Tom Cruise Uses Scientology To Get Child Off Drugs

Can you believe that a 3 year-old was put on the equivalent of speed as a "cure" for having lots of energy? Well, it happened and here is an article from a British magazine about the great success Tom Cruise had helping his friends get their daughter off these dangerous psychiatric drugs: Tom Cruise Uses Scientology To Get Child Off Drugs

Scientologist Tom Cruise Slams the Fraud of Psychiatry

Tom Cruise was very lucky as a child that his mother refused to put him on drugs to "cure" a "learning disorder". Kurt Cobain was not so lucky and the ritalin he took as a child led him into worse drugs and eventually suicide.

So Cruise, like other members of the Church of Scientology, is taking a stand against Psychiatry and its destructive drugging and labeling of children: Cruise slams fraud psychiatry

Deer



Reader Dimitri emails:

"Hello Tian, I am a long time reader of your blog. Last week while visiting the city of Val-d'Or (Quebec) in Canada, I found the following plastic leg 'tattooed' in the front window of a tattoo parlor. In this picture, you can clearly see the character is upside down. Could it be they wanted to make sure the tattooed person will be able to read his own tattoo?"

The character shown on the leg is an upside down 鹿, which means "deer" in Chinese.

In Japanese, when it is combined with (horse); as in 鹿, it means "fool, idiot", and 鹿 means "stupid foreigner[s]".


Eternal Love



Reader Neko emails:

"One of my friends from high school recently got this tattoo. She claims it means 'Eternal Love'. I found 'Eternal' in my books, but could not find anything even closely resembling her version of love. Is it a translation I simply haven't seen before? I did end up finding a 'flash' version of this same thing online somewhere, but since I only saw it once, and it was flash.. I'm having a hard time believing. I'd love to get your input on it. :)"

The top character means "long, perpetual, eternal, forever". The bottom character even though sometimes it is used to describe "dote, doting", but most often it means "aches, pains, sore".

Morals of the Story: Buyers Beware.


Condo Tiles



Reader Michael Bolduc emails:

"Tian, I am a realtor and these are in a condo a client of mine wants to buy. He's not wild about the tile mosaic around these tiles and is considering removing the whole thing. These tiles are on the facing of the breakfast bar. Do they say what is reported in English? Thanks for your help."

I have never seen "family" is referred as "". Usually is translated as "family".

= also, too; likewise
= make; work; compose, write; act, perform




Despite the poor calligraphy, this tile was my personal favorite. The character shown is the simplified version of , which means "hot". Mixing the Chinese character with the English caption, the tile is "hot love". This tile would be a good sell on eBay.




Bad calligraphy, correct characters and translation.

=luck(ily), favor, fortunately
= happiness, good fortune, blessing




This one is correct as well.

= life, living, lifetime; birth
= long; length; excel in; leader


Scientologist Michelle Stafford nominated for an Emmy (again!)

Michelle Stafford, who has already won two Daytime Emmy Awards, has been nominated once again for "Outstanding Lead Actress In A Drama Series" for her role as Phyllis Summers Abbott in The Young & the Restless on CBS.

Michelle is also a big supporter of the Hollywood Education and Literacy Project (HELP) which uses the breakthrough educational methods developed by Scientology founder, L. Ron Hubbard, to help children develop literacy and related skills.

Scientologist Jason Dohring carving out a successful career

It sometimes seems as if a young actor suddenly bursts onto the scene from nowhere. This is rarely what actually happens, it's just that you haven't seen all the earlier work he's done which led up to the breakthrough. Such is the case with Jason Dohring, currently appearing in the hit UPN series "Veronica Mars". Jason has been acting for many years and had appeared in movies, commercials and several TV shows before landing the role of "Logan Echolls" (one of the bad guys).

FHM Lithuania March 2005


fhmlt032005.jpg

Jennifer Virskus from FHM Lithuania has sent me a copy of March 2005 issue of the magazine, where Hanzi Smatter was featured on page 12's "Eggs of the World" section.

Since I do not understand Lithuanian, would anyone that does please translate it for me?

Thanks!


New York Yankees Kanji Cap


http://www.starbulletin.com/2000/02/15/features/story1.html

I know "New York Yankees" is "ニューヨーク・ヤンキース" in Japanese Katakana and 紐約洋基 in Chinese.

According to the news story, the character on the cap suppose to be Kanji for New York Yankees, but I have never seen the character before. Could anyone please verify that?



New Rules by Bill Maher


http://www.hbo.com/billmaher/new_rules/20050513.html

Reader Jerry has forward this quote from Bill Maher:

"New Rule: Just because your tattoo has Chinese characters in it doesn't make you spiritual. It's right above the crack of your ass. And it translates to 'beef with broccoli.' The last time you did anything spiritual, you were praying to God you weren't pregnant. You're not spiritual. You're just high."
(more)


Old Navy's Temple of Strength Tee


oldnavy_yangshuo1.jpg
oldnavy_yangshuo02.jpg


I spotted this t-shirt at a local Old Navy store. I don't know if "Temple of Strength" really exists in Yangshuo. I also do not understand the significance of using the character on the shirt.

Update: Random Chinese Characters Used As Marketing Tool

Date: Tue, 24 May 2005 08:36:03 -0400
From: "oldnavy.com Service"
To: "Tian"
Subject: Re: ON-Stores - About Our Products; response-yes (KMM23799250V38116L0KM)

Dear Tian,

Thank you for your message regarding the Old Navy Yangshuo Temple of Strength tee, #299500. We appreciate the time you have taken to contact us regarding the design of this tee. Please know that there is no special significance to the characters on our tees. We appreciate your feedback, and we have forwarded your comments to our merchandising and design teams.

If we may be of further assistance, please contact us via e-mail at custserv@oldnavy.com or by calling 1-800-OLD-NAVY. Our Customer Service Consultants are available 24 hours a day for your convenience.

Sincerely,

Angie
Customer Service Consultant


More on Jenna Elfman's new series

Jenna Elfman's new series, "Everything I know about men" will be a CBS midseason series. Here is the blurb from CBS:

Everything I know about men stars Jenna Elfman ("Dharma & Greg") in a comedy about an attractive secretary with simple goals: find true love, have an exciting career and a normal relationship with her father. But in a world where men behave like, well ... men, she realizes that she may be overly ambitious. Brady Smith ("Just Pray"), Hugh Bonneville ("Doctor Zhivago"), Rhea Seehorn ("Romy and Michele: In the Beginning"), Lauren Tom ("Friends") and Dabney Coleman ("Nine to Five") also star. Fred Barron ("According to Bex," "Caroline in the City") is the executive producer for Touchstone Television in association with Paramount Network Television. Multiple Emmy Award winner James Burrows directed the pilot.

Successful Actress and Scientologist Jenna Elfman

Jenna Elfman is not just gorgeous but is also incredibly funny. I got to be in the audience for one of the "Dharma and Greg" episodes a couple of years ago and they didn't need to hold up any "laugh" signs to get me guffawing. She's been in a couple of movies over the last few years, the funniest being "Looney Tunes: Back in Action", but these movies have never really made use of her great comedic talents. In "Ed TV" the character she played was meant to be rather subdued, so that's how she played it. In the "Looney Tunes" movie the character was an up-tight movie executive, so that's how she played it. The scenes where she was allowed to show her real talent are in the out-takes and deleted scenes section where she is a scream! Anyway, the good news is that she's coming back to television in a new series being produced for CBS. Here is the announcement on her website: Everything I Know About Men. We'll get to see hilarious talents of Jenna in the fall season - so get your TVO's programmed and your gut muscles in shape for plenty of laughs.

A Short Chat with Kelly Preston

I had the pleasure of speaking with Kelly Preston on the day the bill she has been helping through the Florida Legislature was passed (Great News For Parents and Children In Florida.

There are some women who are beautiful only on the outside and some who are beautiful on both the outside and inside, Kelly Preston is definitely one of the latter. I saw her coming into the restaurant where I had just had lunch and I just had to tell her "Well done!" When some perfect stranger, right out-of-the blue, advances upon and starts talking to a major movie star, the stranger shouldn't be surprised if the star is less than enthusiastic, but in this case I was surprised at how enthusiastic she was. She gave me a beaming smile and we chatted about the whole process of getting the bill passed. She was very complementary of all the people involved, especially Representative Gus Barreiro of Miami Beach who sponsored the bill. She also mentioned the support from Sean Hannity who featured her on both his TV and radio shows.

As I left the restaurant with a big smile on my face, my friend summed it up with "She's a doll!"

$320 Pair of "Self-Suspicion"


http://www.thedailysnkr.com/air-force-1-lebron-james-hype.html

Reader Bruce Spragg emails about a new line of Nike sneakers for Lebron James. This particular pair shown above is $320, and that is cheap! Since there were only 300 pairs of these made, sneaker pimps are selling them on eBay for as high as $9,000 according to news report (video).

So what do these four Chinese characters say on these "overpriced-toe-fungus-traps"?

= self; myself
= to doubt; to suspect; doubt; suspicion

The phrase means "self-suspicion" or "self-doubt". What a great way for Nike to rub "buyers' remorse" in these sneaker fans' faces and their empty wallets (except the sneaker pimps).

I am somewhat inspired by the latest trend of exclusive customized sneakers, Adidas has its Original Series, Puma has its Mongolian Shoe BBQ, and Nike has its NikeID, what about Hanzi Smatter?

Don't you worry, I have got that covered.

Presenting the HS Sneaker:

1. Buy a pair of sneaker of your choice
2. Download and print out the Hanzi stencils provided here:
"crazy diarrhea"
"inferior goods"
"ignorant"
"idiot"
3. Paste the stencil onto a piece of cardboard backing
4. Trim out the black part of the characters
5. Place the stencil along with the cardboard backing onto any surface or the sneaker
6. Use color marker(s) and smear over the stencil, thus the design will be left on the sneaker

Congratulations, you are now a proud owner of HS Sneaker!




Scientologist Kelly Preston Standing up For Parents

For some years now parents have been forced to put their kids onto dangerous mind-altering drugs if teachers, psychologists or psychiatrists decide the child has a "disease" such as "ADHD". There is no way to test for these so-called diseases, it's like telling someone they have AIDS without doing any kind of test to see if the disease is actually present. But the threat has been that you can't have your child in school and you could get in trouble for child abuse for not drugging your child as instructed.

Any parent who does even a small amount of research will quickly find that the side-effects of these psychotropic drugs range from minor stomach problems to suicide and death. So the situation has been you give your kid these drugs that could kill him or her or else!

Now thanks to the efforts of many good people, including Scientologist Kelly Preston parents in Florida have the chance to "just say no" to drugging their kids. This article doesn't give all the details, but the bill has passed successfully through the legislature: Kirstie Alley & Kelly Preston Talk Drugs and Kids

As you can see from the article Kirstie Alley was also involved. I've highlighted Kelly's contribution because after she went on national television to talk about he bill the Florida Legislature was inundated with calls from concerned parents. Well done Kelly!

Does This Say "Love"?



Reader Sonja emails:

"Hi Tian!!! Ok, here is my tattoo that apparently says 'Love'. I think ill cry if you tell me it says horse... ;-( LOL I'm kidding... Sort of.... When I got it they said it was an ancient Japanese Buddhist dialect I think called... Kanji? Or something? Oh I cant remember anymore... I'm very excited to get my new ones now... !!! Ill send you pics of the new ones when I get them In the first week of June. xoxoxo"

After I saw the photo, I did not recognize the character. I then forwarded it to my associates and hoping at least one of them would have more knowledge about the "ancient Japanese Buddhist dialect" than I did. At the same time I emailed Sonja back asking her about where she got the tattoo, and if the design was an original or from a template.

"I had it done in Toronto on queen street west, downtown. At New Tribe... You're worrying me!! I picked it there.. I spent some time in Japan (6 months) and when I came back to Canada I missed it so much so I wanted to get something to remember my time there. Maybe when I go in to get my new ones done I can get them to photocopy the sheet that it came from? Would that help? Someone once told me it says sex......?? Oh gosh... Now I'm worried. Just please be honest.. I know you will... Take care."

The first person responded to my email was John:

"I think she was totally bullshitted. Looks like to me, but I'm certainly no expert at the more 草书-ish characters."

John does have a point there, especially when he pull out his 草书 book:

3500常用字索查字帖(草书) 上海交通大学出版社, 1999.



Ken Nishimura and Aaron Batty from Japan both agree with John:

"I thought it was distorted 'blue' . To me, this cannot be 'love' or any kanji I'm familiar with."

Jeremy from Danwei.org thinks "maybe the tattooist was trying to write ?"



= wheat, barley, oats;

Chinese translation for McDonald's is 麦当劳 or 麥當勞.


Tom Cruise at the Opening of the Church of Scientology in Madrid, Spain

Tom Cruise is often in the news because of his movies or personal life, but here is a story about his activity in another area, his religion:

New Church of Scientology Opens in Madrid - Actor Tom Cruise addresses the thousands in attendance.

Interview with RTHK Radio 3



Yesterday I did a telephone interview about Hanzi Smatter with Mr. Hugh Chiverton of RTHK Radio 3. Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK 香港電台) Radio 3 broadcasts in English covers news, information, and general programming. It is similar in genre to BBC Radio 4.

rthk20050512.smi (real audio)
rthk20050512.mp3 (mp3)


Airbrushed Tats at Cornell's Slope Day 2005


http://asia.elliottback.com/archives/2005/05/06/bad-chinese-tattoos/

Reader Elliott Back emails:

"My girlfriend and I were at Cornell University's Slope Day today, and they were offering airbrushed tattoos, some of which were in Chinese. Of course, she told me that half the descriptions didn't match the characters at all. I'm a longtime reader of your blog, so I snapped a photo so I could send it to you. Thanks."

The character labeled 34 appears to be a poorly written , which means "trust", but it also means "brood over eggs; have confidence". The bottom partial should be , not .

#35 means "beauty", not "hope" as the caption says.

I have never seen "peace" written like #40 before. I don't know if it could be because it is written so badly.

#39 means "real, actual, true, genuine", not "hope".

My personal favorites are #38 and #41. That is because the person did not even bother to remove the horizontal bars above the characters. The bars used by the template's manufacturer to indicate "this way up" on the package.

#38 is the same as #35 which means "beauty" despite the misleading captions. I have seen #41 before and it was featured here in Hanzi Smatter last October. When will these idiots ever learn...

Fashionable Chinese Characters


http://www.voanews.com/chinese/2005-05-06-voa82.cfm
http://home.donews.com/donews/article/7/77489.html

In recent Voice of America's News Chinese section, there is an article about Hanzi Smatter titled "汉字渐成美国年轻人追求时尚"; or in English, "American Youth Consider Chinese Characters Fashionable". (more at voanews.com and donews.com)

What I personally found interesting was the last sentence of the article:

据统计,目前全球学习中文的人数已达3000万,预计到2007年将有1亿人学习中文。


Translation:

According to statistics, currently there are 30 million [non-Chinese] people studying Chinese globally, this number is expected to reach 100 million by 2007.



"Poison" vs. "Wife"


Reader A. Hanagata emailed this photo with the following description:

"I'm Japanese, and a friend of mine has this tattoo... she told me it meant 'poison' and I told her that it most certainly did not. Perhaps in Chinese it means something. I personally do not recognize it."

I used the similar font that tattoo was done, the closest character I have found is , which means "wife".



Among other similar characters are:

= absurd, foolish, reckless; false
= concubine
= appoint, send, commission
= ginger

Update: Reader Joel/Zhwj emails



The top portion is a typical way of writing the top of 毒, 青, and so on (here's a 精神, for comparison); the bottom portion has three main differences from the type version of 母: (1) it's rotated, so the verticals and horizontals are now angular; (2) the the hooked turning stroke is connected to the middle horizontal, and (3) the dots have been made into a line, which unfortunately doesn't extend below the middle horizontal (this is the main source of confusion, and is probably due to the lack of resolution the tattoo artist had to work with). I've sent you an image, Tian, of the two characters written in a font modeled after Qi Gong's handwriting; the 毒 is written in the same style as this photo.


3D Car FX


http://www.3dcarfx.com/KANJI.htm

Listen up, all you import mod fans, you can make fools out of yourselves and cars by placing these incorrect Kanji stickers on your rides.

does not mean "beauty", it means "letter, invitation; choose".

does not mean "extreme", it means "cut, mince, slice, carve".

I have no idea what that "follow" character is.

does not mean "love", it means "to entertain, feast; a feast, banquet".

is "strength", not the gibberish shown.

I should also point out that usually means "ghost; spirit of dead; devil", and means "inhale, suck in; absorb; attract".

I have emailed corrections to 3dcarfx.com, so far the only response I got from them is an auto-response email.


"Central Ice"

http://www.tattoostation.co.uk/images/gallery/large_kanji.jpg
http://www.tattoostation.co.uk/gal8.html


The top two characters usually means "central". In geographical term, there is an area just south and south-west of Tokyo that is called the same. In Japanese, would sometimes also represent the "heart", as the equivalent of "center".

The bottom character , despite it might look like a miswritten (long, perpetual, eternal, forever), it is actually the Japanese version of , which means "ice".

Hence the problem: does the tattoo suppose mean "central ice", "icy center", "Ice of Tokyo's South-West", or "cold hearted"?