1. If you haven't seen this yet: Amazon censors its ratings for "adult" content. Playboy and Alan Moore's Lost Girls are not "adult content"; Lady Chatterley's Lover, Maurice, non-explicit YA fiction, books about topics like homophobia and financial planning for gay and lesbian couples are.

ETA: Round-up post.

Apparently the person who started this off may have been a troll, but the evidence points towards ranking censorship not being a glitch (as Amazon claims), as there is a definite pattern to which books were and were not deranked.

Also, someone has started a GLBT books rec post.

2. Something less anger-inducing:

chal: How does one "reek" havoc, anyway? Run it around the block a few dozen times on a hot day and then deny it access to the shower?

caoilainn: Leave it in the trunk of the car until it starts rotting and stinks the whole car up? That havoc - I am always forgetting it.

honorh: Teenage boys can reek havoc liek whoa. Seriously, don't stand downwind.

(From here)

You know what? Forget everything I've said about smoking being a nuisance. Being Chinese Valentine's Day, the five star hotel's restaurant we ate in was packed. Which means: non-smoking section? What non-smoking section? The second-hand smoke translates my runny nose and sore throat into spectacular hacking fits.

(n)

On to other topics.

The Chinese have a phrase, "Shanghai men". There's no "Beijing men" or "Guangzhou women". It's always "Shanghai men". One woman related, "One day I took the bus in Shanghai. It drove past the back doors of residences. Through every back door, I could see a man working in the kitchen preparing dinner. And whenever I pass by the river, I see a row of men doing the laundry." Ah, the joys of female empowerment.

On TV the other day, a reporter from Hong Kong interviewed Beijing's volunteer community patrol. The reporter asked if the volunteers received any subsidies. A volunteer replied, "At first, they cooked green bean soup for us to drink. Now, they probably don't have spare time, so they give us a bag of green beans for us to take home and cook ourselves."

Next time: Suzhou history and Asian insults. Probably.

Unlike Taiwan where the non-smoking section in restaurants is much larger than the smoking section, here in China it's exactly the opposite—if you can even find a non-smoking section. One large and popular restaurant was kind enough to create an impromptu non-smoking section for us and redirect smoking customers from the 12 empty seats. (In case there's no non-smoking section, the air outside is fresher.)

Speaking of fresh air—I haven't been able to take a single photo outside without smog, even on a small mountain. I'm not hacking yet, but my throat's protesting a lot.

Anyway, with the Olympics looming, the hotel lounge music is now the Olympic theme and the TV at the hotel breakfast shows the progress of the torch relay. The nearby mall has multi-storey scrolls of the mascots, as well as a giant countdown screen.

I keep thinking, oh no, when I'm back in Vancouver it's going to be just. like. this.

I'm starting to think that Fate wants me in Taiwan for the coming autumn.

Kato Kazuki AND Saitou Takumi BACK IN TENIMYU?

*_*

*__*

*___*

*______________*

Anyway, less about my imaginary life.

Jet lag recovery: 1 day
I'm doing the 3 am–noon cycle again.

Cockroaches killed directly or indirectly: 5
Go boric acid traps?

Mosquito bites: 7
Much better than last time, although 2 of them are bruising.

Azn doll girl haircuts: 1
It reminds me of Marc Emery's wife's haircut :x One minute of her on TV is enough to last me a lifetime. Ugh. UGH.

While I was in the bathroom today, someone came in and went out, but not before turning the lights off. It was pitch black. Conserve energy, yes, but please check to see if there are other people in the room. I'm not claustrophobic, and not nyctophobic any more, thankfully. I have an affinity for dark spaces now *laugh*

I found my TA's Facebook ^_^ He's a DJ. I know where he lives now.

For all those UBCers who are planning to participate in Spy vs. Spy: SOCK'D for Cancer, please remember to register by October 30th at 3 pm! Info and rules are on the site. ( Remember, CLEAN SOCKS, plzkthx. )

"We don't like to talk to kids in full sentences, and we definitely don't tell them, 'Oh, you fogot your case there.'" - my LING prof re: language acquisition

The doc cam (that's a document camera, i.e. those digital projector thingies) was very blue today ;_;

Today, at The Cube office:
"I asked you to watch my bag while I bought food, and you asked me to buy something for you. After that, you don't remember me?"

The exam started 30 minutes late. Gateman was probably more pissed than we were, cos he gave us 10 extra minutes.

The 9:10 480 bus was 20 mins late. At least 30 of us waited there for close to an hour. I know traffic was bad, but please. The 9:40 bus got to the bus loop earlier than the 9:10 bus, even though the 9:10 bus left the other end of the route first! I should have taken the 41.

And I didn't go to the Anime Club showing; Wesbrook was locked.

ETA:
The normal procedure is for the printing department to have the exams picked up by Delivery and actually "delivered" to the exam rooms at 6:30. Well, by 7 pm, this was obviously not happening. It turns out that the exams were picked up and stored in some warehouse across campus. To add to the difficulties, there was no one to contact. Just by "luck", I was able to track down the exams.

To make up for it, we also have no assignments due next week.

Last day of work (two days extra). I had an idiotic grin plastered on my face as I was saying my goodbyes. This feeling of content fulfillment before is new to me.

I enjoy riding in cars. I close my eyes, a barrier between my thoughts and the real world.

Music I'm listening to... ( Read more... )

Random anthropod bites so far: 61±1
Ants accidentally eaten: around 20.

I'm leaving on Aug 5 to go to LA. Pros: no more ants, maybe MU and Sendspace will work. Cons: 14-hour flight?! relatives, and: it's LA...

Taxes.

Hong Kong has 15% flat rate.

Singapore has 20%-ish, with a nice social program and some of the best-paid governmental officials in the world.

Taiwan is variable. Say you fall into the 40% tax bracket (corresponding to 20%-ish in S'pore). $40 out of every $100 earned, and it's going for that farce that is A-bian and entourage of his kidnapped reporters. Money! So much money! A lot of people I know - just one's annual tax could pay for my university tuition! I can't believe I never realized that about taxes. At least in Canada, there's some semblance of responsible use. ( Kidnapped reporters, or sensationalism? )

Today, my mom got a phone call from her friend and former neighbour, an elderly lady from HK. For the past several days, her neighbour has been stealing her electricity. (Her neighbours, who haven't moved in yet, are currently renovating, so it's probably one of the work people being a mooch.) The lady asked my mom to sort the issue out for her, since she's not conversant in English, and neither is her current tenant, and her daughter moved out, and the guy who used to take care of yardwork moved as well.

My mom goes over, and asks the guy there to not leech electricity, and apparently he blew. Used every swear word in the book, called my mom a "chink" and told her to go back to China. My mom uses the textbook reply, go back to your own country! He said he was born here, and my mom's just like, you're not a native, go back to your own country!

This really pisses me off. I have no idea what I would've done if I had been put in that position. But what is your problem? Sure, you were only leeching for your radio (his excuse), and you had asked the tenant for permission (... wrong person), but you don't need to blow your top like that! Go kill yourself, there's enough people in this world to take over your job.

I'm sure I would be much angrier if I had been there (and I would've been if I hadn't been studying.) If it turns out that the guy is a permanent resident of the house, my mom suggested the elderly couple move. It's really unfair, but that's probably their best option. Sometimes I spend so much time in school I forget how rude and racist people are capable of being.

Note: my mom is not from China. Her parents might be, but she's not.