Beer Homicide

Moving along the narrow, chaotic, yet lively & bustling streets of Shibuya district in Tokyo, my Korean colleague and I happened to step into a bar called Ebisu. 'Beers of the World' is what it promised - so far so good.

Browsing through the menu, the bar seemed to be well stocked with the usual suspects - the ailes, Czech, Belgian, Dutch, etc. What caught my eye was a 'Mango Beer'.

The first time I tried Kriek - cherry beer from Belgium, I remember frowning at the thought of a cherry flavored beer. Much to my surprise, it was a richly brewed deep red beer with more than a hint of cherry - a good change from the regulars.

So with much of the same expectations, the adventurous me walked over to the bar and asked the cute Japanese girl across the counter for a 'Mango Beer'.
She pours half a glass of Staropramen... ok... hmmm... that's fine... but didn't I ask for Mango Beer??
What followed was cold blooded murder.

She reached the refridgerator and pulled out a jug of mango juice. WHAT ON EARTH WAS SHE GOING TO DO???
And she did it without a sign of remourse... I could hear the lager screaming for help while it drowned in mango juice :(

So, here you go! Mango Beer!

Do the Japanese interpret a 'golden' brew differently?

The Fastest Sport on Earth

Following the F1 San Marino Grand Prix last evening brought back memories of Symbiosis and B-school life.
The Sunday lunch at Fiddlers' Green, and then rushing back to follow the race. The divides were deep: the BMW Williams F1 team faithfuls, and the fans of the prancing horse.

And all we could get was:



Nothing but a bunch of numbers refreshing every 15 seconds on the small screen of a laptop.

My mind races to the screams when Montoya would clock the fastest speed on S2 or when Ferrari would take a tad longer in the pits.

There is immense thrill in statistically following F1 live at www.formula1.com; and that it was last night! Well, I didn't have much of a choice either! Japanese free-to-air channels don't show F1. Too bad, I am sure the car-crazy Japanese population would love to watch Takuma Sato race his BAR-Honda.

Delving deeper into Formula 1 as a sport, it's simply amazing to observe the harmony of man and machine. It is the ultimate culmination of science, skill, team work, courage, strategy, and a load of money - all in one sport.

There has been significant volatility on the circuit in the recent past. With drivers changing teams, constructors changing engines, and newer tracks being laid; if there is one change that I am truly proud of, it is Narayan Karthikeyan. The 2005 World Championship race began in Australia with Karthikeyan being the first Indian to race in a F1 GP.

As one website reviewing Karthikeyan's inclusion puts it so aptly, "Fashioning the stuff from which legends are made, Formula One is witnessing the birth of a pride of new lions. Poised to take on the mantle of World Champion, these young pilots are talented, well-paid and -- in the savage commercial world of today's F1 -- brave in an entirely new way" in the fastest sport on earth.

Email from Mr. Prime Minister

How would you react if you got an email from the Prime Minister?!
I got one! Well... almost!

------- Email message -------
From: "Koizumi" <_koizumi@mmz.kantei.go.jp_>
To: aloke(at)opera.com
Subject: Cooperation with Asian and African countries (April 21, 2005)
Date: Thu, 21 Apr 2005 08:25:00 +0200

Junichiro Koizumi here.

On Monday this week, April 18, I met with President Samuel Schmid of Switzerland and on April 20, yesterday, with Prime Minister John Howard of Australia. Japan's economic relations with both Switzerland and Australia are expected to grow even closer in the future. We enjoy a highly cooperative relationship with Australia, our joint endeavors including peacekeeping operations (PKO) in Timor-Leste and reconstruction assistance activities in Iraq. I intend to further enhance these ties with both these countries.

I will be in Indonesia from tomorrow until Sunday to attend the Asia-Africa Summit Meeting. This meeting will be convened to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the historic Bandung Conference of 1955, which was attended by leaders of 29 Asian and African countries. This time leaders of approximately 100 countries are scheduled to assemble at the meeting.

At the Summit Meeting I will set out Japan's renewed cooperation commitment to Asian and African countries. To the extent that time allows, I intend to hold as many bilateral meetings as possible in between the general meeting sessions, which will further enhance Japan's relations with Asian and African countries.

On Saturday, I will fly into Aceh Province in Sumatra, which was severely damaged by the earthquake and tsunami, to see for myself the situation on the ground and Japan's reconstruction assistance efforts. Japan will continue to extend a helping hand as much as possible to assist the region in recovering from the disaster.

[...]

General Editor : Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi
Chief Editor : Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Seiken Sugiura
Publication : Cabinet Public Relations Office
1-6-1 Nagata-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-8968, Japan

..........................................................

Now how super cool is that?!
The Prime Minister of Japan, Junichiro Koizumi, sends out an email to all who wish to receive one, with an update on his work and that of his cabinet ministry every fortnight.

I can't help but wonder as to how politicians in many parts of the world would misuse such a channel by splattering it with ugly blobs of propoganda.

Coming back to what's important, I think it is a commendable gesture on behalf of the barons of democracy, in reassuring faith among the populace by creating a sense of accountability, transparency and respect.

Another 'tick' in my long list of reasons for the respect that I have for this country.

Speed, Security, Simplicity

Opera 8 has been unleashed!

Norway's Opera ups security in new Web browser
Reuters

Opera 8 aims for simpler browsing
ZDNet, United Kingdom

Surfuj ?piewaj?co! Opera 8.0 ju? jest!
PC World, Poland

Opera Software ships version 8 of its browser
The Register

Opera 8 zum Download bereit
PC Welt, Germany

Opera presenta il suo nuovo browser, punta sulla sicurezza
Reuters, Italia

Opera lanserte oppgradert nettleser
digi.no, Norway

Technology ; Norway's Opera ups security in new Web browser
keralanext, India

Opera 8 zet in op snelheid
ZDNet, Netherlands

Opera security enhanced
ITWeb, South Africa

Browser Battles Continue as Opera 8 for Windows and Linux Is Released
LinuxWorld

Opera Software annonce la V8 de son navigateur web
NetEconomie, France

Opera Software Upgrades Hacker Defenses
Forbes, USA

Opera Software lanza la versi�n definitiva de Opera 8.0 para Windows y Linux
El Mundo, Spain

Opera-Browser wird sicherer und schneller
Computerworld, Switzerland

Need I say more?

Never too far from going glug-glug!

Building on darling Naazita's observations, something that you can always find in every nook n' cranny of every street in Tokyo is the ubiquitous soft drink vending machine!
The most common ones are by BOSS. No, not thaaaat Hugo Boss!
And they go by this really tacky punchline which says, BOSS is the boss of them all since 19XX!

Maybe this prompts me to compose a posting on the funniest Japanese -> English translations that I see so often in advertisements, public service announcements, sign boards etc. in Japan. They are absolutely hilarious!

Soul Sinking Seoul

Pollution hanging heavy in the air, ugly big arse cars defecient of innovation and design, miserable grey skies, unsightly urban landscape, and tummy torturing food.
It's been 10 days in Seoul and I want to run!

This city gives me the same feeling as Delhi. And, I don't like Delhi.

Sorry Chang. No further comment.

RSS Classroom

If orange tags being sported on many blogs dig your curiosity, then this is for you!

How cool would it be if you automatically got an alert in an email like fashion, of my latest blog posting as soon as I added it?

"I am reading a website so often, I just want the website to tell me when something new is there." - Dave Winer, co-inventor of the RSS format.

Yesterday, BBC News Technology featured an article with interesting analogies on understanding the basics of site syndication with formats like RSS or ATOM: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4421707.stm

Site Syndication is an interesting angle to how the web is moulding; rather maturing.
The salesman in me jumps with joy when realizing as to how much content and how many products I will be able to push down your throat just because you clicked on that tiny little orange tag!

For now, take Opera 8. It has a really cool RSS/ATOM Site Aggregator! ;)

Visby: Gateway to Gotland and a perfect getaway!

If you live in Scandinavia or the Baltic region, and need a break from the not-so-fast pace of life ;), go to Gotland!

Gotland is situated in the middle of the Baltic Sea, 90 km from the Swedish mainland and 130 km from the Baltic states.
Visby, its medieval capital, was an important trading center as early as the Viking times and flourished during the Hanseatic period.



This city is one of the quaintest places I have ever been to. One finds ruins of beautiful churches in every single block of the old town. And if you have a particular interest in history, Visby will delight the historian in you in exploring it's ruins, including the wall with 44 watch towers that encircles the city.



We managed to escape the summer hoards, and pretty much had the city to ourselves. But I am sure it must be really happening in summers'.
There really isn't much to do in Gotland apart from the ruins, enjoying gazing at the sea and with strolls in the town. In short, it's a perfect getaway.
And that's exactly how it turned out, with long walks by the sea, great Swedish food, lots of sun (did I really say that?!), and miles of smiles.
On the whole, a very relaxed and chilled out Easter break!

History of April Fool's Day

The 1st of April and everyone's out there trying to find a reason to fool you!
But ever wondered what is the origin of April Fool's Day?

Prior to 1563, the new year was celebrated for eight days, beginning on March 25. The celebration culminated on April 1 and was celebrated in much the same way as it is today with parties and dancing into the late hours of the night.

In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII introduced the new Gregorian Calendar. Ten days were deleted from the calendar, so that the 4th of October, 1582 was followed by 15th of October, 1582, and New Year's Day was moved to the 1st of January. One popular story credits the reform of the calendar to King Charles IX in 1563. Notice this is prior to the "Gregorian calendar" change and the pope's edict in 1582. It is known that the Council of Trent (1545-1563) did authorized a calendar reform in 1545, so it is possible that King Charles IX could have moved New Year's Day to January 1 before the decree was made by Pope Gregory XIII.

Upon moving the official New Year's Day from the 1st of April to the 1st of January, there were some people who hadn't heard or didn't believe the change in the date, so they continued to celebrate New Year's Day on April first. Others played tricks on them and called them "April fools." They were subject to some ridicule, and were often sent on "fools errands" or were made the butt of other practical jokes. In France today, April first is called "Poisson d'Avril." French kids fool their friends by taping a paper fish to their friends' backs. When the "young fool" discovers this trick, the prankster yells "Poisson d'Avril!" (April Fish!)

So much for the French being the butt of all jokes! ;)