It's more than... goooood
After I gave up jogging a few years ago because my knees could no longer handle the stress, I got an exercise cycle to keep in shape at home. It's one of those machines that also monitor the heart rate, calories burned, spin rpm, etc and can be programmed to simulate jogging courses of varying degrees of difficulty. My regimen is to bike at least twice a week, or 3-4 times if I feel more energetic.

The machine has been tremendously useful since I can force myself into exercising with minimum fuss when I get home late or when the weather is bad. There is one thing I dislike though. It is just plain stingy when it comes to offering encouragement: no matter how hard the routine is, it flashes only a basic "Good Job" message when I finish. And it is not only this brand or model. When I travel and use cycle machines in hotel gyms, often commercial machines more advanced than mine, I still get the same message. Is it really so hard to come up with something different and original?

I got up early this morning for my exercise since I have things planned for Memorial Day. Lately I have been pushing myself harder at the close of the exercise instead of coasting like I used to. Today I cranked the level up one notch and finished with a burst of speed in the last 3 minutes. I put everything I had into that final sprint, faster and harder than I have ever done before. I thought I was about to die and crawled off the bike exhausted and in agony, but at the same time it felt enormously satisfying. As I turned back, the bike was beeping and flashing the same old "Good Job" line, almost smirking. Arghh... Why couldn't it play Beethoven Symphony No 9, or at least roar like Tony the Tiger "You're G-r-r-reeeat"???


- posted by Woofwoof @ 5:32 AM 1 comments

 
Global warming at the North Pole
Two Intel engineers recently deployed a Wi-Fi hot spot at the Barneo camp, just 60 miles from the North Pole. The camp was a complex of tents situated on an ice cap, used by scientists for research in April when ice conditions were relatively safe. Even then, temperatures rarely exceeded -20F. They installed a wireless LAN on several Centrino laptops then used a satellite phone to connect to the Internet. The researchers were able to use the wireless network to access files at their headquarters, send and receive e-mail, conduct business transactions and, although the news bulletin didn't say, surf porn.


Researchers scanning the personals columns and purchasing enhancements
- posted by Woofwoof @ 6:47 AM 2 comments

 
Ramen Oishii Ramen
Japan is a country full of wonders but perhaps none more intriguing than ramen. It's almost religion to some. There is even a Ramen Museum in Shin-Yokohama, 3 stories of noodle shops representing all regional cuisines, with wait lines as long as an hour. Now the ramen we are talking about here is nothing like the instant stuff that comes in 50-cent cups and smells like petroleum, but a true work of art that tastes heavenly and makes you forget the burdens of life. It's one of the things I miss the most from my trips to Japan.

Fortunately there are shops in the Bay Area that come close to duplicating the Japan ramen experience, but I don't get to frequent them much because of time and distance. Then a few weeks ago someone told me of a new ramen shop called Gen Ramen not far from me -- the place has been open for over a year, but it's stuck near the back corner of a quiet shopping strip and is hard to find, like a good restaurant should be.



I went there on Tuesday and hallelujah, it was just wonderful. Not quite the stuff of museums and there were no lines, but the ramen was exquisite and beautifully prepared. I had the specialty of the house called naturally the Gen ramen, and I must say it was oishii oishii, honto ni oishii. The parking lot was as American suburbia as it could get, but inside, it was all Japan, all ramen. There were paper menus on the wall, manga comic magazines on a shelf, counters with leg room too short so you bang your knees on the wood, and cute little sesame seed dispensers. And people who slurped their soup the way ramen is meant to be slurped, and a dish charmingly misspelled "noodles with simmered pork berry." It was a magical trip and for a moment, all was right again in the world.
- posted by Woofwoof @ 7:55 AM 3 comments

 
It's not all raw fish. Really.
The State Administration of Industry and Commerce in China issued a notice this weekend banning meals served on naked bodies, officially terminating a service offered by a Japanese restaurant in southwestern China that served sushi on unclothed female university students. The ruling was that the practice "spreads commercial activity with poor culture" and insults people's moral quality. According to the Beijing Times, the service had upset many conservative city residents.

Until then, the Huaishi Cuisine Restaurant in Yunnan Province was serving sushi and other Japanese food on two naked university students as they lay on their backs. Flowers, shells and rocks also adorned the women's bodies. Customers would pay 1,000 yuan (about $120) each for the meal after making reservations up to three days in advance. A restaurant manager said that the women lay calmly as people ate, and that this style of dining existed in "ancient Japan."

I personally have two problems with this story. First, in all of my travels in Japan, and I've been to some pretty ancient-looking places, I don't recall ever seing the above service offered. And something like that, I am sure I would have remembered. Second, I just don't believe that the restaurant was shut down for morality reasons. I'll bet someone complained that the tuna and akagai weren't fresh.

No pictures today (sorry, you perverts).
- posted by Woofwoof @ 6:25 AM 1 comments

 
Kuuru Bizu
In April the Japanese government launched a new initiative they dubbed Cool Biz, designed to get salarymen and government workers to shed their neckties and jackets between June and September.

The idea is to reduce use of air conditioning and energy consumption, and in the process, help the country achieve its target for the year 2012 of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 6 percent from 1990 levels, as set in the Kyoto Protocol. They were going the wrong way; in 2003, they were actually 8 percent over. To be fair, just about every country on Earth perhaps except for Papua New Guinea and the Republic of Congo is behind on its goal, but only Japan seems to be taking this seriously. This is probably because they got to name the protocol and therefore would be shamed it it failed, and as you might know, shame is serious business over there.

But, back to Cool Biz. Some scientist determined that removal of a jacket and necktie results in a 3-degree reduction in the heat felt by the body, which means that people can be comfortable with room temperature set at 82 degrees. Or 28 Celsius if that sounds better. And with air conditioners blasting less warm air into the streets, the cities will be cooler and less air conditioning will be needed, thus starting a very beneficial cycle. The Environment minister, Yuriko Koike declared "This summer I will not allow anybody with tie or jacket into my office." Of course the minister, being a woman, doesn't have much to lose (and her comments might be counterproductive as her employees will wear a tie and jacket just to avoid her).

This is one of the few areas where I am convinced that America is way ahead of Japan. We started casual Friday a long time ago, and now in my company we have pretty much gone cold biz every day (shorts and T shirts are not uncommon in summer). I wish we would start reducing the hot air in meetings though.


President Bush modeling Cool Biz for Japan Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
- posted by Woofwoof @ 7:07 AM 0 comments

 
Cheap calories
I was at Safeway today to get milk, and over by the meat freezer, there was a display of cool-looking plastic pails. I took a closer look, and they turned out to be tubs of lard, made by the Armour company. I could hardly believe my eyes. I thought we had plenty of disgusting food already like Velveeta, Spam and hot dogs, but at least they were disguised as something vaguely edible. Not here. These rows upon rows of buckets of processed pig fat in bold green and white lettering were meant to be in your face, nothing subtle about it. By the way, you might want to hurry; they are on sale this week.


- posted by Woofwoof @ 10:12 PM 1 comments

 
I see three green ducks and a turtle
I am sure you remember the game where you are shown two nearly identical pictures, and you have to find 7 or 8 differences between them. Today being a lazy Sunday, I am pleased to present you with such a time waster.

One of the pictures below is from a traditional bullfighting event in Niigata, Japan called "Ushi no Tsunotsuki" that was held in early May. According to the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper, the event is thought to have started about 500 years ago as a religious ritual. Unlike Spanish or Mexican bullfighting, the fighting here consists of battles between two opposing bulls that attack each other with their horns. Spurred on by the calls of "beaters," the one-ton beasts clash violently, with spectators cheering and shouting encouragement. Some bulls just run away without fighting, much to the disappointment of spectators, but participants said the event went well. "The bulls were more lively than I had expected," said one 68-year-old resident who entered his own bull in the event.

The other picture is probably not from a traditional bullfighting event in Niigata, Japan. If you figure out which picture is which, and find at least five differences in less than one minute, you win the Distinguished Award of the Eagle Eye of Northern California. If you don't, you really should consider going to Japan to see the bulls up close. They are big but gentle, and some of them even wear loincloths.




- posted by Woofwoof @ 5:10 AM 6 comments

 
Award for Stupid Award
You know all these car awards: J.D.Power and Associates Highest Ranked in Initial Quality, Motor Trend Car of the Year, Consumer Reports Best Buy, etc. It seems that nowadays you need to create an award just to sell magazines. Now comes a new one, although I'm not sure what it's designed to sell. The International Carwash Association has just named the Chrysler 300C the "Most Washable Car of 2005".

Among the criteria are smooth aerodynamic lines that do not catch and retain dirt, windshield wipers that are concealed under the rear edge of the hood, and bumpers, mirrors and ornamentation that are securely attached. One of the car guys at Chrysler proudly said: "We haven't overlooked anything, including the execution of items like the fuel door and vehicle badging, which were done without notches to avoid catching towels and car-wash brushes. We want to help our owners show their pride in ownership by keeping the vehicles clean and well maintained."

If that doesn't make you want to rush out and buy a 300C, I don't know what will. I hear it's got a nice hood, and mirrors that don't fall off.


Smooth, "clean" lines. Click on picture to enlarge.
- posted by Woofwoof @ 7:05 AM 1 comments

 
PhD in Garbology
In my city, starting about 10 years ago, we have to separate our trash into 3 bins: one for "greens" (yard waste such as lawn clippings and for me, a lot of dead plants), another for recyclables (glass, aluminum, plastic and paper), and the third for other trash. If we have large cardboard pieces, we stack them next to the bins and the garbage man will pick them up separately. Once a year after Christmas, they make a special run for discarded Christmas trees, at least the ones that neighborhood kids haven't dragged back to their tree houses.

I am pretty proud to live in such an enlightened place. The greens are turned into compost, and the recyclables are re-sorted at the city garbage plant by type of material and recycled. Only the other trash goes to the landfill. Once in a while, I cheat and put a plastic bottle into the general trash, either because I feel lazy or rebellious, or because I have no idea if a particular kind of plastic is recyclable or not. Same thing for metal; is it really aluminum or some other metal? But generally I and most people stick to the rules because the city occasionally sends out a newsletter thanking us for helping recycle half of our garbage.

Now I read that the Japanese have once again put us to shame. The city of Yokohama recently doubled the number of garbage categories to 10; residents are given a 27-page booklet on how to sort their trash, including detailed instructions on 518 items. For example, lipstick tubes go into small metals or plastics but lipstick goes into burnables (Unrecycled trash is usually burned since land is too scarce to use as landfills). A kettle under 12 inches goes into small metals, but if larger goes into bulky refuse. Socks? If only one, it is burnable; a pair goes into used cloth, though only if the socks "are not torn, and the left and right sock match."

The small town of Kamikatsu goes one step further. They have 44 garbage classifications, for everything from egg cartons to tofu containers and disposable chopsticks. They are already recycling 80% of their trash, and want to reach 100% by the year 2020. To encourage compliance, the "other" trash has to be put in a clear plastic bag (recyclable, I hope) so your neighbors and the garbage man can see that you are not violating.

I was thinking to visit Japan this summer or next, but now I wonder. I am not sure I would pass their trash separating requirements. And I'm afraid I'd be spending all of my vacation time either counting socks and sorting garbage, or more likely, in jail for cheating.
- posted by Woofwoof @ 4:02 AM 0 comments

 
Bird mom
Today is Mother's Day, so here is a Mom-related story.

I have a little gazebo in my backyard with a couple of planters hanging from it. The whole thing is covered by a vine which I trim back regularly since I like a lot of sunlight. In the garden live a bluebird family -- I say bluebird although only one of the two birds, which I presume to be the male, is blue while the other is mostly gray with a bit of white feathers mixed in.

The birds seem to fly around a lot and don't have a permanent nest in my yard, but they do like to perch on the Japanese maple trees and on the big rocks I added a few years ago, Japanese garden style. Two summers ago, the birds discovered the planters beneath the gazebo. At first I thought they were there to escape the heat, but it turned out they were incubating eggs. It took a lot longer than I thought, but the mom was especially diligent and stayed there day and night for several weeks even after the chicks were born. Dad flew back and forth between trees and from trees to rocks, looking busy but not really doing much. I mostly watched from a distance since they were skittish during that time and would let out a loud squawk whenever anyone went near the nest.

The birds were back this year, but a lot earlier than I expected. They started in early April, which I thought was quite early because of the cold weather. But one morning I was out in the garden and looked up, and there was the mom, doe eyes watching me intently and warning me to stay back. Last week I found that the chicks had arrived because of the racket they were making. The mom was busy feeding her kids who had beaks wide open like bottomless pits, food going in one way and a constant and loud werr-werr-werr noise coming out the other.

It was raining like crazy last night, so I went out this morning to check on the birds, but the whole family had left. The mom was no longer there with her butt sticking out from under the plant, and the baby chicks were gone too. Good luck mom, and farewell little bluebirdies. Be good.
- posted by Woofwoof @ 7:08 AM 2 comments

 
Slow boxer
I have two desktop computers at home: the first is at least 6 or 7 years old and is a Pentium III 450 MHz, top of the line when it came out; the second which I got about 2 years ago is a Pentium 4 2.8 GHz, and is the workhorse computer when I am not on the laptop. The 450 is relegated to the rec room where I sometimes do my exercise or watch TV, but since the room doesn't have a phone jack, I wasn't able to use that PC for email or web surfing. That all changed last week when I got a cheap wireless USB adapter for it, so now it is connected to DSL just like everything else in the house. It's nice, I thought. I can work in the rec room that is sunny and bright, read blogs there, listen to music, even do my work since most of it is email and typing and 450 MHz is plenty fast enough.

That's the background. Here is the story. Bruce Springsteen just came out with his new CD, Devils and Dust. I am a fan of all things Springsteen, even his least good stuff, so I had to have it right away. During the first week, I was listening to it a lot, even during exercise using the PC to play it. There is a beautiful, somber song called The Hitter about a tired worn boxer who is coming home to his mother, and it begins like this:

Come to the door, Ma, and unlock the chain
I was just passin' through and got caught in the rain
There's nothin' I want, nothin' that you need say
Just let me lie down for a while and then I'll be on my way

The CD played fine on the main computer, but on the 450 MHz PC, the sound was shrill, trembling and choppy, like a tiny Yugo trying to go up an East Bay hill and getting passed by a cargo truck. And the song sounded like co-co-me-to-to-to-theee-do-oo-oor-Ma-aa-aa-an-and-u-uun-lo-lo-ck-kk-th-ee-e-cha-i-in-n. After a few minutes of listening to this disaster, I was laughing hard; I realized then that my old PC is really old, and the boxer is old and slow too. No wonder he's getting beat up. Hurry Ma, let him in.
- posted by Woofwoof @ 7:07 AM 0 comments

 
Screw the pharaohs and their (food) pyramids
I was late for lunch today and had only a few minutes to grab food before my next meeting. Instead of the usual salad, I picked up a slice of some kind of ham pizza, adorned with a few chunks of pineapple and rings of sweet peppers to make it a balanced meal. It was my first taste of pizza since it seems like forever. I ran to the meeting and lo and behold, there were leftover Togo's sandwiches from a previous meeting; I couldn't pass up such good food, especially since it was free. So for lunch today, I had both the pizza and a big cut of ham and cheese sandwich, and washed it all down with a can of Pepsi, non-diet.

I scaled back my dinner to just a yogurt and an apple, and with much trepidation, entered everything into the food log sheet. Well, I was 50% over on sodium, 10% over on calories, 30% under on vegetables, and surprisingly, 20% under on meat and beans. That was probably right; there wasn't that much ham on the pizza and in the sandwich. But, ham or no ham, I did feel like a royal pig today. Fat and happy.
- posted by Woofwoof @ 10:19 PM 0 comments

 
Nothing is for dinner
One of the things I like about the new government dietary guidelines is that they provide a way to customize your food needs to your body type and energy level. Since last week, I have been tracking my food intake and physical activities throughout the day using MyPyramid. Before I go home from work, I would look at the summary and see how much budget I have left for calories, fat, cholesterol, sodium, etc and decide my dinner accordingly.

The biggest problem has been that there is usually not much room left for dinner. The "beef is what's for dinner" plan has become more or less "starve or die." Or "starve and die." It's not that I go over budget for everything since I try to do a reasonable job of rationing my lunch, but the frequent issue is that it's tough to find anything to eat that doesn't blow away my sodium allowances. The simplest answer could be a yogurt which also helps satisfy the milk requirements, but then I would be short on the meat side and that little known parameter called fun or quality of life. I guess the only path is to skip the chips and go running to open up the food window. What a devious way to make people exercise more. Sigh...

But then there are people with bigger problems. When the calculation system first became available last week, a bug in the software resulted in recommendations of zero food servings and zero calories per day for people over 65 years old. It sounded suspiciously like the Terry Schiavo diet. A Sacramento TV station consulted a health expert who promptly offered this helpful opinion: "Obviously, if you're over 65, you still need more than zero calories to survive." I hope there was an error in my program too. Somebody must have seriously undercounted my meat and salt entitlements.
- posted by Woofwoof @ 6:02 AM 0 comments