I went to a lecture by Minister Agawa today at the Japanese Information and Cultural Center in D.C. I've been clued in to a lot more of these things since my wife Yuki started working at the Japanese Embassy a few weeks ago. :)

He talked about the influence that some major 19th century individuals have had on cultural exchange between the U.S. and Japan, after their pioneering visits to America. Foremost of these were Yukichi Fukuzawa, founder of Keio University, Jo Niijima, founder of Doshika University, and Umeko Tsuda, founder of Tsuda Women's College.

I actually have most of the books in the "Fukuzawa Yukichi SenShu", a collection of most of his works, and it's an incredible trip to read. I am fascinated by the man, and it was interesting to learn that the reason Minister Agawa's English is so good, is that he studied in Hawaii as a child in an exchange program founded by Fukuzawa's grandson! It's amazing how one man's travels could have influenced generations of Japanese and Americans...

One of the most interesting things he said though, came out during the Q&A session. He was talking about the diversity in the U.S., and how diversity has been slowly increasing in Japan... But he said that there are a lot of people now in the Japanese government considering making a radical change in immigration policy -- really opening it up, as a solution to the problem of Japan's aging population.

If this were to occur, I think we could see a very different Japan in a matter of a few years. Systems would be forced to change, and there would be a great young new source of ideas (and turmoil) for the society to deal with. I actually really hope that they do this, as it could change Japan very much for the better.

Agh. After the last session, my neck totally seized up and I couldn't turn it without pain for about 3 days. Just one big cramp. That sucked, but it was better by the time I got there for session 9... They didn't really know why it happened, and they were really surprised. One said it might have been the weather. Right.

So this time, I got more chest work, and shoulder work, ... nothing really very significant except a little more work on my inner thighs, where I have another injury. I think that might have helped a bit, but I'm not sure. This stuff is really hard to figure out -- you're never sure until a few days later what really changed.

I still feel like the most significant changes are in my shoulder, which feels better now and is more symmetrical, my chest which can open up a lot more when I breathe, and my upper legs, which have more mobility to go behind me when I walk, making my stride easier... I think the arch work he did on my feet before is almost entirely gone now (reverted?), but the knees are still straighter, so that's something...

Well, I was a bit frustrated going into this session because I didn't experience anything after the last one, and I had been hoping to get more work on my shoulder, which had only been worked on once, for only a few minutes.

Well, I got my wish, and he worked on my shoulder extensively this time. Most of it was me holding my arm up, while he dug his elbow and forearm in and moved it slowly up and down my side and my shoulder muscles. I think it really helped a LOT.

Each time he's also been doing some neck work and a little back work, running his elbows down my back to loosen the fascia there... Today he worked quite a bit on my neck too, which has felt quite stiff most of the time.

Ok, this was probably the weirdest thing that's happened to me in a long time. I was not expecting it at all...

I guess usually the rolfers go over these things with their clients at the beginning of the course, but my guy neglected to describe all the things that would be done to me. This session, he told me that they were going to work in my mouth and nose, and it really surprised me. I couldn't imagine what they could do in there, but ... I guess that's what they do. ;)

So he stuck his little fingers up my nose, and left them there for a while to try to let the tissue relax and expand... (they use rubber gloves for this stuff, by the way...) Then, he squeezed my tongue, masaging it from the back forward, and also worked the gums from the front all the way to the back where they connect to your jaw. It was pretty painful, but I guess I was pretty tight in some parts.

He said that for some people this stuff helps with neck tension, since the neck fascia is connected all through the jaw and mouth. Also, it works toward making your face more symmetrical. Unfortunately, I didn't notice any real effects from this session, other than being weirded out a bit. ;)

Just hanging with some friends on the way back from Denver, in Galena IL...

They just had a son about 4 months ago, and he's really cute...

Makes me feel kind of weird though. I didn't think I was this old yet... hehe.

...

The DC Film Fest will start soon, and I'm psyched to see some neat movies that stretch my brain. I'll let you know how they go...

Two years ago Yuki and I went to the Denver International Film Festival, and watched up to 3 films a day for 2 weeks or so. That was pretty insane, although it was really fun... ;) I don't think we'll see that many this time, but I'm still anxiously looking forward to it. heehee.

At the Denver one, we saw Waking Life for the first time, and Richard Linklater, the director, was there to accept an award for it. I was lucky enough to get the chance to ask him a question afterwards, but was sort of surprised that his answer led me to believe he didn't really know where he was going with the movie, or what it was really trying to say... I guess that's how a lot of art gets made, but I had been hoping to hear some interesting insights... oh well. I still absolutely love that movie. :)

It suddenly seems to me deeply ironic that the one thing I haven't been talking a lot about on this blog is the war, while it's the thing I'm certainly most preoccupied with lately...

I guess I felt like there wasn't much I could say. The war seems to be progressing well, and like building a bridge, it's a slow, carefully planned process. Unlike building a bridge, things can change quickly... Maybe it's actually more like building software. Except nobody really builds software like "engineers" yet. ;)

I think the war will be substantially finished in a week or two, and then the long process of establishing a functioning government will ensue. I'll bet that after people start getting their food and water, and see the baathists getting arrested, they'll be quite relieved to say the least. They're already showing signs of it, but may still be too apprehensive about reprisals from the remaining baathists.

The worst thing about this whole war, in my mind, is that Bush is such a dimwit. I wish that we could have gotten someone in there like Blair, someone who could have articulated with emotion his position. I'm afraid that Bush was the marketing campaign though, for Cheney's administration, which is what is really running the country anyway... It's too bad they couldn't just have a few different Presidents on hand for different audiences: the articulate one for those like me, and the current one for the masses... he's really just their spokesperson after all...

But I'm really optimistic now that once the government of Iraq is changed, once new institutions are set up, once there are free media, there will be a real revolution of thought in the middle east. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict must be solved soon, but if that can be achieved as well, then we're looking at a whole new middle east in 50 years... I'm hoping I'll be able to go see tons and tons of new archeological discoveries in Iraq with my future kids, and make a trek across all the greatest Shiite muslim shrines and mosques... ;)

The death of so many prominent journalists has been a blow I've felt though. Those guys really were tough. My respect for journalists has probably hit an alltime high, up from it's low after the death of Princess Diana.

In contrast with the first Gulf War, most media are reporting at least a little bit about headlines and stories in the Arab media as well. Most of them seem ridiculous, but not as ridiculous as the Iraqi information minister saying that U.S. troops are still nowhere near Baghdad... I wonder what he'll say after they take his building... ;)

It's nice to see the destruction of all of Saddam's narcissistic monuments and pictures. It satisfies the need for justice in us all, I think.

And it seems like Britain will really have pulled off an incredibly good move in supporting us. France is really getting hammered here -- people here are going to have a bad impression of them, justified or not, for a long time to come...

Found a very engrossing short story on kuro5hin... It's short on plot, but has a lot of very interesting ideas... :)

I particularly liked the idea of living in a transportable apartment, travelling while you sleep... I'd be able to travel to all sorts of interesting places in comfort, and save tons of time... Of course, other people may think it's a horribly scary concept... ;)

I had been sort of put off of scifi the last few years. This story has really rekindled my enthusiasm... hehe.

An argument on Joi's site about emergent democracy and many other issues has prompted me to write a little more about my thoughts on the matter.

Aren't we really talking about emergent order here? We're talking about a large number of nodes on a network, which all link to each other based on their own ideas about what is important, interesting, or relevant to their worlds.

This, of course, means that certain memes will gain primacy through extensive linking, bringing them to the top of the pile in search engines...

Such memes gain their position based on their perceived value to the majority of sites, or to the most popular sites out there. This, to some, seems to be a very democratic way of sifting memes, but I tend to look at it more as emergent order in an anarchic system.

Some blogs become popular initially due to their quality or due to the rarity of blogs in the beginning. After this, however, many blogs only become popular through linking from these previously determined popular blogs. Is this not an example of something directly akin to feudalism? Here's how it seems to work in societies:

Anarchy begets feudalism. Feudalism begets revolution. Eventually, people may decide to create a more democratic system, based on laws and rights, etc. Eventually they may realize that separation of powers helps preserve this system.

Anarchy doesn't necessarily imply raping and pillaging. In the world of blogs, I use it to mean that there simply isn't any order; there are just millions of blogs out there. Of course, people only have limited attention and limited time. They need order to increase the efficiency of this medium. A-list blogs are a reaction to this need, and create a concomitant stifling force. The emergent structure in the blog world is not conducive to democracy at present, only to a popularity-induced hierarchical order.

If we are to make the move to democracy, nothing about it will be emergent. It will be done by consciously giving say to everyone in a structured way, such as on slashdot, but across blogs, and preserving everyone's chance to be heard. I think that this has to be a consciously designed structure, which can only be preserved through coded structure, just as national democracy is only preserved through a delicate balance of confidence and law...

Now, this isn't to say that there aren't democratizing forces at work today in the world... Globalization has given people many more ways to vote with their wallets than ever before. It's brought all sorts of changes that may lead to more people having more of a say in things. But ironically, the more voices struggle to be heard, the more must be sifted out by society. Structures must be consciously created to allow a societally sanctioned path for the smallest voices to see part of the action, or to reach the top of the heap.

If and only if the whim of A-list bloggers constitutes a fair path through which everyone should have their content sifted, we can believe in a new emergent democracy. If this doesn't sound quite democratic to you, I think you may see my point. :)