AKEMASHITE OMEDETOU!

This was just too cool, I had to scan it and share it.

Let me introduce you to Prince Riki and Princess Kasumi; they were my brother and sister from my third host family (I went through quite a few). They were so great, and I'm so happy to have received their new year's wishes. On the reverse, Riki-kun goes on to say that he's practicing his English and he plans to come to Michigan to see me- to which he adds, "what kind of town is America anyway?"

Titan's Siren Song

Cassini-Huygens mission: Huygens has made it through the atmosphere to the surface, while Cassini is now (Jan 20) about 3.140 million km from Titan. The next major press release on the status/findings is set for tomorrow. here is a particularly telling image that hints at the lure Titan's voice brings to the hearts of men.

A false color image, green and red represent infrared wavelengths and blue stands in for the ultraviolet part of the spectrum. it is marvelous in giving perspective on Titan's gigantic atmosphere and clouds can be seen in infrared near the south pole. it will be even more interesting to see what is revealed about the surface of titan which is thought to be host to a wide variety of conditions. brings notions of Kurt Vonnegut Jr.'s 1959 book to mind.

The Natural Choice

eBay and Intel Corp. and sponsors (Apple Computer Inc., Gateway Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co., International Business Machines Corp., among others) have put together a pretty cool recycling program to deal with all the shit they sold us.
Check it out here or click the above image link. Results of rampant electronic consumerism begin to be acknowledged as outsourced landfills ooze toxins into the minds and hearts of the people of developing nations around the world.

これが面白いよ

Thank-You, STEVIEK-CHAN
these books chronicle the life and trials of an international marriage. warning, often extremely humorous. the author, Oguri-san, exposes the truth about international marriage by describing the events of her marriage to Tony (an american educated Hungarian/Italian). The first volume makes clear that international marriage is far from being romantic or amorous.

Tony is also the director of an NGO called ISSHO Kikaku.