13tales

bio:a lanky collection of bad habits. Currently resident in Japan.
website:http://zombiepoems.tumblr.com

Recent Actions
Comment Threads

Recent Actions

Commented on Hope is fading
@pmhparis I didn't vote for anyone - not everyone is American, amazingly. In other news: there *is* a world beyond your backyard (scientists have PROVED it!), and American politics (unfortunately) have wide ramifications for those of us elsewhere in the...
Commented on Hope is fading
File under: depressing, but apt. Still, I can't think but that we all had our hopes a little too high. Who can blame us?...
Commented on "Where Are Your Keys?" a language fluency game
I'm intrigued but wary. On one hand, I'm a novice language teacher and student of foreign languages, working in a restrictive and innovation-resistant environment not always particularly conductive to language learning, and I have a really strong interest in learning...
Commented on Ancient cold-blooded goat had tiny brain and eyes
Friends, I propose that henceforth we refer to this marvellous creature as "Ol' Squinty" or possibly "Ol' Squinty-hooves"...
Commented on Saturday Morning Science Experiment: Visualizing Sound Waves (Now With Fire!)
Man, and I always thought the original fiery winamp visualiser was just a flight of creative fancy... AWESOME :)...
Commented on Eyeball removal tool
FINALLY! I've been looking for a good eyeball removal implement for ages. Something like a sharpened ice-cream scoop would be great, but most are a little too big. Does it say anywhere how is this is to use when the...
Commented on One morning in a fitness boot camp
Those interested in low-tech fitness, geek style, might appreciate the Shovelglove: http://www.shovelglove.com/...
Commented on The Matrix as a Charlie Chaplin short
*pats clothes down* I believe my composure remains intact! Close-run thing though. Phew....
Commented on The Matrix as a Charlie Chaplin short
>Really? All I'm doing is trying to start a fight? You clearly like a good argument (nothing wrong with that), but your first posts were nothing more than snarky throwaways. Thanks for posting something of substance this time. >Stupidity defines...
Commented on The Matrix as a Charlie Chaplin short
@the chemist (and others crying "racism!") Okay, I'll bite. The Hey Hey (Australian TV) thing was clueless and offensive, although arguably not malevolently racist (just bloody stupid and really, really ill-conceived). Whatever humour there was in that skit (and I...
Commented on Man walks into own funeral
Why doesn't stuff this awesome happen near me?...
Commented on China: real-life fashion police crack down on public pajama-wearers
More power to the pyjama-wearers, I say! I will now proceed to boycott the World Expo! (Well, I wasn't going to go anyway, but now it's OFFICIAL!) People can wear wtf they want - and I reserve the right to...
Commented on Will the Duggars Inherit the Earth?
*shudder*...
Commented on The $147.72 "audio grade" power socket
I have *got* to get into this business... :P...
Commented on How To Eat a Horse
Who says you have to cook the horse? I live in Kyushu, Japan - close to Kumamoto. "Basashi" aka. "horse sashimi" aka. "melt-in-your-mouth raw horsemeat thinly sliced and eaten with fresh Japanese ginger, chilli, onion and soy-sauce" is a local...
Commented on What to do if you smell a terrorist
This would be one of those things that I don't watch, on the reasonable suspicion that it would make me TOO DAMNED ANGRY. Enjoy your paranoia and deprivation of civil liberties, US-icans. *waves*...
Commented on Toyota marketing stalks and terrorizes woman, claims she consented by doing an online personality test
1. Treat stupid surveys like legally binding contracts 2. Stalk, harrass, and threaten people foolish enough to fill them in. 3. ??? 4. Profit!!...
Commented on How to run, meditate, and not get hurt
On the idea of "chi"/"ki" - it does seem a bit woo-woo, for want of a better word. That said, I used to train under an Aikido teacher who focussed very heavily on that side of the art, and stressed...
Commented on Invasion of the giant blobs of "sea mucus"
@jere7my :D Someone get him to write an incredibly dense and ornate prose description of the monster...then record a new voice-over for the video!...
Commented on State Dept offers $2.5 million for hackers to wire the Mid-East and Africa
@brainspore :D Well quipped, sir....
Commented on Flu, and You: The Basics
One thing I don't get is the bottles of hand-sanitiser stuff that have suddenly appeared everywhere (esp. in Japan). Surely that stuff is only effective against bacteria, not viruses, right?...
Commented on Roman Polanski on To Catch a Predator
Sorry Paul - I'm picking on you, in an attempt to set straight something that constantly bugs me about the Polanski debate. Not sure if you meant this or not, but... Repeat after me- you CAN'T HAVE "consensual" sex with...
Commented on Yeast? Where We're Going, We Don't Need Yeast
@oneswellfoop Actually, I think it has more to do with the culture here - it's hard to find any bread that I like, period. Japan has no long-standing tradition of bread-making, and modern japanese people seem to prefer bread of...
Commented on Google map of jailed Chinese netizens
Hey - I notice the RSS for this post is kind of truncated. I hope that's not going to be a regular thing :(...
Commented on Yeast? Where We're Going, We Don't Need Yeast
Hey Maggie - awesome to see you back here :) On topic: this post makes me miss sourdough. Badly. Why does Japan not have good sourdough?? :(...
Commented on Report: Woman paralyzed by E. coli-tainted hamburger
Ouch - the US food industry is in a sorry state. I'm reasonably confident that Japan does a better job - the exacting attention to health and safety (food safety) here has to be seen to be believed. Still thinking...
Commented on Mad Men on Sesame Street
Ugh. Ignore my terrible spelling....
Commented on Mad Men on Sesame Street
This may be the most wonderful thing ever. I'm not exagerrating....
Commented on Thoughts for Polanski apologists, by another woman raped at 13.
@WA There are, in actuality, way too many guys/people who hold the views that Homestar-whatever is spouting. Vaguely relevant quote from The Rage in Placid Lake (great movie): (two Australian high-school seniors talking) "Is it rape if you hold a...
Commented on Thoughts for Polanski apologists, by another woman raped at 13.
@HOMESTARRUNRUN >I think that people accused of rape get a bad deal. Polanski has lived a life of luxury in Europe for decades... I want that kind of bad deal. >Nobody ever wants to defend them, even from totally false...

Recent Actions from 13tales

Comment Threads

zyodei commented on Hope is fading
Yeah, it is too bad. Really, really too bad. But the problem isn't with wealth itself - money is a neutral energy, capable of accomplishing great good or great evil. Many filthy rich people have done great good for the world. The problem comes when the rich choose to capture the coercive power of government for their own ends. The power of avaricious money amplified through the power of a powerful government has the potential to cause more damage than any other force in the world. That's why I support the shrinking and defanging of government at every opportunity -...
teapot commented on Hope is fading
Zyodei - we mostly agree on this issue, it's just we are arguing slightly different points and something got lost in translation: Capitalism, in the sense that it made America great, is simply economic freedom within a framework of honest laws. You seem to think I was having a go at capitalism, which is not true. Any economic system is likely to have expoitable loopholes - and the people who can, usually do end up greedily exploiting them. My tirade about Capitalism was more about user Navigator's blind and all-too-simple rhetoric. Furthermore I think you hit the nail on the...
lhughes commented on Hope is fading
He's a fraud. If you 30 or younger be afraid. You've either signed up for (or you are a victim) of a generation of low wages, unemployment, underemployment, spiraling health care costs, social security costs, property taxes (in blue states) and a crushing federal deficit. If you're not worried then you're probably a looter and on the public dole. Otherwise, do something to change this....
deckard68 commented on Hope is fading
"To end the wars." I believed, like many others, that when Obama-the-candidate said he was for the war in Afghanistan and against the war in Iraq, that he was just saying that about Afghanistan only to win some Republican votes. I thought he was saying it with a wink, and that once in office, he'd say that he was actually for ending both the wars. So he did not fool me, but I fooled myself. My only remaining hope is that the only reason he's continuing to fund the war in Afghanistan is because he's afraid that if he stops...
zyodei commented on Hope is fading
With regards to "self-reliance" - again, I truly do believe that, on an individual level, this is what made America great. Not assuming that others will do stuff for us; and conversely, seeing that if someone is down there is no one but us to lend a helping hand. That's my definition of self-reliance, and on an individual level it has been one of the most powerful goods in the American character. Now, I certainly see where you're coming from - it's hard to crow about American self-reliance when we collectively rely on slave labor in China to make everything...

Responses to Comments from 13tales

13tales

Recent Actions

Comment Threads

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution. Boing Boing is a trademark of Happy Mutants LLC in the United States and other countries.