Photo of the Week -- The Origin of Fear? 21 Feb 2011

We're all familiar with my well-documented fear of clowns. The dudes just creep me out. I have accepted the fact, gone through therapy, and tried to not let it control my life. That's why, as I was digging through photos of my childhood I was initially surprised to find this gem from a long time ago:

That's right. I dressed as a clown -- the very thing I still wet my pants about upon even hearing the mention of -- for Halloween one year. Which leads me to asking: I wonder what the origins of my fear of clowns were, and when it started? Obviously it was after the day this picture was taken... otherwise my chubby little Japanese face would have been twisted in an expression of inconsolable fear immediately upon seeing my own reflection. Perhaps I don't want to delve into this. It could turn into a Bourne-like scenario where I find out crazy things about my past that were better left buried.


And of all coincidences, I was studying GRE vocabulary words yesterday and here is the example sentence for the word "engender". THIS IS VERBATIM: "His fear and hatred of clowns was engendered when he witnessed the death of his father at the hands of a clown."

I realize children aren't studying for these standardized tests, but this is a demented example sentence. Is this a sign I should just forget about some sort of further education? I mean, am I going to be physically assaulted by a clown whilst taking the GRE? Help?

Happy Monday. I'll be busy quelling paranoia about a clown attack.

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Weekly Selects #48

Fairly slow week, but let's do this:

-Via Email from Lexi, sending me a link to a page titled "Top Ten Most Useless Products Ever" -- my personal favorite was the Wearable Dog House:

I'm happy to say that a Japanese product made the list. Frankly, I would have been shocked if it were otherwise. What I'm sad about is that American society has reached the extent of laziness where we encourage the laziness of our pets. I guess asking your dog to, um, walk, while you go on a walk with him is asking too much of him.

-Via Google Reader Share, perhaps the biggest pair of endearingly nerdy losers:

(Please disregard that both males happen to be Asian)

-Via Email from Case:

I didn't read this, I just saw "Japan" and "Strange" and thought you might be interested.

Well, I didn't read it either -- mostly out of pride. If Case didn't read it, why should I? (This is why I need to hire a screener of the content sent to me). I browsed the photos and it might be worth checking out if you're planning a trip to the Land of the Rising Sun anytime soon...it's an article about "13 of Japan’s Most Strangely Stylish Hotels"

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Photo of the Week -- The Hobbit is Coming 14 Feb 2011

Well, as part of my "reclamation" (yes, I'm a project and always will be) as an "uncultured and unrefined philistine", I am watching the BBC mini-series North & South with Mrs. RoSA. (All quotations are approximations and/or completely fabricated) I pointed out somewhere between my incessant snide remarks and sleeping that the dude playing Mr. Thornton (Richard Armitage) has an awesome voice, and Mrs. RoSA replied "Yes. He'll make a mighty Thorin."

Agreed. Mr. Armitage will be playing the lead dwarf, Thorin, in The Hobbit that is currently in production.

I recently re-read the book -- the first time since my illiterate days of childhood* -- and it was awesome. The Lord of Rings trilogy is one of my favorites, but The Hobbit is much more a display of Tolkien's wit and light-heartedness. There's just not as much (ie the end of the world) at stake and it's a fun read. (Plus I don't foresee any longing and uncomfortable stares shared between Bilbo and any of the dwarves, a la Frodo and Sam fjwionav... [<-- Sorry, I just shuddered], so that's an added bonus for anyone who found those scenes in Return of the King unbearable. That, and Bilbo won't be a worthless protagonist like Frodo. What a loser) And with 13 dwarves, that will be a lot of facial hair floating around in each scene. Awesome.

*The recently revealed family story is that, because I didn't read as much as my sisters who always had their noses buried in books, Shigeko thought I was more or less an illiterate teenager. So apparently she pulled my oldest sister Jen aside and asked her to get me reading so I wouldn't end up eating out of a dumpster for the rest of my life. Jen's book of choice was The Hobbit.

Happy (late) Monday to you. I was busy buying flowers and chocolates and dinner for the Mrs.

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Weekly Selects #47

Weekly Selects again. Let's. Do. This.

--Via Email from Saree, an article about the Chinese air force:

Chinese air force drill looks awfully similar to ‘Top Gun’

Basically, to make a live exercise look good, the Chinese stole footage from Top Gun. I can't say I'm all that surprised -- the Chinese virtually steal all of their technology anyway, so stealing movie footage just seems a matter of course. But if you're going to steal from a movie about fighter planes, why settle on something from the 80's? Why not a more modern one, like Stealth? Case, any rebuttals?

--Via Google Reader. We all know I love the new Batman movies, so this comic was just too funny:

(from here)

And lastly...

--Via email from Jay, about a BYU student who wrote in to the school's newspaper (The Daily Universe) to complain about the campus-wide mania surrounding Jimmer Fredette, star basketball player, and did the foolish thing of 1) writing in under her full name, and 2) posting about it on her publicly-viewable Facebook account. Her Facebook Wall has now been bombarded (quite hilariously):

That poor girl has no idea what she started

So, first off, The Daily Universe is in the running for "Printed Materials That Are Most Painful to Read," alongside the chapter on STDs for my college health class (pictures included!), and anything written by Stephanie Meyer. It's just awful. But that's not really the point. More to the point: writing into the BYU school newspaper and saying you don't want to hear about the school's latest sports star is like living in the Soviet Union and writing into Pravda to say you're sick of hearing all this crap about Lenin. Do you have the right to your opinion? Absolutely. Do you have the right to express it? Absolutely. Should you? Now that's a different question altogether, and this girl's FB Wall is evidence of that.

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How Lazy am I?

I often ask myself this question, and because the answer is unfailingly something along the lines of "really, " "quite," or "disappointingly so," I am rarely surprised by what I find. I'm a dude. I'm lazy. It is a law of physics.

Yesterday, however, I shocked even myself when I discovered the extent of my laziness.

Mrs. RoSA likes her soap dispensers. Something about liking things that "smell nice" and hygiene. And other stuff that I don't care about.

As I washed my hands yesterday, I realized that I liked the foam soap dispensers that we have much more than the liquid ones that we have, and the reason was quite simple (and, frankly, pathetic): the foam soap is already a lather and requires no effort to feel like I've washed my hands; liquid soap, on the other hand, requires that you scrub your hands together, and heaven forbid I be forced to exert myself in any way in the name of proper hygiene.

Anybody find themselves in a similar, if not the same, Lazy Camp as me? Please share so I'm not stuck on my couch eating a bag of Cheetos with my gut exposed whilst it hangs over my sweatpants all by myself. Metaphorically speaking, of course.

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Stranded -- Photo of the Week 7 Feb 2011

So, there have been some snowstorms sweeping the nation as of late. I was most impressed by this photo:

(Source: E. Jason Wambsgans, Chicago Tribune)

 

 

We had a pretty bad storm out in the DC area a week and a half ago that absolutely crippled traffic around here. Work the morning after was like listening to a bunch of war stories: "It took me 7 hours to get home..." "...It took me 11 hours to get home." "I had to abandon my car and walk the three miles home..." "...I had to cannibalize my rugby teammates in order to survive" etc etc. It was stunning how much the roadways shut down around here; my commute home made me feel both lucky and a slight tinge of survivors' remorse (it only took me 45 minutes). But really, I think it was just the Man upstairs looking out for me -- knowing my impatience with traffic, if I were stuck for that long, I probably would have become very, very angry.

Happy Monday to you, folks. And if you're wondering, I still have not bought a snowshovel.

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Weekly Selects #46

--Via Email from Sister Jen, an article for all the vegetarians:

my kind of gateway drug (click here for article)

The esteem in which bacon is held can grow no larger, as apparently it serves as the gateway meat through which vegetarians transform from being conscientious abstainers to maniacally tracking, killing, and skinning their own meat and then eating it raw (all of this done, of course, with blood-shot eyes and a frothing mouth).

Why Xena? I have no idea. It was the best picture I could find. 

--Via Email from Josh M:

And I thought the Japanese were nuts...

Yes, there is a restaurant in Taiwan that is toilet-themed. What do I mean by toilet-themed? Here's an excerpt:

In the beginning, we mainly sold ice cream – a big pile of chocolate ice cream sold in containers shaped like a squat toilet.

It is really quite disgusting, actually, and I hope that when China invades Taiwan they launch at least 20 of the 20,000 short-range missiles that they have aimed at the small island-nation at this restaurant. It's all I ask.

Coincidentally, Kate sent me this very amusing article of the 10 Weirdest Restaurants Around the World. It really is worth checking out.


--Via Email from JMill:

This may be one of my favorite videos of all time

Hopefully it works for you. I don't know why this is so funny, but it is.


--Via IM from Josh M (click here for full article):

A woman who appeared on the American program “My Strange Addiction” shocked audiences when she admitted her bizarre habit of eating sofa stuffing....[and] has eaten a total of seven couches and two chairs.

A psychologist said that the woman may need to find other ways to alleviate stress, which I thought was more than obvious. Some better ways to relieve stress, just off the top of my head: ANYTHING BUT EATING SOFA STUFFING.

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Some Football Humor

In honor of Super Bowl, quite possibly the funniest thing I have seen in a really, really long time. Thanks to Jen for the pass:



So just think about all of that before you get to screamin' and hollerin' about your football game, Steelers and Packers fans.

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