Archive for In the News
July 18, 2008 at 12:28 pm · Filed under In the News
I don’t know if I want to celebrate caviar so my celebrations of food days may have to start tomorrow with National Daiquiri Day. Unless I extend caviar to mean any type of fish egg…we’ll see.
But in other food news, there has been another molasses spill!! I mentioned the Boston Molasses Disaster of 1919 before. Well, this time it was in Texas and get this - it spilled near Sugar Land. I know spills are generally a bad thing but I do have dreams of witnessing a molasses spill one day (”oh no….it’s….spilling….very slowly…spilling”), armed with a bowl of oatmeal and buttermilk.
To provide a bit of me catch up after several months of nothing - things are very good. I spent May getting used to working life. In June I lived in False Creek for a bit and dreamed about owning a boat. The later half of June was a pseudo-holiday while I enjoyed the visits of friends. Now it’s July and I sort of feel like this:
My camera can take credit for that picture but I can’t. Jemma took it of Berny on a trampoline at a bed & breakfast we hit while they were here. I had forgotten all about trampolines.
Life is generally more free and bouncy (in comparison to the past 5 years of grad school). I may get back to writing more.
May 7, 2008 at 8:43 pm · Filed under In the News
From HPV vaccination program raises concerns in B.C.
A. H. has three daughters in the age group being targeted by the program, but she says none of them will get the vaccine.
“I [postponed] my sexual activity as long as possible, and I’m hoping our children, our daughters, will as well,” H. said.
Big big SIGH.
And a completely unrelated picture:
October 15, 2007 at 2:36 pm · Filed under In the Kitchen and Foodstuff, In the News, Movies&Film, Travels, 日本語
The strike is finally over and garbage collection resumes this week. We were just starting to consider alternatives to get rid of waste piled up over the three months. Hopefully this experience will lead to better recycling practices for all.
travel
I read about a place in Chile called Punta Pite and it has finally given me an definite answer to the question I always ask others: “if you could leave on a trip tomorrow anywhere in the world, where would it be?” It’s likely my next big trip will not be for another year or so but in the meantime, I will read up on Chile with a possible side of Easter Island salad.
news
日本語
From my Japanese language exchange over an ever-delicious Elysian cappuccino on Saturday: you know how we say that we want to “brush up on …”, for example, brush up on my Japanese? You can use the same expression in Japanese: 日本語を磨く (nihongo o migaku) - brush my japanese. The same verb (and kanji) is used for brushing ones teeth brushing. We also discussed 不器用 (bukiyoh) and a translation - clumsy; both the physical and mental uses of the word. Then I inquired into a Japanese version of quote / unquote fingers but my conclusion for the night was that it doesn’t quite exist. If you know other please let me know.
food
On Friday after drinks at Koerner’s a few of us went to Topanga Cafe on W 4th for some dinner. I had been inhaling cider for the few hours previous thus this was the most incredible thing to eat:
the chicken burrito. On reflection, I might have preferred beef or bean but…it was good. Can you believe that cheese and the sauce…? On further reflection, or after getting this picture of my camera, I realized that I had eaten something that spent half its plate-life staring at me.
pets
I was also cat sitting this weekend which was good given my limited interaction with pets. Seven months old, she was quite the active cat and I played with her; tossing mice around and animating string. I wondered if I was entertaining her and then I wondered how much she perceived these things in motion as being moved by my hand. Was I creating an illusion or did she need to use her own imagination? How do cats play?
movies
I saw The Darjeeling Limited last night and while it may disappoint those expecting a new favourite Wes Anderson movie, I enjoyed the faces and expressions of all the actors, with all their flaws, made beautiful.
mobile phone
I am still without mobile phone but it’s hard to want to spend the money on the ones available here when I had Orange Juice in Japan. I sort of want to wait until I have a (more) highly paying job and then I can invest in one of them fancy phones. But moments like coordinating meeting at a movie theatre and saving seats could have been made easier if I was connected. We could have made the balcony!
July 18, 2007 at 10:26 am · Filed under In the News, It's Science
Something seems wrong about this article and the research it talks about:
Obesity carries risks, but can boost survival from heart attacks: study
(subtitle: findings do not give green light for being fat, doctors say)
July 12, 2007 at 12:48 pm · Filed under In the News
Yesterday Pink Tentacle blogged on two news stories in Japan.
1. Job-hating maring officer kidnaps himself: (summary) man found bound and gagged at edge of forest north of Miurakaigan station (this is actually sort of in my ‘hood). Investigation starts with questionning man. Police become suspicious as man has no injuries and his hands are tied in his front, not back. Man admits it was a setup motivated by his hatred of going to work.
2. Mystery money turning up in gov’t office restrooms across Japan: (summary) 10000円 notes (little less than 100 CDN) are being put in envelopes with a handwriting note and placed in stacks in the washrooms of government office buildings. The note asks the finder to use the money to pay for some kind of studies or training. It seems more than 280 of these envelopes have been found.
To 1 - man wants attention.
To 2 - what kind of attention does man (or woman) want?
I don’t have much more to say about these stories. Just that they were interesting but also kind of spooky.
April 12, 2007 at 11:57 am · Filed under In the News
Arnie says that environmentalism should be sexy. I see what point he is trying to make. The guilt trip doesn’t work all the way and actually some of us, on disgruntled and anti-society days, might find our channels of guilt and revolt against them…until we feel even more guilty.
But consider what sexy currently motivates people to do. Consume, consume and consume. Fashion, beauty products, substance abuse, toys, the bigger the better, the more the merrier. Is it possible that a campaign to make concern for the environment hip could increase some areas of consumption and in effect cancel out any gain in environmental consciousness? OK maybe not but…it doesn’t sound like this effort will include making it square to drive an SUV and own 20 purses.
October 26, 2006 at 11:58 am · Filed under In the News
I track a news feed in my bloglines and everyday there are around 100 new headlines from around the world. My bloglines is set to only show the headlines, not the article text. I scroll down the list and an average of 5 headlines per day will really catch my eyes and I will go read the article. Regularly, I try to keep up with the “big stories” but during busy times - like now - I only use impulse when making my selection.
Today my impulse selections were:
Model Campbell released on bail
Brazil ’serial killer’ convicted
Bee fossil, DNA generate a buzz
I almost selected Blaze at refinery ‘under control’ but at first I had read “Blaze at refinery ‘outta control’” and during the moment between my impulse being fired and my finger clicking on the mouse, I reprocessed the title and thought “oh no wait, it’s ‘under control’ now, I don’t need to read that”.
So…what do these impulses say about my subconsciousness. I cannot say that consciously I am that interested in Naomi Campbell and serial killers. The bee thing is kinda cool. Are the impulses based on the (possible) topic of the article…or on single words that stand out. Like…chocolate.
I want to do an eye tracking test to get more information on how I scan headlines. Just for some understanding of how I generally absorb information. What do I tune out and what catch me?
August 24, 2006 at 7:49 pm · Filed under In the News, Random Thoughts, Technology & Effects
I don’t post many pictures of myself. Maybe because I also don’t take many pictures of myself. But other people might have some of me like Kelvin seen below:
He is another intern from Vancouver…SFU I think…but different company. Click on that pictures if you want to check out his flickr account. He is young and energetic so gets around Japan a lot and has taken some good photos. This was taken when we went to a festival at the temple in Kawasaki Daishi. (Update: I meant to add…if you want to see me in yukata then you can explore his photostream.)
So what am I thinking today…? Well, did you hear about the Report Abuse button for Windows Messenger? I like that they are looking for ways to solve the predators problem, but I wonder how the button model will work. Buttons are so easy to press. 9-1-1 is easy to press but a real person answers your call and you have to either hang up or say something. What happens when people abuse the abuse button?
On the lighter side of the news is the Llama on the loose in the Vancouver area. The article picture is gold:
I might have to print and frame it. Put it by my bedside. Llama on the loose…heh…album name.
August 4, 2006 at 10:39 am · Filed under In the News
CBC News: Vancouver police target noisy motorcycles
“I figure I annoy them for maybe 30 seconds in a day. I figure my safety is a little more important than that,” he said, explaining that he modified his muffler in January so that drivers would notice him more. He was noticed by police last weekend, and was ticketed.
Oh gawd common…did he think of noise pollution at all? I loathe loud vehicles…especially when they are enhanced to be loud on purpose. Does he not realize that he’s not the only one with a roaring muffler and when it adds up you get more than 30 seconds of annoyance a day? I wish I could back this up with a statement on other safety measures he could take but I can’t. If anyone has an opinion / idea, please comment.
July 10, 2006 at 5:00 pm · Filed under In the News
Sure some people wearing hoodies look threatning but not because of the hoodies. I guess we all generalize in different ways.
Mr Cameron will say teenagers who hide under hooded tops are trying to “blend in” rather than appear threatening.
In a speech on Monday he will describe them as “a response to a problem, not a problem itself”.
And he will argue that while teenage criminals must be punished, they should also be shown “a lot more love”. (BBC link)
I like the bit about a lot more love. When I was younger we called hoodies “bunnyhugs”, that term is full of love isn’t it? Maybe if these “teenage criminals” were wearing bunnyhugs they would think of hot chocolate and roses more than guns and money. Right?
The interesting thing this article made me think of though, is how we choose our clothes to a) fit in but also for b) security. When I pull the hood up on a sweater or jacket I am entering my “comfort zone” which may or may not be to get away from the things around me.
May 31, 2006 at 9:42 am · Filed under In the News
The news about UNICEF ending their Halloween orange box campaign is kind of sad. Those orange boxes are part of Halloween. Would the campaign be more worth it if people upped their donations from pennies to, say, quarters or loonies?
Wow…I wrote “loonies” and it felt so weird. You know, 150 years from now there will be some Canadian novel in its 10th edition and after their preface there will be a small section on “Money Terms” where they list the values for nickels, dimes, quarters, loonies, toonies.
Back to UNICEF…I think that if UNICEF ends, someone should at least produce trick-or-treat boxes (for candy) that are giant replicas of the UNICEF boxes…or maybe that is already out there.
January 16, 2006 at 5:26 pm · Filed under In the News
I’m so productive lately. I feel like I can do anything. Except write. So I had a big essay on this article but I’m canning it all cause well…it’s just not working. Here’s the first part though…
BBC posted this short article on how diet changes in the past 50 years can be linked to mental health issues. The article is based on a report (pdf) filed by Sustain: the Alliance for Better Food and Farming and the Mental Health Foundation in the UK (it may have been only Sustain’s work, I am not sure about that one). I read the article and immediately wanted to send it to some close friends and family with a “see!!! it was the cookies!!! the cookies made me cry!” and “I think I’m going to drop everything and become a nutritionist“. Seconds later I decided not to send anything because a) I’m not going to drop out and b) I know that when you send people articles about what you should and shouldn’t eat it can seem less “oh in case you are interested because I found this interesting” and more “you eat crap that is killing you and this is an intervention”. So I’m posting the article here.
It is pissing rain today. Walking to the bus stop, a van drove by and splashed me. So tonight I am in hiding. Well…except for when I go out to get 1 quarter for laundry. I only 1 quarter…if there is a God that quarter will appear here right now!
January 15, 2006 at 1:57 am · Filed under In the News
This will be such a surreal diving experience. To create an artificial reef, the Artificial Reef Society of B.C. is sinking a Boeing 737 off the coast a little north of Victoria.
After going diving once, I’m hooked and I really want to get certified. This is totally motivation to do so.
January 5, 2006 at 12:28 pm · Filed under In the News
The federal government is opening part of a protected beluga whale habitat in the Mackenzie Delta and Beaufort Sea to oil and gas companies.
All for money. I’m trying to learn more about how I can disassociate myself from the use of gas and oil. Yeah…a little tough in our world. But there must be a few things here and there that I can cut back on. A few promises I can make.
December 2, 2005 at 1:16 pm · Filed under In the News, Social Technology
Do you remember when you were a kid and someone in your class got the most amazingly cool toy or book or pants? But let’s consider specifically the toy here. So for a while everyone is hanging out with the cool kid because of his or her cool toy and even though there’s some imbalance (one kid is way cooler than the rest) that is ok because there’s some interaction. People are benefitting. It’s even possible that there’s not just the one really cool kid but there might be several cool kids with different cool toys. But after a while something happens…
A bunch of the mediocre kids go to their parents asking, no begging, for the cool toy. They get it (spoiled) and not only is the original cool kid not as cool anymore, the toy starts to get a little boring too. Let’s pretend that the toy is actually practical so they keep on using it but it seems like it does not work as well as it did before.
The whole Microsoft digging into the classifieds world kinda reminds me of that. I really wish they would just leave it alone because in the end they will probably not do it right. Sure, there’s Google Base trying to get in on the action, but Google is like the cool kid that is cool regardless of what toys he has. Everyone wants to be around him all the time. Microsoft should leave the classifieds to Craigslist. Craigslist is one groovy girl loved by all and she doesn’t expect anything in return for her friendship.
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