Nina Simone has died, but her voice will never fade.
Another Sunday, Another BBQ
…a frock, with flip-flops. We were playing frisbee in the rain.
Just In Time, I Say
It’s good when body trends swing in the right direction (outward, in this case). Combine this sexy belly trend to the growing re-acceptance of body hair and I’m in the right place at the right time.
Is the potbelly the new gay ideal?
Guardian Unlimited
If you are a man coming to terms with the fact that all his trousers are too small and are destined for Oxfam, you are now not only a style icon, but a sex symbol. Tell your gay best friends of our general potbelly rule of thumb: a 36 inch waist is acceptable, 38 is just greedy.
Of course, the sexiest thing of all remains the ability to not care a whit.
Nothing Butt Options
Now that spring has arrived, it’s time to turn off the heated toilet seat that served me so well during the cold winter months. Mine is just a simple model, with a small temperature control knob for the heated seat. Other toilets in Japan offer many more options, like the one above with its handy remote console panel.
Let’s see, looks like there’s the butt-washing option, and then a breast-washing option? Huh? Okay, at least the off button is really obvious. But what are those squiggly arrows that make it look like some sort of exchange of fluids is involved? I was unable to get the live video technical support (on the right) to work.
America: The Secret Society
Salon has a piece on the increasing powers of secrecy wielded by the U.S. government, and the deterioration of important checks and balances in the system. The situation is bad enough now, but it will get worse if planned legislation is passed.
The secret society
Salon.com News
In the war on terror — and outside of it — the Bush administration is finding increasing latitude to operate with secrecy as the norm, and accountability the exception. Congress has handed the administration broad new powers without requiring it to account for their use, while courts have repeatedly granted the government the right to operate outside the public view and — at times — without any possibility of judicial review.
And if Attorney General John Ashcroft and Utah Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch have their way, the situation may soon get much worse. Ashcroft’s Justice Department is apparently eyeing legislation — dubbed PATRIOT Act II — that would further expand the administration’s powers to act in unilateral silence. Meanwhile, Hatch is working to make PATRIOT Act I permanent now — it is currently set to expire in 2005 — before Congress can consider whether the Justice Department is making appropriate use of the broad surveillance powers provided by it.
Steven Aftergood, a researcher who monitors government secrecy issues for the Federation of American Scientists, calls Hatch’s proposal a “direct assault” on Congress’ ability to monitor the Justice Department. “If it goes through, we might as well go home,” he told Salon. “The administration will have whatever authority it wants, and there won’t be any separation of powers at all.”
The article doesn’t really cover much new, but it does offer a reminder that there is still time for Congress to temper the excesses of the Bush administration. This will only happen if members of Congress have the support of their constituents. Now is the time to contact your representatives to let them know how you feel about the direction Bush is taking the country.
(To read Salon’s content, you’ll need to either be a member or watch a short commercial.)
Quality Television
While your television is gathering dust during TV Turnoff Week, you can ease the withdrawals by watching these clips of a Japanese television show featuring bar hostesses settling old scores on the mat.
In a dark room, a crowd of hostesses (the women who entertain clients at certain kinds of bars) crowd around a mat, where two of them wrestle, punch, pull hair and constantly have to pull down their mini skirts. The winner gets to shove a pie in the face of the loser.
Clip One: The Fight (QuickTime Movie 2MB)
Clip Two: The Pie (QuickTime Movie 1.5MB)
The show continued with a segment that included women in bikinis reading off their body measurements and jump roping (in heels, by the sound of it).
Clip Three: Bikini Jump Roping (QuickTime Movie 3MB)
Take A Break From The Tube
This coming week is TV Turnoff Week. Take a break from the onslaught. You just might find you like it.
If your boob tube isn’t a behemoth, stick it in the closet or basement and put a plant in its place. If it’s more of the monster-size variety, cover it with that nice shawl your grandmother knitted. At the very least, hide the remote — it’s amazing what’ll happen when you can’t channel surf without moving your fat ass off the couch.
Bonus points for the best idea on how to spend one’s time away from the tube.
Updated People Pics
I’ve finally updated one of my photo albums that was supposed to have been updated regularly. There are now new people.
Viewing The Apricot Blossoms
Temperatures in the Nagano area broke into the 20s (Celsius) yesterday, and suddenly it feels like winter is really gone. Today felt more like what I’d think of as a Seattle summer day. The flowering trees are blooming, and the cherry trees should be in full bloom this weekend, perfect timing for the parties that will crowd beneath the trees in parks throughout the city.
Plum and apricot trees bloom earlier than the cherry trees, and this morning I went with a friend to see apricot orchards the small town of Mori, south of Nagano.
The photo above is the idealized version of this season — all flowers, beauty and nature. Unfortunately, beauty and nature in Japan are usually accompanied by hordes of sightseers, tour buses, traffic jams, parking lots with uniformed attendants, old men with big cameras, souvenir shops, food vendors, and a healthy dose of concrete.
Since my friend and I arrived early in the day, we missed the big crowds. Less than a hundred other people were milling around, taking in the view and buying plenty of dried apricots and apricot-flavored ice cream.
The three photos below show the less picturesque side of the outing: the parking attendant giving my friend, Kinuko, an area map; one of the parking lots with the Japanese equivalent of a double-wide trailer serving as a souvenir/ice cream shop; a red and white stripped blossom-viewing platform.
Saddamy
Huh? Saddam Starred in Gay Porn Films
The article is dated April 10, but I swear it must be a typo — the ‘0’ accidentally added when an intern fell onto the keyboard laughing while typing an April Fools story. If that’s not the case, the boys in the U.S. propaganda department are getting a little out of control.
(link via Trash Addict)