Fast and The Furious: Okinawa Drift!!!
Just thought I’d share a few pics with you. Today I decided to take a day off work and head up to the North of Okinawa, to a racing “track”. It’s actually a glorified car park and is next door to a bull fighting arena. I headed up there with a good buddy of mine (Brian with his Nissan 180SX) and it was nice and quiet, with only 2 other drivers when we arrived. The idea was to drive around the makeshift circuit a little in turn (only 1 car at a time) and then try some drifting (aka glorified skidding!).
I make no bones about it - we were shown a thing or 2 by the Japanese guys! That drifting malarkey is a lot harder than they make it appear. To put it in diving terms, we both said we felt like Open Water divers being surrounded by dive instructors! The Japanese guys were great though, letting us look at their cars, offering encouragement and not once making any harsh comments while either of us were driving. But it was an entertaining morning, and educational too. By our 3rd or 4th run (we only drive for 10 minutes or so and then let the car/tyres/brakes cool down) we were both driving much more aggressively and handling it much better. But the day was wearing on, the sun was taking its toll and the tyres were taking a beating. We’d already seen a Japanese car actually shred 2 of its rear tyres, and then leave both its front and rear bumper out on the circuit!
Fun times, and we’ll be heading there again when we get the chance. Sorry about the lack of photo quality - my cameraman was afraid of getting run over if he got too close!!!
New Miss Universe gets slammed by Japanese media
Interesting news story from the online Japanese “red-top”, the Daily Mainichi. It seems that the newly crowned Miss Universe, Riyo Mori, has not gone down too well when back in her native Japan:
Arrogant and dumb: Local celeb hacks slam Miss Universe Riyo Mori
Riyo Mori, the 2007 Miss Universe, is copping a beating from the domestic media, according to Shukan Shincho (7/19).
“There were loads of reporters who saw her who said the first thing that came to mind was ‘How the hell did she become Miss Universe?’” an entertainment beat reporter tells Shukan Shincho. “I thought that making up her eyes to emphasize her ‘Oriental Exoticism’ isn’t a look that really appeals to Japanese.
“What really shocked me was the arrogant way she went about things. She used a microphone to point at the reporters asking her questions, and the way she stood with her hands on her hips as she talked created a bad impression. That might be the way they do things in America, but a female Japanese performer would never act that way. She looked down on Japan, too, by saying that she had no idea who her favorite Japanese performer was. And when one reporter asked her what it felt like to have been chosen as the world’s most beautiful women, she spat, ‘That’s a mistake. Miss Universe is not a beauty contest.’ That got most of the reporters tittering.”
Mori is apparently taking steps to try and gain some popular support.
“She’s contacting all the biggest talent agencies to find out if they’re interested in putting her on their books. Miss Universe has to spend a year traveling around the world and helping out with AIDS charities, so any concrete moves won’t be able to come out until the year after next,” a TV industry insider says.
Mori can take heart from the success of Kurara Chibana, the runner-up in last year’s Miss Universe contest who now works as a reporter for a TV current affairs program called “News Zero.”
Shukan Shincho (7/19)But the entertainment beat reporter is not too bullish about the 20-year-old beauty queen’s chances in Japan’s cutthroat entertainment world.
“Considering she won the title, she has fair grounds to think she’ll do better (than Chibana). But she’s not really the best speaker in the world and hasn’t got any of the intellect apparent in Chibana, a graduate of the prestigious Sophia University,” the showbiz reporter tells Shukan Shincho. “And with the arrogance that she’s got, it makes the average woman working on TV look a lot more attractive.” (By Ryann Connell)
Koyo Model United Nations 2007
Well, the Koyo Model UN Conference 2007 has been and gone over the past couple of days, and as in previous years it has been a big success. First and foremost, thanks to 7 of the students from Naha Kokusai Senior High School, as well as Julie Chang & Matt Dowsett for coming to observe and support the students taking part. It meant a lot for our International Club to have another school actively involved.
The agenda item for this year’s conference was Global Warming, and after a lot of preparation and researching, students from 2nd year and 3rd year took on the roles of delegates from 30 countries to present, debate and argue over this topic. After much to-ing and fro-ing, 2 draft resolutions were put forward, one of them finally being adopted by the General Assembly. Below is the draft resolution put forward by students (spelling and slight wording mistakes included for completeness):
Agenda Item: Global Warming
Sponsors: UK, France, Austria
Signatories: Japan, Switzerland, Germany, Turkey, Spain
The General Assembly,
Whereas: Many developing countries in various stages of industrialization produce large amounts of Greenhouse gases and;
Whereas: Many of these developing countries have no way to have the means to produce clean energy and;
Whereas: Many countries have found conflict with the Kyoto Protocol and;
Whereas; Rising temperatures increase insect activity which will spread and increase various diseases, such as malaria and;
Whereas Global warming will cause the increase of plants and livestock-related diseases which will, in turn, cause drought and famine,
1. Therefore, we will draw attention to the Global Warming problem through various means,
2. Therefore, a fund will be created and run by the UN: this fund will be collected from each country (depending on the amount determined by a later meeting) and then distribute this money to various developing countries so that they can use it to invest to develop clean energy,
3. Therefore, countries may abandon the Kyoto Protocol and take part instead in this resolution,
4. Therefore, the fund will also supply malaria and other prevalent disease vaccines to countries where global warming has caused an increase in the respective disease,
5. Therefore, the fund will also supply relief food and water to countries hit hardest by famine & droughts caused by global warming,
6. Decides to remain seized of this matter.
Typhoon Man-Yi - final update
Diving Dave here with probably your last typhoon update for Man-Yi. Well, it has caused some problems on the mainland, with 3 people killed, 70 injured and one person missing. A 79-year old man died in Tokushima prefecture (and was later found in a river) and 2 people in Kagoshima were also victims (an 11-year old boy washed away in a river and a 76-year old man who fell into an irrigation ditch).
It’s expected to go out to sea off the Kanto region of Japan and blow itself out. Okinawa looks pretty much back to normal now except for a few trees still at the side of the road.
Until the next typhoon, this is Diving, Driving, Weather-reporting Dave signing off.
Typhoon Man-Yi - Okinawa damage report
Well, water’s on and the car is now nice and clean with the salt and crap scrubbed off it. The typhoon is now hitting the mainland and I believe causing some damage there too (44 people already reported as hurt there).
Damage statistics are in for Okinawa:
34 people hurt
10,000+ people evacuated
135,000+ homes without electricity (i.e. 10% of the Okinawan population)
Make no bones about it folks - this was a big hit. My thoughts are now with the people on the Japanese mainland.