Gaijin Bochi

Short piece in Japan Today about Yokohama’s Foreigners’ Cemetery (Gaijin Bochi).

Americans aren’t moving around

From Newsweek a couple weeks back, a report on the surprising settledness of American society, and the implications.

Pell Bridge, Newport

 

Pell Bridge, Newport, RI, October 10, 2009

 

 

The science of fall colors

Discovery has a nice slide show on why some leaves turn red and others turn yellow.

Lampreys getting a bad rap?

On Boing Boing, an interesting article about the differences between native river lampreys and invasive sea lampreys in the Great Lakes region, and developments in the poisoning methods being used to control the latter in order to minimize harm to the former.

The role of cooking in evolution

In the UK’s Telegraph, Simon Ings reviews Richard Wrangham’s book Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human.

Opening of the Kobe Tetsujin Statue

The Kobe Tetsujin Statue, which I blogged about previously, was dedicated earlier this month, and Danny Choo posts pictures.

Anime cars

Danny Choo posts pictures from an Itasha (anime car) show in the Odaiba area of Tokyo.

Medical marijuana dispensing in CA

The New York Times looks at issues surrounding medical marijuana dispensaries in California, focusing on the situation in Los Angeles, where city officials are looking at implementing and enforcing new regulations. I wasn’t aware of how much autonomy local governments have in regulating the ostensibly non-profit dispensaries.

Fire-breathing dragon boat in Osaka

From the Pink Tentacle blog, via Boing Boing, background and video of a 49 foot boat featuring a dragon head that breathes fire and water. The boat cruised Osaka waterways as part of a festival in September and early October 2009.