Cyber psycho

You have to wonder in this day and age when people can contact a lot of people online, why some people go ballistic any time you question what they do. Cyber bully is still on the warpath, and he feels by insulting me he will get me to apologize. Another poster felt challenged when I asked him about a comment he made about teaching related to grammar. Later in the thread, I didn’t recommend anything to him, yet he felt I had offended him. Oh, well, can’t win them all.

Go figure, but the other guy, the cyber psycho, is a total basket case. He is still going on, I guess looking for rubles where he can. Yes, superior life indeed.

I don’t know if I just tend to attract these kinds of people with comments I make, or it’s just a matter of challenging their ‘little’ worlds. I think we all need our realities bent now and then. Sometimes what we want to see is not what we really see.

Forum spats sometimes lead to revelations, and sometimes not. Mr. Grammar has been going on about his wounded pride (funny how the biggest egoists have massively inflatable prides), but I seriously think he should lay off the vodka and think about detox. Or maybe not, I mean, everybody copes in their own way, but seriously any time people get seriously involved in being offended on-line by the truth, you have to wonder.
I suppose all of us like to feel we are something when we are not, and Mr. G certainly lives up to the moment of everything being about me!

Buggy times

I came back from another vacation with an unintended friend, a bug. Not strangely enough, I feel mentally challenged, as the bug has filled up my chest with phlegm and made me easily tired.

Sometimes this state of mind can be helpful, but focusing is rather difficult. The lens of perception is slowed down, with impaired memory of events and goals.

Overall it was a pretty good vacation, though with the usual little too much of running around. The weather was a bit rainy, which didn’t help with the views and being able to get around. But the rain and clouds did keep things cooler, which at times was a blessing. Speaking of cool, life is in a spin recently, with me thinking what should be the next move with teaching.

That milk smells funny!

http://www.jref.com/forum/showthread.php?t=21348

Ever wonder why Japanese milk tastes and smells different? It has to to with ESL vs. UHT.

UHT (Ultra High Temperature)

UHT is a flash-heating-and-cooling sterilisation process that allows food to retain its nutritional value while preserving natural taste, colour and flavour. The right combination of temperature and time is what UHT is all about. No chemicals, preservatives, microwaves, or any type of radiation are ever used. UHT milk is heated to a temperature between 135 and 150 degrees Celsius for a minimum of one second.

UHT treatment is used to achieve food sterility. Combined with aseptic packaging, it delivers shelf stable conditions for food. Shelf stable products do not require refrigeration. This saves on transportation and storage costs. Natural resources are also saved by reducing green-house gas emissions.

There are many products that can benefit from UHT technology. Some examples: milk, cream, juice and soy-based products.

ESL (Extended Shelf Life)

ESL milk is quite different from well-known UHT milk. UHT milk is heated to a temperature between 135 and 150 degrees Celsius for a minimum of one second. ESL milk is only heated to a temperature between 85 and 127 degrees Celsius for a minimum of two seconds.

ESL milk can be stored for up to 21 days and it is as nourishing as pasteurised milk. But be careful, the longer shelf life is based on the package not being opened and that it is refrigerated.

Sex doesn’t sell

I’m reading a book on buyology (the psychology of buying) and supposedly sex doesn’t sell (or not very well). Often what happens is the target gets distracted, and later fails to remember the product or the company logo. So in other words, the sex aspect of the ad is remembered, but doesn’t help with remembering what the company wants to sell.

Then how does that explain this blog’s popularity

http://www.hotforwords.com/

One of my favorites on this blog

http://www.hotforwords.com/2010/01/09/euphemism/

Being good too good to be true

The other day pulled a sharp comment while talking about cockroaches. We were talking about heating the home at night (my ‘cheap’ coworkers worry about dry air, uh huh, but not freezing faces or the appearance of camping inside a house or apartment), and I mentioned how there is a problem with flying cockroaches in HK, yet many places don’t have screens on the windows. Japan seems to share the same problem, the no screens bit. Even on newer places, the landlords just don’t seem to want to ante up.

Anyway back to my comment, a female worker popped her head into the room, and I quipped, “Don’t worry, we weren’t referring to you when we were talking about pests we can’t get rid of!” Left with nary a peep.

Oh well, you can’t please everyone, might as well please someone.

Reminds me of a character online who keeps quoting G K Chesterton, especially the religious aspects. Actually the non-religious aspects are a much easier sell, the man was against imperialism (and socialism and capitalism, oh brother, here comes utopia). He certainly was a proflic writer who considered himself more of a journalist than a writer. He actually seems to have been very good at being both.

Why is it though so many good writers want to find their god and give him credit for everything? What’s wrong with believing that skill, a little luck, and timing can do it?

work in progress

Hey Miki!

I have to wonder what Miki Ando did to get so disliked in Japan. She seems to be a contender in women’s figure skating with medal chances. Of course she did poorly in the last winter Olympics in Torino, but she has chances. Even though I consider Mao Asada the better skater form wise, of late she hasn’t been very impressive.

Perhaps Miki just hasn’t been cute enough and lived up to her potential as much as fickle Japanese fans wished she had. I think for athletes competing, they’re all good, far better than I would probably ever be. So why not cheer for them all, even the ‘original’ bad boy snowboarder, who came home with nothing?

Well, have found out a little more. Seems Miki was having a relationship with her trainer, a foreigner of all things! Can’t have that in Japan, people creating scandals with foreigners!

in progress

Olympic business

Have to wonder with the Olympics if it is worth all the fuss and bother. Are sports events that are labeled as international becoming just global business as some claim? Whenever I see people rooting for only their entrants to win, but are not interested in the medal winners from other countries, I have to wonder. Isn’t it all about the athletes competing against the best in the world?

Of course, I’m not saying I don’t feel some pride when I see athletes from my own country or from my adopted home Japan doing well. But let’s face it, a good performance by a top athlete is great regardless of who wins. I am always chagrined when people ask me who the American athletes are. For some sports I have no idea, they are perhaps not well-known. And if I don’t follow that sport, which for most I don’t, how would I know?

I don’t want to wear a flag on my chest (or my backpack) and am not really interested in doing so. I often enjoy the opening and closing ceremonies more than the events themselves. Artistry for me is important, and good sportsmanship. The stories about training and succeeding against great odds are uplifting, and I find those more part and parcel of the true Olympic spirit than stories about people trained under professional regimes to win symbols of national glory.

Grammar police take sumo stumble

Was posting on a coworker’s facebook site about a sumo champion retiring. Made a comment about  that ‘fat bastard’ could come out of retirement, and had people mistake that Asa should return. But since he would never get a stable to help him back in, how would he do it?  Obviously I was referring to Mike Myer’s Fat Bastard in the movie Goldmember

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNIfKjCEPq4&feature=PlayList&p=F35DB4B473F7CD26&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=10

And these guys thought Asa wasn’t fat, could have fooled me?

Anyway, some teachers need a break from their work as they sometimes stumble on simple points when they should be looking at the context within the discussion.

One, as they noted, Asa is not as  big as some other sumo wrestlers they named, so why wouldn’t they all be fat bastards?

Two, it is impossible for Asa to come out of retirement with any stable (including the one he left) as the sumo association is the one who forced him into retirement. I mean, unless he’s going to wrestle on the Hawaiian circuit, who would take him?

Context…guys, context..

Who me... fat?

Tripping along

Still giving some thought to this coming summer. Have two legs to plan, one in Europe and one in the US. Difficult to decide who to see and where to go. Also how much time we can afford away is another issue, which will obviously affect scheduling.

I almost wish we could only go to the US, but my wife will object if we hope to that. But I haven’t had a chance to visit the US in almost 3 years (come this summer). Anyway, I hope to be going around just New England, but with the number of places (and faces) to visit, it will take some time.

Of course, a more relaxed drive would be better, but it depends on many miles we need to cover per day. Looking at a swing around Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire (briefly), Vermont, and Massachusetts again before returning to Connecticut where my parents live.

http://www.mapquest.com/maps?1c=Bristol&1s=CT&1y=US&1l=41.6717&1g=-72.949699&1v=CITY&2c=Gloucester&2s=MA&2y=US&2l=42.615799&2g=-70.662498&2v=CITY#b/maps/m:map:4:43.465587:-70.706247::::::1:1:::::::::/l:::Bristol:CT::US:41.6717:-72.949699:city::1:::/l:::Gloucester:MA::US:42.615799:-70.662498:city::1:::/l:::Freeport:ME::US:43.856899:-70.1036:city:Cumberland+County:1:::/l:::Bar+Harbor:ME::US:44.387501:-68.204399:city:Hancock+County:1:::/l:::Milo:ME::US:45.253601:-68.986397:city:Piscataquis+County:1:::/l:::Hanover:NH::US:43.702202:-72.290001:city:Grafton+County:1:::/l:::Burlington:VT::US:44.4758:-73.212502:city:Chittenden+County:1:::/l:::Worcester:MA::US:42.262501:-71.802803:city:Worcester+County:1:::/l:::Northampton:MA::US:42.325001:-72.641701:city:Hampshire+County:1:::/io:1:::::f:en_US:M::/bl:/e

Looks like a fair amount of driving, depending on how much shopping and driving we factor in.