the Brontosaur

Japan is on crack

2006-06-13T22:38:00.000-04:00

And also Iceland and Norway. I love each one of these countries, but their governments are taking crack. These three countries all really want to resume full-scale whale hunting. Wasn't that over in the 1800s? Do we also want to bring back the black plague and oil-burning lamps? Isn't this just a tad out of date? I mean, Japan, Iceland and Norway should know better, they're all otherwise 'hip' countries - but recent news that they want to take over the International Whaling Commision is just bizarre. Don't we have better things to be doing? While Japan still hunts whales for scientific purposed, reports say that whatle carcasses are just piling up in the freezer instead of being used by the public. I mean, what is the demand here? Is this just like pissing in your backyard because you can and you want to irritate your neighbors? Freaking weird times we live in.

2/19/06 Montreal

2006-02-19T19:48:00.000-05:00

Hey there mates,

It was a good day in Montreal today, much warmer than yesterday. We took the metro up to church in the morning and then went skating this evening.

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I Go Chop Your Dollar

2006-02-08T22:03:00.000-05:00

Well, this is about the greatest music video I've ever seen. It refers to the e-mail scams that often come out of Nigeria. You might have read one - they claim to have several millions of dollars that need to be laundered through a foreign account and all they need is your bank account info. Apparently this has worked pretty well and Nigerians who have stolen western money in this manner are often seen as folk heros.

Control Room Thoughts and Music

2006-02-07T22:59:00.000-05:00

I just finished watching a documentary on Al Jezeera called control room. It made me think a lot about the Middle East and I recorded some guitar music rather hastily. It's got some pops and clicks in there, so beware.

Newsvine - need an invite?

2006-01-31T07:13:00.000-05:00

Okay, newsvine is a hip new community news site that many people are talking about. For the moment you still need an invite to access the site, though that should be changing soon. If you need an invite, just reply to this post with an e-mail address. I've got 19 at the moment.

Ideas that came from the unexpected mystery

2006-01-29T00:17:00.000-05:00

You can visit accultured.com. Many people do this every day and they come from all around the world. Some of those people find the website by typing search terms into Google. These search terms are sometimes strange, and can be summed up as ideas that come from the unexpected mystery. Here are a few of my favorites:

viking horses
unused bikes
traditional robot
the biggest gun
starfish robot
room within a room
robot town
people shovelling snow
loading/unloading presents
kids running for xmas presents
australia hungry in the summer

I love these search terms for several reasons. It is not only strange that someone searched for these words, but also that they found the answer on my site. In addition, I don't think the answer for some of these can be found on my site. As far as I know, there is nothing about the "biggest gun" on my site - whatever that means. These ideas must have found me for a reason and I think I should use them to write a story. Stay tuned.

Here's another idea: I will paint blue-jay feathers on my arms and fly to the moon where I will visit the lonely people that live there.

Ya'an Sichuan, at night

2006-01-04T13:27:00.000-05:00

sunsun_scene5_051123
Originally uploaded by cindy.wong.

Ya'an is on a river. Apparently they are famous for their fish. Ya'an is close to the Tibetan plateau and gets lots of rain. If you know anything more about Ya'an, Sichuan - please let me know via comment.

China cracking down on journalism... again

2006-01-04T13:19:00.000-05:00

The Communist Party leaders have a strange way of celebrating the end of the year," noted the Paris-based Reporters without Borders. "After announcing that Zhao Yan and Ching Cheong are to be tried, the Beijing authorities have decided to kill off one of China's most popular and liberal newspapers.

China ratchets up control on expression | csmonitor.com

technorati tags: china, journalism, freedom, christian science monitor

Best place to put your money

2006-01-02T12:00:00.000-05:00

hsbcdirect.com Online Savings

According to my hours of research, HSBC is the best place to put my money right now. They have particular account that is purely web-based. It has an interest rate of 4.25% and you get an extra $25 by entering the promo-code "25pig". I also really dig this concept because HSBC is all around the world.

technorati tags: hsbc, online bank, savings, 4.25

Mt. Mengding

2006-01-02T10:35:00.000-05:00

sunsun_mengding1_0511
Originally uploaded by cindy.wong.

Okay mates,
These be rows of tea plants on Mt. Mengding, which is handy to Ya'an in Sichuan. This may be one of the first tea mountains in world. The sign might be new.

Chinese tourists are sometimes insensitive

2006-01-01T21:17:00.000-05:00

Just as brash Americans attract glances from Parisian sophisticates, Chinese tourists have acquired a reputation in Thailand and elsewhere in Southeast Asia as loud, pushy bumpkins with table manners that leave much to be desired.Even tour operators concede that their Chinese customers can be rude and bossy when they hit the road."They're not very cultured, and they've just started making money, so when they leave their country I'm afraid they act like big shots," says Ren Jingli, a Beijing travel agent who escorts groups to Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia.

Chinese tourists: Asia's new 'ugly Americans' | csmonitor.com