Work of Art

As I've been having more and more fun cooking, I've been getting better at handling my knives. I've started wanting more from certain knives, whether it be heft, size, sharpness, etc. Every since I was a kid, I had this obsession with weaponry - steel, swords, and knives especially. Getting into kitchen knives, has led me to Japanese carbon steel knives. The traditional knives, which I've started using, are quite stunning pieces of art.
Here's a shot of all my knives currently:


From left to right they are:
Shun Chef Knife
Shun Santoku
Suisin Saika Kiritsuke (white steel) (270mm)
Suisin Special Inox Gyuto (240mm)
Korin Shiro-ko (white steel) Honkasumi Kamagata Usuba (180mm)
Togiharu Virgin Carbon Petty (150mm)

All of the knives are considered Western style expect the two tradition Japanese knives - the Kiritsuke and Kamagata Usuba. If you are into knives, or can appreciate the work of a blacksmith, edge maker, polisher, sharpener, etc, you may understand how these blades are simply stunning. Not only are the functionally superior to anything else I've used, they are beautiful to look at. The only down side is the traditional Japanese style knives are more purpose specific than their Western counterparts. Here's a few pictures of my two traditional Japanese knives:





Both of these knives were hand crafted and finished. The Suisin Saika Kiritsuke was made by both Master Blacksmith Kerijiro Doi and his son, Itsuo Doi. I know that Suisin makes the Honkasumi Korin knives, but I'm not sure which blacksmith specifically. One last picture of me shredding some collard greens to make Caldo Verde (Portuguese green soup).

some more cooking

So, it's been a while since I posted anything. I decided to put up photos of some more cooking I did. I purchased a new knife and have been eager to practice and use it. For anyone curious, it is a Japanese Kamagata Usuba. I got a relatively short one at 180mm since it is my first. I got it at Korin, and it is one of their house brand, white-steel, hongasumi knives. I love it so far and am developing a nice patina on it.
On to what I cooked. On this particular evening, I sauteed some mushrooms, haricot verts and pan-seared some swordfish steaks. This was also the first time I clarified butter myself.
Here's a shot of the clarified butter. Not perfect, but good enough to use. I used a half pound of butter from a brand made in Vermont. I like to support local farms when possible.


Here's a shot of the mushrooms and the added garlic, garlic scapes, and scallions.


Here's some liqueur used to deglazed the pan.


This is a shot of the sword fish being seared with some onions, scallion, garlic, and garlic scapes. Eventually, I added some white wine and balsamic vinegar to make a reduction for sauce.


These are the haricot verts being quickly boiled before going straight to an ice water bath. For anyone who doesn't know, this is called blanching. The ice water bath helps the verts keep their bright green color and crispness. I sauteed them with some clarified butter, garlic, and salt afterward.


Finally, he's the finished product. Bon appetit.

Marshmallows

Alton Brown's show, "Good Eats", on Food Network is one of my favorites. There was an episode on marshmallows, and before watching it, I never thought I could make them at home. I was surprised by how easy it is. So, being the messy, wannabe chef that I am, I took the store and bought the necessary supplies. The only thing I cheaped out on was the stand mixer. I got a pseudo mixer that uses a hand blender and a bowl. Unfortunately $300+ for a device that's going to occupy real estate in a small kitchen while getting minimal use is just not a good investment for me. The recipe for these marshmallows can be found on foodnetwork.com.

I didn't take any pictures of the sugar/corn syrup cooking. I only took video of the gelatin and candy mixture in the mixer. The only pictures I have begin once the mixture was finished.

Here I am pouring out the viscous liquid that will soon become delicious marshmallows. The pan was dusted with confectioners sugar and corn starch to prevent sticking.

A little dusting on the top to cover the marshmallow block.

After a few hours, the block is solid enough to start working on. I dusted a cutting board, and got ready to remove the marshmallow.

Nice and ready for some cutting.

I used a pizza wheel to cut the block into squares, but took video of it. Here you have the squares already cut and ready to be pulled apart.

This is the separating of the individual squares I cut. You can see the pizza cutter I used in the picture.

Final product and a little taste test.

Mmmmm.
If you don't mind eating gelatin (some people don't eat it for religious or personal reasons), give these a try. It's super easy, fun, and delicious.

Soup

I made a soup tonight. It's a combination soup, meaning it's two soups served together. One is a roasted parsnip soup, and the other is a roasted butternut squash soup. I got the recipe from foodnetwork.com. It tastes great and not very difficult to make. I definitely recommend it.
Here are some pictures of the adventure:



I started taking pictures after the butternut squash soup was finished so there won't be any pictures of the process.


Here are the roasted parsnips. They were coated in a little olive oil, salt and pepper before roasting.


These are the various vegetables that go into the parsnip soup along with some ham. The butternut squash soup has Italian sausage in it instead of ham.


Getting a good sweat out of everything. Also, the fat from the meat was rendered in a small amount of olive oil prior to sweating the vegetables.


About two teaspoons of vinegar were used to deglaze the bottom of the pan.


Skipped a few steps to the end of the parsnip soup.


This is the finished product.

change or die

Simple concept, right? It's as natural as anything else in the universe. Things that stay the same don't stick around very long. I recently joined in a discussion about the 2012 nonsense out of humor. What started off as me just having fun with my own comment and reading through other people's comments soon turned into a debate about whether or not humanity is responsible for the destruction of this planet. Personally, I don't think so. While it may be a possibility, it falls into the blog title. There is no denying that humanity has made it's mistakes, but we are not without our positive influences. Civilization has gotten to where it currently is because of our ability to change and adapt. Afterall, change or die.

No, that's not a conclusion. I'm going to get into the discussion that prompted this entry. It started with someone writing that even though they don't believe in the 2012 myth, that humanity is slowly deteriorating the planet to extinction. We've syphoned too many resources and now it's too late to start saving the planet. I think this is absolute poppycock. This planet has survived eons of threats, and will survive humanity. I posed two simple questions - Why are people saying this and what's going on that's destroying the planet?

The response I got was that humanity has changed the face of the world with the things like deforestation and that humanity likes to remove natural resources from the planet. So, I tried tackling those two topics. Let's start with deforestation. While I may have agreed with this person 100, 50 or even 20 years ago, this is simply not the case anymore. We are planting trees faster than we can cut them down. There are also international laws protecting certain habitats from being cut down. There is actually more forest on the surface of the earth today than there was 50 years ago. Here's an article from 1921 that speaks about the subject. In the United States, there are more trees today than there were when the country was founded. I also pointed out that the only places in the world where deforestation is still a major problem is in impoverished areas. Although it is still a sensitive issue, I used Haiti as an example. Haiti also exemplifies "change or die." While it's neighbor is green and lush, Haiti's environment has suffered to the point of no return.

I also questioned if this is an unnatural phenomenon and whether it's really bad for the planet or simply bad for us. Again, I realize it's a sensitive issue, but I am going to use a morbid example. If all life ended in Haiti, whether by death or relocation, the island would still be there. The island wasn't destroyed or vaporized due to the massive environmental damage it suffered. With time, it will naturally recuperate and life will begin again. This is essentially the history of the planet Earth. The environment changes, things die, and it starts all over again. We don't need to worry about the planet. We need to worry about our own survival. Change or die.
This person, unfortunately, didn't believe me that reforestation rates are currently surpassing deforestation rates. I don't include deforestation by natural causes. If there's a fire, earthquake, etc that levels a forest, we can't blame ourselves for that. The other thing I'd like to point out is that while trees are good for the environment, there's only so much room on this planet. Right now, trees serve a useful purpose in things like construction and filtering pollutants. How long will it be before we no longer require so many trees, though? We are constantly making advances in technology and industry. I think that eventually we'll reach a point where we will not require them and the only place you'll see them is in places like parks or people's gardens. In Brazil, people talk about deforestation in the Amazon. What some people don't know is that the deforestation is the result of cattle ranches and large scale farming. Sorry, tree huggers, but I'd rather plant and grow food than worry about a bunch of useless trees. China suspended their reforestation project due to food shortages. They decided that feeding their people was more important than planting some trees, and I don't blame them. Now, if only they could control their pollution output. Either way, this goes back to something I said earlier. While deforestation may have bad environmental effects, it is certainly not "planet destroying." Since changes to the atmospheric air content was mentioned, I added that we could turn this planet into Mars and it would still be here. Ending life on the planet is not the same as destroying the planet. Even if it were to be lifeless, it would still exist in the solar system, spinning around the sun along with all the other lifeless planets.

As it is one of the more popular topics, global warming was also touched upon.There is so much nonsense surrounding this issue, that I really dislike discussing it. I suppose I will have to just grit my teeth and do it anyway. Here's a quick summary of how many people came to know of global warming:
One day, Al Gore woke up to his usual life of obscurity. He probably thought long and hard about how to get back into the media's attention and came up with this nonsense that we now know as global warming. Some people think the world is getting warmer. That's all fine and dandy. Thanks to meteorology, we can analyze the weather and it's patterns. Whether or not the world is currently getting warmer shouldn't be what people are worried about. It's whether or not this is an unnatural, man-made event. There are many that believe we are to blame for this global warming, and that it's going to eventually lead to inhospitable conditions on the planet. The reason I dislike this issue is because for every argument linking this to human irresponsibility, I can pull out two arguments that it's human arrogance and ignorance to think the planet is getting unnaturally hot. One of the biggest problems with most of the information supporting warming is that people are not looking far back enough into the planet's history for weather patterns. They look back maybe 50 years or so and say there is an upward trend in the Earth's surface temperature. Back around the 1970's, we were certain that we were headed towards an ice age since it seemed that the planet was getting colder. If we look as far back as we can into Earth's weather patterns, we find that it constantly shifts. There is so much controversy surrounding this subject, that I still can't believe people take it so seriously. I'm going to refrain from posting articles on the subject for now because they would just be endless. I'll leave it up to the reader to do their own unbiased, objective research into it.

More to come.....

a much needed shave

It's early in the morning and I'm bored. I have to shave before work, so I figured I'd catalog the event.
Let's begin with a before shot:

First thing's first - take a shower. I like to shower in the morning before work rather than the night before. Now that I'm all squeaky clean, I can get with the face work.

It's good to wash your face before shaving. It removes dirt, dead skin, oil and other things that can get in the way of a smooth, close shave. Also, it helps soften up the beard for less resistance against the razor. This can prevent things like razor burn. I like products by Anthony Logistics, and here's the facial cleanser I use.

Once my face is nice and clean, I'm ready to move on to the next steps. The list of equipment needed is as follows:

A good shave cream or soap is essential. It must be able to lather well, provide adequate lubricity, while not drying your skin out. If you're like me, you might have an extensive collection. Today, I decided on my Taylor of Old Bond Street Almond cream. This cream produces slick, meringue like lather and has a great scent. It's easily one of my favorites.

You'll also need a brush, razor, and blade. Today, I'm using my 30mm, engraved, rosewood Shavemac bruch. The razor is a Mercur 37G Gold Slant and the blade is from Feather. Feather blades are hi-stainless blades made in Japan. They are the sharpest blades I've used, and are my blade of preference regardless of the few nicks I get from time to time. I find my open-comb, Mercur Gold Slant is aggressive enough for my needs. It is certainly more aggressive than my first blade - Mercur 38C Long Handled Heavy Classic.

I like to soak my brush in warm water for a couple minutes. I find this opens the brush up and gets it ready for building a great lather. When I'm in more of a hurry, I'll just holding under running water for a while. Load up the brush with the necessary amount of cream. This amount will depend on a few variables. You get better at determining how much you need with experience. Firstly, the amount of cream needed is proportional to the size of the brush. It also depends on the soap/cream you are using. Different products lather differently so you'll have to experiment. The amount of water you use to build the lather is also crucial. Too little water, and you won't build a good lather. Too much water, and you'll wind up with a thin lather. I like to aim for a creamy consistency with medium stiff peaks. Anyone who has ever made meringue will understand. If the peaks are stiff, I feel the lather is still too dry. Again, it's all about trial and error. Eventually, you just know where the sweet spot is.

Now that I've built my lather to my satisfaction, it's time to spread it on my face.

Usually, I'm finished after two passes. Since I waited so long since my last shave, I went for three passes this time. When shaving with a DE (Double-Edged) razor, it's important not to press it into your face. Simply place the razor against your face at the proper angle and let it glide along your beard. Let the weight of the razor and sharpness of the blade do the work. For the first pass, I like to shave along the grain. For the second, depending on how clean the first pass came out, I'll shave across the grain. In this instance, the third pass was across.

I nicked myself once, which isn't bad considering the blade is brand new. Another item that's always good to have on hand is a styptic pencil. A styptic pencils are made of a hemostatic, or antihemorrhagic, agent. The agent contained is typically aluminum sulfate. It works as an astringent causing blood vessels to contract. It can also sting so be ready for it if you've never used one. Once that was taken care, it was time to select an aftershave. Again, if you're like me, you might have quite a few on hand. I ended up going with the Coral Skin Food (second from the right in the photo). Among other ingredients, it has rose water and menthol crystals which makes for a refreshing feeling accompanied by a wonderful scent.

Once it's absorbed into my skin, I'm ready to moisturize. My moisturizer of preference is also an Anthony Logistics product. It's an all natural, paraben free, non-allergenic moisturizer that doesn't feel greasy or leave me looking "shiny."
That's it. It seems like a long process, but I find it helps me start my morning with a good feeling. Here's the finished product.

Sometimes, people ask me why the grain of my beard is still visible if wet shaving with a DE razor is supposed to provide a closer shave than the standard disposable stuff. Simple answer - I never shave against the grain. I like the slightly rough look. I actually prefer the way I look with a 5 o'clock shadow than freshly shaved.
If anyone can tell, I'm still not quite awake. Now, I'm going to go make breakfast and coffee. Maybe one day I'll do a write up of that.

wild animals

I was browsing through the good 'ole Penny Arcade!, when I came about this comic.
Not too long ago, I was discussing the recent whale attack at Seaworld with some people. We got to talking about various other animal attacks, and that comic seemed to fit perfectly with the eventual consensus.
An animal is an animal, no matter how well trained it is. The problem being that when an animal is in a "mood", it doesn't know restraint. Roy (of Siegfried and Roy) claimed that his tiger was simply trying to drag him to safety in the same way a mother tigress would grab her cubs by the neck. He also said that the tiger had no way of knowing that his neck didn't have the same skin thickness and toughness as a tiger's neck. There's a few things odd with his reasoning. First, he claims to have raised this tiger since it was a cub. Where exactly did this cub learn "typical tiger behavior" from? Second, he likens the tiger's action to a mother tigress, yet his tiger is male.
Anyone who's read any of my previous entries knows that I have a pet conure. Now, regardless of my conure's mood, there's really no way he's going to be able to maul and kill me. He still gets into his moods where he sometimes prefers to be left alone in his cage. Another oddity about birds is the way they fight each other. I used to think about getting a second bird, and did quite a bit of research on how birds handle company. Birds are a bit peculiar. They get very attached to their main caretaker, crave as much attention as an infant, and can develop various neurotic disorders if deprived. There are a few things that can happen when introducing another bird. The two birds can get along and be housed in the same cage. This scenario can lead the birds (regardless of sex) to become more attached to each other than you. This can make them more hostile towards when you try to interact with them. The birds can also not get along, which would mean housing them in separate cages. You'd have to divide your attention between them, which may also cause hostility towards you. What I found most disturbing is that whether they get along or not, bird fights typically end when one bird kills the other. Hard to imagine these cute guys being vicious murderers, isn't it?

This was during my recent visit to the pet store to have my bird's nails trimmed.
Anyway, the consensus was that there are just certain animals in the world that weren't meant for human entertainment. Before they tear your head off or thrash you in a pool until you drown, make sure you're willing to accept the risk involved. We preserve every human life possible, no matter how worthless. When an animal behaves like an animal, we deem it unfit to live. I remember when my last ferret was dying, someone at work asked me why I didn't just go to a veterinarian to have her put down. My first response was that if anyone was going to relieve my ferret of her suffering, it would be me. I'll be damned if I'm going to pay some stranger to do it for me. My second response was, would you have a dying family member put down? I took care of her for almost ten years.

Fuck the children

I thought about the title for this entry for a while. I came up with, what I feel, is the most attention getting. Just to clear things up, I don't actual want to fuck any children. Clarity can be found in the passage below.
Throughout history, and certainly in my life time, some people have this odd habit of trying to get things that they don't approve of banned for everyone. The easiest way to do that, is to say it's bad for the children. As soon as the children get involved, everyone's ears perk up and the rabble rousers go crazy. As video games have gained more mainstream popularity and attention, they've come under the scrutiny of such crazies as Jack Thompson and Fox News. Violent games make kids violent, sexual content in games make kids sexual deviants, etc. I wonder why the educational games don't make kids geniuses. It boggles my mind at the hypocrisy of people and the media. People are always looking for things to blame other than their own shitty kids or their shitty parenting. The media just wants ratings. I've been a gamer since Intellivision and like many others, find these attacks on games insulting. One of the most outrageous in recent times was Fox's piece on Mass Effect by Bioware. They even went so far as to refer to the Xbox 360 as the "SeXBOX." Now that's some clever journalism. Here's a video for anyone who doesn't know:
http://www.gametrailers.com/user-movie/fox-news-on-mass-effect-sex/163925

I can go on and on about all the ignorant nonsense being thrown around, but I'll leave it to the reader to do his/her own research on it. The one thing I'll touch on is how the condescending bitch says she has to go with the research. What research? The best study I've heard/read about is in a book called "Grand Theft Childhood" by Larry Kutner and Cheryl Olson. I recommend checking out their website and going through the Myths section and such. It's quite interesting, and if you like it, get the book. It's a great read for parents and gamers who happen to get into such debates.

What I want to get into is about more recent games that aren't in the media. This is part of the hypocrisy of the media. There was no interactive or graphic sex in Mass Effect. Bioware even went so far as to tone down the sexual scenes in Mass Effect 2. They claim it has nothing to do with the media, but many gamers are going to be sceptical. A new game for the PS3 was released called "Heavy Rain". It's a pretty good game for anyone who's a fan of Quantic Dream's previous work (Indigo Prophecy/Farhenheit) or interactive adventures. One of the things that stands out, is that there is nudity and an actual, interactive sex scene in this game. Where's Fox with all their goofy P"Sex"3 headlines? You can move your right analog stick to remove the girl's bra. It's annoying that when it was "cool" to bash on video games, Fox was all over it. They caught a load a backlash from more informed people, and are now nice and quiet on the subject. I'm not complaining about them keeping their ignorant mouths shut and out of my games. I'm annoyed that despite the backing from the gaming community (and any other person educated on the matter), Bioware was still shellshocked enough to essentially PG-13-enize Mass Effect 2. God of War 3 was also released recently for the PS3. It's almost unfathomable how this game can get the same M rating, while games like Madworld and Manhunt have to fight to avoid AO ratings. For anyone who doesn't know about game ratings and the ESRB, AO stands for Adults Only. It the video game equivalent of an NC-17 movie. God of War 3 not only has nudity and interactive sex, but is probably the most brutally, violent game currently on the market. As an example, there's a scene in the game where you forcibly remove Helios' head with your bare hands. The scene is interactive and shown close up in full flesh tearing, spine cracking glory. The punchline there? It's not the most violent scene in the game. It was actually included as part of the playable demo. Either the media hasn't caught wind of it, or they want nothing to do with it. Right now, it seems that people are more interested in Tiger Woods "sexts" with a porn star. I hope more celebrities get caught in scandals. Maybe then the media and ignorant population will stop trying to ban all the things I enjoy doing. I still remember when people tried to get Pokemon banned. A little Penny Arcade for everyone.

Jessica Simpson is still dim..

I recently came upon a clip from Late Night w/ David Letterman where he has Jessica Simpson come on to talk about beauty and weight. She mentions about how great Uganda is b/c the fatter a woman is, the more attractive she is. Then she goes on to describe how they have these "fattening huts". Now, this isn't a breakthrough in information. There was a documentary called Fat Fiancees on Discovery back in 2006 (maybe, I can't remember exactly) about the Hima tribe of Uganda. Basically, a fat daughter for marriage shows that the father is of status. So, they send their daughters to fattening huts for however many months to go on a diet of whole milk. Doesn't that sound great for women? Jessica Simpson neglected to mention that the average lifespan in Uganda is 50. She should've stayed there and spared us all the nonsense that constantly spills out of her mouth. Some may call me misogynistic, others may not agree with my sense of humor, but here goes. Simpson's mouth has only served one useful purpose in her life, and it hasn't been talking, eating or breathing. If anyone missed what I'm trying to say, look up John Mayer and napalm references.

continued....

So, here's a continuation of earlier. For anyone interested, I've added a photo of my bird at 8 weeks old. He's a little over 2 now and looks quite different. I also had 4 ferrets, all of which died already. They lived between 8-10 years (they didn't all die at the same time). If I start putting up pictures, though, I'll just clutter this page with bird and ferret hilarity. I just wanted to illustrate the whole "can't eat things you care about" stuff. On to the next part of the last topic.
Technically, they all go together and will be much shorter than the dolphin stuff. Being that the day was so nice, I decided to smoke a cigar while taking a walk through the park. I don't smoke indoors, and it's too cold and dreary to smoke during most of the winter months. So, when it's exceptionally nice out and I find myself with some free time, I like to occasionally enjoy the taste of a good cigar. Eventually, I made my way to a small pond in the park, sat down on a bench and pulled out the book I'm currently reading (The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell, if anyone is interested). The book is a comparison of the world's mythologies (religions are included even if some people don't like to refer to them as such). Joseph Campbell describes various aspects of different mythologies from every corner of the world, and points out all of the similarities in themes. The book is basically a long discussion about his theory of the monomyth. He argues that there is a basic pattern to most mythologies. His theory is certainly quite interesting and holds some merit, but as with most things, nothing is certain. It's nice to be able to sit and contemplate various philosophies, enjoy the taste of a well blended cigar, and enjoy the view of some floating swans while a nice breeze blows through the air. I think I may read something by Krishnamurti when I'm done with this.

dolphins, cigars, books, and swans

Strange enough topic title?
Yesterday was a good enough day. Work wasn't any busier than usual, and the weather is finally starting to look like Spring. This entry may end up getting split into multiple entries depending on how long I end up babbling. First, I'll explain the title. My boss and I had an interesting conversation about the Japanese killing and eating dolphins and whales. After work, I took a stroll in the park and smoked a cigar. I eventually parked myself on a bench, opened up the book I was reading while enjoying the view of swans floating around in a small pond.
I suppose I could start off with a bit of background just so people can understand where my point of view may come from. I'm not a vegetarian, vegan, or any other type of person that thinks killing animals is bad "just because." I was raised omnivorous, and was taught the difference between being thankful for my food and caring about it. I don't think it's possible to care about your food. It's basically the reason I don't eat my Sun Conure. While I'm sure he'd be delicious in a stew, I love the little poop machine. Unless I'm placed in an unlikely situation where my only two choices are eat him or die, I'll continue to find other sources of sustenance. Anyway, I'll end this here b/c the philosophy of why I eat what I eat could rival most novels in length. Suffice to say, I don't tell anyone what diets they should maintain (unless I'm asked of my opinion), and I don't want anyone telling me what diet I should maintain. Friendly debates are always welcome.
On to the dolphins, yes? Japan is under scrutiny again. This time it's not about their treatment of women or their taste in "adult" cartoons. It's about how they like to eat sea-dwelling mammals. I'm going to try to describe the conversation between my boss and I as much as possible. In order to do that, however, I maybe have to provide some history into the subject which anyone reading may already know, or even know more about than I. Now, I'd like to point out that dolphin and whale consumption is not a new trend in Japan. The only reason people are up in arms about it is b/c of a documentary with an agenda decided to tell us all about it. Now, all the flipper lovers are screaming about animal rights and how terrible Japan is for eating such "majestic" creatures. Thankfully, there's actual science behind why we shouldn't eat dolphins and whales. The animal rights groups, unfortunately, don't help the cause by screaming "just because." One of the other things we discussed is this idea of animal rights. Animals are one thing. Food is another. Food, really, only has one right - to eventually be eaten. Tomatoes are grown to be eaten. Chickens are raised to be eaten. And so on and so forth. If I throw an animal rights activist into the jungle, none of its hungry, carnivorous dwellers will think about human rights before mealtime. We also discussed the agenda of the documentary. While there are many good arguments presented (such as mercury levels and intelligence), there seems to be another agenda behind it. We didn't really go into agendas much, just mostly about how hidden agendas stink. The documentary mentions that there is little opposition from the Japanese people to stop all this dolphin hunting. I'm not sure how many people realize it's only one place in Japan that still does this. I'm pretty sure it's mentioned in the documentary. The Japanese government has also said they do it as form of "pest control." Now, the animal rights people would never view the majestic dolphin as a pest. When they're eating your fish and making it difficult to feed your town, your viewpoint may change. If you search hard enough, you'll find plenty of articles of Japanese people trying to bring attention to the dangers of consuming dolphin meat and how they should end the dolphin killings. On the documentary website, it mentions that the first time Japanese fisherman admitted that dolphin hunting was mainly for pest-control was in 2004. I wonder how I managed to find a report from the 70's that spoke about the same thing. The biggest problem seems to actually be education. As is the case most times when a government knows it is doing something that will not be accepted by the mass public, they hide it. We don't learn about most scandals until after the fact. Perhaps getting the news across Japan will inspire more Japanese to show their displeasure. Simply insulting them won't help the cause. Using words/expressions like "slaughter", "genocide", "thrashing about", "filling the air with their screams", etc doesn't help educate anybody. It only freaks people out and insults a population by equating them with brutal murderers. The internet is a powerful tool. We went on about all the misinformed people and comments we found. As a conclusion, I'd like to point out that we didn't make any decisions as to the "right or wrongness" of it. We just discussed the information, misinformation, and various ideas/arguments made by different people.
I'm going to stop this entry for now. I'll continue in a separate entry as I find the time to write.

now what?

So, I started a blog. Now I just have to figure out what to write about. I've got plenty of random, sometimes (most times) insane, thoughts. I'll be trying to coordinate some of them with the times I'm near the computer.