Todd M

For the information of members and guests living in or travelling to Canberra:

ACTION have just released their new network for the next two years. This includes services to Brindabella Business Park (Terminal side of the airport), Fairbairn Business Park (old RAAF Base side) and Brand Depot. Routes are the 10 and 28 which run all day and weekends, one to Woden Interchange and Civic Interchange. In the morning, Xpresso services run from Gungahlin and Tuggeranong. For those without a vehicle spotting at Canberra Airport, this will make it so much easier to spot at Canberra, especially in some of the hard to get to locations. Bus Maps and Frequency information can be found at http://www.action.act.gov.au/improvemen ... etwork.cfm

Timetables will be out 2 weeks before the network introduction, the network will start on 2 June 2008.

Cartoon cat Doraemon named Japan's anime ambassador

 

Japan's popular "manga," or comic book, character robotic cat "Doraemon", right, reacts in joy as he is presented a plateful of dorayaki, Doraemon's favorite Japanese sweet, by Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura after Komura named Doraemon as Japan's first Anime Ambassador at the foreign ministry in Tokyo. Doraemon will work as the main promoter of Japan's pop culture to the world. (AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye)

 

TOKYO (AP) -- Japan has created an unusual government post to promote animation, and named a perfect figure to the position: Doraemon.

 

Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura appointed the popular cartoon robot cat as "anime ambassador" on Wednesday, handing a human-sized Doraemon doll an official certificate at an inauguration ceremony, along with dozens of "dorayaki" red bean pancakes -- his favorite dessert -- piled on a huge plate.

 

Komura told the doll, with an unidentified person inside, that he hoped he would widely promote Japanese animated cartoons, or "anime."

 

"Doraemon, I hope you will travel around the world as an anime ambassador to deepen people's understanding of Japan so they will become friends with Japan," Komura told the blue-and-white cat.

 

The appointment is part of Japan's recent effort to harness the power of pop culture in diplomacy. Japan also created an International Manga Award last year under comic enthusiast former Foreign Minister Taro Aso, who likened it to a "Nobel Prize" for an artist working abroad.

 

Manga, the name used for Japanese-syle comic books, often combine complex stories with drawing styles that differ from their overseas superhero counterparts, particularly in their emphasis on cuteness.

 

This year, the ministry plans to arrange showings of a Doraemon film in Singapore, China, Spain, France, and at other Japanese diplomatic missions around the world.

 

Doraemon -- through voice actress Wasabi Mizuta, who spoke from behind a sliding paper screen -- promised Komura that "Through my cartoons, I hope to convey to people abroad what ordinary Japanese people think, our lifestyles and what kind of future we want to build."

 

Created by cartoonist Fujiko F. Fujio, Doraemon is a Japanese cultural icon and is popular around the world, especially in Asia. The robotic cat travels back in time from the 22nd century and uses gadgets such as a "time machine" and an "anywhere door" that come out of a fourth-dimensional pocket on his stomach to help his friends, allowing them to travel anywhere and to any time they wish.

 

Astro Boy, another cartoon icon, was named last November as ambassador for overseas safety.

 

（Mainichi Japan） March 20, 2008

Train station starts lending out 'strawberry bicycles'

 

One of the strawberry cycles that will be available for hire. (Mainichi)KINOKAWA, Wakayama -- Following the success of a "Strawberry Train" that promotes local produce, a station here has begun lending out strawberry-themed bicycles.

 

The idea behind the strawberry bicycles being lent out from Kishi Station on the Wakayama Electric Railway Co.'s Kishigawa Line stems from the popular Strawberry Train that runs in the area.

 

"We want to make trips around here even more enjoyable," a member of the local organization that came up with the idea of strawberry cycles said.

 

Strawberries are a local specialty and the red and white bicycles with a strawberry picture on the front basket are also aimed at promoting the local area.

 

Reservations are needed to hire a strawberry bicycle, with each session costing 800 yen. Organizers of the idea will also offer plans advising the best places to cycle in the area for picnics or other forms of entertainment, as well as packages including food and drinks.

 

（Mainichi Japan） March 15, 2008

Ahhhhhh, Mile High was good in its first season. That was about it, the second season sucked and never watched nor followed it after the 1st episode of season 2. The first thing I noticed was the Qantas Logos, and the 737-300/400 that was flying in the sky similar to a Qantas promo shot.

Good to see you joined up Remi. The people here are friendly, we don't have the membership as some boards do but it is only young and growing in number. Feel free to ask any questions, and we will try our best to answer it. Also take a look at the Photo Gallery, Fleet Lists etc which can all be found in the left hand meu pane.

Once again, Welcome!

Japan pooh-poohs China's Olympic crappers

 

Japanese are rightfully proud of their toilet engineering feats, and Shukan Asahi (2/29) takes a high-handed approach to dump on neighboring China about the standard of its restrooms at facilities to be used in this summer's Beijing Olympic Games.

 

While Beijing has been widely blessed for the excellence of its newly opened National Swimming Center, where the Games' aquatic events will be held, not everything about the stadium is as world-class as its pools.

 

Nearly every toilet in the center is a squat style, not the sit-down type of loo most Westerners -- and Japanese -- are accustomed to.

 

Squat toilets are the dominant style nearly everywhere throughout China. And though individual cubicles have become the norm on trains and public toilets in smaller cities, doors on the cubicles are still a rarity.

 

"There are growing numbers of Western-style toilets in southern China," a Shanghai-born Olympic facility worker tells Shukan Asahi. "I guess squat-style toilets are still the norm up north."

 

Toilet paper is also posing a problem. Outside of classy hotels in the big cities, most toilet paper used in China is a rough, harsh type that doesn't dissolve well in water, the weekly says. To avoid blockage, it's more common to dump the dirty paper into a trash can instead of the cistern. And though most Chinese are well aware of this practice, there are no notices anywhere informing visitors to the country of the proper way to prime the potty, running the risk of clogging the crapper. It's a point the Games' organizers concede.

 

"We have to put up signs," an organizer says.

 

 

The simple language of this sign on a lavatory wall in China gives no indication of the foul fecal filth that lies in the waste paper bin below.

 

Some Japanese have already noticed the poor toilet situation facing those attending -- and taking part in -- the biggest sporting event on earth. Eiichi Kawaniwa, honorary vice-chairman of the International Tennis Federation, has already blasted the crap out of organizers over the toilet situation.

 

"If you've built a world-class tennis center, it should have Western-style toilets," he told the Beijing Olympic Games Organizing Committee while asking for improvements at the stadium where the tennis competition will be held.

 

At the tennis center, there is only one Western-style toilet in every block of public conveniences, the rest being squat-style. The cubicles are also cramped and have steps, rendering them unusable for those in wheelchairs. Organizers have promised to fix the situation by April, just four months before the Opening Ceremony.

 

Kawaniwa says he experienced no problems with blockages during test-run events at Olympic sites and does not foresee it becoming an issue.

 

"If paper didn't flow through the toilets properly, it would become a massive problem within the International Olympic Committee," the tennis official tells Shukan Asahi, before adding undiplomatically: "They'll get it right, even if it is China we're talking about." (By Ryann Connell)

I really think so......

Junior high school begins revision classes using Nintendo DS

 

 

Elementary school students use the game consoles in lessons ahead of their entry into junior high school, at Wada Junior High School in Tokyo's Suginami-ku on Feb. 9.

 

A junior high school in Tokyo's Suginami-ku has started special lessons for elementary school students about to enter junior high school using the popular Nintendo DS console, it has been learned.

 

The special classes at Wada Junior High School are dubbed "Dotera Junior." "Dotera" is a shorted form of "Saturday terakoya." Terakoya, or temple schools, were educational institutions for children of the Edo period in Japan.

 

In the classes, Nintendo DS consoles will be used with calculation software, enabling students to practice calculation techniques ranging from addition to calculation of fractions.

 

Wada Junior High School earlier gained attention after introducing paid "evening special" lessons for junior high school students preparing to advance to high school.

Drunk men walk down Tokyo street in nude after getting excited about 'naked festival'Three men who drunkenly walked along a Tokyo shopping street stark naked after a lively discussion about a festival in Iwate Prefecture involving naked participants were arrested, police said.

The men, including an unemployed 38-year-old from Tokyo, were arrested on Feb. 8 for indecent exposure, but were released by police the following day. Police said the men had expressed regret over their actions once they were sober.

 

"We got all fired up. We're sorry," police quoted one of one of the men as saying.

 

Immediately before the arrests, the men had been drinking at a bar, where they were talking about Iwate Prefecture's Somin Festival. The festival, which involves naked participants, gained widespread attention after posters showing chest hair were criticized as a form of sexual harassment.

 

Investigators said the men walked a short distance along a shopping street in the Kitazawa district of Tokyo's Setagaya-ku shortly after 9 a.m. on Feb. 8 without any clothes on. The three were drinking and shouting, prompting a local resident to phone police, law enforcers said.

Controversy arises over police crackdown on Iwate 'naked festival'

 

OSHU, Iwate -- Controversy has arisen over a festival at a temple here in which one participant holding a central role traditionally appears completely naked, with police threatening for the first time to take action against any acts of public indecency.

 

The Somin Festival, held at Kokusekiji Temple in Oshu, features men in loincloths who participate in scrambles for a sack called "sominbukuro." Every year one participant who plays the central role in the festival appears completely naked, in line with tradition.

 

This year, however, police said that appearing naked constitutes public indecency, and added that they would take action against such behavior.

 

The threat has met resistance from some of the 16 managers of the festival who say that they will "protect tradition" even if it means getting arrested.

 

In the festival, one designated participant appears naked and climbs the lattice of the temple's main hall with a knife in his mouth. When the sominbukuro sack comes close, he jumps down on top of the crowd of men and, after glaring in four directions, he slices the sack open, bringing the scramble to a climax.

 

Originally, all of the participants were naked, but the number of female spectators increased and some participants took part for the purpose of flashing their private parts, prompting temple officials several years ago to rule that people were not to appear naked outside of the festival, and that ordinary participants should wear loincloths. However, it still permitted for the participant playing the central role to show up stark naked.

 

Police said they could not allow activities that were against the law.

 

"It may have been thought that it was silently approved because it was a religious ritual, but if there are actions that run counter to the law, our stance of taking the action that we should take does not change," a police representative said. The representative added that because the festival had spectators it was of a public nature.

Garlic chocolates an instant Valentine's Day hit? Don't hold your breath

 

The "black garlic chocolate" product being sold ahead of Valentine's Day is pictured on Feb. 7.TAKKO, Aomori -- A company in the Aomori prefecture town of Takko, one of Japan's top garlic producing regions, is testing the limits of good taste ahead of Valentine's Day with an unusual product -- garlic chocolate.

 

The product, called "black garlic chocolate" contains locally-produced fermented black garlic, covered with chocolate and sprinkled with cocoa powder.

 

Local company Takko Shoji had been developing the product from the end of last year, saying it wanted people to become more relaxed about eating garlic. After many trials, it was finally able to match black garlic, which has a sweet-and-sour taste resembling prunes, with the bittersweet taste of chocolate.

 

Boxes containing three of the chocolates are being sold for 600 yen apiece. The chocolates can also be bought over the Internet.

 

Recipients on Valentine's Day may worry about how their breath will smell after eating the chocolates, but company officials don't seem worried.

 

"If both people eat them, there'll be no problem," a representative of the business said.

Boneyard I just saw an advert for it on The History Channel, I missed out on the night it was on but it looked as though it was a series.

Toymaker introduces bubble bath in form of cash for 'rich bathing experience'

 

 

Bandai's cash-shaped 'Bubbly Bubble Bath'

 

Japanese toy manufacturer Bandai has giving a new shade of meaning to the phrase "splash out" by introducing bubble-bath tablets shaped like banknotes.

 

The bubble-bath tablets go on sale in mid-February, and the maker hopes they'll give people a rich bathing experience

 

"We want people to enjoy a luxurious feeling, as if they're in a bath of cash," a company representative introducing the product said.

 

Packets of the bubble-bath agent contain 10 tablets made in the form of "100,000 yen" notes, 10 times Japan's biggest denomination of 10,000 yen. When left to float in the bath, the tablets fizz away, creating bubbles.

 

Bandai plans to sell the product, dubbed "Bubbly Bubble Bath" through convenience stores and other shops, aiming to notch up sales of 300,000 packets by the end of March.

 

Click here for the original Japanese story

 

（Mainichi Japan） February 3, 2008

viewtopic.php?p=16966#16966

Was this the aircraft? A Qatar Amiri Flight 747 which I believe is used for VIP Travel.

Also, Qatar is pronounced Cut-ar I believe which is where you may have thought Ketar.

Qatar?

Victorville I believe is very much a chop shop, however the Mohave facility itself focuses on selling off the aircraft there. I thinkk EAA and EAB the two QF SP's went to Victorville, and take a guess of their fate!

Mohave Desert is where I have seen alot of commercial types and another place in the same desert, but those ones are normally cut up and do not survive unlike Mohave residents which are normally sold off.

Caught the last few minutes of it. From what I saw quite interesting. I loved the Blackbird they were showing at the end.

Moved this topic to General Chit Chat from the Golden Wing Club as tose forums will proabably disappear.

Japanese astronaut to test whether boomerang comes back in space

 

 

Two paper boomerangs that Togai made for Doi.

 

Japanese astronaut Takao Doi is set to throw a boomerang inside the International Space Station in March to test how it flies, after receiving training from a world boomerang champion, it has been learned.

 

It is thought that gravity is necessary for a boomerang to return to the throwing spot, but it remains unknown how boomerangs fly in space. Doi plans to throw a paper boomerang during a break in construction and other work at Japan's Kibo testing room at the International Space Station in March.

 

The 53-year-old astronaut decided to test the boomerang after receiving a request from Yasuhiro Togai, 36, a world boomerang champion from Osaka Prefecture who later gave Doi some training.

 

Togai had been interested in space since he was young, and when he was 18 he visited a NASA facility. After seeing the Space Shuttle before liftoff, he became interested in traveling into space.

 

Later, Togai started participating in boomerang competitions, and he took the No. 1 spot at the world championships in Hokkaido in 2006. He came to the conclusion that it would be difficult to travel to space himself, but he thought "I at least want to see a boomerang fly in space," and contacted the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), whose space education center head Yasunori Matogawa introduced him to Doi.

 

In the autumn of 2006, Togai visited JAXA's Tsukuba Space Center in Ibaraki Prefecture, and gave Doi instructions on boomerang throwing. Doi's skills soon improved.

 

Matogawa noted that astronaut Mamoru Mori flew a paper plane in a shuttle in 1992, but said nobody has tried to throw a boomerang in space.

 

"It's an interesting idea that could enable us to learn how things fly in zero gravity from a scientific viewpoint as well," he said.

 

Togai made a practice boomerang and a proper boomerang for Doi and sent them to JAXA.

 

"It's really overwhelming that a boomerang will go to space instead of me. I wonder whether it will come back or float upwards or go somewhere else. I'm really excited," Togai said.

They have dragged out the show, however it has been accepted till 2009/2010 by ABC from memory so they kind of have to drag it out until the last seson where everything will hopefully be revealed. The dragging out add's to the effect the show has on people, it keeps people in suspense while also giving them little tid bits of information to piece together the overall plot of the show.

This season has been affected by the writers strike, only 7 episodes have been scripted and now filmed. Hence this season will be either a split, or more likely a short season. It has also pushed back the start date of LOST in the US. I think it is next week, and seeing as though Prime/7 are only up to coming soon on their promos, it will probably be a month or two before we start it here. I will be downloading them if that is the case.

Thanks Robbo, would be great if you could get that pic for me!

And a shame they do not have a return date for LOST, Prime had an ad on today with the same 'returning soon' junk on it!

Well the plane in LOST was actually, lost! It lost communication and position and was basically flying blind, the plane then broke up (unknown causes) and spread out over the island (On the water, on the beach and in the jungle). It is a mysterious island so technically those on board should not have survived the impact or maybe G forces involved (As the plane was falling oxygen would be getting more plentiful, so they probably would not have really passed out from starvation), however due to unknown properties and beings in the island they seemed to have survived!

Do they say on 7 when LOST will return? As at the moment it is only 7-8 episodes that have been filmed, and hence will more than likely be a split or shortened season due to the WGA Writers strike. Have heard Feb for LOST in the US, wonder if we will be about 5 weeks behind again.

When I was on the bus passing Sydney Airport a few weeks back I spotted and Advert for Oceanic Airlines which is, for those who do not know, the airline which crashed in LOST. A Pretty clever and abstract piece of advertising from 7 and LOST, where it had 'Fly to L.A' and a model style picture of a hostess, their logo (From memory) and their website. In tiny writing at the bottom it had a disclaimer saying it was to do with the Seven Network show. Pretty clever way to get people roped into the show, especially when they think it may be an advert of a real airline. Anyone travelling past able to get a photo for me? I did not get a chance, which sucks, but the billboard is found just as you turn out from the Domestic Terminals next to the Metro Goods Railway Line bridge.

Saw this in The Daily Telegraph today, thought I would post it here. Would be good to see, but atleast it passes every 13.5 years, so if you miss it now most people will see it next time.

Comet Tuttle lights upJanuary 01, 2008 12:00am

 

YOU'LL need to be far from the bright city lights and bustling traffic to catch a glimpse of this New Year's comet 40 million kilometres above the Earth.

 

But, with a keen eye, a simple telescope or good binoculars and a quiet backyard, the fast-moving, emerald-green comet could add a little spark to the first days and weeks of 2008.

 

Astronomers say that, viewed in the Southern Hemisphere, it can be found in the north-west between the constellations of Aries and Pegasus.

 

Comet 8P/Tuttle, which orbits the Sun every 13½ years, will be brightest today and tomorrow in the night sky when it is closest to the Earth's surface at 38.6 million kilometres.

 

"It's not an obvious object," Siding Spring Observatory astronomer-in-charge Professor Fred Watson said.

 

"It's a faint comet. It's moving quite quickly through the sky."

 

It will move further away from the Earth but become easier to see in the southern hemisphere in the coming weeks.

 

Professor Watson said keen star-gazers would need to be prepared if they wanted to catch a glimpse of the green-looking drift of flying snow.

 

Getting away from city lights, taking a sky chart to pinpoint its location and using a good backyard telescope would all help, he said.

In the Daily Mainichi today, this was the most viewed Article and hella funny. Getting better than an article the other day about a drug which can give a man up to 43 (I could be wrong it was in the 40's) hours of hard relief (You take a guess at what that is).

40% of Japanese men sit down to pee, survey shows

 

About 40 percent of adult Japanese men sit on the toilet to urinate -- a staggering figure almost three times the number recorded in 1999 -- according to a survey by Western-style toilet manufacturer Matsushita Electric Works Ltd.

 

The survey of 518 men and an identical number of women whose ages ranged from their 30s to 50s showed that the younger the man, the more likely he is to sit down while peeing instead of the traditional method of standing up.

 

The 40 percent of men who sit while urinating is almost three times more than the 15 percent of men who did so when the company first started surveying toilet habits in 1999.

 

"Women hate it when urine sprays, so there appears to be an increasing number who are asking men to sit down on the toilet when they have to go," a Matsushita Electric Works spokesman said.

 

Matsushita Electric Works noticed the increasing tendency for Japanese men to sit on the toilet while urinating and started three years ago to accommodate the trend in such ways as designing toilet seats with larger holes.

 

The survey showed that 46 percent of men in their 30s sat while weeing, 38 percent of men in their 40s did so and 37 percent of men in their 50s also followed the trend. Matsushita believes mothers getting their young children to sit on the toilet when they urinate are also getting their partners to adopt the same practice.

This has actually been out for a while, introduced when I was with Virgin Mobile (Up until Oct 2006). Its a clever little call function, to get you out of that annoying situation.

Toddles was there and got some photos from T2, not very good due to glare but hell its a photo!