Science Fair for September 15th-21st

It's time once again for your weekly dose of the most fascinating and far corners of our dear friend, the World Wide Web! Although I am saddened by the tragic absence of Mad Men this week, I am off to do an hour of Pilates in a few minutes, so I'll make this one quick and painless. Today's corner of the World Wide Web is less of a corner and more of an island nation in the Pacific, and you know I'm not talking about Samoa.

-Do you like animals? Do you sometimes sit around, dreaming up cute pet names for the day you'll get your very own puppy or kitty? Now you can use that amazing skill for a good cause, donate to help homeless animals and maybe get a sweet black-tie weekend in NYC out of it! Obviously, that cat and dog should be named Miss Dairy Belle and Captain, respectively.

-Could you beat me in a Japanese-food-eating contest? How many truly authentic Japanese meals have you had in your life? Maki at Just Hungry has a comprehensive list of craaazy Japanese foods to test your palate. I've had most of them, thanks to too much time spent eating in Japan and an extremely doting Japanese grandmother. Mmm, saba oshizushi!

-Not to reiterate the whole Japan thing, but in the course of my internet-related diversions this past week, I came across a great list of Japanese words for composing haiku, should you be so inclined. If you've ever bought a bottle of O~i O-Cha, you've seen the amateur English-language haiku contest they do--winning poems go on the sides of the bottles!

-Here's a hypothetical: let's say, oh I don't know, you're me and you love love love Japanese fashion magazines. Maybe your mother and aunt were, in fact, models for Japanese fashion magazines in the 1970s, but now you are a devotee of the new generation of magazines for fashion trends for your generation, like Gothic Lolita. If this hypothetical scenario were true, then I'm ABSOLUTELY sure you'll enjoy this KERA fashion show. Glorious!

-If you're curious about Gothic Lolita or Japanese fashion and want more, we're not the only KERA readers on Blogger!

-On a more socially conscious note, what with big-name fashion designers lining up on partisan sides these days in the U.S., we seem to have forgotten the bigger picture. Designers for Darfur has just launched their website, featuring fashion shoots in Darfur to highlight the humanitarian crisis there. As the Sudanese Ambassador to the United Nations explained to me, the crisis in Darfur is not one that can be easily solved. What began as ethnic and tribal clashes intensified as natural resources became depleted. The displaced population in Darfur is still struggling for survival and basic human rights, even though those of us in America are all-consumed by the presidential election. I just hope that whomever wins the election (shh, I know who I'm voting for) can actually make good on their promises, and restore America in the good graces of the rest of the world.

Now, it's Pilates-o'clock here in California, I'm wishing you all a great week and a good night!