Source

Video

Listed here is the index of episodes from my 11-part Nepal video series Trekking in Nepal. Vimeo links are recommended as they are in High Definition (HD). DVD available in the near future, so e-mail me if you want a copy.

• Episode 01 – Intro: In the introductory episode, meet our adventurers Tyler and Steve. The two friends set out on the trip of a lifetime to explore majestic Nepal. Get an overview of the series and check out the gear they are taking.

  Links: Vimeo HD ✸ YouTube ✸ Lonely Planet TV

• Episode 02 – Kathmandu: Steve and I explore local life in a village outside of Kathmandu and prepare for our impending trek.

  Links: Vimeo HD ✸ YouTube ✸ Lonely Planet TV

• Episode 03 – Lukla Flight: Steve and I enjoy the edge of your seat flight from Kathmandu to Lukla… if we can get on the plane!

  Links: Vimeo HD ✸ YouTube ✸ Lonely Planet TV

• Episode 04 – Lukla To Namche Bazaar: Steve and I get our first taste of the Himalayas in our trek from Lukla to Namache Bazaar.

  Links: Vimeo HD ✸ YouTube ✸ Lonely Planet TV

• Episode 05 – Namche Bazaar: Steve and I take in the Himalaya village of Namche Bazaar.

  Links: Vimeo HD ✸ YouTube ✸ Lonely Planet TV

• Episode 06 – Namche Bazaar to Gokyo: The journey from Namche Bazaar to Gokyo places Steve and I in some of the most stunning mountains in the world.

  Links: Vimeo HD ✸ YouTube ✸ Lonely Planet TV

• Episode 07 – Gokyo: Steve and I reach the majestic heights around Gokyo, in the shadow of Everest.

  Links: Vimeo HD ✸ YouTube ✸ Lonely Planet TV

• Episode 08 – Tagnag: Snowed in with nothing to do, we brave expired Pabst Blue Ribbon and later become a bit lost.

  Links: Vimeo HD ✸ YouTube ✸ Lonely Planet TV

• Episode 09 – Tengboche: Steve and I tour the facilities at one of the oldest and largest Buddhist monasteries in Nepal at Tengboche.

  Links: Vimeo HD ✸ YouTube ✸ Lonely Planet TV

• Episode 10 – Khumjung: Steve and I fly some kites in the Sherpa village of Khumjung on the way down.

  Links: Vimeo HD ✸ YouTube ✸ Lonely Planet TV

• Episode 11 – Return: Steve and I make it back to Kathmandu and reflect upon the trip.

  Links: Vimeo HD ✸ YouTube ✸ Lonely Planet TV

Journals

You access my day-by-day scribing of the trip (September 14 – October 7, 2007) below. You will find photos and information not found in my 11-part video series. I always keep a Moleskine notebook with me on my travel that I write, draw, and paste information in.

Day 01: But First… Thailand

Day 02: Going to K-K-K-Kathmandu

Day 03: Into the Hills of Kathmandu

Day 04: Lukla Bound

Day 05: Namche Bazaar

Day 06: Namche Bazaar Rest Day

Day 07: A Long Day

Day 08: More Yaks

Day 09: Gokyo

Day 10: Gokyo Day Hike

Day 11: Gokyo Ri

Day 12: Snowed In At Tagnag

Day 13: Lost

Day 14: Reunited

Day 15: Tengboche Monastery

Day 17: Khumjung

Day 18: Namche Again

Day 19: Return To Kathmandu (coming soon)

Back From Nepal

Photos

Images featured here and more can be found at my Nepal Flickr Set.

Ummmm….. Dr. Pepper. Especially that old timey Cherry-Vanilla Dr. Pepper (which I can actually buy in Japan at a curiosity shop). It’s so good that its often imitated: the surest form of flattery or failure?. Some of these imitations achieve both at the same time.

A few of my favorite names include:

• Dr. Riffic: Trying too hard
• Doctor: Cutting the bullsh*t
• Dr. Smooth: My nickname in college
• Dr. Foots: Does not sound delicious
• Dr. Dazzle: Great pro-wresting name
• Dr. Shaws: Too similar to Dr. Scholls wart remover
• Dr. Becker: Pecker?
• Mr. Sipp Soda: Best served in sippy cup

The full 127 non-complete set of cans are as follow:

If you like this post you may be interested in the Kit-Kat Flavors of Japan. For more information and the source of the above photos, see Would You Like to be a Pepper Too?. The above flickr photos are courtesy of users esther17.

Point a camera towards any Japanese person. Go ahead, I’ll wait. Chances are you got either got the back of a fleeing pedestrian or a picture like this:

Not my students.

The V for Victory sign. The peace sign. The ever present staple of picture taking in North East Asia. The origins of this mysterious practice is not one of great socio-anthropological importance, yet it is hard not to notice and wonder, “Where did this behavior come from and why does everyone do it?”

Japan Today asked a random sampling of Japanese why they make this sign in photos. Perhaps the most telling reply was:

“I make the peace sign but I don’t know why I do it, who invented it and when we started doing this. I think I’ve been doing it since I was born. The peace sign gesture must have been programmed in my DNA, or foreigners mind-controlled Japanese to make the peace sign subconsciously when we pose for a photo to keep the peace after the war.”

-Seiichi Igeta, 17

Exactly! No one knows. Furthermore, Japanese culture has become so influential in a number of areas, particularly with youth and pop-culture. The sign has spread and is now a mainstay in many Asian countries, particularly South Korea and China, so that nary a photo can be taken without its presence.

Subversive exportation.

As the quote states, the use of the peace sign has become an inseparable meme from Japanese culture. Children from very young ages are exposed to the fact that this just is what you do in a picture. Like smiling or wearing Hello Kitty inspired clothing.

Not my kids.

Origin

But I want to know where this practice really did come from. Let’s start at the beginning:

A debunked yet popular claim places the origin of said gesture in the Hundred Years’ War, which actually lasted 116 years from 1337 to 1453, pitting the French and English in battle. The story follows the French promised to cut the two fingers in question off the right hand of any captured archers. When the outnumbered English won, the “archer’s salute” was a sign of defiance.

No one believes this, though, because injured soldiers can’t be held for ransom and thus useless. Plus, there is no mention of such practice until much later in the 1500′s by some French guy:

François Rabelais, responsible for the V sign?

In the UK, this gesture is called the “Winston Churchill” after the WWII-era leader famously often used the “V for Victory” as a rallying point for allied forces and became his trademark. He boasted a huge increase in it’s popularity.

Other leaders were soon to follow like France’s Charles de Gaulle (who used it in just about every speech) and Richard “not a crook” Nixon.

Not a crook.

Not so fast, leaders of the free world! The symbol was quickly snapped up by American counterculture (read: hippies) while saying “Peace” to symbolize their anti-Vietnam War sentiment in the late 1960′s. Henceforth and still to this day, we have the name “peace sign” most common in the West.

So who was responsible for exporting this to Japan? History points to one Janet Lynn, American figure skater during the 1972 Olympics in Sapporo, Japan. In true ‘ganbatte‘ spirit, she fell on her ass only to get up in cheerful ignorance determination and went on to take bronze. Her blissfully smiling face made her an instant celebrity in Japan, where the peace activist and skater generously flashed the sign all over the media. The masses were to follow.

Janet Lynn: she even dresses like a Japanese school girl.

In late 2007, a Japanese variety program called Down Town DX traced the true root of the gesture to Jun Inoue, who was known as Junji Inoue at the time. In 1972, the popular actor starred in a series of commercials for camera maker Konica. He photographed a number of persons all with one thing in common. You guess it: the peace sign! According to Inoue, the idea for the sign was an ad-lib based on his perception of its popularity overseas. The critical number had now been reached for the Hundredth Monkey Effect to take effect and the rest, as they say, is history.

Variations

Interesting variations of interpretation have now resulted from the popularity of this oft overused sign. In the Philippines its use is seen as a mockery of other Asian countries while in the UK and English speaking Oceania, a reverse (palm facing inwards) flashing is the equivalent of saying “f*@% off.”

Even in Japan I have noticed a couple variations and unique usage of the sign. First, note placement of the symbol. For most in the West, its held about shoulder high in the front of the body and this is most common in Japan too. Sometimes you even get two signs from the same person. Distinctly Japanese is the placement next to or over some part of the face, which can be see in images above and below.

Wacky placement.

For the truly trend setting among us, great liberty can even been taken the form one’s hand takes. Its like a postmodern peace sign conveying the same ideas and saying, “No really, look at me! I am wild and crazy!” The ever changing all-girl J-Pop group Morning Musume (モーニング娘) can often been see flaunting such craziness:

Not good music.

The first of two main variations is the “under-extend.” This peace sign means well, but just doesn’t quite get there and the fingers are curled over. The result is the flasher looking like they are trying to make little claws and saying “Rawr!” I believe this usage is an attempt to garner even more cute points and often be seen placed near the face.

The “under-extend.”

The second main variation is the “over-extend.” Like the previous but opposite, too much force has been applied to the flash and the fingers curve with a painful looking convexness. Genetic mutation? Maybe. Some people seem to naturally be able to bend their fingers this way, though it may be the result of years of practice. The image shown, it should be noted, is a very tame play on this variation.

The “over-extend.”

Conclusion

The question about the origin of the two fingered Japanese “Victory Salute” is often one that confusions the non-initiated. It is a question that most Japanese also can’t answer: its just something that has always been done. Nevertheless, everyone from an age young enough to poop their pants to an age old enough to poop their pants will fearlessly greet any camera with the peace sign. We can now trace the roots of using this sign from age old myths to its entrance into pop-culture via an unlikely celebrity.

Many foreigners living in Japan for an extended time will quickly pick up this practice. I know, because I did. I can happily say I am now a recovering peace sign flasher, though occasional relapses do occur.

With a little digging we have found the origins of this mysterious practice and can all sleep a little better tonight. In a final note, I would present an ulterior theory for the meaning behind its usage: “We owe you two, Yanks!”

[sources not quoted in-text]
1. V Sign @ Wikipedia
2. Photo in Polaroid courtesy of Flickr user ortizmj12

If you like this don’t miss Thai Ronald McDonald and the
Colonel in a kimono.

This time ’round we have the Colonel in full samurai regalia. I’m not sure what else to say here, but there he is. Dressed up. As a samurai.

I didn’t take the above photos.

This was too good not to post here.

From the ‘did you know?’ file… Popular theory holds that ‘nerd’ was originally spelled ‘knurd’ which is ‘drunk’ backwards. Hence, ‘knurds’ were people who stayed in to study on weekends while others went out to get drunk. In 1950, Dr. Seuess first coined the spelling ‘nerd’ as the name of a creature in his book If I Ran the Zoo.

For the full history, check out the Wikipedia article.

Move over Turducken, theres a new king of multi-animal conglomerate foods.

British TV chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstallmerate has stuffed a turkey with 48 different birds.

He [once] stuffed an 18lb turkey with a goose, duck, mallard, guinea fowl, chicken, pheasant, partridge, pigeon and woodcock – producing a remarkable Russian doll-like dish.

But now his effort, inspired by recipes dating from Tudor times, has been dwarfed by a behemoth containing no fewer than 48 birds of 12 different species.

More pics at the full article.

[full article]