Monday, December 31, 2007

We Win, We Win!

Montana has finished first in per capita consumption of booze at bars:

National average: $52.
Montana: $258.

Just think if J-Hole and Frenchie moved to Montana -- we might catch up to Canada! New Year greetings to all, including any New Year's Eve Babies out there.

Sunday, December 30, 2007

Notes from the Texas Bowl

1. Paid Attendance: 62,000+
2. Actual Attendance: Somewhat less
3. Both bands wear feathers in their hats. I didn't know any band still employed the gimmick, let alone 2 from Texas alone (TCU and UH).
4. The University of Houston Color Guard (girls who dance around with flags) are worse than any other color guard -- in history. At one point a young lass got so annoyed she just set the flag down on the field and continued to dance without it.
5. The "Biggest Holiday Firework Show in Texas" was not very big (this was a postgame event).
6. A "Texas Twister" costs $5.50 and is a pretzel (apparently the Texas Titty Twister is something entirely different). A pretzel is $3.50 and looks, tastes and smells just like a Texas Twister.
7. The game itself was entertaining, finishing with Houston getting the ball at its own 2, down a touchdown, no timeouts, and two minutes to go. They made it to the TCU 19 and had three shots at the end zone, but alas, all fell incomplete.

I choose not to respond to the sodomy conversation. I do not want J-Hole suing me for misinformation when he tries to stick it some girl's earhole at KTV.

Saturday, December 29, 2007

The Tonka V issue vol 4



Built 4 boyhood w/ real lead paint........
back when we didn't care or know better?

4077

G u g u a n




Slinky....... fun for a boy and a girl.

Hell, all ages:)

Low & slow

Friday, December 28, 2007

S O P O



Airlines step up in-flight Web services

JetBlue passengers will be able to check their e-mail for free next week; American exploring fee-based offerings.

Sodomy

The term comes from the Ecclesiastical Latin: pecatum Sodomiticum, or "sin of Sodom".[2] The expression has biblical origin and was used to characterize sexual acts that were attributed to citizens of ancient Sodom and Gomorrah.

The term includes all sexual acts other than coital sex between a male and female.[2] Although not gender specific by definition, in common use sodomy generally refers to homosexual intercourse between males.

In its widest definition "sodomy" refers to anal penetration, oral sex, masturbation and paraphilia. The term is also sometimes used to describe human-animal sexual intercourse (also known as bestiality or zoophilia);[2] this is the primary meaning of the cognate German language word Sodomie.

In current usage, the term is particularly used in law.[3] Sodomy laws forbidding certain types of sex acts have been instituted in many cultures. In the various criminal codes of United States of America, the term "sodomy" has generally been replaced by "Deviant sexual intercourse", which is precisely defined by statute.[4] These laws have been under challenge and have in places been found unconstitutional or have been replaced with different acts.[5] Some countries, particularly in Africa, the Middle East and southern Asia retain "sodomy laws" against homosexual acts. Elsewhere the legal use of the term "sodomy" is restricted to rape cases where an act such as anal penetration has taken place.[6] The English term buggery is very closely related to sodomy in concept, and often interchangeably used in law and popular speech.[7][8]

Small Business

A small business may be defined as a business with a small number of employees. The legal definition of "small" often varies by country and industry, but is generally under 100 employees in the United States while under 50 employees in the European Union (In comparison, the American definition of mid-sized business by the number of employees is generally under 500 while 250 is for that of European Union). These businesses are normally privately owned corporations, partnerships, or sole proprietorships.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_business


Employment Size of Firms

Table 2a. Employment Size of Employer and Nonemployer Firms, 2004
Introductory text includes scope and methodology. These data are also available by industry and state. Table includes both establishments with payroll and nonemployers. For descriptions of column headings and rows (industries), click on the appropriate underlined element in the table.
Employment size of enterprise Firms Estab-
lish-
ments
Paid
employees
Annual
payroll
($1,000)
Sales or
Receipts
($1,000)

All firms 25,409,525 26,911,465 115,074,924 4,253,995,732 n/a
Nonemployer firms 19,523,741 19,523,741 n/a n/a 887,001,820
Employer firms 5,885,784 7,387,724 115,074,924 4,253,995,732 n/a
Firms with no employees as of March 12, but with payroll at some time during the year 802,034 803,355 0 40,043,549 n/a
Firms with 1 to 4 employees 2,777,680 2,782,252 5,844,637 165,904,564 n/a
Firms with 5 to 9 employees 1,043,448 1,055,937 6,852,769 195,519,100 n/a
Firms with 10 to 19 employees 632,682 666,574 8,499,681 257,802,789 n/a
Firms with 20 to 99 employees 526,355 692,677 20,642,614 670,418,442 n/a
Firms with 100 to 499 employees 86,538 330,447 16,757,751 587,676,161 n/a
Firms with 500 employees or more 17,047 1,056,482 56,477,472 2,336,631,127 n/a
Firms with 500 to 749 employees 5,695 66,305 3,449,491 130,408,281 n/a
Firms with 750 to 999 employees 2,709 41,835 2,331,851 87,180,964 n/a
Firms with 1,000 to 1,499 employees 2,828 57,479 3,444,427 132,832,629 n/a
Firms with 1,500 to 2,499 employees 2,281 76,491 4,396,430 179,582,908 n/a
Firms with 2,500 employees or more 3,534 814,372 42,855,273 1,806,626,345 n/a
Firms with 2,500 to 4,999 employees 1,739 106,893 6,038,196 262,111,452 n/a
Firms with 5,000 to 9,999 employees 905 120,311 6,378,292 278,396,903 n/a
Firms with 10,000 employees or more 890 587,168 30,438,785 1,266,117,990 n/a

Source: Statistics of U.S. Businesses (See industry and state detail) and Nonemployer Statistics

http://www.census.gov/epcd/www/smallbus.html


What did you get?

To the great relief of my wife, Christmas finally arrived. She has been thinking up ways to open presents since Thanksgiving - Let's open a couple so the kids (our students) can see what it's like or I think I know what that one is, so I might as well open it. I was able to fight her off until Christmas Eve when we celebrated. I enjoyed all of my gifts, some good clothes and books, but a couple stood out. A cooking apron and some DVDs.

Sounds pretty mundane, huh? Well, it just takes a little thought to allow these items to become, in my mind, unique. First is the apron. I cook and grill often. So it's practical. Okay. But where it transcends the white chef's apron or the goofy slogan apron is the material. Denim. Tough, sturdy, rugged denim. Grillwork is not prissy stuff. Fire, smoke, sizzle, sauce and juices. Denim conceals the occasional hand wipe or the flavorful exploding fat bomb until it can be pulled off ( a one-step quick release snap) and thrown into the washer. The quick release and heavy material also make it ideal for whipping up on would be grill thieves. Three tall-boy pockets make sure I have all of my, ahem, sauces in easy reach and it can also be used as a hot pad. A grill apron for men.

The DVDs earn a special look because of their content. My Uncle Don played at Tech with his friend E.J. Holub, though E.J.'s football career was a little more distinguished. He has box seat season tickets and they make the drive up from Medina to attend Tech's home games and frequently take my mother along. He knows of my support for the Red Raiders and these are the factors that make these DVDs special. 12 Tech games on DVD. Prepared by the Red Raider Club they include pregame, halftime and postgame shows, all focusing on Tech. The actual play has no commercials and much of the lag time walking back to the huddle is eliminated. It's just the right touch - quick enough to watch in a little over an hour but not so fast that the atmosphere and mood are gone. My students have really enjoyed seeing a real football game on the big screens in our classrooms. And when I tell them to "Git your guns up!" they do.

So, what about you? What interesting, wonderful or horrible gift did you get?


Help Needed - I have a high school student, Jack, that I have taught for about a year-and-half during his time at I-Ning. He has always been a hard working English student. Unlike most students, he takes the initiative, approaching me and others to engage in conversation and takes responsibility for his English learning. The last two years he has been practicing magic (and testing out his tricks in English) and he's not bad. Not great either, but he's always working and might be one day. Yesterday he came over to me and asked when I was going back to the States. I told him I was going back in the summer. That is too late. He graduates this year and I will not be back before he leaves our school. His request is a U.S. half dollar for use in some magic tricks. If anyone has one that they would be willing to give up, I and Jack both would greatly appreciate it. He really is a great kid. Let me know. Thanks.

Thursday, December 27, 2007

Remember 2007

John led me to this site jibjab. It's pretty funny. Unfortunately I can't embed the video so here is a link to remember 2007 or go to www.jibjab.com. Lot's of fun!

Happy New Year all!

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

May I recommend?

Surrender by Cheap Trick?

Yes, it does bring back memories. Yes, it does mention Indonesian junk.

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Human Powered Machines

Are you feeling fat from eating all the holiday food?

Who am I kidding, at Nihowdy, it's not food but beer that's making us fat (J-hole excluded.)

Here's an article from the delightfully named "Low Tech Magazine" about human powered appliances, etc. I always wanted a computer game that could only be played if you exercised enough - I think I would be a thinner person if Civ III had required me to bike an hour for every two played or something like that.

Monday, December 24, 2007

Last minute gift idea


The Mosquito Bug Zapper Killer. A staple here in Taiwan and I suspect throughout Southeast Asia. Just insert batteries, not alkaline as they will paikee the racket, and start zapping. Easy to use. Press the button on the handle when any flying vermin appear and hold down according to desired doneness. Also available in over-sized. Not recommended for Buddhists or PETArs.

Look at all the snow!




I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas!

Friday, December 21, 2007

Best use of organically harvested in sentence. Click on it Rye. You said you would.


If this isn't enough reason to overhaul Japan's peace constitution, nothing is.

Ishiba noted that Japan deployed its military against Godzilla in the classic monster movie.
"Few discussions have been made on what the legal grounds were for that."

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

I r v i n g



Any given Sunday:)

D a l l a s




The Big "D".......
picture taken at 80 mph on HWY 45 headin north.
From the drivers seat:)

77

A u r o r a



-6 C...... Now that's a Blaster Ball.

Procrastination

I have a final in two days I haven't prepared for. Maybe it was the twelve hour exam this weekend or the 8 hour one last Friday, but I'm not entirely excited about the prospect of Business Organizations. Maybe if we discussed actual business it would be interesting, but Corporate, Partnership and L.L.C. structures are about as exciting as icesnot. Derivative actions, fiduciary duties and agency are not why I entered law school. With this in mind, I decided to visit Red A's blog for the first time.
Now I know Ponce and others give Red A and his 'logic' trouble sometimes, but I generally stay clear of that stuff. However, I must send out a tsk tsk to all of you for agreeing with Red A* that direct links will encourage Taiwanese businessmen to return on weekends and thus spend their money on the island. Everyone knows:

1. Chinese ladies of the night are about 1/10th the price of Taiwanese ones,
2. There are screaming kids at home, and
3. Er Nai is sweeter than normal nai

Thank goodness we have my discerning media presence to set you all straight before you start buying into Red A's lies like an Alabaman falls for Bill O'Reilly.


*Nov. 19th post

S G N H o C h i M i n h C i t y







Did You Know?

  • The smallest commercial aircraft flying out of SGN is a ATR with 72 seats.
  • The shortest flight out of SGN is 31 miles.
  • SGN connects with 43 cities nonstop.
  • There are over 329 international flights per week from SGN.
I think Jason fly's the ATR, on the shortest flight out 2 1 of the 43 cities nonstop, too miss 1 of those 329 international weekly flights...............

H o C h i M i n h C i t y





Goooood Morning Vietnam!

J A P A N 30K



Mt. Fuji.......

Low and slow:)

Monday, December 17, 2007

More Palawan

Ever wonder why everyone calls him IJ?

K a l o o w n




Nathan road

D o n g g u a n



National week....... China

Z h u h a i



Next stop..... Macau

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Red State Update: Van Halen Reunion

Not what you think.

Friday, December 14, 2007

Christmas Gift Idea - Blaster Balls

Blaster Balls! A great bargain at only $20NT a pop.

Read the instructions carefully - and then disregard. I thought a pokey was like a hoosegow. The last line, however, seems sage advice. Blaster Balls are meant to be thrown on a hard surface, which produces one of two effects. If thrown on an uneven surface, such as roads or blacktops, they will make a popping sound and bounce high. If thrown on a hard, smooth surface such as the sidewalk they will hone your shrapnel-avoidance reflexes - exploding like malicious anti-personnel Gobstoppers (see below). This gift is probably best used as a fruit cake replacement - a gift given to another and not used yourself. You can place your orders through me or Mr. Bean.

Not suitable for kids under 75

The Tonka IV issue vol 3



Built 4 boyhood:)

F O C F u z h o u




Did you know?

  • There are 10 airlines operating out of FOC Airport.
  • The smallest commercial aircraft flying out of FOC Airport is a EMB with 18 seats.
  • The largest aircraft flying out of FOC Airport is a 757 with 185 seats.
  • There are 30 nonstop flights per week departing from FOC Airport.
11 weekly air carriers

J J N J i n j i a n g

Did you know?

  • JJN has 182 flights departing per week for short haul destinations.
  • The longest flight from JJN is 1,053 miles.
  • There are 3 airlines operating out of JJN.
  • Over 24,164 passengers can travel out of JJN every week.


4 airlines servin this location weekly.

Getting Old

I have a stepson who is 14. Let me warn you what that really means:

Your iTunes constantly wants to play High School Musical songs or shitty R&B/Rap stuff.

Yeah, when Ivo is 14 it will be different....different shit music interrupting your Skynard, David Alan Coe, and Rai.

Small mercy: the iTunes has several Il Divo CDs loaded into it, but never queues those up.

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Holiday Shopping on Amazon


Back to Basics TEM500 Egg-and-Muffin 2-Slice Toaster and Egg Poacher

Back to Basics? Man, if that is a basic product we need to get back to, I have to assume people are already commuting to work in flying cars by now in America.

Canada of course is still using snowmobiles as their main form of transportation, but instead of being made of wood and rope, they are now made of wrought iron and use those new fangled steam engines! My God are the kids happy this Christmas in Antigonish! No more pulling Dad around town! They only have to chop a few tons of wood to keep the snowmobiles fueled up!

UPDATE: I'm told the latest snowmobiles run directly off Athabascan tar sands and furthermore its not polite to bash Canada now that they can buy America with their spare change. I apologize for my rudeness and I hope you will let me make it up to you by having you buy me a drink with all those newly valuable Loonies you have in your pocket.

Friday, December 07, 2007

Rye's Birthday

So, Rye, how does it feel to be 40 years old, married with two kids, and secretly thinking that what you really want for your birthday is two hours of goddamn peace and quiet!

and maybe some Kirin. Yeah, some Kirin would be nice.

Happy Birthday!

p.s. I know you aren't 40 yet, but after 33 1/3 all your birthdays will feel like 40 anyways.

I'd go out to the bar to celebrate with you, but I don't know if you are even going out to bars anymore, and I am angling to get to go to Karl's house tomorrow for Axis & Allies, so I have to stay home and take care of my hell raiser.

BTW, my Mom is coming to Taiwan for Christmas. Which means, God willing Fiona is not sick, we can go to Ivo's birthday party. Yay!

p.s.s. I only know its Rye's birthday because Sandy saw me at Costco and left me a voicemail. Normally I don't keep track of my friends' birthdays. I also can't name starting line ups for sports teams or remember my own cell phone number, so its not personal.

Thursday, December 06, 2007

Bali Global Warming Conference

Check out this article. Or just read the highlights:

Two big climate conferences have been held in less than a month, both in idyllic, far-flung holiday destinations -- first Valencia, Spain, and now Bali. They were preceded by dozens of smaller gatherings. In Bangkok, Paris, Vienna, Washington, New York and Sydney, in Rio de Janeiro, Anchorage, Helsinki and the Indian Ocean island of Kurumba.

The pace is only expected to pick up, prompting some to ask if the issue is creating a "cure" industry as various groups claim a stake in efforts to curb global warming.

You think? How hard is it to decide to start cranking out nuclear power plants while we wait for the car companies figure out what kind of electric car will be used in the future (the main issue is with the kind of battery.)
The U.N. estimates 47,000 tons of carbon dioxide and other pollutants will be pumped into the atmosphere during the 12-day conference in Bali, mostly from plane flights but also from waste and electricity used by hotel air conditioners.

If correct, Goodall said, that is equivalent to what a Western city of 1.5 million people, such as Marseilles, France, would emit in a day.

But don't worry...they are making sure its a carbon neutral or even carbon positive event:
Host Indonesia, which has one of the fastest rates of deforestation in the world, averaging 300 football fields an hour, said it had planted 79 million trees across the archipelago nation in the past few weeks.
Does anyone think that is a true statistic? Maybe I am a cynic, but that seems to be a whole lot of trees to be planted within a period of few weeks.
"If you don't put the U.S., the big developing countries, the European Union around the table to craft a solution together, nothing will happen and then the prophecy of scientists in terms of rising emissions and its consequences will become a reality," de Boer said.
I think the word he is looking for is prediction, not prophecy. Normally I don't like to base major economic decisions on prophecy. "The chicken liver is clear and healthy. The gods are pleased and the temperature will only increase 0.2 degrees centigrade this year. Canadians, you may keep your beer fridges!"

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

The Tonka III issue vol 2



Cement consumption in China to grow over 5% per year through 2010

Demand for cement in China will rise 5.1 percent annually through 2010 to reach 1.3 billion metric tons, driven by moderating but healthy growth in construction expenditures. China will remain the largest national consumer of cement in the world, accounting for close to half of global cement consumption in 2010.

Built 4 boyhood.

K H H K a o h s i u n g





Did You Know?

  • The largest aircraft flying out of KHH, TW is a 330 with 313 seats.
  • There are over 61 long haul flights per week from KHH, TW.
  • There are 6 nonstop flights out of KHH, TW per week that have over 300 seats.
  • The smallest commercial aircraft flying out of KHH, TW is a DH8 with 56 seats.
12 air carriers servin this location weekly.

low and slow.... four 0 seventy 7

How to Reduce CO2 Emissions

Choose a Global Warming conference location where there will be enough parking for all of the private jets that fly in, thus reducing the extra emissions that will be made by having the private jets park in airports hundreds of kilometers away.
Tempo Interaktif reports that Angkasa Pura - the management of Bali's Ngurah Rai International Airport are concerned that the large number of additional private charter flights expected in Bali during the UN Conference on Climate Change (UNFCCC) December 3-15, 2007, will exceed the carrying capacity of apron areas. To meet the added demand for aircraft storage officials are allocating "parking space" at other airports in Indonesia.

The operational manager for Bali's Airport, Azjar Effendi, says his 3 parking areas can only accommodate 15 planes, which means that some of the jets used by VIP delegations will only be allowed to disembark and embark their planes in Bali with parking provided at airports in Surabaya, Lombok, Jakarta and Makassar.
Because Global Warming is such a serious threat to our planet that merely flying commercial (I hear First Class is nice) wouldn't do it justice. Let me suggest some other ways to save the planet. Land the Lear Jet in Lombok and have the VIP delegates take a catamaran ferry to Bali. That saves a plane trip just for parking.


p.s. Maybe a green argument for direct links to China...how many extraneous flight time would be saved by allowing direct flights?

Monday, December 03, 2007

Ang Lee on Taiwan & Gay Cowboys

Mr. Lee's emphasis on the old China goes back to his upbringing. His parents were from the mainland, but the 1949 communist victory in the Chinese civil war led them to flee to Taiwan, where Mr. Lee was born in 1954. Taiwan did not suffer from the same attempts to demolish Chinese history.

"In Taiwan we carry the torch of the classic Chinese culture, of feudal society, so to speak. We didn't go through Cultural Revolution and communism," Mr. Lee says. "In Hong Kong and Taiwan we're brought up in the old-fashioned way, and China has changed drastically. . . . I still grew up relatively similar to how my father was brought up."

Mr. Lee tells me that growing up in Taiwan influenced his career in other ways as well. He says that in his films, he always takes "the losing side." ("Somebody dies, somebody loses, well, gay cowboys--they're not going to win," he explains.)

You might be wondering what all this has to do with Taiwan. "I grew up in Taiwan, we always lose," Mr. Lee says. He laughs good-naturedly. "Nobody wins anything, that's just how I grew up. We're always on the losing side. My parents get beat by the communists, they escape to Taiwan. Taiwan's a small island, hardly anybody pays attention. Up until the late '80s I still get this: I come here, 'Where are you from?' I say, 'Taiwan.' People say, 'Oh, I love Thai food!' "

Taiwan, of course, also has more serious dilemmas. "You live in fear that communists will take over. . . . China's so big and Taiwan is a small island. . . . We look at America as the big brother, the protector, the good guys. So after the Vietnam War it's very frightening, [America's] . . . in trouble and you feel very insecure. So I think Taiwan needs Americans to be the good guys."

Mr. Lee describes the current mood in Taiwan as "quite depressing." It's "splitting," he says, between more independence-minded people and those who "have a hard time to believe we're not Chinese." Where does Mr. Lee fit in? "At heart, I'm still Chinese. That's how I was brought up. My parents came from China, we're the outsiders." Yet in China, he says, "I think I'm somewhat of a native and a guest at the same time."

Mr. Lee's work is not immune from Taiwan-mainland politics. Such was the case with the Venice International Film Festival a few months back. Taiwan criticized the festival for listing "Lust, Caution" as originating in "Taiwan, China," as opposed to simply "Taiwan."

"I wish the world was like the [John Lennon] song goes: 'Imagine there's no country . . .," Mr. Lee says, laughing. "I like to be in that gray-zone area, where people see me as 'all of the above.' "

Sunday, December 02, 2007

How J-hole is improving his photographic skills

J-hole secretly builds these weblinks and gets paid by google.


http://www.cornonthecobrecipe.com/boiled-corn-on-the-cob/

Saturday, December 01, 2007

More Montana Oldies

There are not many famous Montanans. Mike Mansfield (longest serving Majority Leader in Senate history), Jeannette Rankin (first woman elected to Congress and only dissenter in the Declaration of War against Nazi Germany), Gary Cooper (from Helena) and Dana Carvey (Missoula) are about as famous as we get. But today we lost our most international of stars, Rob 'Evel' Knieval, the man of gravity defying leaps and broken bones. It is a sad night in Butte, where he is more than a legend, he is king.

Raise your glass high tonight, Mr. Knieval is feeling no pain.