Whaling and body language

I'm supposed to be researching for a Japanese lesson plan but keep getting distracted.

An Australian guy (I don't know anything about him, but the accent gives his country of origin away pretty quickly) has a youtube culture series under the username TheJapanChannelDcom. He seems to know his stuff.

I found his take on the whaling issue insightful. He makes some fair points, especially at around 5:53 of the 10 minute video.

I also really liked his short description of some Japanese body language. He does the head tilting and air-through-the-teeth thing (from ~1.43 onwards) really well.

In the sky

I find it strange that there are people out there who are not pilots for a living but possess the qualifications to fly a plane and/or helicopter. I think that the majority of those people are very rich. Maybe if we were all rich we'd all have flying qualifications.

Here's my hastily constructed list of some famous people who can apparently legally fly something:

• John Travolta
• Harrisson Ford
• Dr. Phil
• Angelina Jolie
• Ben Affleck
• Clint Eastwood
• Morgan Freeman
• Dennis Quaid
• Tom Cruise
• Jay Leno
• Prince Charles
• Fergie
• George Bush (both W. and Snr.)

I somehow had the idea in my head that it's not easy to get a pilot's license of any kind. But maybe you do just need a lot of money. Or maybe I'm underestimating the capabilities of the people on that list... maybe.

When catastrophe strikes

I know how to use a computer, but I'm relatively shortcut illiterate.

Only recently did I discover the joys of Ctrl + z. Undo. Magic.

Sure you probably already knew that, but I bet someone still doesn't.

Hurt locker

I saw The Hurt Locker this week, but didn't know what the title meant and I don't think it was actually mentioned in the movie. I asked my friend Google to fill me in.

hurt locker
noun. a period of immense, inescapable physical or emotional pain.
Source: Urban Dictionary

BBC News has a whole article on the term 'hurt locker.' In it they quote Mark Boal, the film's writer, who said, "It means slightly different things to different people, but all the definitions point to the same idea. It's somewhere you don't want to be."

Structured procrastination

It's a wonder that I've ever achieved anything in my life, what with my highly developed procrastination skills. Tonight, as a way of procrastinating, I decided to do a little research on procrastination and I came across the concept of structured procrastination on a website by John Perry, a Stanford Philosophy professor. It makes good sense to me.

"Structured procrastination," writes Perry, "is a strategy that converts procrastinators into effective human beings, respected and admired for all that they can accomplish and the good use they make of time."He suggests that, "the procrastinator can be motivated to do difficult, timely and important tasks, as long as these tasks are a way of not doing something more important."

He points out that many procrastinators make the mistake of trying to minimise commitments in the misguided belief that having less things to do will mean they are more likely to get done. This actually destroys the procrastinator's key source of motivation. "The few tasks on his list will be by definition the most important, and the only way to avoid doing them will be to do nothing."

I like the idea that procrastination can be used for good. You just have learn to manipulate it the right way, which might be easier said than done...

Purikura in Brisbane, yeah!

Purikura is the abbreviation of "purinto kurabu" (print club) used to describe those crazy Japanese photo sticker booths and the little photo stickers they spit out. They're good fun, but I guess the machines are expensive to import because I can't find anywhere that has them cheap here in Brisbane.

I saw one a few months ago at the Logan Hyperdome but it was $15 and looked a bit faded.

Today I went and peeked in at Area 58 in Elizabeth Street arcade in the city (photo above). They have more than one machine, but again, they're either $12 or $15. There was a Japanese lady working there when I went in. I know she was Japanese because I asked her a question and she answered in Japanese, even though I asked in English. I don't think she even realised she did it.

I saw a sign near there for another place called Sense-Q over in Adelaide Street (see map below) and they allegedly even have English instructions, but I have yet to check it out.

I also heard that there's a place at Sunnybank (Market Square), and discovered that they have a website, but I don't know if they're any cheaper than the others. I got a bit excited when I saw the "Machine Hire & Sales" tab on the website, but sadly they don't offer day hire because it takes a day just to set a machine up. No purikura parties just yet I guess.

Wisdom from Peter Combe

When I was investigating good foods to mush into your hair last week I came across the suggestion that orange juice is an effective facial treatment.

It allegedly offers an "instant and natural glow," revitalising your skin and making it "silky smooth to the touch."

They recommend applying the juice of one orange directly to your face like a face wash, then rinsing immediately. The Vitamin C purportedly adds smoothness and softness.

It's also supposed to shrink enlarged pores, tone and exfoliate, reduce wrinkles, prevent acne and blemishes, and help protect from the sun... depending on how long you leave it on your skin and, I guess, how magical the oranges are.

Maybe Peter Combe knew what he was talking about after all (see Mr Clicketty Cane).

Chemistry like apple and cinnamon

This made me laugh.

I had some leftover pie apples in the fridge that I wanted to bake something with, but I can't find the recipe for apple and cinnamon cake that I usually use so I Googled "apple and cinnamon."

It seems that Utada Hikaru (a Japanese-American singer/songwriter) is a fan of the combination. Check out the musical evidence here.

PS. I settled on this recipe, but cooked it at 180C (for 45 minutes) rather than 140C based on some user reviews. Even then it was undercooked so I reckon it needs more like an hour at 180C (or maybe I used too much apple).

Wet weather plan for the lazy

Going out in the rain?

Don't want to get the hems of your pants wet before you even reach the car?

Lazy and/or in a hurry? Paper clips are your new best friend.

They're like safety pins, but faster. And they won't stab you.

Mosquito teeth

I read somewhere that mosquitoes have teeth. Having conducted minimal research, to find out whether they really do, I have a whole new level of revulsion for mosquitoes.

"Mosquitoes have four knife-like tools of serrated teeth that surround a pair of fine tubes — one for dripping a pain suppressor and one for sucking blood.

A common house mosquito (Culex sp.) stabs the skin with her sharp snout and saws in with her four knife tools to draw blood. She shoots in saliva laced with anesthetic (to escape notice) and an anticoagulant (to keep blood flowing). Then she sucks blood.

In 90 seconds, she sucks enough blood to nourish 100 eggs or more — and is too heavy to fly. She makes a controlled descent to a close safe spot where she squeezes in on her abdomen. Water oozes out of the blood, filtered through the abdominal wall, and forms a large drop. Light again, she takes off.

During her short adult life (two weeks to a month) she bites one to three times... only female mosquitoes draw blood (for needed protein). The males feed on nectar and plant juices." Source

Sometimes knowledge is power. Sometimes it's just gross.