The first cultural difference I was taught on this subway/train was that it is against the rules to talk. Yes, that’s right: no talking on Tokyo trains on weekdays. Hundreds of commuters on public transportation heading home from work, out to shop, over to a friend’s house, etc. and one must respect the rules of a library. Coming from America, this surprised and somewhat perplexed me.

Don’t get me wrong: I get it. It makes sense. Nobody wants to hear high school kids chatting on their cell phones, or old men and women discussing whatever it is they discuss. Nobody wants to hear how drunk some college kid plans to get this weekend. I get it. But, I thought this idea to be a bit like communism: good on paper but practically impossible to put into practice. Not so in Tokyo. Library silence at 5:00 pm on a subway in Tokyo; the kind where if you talk, you feel awkward because you’re the only one and you sound disproportionately loud.

The caveat is that this only holds for Monday through Friday. Saturday and Sunday on a subway/train is what you would expect (if you come from New York, D.C., or Chicago). People are chatting at average volumes on the subways on Sunday and you wonder if you’re in the same city. But if it’s Thursday, hold your tongue.

The story goes that older businessmen get easily angered by others talking on the train. Public transportation is their chauffeur to and from work, and they don’t want others annoying them while in route. Legend holds that when somebody would talk on the subway, older men would yell at the person to be quiet. With the culture of respect, if the younger person didn’t quiet down, the older man would feel justified to start a scene or even get in a fight. The train conductor would be called upon to take care of the matter and this would sometimes delay the train. With the sometimes robotic-like culture of punctuality in Japan, nobody wants a late train, especially during rush hour, so the (unwritten?) rule was put into effect: Monday to Friday there’s no talking on the train.

Just as this story doesn’t do the experience justice, neither does the video below. But watching it won’t hurt.

Example 1: Super Bowl Dodge Charger Commercial
Moral: Being a man, you must do whatever your girlfriend/wife says (and these will all be things you won’t want to do)… except when it comes to the type of car you drive, which will make everything else bearable.

Example 2: Unilever Dove Super Bowl Commercial
Moral: Being a man, you have a lot of unwanted cultural expectations and responsibilities, but if you live the normal life, once you’re old, you don’t have to care anymore, and then you can use women’s bath products (which are superior to the men’s bath products you’ve had to use your whole life).

Example 3: CareerBuilder.com Casual Friday Super Bowl Commercial
Moral: Casual Fridays in an office job are lame. Get a new job.

Example 4: Google’s Parisian Love Superbowl Commercial
Moral: Finding your true love while studying abroad in Paris is romantic. Wait… you didn’t do something like that? Oh… normal life is boring.

Thank you Superbowl Ads for confirming that normal life is boring. Actually, I agree. See you in Korea. Laaaaaaater.

Rocket launched by Elon Musk's private space transport company, SpaceX.

Though, it sounded exciting, NASA’s Constellation Program, which planned to put astronauts back on the Moon by 2020, relied on outdated technology and was an unsustainable path for space exploration. Finally, NASA is moving past its role as “space station trucker” and Moon-traveling glory-story teller. President Obama announced today that rocket technology will be privatized and NASA will pursue a more flexible path into other more exciting parts of space (ig. nearby asteroids, a lunar moon, or a lunar orbit). According to the Washington Post:

Besides redirecting money to new technologies, NASA is getting an extra $6 billion over five years to encourage companies to build private spaceships that NASA could rent. Many of those companies are run by Internet pioneers. The companies included in the pilot project include Blue Origin, which is run by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Another firm already building private rockets is run by PayPal founder Elon Musk.

This is exactly what should be happening at exactly the right time. Elon Musk is the not only the brains behind PayPal, but also the all electric car company Tesla Motors and the private space transport company SpaceX, which already won NASA contracts in 2006 (during Bush’s administration) to demonstrate that it could deliver cargo to the International Space Station (ISS). In 2008, SpaceX won a Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract, which guarantees NASA missions worth $1.6 billion for resupplying the ISS.

Astronaut McCandless II "free-flying" 320 feet away from the orbiter.

Over the next couple months, you will read complaints and praises of this decision. The complaints are going to come from Congressmen from Alabama, home of the Marshall Space Flight Center, Florida, home of the Kennedy Space Center, and Houston, home of Space Center Houston. Many government employees are going to lose their jobs in these places. With any major change, there will be casualties. With all due respect, these potential benefits of this change far outweigh the lost jobs.

Yes, Obama is shutting down the Constellation Program – the Bush administration’s NASA plan to return to the Moon by 2020. However, NASA administrator Charles Bolden and White House science adviser John Holdren agree that the new path is the best. Instead of landing on the moon in 10 years, we’ll be orbiting it with faster, cheaper, more efficient rockets in 8 years. Kudos Obama.

Here’s a quick video from RussiaToday with a decent explanation by “space entrepreneur Jeff Manbar.” Please excuse the reporter:

Setting: Earthquake-ravaged Pisco, Peru circa July 2008.

The mission: To build earthquake-resistant sanitation units which included a toilet, shower, and large sink for the less-fortunate residents of Pisco. The unit had been designed, and prototypes had been built. However, documentation containing information on how to construct such units was scarce. The deadline for completion was approaching and plumbing needed to occur on a fast and efficient basis.

Enter: one British and one American voluntario. Mike (aka Mixto) and I had been given the task of organizing a list of all of the materials needed to plumb a sanitation unit. We had a drawing of the unit with no parts labeled, a list in Spanish that may or may not be parts that were bought for previous units, and no experience plumbing.

Two heads together and a full night of work later, we thought we had translated every part of the Spanish list and matched it with every part we imagined necessary with the exception of the very last item on the list. There was a mysterious entry that read simply, “Mixto codo”. We knew that “codo” translated to “elbow” and determined the other listed “codos” to be necessary curved pieces of pipe. However, this last “mixed elbow” was throwing us off as we didn’t feasibly believe that we needed any other parts to complete the sanitation unit.

The next day, Mike and I are at Grumpy’s plumbing shop going over our list of plumbing materials needed for a complete unit. We basically want Grumpy to put together “kits” of all of these pieces so that if a voluntario plumber were to come to the shop, he could pick up everything he needed in one fell swoop. Grumpy is checking over the list and seemingly confirming that we are ordering the correct parts. When we get to the last item on the list, ‘mixto codo’, he asks how many we need. Actually, we were hoping you could help us with that.

Mike takes this opportunity to ask Grumpy what exactly a ‘mixto codo’ is. Grumpy explains… in Spanish. Neither of us understands. Grumpy can tell, so he explains it again, this time with hand gestures. We see that he is gesturing an “elbow.” Yes, we know that part. What’s the ‘mixto’ part? “Que es mixto?” we ask.  Grumpy explains. Our Spanish is lacking. We still don’t understand and Grumpy is getting slightly frustrated that we’re held up on this apparently simple concept.

Then Mike gestures for Grumpy to draw a picture handing him a pen and paper. Grumpy immediately draws an elbow pipe with no threads on one end, and threads (like a screw hole) on the other end. Mike and I exclaim together, “OH!… a MIXto!” We had figured out un-threaded codos and threaded codos. A mixto codo was essentially a combination or “mix” of the two!

Grumpy smiled at our exaggerated displays of understanding (we had spent a lot of mental energy trying to figure this part out and were relieved to now understand). But wait, now that we know what it is, we still don’t know if we need it for our sanitation unit. We already designed the whole sink, toilet, and shower system and didn’t come up with any places missing any parts. Now that we know what it is, I’m not sure we need it. Grumpy asks us how many we would like to purchase.

Mixto looks at me to see my recommendation. I shrug. “Zero? Maybe we don’t need it. I don’t know.”

Mixto turns from me and faces Grumpy.

“Cinco, por favor. We’ll take five,” he says.

A puzzled look attacks my face. Mixto glances at me and answers my thoughts.

“Look at that thing. It’s half threaded, half un-threaded. It’s beautiful. We need at least five of them.” I couldn’t argue with that.

Henceforth Mike became known simply as Mixto.

Epilogue: Days later, after plumbing our first sanitation unit to near completion, we had used 4 of the five mixto codos. While in the back of the truck, riding back to Base Camp after a day of plumbing, Mixto pulled the 5th mixto codo pvc pipe from his pocket. I remarked that he had done a good job ordering 5 of them when at the time, we didn’t even know we needed them. Then I asked what he was going to do with the fifth one. He responded, “I’m going to drill a hole in it and make a necklace out of it.”

I looked at him for a second while the wind blew in our faces and the truck bumped up and down the pot-hole-riddled street. I politely reached for and took the small piece of pipe in his hand, looked at it, and asked, “you’re going to drill a hole in it?” I waited for him to realize that it was a piece of pipe designed as basically a curved hole, and thus did not need to be drilled in order to become the charm of a necklace. He caught my intention and we laughed together.

The next day, on the job, Mixto was found wearing that mixto around his neck… with an extra hole drilled into it and the string threaded through this extra hole. What can I say? His name is Mixto.

Most people, I take their opinions of movies with a grain a salt. There are few friends whose movie recommendations I hold in high regard. One friend, in particular, has high standards for a five star rating. In his Netflix account, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a movie he has rated over 3 stars (out of 5). So, when he mentioned to me that he saw Avatar a few days earlier, I was curious his opinion. Not having lived under a rock for the past 4 months, I had inevitably seen some of the reportedly $400 million worth of promotion posters and images.

Generally, I was interested in seeing the movie, but I hadn’t heard any reviews and had purposely refrained from watching the trailers as the clips often tell the entire story in the ridiculous hopes of convincing movie-goers that there is more to see. However, I knew that the movie had recently been released and I happen to be more of a $2-movie theater guy, preferring the 80% discount to being one of the first 10 million people to see a movie.

“Tell me it’s good,” I said, hoping he would confirm my gut feeling that this movie would be worth the hype.

“You should see it,” he replied.

“Is it worth the $10 ticket or should I wait for the $2 theater?”

“It’s worth $15.”

“What?! Really?! It’s that good?”

“Seriously. Go see it in IMAX 3D if you can. It’s worth it. You’re going to like it.”

This particular friend had never recommended a movie be seen in the $10 theater and here he was recommending I spend as much money as possible to see the movie. This friend is not accustomed to exaggeration and his opinion was genuine. Apparently one should not wait to experience the visuals of the movie on a TV or computer screen. This movie needs to be seen on the big screen.

The next day I made plans to see the movie. I called the theater at 11:30 am to see if I could buy two tickets for the 3:30 pm IMAX show in 3D. “I’m sorry sir, but the IMAX show is sold out until the 10:30 pm show.” Wow! There were 6 showings before the 10:30 pm Avatar in IMAX, and all of them were sold out. My friend wasn’t joking. So I inquired about the regular 3D shows and the next shows were 80% full. Thankfully the 4:30 pm Avatar 3D was only 40% full but she said would likely sell out. “Thanks for the help,” I said as I hung up and logged on to Fandango.com to purchase advance tickets online.

Two tickets, and $33 later ($15.50 per ticket plus a $2 convenience charge) and I had just spent as much money on one movie as I had spent on the last 8.25 movies I had seen at the $2 theater. We showed up at the movie theater 30 mins early only to be in the spot in line that allowed us the last two seats at the back of the theater (which is better than the last 20 in the front of the theater). We were issued each a pair of Real 3D glasses which I hadn’t worn since getting zapped in the back by a dragonfly during the Coca-Cola 3D experience in Atlanta, GA. Needless-to-say, I was a little skeptical of the 3D part.

Sitting in the back row, the previews began to a black screen and loud sound effects. For the first 30 seconds we thought it was on purpose, but the next 6 minutes of black screen and Tom Cruise’s voice mixed with explosions and we knew something was wrong with the projector. The packed audience let their disappointment be heard, but subsequently let their appreciation fill the room when the images appeared to match the sounds.

The lights finally dimmed and a screen informing us to now put on the 3D glasses was shown. The audience oohed and awed at the 3D company’s title screen warming us to the effects we could expect and then the movie began.

I will spoil nothing.

“Is it worth the $10 ticket or should I wait for the $2 theater?”

“It’s worth $15.”

“What?! Really?! It’s that good?”

“Seriously. Go see it in IMAX 3D if you can. It’s worth it. You’re going to like it.”

Wrap a gift worth $10 or LESS! You can buy something, or simply bring something from your house. It can be a good gift, a horrible gift, for a girl, a boy, funny, or whatever you want. Funny and ridiculous gifts make the game fun!

All the gifts are placed together on the floor (in “the gift pool”).

Each person playing gets a random number.

#1 chooses any gift, unwraps it, and shows it to everyone.

#2 chooses any new gift, OR can STEAL the gift from #1

If #2 STEALS the gift from #1, then #1 chooses a new gift from the gift pool.

#3 chooses a new gift, OR can STEAL the gift from #1, or #2!

If a gift is stolen from you, you can then STEAL a gift from one other person, but NOT the gift that was just stolen from you, OR you can choose a new gift.

This continues until all the gifts have been distributed to each person playing.

SPECIAL RULE: A gift can only be STOLEN 3 times, and then it cannot be stolen anymore!

In the news, we constantly hear about tragic gun homicides and it seems as though it is increasing every year. The issue of gun control is inevitably discussed when a gun homicide occurs and often stricter gun control laws are proposed as the solution to future such incidents. However, with stricter gun control, can we truly protect ourselves from those who are a threat to our life? In this world, guns are necessary to protect citizens not only from internal threats but also from external enemies.

First, guns can protect our life from criminals within one’s country. We are less susceptible to gun violence from criminals when criminals can’t be sure that potential victims are not armed. If criminals believe that everyone has a gun for protection, then they are significantly less likely commit an armed robbery, or other gun-related crime. There are several examples that prove gun control laws do not equate to a decrease in gun-related crime rates, but in fact, that the opposite is true.

Although restrictive gun-carry laws have been on the books for decades, they have never been shown to lead to a reduction in crime. Despite having banned handguns, Washington, D.C. and Chicago are two of the five major U.S. cities with the highest homicide rates. If stricter gun-control laws were effective in reducing crime, surely these two major metropolitan centers would be shining examples.

Accordingly, when Florida instituted a right-to-carry law, allowing lawful citizens to register for handgun permits, the handgun homicide rate between 1987 and 1994 decreased 41% (-41%). The handgun homicide rate of the entire United States over the same period increased 24% (+24%). There is a clear correlation between the decrease in handgun homicides and the institution of the right-to-carry law in Florida. Allowing citizens to lawfully own guns decreased gun-related murders in the State of Florida.

Secondly, guns also protect us from potential invasions from foreign countries. Without guns, we would be severely more vulnerable to attack from a foreign country. Although peace treaties are formed for peaceful relationships among countries, serious wars still continue throughout the globe. No country is completely immune to a potential attack. A strong and effective military is of course the best means with which to keep a country safe. However, if a military were to fail, a potential foreign enemy would be extremely more cautious to invade a country with liberal gun ownership laws than it would be to invade an unarmed public. History can’t hide the revolutions won through guerrilla warfare waged by local armed militias. For example, the histories of Cuba, France, and the United States of America were all affected by the simple idea that guns were not against the law to own. Without the local populations being allowed to possess guns, the history of these countries would be dramatically different.

Whether to protect us from murderers and armed thieves, or to fend off entire foreign militaries that seek to destroy a way of living, the right to own guns is a necessary safeguard every person should bear. Limiting this right limits a person’s safety and goes against all the facts supporting freedom to possess guns. Instead of talking about restricting guns where they are allowed, we should be discussing allowing guns where they are controlled. Gun control laws unnecessarily put lives at risk.

—

References
1. Gun Control Facts – http://www.justfacts.com/guncontrol.asp
2. Right to Carry Debate – http://www.youdebate.com/DEBATES/gun_right_to_carry.HTM
3. Flickr – http://www.flickr.com/photos/sgt_spanky/1407250122/
4. Flickr – http://www.flickr.com/photos/geishaboy500/483490501/
5. Flickr – http://www.flickr.com/photos/angells60640/3792252029/

Rule #1: Two nights max. Never stay in Vegas more than 3 days, and 2 nights. A) Your body can’t handle, B) Your mind can’t handle it, and C) Your wallet (or purse) definitely can’t handle it. The first day and night are fun. Soak up all the lights, the action, the excitement, and gamble a little. The second day and night are either a crazy blur, or a chance to see what you missed the first day. The third day you’re either hungover, or simply over it. Go home.

Rule #2: If you’re not willing to lose it, don’t gamble it. That’s the only gambling rule you need to stick to. The rest is up to you. Set aside an amount of money you plan to lose in Vegas and don’t gamble a dime more. If you lose it all in the first night, you’re done. Watch your friends or go see a show. If you’re smart, you’ll pace yourself and enjoy the money you spend on the various games that you probably can’t enjoy back at home. Whether it’s $100, or $5,000, set your limit and stick to it.

Rule #3: Stay near the strip. Vegas isn’t cheap, don’t try to do it cheap. Now, you don’t have to spend $300 for a room at the Bellagio, but you definitely want to be close to the strip. I recommend the Tropicana or maybe Hooters. Hooters is a dump, but it’s a comfortable bed a half block from the main area. Tropicana is the cheapest hotel/casino actually on Vegas Blvd. You should be able to get a room for under $80 on a weekday.

If you follow these three simple rules, you will have done Vegas right. Thousands of people regret their time in Vegas for one reason or another. Of the ones I’ve met, it’s because they broke at least one of these three simple rules.

Left to Right 2k9 – Yellowstone, Mt Rushmore, Niagara

Wed Aug 12th – OC to Vegas, 5 hrs, 1:00pm – 6:00 pm, gamble a little, stay night.

Thurs Aug 13th – Vegas to Grand Canyon, 6 hrs, 9:00am – 3:00pm, hike around canyon, take pictures, see sunset, stay night

Fri Aug 14th – GC to SLC,  8.5 hrs, 11:00am- 8:00pm – stay night, hang out

Sat Aug 15th – SLC to Old Faithful, 6 hrs, 12:30pm – 7:00pm – camp there

Sun Aug 16th – Yellowstone National Park – all day, camp there

Mon Aug 17th – Yellowstone to Billings, MT – 4 hrs, 9:00am – 1:00pm, ride horses

Tues Aug 18th – Billings to Mt Rushmore – 6 hrs, 9:00am – 3:00pm, view Mt. Rushmore, take pictures, camp there

Wed Aug 19th – Mt Rushmore to Sioux Falls, SD – 6 hrs, 11:00 – 5:00pm, hang out

Thurs Aug 20th – Sioux Falls to Milwaukee, WI – 8.5 hrs, 8:00am – 5:00pm, hang out

Fri Aug 21st – Milwaukee to Chicago – 2 hrs, 2:00pm – 4:00pm – White Sox vs Orioles 7:10pm at night

Sat Aug 22nd – Chicago to Cleveland, 7.5 hrs, 12:00pm – 8:00pm – sleep there

Sun Aug 23rd – Cleveland to Niagara, 4.5 hrs – 9:00am – 1:30pm – tour Niagara Falls

Mon Aug 24th – Niagara to NYC, 8 hrs, 9:30am – 6:30pm – dinner in NYC, hang out.

Tues Aug 25th – NYC – Yankees or Mets game

Wed Aug 26th – Sat Aug 29th, NYC

Sat Aug 29th – Maki, Wooly fly from NYC back to OC/LA

Sun Aug 30th – NYC to DC, 5.5 hrs, 11:00am – 5:00pm, hang out

Mon Aug 31st – DC to Hampton, 3.5 hrs, 1:00pm – 4:00pm – dinner with Mom, Lewises, Dentons.

Tues Sept 1^st – Shawn drives West back to CA, must arrive by Sept 6th

Below is the message from our organizer, Jimmy and the accompanying letter from Harold, the new Director of Pisco Sin Fronteras. Harold is a local tour guide turned community volunteer after the earthquake of 2007. He’s an amazing person not afraid to give completely of himself for the benefit of others.

Hello Pisco Volunteers,

Burners without Borders is off to a great start in 2009. We are confident our impact this year will surpass the amazing accomplishments of 2008.

With all the wonderful accomplishments of last year, the formation of Pisco Sin Fronteras (PSF) is allowing volunteerism to continue in Pisco.  One of the largest voids seen in disaster assistance is local long-term reconstruction assistance.  PSF was formed from our energy and our efforts.  Let’s show our support and keep that Burner energy alive in Pisco!

Harold and the PSF crew have been busy, Harold’s written a letter that we have to pass along.  Efforts like this just prove this community is unstoppable.

Dear friend,

On the 15th of August, 2007, people in Pisco, Peru lived the worst experience in their lives, a massive earthquake, 8.4 occurred and destroyed 80% of the city, causing 600 deaths, leaving thousands of people without a home, as well destroying schools and leaving most of the kids without a place to study and keep developing physically and intellectually.

The night following the earthquake undoubtedly changed my life.  My brothers and I spent hours helping people get out of their homes many times having to remove kilos of rubble trapping them inside.  During this long and terrifying night I knew my life would be different, I just didn’t know how.

Then I met Mark from Hands On.  I translated for him and watched as many international volunteers came from all over the world.  I became more and more involved over the next 12 months.  When Burners took over I found myself leading projects.  Then in August when Burners were planning on leaving, I knew there were so many people still needing help in my community.  So me and a couple of friends decided to start our own organization.

Pisco sin Fronteras, Our organization was created on August 2008, during the last 5 months, we’ve been working in a similar way to Burners and Hands On.  We are welcoming international volunteers and locals. So far almost 100 volunteers have joined our efforts. We are providing sustainable solutions through volunteer efforts focusing on housing and education.  By having Peruvian leadership we have no pull out date and hope to provide support throughout the hard times ahead of my community.

We started out by helping individual families rebuild their homes or get into modules.  Now our organization is building our first school, a kinder garden school called “Virgencita de Fatima” which will be the 2nd home for around 30 kids. We started clearing the rubble and now we are finishing some of the walls, having volunteers from all over the world working every single day on this project.

This has become our largest project since our organization started.

All of us are really excited for this school and the future.  As the Director of Pisco Sin Fronteras and your friend, I would like to invite everyone to come back and join us in Pisco.  If you can’t make it back please check out our website www.piscosinfronteras.org.  We are always in need of support just see how you can “get involved”. Remember a little goes a long way in Pisco. Our PayPal link is set up and any help is greatly appreciated.  Thanks to all of you who want to be a part of this amazing project and help us to help those in need in this, my community, Pisco.

Sincerely,

Harold Zevallos Salas
Director
Pisco Sin Fronteras