The first episode of the new Fuji Terebi drama Home & Away is due to air on KSCI in about 10 minutes. No dedicated synopses as of yet, but the Daily Yomiuri reviews it as part of a comprehensive drama review: Episode one ends with her cast ashore somewhere, passed out on the beach like Gulliver in the land of the Lilliputians. This script is none too swift, but it may be interesting to tune in and check out where she ends up each week. Sounds promising. On a tangent to my post on Korean pop culture, the same review suggests that this season's dramas are dominated by gun toting detectives/policemen/thugs. In perhaps the most unfortunate TV trend of 2002, guns are suddenly in fashion. For three nights in a row, detectives blasted away with more fire power than has been seen on Japanese TV in the last three years. Note that Korean movies and music videos are often centered on acts of violence, cf HOT's Wolf and Sheep, real life PKing, etc. As a counterpoint, the gun angle suggests Hong Kong style action. We'll keep our eyes open for more clues on this topic. [ Link ] --I first picked up Tokion magazine at the Borders Bookstore in Brea. It's a fusion of art, graphic design, and alternative underground music. Not only that, it's also a bilingual magazine with articles in Japanese and English on the same page. Generatian Rice recently ran an interview with Adam Glickman, a co-founder of Tokion magazine. [ Link ] --The worst teacher I can remember ever having was Barry Simon for Math 1a at Caltech. I recently dug through my files in the garage, and I found my notes for that class. Looking back though the notebook, I noted my habit of writing down quotes by Professor Simon or myself. I've collected them here. [ Link ] ##Mighty Morphin Sea Bass, Batman! My Academic Decathlon teammate Amit Bhaumik is still alive and involved with the Power Rangers. From the evidence, I can surmise that he is working as an editor for new episodes of the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. He still posts heavily to alt.fan.power-rangers. [ Link ] --Added the Angry White Man to Sinoblogs.