Welcome again to JJNN for Saturday September 13th, 2008. Today we will be talking about cold readings and physics.
A few years ago in Japan in Niigata and I suppose in Tokyo there was a psychic reading boom. Almost all young (20s and 30s) ladies would go out every weekend, or more often, to get a psychic reading. The psychics here are just like those in every other country around the world. The supposedly tell you about your future about everything from your job to romance.
Personally I can see myself going to a cheap psychic for a little entertainment value. The cheap ones cost less than movies (here at least) and give you a nice topic for conversation at work the next day. The problem I see with psychics is when people actually start to believe in them. They start to believe and soon enough almost all of the money they earn goes directly to the psychic. That is when it crosses the line from light hearted entertainment to being a scam.
Why am I saying psychics are entertainment and not a means of getting serious information about the future, or about a dead loved one? Well, that's because there is no such thing as real psychics. Simple as that. All psychics do is a combination of detective work and acting. This is called cold reading. The psychic (I will call them that even though they have no "psychic" powers) trains themselves to get a lot of information from a person with a look and by asking leading questions or making leading statements. Watch the psychic below and see if you can spot the cold reading.
The first thing he said "Old lady, but with black hair." he said because he knew that any one in the audience would know an old lady and the chance of an old lady having black hair is not that low. Notice when he was saying that names he says a lot of them at once. This is called shot gunning. If you say enough names you are bound to get one right. A lot of psychics don't go that far and just say a letter. He than gives a lot of statements. He looks at the reactions from the people he is giving readings to and changes his statements accordingly. He is not actually saying anything, the people in the audience are saying everything for him.
This next clips is an explanation of cold reading by Orson Welles. This is one of my favorite clips.
So, any way, psychics may be good entertainment, but don't start believing them. Remember to look at things a little skeptically.
Any way, it is now time for the word of the day. Today's word is 超能力者(ちょうのうりょくしゃ). It is pronounced chou-nouryoku-sha and means psychic. The chou part means over and above and nouryoku means powers. So in Japanese a psychic is a person that has powers over and above normal people. That makes sense I guess.
That's it for today. See you next time at JJNN.
PS: This is the 100th post for JJNN yay!
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Friday, September 12, 2008
JJNN Friday: Technology - 07
Welcome again to JJNN for Friday September 12th, 2008. Today we will be talking about suica and pasmo.
When I lived up north I used to travel on trains a whole lot. During the peak it would be about twice a day. Trains are used a lot more for commuting to work in this country than in America. The thing I hated about using the train was buying the ticket. I always went to different places so I always had to buy tickets of different prices. That means I would have to look up at a map like the one below and try to figure out how much money I was suppose to put in the ticket machine.
That is no easy task if you are in a hurry. I have been close to missing many a train because I was trying to figure out just how much the ticket was suppose to cost. Sure, you can buy the cheapest ticket and pay the difference at the stop you get off the train, but that is just a pain in the arse.
Way back in 1998 a company called Sky Rail Services decided to put make their train pass a little more high tech, They made their pass into an IC card, more widely known as a smart card. An IC card is a card that has a little integrated circuit on it. The integrated circuit contains some numbers. This is the user's unique ID. When the card is placed on the reader the card transmits the numbers over to the reader, The reader than sends those numbers to the central processing system. That system makes a note of what station you get on the train. When you use the card to get off the train it makes a note of that also and looks up the price of traveling between those two stations. It than deducts that money from that amount of money that you got stored on your card. Simple, fast and efficient.
JR (Japan Railways: the biggest train company in Japan) decided that it was not to be left in the technological dust. So, in 2001 JR released suica, which is another IC train pass. You can see a picture of a suica card below.
In 2007 another company put out a cared called pasmo. It is exactly the same as suica, but it was designed to be used on train systems that did not belong to JR. But, as it is now, it if you are in Tokyo you can use either suica or pasmo on all the trains and buses.
So this is old news, right? Yep. But, I found a new news story about using suica and pasmo on the buses. You can see the news story here.
Now that these IC card systems are on the buses as well as the trains a couple of problems have cropped up. About 60000 problems. As I explained above, the system has to tell the central processing system where and when you used your card. Sometimes on buses there is a data error when sending the card's information. This data error causes a buzzer to go off on the bus. When the drivers hear the buzzer most of them thought it was OK to reset the IC card system, but it turns out that in 60000 of those cases the data error occurs after the information has been sent to the central processing system. This means that they money for the ride is taken out of your account once before the reset and once after the reset. It may not be a lot of money but multiply that by 60000 and you get 11,000,000 yen. That is a lot of money that suica and pasmo should not have.
The companies are now training the drivers on what to do in case of data errors. They are also setting up a place people can go if they think they lost money. I will leave you with a bunch of commercials that show you all the things you can do with suica.
Notice that you can buy things at stores with it and even have it on your cell phone. What a great time we live in.
Any way, it is now time for the word of the day. Today's word is 電車(でんしゃ). It is pronounced densha and means train. I miss traveling by train every day. I guess there is more freedom with a car, but there is more to see when you travel to a place by train.
That's it for today. See you next time at JJNN.
When I lived up north I used to travel on trains a whole lot. During the peak it would be about twice a day. Trains are used a lot more for commuting to work in this country than in America. The thing I hated about using the train was buying the ticket. I always went to different places so I always had to buy tickets of different prices. That means I would have to look up at a map like the one below and try to figure out how much money I was suppose to put in the ticket machine.
That is no easy task if you are in a hurry. I have been close to missing many a train because I was trying to figure out just how much the ticket was suppose to cost. Sure, you can buy the cheapest ticket and pay the difference at the stop you get off the train, but that is just a pain in the arse.
Way back in 1998 a company called Sky Rail Services decided to put make their train pass a little more high tech, They made their pass into an IC card, more widely known as a smart card. An IC card is a card that has a little integrated circuit on it. The integrated circuit contains some numbers. This is the user's unique ID. When the card is placed on the reader the card transmits the numbers over to the reader, The reader than sends those numbers to the central processing system. That system makes a note of what station you get on the train. When you use the card to get off the train it makes a note of that also and looks up the price of traveling between those two stations. It than deducts that money from that amount of money that you got stored on your card. Simple, fast and efficient.
JR (Japan Railways: the biggest train company in Japan) decided that it was not to be left in the technological dust. So, in 2001 JR released suica, which is another IC train pass. You can see a picture of a suica card below.
In 2007 another company put out a cared called pasmo. It is exactly the same as suica, but it was designed to be used on train systems that did not belong to JR. But, as it is now, it if you are in Tokyo you can use either suica or pasmo on all the trains and buses.
So this is old news, right? Yep. But, I found a new news story about using suica and pasmo on the buses. You can see the news story here.
Now that these IC card systems are on the buses as well as the trains a couple of problems have cropped up. About 60000 problems. As I explained above, the system has to tell the central processing system where and when you used your card. Sometimes on buses there is a data error when sending the card's information. This data error causes a buzzer to go off on the bus. When the drivers hear the buzzer most of them thought it was OK to reset the IC card system, but it turns out that in 60000 of those cases the data error occurs after the information has been sent to the central processing system. This means that they money for the ride is taken out of your account once before the reset and once after the reset. It may not be a lot of money but multiply that by 60000 and you get 11,000,000 yen. That is a lot of money that suica and pasmo should not have.
The companies are now training the drivers on what to do in case of data errors. They are also setting up a place people can go if they think they lost money. I will leave you with a bunch of commercials that show you all the things you can do with suica.
Notice that you can buy things at stores with it and even have it on your cell phone. What a great time we live in.
Any way, it is now time for the word of the day. Today's word is 電車(でんしゃ). It is pronounced densha and means train. I miss traveling by train every day. I guess there is more freedom with a car, but there is more to see when you travel to a place by train.
That's it for today. See you next time at JJNN.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
JJNN Thursday: Culture - 08
Welcome again to JJNN for Thursday September 11th, 2008. Today we will be taking about a food that is eaten in the fall in Japan.
I am so happy that it is getting cooler. Of course the fact that the temperature is going down means that it is getting into fall, but it also means something else in Japan. It means that it is time for yaki-imo! I love yaki-imo. It is a great hot treat on a long cold night.
So what is yaki-imo? Well it is just basically baked sweet potatoes. They either cook them on a grill or in a hole or even on hot rocks. Some times you can see families gather together fallen leaves in their yard so they can cook the sweet potatoes on the burning leaves. Yaki-imo is extremely simple to make and so good to eat. Here is a picture of some yaki-imo.
Looks good right? Well there is only one problem with yaki-imo. Well, besides the high calorie problem. It is the fact that these potatoes are sold off the back of trucks. That would normally be a good thing because you don't have to go all the way to a store to buy them, right? Well, I guess it is good, but these trucks have to do something to get every one's attention and let everyone know that they are in the area. Well, they do that with loudspeakers. Just check out the clip below.
This one actually starts to play music, but a lot of them don't (thank a deity for that one). They basically drive around the residential districts and yell over the loud speakers about how great and tasty their potatoes are. I don't know about you, but the more I hear that yelling the less I want to buy a potato and the more I want to throw a brick at the truck.
Any way, it is now time for the word of the day. Today's word is 芋(いも). It is pronounced imo and means potato. Being from Maine, I am legally under a binding contract to tell you to buy Maine potatoes. Boycott Idaho! (Just kidding!)
That's it for today. See you next time at JJNN.
I am so happy that it is getting cooler. Of course the fact that the temperature is going down means that it is getting into fall, but it also means something else in Japan. It means that it is time for yaki-imo! I love yaki-imo. It is a great hot treat on a long cold night.
So what is yaki-imo? Well it is just basically baked sweet potatoes. They either cook them on a grill or in a hole or even on hot rocks. Some times you can see families gather together fallen leaves in their yard so they can cook the sweet potatoes on the burning leaves. Yaki-imo is extremely simple to make and so good to eat. Here is a picture of some yaki-imo.
Looks good right? Well there is only one problem with yaki-imo. Well, besides the high calorie problem. It is the fact that these potatoes are sold off the back of trucks. That would normally be a good thing because you don't have to go all the way to a store to buy them, right? Well, I guess it is good, but these trucks have to do something to get every one's attention and let everyone know that they are in the area. Well, they do that with loudspeakers. Just check out the clip below.
This one actually starts to play music, but a lot of them don't (thank a deity for that one). They basically drive around the residential districts and yell over the loud speakers about how great and tasty their potatoes are. I don't know about you, but the more I hear that yelling the less I want to buy a potato and the more I want to throw a brick at the truck.
Any way, it is now time for the word of the day. Today's word is 芋(いも). It is pronounced imo and means potato. Being from Maine, I am legally under a binding contract to tell you to buy Maine potatoes. Boycott Idaho! (Just kidding!)
That's it for today. See you next time at JJNN.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
JJNN Wednesday: Games - 06
Welcome again to JJNN for Wednesday September 10th, 2008. Today we will be taking about my favorite game of all time.
I think everyone out there, even the people that hardly ever play video games, has a game that is special to them. A game that they call their favorite. What is that game for all of you? For me, that game is Chrono Trigger. It was the first game that I was totally absorbed into. I loved the graphics (at the time) and the way it played. I spent hours and hours on that game leveling up so that I could get every ending. Even to this day I still want to go out and buy the old system and get the old cartage and play it once again.
Fortunately for me, I don't have to go that far. It turns out that I don't have to go as far as buying the old system. According to this source and this source Nintendo is putting Chrono Trigger out on the DS this winter! Yay! I think I found my Christmas present to myself.
Here are a few pictures from the new remake:
Looks a lot like the original, right? Even after 13 years it still looks good. The only difference is in the first picture. The brackets around the characters and the two bars below them. The reason for those are the fact that the game is going to be played with the DS's touch screen (though it can be played the classic way as well) and the new fighting system that the game is going to use.
According to the second source Chrono Trigger is going to be using ATB ver.2 as its battle system. ATB stands for Active Time Battle. It is the same type of system that is used in some of the final fantasy games. It means that the time keeps flowing throughout the battle. Time does not stop to let you make choices. Look at the picture below.
The bottom blue bar is the ATB bar. When that bar gets full the character can make an action. When 2 or 3 characters are ready they can perform combos with each other to inflict more damage. This is like the original game.
The game looks good so far and I can't wait for it to come out. Here is the teaser trailer. Enjoy.
Any way, it is now time for the word of the day. Today's word is 懐かしい(なつかしい). It is pronounced natsukashii and means something like a thing from your past that brings back memories. There are a lot of words in Japanese that are just hard to translate into one or two English words.
That's it for today. See you next time at JJNN.
I think everyone out there, even the people that hardly ever play video games, has a game that is special to them. A game that they call their favorite. What is that game for all of you? For me, that game is Chrono Trigger. It was the first game that I was totally absorbed into. I loved the graphics (at the time) and the way it played. I spent hours and hours on that game leveling up so that I could get every ending. Even to this day I still want to go out and buy the old system and get the old cartage and play it once again.
Fortunately for me, I don't have to go that far. It turns out that I don't have to go as far as buying the old system. According to this source and this source Nintendo is putting Chrono Trigger out on the DS this winter! Yay! I think I found my Christmas present to myself.
Here are a few pictures from the new remake:
Looks a lot like the original, right? Even after 13 years it still looks good. The only difference is in the first picture. The brackets around the characters and the two bars below them. The reason for those are the fact that the game is going to be played with the DS's touch screen (though it can be played the classic way as well) and the new fighting system that the game is going to use.
According to the second source Chrono Trigger is going to be using ATB ver.2 as its battle system. ATB stands for Active Time Battle. It is the same type of system that is used in some of the final fantasy games. It means that the time keeps flowing throughout the battle. Time does not stop to let you make choices. Look at the picture below.
The bottom blue bar is the ATB bar. When that bar gets full the character can make an action. When 2 or 3 characters are ready they can perform combos with each other to inflict more damage. This is like the original game.
The game looks good so far and I can't wait for it to come out. Here is the teaser trailer. Enjoy.
Any way, it is now time for the word of the day. Today's word is 懐かしい(なつかしい). It is pronounced natsukashii and means something like a thing from your past that brings back memories. There are a lot of words in Japanese that are just hard to translate into one or two English words.
That's it for today. See you next time at JJNN.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
JJNN Tuesday: Entertainment - 06
Welcome again to JJNN for Tuesday September 9th, 2008. Today we will be taking about a popular Japanese cartoon.
Take a look at the following clip.
That is the opening to a very famous anime in Japan. If you ask 100 people random on a street if they know the song or the anime more than 90 would probably say yes. The name of the anime is very simple: Sazae-san. The story of the anime is also very simple. It just follows the every day lives of the people in the Isono and Fuguta families.
So why is Sazae-san so well known? Well for one thing, simple is best. People love the simple stories of every day life that these other families go though. It is almost like becoming a part of the family, or even looking over your backyard fence at the family next door. The other reason Sazae-san is so well known is that it has been going for a long time now. It started as a comic strip (like the ones we see in newspapers) in 1946. The comic officially ended in 1974, but newspapers to this day still run reruns (is that the right word for a comic?) of the originals. The move from comic to anime happened in 1969. It is still running to this day, which means that Sazae-san is the longest running animated series ever. 39 years and still running strong. And you thought that the Simpsons was a long running series.
Well now you know what everyone knows about Sazae-san, but I didn't really say anything about the people in the show at all. The main character is Sazae Fuguta. Sazae and her husband, Masuo Fuguta, and child, Tarao Fuguta, live in the same house the with the rest of Sazae's extended family. The rest of the family is Sazae's father, Namihei Isono, mother, Fune, little brother, Katsuo, and little sister, Wakame. I know all those names are a mouth full, but they grow on you after a while because most of them are puns on different forms of sea life. You can see a picture of the extended family below.
From left to right it is Namihei(father), Katsuo(brother), Sazae, Tarao(son), Tama(cat), Masuo(husband), Wakame(sister), Fune(mother).
Any way, it is now time for the word of the day. Today's word is 船(ふね). It is pronounced fune and means boat. This is just to point out one of the many naming puns in this series. Almost everyone is named after something that has to do with the sea. The mother is named Fune which means a boat. The sister is named wakeme which is a type of seaweed. The list goes on and on.
That's it for today. See you next time at JJNN.
Take a look at the following clip.
That is the opening to a very famous anime in Japan. If you ask 100 people random on a street if they know the song or the anime more than 90 would probably say yes. The name of the anime is very simple: Sazae-san. The story of the anime is also very simple. It just follows the every day lives of the people in the Isono and Fuguta families.
So why is Sazae-san so well known? Well for one thing, simple is best. People love the simple stories of every day life that these other families go though. It is almost like becoming a part of the family, or even looking over your backyard fence at the family next door. The other reason Sazae-san is so well known is that it has been going for a long time now. It started as a comic strip (like the ones we see in newspapers) in 1946. The comic officially ended in 1974, but newspapers to this day still run reruns (is that the right word for a comic?) of the originals. The move from comic to anime happened in 1969. It is still running to this day, which means that Sazae-san is the longest running animated series ever. 39 years and still running strong. And you thought that the Simpsons was a long running series.
Well now you know what everyone knows about Sazae-san, but I didn't really say anything about the people in the show at all. The main character is Sazae Fuguta. Sazae and her husband, Masuo Fuguta, and child, Tarao Fuguta, live in the same house the with the rest of Sazae's extended family. The rest of the family is Sazae's father, Namihei Isono, mother, Fune, little brother, Katsuo, and little sister, Wakame. I know all those names are a mouth full, but they grow on you after a while because most of them are puns on different forms of sea life. You can see a picture of the extended family below.
From left to right it is Namihei(father), Katsuo(brother), Sazae, Tarao(son), Tama(cat), Masuo(husband), Wakame(sister), Fune(mother).
Any way, it is now time for the word of the day. Today's word is 船(ふね). It is pronounced fune and means boat. This is just to point out one of the many naming puns in this series. Almost everyone is named after something that has to do with the sea. The mother is named Fune which means a boat. The sister is named wakeme which is a type of seaweed. The list goes on and on.
That's it for today. See you next time at JJNN.
Monday, September 8, 2008
JJNN Monday: Science - 06
Welcome again to JJNN for Monday September 8th, 2008. Today we will be taking about the sun.
You got to love the sun. Without the sun there would be no life on this planet, and in fact no planet at all to speak of. The sun gives us things like light, warmth, the aurora and other good things. It also gives us bad things like sunburn and heat stroke.
So what is the sun? It's a start. I know, I know. You all know that. Well, what is a star? A hot ball of gas that is so dense that it produces the pressures and temperatures needed to create a nuclear furnace in its core. That's just cool. There are many different types of stars and many different things that happen when stars die. I don't want to go into depth about that, but I do want to talk a little about this news story.
The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Academy (JAXA) announced on the first that they detected consecutive shock waves around a solar flare. A solar flare is basically an explosion that happens on the sun's surface. A lot of energy is released from these explosions. The seem to be caused by untangling of magnetic lines, but no one really knows what specifically causes them at the moment. Below is a cool movie that shows these solar flares.
So the JAXA team used a special telescope called SMART (Solar Magnetic Activity Research Telescope) to take a close look at the region around a solar flare. You can see what they found in the pictures below.
The found 3 different shock waves that occurred within 10 minutes of each other. The shock waves are marked with red, green and blue crosses. The shock waves are actually compression waves in the plasma that makes up the sun. Again, that's just cool. The plasma that makes up the sun is being compressed into a wave just like the water on the surface of a pond after you throw a rock into it. But, these waves move a lot faster and longer than the waves on a pond. They move at a few hundred kilometers an hour and travel a tens of thousands of kilometers before dissipating. I would hate to get into the wave of that wave.
Any way, it is now time for the word of the day. Today's word is 波(なみ). It is pronounced nami and means wave. I wonder if this is also the word they use for the wave at a baseball game.
That's it for today. See you next time at JJNN.
You got to love the sun. Without the sun there would be no life on this planet, and in fact no planet at all to speak of. The sun gives us things like light, warmth, the aurora and other good things. It also gives us bad things like sunburn and heat stroke.
So what is the sun? It's a start. I know, I know. You all know that. Well, what is a star? A hot ball of gas that is so dense that it produces the pressures and temperatures needed to create a nuclear furnace in its core. That's just cool. There are many different types of stars and many different things that happen when stars die. I don't want to go into depth about that, but I do want to talk a little about this news story.
The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Academy (JAXA) announced on the first that they detected consecutive shock waves around a solar flare. A solar flare is basically an explosion that happens on the sun's surface. A lot of energy is released from these explosions. The seem to be caused by untangling of magnetic lines, but no one really knows what specifically causes them at the moment. Below is a cool movie that shows these solar flares.
So the JAXA team used a special telescope called SMART (Solar Magnetic Activity Research Telescope) to take a close look at the region around a solar flare. You can see what they found in the pictures below.
The found 3 different shock waves that occurred within 10 minutes of each other. The shock waves are marked with red, green and blue crosses. The shock waves are actually compression waves in the plasma that makes up the sun. Again, that's just cool. The plasma that makes up the sun is being compressed into a wave just like the water on the surface of a pond after you throw a rock into it. But, these waves move a lot faster and longer than the waves on a pond. They move at a few hundred kilometers an hour and travel a tens of thousands of kilometers before dissipating. I would hate to get into the wave of that wave.
Any way, it is now time for the word of the day. Today's word is 波(なみ). It is pronounced nami and means wave. I wonder if this is also the word they use for the wave at a baseball game.
That's it for today. See you next time at JJNN.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
JJNN Sunday: Leftovers - 06
Welcome again to JJNN for Sunday September 7th, 2008. Today we will be taking about yakitori and random movies.
I have a lot of favorite Japanese foods. When asked I usually say sushi is my favorite because it is the one that I eat the most, but I think that yakitori is probably tied for first place. Yakitori has a special place in my heart because it is fast, cheap and goes well with any type of alcohol.
So, you may ask, what is yakitori? Yakitori is basically grilled chicken served on skewers. There are many different types of meat from all over the chicken (and sometimes other animals) grilled up in tasty ways. You can see a picture of a yakitori stand below.
Looks good, huh? I found a news story (it can be seen here) about a city in southern Japan called Kurume. Back in 2003 the people of Kureme found out that their city has the most yakitori stores per population in all of Japan. Ever since that fateful day they have held a "yakitori festival" once a year. This years festival started yesterday and goes on though today. If I could actually get there in time I would be heading there now. I can't imagine a better day than one I can walk around and eat lots of yakitori.
In other news, I found a random video while on youtube. What? "That's not news"? Well, yep, you're right. It's not news at all. But, I thought the video was cool so I decided I will post it any way. The name of the video is "Run!" and it is made by a person named Aoki Jun. All I got to say about this movie is that it is great! Take a look for yourself.
Aoki Jun also has other movies that he has made. This is his website. Most of them don't have any Japanese in them so they are good to watch for anyone. Enjoy them.
Any way, it is now time for the word of the day. Today's word is 焼き鳥(焼き鳥). It is pronounced yakitori and means yakitori. Yaki means bake or grill and tori means chicken. Finally a name that makes sense.
That's it for today. See you next time at JJNN.
I have a lot of favorite Japanese foods. When asked I usually say sushi is my favorite because it is the one that I eat the most, but I think that yakitori is probably tied for first place. Yakitori has a special place in my heart because it is fast, cheap and goes well with any type of alcohol.
So, you may ask, what is yakitori? Yakitori is basically grilled chicken served on skewers. There are many different types of meat from all over the chicken (and sometimes other animals) grilled up in tasty ways. You can see a picture of a yakitori stand below.
Looks good, huh? I found a news story (it can be seen here) about a city in southern Japan called Kurume. Back in 2003 the people of Kureme found out that their city has the most yakitori stores per population in all of Japan. Ever since that fateful day they have held a "yakitori festival" once a year. This years festival started yesterday and goes on though today. If I could actually get there in time I would be heading there now. I can't imagine a better day than one I can walk around and eat lots of yakitori.
In other news, I found a random video while on youtube. What? "That's not news"? Well, yep, you're right. It's not news at all. But, I thought the video was cool so I decided I will post it any way. The name of the video is "Run!" and it is made by a person named Aoki Jun. All I got to say about this movie is that it is great! Take a look for yourself.
Aoki Jun also has other movies that he has made. This is his website. Most of them don't have any Japanese in them so they are good to watch for anyone. Enjoy them.
Any way, it is now time for the word of the day. Today's word is 焼き鳥(焼き鳥). It is pronounced yakitori and means yakitori. Yaki means bake or grill and tori means chicken. Finally a name that makes sense.
That's it for today. See you next time at JJNN.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
JJNN Saturday: Pseudoscience - 06
Welcome again to JJNN for Saturday September 6th, 2008. Today we will be taking about waking dreams.
Have you ever had a time when you were sleeping and you suddenly woke up? Did you find that you couldn't move when you woke up? When you woke up did you ever feel that there was someone or something in the room with you that wasn't supposed to be there? Maybe you saw or just felt a figure in white or a small green man with big eyes. Anyone have any of those experiences?
If you did have any of those experiences you were not be haunted or being looked over from aliens from across the void of space. What were you experiencing is known as a waking dream. Waking dreams are actually a common experience that happens to everyone around the world all the time.
I want to explain what a waking dream using an example from my own life. About 6 months ago after a long day at work and shamisen practice I crawled into bed for a good night's sleep. I quickly drifted off to a very light sleep. It was than that I woke up in a total panic. I knew for sure that there was something or someone in my room. I looked around, but there was no one there. I could feel them standing there near my door. My body was fighting to react to the terror, but I found that I couldn't move at all. I was struggling as hard as I could to get up and run to the other side of my room, but I couldn't move at all. The only thing that I could move were my eyes. I knew that this thing in my room would come to attack me, and sure enough it did. I could feel it suddenly move forward and grab my foot. As soon as it grabbed my foot I found that I could move. I jumped away and looked around and surely enough it was only me in that room.
So, what exactly happened? A lot of things actually. The person that I felt in my room was a dream. I couldn't see it because it wasn't there. There are people that go though a deeper version of waking dreams that do actually dream something in their room. Why couldn't I move? Well that is for my own safety. When a person goes into REM sleep the part of the brain that controls body movement shuts down for a little while so we don't react to our dreams in real life. When people have trouble shutting this part of the brain off it leads to things like sleep walking. So, not being able to move while dreaming is a normal thing. Why could I move at the end? Well that is because the terror of the whole experience ended up fully waking me up. Why did I dream that there was something in my room? I don't know. I guess that is what I am the most paranoid about so it came up in my dreams.
What do you think my reaction would be if I didn't know about waking dreams? I would have thought it was some type of ghost in my house. At that point I heard that there was a ghost in my house any way so I guess that would be the logical conclusion. But, I have heard of waking dreams. I was able to figure it out as soon as I fully woke up and wrote it off as a natural thing that happened in my brain, not an evil spirit in my room. I was lucky that I heard about waking dreams because if I have not I would be living somewhere else at this point.
The thing is, not a lot of people actually know what waking dreams are. They have this weird experience and don't know what to think about it. A lot of good ghost and daemon stories come out of waking dreams. Any story that has some sort of spirit that sits on your chest so you can't move is actually a waking dream. This includes stories about old hags (the origin of the term "hag ridden" for someone that looks tired), incubus, succubus and other ghosts.
The thing is this changes by society. People a long time ago heard the stories of succubus so that is what they experienced. If your culture has no stories like the story of the succubus you never experience a succubus waking dream. You would experience the waking dream that fits your society and culture. After the stories of Roswell and aliens in the west a lot of people have experienced waking dreams that include aliens. That is how a lot of abduction stories got started. It not something from outer space, it is something from inside your head.
Any way, it is now time for the word of the day. Today's word is 夢(ゆめ). It is pronounced yume and means dream. In Japanese they say yume wo miru, which means to dream. If you literally translate those words it means to see a dream. I sort of like that.
That's it for today. See you next time at JJNN.
Have you ever had a time when you were sleeping and you suddenly woke up? Did you find that you couldn't move when you woke up? When you woke up did you ever feel that there was someone or something in the room with you that wasn't supposed to be there? Maybe you saw or just felt a figure in white or a small green man with big eyes. Anyone have any of those experiences?
If you did have any of those experiences you were not be haunted or being looked over from aliens from across the void of space. What were you experiencing is known as a waking dream. Waking dreams are actually a common experience that happens to everyone around the world all the time.
I want to explain what a waking dream using an example from my own life. About 6 months ago after a long day at work and shamisen practice I crawled into bed for a good night's sleep. I quickly drifted off to a very light sleep. It was than that I woke up in a total panic. I knew for sure that there was something or someone in my room. I looked around, but there was no one there. I could feel them standing there near my door. My body was fighting to react to the terror, but I found that I couldn't move at all. I was struggling as hard as I could to get up and run to the other side of my room, but I couldn't move at all. The only thing that I could move were my eyes. I knew that this thing in my room would come to attack me, and sure enough it did. I could feel it suddenly move forward and grab my foot. As soon as it grabbed my foot I found that I could move. I jumped away and looked around and surely enough it was only me in that room.
So, what exactly happened? A lot of things actually. The person that I felt in my room was a dream. I couldn't see it because it wasn't there. There are people that go though a deeper version of waking dreams that do actually dream something in their room. Why couldn't I move? Well that is for my own safety. When a person goes into REM sleep the part of the brain that controls body movement shuts down for a little while so we don't react to our dreams in real life. When people have trouble shutting this part of the brain off it leads to things like sleep walking. So, not being able to move while dreaming is a normal thing. Why could I move at the end? Well that is because the terror of the whole experience ended up fully waking me up. Why did I dream that there was something in my room? I don't know. I guess that is what I am the most paranoid about so it came up in my dreams.
What do you think my reaction would be if I didn't know about waking dreams? I would have thought it was some type of ghost in my house. At that point I heard that there was a ghost in my house any way so I guess that would be the logical conclusion. But, I have heard of waking dreams. I was able to figure it out as soon as I fully woke up and wrote it off as a natural thing that happened in my brain, not an evil spirit in my room. I was lucky that I heard about waking dreams because if I have not I would be living somewhere else at this point.
The thing is, not a lot of people actually know what waking dreams are. They have this weird experience and don't know what to think about it. A lot of good ghost and daemon stories come out of waking dreams. Any story that has some sort of spirit that sits on your chest so you can't move is actually a waking dream. This includes stories about old hags (the origin of the term "hag ridden" for someone that looks tired), incubus, succubus and other ghosts.
The thing is this changes by society. People a long time ago heard the stories of succubus so that is what they experienced. If your culture has no stories like the story of the succubus you never experience a succubus waking dream. You would experience the waking dream that fits your society and culture. After the stories of Roswell and aliens in the west a lot of people have experienced waking dreams that include aliens. That is how a lot of abduction stories got started. It not something from outer space, it is something from inside your head.
Any way, it is now time for the word of the day. Today's word is 夢(ゆめ). It is pronounced yume and means dream. In Japanese they say yume wo miru, which means to dream. If you literally translate those words it means to see a dream. I sort of like that.
That's it for today. See you next time at JJNN.
Friday, September 5, 2008
JJNN Friday: Technology - 06
Welcome again to JJNN for Friday September 5th, 2008. Today we will be taking about Google.
What is your search engine of choice? For me it is Google. Sure, there was a time when I had dial up and I used the AOL search engine. And of course for a while I used yahoo, but for years now I have been sticking with Google. A lot of people use Google because it is simple, effective and helps you find exactly what you are looking for.
But, like most big and lumbering companies, Google Japan is starting to get the slightest bit paranoid. Google is getting paranoid that yahoo will take over its share and it will no longer be a top search engine. So, what would you do if you were worried about something like that? Well according to this news story you advertise like there is no tomorrow!
But, what is the best way to advertise? How will you know if you are advertising in an area that will end up increasing the numbers of your users? Well, Google found out (somehow...no one seems to know how) that people that use Ikebukuro station use yahoo more than Google. Because of that Google decided to start an ad campaign in Ikebukuro station. The ad campaign will also spread to all the other stations in Tokyo because of advertisements in trains like the one in the picture below.
Google is also hitting Japan big time with there "Things you can do with Google" ad campaign. Below is an example of one of the advertisements.
I like Google so I wish them the best of luck here in Japan. But, I really would like to know how they found out that there are more yahoo users than Google users in Ikebukuro. Sounds suspicious to me.
Any way, it is now time for the word of the day. Today's word is 妄想症(もうそうしょう). It is pronounced mousoushou and means paranoia. Paranoia...cha-cha-cha.
That's it for today. See you next time at JJNN.
What is your search engine of choice? For me it is Google. Sure, there was a time when I had dial up and I used the AOL search engine. And of course for a while I used yahoo, but for years now I have been sticking with Google. A lot of people use Google because it is simple, effective and helps you find exactly what you are looking for.
But, like most big and lumbering companies, Google Japan is starting to get the slightest bit paranoid. Google is getting paranoid that yahoo will take over its share and it will no longer be a top search engine. So, what would you do if you were worried about something like that? Well according to this news story you advertise like there is no tomorrow!
But, what is the best way to advertise? How will you know if you are advertising in an area that will end up increasing the numbers of your users? Well, Google found out (somehow...no one seems to know how) that people that use Ikebukuro station use yahoo more than Google. Because of that Google decided to start an ad campaign in Ikebukuro station. The ad campaign will also spread to all the other stations in Tokyo because of advertisements in trains like the one in the picture below.
Google is also hitting Japan big time with there "Things you can do with Google" ad campaign. Below is an example of one of the advertisements.
I like Google so I wish them the best of luck here in Japan. But, I really would like to know how they found out that there are more yahoo users than Google users in Ikebukuro. Sounds suspicious to me.
Any way, it is now time for the word of the day. Today's word is 妄想症(もうそうしょう). It is pronounced mousoushou and means paranoia. Paranoia...cha-cha-cha.
That's it for today. See you next time at JJNN.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
JJNN Thursday: Culture - 07
Welcome again to JJNN for Thursday September 4th, 2008. Today we will be taking about a type of summer festival.
There are many different types of festivals in Japan. These festivals range from the "normal" festivals in which people pull around portable shrines to the "wild" festivals which always seem to involve either fireworks or fire of some kind. I am going to talk about one summer festival that goes on in the Niigata prefecture city of Shirone (now part of Niigata city).
The Shirone festival is actually more of a battle. They don't use knives or even swords in their battle though. Their weapons are much bigger. You can see a picture of the weapon below.
Yep. That's a huge kite. The Shirone summer festival is a huge kite battle. There is a river down the middle of Shirone, and every year in June two teams come together to fight each other over the river. It doesn't really matter who wins. All that matters is that everyone has a good time. You can see what this kite battle looks like below.
You have probably heard of kite battles in which the teams try to snap the ropes of the opposing team. Something like that happens in this battle as well. But, that is not the only way to down your opponent. The kites that are used for this battle are so huge that they need a lot of moving air to stay aloft. Most teams just position themselves in front of their opponent so they block the wind. Simple and effective.
I took part in this festival years back. I remember that it was a whole lot of running. You have to make sure you hold on tight to the rope because a sudden wind could yank it out of your hand. Also, you have to be sure not to get in the way of any rope that is being pulled tight. That could lead to an injury, a missing limb or even death. If you keep that in mind though it is a fun festival and worth going to see sometime.
Any way, it is now time for the word of the day. Today's word is 凧(たこ). It is pronounced tako and means kite. I haven't flown a normal sized kite in years. Maybe I should buy one and go to the beach to take it for a spin.
That's it for today. See you next time at JJNN.
There are many different types of festivals in Japan. These festivals range from the "normal" festivals in which people pull around portable shrines to the "wild" festivals which always seem to involve either fireworks or fire of some kind. I am going to talk about one summer festival that goes on in the Niigata prefecture city of Shirone (now part of Niigata city).
The Shirone festival is actually more of a battle. They don't use knives or even swords in their battle though. Their weapons are much bigger. You can see a picture of the weapon below.
Yep. That's a huge kite. The Shirone summer festival is a huge kite battle. There is a river down the middle of Shirone, and every year in June two teams come together to fight each other over the river. It doesn't really matter who wins. All that matters is that everyone has a good time. You can see what this kite battle looks like below.
You have probably heard of kite battles in which the teams try to snap the ropes of the opposing team. Something like that happens in this battle as well. But, that is not the only way to down your opponent. The kites that are used for this battle are so huge that they need a lot of moving air to stay aloft. Most teams just position themselves in front of their opponent so they block the wind. Simple and effective.
I took part in this festival years back. I remember that it was a whole lot of running. You have to make sure you hold on tight to the rope because a sudden wind could yank it out of your hand. Also, you have to be sure not to get in the way of any rope that is being pulled tight. That could lead to an injury, a missing limb or even death. If you keep that in mind though it is a fun festival and worth going to see sometime.
Any way, it is now time for the word of the day. Today's word is 凧(たこ). It is pronounced tako and means kite. I haven't flown a normal sized kite in years. Maybe I should buy one and go to the beach to take it for a spin.
That's it for today. See you next time at JJNN.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
JJNN Wednesday: Games - 05
Welcome again to JJNN for Wednesday September 3rd, 2008. Today we will be taking about a new version of the PSP.
Many of you have probably heard of or used the PSP. For those of you that are not into gaming I will say that the PSP stands for playstation portable and it is like the playstation's version of the game boy. The version of the PSP that is out now is called the PSP 2000. The PSP 2000 has been on sale since September of last year. But, in August Sony announced that on the 16th of next month they will be releasing the next in their PSP line, the PSP 3000.
So, what's the difference between the PSP 2000 and 3000? Well according to this article there are some design and technical changes. Look at the picture below to see if you can find the changes.
In the picture the 2000 is on the top and the 3000 is on the bottom. Hmmm? Changes? Well, to the naked eye there is not really a lot different design wise. It seems that the 3000 is a lot more rounded on the sides and the logos have been moved around a little.
There are actually 3 major changes. The first one is to the left of the "PSP" logo on the bottom of the 3000. That little hole is actually a microphone. Sony decided to jump on the random microphone within gaming platform bandwagon. They should have seen that it didn't really go anywhere for the Nintendo DS and just left it out, but they decided to put it in any way. They are even making games that use that microphone technology. Personally I don't needed to be yelling into a microphone to win a game if I am in a train or anywhere outside my house. Sort of takes the "portable" part off the PSP.
The second change is the location of the buttons. They just did this so that the location of the buttons on the PSP match the location of the buttons on the PS3 controller. What a company will do to tie its consoles together and try to make more money, huh?
The 3rd change is the display. Sony found a way to make their already beautiful PSP display even more beautiful. I don't know exactly how they did it, but look at the following picture.
The top of the picture is the 3000 and the bottom is the 2000. Both of them look good, but as you can see the colors come out more boldly on the 3000 than the 2000. Personally I would not use the PSP to watch movies or look at pictures, but a screen like that can make games a lot more interesting to play.
Any way, it is now time for the word of the day. Today's word is 液晶(えきしょう). It is pronounced ekishou and means liquid crystal. The technology for liquid crystal displays really has gone a long way since I was young. They can do so much with those types of displays now.
That's it for today. See you next time at JJNN.
Many of you have probably heard of or used the PSP. For those of you that are not into gaming I will say that the PSP stands for playstation portable and it is like the playstation's version of the game boy. The version of the PSP that is out now is called the PSP 2000. The PSP 2000 has been on sale since September of last year. But, in August Sony announced that on the 16th of next month they will be releasing the next in their PSP line, the PSP 3000.
So, what's the difference between the PSP 2000 and 3000? Well according to this article there are some design and technical changes. Look at the picture below to see if you can find the changes.
In the picture the 2000 is on the top and the 3000 is on the bottom. Hmmm? Changes? Well, to the naked eye there is not really a lot different design wise. It seems that the 3000 is a lot more rounded on the sides and the logos have been moved around a little.
There are actually 3 major changes. The first one is to the left of the "PSP" logo on the bottom of the 3000. That little hole is actually a microphone. Sony decided to jump on the random microphone within gaming platform bandwagon. They should have seen that it didn't really go anywhere for the Nintendo DS and just left it out, but they decided to put it in any way. They are even making games that use that microphone technology. Personally I don't needed to be yelling into a microphone to win a game if I am in a train or anywhere outside my house. Sort of takes the "portable" part off the PSP.
The second change is the location of the buttons. They just did this so that the location of the buttons on the PSP match the location of the buttons on the PS3 controller. What a company will do to tie its consoles together and try to make more money, huh?
The 3rd change is the display. Sony found a way to make their already beautiful PSP display even more beautiful. I don't know exactly how they did it, but look at the following picture.
The top of the picture is the 3000 and the bottom is the 2000. Both of them look good, but as you can see the colors come out more boldly on the 3000 than the 2000. Personally I would not use the PSP to watch movies or look at pictures, but a screen like that can make games a lot more interesting to play.
Any way, it is now time for the word of the day. Today's word is 液晶(えきしょう). It is pronounced ekishou and means liquid crystal. The technology for liquid crystal displays really has gone a long way since I was young. They can do so much with those types of displays now.
That's it for today. See you next time at JJNN.
JJNN Extra
Those of you that know me know that I am from the state of Maine. Here is a bit of Maine related hijinks I found. Anyone that has ever lived in, or even been to, Maine will find this funny.
Enjoy.
Enjoy.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
JJNN Tuesday: Entertainment - 05
Welcome again to JJNN for Tuesday September 2nd, 2008. Today we will be taking about 20th century boys.
20th Century Boys is the name of a manga that I have been reading recently. It has a great story and the art is good so I figured I would talk a little bit about it. Recently the manga was made into a movie. That is how I first heard about it. I saw the following commercial on TV.
Needless to say that perked my interest. I liked that symbol of the eye within the eye and the hand. To me it was simple, but powerful. Any way, after I saw that I decided to dig up as much information as I could about 20th Century Boys. I found out about the manga so I decided to buy a few of the books. Needless to say I was addicted before the end of the first book.
Before I tell a little bit about the story I want to show another commercial for the movie. I know it is a little long and all in Japanese, but just take in the visuals and the music.
So, the basic story flows around a totally normal guy named Kenji. Kenji is in his mid-30s, not married, working in a convenience store, and always carrying around his sister's kid. A totally normal existence. This all changes one day when the police come. The police tell Kenji that a person that he delivers alcohol to disappeared with the rest of his family. When Kenji goes to that man's house to pick up the empty bottles he runs into that symbol with the double eye and the hand.
That symbol is a connection with Kenji's past. When Kenji was in elementary school he was in a group with his friends. He thought up many wild stories about what will happen in the future. Stories about an evil group that will try to take over the world with viral weapons, laser guns, bombs and giant robots. The symbol was the symbol of his group, but it is also being used by someone in the present day.
What's the connection? Well, that's something that you are going to have to find out yourself. I don't want to spoil the wonderful story. The writer and artist Urazawa Naoki knows how to tell a story that sucks people in. His other manga Monster is also the same. The manga is licensed by VIZ so it should be sold in English some time.
By the way, I forgot to say that this manga takes a lot of things from rock and roll. The title itself is from a song by T.Rex. I bet you all have heard the song even though you might not know the name. I will leave you all with that song.
Any way, it is now time for the word of the day. Today's word is 世紀(せいき). It is pronounced seiki and means century. The final chapter of the manga is actually put out under the title 21st century boys. I have a lot of reading before I get to that point though.
That's it for today. See you next time at JJNN.
20th Century Boys is the name of a manga that I have been reading recently. It has a great story and the art is good so I figured I would talk a little bit about it. Recently the manga was made into a movie. That is how I first heard about it. I saw the following commercial on TV.
Needless to say that perked my interest. I liked that symbol of the eye within the eye and the hand. To me it was simple, but powerful. Any way, after I saw that I decided to dig up as much information as I could about 20th Century Boys. I found out about the manga so I decided to buy a few of the books. Needless to say I was addicted before the end of the first book.
Before I tell a little bit about the story I want to show another commercial for the movie. I know it is a little long and all in Japanese, but just take in the visuals and the music.
So, the basic story flows around a totally normal guy named Kenji. Kenji is in his mid-30s, not married, working in a convenience store, and always carrying around his sister's kid. A totally normal existence. This all changes one day when the police come. The police tell Kenji that a person that he delivers alcohol to disappeared with the rest of his family. When Kenji goes to that man's house to pick up the empty bottles he runs into that symbol with the double eye and the hand.
That symbol is a connection with Kenji's past. When Kenji was in elementary school he was in a group with his friends. He thought up many wild stories about what will happen in the future. Stories about an evil group that will try to take over the world with viral weapons, laser guns, bombs and giant robots. The symbol was the symbol of his group, but it is also being used by someone in the present day.
What's the connection? Well, that's something that you are going to have to find out yourself. I don't want to spoil the wonderful story. The writer and artist Urazawa Naoki knows how to tell a story that sucks people in. His other manga Monster is also the same. The manga is licensed by VIZ so it should be sold in English some time.
By the way, I forgot to say that this manga takes a lot of things from rock and roll. The title itself is from a song by T.Rex. I bet you all have heard the song even though you might not know the name. I will leave you all with that song.
Any way, it is now time for the word of the day. Today's word is 世紀(せいき). It is pronounced seiki and means century. The final chapter of the manga is actually put out under the title 21st century boys. I have a lot of reading before I get to that point though.
That's it for today. See you next time at JJNN.
Monday, September 1, 2008
JJNN Monday: Science - 05
Welcome again to JJNN for Monday September 1st, 2008. Today we will be taking about cancer and coffee.
Personally, I really don't like coffee. I only drink it when I am really tired or I really need some quick caffeine. I don't like the taste and I don't want to even think of drinking. That was why I was surprised when I read this news story.
Scientists working for the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare have found a connection between drinking coffee and the prevention of endometrial cancer. Endometrial cancer is a cancer to the lining of the uterus. This type of cancer is a major heath problem for older women all over the world.
The team of scientists have been sending out questionnaires for the past 15 years. About 54000 woman from age 40 to 69 sent in their answers. This information was used to try to link coffee intake in the woman that do and do not get this type of cancer. The results they found were surprising. You can see them below.
The height of the bar is equal to the risk for endometrial cancer. The meaning of the bars (from left to right) are, less than 2 cups of coffee a week, one or two cups of coffee a day, and 3 cups or more of coffee a day. The scientists set less than 2 cups of coffee a week as a risk level of one to make it the watermark for the experiment. They found that the chances of a woman getting this cancer if they drink one or two cups of coffee a day goes down to 0.61. Also if they drink 3 or more cups the chances go down to 0.38.
This is great news. An easy and quick way to avoid a nasty type of cancer that a lot of people like to do any way. But, this leaves the question: why does this work? Well, many people believe that this type of cancer is set into being by an over abundance of estrogen and insulin. Coffee seems to have what it takes to put these two chemicals back into harmony so they don't end up triggering the cancer.
As a side note, scientists have found that heavy coffee drinkers also are at a lower risk for liver cancer. Maybe I should start drinking coffee after all...
Any way, it is now time for the word of the day. Today's word is コーヒー(こおひい). It is pronounced koohii and means coffee. Personally I am more of a green tea man.
That's it for today. See you next time at JJNN.
Personally, I really don't like coffee. I only drink it when I am really tired or I really need some quick caffeine. I don't like the taste and I don't want to even think of drinking. That was why I was surprised when I read this news story.
Scientists working for the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare have found a connection between drinking coffee and the prevention of endometrial cancer. Endometrial cancer is a cancer to the lining of the uterus. This type of cancer is a major heath problem for older women all over the world.
The team of scientists have been sending out questionnaires for the past 15 years. About 54000 woman from age 40 to 69 sent in their answers. This information was used to try to link coffee intake in the woman that do and do not get this type of cancer. The results they found were surprising. You can see them below.
The height of the bar is equal to the risk for endometrial cancer. The meaning of the bars (from left to right) are, less than 2 cups of coffee a week, one or two cups of coffee a day, and 3 cups or more of coffee a day. The scientists set less than 2 cups of coffee a week as a risk level of one to make it the watermark for the experiment. They found that the chances of a woman getting this cancer if they drink one or two cups of coffee a day goes down to 0.61. Also if they drink 3 or more cups the chances go down to 0.38.
This is great news. An easy and quick way to avoid a nasty type of cancer that a lot of people like to do any way. But, this leaves the question: why does this work? Well, many people believe that this type of cancer is set into being by an over abundance of estrogen and insulin. Coffee seems to have what it takes to put these two chemicals back into harmony so they don't end up triggering the cancer.
As a side note, scientists have found that heavy coffee drinkers also are at a lower risk for liver cancer. Maybe I should start drinking coffee after all...
Any way, it is now time for the word of the day. Today's word is コーヒー(こおひい). It is pronounced koohii and means coffee. Personally I am more of a green tea man.
That's it for today. See you next time at JJNN.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
JJNN Sunday: Leftovers - 05
Welcome again to JJNN for Sunday August 31st, 2008. Today we will be taking about a new way to buy software.
I remember way back in the day when software was all on floppy disks that were over 5 inches on one side. Since than software has gone to slightly smaller disks, to optical data like CDs and DVDs. It has been interesting to watch how companies have used the media of the day to sell software.
The latest version of this is talked about in this article. According to slashdot japan a company called Source Next wanted to fix the problem that many laptop owners faced when it came to software. Lately the trend of laptops is to be small, which means that a lot of them actually don't have any optical drive. Source Next's solution for this problem was to start selling their software on USB memory sticks.
On the fifth of next month (in 6 days) Next Source will sell their first USB memory stick programs. The program Virus Security Zero along with 6 other programs are to be put up for sale in this first round of releases. The second round of releases is already scheduled for October. The second round of releases will be 13 software titles.
As with all changes there are positives and negatives. The positive parts of this change are things like the fact that almost all computers can access the software, it accesses faster than an optical drive in most cases, it is quiet and it can be used as a storage medium. But, what are the negatives? I really can't think of any. If I really had to think of one i guess it would be the fact that USB would be harder to store than CDs or DVDs. You would need to come up with a great labeling system if you get enough of these programs.
Any way, it is now time for the word of the day. Today's word is ソフト(そふと). It is pronounced sofuto and means software. It is amazing how fast storage media has moved forward. From tape drives to DVDs and USB flash memory in less than 30 years. I wonder what things will be stored on in 30 more years.
That's it for today. See you next time at JJNN.
I remember way back in the day when software was all on floppy disks that were over 5 inches on one side. Since than software has gone to slightly smaller disks, to optical data like CDs and DVDs. It has been interesting to watch how companies have used the media of the day to sell software.
The latest version of this is talked about in this article. According to slashdot japan a company called Source Next wanted to fix the problem that many laptop owners faced when it came to software. Lately the trend of laptops is to be small, which means that a lot of them actually don't have any optical drive. Source Next's solution for this problem was to start selling their software on USB memory sticks.
On the fifth of next month (in 6 days) Next Source will sell their first USB memory stick programs. The program Virus Security Zero along with 6 other programs are to be put up for sale in this first round of releases. The second round of releases is already scheduled for October. The second round of releases will be 13 software titles.
As with all changes there are positives and negatives. The positive parts of this change are things like the fact that almost all computers can access the software, it accesses faster than an optical drive in most cases, it is quiet and it can be used as a storage medium. But, what are the negatives? I really can't think of any. If I really had to think of one i guess it would be the fact that USB would be harder to store than CDs or DVDs. You would need to come up with a great labeling system if you get enough of these programs.
Any way, it is now time for the word of the day. Today's word is ソフト(そふと). It is pronounced sofuto and means software. It is amazing how fast storage media has moved forward. From tape drives to DVDs and USB flash memory in less than 30 years. I wonder what things will be stored on in 30 more years.
That's it for today. See you next time at JJNN.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
JJNN Saturday: Pseudoscience - 05
Welcome again to JJNN for Friday August 30th, 2008. Today we will be taking about ghosts in Japan.
During the middle of August there is a period of time in Japan called obon. Many people take time off from work and go visit the graves of their family and friends during this time of the year. You could think of it as the Japanese version of memorial day. The only thing a little different is the fact that Japanese people visit graves on obon because it is during obon that the spirits of their friends and family come back to earth and take up shop in their household alters. In this way it is sort of like the Japanese version of Halloween.
This is why there are so many shows about ghost stories on during the middle of the summer. I always enjoy coming home at night and seeing famous people on TV get freaked out because of creepy ghost stories. A lot of these TV shows also have pictures or video that is suppose to be about ghosts. I found some really good pictures and videos while researching this post and I want to share them with you. Keep in mind I will bash these with the science hammer afterwords so don't be too scared!
This is a picture of what people call ghost orbs. Apparently when ghosts are lazy and don't want to take their human shape they fly around as little orbs in a sort of ghost version of energy save mode. It may surprise some to know, but these are not ghosts. Ghosts orbs are actually dust. Yes. Common every day dust. When the flash from the camera bounces off from the dust you get little orbs like that in your pictures. When people take pictures like this they always say things like "Nothing was in the room, but that showed up in the picture." Well, yes. Your eyes don't work fast enough to process the light, and even if they do you wouldn't think anything of it anyway. But, now that it is on film (data) it is a big thing. The only thing is, it's not...it's just dust.
Look! A creepy ghost in the window! Well, actually, no. If you look to the left of the picture you will see a blob of light that signals the use of our old friend, the flash. This is another trick of light and reflection. In this case the light is reflecting off of one of the people in the picture, hitting the window and reflecting back to the camera lens. It is very dark outside so the glass will act like a mirror. More than likely it is the person on the left who is the actual ghost.
Lastly I want to share this video.
This one freaked me out for the longest time. I mean, it's just scary to see something like that. But, eventually I got to see this video below which explained it all. Got to love Captain Disillusion (well, except what he says about Japanese TV shows which are all in all entertaining). Watch an enjoy.
It is a good reminder that there are other reasons there are ghost pictures and videos out there. Either they are a natural play of light in the form of reflections, refractions, etc or someone just made them up. Remember to look at things with a skeptical mind.
Any way, it is now time for the word of the day. Today's word is 幽霊(ゆうれい). It is pronounced yuurei and means ghost. There are probably close to 100 words for ghost in the Japanese language, but yuurei is the one that is used the most. It is so amazing to see how Japanese people look at things like ghost and goblins (not the video game).
That's it for today. See you next time at JJNN.
During the middle of August there is a period of time in Japan called obon. Many people take time off from work and go visit the graves of their family and friends during this time of the year. You could think of it as the Japanese version of memorial day. The only thing a little different is the fact that Japanese people visit graves on obon because it is during obon that the spirits of their friends and family come back to earth and take up shop in their household alters. In this way it is sort of like the Japanese version of Halloween.
This is why there are so many shows about ghost stories on during the middle of the summer. I always enjoy coming home at night and seeing famous people on TV get freaked out because of creepy ghost stories. A lot of these TV shows also have pictures or video that is suppose to be about ghosts. I found some really good pictures and videos while researching this post and I want to share them with you. Keep in mind I will bash these with the science hammer afterwords so don't be too scared!
This is a picture of what people call ghost orbs. Apparently when ghosts are lazy and don't want to take their human shape they fly around as little orbs in a sort of ghost version of energy save mode. It may surprise some to know, but these are not ghosts. Ghosts orbs are actually dust. Yes. Common every day dust. When the flash from the camera bounces off from the dust you get little orbs like that in your pictures. When people take pictures like this they always say things like "Nothing was in the room, but that showed up in the picture." Well, yes. Your eyes don't work fast enough to process the light, and even if they do you wouldn't think anything of it anyway. But, now that it is on film (data) it is a big thing. The only thing is, it's not...it's just dust.
Look! A creepy ghost in the window! Well, actually, no. If you look to the left of the picture you will see a blob of light that signals the use of our old friend, the flash. This is another trick of light and reflection. In this case the light is reflecting off of one of the people in the picture, hitting the window and reflecting back to the camera lens. It is very dark outside so the glass will act like a mirror. More than likely it is the person on the left who is the actual ghost.
Lastly I want to share this video.
This one freaked me out for the longest time. I mean, it's just scary to see something like that. But, eventually I got to see this video below which explained it all. Got to love Captain Disillusion (well, except what he says about Japanese TV shows which are all in all entertaining). Watch an enjoy.
It is a good reminder that there are other reasons there are ghost pictures and videos out there. Either they are a natural play of light in the form of reflections, refractions, etc or someone just made them up. Remember to look at things with a skeptical mind.
Any way, it is now time for the word of the day. Today's word is 幽霊(ゆうれい). It is pronounced yuurei and means ghost. There are probably close to 100 words for ghost in the Japanese language, but yuurei is the one that is used the most. It is so amazing to see how Japanese people look at things like ghost and goblins (not the video game).
That's it for today. See you next time at JJNN.
Friday, August 29, 2008
JJNN Friday: Technology - 05
Welcome again to JJNN for Friday August 29th, 2008. Today we will be taking about a new type of battery.
Well, Matsushita did it again! Of course I am saying that in a good way. Matsushita is known in Japan and around the world as a maker of various types of electronics. They are the company that makes electronics under the brand name of Panasonic and Technics. That all means that Matsushita makes everything from electronic home appliances to professional music equipment.
Today's news story is about one of the smaller things that Matsushita makes. You can see the original story here. Matsushita announced yesterday that they are going to be selling a new type of rechargeable battery under the name Evolta. Evolta will be Nickel-Metal Hydride (or NiMH) battery. These types of batteries have been in uses for about 20 years now.
So what makes the Evolta different? Good question. Matsushita decided to use a very thin exterior case along with a top and bottom that have been put though some secret process to increase the volume of material that can actually fit inside of the battery. If the volume of the battery increases, than the the capacity to hold charge a long time also increases. Compared to another of Matsushita's rechargeable battery line (the HHR-3MPS) the number of times that the battery can recharge has gone up 20% and the life of the battery has increased. It seems that you can recharge the Evolta up to 1200 times and the amount of time the battery will stay active for its 800th charge has gone up by an astounding 10 percent.
This is a good thing. It leads to less batteries in our landfills and a happier earth. Also, it seems that the engineering that Matsushita stuck onto top and bottom on of the batteries causes the batteries to be stronger in the end. This leads to less battery explosions. Nothing stops a geek party faster than a lot of exploding batteries.
As an aside, do you know how rechargeable batteries work? It is actually very interesting. I am going to write down a couple of equations, but don't let that scare you away. In the equations H is hydrogen, O is oxygen, M is the special metal that is on the inside of the battery, e is an electron and Ni is nickel. There are two equations because there is a positive side of the battery and a negative side of a battery. The equation for the negative electrode (side) of the battery is thusly:
H2O + M + e- <-> OH- + MH
Any way, it is now time for the word of the day. Today's word is 電池(でんち). It is pronounced denchi and means battery. This reminds me that I should really be charging the batteries to my wii so I can do more of that wii fit.
That's it for today. See you next time at JJNN.
Well, Matsushita did it again! Of course I am saying that in a good way. Matsushita is known in Japan and around the world as a maker of various types of electronics. They are the company that makes electronics under the brand name of Panasonic and Technics. That all means that Matsushita makes everything from electronic home appliances to professional music equipment.
Today's news story is about one of the smaller things that Matsushita makes. You can see the original story here. Matsushita announced yesterday that they are going to be selling a new type of rechargeable battery under the name Evolta. Evolta will be Nickel-Metal Hydride (or NiMH) battery. These types of batteries have been in uses for about 20 years now.
So what makes the Evolta different? Good question. Matsushita decided to use a very thin exterior case along with a top and bottom that have been put though some secret process to increase the volume of material that can actually fit inside of the battery. If the volume of the battery increases, than the the capacity to hold charge a long time also increases. Compared to another of Matsushita's rechargeable battery line (the HHR-3MPS) the number of times that the battery can recharge has gone up 20% and the life of the battery has increased. It seems that you can recharge the Evolta up to 1200 times and the amount of time the battery will stay active for its 800th charge has gone up by an astounding 10 percent.
This is a good thing. It leads to less batteries in our landfills and a happier earth. Also, it seems that the engineering that Matsushita stuck onto top and bottom on of the batteries causes the batteries to be stronger in the end. This leads to less battery explosions. Nothing stops a geek party faster than a lot of exploding batteries.
As an aside, do you know how rechargeable batteries work? It is actually very interesting. I am going to write down a couple of equations, but don't let that scare you away. In the equations H is hydrogen, O is oxygen, M is the special metal that is on the inside of the battery, e is an electron and Ni is nickel. There are two equations because there is a positive side of the battery and a negative side of a battery. The equation for the negative electrode (side) of the battery is thusly:
H2O + M + e- <-> OH- + MH
If you read this equation from left to right the battery is being charged. The electron (what gives the battery its juice) goes from being free for use to being stored in the metal. If you read the equation from the right to the left the electron is being freed so the battery is being used for something. The equation for the positive electrode is given thusly:
Ni(OH)2 + OH- <-> NiO(OH) + H2O + e-
Notice that the equation for the positive electrode is just the opposite that of the negative electrode when it comes to the positions of things like H2O, OH- and e-. This is what truly makes these batteries rechargeable. The metal and the Ni are just things that help to get the electron and the OH to run around at the right time.
Any way, it is now time for the word of the day. Today's word is 電池(でんち). It is pronounced denchi and means battery. This reminds me that I should really be charging the batteries to my wii so I can do more of that wii fit.
That's it for today. See you next time at JJNN.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
JJNN Thursday: Culture - 06
Welcome again to JJNN for Thursday August 28th, 2008. Today we will be taking about dialects from around Japan.
Japan has a lot of different dialects. The dialects range from those are almost like normal Japanese (the Japanese spoken in Tokyo) and those that almost seem nothing like Japanese. I call the dialect from my city the "gaa" dialect. People just seem to sprinkle the word "gaa" randomly in their sentences. It can be interesting to listen to, but I don't think I will ever be able to speak fluently in it because it is just too random. Maybe there is just some grand "gaa" pattern that I am missing.
The most famous Japanese dialect is that dialect from around Kyoto and Osaka. Many people from even around here like use that dialect. Many comedians in Japan come from the area around Osaka, so people that can use that dialect are automatically funny in some way or another. The person in the clip below will teach you a little Osaka dialect. Notice how it is different from the normal Japanese.
Another of the the category of hard dialects to understand is Akita dialect. Akita is a prefecture in northern Japan. It is It is north of Niigata and located on the sea of Japan. I found a news story about Akita dialect. You can see the original story here.
It seems that the people of Akita prefecture wanted their new foreign teachers of language to learn about Akita dialect. Eight foreigners from 4 different countries were made to take a class to learn the dialect. All the students said they were so surprised that Akita spoke such a different from of Japanese. They said that it was almost like a different language. Others said that it felt like a warm dialect and they liked it.
I want to give you an example of what Akita dialect sounds like. Below is the opening of an anime called ndagarasha. The anime is based in Akita and is all in Akita dialect. There are two subtitles at the bottom. The top subtitle is what the music is saying (in Akita dialect) and the bottom subtitle is normal Japanese. I love the fact that they have to subtitle their anime so normal Japanese people can understand it. Any way, enjoy:
Any way, it is now time for the word of the day. Today's word is 方言(ほうげん). It is pronounced hougen and means dialect. I think there must be more variety in the dialects of Japan compared to the dialects of America.
That's it for today. See you next time at JJNN.
Japan has a lot of different dialects. The dialects range from those are almost like normal Japanese (the Japanese spoken in Tokyo) and those that almost seem nothing like Japanese. I call the dialect from my city the "gaa" dialect. People just seem to sprinkle the word "gaa" randomly in their sentences. It can be interesting to listen to, but I don't think I will ever be able to speak fluently in it because it is just too random. Maybe there is just some grand "gaa" pattern that I am missing.
The most famous Japanese dialect is that dialect from around Kyoto and Osaka. Many people from even around here like use that dialect. Many comedians in Japan come from the area around Osaka, so people that can use that dialect are automatically funny in some way or another. The person in the clip below will teach you a little Osaka dialect. Notice how it is different from the normal Japanese.
Another of the the category of hard dialects to understand is Akita dialect. Akita is a prefecture in northern Japan. It is It is north of Niigata and located on the sea of Japan. I found a news story about Akita dialect. You can see the original story here.
It seems that the people of Akita prefecture wanted their new foreign teachers of language to learn about Akita dialect. Eight foreigners from 4 different countries were made to take a class to learn the dialect. All the students said they were so surprised that Akita spoke such a different from of Japanese. They said that it was almost like a different language. Others said that it felt like a warm dialect and they liked it.
I want to give you an example of what Akita dialect sounds like. Below is the opening of an anime called ndagarasha. The anime is based in Akita and is all in Akita dialect. There are two subtitles at the bottom. The top subtitle is what the music is saying (in Akita dialect) and the bottom subtitle is normal Japanese. I love the fact that they have to subtitle their anime so normal Japanese people can understand it. Any way, enjoy:
Any way, it is now time for the word of the day. Today's word is 方言(ほうげん). It is pronounced hougen and means dialect. I think there must be more variety in the dialects of Japan compared to the dialects of America.
That's it for today. See you next time at JJNN.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
JJNN Wednesday: Games - 04
Welcome again to JJNN for Wednesday August 27th, 2008. Today we will be taking about more games played in Japanese schools.
I was planning on doing a report on a new MMORPG (Massive Multi-player Online Role Playing Game) called Lucent Heart but it is impossible to actually enter the game because of all the people that pounced on the game when it started. I guess I can't really complain because it is a free role playing game. There are a lot of people that loved the other games put out by the same company so I guess I should have known I would not have been able to play on the first night. If I get a chance to play LH before next week I will give a report on that next week.
Instead of LH I want to talk about more games played in Japanese elementary schools. Last time I talked about dodge ball so this time I guess I will go for the other classic game. Well, not really game but set of games. The dreaded TAG! (start the dramatic music).
I think we have all played tag at least once in our lives. It is the classic "run away from someone" game. Tag in Japan is exactly like that as well. The terminology is a little different though. Instead of saying "it" to point to the person that everyone is running away from they say "oni." Oni actually means demon. I guess that makes sense, I know i would run away from a demon.
Did any of you have an special rules for the way that you played tag? Or, did you have any special tag like games? In Japan there are so many different types of tag. It is sometimes hard to keep up when the kids run up to you and ask you to play tag. You have to ask them what type of tag and if there are any special rules. After all that I am made to be the oni nine times out of ten. Bah
Any way a couple of the popular tag games that we play at my schools include the Japanese versions of freeze tag and a game the kids call "Tasuke Oni." Freeze tag is just like in America where if a person gets tagged they can't movie. They can move again if someone else that is not it goes under their legs and "unfreezes them." Tasuke oni is sort of like freeze tag, but instead of a person freezing they have to go to jail. All the people that are in jail can link hands if any other person touches them they can all leave jail. This is a great game if you are not it. If you are it you have to spend all your time running.
Below is a picture of tasuke oni. I think it will only make things more confusing, but it might help some of you out there so I am going to put it in the post.
There are a lot of other types of tag that they play at my schools as well. One that comes to mind right off is called "maru dashi." The game starts off with the person that is it standing in the gym outside any of the circles that are painted on the floor. When I say circles on the gym floor I am talking about the ones that are their for basketball and other games like that. All the other students pile into the circles, which are safe zones. If a kid gets tagged outside the circle or pulled outside of the circle they also become it. I don' like this game because it almost always leads to crying kids rubbing their hurting shoulders.
Any way, it is now time for the word of the day. Today's word is 鬼(おに). It is pronounced oni and means it or demon. The name for tag in Japanese is oni-gokko which means to act like a demon. A funny name for a kids game when you really think about it.
That's it for today. See you next time at JJNN.
I was planning on doing a report on a new MMORPG (Massive Multi-player Online Role Playing Game) called Lucent Heart but it is impossible to actually enter the game because of all the people that pounced on the game when it started. I guess I can't really complain because it is a free role playing game. There are a lot of people that loved the other games put out by the same company so I guess I should have known I would not have been able to play on the first night. If I get a chance to play LH before next week I will give a report on that next week.
Instead of LH I want to talk about more games played in Japanese elementary schools. Last time I talked about dodge ball so this time I guess I will go for the other classic game. Well, not really game but set of games. The dreaded TAG! (start the dramatic music).
I think we have all played tag at least once in our lives. It is the classic "run away from someone" game. Tag in Japan is exactly like that as well. The terminology is a little different though. Instead of saying "it" to point to the person that everyone is running away from they say "oni." Oni actually means demon. I guess that makes sense, I know i would run away from a demon.
Did any of you have an special rules for the way that you played tag? Or, did you have any special tag like games? In Japan there are so many different types of tag. It is sometimes hard to keep up when the kids run up to you and ask you to play tag. You have to ask them what type of tag and if there are any special rules. After all that I am made to be the oni nine times out of ten. Bah
Any way a couple of the popular tag games that we play at my schools include the Japanese versions of freeze tag and a game the kids call "Tasuke Oni." Freeze tag is just like in America where if a person gets tagged they can't movie. They can move again if someone else that is not it goes under their legs and "unfreezes them." Tasuke oni is sort of like freeze tag, but instead of a person freezing they have to go to jail. All the people that are in jail can link hands if any other person touches them they can all leave jail. This is a great game if you are not it. If you are it you have to spend all your time running.
Below is a picture of tasuke oni. I think it will only make things more confusing, but it might help some of you out there so I am going to put it in the post.
There are a lot of other types of tag that they play at my schools as well. One that comes to mind right off is called "maru dashi." The game starts off with the person that is it standing in the gym outside any of the circles that are painted on the floor. When I say circles on the gym floor I am talking about the ones that are their for basketball and other games like that. All the other students pile into the circles, which are safe zones. If a kid gets tagged outside the circle or pulled outside of the circle they also become it. I don' like this game because it almost always leads to crying kids rubbing their hurting shoulders.
Any way, it is now time for the word of the day. Today's word is 鬼(おに). It is pronounced oni and means it or demon. The name for tag in Japanese is oni-gokko which means to act like a demon. A funny name for a kids game when you really think about it.
That's it for today. See you next time at JJNN.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
JJNN Tuesday: Entertainment - 04
Welcome again to JJNN for Tuesday August 26th, 2008. Today we will be taking about Japanese music.
There are many different types of music in Japan. You can hear all of the stuff here that you would normally hear back home in America, but also there are different types of Japanese music. Japanese music ranges from J-rock and J-pop to traditional Japanese music. One of the categories of music that falls between those two is called enka.
Enka is a style of music that became popular after WWII. It has a style that goes with it that is very distinctive. Once you are told one song is enka you can figure out if another song is enka because it will have the same feeling to it. You can see the video of an enka song kalled "Kita Sakaba" below.
If you ever hear a Japanese song that sort of sounds like that it will probably be enka.
Lately there are even foreign enka singers. The most famous foreign enka singer now is named Jerome Charles White, Jr. In Japan they just call him Jero. He sings enka, but it is a slightly different style because he mixes traditional enka with other types of music. It is very popular because no one has thought of doing that before Jero. Here is a video of Jero.
Any way, it is now time for the word of the day. Today's word is 演歌(えんか). It is pronounced enka and means enka. When I first got to Japan I really hated enka. I thought it sounded terrible. But, after a while I got used to the sound and I like enka now. Not that you will ever catch me singing enka at a night out at karaoke.
That's it for today. See you next time at JJNN.
There are many different types of music in Japan. You can hear all of the stuff here that you would normally hear back home in America, but also there are different types of Japanese music. Japanese music ranges from J-rock and J-pop to traditional Japanese music. One of the categories of music that falls between those two is called enka.
Enka is a style of music that became popular after WWII. It has a style that goes with it that is very distinctive. Once you are told one song is enka you can figure out if another song is enka because it will have the same feeling to it. You can see the video of an enka song kalled "Kita Sakaba" below.
If you ever hear a Japanese song that sort of sounds like that it will probably be enka.
Lately there are even foreign enka singers. The most famous foreign enka singer now is named Jerome Charles White, Jr. In Japan they just call him Jero. He sings enka, but it is a slightly different style because he mixes traditional enka with other types of music. It is very popular because no one has thought of doing that before Jero. Here is a video of Jero.
Any way, it is now time for the word of the day. Today's word is 演歌(えんか). It is pronounced enka and means enka. When I first got to Japan I really hated enka. I thought it sounded terrible. But, after a while I got used to the sound and I like enka now. Not that you will ever catch me singing enka at a night out at karaoke.
That's it for today. See you next time at JJNN.
Monday, August 25, 2008
JJNN Monday: Science - 04
Welcome again to JJNN for Monday August 25th, 2008. Today we will be taking about an interesting open house.
A lot of different places have open houses. There are the companies that want to show themselves to potential employees, schools that want to be open for any parents that want to watch class, and of course the kind that actually involves houses being shown to potential buyers. The open house that I want to talked about is in this news story.
Japanese's High Energy Accelerator Research Origination (known as KEK because of the the Japanese name) is going to hold their open house on August 31st. I would love to go to this open house. I have always wanted to go to an accelerator and see how things actually work. The basic idea is that magnets are used to accelerate subatomic particles around around a huge circular track. When the particles gather enough energy (speed up enough) the magnets are used make the particles collide. This helps scientists learn a lot more about what the particles are made up of and what happens in high energy and speed collisions.
KEK is located in Tsukuba city. It was started in 1997 and has an accelerator that is over 3Km long. Their system can accelerate electrons to an energy of 8GeV and positrons up to 3.5GeV, where GeV stands for Giga-electron volt. That is a lot of energy.
This year KEK's open house has the theme of "Space, Materials, and Life" They will be showing how their accelerator helps to reveal some of the hidden secrets in those three categories. It is amazing what one little circular tubed buried underground can reveal to the world.
It is too bad people in other parts of the world are trying to shut down other accelerators. Here is a little news story I found about that on youtube. I am too disgusted by the terrible science that people use to try to shut down the accelerator and the good science that comes out of it that I really can't talk about it. Just watch and be ready to shake your head.
Any way, it is now time for the word of the day. Today's word is 加速器(かそくき). It is pronounced kasokuki and means accelerator. I really do want to go and see an accelerator some day.
That's it for today. See you next time at JJNN.
A lot of different places have open houses. There are the companies that want to show themselves to potential employees, schools that want to be open for any parents that want to watch class, and of course the kind that actually involves houses being shown to potential buyers. The open house that I want to talked about is in this news story.
Japanese's High Energy Accelerator Research Origination (known as KEK because of the the Japanese name) is going to hold their open house on August 31st. I would love to go to this open house. I have always wanted to go to an accelerator and see how things actually work. The basic idea is that magnets are used to accelerate subatomic particles around around a huge circular track. When the particles gather enough energy (speed up enough) the magnets are used make the particles collide. This helps scientists learn a lot more about what the particles are made up of and what happens in high energy and speed collisions.
KEK is located in Tsukuba city. It was started in 1997 and has an accelerator that is over 3Km long. Their system can accelerate electrons to an energy of 8GeV and positrons up to 3.5GeV, where GeV stands for Giga-electron volt. That is a lot of energy.
This year KEK's open house has the theme of "Space, Materials, and Life" They will be showing how their accelerator helps to reveal some of the hidden secrets in those three categories. It is amazing what one little circular tubed buried underground can reveal to the world.
It is too bad people in other parts of the world are trying to shut down other accelerators. Here is a little news story I found about that on youtube. I am too disgusted by the terrible science that people use to try to shut down the accelerator and the good science that comes out of it that I really can't talk about it. Just watch and be ready to shake your head.
Any way, it is now time for the word of the day. Today's word is 加速器(かそくき). It is pronounced kasokuki and means accelerator. I really do want to go and see an accelerator some day.
That's it for today. See you next time at JJNN.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
JJNN Sunday: Leftovers - 04
Welcome again to JJNN for Sunday August 24th, 2008. Today we will be taking about true entertainment.
Every year around this time of year people in the music industry sit up and take notice. It's not a new singer or drummer they are looking for, but a new guitarist. Well...not exactly. Actually, every year around this time of year is the world air guitar championships. There is really nothing more entertaining than watching a guy with nothing in his hands run around a stage and pretend that he is playing the guitar.
For the last two years (2006 and 2007) the champion has been Japanese. His name is Ochi Yosuke and he is from a comedy duo called Dainoji. Personally, I don't see anything special in his comedy, but he really knows how to run around with a pretend guitar. This was his performance at last years air guitar championships.
Unfortunately, this year Ochi Yosuke could not get his 3rd championship in a row. He ended up in 6th place this year. Another Japanese person named Ichikawa The Rock ended up in 4th place. All in all a good turn out of Japanese people in an international championship.
Any way, it is now time for the word of the day. Today's word is 逃す(のがす). It is pronounced nogasu and means to miss out on something. Maybe one day I will how to play air guitar.
That's it for today. See you next time at JJNN.
Every year around this time of year people in the music industry sit up and take notice. It's not a new singer or drummer they are looking for, but a new guitarist. Well...not exactly. Actually, every year around this time of year is the world air guitar championships. There is really nothing more entertaining than watching a guy with nothing in his hands run around a stage and pretend that he is playing the guitar.
For the last two years (2006 and 2007) the champion has been Japanese. His name is Ochi Yosuke and he is from a comedy duo called Dainoji. Personally, I don't see anything special in his comedy, but he really knows how to run around with a pretend guitar. This was his performance at last years air guitar championships.
Unfortunately, this year Ochi Yosuke could not get his 3rd championship in a row. He ended up in 6th place this year. Another Japanese person named Ichikawa The Rock ended up in 4th place. All in all a good turn out of Japanese people in an international championship.
Any way, it is now time for the word of the day. Today's word is 逃す(のがす). It is pronounced nogasu and means to miss out on something. Maybe one day I will how to play air guitar.
That's it for today. See you next time at JJNN.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
JJNN Saturday: Pseudoscience - 04
Welcome again to JJNN for Saturday August 23rd, 2008. Today we will be taking about pseudoscience in shintoism.
Shintoism is the native religion of Japan. It has a long history that includes many interesting folk tales that explain how Japan and the Japanese people came to exist. Shinto is an animistic believe system, which means their gods (known as kami) live in natural objects. For example, Mt. Fuji is a god. So is Mt. Yahiko near my house. There are gods in very old and big trees known as shinboku. One of those trees can be seen below.
Shintoism is rather interesting as a religion because there is really no praying that we would think of as praying. Once or twice a year people go to shrine and make a wish (I guess that is sort of like a prayer) to the kami of the shrine, but is is not done in a way like church back home.
Any way, shinto is very interesting. I invite you to consult ol' wiki if you want to know more about it, because this post would get very long if I went on and on about shintoism. What I really want to talk about it one specific pseudoscience in shintoism. It is the process of blessing a car.
Almost everyone in Japan that buys a new or used car will take that car to the nearest shinto shrine and have the car blessed by a shinto priest. The theory goes that when you get a car it comes with evil spirits (que creepy music). Apparently these evil spirits must be like the gremlins of yore. For a large chunk of money (it's a different price at different shrines) the shinto priest will come out and do their form of an exorcism on the car. This is what one of these ceremonies looks like.
Sure it is entertaining to watch and deeply linked to Japanese culture, but what is waving a stick over a car really going to do in the end. It will do just the same as when Christian priests throw holy water on a car. Absolutely nothing! In fact, if people really believed in the ceremony I can see it having the opposite effect. The driver will get so relaxed in their car that they start driving sloppily and end up causing an accident. In sort, blessing a car is a waste of money and time.
Any way, it is now time for the word of the day. Today's word is 車祓(くるまばらい). It is pronounced kuruma-barai and means car blessing. I got a new (very old) car a few weeks ago. Maybe I should bring it in for a car blessing just so I can see the look on their faces.
That's it for today. See you next time at JJNN.
Shintoism is the native religion of Japan. It has a long history that includes many interesting folk tales that explain how Japan and the Japanese people came to exist. Shinto is an animistic believe system, which means their gods (known as kami) live in natural objects. For example, Mt. Fuji is a god. So is Mt. Yahiko near my house. There are gods in very old and big trees known as shinboku. One of those trees can be seen below.
Shintoism is rather interesting as a religion because there is really no praying that we would think of as praying. Once or twice a year people go to shrine and make a wish (I guess that is sort of like a prayer) to the kami of the shrine, but is is not done in a way like church back home.
Any way, shinto is very interesting. I invite you to consult ol' wiki if you want to know more about it, because this post would get very long if I went on and on about shintoism. What I really want to talk about it one specific pseudoscience in shintoism. It is the process of blessing a car.
Almost everyone in Japan that buys a new or used car will take that car to the nearest shinto shrine and have the car blessed by a shinto priest. The theory goes that when you get a car it comes with evil spirits (que creepy music). Apparently these evil spirits must be like the gremlins of yore. For a large chunk of money (it's a different price at different shrines) the shinto priest will come out and do their form of an exorcism on the car. This is what one of these ceremonies looks like.
Sure it is entertaining to watch and deeply linked to Japanese culture, but what is waving a stick over a car really going to do in the end. It will do just the same as when Christian priests throw holy water on a car. Absolutely nothing! In fact, if people really believed in the ceremony I can see it having the opposite effect. The driver will get so relaxed in their car that they start driving sloppily and end up causing an accident. In sort, blessing a car is a waste of money and time.
Any way, it is now time for the word of the day. Today's word is 車祓(くるまばらい). It is pronounced kuruma-barai and means car blessing. I got a new (very old) car a few weeks ago. Maybe I should bring it in for a car blessing just so I can see the look on their faces.
That's it for today. See you next time at JJNN.
Friday, August 22, 2008
JJNN Friday: Technology - 04
Welcome again to JJNN for Friday August 22nd, 2008. Today we will be taking about a new stem cell technology.
Way back on June 6th I told you about a news story in which the Japanese government was thinking about making a stem cell bank. I gave the basic description of stem cells there so if you want to please give it another read though. Today's news story is a step close to making that stem cell bank becoming a reality. The original story can be found here.
A group from the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology with the help of a professor from Kyoto University have succeeded in iPS (induced pluripotent stem) cells out of a removed wisdom tooth. Skin cells were made using the iPS cells from the wisdom tooth.
This is a huge step towards Japan actually making this iPS cell bank. Just think about the possibilities. Almost everyone gets their wisdom teeth taken out at a young age. Instead of throwing away the wisdom tooth, like they do now, it can be shipped to a central processing unit with all of your information. Later, if you ever get in an accident or sick, doctors can take your old tooth and make things like skin or organs. The possibilities are really endless.
At this moment the process for making iPS cells can only be done on the wisdom tooth. The scientists want to expand their process so they can making iPS cells from the teeth of adults or even baby teeth. If they can pull that off, the possibilities are really endless.
Any way, it is now time for the word of the day. Today's word is 親知らず(親知らず). It is pronounced oya-shirazu and means wisdom tooth. If you translate it literally it means someone (or thing) that does no know their parent. It is called that because they pop up at a different time than the rest of the teeth. I don't really get it by I just nod and smile.
That's it for today. See you next time at JJNN.
Way back on June 6th I told you about a news story in which the Japanese government was thinking about making a stem cell bank. I gave the basic description of stem cells there so if you want to please give it another read though. Today's news story is a step close to making that stem cell bank becoming a reality. The original story can be found here.
A group from the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology with the help of a professor from Kyoto University have succeeded in iPS (induced pluripotent stem) cells out of a removed wisdom tooth. Skin cells were made using the iPS cells from the wisdom tooth.
This is a huge step towards Japan actually making this iPS cell bank. Just think about the possibilities. Almost everyone gets their wisdom teeth taken out at a young age. Instead of throwing away the wisdom tooth, like they do now, it can be shipped to a central processing unit with all of your information. Later, if you ever get in an accident or sick, doctors can take your old tooth and make things like skin or organs. The possibilities are really endless.
At this moment the process for making iPS cells can only be done on the wisdom tooth. The scientists want to expand their process so they can making iPS cells from the teeth of adults or even baby teeth. If they can pull that off, the possibilities are really endless.
Any way, it is now time for the word of the day. Today's word is 親知らず(親知らず). It is pronounced oya-shirazu and means wisdom tooth. If you translate it literally it means someone (or thing) that does no know their parent. It is called that because they pop up at a different time than the rest of the teeth. I don't really get it by I just nod and smile.
That's it for today. See you next time at JJNN.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
JJNN Thursday: Culture - 04
Welcome again to JJNN for Thursday August 21st, 2008. Today we will be taking about my favorite Japanese food.
There are a lot of different foods in Japan. Not only are their Japanese takes on foreign foods like curry (Japanese curry is not really curry), but there is food that is original to Japan. One of my favorite Japanese foods is sushi. In this day an age I think that everyone knows what sushi is. It has become very popular in even the most rural parts of America (AKA where I am from) and I assume that it has really taken off in almost every other country.
There are two types of sushi restaurants in Japan. The first type (and the most inexpensive) is the rotating sushi restaurant. I guess with a name like that it sounds like the restaurant itself is spinning around, but only the sushi really is actually doing the spinning. You can see an example of one of these restaurants below:
If only those little subtitles actually spun around with the sushi! Sometimes you get a little surprise because a lot of the cuts of fish can look a lot alike. so, here is how one of these restaurants actually works. You go and sit down at the counter and watch all the sushi file by. When you see something that catches your eye you take it off the belt (be sure to take the plate!).
After you are done eating the sushi pile up your empty plates. You will notice that the different types of sushi are on different plates. That is because the color and design of the plates represent how expensive the sushi is. When you are done eating and ask for the check the waitress will come over and make a note of how many of each type of plate you have. That will be your bill.
I love this type of sushi restaurant because it is simple and fast. You can grab the sushi off the conveyor belt or just order what you want from the menu. I usually go to this type of restaurant once a week. This week I think I ended up going 3 times. When you find a good thing it is hard to give it up, right?
The second type of sushi restaurant is a sushi bar. This type of restaurant can get very expensive, but the sushi is of a better quality and the service is usually wonderful. It is a "special occasion" type of place to eat. Below is a Japanese comedy show about eating at a sushi bar. Keep in mind that most of it are jokes, and enjoy.
Oh to to to to...
Ma ma ma ma ma...
By the way, the salt that is left outside the door of the sushi bar (it is not left in all places) is actually from an old Japanese superstition that says salt purifies and keeps out the bad spirits. I wouldn't recommend eating of it unless you want to make the owner of the building mad.
Any way, it is now time for the word of the day. Today's word is 握り(にぎり). It is pronounced nigiri and means nigiri. Nigiri is one of the 3 major types of sushi. Nigiri has a big cut of fish (or something) on top of rice that has been formed into a specific shape. The other two types of sushi are maki and gunkan. Maki means the nori (seaweed) is wrapped along the outside to make a long thin roll that is usually cut into 6 pieces. Gunkan is hard to explain so I will just show a picture.
There is also te-maki in which the maki sushi is rolled loosely by hand (I don't consider this a major group of sushi)
That's it for today. See you next time at JJNN.
There are a lot of different foods in Japan. Not only are their Japanese takes on foreign foods like curry (Japanese curry is not really curry), but there is food that is original to Japan. One of my favorite Japanese foods is sushi. In this day an age I think that everyone knows what sushi is. It has become very popular in even the most rural parts of America (AKA where I am from) and I assume that it has really taken off in almost every other country.
There are two types of sushi restaurants in Japan. The first type (and the most inexpensive) is the rotating sushi restaurant. I guess with a name like that it sounds like the restaurant itself is spinning around, but only the sushi really is actually doing the spinning. You can see an example of one of these restaurants below:
If only those little subtitles actually spun around with the sushi! Sometimes you get a little surprise because a lot of the cuts of fish can look a lot alike. so, here is how one of these restaurants actually works. You go and sit down at the counter and watch all the sushi file by. When you see something that catches your eye you take it off the belt (be sure to take the plate!).
After you are done eating the sushi pile up your empty plates. You will notice that the different types of sushi are on different plates. That is because the color and design of the plates represent how expensive the sushi is. When you are done eating and ask for the check the waitress will come over and make a note of how many of each type of plate you have. That will be your bill.
I love this type of sushi restaurant because it is simple and fast. You can grab the sushi off the conveyor belt or just order what you want from the menu. I usually go to this type of restaurant once a week. This week I think I ended up going 3 times. When you find a good thing it is hard to give it up, right?
The second type of sushi restaurant is a sushi bar. This type of restaurant can get very expensive, but the sushi is of a better quality and the service is usually wonderful. It is a "special occasion" type of place to eat. Below is a Japanese comedy show about eating at a sushi bar. Keep in mind that most of it are jokes, and enjoy.
Oh to to to to...
Ma ma ma ma ma...
By the way, the salt that is left outside the door of the sushi bar (it is not left in all places) is actually from an old Japanese superstition that says salt purifies and keeps out the bad spirits. I wouldn't recommend eating of it unless you want to make the owner of the building mad.
Any way, it is now time for the word of the day. Today's word is 握り(にぎり). It is pronounced nigiri and means nigiri. Nigiri is one of the 3 major types of sushi. Nigiri has a big cut of fish (or something) on top of rice that has been formed into a specific shape. The other two types of sushi are maki and gunkan. Maki means the nori (seaweed) is wrapped along the outside to make a long thin roll that is usually cut into 6 pieces. Gunkan is hard to explain so I will just show a picture.
There is also te-maki in which the maki sushi is rolled loosely by hand (I don't consider this a major group of sushi)
That's it for today. See you next time at JJNN.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
JJNN Wednesday: Games - 03
Welcome again to JJNN for Wednesday August 20th, 2008. Today we will be taking about one of my favorite games.
This week I am working with a lot of elementary school students. I am part of a summer English "camp" where the students have to put on an English play. It is really good fun, and an old guy like me really gets to feel young working closely with elementary school kids. I find myself thinking back to my own elementary school days.
Back when I was in elementary school we used to play a lot of different games after lunch. The one that I liked the best was kickball. It always felt good to kick at the ball as hard as I could (even though half the time I would miss). I think I was always the catcher, but I didn't care because I was having a good time.
My second favorite game was dodge ball. After elementary school I never really played dodge ball, but that all changed when I got to Japan. When I got to Japan I started teaching jr. high school students and elementary school students. It was actually really rare for me to teach elementary school students, so I really never played anything besides basketball and volleyball with the kids. When I came to Nagaoka 4 years ago I started teaching in an Elementary school at least once a week, It was at this time when I ran into dodge ball once again.
I was actually very happy to see a game that I knew well. Japanese kids play all sorts of games that made no sense to me, so I was glad to see dodge ball again. I figured that I knew the ins and outs of dodge ball so I joined a game without even thinking that there might be different rules to dodge ball in Japan. I mean, what could be different? It's called dodge ball. All a person has to really do is dodge a ball, right? Well actually, the rules are slightly different if a person couldn't dodge the ball. I didn't think about this until years later, but the rules are sort of like the ones used in the old NES game called super dodge ball. Here is a taste of what the game super dodge ball was like:
Notice that there are people that are on the outside of the court. In Japanese dodge ball when a person gets hit by the ball they have to go stand on the outside of the opponent's court. That way a person on your team can throw you the ball and you can try to hit your opponent from the other side of the court. In most of the games I play (different from the NES game) if a person in the outer court hits their opponent they can go back to their court. This means that even if you are hit you can get back into the game. This leads to very long and interesting games of dodge ball.
I assume that most of the people that read my blog are past the age where they actually play dodge ball. That's too bad. I don't think that anyone should be too old for dodge ball. I challenge everyone out there to a game of dodge ball! If you find yourself in Japan make your way up to Nagaoka and I will take you on! I bet you good money I will kick your ass! (I have been practicing with the kids). WHAT SAYEST THOU, NAVE!?
Any way, it is now time for the word of the day. Today's word is ドッジボール(どっじぼおる). It is pronounced dojjibooru and means dodgeball. You know, even now I am not sure of dodgeball is one word or two.
That's it for today. See you next time at JJNN.
This week I am working with a lot of elementary school students. I am part of a summer English "camp" where the students have to put on an English play. It is really good fun, and an old guy like me really gets to feel young working closely with elementary school kids. I find myself thinking back to my own elementary school days.
Back when I was in elementary school we used to play a lot of different games after lunch. The one that I liked the best was kickball. It always felt good to kick at the ball as hard as I could (even though half the time I would miss). I think I was always the catcher, but I didn't care because I was having a good time.
My second favorite game was dodge ball. After elementary school I never really played dodge ball, but that all changed when I got to Japan. When I got to Japan I started teaching jr. high school students and elementary school students. It was actually really rare for me to teach elementary school students, so I really never played anything besides basketball and volleyball with the kids. When I came to Nagaoka 4 years ago I started teaching in an Elementary school at least once a week, It was at this time when I ran into dodge ball once again.
I was actually very happy to see a game that I knew well. Japanese kids play all sorts of games that made no sense to me, so I was glad to see dodge ball again. I figured that I knew the ins and outs of dodge ball so I joined a game without even thinking that there might be different rules to dodge ball in Japan. I mean, what could be different? It's called dodge ball. All a person has to really do is dodge a ball, right? Well actually, the rules are slightly different if a person couldn't dodge the ball. I didn't think about this until years later, but the rules are sort of like the ones used in the old NES game called super dodge ball. Here is a taste of what the game super dodge ball was like:
Notice that there are people that are on the outside of the court. In Japanese dodge ball when a person gets hit by the ball they have to go stand on the outside of the opponent's court. That way a person on your team can throw you the ball and you can try to hit your opponent from the other side of the court. In most of the games I play (different from the NES game) if a person in the outer court hits their opponent they can go back to their court. This means that even if you are hit you can get back into the game. This leads to very long and interesting games of dodge ball.
I assume that most of the people that read my blog are past the age where they actually play dodge ball. That's too bad. I don't think that anyone should be too old for dodge ball. I challenge everyone out there to a game of dodge ball! If you find yourself in Japan make your way up to Nagaoka and I will take you on! I bet you good money I will kick your ass! (I have been practicing with the kids). WHAT SAYEST THOU, NAVE!?
Any way, it is now time for the word of the day. Today's word is ドッジボール(どっじぼおる). It is pronounced dojjibooru and means dodgeball. You know, even now I am not sure of dodgeball is one word or two.
That's it for today. See you next time at JJNN.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
JJNN Tuesday: Entertainment - 03
Welcome again to JJNN for Tuesday August 19th, 2008. Today we will be taking about the Japanese and their mascots. (mascots are normally entertaining so I am keeping this under entertainment)
There is nothing that the Japanese like better than a symbol. A symbol is something that people can stand behind and become as one. When people are are attracted to a symbol there is a more of a sense of unity and the people will work together more efficiently. On one end of the symbol spectrum there are things like flags and national symbols. They are things that are basically two dimensional and all people in the country recognize and hold a least a little respect for. On the other side of the spectrum are things like mascots. Mascots are characters that are usually in some three dimensional form (though some times they are not) that a lot of people know. Notice that there is really no form of respect for mascots. There may be those that respect certain mascots, but they are few and far between.
In Japan there are mascots everywhere. Some famous examples are the ones used by Japanese baseball teams and ones that are used in various cities and prefectures. Personally I like the one shown below. His name is Shota and he is here to remind us to put out our fires.
Any way, today's news story about mascots can be found here. It seems that Nara is celebrating its 1300 year anniversary. And, of course, there is no better way to celebrate such a hug anniversary than celebrating with a mascot. The Nara mascot is named sento-kun. It can be seen below.
I know what you are thinking. "That is on ugly Mo-fo" Well, you're right. It is ugly. They tried to do too much with this mascot. They wanted to add both the Buddhist aspect (the biggest indoor Buddha is in Nara) and the deer aspect (Nara is known for deer). When those two aspects are put together you end up with that abomination.
Sento-kun was unveiled today because it is 500 days before the birthday of Nara. He will be around Nara for a little while, but in October there is going to be a mascot battle in Shiga prefecture. In the battle will be the Nara mascot, Sento-kun, and the mascot for the 400 year anniversary of the Hikone castle, Hikonyan. I will be on the edge of my seat for this battle.
Any way, it is now time for the word of the day. Today's word is 奈良(なら). It is pronounced Nara and means Nara. Nara is a famous city in western Japan. It is very close to Osaka and Kyoto. It has a lot of interesting old temples to see, but a lot of the buildings surrounding the old temples are very new. If you can shade that part of the picture, it is a great place to spend a half day or a day wandering around. Definitely a good place to visit if you are going to visit Kyoto and Osaka any way.
That's it for today. See you next time at JJNN.
There is nothing that the Japanese like better than a symbol. A symbol is something that people can stand behind and become as one. When people are are attracted to a symbol there is a more of a sense of unity and the people will work together more efficiently. On one end of the symbol spectrum there are things like flags and national symbols. They are things that are basically two dimensional and all people in the country recognize and hold a least a little respect for. On the other side of the spectrum are things like mascots. Mascots are characters that are usually in some three dimensional form (though some times they are not) that a lot of people know. Notice that there is really no form of respect for mascots. There may be those that respect certain mascots, but they are few and far between.
In Japan there are mascots everywhere. Some famous examples are the ones used by Japanese baseball teams and ones that are used in various cities and prefectures. Personally I like the one shown below. His name is Shota and he is here to remind us to put out our fires.
Any way, today's news story about mascots can be found here. It seems that Nara is celebrating its 1300 year anniversary. And, of course, there is no better way to celebrate such a hug anniversary than celebrating with a mascot. The Nara mascot is named sento-kun. It can be seen below.
I know what you are thinking. "That is on ugly Mo-fo" Well, you're right. It is ugly. They tried to do too much with this mascot. They wanted to add both the Buddhist aspect (the biggest indoor Buddha is in Nara) and the deer aspect (Nara is known for deer). When those two aspects are put together you end up with that abomination.
Sento-kun was unveiled today because it is 500 days before the birthday of Nara. He will be around Nara for a little while, but in October there is going to be a mascot battle in Shiga prefecture. In the battle will be the Nara mascot, Sento-kun, and the mascot for the 400 year anniversary of the Hikone castle, Hikonyan. I will be on the edge of my seat for this battle.
Any way, it is now time for the word of the day. Today's word is 奈良(なら). It is pronounced Nara and means Nara. Nara is a famous city in western Japan. It is very close to Osaka and Kyoto. It has a lot of interesting old temples to see, but a lot of the buildings surrounding the old temples are very new. If you can shade that part of the picture, it is a great place to spend a half day or a day wandering around. Definitely a good place to visit if you are going to visit Kyoto and Osaka any way.
That's it for today. See you next time at JJNN.
Monday, August 18, 2008
JJNN Monday: Science - 03
Welcome again to JJNN for Monday August 18th, 2008. Today we will be taking about my favorite science.
You know, I have always loved science. I remember way back when I was elementary school and wrote that I wanted to be an astronaut when I grow up. Well, over 20 years have passed since that day I still have not stepped one foot on the moon or even an international space station. Maybe it was the fact that I heard that astronauts have to be physically fit (I have never exactly fit into that category: a certain "pot belly raccoon" nickname from childhood springs to mind) and have to deal with high G forces (I like my internal organs exactly where they are), so I gave up on the dream of becoming an astronaut.
Instead I decided to look into a different brand of science. I wanted to still study about the stars so I had my eyes set on astronomy and physics. I took an advance placement physics course in my senior year in high school. At first I didn't think I could do all of the work required for the course but because of a great (and sometimes scary) teacher, named Mr. Johnston, I stuck it out for the whole year. Because of his teaching style I grew to love physics and all science more.
Long story short, I went to collage and got my degree in physics. But, what does that have to do with today's news story? Well, actually, there is no news story today. I am busy cooking my lunch for tomorrow because there is an English camp for elementary school kids. OK. But, what does that have to do with science? Allot!
You see I said I would be talking about my favorite science, and I am going to. My favorite science is cooking! What's that you say? cooking is not a science? I beg to differ! There are all sorts of chemical reactions going on when something is cooked. For example, when meat is cooked the proteins are denatured and this causes the meat to have a different flavor. Or, when water is put on a burner to boil there are lots of thermodynamical processes going on (things like induction of heat to water changing to gas when it hits the boiling point). These are just two examples, but there are many others. Instead of getting into all of the science (which could bore some people out there) I will just say that there is science everywhere and we should always keep our eyes out for it. When your eyes open up to science there is a whole new world of possibilities that was not there before.
Now, let's get down to business. I decided to make beef stew for lunch. The recipe can be found here. Here is a quick translation.
Ingredients:
Beef 500g
Onions 2 medium
Celery 1 stock
Red Wine 750cc
Mushrooms You decided
Carrots 2 medium
Tomato 1 can
Bay leaf
The cheaper the beef and wine are the better the stew ends up tasting actually. The beef should be the type that is usually used in curry and again cheap is good!
Prep:
Brown the meat and cut the veggies up into big pieces. This will be cooking for a while, so if the pieces are not big the veggies will end up disappearing. We don't want that, do we?
Cooking:
Throw the browned meat, onions, celery, and carrots into a big pot. Pour enough red wine in to just cover everything. Cover it up and let it cook from 30 min to and hour on very low heat. When time is up throw the tomatoes, mushrooms, bay leaf and any remaining wine (you didn't drink it, did you?) into the pot. Turn down the heat as low as it can go (it will burn because of the sugar from the tomatoes, so you have to make sure it is very low) and let it cook for another 2 hours or so. Scoop off the beef fat and you are good to go.
Any way, it is now time for the word of the day. Today's word is 料理(りょうり). It is pronounced ryouri and means cooking. If you want to, you can give that recipe a try. It is easy and the end result is very yummy. I am going to add some starch to mine to make it nice and thick. A thick beef stew is a good sauce for rice in a boxed lunch (I hope).
That's it for today. See you next time at JJNN.
You know, I have always loved science. I remember way back when I was elementary school and wrote that I wanted to be an astronaut when I grow up. Well, over 20 years have passed since that day I still have not stepped one foot on the moon or even an international space station. Maybe it was the fact that I heard that astronauts have to be physically fit (I have never exactly fit into that category: a certain "pot belly raccoon" nickname from childhood springs to mind) and have to deal with high G forces (I like my internal organs exactly where they are), so I gave up on the dream of becoming an astronaut.
Instead I decided to look into a different brand of science. I wanted to still study about the stars so I had my eyes set on astronomy and physics. I took an advance placement physics course in my senior year in high school. At first I didn't think I could do all of the work required for the course but because of a great (and sometimes scary) teacher, named Mr. Johnston, I stuck it out for the whole year. Because of his teaching style I grew to love physics and all science more.
Long story short, I went to collage and got my degree in physics. But, what does that have to do with today's news story? Well, actually, there is no news story today. I am busy cooking my lunch for tomorrow because there is an English camp for elementary school kids. OK. But, what does that have to do with science? Allot!
You see I said I would be talking about my favorite science, and I am going to. My favorite science is cooking! What's that you say? cooking is not a science? I beg to differ! There are all sorts of chemical reactions going on when something is cooked. For example, when meat is cooked the proteins are denatured and this causes the meat to have a different flavor. Or, when water is put on a burner to boil there are lots of thermodynamical processes going on (things like induction of heat to water changing to gas when it hits the boiling point). These are just two examples, but there are many others. Instead of getting into all of the science (which could bore some people out there) I will just say that there is science everywhere and we should always keep our eyes out for it. When your eyes open up to science there is a whole new world of possibilities that was not there before.
Now, let's get down to business. I decided to make beef stew for lunch. The recipe can be found here. Here is a quick translation.
Ingredients:
Beef 500g
Onions 2 medium
Celery 1 stock
Red Wine 750cc
Mushrooms You decided
Carrots 2 medium
Tomato 1 can
Bay leaf
The cheaper the beef and wine are the better the stew ends up tasting actually. The beef should be the type that is usually used in curry and again cheap is good!
Prep:
Brown the meat and cut the veggies up into big pieces. This will be cooking for a while, so if the pieces are not big the veggies will end up disappearing. We don't want that, do we?
Cooking:
Throw the browned meat, onions, celery, and carrots into a big pot. Pour enough red wine in to just cover everything. Cover it up and let it cook from 30 min to and hour on very low heat. When time is up throw the tomatoes, mushrooms, bay leaf and any remaining wine (you didn't drink it, did you?) into the pot. Turn down the heat as low as it can go (it will burn because of the sugar from the tomatoes, so you have to make sure it is very low) and let it cook for another 2 hours or so. Scoop off the beef fat and you are good to go.
Any way, it is now time for the word of the day. Today's word is 料理(りょうり). It is pronounced ryouri and means cooking. If you want to, you can give that recipe a try. It is easy and the end result is very yummy. I am going to add some starch to mine to make it nice and thick. A thick beef stew is a good sauce for rice in a boxed lunch (I hope).
That's it for today. See you next time at JJNN.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
I'm back!
Hi again everyone
I am finally back home and ready to start up blogging again. I will start again on the normal schedule tomorrow unless something major happens.
I had a good time at camp but came back exhausted. I rested a day and than went down south to Osaka. I spent a day in Nara and a day in Osaka. I had a good time and saw a lot of interesting things. I would share some pictures, but I lost the memory card converter for my cell phone's memory card.
But, here are a few things that I saw: The biggest inside sitting Buddha statues in Japan, one of the biggest ferris wheels in Japan, the smallest mountain in Japan, lots of disgruntled deer, 2 huge whale sharks, lots of freeky long legged crabs and a lot of other sea creatures in the aquarium. I also got bitten by a deer. Damn deer.
After my trip I was just tired and busy. I didn't have the time or energy to actually post. But, I got a lot of sleep last night and the night before so I am ready to start up again. I can't wait to post again!
I am finally back home and ready to start up blogging again. I will start again on the normal schedule tomorrow unless something major happens.
I had a good time at camp but came back exhausted. I rested a day and than went down south to Osaka. I spent a day in Nara and a day in Osaka. I had a good time and saw a lot of interesting things. I would share some pictures, but I lost the memory card converter for my cell phone's memory card.
But, here are a few things that I saw: The biggest inside sitting Buddha statues in Japan, one of the biggest ferris wheels in Japan, the smallest mountain in Japan, lots of disgruntled deer, 2 huge whale sharks, lots of freeky long legged crabs and a lot of other sea creatures in the aquarium. I also got bitten by a deer. Damn deer.
After my trip I was just tired and busy. I didn't have the time or energy to actually post. But, I got a lot of sleep last night and the night before so I am ready to start up again. I can't wait to post again!
Monday, August 4, 2008
Nagaoka Fireworks
Hi again.
This is the first post in a while because I have been going out every night since the first of August until last night. Why? Well every year from the the first of August to the third of August is the summer festival of the city I live in.
I love the Nagaoka summer festival. On the first of August thousands of people line up in the street to dance the traditional dance of Nagaoka. After the mass dance, portable shrines are paraded though the streets. This is all done with loud speakers playing some traditional songs about Nagaoka. Here are some pictures of the first night.
On the 2nd and 3rd there are fireworks. Each night has about an hour and a half of fireworks which can be seen over the Shinano river (which is the longest river in Japan). My house is very close to the Shinano river, so it was used as a base of operations for the past two days. On the first day I had a BBQ. It was a good time. Here are some pictures that I took with my cell phone.
So, why do you think that we have fireworks every year on the second and third? Well, starting in 1879 Nagaoka the local samurai groups worked together to put on two days of fireworks. Before WWII the fireworks were in September. This changed when Nagaoka got bombed on August first and second 1945. They changed the days with the wish that Japan and Nagaoka would quickly recover from the war damage. Starting in 2006, after a major earthquake, floods and a very hard winter the Phoenix was added to Nagaoka's fireworks. The Phoenix represents the fact that the citizens of Nagaoka will rise again no matter what happens to the city itself. The Phoenix can be seen below.
It is a good time and I make sure I go to the fireworks every year. It is one of the biggest fireworks shows in Japan and people from all around Japan come to see it. If you are ever in Japan on any of the fireworks days it is worth the price of the ticket to get to Nagaoka.
This is the first post in a while because I have been going out every night since the first of August until last night. Why? Well every year from the the first of August to the third of August is the summer festival of the city I live in.
I love the Nagaoka summer festival. On the first of August thousands of people line up in the street to dance the traditional dance of Nagaoka. After the mass dance, portable shrines are paraded though the streets. This is all done with loud speakers playing some traditional songs about Nagaoka. Here are some pictures of the first night.
On the 2nd and 3rd there are fireworks. Each night has about an hour and a half of fireworks which can be seen over the Shinano river (which is the longest river in Japan). My house is very close to the Shinano river, so it was used as a base of operations for the past two days. On the first day I had a BBQ. It was a good time. Here are some pictures that I took with my cell phone.
So, why do you think that we have fireworks every year on the second and third? Well, starting in 1879 Nagaoka the local samurai groups worked together to put on two days of fireworks. Before WWII the fireworks were in September. This changed when Nagaoka got bombed on August first and second 1945. They changed the days with the wish that Japan and Nagaoka would quickly recover from the war damage. Starting in 2006, after a major earthquake, floods and a very hard winter the Phoenix was added to Nagaoka's fireworks. The Phoenix represents the fact that the citizens of Nagaoka will rise again no matter what happens to the city itself. The Phoenix can be seen below.
It is a good time and I make sure I go to the fireworks every year. It is one of the biggest fireworks shows in Japan and people from all around Japan come to see it. If you are ever in Japan on any of the fireworks days it is worth the price of the ticket to get to Nagaoka.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Videos from Japan
Here are some more random videos from Japan. This first one is water art in a place called canal city in Fukuoka Japan.
Canal city is a famous mall in Fukuoka. I don't know if I would go all that way just to see water art, but I got to say that it is damn cool. It is amazing what people can do with computer and the knowledge that things fall at 9.8 meters a second.
The second and last video contains some Japanese music.
That is the taiko and, as you can see, it is a big and impressive drum. I once got a chance to play one, but after a while it just ended up hurting my head. I think that I will stick with shamisen.
That's it for today, but I am sure I will be back again before I have to head to English camp on Tuesday. Until next time!
Canal city is a famous mall in Fukuoka. I don't know if I would go all that way just to see water art, but I got to say that it is damn cool. It is amazing what people can do with computer and the knowledge that things fall at 9.8 meters a second.
The second and last video contains some Japanese music.
That is the taiko and, as you can see, it is a big and impressive drum. I once got a chance to play one, but after a while it just ended up hurting my head. I think that I will stick with shamisen.
That's it for today, but I am sure I will be back again before I have to head to English camp on Tuesday. Until next time!
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Hiatus
I hope that I spelled that right. Any way, I am going to take a little time off form the blog while I get things in my life back together. I know that seems serious, but it's not really. I just got to find time to do things like clean my apartment and hobble around town. I am going to take the rest of this week off. Also, next week I have English camp so I will have no computer access.
Well, the camp week will totally be off, but I will throw up random small things throughout this week. Nothing that will be following the format that I put forth a couple a weeks ago. It's only been a couple of weeks but I am already breaking it out. But, fear not dear readers, I will be back to the planned format after English camp.
Any way... something random.
It explains itself really. A lot of the English used in Japan is just funny. Enjoy.
Well, the camp week will totally be off, but I will throw up random small things throughout this week. Nothing that will be following the format that I put forth a couple a weeks ago. It's only been a couple of weeks but I am already breaking it out. But, fear not dear readers, I will be back to the planned format after English camp.
Any way... something random.
It explains itself really. A lot of the English used in Japan is just funny. Enjoy.
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