Author: Joe Jones

If the poison doesn’t kill you, the implications will

A simple rhetorical question…

[8:44] Joe: if hootie and the blowfish ate fugu, would it be cannibalism?
[8:45] Adamu: if just hootie ate it then no
[8:45] Adamu: but it might be impossible to separate hootie from the blowfish

But then, this spanner got thrown into the equation:

The band’s name comes from two of [lead singer Darius] Rucker’s friends, neither of whom was ever a band member. One, with a round face and glasses, was nicknamed Hootie because of his perceived owl-like appearance. The Blowfish also got his nickname from his facial appearance, in his case chubby cheeks.

So it wouldn’t be cannibalism as long as “Hootie and the Blowfish” refers to the band, and not to the actual Blowfish. Now you know, and knowing is half the battle.

On a side note, a friend of mine just had a very bad experience with fugu prepared by his girlfriend. He didn’t die (fortunately), but it made him quite ill. So, a tip for all you Japanophiles out there: Don’t eat your girlfriend’s fugu unless she knows what she’s doing!

They call it “Marine Air” because you have to swim to get there

I speak, of course, about Kobe Airport, the latest boondoggle in Osaka Bay. I was in the area this weekend and I decided I would hop over for a visit on Sunday.

What a mistake. Continue reading They call it “Marine Air” because you have to swim to get there

“What the hell” in Japanese law, part 2

(Part 1, in case you missed it, was about companies.)

Anyway, there’s a provision in the Japanese Civil Code related to a certain class of contract (委任 “mandates,” in case you care). The article simply says:

This type of contract may be terminated at any time.

Looking this up in the unannotated English version, I was surprised at how simple it seemed to be. Hooray for civil law!

A little while later, I looked up the same article in the annotated Japanese version of the Code, a big honkin’ book which links each article of the code to relevant court cases that further define its meaning. Here’s what I found:

This type of contract may be terminated at any time.

– – –
NOTES: (1) When the terminating party has entered the contract for profit, this Article does not apply. Judgment of the Supreme Court of Judicature, [some date in the 1910s I didn’t bother to write down]

My response was something like the 50’s TV Dad below:

Note to self: Save this picture; you’re going to want to use it in a PowerPoint someday.

Kobe Airport opens, but far more wackiness might be in store

Kobe Airport, the third passenger airport in the Kansai region, opened just a couple of hours ago. So what’s next? How about a tunnel from Kobe to Kansai?

The “Cross-Osaka Bay Railroad” is envisioned to connect JR Shin-Kobe Station and Kansai Airport via Kobe Airport in 30 minutes, using linear motor cars over the total distance of 36 km. The Kobe Airport-Kansai Airport run will take only 17 min. The cost of the tunnel is expected to be 530 billion yen.

Apparently, this was one of those crazy bubble-era ideas that fell apart after the Kobe earthquake of 1995 and the stagnant traffic numbers at Kansai in the late 90’s. But now, authorities are saying that if traffic at Kansai picks up, the airport may have to go international-only, and this project might be needed to keep a steady flow of passengers between domestic and international flights. Hyogo Prefecture seems to be warming to the idea, but Kobe City and Kansai Airport (perhaps fortunately) think it’s pretty ridiculous.

INR 101

Here’s an explanation of the international scene that anyone can understand:

Taylor Townsend is Saudi Arabia. America and the gang are sort of forced to be friends with Saudi Arabia, but they haven’t forgotten how she backstabbed them. She is probably bipolar — she’ll blow you or blow you away, depending on which Saudi Arabia decides to show up.

Last, but least, we have Canada, originally known as Chilly. Canada is one of the least important characters on the show. His main role is to be the dork everyone laughs at.

In fifth grade, we learned world history by treating it as a soap opera. That approach works pretty well for current events, too…