Addicted to Anderson Cooper

Tsunami

2011-03-11T21:42:00.000-04:00

Our country is at stake. I am pretty far away from the epicenter, and completely safe. But still, people are cautious about possible tsunami.

I have not updated this place for a long time. Many of you might think it would be better to shut down, but I still have an intention to update again. I still check out AC360 daily and when I don't update this blog, I feel a bit guilty about it. Simply, I have too many things to do right now.

As for the main topic, Anderson is coming to Japan. I wish I could go to the epicenter, doing some volunteer activities and also searching him! This is not the right to thing to say, but I'm pretty excited about seeing Anderson reporting live from Japan.

Interview with Yoko Ono

2010-10-24T23:33:00.000-04:00

I am not particularly a big fan of Yoko Ono, but I found the interview interesting. Anderson fully knows what it is like to lose somebody special and compares his hardship with that of Yoko. She sometimes sounds like she was assuaging him, which makes her look incredibly strong.

I know she is a remarkably influential person, but to me, she looks pretty weird. I sometimes want to say to her, "You are not JOHN." Of course she is doing what John would be doing but she is not a musician but an artist. She should have some other way to spread her message. Now she's built "Imagine Peace Tower." This is exactly what I, or people in the world, have expected her to do.

Interview 1
Imagine Peace Tower
It was such a nice idea to build that tower in Iceland. The wisdom of power is spreading from the North to the world. How wonderful!

How They Met
A superstar falling in love with somebody who doesn't know him/her is a nice story to hear. Instead of Yoko being strongly loved by John, she suffered from being heaped too much blame on for the disband of the Beatles. Being a Japanese woman must have excruciate her in those days. I guess such an experience has made her even stronger.

Why Celebrate John's Birthday
To many young people, including me, John is an icon. I even wonder if such a man ever truly existed. He is just too influential to be an ordinary person. (He IS an extraordinary man, of course.) He sometimes looks like somebody created to promote world peace. Yoko wants to focus that he existed on this planet.

Anderson, on the other hand, focuses on the day his father passed away, which he says is not a good thing. That sounds a harrowing remark to me. To a ten-year-old boy, having such an experience is so tough that it is natural he can never efface that memory. That day must be much more overwhelming that the days he celebrate Dad's birthday.

Haiti -Day 2

2010-07-14T12:53:00.004-04:00

I'm glad Anderson is back in Haiti. It's a shame people's lives have not improved as we'd expected. Just after the earthquake hit, so many countries and organizations promised to give what help we can to the country. What is happening there and how they are rebuilding the city must be reported so each one of us who've helped can tell how their money is being used. However, those help haven't reached needy people, which I found really disappointing. (As for me, I donated some money to Medicine Sans Frontier, which has successfully giving them a helping hand.)

I am kind of relieved to see Bea, that little girl who was rescued on the very day Anderson visited the city just after the earthquake. It's not just seeing people's lives in general but keeping track of how certain specific persons have been doing that I am interested in. Seeing Bea, I could tell how strong we can be under such an extreme circumstance. Her smile is strong, adorable and beautiful.

I'm also impressed with Sanjay's work. He found children in an orphanage suffering from food shortage and took quick action.

Oil Spill

2010-05-18T12:06:00.005-04:00

I haven't been keeping up with the detail of this incident but when I saw gallons of oil gushing out of the pipe into the sea, I was totally shocked. I even feel guilty when I use too much water, such as keeping water running while I do the dishes or brush my teeth. It's no wonder they should keep the public from exposing to the horrifying image. But we need to be informed of how much impact it has.

And Anderson looked really committed to making things clear, which is one of the reason I like Anderson a lot.

I found the research on races really interesting. We're seeing the research from another aspect tomorrow and I'll update again later.

Withdrawal Agony?

2010-03-18T13:46:00.003-04:00

I often write here that I haven't stopped blogging. I've been up to the eyeballs in overload. Seeing Anderson is really a breath of fresh air recently. At one time, I missed the program and my students said to me, "It looks like you're suffering from a withdrawal agony." They know me really well.

Just posting some pictures is all I can do now. Hope to write more about the show in a few weeks.

Back to Haiti

2010-02-11T13:37:00.002-04:00

Before I saw Anderson back in Haiti, I had been thinking about what he said. Media spend only little time on Haiti these days. Not about CNN, but I am talking about situation in Japan. I always keep Anderson's belief in my heart. We should not forget about tragedies even though they are not paid attention to by majority of people.

I felt all the happier because I hope he will be the last reporter to stay there to tell us lives in Haiti.

On a brighter note, Anderson looks extremely sexy in such a devastated area. Actually, I was so happy that I showed some of his reports to my high-school students. They are now big Anderson Cooper fans! I am not only teaching English, but telling them how wonderful AC is!

Human Nature

2010-01-19T21:14:00.008-04:00

Forgive me for my stupid fan's point of view, but the longer Anderson stays in Port-au-Prince, the more attractive he becomes. Maybe from sadness, anger, frustration... All these experience is making him emotionally stronger, more responsible for his job, and he's become stunningly handsome.

That's what I thought at the beginning of the show. Later on, as I see more report from there, I could tell what makes him look like that.

I am an English teacher in Japan, and a few years ago, I told my students how poor Haiti is, and there were food riots there. People fought for foods, and plunder what others had. At that time, I remember seeing only a short report on a riot.

From Anderson's report on looting, I thought I saw human nature. His camera was nearly robbed People need to fight in order to survive. This is really sad, but generations later, survivors might become heroes. They might be seen as stronger ones. We all know we should help each other, but those ethics won't work when it comes to the matter of life and death.

It was a breath of fresh air to see Anderson rescue a young boy. The boy seemed severely injured but he had no time to cry. He needs to survive.

And we should not forget about Sanjay's amazing work. He works as a doctor as well as a journalist. He tells us firsthand what's going on in health center there. As time goes by, they desperately need to avoid infection. People there do not have anything and they do need food and drugs to survive. All they need is donation, even though we can not tell if all the donation reaches needy people or not, this is the only thing we can do. I personally donated via Medecins sans Frontieres. Have you given them a helping hand?

Life and Death

2010-01-19T20:40:00.005-04:00

In the aftermath of gigantic earthquake, first, I saw heroes, helping each other survive. Five days later, there are far more dead bodies than those surviving under rubbles. Of course all the lives are equally precious, but at this moment, they don't expect someone to be alive. This is what makes one life even more precious, giving hope to everyone.

It was heartwarming seeing a baby rescued after more than 60 hours. She may not have understood the situation, where her family members were dying around her, but her smile seemed genuinely happy. She gave us a big hope.

While there are some hope for those who are rescued, there are numerous dead bodies neglected and buried inhumanely. I remember seeing as many birds buried after the case of avian flu was detected. I felt sad seeing birds stacked and buried in one place. That was birds. This time, what I see in the site was countless numbers of human bodies. That was shocking. So shocking to me that I got frozen for a while. I did assume that they would not be identified. But under good government and organization, it is normal that who are buried there. I didn't know that in Sumatra, each of the dead bodies was pictured so that the loved ones would know how they end up their lives.

The smell must have been overwhelming and I could tell how eerie it was. I really appreciate his decision to let us see the mass grave. Really shocking but we must see. Who that see this devastation could turn a blind eye to Haiti? We are all responsible for helping them.

Haiti

2010-01-14T12:44:00.007-04:00

I don't know much about Haiti. All I know is that the country is extremely poor, so poor that people even ate cookies made of mud, and that the government is not working very well. But that's enough for me to imagine what a chaotic situation this earthquake would create. Of course we see many bad things on the aftermath of the earthquake, but through this report, we did see many nice moments. People are helping each other. International aids had not reached them. They have to do what little things they can to help others.

I always support Anderson's commitment to let the world know what is happening in the devastated area. I like him all the more for his kind remark on Haitian people. They deserve to have their stories told.

I'll write more about Haiti later, just posting some other photos.

Impact Your Word Commercial

2010-01-06T09:26:00.002-04:00

It's nice to hear Anderson's voice during a commercial break unexpectedly. The strong light makes him look even more photogenic.

INNOVATION

2010-01-06T09:22:00.014-04:00

I'm still updating my blog!

Brainwashing Children

I think I've heard about terrorist school in Pakistan before, but this practice hasn't changed. It is really disturbing to see a young boy executing a criminal. They are indoctrinating innocent boys into believing that death is not something you should avoid, and that it is all right to kill themselves as it is one way to go to heaven.
Incidentally, in my English class, I showed my 14-years students Michael Jackson's live performance, in which Michael hopes happiness of children all over the world. There's a stark contrast between happy children singing together with Michael Jackson and those in Pakistan.

INNOVATION

I couldn't take my eyes off with the TV screen when Anderson appeared on segway. He'd got a knack of it. I have never tried it yet, but I hear it is a bit tricky to handle it.

When it comes to technology, Japanese scientists are doing fairly well, but I admit we are behind those in the United States. However, it seems we have similar problem in common; young people these days are not excited about science, governments and private companies are reluctant to finance large amount of money on R&D due to recession.

I want to believe anything that is imaginable would be eventually created. We already know how time machine could be created, although it's impossible for us to move faster than the light speed. So when the scientist said he would love to see a time machine, I was very happy. They never give up creating one.

2010

2010-01-06T09:17:00.002-04:00

It's too late to say Happy New Year, but better late than never. I hope to update this place much more often than I did last year.

Mammogram

2009-11-17T12:22:00.009-04:00

I'm back! I have posted any blog for a long time. Actually, I have several blogs, not only this one, but for my work, my diary etc., and I haven't update any of them. I knew that creating a blog that will satisfy everyone is impossible, but I had a kind of trouble in some other blogs. I didn't feel like blogging any more. After a few month, I came back on a whim and probably, I'll be updating as frequently as possible!

Mammogram Recommendations?

Compared to other developed nations, fewer women take mammogram routinely in Japan, which is why breast cancer has a high mortality rate here. When the tumor is detected in the early stage, this disease is curable but as few people take a checkup, it is usually too late when they find a cancer. I recently had a chance to talk with an obstetrician and gynecologist and learned about the need to take medical checkup. We're still encouraging people to take mammogram here, so I was surprised when I heard about the guideline in the US. I assume this is due to the economic crunch, however, prevention is more important than curing cancer patients.

As for me, I took a checkup 2 years ago and I guess I have to take one this year.

Demise of the King

2009-06-26T11:26:00.003-04:00

They said that it will be always remembered what you were doing when you heard the news about the death of Micheal Jackson. I was just sleeping and I got an email from a friend that informed me of the news. I was half asleep and I didn't get surprised or shocked at all. When I got out of the bed and turned on TV, I got shocked. Even though I haven't been listening to his music recently, I've always loved it. It never gets out of date.

Michal Jackson is literally the king who mesmerized people on the whole planet. I'd say he might have had as much power as Pope has in Christian world. He has been the only king and we will never have another Micheal Jackson in the future. We have such diverse music styles and everyone's preference differs from others.

I felt empathy for him when somebody, I forgot who he was, said that Michael was the loneliest man he had ever met. Even the King, who was admired by billions of people, could not fill in his loneliness. The more powerful you become, the less people you can trust, which is really a sad thing.

Michael is is not only the King. But to me, he looks like someone that lives in another world, which could be a virtual world, or in our illusion. I never see him as a ordinary human being just like us. He is the superpower, whom we can never get in touch. I really felt so when I heard the story one of the commentators told us about. He said he was asked by a Japanese girl if he has touched Michael. She shook hands with the commentator and she fainted. He is such a special figure.

Anyway, his demise in this time is not a bad thing. They say Michael looked so frail and he wouldn't have another chance for come back. If we saw Micheal in a terrible conditions, a lot of people would feel discouraged. Michael shouldn't be old. He must be the King, and an innocent boy who forever loves singing and dancing.

His sudden death slip back all the images of his glorious moments into a fantasy world.

twitter

2009-06-18T09:31:00.003-04:00

I'm having a hard time updating this place, but so far I never think about quitting updating.

I recently started using twitter. I still haven't figured out how well it work for me but seeing Anderson tweet is really fun for me!

Medical Marijuana

2009-06-16T21:37:00.008-04:00

There have been a lot of problems related to marijuana in Japan these days. Quite a few celebrities were arrested, and students in prestigious universities were accused of drug traffiking. So legalizing this plant, even as medical use, is unthinkable here. I also cannot believe they are sold casually in some shops and people can get some marijuana easily.

Even so, it is OK to sell its seeds, which are usually processed so as not to let it burgion. We use the seeds for bird feed or spices. However, there's a catch. It's also OK to sell unprocessed seeds. But if you grow them, you get arrested.

I can understand how marijuana helped the musician relieve her pain and how much it changed her life. But I still don't think it's a good idea to see it as one of medical herbs. She said something like, "If it helps people feel good at the end of the day, government cannot judge his or her decision (to use the drug)." But in my opinion, something that could lead the society in the bad direction shoulg not be legalized.

Last week, Anderson was in LA and I love to see Anderson broadcast from the roof top of the building.

North Korea

2009-06-08T12:09:00.002-04:00

I know it is a kind of absurd to talk about a news show broadcasted a week ago. I was planning on updating this place and took some pictures. Better late than never.

North Korea is a cause of headache for our country, what with abduction issue, nuclear programs, ballistic missiles. Among that, abduction issue is the major concern for the Japanese. Other countries give nuclear issue the first priority, which I personally believe is the right thing to do. And so, sometimes the Japanese government is frustrated when they don't take abduction issues as seriously as we expect.

And now, two American journalists were sentenced 12 years in prison, serving compulsive labor in mine lands. I have often seen on Japanese TV how inhumane they treat the inmates there. I feel sick in stomach just to recall what was reported. I think more and more people will be concerned about what's happening in NK, and I hope the country will be a better one.

As for the journalists, I think I saw a report by one of them, maybe Laura Ling(?). She appeared on 360 a few years ago, didn't she?? I was amazed by how she liked the country. She seemed so happy to be in "such a beautiful country." Japanese people tend to see NK as just an odd country and we never expect it to be beautiful. Since I saw her report, I've thought how biased our media might be. Basically, the Japanese have a hostile feeling toward NK, and so our media might like to promote prejudice.

Even so, I don't feel like showing respect to that regime.

Ku Klux Klan

2009-05-24T22:47:00.004-04:00

This is my first time to hear about KKK, which might sound like that I am so retarded when American people hear this. But I was surprised that this kind of discrimination was still going in this civilized nation.

It was a nice moment to see young Anderson. Although it was just 4 years ago, he seems a lot younger. I thought he looked so handsome in the old interview, but I found him much more attractive in the present.

Anyway, it is interesting to hear that it was like a "fairy tale" for a black man to be elected as a mayor of a small city in the country of which President is a black man. This mayor being elected is just as significant as the Presidential Election.

Talk with Bibi

2009-05-19T12:41:00.004-04:00

Generally speaking, many Japanese people are ignorant of what's happening in Israel. To us, what's happening there is world away and we are so indifferent. I remember my Canadian coworker say,"Israeli issues are often taught in Western countries and many people are concerned about it but here in Japan, not so many people know about it." (... oh well
I'm just making excuse for my ignorance.)

Anyway, I don't have a positive feelings toward Israel as far as I learned from the talk between David and Anderson. Making the Middle East nuclear-free is so important for the entire world. And in order to realize it, Iran is the key. I can understand that. However, Israel cannot make it as long as the country itself is unstable. I think Obama is right. Dealing with Israel/Palestine issues is the most important in that region.

-------------------------------------------

I captured some cute pictures! I hope you enjoy them :)

Aung San Suu Kyi

2009-05-17T12:30:00.003-04:00

Not only people in "this" country, but I think many people in Japan do not know about the situation in Burma, either. And I'm afraid I am one of them. So it was a good opportunity for me to learn about what's happening to Suu Kyi and in Burma.

It was interesting when the musician, too bad I don't remember name, compared Aung San Suu Kyi with Nelson Mandela. Both of them fought for democracy, which was the very reason they were imprisoned. But they don't hate the people who had done that to them. They hate their surroundings where they are/were obliged to suppress democracy.

Is that really possible for a foreigner to sneak in the country and swim all the way to her? This is such a mystery. Somebody asked him to do so that they can arrest her?

Anderson must be so keen on this issue, he is always just as enthusiastic at any issues though, as Burma is his starting point of his extraordinary career. I also loved it when he played the music of the singer at the end to show his respect.

It's been a long time since I blogged last time

2009-05-16T13:01:00.003-04:00

Are there still visitors to this place?? Anyway, I came back to my own place for the first time n a very very long time.

I have been extremely busy with my work recently. I do enjoy watching the show but cannot spare enough time to keep up blogging. However, writing about the show is one of the best way to enhance my English and the lack of it made me realize how my English ability has been deteriorating these days. I think it's high time I started again.

Even so ...

Maybe I'll write about Pakistan, Burma or kayaking tomorrow.

I at least posted the commercial for CNN Heroes. Anderson sounds so soft and pays respect to all the possible CNN heroes.

Smile, please!

2009-02-26T13:05:00.002-04:00

To be honest, I haven't been able to even watch 360 these days. I am kind of stressed out. But seeing my favorite anchor really helps me feel relaxed. Seeing his smile makes me smile:)

As I said, I haven't checked out the show for the past few days, I want to ask you this. Japanese "Prime Minister," which I never want to call him this way, visited White House and had a talk with President Obama. He is the first leader to visit White House. But how many of you know this? In my opinion, I didn't like his visit. There are several reasons.
1) The U.S. invited him just before State of the Union. It looks like that America showed respect to Japan, and actually, we thought that we are highly welcomed. However, media wouldn't focus on it as much as Obama's speech. In the end, his visit didn't make a big news.
2) I don't like current happened-to-be PM. I never think he is fit for the job and he is a national embarrassment. According to one survey, his supporting rate is less than 10%. The Washington should know that he wouldn't last long. (Actually, when Hillary came, she even had a talk with the leader of the opposition party.) While our leader just enjoyed being there, the U.S. succeeded in asking a helping hand when needed.

New Commcercial

2009-02-12T21:51:00.001-04:00

I successfully recorded the whole commercial of AC360! Is this the one you all see all around the world?

Randi Day!

2009-02-12T13:33:00.012-04:00

Somehow, we didn't see the annoying captions on Anderson's face for the last half hour, which allowed me to take a lot of nice pictures! To me, Anderson looks even more handsome without any captions.

Can you imagine watching the show like this for the entire hour? I really hate this.

Pinching penny is the best thing for non-superwealthy people could do during this recession. However, everybody wants to find another nicer way to make a little more out of their daily lives. Situation seem to be the same everywhere on earth. That's why people want to ask professionals and hear their opinions. I know some friends suffering from this recession. What's bothers us is that we cannot see any prospect.

Octuplet mother looking like Angelina Jolie
I stupidly visited the website of the mother. All I found was "leave comment," however we cannot see any comment left. And the donation form. It's no wonder she should ask some donation but who would do at a time when everybody is tightening our belts?

She does look like Angelina Jolie and I guess she is just as old as her.

First Lady

I always thought electing the president in the U.S. means not only choosing the leader but also choosing the king. His family is the symbol of the country. In our country, we have some princesses and they are expected to act like our role models. They wear elegant but modest clothes and engage themselves in volunteer activities all year round. In order to be one, they are educated for a long time before they get married and be a member of the royal family.

And I think the First Lady is doing the same thing. However, they are not educated by any specialist right? They decide what to wear, what to say and how to act. They are talking about her fashion, and I liked the phrase, "Clothes don't wear her, she wears the clothes." She seems to know how to make her look gorgeous, powerful, and warmhearted.

When Michelle Obama's story started and Randi Kaye started the story, I thought about the same thing. "She's doing most of the show today!"

Not only three cover stories but cross talk during Beat 360, the Shot and also 360 bulletin.

See you soon!

Blunders

2009-02-03T13:00:00.005-04:00

I basically liked Monday show a lot. It covered a wide range of topics, not only American politics and economics but octuplets, Michael Phelps, Michel Obama and so on.

BLUNDER 1

I agree that Phelps did such a blunder. But I don't blame him at all. Everybody in the world expects to see him as a perfect man. But he is just a young boy, too crazy and too strict about training himself. He sometimes needs a break. He was talked into smoking a pipe and he did it just out of his curiosity, right? This is minor mistake compared to his extraordinary achievement as a swimmer. I understand some companies are angry about him but to me, it seems they are seeing him as brand image. He is a swimmer that everybody in the world should admire.

BLUNDER 2

I'm about to make a complaint about "THE SHOT" on that day, but the picture above looks sooo cooooool:)

Anyway, I liked to see Anderson and Erica giggling about the porn in the midst of the football game. But I don't think it is a right thing for CNN to do. Some crazy guy might have done it intentionally or somebody inside the cable TV network might have made a silly mistake. But in any way, it is something the cable network are greatly regretful about. Talking the issue is either giving pleasures to the nut or insulting the TV company. Other companies should just ignore such a blunder although it is crucial for the cable company to take it serious and apologize.

Octuplet

2009-01-31T13:19:00.002-04:00

I've always wanted to have triplets. I cannot think of any particular reasons but I once had a dream of having twins and I got really disappointed because I needed one more. This might have reflected my desire hidden deep in my mind. I often heard how difficult it is to raise twins. It's easy to assume it would be even harder to raise triplets. However, I cannot imagine what it is like to bring up octuplet along with 6 other children without a husband.

At first, I was amazed and happy to hear about the news. But there seem a lot of problems concerning this medical treatment. (1) Screening failure; she isn't fit to bear octuplet for psychological, financial reasons etc. (2) Malpractice; too risky and babies may have had a good chance of some kind of disability. (3) Cost; raising kids cost huge amount of money. (4) No regulation for fertility treatment. Anderson pointed out how media report on this news, which I thought is a really important issue.

This is what I used to like doing for this blog. Taking pictures of cute, smiling Anderson! Now I can seldom do this due to that open caption CNNj offers. Anyway, He showed this beautiful smile before they added caption and I succcessfuly get this one.

Some pictures

2009-01-29T13:07:00.004-04:00

I saw the new AC360 commercial for the first time today. I've always disliked the previous one and this one is far better!

Just one picture from Wednesday's show.

I've been doing this!

2009-01-25T11:45:00.003-04:00

When was the last time I blogged about 360? Has everyone left this blog?

Anyway, I have been devoted to practicing the piano for the past one month. I am going to join YouTube Symphony project! They distribute a music score for various musical instruments and collect music videos performed by musician all around the world. They will put them together and make one piece of music. Sounds really exciting to me!

Usually, I spend non-working time on 360 related things. Instead, I spent most of my time practicing the piano, or listening to the music so I could memorize. Of course, I have been pretty busy with my real work, too. I didn't think I had enough time for the piano practice and I am not 100% satisfied with my performance, but still this was the best I could do.

Tan Dun: You Tube Symphony "Eroica"

Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 21 "Waldstein"

Why played the piano in kimono? I read that "they need international videos," and thought I should wear traditional clothes. I hope it will cath their eyes. I know my performance is not as good as other pianists, but if they like it, I might be invited to Carnegie Hall!

It was really fortunate that I have a kimono. Japanese girls usually make our own kimono when we reach the age 20. But kimono costs a lot and these days it is getting popular to rent one and just take a picture of ourselves in it. I am really thankful that my parents buy one for me.

I'll show you some photos of me wearing my kimono.

Now that I am almost finished with this project, I hope I'll be back on blogging next week!

Inauguration Eve

2009-01-21T10:52:00.007-04:00

It is really nice to see people getting more and more excited awaiting the most exciting moment in American history.

I'll write more about the event later. Just enjoy gorgeous-looking Anderson's pictures;) As for me, I got so crazy to see Anderson in Washington. I was so excited that somehow, I meaninglessly walked round and round my room. He looked excited and proud of being that place as well as all the people there.

Adorable Puppidential Candidate

2009-01-08T09:03:00.003-04:00

I couldn't believe this but I haven't checked out my favorite program for a few days. Our school had a special seminar and had to work from 7:30 to 19:00 every day. By the time I got home, I didn't have enough energy left to even watch an one-hour show. So when I saw today's show, Anderson looked even more beautiful than I last saw him.

Too bad I couldn't have any pictures of Andergiggles. Everytime he showed adorable smiles, caption blocked some part of his beautiful face....

Scintology

I agree some part of their belief. Drugs subscribed by doctors are not always good. Personally, I don't like relying on medicines. Especially, drugs doctors gives us are stronger than those sold at drug stores. But sometimes we do need ones. Why can't they be flexible? When you believe something blindlly, you might miss something important.

Pupidential Debate

How funny! Anderson tries to look as serious as the real presidential debate!

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T02:34:00.002-04:00

I'm sure you all enjoy Anderson's New Year's Eve special tonight. Just before it turned 2009, they played Imagine, and I really love that. (As far as I remember, they played it last year, too. Maybe every year they play it?) Terrorism is associated with poverty and as more and more people are losing jobs and getting hungry and we are seeing terrorism even in developed countries too. I cannot help hoping for a better year.

In Japan, we send New Year's card to many friends, coworkers, or just to anyone they know. We post them around December 25 and post office keep them until January 1st. Then we get all the New Year's card on the morning of the 1st. Here's one of the card that I made for New Year's card.

Again, I wish all of you a very happy new year!

Swimming Costumes

2008-12-23T12:13:00.006-04:00

I'm pretty happy about today's 360, with a wide variety of topics.

Bonus Outrage

I was appauled to see some executives receiving big bonus even in this quagmire. I thought "Well, this is America, a country with the biggest economic power!" I've often heard a lot of cases where people get incredible amount of money. But apparently, this is not a right moment to get such a big bonus.

I just met one of my best friends the other day. Her husband is selling used car and he is selling less and less these days. She said he received no bonus this time. I really felt sorry for her. The failure of the Big 3 affects the bottom line the fastest.

EGGS FOR CASH

I've heard a similar story a few years ago. It garnered popularity among Korean college students to cell their eggs for money. I remember I did get surprised but this time, I got even more surprised. I don't mean to offend people from Korea, but Korea is economically far behind the United States. It cannot be helped for poor but smart students to make money by giving something that is wasted every month. But this is happening in America, after a few years? What might this mean to the situation there?

VICK'S DOGS

I never wanted to see dogs fighting. Finally, many of those dogs had a second chance to live peacefully. Looking at the pictures of all dogs living with their new family, I am so relieved to hear about that. I don't like the idea of euthanizing them. Some people believe they should not spend too much time and money in order to rehabilitate those dogs and that they should rescue even more needy doggies. But I don't think so. An inresponsible human treated them in a inhumane manner and those dogs are victims. We should do anything we can think of to compensate.

SWIMMING COSTUME

I love this!

Yeah, he, too, is wearing a swimming costume

Planet in Peril and so on...

2008-12-13T11:51:00.010-04:00

Planet in Peril documentary was full of horrifying images. I was really scared by how terrible human beings can be. As a Japanese, fin soup is so common for us. Many of us get excited about eating shark fin. We must stop eating and people should know what is happening to get them and how shark-fin eaters are seen by the rest of the world.

Anyway, I don't have much time to think and write everything I want. I'll have Christmas break in a week. I don't have any plans for it, so I'll make another project for my classes using this documentary. I'll share my thought then.

Speaking of PIP, how many kinds of commercial does it have? But above all, I like this one! You can easily tell the reason why.

Anderson seemed to be in a good mood today, didn't he? He showed his match against Phelps almost every time before commercial break so that viewers wouldn't change the dial.

I love it when he said, "this is actually Wolf Blitzer's body," when shown this picture of Anderson wearing speedo bathing suit. He is so cute!

By the way, I see some comments by vexed readers. I might not approve those comments, but I did. We need to know there are some people who are irritated by other ACfans' words. They need some places to raise their voices.

They are constantly trying to convince me that not all Anderson fans are nice, which I find a nasty thing to say. How might Anderson feel? I believe we are all nice people, or we should be. We all watch Anderson's passionate reports from remote areas where people are struggling to live, which make us eager to help them, stories of selfless people who help those in need, and discussion with variety of view points. As for me, in order to understand what Anderson is telling us about, I need to study the background, histories, and in my case English. When I see reports, I think of how I should react. Since I started watching AC360, I think I've changed a lot. How can one be uneducated and cold-hearted when he/she is attracted to such a remarkable journalist?

I do get annoyed by some people who dislike me but I try not to think about them. I want to keep blogging to have fun, not to be disturbed.

Ivory

2008-12-10T12:22:00.002-04:00

Something seems to be wrong with my PC these days and I cannot watch TV with my PC today. I quickly turned my eye on TV when 360 was broad casted (half a day ago) and they were talking about Oprah's having to lose weight not to be thin but to be strong and healthy. I wanted to see that segment, but podcast doesn't include that part. Every time I see report on obesity, I always say to myself that I'll lose my weight, which I never put into practice. Whether or not I see that segment, I know I wouldn't. What's the best way to lose weight? Maybe keeping sweets away within my eyesight must be one thing. Currently, I have a strong craving for chocolate, after having some potato chips at 1:00am.

I cannot wait to see Planet in Peril documentary. Today, they showed elephant hunting report. It is really disturbing. They are killed only for their tusks. They are made into gorgeous ornaments or accessories. But there is one thing product that I am really familiar with. Piano. Tusk is not used in my piano, fortunately (or unfortunately?). But white keys of nicer ones are covered with ivory. I often played such piano. It feels so smooth and absorbs sweat from finger, so it is so dry even after hours of practice. (Does this sound not clean? Actually the keys of old pianos are usually yellow or brown.) I admit I'd always loved ivory-covered piano. But since then, I was wondering how many elephant's tusks are needed to make pianos all over the word. I thought all those ivory was removed from dead elephants but maybe this is not true. I suddenly feel so guilty for my love for ivory keys. I might feel even more guilty if my family were rich enough to buy an expensive piano and I had one.

2008-12-04T12:22:00.005-04:00

( This light blue tie really makes him even more beautiful, doesn't it? Yay!)

This time, automakers' CEOs drives their cars. However, I find a picture of them reluctantly using their cars so boring. They are kind of forced to drive and apparently uncomfortable in their products.

I can understand taxpayers disliking the bail out. But they cannot stable the economy without helping them, right?

Being a chef at White House

Becoming the president of the United States seems like becoming a King of a country and he or she deserves to have the best food in the country. If the throne is succeeded to descendants, their favorite tastes wouldn't change so dramatically. Also, nowadays any kind of food is available in America, so it must be a hard work to tuning into new family members. I thought I heard of the news of the woman 1st chef quite recently, but that was 3 years ago. Time does fly.

Planet in Peril 2

I cannot wait to see the show next week! We are seeing commercials more and more often and I am getting excited. I have a plan to use this series in my English classes so I cannot miss every single moment.

will.i.am Music Video

After AC360, I happened to see a music video by will.i.am. Whenever I see him, I am reminded of his hologram. In the video, I do see him talk with Anderson on that election night! Even though I saw Anderson for only a moment, I got so happy to see him unexpectedly.
Here's the video; will.i.am "It's A New Day"

Frugal CEO

2008-12-03T12:17:00.005-04:00

This time, the CEOs of big 3 finally decided not to use their private jets but they actually drive eco-friendly cars. Yeah. They become thrifty. Talking of thrifty CEOs, I would like to introduce this video. This is about a frugal CEO in Japan's biggest airline company. I'd known how he is restructuring his company when I actually watched this video a month ago. But now that American companies are in such a quagmire, I hear this CEO is admired greatly these days.

I think he is good but don't think he is someone special. It is true that there are many greedy CEOs in Japan, but he is just one of the typical (?)CEOs with common sense.

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Possible attack by biological weapons or nuclear weapons

I get really scared when I think about nuclear weapons. We were educated to hate them. Since childhood, I've always been afraid of them. The other day, I was watching a history program for elementary school students. They are still teaching about the inferno after the bomb was dropped. In certain period, people complain about showing those images to young children. But I think it necessary for people to understand how terrible wars are. I hate it when they are talking about wars nuclear weapons casually (not in this program, but in general).

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By the way, did you check out this video? You can also download podcast!

Michael Phelps VS Anderson Cooper

2008-11-26T13:18:00.003-04:00

Watch CBS Videos Online

Watch CBS Videos Online

Watch CBS Videos Online

CNN HEROES

2008-11-26T12:14:00.003-04:00

I cannot wait to see CNN Heroes. Of course, we'll be seeing incredibly selfless people all around the world and I'm sure I'll be impressed and encouraged. What's more, I learned that two of my favorite artists will join ( or already joined?) this event. Christina Aguilera will sing my all time favorite song Beautiful, and Alicia Keys! I like her by far the best!　She will sing "Superwoman" and I think that's the perfect song for the opportunity. I checked out to see if more is written on her website and read "Larry King Live! Heroes Special (CBS)" Is she on LKL? Is that on CBS?

AC's HERO

2008-11-26T12:09:00.003-04:00

I haven't updated this place for the past few days, but I never fail to check out the show and the podcast.

As a part of promoting CNN HEROES, Anderson is telling his HERO. Before that segment was broadcasted, Soldad said he would tell about her later and during the commercial break, I was wondering who that would be. As I expected, his HERO was Angela, whom Anderson interviewed when he went to Congo 2 years ago. He often mentions her and her interview seemed to have a great impact on his career as well.

On Monday, we saw a video of monkey waiter from Japan. According to the shop owner, the monkey learned his work by himself, watching his master work.

Last week, they showed funny Beyonce's dance videos. In Japan, there's a comedian called "Japanese Beyonce." When I heard that nickname, I didn't know how she looked like. I imagined she should be extremely beautiful but she turned out to be ... like this.

Common Sense

2008-11-20T13:05:00.004-04:00

Somehow, I haven't been able to record TV program recently and I turned to podcast. Hmm, the picture seems somewhat strange. Anderson's face is a little bit wide, don't you think?

What is "common sense"? CEOs of the companies on the verge of bankruptcy owning a private jet is morally wrong? Probably yes, from a normal person's point of view. But when asking the same question to hyper-paid, super-super busy business workers, it might be a "common sense" to travel by their own jet not because of "security reason" but because of operating their super busy schedule. When they are making far more money than maintaining a jet, isn't it all right for those people?

To me, there seem to be too many overpaid people in America. I forgot the actual number and which company, but I heard every year, one CEO earns more money than Vietnam's GDP. That's just too much. We cannot expect him/her to have the same "common sense" that we consider.

Incidentally, Japanese Prime Minister is being criticized because of his lack of "common sense." Such as his using expensive restaurants, not knowing how much certain food cost etc... He even said "Doctors are the group of people who lack common sense." (In my opinion, he also lacks one.) Every time I saw Japanese news program, I find another blunder by PM.

I liked THE SHOT. A man's obsession makes him have John King's photo on his iphone. How many of you have AC pictures on your cell phone or PC?

Obama - Clinton

2008-11-17T22:14:00.003-04:00

I still cannot help screaming when I see Anderson appears on TV or while I was watching podcast on my way to the office. The longer I see him, the more addicted I become.

Obama may choose Hillary as Secretary of State. (He also has other guys in his mind, but, of course, I know none of them.) I think it a perfect idea. While they were competing for nomination, they had bad words to each other. During that period, I was wondering whether they could establish a good relationship. Whether they could or not does not matter, actually. They definitely have to and we should forget what they said or they did in the past. They should move on to the bright future. Therefore, I hate media showing images of bad times in the past.

Hopeful Future

2008-11-11T13:07:00.003-04:00

There seems to be a lot of hope all over America. I was watching another CNN program, I don't remember what program though, and heard somebody say that what they expect Obama is "vision" and "action" just as what Kennedy and Roosevelt did and that they also expect him to destroy chaos as Clinton did. Just listening to him, I could tell how much they expect him to change their country.

I went to Washington D.C. last spring, but it is really difficult or rather impossible for a tourist to see inside the building. Later I learned it was allowed to enter it before 9/11, which surprised me a lot.

Anyway, I learned a lot about the White House on this show. I was mesmerized by how nicely decorated it is. I like the idea that there are something that's never been changed and something that have been added by each resident.

I'm not good at economics and I have never been paying attention to the show when it turns to economic crisis. My boyfriend asked me how American people see the situation now and I couldn't answer well, about which he criticized and made fun of me! I'll paying more attention tomorrow...

History

2008-11-06T12:58:00.005-04:00

One night after that exciting moment, everybody seems to have calmed themselves down and started to realize what a great victory it is for American history. Of course, everybody had already been thrilled just by a thought of having a black president way before he was elected. But when that dream actually came true, they are not only excited but really proud of their decision.

I don't remember when Obama mentioned this lady, but I do remember his talking about this 104-year-old lady. She is a witness of many historic event and this must be one of the biggest event for her considering the fact that she did experience being segregated because of the color of her skin. She might be one of the black people who has always shared Martin Luther King Jr's dream. As many people say, his dream finally came true.

I don't know if Empire State Building shows the color of the winner every time. This is such a cute idea.

By the way, this is nothing new but doesn't Anderson look so sexy with his purple tie last night?? Yeah, I know you all will say he looks sexy all the time and I agree to that!

CHANGE

2008-11-05T00:01:00.003-04:00

Thank you, American people, for this wonderful night! People all around the world got so excited about your choice.

The new president has always emphasizing the word "CHANGE." I'd say, it is Obama himself that changed in a better way. When he announced he'd run for the election campaign, he looked immature as the next president. He has always been criticized for lack of experience. Hillary would often say that they should choose the one who is more than ready on the Day 1 of her inauguration. During this long long election campaign, Obama seemed to have intensively learned enough to be ready on the Day 1.

American president is not the only one that will decide the country's policy. There should be many experts around him. The most important factor to be the leader is charisma. Obama does have one. People are mesmerized by his words, and his words have a great influence on uniting American people. As some commentator said he is not only the representative for Democrats or black people, but for people who didn't vote for him, all races, all generations, men and women... in short American.

What concerns me is how the relationship between the U.S and Japan might change. Japanese people love something new. He doesn't have to do anything so he will garner popularity. He is already super popular here, especially in a city called Obama. There are already OBAMA girls (they call themselves obama "girls," but are they really girls??) dancing hula when they heard that Obama was elected.

By the way, my post looks so boring without Anderson's picture. You need to see at least one new picture?

Don't Japanese people look stupid?

2008-10-30T12:51:00.003-04:00

I don't know the detail of the election campaign, but it almost reaches its culmination. Obama's informartial on 7 TV programs and his appearance with Bill Clinton, who not American people and people outside American consider as the greatest presidents in a decade. Their speeches are really enticing.

At first, I did not want Obama to become the president. As I often wrote, I want Hillary to be the one. I want to see a woman president. Actually I was thinking if McCain should win the election and make a blunder in his term, there would be a good chance for he to become the president! If Obama becomes the leader, he will probably have 8-year term. Obama will be a very popular president and after 8 years, Hillary will be pretty old. There won't be a chance for Hillary to succeed him.

However, during this long long campaign, Obama has acquire not only popularity but also charismatic. Had candidates gone through shorter campaign period, I don't think he wouldn't have become such a great candidate in such a short time.

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RED makes girls sexy!?

(I should have taking the photo of Erica with a red scarf, but I mistakenly deleted it..)

I read this article a few days ago. It says that they asked 100 male university students if they feel women in red sexy. How valid is this research?? We all know red makes women look nice. You know, people associate sexy women with red high heels. It may be my stereotype, but I think it's quite right. I remember seeing a red shoes in one of Madonna's CD pictures. (That very shoe is exhibited in Ferragamo in Firenze. I did see it when I visited the shop.) And how about Christian Louboutin shoes? They always have red heels. Red does make woman sexy.

As for boys, is there any color that makes them sexy? For Anderson, blue makes him even sexier for his piercing blue eyes!

I know 360 celebrates Japanese strange TVs. But every time I see one, especially really stupid ones, I feel SOOO embarrassed. I am always annoyed by some stupid Japanese TV programs.

It seems these days, in Japan, lacking education and intelligence is one of the key elements to appear on TV. What bothers me even more is we see such stupid programs in prime time, not midnight cable programs.

There are many informative, creative, and really excellent ones. But all these kind of clips make Japanese people really stupid!

However, as long as I can see Anderson's smile, I'm happy too ;)

Back from the Battle

2008-10-26T22:23:00.005-04:00

It was a nice idea MTV and CNN teaming up to report this occasion. I don't know about any person who is currently fighting oversea. But 3 out of 4 American know somebody who is on duty. It was good for me to know how American people are treating, or should treat, veterans.

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Niger

2008-10-23T12:51:00.007-04:00

Like most of you here, I watched Anderson's reports from Niger. I remember the most recent one is about food for remedy. They invented peanut butter like ready-to-eat food. This product was said to be a miraculous cure for starving children. Although they know how to save starving children, they are not allowed to do that by the government, which sounds really disturbing.

Actually, I showed the 60Minutes report to my students and they were really keen on learning the situation there. After that class, I told them that I donate some money to MSF every year. Some students voluntarily gave me money so it will help save a child.
I hope I will be able to see more reports, hopefully hopeful reports.

Since the comedienne (I don't remember her name...) confessed her love to David Gergen, I am also finding him attractive. I do know how much intelligent he is and I've like the way he speaks. Then I saw DG embarrassed by her message and I caught a glimpse of a cute side of him.

SEAMAN SHIP

2008-10-23T12:18:00.004-04:00

It seems tides is turning to Obama now. Colin Powell's endorsement seems really powerful to him. Apparently, he doesn't like the vice presidential candidate. But is it OK to say publicly that McCain's choice for VP is a mistake? (I agree with him, too, though.)

Obama is taking a few day off to visit his seriously ill grandmother. They say it's is a good chance for McCain to dominate news articles. But I think it will certainly do good for Obama. I remember an old lady soliciting McCain to win so that they wouldn't let Obama to become their leader. There might be many old ladies like her. His visit will motivate elderly women to support a young "grand son."

Blurry pic... I couldn't take a nice photo without caption!!

Japanese TV show again! You could find hundreds of animal videos! I love this chimp! He can run an errand with a shopping list. He can even buy a train ticket and ride a train alone. Really amazing chimp.

But doesn't this infringe copyright?? Do this Japanese TV program knows that parts of their program is broad casted around the world? I'm skeptical...

OMG!! This embarrassing Maritime Self Defense CM again! But I am happy as long as Anderson is having a nice time.

Actually, I was thinking of what happened inside this organization the other day. This organization looks really funny and relaxed. However, this is navy. They are going through rigorous training. One man even died during the training, rather bullying. 15 men attacked one man in the name of training. I felt sick to my stomach when I heard this. Commercial IS funny, but this incident is a no laughing matter...

Just a picture ... and a few more

2008-10-17T23:45:00.001-04:00

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My fellow ... ?

2008-10-15T12:25:00.005-04:00

I wrote I would try to blog every day, which turned out to be a lie... I didn't update for a few days. Hmm, too much politics for me.

I do remember Gore was likely to win the election four years ago, but at that time, I was not watching American news programs. I was pretty surprised to see the wide margin between Gore and Bush just before the election day. Anything can happen in election campaign and both candidates have good prospect at the very end.

Anything can happen in election campaign...,

speaking of which,

my coworker let me know about this clip a few days ago and I couldn't help giggling.

"Brain is the fundamental difference" between the two candidates for Presidents and VP?"

I hope I can write more about the show next time.

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By the way, have you checked out this video?

Identical?

2008-10-10T20:44:00.003-04:00

Do you like Sarah Palin? People have different view about her. At least, to conservative moms, she is their role model. I like it when one of her supporters said that helping her teenage daughter's pregnant is good as a mother. This is something that a typical modern mom cannot do, right? She is attractive as a mother. She might be a role model for working women. I like her, not very much though. That's for sure. But is she really cut out for the vice president? Since she came out from nowhere, a lot of questionable things around her have been also coming out. One of my friends said, "McCain is so old and he might die after his inauguration. Then Palin would become the president of the United State!? That's a no-no."

Even during the commercial break, AC appeared! I cannot wait to see CNN heroes. I like hearing nice stories rather than politics and economic quagmire.

A nice surprise at the end of the show! Erica was talking and talking and while she was talking, she changed her outfit!? Fantastic!

10 most wanted

2008-10-09T11:09:00.005-04:00

Honestly, I am not interested in economics, which is beyond me. I haven't paying attention to this financial crisis. (As long as I am safe, I don't have to get informed. I fully understand how stupid I am... )

But I can understand this. People greatly affected by this crisis won't acquit the culprits. Anderson said that politicians say that now is not the time to blame culprits. However, to non politicians, that's what we want to know. How they are using our money.

AIG rewarded their hardworking agents pompously. Sounds nice until we hear that the company let them stay in a luxurious hotel spending more than $40,000,000!

I also heard that an executive of Lehman Brothers gets retirement money, which is more than a developing country's GNP! I don't remember well and my info is so obscure, but I expect 360 will cover more stories about culprits.

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THE SHOT

A really weired video from Japan again!? I didn't actually watch this news on TV, but I read on the Internet. Anderson said this naked guy is an English man, but the article I read said "a man speaking Spanish." Maybe later they found out he is an Englishman.

You might not like the picture above. Me neither. I'd rather see sweet eye-candy. However, my PC didn't work today and I couldn't record 360...

Just one picture from podcast.

AC Official Facebook page?

2008-10-07T13:06:00.002-04:00

I saw this article on my widget, but I couldn't find the actual article on 360 blog. Did anyone see this?? Anyway, I joined Facebook more than a year ago, but I rarely check it out. Now I became a fan officially, I might check that out more often!

I'll start blogging again!

2008-10-07T12:37:00.005-04:00

I had a long time off from blogging, the reasons for which are
1) I'm not so interested in American politics,
2) due to that annoying open caption, I cannot enjoy taking nice photos of the beautiful anchor,
3) not having an access to webcam or webcast, I feel like a complete outsider,
4) I was just busy.

I am always watching 360 and as addicted to Anderson as ever, but when I am not blogging, I am paying less and less attention to the show and I realize that my English has been deteriorating. Updating this blog is the best way to improve my English skill, so I am back (or I will be back?? I'm not writing about Monday show...)

Some nice photos from Friday show.

INCIDE CNN

2008-09-28T22:07:00.003-04:00

Inside CNN podcast

Very short clip, but it's nice to see Anderson!

USA WEEKEND

2008-09-14T13:25:00.004-04:00

One of my friends let me know about this! The more I get to know about him, the more I like him!

USA WEEKEND.com

HOUSTON

2008-09-12T22:01:00.001-04:00

DAY1

DAY2

2008-09-10T20:29:00.003-04:00

You can tell easily that recently I am not as enthusiastic about updating this blog as before. The only reason is... caption! I cannot enjoy taking pictures. However, my enthusiasm toward Anderson never fades away! Luckily, we had two segments without captions! This is what I like to do!

I'm pretty much determined not to talk about American politics here. But I find Sarah Palin so attractive. She is bringing us something new about her almost every day. Isn't she being treated like a celebrity? Media finally seems to be getting more interested in Republican campaign. We do see a lot of news about Palin in Japanese TV too.

The other day, my mother, who is never interested in American politics, is seeing Palin's pictures on the internet. I thought she was reading something about her. But she said...

"I heard this woman's glasses is getting more and more popular! (Apparently, not the glass ceiling she mentioned when she first appear...) It is designed by a Japanese designer."

I didn't know that. Have you heard that people are interested in Palin's glasses??

Alaska is such a beautiful place. It was really disturbing to hear and see wolves hunted. I don't believe they would change the eco system. It is obvious if people intervene, it could collapse eco system.

Global warming is not caused by human? I don't think that what a person from a town surrounded by this great nature could say.

I'm curious to hear more from Palin from now on.

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I remember posting the same photo before, but I noticed this video is from Japan! I see Japanese on TV behind the cat!

Sleepy dogs... How adorable!

See you later!

I was in Kyoto

2008-09-03T20:40:00.006-04:00

I was pretty busy and I didn't say I wouldn't be able to blog for a few days. I was actually traveling to Kyoto, the oldest city in Japan. Of course, I didn't have enough time to see AC360 or Convention, but when I was staying at a room, CNN was always on so that I might see some segment where I can see Anderson. And I did! I saw a short report from NOLA during Larry King Live and learned that AC was still there. After that, I saw this clip.

Anderson appeared for only a few seconds but that was enough to make me excited!

When I came back and downloaded 360 podcast, I found that they had 360 show on Monday night and Anderson was anchoring from NOLA. He even interviewed Obama from there. He looks so handsome outside. In Japan we have a phrase describing extremely handsom guys, which literally means "drippy guy." Hmmm.... even a Japanese couldn't understand why "drippy man" means handsome but Anderson looks extremely handsome even when he is all wet.

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As I wrote before, I'll post some pictures of Kyoto. This was my 5th time to go there but still there are many places to see.

Bamboo Grove

Tenryuji Temple

Toji Temple

Byodoin Temple

Fushimi Inari Shrine

Have you ever seen the movie "SAYURI" or "Memoirs of a Geisha"? Since I saw it, I have always wanted to visit this shrine. There are about 1,000 red sacred gate on every path, even on the top of the mountain.

Even for those tiny paths, they built gates!

Conventions, Sarah, NOLA and Tshirt

2008-08-30T12:14:00.004-04:00

I was pretty much satisfied with Friday 360. Anderson looked ultrasexy in his Tshirt as usual, McCain's surprise choice was curious to me and their discussion was interesting. Also, every time Anderson reports from New Orleans, I'm getting more and more interested in the situation there.

McCain's running mate
She looks so attractive. This is what I thought at first glance. She seems to be a straightforward person. Her policy is easy to understand. She looks so strong and has many children, which means she should have a motherly love.
She is young, expected to bring us some change in American politics, and a woman, which McCain is lacking. If they chose her just because she is a woman, it is really insulting. We're learning more and more about her at the convention next week.

THE SHOT
To international viewers, did they have time for THE SHOT? Anderson did say they'd be showing it but they ran out of time and at CNN international switched the program to World News. I searched the video on CNN website.

Finally!

2008-08-28T23:42:00.005-04:00

I saw Anderson live for the first time in a long time! I'm sooo glad!

My summer school finished yesterday and I have one-week off. I was hoping to see more 360 but all this week and next week, they're having two conventions. Well, the acceptance speech today was excellent and enticing. The fact that this speech was made on the day when Martin Luther King Jr. made the famous "I have a dream" 45 years ago, make this event all the more historical. But I still do not find a reason for me to pay attention to this event. The only reason I watched was to be able to understand what they'll be talking about in 360 shows.

Anderson will be reporting from NOLA tomorrow. I cannot wait to see!

Anderholidays

2008-08-22T00:18:00.004-04:00

Ugh... I haven't updated this blog for about a week. I don't like to say I am busy but I am. I am at work for more than 13 hours! I cannot watch the show let alone blog about it.

Fortunately, I don't have to go to work early in the morning today, and I managed to see the show on live, finding Anderson taking off from work. I'm so glad! I'm not missing much. (I am missing much news, though.)

In my last post, I wrote about the very young Chinese gymnasts. I was going to write more about that, but I didn't. And today, they were still talking about the incident, which surprised me. In Japan, we never talk about that any more. However, it is important whether or not they are entitled to the prize. I saw a lot of athletes disqualified because of small mistakes. In this case, China let disqualified athletes in the event in the first place. China is probably trying to wash out this incident and that's why we rarely see this in news programs any more.

The shot from Wednesday show was about a monkey paying a brief visit to a Tokyo subway station. The video look hilarious. It was just a tiny cute monkey that caused a havoc. The more civilized the city becomes, the more vulnerable it becomes to nature.

Chinese Athletes 1

2008-08-16T02:25:00.008-04:00

When I heard about the allegation of Chinese athletes giving false ages, I thought that America is making every tiny incident a reason to criticize China. They do look much younger than a 16-year-old girl. But at that time, Chinese athletes were said to have passports with their age over 16. I didn't actually see their performances, but they must have done their best as to win the gold medal. We should pay respect to their effort.

I remember reading a comment to the live blog. She was a 39-year-old Asian woman claiming she looks in her 20s. I had a similar experience in the US. I was asked by a 10-year-old American girl if I was 16 years old! I was over 30 at that time. Indeed, Asian girls do look younger than actual ages.

In Japan, not many comedians are highly respected. That's because most of them lack sense of humor and intelligence. In Japan, we make light of humor. So many comedians have really poor taste. Recently, we have too many comedians in Japan and people are turning to them. However, in my opinion, very few are really talented. When I see comedians in America, they are all so sophisticated.
Kathy Griffin is the best person to make Anderson giggle!

Snake in the pants! Yikes!!

Anderson and Erica did say they wouldn't do that. Of course not. Anderson is scared to death of snakes, isn't he?

DRAMATIC ANIMAL VIDEO

Pebbles let me know about this video. I have been stuggling with my PC trying to see webcast. Still, I cannot. It's really nice to see what I've wanted to see. Thanks again, Pebbles!

AC360 Behind the scenes

Important To Be Cute?

2008-08-13T04:52:00.012-04:00

Beijing Olympics: Faked Fireworks and synced songs

They didn't spend much time for this, but I find it interesting. How did the singer and her family feel when she was told she wouldn't be able to appear for the ceremony. "Girl must be cute to succeed in a society." This is what she might learn.

Well, both girls are so cute, but to us, who is cuter than our Andy!?

Everybody is watching Olympic games every day, and every country has some athletes they are proud of. Who is your hero or heroine in your country? In Japan, we are very proud of a swimmer, Kosuke Kitajima. He is a breaststroke swimmer and he is sure to get another gold medal!

I don't usually watch sports, but I love to see many games and matches. I am moved to tears whatever event I see. All athletes show us their most beautiful and strong moment. Even though our teams or athletes don't win, I admire everybody. They inspire me in every way. They let me know what it is like to be a "professional."

Everything is for Campaign

2008-08-12T00:02:00.004-04:00

I hadn't taken any interest in the conflict over Georgia before I watched the report from the war-torn area. I thought I should know what's happening there, but the situation seemed too complicated for me to understand, and I skipped all the articles or news reports on this crisis.

So it's natural resources that Russia and other countries want? Other countries are trying to intervene to establish a close tie with a country with all those resources? Usually, citizens there are the victims. They are innocent.

What surprised me was using this situation as a "political test" for the presidential candidates. It sure is important for public to know how efficiently they would handle international affairs. But is it morally right to see this serious matter like this?

Also, John Edwards' affair seems to be reported too much. The more they talk about it, the less popularity the Democrat garner? They want to relate that affair to election campaign. I know many people would like to hear more about the affair, but it's just out of our curiosity, isn't it? And to Edwards, that must be something that has already been over. I feel sorry for him.

These are just one opinion from a girl living outside the United States. Please let it go just like we should let go that liaison.

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By the way, did anyone find out what project Anderson was working on during the commercial break? We will know soon but I cannot wait to see what they will offer next!

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Anderson's profile is stunningly beautiful. Too bad I cannot delete that obtrusive caption.

Breaking News

2008-08-11T10:28:00.003-04:00

Thanks to the Breaking News, I enjoyed 360 without that caption for the first time in about 4 months. Great!

John Edward having an affair seems to be a really big scandal. While I was watching this news, I was thinking about adultery.

Incidentally, I recently read "Scarlet Letter" as a part of my English lesson. We talked and talked about adultery. In the past, it was only women who had to suffer from criticism. Women who had an inappropriate relationship with an inappropriate man were severely punished. In some regions, there are still strong beliefs that women who had an affair before marriage or an affair outside her marriage should deserve death penalty. In an uncivilized society, women suffer.

But what about in a civilized society? Isn't it men, especially men with power, that suffer the most? This blunder could terminate Edward's carrier as a politician, which is equivalent to death sentence, isn't it? (Of course, he will be able to seek for another way of living.)

So what if women had an affair in a civilized society? I do know some girls who enjoys that. They seem so innocent. In Japan, there were some cases where men disclosed having an affair with a celebrity woman, or with a politician. Seeing men revealing their secret relations with an inappropriate women doesn't look so nice, and in each case, it was men that were criticized. Things are easy for women on this matter. However, as women take more power, this good balance might change again.

BLOGGED

2008-08-05T09:49:00.002-04:00

It's really nice to see Anderson especially I'm so stressed out. Literally, I just "saw" Anderson. I haven't listened to the content yet. I am going bed with my ipod and watch podcast.

I am getting interested in sharks these day, and I recently DL some podcasts from Discovery Channel. I was expecting something academic but so far, I watched scary ones, attacking people. Some of them were soooo gross! After I watched all those scenes, I found this moment even more astonishing.

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By the way, I got an email from "BLOGGED" the other day, letting me know that this blog is highly evaluated. They evaluated this blog based on (1) frequency of updates (2) relevance of content (3) site design and (4) writing style.

(1) Now I am not updating every day, but I used to update every time I saw Anderson Cooper, so this should be highly evaluated.

(2) "Addicted to Anderson Cooper." I always get so excited just to see this handsome anchor. I am write about him forever.

(3) This blog is full of beautiful Anderson's pictures. The design should be nice as subject is good.

(4) This is what made me so excited! You know, English is a foreign language to me, yet I was given this high score.

This inspired me to blog more frequently. I'll try hard!

PHEW!

2008-08-01T05:45:00.006-04:00

I haven't updated this blog for two weeks! And I only posted three blogs in July! It looks like this blog is half-dead.

I have been busy with work for the past month (I only got two holidays since April!) and I rarely have time to watch 360 these days. I always turn to podcast. Looking and listening to Anderson really relieve me of my stress.

All of you Anderfans around the globe fainted to see his big smile, didn't you!? You must have watched this again and again, but you wouldn't have enough picture of the moment, eh?

Caption is hiding his rough hair! So how about some pictures from podcast?

How cute! I love the wrinkles around his eyes!

Some other pictures from Planet in Peril segment.

As a Japanese person, eating shark fin is quite common. I knew somebody had posted blog about shark a couple of weeks ago, but I didn't read carefully at that time. Now Anderson is reporting on shark, I need to know what's the problem on it.

AC360 blogs on shark

At first, I thought that each country has its own eating culture and that other people should pay respect to the culture. Actually, I went to Wikipedia both in Japanese and in English. In Japanese page, there's no negative remarks. However, in English page, there are a long controversy section. This example shows there's a wide gap between Asian countries and Western countries.

Personally, I love Shark Fin Soup. It is very healthy and taste so good. But now I know how they kill them. So inhumane, with no dignity. Just to take a tiny part of a shark, the entire body was thrown away, which I found really disgusting.

This leads to another question, is it OK for human to kill animals for food? Of course, I do eat meat, fish or other animal products. But thinking of how they were raised and how they were killed, I sometimes feel sorry for them even though I know they were born and killed to become food for human.

I also learned that if people on earth were to stop eating animals and start eating only corn, rice, all sorts of crops, or vegetables, the earth would be able to feed 9.1billions of people. Apparently, no people would be suffering from hunger.

But if all people on the earth were to stop eating animals, the entire eco system would change drastically, which would create another problem.

Hmm, if we eat too much, the eco system would change. If we stop eating animals, our lives might be in danger. What is the right thing to do?

Selling Baby's Photos?

2008-07-15T11:23:00.004-04:00

Is it a right thing to do?
After I watched today's 360, I brought this topic to my English class. I explained the situation in English and had some students pretend to be Angelina. Other students bombarded him/her with tons of questions. They had to answer all the questions. It doesn't matte whether it is true or not. The purpose was answering the questions as quickly as possible. In order to do that, they need to be very creative, and proficient in English. They really had a good time playing a role of this celebrity.

Anyway, I was kind of surprised how media changed toward their behavior. The last time they sold their daughter's baby, I thought people were in favor of them. "Angelina's daughter has already started raising money for the poor." "She made a good decision to protect her family from paparazzi." These were what I heard last time.

Things have changed. How come? I guess this couple is really influential to other celebrities. Many celebrities have follow suit to make money. Too many pictures of a celebrity & his/her baby have made people sick. "Oops! This person did again?" kind of thing.

AC360 blog "Buying and selling celebrity baby photos"

Painful Miss USA

I enjoyed watching Miss USA stumbling from the stairs, Miss teen insisting people in South Africa or in Iraq be educated in the USA, but above all, I enjoyed Anderson trying to sound like dumb anchor in promoting the new 360 website. This is why I love Anderson Cooper!

Gas Price

2008-07-04T13:36:00.002-04:00

I wish I were a dog, which can inherit whopping $2 million!
It sounds like she was treated badly by most of her relatives. I guess the rich woman saw everybody say and do nice things not from sincerity but because her money was what they cared the most. She may have had a lot of people around her. But she might have felt emptiness. Her dog was the only one who loved her from the bottom of her heart...

In Japan, we buy petroleum by the liter. We do see the price rise every week. Just yesterday, I saw this sign; 1L=193yen, which means $1.93. One gallon is 3.785 liter. So... one gallon for $730!? How does this sound to you?

We are the country devoid of natural resources. We cannot do anything but grin and bear it. However, I think this is the right direction to make people come to their senses. Too many people are running cars without thinking about this precious resource. This high price is making us think what we should do to pinch pennies (or yen!?) and think about how to reduce CO2 emission.

Webcam

2008-07-02T20:38:00.008-04:00

I cannot watch Webcam from here. Whenever I click the video, I am told I cannot watch it because of my geographic location. How about the situations in other international viewers? Can you see it on your PC??

When I was hospitalized for kidney stone last year, I was just like that. I was rolling over on chairs, moaning, looking really ugly. The instant I arrived at the hospital, they put me on the stretcher and carried me to the bed immediately and examined my body to see what was wrong.

It is unbelievable that people see her fall down from the chair, see her suffering from acute attack but still they ignored her. This is what's happening in a hospital and it's too obvious something was wrong with her. (If this happened in a subway station or in a park in NY, I'm not 100% sure I could help him/her out. If in my city, I will.)

Starbucks is closing 600 shops nationwide.
This sounds a bad news, but I guess it is a part of the CEO's strategy. May be they have come up with a way to make this coffee chain stand out. I love Starbucks' strong iced-coffee. It's getting hotter and hotter here and I cannot live without it! Despite its high price, I'll buy. In this way, I can contribute poor coffee farmers, right?

I try to walk for an hour every day, and since I started walking to my school, my feet are getting thicker and thicker! I need a Pedegg! How wonderful to get rid of all that "grated cheese" from my skin! I could make Anderson laugh by doing that!

I don't know they were the real feet and hands of those models, but if I were the model, I never want to let them show my ugly feet along with my face.

June 23 - 27 AC360 pictures

2008-06-28T12:14:00.002-04:00

I know once I start to write about each segment that I was interested in, I would spend too much time on blogging. But I think it would be nice to share some photos that I took this week!

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I am working another big project for my English school. Here's the material that I chose. Anderson's Niger report for 60 MINUTES! I am so excited when I am using his report for my classes. Working is even more enjoyable.

Light Blue Tie

2008-06-27T21:47:00.002-04:00

I haven't updated this place for a few days... When I am lazy on this blog, I am pretty busy with my work. But of course, I always watch the show, and I will today too!

During Larry King Show, we don't see the disturbing caption. For international viewers, we can see AC360 teaser only on Friday. And I did this!

Anderson has been wearing gray ties soooo often these days, and it's really nice to see him in the beautiful blue tie! He looks so young and cute!

Pregnancy Pact

2008-06-21T12:02:00.011-04:00

This was a curious report.
First of all, it was amazing that the pact was made among teens in a local high school could make such a big news. It was reported in Japan, too. This became a big news because it could happen anywhere in the world and because this incidence will have even greater ramification in the future.

During the discussion with an expert, she said that kids are only able to think about very short period of their life. This is what I learned when I was a student teacher. They live in NOW. What they are doing, what they are thinking is their everything. When they believe having a baby is cool, they do have one. Babies are not accessories. They have future as well as parents, I mean those high school students. Without secure jobs or financial stability, parents will have a hard time raising kids. For kids, they might not be able to get proper education from these parents. This pact is really a downer for both parents and babies. But still, babies are innocent. Bright, successful future might await them. Nothing can deprive them of happy future.

We need to hear a lot of stories from high school girls, school authorities, possible fathers, girls' parents and so on, and I'm sure CNN will have a lot of interviews on this report.

You need more Anderson's photos? Here are cute ones!

Pictures from Thursday show;

New Fan Site

2008-06-21T11:58:00.003-04:00

This is a great Ander Fan Site! Click the picture to go to "The Anderworld"

2008-06-19T12:15:00.004-04:00

In Japan, June is one of the worst month; rainy season. It's raining so hard and even when it's not raining, it's so humid and I get soaked with sweat. This weather really deprives me of energy and I have been feeling pretty tired these days. Come to think of it, I haven't taken any single holiday since I came back from my trip to New York. More than two months! No wonder.

Watching 360 is the best way for me to feel so relaxed and excited. Last night, I didn't have time to sit back and watch the show. I was tired out and just DL podcast and watched it on my bed. I was falling asleep but at the same time, I was almost screaming to see and hear ultra-sexy anchor.

He was ultra-sexy on Wednesday, too.

Obama & Muslim women?

Two women in head scarves were asked to go back so that they wouldn't be seen on TV? They were talking a lot about this issue, but I assume they would have been talked even longer if those women were seen. Everything can generate discussion.

Heart attack

Anderson looked so serious when they were talking about causes of heart attack. With no wonder. He is so concerned about his health. High cholesterol and overweight could be deterimental to one's health.

Actually, my father was told to lose weight by his doctor and he has been spending more and more time walking with our dog. I don't know if my father lost his weight but Bella, my dog, lost her weight. She used to weigh 11kg but now 9kg! It's really hard for me to lose 2 kg

2008-06-16T20:40:00.004-04:00

Battling deadly diseases

Complaint Part... I forgot!

2008-06-14T11:16:00.004-04:00

I have been complaining about that thing many times. I know how annoying for others to read or hear somebody complain. But I really have to today.

I hate the open caption service!

Anderson appeared for a few minutes but for me, I caught his face for only a few seconds! I mean this;

I cannot see his beautiful face at all!

Podcast should be better than that.

On Friday show, they spent most of their show on the journalist's sudden death. (I just say a "journalist." I don't remember the name. To a Japanese person, he is just "a" journalist.) Personally I am not interested in it. That's just for America people. However, I could tell how beloved he was. I loved it when Campbell and Erica were talking about their (or just her?) personal memories about him. I didn't know Campbell just gave birth to her child. She looked and sounded so soft when she was talking about it.

More Pictures

2008-06-13T21:52:00.003-04:00

I cannot wait to see Anderson join the program. I just hope this breaking news won't shorten the time of his appearance.

360 BLOG

2008-06-12T22:26:00.002-04:00

Minor change on 360 blog. (Yeah, 360 is on now, but I am more interested in reading what Anderson is doing right now than in watching actual TV protram.)

The more convenient for us to travel around the world, the easier for a deadly disease to spread. Therefore one fatal mistake could lead to catastrpohe in many places far from the origin.

I think it a creative and courageous idea to go into the very place where HIV started. Without their report, I would never take notice of the researchers who are trying to prevent another potential pandemic.

On another note, Anderson's biceps have got burlier and burlier every time he shows them! This picture really tempted me to build up my body!

Anderson in Rwanda

2008-06-11T10:44:00.003-04:00

Planet in Peril 2: Rwanda

Blogger Problems etc., etc.

2008-06-08T12:19:00.002-04:00

Somehow, I am finding it difficult to log in blogger. Now, I am posting with my Mom's PC. In order to do this, I sent the picture above to my email account so that I can post. This is pretty bothersome.

360 have been spending too much time on American politics or polygamy these days. The subjects an international viewer doesn't have much interest in. Also the ones that I shouldn't write about.

CNNj started open caption service, which I find so annoying. I cannot enjoy capturing nice Ander-moments.

I have been pretty busy with my work.

I want to stay away from PC for reading paper media.

So ...
I won't be able to post as frequently as I used to. Of course, I will write when I have what I want to. This never means I'll stop updating forever. Please visit me once in a while. You might find a new post.

June 3, but negative comments from me...

2008-06-04T13:31:00.003-04:00

American people say it was a historic night. Each primary and caucus has been really important for them. However, as an international viewer, I would be really concerned about American politics only when the next president is elected.

To be honest, I am losing my excitement in watching CNN these days, which never means I am losing interest in Anderson. I always feel ecstatic every time he appears on the screen.

I am watching more Japanese news and my biggest concern these days is World Food Crisis. I am learning how severe this problem is. Yesterday, I watched a Haitian people eating "mud cake." They don't have enough food and they made dough with mud, butter and salt, dry them, and eat. While the leaders of more than 100 countries gather together to help solve the problemin Rome, America doesn't pitch in. Seeing extravagant presidential campaigns, it seemed to me that American government is turning blind eyes on the problem.

I know fully understand how important and how exciting last night was for American people. The United States didn't join some important international conferences these days and I don't know how important it is for the international society.

Mariah as a pitcher...

2008-06-02T12:27:00.014-04:00

I am not concerned about the interview and it took me a long time to check Friday's 360. All I've seen on 360 is either about politics or polygamy. There are more important things going on around the world and I am finding it more interesting to watch other news programs these days. Of course, I never skip 360 (not so much because I want to watch the news as because I want to see Anderson!).

He looks a little bit drowsy on this picture? It's no wonder he should feel so as he had been reading his book till four in the morning! I am trying to spend more time on reading, and after reading his blog, I am trying even harder. (Reading is not my habit and it needs a bit of an effort. )

An Uncontacted Tribe

This reminded me of a ridiculous discovery of another uncontacted tribe somewhere in Pacific island, decades ago. I wasn't born, probably, or even if I was, I wasn't watching news. A government worker announced that the country had found an uncontacted tribe in a mountainous area. He entrenched the area so that nobody would enter. He asked the government to subsidize to protect their lives. Actually, he embezzled all the money. Also, the next time people tried to sneak into the area, the "uncontacted people" were wearing brand Tshirt, riding motor bike! I couldn't help laughing when I watched that!

I tried to search for the info on this, but I couldn't find the right one. Does anybody know about this news??

Anderson and Erica were so skeptical about the uncontacted tribe that was recently discovered in Amazon. I'm also skeptical.

Mariah Carey, as a pitcher!?

As I wrote before, I like Mariah Carey and I don't want Mariah to look like an idiot. She is such a talented singer. She should devote herself only on singing and creating good music.

By the way, Anderson and Erica were asking each other about who those guys are. It's too late to answer, but they are named "Giabbit." Yeah, they were helping her walk with those strange shoes with incredibly high heels. The name of the baseball team is "The Giants," and the where Hideki Matsui or Godzilla?, had belonged to before he joined the NY Yankees.

How much ugly Mariah looked, it's OK if she made Anderson smile!

A little bit of funny moment at the end

2008-05-30T18:26:00.003-04:00

Honestly, I have been overwhelmed by American politics these days. For international viewers, too much politics is depriving me of my enthusiasm for the show. I sometimes find myself watching only Anderson, not listening to what they are talking about. On Thursday, we had a little bit of funny moment at the end of the show. THE SHOT! I love their humor! It looks like 360 is a fun place to work. All the staff must be hardworking, intelligent and funny people.

After 360, we, international viewers, have World News. I'd say the program itself is not exciting, but I benefit more from it. Only 30 minutes and full of what I want to know.

I have been concerned about cluster bomb ban. On Wednesday meeting, when the treaty was unofficially agreed (?), Japan was absent. Our government was in a bind between international movement and the United States and China. U.S. doesn't support the ban. It suggests that Japan have ones that would act as deterrence. Also, our neighbor, China, doesn't agree the ban either. It is obvious that our country would be more vulnerable for attacks from neighborhood countries.

However, I was hoping Japan to agree the ban. I cannot think that saying "We disagree banning cluster bombs" is a right thing to do. If each tiny bomb doesn't explode, they will be no less dangerous than landmines. They deprive innocent people's lives or their healthy lives.

When I heard that Japan officially agreed the treaty on Friday, I was completely satisfied.

What do you think of cluster bombs? How come all the countries cannot abandon them? (Same thing can be said about nuclear bombs...)

May 26

2008-05-27T13:03:00.001-04:00

Anderson looked like this. (This post is totally nonsense! Just too busy to blog.)

Which guy is Larry King?

2008-05-25T13:02:00.006-04:00

At the beginning, Anderson mentioned what he experienced that day. A little kid went up to him and said, "Hey, Larry King! How are you!" He said he is honored that he was taken for Great Larry King. He has a sense of humor and I love this!

I recently heard an interview with a computer programmer and he said that Internet is originally invented on assumption that all the users are nice, considerate people who won't use this as tools to harm others. Sadly, there are so many internet-related crimes. People are actually hurting people or even killing others. And it's a really sad thing.

I'm not saying that I am blaming people who buy drugs online, but this idea sounds so dangerous. Even though you see a doctor's name on it, and it is prescribed by a doctor, I wouldn't take pills that I don't really know of.

By the way, I bought TIME a few weeks ago and found this article!

Jeff Han
By John King

By Jeff Han's description, he was "one of those troublemaker kids." Five years ahead in math learning levels. A soldering iron in hand at age 6. Taking things apart to see how they worked. Even putting some of them back together.
Han, 32, was an obscure New York University computer-science researcher two years ago when he made a presentation introducing the concept of multi-touch sensing screens. Now his work is coveted by clients ranging from the CIA to CNN, all of which realize that the era of the single-touch screen (think ATMs) is over and the multi-touch screen (imagine a piano keyboard on a screen) is upon us.

My fingers are part of that new world. Tune in to CNN on any major election night as I navigate the ever-changing map that the folks at CNN call the Magic Wall. CNN owns one map, with a second on the way. The intelligence and military communities use the technology, and Han says new educational, medical and creative applications are in the works.

"Multi-touch-sensing was designed to allow nontechies to do masterful things while allowing power users to be even more virtuosic," Han says. Count me in the nontechie column. Count me too as someone who believes Han has done more than start a great business; he has also dramatically changed the way we interact with our computers.

King is CNN's chief national correspondent and its former senior White House correspondent

TIME 100 Jeff Hann by John King

Now John King is known for "his" magic map and he is so thankful Mr. Hann invented that map.

I wrote that I "bought" TIME. And I can find most of what I wanted to read online. I knew that. But sometimes I need printed media even though TIME is so expensive in Japan. In the U.S., it costs $4.95 and here 1300yen, which is equivalent to $13!

Reading guys

2008-05-23T12:39:00.003-04:00

I don't know when I will be "not busy." Just two pics from Thursday show.

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By the way, I found myself attracted to a guy who is reading very seriously. Reading guys look so sexy to me! I tried to find the picture of Anderson reading "The Looming Tower." I do have it but I cannot find it on my PC. I went to the former 360 interactive site but the images are no longer available. Does any of you know where I can DL it?

Japanese bear

2008-05-23T12:37:00.004-04:00

Japanese video again? It seems we have a lot of funny and crazy videos here in Japan. Many of you may see my countray as a funny one.

However, as long as they make Anderson smile, I am so happy.

Crowded Pool

2008-05-21T21:03:00.002-04:00

How about this!? The water must be sooo dirty.

Packed like ... what?

2008-05-20T10:54:00.005-04:00

It's so sad Hillary is completely forgotten. Had the election campaign started not that earlier, she might have won the nomination. I do sound that Hillary has already lost her campaign.

I was appalled to see this image of Tokyo train. This looks so old. I was wondering when this video was recorded. I guess it was more than decades ago. I can tell from passengers hairstyles or fashion. Would you like to check that video again? Here it is.

Hmm, soooo weird to a Japanese person as well. Whenever I go to Tokyo, I was mesmerized by how clean, neat and organized Tokyo trains are. I am so proud of the service they offer. And when I go abroad, I never see trains or subways cleaner than ones in Tokyo. Since I am so much proud of train system in Tokyo, I felt a kind of obliged to write something about this. I visited 360BLOG at 10:59pm and wrote VERY quickly about Tokyo trains. I didn't write enough there. Well, I admit you may be able to see those images even now, but not always. All the people that see this video would say Tokyo trains are the worst. No. I believe it is one of the nicest in the world! (no way for me to prove that though as I haven't traveled all around the world.)

By the way, you might say, "the train is packed like sardines." We have a similar phrase in Japan, too. We don't use "sardine" but the most famous Japanese word; sushi! We say "sushi zume," or "packed like sushi."

packed sushi...

You might be curious what is happening after all those passenger get out of trains.

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Election campaign is the thing of paramount importance in the United States, and I fully understand that. After AC360 finished, I saw a lot of sad news. I am watching CNN every day. What for? To see Anderson is one of the reason, but to see what is happening right now all around the world. So what should we do? Just know and ignore everything? It's hard for me to do that. I donated some money, very little though, to MSF for both Burma and China. Did anybody here do something to lend a helping hand?

Fridays

2008-05-16T21:53:00.003-04:00

In Japan, I can only watch Larry King Live before AC360 on Friday, it's already Saturday in Japan though. Anderson is on tonight! Yay!

Earthquake in China

2008-05-16T20:51:00.002-04:00

Finally he wore a tie with a color! How many days in a row had he been wearing ones without any colors?

CHINA EARTHQUAKE

As Anderson said the images at the destroyed school were "tough to take and difficult to forget." Not an ordinary town, but that was a school, where a lot of young children full of future gathered together. And many of them are gone. That thought was enough to make me sick. Moreover, I saw some images of people stuck in the rubbles. How can we forget that?

We have seen a lot of bad news about China, poisonous toys or foods, tie between a corrupt government in Africa, environmental problems... However, people there are the same. They have hopes, they are leading happy lives. And all that was deprived of in a moment. Their stories deserved to be remembered.

We also have a lot of earthquakes in Japan. More than a decade ago, we had a big earthquake. I don't have any friends or relatives that were involved in it, but still I, every Japanese rather, remember it. Since we went through it, we know what help they need and we were the first ones to reach the devastated area to lend a helping hand. And as far as I know, they are doing such a good job there that they are greatly appreciated.

The relationship between China and Japan has not been good these days what with food poisoning incident, political problems, what happened during world war 2 (even after 70 years, still young Chinese people are complaining about this) ... and so on. We are giving what help we can to Chinese people. And it is just a matter of course. I hope this would help Chinese people establish a good feeling toward Japan.

I wrote only about Chinese earthquake, but we shouldn't forget about Burma's cyclone.

Disasters

2008-05-13T11:52:00.006-04:00

Hi, Anderson! You had your hair cut. Looks so gorgeous and so handsome as always. I love seeing him after a short period of absence.

I don't like seeing Hillary losing momentum and people demanding her to surrender. It is really hard for her to choose which door to use for exit.

#1 Becoming a vice presidenr? Hmm, even though she is sure to become an excellent one, I don't want to see that. An experienced and talented woman in her 60s working under a 40-year-old boy is not a happy thought.

#2 Polite exit... This sounds nice to me because it would eventually do good for her career after this campaign. She would make a great speech, leaving a great impact to people around the world. Sometimes, the defeated could make even better speech than the winner. Take Al Gore for example. He looked fabulous after his election campaign 8 years ago. And he has been doing a really good job since then.

#3 She might be the last person to surrender. But she is also a smart person. Continuing her campaign at the very end would make her look more and more miserable as time goes by.

Cyclone in Burma, earthquake in China,tornado in America... What would happen next? This is the earth's sign of becoming weaker and weaker, just as coughing or having runny nose are early symptoms of fatal diseases? I often say human beings are to the earth what viruses are to our body. Viruses are easy to kill, but it could have strong effects on body. Of course, there are some germs that would have positive effects on our body. I wish the earth has a lot of germs that would pep it up.

It wasn't a surprise that the first daughter's wedding took place secretly. Current president is not so popular and the Republican might not want to expose the president to the public. But I was surprised that even after the secret was revealed, 360 took this up for "THE SHOT."

I like to see Anderson standing in front of the big screen. Now he walks toward John King and I like it even better!

In my previous blog, I posted a pic of Anderson rubbing his nose and Sandy liked that. I think she and some other readers might love this too!

WB360?

2008-05-10T11:40:00.004-04:00

I've busy with my work for a couple of days. I spent 13 hours at work and I will tomorrow as well. I have some emails to write but I am e-procrastinating. I will write to you all!

I watched Thursday 360 but didn't have time to post yummy pictures. Today, while I was at work, I noticed I had forgotten to turn on the video recorder. The first thing I did when I came back home was get 360 podcast, and I saw this! Wolf!? On 360!? I never imagine him anchoring 360.

Kristien won BEAT 360 again! Congratulations! Did Erica pronounce your name correctly this time?

Visa

2008-05-08T09:03:00.006-04:00

It was pretty obvious that many viewers wanted to see coverage from Burma. Even thought they were talking about Hillary Clinton, conversation on 360 blog was about the cyclone. We are spending more than enough time watching, hearing and reading about American politics, aren't we? It is natural for an international viewer to get fed up.

Still, I'm curious to know what would be Hillary's next strategy and how she would end her campaign, either in June (August?) or November. She has been attacking Obama and convincing voters for such a long period that she would be the better candidate, that it would be really difficult to support the opponent if he is nominated. Media is dominated with Hillary issue but most of them is negative. So more they talk about Hillary, the worse her image gets. Hillary does have a lot of supporters, but it seems that she is being attacked by the whole nation.

When I first heard about the cyclone, I thought Anderson might be interested in going there to report the real situation there. Then I thought that he wouldn't be able to go because of primaries. The truth is that he cannot go because he cannot get visa. It's really disturbing that Myammer refuses to let aid groups in the country to help its people. It must be almost impossible to let journalists in to tell the truth.

Speaking of visa, in the teaser of "Amanpour Reports: Notes from North Korea," she said that it took at least 9 years to get the visa. I know Anderson is also interested in going to North Korea. He might be trying to get his. I wonder when it would behe gets his visa... for both Burma and NK.

On another note, I noticed Anderson had a nasal voice yesterday. It was even worse tonight, which I found extremely sexy.

**************************************************

WASHINGTON D.C.

I didn't post any pictures I took in Washington. I learned a lot about American presidents when I was there. All those great people have made what America is today. Will the next president become one of the greatest president in the history?

Washington

Jefferson

"All men are created equal" ... Is this what is written in the Declaration of the Independence? It took more than 200 years for a black man to have a chance to become the president of the United States. Even though they tried to make people believe that black people should have the same rights as white people do, this must have been something impossible at the time when the declaration was signed.

Lincoln

It looks like Lincoln is watchin over us. Isn't there any bad politician? Isn't there any descrimination? Isn't there any people suffering from war?

This should be the perfect place for Dt. Martin Luther King to deliver one of the most famous speech.

Roosevelt

Honestly, I was not so sure what Roosevelt did. (I did learn about him in history classes when I was a student.) When I went to this park, I could feel how much he hated war and how much he hoped for a peaceful world. I was really moved by his words.

Current president

Then many people are trying to reach this building!

Gray Ties

2008-05-07T13:57:00.002-04:00

Tuesday Primaries did not stop Hillary from continuing her campaign. If I were not a girl who wants to see a woman president lead the biggest country, I might think it would be a waste of time, energy and money to keep on. However, it is Hillary Clinton that is surviving to win the race at any cost, I want to see her climb up and break the glass ceiling. Go for it!

Election is a big issue for American people these days, and it is natural CNN spend most of their programs on election. But I am seeing more reports from Burma from CNN International. I think I need to see them rather than American politics. Were it not for election, 360 might spend more time on the disaster, but all we saw was yesterday's 10-minute segment.

By the way, Anderson has been wearing a gray tie since May 1, hasn't he? I was wondering if it is his way to show condolences to Cyclone victims in Burma. But Anderson is not the type of person who cares about what he wears. He just happened to wear them 4 days in a row.

MAY 1

MAY 2
MAY 5

MAY 6

Can you drop your baby!?

2008-05-01T22:44:00.008-04:00

After 20 munites of Countdown Beijing, the program came back!

Dropping a baby from such a tall building? However strong, happy, prosperous a baby would be in the future, I wouldn't let my baby go through this!

It was really disturbing to watch the video, but we saw a lot of cute Andy after that. That's all we need!

It was a little bit too late to create something new to woo for votes. It was the last day we could cast our votes! I vote yesterday, and it was in the 2nd place. I'm wondering if this would work. (The vote is closed now.)

360 to Countdown Beijing!

2008-05-01T22:28:00.003-04:00

The program suddenly switched to Countdown Beijing as torch relay started in Hong Kong! As I couldn't watch 360 yesterday, I was more than ready to watch the program today. I've read many of articles from 360 blog. Anderson was off last night and I am so happy about Anderson anchoring the news. But after 25 minutes, they changed the program! How about in other countries?

Cute cub

2008-04-30T13:40:00.002-04:00

Even though Anderson is reporting from New Orleans, he had to spend most of the show on Obama. It's really sad to see a person that you used to pay great respect to has changed to harm you.

This sleeping cub is so cute! Since I started keeping a dog myself, I am also finding other animals so cute. (I used to be scared to see any kinds of animals.) I can watch this sleeping bear for hours and hours, too!

And the nose! He is pushing it to the floor! How cute! My dog often to this when my hand gets dirty; I mean "yummy" for her. They are sometimes covered by chocolate, which is actually harmful to dogs' health. She pushes her nose to my palms. It's wet, soft and clammy. While I was watching this cub, I felt as if my hands were sticky.

Anderson is still proud of himself having won Jeopardy! How cute!