The “Canadian Crippler” in murder suicide
As some of you may know, in my youth I was always a fan of the WWE/WWF (that’s the World Wrestling Federation, not World Wildlife Fund!). Despite my parents comments about how silly it all was (and rightly so), and how Big Daddy (aka Shirley Crabtree, from Halifax and father of Eorl Crabtree of the Huddersfield Giants, and shown on the right) on ITV on Saturday lunchtimes was much better to watch, many a Friday and Saturday night would be spent watching wrestling on Sky Sports. So it came as a huge shock to me when my friend Chris sent me a very short email telling me that Chris Benoit, WWE superstar had died. Benoit, known as the “Canadian Crippler” and also more bizarrely, the “Rabid Wolverine”, was a huge name in wrestling and was featuring in a number of big storylines. Due to his second nickname, my first thought was death by rabies, but this is no time for jokes at all. As more details of this story came out, the situation got worse.
It turns out his wife and son were also found dead in their house in Atlanta, Georgia. The WWE website which was previously showing a memorial/life history of him on their frontpage quickly changed things as events became clearer. Investigators believe that over the weekend Benoit strangled his wife before smothering and killing his 7-year old son. He then hung himself in a weightlifting machine pulley. Benoit was due to appear in a WWE special event over the weekend, but called to say he couldn’t make it due to a “family emergency”. Initial reports said he had claimed his wife and son were coughing up blood and he had to take care of them. A series of strange text messages to friends made them contact the WWE who in turn contacted police. The events seem to have occurred throughout the weekend, and not at one particular time. Although this is to be fully confirmed by the authorities.
New tyres - apartment now looks like Halfords!
This all started when I was chatting to my friend at work on Friday who I’d bought my Evo from. He was asking how I was enjoying it, if I was going to race it etc. And then he asked me if I wanted 4 new wheels and tyres for it! This threw me slightly as a set of 4 wheels don’t come cheap, and the almost-new Potenza RE-01 tyres that were on them are some of the best tyres you can get. But apparently these old tyres and 16″ wheels don’t fit his newer Evo VI. This was an offer I could hardly refused, and so I told them I would love them and I’d pick them up from him the following. The wheels were a little older and heavier than the ones I have been using, but the tyres on them more than made up for it.
Saturday morning came and it was an absolute scorcher. The mercury touched 37C at around 1pm (that’s rather warm!). I drove over to this guy’s house and found him with the drivers seat out of his car and half a brand new exhaust system by the side of it, waiting to be fitted. He brought the wheels out and we compared the tyres to the ones I had. We decided that the tyres on these older wheels were much better than the older tyres on the newer wheels (keep up!). So in this boiling heat and open sunshine, we jacked up the car 4 times and changed all four wheels. We were both so hot by the end of it! But the job was a good ‘un. The tyres do feel like they’ve a bit more grip to them too as I’m driving.
But that did leave me with 4 wheels and tyres and nowhere really to put them. So, I cleaned them, polished them, and even waxed them, before standing them in a corner in my apartment. With the couple of car photos over them, it does look kind of like an Autobacs (Japanese version of Halfords) display! But I’m warming to it and with the polished wheels and tyres it looks pretty good.
Not sure what I’ll do with them in the long run. I actually prefer these wheels but want the newer tyres on my car. The problem with that is that changing and balancing 8 tyres will not come cheap. So in the meantime I’ll stick with what I’ve got and when I get the money and the desire, I’ll change them.
Seadragon - the future of digital image viewing?
It certainly could be, and the technology is not so far away it would seem. Following its acquisition of Seadragon software in February, Microsoft’s people have certainly not been resting on their laurels, and a few weeks ago the Seadragon architect, Blaise Aguera y Arcas, gave a jaw-dropping presentation on what could be on our computer screens in the not-too-distant future. And as it states on this linked page, “Photosynth might utterly transform the way we manipulate and experience digital images”. Continue reading this entry »
A productive weekend
After last weekend was a bit of a washout due to the weather, with my 4 open water dives having to be cancelled, this past weekend was a welcome relief. It rained for most of the week (we’re well into the rainy season now) so my hopes weren’t too high for good visibility, but the winds were coming out of the East which was a good sign. So on Saturday morning I woke up at 4am and got myself ready for a busy weekend!
After listening to most of the Wigan - Harlequins Challenge Cup quarter-final (we won, bringing us 80 minutes away from a final at the new Wembley), I headed off to pick one of my students up and then to the Chatan area. Not a good start when I got to her place though - found out that when I was turning the steering wheel on my car, there was a kind of knocking/grating noise at low speeds (i.e. 1st gear). Sounded expensive, and my mind was on that for quite a bit of the day. But I had a big job to do and so I couldn’t allow myself to be distracted. First off was the 200m swim and 10 minute float test for one of my students. She managed that fine and the water was just about warm enough for swimsuits or shorts (around 25C). Once we’d finished that we headed off to the dive shop and waited for the others to arrive.
Some Harajuku fashion slideshows
As most of you regular readers will already know, the fashion scene here in Japan is something that fascinates me completely. You have every style through the ages here, from gothic, through mods & punk, to reggae and industrial, Japan has it all. And one of the best places to see all of these fashions is Harajuku in Tokyo. This has some of the most innovative, experimental, and sometimes downright crazy fashions you could ever want to see. And thanks to the wonderful site about all things Japanese, Japan Sugoi, I am happy to bring you links to 3 Youtube movie clips of Harajuku fashions.
