I Feel Pretty - Take 50

I never get tired of listening to this song.

La misère gaie

Emprunté à Khong Co Ai (Merci, KCA!). Allez lire son blog/site: http://khongcoai.com/

Génial!

Mars vs Venus, Round 24 567 407

Weather changes are affecting the Mekong Delta

(Sent by Erica - Danke Schön, Erica!)

Massive Dose of Cuteness from the Japanese, Masters of Cuteness

Found at Cute Overload, of course!

Pinyin In 6 Minutes

My Son, the TV Star

This piece was made for the opening ceremonies of the new Quebec reality TV show about hockey called "Montreal Quebec". It aired on channel TVA on Jan 24, 2010.

B-Boy is the one wearing a red uniform, in front, on the left.

Hitler Reacts To The iPad

From Cynical-C Blog

The Nairobi Trio

Latest Dance Number by Filipino Inmates

There's still money to be made from Michael Jackson, so here's the latest opus by the now famous "Dancing Inmates" from Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center.

From today's Washington Post:

The Filipino prisoners who became YouTube sensations for their staged version of Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' are at it again. This time 1500 or so inmates from the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (under the direction of MJ's choreographer Travis Payne and dancers Daniel Celebre and Dres Reid) perform a dance number to Jackson's 'They Don't Care About Us.'

Sony Pictures' Fritz Friedman told USA TODAY, "We thought it would be a great idea to pay homage to MJ on the occasion of the release of 'This Is It' by going to Cebu and having Travis work with the dancers to create this piece which is from the film."

According to reports, Payne arranged a surprise visit to meet the performers in the high security prison. Once there, Payne spent two hours on Jan. 17 and Jan. 18 teaching the dancers the routines from Jackson's tune.

Another Victory for Cultural Imperialism

Did I mention that before my trip to Vietnam, I also went to Thailand? Yes, two consecutive trips to South East Asia, you've got a problem with that?

Anyway, during that trip, my friend and I were given full access to a private Bangkok condo owned by the friend's generous old auntie. I bought some durian, along with some other tropical fruit, so we kept hearing about  how we had to eat it in the open air, on the balcony, in order to avoid stinking up the air-conditioned condo. Anecdotes were told about airplanes in the Philippines, hotels in Singapore with sniffing dogs, and various other precautions taken in Asia to prevent people from sneaking durians into planes or hotel rooms or other enclosed spaces.

Now I don't know about you, but when I was a young girl in Vietnam, I knew of people who didn't like the smell of durian (my dad), so they just didn't eat the stuff, while the rest of us gorged ourselves with the fruit when it was in season. Durians were never banned anywhere and people didn't recoil with horror at the thought of having to breathe a few durian molecules. The classification of the smell of a popular Asian fruit, considered to be the king of fruit, into the equivalent of a stink to be avoided like caca or a skunk is therefore a new phenomenon, originating from outside of South East Asia.

I agree it's a strong smell, which I happen to like. But I also like blue cheese and camembert, and I consider that some cheese's smells are pretty nasty. When I eat a brie for example, I always remove the crust because it smells like piss. But I never heard of any hotels or airlines forbidding Stilton or Camembert.

Which brings me to the conclusion that this is another example of cultural imperialism. Because some Westerners cannot stand the smell of a durian, then the whole of Asia must hide in shame to eat that fruit. That cultural bias is so strong that Asians have been brainwashed into accepting it as an objective fact, without realizing where it comes from.

The relative that owns the condo is a sweet little old lady who kept reminding us to hurry up and finish the durian before it stinks up the condo or the fridge where it was kept. Each time, I wanted to ask: So what if the place smells like durian, would that be such a disaster? The smell will disappear eventually and it's not like I took a dump on the Persian carpet in the living room. Old Auntie has a cute little dog that does its business on newspapers in her bedroom, which smells like dog's piss/poo all the time. I know because that's how my bedroom smells at home. And I keep thinking how outrageous that that sweet old lady has been accepting a relatively recent Western judgment as a universal fact, to the point of thinking that the smell of a durian in a house where she is not staying is worse than the smell of her dog's excrements in her own room.

So Long and Merci For All the Fish

You may have noticed, this blog hasn't been active since (insert date of latest post). I'm not dead or anything (at least not in any noticeable way, but I stopped being so sure nowadays since seeing The Sixth Sense), and I'm just as busy as ever, but I've stopped feeling guilty and responsible if I don't update the blog. The fact is: it finally dawned on me that I have no readers, apart of my family and a nano-circle of closest friends (and even then, when I ask them their opinion on my latest post, they would say: oh your blog? I haven't checked it for a while), so I'm saying: f*ck it, if nobody cares, why should I?

Hence the title of today's post. It's my way of thanking, from the bottom of my heart, the two followers who agreed to be identified as such: sincere, humble, grateful thanks to them for clicking on something that somehow linked them to this blog, and now I'm setting them free. Heartfelt thanks  to other anonymous readers, if any, to all the people who were previously interested enough to comment and to anyone who accidentally stumbled on this blog. I might post again, whenever.. but it will only be for myself.

Kisses and hugs and thanks for all the fishes.

Explanation from Wikipedia: So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish (1984, ISBN 0-345-39183-7) is the fourth book of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series written by Douglas Adams. Its title is the message left by the dolphins when they departed Planet Earth just before it was demolished to make way for a hyperspatial express route, as described in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The phrase has since been adopted by some science fiction fans as a humorous way to say "goodbye" and a song of the same name was featured in the 2005 film adaptation of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

UPDATE: I might have spoken too soon (or too late): I can't seem to find my followers on the blog, so they must have de-followed themselves a long time ago, and I didn't even notice.  This final post is so obviously overdue it would be embarrassing to anyone who cares. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

The Intelligence Squared Debate

Aired 11-7-09 on BBC World, the debate theme is: " Is the Catholic church a force for good in the world? " Speaking for the motion, Archbishop John Onaiyekan and Ann Widdecombe MP. Speaking against the motion, Christopher Hitchens and Stephen Fry. Votes are taken before and after the debate.

The Swine Flu Lottery

The swine flu season is in full swing and vaccination campaigns have just started in Montreal. As usual, all kinds of weird/bad decisions have been taken, that make you wonder sometimes... We're not talking only about the massive disorganization of the first few days that forced parents with young children and pregnant women standing in huge lines for 5-6 hours in the cold. Consider:

Montreal is the largest city in the province of Quebec, it's where the flu pandemy would have the most disruptive impact. So of course, it's not where the vaccination campaign would start, because that would be too rational. Montrealers would be among the last to be vaccinated in the province.

Why did it take so long? Here's an extract from the local newspaper The Gazette :

"Quebec Health Minister Yves Bolduc chastised Montreal's top health official for failing to deploy the city's H1N1 vaccination program as planned months in advance.

Concerned that further inoculation delays would put people at risk for swine flu infection now that the virus is in hyper speed, Bolduc personally called David Levine, head of the Montreal Health and Social Services Agency, to demand an explanation.

Bolduc made the call late Monday night, said his press attache Marie-Ève Bédard.

There was no reason for Montreal's delay, Bédard said.

Not only did the city have the vaccine on hand "for quite a while," but also the authority to hand over the doses to the 12 local health agencies responsible for handling the campaign at various sites, she said. "So the minister found it difficult to understand why Montreal hadn't started its vaccination." Levine promised that the plan would be on track by 10 a.m. yesterday, with the vaccine delivered to every hospital, clinic and nursing home.

But at a press briefing held yesterday morning, Levine said that as far as he was concerned, there were no delays.

Accompanied by Richard Lessard, head of public health, and Louise Massicotte, in charge of the vaccine program at local health agencies, Levine explained that plans initially called for a mid-November start date and it was a huge logistical job for the agency to prepare for an earlier start on Oct. 26.

In fact, Lessard added, it was actually a good thing that Montreal did not start immunizing Monday because only that evening the vaccine manufacturer provided health authorities with new handling directives.

Sensitive to light and heat, the vaccine itself must be kept at temperatures between 2 to 8 degrees C, and if not used within 24 hours of being mixed with the adjuvant and one hour of filling a syringe, it will expire, Lessard said.

Back in Bolduc's office, Bédard, however, dismissed these "new" vaccine directives: "This is the first time I've heard of this. I don't know why he said that. The procedures have been known for a long time ... and Montreal was in charge of sending (early) vaccine to northern Quebec." Neither Levine nor Lessard was available to comment."

So there's your answer. As a professional linguistic expert, let me translate: Q: Why the delay? A: Heck if I know.

Vaccines are now limited to people who care for infants, children 6 months to 5 years old, expectant mothers more than 20 weeks pregnant, those with serious immune deficiencies, the gravely ill, front-line and health workers.

For healthy adults and children older than age 5, vaccination will not begin until December 7th. I'll be taking a couple of trips at the end of the year, starting on the first of December, so I guess I'll miss the whole thing. Unless I pull rank with my diabetes, since adults age 18 to 65 with a chronic illness will get inoculated starting November 23rd.

In the meantime, here are a few groups who are getting their shots ahead of everyone: hockey players, inmates in jail, high-level civil servants and homeless people.

Any questions? Ask the health care professionals below (no, not the pumpkin, he's a PR guy).

Update: I will regularly update this post by adding new groups who I learn are able to jump the line and get inoculated before their turn :

7 November: professional basket ball players, the 200 top donors to a hospital.

10 November: Claude Dubois (famous singer) and family

11 November: Afghan detainees in Canadian bases in Afghanistan (I kid you not)

12 November: "In B.C., where eight died from the swine flu last week, an alleged nurse posted an ad on UsedVictoria.com to auction the H1N1 vaccine on the Internet. The ad, posted Monday, "said the auction would continue until midnight on Friday. After that, the nurse was to contact the highest bidder, come to the winner's home with proof of credentials and administer the shots," The Province reports"

See Ya Later Alligator!

Sent by Michelle (Merci Michelle!)

  

Happy Halloween!

What? Too Soon?

My suggestion for this year's Halloween Costume, on sale at: http://www.microflight.com/Balloon-Boy-Halloween-Costume-Kit, for the low low price of $19.99 (you supply your own helium).

J'ai la sécurité d'emploi

Je suis allée à Zellers l'autre jour pour acheter des valises pour mon voyage à Los Angeles.

Une des valises portait l'étiquette suivante:


Pour comprendre ce charabia, je fais ce que font tous les Québécois quand ils ne comprennent pas un texte en français: je cherche la version anglaise. Euréka! Tout s'explique!

La valise en question est vendue avec un petit sac à dos, qui est "niché" à l'intérieur. Les instructions sont destinées au personnel de la Section des valises du magasin: ils doivent sortir le petit sac à dos de la valise avant de mettre l'ensemble en vente. 

La morale de l'histoire est que ce n'est pas demain la veille que je serai remplacée par un logiciel de traduction automatique.

P.S. J'ai acheté une autre valise. 

Abomination

I wasn't ready yet to post, but this is too disgusting for me to keep quiet. I will not reproduce the graphic gruesome pictures, so go ahead and click on the link, but if you are of a delicate nature, please abstain:

http://theseoultimes.com/ST/?url=/ST/db/read.php?idx=7333

I hope this is a hoax.