http://www.souzouzone.jp/blog/ en Copyright 2007 Sun, 02 Sep 2007 18:15:12 +0900 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://www.cerebralsoup.net New RSS 2.0 feed: http://www.cerebralsoup.net/index.php/cerebralsoup/rss_2.0/ New RSS Atom feed: http://www.cerebralsoup.net/index.php/cerebralsoup/atom/ Please be updating! Thankies!]]> http://www.souzouzone.jp/blog/2007/09/cerebral_soup_h.php http://www.souzouzone.jp/blog/2007/09/cerebral_soup_h.php Sun, 02 Sep 2007 18:15:12 +0900 That one was a 3! Epicentre was in Kanagawa. No tsunami warning. Bit of a loud crack wasn't it? http://www.souzouzone.jp/blog/2007/07/quake_1137am.php http://www.souzouzone.jp/blog/2007/07/quake_1137am.php earthquake reports Tue, 24 Jul 2007 11:40:18 +0900 Update 11:31pm: ok 4 in Hokkaido, no tsunami concern. That was odd there have been level 3 and 4 quakes within minutes of each other from Kanto to northern Honshu, and then in Hokkaido. Finally tenki.jp have their graphic up - it was one quake that just went a damn long way. ]]> http://www.souzouzone.jp/blog/2007/07/quakes_1118pm.php http://www.souzouzone.jp/blog/2007/07/quakes_1118pm.php earthquake reports Mon, 16 Jul 2007 23:21:43 +0900 From tenki.jp At 10:34am there was a 3 in the same region. 10:52am - another 3 quake. 11:00am - 3 in some areas, 2 in others. And again 5 minutes later. Also following at 11:12am, 11:24am, 11:50am, 11:56am, 12:20pm, 1:17pm, 2:07pm, and 3:26pm. In between these times there were a series of quakes with a rating of one. To give you some perspective a quake with a rating of 3 on the Japanese scale is enough to wake me up from a drunken slumber. You take notice of a 3. At 3:37pm, a weak 6 hit the area. For most the epicentre was off Niigata Prefecture in the ocean. At 5:24pm a 3 quake was recorded in Kyushu. A series of smaller quakes has been occurring in the Nagano and Niigata regions. 4,900 people have moved into emergency shelters. All utilities - water, gas and electricity are cut off in many areas. 5 people have died, 700 injured. Over 300 homes have been flattened. Update 7:14pm: they are hoping to have gas restored to some areas soon. The evacuees do not have enough water, and there are very few toilets available. Authorities have said they will be preparing food for the evacuees - but no time has been given. They are all waiting for water to be delivered to the area. Update 7:20pm: Another person has just died, bringing the total to 6. These quakes have been noted as being worse than the ones in the area back in 2004. These follow on the heels of Typhoon #4, which ripped through southern Japan over the last few days, fortunately diverting before hitting us here in Kanto. TV screenshots Update 7:51pm: Authorities have warned to expect large aftershocks of 5 or even 6 over the next week. Update 8:44pm: Another person has been confirmed dead, bringing the death toll to 7. The number of injured is now 800. Phone lines are still congested - it has been requested that you do not call these areas unless it's an emergency. Update 9:14pm: There has just been a 4 quake in Niigata. Train services: It's unknown when train services will resume in the affected area. Carriages have derailed but JR East will not start repair work until the area is free of aftershocks. Fortunately no JR workers or passengers were injured in the derailings. 7,800 people have now moved into emergency shelters for the night. Most houses do not have any utilities even if their houses are OK. No tsunami warning has been issued following this latest quake. Update 9:26pm: 8,500+ people have now entered emergency shelters. Train services on the main shinkansen line have resumed to Niigata.]]> http://www.souzouzone.jp/blog/2007/07/quakes_in_niiga.php http://www.souzouzone.jp/blog/2007/07/quakes_in_niiga.php earthquake reports Mon, 16 Jul 2007 18:43:57 +0900 Epicentre was in Chiba - 70kms down. Some areas it was a 3. No tsunami warning has been issued. http://www.souzouzone.jp/blog/2007/06/quake_258pm.php http://www.souzouzone.jp/blog/2007/06/quake_258pm.php earthquake reports Sat, 23 Jun 2007 15:10:13 +0900 We've just had a 4 in the Kanto area. Was a 4 in some areas of Ibaraki and Chiba, 3 in Saitama, Tokyo and Kanagawa. No tsunami warning has been issued. Epicentre was 60kms below Ibaraki. http://www.souzouzone.jp/blog/2007/06/quake_244pm.php http://www.souzouzone.jp/blog/2007/06/quake_244pm.php earthquake reports Sat, 02 Jun 2007 14:46:14 +0900 Android (3.81MB) Art Brain (3.48MB) Everyday (3.69MB) Gimme Free oh rock'n'roll (3.75MB) Stolen Umbrella (3.12MB)]]> http://www.souzouzone.jp/blog/2007/05/marshmallow_spi_5.php http://www.souzouzone.jp/blog/2007/05/marshmallow_spi_5.php thumps and whistles Wed, 16 May 2007 01:05:50 +0900 There has just been a 3 in Saitama. Tsunami warning issued. Update: Now no tsunami warning. Epicentre was in Ibaraki, 40 kms under the surface. http://www.souzouzone.jp/blog/2007/05/quake_901pm.php http://www.souzouzone.jp/blog/2007/05/quake_901pm.php earthquake reports Tue, 08 May 2007 21:04:40 +0900 ]]> http://www.souzouzone.jp/blog/2007/05/al_qaeda_20.php http://www.souzouzone.jp/blog/2007/05/al_qaeda_20.php elsewhere Sun, 06 May 2007 12:10:30 +0900 citizen journalism - but there always needs to be one kid around to point out that the Emperor is in fact running around in the nuddy sometimes. I may waffle on a bit here on the ol' blog - but I usually make sure that I'm at least waffling on about something factual. This tends not to be the case with several stories from professional media outlets. Our old favourite reputable storytellers news.com.au have now posted that the story "may" be fake. Well done lads and lassies. Amusingly enough Cerebral Soup is quoted as one of the sources for the debunking. To clear a couple of things up - it's not just my claim that Hokkaido is the centre of sheep breeding and all things sheep - it's actual fact. Prof. Naomichi Ishige and the Hokkaido Prefectural govt seem to believe the same. Shaun Davies (who commented on the previous entry) from ninemsn did write a corrected story, involving actual fact checking. It's a pity that his colleague who wrote the earlier story did not bother with the tedious process of checking facts - that would have been a real scoop for them I guess. Flying in the face of sensationalist, tabloid journalism.... a lone voice crying out against falsehood.... Ephraim Schwartz thinks "for all its good intents, citizen journalism is a form of fascism waiting to happen" - but you do have to compare that with professional news outlets who repeat false stories. Which is worse? That topic alone is probably several entries worth of discussion - but let me say I do already have the perfect boots for my citizen-journalist fascist outfit. And really we all know the right boots are key. news.com.au: So perhaps the story, originally sourced from UK tabloid The Sun, wasn't watertight – but it did offer an opportunity for some early-morning wordplay. Oh yes we published a story that was complete crap and xenophobic - but hey it's ok because gosh we could then make silly puns and have a jolly laugh! You know what - fuck that. The story isn't actually funny. Let's put it in a different context - I've chosen Australia because well I am an Australian, and this is where a lot of the commentary about this has gone down. Scene 1: Dazza and his mate Gazza are down the pub. Dazza: So did you hear about the chick in Mosman, who bought a poodle online? She couldn't work out why it didn't bark or eat dog food. Gazza: Yeah? Dazza: Yeah so she takes it to the vet right and he takes a gander. Then he says to her right "I have worked out why your poodle is sick!" She looks relieved - the chick from Mosman right - and asks "What is wrong with my poodle then?" Gazza: What does the vet say? Dazza: He says right - get this - because it's a sheep! Gazza: ...... exeunt omnes Not amused? Ok try drinking a bottle of wine. Read it again. Remarkably - it's still not funny! See it's only "funny" in the wacky Japanese context. 'Cause those Japanese - they are so wacky right? Look at the funny Japanese people - they eat food that's different (except when we go to a Japanese restaurant), and they look different! Sure it works the other way too - and that's part of the reason for my personal frustration involved here. It's tedious enough spending so much time debunking myths about your own country, to then come online - where you naively assume that people with so much access to real information would actually read it - to see the exact same crap being spewed out by actual news sources. It's boring and tiring. Just ask any immigrant in any country. There are lots of true wacky stories here in Japan - just as there are wacky stories in every country. The true stories are amusing enough without making up fake ones which show people from a particular country in a negative light. And that is all this story does. Oh except for driving viewers to the site the story was published at. Hits = advertising dollars remember! Which somehow makes it just that little bit more distasteful. So feel free to call me a citizen journalist fascist killjoy. I prefer my news factual, and my jokes amusing. Oh for all those who believed the original story - I've just come into possession of a large orange tower. Unfortunately I can't fit it into my rather modestly-sized Japanese apartment - so I'm looking to sell. Taking offers for either the entire tower, or for parts. Email me for a link to my PayPal account where you can transfer the cash.]]> http://www.souzouzone.jp/blog/2007/04/welcome_to_kill.php http://www.souzouzone.jp/blog/2007/04/welcome_to_kill.php observations Fri, 27 Apr 2007 16:07:04 +0900 ninemsn. "The scam was uncovered when Japanese moviestar Maiko Kawamaki went on a talk-show and wondered why her new pet would not bark or eat dog food. She was crestfallen when told it was a sheep." Actually this is not what happened. Maiko Kawakami (Nine couldn't even get her name right) went on an afternoon TV show called "Gokigenyou" and said she had heard this story. kana to yuka no nikki [Japanese] mentions how she saw this program and thought it was silly. Most of her commenters agree, and sounds as if she was just making a joke. There is no mention of photographs - and another couple of blogs support that the actress was not talking about herself but a "friend". "Japanese police believe there could be 2,000 people affected by the scam, which operated in Sapporo and capitalised on the fact that sheep are rare in Japan, so many do not know what they look like." OK for starters Hokkaido is not a huge place - and it just happens to be the centre of sheep breeding in Japan. There are even sheep festivals. Not to mention the following: - Haruki Murakami's famous novel published in 1993- A Wild Sheep Chase (羊をめぐる冒険) - once every 12 years there is a Year of the Sheep - mutton is often talked about because of it's recent popularity, and the rise of "Genghis Khan" restaurants (places specializing in mutton dishes) - hell even a couple of weeks ago Japanese band Metalmouse released their new album titled Tales of the Sheep So sheep are very well known - especially in bloody Sapporo. From the Sun: "The company, whose name translated as Poodles As Pets, has now been shut down." Well they certainly don't muck around because there is no reference to any pet store real or offline that I could find googling with a name like that (or closest Japanese variations thereof). Also let's look at the fact that as far as popular dogs go Toy Poodles are in the top 5. They are all over the TV. You can't miss them. Not only that but there are also several Japanese websites dedicated to poodles, poodle clubs and breeder sites. You can't walk into a pet store without seeing one. Poodles are everywhere. Plus it seems very odd that this breaking story does not appear anywhere in the Japanese media. Now this is exactly the kind of story most news shows would spend hours on screening - complete with tearful, blurred out victims, and the anchors being able to express total outrage. Thorough investigations into the differences between poodles and lambs. A few "experts" in ties thrown in to give it all credibility. For sure Wai-wai would have jumped all over it months ago (and then Fark and every community blog and their dog). Not a peep. And if this wasn't already smelling bad enough - how about this blog entry [Japanese] from 上海在住Jasonの麻辣珍道中！ - from waaaaaaay back on February 11, 2006? He tells the exact same story as the actress - which was told to him by a co-worker when they went out drinking. Almost word for word it is the same story that Maiko Kawakami told on the TV show on April 18. X-san takes their "poodle" to a vet because they think it's ill. The vet reveals that the "poodle" is not ill - but a sheep! （笑） Looks like this is an urban legend that makes the rounds occasionally. This time however the English media got caught out. The Sun: "A police spokesman said yesterday: “We launched an investigation after we were made aware that a company were selling sheep as poodles." Yes I'm sure The Sun spoke to a Japanese police spokesman and they launched an investigation based on some urban legend they've probably all heard before. Dags.]]> http://www.souzouzone.jp/blog/2007/04/media_flock_to.php http://www.souzouzone.jp/blog/2007/04/media_flock_to.php observations Fri, 27 Apr 2007 05:25:50 +0900 One Deadly nightshade, a toxic plant found throughout much of the Northern Hemisphere, is also known as belladonna ("beautiful woman" in Italian) because women there would use it diluted in eyedrops to dilate their pupils. Dilated pupils is a sign of being aroused and is thought to be more attractive. Two Belladonna is cultivated in Europe as it is a source of atropine - which is an antidote to nerve gas used in chemical warfare. Three Green False Hellebore - found in the USA - was used by some American Indian tribes in choosing a new leader. Candidates would chew the root - and the last to puke would be the new leader.]]> http://www.souzouzone.jp/blog/2007/04/3_interesting_s.php http://www.souzouzone.jp/blog/2007/04/3_interesting_s.php observations Tue, 24 Apr 2007 03:00:20 +0900 from tenki.jp A 52 year old lady was trapped under her roof when it collapsed, she unfortunately died after being taken to hospital. Most other injuries reported have been cuts and broken bones. Update 1pm: The number of injured has gone up to 90. The quake was caused by two sides of a fault finally giving way, after being pushed against each other. There has not been a major quake in this area since before the Meiji era. (Although there have been several in nearby Niigata). There have been several aftershocks since the big quake, and more are expected. On the positive side - it looks like there are no major fires. Update 1:15pm: Number of injured now over 110. The epicentre of the quake was just off the coast of Ishikawa-ken. Several train services have been halted - the shinkansen to Niigata included. Roads in Ishikawa and close by in Niigata may also be affected by rock falls. Update 3:15pm: Over 150 people have now been reported injured. Some screenshots from a TV report: I need to get one of the aerial shots - they are seriously weird - one house collapsed surrounded by others which almost seem untouched. I'm unsure whether this is because of the construction of the collapsed houses or the pattern of the shaking.]]> http://www.souzouzone.jp/blog/2007/03/quake_942am_ish.php http://www.souzouzone.jp/blog/2007/03/quake_942am_ish.php earthquake reports Sun, 25 Mar 2007 12:50:16 +0900 The stubble and the devil-may-care attitude give it away maybe? Was at dinner with the J Family earlier. As I commented to Younger Brother when he came to pick us up, I find it really hard sometimes at dinner to follow the conversation as JMum and JAuntie tend to talk at the same time to me about different topics - and as I've mentioned before I'm thinking about hiring them out to test Japanese fluency because you really need to be at some kind of weird level to understand what is going on half the time. I only manage to do it because I think my brain can split into sections somehow to deal with this. Probably takes training. The boys usually don't say much at all - I don't think their brains work the same as mine. Anyway I don't tend to retain much of the conversation (probably killed those retaining brain bits off with sake) but some nuggets of information I do. And one of those areas is family history. Tonight when I got back I pressed the Boy for a bit more information on the mere snippet that came up earlier. Even though it's come up before about them descending from kaizoku (pirates) I wanted to know more. The Boy isn't interested in his own family history so much - for reasons I'm not so sure about just yet but probably related to the fact that he's young. However a bit of "subtle" questioning tonight provided the following information - they are related to the infamous Murakami Suigen. The what? The Murakami Suigen was a pirate family who controlled the seas around Shikoku in the 16th century. There is even a Murakami Suigun Museum in Ehime, and the Innoshima Pirates Castle which you can visit. Even though the Boy's last name is Sueyasu, JMums maiden name is Murakami. There is some controversy involving his grandfather (now deceased) remarrying another woman and their children going on the family register for the Murakami line, and JMum and her sisters being listed somewhere else. However it seems likely that due to the high number of girls born into the family the Boy and Younger Brother may be the only male descendants of a particular line of the Murakami Pirate mob. And I intend to find out. For the sake of curiosity. First stop - grill JMum and JAuntie separately. Then maybe take a trip along to these museums. Who wants to tag along?]]> http://www.souzouzone.jp/blog/2007/03/and_so_apparent.php http://www.souzouzone.jp/blog/2007/03/and_so_apparent.php whois MJD-S Sun, 04 Mar 2007 01:02:06 +0900 So I need to take pics now and then for things, mostly smallish objects so I was trying to think of how I could set up something to do this. It needs to be able to be dismantled and put away when not using it. I have a large wooden easel. With holes. So first I was thinking of getting a wooden board and gluing some plugs onto it. This would make a good stand I think - and the board can be taken out and the easel folded up again. But what to put at the back and over the board? Paper? Card? Fabric? Which works best so that I can have a "flat" background? (I'm thinking to attach with clips or pegs to easel and board.) Lighting. How best (and cheaply) to do this? I have a plain lightbulb lamp but how best to reflect the light without getting the spot shine? I would prefer not to use flash and fiddling around with that afterwards in Photoshop. Any clever suggestions? http://www.souzouzone.jp/blog/2007/03/setting_up_a_mi.php http://www.souzouzone.jp/blog/2007/03/setting_up_a_mi.php techie stuff Thu, 01 Mar 2007 14:29:54 +0900