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Another War Blog

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Back to Iraq is a blog written by Christopher Allbritton, who wants to cover Northern Iraq as an independent journalist. He’s raising money to fund his endeavor. (Wired has a story.)
Here’s Allbritton’s introduction:

I’m Christopher Allbritton, former AP and New York Daily News reporter. This summer I went stumbling around Iraqi Kurdistan, the northern part of Iraq outside Saddam’s direct control, looking for stories. (Some might call it “looking for trouble.”) Well, now I want to go back in time for the war. So I’m asking your help in supporting independent journalism.

He’s going to have to hurry to get to Iraq “in time for the war.”

Chopsticks Or A Fork?

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I got confused tonight about the appropriate utensil(s) for eating salad. (I haven’t really been eating western-style salads over here in Japan, so this hasn’t come up before.) I automatically grabbed some chopsticks, but after a few bites I thought to myself, “This just isn’t right, is it?” So I got a fork, which I’ve always used to eat salad. But it didn’t feel quite right either. I went back to the chopsticks, but now I have no idea which feels more natural in this situation.

Matsumoto Party

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Went to Matsumoto last night for a party at a small bar near the station. DJs, dancing and drinking. Caught the 8:40pm local train from Nagano with Rachel. Angelique came north from Shio Jiri, and we met up with Dean in Matsumoto.
Matsumoto Party photos here.

A Mystery Virus

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I know or have heard about at least a half dozen people who are canceling overseas travel plans because of concern over the likely US/UK invasion of Iraq.
I’ve been planning to spend a few weeks traveling in China in early June. I’m not so worried about a war affecting those plans.
However, a dangerous virus which seems to have originated in Asia kind of freaks me out.
Warning over killer virus
itv.com

The mystery virus, which causes pneumonia, first struck China’s southern Guangdong province in November when five people died.
“This syndrome, SARS, is now a worldwide health threat,” WHO director-general Gro Harlem Brundtland said in a statement.

UPDATE: Just visited Joi Ito’s site and saw he’d posted on this, as well. One of his links was to this New York Times article on the virus.

War Blogs

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CNN Correspondent Kevin Sites has started a blog, posting from what will likely soon be a war zone.
. . . . .
Where Is Raed? appears to be a blog written by an Iraqi from Baghdad. There’s not much information on the writer (which is probably smart, considering his views on Iraq’s current regime), but it’s a fascinating read of life in the crosshairs.
An excerpt:

A BBC reporter walking thru the Mutanabi Friday book market (again) ends his report with: “It looks like Iraqis are putting on an air of normality.”
Look, what are you supposed to do then? Run around in the streets wailing? War is at the door eeeeeeeeeeeee! Besides, this “normality” doesn’t go very deep. Almost everything is more expensive than it was a couple of months ago, people are digging wells in their gardens, on the radio yesterday after playing a million songs from the time of the war with Iran (these are like cartoon theme songs for people my age, we know them all by heart) they read out instructions on how to make a trench and prepare for war, that is after president saddam advised Iraqis to make these trenches in their gardens.

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UPDATE: A note to those of you arriving here via a Google search for “war blogs” — for a more complete list of war-related links, visit the main page of mikemedia.

Smoking Girls

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This image was on a flyer at the local Japan Railways ticket office. It looks like it’s advertising a gallery exhibit sponsored by JR. Here’s the website. The exhibit is the one called “Kokuren Shonen (UN Boy).”

Look Elsewhere For Good Snowboarding Pics

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I recently wrote about how Google gives blogs high ranking in search results.
Currently, about 40-50 visitors a day are reaching my site via search results for “snowboarding pics.” They’re landing on this page, which is ranked second on Google for the above search phrase.
As much as I appreciate new readers, I feel a bit like they’re getting a raw deal when they come to my site looking for snowboarding photos. Anyone who is doing a Google search is probably looking for more of these kinds of photo, rather than the tame offerings I currently have posted.
I’d say this points to a problem with the way Google is currently providing results. My snowboarding pics entry doesn’t deserve to be ranked so high.

Switch To A Better World

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Making the rounds these days is a recommendation to dump AAA and switch to A Better World for your roadside assistance insurance.
A Better World promises:

We are the only roadside assistance and travel club that strives to balance your transportation needs with your desire to protect the environment. We advocate on behalf of the consumer and the environment by donating an amount equal to 1% of annual revenues toward environmental clean-up efforts and by providing unique eco-friendly travel alternatives.

Hana Anticipation

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Spring is just around the corner, and that means the cherry blossoms will soon be spreading across Japan like a pink tide. Starting from the southernmost tip of the country, the progression of blossoms will move steadily northward, followed with rapt attention by the media and a population ready for the annual cherry-blossom viewing parties (a chance to have fun and get drunk outside after the cold, winter season).
Like the ever-lengthening creep of the Christmas season (soon to begin right after Labor Day weekend in America), marketers in Japan appear to be starting the sakura season early.
Suntory has introduced a special flavor to its Super Chi-Hi line of alcoholic drinks called Hana, the Japanese word for flower. Flavored with cherry blossoms (I’m guessing artificial cherry flavor) and lemon, it’s packaged in the lovely pink cans you see above.
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Although the cherry blossoms won’t “arrive” here in Nagano for at least another month, the eager folks at the Midori department store just couldn’t wait that long. Earlier this week, they planted two trees in front of the store which were meticulously grafted with plastic cherry blossoms. They looked a little out of place in the falling snow the other day.