Red panda cubs in Japan

Japan’s Chiba Zoological Park has released a video of its two cute red panda (also known as lesser panda) cubs which were born on July 3. The names of the baby pandas will be decided on Sept 19 via a special poll by the zoo visitors.

Disorient? What?

I was notified of a film festival called DisOrient?
Hmmm is this a festival showing films of people who have no sense of direction?

dis·o·ri·ent (ds-ôr-nt, -r-)
tr.v. dis·o·ri·ent·ed, dis·o·ri·ent·ing, dis·o·ri·ents
To cause (a person, for example) to experience disorientation.

Adj. 1. disoriented - having lost your bearings; confused as to time or place or personal identity; "I frequently find myself disoriented when I come up out of the subway"; "the anesthetic left her completely disoriented"

2. disoriented - socially disoriented; "anomic loners musing over their fate"; "we live in an age of rootless alienated people"

So I find out that it's an Asian film festival.. this is what their about us page says:

DisOrient Asian American Film Festival of Oregon is a community, grassroots, and volunteer-run film festival committed to presenting honest portrayals of the diversity of the Asian American experience. We believe in the power of film to educate, positively transform our community, and challenge the negative stereotypes of the 'Oriental' presented by mainstream media. We use the W.E.B. DuBois standard of "for us, by us, or about us" when selecting new and exciting films for our festival.

For us, by us, or about us sounds pretty selfish to me. And how is it that an Asian role in an American movie is stereotypical but a movie with 100% Asians is not? Are these 100% not doing Asian things? Are they doing stereotypical white things?

I looked through the film program and the movies look pretty good. It truly is an honest portrayal of the Asian American experience. I don't think we need to show our diversity or show that we're DisOrient! whatever that means.

Silly name for a festival.

Hello Mr. Death! Researcher finds rare Chinese names

Source: Reuters

A man in China's southern province of Jiangxi has spent the last 20 years compiling a list of unusual family names, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

Most Chinese people share a few common surnames, like Zhang, Wang, Li, Liu and Chen. The Chinese expression for "ordinary people" literally means "the old one hundred surnames."

But Cheng Yinglian's interest was piqued after reading a newspaper many years ago and discovering a person with the surname Gui, meaning "ghost," CCTV said.

Since then, he has scoured newspapers, books and other publications to find similar rare surnames, coming up with about 2,000 to date.

Those he has found include Ling, or "zero," Cu, or "vinegar," Miao, or "second" and Yi, or "one."

Superstitions related to names are still strong in China, and many parents go out of their way to give their children auspicious names which suggest they will grow up to be healthy, strong and rich.

While you can legally change your surname in China, the report did not say how many people had chosen to change theirs if they were unfortunate enough to be born a "death" or "ghost."

Ever notice Asian names (especially Vietnamese) names are always opposite the personality?

A girl who's named Snow is dark.
A girl who's named Nice is mean
A guy who's named Brave is a coward.
A guy who's named Strong is a wuss.

Culture can challenge foreign students

Source: College Media Network

If living at home, Bangladesh native Refayat Haque would not see unmarried men and women publicly holding hands.

It's forbidden. But in America and at GW, the taboos around sex dissimilate, Haque said, giving students from other countries new perspectives on sex and relationships.

"Sex is very taboo and sex before marriage is even worse. Almost everyone is Muslim and they aren't supposed to have premarital sex," Haque said of his home.

With scantily clad men and women on television and couples engaging in public displays of affection in plain sight, the sex culture at Western colleges and universities can challenge the beliefs of international students. In a study on Asian students adjusting to college life in the U.S., Dr. Jun-Chih Gisela of Texas A&M said a lack of familiarity with American customs and culture can sometimes cause international students to feel isolated.

"Many Asian international students feel uncomfortable with the individualism and competitiveness associated with the American culture, " Dr. Lin said in her study.

But for Haque and other international students interviewed, America's sexual culture was less of a shock because they attended international boarding schools before college.

Haque's experiences freshman year led him to the conclusion that certain values held by college students weren't for him.

"I realized what situations were good for me and what's not. My morals and ethics are still how they were at home," he said. "It wasn't hard to adjust, but [it was] a bit weird."

Very simple. If the 21-year skank is hot, than the situation is good, if she's not hot, than it's not.

So This is What a Bronze Medal is Good For

Source: TMZ

Apparently athletes aren't allowed to have fun after they win medals.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — American halfpipe bronze medalist Scotty Lago volunteered to leave the Olympics on Friday after risque pictures of him showed up on the Internet.

Lago, who was awarded his bronze medal Thursday night, was at a party, wearing a Team USA T-shirt when somebody snapped a photo of a woman kneeling below Lago's waist to kiss his medal. That picture, and another showing him sticking the medal in the woman's mouth while teammate Greg Bretz looks on, appeared Friday on the TMZ Web site.

Lago apologized to officials at the U.S. Olympic Committee and the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association and decided to go home.

In the aftermath of several out-of-competition incidents in Turin, one of which resulted in the dismissal of freestyle skier Jeret Peterson, the USOC has made extra efforts to emphasize athletes be on their best behavior when they're at the Olympics.

Before the Beijing Games, the USOC began its "Ambassador Program" that athletes are made to complete before they travel to the games.

Lago was a member of a group of snowboarders called the "Frends," that included Kevin Pearce and Danny Davis, both of whom were badly injured before the Olympics and couldn't make the trip.

"I put all that aside and rode," Lago said.

He said he put together one of the best runs of his life to win the surprise bronze on a night overshadowed by Shaun White and his gold-medal performance.

OMG, I am citing TMZ on Sportz related issues! And why is it that even before I saw the pictures, I knew the girl would be Asian. Just a hunch, but we're becoming stereotypical sex tramps. Way to go girl!

And btw, the Finnish guy won silver in this event that Lago got Bronze. It's the only medal Finland has won so far! He should be getting every girl in Finland!

Hip Hop Monks In Japan

Woah.. never heard a chant in rap style. And also I thought alcoholism was prohibited. Monks don't drink!

Source: CNN

Skateboarding monk shocks China

Source: Ananova

Photographs of a monk skateboarding inside a historic temple have caused controversy in China.

They were taken by a visitor to the Emei Mountain Temple, in Sichuan province, and posted on the internet, reports Huaxi Metropolis News.

The monastery stands near the top of Mount Emei - the highest of the Four Sacred Buddhist Mountains of China and the site of the country's first ever Buddhist temple.

Internet users were taken aback by the photographs and posted comments criticising the monk for adopting a "modern fad".

"Monks should seek quietness and riding a skateboard is such a contradictory thing to Buddhist life," said one.

However, a spokesman for the temple said that the outside world did not understand the life of a contemporary monk.

"People get their impressions from TV or movies, where monks are praying all day long, without any motivation or desire," he said.

"But these days monks also enjoy sports like badminton, table tennis and skateboarding in the spare time, as well as praying.

"They even use the internet and mobile phones to promote Buddhism. This is not contradictory to Buddhism but actually is part of the Buddhist spirit."

I'm sick of all these righteous people. It's almost 2010 people. The skateboard is NOT modern fad! It's a 1980s toy.. do people still use skateboards? I haven't seen one in ages.

Also monks have always used technology. I'm sure when the abacus was invented monks were using them. Were people in the streets complaining that monks needed to count on their fingers and seek quietness?

Here in Calgary, I've seen monks at the University. They are invited as guest speakers or they themselves take religious studies and learn about other religions.

I know of temples that have computers there and have their own websites. The notion that monasteries need to be quite and back in the 1800s is false. They are very innovative while still valuing their teachings. Modernizing religion is a good thing, it could bring more people to it in an age where athiestism seems to be the norm.

Tradition in the Philippines

I know that Christmas is a BIG DEAL in the Philippines.
In fact I think most of my Filipino friends are back home right now!

Wonder Girls Getting Disrespected in America?

Source: ALLKPOP

Photos of the Wonder Girls signing autographs for a fan in America have recently made their way into Korean cyberspace, making Korean Wonderfuls very angry.

The photos which were uploaded on the 18th of last month (August), were taken after the Wonder Girls had a fan signing event after performing in the Jonas Brothers concert. The photos made Korean Wonderfuls really angry which showed Sohee and Yubin, reaching over the table to sign on a worn sneaker of a fan who had placed it on the table. They felt that this was a mark of disrespect to the Wonder Girls.

Fans chided this particular American fan saying that even though the Wonder Girls weren't that famous yet in America, they shouldn't be subjected to this sort of humilation. Another felt that the Wonder Girls shouldn't have signed for this fan in this manner in the first place. Many fans felt really sorry for the Wonder Girls and sincerely hope that the Wonder Girls will soon gain a foothold in America with their songs.

This is a cultural difference that's tough to understand. I know that in Asia, shoes and underwear are considered extremely dirty. But the Wonder Girls are in America now. Korean fans seriously need to suck it up and not get so angry over small things like this. Signing shoes, shirts, and even body parts are what Americans do. If you're famous here in America and someone wants your signature on a shirt, why of course, you give it to them. Stop turning such stupid little acts into big ones.

For those who don't know, shoes are a big deal here in America. People will spend an entire month's wage on shoes and for children. It's a sign of status, so having someone famous sign your shoe is HUGE.

I recalled Cristiano Ronaldo was in Toronto in August and he signed a girl's belly button. I'm not sure she has showered yet.

Can You Pass The Smile Test?

She has a nice smile :)

Dallas Police Look to Hire More Asian Officers

Source: NBC Dallas

Dallas Police recruiters want to hire more Asian officers as the city's Asian population grows.

Police say it’s important for the Asian community to be well represented in the department.

“Seeing and encountering an Asian officer that can speak their language, understand their culture, can help rebuild the trusting relationship,” said 6-year Dallas Police veteran Dac Nguyen.

Nguyen moved to Dallas from Vietnam 17 years ago. He said people in his home country have an inherent distrust of law enforcement that often persists even after moving to the United States.

“Culturally, law enforcement has been viewed and seen as corrupted, abusive and incompetent in the eyes of the Vietnamese community,” he said.

So getting officers that look like the corrupt officers in the old Vietnam will help right?

Korean business leaders said they would also like to see more Asian officers on the Dallas Police force.

“Bi-lingual is the key,” said Mike Lee, the president of the Greater Dallas Korean American Chamber of Commerce.

“If an officer can speak Korean he will get more information from Korean victims and witnesses," Lee said. "The goal is to build trust between community and law enforcement.”

Again wrong.

This main problem with the small Asian communities in North American is that everyone knows everyone and everyone talks. The gossip is usually pretty embarrassing.

So let's say for example I was raped or beaten. The last thing I would want is a Asian police officer coming to the house. If feel a white officer would better protect my identity and write a proper report. An Asian officer would most likely:

A) know me
B) know the guy who beat me
C) know my parents

He would be biased which may or may not help the case.
Also he would tell someone.. "hey did you know Tracy's bf, beats her! What a shame."

So honestly if there were alot of Asian cops around my neighbourhood, I wouldn't report shit.

The language argument is a load of bull to me. It's the job of Asians to speak English, not officers to speak Vietnamese or anything else.

DNA tests for Chinese children

There's good and bad in this. This would put alot of pressure on kids at a young age to be either sporty, musical,or a brain. That's what China needs, more 8 year old gymnasts in the Olympics :)

On the good side it does give parents an idea of where their kid's strength is. Not everyone can be a doctor right? So force feeding a kid biology when a simple frog disection sends them off barfing in the bathroom is not a good idea. Something alot of Chinese-Canadian parents could learn.

"I am proud to be a brick in the statistics building of the PRC"

Source: Foreign Policy

As part of the myriad activities planned to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China on Oct. 1, the normally staid National Bureau of Statistics is letting its hair down a bit.
The NBS has launched a call for submissions of writings celebrating the PRC’s big birthday as part of campaign called “Statistical Feelings: Together We Go – Celebrating the 60th Anniversary of the Founding of New China.” The campaign is intended to boost the patriotic feelings and confidence of statisticians in their work.

One essay, submitted by an employee of the NBS industrial division, is titled “I Am Proud to Be a Brick in the Statistics Building of the PRC,” and reads like a prose poem, each paragraph leading with the title’s refrain.

A poem, “Love the Homeland, Love Statistics,” includes the following stanza:

Life
Some mock me for doing statistics
Some loathe me and statistics
Some don’t understand what statistics are
Why is it that statistics
Put a calm smile on my face?
Because of statistics
I can solve the deepest mysteries
Because of statistics
I will not be lonely again, playing in the data
Because of statistics
I can rearrange the stars in the skies above
Because of statistics
My life is different, more meaningful
I love my life, my statistics

That's pretty messed up. People can make a poem about pretty much every eh? Even statisticians need love right? They are very proud to be just part of the whole Chinese system!

Iraqi female wrestlers

Every Olympic cycle you hear "Why is this athlete allowed to compete if they finish so far back dead last" or "Why go if you can't win a medal, it's pointless".

So here is a story well in advance. If you ever see an Iraqi female wrestler in the Summer Olympics of 2012, 2016 or later, even if she finishes dead last, you will understand this wonderful achievement and the barriers she had to breakdown to get there.

Japan Back Then, Japan Now

@IainDelaney sent me this.



Where did it all go wrong?

Alarm over sharp rise in Japan suicides

Source: AsiaOne

Japanese activists sounded the alarm Wednesday over a sharp rise in suicides after a police report said the number of people who killed themselves up to June rose 4.7 percent on last year.

Urgent changes are needed to cope with the intensifying social problem, said Yasuyuki Shimizu of non-profit group Life Link.

In the first six months of the year, amid Japan's worst post-war recession, police recorded 17,076 suicides, up 768 or 4.7 percent from the same period last year, according to the National Police Agency.

Roughly 30 percent of suicides were linked financial problems, it said.

At the current pace, the figure could reach or possibly surpass Japan's worst annual record of 34,427 suicides, recorded in 2003.

For the past decade, Japan has seen more than 30,000 suicides every year.

The recession has taken its toll on many, especially men, said Yukiko Nishihara, founder of Tokyo Suicide Prevention Centre.

"On our suicide hotlines, we are hearing that people - some of them young men in their 30s - are tired of living and working and being laid off and trying to find jobs again," she said.

"We have to do something to help before people become so desperate."

Shimizu cautioned that people "take their lives for a complicated mix of reasons" and criticised fragmented government prevention programmes.

Japan has one of the world's highest suicide rates, behind only a group of former Soviet bloc countries, according to the World Health Organisation.

Very sad. I would guess most suicides are working men who have lost their jobs or young school girls under pressure from their studies. Japan's always been 'tolerant' of suicides but with this spike, they should perhaps come up with some prevention programs. First step would be to outlaw these internet suicide groups that feel suicide alone is too lonely.

Naked girls plow fields for rain

Source: Reuters

Farmers in an eastern Indian state have asked their unmarried daughters to plow parched fields naked in a bid to embarrass the weather gods to bring some badly needed monsoon rain, officials said on Thursday.

Witnesses said the naked girls in Bihar state plowed the fields and chanted ancient hymns after sunset to invoke the gods. They said elderly village women helped the girls drag the plows.

"They (villagers) believe their acts would get the weather gods badly embarrassed, who in turn would ensure bumper crops by sending rains," Upendra Kumar, a village council official, said from Bihar's remote Banke Bazaar town.

"This is the most trusted social custom in the area and the villagers have vowed to continue this practice until it rains very heavily."

India this year suffered its worst start to the vital monsoon rains in eight decades, causing drought in some states.

As long as it embarasses the gods and not the girls, I'm fine with it!

Japanese voted world's best tourists. France surrenders!

Source: Mainichi

The Japanese have been voted the world's best tourists for being clean, polite, quiet, and uncomplaining, according to a study conducted by Internet-based travel agency Expedia, in which hotels around the world were asked to rank the behavior of foreign tourists.

What has been the focus of attention among media outlets around the world, however, is the news that French tourists have come in last, or 27th place. Hotels cited French tourists' behavior of being "cheap, rude, and unwilling to learn the local language" as reasons for their unpopularity. The neutrality of the study is uncertain, but there is no question that French tourists are not very well liked.

Speaking of popularity, the French in France don't have much, either. TripAdvisor.com, a free online travel guide, ranked Paris as "the most unfriendly city in Europe."

.....more

The French will always speak french wherever they go and expect others to know french too, even in Japan! Sacre Blue! SO RUDE!

SMILE! Japan train workers check grins with smile meter

Source: AP

Her uniform looks good, with striped scarf and blue cap in perfect order, but railway employee Mitsue Endo has one thing to do before she faces the masses - pass the smile test.

Endo, who works at hectic Shinagawa Station in central Tokyo for Keihin Express Railway Co., sits in front of a laptop computer with a digital camera mounted on top. At first she is a bit grim-faced, and the verdict from the company's smile-rating software is instant and candid.

"Smile: 0" pops up on the screen.

She breaks into a broad grin and the computer responds cheerfully, giving her a score of 70.

The company has installed the system to help employees check their smiles before heading out to face customers. The test is optional, but at major stations like Shinagawa, the 250,000 riders who pass through per day can be rushed and agitated, and a happy face can go a long way.

"Smiling helps our interaction with the passengers. I think the atmosphere becomes more relaxing with a smile," says Endo, whose job includes helping lost customers find their way and dealing with ticketing mishaps.

Keihin uses the software at 15 of its 72 stations, concentrating on the busier locations.

Taichi Takahashi, who works in public relations at the train operator, says it gives employees a chance to examine themselves before they go to work.

"I don't think that we have had much opportunity to stare at our faces that close and for that long to check our facial expressions until now," he said.

Anyone who's been to Japan will confirm. Any girl that's a greeter or hostess there is required to smile and have extremely high-pitched voices!

Japanese Falling For Pillows

That's just a sad sad sight

Source: New York Times

Nisan didn’t mean to fall in love with Nemutan. Their first encounter — at a comic-book convention that Nisan’s gaming friends dragged him to in Tokyo — was serendipitous. Nisan was wandering aimlessly around the crowded exhibition hall when he suddenly found himself staring into Nemutan’s bright blue eyes. In the beginning, they were just friends. Then, when Nisan got his driver’s license a few months later, he invited Nemutan for a ride around town in his beat-up Toyota. They went to a beach, not far from the home he shares with his parents in a suburb of Tokyo. It was the first of many road trips they would take together. As they got to know each other, they traveled hundreds of miles west — to Kyoto, Osaka and Nara, sleeping in his car or crashing on friends’ couches to save money. They took touristy pictures under cherry trees, frolicked like children on merry-go-rounds and slurped noodles on street corners. Now, after three years together, they are virtually inseparable. “I’ve experienced so many amazing things because of her,” Nisan told me, rubbing Nemutan’s leg warmly. “She has really changed my life.”

Nemutan doesn’t really have a leg. She’s a stuffed pillowcase — a 2-D depiction of a character, Nemu, from an X-rated version of a PC video game called Da Capo, printed on synthetic fabric. In the game, which is less a game than an interactive visual novel about a schoolyard romance, Nemu is the loudmouthed little sister of the main character, whom she calls nisan, or “big brother,” a nickname Nisan adopted as his own when he met Nemu. When I joined the couple for lunch at their favorite all-you-can-eat salad bar in the Tokyo suburb of Hachioji, he insisted on being called only by this new nickname, addressing his body-pillow girlfriend using the suffix “tan” to show how much he adored her. Nemutan is 10, maybe 12 years old and wears a little blue bikini and gold ribbons in her hair. Nisan knows she’s not real, but that hasn’t stopped him from loving her just the same. “Of course she’s my girlfriend,” he said, widening his eyes as if shocked by the question. “I have real feelings for her.”

According to many who study the phenomenon, the rise of 2-D love can be attributed in part to the difficulty many young Japanese have in navigating modern romantic life. According to a government survey, more than a quarter of men and women between the ages of 30 and 34 are virgins; 50 percent of men and women in Japan do not have friends of the opposite sex. One of the biggest best sellers in the country last year was “Health and Physical Education for Over Thirty,” a six-chapter, manga-illustrated guidebook that holds the reader’s hand from the first meeting to sex to marriage.

.....rest of the story

As discussed before in previous post, Japan has the oldest population in the world. Nearly 50% of it's population is over 60. Why is it that young Japanese have so much trouble navigating romantic life? There's a bazillion Japanese over there, just match up? There must be something fundamentally wrong with a society where men charish a pillow more than a girl. I know the older Japanese generation is upset about Otaku. How does a macho samurai sake-drinking society turn into this?

A declining birthrate is one thing. Alot of Western societies have less kids for various reasons, financial, daycare, women in their careers etccc. But people are still getting married have having a great social life. How can a country have so many single people? Is it the guys who think the girls are needy? It is the girls who think the guys are jerks? Must be something!