Success!

So it's 99% done.. the transition that is...

I now encourage readers to visit:

http://r3dragon.net (tada!)

All my old posts are there from this blog...

I'm debating if I should redirect this blog url to there, but you're smart enough..

Update your bookmarks..

~J out

(btw.. I'll keep the blogger account for archive purposes.)

Current Update

Ok I'll admit it-- I haven't blogged simply due to disappointment. No its true I did feel a bit down after it hit and I've been in silent meditation.

This has allowed me reflection time-- Time that I use to work on my website.

As for the website I'm building.. I have a few more tweaks to do on it then I'm going to work on importing blog posts from here to there.

As of like right now-- it's all experimental. To tell the truth I'm completely new to CMS's other then maybe wordpress. Already maybe 3 or 4 times I've seriously considered trashing drupal for wordpress-- but I'm going to keep a little bit more at it. I'm banking on a few things, one of which is an explosion of new knowledge and my skill at tweaking css.

In any case... My big thought coming home was to perhaps incorporate a "photocast" idea. This is a simple java or flash based photo album blog-style post that runs on a pre-defined timer that's set to a podcast mp3 running either within the photo album or underneith it.

Presentation wise, I believe it would be great to watch a story unfold through pictures like a book. I'll have to work up an example, try it out, and see what happens.

Until then..

~J out

Sacrificing for fallout 3

Ok maybe "sacrifice" is a bit too harsh here to say, but it's more like a come to Jesus moment.

Fallout 3 is a great game-- or atleast appears to be a great game if your computer doesn't 'zoink out' all the time with old software bitching about upgrades and of course the occasional cough..WPA validation..cough pop ups. If this was any other time-- id say so what, but crashing in the middle of wasting a ghoul just angered the friggen hell out of me that I rushed back over linux and qeued up a country western playlist I worked up a week ago (don't ask).

It was only then the realization that when I bought the OS for the HTPC I got two disks-- 1 32bit ed of Win XP and a 1 x64 bit ed. Well I already installed and authenticated the 32 bit licence, but not the other one. Now I know the problems with the 64 bit ed. and everyone says basically to stick with the 32 bit ed, but since my primary scoot around OS for daily use is linux and I'd only use winxp for games-- what the heck. I'll suffer.

So I backed up my XP Hard drive-- tossed in the x64 disk with a virgin product key and killed off the old xp particition that I've used for nearly ever. All without even thinking twice.

Now, as I blog my job as with every windows install in history is to install drivers and programs-- getting me all back to some sense of normality so I can play my dang copy of Fallout 3 (hopefully).

~J out

**edit 22:40- Just install nVidia drivers and now have my 1440 x 900 back whew! I felt like I was suffocating a little there

ubuntu 8.10, the blog, & JET app

Nov. 1, wow a new month and so much stuff to get done.

On the priority list is:

Upgrading to Ubuntu 8.10
Working on JET app
working on my new website
Installing new server software on my server
playing Fallout 3

I put upgrading ubuntu at #1 only because that's a start & forget thing. I started the upgrader and I'll let that run occasionally checking for prompts..

On the JET app. the next thing is just really mass printing everything and then organizing it into a nice package. There's still some things I need to bust my ass this week to do... The first is getting official transcripts from Clark Co., next is getting my 2 letters of rec., then finally getting a notice from Overseas I sent for. On the back burner maybe setting up a physical with a doc..

My timeline is to get it packaged and mailed by November 14th or 15th. As of today-- I feel confident that I'm on track for that... Come the 13th, who knows ;P


Next on the big list is my website.. I've recently setup a site, but ironically have forgotten the credentials to log in.. lol. It's likely since I haven't done anything that I'll scrap it and load a new one. Really I didn't like the setup I made to begin with... it was hastily done, and this site I want to be good looking-- incorporating all my talent and everything. I've decided to try and use drupal's CMS software for my blog. I was going to use wordpress, but I feel that the way things are going-- I'll probably soon expand my site and I'll need the extra configuabilty later. One of drupals very nice features is it's "book" ability. I think it would be really fun to explore writing books. In college, of course, I found a nack for writing and in many ways I'd like to keep doing that.

Along with Ubuntu's update is a server package I'm interested in installing on my server. Recently the old eserver horse has been used to mock up plenty of website CMS's and attempts, but since now I've gone pro with a webhosted service for mysite... I'd be fine to let that old dog do another trick as a media host or backup file server. Now 8.10 server is a lot for just dinking, but dinking is what I do-- I'll learn a lot from it i'm sure.

Finally Fall out 3.. I picked up a copy after work at Best Buy and it's fantastic! Absolutely grand.. It's one of those huge world games with tons and tons of stuff to do. I'm dual booting pretty much for that reason alone otherwise linux is fine for me. The more I play Fo3, I'll do my take on it.

OK.. so time to get cracking away.. feels like work on a Sat already...

More updates to come.. otherwise I'll try to keep my blip's or tweets updated through out the day with twitter.

~J out

Webspace, DNS, R3d net.. All taking shape

My DNS finally switched over to my host's DNS so now everyone is talking.

I'm in the deep process now of putting together a comprehensive website with lots of bells and whistles and pics and vids and whatnot. It's sort of been a fantasy of mine for awhile.. but the goal is simply to have 1 spot-- 1 website for everything.

1st is the design of the site.. Working out the theme prefs.. Font, banner, ect..
2nd is migrating data from here to there.
3rd testing everything
4th working on other content systems like coppermine for photos and stuff

when it's done or close to done... I'll redirect this over there and start using my website for updates.

More to come..

~J

midnight rescue

Right now I'm pulling a midnight-- balls out-- don't know if it'll work or not move.

I've given up on trying to fix some major errors that reside in my new linux machine. If it wasn't clear before... it is now. Ubuntu doesn't like you switching up the home directories on it.

So where I'm at now is that when I rebooted after an package update my home directory vanished. That's because the nice os did me a favor and unmounted my partition which my home directory resided. The device was detected in /dev, but it's mount point in /media wasn't.

What to do? Oh sure I could mess around in the command prompt trying to find it and mount it.. but it was a temp fix then and it'll be a temp fix now. So to rescue myself... I'm reinstalling from disk my base system on the other partition and mounting my /home dir on the other partition that I created. What I'm hoping is that the first partition will still remain intact with all the settings and what not and that by reinstalling the base system by disk the config files will recognize my first partition's /home directory by default...

There's a risk that won't happen and I'll have to say bonviage to all the data and settings there (which for 1 week wasn't much).

More to come as I go along.

Ubuntu 8.10 get's released this friday.. If I'm lucky my /home directory was spared.. I can gzip a backup to my external HD and install 8.10 this weekend on my /root partition hopefully bypassing some beginner's mistakes...

Funny how I've done over 8 or 9 Ubuntu installs with no problems (including this Asus Eee I'm blogging from), but when it's the mother computer- my flag ship-- my 'big bertha' I go and manage to f-it up.

Silly wabbit linux tricks are for dixs

~J out

***Update*** Wed Oct 29, 7:06

Well what happened was I installed a base system without the xserver which was exciting. So the last thing I did was to install xserver then the ubuntu desktop which took all night.

So this morning I rebooted under a new account name and it booted into the GUI login screen and accepted my new login credentials and put me into a home directory. At first I thought it created the /home into root, except there was a folder "home" next to my user folder. I clicked on it then on the user folder in it and boom.. There was my old profile with everything in it. So the next step is to basically carefully import all my settings from there to me new profile.

The final goal is to have a safe bootable & working /home dir that when I update my distro (or install another one) I can keep using my home dir with all the settings & files. Slowly by slowly I feel more confident that it's going to work out ok...

Good... yawn.. Times!

~J out

new haircut..

here's my current style that I'm rolling with.J's current snapshot

As you can see I'm rolling with a "#4" 1/2 buzzcut up top. I've put on the hoody (zipdown) nearly permanently now. Finally my theme has often been 'dark' colors... (just because-- it don't mean anything)

Ok.. that's all: Check out this great song sometime:

Benny More's Locas Por El Mambo

~J out

sunday funk

So I was playing with a partition manager and found nearly 90Gbs of unused hd space. So I decided I should format it into ext3 (linux filing format) then move my home dir from where it is to the new partition.

The reason why is simply because having the /home dir set in a separate partition allows me to perhaps install other distributions in the other partition while keeping my home dir untouched.

Well suffice to say I'm still a beginner here, but with the power of Ubuntu's forums even us beginning nerds can tackle the hardest of tasks...

Well so I thought.. I started the process going through the various lines of commands to transfer it all over.. then I got to the point where I thought I was done so I logged out and logged in.. 'cept my home dir wasn't reconized.

dang.. Luckily I self rescued by rushing into the cmd line in the gnome failsafe mode.. but I learned a lession.. A.) Make backups B.)Check all your permissions and make sure they are all set on every file. Finally C.) Make an admin account... like now.. A working account with full permissions in a working home dir for self rescue..

Anyway.. good times in linux learning ;-D

~J out

linux- taking the plunge

Lately I've been slowly migrating from Windows to Linux-- specifically Ubuntu. Yeah it'd be safe to say Ubuntu has totally changed the way we all look at linux. For me, since at work I use it constantly, the plunge has been easier. However it's still intimidating moving from one OS to the other.

Right now I've been taking small steps... Starting with Dual booting with putting linux on a separate HD. The next step I've been working through is testing Virtual Machines like VMware & Qemu. Once I can get past the need for windows.. I'll keep my VM and kill off Windows since windows now resides on an very old ATA drive.

Anyway...

Here's some stuff that I've found very useful that I would like to share:

Miro- Miro is an RSS Reader for Video Podcast/Music Podcasts. This sets up your feeds into "channels" which you can watch like a virtual tv. The best part about it is that it also does torrents-- and yes it does do RSS feeds off of certain torrent feeding sites. g00dstuff

This, I think, is the future for TV as we know it.

more to come..

As I continue the switch over from Windows to Ubuntu... Btw next week new Ubuntu 8.10 intrepid comes out!

In other random thoughts I'm on the verge of pricing out a possible new computer build.. This computer would be a cross between a laptop and a desktop... Low power useage, high processing power, great possibilities.. Also I've been investigating the solar PC ;-P ..

~J

I Found クー！

I just got back from Beaverton's Asian Supermarket: Uwajimaya. It's just a great store. Everything and more you can think of Japanese is there. Even stuff I forgotten about..

But the big revelation was that Uwaji's now has Qoo, a soft drink in Japan that I became very attached too. Sometimes to the despair of my host family ;P

It's only big news because in times past Uwaji's didn't have qoo, but now they do.. So Zip down there and grab a bottle before I go back and get more :D

~J out

late night jam!

Let me set the stage since I think it's quite funny in a way..

It's just past midnight right now and I have Ella Fitzgerald queue'd in my winamp playlist..

I have word up and I'm trying to type out my JET Application's "Statement of Purpose" essay while keeping it within the format (2 pgs, double space, 12pt, 1" marg, etc.).

next to my keyboard I have a short glass with two ice cubes and filled halfway with Peppermint Schnapps that I've been nursing for the past hour..

The irony is that I'm listening to feel good drinking music while working on my second hit of Schnapps and I'm writing an essay for an English teacher position that'll probably get looked over a dozen times for grammar, spelling, content, etc.

$5 says that they'll read it and know I'm a classic 40's Jazz Type that spends his nights drinking for writer's inspiration....

Knowing Japan as well as I do... it just might be exactly what they want in their Gaijin teachers ;P

Yeah... he'll fit in well with our school teachers XD

~J out

R3d's RSS Feeds

New Widget I'm adding to the blog.. All the RSS news feeds I read daily are in this little widget. To view all the blogs I read click on the menu box in the upper left corner

~J


Get this widget!

Visit the Widget Gallery

Solace De Carniceria

If Politics were religion, and America was my denomination, it's more likely then not that I would be agnostic by now. The bottom line is no one is happy or can become happy by the recent surge of bad news, unless of course you are happy in which case-- You don't count.

You see-- With regard to News: (now called the proverbial "media") News used to actually be news when journalists acknowledged that they were no Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, Cary Grant, or Elizabeth Taylor... Rather they knew they were simply talking heads repeating lines of banter in order to keep the populous occupied until such aforementioned actors came on the tube.

However today is vastly different from literally an age ago. Today represents the pinnacle of the great EGO. Here the wonder and amazement of just being on the tube has reinvigorated a group of, otherwise forgotten, journalists & politico researchers into stars... starts with opinions I might add.

The flop of the final act however comes when we've voted and we're back to the boring humdrum of stuff no one really knows much about. I.e. Macro Economics, Global famine, and Social Welfare.

Yet-- All is not bad, in fact we're at the height of awareness! Lip service is being paid out more frivolously by smart candidates, their army of pundits and commentators, and (of course) a media sold out to the biggest buck.

Lip Service, unfortunately, doesn't equate to answers. Nor should they, necessarily. To be frank-- What American's really want is a 4 to 8 year forcast to see what all *could happen* so that we can "stump-the-candidate" on things we, in our darkest fears, would dread till doomsday of being asked ourselves.

Let's be real for a chance... Let's snap back to a reality we understand... If Joe Shmoe the mechanic says he can fix all my car problems on the cheap-- alarm bells would sound off... If a lawyer approaches you in the hospital and says he's got all the answers you need (for a small price) you'd probably tell him to bug off.. Likewise.. Presidents only show up in your neighborhood for one reason-- Your neighbor hood has been wiped off of earth by a terrible something.

So what am *I* really saying here?

What I'm saying is its smoke and mirrors with a tad of gullible-ness to believe anyone that tells you they can fix your problems if only you check your brain at the door.

The Economy will be fixed on it's terms, Welfare is often taken care of at the state level, National Security is always determined based on current events and recent developments, AARP will continue badger congress and the next president on Old People rights, so the rest comes down to leadership...

The only hopeless thing then, in this country, is whether or not you realize that you are being played my masters of deception...

Never leave home without your brain

~J out

Struggling to re-learn Nihongo

First you made it to October! It might not sound like much, but it's enough. Sometimes I wonder with each weather change.. if one season will treat me as fair as the other... But. Enough about that....

Lately I've had a number of waves hit me.. These waves are often mental escapes that allow me to day dream all the what if's, except the recent set of waves have hit harder then usual. The subject is "1 year in Japan as a worker, instead of as a student" The premise being "teach for a year until I either feel confident to move on to something better or go home." All of this, of course, is within the spectrum of "JET" accepting applications this month and next month. Of course I had plans to go into the Navy, that suffice to say, were delayed at best. Now I'm seriously thinking of applying full heartedly to JET, because a strange thing happened while I lived in Japan... I felt an unusual sense of belonging. Something about the society ultimately made so much sense to me at some points that I felt that I needed.. one day to return.. My return would only be to know for sure whether or not I actually had this strange feeling or whether it was a feeling in passing..

All of this is contained in twisted thoughts amongst others such as relearning a language such as Japanese when I know that all of my current struggles are simply due to not being around the language and people-- That's to say, if I were to visit for 1 week or 2 I'd pick up all the lost pieces of Japanese I've given away over two years.

Within the same vein, let me say that trying an attempt to relearn something your psyche says you know is tough... Simple things such as often used kanji I read on websites and in books-- I'm struggling to pronounce even if I know their meaning..

It's a struggle, I think, due to lack of motivation to return to basics.. Natural I suppose, but challenging regardless when I find myself struggling with a set of Kanji or sentence that I know, but can't dictate in spoken Japanese...

Ok.. but first things first.. I need to fully fillout my JET application and get it in the works just to see how far this "Wave Action" goes and to also figure out just where my passion (sorta) falls..

~J out

Does Bail = Fail? No

When I was barely one and a half (or maybe two) in 1986 Ronald Regan (then President of the United States) said,

"Our trade policy rests firmly on the foundation of free and open markets. I recognize ... the inescapable conclusion that all of history has taught: The freer the flow of world trade, the stronger the tides of human progress and peace among nations."

Regan said it in the face of an enormous and dangerous challenge-- He said it in order to prove his point: that America, steeped in Free Trade and Democracy will always possess the wherewithal to defeat a Socialized/Communized State ran trade establishment and a 1 party Communist dictatorship.

"Our trade policy rests firmly on the foundation of free and open markets...."

If there's a question over the "fundamentals of our economy or Trade Policy" let it be known thus far that as long as trade exists in the United States unhindered, then the fundamentals of our economy are not only strong they are absolute.

That said... it's ok to also note that where we're at isn't "ideal"-- in fact, we are as from ideal as one could safely get (without getting too beat up). Yet, no "Depression II" is in our midst (or at least mine). Of course 'how we got here' is likely not how we'll get out-- but perhaps there might be a tad bit of wisdom in just examining this question.

In smarter, more jovial, and telling words-- Warren Buffet, in an investor's report, tells the story more clearly then I can...

How to Minimize Investment Returns

-by Warren Buffet


It’s been an easy matter for Berkshire and other owners of American equities to prosper over the years. Between December 31, 1899 and December 31, 1999, to give a really long-term example, the Dow rose from 66 to 11,497. (Guess what annual growth rate is required to produce this result; the surprising answer is at the end of this section.) This huge rise came about for a simple reason: Over the century American businesses did extraordinarily well and investors rode the wave of their prosperity. Businesses continue to do well. But now shareholders, through a series of self-inflicted wounds, are in a major way cutting the returns they will realize from their investments.

The explanation of how this is happening begins with a fundamental truth: With unimportant exceptions, such as bankruptcies in which some of a company’s losses are borne by creditors, the most that owners in aggregate can earn between now and Judgment Day is what their businesses in aggregate earn. True, by buying and selling that is clever or lucky, investor A may take more than his share of the pie at the expense of investor B. And, yes, all investors feel richer when stocks soar. But an owner can exit only by having someone take his place. If one investor sells high, another must buy high. For owners as a whole, there is simply no magic – no shower of money from outer space – that will enable them to extract wealth from their companies beyond that created by the companies themselves.

Indeed, owners must earn less than their businesses earn because of “frictional” costs. And that’s my point: These costs are now being incurred in amounts that will cause shareholders to earn far less than they historically have.

To understand how this toll has ballooned, imagine for a moment that all American corporations are, and always will be, owned by a single family. We’ll call them the Gotrocks. After paying taxes on dividends, this family – generation after generation – becomes richer by the aggregate amount earned by its companies. Today that amount is about $700 billion annually. Naturally, the family spends some of these dollars. But the portion it saves steadily compounds for its benefit. In the Gotrocks household everyone grows wealthier at the same pace, and all is harmonious.

But let’s now assume that a few fast-talking Helpers approach the family and persuade each of its members to try to outsmart his relatives by buying certain of their holdings and selling them certain others.

The Helpers – for a fee, of course – obligingly agree to handle these transactions. The Gotrocks still own all of corporate America; the trades just rearrange who owns what. So the family’s annual gain in wealth diminishes, equaling the earnings of American business minus commissions paid. The more that family members trade, the smaller their share of the pie and the larger the slice received by the Helpers. This fact is not lost upon these broker-Helpers: Activity is their friend and, in a wide variety of ways, they urge it on.

After a while, most of the family members realize that they are not doing so well at this new “beat- my-brother” game. Enter another set of Helpers. These newcomers explain to each member of the Gotrocks clan that by himself he’ll never outsmart the rest of the family. The suggested cure: “Hire a manager – yes, us – and get the job done professionally.” These manager-Helpers continue to use the broker-Helpers to execute trades; the managers may even increase their activity so as to permit the brokers to prosper still more. Overall, a bigger slice of the pie now goes to the two classes of Helpers.

The family’s disappointment grows. Each of its members is now employing professionals. Yet overall, the group’s finances have taken a turn for the worse. The solution? More help, of course.
It arrives in the form of financial planners and institutional consultants, who weigh in to advise the Gotrocks on selecting manager-Helpers. The befuddled family welcomes this assistance. By now its members know they can pick neither the right stocks nor the right stock-pickers. Why, one might ask, should they expect success in picking the right consultant? But this question does not occur to the Gotrocks, and the consultant-Helpers certainly don’t suggest it to them.

The Gotrocks, now supporting three classes of expensive Helpers, find that their results get worse, and they sink into despair. But just as hope seems lost, a fourth group – we’ll call them the hyper-Helpers – appears. These friendly folk explain to the Gotrocks that their unsatisfactory results are occurring because the existing Helpers – brokers, managers, consultants – are not sufficiently motivated and are simply going through the motions. “What,” the new Helpers ask, “can you expect from such a bunch of zombies?”

The new arrivals offer a breathtakingly simple solution: Pay more money. Brimming with self- confidence, the hyper-Helpers assert that huge contingent payments – in addition to stiff fixed fees – are what each family member must fork over in order to really outmaneuver his relatives.

The more observant members of the family see that some of the hyper-Helpers are really just manager-Helpers wearing new uniforms, bearing sewn-on sexy names like HEDGE FUND or PRIVATE EQUITY. The new Helpers, however, assure the Gotrocks that this change of clothing is all-important, bestowing on its wearers magical powers similar to those acquired by mild-mannered Clark Kent when he changed into his Superman costume. Calmed by this explanation, the family decides to pay up.

And that’s where we are today: A record portion of the earnings that would go in their entirety to
owners – if they all just stayed in their rocking chairs – is now going to a swelling army of Helpers.

Particularly expensive is the recent pandemic of profit arrangements under which Helpers receive large portions of the winnings when they are smart or lucky, and leave family members with all of the losses –and large fixed fees to boot – when the Helpers are dumb or unlucky (or occasionally crooked).

A sufficient number of arrangements like this – heads, the Helper takes much of the winnings; tails, the Gotrocks lose and pay dearly for the privilege of doing so – may make it more accurate to call the family the Hadrocks. Today, in fact, the family’s frictional costs of all sorts may well amount to 20% of the earnings of American business. In other words, the burden of paying Helpers may cause American equity investors, overall, to earn only 80% or so of what they would earn if they just sat still and listened to no one.

Long ago, Sir Isaac Newton gave us three laws of motion, which were the work of genius. But Sir
Isaac’s talents didn’t extend to investing: He lost a bundle in the South Sea Bubble, explaining later, “I can calculate the movement of the stars, but not the madness of men.” If he had not been traumatized by this loss, Sir Isaac might well have gone on to discover the Fourth Law of Motion: For investors as a whole, returns decrease as motion increases.

************

Here’s the answer to the question posed at the beginning of this section: To get very specific, the Dow increased from 65.73 to 11,497.12 in the 20th century, and that amounts to a gain of 5.3% compounded annually. (Investors would also have received dividends, of course.) To achieve an equal rate of gain in the 21st century, the Dow will have to rise by December 31, 2099 to – brace yourself – precisely 2,011,011.23. But I’m willing to settle for 2,000,000; six years into this century, the Dow has gained not at all.


It's all very simple, ok maybe not... Regardless--

Perhaps its time we all reassess our values and instead of buying 'hype'-- we invest in knowledge to attempt to navigate this whole debacle ourselves-us 'Mainstreeters' of 'Main-street'- Unless of course we're gifted by God with an intellectual bailout of Wisdom endowed upon Washington DC, Wall Street, and anyone else in absolute 'jump out the window' panic.

Good Times~ More to Come

In the meantime-- While your 401k drops to a point where retirement (for me) seems like it'll start in my '80's :P I leave you with the British Comedy of Bird and Fortune...



~J out

My Eee PC: Making Sense for cents

Yesterday I got a chance to check out my new electronic/computing device: Asus's newest Eee PC model the 901 'netbook.' Upon unwrapping I was absolutely amazed at the size of it.. IT'S Small! (my own pictures coming soon)


(Stock Photo) (take two regular cd's and put them side by side to get an idea of the size of this keyboard.. )

The default OS was this Linux distribution of "Xandros" or something, but suffice to say whatever it was-- it sucked and degraded the overall value of the PC. That's harsh words, but it was true. The OS was built with tabs-- tabs that had applications but they were generic and tacky. My first inclination was that this was exactly what die hard windows lovers would want first time linux buyers to experience= A cruddy distro that looks like a toy's OS.

I got that-- except I'm no first time user and I happen to be an avid fan of Ubuntu. Having used linux regularly now for over 2 or 3 years I went ahead and hooked up my external cd player (something I was gifted years ago) and I installed Ubuntu's newest distro "Netbook Remix" with the Eee Custom Kernel.

The install took about 2 hours all said and told with everything working fine-- connecting to the internet via wifi and everything. So on that front-- I'm happy. However it's no fancy side toy-- I intend on using it often.

Usabilty and practical usage

This PC is going to be my satellite from home. The heavy computing and web serving and work horse I'll leave at home.. This pc I intend on using for front end work-- work such as 'blogging on the fly,' Iming, RSS reading, and whatever else I fancy. It's a computer on the go that I'm planning on configuring for what it's intended for... "Slimline Moble computing."

In English, I've ran into several moments when I needed a computer/laptop, but pulling it out-- booting it and using it was a drag. This, I know, I'll use because it's light, quiet, and the batt lasts a long time...

Ok enough of this banter-- I'm psyched (as you can tell).. Good times ;^P

~J out

Edit 12:00 (Lunch Time @ WholeFoodsMarket in Tanasbourne)***

Ok so to like kin da show/prove my point-- I'm sitting outside the local whole foods market at lunch time checking the email and blogging.. here's a pic via the Eee's webcam of me @ wholefoods.

peace!

~J out

R3dnet Partially Up

Briefly I'll try to describe what all has been happening.

I've been messing around all week trying to configure this web server to run a simple bloglike front end while also maintaining a web file server type deal. Well it worked, then it didn't, then it did, then my mysql server got corrupted (without knowing).. it kept going on and on till today when I think.. I think... I did it right.

I hope.

~J

Building up R3dnet

Building up a new pet-project today called "R3dnet"

R3dnet is something I may have blogged about before, if not-- It's meant to be my personal server, the home server, my file browser, and web lab for my website I admin for (rangernet.org).

In essence it's for a dozen of things. So far I've set it up with Drupal CMS to manage documents and stuff, but my long term goal is design it into my main personal website which I plan to host previous term papers I wrote in college, link my blogs, pictures, (perhaps) install an online 'R3d-Radio' applet that plays Japanese music.

But I need to keep it limited because (at the moment) R3dnet lives on an old (tired) IBM e-Server with dual Pentium 3's in my room. So heavy bandwidth could blow the sucker.

If I upgrade the server or keep only 'light aps' running maybe I'll convert into my own customized webcenter.

Either way-- It took 2 hours to setup and I'm tired.

~J out

breaking the 180s

Here's a tiny little update..



I've been busting hard these past weeks in the gym to get back into decent shape and it seems my work hasn't gone unrewarded.

This morning after the shower I checked up on the scale to see where  all I was today and it read 189. So three or so weeks of hard work has brought me down from 199 to now in the 180's range.. ;-P

Waay to go me!

~J out

The Prestige

The first political science class I took in college my freshman year taught me that the hardest thing to do in electoral politics is to run against an incumbent. That, of course, isn't some rule or anything, but general fact about election politics. There's a number of reasons why, but two of the biggest reasons are that one, the incumbents' party is already established in office and the network is already there, the second is that a winning team-- well-- is good at winning.

We're about 8 months or so till America throttles back and gets serious. For nearly two years now every single angle of every presidential contender has been considered, debated, analyzed, and archived. Many who in the past two years have made history are history. The big question has finally arrived-- was America even listening?

If they weren't the last couple of months-- they are now. They're listening to tireless reports of how analysts are running into funny season in politics.

McCain's Road to victory:

"Four more years of Bush/Cheney" is old-- and moreover it's outdated. The election from one side or both have been back and forth over their 'more-refreshing-then-the-other-guy' message, except this is when it really counts and the Dems- Running out the DNC are still stuck on inner groove of their only record. I mean-- I was digging the tunes till someone forgot to flip the record over.. now it's the same over and over.

McCain has Palin though.. And with Palin-- McCain's tossed out the old record and slapped on a brand new one and the media wants a crack at hearing it. Pre-orders are already in for the hip fresh & new Palin interview and at a time when voters wanna know too.

People, especially the GOP base, are hyper sensitive to Spin & Bias now and who ever gets a Palin Preview has to know what to ask or else risk career suicide.

With the new numbers out putting McCain on top by a point outside the Margin of error-- Ball is already rolling leaving hungry angry supporters of the other guy wondering why he didn't drop his own surprise-bomb.

What a race-- The Finally tally hasn't been taken, but with the momentum building at the key moment when America is finally taking a look-- McCain/Palin '08 will likely be a finally for the recordbook ;-p

McCain/Palin- Reform, Honor, and Duty

~J out

Palin not just 'Wowing' Conservatives

If one strictly followed the US Media only, You would be led to believe
that Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin is only watched, and admired, by the
conservative right.. Not so.. according to Variety Magazine which
reported yesterday that infact Foreign Audiences, especially the
Japanese, are extremely interested (and enthusiastic) of the young Vice
Presidential Nominee.

From Variety Magazine:

Think Americans are the only ones fascinated with the Sarah Palin drama?

Hardly.

"Japanese
men and women are very interested in her," said Hiroki Sugita, a
reporter with Kyodo News Service, who has been covering the U.S.
presidential campaign, including both conventions...

...For the Japanese, Palin is the big story, and before Palin came along, it was Hillary Rodham Clinton.

"There
was very big interest in the primary between Hillary and Barack Obama,"
Sugita said. The hook was the breaking of barriers that the contest
represented: Americans were going to nominate either the first African
American or the first woman to the head of a major party ticket.

But it was Hillary who generated the most attention.

"When
she was running, it provoked a very big debate in Japan about how far a
woman can go, and it exposed a lot of hidden thoughts both in how men
think of women and how women think of themselves," Sugita said.

When
Hillary dropped out, Japanese readers continued to follow Obama but
were not much interested in McCain until he named Palin as his running
mate, Sugita continued.

"She has a strong character and she is
also very beautiful," he said. "She is kind of a role model for
Japanese women who pursue a career path and are also a mother and wife."

Palin's
speech Wednesday night was "very much viewed" in Japan. Big issues in
the election - the economy, the two wars, the healthcare system -
"aren't really understood or interesting to Japanese," Sugita said.
"But character issues are big interest because everyone can join in the
debate."

It seems as though Palin has perhaps won a greater audience then anyone could have imagined, Palin included.

Foreign policy experience or no... Palin is being received well by the global community which is definitely important when the job entails cooperation of other countries and their electorates.

I say, when the McCain Palin speech moves faster then Obama's then it's obviously time for a joint smear campaign to be launched soon (ruining the 'clean political platform of Obama by the way). However I think a massive win is on the horizon-- It's McCain/Palin and the world knows it.


~J out
(hat tip to Japan Probe)

**Edit:
This is the news article that the picture (above) came from. The article is in Japanese, but it reflects everything mentioned above.

Hail'in Palin to the McCain/Palin ran whitehouse

Last night watching the stirring speech by Alaskan Gov. Sarah Palin I was awestruck by the witty & charming appearance of a person ready to face a cynical, but accepting America. I happen to not be the only one too.

From the political mob squad of MSNBC's First Read-

From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and Domenico MontanaroST. PAUL, MN -- Last night’s speech by Palin made one thing very clear: Conservatives have found their Obama. Win or lose, Palin has already established herself as the future star of the party. She stayed within her comfort zone, avoiding issues she's not up-to-speed on just yet. The only question is whether her tough sarcastic words for Obama played well with swing voters, who were hearing her for the very first time.

The spin is that this goofy old vet just outta the blue picked Palin, but that's spin. If by that they judge McCain then all who fall in love at first sight, too need to rethink their hubbies and gals ;P.

No, Palin Showed us both the character of a westerner, the drive of a working class Mom, the determination of a real reformer, and the brazen armor that she can 'hack anything' you throw. And get ready for a whole lot more it too.

It's hard to judge the media since they're somewhat tied in ways to supporting the highest bidder's wishes, but the general thumb is a 110% attack after a rousing speech means someone has doubts over their (otherwise) invincible candidate.

Speculation aside-- I say the dems are showing some color. Out goes any notion of a "negative-free" campaign now someone is worried. If it isn't clear already there's factions to be dealt with on the otherside before any (cough) "UNITY" materializes. For one, notions of sexist commentary against Hilary, and now Palin need to end-- By going off on Palin you remind Hilary supporters both converts & others that the party you support don't support "working Mom's for VP."

Second-- The party of Minorities is dispelled. McCain reshuffled the deck of "political cards" when he picked Palin. It's now about whose reform is "actual" and whose reform is "re-hashed as political non-speak."

McCain/Palin haven't wrapped it up, but they're a unified force against a party of full of small cracks-- It's only a matter of time before the party divides-- Thus it might be crazy to say this, but it may be that a McCain/Palin administration is the best the Dems have at actual unification (since it's clear Bush/Chaney couldn't do it).

~J out

Ready Mech

Part of the job that I love the most is that once in awhile I find some really fascinating stuff that people have done with the web. Some of these things might have been around for a long time, and some are brand new-- but it's near impossible to find them all which is why when I find something-- I consider it like I found a Gold Nugget.

One of those nuggets happens to be this site "Ready Mech"



From the site:

Readymechs are free, flatpack toys for you to print and build. They are
designed to fit on an 8.5"x11" page and printed with any printer.

Here's an example:



You can find more cute "origami" type projects at http://www.readymech.com/

Did I mention it was free?

DL one and try it out today will yah?

~J out

Entrenching the Youth?

I see it happening now more then ever-- it appears as though both parties want to train the youth of America to pick sides and to attack (with added fervor) opposing viewpoints. However, we are not the generation that rejects members for opposing viewpoints.. Or.. Are we??

Myspace, Facebook, and Blogs are what we've grown to use as our tool of expression. It's to over emphasize our diversity and to show there's more to us then 1 sided issues. We've been raised to view the world with 1 objective-- "To make it better.."

Now I understand both views.. I even understand the need to question the motives of each side-- but the youth of America and abroad need be wary of outright spewing hurtful and negative things that's been spun by smart political (albeit "old white haired dudes") spinmasters. We're smarter then that I thought-- Especially us who have gone to school and learned the value of considering both sides.

Our objective in this election is to consider all sides of a complex coin and to follow what we think and not what we're told to think. That's the essence of critical thinking and we'll be better equipt and more confident if we first question all that's presented first, then pass judgement last.

In other words:

Repeating Party/Spinmaster talking points ='s fail, Critically thinking and questioning those points ='s win!

;P

~J out

Website building

Over the long weekend I had a chance to work on rebuilding my website community 'rangernet.org' so that it functions better with a portal environment.

The install went good with little problems and it's seemed to receive fairly good comments so I hope it works out.

Long term I want to transition the website to a more dynamic Content management system. I don't know what features I want to add, but it'll be complex.

Like a told one member on the forum, more features come as I learn more about the internet's secrets... ;)

~J out

Palin Factor

About three or so days ago as the DNC railed McCain over and over on the 3rd term thing, I began to wonder who McCain's pick will be. There's a list of names that make since, but I wasn't happy with any of them... That's when I heard Palin. Hardly any coverage since Feb. had come up about her so I wasn't sure. So I wrote on a sticky in my cube "McCain's VP Sarah Palin?" and began doing side research.

It's clear even from rudimentary research that Palin would be the best fit for McCain. The choice for Palin is simple-- To say it's Political is a misnomer-- The one thing I've found about McCain is that if there's an obvious "path" McCain's told he has to make often he'll shock you by doing the opposite. Maverick to McCain means finding your groove and keeping with it even at the outrage of friends and party members.. I would venture it even call McCain "Gandhi-like" in nature. Not the Gandhi we know as a non-violent nationalist, but aspect of Gandhi's nature that drove him to keep on with his message at the point sometimes of enraging his own supporters-- Gandhi went forward with exactly what he believed in and never, never, drifted-- In a way McCain's first executive decision points towards a core Gandhi-isk nature.

The Palin factor is purely non-political. McCain, despite Obama's supporters deepest wish, doesn't pander. Governer Palin was chosen because in her short time in office she cut the rhetoric and acted accordingly to what she believed to be Alaska's most glaring problems. She's a fighter and dedicated worker-- She won't take a job unless she knows she can change something up and that's the core of who she is.

She's Sarah Barracuda and she would rather work to reform then to talk about it. Lack of C-Span coverage or archive footage means that she's been busy reforming a State with great potential.

McCain/Palin moving forward will show that this ticket is a ticket for action rather then lengthy speeches on a clean vaccumed senate floor. What'll be appealing most is that they're a team that isn't afraid to work-- We'll know what McCain and Palin will do on day 1... Work!

End the speeches and the pie-in-the-sky promises and get to work...

McCain/Palin -- "Actual Realistic Hope For America"

~J

As The Olympics Closes

We need to be reminded of the importance of things in our world. The Olympics this year will reach out far into history beyond anyone will ever remember... even as members of this time and era. We must remember or at least acknowledge that we are Human first, great nations second. This can and always will be obscured through out time, but it is that accomplishment that the human being-- with all it's imperfections-- can attain levels of achievement that transcends politics, cultures, and borders.

Remember the unity, because for a watchful world the next phase in human order is about to be decided... Tomorrow one man will attempt to stand and announce his bid for leader of the free world. He who runs America is one who can manage the world-- figuratively, as well as, literally.

This year, above all else, the divide is thick-- at times even as cruel as disowning people for their preference. May the unity we see in Beijing (of all places) remind us of our humanity and places in this world as Humans first, all else next.

For all the changes... I can see 2008 going down in history as a new era full of vivacious teenagers who'll either take the reigns of the future or continue to let the generation ahead of them continue on.

I think the real revelation that'll happen... be it now or soon is that no one man can rally a nation, but it is the new generation-- the generation of technologically trained, highly educated, and abundantly respected (and likewise respectful) who'll lead America to change with or without a party. Call it... The Generation Y Party. It's both-- or neither...

I don't what is on the horizon-- only that I can see the storm forming and there doesn't seem to be one leader in front-- Just a Storm and it's going to be big.

Good times~

~J out

(By the way-- nearly a week <6> of working out and I've nearly lost half a stone <7lbs> *<8^)

"Personal Training"

So I last reported about my joining a club like on Tuesday. Today, however, I'm meeting for the first time with a "Personal Trainer." Really I don't know what that means or what it'll do for me, but I have good expectations for our meet.

These last two days I've been pro actively warming my body up to exercise by hitting various machines and working out here and there for 1-2 hours. I've been surprised that the little workout over the past two days has actually yielded some results.. Like 2-3 lbs maybe. It's not like I'm dropping stones, but I'm encouraged that maybe after this visit... my head will be solidly focused on some tangible goals to work towards...

Generally my initial feeling is that while I'm working out... I'm feeling good. It's a positive experience and very personable.

I'm enjoying myself tremendously there.

~J

**Edit***

I met with "Jeff" my "personal trainer" and we went over all the goals, current weight, fat %, diet stuff... you name it. It was more of an "1st time meet & check in" on what I want to have happen.

Some good gouge was passed too... about diet and nutrition and I'm on a plan to watch my weight & health and calorie intake. It's the right direction for me I think. A lot of this is really taking on my guilt and facing my biggest obstacle which is personal health and wellness.

For the past weeks I've been praying for a shot at the Navy officer program and have been disappointed, but cosmically it could be that God wants me to take this opportunity to transition into a healthy routine. I can't explain my rather odd actions of signing up to a health club any differently then that.

I wonder... when I reach the day that I'm considered "fit" will that also be the day I'm accepted? That would be trippy for sure. I suppose it's a wake up call to pray for stuff that really we should pray about (good health) and not what we shouldn't (priorities, but not top priorities). Plus depending solely on OCS to whip me into shape would deter me from my duty to study hard for officer training. The way I see it now... If I'm twice as less concerned about my fitness, then I'll have twice as much time to focus on academics and other stuff.

Good plan or wishful thinking? Regardless I'm on a food watch/work out cycle program now..

*Keep my cals under 1600 a day
*Work out for 1 hr
*1 day is 50%/50% Cardiovascular & Circuit training
*The next day is 100% Cardio.
*Do that till Tues (when I meet Jeff again).
*Oh and log all meals & snacks (this'll be tough!)

~J out

New Fitness Goals

I made a deep plunge into something I honestly have some clue, but not a whole lot about. It's in the area or perhaps "the arena" of fitness, health, and "working out" on a regular basis. Working out I suppose was something I kinda-sorta cared about all through out my youth, but I was heavily subsidized by the fact that my metabolism was high. This made for a slacked off approach to working out.

***Confession Time for the R3dragon


At age 23 I'm still young, but young in the adult stage now. That means I'm pretty old for the child/teen years and I'm noticing that simple routines and walking a little extra isn't doing it for me. It seems my metabolism has either slowed down or I'm not exerting myself like I used too. Regardless I've gained all the weight I lost in Japan and then some. Coming home from Japan I was thin... real thin.. like maybe 155 lbs thin. I remember in the cold months in Sapporo bundling up 2-3 layers deep for warmth and I was often cold. Today I'm at nearly 199 lbs and it scares me. In the back of my mind looms the troubles of my families past with overweightness and I know that tipping the 200lbs mark will bring nothing but unwanted trouble. So I need a drastic change... '08 is going to by my year of change as I leave the undergraduate world. So working out more often will by my Anti-Dub.


To do this I need a nag... Parents are no good here because they quite frankly care too much. No I need a professional nagger. So this evening I did something wild... I went to the local 24hr fitness and signed up for a plan that'll (hopefully) kick my ass and turn my fat unhealty self into a lean mean candidate for OCS (if I'm privileged to get in some day ). This is working towards establishing a precident of good health and moving the ball to something positive that I hope I can keep doing for the remainder of my life.

We'll see... Under these tags I'll add yet a new blog topic "Working out" and "Advancement towards fitness goals."

Time to reap the whirlwind!

~J out

Rear Sway Bar Done

It was one of those weird times of the day today.. like just after 3pm when there's was some dead time between my last project (hanging a new overhead fan) and dinner. I was sitting there looking at the car and saying, "dang... a whole weekend and nothing done on the 'teg." Well that's when I started wondering how easy it'd be to get that rear swaybar on.

I had been eyeball'n a couple of times, but just thought it'd be a day project. Or I thought I'd do one then the other same day, but recently my projects have been often sidelined... No worries tho~..

So I just wanna eye ball the project again by jacking up the rear to look underneath. I spot the stock sway bar and notice there's not much to it... I then grab the instructions with a diagram on how it goes together and the wheels start turning... "let's do it"

Without double thinking I go at it with sockets & wrenches and pull the stock assembly out and put together the parts for the aftermarket sway bar. There were some funky how to and where does this go for a couple of minutes, but once I figured it out-- and put it together. Bingo.. 20 minutes of wrench work and it was nailed out by dinnertime. Well 10min after the first dinner call.

I was pushing to get it done before this thunderstorm hit... And I did it in the nick of time too.

Felt solid when I was done, but I'll see tomorrow I guess. Anyway, between the stock bar and the aftermarket one I can see why such a bar is needed. The stock bar amounts to nothing more then a dowel to just ease the car before rolling... This new bar is super thick and strong and will probably do the job. I can see later on down the road though... I'll be pulling all the stock suspension parts and replacing them :P

Ah well.. good times..

~J out

New Tranny project

Wednesday of last week I met a guy over a new transmission for my integra project. My old trans isn't bad or anything... but it's a matter of gearing. The trans I bought is known as a B16 Cable Transmission.. It's sort of a rare transmission that the Japanese made for their version of the civics so car enthusiasts call it "JDM." A tranny from a US made B16 engine isn't a cable tranny instead the Japanese used a hydrolic transmission so that'd be a "USDM" tranny for United States Domestic Market. Hydro trannys don't work in the 90-93 'tegs because those tegs used a cable tranny like the JDM version.

What the B16 tranny does is it replaces the long geared 'teg tranny with a short geared one. Short gears are better in cars with lots of low end power because it increases accelleration. With the B16 trans you can easily accellerate from 1st-5th much faster then in the old trans which takes a little longer.

Sometimes in a 1/4 mile that quick accelleration is the difference between win & fail.

So I'm putting this on da project list.

Good times..

~J out

stubbed toe ouch!

Yesterday was (in my opinion) not the way one starts a good weekend.

I went to work all normal like, but there was a bunch of energy in the office all due to this party we had scheduled for the afternoon. Well at like 12a I headed down to check on my car (because it was getting hot) and open up some windows. I headed back and heard the party was starting so instead of casually going up those stairs I rushed it 2 at a time.

I've done this before... no biggie, but with funky toe sandals I slipped and jammed my left big toe into the concrete stairs "OUCH!"

It was a stub... but my experience has been after the throb it gets better... 'cept it didn't. It just got all deep red and swollen. By the time the party and day was over it looked bad... real bad. My plan was to help out Dad with his work load, but by the time I got there it looked broke so instead I ran over to the Sunnyside hospital for an exam.

Their emergency services sucked... I mean I got checked in ok and even got some x-rays fine... but I had to wait with a bruised painful toe nearly 1 1/2 hours to get into a room.... dang.

Finally a nurse checked it out and sent the info to the doc... and it turns out all it was was a bad sprain. So like I checked in at 5:45ish and left at 8pm to find that I had a sprain..

Whatever... I got my notes and recommendations and headed home (my car's a manual btw). When I got home I sat down... put up my bad foot.. and turned on the olympics to find Gymnastics on with all sorts of wicked toe bending :( ...

What a night..

~J out

Downtime..

All summer the drill has pretty much been the same..

Wake up and do some morning exercises and turn on CNN.. Then eat.. wash.. Go to work.. work.. come home.. and eat/crash. It's been like that with little moments here and there.

This leaves some downtime or rest time periodically through out the day, but it's nothing like when I was going to school in Sapporo. It's really that 10-15 minute 'breaks' downtime stuff that affords little time to start something comprehensive...

Typically I've filled this void with video games, but many of the quote "Good Games" are really indepth long games... Organizing or finding music would probably be #2, but since I haven't turned on radio that often.. I don't know what all to listen too. I thought there wasn't anything entertaining anymore until I found this feature on Google Maps.. It's called "Street View."

Without going into it deeply, it's a 360 picture of what's happen'n on the streets of cities all around. I've toyed with it off and on looking through LA and other places, but recently they've added spots in Japan and so with my 10-15 breaks I've been on a quest to spot every hangout spot, temple, and Shrine (or bar) I visited while I was touring/living in old Nippon.

Lately I've been sniffing 'round my old parade grounds and found this:


View Larger Map

If you're wondering what it is... It's a spot I used to hang near by Hokusei University. It's a neat bridge on a walking path that I'd take to chill with friends in an old Coffee shop.

This bridge oddly brings back many memories... So thumbs up to Google for keeping the old embers burning in my heart. ;P

Let's hope this all goes virtual and I can surf with my 3d glasses!

~J out

Moichido Nihongo (w)o Benkyoo Shiteitai!

Once more I want to study Japanese with the similar fervor I began with.

This "learning Japanese" business all started right at the height of my Anime years. Of course I wanted to know the jokes before the subtitles listed it... I didn't want it all to be so foreign. So I started learning the lingo.... First year was tough, but easy and really I didn't know what I was getting myself into... I expected too much and got more then I could handle.

Now at this stage with lots and lots of practice and grammar... I've found that textbook learning helps establish a base and living the culture re-enforces that learning.

I think in comparison with my younger self... My new goals for Japanese comprehension are different. They're aimed at conversation tracking, building rapport, and being able to function within a society. I know the important stuff to know solidly.. It's time to apply my life lessons with the stack of textbooks I used to huddle over for hours (admittedly completely bewildered).

This might mean skipping over vast amounts of "ho-hum" Japanese for the bits I didn't understand before. Also nailing Kanji that constantly fights it's way outta my head everyday.

I'm a lot better then I think... I know it. It's just putting it all together.

Ultimately I would like to live there for maximum success, but that's not feasible at the moment... Luckily though the Japanese have embedded hundreds of thousands of videos, mp3's, and forums for the would be "student practitioner" to scour over... reference... and gain mastery over... over... well Japanese chit-chat & gossip (a feat mind you that's fairly difficult for you average yank).

More to come of course on Re comprehending my Second Language..

~J

Transferring Stiffness

Yesterday I set out to replace my stock suspension with Koni & H&R presented itself to be quite the challenge. 70% of course was my own inexperience in what to do and maybe 90% of it was bolts never ever unbolted before (since '91) and 100% of the challenge was probably running out of beer :).

Regardless I got the new suspension on (minus the swaybars) and today I installed a Skunk2 short shifter.. All feats weren't easy.. all required help from dad :P.. but the car is likely better for it..

Up next on my list is a set of Crower cams & a B16 cable tranny (if I can find one). Both challenges (I'm guesing) will make the suspension upgade & short shifter upgrade laughable..

Overall though... wakeing up this morning (and consequently all through out the day) the stiffness from what I supposed to have got from the shocks & springs has instead transferred to my achey muscles..

What a day.. But atleast my car looks better :D

~J out

Death Note Series

Today, like the other couple of days I'd like to make yet another film recommendation.

The Death Note Series

• Japan Casts:
Asaka Seto, Ikuji Nakamura, Matsuyama Kenichi, Tatsuya Fujiwara
• Description:

Light Yagami is a university student who resents the crime and corruption in the world. His life undergoes a drastic change when he discovers a mysterious notebook, known as the "Death Note", lying on the ground. The Death Note's instructions claim that, if a humans name is written within it, that person will be killed. Light is initially skeptical of the Death Note's authenticity, believing it is just a prank. However, after experimenting with it and killing two criminals, Light is forced to admit that the Death Note is real. After meeting with the previous owner of the Death Note, a Shinigami named Ryuk, Light seeks to become "the God of the New World" by passing his judgment on criminals.

Soon, the number of inexplicable deaths of reported criminals catches the attention of the International Police Organization and a mysterious detective known only as "L". L quickly learns that the serial killer, dubbed by the public as "Kira" (derived from the Japanese pronunciation of the English word "Killer"), is located in Japan. L also concludes that Kira can kill people without laying a finger on them. Light realizes that L will be his greatest nemesis, and a race to prove mental superiority between the two begins.

Review: There’s three movies all together: Death Note; Death Note: The Last Name; and Death Note: L Change the world. The cinema in this movie is what you would likely expect of Tokyo. Slightly cheesy, but with some good parts in places. The script, on the other hand, is well written for each of these movies. It presents a pretty good “what if” narrative that would chill anyone. I like it particularly because it’s a “thinking horror” flick. It’s somewhere between intense drama and freaky. A very good candidate for any US director to consider remaking for US audiences

~J

UDON

Today I have yet another film recommendation that I found quite interesting..



(Movie) UDON

• Japan Casts:
Kaname Jun, Katagiri Jin, Kiba Katsumi, Kinishi Manami, Kohinata Fumiyo, Masu Takeshi, Matsumoto Tortoise, Suzuki Kyoka, Yusuke Santamaria
• Description:
"There's nothing here. Just udon."
The story starts in a town in Kagawa Prefecture, home to 1 million residents and 900 udon restaurants.
Kosuke Matsui - an aspiring comedian and son of an udon noodlemaker - hates his small-town life, but hates udon even more.
After a fight with his father, he goes to New York to launch his dream career as a stand-up comedian, but six years and one massive debt later he is forced to go home.
When he returns, he finds nothing has changed -- his sister still worries about him, his father is still pounding away at noodles, his friends are the same, and there's still a bowl of warm udon waiting for him when he gets home.
To repay his debt, he works at a publishing company where he meets Kyoko. Together they write a column about udon, which surprisingly kicks off an udon sensation across Japan, changing their lives. Especially Kosuke's.

Review: When I sat down to watch Udon I expected a masterful movie about soup. However Udon makes an effort to emphasize in the beginning the growing resentment between the US and Japan in the late 80’s for Japan’s industrial growth. Then in a double back twist emphasize one of Japan’s rural backwoods culture that’s anything but industrious. I get that the movie was trying to show the audience that perceptions of a nation don’t always add up. Here we have Americans thinking that all of Japan is gearing up for economic war (from the beginning of the movie) then through the narrative of Kosuke we find out that there’s spots in Japan like Kagawa that still are dwelling in a 1930’s – 1940’s mentality. In the end, the town endures a revival and Kosuke returns back to New York where he was shunned earlier to make his stance which he became quite successful at. This left an unusual aftertaste. Perhaps in the end it’s the reassurance that Japanese shouldn’t take American’s resentment seriously. That even Time’s Square is for the taking if one looks back to his/her roots and follows their dream.

~J

A Stiffer Stance

Today after work I went for a "parts run." I found off of Craigs an awesome new suspension setup that I'm eager this weekend to try.

The sum of what I bought was:

• A set of Front & Back Koni Yellow Adjustable Shocks
• A set of H&R Racing Springs
• A front & rear under carriage sway bar set.
• (bonus) Two JG Forged Lightweight Cam Gears

All for a OMG only that?! Price.

The best part of it, however, was a chance to meet another tuner from Portland. What I like about builds is both the parts and all that, but also the people you meet along the way.

A new crowd of people to meet!

Next on my list of stuff though is as follows (in no particular order)

~A Brembo Big Break Kit
~New Brake Pads
~Powdercoating my Calipers
~(eventually) Installing a 6-Puck Clutch kit
~Skunk2 Single Bend Short Shifter + Type R shift knob (Ordered and Shipped)
~(Either) A Pair of Crower Camshafts A Garret t3/T4 Turbo Kit fabrication/install (This one is the biggest decision requiring lots of research/thinking :) )
~(If Camshafts) Upgrade my generic C.A.I to a AEM Short Ram with Dust Cover.

Back Burner Stuff:
~Darker Window Tinting
~Interior Work
~Paint Restoration.

Lotta stuff to do... Lotta new people to meet-- I can't wait!

~J

Foreign Film recommendations

Foreign Film recommendations:

I’m always into various entertainments from abroad and recently I’ve been watching some pretty good shows and films from Japan that I think are worth sharing.



(Movie) The Great Teacher Onizuka (GTO)

• Japan Casts:
Enjouji Aya, Fujiki Naohito, Hayashi Chika, Hayashi Tomoka, Ida Kunihiko, Ikeuchi Hiroyuki, Kimura Tae, Kirari, Kobayashi Masahiro, Kondo Yoshimasa, Kubozuka Yosuke, Kuroda Miki, Mabuchi Erika, Matsushima Nanako, Murakami Rikako, Nakamura Aimi, Nakao Akira, Numata Baku, Oguri Shun, Sasai Eisuke , Shirakawa Minami, Shirakawa Yumi, Sorimachi Takashi, Tajima Reiko, Tateishi Ryoko, Tokuyama Hidenori, Yamazaki Yuta
• Description:
While peeping up girls' skirts at a local shopping mall, Onizuka meets a girl who agrees to go out on a date with him. Onizuka's attempt to sleep with her fails when her current "boyfriend", her teacher, shows up at the love hotel they are in and asks her to return to him. The teacher is old and unattractive, but has enough influence over her that she leaps from a second story window and lands in his arms.
Onizuka, seeing this display of a teacher's power over girls, decides to become one himself. In his quest, he discovers three important things:
1. He has a conscience and a sense of morality. This means taking advantage of impressionable schoolgirls is out... but their unusually attractive mothers are a different matter.
2. He enjoys teaching and most of the time, he teaches life lessons rather than schoolwork.
3. He hates the systems of traditional education, especially when they have grown ignorant and condescending to students and their needs.
With these realizations, he sets out to become the greatest teacher ever, using his own brand of philosophy and the ability to do nearly anything when under enough pressure. He is hired as a long-shot teacher by a privately operated school to tame a class that has driven one teacher to a mysterious death, one to nervous breakdown, and one to joining a cult. He embarks on a mission of self-discovery by breaking through to each student one by one, and helping each student to overcome their problems and learn to genuinely enjoy life.
Review: This is a well known and popular anime/manga from Japan that’s been put into a great funny movie that works both the comedy aspect of GTO’s great narrative, while also inserting spot of real sincerity. I’d recommend this to anyone looking for a great sit back “good feeling” comedy.

~J

Bailout

Bailout

I wasn’t surprised to learn that our President chose to not veto the latest bailout of American institutions. Whether people want to admit it or not, a new precedent of “go ahead and we’ll cover you” has been set. Don’t be fooled though, the Government has it’s limits too and once resources are stretched so thin there will be an outcry of “whoa is me.”

The simple fact is that the ‘good times’ are over. The days of getting a lot for the minimum price has peaked and what’s ahead is long arduous work. To put it in reality America has been making half of what it spends on an average scale. This means that more assets from the pockets of Americans have been flying out to foreign countries then we’re able to retain. So we’re left with a deficit of cash in-country that we can’t fill, because the world has restructured to sell to Americans—not buy.
One solution that I’ll call “the easy route” is to devalue the American buck so that our debt is reduced by half. Half a debt is easier to pay off then a full debt, but that means that there will be a rush of people to rid themselves of American bucks in exchange for items of real value like land.

Think of it this way… If you own a million US Dollars that has a value of a million 2008 US dollars that is legal US tender for all debts, public and private in the US. The clause here is that it’s a note and that it’s governed by the US Treasury. If the US devalued it’s dollar by half (via pumping lots of cash out as well as other methods) that stack of a million dollars would half to only 500,000. If you knew that in advance what would you do? Chances are you’d trade that cash in for something that wouldn’t devalue… Something like property. Property has a perpetual resilience to certain economic crisis simply because of its unique supply and demand quality—i.e you can’t make more of it very easily.

This could cause a rush to buy US assets with US cash so that foreign investors don’t get ripped off by America’s cheap tricks. My suspicion is that is what was behind the Anheuser Bush deal, the Chrysler building deal, and Trump’s property deal. Those assets are likely to weather out an inflation storm better then simply hoping your wad doesn’t become worthless soon. This means in real dollars and cents that our money is also in jeopardy. When the US Dollars’ worth plummets so does the money you own behind a locked vault. Essentially it’s taking away the buying power of your cash abroad (and locally). Supply and demand as a principal will be twisted as the supply will remain the same, as will demand, but as grocers buy food across borders the cost per pound will go up since grocers buying power in cash won’t buy as much as it used too. Factors such as these will influence the cost of a bushel of X all around the world and prices world wide will inflate. It’s a bad lose lose situation just to settle a debt. However, the alternative solution may just be as worse.

The other solution is just to work twice as hard as we do now. In perhaps literal micro terms as double shifts or macro terms as greater output of resources. Either way to keep the doomsday from happening we need to pitch in. The answer simply isn’t buying more American stuff… It’s getting the world to buy American stuff other then property so that we can get back the money we loaned. In addition, we need to start acquiring more real foreign wealth and leveraging it against our debt abroad. That means more production of goods and making it less easy for American companies to operate outside the US. Not to limit US Corporate growth, but we need the cash. Honestly it doesn’t matter who gives us back our wealth only that is happens and happens soon.

Unfortunately that means a lot of work for me and my peers as gain back the squandered wealth of America. Call it…. Our Economic Olympic challenge

~J

Afternoon Tea Time Review

Today I took the brief moment to sample a new box of tea I had bought from a local Asian Groceries & Import Store. I wasn't interested in any particular brand only that the tea was Earl Grey.

I settled upon this tea brand "Impra" which was the cheaper "generic brand" of tea available. For roughly $4 I got about 50 bags of the Ceylon Earl Grey Tea Brand.

So back to this afternoon-- I opened the bag to reveal a not-so-quite tea label attached to the cotton string. "fancy" I thought. I then poured hot water over the bag and instantly smelled a strong aroma of Bergamot & Flowers.

I really had no clue what to expect other then plain old Earl Grey. Previous to this I had been drinking Celestial Seasonings' Earl Grey blend so with that as a marker I really didn't expect much. My first sip, however, changed that quite profoundly...

The first sip hit me with the taste of flowers followed by a strong taste of Bergamot then finished with a hint of mint. A real flavorful combination that I didn't expect at all-- Especially from such a cheap tea.

Halfway through the cup, the taste didn't change much. Every sip was a bombardment of flowery flavor and minty finishes.

It was enough that I decided to take a break and do some research on Earl Grey Teas, Ceylon, and the company "Impra."

Who was Mr. Earl Grey?

Earl Grey tea of course was named after a person but "Earl" was not his first name. Actually his name was Mr. Charles Grey, Earl was his proper title. Mr. Grey happened to be the second earl in his line. He served England as the Prime Minister to King William IV in the early 19th century. The famed legend of "Earl Grey's Tea" is that Mr. Grey was given the recipe by a Chinese mandarin with whom he was friends, and whose life he had saved.

That recipe was a blend of Indian and Ceylon (explained later) teas. The tea gets its unusual flavor from oil of BERGAMOT-- a small acidic orange. The latest research indicates that the Bergamot orange is a cross between the sweet or pear lemon (Citrus Limetta) and the Seville or sour orange (Citrus Aurantium). The sour orange is native to southern Vietnam, hence the Chinese connection.

The Origins of "Ceylon Tea":

Ceylon Tea, Ceylons, and the such doesn't refer to the science fiction "computer race" found on the BattleStar Series, but infact refers to the old name of Sri Lanka ("Ceylon" - renamed in 1972).

According to the Impra Tea Company (Makers of the Earl Grey I'm drinking, "Sri Lanka or the then Ceylon, was a coffee state. The plantation industry in Ceylon began in 1825 with widespread planting of coffee. However in 1839 the head of the botanical gardens in Culcutta India sent several Assam tea plants to the Peradeniya estates in the Kandy district. It is this Assam variety of tea which is now grown on every estate in Sri Lanka.

Tea only received an opportunity due to a leaf disease which spread widely across the country in 1869, thus putting and end to the booming coffee industry in the island. During the next 20 years, planters in Ceylon converted the decimated estates to tea plantations. It is probably due to the experience and knowledge of Indian tea planters and the efforts of the father of tea in Sri Lanka James Taylor that paved the way for Sri Lanka to be in the forefront of tea production today."

The Impra tea company markets itself as an exporter of Ceylon Tea. They claim to be one of the biggest in the market and aims as being "the most innovative and trusted exporter." I'll take it at their word for now because honestly this is a pretty good tea.

So there you have it... A little tea review/Info for your 3'o'clock tea time break.

Enjoy...

~J out

The Olympics Meaning

The Olympics is (and has always been) more then just a sporting event. Sports are a symbol representing in real strength the power of a nation. When one nation fights to secure the most coveted award (be it a trophy or a gold medal) the nation fights with them. The Olympics takes this one step further by not only putting an emphasis on individual sports, but on preparedness. Much credit is due upon a host nation who works tirelessly from the year they’re chosen to put on the best show on earth. When Athens came up late it reflected poorly on the nation as a whole for example. China, in this way, knows that putting on the world’s greatest show is essential to showing the world “China is ready and open for business.” This, at its core, will be the message China presents to the world.

I’ve heard some say that China is cloaked in secrecy. Its not true, but some of China’s practices are mysterious. Enter in world renowned experts on “the Orient” who’ll appear out of the wood work to inform you on all the symbols and meaning of “mysterious practices.” From China’s long standing Buddhist religion to it’s literal torture techniques of it’s best athletes. I’ve heard the clamor already from mainstream media to NPR and local talk shows.

All one needs to understand is that when pride is at stake…. Extreme measures get taken. This is not at all foreign to America. In fact we also pride ourselves on torturous preparation.

So this Olympics I’ll try to ignore the endless banter on “Chinese customs” since no one, but the Chinese truly do appreciate these customs. Instead my focus will be on how close China will portray itself as “western.” There’s much talk on the beginning roots of capitalism in China and we’ll see how China uses the Olympics to over emphasize it’s western appeal. It is a big change for China, but China has chosen this time “to emerge” onto the Global scene and make it stand as the 21st century pillar of modern global society. I’m still skeptical of how it plans to do this and not leave millions of poor behind in the dust…. But for certain these Olympics are a big opportunity to take China to the next level. It’ll be fun to watch.

~J out