Carbon emissions, unless you belong to a unique and extremely small minority of people—Society Of How Great Carbon Emissions Are, perhaps?—aren’t going to be the first topic of conversation to come up at a party. Why? Obvious. It doesn’t impress women much, it doesn’t impress men much, kids have better things to do with their time and the majority of adults would generally rather stick pins in their eyes than utter those two terrible, super un-fun words. Yes, we all pretend that we give a monkeys–some even pretend to give a whole field of monkeys–but where does the conversation go aside from “we’re producing too many carbon emissions and we must stop!” Answer: nowhere. At all. Most people drive through the stuff day in day out and carbon emissions are the last thing on their mind. So without blog posts like the following, where would we be? In a whole heap of even more awkward trouble is what. Even fewer people would care. Click this link and join Enigin in their campaign to make businesses aware of their energy consumption.

Web-sites like Enigin’s are making a whole new generation of internet users aware of how they can save energy. When we think ‘energy awareness’ we tend to think turning off lights and not using too much water in the kettle. While these small things are important, let’s not beat around the bush: unless more businesses start to play their part, we’ll need to stop drinking an awful lot of tea–

While Japan is ostensibly better known amongst pop culture enthusiasts for its anime, manga, and films, Japan also boasts a great tradition of novelists. Novelists who have managed to gain attention in the western media include Nobel prize winners Yasunari Kawabata, best known for his amazing tiny short stories and Kenzaburo Oe, known for his work based around his autistic son. Novelist Mushima also comes to mind. However, there are also some more popular authors making waves in both Japan and in the West, and when you’re done with your manga or anime for the day, you might want to consider checking them out. Haruki Murakami. Haruki Murakami (not to be confused with fellow novelist Ryu Murakami, who writes very different material) is probably Japan’s best known literary export. Murakami, once a jazz bar owner, decided to take up writing one day whilst being struck by inspiration watching a baseball match. Murakami’s most famous novel is probably Norwegian Wood, but other excellent books include The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Kafka on the Shore, and the recent After Dark. Hitomi Kanehara has a very different style to magical realist Murakami. Kanehara’s work is characterized by sharp, terrifying characters and plots that are violent and surreal. She is uncompromising in her writing, and gets right into the psyche of her characters—to quite eerie effect. At only age 25, Kanehara is an award-winning author best known for her books Snakes and Earrings and Autofictions. Natsuo Kirino is generally thought of as a crime fiction writer, and is considered one of the leading Japanese crime fiction authors in a genre that has recently experienced a boom. She is a prolific writer, with many novels and short stories to her name, and has also won a variety of well-regarded awards. Works to check out include Out, Grotesque, Real World, and What Remains. There are some other great things to check out on this enigin design site, seriously don’t miss it!

I can definitely admit to having, oh, a small interest in Japanese manga and anime as well as books and literature generally. In fact, one of the things I did on my recent trip to Japan was try to check out the different places where manga was sold, as well as try to see who was reading it—and where. I didn’t have to look far, I can tell you that. If you want to see where all the students and business people gather to hang out before and after work, simply head to your local convenience store. It turns out that the well known manga collections such as Jumpand its competitors are released at particular times during the month or week, and when this occurs, it’s completely normal to stand in the local convenience store reading the entire thing from front to back (or back to front, as the case may be). I certainly didn’t notice any shop assistants politely asking their free-loading customers to purchase the item they were reading, so it looks as though this is something that’s quite normal and endorsed. It’s a shame we can’t get away with the same thing at home—I’d save a fortune! As well as in bookshops, which are amazingly ubiquitous and well-stocked in Japan, manga can also be found in small kiosks devoted entirely to our favorite little graphic novels. They tend to have quite a variety of content, from what I could see, with a whole spectrum of manga represented, and with all of the back issues as well as the newer stuff available. Not only was there a great selection, but the manga themselves were astoundingly cheap at only a few hundred yen each. One of the highlights of the trip was picking up the first issues of several of my favorites at these amazingly low prices. I need some reinforcement on this one, I was talking to my cousin the other weekend and she asked me to visit this site on vaser Liposelection. I believe she is actually thinking about getting this done. How do I approach the subject of saying that she really doesn’t need this and she should try a healthier alternative of shedding weight first

I know I’m not the only one. I know that many before me have been fascinated by the mythical beast that is the Japanese toilet. But it wasn’t until I visited Japan myself that I was ingratiated into a new world altogether—a world of heated toilets, automatic toilets. In fact, any toilet you care to name, really!

When I arrived in Kyoto, I stayed in a very cheap backpackers’ hostel. The amenities were generally quite basic—the beds simple army-style bunks, and everything else was purely functional. Everything else, it seemed, but the toilet. I have to say, that I was not expecting to be accosted by a toilet containing an automatic sensor that made it squirt water every time everyone came near it. Nor did I expect it to have an automatic seat-warmer. And I certainly didn’t think that it would have a tiny basin in the top where I could wash my hands!

However, as I traveled, things only became more and more curious. Each place I stayed in, no matter how cheap and rundown, had some sort of curious toilet that seemed to have more computing power than my laptop. Even the train stations had sophisticated toilets—so long as you avoided the squat toilets, that is. I had no idea that a toilet could contain its own air freshener, or that the button I thought was the flush was actually supposed to merely make a sound like a flush so that people could do their business in a discreet manner.

I suppose all of this is only to be expected in a country where whole novels have been printed on toilet paper—and why not, given the superb luxury of the Japanese toilet? But still, I did find myself caught between feelings of curiosity and trepidation every time I had to seek out a bathroom. What new things would I find? Would I be bested by a toilet that had a greater intellect than I did?

Well, a visit to the Panasonic showroom did little to put my fears at ease. The showroom contained a section devoted to green leaving, and I’m sure you can guess what took pride of place. Yes, an environmentally friendly toilet. This toilet, apparently, only begins to heat the seat a mere moment or two before you sit down, and it can sense the sort of flush required after use. With these sorts of technological advances, it’s no wonder that people fear that humankind will eventually be taken over by technology!

More work related news, I have finally finished changing the text for the tattoo removal brentwood webpage. I am rather confused how I feel about this one, any observations or judgements are encouraged

While I do enjoy the fast-paced anime shows that are full of giant robots and flashing guns, I have a special love for anime that gives a bit more time to giving its characters space to grow.

Nana. Nana is a fabulous, quiet anime that revolves around two girls, both called Nana, who meet coincidentally and form a strong relationship. Both Nanas are deep characters who are haunted by their past actions—but actions that have made them who they are today.

Peach Girl. This is a sweet anime focusing on Momo, a schoolgirl caught up in a confusing love triangle and a variety of unhealthy friendships. While admittedly fairly light in terms of content, the exploration of the different characters in Momo’s life, and her relationships with them, is quite satisfying.

Death Note. While perhaps best known as a thriller or a mystery, Death Note also manages to bring in some strong characterisation, and you’ll be on the edge of your seat seeing Light and L pit their wits against each other, each trying to find the other’s weakness as Light furtively uses the Death Note to kill the criminal population of Japan, whilst L tries to stop him.

Haibane Renmei. This anime caught me off-guard, to be honest, but its characters drew me in very quickly. The Haibane are a group of angel-like children and teenagers who live as semi-outcasts. The show opens with the birth of a new Haibane, Rakka, and follows her attempts to fit in, while contrasting this with the torment of an older Haibane, Reka, who is haunted by an event experienced in her previous life.

While each of these shows is quite different in subject matter, they all did an impressive job of using their characters—rather than impressive battle scenes—to engage me and keep me watching.

Excellent news everyone, Bob just got a internship with a company that sells womens kaftans , I expect samples!

When you are into your horror films it is all well and good for a while… but then you can begin to get bored. There are only so many limbs which can be hacked off and one zombie is much the same as any other. In short, the horror movies on offer can all become much of a muchness.

If you have found yourself in this predicament then you now have three options:

1. You can carry on watching the same old things and try to get your head round it.

2. You can attempt to get into historical romance, musicals or teen flicks instead.

3. You can branch out by trying foreign language horror films.

Okay, so the first two possibilities are not really options for a hardcore horror freak, but the third one certainly is. In fact, Hollywood found itself in much the same situation. It was becoming increasingly bored with its own efforts so it decided to leech off other countries instead!

But do not be taken in by Hollywood’s ‘adopting of culture’; it is false, synthetic and hollow. Avoid the American remakes of ‘REC’(aka ‘Quarantine’), ‘The Ring’ and ‘The Grudge’; go and hunt down the originals instead! You may have to get to grips with subtitles, but the originals are always far superior. It is the same principal of a film never being as good as the book on which it is based. Hollywood has a nasty habit of taking a foreign language film, omitting important content, sucking the life from it and releasing it as a popcorn-crunching blockbuster…

When you watch a movie that is Chinese, Korean or Spanish you going to see horror the way they see horror. Other cultures have a different way of looking at the subject and it makes very interesting viewing indeed.

Just came across this online competition where the prize is time at a resort for val thorens ski. Everyone must enter, I am really wanting to to win this, how great of a surprise would this by for Marleys birthday!

Here are a couple of handy little bits of smoking paraphernalia that I came across on ‘gadgetshop.com’. The first one of these is a heat resistant rubber ashtray. Even if you enjoy a smoke it does not mean that you enjoy using a grotty-looking ashtray so this one is a great idea… Because it is made of a special type of heat resistant silicone, it will not end up looking scarred from repeated ‘stubbings’. When you have emptied and wiped this ashtray it will look like new!

The other handy item that I have seen is a USB cigarette lighter. After you have plugged it into your computer and given it a charge it will ignite 150 smokes before it is flat. There is even a blue indicator light on the side of it to warn you if the battery is getting low! What a brilliant idea; it can be absolutely infuriating when your bog standard refillable suddenly gives up the ghost. And this one is even windproof! Considering that we smokers have now been banished to the great outdoors to have our fix, this is a very useful feature.

So, fellow smokers, it is good to know that not everyone out there is against us. Some clever designer has developed this rechargeable lighter especially for the twenty-first century.

And a message for all of those non-smokers who hate us all so much; put that in your pipe and smoke it!

Philip’s surprise 21st birthday bash: I think I know what we should do. We should arrange some time at one of his favourite ski resorts as a surprise. I know that it is a little bit costly but think of all the good fun that we would have!

Modern Japan simply put it a microcosm of change all jam packed into a minute parcel. Japanese modern culture is defined by word such as mini, micro and miniscule from tiny Maki rolls, to snippets of Manga artwork for series such as Bleach, Dragon Ball Z etc. posted online before video animation, through to their obsession with teeny-tiny technology. In J-world size is an obsession. This nation’s obsession with the micro is spreading on a macro scale! It is like a like one of those sweets that have a hard outer shell and a centre that is filled with acridly sour syrup which is a mind blowing overload of flavour! You will either love it or hate it!

Let’s take a film most of us have seen – The Ring, now I’m a massive fan of horror and have written a thesis on how to create it, hold suspense, utilise cinematic properties like Mise-en-scene and building an atmosphere using music. The Hollywood version of the ring was children’s bed-time story compared to the Japanese version. They have developed their own style of horror, macabre. Macabre is a whole different ball game to conventional Hollywood big budget horror. The point up until which the suspense is released can be described as Tantric it builds and builds until you are begging it to just scare you, and yet still they don’t! Not being able to understand Japanese all too well didn’t stop me watching, it was almost masochistic! They have taken the art of Macabre one step further and created video games such as F.E.A.R that envelope the gamer into a world of blood and gore whilst being worried they are going to quite literally soil themselves as they proceed around the next corner due to a dark and twisted vision or the shriek of a little girl clearly possessed.

The pursuit of being terrified is an uncanny fascination upon which many westerners will be addicted to– as is the rest of Japanese culture, to ignore its existence is simply sinful, so come on people indulge!

On a work note, I’ve almost finished the new text on the home heating oil page. It’s never going to be as amazing as the quick fix I delivered for the page, but I will run with it until I have more time. Given that I keep my job, everything will be okay for me and the gang!

I didn’t know that you could just become a mystery shopper until I read this post the other day! I may even consider doing it myself.

We could do with lots more mystery shoppers going around and testing out different shops and businesses. Some of the places you go to leave an awful lot to be desired in terms of service.

I don’t know who came up with the idea of mystery shopping, but I think that it is a very good one. It is okay to have people dealing with the general public but you need to make sure they are doing things properly.

Before I log off I have some vaguely interesting news, I have finally decided to go and book the appointment to get that tattoo that I had gotten when I was young and rebelious removed. It appears I have grown out of that whole adolescent stage now. But when I was looking on the page for tattoo removal sheffield and I began to doubt if it will look better afterwards…

This blog was nice to read because it reassured me that there are still parents out there who can deal with their children in a fair way. I hate to see people screaming at their kids in the street or threatening to tan their hides.

If children are given proper boundaries then there should not be a problem and it is certainly not necessary to give them a sound thrashing. A few stern words are quite sufficient if a child has been brought up knowing when they are being naughty.

More people should try using these methods to discipline their kids.