Janhoo's Blog

Now, even though I agree Heineken has made a positive effort to include minorities in their advertising, I somehow feel that there is something slightly politically incorrect in this advertisement.

Thanks to Dan for sending this ad to me. He was apparently also trying to figure out if this campaign is pc or not. If I am able to confirm that the ad is indeed pc, I will make sure to laugh out loud.

Oddly Enough News Article | Reuters.com

It is good to see that the reason why I am not an investment banker is not a lack of intelligence. This survey kindly backs me up:

"A team of U.S. scientists has found the emotionally impaired are more willing to gamble for high stakes and that people with brain damage may make good financial decisions".

Well, at least I can return to my crappy job knowing that I am not brain damaged. Thanks to my favourite Bangladeshi friend for this story.

climbing Mount Kinpu In Tama National Park Located In Yamanashi Prefecture

Some pictures from my attempt to climb Mount Kinpu have been posted. As you can see, this was not a very successful hike.

I just got back from Hong Kong today after spending the weekend there. It certainly is an interesting city, and in some ways Hong Kong has a much more international feel to it than Tokyo. It was a strange experience, however, to be in an Irish pub yesterday (Saturday) with not a single non-Chinese person present. This was in the middle of Tsim Sha Sui, in other words it was not in the middle of an American embassy or anything. If this had been Japan, you would have had a more interesting mix of local and foreign residents/tourists. Anyway, I will be posting some pictures from Hong Kong later on. Spending two days in Hong Kong is of course a sufficient basis for me to make some rash and generalizing comments about the city.

However, I am disappointed to say that I was not able to find any dirty Chinese dinner tables. People in Hong Kong do not seem to enjoy spitting food on their tables.

If I had known this, I would not have had to go out for dinner tonight. What a waste.

Pigeon Egg With Black Pepper & Fresh Mushroom

Jan against the pigeons.

During the last 6 months or so, I have been harassed and terrorized by pigeons on a frequent basis. I am not sure if the Japanese Pigeon Council (JpC) or the Pigeon Governing Board (PgB) issued some sort of pigeon fatwa against me, but it seems to be a cohesive and heavily organized effort. Believe me, pigeons can be extremely determined and cunning.

Their reign of terror initially started with a some pigeons holding regular meetings on my veranda on highly conspicuous hours of the day. As I am not very familiar with the pigeon language spoken in Japan, my understanding is that they mainly discussed upcoming activities and the situation in Iraq.

Since these meetings and conferences usually took place around 5 AM just outside my bedroom window, the "waking up human" success rate was very high. I would adjourn the meeting on their behalf by banging on the window or by throwing books in their general direction. Needless to say, being awoken in the morning by a Pigeon General Assembly (PgA) is not the best way to start a crappy day.

Over the last couple of days, the pigeons took their battle to a new level by deciding to establish a settlement on my veranda. Their first colony was situated just next to my laundry machine, and I discovered this to my astonishment this morning. My laundry machine is a vintage model from the early 1950s, more specifically a North-Korean prototype developed to wash military uniforms during the Korean war. Needless to say, establishing a colony next to this jumping and constantly moving monster is not a brilliant idea. In addition, the settlement was located in the drain that takes water away each time a typhoon attacks my veranda.

To save both me, the pigeons, and my mental sanity from further anguish, I decided to consult the internet for a solution. I am not sure who writes all that stuff on the internet, but I am sure he is a very bright guy.

This time, the best source of information I could find was a pigeon board. I am not kidding, there actually is a message board for pigeons. The Pigeon Board states that "it is 2 or 3 days after the pigeon starts incubating before an egg develops enough to have that spark of life in it". Since the two pigeon eggs on my veranda appeared during the last 24 hours, I was relieved to discover that I could throw the eggs in the trash with a relatively pure conscience. Since humans in most countries can be killed off until they are about 2 months old or so, I do not feel too bad about disposing off a pigeon egg only containing yolk.

However, I am aware that the repercussions can be very damaging. I have started wearing a big cowboy hat to protect myself from air attacks, and I will be highly suspicious if any Middle-Eastern looking pigeons wearing big belts and backpacks fly towards me in a threatening matter.

Anyway, I have taken control of the area surrounding my North-Korean laundry machine, therefore I do not expect the pigeons to attempt another invasion attempt any time soon.

Sometimes I think people forget how attractive I am. That is too bad. Too prevent this from happening, I will try to post pictures of myself on a regular basis.

A great way to kill spiders, no doubt about that.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050901/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_germany_spiders