A Weird Visual Journey

This started as an observation about Newt Gingrich's wife Callista. She really reminded me of John McCain's wife Cindy McCain. Then Cindy McCain made me think of Arizona governor Jan Brewer who made Iggy Pop jump into mind and finally ended up at Ron Paul. I stopped short of finding a photo of Magneto next and the snow owl came to mind at the end there. So what's the point of this? Not sure. I guess that Ron Paul is a descendant of snow owls?

FreeScore.com dudes

It bothers me how all three FreeScore.com guys are totally generic looking white dudes. Was there a decision made to cast them like this? I'll give them the benefit of the doubt but then again... I suppose at least the bad credit score guy being white too is some consolation.

Unfortunate Name

So I was watching the footage that Fox News used of riots in Greece saying they were in Moscow when I got completely distracted by this guy's name. Soooo many names to choose form. Why "Tiny"? Poor little guy.

Spy on the Shelf

The Elf on the Shelf. I never heard of this tradition until this year. I think it started the same year the Patriot Act was signed.

Basically you get a little elf guy who and put him somewhere in your house and tell the kids that if they're bad the elf will tell Santa and he'll send the gifts to China or something. The idea is to move it around so the kids never know where it could be. To be honest it kind of creeps me out. I half expect it to show up taped to the bottom of the toilet lid or suddenly see it in my rear view.

Tomo Anthology

I have a 12 page SAM story in an anthology called Tomo ("friend") from Stone Bridge Press to be released March 2012. It features stories relating to the earthquake and tsunami all from young adult's POV.

The story is titled "Kazoku" which means family. In this alternate universe, a 16-year old SAM comes to terms with his American upbringing and his ties to Japan.

Sale proceeds to benefit relief efforts in Japan. Here is an interview about it. Check out a 16-year-old me in a kimono.

Old School Wednesday: Pearl Harbor vs. Atomic Bomb

Here's one that got a lot of undies in a bunch when it came out.

On the one hand, we have the tragic deaths of 2400+ US soldiers at a military base who were (as we now discover) allowed to be raided in order to give president Roosevelt a reason to enter the war against Germany and Italy. One the other hand we have 200,000+ civilian deaths (men/women/children) over several months resulting from the atomic bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Two very different events occuring at the beginning and end of the US's involvement in WWII.

Both are horrible tragedies in their own right but as a Japanese American I have very personal and conflicted feelings about them. Is there a difference in "value" between servicemen and civilians? How is it that a military mission that was well broadcast against a military target a sneak attack and the mass bombing of hundreds of thousands of civilians was justified and necessary? We send drones out to take down terrorists all day long and I doubt we send an invite before we do so.

Despite my apparent lack of patriotism please give a thought today to those who lost their lives in Pearl Harbor.

Too Proud to Work?

If you got laid off/downsized out of a decent job and was having trouble finding something of equal pay/stature would you be too proud to take a job bagging groceries or delivering food until you did?

ComicaziCon - Badass Bazaar

I'll be at the Comicazi Con Badass Bazaar all day Sunday with plenty of DigBoston gear, SAM books and good times. It all goes down at the Dilboy VFW Hall in Davis Square, Somerville from 10am-4pm. Lots of local artists selling their wares. Come out and support!

Akira Final Cast Announced!

Looks awesome! Neo Beverly Hills is about to explode!

My X-Mas List

I know there are at least a few of you billionaires out there waiting to blow some cash so here's my short wish list for Santa. Bonus points if you can somehow combine all three in one sweet suit.