I just got to Thailand on a trip to visit Mrs. Adamu. The flight over on Korean Air was awesome. Let me tell you why:

Flight attendants that are beautiful, attentive, yet creepily identical – same height, same skin tone, same body proportions, similar facial features, same voice – think Robert Palmer’s “Simply Irresistible” video meets Kim Jong Il’s personal cabaret troupe. They seem to be extremely weak – I was asked to help load a slightly heavy carry-on bag, and then someone else had to help another flight attendant close a storage hatch. Plus there must have been 5 costume changes over the course of the flight – aprons for the food service, plain white shirts during downtimes, and brown jackets for no discernible reason other than perhaps they look smart.

3 words – BIBIMBAP FOR LUNCH! And not just any bibimbap, this was actually fresh and good. Not the best Ive ever had, but it’s for damn sure the best airline food I’ve ever had. The rest of the fare was only above-average, but the frequent drink services and little perks like ice cream for dessert were nice touches.

Personal entertainment centers at each seat – even in coach! In the course of the trip, I caught up on the latest hits in Japan, learned that the US was continuing humanitarian aid to Hamas, saw some movies ranging from the awesome Glory Road and Syriana to this tepid Japanese movie about a boy who　becomes an elephant trainer. Also saw this insane Korean music variety show in which a) a member of the infamous DJ DOC sang a crappy R&B song with a 60-year-old man; b) Another performer suddenly busted out a line and c) An interview in which an older female singer scolded the younger host for using the Japanese word for “pants” (zubon).

Ignorant passengers – As we were about to land, an older Korean couple got out from their seats, piled their numerous carry-on bags in front of an emergency exit, and started staring out the window. It took a minute for the flight crew to notice in time to smack them upside the head verbally and send them back to their seats.

All in all a great ride and I highly recommend it – they don’t seem to have a restriction on carry-on bags either.

Tragedy is when I get a papercut on my finger, comedy is when you fall down a hole and die. Case in point, in a moment.

Between Aum Shinrikyo and “thallium girl” (as she was often referred to in the Japanese press) there is a rather disturbing trend towards stories involving poison. But they needn’t all be; there is comedy too.

BEIJING (Reuters) – Two hapless Chinese thieves gassed themselves to death with cyanide along with five intended victims while trying to rob a gambling den in the city of Ruichang, the Xinhua news agency reported Saturday.

A court in nearby Jiujiang Thursday sentenced their three surviving accomplices to death for the robbery, carried out last June.

One of the three passed out for several hours from the effects of the gas—but still remembered to rob the dead of 15,950 yuan ($1,990), five mobile phones and a gold necklace when he came around, Xinhua said.

I guess the official English title of this is “Wizard of Earthsea” but the title I’m using is a direct translation of the Japanese title, Gedo Senki. Anyway, here is the section of Yomiuri’s interview with Ghibli Studios producer Toshio Suzuki relevant to the issue I care about: why Hayao Miyazaki was against his son directing this film! (Interview is from 12/26/2005)

UPDATE: More info on the film in English at the Ghibli site by the book’s English translator. And apparently someone already posted a translation of this interview, but mine is much better.

Q. Why was Goro-san chosen as director?

Suzuki: The precondition of all this was the future of Ghibli. Isao Takahata is 70. Hayao Miyazaki is almost 65. Together they’re 135! Add my age in there and it gets close to 200 (lol) ! At this rate it will be the end of Ghibli. However, this company was created because they wanted to make movies as a pair, and I am also satisfied with this. There is a part of me that thinks “this might be enough” but we also have a responsibility to the young people who are a part of the studio, after all. However, Hayao may be a genius on the creation end, but he is not necessarily good at teaching. If you drive with him in the passenger side, you’ll understand. He keeps saying stuff on the side, so most people end up getting neurotic about it. I have seen it in the production stage many times, since different people were slated to direct “Kiki’s Delivery Service” (1989) and “Howl’s Moving Castle,” but eventually Hayao took the helm. Of course there is no ill-will from Hayao. But there are actually people who ended up with ulcers (lol). That is why I thought of Goro. With him, I figured it might go well.

Q. But, he has no animation production experience…

Suzuki: That didn’t bother me. Even when he created the Ghibli Museum following Hayao’s drawings, he might have had landscaping experience, but he didn’t have any construction experience, did he? First of all, I think that if anyone can observe they can draw. That comes from when I was making the magazine “Animation Monthly.” I would have editors who normally did not draw do self portraits for their editor’s notes. They all said it was impossible at first, but once they started carefully observing their faces, they were able to finish drawing [the self portraits]. What’s more, there was enough appeal to have them work their hardest. Goro often drew caricatures during meetings, so I thought that he, as someone who can observe, could draw pictures.

Q. Did Goro always have an interest in animation?

Suzuki: I don’t know. Normally, people dislike working near their fathers, but there was probably an interest in his father’s work somewhere. I felt that when he accepted the job at the Ghibli Museum.
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Wednesday, March 22, 2006

LDP Panel Eyes Land Sale, Loan Securitization To Cut Govt Assets

TOKYO (Nikkei)—As part of efforts to pare down government assets, a subpanel of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s fiscal reform committee will recommend as early as Wednesday the creation of an independent institution to oversee the streamlining of publicly held property and the securitization of government-held loans, The Nihon Keizai Shimbun has learned.

“We will submit a proposal that prunes more than 100 trillion yen” from the government’s roughly 430 trillion yen in marketable assets, LDP Policy Research Council Chairman Hidenao Nakagawa said in a speech Tuesday. Nakagawa also heads the fiscal reform committee.

...

The subpanel will also propose plans to sell such holdings as civil servant dormitories and implement private-sector ideas for using government land more effectively. Development proposals would be solicited to compete with the land use plans of the pertinent government ministries and agencies. The new organization would oversee disclosure methods, as well as prioritize the government and private-sector proposals.

The subpanel will also recommend selling the naming rights to national stadiums and other facilities, as well as creating advertising space on government vehicles.

(The Nihon Keizai Shimbun Wednesday morning edition)

Ick!

From Nikkei:

Friday, March 10, 2006

New Taste Analyzer Mimics Human Perception Of Flavors

KYOTO (Nikkei)—A Keio University research group led by chemistry professor Koji Suzuki has developed a taste analyzer that can evaluate beverages quickly and with high precision, identifying flavors in a humanlike way that includes the ability to detect sweet-sour and bitter-but-tasty flavors.
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WARNING! This post is entirely about my personal life. For your Japan fix, go here to see Miss and Mister Tokyo University. Quoth Joe, “Mmm pre-feminist society.” High school reunion antics after “the jump” (in quotes because it sounds lame):
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but it still has some kinks to work out.

Seriously, why don’t they have a little text entry box that lets you jump to a certain page? And how long will it take them to design a tool that automatically adds links to entries in the table of contents and index?

From the BBC:

‘Babies for sale’ on Chinese eBay

Chinese police are investigating a report of attempted baby trafficking on an internet auction site, according to a state-owned newspaper.

The advertisement was reportedly placed on eBay’s Chinese website, Eachnet.

Boys were advertised for 28,000 yuan ($3,450) while girls were offered for 13,000 yuan ($1,603), Eachnet manager Tang Lei told the China Daily.

The offer could have been a hoax, but it comes as baby trafficking is seen as an increasing problem in China.