Thursday, April 1, 2010
Got up at seven forty-five in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch. Went out for dinner and to see "Clash of the Titans" at a theater this evening.
In this remake of "Clash of the Titans", a crew-cut ordinary demigod Perseus goes on a journey to settle a conflict between gods and humans, accompanied by Argos soldiers. In this version, Perseus does not choose a servant of Athena an owl, which is a symbol of wisdom, as his guide. Instead, Io, who is the mistress of his father Zeus, is sent to him embarrassingly. He has to accomplish his suicide mission by relying on a company without having any trustworthy strategy. There are several interesting elements brought in the movie from the Arthurian legend, Christianity, the situation of modern America, and so on. Digital versions of two famous scenes, "a fight with Medusa" and "a rescue of Andromeda from human sacrifice", are impressive.
In this film, Zeus, who is the supreme Greek god and has an obsession with philandering, may be a metaphor for the US government (bald eagle) or politicians. If so, what is likened to Perseus, who is a crew-cut son of Zeus, and Hades, who is a brother of Zeus and governs the underworld, too? What is Medusa, who used to be a beautiful lady but turns into a monster with snakes for hair? What is Zeus's thunderbolt? What is Acrisius/Calibos, who was once burnt with a thunderbolt and sought his revenge on Zeus and Perseus? What troubled metaphors they are!
BTW, how Perseus can keep his hair very short in the Bronze Age is mysterious. Any razor blade shouldn't be available those days, to my knowledge. Hades isn't a fallen angel. Poseidon, who governs the sea and plays a key role in the original myth, is completely left out of account. It's a matter of regret that an artificial scene of a shower of gold isn't adopted in this PG-13-rated film. A princess is much preferable to a mistress of his father's, naturally.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Got up at eight-fifteen in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch, and pieces of Central Market's pizza for dinner.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Got up at eleven o'clock. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch, and a Japanese-style meal for dinner.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Got up at eleven o'clock. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch, and a simple Japanese meal for lunch. Went out shopping at grocery stores this afternoon. Ate a Japanese-style meal for dinner.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Got up at eight-thirty in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal and a simple Japanese meal for lunch, and a bowl of Japanese noodle soup for dinner.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Got up at eight-fifteen in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch, and a dish of Italian pasta for dinner.
For the last several days, a lot of online news space has been devoted to some accidents related to coal mining and transportation. As well known, coal-fired power is the most dangerous and dirtiest source of energy. It has claimed the lives of many people through its long history. In view of not considering any indirect influence, oil-fired power is safer and cleaner than coal-fired power. However, oil has been the cause of conflicts among oil-producing nations and oil-consuming nations for the last several decades. Indeed, in a fair comparison from a wide perspective, it's uncertain which is safer. As long as it operates normally, nuclear power is much cleaner than coal-fired and oil-fired power. So far, the devastating accident at Chernobyl, which killed twenty-eight people in a short period of time and claims the possible casualties, the number of which is difficult to estimate accurately, due to radiation hazards, is the worst accident in the peaceful use of nuclear power in history. Fortunately, there was no fatal casualty in the nuclear accident at Three Mile Island Pennsylvania in 1979. However, as a result of its secondary influences such as the proliferation of nuclear weapons and nuclear terrors, the power generation using conventional nuclear reactors can potentially claim the lives of more people than two other powers.
The successes in the development of a fast neutron reactor with an acceptable proliferation resistance and/or a fusion reactor are desired. Once either of them works, the electric power can be generated using it and can be converted to a safer intermediate than the nuclear fuel, such as liquid hydrogen or something else, at out-of-the-way places such as isolated deserts and islands. An intermediate can be distributed to the local power generators and residences throughout the world, and then it can be used to generate electricity there. In this stage, nuclear power will truly become a safer and cleaner practical source of energy than fossil fuels. It will be able to satisfy our energy needs almost without emitting any greenhouse gas for millenniums or all ages. Any attempt to enrich the nuclear fuel up to a weapon-grade will not be justified. Possible damage to human life due to the leakage of radioactive materials caused by a terrorist act against a nuclear power plant may be minimized.
BTW, the so-called "China syndrome" is just a hypothetical phenomenon in the film with the same name, which was released twelve days before the nuclear accident at Three Mile Island in 1979. In the case of the nuclear accident at Chernobyl, after the meltdown of a nuclear reactor, the reactor core melted its containment structure but did not go deep into the earth. The nuclear reaction in the core passed out of the criticality itself inside a broken reactor because the nuclear fuel was mixed with concrete, boron, cadmium, carbon, and/or other materials, and its purity was degraded from the fuel grade down to a lower percentage. Needless to say, it is contradictory to a physical law that a reactor core melts through the ground from the earth's core upward to the surface.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Got up at six-thirty in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch, and a Japanese-style meal for dinner.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Got up at eight o'clock in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal and a simple Japanese meal for lunch, and a Japanese-style meal for dinner.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Got up at eight-fifteen in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal and a simple Japanese meal for lunch, and pieces of California Pizza Kitchen's pizza for dinner.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Got up at ten o'clock in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch, and a Japanese-style meal for dinner.
"This is an interesting topic found in the BBC online news today". The following is my comment on it:
May their souls rest in peace!
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Got up at ten forty-five. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch. Went out shopping at grocery stores this afternoon. Ate a bowl of Japanese noodle soup for dinner.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Got up at eight-fifteen in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch. Visited a neighborhood T-Mobile service station in order to cancel the cell phone service this afternoon. Had to cancel it over the telephone and confirm its deactivation. Ate a dish of Italian pasta for dinner.
"This is an interesting topic found in the BBC online news today". The following are my comments on it:
As measures to cope with the situation in Iran, China also plays a key role. In China, not only its demand for coal for the generation of electricity but also for oil for several types of transportation has been significantly increasing. It's fresh in our memory that China's annual production of cars exceeded the ten million mark and attained the top position in annual car production last year. It will expand larger and larger, leaving it as it is. Currently, Iran is one of the most important trading countries of China, especially for China's oil import. What is to be done? China wants more talks at a security summit.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Got up at eight-fifteen in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch, and a Japanese-style meal for dinner.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Got up at eight o'clock in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch, and a bowl of Japanese noodle soup for dinner.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Got up at seven-fifteen in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch, and an American meal for dinner. Sold my Chevrolet Pickup Truck to CarMax this afternoon.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Got up at eight-fifteen in the morning. Ate a simple Japanese meal for lunch. Ate pieces of California Pizza Kitchen's pizza for dinner.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Got up at eleven o'clock. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch. Ate a dish of Italian pasta for dinner.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Got up at eleven-fifteen. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch, and a Japanese-style meal for dinner.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Got up at eight forty-five in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal and a simple Japanese meal for lunch, and a dish of Italian pasta for dinner.
Sold some of my wife's and my books and DVDs to a nearby used-book store. It was found out today that one of the DVDs, which my wife received as a present about five years ago, was an imitation. Indeed, it's a skillfully faked item of a copyrighted work. Without knowing it, modern society is contaminated with numerous illegal products. It was thrown away in a trashcan.
BTW, it's the first time in my life for me to sell my books to a used-book store.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Got up at eight-fifteen in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch. Placed an order for a repair part of my lawn mower at the Briggs & Stratton website.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Got up at seven-fifteen in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch, and a Japanese-style meal for dinner.
Removed the screens and cleaned the windows of my house.
It's a clap against two matters. It's too loud, indeed.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Got up at eight-thirty in the morning. Ate a simple Japanese meal and a bowl of cereal for lunch, and a Japanese-style pot for dinner.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Got up at eight-fifteen in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch, and pieces of California Pizza Kitchen's pizza for dinner.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Got up at nine o'clock in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch. Went to see "Oceans" at the Gateway Regal Theater and bought some items of food at grocery stores this afternoon.
An enchanting view of the beautiful sea always relieves my stress. A couple of scenes of this documentary film featuring "humpback whales jumping up to the surface of the ocean through a large school of sardines" and "a swarm of crabs piled up mountain-high on the seabed" are rare.
BTW, Japanese restaurants in other countries outside Japan have strongly depended upon bluefin tuna as the seafood ingredient for sushi. It's necessary that demand for the other ingredients be expanded in order to avoid a potential problem in the international tuna marketplace.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Got up at eight o'clock in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch, and a BBQ meal for dinner.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Got up at seven forty-five in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch. Replaced a broken fuel tank of my lawn mower with a new one and changed its engine oil.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Got up at seven-thirty in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal and a simple Japanese meal for lunch, and a Japanese-European style meal for dinner. Went to buy a spark plug for a small four-cycle engine of my mower and a bottle of tree disease control at Lowe's this evening. Replaced a spark plug with a new one.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Got up at eight o'clock in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal and a simple Japanese meal for lunch. My lawn mower was put right after its calibrator was overhauled. Looked after the front and backyards of my house. Ate a Japanese-style meal for dinner.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Got up at eight o'clock in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch, and a dish of Italian pasta for dinner.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Got up at eight forty-five in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch, and pieces of Central Market's Pizza for dinner.
