You can stay, but your parents have to go

13-year-old Noriko Calderon, born in Japan to undocumented parents from the Philippines, was told that she is allowed to stay in Japan by the Justice Ministry.

The catch? Her mother and father, Sarah and Arlan, must return to the Philippines as they have violated the immigration law by either entering the country illegally or over-staying their visas.

Mrs. Calderon spent nearly a year in prison for immigration-related violations back in 2006 and 2007, so this case has been brewing for quite some time.

Mr. and Mrs. Calderon were ordered to report to immigration today, Friday February 27th, for deportation. The Justice Ministry has been very inflexible in this particular case despite the fact that there is a precedent of giving lenient treatment to individuals with extenuating circumstances.

A group of politicians from the ruling LDP have publicly requested that the Justice Ministry issue special residence permits to the family.

In 2007 when the Calderons were first sentenced with deportation, the Justice Ministry granted special permission to stay in Japan to 7,388 illegal residents. 20% of them had originally entered Japan illegally.

You can stay, but your parents have to go

I can hear them clearing their throats (a day without my iPod)

Left the apartment yesterday without my beloved iPod. It wasn't on purpose, it just happened. Before getting on the train I debated returning home to retrieve it, but I decided against it.

I decided that it might be a good experiment for me to attempt to make it one full working day without the aid of my mp3 player.

Boy was that a stupid idea.

• The whole ride to work I got to listen to people sniffling and sneezing like there was a ragweed patch in the middle of the train.
• In the shops I had to navigate the incessant "Welcome to our humble store!" and other sales-related, but automated, jingles that routinely assault shoppers' aural faculties here.
• In Vie de France (a bakery/cafe) I was treated to a teenager barking into her phone at her obviously at-fault boyfriend. For 25 minutes.
• On the return trip home, the business guy sitting next to me repeatedly cleared his throat as though he was intending to spit something large down a drain that I couldn't immediately perceive. However, the drain appeared to be in my general direction.
  

So let's just say that I learned my lesson. If I happen to leave the apartment without my music again, then I'll be scurrying back home before you can say, "Christopher is a lame-ass twerp". But even if you do say it out loud, which some of you will, it won't matter because I'll be listening to Murs.

I can hear them clearing their throats (a day without my iPod)

Yo-yo Genius

This kid is good.

Yo-yo Genius

Coin-operated

On our way home from a bit of shopping, we happened upon this thing.

At first I thought it was a coin-operated rice dispenser or something sitting in the middle of a parking lot.

But on closer inspection we figured out that it is a coin-operated rice mill sitting in the middle of a parking lot.

See, when you buy rice at the supermarket, it's generally already polished so that you can just lightly rinse it and then throw it in the pot (or rice cooker if you have one).

But when you buy it from some other places, such as directly from the farm where it was produced, it's possible that the rice is still unpolished.

Hence the need (?) for this kiosk sitting in the middle of a residential area (without a rice farm for miles).

Interesting.

Coin-operated

Not for Those with Dandruff

Went to this today.

Kel and I were pretty much the only ones at the show not wearing a black t-shirt.

The show started off with Forbidden, followed by Voivod, and was headlined by Testament.

All three bands were amazing. And Testament is definitely worth watching again.

Not for Those with Dandruff

Your Caption Here

On my way to a game this week I happened upon this scene in a convenience store.

Any ideas for a caption?

Your Caption Here

Baseball

Haven't posted on this topic in a while, but Dave Watkins just did a very thorough analysis of what is going on with the Tokyo Swallows at this point in the season.

It's well worth a read if you're interested in the plight of an overlooked and under-appreciated sports team.

Baseball

Shaky Face Photos

I've been sitting on these photos for a while, and I have a couple minutes, so I thought I'd get them out there for others to enjoy.

These are from a night on the town back in August with a bunch of the good people from the greater Burlington area.

This was Matt's idea. The rules are simple. Relax the skin and muscles that hold your face in place, and when the camera is ready, shake your head back and forth very quickly like you just got out of the shower and you're trying to get the excess water out of your hair. Snap photo.

Shaky face!

Believe it or not, Matt and Travis's significant others (Kate and Devon, respectively) were present for this. Ryan's missus was smart and stayed home with their adorable daughter.

The above pic was not the best example of shaky face that we saw that night. It is, without a doubt, difficult to get three guys to contort their facial matter in the same hilarious way when the shutter clicks.

There's also the fact that shaking one's face fast enough to induce a slapping sound when your cheek hits your ear can hurt a little bit. A minor detail, really. Two or three minutes and half a pint are recommended between shakes.

Rest assured, this all makes a lot more sense when you've reached your third drinking establishment of the evening.

But the individual efforts were impressive. This one of Kate's brother, Ben, is an eye-opener.



And not to be outdone, Ryan got one wobbling for the crowd.

I've been telling people that this was taken just after I smacked him for a comment he made about the Chicago Bears, but alas that is not the case.

Ryan did this to himself.

Anyway, go ahead and give shaky face a try. It helps if you have a digital camera with relatively high specs, say six megs or more. The camera used for these shots is a 10 meg unit.

Shaky Face Photos