Are You Uncommonly Common?

Dim Shadows

I just saw the trailer for the new Dark Shadows movie. I don't think I will be in any great hurry to go see it. Please keep in mind that I remember watching the original series when I was about 10 years old or so. Now, I know that to most people, Johnny Depp can do no wrong, but he is definitely not a replacement for Jonathan Frid as Barnabas Collins.

It may just be the missing black and white filming format, or that the censorship rules of the 60's left most everything to the imagination, making actors actually have to act. It might even just be that I detest it when people mess with a good thing. Remakes of old movie classics usually fall well short of the impact of the original. To a kid, the original Dark Shadows show was scary, not weird. Depp looks more like a strung out Willy Wonka than a 200 year old vampire.

I can see that the movie might do well though. Most of it's audience have never seen the original show, so they aren't subject to the curse that being able to compare two different versions of a show can be. I am sure it will make someone a buck, or two, but for now, I think I'll pass.

Writing About Writing

Writing, otherwise known as sitting completely motionless in front of your monitor with a puzzled look on your face for hours at a time. I used to notice the graphics on a website more than I tend to actually notice what it says. I was more interested in the artwork. I was curious as to how they made all those intricate designs and fancy fonts. Yeah, I know it's weird that I stared at the font, but still didn't really register what it was saying.

Now, things have changed a bit. As I keep working at trying to create an online presence (sounds like a nerdy ghost). I am finally beginning to become aware of just how important the words are on the web. I think I am slowly winning the war against my eye candy addiction. I guess it's time to learn how to write!

I am not sure exactly how many "You can be a writer too!" manuals I have downloaded, but it's a lot. I am definitely a collector. Which is funny, because the first thing that all of those guru type e-books say is "Stop buying this shit and just start writing!". I am trying to gain at least a little control over this downloading e-book manuals issue, but I may need a piratebay intervention.

Writing can be hard because amateur writers seem to be divided into two groups, those that think they are great writers just waiting to be discovered, and those that think they suck at it. It's a lot like karaoke. I fall into the latter category. Every once in while can come up with something that works, but usually once I take a look at something I've written, a day later, I make a face and throw it away.

Does this happen to famous writers? Do they sometimes re-read a piece they did and say "WTF was I thinking!?", and hit the delete button? It would be comforting to know that they did, at least once in a while.

I think that I think about it too much. Do you remember in the movie "The Last Samurai", the scene where Cruise is sword fighting with the warrior, and getting his ass kicked? he was just about to give up, and that kid leans over and tells him "too many minds". I think it's a bit like that sometimes. When I am focused, it seems to just flow out. I don't have a set plan mind you, but I am focused on the topic I want to write about. If not, or if I have been given an assignment to write something, it's like pulling teeth.

I found a way to take my mind off thinking about what I am supposed to be thinking about so much. It's a goofy program called Write or Die. It's almost a game. You set a time limit, and your words goal, and start writing. But, if you should fall short of your goal, or stop for too long, the nasty thing will punish you. First, it will first start playing irritating music to get you back on track, and then finally it will start eating your words. You can't stop, or you pay the price.

This thing comes in a PC version, and an iPone app. It's only $10 for the full version, but I believe there is a free or online version too. Write or Die has been out for several years, so per the norm, I am sure everyone already knows about it. On the odd chance that you hadn't heard of it, give it a shot. It's a fun way to keep from procrastinating so much.

Karin Taylor - Beyond the Stick Figure

In the several years that I have been playing at becoming a t-shirt artist, it has been my good fortune to meet a lot of interesting people. Artists come in all shapes and sizes, and a plethora of personalities. They range from the snobby purists that are so sure they are much more talented than you will ever be (but don't sell near as much as you do), to the peeps that don't take anything seriously, and are just there to have a good time with it all (definitely a much more fun crowd).

Then, there are a very special few people like Karin Taylor. I am not sure that I have ever met anyone that manages to have such a positive effect on people as this woman. At first, it can be a bit unsettling when you meet her, because you are quite sure that nobody could possibly be this nice. But, after just a few seconds you realize that you surely must have been  mistaken, and that the two of you have obviously been the best of friends your entire lives. Her smile just kind of rubs off on you in a sort of Celestine like moment way.

Karin's book Beyond the Stick Figure is exactly what I would expect from her. Just as she does with everyone she meets, she takes you by the hand, gives you one of her impish Aussie smiles, and takes you on a journey that turns out to be exactly what you needed. This work isn't a coffee table photography book, a self help inspirational manual, or an art tutorial. It's all of those, and a wee bit more.

As Miss Taylor tells you the story of her art, she also offers some rather profound insights on how one can deal with the mysteries of life, the universe, and everything, or at least, how she does it. And, seeing how well it has worked for her so far, I for one am inclined to take her word for it.

What did I come away from Beyond the Stick Figure with? Well, I think the most important thing, and certainly the most comforting thing to me that I learned from her book is that there is absolutely nothing wrong with drawing stick figures. How can I be so sure of that? Because Karin Taylor took me by the hand, smiled, and told me so.

The New Flavor

You may not have noticed, but in the mid-1990s you gained an extra taste. We went to bed one night, all happy with our four taste receptors for sweet, sour, salty and bitter, and then, while we were asleep, the tide of thinking in food science changed incontrovertibly. We woke up with another taste, one known well in Asia but not in the West. That day we were able to taste umami, the so-called fifth taste.

Of course, we had the taste receptors to recognise and savour the briny, mouth-filling taste all along; as Japanese chefs had long argued. But it was only then that scientific thought on the matter reached a critical mass. It became, if you like, an umami tsunami.

Before that, when we were making marinades or the more adventurous of us were creating new dishes, we built them – subconsciously or otherwise – around the other four pillars of taste, which with a bit of luck would all be present in there somewhere in a nice, harmonious balance. In short, no one ever shoved a fork into a stew, tried it and said, "hmm, needs a little more umami". Perhaps most of us, chefs and home cooks alike, do still think in that four-point paradigm. But for a growing number, ignoring umami would be like missing out on bread or potatoes.

For starters, witness the wealth of restaurants making hay with the taste. In London there's Umami, the East Asian restaurant that opened last month in Kensington, which makes great play with the flavour in its noodle and broth dishes. The Hawksmoor, too, goes big on it. Routinely referred to as the best burger and steak restaurant in town, it serves a Longhorn beef burger that has been specially constructed, not just with the fifth taste in mind – but around it. But as its executive chef Richard Turner points out: "We build our entire menu on it; not many other chefs are even aware of it."

Likewise, when Heston Blumenthal started redesigning British Airways' in-flight menu he increased the amount of umami in the food, having found that while other tastes recede in the arid atmosphere of the cabin, umami does not. He has also spoken of its centrality to his cooking at his Michelin-starred Fat Duck restaurant in Bray. It is, he has said, "something very close to my heart". At this point you might find yourself saying: all well and good, but this sounds like something for the culinary élite, something on the edges of the avant garde. But that isn't quite so. In LA, punters snake out of the doors of Adam Fleischman's seven Umami Burger joints, where the extroverted, tightly stacked meat buns costs $10 (£6). (Not quite McDonald's prices, but not bad either.) "Although we only opened in 2009, we sell 5,000 burgers every day," says Fleischman, who has successfully trademarked the name "umami".

Closer to home, the Italian cookery writer Laura Santtini has teamed up with the man behind the Michelin-starred Nobu chain, Nobu Masuhisa, to create a new Taste No 5 Umami Far Eastern Vegetarian paste. The second of her umami pastes (the first was inspired by Mediterranean umami flavours), it goes on sale in Waitrose in April.

Look at that roster of chefs and restaurants and what becomes clear is that umami isn't bound to a geographical area, price bracket or type of food. Richard Turner says the reason is simple: you find umami everywhere. "Deconstruct a Hawksmoor umami burger and you won't find anything particularly out of the ordinary," he says. According to Turner, they add fried mushroom, sun-dried tomato, roasted parmesan and ogleshield cheese, slow-fried onions, ketchup and some Parmesan butter to the Longhorn beef patty. "It has been hit and miss for customers," Turner says. "But if you are open to it, it gives a flavour that is the essence of savouriness."

Ah yes, that elusive flavour. What is it that gives it what is described in the US as "mouthfulness", by Laura Santtini as "pure deliciousness" and – not altogether helpfully – by the journal Chemical Science as the "flavour of boiled crab"? Jeya Henry, professor of human nutrition at Oxford Brookes University, says: "A food that is high in umami is rich in an amino acid called glutamate, one of the building blocks of protein. In high concentrations it makes food very flavoursome. There have been an awful lot of studies to support this. After all, it has been around as a concept in the West for quite some time."

In fact, it dates back to 1907. It was then that the chemistry professor Kikunae Ikeda, of Tokyo Imperial University, noted a taste "common to asparagus, tomatoes, cheese and meat, but which is not one of the four well-known tastes". It was he who first isolated the glutamate (and gave it its name, which is a play on the word umai, which loosely translates as yum in Japanese). What he also did, which may account for some residual cynicism, is use this know-how to manufacture it. He invented MSG (monosodium glutamate), which subsequently became a leitmotif for unhealthy, takeaway-style eating in the late 20th century, an all-purpose bogeyman. The charges laid against MSG have included, variously, that it induces headaches, allergies and causes dehydration (together referred to as Chinese Restaurant Syndrome). And in the foodies' hive mind, Umami and MSG were indelibly linked. If then, MSG is a pure expression of umami, in the same way sugar is the classic expression of sweet, should we go easy on it? Is the 200,000 tonnes of MSG made each year actually a danger to our collective health? Should we avoid umami-rich food?

Not at all, Professor Henry says. "First of all, we should note, Chinese Restaurant Syndrome has been shown to be something of an old wives' tale," he says. "Numerous big clinical studies have debunked it. You have to understand glutamates have always been with us and part of our diets; you even find them in breast milk. It would be a great pity if anyone missed out on the umami taste because of these residual claims. They're the equivalent of saying the earth is flat: it isn't, and glutamates won't harm you."

Umami, then, has come of age – and things are looking just rosy for it. Where once it was seen as a blight, now it skips around that part of the health spectrum marked "blessing". The reason? It is a handy alternative to salt. Just as a few pinches of sodium can improve a dish, so the well judged addition of a few anchovies or a lump of parmesan can pump up the umami without detracting from the flavour. By playing with the fifth taste we can reduce artery-hardening fat and salt in dishes, without losing out on the flavour.

It is that rare, almost unique thing: something that tastes good and won't make you fat, ill, intoxicated or soporific. So, we may have been too busy listening to Blur or voting New Labour to notice this addition to our palate in the 1990s, but today, with its ascent, there's little excuse not to make hay with this very interesting taste.

*Re-Posted from The Independent

Shadow Art

I came across this article while bouncing around on the web. Some of this stuff is fantastic. I get the same feeling from a lot of it that I do when I create one of my shadow tee designs. Not the mouse sex part, I mean something unexpectedly appearing from something else. Awesome inspiration!

Hmmmmm...mouse sex!

Song Kran 2012

Song Kran is the annual water festival here in Thailand. People stand by the side of the road and throw water at passing cars, smear mud on each other, and get pretty silly in general. They also have a lot of family ceremonies where you pour water on monks and the senior members of the family. This is a shot of Roong's oldest Aunt and Uncle.

 This was the first time that I got to see all of my wife's relatives that live in the general area. We all went to the family Wat in Saraburi, near her Aunt's home. Her Aunt's family runs a large concrete company there. I also got to meet Roong's grandmother. There must have been a total of around 100 people there all together, all eating, chanting, dancing around, and throwing water. This is just a few of us on the stairs leading up to the mountain shrines. That's Grandmother and Egg in front. Then Roong's Aunt Took. Then it's Roong's dad, our niece Bing, and Roong. Then cousin Ton and me. I met one guy that married in to the family, but I forgot his name. His Mom was Laotian, his dad is Thai, he lives and works in Paris, but speaks English. You talk about a funky accent!

  
The shrines were the most interesting thing about all of this. They were all over the sides of this small family mountain. Each one dedicated to an ancient family ancestor. They aren't even sure how truly old some of them are. The most amazing one is the main one. It's one of the farthest up the hill, and is actually a cave. You can see a little bit of the entrance in the shot above. Roong's great (x ?) grandfather built it a very very long time ago. It's full of water carved stalactites, Buddha images, natural water pools, and really big bats. It is very dark in there, so it was hard to get any good photos. The next time we go, we will take Roong's camera so we can get some better shots of the cave and all the other shrines that are hidden in the rocks on the hillside.

Extreme Body Art

Car Walking

They do some strange things around here that usually irritate the piss out of me. But, occasionally they come up with something that actually makes sense in it's own weird Thai way. Proving that necessity is the mother of invention, the Thais have come up with "car walking". The thing is that here, stuff like driving lane lines,  parking space lines, or any other kind of line that tells you where you are supposed to be, mean absolutely nothing. They routinely jam 3 cars across a 1 lane road, and then are totally baffled about why there is a traffic jam. They seem to be unable to put their vehicles even roughly in the center of a parking lane, and usually end up having their little compact car take up the room that a one ton ford dually would need.


To combat this problem, they have come up with "car walking". Whenever they park somewhere that they shouldn't be parking they leave the car out of gear, and the emergency brake off. So, when you come out of the supermarket to find that some dumb ass has parked in the middle of the lane right behind you, you can just push his car out of the way and go about your business. Far be it from me to remind them that if they had parked where they should have in the first place that this would all be unnecessary. They are quite pleased that they have come up with this idea to solve the inexplicable parking problems all by themselves.

I have gotten use to this silliness now, but once in a while, I can't resist the temptation to push the offending auto to the most inconvenient spot I can find. After having a few beers one evening, a friend and I pushed one out of the lot and across the street. I am sure that the surprised owner attributed the whole thing to ghosts or aliens.

The world has had enough!

See? I don't make this stuff up!

Soul for Sale

You can have power, wealth, an attractive mate and virtually anything else you ever dreamed of – by selling your soul to Satan! But how?
You must know what you’re doing when you make the deal or Satan will cheat you blind. That’s the word from Dr. Rex Touth, expert on satanic rituals and author of How to Negotiate Unholy Contracts.
Dr. Touth cites cases dating all the way back to the 16th century in which humans have agreed to spend eternity in Hell when they die in exchange for earthly pleasures while they’re alive.
“Human history and world literature are teeming with stories like that of Germany’s Dr. Faustus who sold his soul,” says Dr. Touth. “Our own American statesman Daniel Webster once debated Satan in a landmark soul-selling case in which he renegotiated the contract and had it overturned.
“Thousands have gained riches and fulfilled their fantasies.”
Here are some tips from Dr. Touth on how you can take advantage of the same opportunity:

1. SET THE DEAL UP PROPERLY. There’s a right and wrong way to make contact with the Devil. The right way is to be alone in your room, close your eyes and say, “Satan, I summon you. I have a quality soul to sell if the price is right.” It may take dozens, even hundreds of tries but at all costs, avoid sounding desperate or needy. He’ll show up eventually.
2. DEAL FROM A POSITION OF POWER. By far the biggest mistake people make is to underestimate how badly Satan wants their soul. It’s like precious gold to him and he’ll pay anything to get it. When he appears, get him to make the first offer, then up it.
3. GET THE ABSOLUTE BEST. Remember, you’re going to burn in Hell forever. So no matter how badly off you are now, demand the best. For instance, even if you feel unlovable and desperate with loneliness, don’t just say, “I want the most gorgeous woman on earth and I want her to be madly in love with me.” Instead, add, “In fact, throw in 100 other women as well so I can pick and choose according to my mood.”
4. REMEMBER TO DEMAND THE LIFE-EXTENSION CLAUSE. Satan won’t tell you if you don’t ask but you can get a guarantee of 300 years of youthful life before you go to eternal damnation. Why enjoy a mere 75 or 80 years of reckless living when you can get 300?

Religious groups worldwide are trying to ban Dr. Touth’s book. “This kind of trash is spiritual dynamite,” says a spokesman for the North American Council of Churches and Synagogues. “We can’t, in good conscience, let people read how to destroy their almighty souls.”

But Dr. Touth says we should all be aware of the facts so we can make an informed decision. “It’s your soul,” he says. “Do what you want with it.”

(Insert level 9 eye roll and dismissive snort here!)

New 3D Animation

ACK! I just started to kind of watch "The Adventures of Tin Tin", while I am working. The new 3D animation stuff is very creepy. They are like little living dolls. It reminds me of that old Twilight Zone episode where the woman was being chased around the house by that cannibal voodoo doll. Very creepy indeed!

 This was one of the reasons I never played video games much. I came into them kind of late, and really only liked the adventure game "Zelda". But, after the first 2 or 3 games came out, they started doing them in 3D. That stuff gave me a headache. It was disorienting to me for some reason. I never did take a liking to them. 

The movie plot is pretty good though. I had always liked the Tin Tin stories for the artwork, but that old Maltese Falcon Lite way of writing was fun too.  They took a few liberties in the making of this film, but still seemed to keep the basic flavor of the original stories.

Set Leaow!

 

That means "finished" in Thai. And I am finished! Today was the last day of school. I didn't have to do anything because the kids were all taking their last day of tests. They had three solid days of testing to go through. That's gotta suck. Biggie Smalls (the boss) had to hand out a ton of graduation diplomas to the kindergarteners and the 6th graders.He spent most of yesterday doing that. That's good for him.

I will miss a lot of the students that will be going to M-3, or leaving the school entirely. Kids like Beggy, Yo, Drive, Noona, Bam, Taptim, and Sai don't happen very often. They were a tremendous help to me in doing my job. Sometimes they helped me do things like sorting student papers because I couldn't read the Thai names, or even just by answering a question in class that was something that the others didn't know. Their participation helped me get through some very rough spots. Luckily, a t least some of them will now attend the school right next door to us, so I can still see them and say "Hi" once in a while.

I also found out that these jackasses expect me to teach 5 grade levels in 28 hours a week next term. That is right at 1000 students. That's 3 grade levels and more than a full day of teaching more than the rest of them have to do. And we all know that hell will freeze over before B.S. gives anyone a raise. I have 45 days to either find a new job, or figure out how to be Thai and just smile and accept it.

If the principal of any school in Bangkok or Phukett is reading this, please GET ME OUT OF HERE!

Photoshop Tapered Line Tutorial

 

You see that? I have been looking for what seems like forever for a tutorial to tell me how to do that. Just trying to figure out how to make a pen tool stroke that tapers at the end like a brush stroke was making me crazy! I found a few tutorials on how to do it in Illustrator, but Illustrator looks totally alien to me. I have never been able to become comfortable using it. I downloaded Manga Studio because the brush tool in it automatically smooths and tapers your pen tool lines for you. But, that was the only think I ever did with it. That thing takes up a gig of space on my computer.

Thanks to this quick and easy tutorial on Deviant Art by Systaticism, I can now get rid of that HD hogging beast. Well done Systaticism!

Roof Cats

 

One of the first things that I noticed about living here in the twilight zone, is that there are no Siamese Cats here. We had Siamese cats at home for many years, so when I came to Siam (Thailand) I expected the place to have an ass load of them. Not a one! I mean, I have seen a few here and there, but not as many as you would think you would see in the land where I thought they were supposed to have originated.

However, they do have roof cats. Our little street has 12 houses on each side, all connected and gated like little jail cells. Typical Thai homes. Because of that, each side has one long roof, with a little dormer type roof that sticks put over the drive way of each individual home. Plus, the roof has cats. There must be at least 7 - 8 running around up there. That is just on the other side of the street. I don't know how many are on top of our side. In 6 years, I have never seen one of these cats on the ground. Not once. You see them all the time prowling around up there starting at dusk, and can hear them yowling on and off through the night. I guess they have plenty to eat, as there is no shortage of pigeons around here. My daughter says that they have always been there, and that she has never seen one go up or down from the roof top either. Strange.

He likes it! Hey Mikey!

In older times, it was “off with your head” if you spoke ill of the King. Now, you go to jail for posting your feelings on Facebook about the Thai monarchy, which many of the Thai folk actively do. In fact, over 10,000 pages of material was found on the social networking, containing images or text that is offensive to the royal family.
The Information Minister of Thailand, Anudith Nakornthap, warned the people of Thailand that if users on Facebook so much as even like or share any kind of information insulting the monarchy, the consequences would be severe. Such a person could be charged with violation of the lese majeste laws of the country, and could serve up to 15 years in prison. He also advised people to ‘unlike’ any pages and remove any comments made on similar lines. In a world where democracy and freedom of speech are taken for granted in most countries, this news might come across as quite surprising. I mean, we’ve lost count of the number of jokes made online at the expense of Bush, Palin and the likes. Thailand however, has always been strict in enforcing laws that protect the dignity of the sovereign.

This is completely regardless of nationality. A Swiss citizen in 2007 and an Australian writer in 2009  were arrested for similar reasons. The Swiss gentleman had spray painted the King’s image, and he was sentenced to 10 years for that. Fortunately for him, the King pardoned him after a few months. The Australian was lucky too; he was pardoned after being sentenced to 3 years for writing offensive content on the royal family in his novel. So if you’re ever in Thailand, watch out, you might want to keep your comments and observations to yourself!

10 Illegal Baby Names

 (Devil 13)

At the start of 2011, the Pope declared war on parents naming babies after celebrities, fruit or popular sports cars. In an address to parents, the ever-progressive pontiff pleaded with worshipers that when thinking of baby names, they should 'give your children names that are in the Christian calendar'.

So Apple, Brooklyn and Ferrari are out, Francisco and Giulia are in.
But Benedict's not the only authority figure to stamp down on one of the sillier by-products of celebrity culture. Various baby names have all been banned around the world for reasons of taste, decency or just plain daftnesss. So without further ado, we present out list of the top illegal baby names.

[Useful: The top baby names for 2012]

1) Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii (New Zealand)
New Zealand law bans names which could cause offence to a 'reasonable' person. Good thing too - the country is a stupid name hotspot. We found a couple from the islands who tried and failed to call their son '4Real', but nothing beats the ridiculous moniker above. It belonged to a 9-year-old girl before a judge had her renamed during a custody battle. 'It makes a fool of the child,' he said. It certainly made application forms a pain in the butt. Has New Zealand banned any other names? Oh yes. The judge listed some that were also blocked: Fish and Chips (twins), Yeah Detroit, Keenan Got Lucy and Sex Fruit. Number 16 Bus Shelter and Violence were allowed.


2) Venerdi AKA 'Friday' (Italy)
Maybe this is what the Pope was talking about. Back in 2008 a court banned an Italian couple from calling their child Venerdi (translation: Friday). The judges reckoned the name - taken from 'Robinson Crusoe' - would expose the boy to 'mockery' and was associated with 'subservience and insecurity'. The parents, however, might have the last laugh; they threatened to call their next child Mercoledi (Wednesday).
Has Italy banned any other names? Italian courts can step in 'when the child's name is likely to limit social interaction and create insecurity'. In Turin, Andrea was rejected (and changed to Emma) as it's a boy's name in Italy. Dalmata has also been rejected, as it means Dalmatian.

[Relevant: The origins of 10 British baby names]

3) Brfxxccxxmnpcccclllmmnprxvclmnckssqlbb11116 (Sweden)
No, we didn't fall asleep on the keyboard. That is an actual name a Swedish couple tried to inflict on their son back in 1996. Apparently the name is pronounced 'Albin' (we're not sure how), and the parents chose it as a protest against Sweden's admittedly strict naming laws. Tax authorities must give their blessing to both first and surnames before they can be used.
Has Sweden banned any other names? Oh yes. Some favourites include Metallica, IKEA, Veranda and Q. Google was OK though.

4) Gesher AKA 'Bridge' (Norway)
Back in 1998 those nasty Norwegians threw a woman in jail (admittedly for only two days) when she failed to pay a fine for giving her son an 'unapproved' name. Eccentric Kristi Larsen said she was instructed in a dream to name her son Gesher (Hebrew for 'Bridge'), but the court were having none of it. Kristi did have 13 children already though, so maybe she had just run out of ideas.
Has Norway banned any other names? Undoubtedly, though in recent times they have replaced their list of officially sanctioned names with a general ban on monikers featuring swearing, sex and illnesses.

[Relevant: Weird baby names from the 19th century]

5) Chow Tow AKA 'Smelly Head' (Malaysia)
Unlike many countries which are gradually relaxing name laws, Malaysian authorities have cracked down on unsuitable titles in recent years. In 2006 government killjoys published a list of undesirable names that weren't in keeping with the religious traditions of the country – such as Cantonese moniker Chow Tow – which means 'Smelly Head'.
Has Malaysia banned any other names? Lots more Chinese efforts such as Ah Chwar ('Snake'), Khiow Khoo ('Hunchback'), Sor Chai ('Insane'). Malays should also steer clear of Woti, which means 'Sexual Intercourse'.

6) @ (China)
With more than a billion fellow countrymen, finding a unique name in China is difficult. Perhaps that's why one couple called their baby the '@' symbol – in Chinese characters it apparently looks a bit like 'love him'. Bless. Unsurprisingly, however, the authorities were less sentimental and publicised the moniker as an example of citizens bringing bizarre names into the Chinese language.
Has China banned any other names? The police have control over all names given to children because they issue identity cards, but details of rejections are not widely circulated.

[See also: The worst celebrity baby names from A - Z]

7) Miatt (Germany)
Country living up to stereotype alert! Surprise, surprise the Germans are somewhat officious when it comes to baby naming laws. Regulation-loving Deutschland has an entire department (the Standesamt) which decides if names are suitable. Miatt was rejected because it didn't clearly show whether the child was a boy or a girl, but sometimes the decisions are somewhat arbitrary...
Has Germany banned any other names? The likes of Stompie, Woodstock and Grammophon were turned down, whereas the similarly strange Speedy, Lafayette and Jazz were allowed.

8) Anus (Denmark)
What is it about Scandinavian countries and name laws? The Danes are even tougher than the Swedes in this regard, with parents given 7,000-odd names to choose from by the government. Special permission is needed to deviate from the list, with ethnic names, odd spellings and even compound surnames forbidden. Luckily for him (we assume it's a 'he'), Anus was one of 250-odd names rejected each year.
Has Denmark banned any other names? Well, Pluto and Monkey had lucky escapes...

[Interesting: Meet the parents raising a 'genderless' baby]

9) Ovnis (Portugal)
Before naming your child in Portugal, best consult this mammoth, 80-page government doc (and have it translated to English) that tells you which names you can and can't use. It's pretty strict (and random) – Tomás is OK but Tom isn't – and celebs can forget about the likes of Apple and Brooklyn, which aren't even on the banned list. Essex girls rejoice, however – Mercedes is allowed! Has Portugal banned any other names? There are more than 2,000 names on the reject list, including Ovnis - Portuguese for UFO.

10) Akuma AKA Devil (Japan)
Here's a name the Pope definitely wouldn't approve of. In 1993 a Japanese parent called his son Akuma (which literally means Devil). The authorities decided this was an abuse of the parent's rights to decide a child's name and a lengthy court battle ensued. Eventually the father backed down and junior got a new, less demonic name.
Has Japan banned any other names? Lots. Names must use one of the 2,232 'name kanji' characters decided by the government.

*Found this on Yahoo (I'd go with "Smelly Head" any day)

How's the Weather?

Bluberry Pancakes!

MANAGEMENT BULLETIN: As a result of Roong's latest culinary triumph, I shall refrain from bitching about not having a McDonalds or Taco Bell here for a period of, but not to exceed, one week!

Roong wanted to make pancakes this morning. I thought that was a great idea, but was secretly snickering a bit inside. Roong is a great cook, but I tease her a lot about her wanting to cook everything in a wok. Pancakes are cooked on a griddle! A flat hot surface. Just the basic physics of this whole plan was doomed from the start. Or, so I thought.

It turns out that "Suu noi" (little tiger) eventually got a handle on the whole thing. Her natural stubbornness pays off  ... occasionally. I tried to make a few, but they came out a little too dark. Then Roong took back over, and even though the blue colored batter freaked her out a bit, she finally figured out how to get them right. A few of the first ones did have to be thrown away, but we salute those flapjacks that gave their all so that others (namely me) could chow down in a free and honey covered society! Yep, I get honey fresh out of the hive here instead of syrup. Damn, that stuff is good! It doesn't taste anything like the stuff you get at the store. You can actually taste a mild flower flavor in it.

Anyway, due to our learning curve, we ended up having breakfast at about 11am. But, it was well worth the wait. I may ask her to give the lasagna another try.

T-shirt Biz Nuuz

I have news from the tee biz front. I have hooked up with a guy named Chris who lives up in Chaing Mai, and he is going to help me get a decent t-shirt blog up and running. Chris has a lot of blogs and websites, but I know him from his "Living in Thailand" blog. He writes about anything and everything related to what goes on around here, and what you need to know to survive it. He even has a book that helps you learn to speak Thai. His blog is an interesting and sometimes very funny read, even if you don't live here. So, get ye hence and checketh it out!

This is the only blog that I have that I mess with so far. I just keep this for a place to bitch about stuff, or say whatever I want to. I do like to write, but have never done it enough to get good at it. Chris says that is something I have to work on. He is talking about a 800 word post a day, or so. That's going to be rough at first, because I don't consider myself a t-shirt design guru, but must come across as one. I am sure that I will totally obsess over this word count thing too. I even found an auto word counter online. He says that if I just focus on giving straight forward useful information, that with practice, I should be Ok. I hope so because if you can write, you can make money on the internet, and that's a fact. Content! Content! Content! We'll see.

The name of the blog will be "Tshirt Designs Ideas". When Chris first suggested that, I stared at it for quite a while. It doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. It's that "s" on "designs" that kept making me make the "huh?" face. I did some checking, but couldn't find anything better that was available. It seems that everyone has already bought all the good keywords so that they can sell them back to you for $1500. That blows! Yeah yeah, I know that if you can grab the good words first, it's a good business to be into. But it still hits me as ebay gone bad. If you aren't going to use it, leave it alone so I can afford it damn it!

I am not sure when the "Tshirt Designs Ideas" blog will be up and running yet. I still have 2 weeks of school left, and about 720 final exams to give and grade. But, after that I have about a month off, so that's when I am going to get at this new blog thing, and try to become at least a tolerably decent writer. I will let you know when something happens.

Oh, this post has 483 words in it. (see, I told you this would happen!)