My t-shirt says "Hero swallows provocation"... I think!"

Yes, I have always said that and I will say it again: if you want Chinese characters in your tattoo don't just open an instruction manual and take any old character that appeals to you. Chances are that you'll end up having something really stupid written on your body then. I'm not making this up. I've read this "useful hint" in one of those teeny rags once and I couldn't stop laughing!

Anyway, this lovely article addresses exactly this problem. Reminds me of that anecdote my grampa used to tell me when a missionary came back from China in the 1930s or so, and he passed a famous delicatessen shop in his hometown and saw the shop window where they had advertised and displayed the latest shipment of tea from China and had draped some of the bags the tea had come in around it for decoration. The missionary burst out in laughter and entered the store where he informed the appaled manager that the writing on the bags actually said "This tea has been cooked three times already for the Christian dogs". XD

So yes, people, take heed when dealing with characters you can't read. And I'm also very pleased this article doesn't only bash us Westeners who use kanji so unwittingly simply for decorational purposes, but also mentions that Japanese love using oddball English phrases all over the place just as much. Guess that's only fair! XD

( Cut for article )

Hmmm...

The Secret of Harry Potter Six and Seven Revealed?

A British tabloid claims to have uncovered the titles of the final two Harry Potter novels. The Sun newspaper claim the sixth and seventh installments of J.K. Rowling's wizard adventures will be called Harry Potter And The Mudblood Revolt and Harry Potter And The Quest Of The Centaur - after discovering the titles had been registered as trademarks with the UK Patent Office. They were mysteriously registered in July by a company called Seabottom Productions, who themselves were formed just days before and who share a London address with the British lawyers of Harry Potter film studios Warner Brothers. Sources close to reclusive Rowling have refused to confirm the rumors - but fans of the global literary sensation are already beginning to speculate if the titles are true, or just an elaborate decoy.

[source]

Okay yeah, let's join in with the speculations! Personally, I have my troubles with these titles. I don't think the next book would be called that o.o. Why should Mudbloods revolt all of a sudden. There hasn't been any hints towards that yet. And I also find it hard to believe that the final installment should have something to do with a Centaur in the title. It just seems so... unspectacular. But maybe that's just me. *shrugs*