Bob Dylan picked up by a cop in NJ

From a few weeks back, but this story has sort of slipped under the radar.  If you live in the former home of a legendary rock songwriter, that disheveled old guy in your backyard is probably Bob Dylan.

Big Tokyo earthquake becoming more likely

Following the 7.1 quake earlier this month, Australia Broadcast Corp. carried this article on the growing probability that a very large earthquake will strike the Kanto region in the next few decades.

The meaning of “moshi moshi”

From the tofugu blog, via Japundit, a couple alternative origins for the Japanese phone greeting. Like the author, I’m partial to the fox explanation.

Essay on Alan Watts

Short essay on Alan Watts by Christopher Ryan in Psychology Today.

Ibaraki Prefecture cautions against lawless foreigners

The DEBITO.ORG blog provides interesting news and opinion about life in Japan for foreigners, focusing on civil liberties. This entry shows a new poster appearing in Ibaraki Prefecture asking residents to help defend against foreigners in the country illegally. I have some posters from my time living in Japan, and I would definitely try to get one of these.

Back story of Beatles on Rock Band

This story on Wired about how the Beatles edition of Rock Band got made gives some insight on how you do business with the Beatles. If you can make a pitch to George Harrison’s son Dhani and he likes the idea, you might ultimately get an audience with Paul.

Thousand-year-old butter found in Irish bog

Wired reports on the bodies, old food, and other items found in peat bogs, which have incredible preservative properties.

Genius bear hacks “bear proof” food protector

This is an interesting item from a few weeks back in the New York Times.

Ten things we don’t understand about humans

From the New Scientist, including laughter, dreams, and kissing.

Cool kids abandoning social networking sites as oldsters log on?

So says the Guardian.