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Harajuku Street Style. Oh those crazy cool Japanese kids! The streets of Harajuku are as much a fashion playground as they are an exhibit of Why You Should Never Pair White Boots with Gold Chains. This is, of course, in line with the existing weirdness of the brilliant Katamari Damacy, mayonnaise-and-squid pizza, and the "no caption required" homoerotic dating sim "le, Tatemasu!",
comment posted at 5:43 PM on Jan-7-05

"You can be happy. You can live the life you want to live. You can become the person you want to be. This is what I've figured out so far."
comment posted at 3:48 AM on Jan-3-05
comment posted at 10:06 AM on Jan-3-05

Backfence.com wants to see a thousand tiny websites bloom, created by neighbors, for neighbors, and supported by local advertising. The founders' assumption is that many little people creating content for free will put big dollars in their pockets. (WaPo link, reg. req.) Is there an information gap in your life that "hyperlocal" websites could fill?
comment posted at 1:47 PM on Dec-13-04

Google Suggest Tool Just type something in to see how it works.
comment posted at 4:02 AM on Dec-13-04
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comment posted at 7:21 AM on Dec-13-04

Eminem is Right If yesterday’s rock was the music of abandon, today’s is that of abandonment
comment posted at 12:46 PM on Dec-11-04
comment posted at 4:32 PM on Dec-11-04

In 1992 Chika Honda was a 36-year-old Japanese woman who accepted an offer from a regular customer, Mistuo at the pub she worked nights in, to join him and his brothers on a holiday to Australia - her first ever overseas trip. During a stopover in Kuala Lumpur their suitcases were stolen. Charlie, a business associate of Mistuo, offered to sort everything out and returned the next morning with their belongings in a new set of suitcases, claiming their luggage had been slashed with a knife. When the group arrived in Melbourne, customs found 13kg of heroin in the lining of their suitcases. Chika and the others were arrested, investigated, charged and later tried and sentenced.

Chika was eventually released and deported in 2002 after having served 10 years in Victorian prisons. She still maintains her innocence. Several documentaries about this case, known in Japan as the Melbourne Incident have been aired in Japan but very little coverage has been given in Australia. In one of the documentaries, Charlie completely exonerates Chika (PDF : See page 5). In 2002, her Japanese lawyers filed a submission to the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva to clear her name. Two years later and nothing has yet been achieved. The Australian government still admits no miscarriage of justice.

But she'll be right mate, we Aussies know what we're doing.
comment posted at 10:19 AM on Dec-11-04
comment posted at 6:50 AM on Dec-12-04

This tiny (24 pages or less!) magazine is the best graphic design pub around, even at six bucks a pop. I’m not a designer, but I’ve picked up enough from this that people think I am. And for you cheapskates, they’ve just done a $16 book with the best stuff from all the issues. Their site also has an interesting analysis of the Bush and Kerry logos, showing why one (guess which?) had serious flaws.
comment posted at 11:40 AM on Dec-10-04

Limmy: Pop star, Betamax Jockey [Macromedia Flash, video with sound]
comment posted at 8:00 AM on Dec-9-04
comment posted at 1:59 PM on Dec-9-04

Research may espouse that change is real but most think that ex-gay ministries are something that need watched. That sill hasn't stopped one 22-year old blogger in DC from trying to blog his way out of homosexuality, though.
comment posted at 4:46 PM on Nov-26-04
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comment posted at 2:24 AM on Nov-28-04
comment posted at 8:03 AM on Nov-28-04

Everybody needs free music "Welcome to Comfort Stand Recordings, a community-driven label where all releases are free with artwork and liner notes. We strive to bring you recordings that we find interesting, compelling and downright enjoyable." Inspired by Dydecker's post about the Thinner music netlabel, I would like to speak up for Comfort Stand - legally free music in many tastes. I particularly like Very Proper Dragonflies and The Apartment.
comment posted at 2:42 PM on Nov-26-04
comment posted at 3:31 PM on Nov-26-04

Mariko Takahashi's FITNESS VIDEO for being appraised as an "EX-FAT GIRL" A most peculiar entry from Panasonic's Olympic Games in Action summer promotion in Japan. From the artist: "This video expresses the joy of excercise. ...While I was trying to find something that both adults and children could enjoy, I saw a poodle with its 'muscle-like' hairstyle and I thought, how about a girl with muscles in the same places?" ...Possibly the most bizarre video I've seen all month. (38MB - QuickTime/Real/Windows Media Player req'd)
comment posted at 5:31 AM on Nov-25-04

Truly mind blowing! First, you must follow the rules. Watch this short video. You are only allowed to watch it once. Seriously, do not cheat! In the video you will see a group of basketball players, some in white and some in black passing two balls around. Your goal is to count how many times the ball is passed by those wearing white shirts. It’s that simple. Remember, count just the passes of the ball by those wearing white. Once the movie is over, write down the number of passes you have counted, Do not watch the video again-- proceed to step two. (via)
comment posted at 11:50 AM on Nov-14-04

11:11
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comment posted at 6:54 AM on Nov-13-04

Every Song Ever Recorded His goal: to own a digital copy of every song ever made. His reason: to preserve them through the upcoming apocalyptic jihad. Just don't ask him to share. (via Macsurfer)
comment posted at 4:04 AM on Nov-12-04

Liberal Groupthink Is Anti-Intellectual is the catchy title of a thoughtful piece in the Chronicle Review, an offshoot of the Chronicle of Higher Education. While it may be an op/ed piece, it's interesting to hear Mark Bauerlein, an English Professor and Director at the NEA discussing the False Consensus effect and the Group Polarization Effect in the context of academia in America (and likely elsewhere). His wish? "An intellectual climate in which the worst tendencies of group psychology are neutralized."
comment posted at 1:06 PM on Nov-11-04
comment posted at 12:28 AM on Nov-12-04

Microsoft has unleashed their internet search engine to the world. It currently isn't working, at least for me. Is it wrong of me to wish it stays that way?
comment posted at 7:28 AM on Nov-11-04

Matrix ping-pong [Flash]. 2MB better quality wmv here.
comment posted at 5:49 AM on Nov-11-04

Night Windows Gorgeous images of night-time urban Japan (Japanese titles, English alt tags, 1024x768 images available). Includes: sleeping bullet trains, trams, cats, Tokyo Harbour tunnel, bridges, tail lights, Narita airport, offices, Mount Fuji, Tokyo Disneyland (1, 2, 3, 4, 5), and many more.
comment posted at 12:15 PM on Nov-10-04

A little over the top? I know some people are depressed but......this?
comment posted at 11:48 AM on Nov-8-04

One soldier's opinion. "If you voted for Bush, didn't vote, or voted no on gay marriage, I hope you get drafted. I hope they stick you in my unit, and you go with me to Iraq when my unit goes back in September. I will laugh when you see what soldiers in that country face on a daily basis. I hope you work with gay soldiers too. I did. One of them saved my life. Think he shouldn't have the right to get married? Fuck you. He fought just as hard as I did and on most days, did his job better than me. Don't tell me gays don't have the same rights you do. Think the war in Iraq is a good thing? I'll donate my M-16 to you and you can go in my place."
comment posted at 4:12 PM on Nov-5-04

U.S. out of San Francisco! - That's right, America, we here in San Francisco are officially sick of your shit, and we're not going to take it anymore.
comment posted at 2:35 AM on Nov-4-04

Kerry Concedes President Bush won a second term from a divided and anxious nation, his promise of steady, strong wartime leadership trumping John Kerry's fresh-start approach to Iraq and joblessness. After a long, tense night of vote counting, the Democrat called Bush to concede Ohio and the presidency, The Associated Press learned.
comment posted at 2:18 AM on Nov-4-04
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comment posted at 9:45 AM on Nov-4-04

NYC Critical Mass ride dampened by heavy police presence Critical Mass, A peaceful demonstration that takes place on the last friday of the month at hundreds of cities around the world. The gathering of hundreds to thousands of cyclists to stress the importance of nonpolluting transportation alternatives and promote the cycling community. Last night's critical mass was faced with a very heavy police presence (including 3 helicopters that followed the cyclists on the route). I was there and the police were peaceful, but perhaps necessary and the helicopters were just intimidating. The whole aura assumed there was going to be some type of crime. There type of people that take part in Critical Mass are generally the opposite of violent. It felt violating to be followed around, by not one, but three helicopters and hundreds of officers on scooters. The Critical Mass was being treated as if we just shot up a building or robbed a bank. The whole thing was stupid, and people got arrested for stupid reasons. Thanks NYPD the Judge said we could be there. 33, 47, whatever, it was too many.
comment posted at 2:57 AM on Oct-31-04

Conflicted Evangelicals Could Cost Bush Votes --(la times) "It's hard for me to say that Christians should be marching against abortion and carrying signs, and then turn around and giving a pep rally for the war in Iraq without even contemplating that hundreds and hundreds of people are being killed on a regular basis over there," Urcavich said. An eyeopening look at how Rove's strategy of getting 4 million more Evangelicals to the polls may not be working as planned.
In The Politics of Piety, at Sojourners, we see the differences between words and deeds: Politicians should be careful about claiming divine endorsement in electoral contests, and American voters should follow this closely. Because in this country we shouldn’t elect presidents (or any other official, for that matter) based on how many Christian rock stars they can line up on a stage, or whether televangelists call the election for them based on "talks" with God, or if they claim their unofficial running mate is Jesus Christ. Any politician who appeals to voters in that way is more than likely trying to deflect attention from their actual record, from what they have done. But talking the God-talk is no replacement for walking the walk.
comment posted at 10:43 AM on Oct-30-04

The new server's up and until MetaTalk comes back to life, I wanted to keep this post up to track bugs. If you find one, let me know here.
comment posted at 4:50 AM on Oct-30-04

The Guardian took down this week's Screen Burn column. Google to the rescue...
comment posted at 5:10 PM on Oct-29-04

What Is Conservatism and What Is Wrong with It?

Q: What is conservatism?
A: Conservatism is the domination of society by an aristocracy.

Q: What is wrong with conservatism?
A: Conservatism is incompatible with democracy, prosperity, and civilization in general. It is a destructive system of inequality and prejudice that is founded on deception and has no place in the modern world.

via Three Toed Sloth..
comment posted at 2:46 AM on Oct-30-04

Georgebush.com site blocked to viewers outside the United States. Surfers outside the US have been unable to visit the official re-election site of President George W Bush. The blocking of browsers sited outside the US began in the early hours of Monday morning.
comment posted at 12:43 PM on Oct-27-04