Riding Sun
http://www.ridingsun.com/
Current events, motorcycles, and more, from a New Yorker in Tokyoen-us2007-11-09T08:11+00:00Don't bring a Taser to a gunfight
http://www.ridingsun.com/posts/1194595093.shtml
Via Fark, the Associated Press reports:...GaijinBiker2007-11-09T07:11+00:00Fark, the Associated Press reports:
A man tried to use a stun gun to fend off a carjacker and ended up being shot five times.
...While trying to reach for his money, the man also pulled out his stun gun and shocked the carjacker. But the carjacker reacted by shooting the man at least five times, [Atlanta police Sgt. Lisa] Keyes said.
...Keyes stressed the importance of simply giving up the vehicle when confronted by a carjacker.
Bzzt, wrong. The correct answer was: "Quit messing around with Tasers and get a real gun."]]>How to feel old
http://www.ridingsun.com/posts/1194520557.shtml
Go to YouTube, find a video of a band from the 80's or 90's, and read all the comments from kids who are hearing them for the first time....GaijinBiker2007-11-08T11:11+00:00
Examples:
The singer, I forgot his name, kinda has a creepy way of moving, but maybe it was just the 80's.
Sigh. I'm going to go play some shuffleboard now. Get off my lawn!]]>They can take mine from my cold dead hands
http://www.ridingsun.com/posts/1193757866.shtml
CLEVELAND, OHIO (Rooters) — If reculsive artist Bill Watterson has his way, it will soon become illegal to own copies of his beloved Calvin & Hobbes comic strips — and even...GaijinBiker2007-10-30T15:10+00:00
Breaking a long period of seclusion in which he granted no interviews and issued virtually no public statements, Watterson, creator of the wildly popular and critically acclaimed “Calvin & Hobbes”, has announced that he is seeking the total destruction of all copies of the strip in any form.
Watterson’s unwavering refusal to merchandise his characters is well-known, but his latest decision raises his commitment to the purity of his art to a new, and some would say too extreme, level.
“I’ve always believed that merchandising and licensing cheapens the original creation,” Watterson wrote in a statement faxed to Universal Press Syndicate, which distributed the strip from 1985 to 1995, and Andrews McMeel Publishing, which published 18 bestselling collections of it in book form, including a massive 22-pound, 1440-page “Complete” edition in 2005.
“My decision to destroy all copies of the strip itself is simply the logical extension of this core belief,” the statement continued. “When cartoon characters appear on countless products, the public inevitably grows bored and irritated with them, and the appeal and value of the original work are diminished. But when the public can simply read the original work over and over again, the same boredom and irritation inevitably follow. The only solution is to destroy the strip itself. It will live on for a few years as a fond memory, and then fade away entirely. And that’s the way it should be.”
Watterson is hardly the first artist to destroy one of his own creations. But he is almost certainly the most successful, making the execution of his decree a daunting logistical challenge. Under existing copyright law, owners of Calvin & Hobbes books must return any and all copies to Andrews McMeel Publishing by the end of the year, where they will be shredded and pulped in a warehouse specially converted for the task. Saving old newspaper copies of the strip will also become technically illegal.
In a press conference today, representatives from Mr. Watterson’s legal team admitted that while pulling the books from stores and libraries will be relatively straightforward, Watterson’s demands would be difficult to enforce against individual consumers. They announced the establishment of a website where people can report friends or acquaintances who may be hoarding old books or clippings.
“We’re counting on the support of the public to make sure Bill’s wishes are fully respected on this one,” said attorney Dionne Levchak, of intellectual property law firm Levchak Barnes & Groder, tasked with overseeing the execution of Watterson’s decree.
However, other legal scholars doubted that Watterson would ever be able to achieve the complete destruction of his strip. “Is he going to start suing college kids and grandmothers, like the RIAA?” asked Stanford law professor and copyright expert Lawrence Lessig, referring to the recording industry’s controversial prosecutions of people suspected of illegally downloading copyrighted music over the Internet. “It’s completely unworkable. It’s copyright law run amok.”
Lessig added that he was preparing a legal challenge to Watterson’s demand. But if it fails, then workable or not, the era when readers could legally own and enjoy Calvin’s adventures could be over just two months from now. That’s one cliffhanger not even Spaceman Spiff would appreciate.]]>Keep on walkin'
http://www.ridingsun.com/posts/1188300167.shtml
This prank is pure awesome:...GaijinBiker2007-08-28T11:08+00:00This prank is pure awesome:
A bike, of course, could have passed right through.]]>It's only a flesh wound
http://www.ridingsun.com/posts/1187076720.shtml
Via Fark, the Daily Telegraph reports on a true hardcore biker:...GaijinBiker2007-08-14T07:08+00:00Fark, the Daily Telegraphreports on a true hardcore biker:
A JAPANESE biker failed to notice his leg had been severed below the knee when he hit a safety barrier, and rode on for 2km, leaving a friend to pick up the limb.
The 54-year-old office worker was out on his motorcycle with a group of friends in the city of Hamamatsu, west of Tokyo, yesterday, when he was unable to negotiate a curve in the road and bumped into the central barrier, the Mainichi Shimbun said.
He felt excruciating pain, but did not notice that his right leg was missing until he stopped at the next junction, the paper quoted local police as saying.
The man and his leg were taken to hospital, but the limb had been crushed in the collision, the paper said.
That's why you should always use your rear brake, not just the front brake: So you know if your right leg is missing.
]]>Thanks for the tip
http://www.ridingsun.com/posts/1186716877.shtml
From the eHow.com article, "How to Have a Lion Dance at a Chinese Wedding":...GaijinBiker2007-08-10T03:08+00:00article, "How to Have a Lion Dance at a Chinese Wedding":
Step One
Decide how elaborate a performance you want and how many lions. (One or two lions is customary.) Remember that the "lions" are costumes that are manipulated by dancers.
I shudder to think of the poor souls who missed this key bit of advice and hired actual lions.]]>The wedding as horrific Nazi ritual
http://www.ridingsun.com/posts/1186319724.shtml
Did you know that the Bridal Chorus (you know, the "Here Comes the Bride" music) is not usually played at Jewish weddings — because it was composed by Richard Wagner, a...GaijinBiker2007-08-05T13:08+00:00believed to have inspired Hitler?
I didn't either; I just found it out while Googling for Jewish wedding music. So we've ditched the Bridal Chorus in favor of the popular Jewish substitute, Baruch Haba.]]>Ugly Americans
http://www.ridingsun.com/posts/1185773468.shtml
If you think Americans are provincial and ignorant of other cultures, these Amazon.com customer reviews of Planet Earth will do little to change your mind:...GaijinBiker2007-07-30T10:07+00:00customer reviews of Planet Earth will do little to change your mind:
David Attenbrough [sic] just doesn't measure up to Sigorney [sic].
I expected Sigourney Weaver's voice and got John Cleese.
My wife and I were entranced by the beautiful music, the soothing voice of Ms. Weaver, and the astonishing videography. What we go was rather different. Mr. Attenboroughs nasal british accent is quite annoying
If only they had gotten someone with a voice that would do the series justice. David Attenbrough's [sic] monotone is not the timbre voice that this series needed
I would have prefered Mrs. Weaver as narritor [sic] But Mr. Attenborough was o.k.
This is the British Version. I can't find the American version, which is narated by Sigourney Weaver, not some British guy, on Amazon. Otherwise I think the content is the same, but Sigourney is better.
Sigh... Sigourney Weaver narrating a BBC nature documentary is about as appropriate as Sir David battling killer space aliens.]]>