Train of thought from infectious Camp Rock song to Cyndi Lauper

So at work today I tried the Teen Pop station and this song got stuck in my head:



Here's what that movie's all about:

Mitchie wants to go to a music camp for young musicians named "Camp Rock". Since the family can't afford the tuition, Mitchie's mother (Maria Canals Barrera) arranges to cater food for the camp, thus allowing Mitchie to attend. When she arrives at the camp she immediately befriends a girl name Caitlyn (Alyson Stoner) who is an aspiring music producer.

Mitchie wants to be friends with the camp's 'mean girl' Tess Tyler (Meaghan Jette Martin), along with her clique Peggy (Jasmine Richards) and Ella (Anna Maria Perez de Tagle). When Mitchie introduces herself, the girls seem uninterested in her, so she lies about her mom, by saying she is the president of Hot Tunes TV China. They immediately take an interest in her and let her be their friend, making her very popular.

Meanwhile, spoiled rock star Shane Gray (Joe Jonas) has been forced to also attend the camp, after walking off the set of Connect 3's latest music video by his other band member Nate (Nick Jonas).

And you can kind of see where it might lead from there.

So I notice on Wiki that the movie was written by Julie Brown of "Earth Girls Are Easy" fame, and I remember when I was a kid Julie Brown seemed like a more annoying and less talented version of Cyndi Lauper.

And that thought led to the real gem of the evening: Cyndi Lauper doing a medley on Japanese TV! These performances are the best since everyone seems to be having such a good time clapping with their hands in the air:



When I was a kid there was some rumor that Cyndi Lauper was going to move into my hometown. As far as I know it never happened but I distinctly remember people telling me this as if it were some real, exciting news.

Bob Marley the cultist

What a tragically preventable death!

In July 1977, Marley was found to have acral lentiginous melanoma, a form of malignant melanoma, in a football wound - according to widely held urban legend, inflicted by broadcaster and pundit Danny Baker[17] - on his right big toe. Marley refused amputation, because of the Rastafari belief that the body must be "whole."

Marley may have seen medical doctors as samfai (tricksters, deceivers). True to this belief Marley went against all surgical possibilities and sought out other means that would not break his religious beliefs. He also refused to register a will, based on the Rastafari belief that writing a will is acknowledging death as inevitable, thus disregarding the everlasting (or everliving, as Rastas say) character of life.

The cancer then metastasized to Marley's brain, lungs, liver, and stomach. After playing two shows at Madison Square Garden as part of his fall 1980 Uprising Tour, he collapsed while jogging in NYC's Central Park. The remainder of the tour was subsequently cancelled.

Marley played his final concert at the Stanley Theater in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on September 23, 1980. The live version of "Redemption Song" on Songs of Freedom was recorded at this show.[18] Marley afterwards sought medical help from Munich specialist Josef Issels, who promoted a controversial type of cancer treatment, partly based on avoidance of certain foods, drinks and other substances (Marley was also already a vegetarian, mainly for religious reasons).[19]. However, by this time his illness had already progressed to the terminal stage.


Death and posthumous reputation
While flying home from Germany to Jamaica for his final days, Marley became ill, and landed in Miami for immediate medical attention. He died at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Miami, Florida on the morning of May 11, 1981, at the age of 36. The spread of melanoma to his lungs and brain caused his death. His final words to his son Ziggy were "Money can't buy life."[20] Marley received a state funeral in Jamaica on May 21, 1981, which combined elements of Ethiopian Orthodoxy and Rastafari tradition. He was buried in a chapel near his birthplace with his Gibson Les Paul and a Bible.

中川元財務大臣はなぜ辞めざるを得なかったのか

本日の日経ネットＰｌｕｓに、竹中平蔵氏が中川前財務大臣の辞任劇を分析している。中でも、中川元大臣が以前より、農林大臣時代に酔ってる状態で記者会見をするなど、そのアルコール中毒が問題になっていることを報道機関や政治家の間で広く知られたのに、それを追求することなく長く放置したことを指摘している。また、海外で「国辱的」な行動をとったとして、海外メディアが大きく取り上げた挙句、国内メディアが一斉に「横並び批判」のおかしさも主張している。さらに、コメント欄では、その背景に記者クラブ制度が報道側と権力側とを身内にして、報道機関が自分の身内に不都合なことを報道しない「取材システム上の問題」との主張が複数あった。以下は、小生が書いたコメントを紹介する（日経のサイトでは、６００字制限があるが、こちらではやや長いバージョンを掲載する）。



竹中先生に同感ですし、他のコメントに基本的に異論はありませんが、「取材システム上の問題」があるとすれば、その要因も検証しなければならないと思います。その一つに「名誉毀損訴訟の恐怖」が挙げられます。

記者クラブに所属する記者たち以外にも、中川元大臣のアル中問題は少なくとも安倍内閣時代からオープンシークレットのようなもので、以前より気づいている記者や政治家は少なくないはずです。しかし、一つの報道機関だけが「お酒に酔った状態で記者会見した」と報じた場合、名誉を毀損したとして訴えられた可能性は高いと思います。竹中先生自身が大臣を勤められたときも、週刊誌に対して名誉毀損訴訟を起こし、勝利したことがあるように、よくあることです。裁判の是非はさておき（特に竹中先生の場合に関しては承知していない）、政府だけでなく、一般の企業などが名誉毀損で報道機関を訴えるケースは多いように見えます。また、雑誌に掲載された批判記事の中でコメントが掲載されているだけでその個人が起訴されるなど、言論を封印するためかと疑わせる名誉毀損訴訟も目立ちます。報道機関が過剰に訴訟を恐れていては、積極的に権力を批判しづらい環境になってしまうのではないでしょうか。逆に、みんなが「横並び批判」ができるような事件になると、大した事件でもないのに、必要以上に批判したり、怒ったりする報道も多くなり、長い間黙っていたジャーナリストたちがストレス発散しているにも見えます。決して健全的なことではないのです。

理想論ではありますが、全うな事実を報道した場合に訴訟（もしくは広告掲載拒否）などを恐れない環境になれば、必要なときに権力を批判し、責任を取ってもらう、より健全な言論空間になることを望みます。

Obama speech - everyone now required to go to college

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Obama: Dropping out of high school isn't just quitting on yourself, it's quitting on your country. Highest proportion of college grads in the world by 2020.

This guy is totally on the right track to make education the big pillar of the US long term strategy. But wouldn't this be kind of meaningless if 80% of those grads are poli sci and liberal arts majors? While there is a place for that (it was a decent platform for me to learn Japanese and hone translation skills), it seems like we need more scientists and engineers.

More people working till they die of old age

This story from the WSJ made me sad and reminded me of the consequences of poor retirement planning. My grandma worked until her mid 70s because she never had an extra pension. Don't let this happen to you!

During past recessions, older workers simply would have retired rather than searching want ads and applying for jobs. But these days, with outstanding mortgages, bank loans and high medical bills, many of them can't afford to be out of work.

With jobs so scarce, people in their seventh and eighth decades are up against those half their age in a desperate scramble for work.

The number of unemployed workers 75 and older increased to more than 73,000 in January, up 46% from the prior January. Among workers 65 and older, the jobless rate stands at 5.7%. That's below the national average, but well above what it was in previous recessions, including the recession of 1981, when it reached at 4.3%.

The growing numbers reflect, in part, an increase in the number of older workers. The percentage of people 65 and older who are in the work force rose to 16.8% at year end, from 11.9% a decade earlier. Among people 75 and older, the increase was even greater -- to 7.3%, from 4.7%.

As people live longer and stay in better health, some of them merely want the stimulation and challenge of a job. But for workers like Ms. Appleby, Ms. Bennett and Mr. Dase, the motivation is financial necessity.

Fewer people than in years past are covered by defined-benefit plans, such as company-sponsored pensions that guarantee them specific monthly income for life. Those with retirement investments have seen their values erode with the stock-market tumble. Others worked for smaller companies, or were self-employed, and never had pensions. Many are outliving whatever savings they might have had, especially by the time they reach their mid to late 70s. Mortgages and medical bills push others into the job market because Social Security and Medicare, though helpful and critical, aren't enough.

There are few programs to help older unemployed workers. Several states are developing pilot programs. The Obama administration is receiving proposals for new ways to connect workers 55 years and older with local jobs.

Ups and downs of business school

MBA grads can no longer count on high-paying Wall St. jobs.

But according to some business school officials (one spoke with WSJ radio (MP3)) applications for business school are way up as workers want to boost skills in a more competitive job market.

Former vs. formerly

A subtle grammar rule that I failed to notice recently:

The Vietnamese artist exhibiting her work in the United States reported that one of her artistic challenges had been the ________ widespread unavailability of paper and canvas in wartime, which she said often forced her to work on matchboxes and scraps of newsprint.

Fill in the blank:
(a) former
(b) formerly

And the answer is...

















(b) former

You see, if it's "formerly" then the word "widespread" would be modified, when the word is supposed to modify the unavailability. And now you know!

Why don't you play the game?

Had no idea so many daft punk videos were anime-fied.

clipped from www.youtube.com

American Pop - inspiration for Kanye West's "Heartless"

Rotoscope animation is the best

clipped from jp.youtube.com

Love this animation

clipped from jp.youtube.com Kanye West - Heartless

Aso -- please hold this election already

The suspense is maddening!

clipped from www.bloomberg.com Feb. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Taro Aso risks deepening Japan’s recession in order to delay an election he’s likely to lose. Aso, whose approval rating has sunk below 20 percent after less than five months in office, refuses to bow to pressure from the opposition to call the election ahead of the legally required Sept. 10 date. The resulting political paralysis is stalling the 10 trillion-yen ($110 billion) stimulus plan he has promised to restore economic growth. “A tsunami is coming and we need effective economic stimulus from the government,” says Tsuneo Watanabe, a Tokyo- based adjunct fellow with the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. “By clinging to power,” Aso, 68, and his Liberal Democratic Party are “making it harder for ordinary people to cope with this severe downturn.”