getting to the root of the problem...

This came to me via e-mail forward but was too funny not to share. thank you for sending it. hope the rest of you enjoy it too! take care! and there are more pictures coming soon!

Sensitivity: Confidential

NEW YORK

A public school teacher was arrested today at John F. Kennedy
International Airport as he attempted to board a flight while in
possession of a ruler, a protractor, a set square, a slide rule and a
calculator.

At a morning press conference, Attorney General John Ashcroft said he
believes the man is a member of the notorious Al-gebra movement. He
did not identify the man, who has been charged by the FBI with
carrying weapons of math instruction. "Al-gebra is a problem for us,"
Ashcroft said. "They desire solutions by means and extremes, and
sometimes go off on tangents in a search of absolute value.

They use secret code names like 'x' and 'y' and refer to themselves as
'unknowns', but we have determined they belong to a common denominator
of the axis of medieval with coordinates in every country. As the
Greek philanderer Isosceles used to say, 'There are 3 sides to every
triangle'.

When asked to comment on the arrest, President Bush said, "If God
had wanted us to have better weapons of math instruction, He would
have given us more fingers and toes. " White House aides told
reporters they could not recall a more intelligent or profound
statement by the president.

=)

moving pictures

three new movies that i will look forward to seeing (if when they ever come out in Japan!)

Clerks 2 Yup. they made a sequel. oy. berzerker!

A Prairie Home Companion: I don`t know the radio show itself but it comes highly reccomended by my dad, who does listen. And Robert Altman rarely leads any movie astray.

Charlotte`s Web: a new adaptation of what was arguably one of the best children`s books ever written. also an excellent website. those of you with children of about the right age should read the book to them, too!

i tried to go to a movie yesterday evening with Ulala and so we looked up the Osaka movie listings online. the ONLY thing even remotely palatable on the menu was The DaVinci Code. and to be honest i refuse to pay the equivalent of $20 Canadian to see it. how sad is it that in a city of 9 million people the selection of theatres and of films is so ridiculously poor?! there were a couple good Japanese films listed but, alas, my Japanese is not quite so good yet that i would waste 20 bucks to kind-of-get-it. ah well. in the end we went to a friend`s event dowtown and had a great time, so all is well that ends well, i suppose.

oh there was also a late showing of Mission Impossible 3 but that doesn`t really count as a movie, i don`t think.

Meh.

Polar Bears!!

I`m reading "Beauty Tips From Moose Jaw" by the always entertaining Will Ferguson, and i`m reading about his adventures in and around Churchill, Manitoba. And Polar Bears. Lots of Polar Bears. He offers the website of the tour he took and the Polar Bear Cam site. I thought i would share. the tours are unfortunately far beyond the reaches of my current budget (and the fact that i am on the other side of the planet doesn`t help) but the galleries are definitely worth checking out. There are some amazing pictures of the world`s largest carnivore and many other shades of white animals.

Tundra Buggy

PolarBearCam.com

Enjoy! They really are magnificent animals!

that`s a lot of pizza!

We went out for dinner last night in Kobe for Ulala`s dad`s birthday. We had a lovely time at an Italian restaurant called Pizza House Pinochio and the food was great! And with our pizza they gave us this little ticket to mark just how many pizzas had been made. Ours was number 1114878!!! I`m undecided as to whether this is a nice personal touch or over-the-top kitch. *Shrug* All i do know is: that`s lot of pizza!

BEST HOLIDAY EVER!!

i don`t know when, i don`t know where...

but i MUST be a part of this...




Happy Waffle Day Everyone!!!

WASABIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!

This post is very out of sync. These pics are from back in the first week of May when Ulala, Goto and myself took that trip to Shizuoka and Kanagawa. While there we were blessed enough to be able to visit a REAL Wasabi farm! Now, why the bold capitals in the word `real`, you ask? Because that crap you`re eating at Sushi Town Buffet is just plain old American Horse-Radish with green dye #6. Yup. Even most Japanese people are eating regular horse raddish in a tube. But who am I to judge? I have a tube in my fridge and i love the stuff. It`s especially good for when you have allergies or a cold! Some of you may know this already. Some of you may not. REAL wasabi is less green, less "spicy" (though even that is somewhat of a mis-applied adjective), and much much less affordable. It is also much much harder to grow! For every 30 plants they grow, only a couple are perfect for harvesting whole. The rest are ground up for delicious wasabi-mayo (excellent on sandwiches - adds a little gourmet touch and a little extra bite). Wasabi also needs to be constantly watered and have very very clean mountain water in order to grow to a decent size. The mountain area surrounding Mount Fuji is ideal for this and thus the area is famous for high quality wasabi. So we went to this farm and took a little walkabout around the grounds and helped ourselves in the gift shop to some delicious samples of various types and degrees of aging (Wasabi is most subtle and best when freshest - the bite develops as it decomposes after harvesting. ew.) We also tried Wasabi Soft Ice Cream, which i was shocked and amazed to find was actually very good! A nice smooth vanilla-like taste on the tongue fading to a very slight bite and wasabi after-taste. I reccomend it to any wasabi fan who has the opportunity. So anyway, i should wrap up and post the pictures before i run out of time and have to run off to work! Enjoy! ...And notice the H.R. Giger-esque quality to the Wasabi root (the edible part), truly alien.

oh Edmonton...

It`s okay Big Eddie, I still love you....

i do however feel the need to see other cities...

also...

here are some interseting articles:

this one is FROM Andrew Tang:
Souvenir Of Canada


this one is FOR Andrew Tang:
Video Game Detox


and this one is for all the stressed out cubicle jockeys:
Fight Club

what is the world coming to, anyway? Long Live Ookpik!!!

It`s been a long time...

sorry for the rather noticeable lack of updates. a lot`s been going on. which means that there`s a lot of stuff to post when i get to it. in the meantime i`ll be watching (and you should too) the Soccer, the Basketball, and (of course) the harrowing Hockey finals. WHY ARE THEY ALL AT THE SAME TIME?!? suddenly the concept having satellite TV and eight different sports networks makes sense... so happy Father`s Day to all the fathers and thank you to everyone who wished me a happy birthday last week.

and on that note GO EDMONTON!!!

more soon, i swear.