No other presidents of the 60's and 70's got that kind of exposure when I was growing up. Interesting that if Nixon were president today, his policies would make him a lefty Democrat.


(not the pic I saw as a kid that became etched into my brain, but not far off)

Anthony Bordain did an episode of No Reservations on the Rust Belt this year, some nice, hearty food there. Bordain's been doing some more shows close to home.

(thanks for the anniversary wish, btw )

Transcendental idealism-

I am interested in how this influenced a poet.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transcendental_idealism

The page on MC Hammer has a section detailing how he blew his fortune. A dishwasher in his bedroom for snacks?
What a materialistic idiot.

Not today, but over the weekend - a lot on the Stasi, KGB, & Stalin.

But now onto MC Hammer...

"Two gold-plated "Hammertime" gates for entrance to the property"

Pshaw! I did that WAY before he did...

Hammertime!

Aha! So not only is he a materialistic pastor, he's also a copycat!

I respect him because he wrote a song called 2 Legit 2 Quit before he quit

the painter afremov leonid
and Ada Lovelace
the daughter of Byron was a geek.