Extreme barbecueing may not be such a radical idea after all. I think these people, among others, are onto it. Ergo, I say to heck with that: I'm moving onto something more extreme...

Tuna Wrestling!

This is an awesome piece of news. Japanese imperial army soldiers are still being found 60 years after the end of their mission. These guys may be a little different than the last surrender in that they are probably aware that WWII is over. Unlike Germany, Japan has had a pretty tough time drawing a line under the conflict. Aside from a smattering of dedicated soldiers-turned-guerrillas, lingering issues include:

-difficulty acknowledging aggression at the outset of the Pacific war
-technically, still being at war with Russia (The Soviet Union) due to the fact that no peace treaty has been reached to terminate the soviet declaration of war in August of 1945
-not being able to settle a boundary dispute that is preventing any such treaty
-tracking down all the ammunition and chemical weapons (sidebar - if Japan was held to the same standard as Iraq, we'd have no choice but to invade. It would be ironic because the whole purpose of a particular weapon of mass destruction was that it would prevent the invasion of Japan)
-perpetual annoyance in East Asia that the shrine serving as national war memorial also includes class A war criminals

A better sense of collective remorse might help with some of these things but I'm not sure a great tide of apology will satisfy everybody. I guess as long as they can keep the real nut jobs in check, it may be the best they can do. At least some important things are going well.

Here's an update on my secret project to bring offspring #1 up to speed on my movie tastes, while causing permanent psychological damage: "The Care Bears Movie" was a setback in that she found it... scary!?! Undaunted, we moved on to "Scooby Doo 2 - Monsters Unleashed" which she got through by hiding behind me. Apparently, she watched it again when I was at work so it looks like she's on the fast-track to total corruption. A responsible parent, I am.

Some of these people are clearly out of uniform:

For those of you who may also be sadly out of touch, here's a link that could help:
What's a Wookiee?
A guide to Episode III for non-geeks.

It will all have to wait for me: despite being cartoonish with ridiculously visible laser beams, the violence is still too much for my oldest child, who is 4. Ergo, I don't have a justification for going to the movie theatre. When you have three kids, you basically can't leave the house without taking at least one of them. Your average spouse (or even a remarkably above-average one) is not going to tolerate a 3:1 child:adult ratio unless his/her other half is busy procuring income, something I'm alledgedly doing right now, ahem! So anyway, my geekdom is limited to the sensibilities of the said four-year-old, who I am busily desensitizing at every opportunity. I've got her on "The Simpsons" now, so I'm getting there. Until that, come on Pixar, when's your next movie!?

Came across this today, and as at least two of my fellow contributors are dads thought it would be useful.



Yes, the Baby Bandolier is here!