tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-42139067087477206612024-02-20T03:03:46.358-08:00Tennessee Terakoya [テネシー の 寺子屋]Sadie Heilemannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01837836295467264147noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4213906708747720661.post-73760188992445628352013-07-08T09:44:00.000-07:002013-07-08T09:44:03.104-07:00Edo Era Photoplasty What-If? A Steampunk Twist to the Boshin War?This wasn't particularly well thought out or anything, but I went into this short Photoshop project with the intention of creating an entry for a Cracked magazine photoplasty contest "What if famous personages of history were born in the wrong era?" or something to that effect. When I finished it, I realized that there was no specific single historic personage represented beyond the fact that the original painting used was created by Jules Brunet, famous French combatant on the side of the Bakufu forces in the Boshin War of 1868-9. In my photoplasty, he is the field "photographer" of an out-of-time event that wasn't supposed to happen in Japan (well, arguably, ever!) until 1945.<br />
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So, without further ado, here is my photoplasty of Japan's premature atomic solution to the Restoration war. The question remains: who in Japan could have invented the bomb in the mid-19th century? But let's not overthink this.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI47R_N_oRoyf9susRdF_zkOZks0AXIEqNMRtGyxCkJEdnFPg3vs638-umsyqCRw2akNPldq6kGixJxIgFFRWbzxgYb8MRILpAQUxfi2WqMk6UyC5op4HEzfFFQP5qpNeAEApvjttvBXc/s1600/AtomicBoshinWar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="496" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI47R_N_oRoyf9susRdF_zkOZks0AXIEqNMRtGyxCkJEdnFPg3vs638-umsyqCRw2akNPldq6kGixJxIgFFRWbzxgYb8MRILpAQUxfi2WqMk6UyC5op4HEzfFFQP5qpNeAEApvjttvBXc/s640/AtomicBoshinWar.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />Sadie Heilemannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01837836295467264147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4213906708747720661.post-60158856820696020612012-08-01T10:18:00.001-07:002012-08-01T10:18:57.561-07:00Open Your Eyes to the Reality, Chick Fil-A. Marriage is a Right for Gay as Well as Straight<br />
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Today is August 1, 2012, and I recently learned it is also
something called <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/266281243473841/" target="_blank">Chick Fil-A Appreciation Day</a>.
There isn’t a franchise anywhere near where I’m sitting, but even if there
were, I wouldn’t. Since Chick Fil-A as an organization has gone so far as to
endorse an exclusionary political stance, i.e., standing against gay marriage
rights, I wish to exercise my free rights not to allow any of my money to
support such a consciously ignorant and hateful affiliation. I mean, it isn’t like
traditional man-woman marriage is a perfect institution or anything. And what
about all those studies that have shown homosexuality is genetically
predetermined (or a result of particular embryological conditions)? What about
all those upstanding test case children of gay parents? I’d say the evidence
for your stance against gay marriage is slowly being swept away by the
verifiable evidence that gay marriage is not monstrous and it does not warp
children or turn otherwise straight people into raving queens or dykes. (Forgive
me for not posting links to studies here, but I plead “pain from broken finger”
as an excuse to keep this short! Google them; they’re out there!)</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgus73Oc8JvxVsB_nMLXyMwPQAw9wmelD_ZzV11erD0vmw74ZWYPwVFhrpjWMpPyY0wQgBAXV7tJNS5tc-3w_RXIoOuMQfZwE1PaxEq3AYr2z5o7oK-ltVBR6LaisgBs6Gf-hVGdA0aAhY/s1600/sadieorangenpurple.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgus73Oc8JvxVsB_nMLXyMwPQAw9wmelD_ZzV11erD0vmw74ZWYPwVFhrpjWMpPyY0wQgBAXV7tJNS5tc-3w_RXIoOuMQfZwE1PaxEq3AYr2z5o7oK-ltVBR6LaisgBs6Gf-hVGdA0aAhY/s400/sadieorangenpurple.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My "orange" wig to show support for the gay community. Also notice the purple reflection. That's for empathy. You know, that "Do Unto Others" bit that's so important in interpersonal relationships!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Back to today. Over on Facebook, there is a concurrent
observance called <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/224551367660970/" target="_blank">Open your Eyes, Minds and Hearts Day</a>,
in which everyone is asked to wear purple or orange to show support for the gay
community in the face of Chick Fil-A’s<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>ineffectual attempts at cowardly bitch-slapping. Wear orange if you’re
straight and purple if you’re gay, or wear both to show your empathy (or for
all y’all pansexuals out there). In honor of this event, I colored my signature
green wig orange, and in some pix I also added purple to the reflection in the
mirror to show empathy. I may identify as a straight person, but I believe in
appreciating beauty in all its forms and presentations. I’d gladly wear Spock’s
IDIC and endeavor to personify it. </div>
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<br /></div>
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Oh yeah, if you want to be really snarky, go to Chick Fil-A
and just order water, and be sure to cite <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JprRWKQys7A&feature=g-all-lik" target="_blank">Proverbs 25:21</a> when you do! Voting with your wallets indeed! </div>
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<br /></div>
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One last though before my finger is totally immobile: if you
are married, think of all the perks and benefits you or your spouse enjoy in
the legal and financial realms. Think of custody rights, insurance, survivor
benefits, all sorts of stuff. Now imagine all those rights are denied to you
and/or your spouse arbitrarily. Put yourself in the place of a gay couple and
truly understand how they are being discriminated against. </div>Sadie Heilemannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01837836295467264147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4213906708747720661.post-62346733040830568562012-06-23T12:28:00.000-07:002012-06-23T12:28:06.077-07:00My Alien Abduction Terror: A Study in PTSD<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-K1JqIVmJU2T0eTaqP68vPB9S67iYsLOUuMWGLCZQNzc4rXmPN0O-uwNDHtuurCq7rew838pFROZY6LCabVk801BhBXXOdPfcfk6GcXJLrKNoGOdAuOnWJJsdPfl3tydeghSIg3mwr2o/s1600/Alienigena.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-K1JqIVmJU2T0eTaqP68vPB9S67iYsLOUuMWGLCZQNzc4rXmPN0O-uwNDHtuurCq7rew838pFROZY6LCabVk801BhBXXOdPfcfk6GcXJLrKNoGOdAuOnWJJsdPfl3tydeghSIg3mwr2o/s320/Alienigena.jpg" width="142" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'm WAAAAAATCHING YOOOOUUUUU!!!!! Hehe hehehe...NOT!</td></tr>
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Some of you have read about my <a href="http://voices.yahoo.com/life-harder-than-death-narrative-fighting-11390022.html?cat=70" target="_blank">horrific experience 22 years ago</a>, wherein I shook hands with Death via a violent home invasion and rape. But
it might interest you to know that the aftermath included something that seems
unrelated but must truly be directly influenced by the trauma. In short, I
spent a week hiding out at my grandmother’s house in Florida, sleeping in her
guest bedroom where I had slept many times before. Only this time, I was
visited with visions of grey aliens every night. I could not sleep for fear
of waking up in the grip of several jabbering aliens with needles and
restraints. If you think I’m exaggerating, I might, at this late date, be
inclined to agree. But at the time, it was a dark obsession; every time the
lights went out, I saw aliens. </div>
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The disconnect might join up for you if you realize that my
mother had given me her copy of Whitley Strieber’s <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Communion-True-Story-Whitley-Strieber/dp/0061474185" target="_blank">Communion</a> to read shortly
before this. Mom was always into paranormal, magical and other weird stuff. She
even had a tarot deck and a Ouija board. I don’t think she ever used the Ouija
board though; it sits in my garage…somewhere. The infusion of a breathless,
emotional account of Strieber’s abduction experiences wormed their way
into my ravaged, stressed-out post-trauma brain and lodged in my dreams. As a
result, I slept with abduction anxiety for a week or so. If I were more credulous, I
would have affixed great significance to the fact that I heard my father’s
voice in my head so loudly it caused me to roll violently out of bed, only to
see him pulling out of the driveway early one morning during my stay at Grandma’s
house. Surely, the sensitivity of the traumatized brain is amazing, or I experienced telepathy .</div>
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<br /></div>
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These and other experiences have led me to believe that
humans indeed possess capabilities that might be deemed paranormal, but I would
not go as far as calling them supernatural. By definition, anything that
happens in the natural world is “natural.” Thus, I keep my mind open to the
possibility of paranormal phenomena. But many times, the most obvious
explanation is the right one. If you’re ever traumatized like I was, I don’t
recommend reading Whitley Strieber books, ok?</div>Sadie Heilemannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01837836295467264147noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4213906708747720661.post-20664316845872394912012-06-11T21:33:00.000-07:002012-06-11T21:33:34.729-07:00You’re HOT, Birthday Girl! Love, Mom.<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihRQ_a7GaypDn3sB0_1k2o-5WyQUYcSFm7wmp7Z-BeSm8pQdKAn2g4WGiYb6pql9IREF5aIPVIDhkz4wqRsMihUNVER2c3yw3L-m4rddsLqj0a_5AM36zBerIC0CNyiylfQxnkhOnrVcw/s1600/watercolorflowers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihRQ_a7GaypDn3sB0_1k2o-5WyQUYcSFm7wmp7Z-BeSm8pQdKAn2g4WGiYb6pql9IREF5aIPVIDhkz4wqRsMihUNVER2c3yw3L-m4rddsLqj0a_5AM36zBerIC0CNyiylfQxnkhOnrVcw/s320/watercolorflowers.jpg" width="134" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A pretty watercolor flowery image </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
In a few minutes, I’ll be officially a year older than I was
a few minutes ago. Happens every year, you know. This year I’ve racked up big
number 47, and most of my family has tended to forget my birthday. I don’t
particularly mind this, because it is a mixed blessing to turn 47, after all.
But I think of the alternative and decide it’s overall a good thing. My mother
remembered me, and she sent me a card in the mail. I opened it today, a pretty,
decorative card with the Greeting Card Co. sentiment. So I read along, and it
slowly gets just a slight bit weird, like maybe she’s lost her mind or closed
her eyes and picked a card at random. This particular card begins:</div>
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<i>“Ever since we became family,</i></div>
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<i>I’ve been impressed by you.”</i></div>
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OK, I can see that. After all, I came out on the end of
forceps looking like a miniature of Frankenstein’s monster. That’d impress
anyone, really. The language is a little strange, as if I became family
sometime after the Frankenstein delivery. But, to continue, it goes on:</div>
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<i>“You know who you are</i></div>
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<i>And you show it proudly.</i></div>
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<i>You follow your dreams and work hard to make them</i></div>
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<i>Come true…”</i></div>
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<br /></div>
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All this is under the nice, generic, “happy birthday
daughter” rubric, so I’m hangin’ with that. After a stanza or two more of this,
I turn the page to the greeting card punch line:</div>
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<i>“You’re an incredible woman,</i></div>
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<i>And I’m happy to have you in my life.</i></div>
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<i>Happy Birthday</i></div>
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<i>With Love.”</i></div>
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Now I feel like this is a card meant for a lover or a wife
or something. Don’t get me wrong; I love my mother, and I’m happy to have her
in my life, but I can’t picture the phrase, “You’re an incredible woman” coming
out of her mouth. That’s something a lover says to his hot babe or something,
or God forbid, something a very drunken suitor says at the bar when it’s
nearing 2 a.m. and you’re the only possible pickup target left at last call. </div>
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But hey, Mom sent a $30 check too, so I’m willing to go with
the whole “incredible woman” thing. Maybe she’s trying to make me forget I’m middle-aged
or something. Thanks, Mom! I love you too!</div>Sadie Heilemannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01837836295467264147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4213906708747720661.post-63343344584361308072012-04-27T20:57:00.000-07:002012-04-27T21:02:44.534-07:00Carl Sagan's Alien Moon Base and Vintage UFO Sensationalism: Frank Edwards Tells His Tales<br />
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As an undirected, wandering student, I used to really enjoy
fantastic tales that purported to be real. So, the old, battered 1960’s
paperbacks by Frank Edwards, a sort of Art Bell for the 1960’s. His books were
collections of short tales of mysterious disappearances, unexplained phenomena,
UFO’s…you know, all the stuff that conspiracy theorists think are absolutely
true but are being systematically covered up to prevent the people from knowing
what’s really going on. </div>
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Oddly, I never really caught the “true believer” bug of the
conspiracy theorist, but I always enjoyed the titillation of the breathless
narrative that made everything SEEM like it must be a genuine occurrence of the
extraordinary. As a child, I wished that aliens would land in my front yard and
take me with them. I dreamed of working side-by-side with Mr. Spock as a sort
of junior science officer. And somehow, in the misty past of the 1960’s, it
seemed that the edge of the unknown was important government business. After
all, the whole decade was dedicated to reaching the Moon.</div>
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This morning I found a youtube video from those
fuzzy-outline days, a series of slides overlaying a radio presentation by that
very same Frank Edwards, “Flying Saucers, Serious Business.” I have the
paperback here—somewhere. I read it years ago in a fit of bedside dreaminess. </div>
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I was interested to find, right around the 34 minute mark, a
reference to Carl Sagan, who Edwards claimed was the “advisor on
extraterrestrial life to the military.” Well, I didn’t see that on his other
online biographies! Here, Edwards notes
Sagan’s speculation that we have probably already been visited by beings from
other worlds. But wait! He also says these aliens (the imagined probable ones
that are out there somewhere) could have bases on the dark side of the Moon. It
seems there was a common belief in the early 1960’s that we might have already
been beaten to the Moon by space aliens, and that we might have to be prepared
to fight for our lunar territory. How fascinating to see such popular rumor and
how it arises! Edwarrds tells it all in that matter-of-fact vintage reporter
style. </div>
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Of course, now that we’ve seen the other side of the Moon, that
speculation has to be thrown out. Only the woo types who believe we have never
set foot on the Moon can hold on to it now. That’s why it’s “woo.” For those of
you out there who want to see the dark side of the Moon, <a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2012/02/03/video-of-the-lunar-far-side-from-grailebb/" target="_blank">here’s footage</a>!
So far, no alien moonbase.</div>
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<br /></div>Sadie Heilemannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01837836295467264147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4213906708747720661.post-26359297915849112972012-04-23T20:10:00.000-07:002012-04-28T12:02:46.378-07:00Presuppositional Apologetics Can Eat My Shorts<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyl8_a5xjLADDlrEtBhY2rJGEHTWE45LfKSy3x1KWn_O65fH85_eK0R8Urw73ueZAwnFsBniK0Kcke-sfnAbH4_VoezkC4fJwyX9XHrHnG3kLN2tQEKBRsKTj38NhVveCBM0b-kQGrLe0/s1600/realitywall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyl8_a5xjLADDlrEtBhY2rJGEHTWE45LfKSy3x1KWn_O65fH85_eK0R8Urw73ueZAwnFsBniK0Kcke-sfnAbH4_VoezkC4fJwyX9XHrHnG3kLN2tQEKBRsKTj38NhVveCBM0b-kQGrLe0/s640/realitywall.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My graphic depiction of the disconnect between Bible literalists and the scientific worldview. Images from Wikimedia Commons, public domain license.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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I admit I have not been very regular in writing on this
blog. I made the cardinal mistake of assuming I should have something real to
talk about, with real substance behind it, before I delved into the business of
putting the idea into words. Lately, I decided that, if I wait for that kind of
inspiration, I probably wouldn’t write another word for months. So I took a bit
of advice from <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/129971139216394449/" target="_blank">this helpful article</a>
and decided to just pick something that irritates me. Unfortunately, it still
took me 2 days to put together the whole post (mainly because of visiting
relatives and annoying constant interruptions-yeah, I’m making excuses!)</div>
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If you’ve seen my <a href="https://twitter.com/#%21/NagasakiOsada" target="_blank">Twitter profile</a>, you’ll read that I
identify myself as an “apathetic agnostic,” which is lazy-speak for “I’m not
religious, and I don’t really care about the fine points of religion.” Somehow
that doesn’t ring completely true though, when I decide my favorite podcast of
the week is Seth Andrews’ <a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/thethinkingatheist" target="_blank">The Thinking Atheist</a> , which explores the human side
and the social realities of being atheist in a predominantly Christian society
(middle America). The fine points of the atheist vs. Christian worldview often
escape me, but I found my interest growing when I realized how intrusive
religious dogma was becoming, extending now to children’s classrooms here in
Tennessee, where the so-called “Monkey Bill” has opened the door to allowing
degreed scientists (who should know better) to spread misinformation and lies
to the open minds who will lead the next generation. That way lies the new Dark
Ages, and that is what really scares me. But on to Presuppositional
Apologetics, which I consider to be somewhat of a dishonest parlor game, rather
than an honest attempt to prove God’s existence.</div>
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Few things irritate me more than blatantly ignorant
assertions that refuse to allow dissension or even a peep outside the narrow
world of the proponent. The field of Presuppositional Apologetics has got to be
the single most annoying and closed-minded mind trick that literalist
Christians have come up with thus far to redefine reality. Proponents Eric
Hovind (son of “Maximum Security Kent” Hovind) and his bulldog Sye ten Bruggencate
have been making the rounds of atheist talk shows online lately, spreading the
massive headache that cuts off all possibility of rational communication. </div>
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I blame tenBruggencate in particular for ruining my
enjoyment of DPR Jones’ The Magic Sandwich Show and Seth Andrews’ The Thinking
Atheist podcasts with his willful refusal to allow arguments based on fact and
reason. In fact, I think the succinct and peremptory response of the folks at
the <a href="http://fundamentally-flawed.com/pods/?p=episode&name=2012-04-03_minicast__insta-bail_aka_bye_bye_sye.mp3" target="_blank">Fundamentally Flawed podcast</a> had the right idea. I don’t even think Sye got 30 seconds in, because he refused at the outset to
abandon his insistence that the Bible must be taken as the basis of all
knowledge before he would even begin to allow an exchange. No neutral ground
here…</div>
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That’s the real problem with this dishonest philosophical
framework known as Presuppositional Apologetics. The very premise it dictates,
that the Bible is the source of all knowledge and nothing can be known without
“presupposing” its integral part in reality, then anyone attempting to argue
for a reality without reliance on literal Biblical inerrancy cannot even begin to set
forth an argument. It is basically “ Bible Blinkers ,” disallowing any
worldviews that do not take the Bible as canonical reality at the outset. Who
can argue with someone who will not listen even to your first utterance?</div>
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So, like Jim, Alex and Kat at Fundamentally Flawed, it seems
wise to say “Bye-bye Sye” and simply focus on using reason and testable
evidence to prove the existence of reality that makes a literalist Biblical
approach less and less probable simply by accretion of proof that contradicts
Young Earth Creationism and other small-minded outgrowths of the unfortunate
phenomenon of Christian literalism. What ever happened to an acceptance of
Bible stories as allegorical tales? The literalists are shooting themselves in
the foot when they assert that a thousands-year-old book can tell us scientific
truths about our modern world. It is backward-thinking and poses a danger to
the younger generations who will carry the human race into the future. </div>
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I am no debater, nor am I a theologian or philosopher, so I cannot speak to
the finer points of this doctrine of presuppositional apologetics, but I’ve
seen it play out in conversation, and it is not pretty. My scientific training
causes me to cry out in disgust of the blatant disregard for the testable
nature of reality <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">as it is observed in the natural world</i>.
It is the very worst of closed minds
championing a lost cause, hanging on to a crumbling world view simply on the
power of wishful thinking. If you want the best ammunition against a
presuppositionalist, I highly recommend this <a href="http://youtu.be/8QMtj0vXWAc" target="_blank">counter-apologetic</a> from C0nc0rdance,
another of the regulars on the biweekly Magic Sandwich Show. In a way,
this clear-thinking answer to the frustrating deafness of Sye ten Bruggencate
vindicates the efforts of DPR Jones and the rest of the MSS crew, who were
obviously massively put off and somewhat taken by surprise by Sye’s refusal to
engage in adult discussion from a neutral ground. Now that the beast of Presuppositional Apologetics has lost its shock value, we can see that it has
no real substance, and it can now join the ranks of dishonest arguments that only hurt the
cause of Christianity. </div>
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I mean, really. Why don’t mainstream Christians denounce
these nutcases? Their aggressive, bullying tactics only make the whole of
Christendom look bad. At least Richard Dawkins and the Archbishop of Canterbury
had a civil, polite and decorous conversation, each retaining respect for the
other through polite disagreement. Even William Lane Craig’s “I win because I
say so” arguments follow the rules of debate. Eric and Sye belong in time-out
on the kindergarten playground. Their methods are evasive and dishonest. Is
this sort of con game what Christians want to represent their world view?</div>
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Some frustrating and/or amusing encounters between atheists
and presuppositionalists Hovind and tenBruggencate, along with some postgame
analysis :</div>
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<a href="http://youtu.be/T06j5SApekk" target="_blank">The Magic Sandwich Show</a> (Sye, Eric Hovind , Thunderf00t ,
DPRJones , AronRa , C0nc0rdance )
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<a href="http://youtu.be/x4xmw1sVhN8" target="_blank">The Thinking Atheist</a> podcast w/DPR Jones and Sye </div>
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<a href="http://youtu.be/wo1JY9eixI8" target="_blank">Grappling Ignorance</a> (with lots of links to other videos
dealing with Presuppositional idiocy)
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<a href="http://youtu.be/oIp9OGnnfrA" target="_blank">PZ Myers Talks to Sye </a>as if to a 6-year-old child </div>
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3-jzsqHFzU&feature=player_embedded#%21%20" target="_blank">Paul Baird responds to above PZ Myers exchange</a> w/Sye</div>
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<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://youtu.be/fySiPYSk1aY" target="_blank">JamesRandi identifies silly circular arguments</a> of Sye</span></div>
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</div>Sadie Heilemannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01837836295467264147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4213906708747720661.post-68419991238443087352012-03-31T19:53:00.000-07:002012-03-31T19:53:57.827-07:00News Flash: Creationism Proven Correct! Richard Dawkins Discovered to Be God (from the AFN* News Service: 4/1/2012)<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>JA</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/> <w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/> <w:OverrideTableStyleHps/> <w:UseFELayout/> </w:Compatibility> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<div class="MsoNormal">In a shocking new discovery, researchers at the Human Genome Project discovered an unusual artifact hidden deep within a recently parsed set of genetic data. Unlikely as it seems, we have to consider the possibility that a particular coded sequence of base pairs in a sample taken from a Mrs. Fiona Lostmyhandbag of the tiny Scottish village of Nothindhuin may have a pointed message. We must also consider that this may be undeniable evidence of an intelligent creator. The only catch is that the intelligent designer is none other than Oxford evolutionary biologist Professor Richard Dawkins. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The transformed data sequence here shows an unmistakable imprimatur: (apologies to dnai.org for hijacking its chromosome closeup graphic)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgng-cnsy3Z5NQVpz2eHzaDNL0wOAyICApRJaverX9M_Ooe8abHZ7vmwEpmyK6xbxlhMeAMcc9bZl4da7LCt30wMQuyExfc8zKGudxJo71rNqrCqHheKMsN3tXl1hJ4cI0elxGZg-WhEhw/s1600/DawkinsDesigned.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="576" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgng-cnsy3Z5NQVpz2eHzaDNL0wOAyICApRJaverX9M_Ooe8abHZ7vmwEpmyK6xbxlhMeAMcc9bZl4da7LCt30wMQuyExfc8zKGudxJo71rNqrCqHheKMsN3tXl1hJ4cI0elxGZg-WhEhw/s640/DawkinsDesigned.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The chances of such a complex coded message appearing by natural selection and random mutation are infinitesimal; so scientists have had no choice but to declare that Richard Dawkins is most likely God, the long-sought intelligent designer of the human race. When asked for comment, Dr. William Lane Craig said, “See, I told you so,” before promptly calling Professor Dawkins to congratulate him on his promotion. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Dr. Dawkins was asked to comment on his newfound status as Creator and Ultimate Deity. His reply was simply, “That’s bullshit.”</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Critics of the “Dawkins is God” movement have countered with a claim that Dawkins may only be the creator of Mrs. Fiona Lostmyhandbag and no one else. Mrs. Lostmyhandbag was sequestered with the officials of the British Railways Lost and Found and could not be reached for comment, although her dog, a Chihuahua named Charles Darwin, had much to say on the matter. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">*AFN: April Fool’s Network :D</div>Sadie Heilemannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01837836295467264147noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4213906708747720661.post-42788253171942335052012-03-13T20:33:00.001-07:002012-03-13T20:33:33.737-07:0010 Seconds in the Life of a Snail: A Bit of FunThis is what happens when I try to take close-up nature shots while walking my dog.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigZwjQeMOV6xoNHScVFwTN11VHczYORluWnhfnNSfr3lJyxGz6jdc3h034yClkUeaG6H69UTOweeaocRVoJDBA5PZicJP_GrP230le3t0PKNE6IpKMVLr49Jd4zXw5QmsZI7deiXvzJz8/s1600/snailtalemontage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="1280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigZwjQeMOV6xoNHScVFwTN11VHczYORluWnhfnNSfr3lJyxGz6jdc3h034yClkUeaG6H69UTOweeaocRVoJDBA5PZicJP_GrP230le3t0PKNE6IpKMVLr49Jd4zXw5QmsZI7deiXvzJz8/s640/snailtalemontage.jpg" width="664" /></a></div>Sadie Heilemannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01837836295467264147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4213906708747720661.post-34272656537975331652012-02-19T21:14:00.000-08:002012-02-19T21:14:00.597-08:00My Fabulous Yard Sale Find:Samurai Archer on Horseback Print<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>JA</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/> <w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/> <w:OverrideTableStyleHps/> <w:UseFELayout/> </w:Compatibility> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<div class="MsoNormal">Yesterday, I found a beautiful and rather well-preserved specimen of Japanese print, featuring a samurai in full armor on horseback, holding an arrow at the ready in his longbow. It appeared to be numbered “11” as if it were number 11 in a series. All other marks were kanji with a smattering of katakana. So I made a long and rather frustrating attempt to decipher the rest of the kanji, thinking my handy Denshi Jisho radical lookup might help me identify the unknown symbols. Boy was I ever wrong! I found some of them, but even the ones I found were often not part of the Joyo Kanji standard list. Obviously, one must be much more learned in this stuff than I am. </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjog9t5aFbYCT7N_2HFpwVYAXou5vct3D1b2ce0VRx7hmqzvX3ZjfJL_EH97CaFUbhevXCdH90-tnwINB_aQcvbIUGug1tcW9DtVHkszhElsz0nnOJ4TWS4Xn0Rq5omHmu2Ngfk0yGmuBc/s1600/japanprintlg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjog9t5aFbYCT7N_2HFpwVYAXou5vct3D1b2ce0VRx7hmqzvX3ZjfJL_EH97CaFUbhevXCdH90-tnwINB_aQcvbIUGug1tcW9DtVHkszhElsz0nnOJ4TWS4Xn0Rq5omHmu2Ngfk0yGmuBc/s640/japanprintlg.jpg" width="486" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My Mystery Samurai Archer on Horseback Print, 14.5" by 10"</td></tr>
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">The box in which the print came also held ephemera and photographs from just pre-World War I to about 1950, so I’m guessing the print is either just post WWII or perhaps earlier, especially since I had so much trouble finding the kanji. I realize that pre-WWII kanji would be carried on a list called the <a href="http://www.sljfaq.org/afaq/kyuujitai.html" target="_blank">“kyujitai”</a> or “original characters,” rather than the shinjitai, or newer system. (Just to make things amusing, there’s something called the “seijitai” as well, which just means “proper characters” and is synonymous with kyujitai). So what’s correct? Anyway, I got in over my head, and so I’m posting the print in its entirety, along with closeups of the text and stamps. I’m sure there are plenty of folks out there who can make more sense of it than I can. It is possible I'm just missing a stylized font, who knows?</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQK1dK3ax3N2t5xoIYgXQ5TwuSnu9LJXubl443md6v-p0to66GDiAGHIBjZfxBoB4nPc1hfZg-N9NA_puVzoYcCh3Kj-hdrRPh6Gtpp4HOWnpg_vbU-wv9bKhvcCchHzxWhrJHpJpU2S4/s1600/bottomleftkanjitotal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQK1dK3ax3N2t5xoIYgXQ5TwuSnu9LJXubl443md6v-p0to66GDiAGHIBjZfxBoB4nPc1hfZg-N9NA_puVzoYcCh3Kj-hdrRPh6Gtpp4HOWnpg_vbU-wv9bKhvcCchHzxWhrJHpJpU2S4/s640/bottomleftkanjitotal.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kanji text at bottom left of print</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4PgxQqcKw7zKR7t2R1xbH0N-TQq9bSZHAKhDWQt4Me869KSqibN4dltRQHIINWUiwqzmlsLUY2if-vwh0zufJcc7Nc17W93nmG3MXeZjcfUG77OMtkpqxLueK2Thk8AaWa3NNqJXTnUA/s1600/sigstampnew.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4PgxQqcKw7zKR7t2R1xbH0N-TQq9bSZHAKhDWQt4Me869KSqibN4dltRQHIINWUiwqzmlsLUY2if-vwh0zufJcc7Nc17W93nmG3MXeZjcfUG77OMtkpqxLueK2Thk8AaWa3NNqJXTnUA/s400/sigstampnew.jpg" width="183" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stamp and signature to lower right hand of image.</td></tr>
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">For a few moments, I thought I had found at least a companion piece to this one at this website, which shows a sold scroll print of <a href="http://jyuluck-do.com/ss30092.html%20" target="_blank">Minamoto no Yoshiie</a>, who is astride a similarly dressed horse with very similar clothing (but not quite the same). The artist’s stamp is different though, and so it probably isn’t related. That print was estimated to be approximately mid-20<sup>th</sup> century. I’m guessing this one is too.</div>Sadie Heilemannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01837836295467264147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4213906708747720661.post-71818251484597237702012-02-10T20:31:00.000-08:002012-02-10T20:31:53.057-08:00A Paean to Photoshop, Or Sadie Takes Pictures of Herself in a Green Wig<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>JA</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/> <w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/> <w:OverrideTableStyleHps/> <w:UseFELayout/> </w:Compatibility> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTiNyqZlTBC3dgZ75neCxWcc7sAYMwP0coV_XFfOXZDN_7xTdJGHRZDjQxzrEiynyzaPy2rCrhvQwxq_LOA54ihb1IMEy1fDIer5rAl7GE-qK5u3GNtFrd27nmnX80xdHNqNTjP3YhyXk/s1600/greenwigwarholtablesm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="475" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTiNyqZlTBC3dgZ75neCxWcc7sAYMwP0coV_XFfOXZDN_7xTdJGHRZDjQxzrEiynyzaPy2rCrhvQwxq_LOA54ihb1IMEy1fDIer5rAl7GE-qK5u3GNtFrd27nmnX80xdHNqNTjP3YhyXk/s640/greenwigwarholtablesm.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photograph is really of Sadie, as bizarre as it looks. </td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I finally decided that it was time to stop pretending that I’m Carrie Fisher on my various profiles and change my profile pic back to one that is actually me. While I still bear a phenomenal resemblance to Ms. Fisher, I don’t want to irritate her by perpetually passing off her “Return of the Jedi” metal bikini pic as my only. Credulity on the part of viewers only goes so far. No, I wouldn’t step one foot into that bikini. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">So, I came upon a short but interesting article about how to <a href="http://etypesofphotography.com/how-do-you-take-good-photos-of-yourself/" target="_blank">take good photos</a> of yourself, and it had a few tips for Photoshop optimization, backgrounds, and so on. The green wig was a mere impulse accessory, but I don’t think it looks bad. Why wouldn’t I want to look like an anime babe? Anyway, the bright green hair straight from China and the three fighting silhouettes on my shirt made for an interesting set of referents as I played with a function on Photoshop called “curves.” </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Hitting Cntrl-M as the helpful article above directed, I saw a grid with a straight line diagonally across it. I had the choice of altering the shape of the curve (by dragging it at several points) in the RGB or individual red, green or blue. The table at the top will show what fun I had with this function.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The top left photo is the original. Some of them are not curve altered but have been modified with Color Balance on the Adjust menu to yield those funky, unnatural skin tones. (Oddly, my resemblance to Carrie Fisher seems to be amplified when I turn my skin magenta or yellow, wonder why?)</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Anyway, the laudatory bit comes now. I have owned my copy of Photoshop since 1999, when I was a part-time student. At the time, it was Photoshop 5.5. Now, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>13 years and 4 computers later, I can still run this old copy of Photoshop, meant for Windows 95 or 98 (and I think the brand new Windows ME at the time), on Windows 7 Home Premium, follow relatively up-to-date advice on modifying images in the program and come out with great results. Since I was a student at the time, I got the program for a reduced rate of about $300. It is the best $300 I’ve ever spent on a computer-related item. So, Adobe, want to make me an official cheerleader for Photoshop? I can’t really afford a copy of the new version, but the old version is so robust for what I use it for, I am continually flabbergasted (in a good way) with the results I get.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</style> <![endif]--> </div><div class="MsoNormal">As an endnote, you see those funny little guys on my shirt, the ones who change color as I play with the color settings in Photoshop? Well, that’s a shirt exclusively from animeigo.com , purveyors of great old samurai flicks that I love to watch and imitate in the shower (j/k). I won the shirt in the 2010 Samurai Fiction contest for a story I wrote entitled, “The Samurai Who Lost His Head But Found Another.” If you enjoy a taste of Edo era bathos, <a href="http://www.samurai-archives.com/sfic10a.html" target="_blank">read it here</a>. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div>Sadie Heilemannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01837836295467264147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4213906708747720661.post-82374042053416116302012-02-07T21:31:00.000-08:002012-02-07T21:31:15.484-08:00A Declaration of Disorganization<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>JA</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/> <w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/> <w:OverrideTableStyleHps/> <w:UseFELayout/> </w:Compatibility> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<div class="MsoNormal">I suppose you could say I’ve been suffering from writer’s block, only I have about 10,000 words of nonsense written down about it that no one is going to see—ever. Every night, I attempt to create a blog post that I would not mind showing to the world (not that the world reads my blog or anything). Night after night, my efforts fall short; my theme hijacks itself to another realm, and the post dwindles into an inchoate rant about something totally unrelated to what I intended to write about. I am hoping this post will not be yet another of the same in a long string of pointless verbiage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After all, I am writing about my inability to write, aren’t I? </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Cluttered House, Cluttered Mnd</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">My house should be on “Hoarders,” only circumstances prevent such an option in the land of next-door in-laws and the desire for a measure of privacy. So I resolve every morning to make a dent in “Mount Filthabachi,” as I call the stacks of boxes and tottering towers of books. Some days I actually get some organizing done, but there is a strong tendency towards distraction. I have daily chores that take up a large chunk of the morning and afternoon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the evening, my time is hijacked by my unofficial position as personal secretary to my husband (an unacknowledged time-eater) and from-scratch cooking maven. The in-laws are constant loose cannons, placing unpredictable demands on our time at short to no notice. Between all this and my dependence of late on narcotic painkillers for long-standing chronic pain problems, I have found coherent writing to be next to impossible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am looking for solutions. Writing this post is a step towards that goal. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnhcZFUtZ5EKgpW17QWbuM3DJrPsz2ucff7zCYRiYo6xtNaXKuneho2RwC6cgbNRNXOejfdKaG7sqVrTLZXNJg5bgmsNb2A7AgsxWhA8t0BVI74VAXD-TtRKJu0jWaWOVDKsiXxNlugmU/s1600/amberperkerpinkcup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnhcZFUtZ5EKgpW17QWbuM3DJrPsz2ucff7zCYRiYo6xtNaXKuneho2RwC6cgbNRNXOejfdKaG7sqVrTLZXNJg5bgmsNb2A7AgsxWhA8t0BVI74VAXD-TtRKJu0jWaWOVDKsiXxNlugmU/s400/amberperkerpinkcup.jpg" width="336" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">If I drink enough coffee will I magically be able to handle this mess?</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Online Clutter: Social Networks and Startup Madness</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">As I have waded into the waters of <a href="http://wahooly.com/index/how-it-works" target="_blank">Wahooly</a>, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>a nascent “startup for startups” venture that promises to create a marketplace for social currency and reward social influencers with equity in startups, I find that there is a need on my part to consolidate and organize what social networks I now frequent. According to <a href="http://klout.com/#/NagasakiOsada" target="_blank">Klout</a> , I wield sufficient influence to have rated the opportunity to participate in the Wahooly venture, but now I find that I am rather outclassed by my fellow Wahooligans in the realm of social networking savvy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So naturally, I want to learn. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6_WvcHGoCugqG41PbrsC37CSaFovpLomqiQWkPpCGd6XAcN_Eaw67cn5znl2vkT5DdLdNHODD8sJ02IE-hv8gpK50yB3vQl-aBqd74QU0aJEX0wTheEQjDyn0bT0zEHVwSduKCmWeN2s/s1600/wisdomfortheages.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="128" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6_WvcHGoCugqG41PbrsC37CSaFovpLomqiQWkPpCGd6XAcN_Eaw67cn5znl2vkT5DdLdNHODD8sJ02IE-hv8gpK50yB3vQl-aBqd74QU0aJEX0wTheEQjDyn0bT0zEHVwSduKCmWeN2s/s640/wisdomfortheages.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">There is soooo much to figure out though, and many signals cross over each other in my correspondences with my fellows. I find the demand on my time to be greater than what I have in any one time block. Social networking will expand to fill all available space if you let it. That should be an axiom, really. It is so true, even for a somewhat introverted geeky type like me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I downloaded a <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/30/understanding-social-media_n_1241999.html?ref=tw" target="_blank">socialnetworking infographic</a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and started bookmarking sites that aggregate interesting articles about social media and business. But somehow I’m still overwhelmed, as I have all my home responsibilities plus these online ones now. Oh yes, I forget to mention that I run an <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/shops/storefront/index.html?ie=UTF8&marketplaceID=ATVPDKIKX0DER&sellerID=A3FXGQ8RGF5E49%20" target="_blank">online bookstore</a> on Amazon.com as well. That takes up those straggling moments of free time as well. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The secret is to organize it all. And for me, the hoarder’s wife, it is the Holy Grail, hard to see when there are 25 boxes in my immediate field of vision. As with all things, perseverance wins. At least I keep the food waste cleaned up and mice at bay. But that’s part of my basic housewife job description. </div>Sadie Heilemannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01837836295467264147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4213906708747720661.post-79128124299980558762012-01-31T21:33:00.000-08:002012-01-31T21:33:52.605-08:00Klaus Nomi: An Icon for the Outcasts and Unrepentant Abnormals Like Me<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8P2WPkWa89GpW_C7D-jWhAahXNXG20I54NghizwAw35KBoZbV1njlKRPPKpJ0NSO8XrrV8nGHiuJEvPv1nbV5nH84pgAHrB5i5QH8OG3U_cQTPCGYJB2mJfskddEs68TzE79zEIfFtXc/s1600/696px-Klaus_nomi_ill_artlibre_jnl.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8P2WPkWa89GpW_C7D-jWhAahXNXG20I54NghizwAw35KBoZbV1njlKRPPKpJ0NSO8XrrV8nGHiuJEvPv1nbV5nH84pgAHrB5i5QH8OG3U_cQTPCGYJB2mJfskddEs68TzE79zEIfFtXc/s320/696px-Klaus_nomi_ill_artlibre_jnl.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Klaus Nomi image from Wikimedia Commons. Might have been seen as nose art on the original spaceship that carried him here from Planet Nomi.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I recently watched a documentary entitled <a href="http://www.thenomisong.com/" target="_blank">The Nomi Song</a> about a famous (albeit in a niche market) New Wave singer from the late ‘70s and ‘80s. His name was Klaus Nomi, and he was from outer space. That sounds outlandish, but, in a way, I believe he truly was an alien, for there was no one like him, before or since. He was an operatic countertenor—that is, he sang in an expanded range that included notes commonly reserved for female singers. “Countertenor” is a somewhat archaic term reserved for early operatic music, and indeed, our alien Nomi sang not only modern pop standards but also hauntingly beautiful arias such as Purcell’s death aria from "Dido and Aeneas." He expressed a desire to sing with the Metropolitan Opera, while he took gigs as a <a href="http://youtu.be/JQW9Ufb0VuA" target="_blank">bizarre kinetic mannequin</a> at Fiorucci’s department store<span class="MsoHyperlink"> </span>in New York City and also had a day job as a pastry chef. In fact, his lime tart recipe has a cult following of its own. </div>: <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/RsqsQVzqiis" width="420"></iframe> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">But the really compelling part of the Klaus Nomi phenomenon is not how he carved a niche in New York counterculture as a unique voice of the New Wave but how truly otherworldly he seemed, even when the mask fell. Nomi, whose regular human last name had been Sperber, presented himself as a doll-like plastic spaceman in a shiny sharp-angled tuxedo from a cabaret-soaked Weimar version of the future, but the camera would seem to catch momentary transitions from space creature Nomi to regular guy Klaus Sperber. His ingenuous smile and somewhat nervous chuckle as he promises a “sweet/sour lemon tart” bespeaks a man who is not quite certain how to act like a human—as if he really is from outer space, the planet Nomi, as he claimed. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">It is his inability to come across as human and his visible discomfiture that seems to be most endearing, as I can relate to being socially at sea in most situations. Klaus Nomi might have been a mask, a way of dealing with reality, but in a way, it was the highest truth for a man who lived as an alien—a German in New York, plunged into the East Village wave of musical experimentation that brought so many bizarre and creative bands to prominence. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">He was a serious artist in a transcendent way, though. His early years were spent as an usher at the Deutsche Oper, where he sang before the curtain after the main shows. He was the Old World and the New Wave thrown together, mixed with the apt metaphor of the Man from Space, the true outsider. He sang arias to small packed rooms of 20-something partiers of the type I remember from my days as a DJ at a small college radio station. I can’t imagine what I would have done if someone like Klaus Nomi had joined the beer-soaked, guitar slapping wisecrackers of the crowd pleasers along the downtown bars in Auburn Alabama. But alas, we were not blessed with a visit from aliens, unless you count Man Or Astroman? (Come to think of it, they were probably from outer space, but I could never locate their mothership.)</div><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/wQrqgSK8-XU" width="420"></iframe> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">There are simply no more words with which I can describe this freak of nature. His life was like the subject of a tragic opera: a meteoric rise, a loss of control of his future as he was taken up by record company stooges who made an even more plastic “brand” out of him, and his crash and burn demise only a few short years later, as he became one of the very first celebrities to die of AIDS, which was just emerging as a worldwide threat when it took his life in 1983. It was so terrifying in its lethality and novelty that his friends were afraid to visit him, being frightened they might catch what was being referred to at the time as the “gay cancer.” Even today, there are scores of admirers who claim that Klaus Nomi did not die, but he merely returned to his own galaxy. It is a comforting thought for us surviving outcast types who look to role models outside the norm. Who better to represent the fringe than a gay opera singing pastry chef from outer space? Cheers, y'all, and, as Jack Horkheimer always said, "Keep looking up!"<br />
</div>Sadie Heilemannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01837836295467264147noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4213906708747720661.post-31095873004865872982012-01-25T08:41:00.000-08:002012-01-25T08:41:24.558-08:00My Own Personal 9.0 Quake and Tsunami: Life After Losing My Stepmother<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxFwf1h9nP6zinJm2aHTYJelwSexazS7XlqbJ7jioV-l9D3tNbtJAvDBqJbBF_xkygt8VYa0FPA3dlcVUN99Pj42Vk1ax5fpzL0_d4HmF8GlHR9Fm2AfwifijkkGzkxrezFuTX_f_sYAA/s1600/purplecloudednature.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="339" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxFwf1h9nP6zinJm2aHTYJelwSexazS7XlqbJ7jioV-l9D3tNbtJAvDBqJbBF_xkygt8VYa0FPA3dlcVUN99Pj42Vk1ax5fpzL0_d4HmF8GlHR9Fm2AfwifijkkGzkxrezFuTX_f_sYAA/s640/purplecloudednature.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The world looks different now...</td></tr>
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<div class="MsoNormal">Do you ever feel like your life is a series of clashing tectonic plates, and the only time anything ever happens is when there’s a devastating earthquake? That is how my life for the last week or so has been. First, a 8.0 on the Richter scale: my stepmother suddenly on death’s door in Florida. I book a flight to see her, because my brother says she won’t last more than a few days. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The next morning, after rescuing the victims of the “quake,” i.e., booking a flight, rental car, packing, calling everyone in the family twice, etc., my brother calls again and tells me my stepmother is dead. No chance to see her now. I unbook the flight, car, call everyone, wait to hear about funeral arrangements, etc.. The aftershocks are drawn out, because arrangements are being made far away from here. I wait in my cluttered living room and resolve to clean up to take my mind off things. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The weekend is one long depressive episode of epic proportions, as I talk to everyone and relive the harrowing events at second hand several times over. The only times that tears flow are the times I am alone, staring at the computer screen, trying to write about it. Then, I have time to think. It is times like this that make me want to be somewhere else, doing anything else but this. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Luckily, I live in a hoarder’s hell, and if I don’t maintain it with constant diligence, it becomes indistinguishable from a high-end garbage dump mixed with a flea market. So there’s always a task that needs doing, like, yesterday or last week. The only problem is that now I have no motivation and no energy to do any of it. The best thing for me would be a good, hard workout. I manage to get a pale imitation of a workout on Saturday, dragging myself for ¼ mile of laps in the pool before my fatigue and restlessness combine to pull me out into a dreadful hot tub cooldown, followed by a quick, uncomfortable shower. Funny how normally pleasant things are hard to enjoy when one of your most beloved family members is suddenly dead. Well, no, it’s not funny, but hopefully you know what I mean.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">So Monday, I have an appointment to get lidocaine shot into my sciatica in yet another attempt to stop the downward slide of chronic back and hip pain that has beset me for so many years it’s like a bad Star Trek franchise. Pain Clinic XII: The Needle, or something banal like that. Well, the in-laws finally consent to drive me to the appointment after making me wait until the morning of the appointment to tell me yea or nay, as if they want to drive home the point that they have complete power over my mobility (which they do, since I’m carless and stuck 20 miles from town). I ask for the kindness of being allowed a swim/workout during the trip, and I am refused, but I have to take the scraps I’m given. At least I’ll be able to get to the doctor to get my hip injection. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">So I resolve to ask again for Tuesday; perhaps someone will take pity on me. But no, no one is going to town on Tuesday, so I am stuck here with my grief and a beautiful day outside. Oh yes, and add to that an admonition to “take it easy” on the hip, i.e., keep ice and heat alternating on it and don’t do anything like digging up the garden bed or playing a lot outside. Luckily, the hoarder’s hell beckons and all that. But all this is terribly depressing. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Enter Wednesday, where I now lie here anticipating rain and possible flooding, putting off the inevitable chores by writing about how miserable my situation is. Anyway, I’ve realized that I’m terrible about updating my blog, so maybe this is just filler. But in reality, I’ve written several attempts at a blog entry already, and I have this fear of exposing them to the world. This, my most conversational attempt, might be my frightened eyes peering around the vast psychological wall of exposure that is a public blog. I’ll have to work on this, of course. But thanks for having the patience to read what is probably a painful bit of business, a snippet of my life that will hopefully give a glimpse into some sort of truth. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">My stepmother's funeral is this coming Saturday, and I am sending card, donation, a short letter, and all my love. But I've chosen to remain here, as I can't face the entire debacle again in person. I'm all worn out...hopefully my next entry will be more cheerful. Stay tuned! </div>Sadie Heilemannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01837836295467264147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4213906708747720661.post-59995688761024995752012-01-13T21:13:00.000-08:002012-01-13T21:13:59.235-08:00Watching Ryuhei Matsuda Cry and What Thoughts Arose Thereby...<div class="MsoNormal">Yesterday, I decided to liven up my chores by loading a bit of fluff on hulu.com for background noise. I wanted something in modern Japanese, so I could enjoy the intonations and inflections and see if I could pick out words and phrases here and there. The movie I settled on was called “Love Collage,” or “Renai Shashin” (Japanese title). I picked it more or less at random. It started as a fluffy romance, with two actors I recognized from other shows. Ryoko Hirosue, the elfish actress who played Ryoma Sakamoto’s first love in Ryomaden was the girl lead, and Ryuhei Matsuda, who portrayed the freakish homosexual Shinsengumi recruit in “Gohatto” (US title “Taboo”) played the boy lead.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"> I managed to wash dishes through the exposition of their relationship building and destruction (thankfully), but I sat down, exhausted after many chores and got interested about the time Matsuda followed a letter from Hirosue from Tokyo to New York, looking for her. Lots of dangerous gangsta stereotypes appeared, and his ghetto savior was a gay man who had a thing for Kimutaku (Takuya Kimura—just what New York needs: a gay SMAP-head). It evolved into an episodic but suggestive nightmare romp for Matsuda through NYC, where he finally learned that Hirosue had been murdered by a woman who had befriended her and then scammed him when he showed up. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Anyway, the morgue scene, wherein Matsuda cries over the dead Ryoko Hirosue brought a thought to mind that had no completion or even a real focus beyond an understanding of how we are worn down in life. It is a credit to Matsuda’s acting that he brought this thought to my mind at that moment. The idea: “These are the things that fill our lives.” The imprint of his loss of a girl he loved and lost hammered the signature of suffering that is just one of myriad ways a human animal can experience wear. It made me remember the expressionless face of Matsuda’s Kano Sozaburo as he killed his many Shinsengumi lovers and how this sort of wear is a dangerous ugliness of character that required that he be executed. The symbolic scene wherein the cherry sapling was felled was the most memorable moment in that film, a recognition of the effect physical beauty can have on our capacity to judge true beauty, the kind that transcends the mere visual.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizIX0YXWZKGj3gAeJLKyJjNiwdlZP5xu5vXi-9x70DhVudQHu3Joc-BBygz-LURE5MidOaCQ4nOaBKkIFja6fcO8xjJrwVuKdrZYabggKV0_mdzVStesTyMqIUfZHc00EnxnL1vdaMxcI/s1600/matsudatable.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizIX0YXWZKGj3gAeJLKyJjNiwdlZP5xu5vXi-9x70DhVudQHu3Joc-BBygz-LURE5MidOaCQ4nOaBKkIFja6fcO8xjJrwVuKdrZYabggKV0_mdzVStesTyMqIUfZHc00EnxnL1vdaMxcI/s640/matsudatable.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">In “Love Collage,” Matsuda is few years older and there is a subtle maturation to his features. Whereas the young creep in “Gohatto” was deemed beautiful as an object, I found him repulsive and freakish. A few more years and a more empathetic countenance made Matsuda more attractive, the moment of suffering yet more still, because it gave him some depth to go with the plastic bishounen exterior.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I think back to reading Heinlein’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Stranger in a Strange Land</i> and how the secretaries who have learned the Martian way from Valentine Michael Smith marvel at the beauty of the lined, old face of their boss, Jubal Harshaw, because of the wear and the many shocks his flesh has undergone and weathered successfully. His aged appearance makes him beautiful for this reason. This goes beyond the object beauty represented by Ryuhei Matsuda’s beautiful boy in “Gohatto.” </div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4vOoFIVR77_G9XALgUTU1yleXThiXnGYuE2TRkJV9bQ0R47RX2GfCi61sVayoe26nNKC_bLebTjUxbQFAi8a9VsDJrfj9EP3sNBrC6cJzT21wWy0zjmxAIED_BDJgHmhgDtFzWPyeCr4/s1600/heinleinsay.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="417" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4vOoFIVR77_G9XALgUTU1yleXThiXnGYuE2TRkJV9bQ0R47RX2GfCi61sVayoe26nNKC_bLebTjUxbQFAi8a9VsDJrfj9EP3sNBrC6cJzT21wWy0zjmxAIED_BDJgHmhgDtFzWPyeCr4/s640/heinleinsay.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo adapted from Wikimedia commons. user: Dd-b http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RAHeinlein.autographing.Midamericon.ddb-371-14-750px.jpg </td></tr>
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">I suppose beauty lives in the combination of a physicality that pleases a particular observer and a deeper character-driven beauty. It is always nice when the two combine. Somehow, fellows like Toshiro Mifune seemed to embody that Heinleinian fine wine quality in a cinematic sense. He was a dashing and handsome fellow in his young badass days, but he wears that history with a mantle of maturity well in his older countenance too. And he’s one of the few men whose strong handsome features allowed him to look really good with a shaved head. He also escaped the “seedy look” that besets many older men. The fact that he attacked his roles with his entire soul and being added a certain depth to the outward beauty we see onscreen; this character enrichment is essential to the totality that proclaims a person to be “beautiful.” If Mifune had been merely an adequate actor, he would be nowhere near as beautiful.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRbeAXgJN5CCChW6cdoIqy6l1e0bTE5SskiCgQdXK3cqG7IaCxF58jqA7iA6gY5BuwX4IUBIPbZiq8BTwyNDzbyjbTJ6Kg9C-s49l2K92UCD8ze-zka-pMXPpzW3Th23oy5fUlfW18O7c/s1600/mifunetable.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRbeAXgJN5CCChW6cdoIqy6l1e0bTE5SskiCgQdXK3cqG7IaCxF58jqA7iA6gY5BuwX4IUBIPbZiq8BTwyNDzbyjbTJ6Kg9C-s49l2K92UCD8ze-zka-pMXPpzW3Th23oy5fUlfW18O7c/s640/mifunetable.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">But back to the idea sparked by Ryuhei Matsuda’s crying fit: the idea that we are an amalgam of our experiences is not a new one. It is an old concept. It is behind the marks of honor signified by the Heidelberg Dueling Scar or perhaps more fittingly for Matsuda, the character-defining eyepatch worn by Sengoku warlord Date Masamune, who Matsuda portrayed in the 2009 Taiga drama “Tenchijin.” According to Samurai Wiki, “In his youth, Masamune had suffered a bout with small pox that caused an infection in his right eye-which he plucked out himself. Combined with his early aggressive and unstable demeanor, Masamune would earn the tag 'One-eyed Dragon'.” The visual cue of the eyepatch made him more iconic and terrifying in combination with his personality . </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The one-eyed general’s outward appearance becomes tied to his inner character traits and thus his “beauty” is made of legend, story and the transformation of physical traits. The “eye of the beholder” has swollen to encompass the whole of historical literature, and thus the beauty of Masamune and, by extension, of Matsuda who portrayed him, is amplified and given a deeper meaning than the one-dimensional plastic bishounen where he began. And this traveled path is a battle scar in itself. Forgive the rambling, not-quite-to-the-point nature of this blog post. After all, I have been shamefully neglecting the blog for a long time now, and I had to push myself to put something up here—anything. I hope it at least made a little sense to someone!</div>Sadie Heilemannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01837836295467264147noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4213906708747720661.post-20305109164082678082011-10-31T12:17:00.000-07:002011-10-31T12:17:54.091-07:00Friends Met Along the Road to Mount Doom and Walking to the Lonely Mountain<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:UseFELayout/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><img src="http://img2.blogblog.com/img/video_object.png" style="background-color: #b2b2b2; " class="BLOGGER-object-element tr_noresize tr_placeholder" id="ieooui" data-original-id="ieooui" /> <style>
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<div class="MsoNormal">I am a fan of the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, mainly the Middle Earth tales which concern hobbits. One could say I’m a hobbit fan; they have a plain-spokenness and efficiency that mirrors the best in rural culture. While they do have their small-town peccadillos, they are mostly clear-headed and won’t tolerate injustice or prolonged oppression. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The Shire and the surrounding hobbit-realms of Eriador in Middle Earth are a blueprint for what I wish rural life was. I live in very rural southern middle Tennessee, and I can tell you, things don’t happen here like they do in Middle Earth. But the scenery is similar, and, if I close my eyes to the heavy farm equipment, planes flying overhead and the postman who speeds down our road like it’s the Indy 500, I can almost imagine I live in the mounded hill behind my cabin, like the huge extended family of Peregrin Took does in Middle Earth. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">In the heady days when the Peter Jackson <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lord of the Rings</i> films were being released, there seemed to be a lot of Tolkien fans, although most were Viggo Mortenson or Liv Tyler fans. It didn’t matter though; I could finally talk to others online who enjoyed and thought about matters in Middle Earth. I went online to a serious forum (i.e., one where they actually talk about the books) and signed in. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">On one section of that forum was a curiously long thread entitled: Walk to Rivendell. I learned that this was actually an idea that Weight Watchers had come up with, and it had spread to many LOTR fan sites, ending up on its own site, the <a href="http://home.insightbb.com/%7Eeowynchallenge/">Eowyn Challenge</a> (see the site for the explanation of the name). Thousands of fans of Lord of the Rings were taking to the streets daily and logging miles on a website. A map or app would then tell you where you were according to the progress of Frodo Baggins and his hobbit companions from Hobbiton to Rivendell, the stronghold of Elrond. It was a trek of 458 miles. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">So I signed up and started walking. I walked about 3-4 miles every day, and by the deadline, which was the release of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Return of the King</i> in December of 2003, I had made it past the Ford of Bruinen, waving my sword at the Ringwraiths and shouting, “By Elbereth and Luthien the Fair, you shall have neither the Ring nor me!” The neighbors peered nervously out of their screen doors, but since I had been tromping the road for months with a replica of Frodo’s sword, I don’t think they were too surprised.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">So, once the hoopla was over and everyone had made it to Rivendell, I knew the next step. I was going to Mount Doom, come Hell or the crazy postman. So every day for over a year (I think it was more like a year and a half), I walked 3 miles a day, enduring a hellish case of bronchitis, two sprained ankles and an encounter with a rabid raccoon. By the time I had entered Mordor, I had two companions. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">They were the neighbor’s boxer dogs, a mother and her very frisky daughter. They followed me every day, and eventually they started following me home. The neighbor was never at home. I began to wonder if he fed them properly. The daughter was a spitfire; she knocked over planters on our porch, ate a chair and killed a possum. Needless to say, my father-in-law ran them off most angrily. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Then one day, I made it to Mount Doom, a total of 1800 miles. Strangely, it didn’t have the feeling of accomplishment that making it to Rivendell had. I had gotten used to the walk, but I had a hard time at the end, having had to refrain for weeks at a time while my sprained ankle knitted back together. Finally, after the weary last step, I decided to join a health club so I could swim for exercise instead of walking. I wanted to keep my ankles, and my knees were threatening me with rebellion as well. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Walking from Nagakubo Post Station on the Kisokaido to the Lonely Mountain? Not bloody likely! Apologies to Ando Hiroshige.</td></tr>
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">The most lasting and rewarding part of the walk was a friendship forged and fulfilled. The older boxer girl appeared one day in the neighbor’s front yard, long after he had moved. Apparently, he had abandoned her, and she was gnawing on a deer head. She was obviously nursing as well. The horrid neighbor had taken the feisty daughter and abandoned the pregnant mother.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">So we rescued the lot—mom and 6 pups. We found homes for 5 pups and kept one for mom to play with. Mrs. Prettypaws and her tiny son Kamikaze (who is now huge) reside here still, our dearest family members, found along the road to Mount Doom so long ago, at least in dog years. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">So, now that Peter Jackson is making <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Hobbit</i> into two films, the whole “Walk to Rivendell” challenge idea has <a href="http://fitfordragoncon.com/2011/09/25/a-walk-to-rivendell-dragoncon-host-hotels/">returned in places</a>. Of course it is now the Walk to the Lonely Mountain . Come to find out, it’s a total of 1934 miles from Bag End to the Lonely Mountain and back again. I’m not sure this old hobbit has it in her. What do you think, ankles? Knees? I’ll get back to you on this one!</div>Sadie Heilemannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01837836295467264147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4213906708747720661.post-63782395518265006042011-09-29T13:45:00.000-07:002011-09-29T13:45:50.828-07:00The Hardest Part About Trying to Clean in a Hoarder HouseI'm married to a hoarder, albeit a hoarder with taste (well, sometimes). He collects everything if it is older than about 1975 or so. I have a huge 1950's furniture-grade television (nonworking) and a Victrola (working) in the living room. Today, I tried to organize the living room, and I had to move these monstrosities, along with a large set of metal shelves. The problem is that the house is full of crap! So, in order to move these three pieces of vintage/antique furniture, which took all of about 10 minutes total, I had to clear about 20 boxes, repack some of them, vacuum around and under many structures and wipe away the residual dust that didn't respond to the vacuum. The project took about 3 hours, but I can see floor space I haven't laid eyes on in over a year, and I got the HUGE Sentinel television in the corner where it belongs (until the unlikely event of its being fixed). The Victrola is now much more accessible, so I can listen to those many pre-1925 78 records that now sit next to the unit instead of underneath an intricate do-it-yourself clock kit and several items of discarded clothing.<br />
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I'm not a neat freak, which is probably helpful when one is married to a hoarder. In fact, I've found the tendency <a href="http://www.associatedcontent.com/slideshow/106775/sensu_oriental_fan_collection_shows.html?cat=30">kind of wears off on me</a>. I have far more items of oriental decor than I can ever display in this rather small, one-bedroom log cabin. But I work hard to keep the clutter at bay, and I almost never stop cleaning, unless of course I'm mowing the lawn. But then that's a form of cleaning too, isn't it?<br />
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I suppose I'm proud of myself today, because, for once, you can actually tell that I've been laboring all day to make the house look better. On normal days, my activities only succeed in keeping the kitchen free of food waste, the entryways relatively free of the grass, dirt and straw the dogs drag in from outside and the mildew out of the shower. Now I'm exhausted. Just for a small treat, here's a mostly unobstructed view of my now-visible Victrola!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2mHJ_frTxOnQmpgB89NdgUumxD9QE_V5vR6VQLtj2yI5Z5zcj_tRKMesmXYjS8fyxmnJB6yFbQqVkf_0-ALTK71KFOo3_1GR-s8ATr2cXxUMDTiXQf1FuSSrAuKxURtEJdyL3tNTZuXU/s1600/victrolaopen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2mHJ_frTxOnQmpgB89NdgUumxD9QE_V5vR6VQLtj2yI5Z5zcj_tRKMesmXYjS8fyxmnJB6yFbQqVkf_0-ALTK71KFOo3_1GR-s8ATr2cXxUMDTiXQf1FuSSrAuKxURtEJdyL3tNTZuXU/s320/victrolaopen.jpg" width="175" /></a></div>Oh yeah, if you look behind the Victrola, there can be seen the Sentinel television in all its grand, vintage non-working beauty. It's a pretty piece of furniture, but it'd be nicer if it was a working television! For now, it is a lamp stand. Cheers y'all!Sadie Heilemannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01837836295467264147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4213906708747720661.post-22203321677304024702011-09-24T07:32:00.000-07:002011-10-01T17:32:31.933-07:00The Japan I Want To See: Nakasendo Post Towns and Haikyo<div class="MsoNormal">There’s nothing like standing inside a hollowed out stone structure, looking up into the exposed sky, to give one a sense of passed time. I live in rural Tennessee, and there is a small town about 10 miles away that has several buildings that are nothing more than ruins. A larger town about 20 miles away shows its age with a fading block-sized Coca-Cola logo on its brick façade. I find myself dreaming of finding places like this if I am ever blessed with the opportunity to visit Japan. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Having a penchant for late Tokugawa era history, I have an itch to walk the Nakasendo, the old post road that snaked through central Honshu. About halfway between Edo (yeah, sometimes I still call it “Edo”) and Kyoto is a preserved historical post town: Tsumago. After World War II, this post town was designated a historical preservation site, and care was taken to keep it looking much like it did in the days of the Tokugawa Shogunate. T<a href="http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/location/regional/nagano/tsumago_magome.html">his is partof the Japan I’d like to visit</a>. And I’d like to visit it before my knees prohibit my walking the old paths of the Nakasendo, in waraji (straw sandals), just like they did in the old days! Yes, I own a pair of waraji, and they are quite comfortable when worn with tabi. But they’re not very durable. I fancy sometimes as I walk down my barely paved rural road here in Tennessee that I am a traveler in the great Kiso forest, a rural commoner who perhaps has never seen Kyoto but would really like to go someday. If I can just make it up the Magome pass…</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Out here in the sticks of Tennessee, the only hints of culture are the houses, and there are often long stretches of forest and field, with cows, goats and waving cropland. It is not too difficult to apply one’s imagination to bring this scene to Japan, especially after reading the detailed descriptions in Shimazaki Toson’s “Before the Dawn.” </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX6D4jpDI-vzdEii7I6TyD51GDbxxljmfKPL16F27Xgcw4g-GHvWuSWCPpTWmSeE-jHCV74JrEwk6wxi11m8lPdZt_ZVKgWBejNvAo_cyQfFhzaqVLkQmalkYM0S6mx6-siimshSU4rzk/s1600/800px-Tsumago-juku_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX6D4jpDI-vzdEii7I6TyD51GDbxxljmfKPL16F27Xgcw4g-GHvWuSWCPpTWmSeE-jHCV74JrEwk6wxi11m8lPdZt_ZVKgWBejNvAo_cyQfFhzaqVLkQmalkYM0S6mx6-siimshSU4rzk/s320/800px-Tsumago-juku_1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Old Tsumago in the modern day: photo credit User: Bakkai, site commons.wikimedia.org</td></tr>
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">But the carefully maintained Tsumago post town is but a beautiful illusion created by careful craftsmanship. I also have a fondness for history in its ruined state. The most beautiful buildings I’ve seen in Alabama and Tennessee are often incomplete, open structures, many overgrown with vines of kudzu or wisteria. On my own land here in Southern Middle Tennessee are remains of ruined house foundations, only a small hint: 10-12 well-placed stones, with a collapsed barn a short ways away, broken jugs that speak to moonshine nights in the nameless and unrecorded past. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinhL_OWzC39EQVh8Ee9FmDRxPylNimhZndBbfREyHnzcLLIBwVMJuMIi5rcZ6dBIef-2My_dnStaQotDsAaqnhkbUl7ZCi7LNeMN3i_Ej6e03oXu14Ksv5lZNc8TgISsYP6Eva5vusizg/s1600/hiroshimadome.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinhL_OWzC39EQVh8Ee9FmDRxPylNimhZndBbfREyHnzcLLIBwVMJuMIi5rcZ6dBIef-2My_dnStaQotDsAaqnhkbUl7ZCi7LNeMN3i_Ej6e03oXu14Ksv5lZNc8TgISsYP6Eva5vusizg/s320/hiroshimadome.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The A-Bomb Dome in Hiroshima, photo credit Rie Shoji, sxc.hu/miccala</td></tr>
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">I imagine seeing analogous sights in the hidden places of Japan. I would love to take the “haikyo tour” and view the fallen houses, hidden shrines, the forgotten remembrances of emperors of antiquity whose memories almost disappeared before the Meiji Restoration. There is something evocative in ruins. See this <a href="http://gakuranman.com/category/haikyo-ruins">wonderful site</a> that contains many excellent photos of abandoned structures all across Japan. When one looks at ruins, ghosts arise, and they speak of the history that was not recorded in writing. Even the modern haikyo like abandoned amusement parks, such as the one represented in Miyazaki Hayao’s “Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi” (“Spirited Away”). I am sure this ghostly presence is an aspect of wabi-sabi that I can never truly define. Instead, I dream of these images. I hope to visit Japan and see them firsthand someday. And I plan to have a good supply of waraji when I do!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://blog.japanalicious.com/japan-blog-matsuri.html">Japan Blog Matsuri</a>: <a href="http://wp.me/pDEya-ow">"Reasons to Visit Japan"</a> (let me count the reasons...oh wait, there are too many!) </div><div class="MsoNormal">A beautiful website that takes you down the <a href="http://www.nakasendoway.com/">Nakasendo Way</a>!<br />
Thanks to the Japan Blog Matsuri folks for giving me the wonderful idea for this post, and I only hope I'm not the late visitor to the party!<br />
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</a>Sadie Heilemannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01837836295467264147noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4213906708747720661.post-21683669537891302292011-09-20T11:23:00.000-07:002011-09-20T11:23:58.153-07:00Why on Earth is it called "Tennessee Terakoya?"初めまして!First, let me tell you I didn't brainstorm or sit around trying out cool-sounding names before I came up with this. It was simply a matter of wishing for an alliterative descriptor to go with "Tennessee," which is my base of operations. A <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terakoya">terakoya</a> is a school run out of a Buddhist temple usually, that teaches boys, girls, and often young women the arts and sciences of feudal Japan in the Edo period (1603-1868): reading, writing, history, tea ceremony, ikebana, the use of the soroban (abacus) and such. Now I'm not really a soroban whiz, but I'm pretty good at algebra! I do have a soroban around here somewhere, so when I learn to use it, I'll post my experience here! While I'm not necessarily qualified to teach all subjects to all people, I find the idea of a rural online "terakoya" or Temple School to be appealing, as much of my online life is devoted to learning more about the world and especially about Japanese history and culture. So I'm both teacher and learner. For that purpose, I utilize this particularly helpful Japanese language learning site: <a href="http://nihongoup.com/">Nihongoup</a> . Also this wonderful, active forum for the pursuit of all things Japanese (especially the history of the Samurai) is here: <a href="http://forums.samurai-archives.com/index.php">Samurai-Archives Japanese History Forum</a>. There are many more ways to connect with the history and culture of this most fascinating country, but, as I am, for the most part, stuck without a car in the deepest of rural Tennessee 'hollers, I rely on the internet, printed word and Netflix (for entertainment).<br />
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You can find my other internet hangouts here:<br />
<a href="http://contributor.yahoo.com/user/1078715/sadie_heilemann.html">Sadie Heilemann's Yahoo! Contributor Network profile</a><br />
<a href="https://twitter.com/#%21/NagasakiOsada">Sadie's Twitter (as @NagasakiOsada)</a><br />
<a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sadie-Heilemann/182999838420453">Sadie's Facebook page</a><br />
<a href="http://klout.com/#/NagasakiOsada">Sadie's Klout index</a> (I'm rather pitiful, I'm afraid, but social status ain't everything! Don't tell those Tokugawa samurai I said that!)<br />
<a href="http://www.samurai-archives.com/writcon2.html">Samurai Fiction </a>on Samurai-Archives.com (I've published several stories here under the moniker "Onnamusha" )<br />
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Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy reading my blog, and feel free to contact me here if you have any suggestions for great subjects to pursue at the old rural Terakoya!Sadie Heilemannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01837836295467264147noreply@blogger.com0