Something to Tickle the Brain

I love numbers! And Calculus (but this has nothing to do with this post, not really). However, this post has something to do with numbers. An uncanny "coincidence" involving numbers.

The "Coincidence"

In recent years, there have been three devastating earthquakes. The first of these three is the 2008 Sichuan earthquake measured at 8.0M in China on May 12 (5/12). The second one is the 2010 Haiti earthquake measured at 7.0M near Port-au-Prince on January 12 (1/12). The most recent one is the 2010 earthquake off the coast of Chile measured at 8.8M on February 27 (2/27). Now, if you list the dates (just the month and day) of these disasters with one stacked on top of another in the order of occurrence, you will get something like the picture below.

Notice anything unusual?
Try reading the numbers first horizontally, and then vertically. Do the numbers look like they are in the same order? Well, they are. Reading the numbers either horizontally or vertically will give you the dates of the earthquakes in the order that they occurred (given that you are reading top to bottom and left to right).

I don't know what this means (nothing bad I hope). But it is very strange.

Farewell Mr. Salinger

Photograph courtesy of the Washington Post

One month has passed by since J. D. Salinger left this world, but his works and lasting influence remind with the living. This American author leaves behind a collection of works that has touched the lives of readers from across the globe. Whether one considers Salinger’s works to be insightful and brilliant or offensive and valueless (which is a little harsh in my opinion), one cannot deny their influence. From American teenagers to Japanese animators, people are captured by his words in novels such as The Catcher in the Rye. This popular novel, with its themes of teenage alienation and loss of innocence, has struck a chord with its audience and has brought Mr. Salinger widespread fame. However, Salinger seems determined to avoid this fame and became reclusive, moving from New York to Cornish, New Hampshire. He also seems determined to prevent his novel, The Catcher in the Rye, from being made into a movie with interesting reasons (click here for his letter of refusal to a Mr. Herbert). Despite all his efforts, his name and his works have traveled far and wide, and his fame even spread to Japan. In the anime Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, numerous references are made to Salinger. For example, the main plotline features the Laughing Man, a genius hacker in the futuristic world of Ghost in the Shell, is a direct reference to a short story by Salinger titled “The Laughing Man.” The Laughing Man logo that is used to censor the hacker’s face in the show also contains a reference to Salinger in the form of a quote (see if you can figure out where the quote is from in the picture below). Sorry Mr. Salinger, it seems that you are never far away from anyone, at least in thought. So thank you for your hard work and rest in peace J. D. Salinger.

Photograph courtesy of Wikipedia article

Coming Soon: A reading of an excerpt from The Catcher in the Rye

Relax and Discover

Once again it is the end of a busy week and the time has come for a peaceful rest. One way to perfect one’s relaxing is to drown in the beautiful sounds of relaxing music. If one is familiar with Japanese composers, then the name Joe Hisaishi may be conjure up wonderous sounds. Or one may be more familiar with the movies that he composed the soundtracks for, such as Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, Kikujiro’s Summer, and Departures. But if none of this information rings a bell, then that is okay too. After all, it is never too late to discover great things. And, in my opinion, Joe Hisaishi’s works are brilliant. Continue for more, such as a sample of his music.

The Endangered (soon to be extinct) Hummer

Remember Hummer? Well, with the current situation, Hummer will forever be just a memory. Hummer, “the off-road vehicle that once symbolized America’s love for hulking SUV’s” according to The New York Times, has faced declining sales ever since the spike in gasoline prices. Having filed for bankruptcy on Hummer, GM has been trying to sell the brand to investors. Last year, GM has signed a deal with the Chinese company Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machines Co. for the money-losing brand. However, resistance from Chinese regulators has ultimately put a stop to GM’s plan. After the deal with Tengzhong fell through, GM has decided to close the Hummer brand.

Sadly, this seems to be the end of the road for Hummer. Rest in peace, or, as time passes, probably in pieces. Out of this whole depressing situation, Tengzhong seems to have grabbed a small victory, at least according to me. The relatively unknown company in China has certainly gained same prominence through the media in China. So as GM’s business starts to wind down, Tengzhong’s may start to look up. Also, Tengzhong has avoided a burden that would have tagged along with the Hummer deal. Along with purchasing the Hummer brand, Tengzhong will have to support workers in Hummer’s automobile union. With hundreds of retirees and workers in the United States to support, Tengzhong would have brought itself a load too heavy to maintain. However, the collapsed deal is the perfect way out for the heavy machines company. So perfect that it makes one wonder if this is planned. But that is just speculation. As with everything, Hummer must come to an end sometimes and the end always seems to bring sadness to someone.

What’s in a name? That which we call…a diaphragm

Diaphragm? "Click" on the portal (the picture) to learn more.

Henohenomoheji

Ohayou gozaimasu (“good morning” to the English readers)! Remember those lovely childhood drawings? Well, today I am going to introduce to the audience the Henohenomoheji man!! Do not worry it will make sense (maybe) soon enough. However, before the Henohenomoheji man can be revealed, one must first be introduced to the writing system that forms him. Thus, one must learn a little bit about the Japanese writing system, specifically, hiragana (ひらがな). more...

Rainy Sounds

One pastime of mine is surfing the web (mostly YouTube) for new and often random music to listen to. Generally, I focus on Asian music from China, Korea and Japan. Sometimes the music is great, other times funny, but no matter what, the music, which often comes with a video, is always entertaining in its own way.

In order to share my discoveries, I am going to attempt, for the first time, to try to copy YouTube videos to my blog. For the computer-challenged me, a test-run must be performed. If this turns out to be successful, then there will be more videos to come.



I have selected this song based on its title, which contains my name, "Rain." Please sit back (or not) and enjoy "No Rain, No Rainbow" by the Japanese group Homemade Kazoku.

Fruits: Eat Them or Draw Them?

People say that eating fruits is good for you,
but I have discovered that drawing them is
also good for me.

It’s a New Year Again…Grrr

It is February 14, 2010, and millions (or even billions) of people from around the world are celebrating this glorious day. However, they are not celebrating the heart-shaped, candy-filled Valentine’s Day; they are welcoming the year of the tiger on the Chinese lunar calendar with warm food, parades, and fireworks (where it is allowed). Possibly the most important holiday of the Chinese culture, Chinese New Year is celebrated every year with grandeur. Some important traditions to follow on this day are:

• Good food. The beginning of a new year calls for a full and delicious meal. Common dishes include fish and dumplings. Eating fish on New Year signifies surpluses for the next year as the Chinese word for fish is 鱼 (pronounced yǘ), which is a homophone for surplus (鱼) in Chinese. While various places in China have different traditional meals, the most important part is just to have good food with one’s family.

• Spending the day with family is a must. Younger generations generally visit their elders and wish them a happy new year. Elders often give children New Year money in red envelopes to begin the year.

• One usually receives new clothes. This is especially important in the past, when people do not have many clothes to wear.

• Some traditions that are not seen frequently anymore are 对联 (dui lian) and firecrackers. Dui lian are Chinese sayings written on red papers that people paste on their door frames. Firecrackers have, unfortunately, led to many injuries over the year, causing many places to ban them.

• A more recent tradition, especially in mainland China, is watching CCTV’s New Year Gala. Running for approximately six hours, this program has become a central feature on New Year Eve. It features dances, songs, comedy skits, and many other performances that entertains families all night.

With old and new traditions in mind, hopefully everyone had a great start to the year of the tiger.

Here is a link to a clip of a song and the countdown from CCTV's New Year Gala: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtFlx0m1IWk&feature=channel

Are They Related?

Dear fans of soccer and followers of random and obscure news (at least what is considered as obscure in the western world), here are two pieces of news for your viewing pleasure. But everyone else is welcomed to read this too.

News #1: Over the past two months, the scandal-filled Chinese Football Association (CFA) has been under investigation for bribery, corruption, and match fixing. About 20 officials, players, and managers have been arrested, including the vice chairman of the CFA, in this clean-up effort.

News #2: As one of the most beloved sports in China, men’s soccer has brought nothing but disgrace to its devoted Chinese fans for the past couple of decades. Despite the sad plays, dramas, and scandals surrounding the men’s national soccer team, fans still rush to their games to cheer them on through their inevitable losses. That is, until this week. China has pulled a pleasantly surprising win over South Korea in the East Asian Men’s Soccer Championship, a win that has eluded the Chinese men’s team for 32 years.

I want to offer a small thanks to the men’s team for this pre-Chinese New Year gift, which is definitely being enjoyed by the fans and the general public of China (after all, who doesn’t want their country’s representative to stop humiliating themselves). So as devoted fans finally get to celebrate after a few decades of waiting, there is a looming question. Are the two events described above somehow related?

Let it Snow, and Let it Build

Place local high school students in Odori Park with buckets of snow in the year 1950 and watch it snowball into the renowned Sapporo Yuki-matsuri, or the Sapporo Snow Festival. The festival and the efforts of those students have since gained international prominence with the first massive snow sculpture built by the Self Defense Force in 1955 and through the 1972 Winter Olympic Games hosted by Sapporo. Along with its growing popularity, the Sapporo Snow Festival has grown in the number of statues and sculptures (from six to somewhere in the hundreds), activities, and has expanded from occupying just the grounds of Odori Park to flooding the space of the Community Dome Tsudome and the main streets of Susukino.

In addition to the millions of tourists congregating in Sapporo during the week-long festival, artists, and possibly engineers, from all over the world flock there to free beautiful figures from their icy prisons. They combine art and engineering to create the most marvelous snow statues and ice sculptures. For seven days every year, Sapporo is transformed into a winter paradise that attracts people from snowy Sweden all the way to sunny Hawaii with its mesmerizing artworks.

For more information and pictures of Sapporo and the Snow Festival, please visit:

http://www.snowfes.com/english/ (offical site of the festival)

http://www.welcome.city.sapporo.jp/english/index.html (City of Sapporo)