Georgia Pok Guy

All I can say is, this is one weird coup…

Seeing as how I am not fluent in any Chinese dialect, be it Mandarin, Wu, Cantonese, or even Hakka (although that would help me with my Singlish), I cannot verify the veracity of this, but supposedly one way to read the name of Shampoo from Ranma (play that snippet from the Ranma intro where they say “Ranma!”) is as follows:

Additionally, “shānpú” in Chinese breaks down to mean “mountain girl” or “she whose breasts are like mountains,” names fitting for the location of her tribe’s residence as well as her considerable assets.

Quite.  Puns seem so much more plentiful in tonal languages.  Curse my mother tongue!

Oh, and is it just me?  Or is Stephen Fry a bit more rotund?

I ask you: how many world leaders could pull off wearing a Hawaiian shirt like this?  How many could walk down the street like that, smile gracing their face, and still accomplish such feats as privatizing the Japan Post, sending troops to Iraq (keeping in mind Article 9), dragging Japan from the economic doldrums of the 90s, and belting out Elvis hits at Graceland?  None, I assure you.  Jun-kun, as your number one American fan, I must say I will miss you.  You have a debonair nature rarely seen in Japanese politics (in fact, I can’t really think of any other cases).  And that hair!  Dear YHWH that hair.  If you feel you haven’t had enough of politics, can you move to Maryland and be my new Senator?  I swear I shall work tirelessly for you.  *sigh*  Parting is such sweet sorrow.  Jun-kun, when I learn how to actually draw, I shall create a comic series where you are the hero.  Because, in a way, maybe you were never meant for reality.  Hence why those staid LDP politicians never appreciated you.  You weren’t like them.  That is why you are great.  But you could never win.  It was a losing battle from the start.  ざんねん…

I have found that Indian food makes great leftovers.  I just wish I had had more rice and another piece of paratha…

Also, I hope one day to be an American consul and amateur archaeologist…

As with most trips of mine to wikipedia, where I end up tends to be roughly a million trains of thought away from where I started.  Today I started by looking up Khartoum (since I am about to watch the movie Khartoum) and ended up here, in the section on rare and complex Chinese characters.  There I found my new favorite Chinese character, 齉, which means “poor enunciation due to a snuffle.”  Like I said, just don’t ever ask me to write that beast.  At thirty-six strokes, it is just six strokes shy of the length of a certain nyabot’s Chinese name (and the answer to life, the universe, and everything)…  And I thought “to cover with cloth” made for an interesting hanzi…

My path from “Khartoum” to “rare and complex Chinese characters”:

Khartoum -> Blue Nile -> White Nile -> Lake Victoria -> Map -> Japanese map symbols -> Seal script -> Chinese character (written styles) -> Chinese character (rare and complex characters)

I was shocked when I saw the first reports of this at work today.  My beloved Thailand?  A military coup?  I just hope this does not end in bloodshed.  It is strange to think of a place where I spent Christmas for four years in a row as being the victim of a military coup.  How could this happen?  In a way, my feelings about this event are similar to my feelings toward the civil war in Nepal.  Granted, I lived in neither country.  But even just visiting them I established a connection.  It is sad, because these beautiful countries, populated by kind people, deserve better.  At work today, after seeing that tanks had rolled into Bangkok, I tried to come up with alternative possibilities.  I know that in the past days there has been violence in the southern provinces, so, I thought, perhaps this was a precaution to ensure no attacks happened in the capital.  That turned out not to have passed, however.  It truly is sad.  I hope this ends peacefully and that the Thais can return to life as it should be…

After reading this, I am assuming that the next step is to dig a moat and build a wall around the city.  And then maybe we could split the city into quarters, with a Sunni Quarter, a Shiite Quarter, an American Quarter, and a quarter for whomever else needs one.  Hailed as liberators, they said.  How naïve we were…

There comes a time in every man’s life when he has to take bold initiative.  When he must distinguish himself from the fray, to be known for his own accomplishments.  Ladies and Gentlemen, I humbly announce such a time in my life.  I have purchased the entire 18 disc set of Cardcaptor Sakura on deep, deep discount from The Right Stuf.  Remember this day.  It is one for the annuals of history…

For those of you, in particular my non-American friends, who wondered why the post-Hurricane Katrina response was bungled, read this.  I still contend that blame does not rest solely on Bush’s shoulders.  Something like Katrina would have been handled very differently in European nations where government is very centralized.  America’s federalized system does not lend itself to a decisive response in the wake of a disaster.  However, I think I side with the NGA on this one, and say that perhaps what is needed is not for federal control of the National Guard in times of emergency (because then we get to wrangle over the definition of an emergency), but greater communication between the state and federal governments.

I have considered the interminable Democratic candidates for Senator here in Maryland.  I know for whom I shall vote.  And, I already know they will lose.  Granted, they may win.  There are so many candidates they might beat out some of the better known contenders.  But, given how thoughtful this candidate is, how articulate, how willing to look at all sides of the issue, I have no choice but to conclude they will lose tomorrow.  Perhaps if they would succumb to the American political machine, shooting vitriol at their opponents and anchoring themselves to self-serving issues and interest groups, they may win.  But then, I would not vote them, would I?  Because I loathe such seekers of higher office.  Such sycophantic individuals are what got us into this mess.  Regardless, I shall vote for my candidate.  Because I would be a poor steward of American democracy if I did otherwise.  On this day in particular, we are reminded of the importance of American ideals, and why we must never sacrifice them when given the option of an easy way out.