Gibberish Asian Font Mystery Solved

Alan Siegrist, a professional Japanese-English translator, member of both Japan Association of Translators (JAT) and American Translators Association (ATA), has finally solved the mystery of gibberish “Asian Font”.

With Alan’s help, I have compiled this following chart:



Obviously the characters themselves might be correct and have meanings in both Chinese and Japanese.

However, the characters have nothing to do with the English alphabet, yet many tattoo shops consider this template as a valid translation tool, and using it to translate English names and words into Chinese and Japanese.

Alan has also mentioned:

"There are no equivalents for the letters V and W. 充 This looks like the right side of 流, but 充 is the closest full character I can find. 戈 This looks like the radical in the top-right of 武. 辶 This looks like the radical in the bottom-left of 道. * The character for "Y" is a mystery, looking something like 米米産 as one character.

If you look carefully, you will note a pattern of where the partial radicals come from:

安(C) = 宀(D) + 女(A)
武(G) = 戈(I) + 止(H)
道(N) = 辶(O) + 首(P)
流(R) = 氵(T) + 充(S) "

We have also found an actual website that is still currently selling this gibberish "Asian font" along with some other designs for $64.99.

MTV Music Awards: The Arrivals

MTV Video Awards: More Arrivals

Donald Trump fires sidekick Carolyn

Donald Trump has fired his sidekick from "The Apprentice," Carolyn Kepcher, after she reportedly became too enamored with her fame from the show.

Kepcher was relieved of her duties as general manager of Trump National Golf Club in Briarcliff, N.Y., earlier this week.

Sources tell People magazine that Trump had been unhappy with her performance for some time.

The source says, "This has been brewing for over a year. He has tried to get her on the phone, and she was either off giving a speech or was hard to reach."

The real estate mogul reportedly felt that Kepcher was promoting her own career more than his golf course.

The source adds, "She was supposed to be managing the golf course. She was supposed to be selling memberships. That's her job to sell memberships, and she just wasn't doing it.

"With the book, the speaking engagements and these endorsement deals, he's looking at that and thinking, 'She's supposed to be working for me. Yet, she is off creating her own empire.'"

Trump's representative Jim Dowd's only comment on the firing was, "Mr. Trump wishes her the best."

sfgate

63rd Venice Film Festival : 'Hollywoodland'

Fat Bono checks out the babes

Bono checks out the sights in Saint-Tropez, France, his usual summer vacation spot, while making time for some adoring female fans recently.

Haley Joel Osment's mug shot

Haley Joel Osment's photo op at a cop shop earlier this month proves one thing -- celebs have figured out how to take a good mugshot.

Osment was arrested on August 18, a month after he crashed his 1995 Saturn into a brick pillar in Los Angeles. The "Sixth Sense" star was charged with misdemeanor driving under the influence of alcohol, driving with a .08 blood alcohol level or higher, with an enhancement of driving with a .15 or higher.

Osment was also charged with misdemeanor possession of marijuana while driving.

TMZ

Oh lord no....

63rd Venice Film Festival : 'The Black Dahlia'

Spin Names U2 “Greatest Live Bands Now”

Spin Magazine has a list of the “25 Greatest Live Bands Now”.

Here’s the top 10:

10. The Dirtbombs
9. Prince
8. The Hives
7. Green Day
6. White Stripes
5. Radiohead
4. Red Hot Chili Peppers
3. Arcade Fire
2. The Stooges
1. U2

Jenna Elfman

Find out what Jenna Elfman is doing to help people and promote the message of human rights. Visit her website here: Jenna Elfman

"Jason"

http://www.bmezine.com/tattoo/A60828/high/bmepb336135.jpg

This photo was submitted to BMEzine.com's gallery in August 28th accompanied with the following caption:

"lettering that was suppose to say Jason"

(by Doc, A & B Productions, Brown City, Michigan)

Another sucker of the downloadable gibberish “Asian font”.

A New Deal For Tom Cruise

Tom Cruise's production company has just made a new deal with a large investment company: Cruise hauls in a moviemaking deal. It didn't take long to find a willing group of investors.

Last week Sumner Redstone, the head of the massive multinational corporation "Viacom", bypassed several levels of his company to stop negotiations between Paramount Pictures and Tom Cruise's production company. That's sort of like the President of the United States stepping in to stop a contract negotiation taking place between the City of New York and Donald Trump, it just doesn't make sense.

Also, given that Tom's movies are responsible for roughly a third of Paramount's box office over the past six years (as reported in Daily Variety on Aug 27th) it makes even less sense. So what prompted Redstone to do this crazy act?

Redstone said about Cruise, "his recent conduct has not been acceptable." Hmm. Let's think, did Tom Cruise get drunk, get arrested and then make anti-Semitic comments to one of the cops? No, that was Mel Gibson. Did Tom Cruise throw a phone at a hotel employee who annoyed him? No. that was Russell Crowe. Did Tom Cruise get arrested for a hit and run? No that was someone else. Did he get caught with drugs in his possession? No, that was someone else too.

So what is the unacceptable conduct? Well, he did exercise his right to freedom of speech and told the truth on national TV about the dangers of psychiatric drugs, that there were no tests to prove that psychiatric diseases even existed and that psychiatrists were a bunch of frauds. All things that are known and proven facts.

But, in so doing he cost the drug companies a lot of money because the use of such drugs (antidepressants, etc.) fell noticeably in the following months. His speaking out also helped the FDA get up the courage to issue several warnings about the dangers of psychiatric drugs which further hurt drug company profits.

Now what has that got to do with Sumner Redstone? You ask. Simple, which industry is one of the biggest (possibly the biggest) advertisers? You guessed it: the drug industry. And where does a huge amount of Viacom's revenue come from? Advertising.

It's also possible Redstone has a lot of investment in drug companies - they are extremely profitable after all. Additionally he probably knows many of the top execs of the big drug companies: such people tend to be members of the same societies and are often on each other's boards of directors.

So with all that data it becomes clear why Redstone would be willing to jeopardize a third of the revenue of one relatively small entity in his monster company and why he was willing to attack a man who exercised his right to freedom of speech - a right without which Viacom wouldn't even exist.

Of course his action has not hurt Tom Cruise at all, his production company has already cut a deal with a willing group of investors. Poor old Paramount is the only one who will suffer from Redstone's actions.

Scientology Success: Chick Corea

Chick Corea is one of the greatest Jazz musicians of all time. In July he became the first jazz pianist to receive the prestigious Award of the Piano Festival Ruhr. The lifetime achievement award is given to an artist who has influenced musical development for more than 30 years and has inspired the imagination of generations of musicians. Artistic Director Franz Xaver Ohnesorg presented Corea with the award, which has only Been given to eight other stellar artists, including Daniel Barenboim, Alfred Brendel and Pierre-Laurent.

Chick has also been a Scientologist for almost 40 years. You can read his success story here: Scientology Success: Chick Corea

"Lame"

Reader Robert found this photo posted in one of Lostcherry.com’s pages and would like to know what the phrase meant.


http://www.lostcherry.com/viewimage.php?u=163773&albumid=0&i=1420980233

The top character 太 means “very, too, much; big; extreme”, and the bottom one 屁 means “break wind; fart; buttocks”.

In Chinese slang, especially in internet lingo, 太屁 means “lame” or "pathetic".

Update: August 27, 2006 - According to the original website, the tattoo is supposed to be "fat ass".

If that is true, the top character should be 大, not 太.

Short Sleeved Tee at Guess

I saw this shirt in Guess' store window today.





When I asked the sales lady what the Japanese on the shirt meant, she replied "that is CHINESE" but still did not know what they meant.

Lucky?

I saw this photo in someone's MySpace page. He has since then closed his MySpace account, but the photo is still available at photopile.com.


http://www.photopile.com/photos/LORDCHINO/Tattoos/243692.jpg

I assume the last character is 幸, which means "fortunate" or "lucky".

Notice his username "Lord Chino"? I am unsure about if he is referring to

1. Trousers made from coarse twilled cotton fabric
2. Spanish word for Chinese

Anniversary Gala

Can't remember if I did an entry about the recent anniversary gala at the Scientology Celebrity Center.

It was a big affairs with over 1,000 people. I didn't attend unfortunately, however, I heard it was a great evening.

Here's an article about it.

HOLLYWOOD — The Church of Scientology Celebrity Centre International hosted its 37th Anniversary Gala in Hollywood on Saturday, August 5th. The guest list included many of the Church's well-known members, including John Travolta, Kelly Preston, Jenna Elfman, Leah Remini, Giovanni Ribisi, Jason Dohring, Anne Archer, Sofia Milos and Nancy Cartwright (voice of Bart Simpson).

Legendary guest performer Chaka Kahn entertained the more than 1100 guests including parishioners of the Church, local and federal government officials and community leaders.

Guests were also treated to a preview of 30 new TV public service announcements — each illustrating one of the 30 articles of the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Through these audio-visual presentations and other educational tools, Human Rights Department of the Church of Scientology International, in partnership with Youth for Human Rights International, seeks to reach millions of people to raise awareness of fundamental human rights and bring about global change.

Its popularity in the arts mirrors the overall growth of the Scientology religion, with 10 million members in over 150 countries. Its rapid expansion is word-of-mouth driven, due to the religion's practical principles that are used to improve conditions in life.

The Church of Scientology Celebrity Centre in Hollywood was founded in 1969. Other Celebrity Centres are located in cultural centers around the world including New York, Paris, Nashville, Vienna, Florence and London.

In keeping with Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard's words from 1951, "A culture is only as great as its dreams, and its dreams are dreamed by artists," these Celebrity Centres are the arts and cultural branch of the Scientology religion and as such work with those whose broad visions for social enhancement are the catalyst for positive change in society. Celebrity Centres, like all churches of Scientology worldwide, are open to the public.

Click on the photo to see a description.

fPeacef

More on John Travolta and friends

Check out these AP photos of John Travolta, his wife and Leah Remini:
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/060806/482/37826c9dc10145fab16eea7d30c1ac98

amd here with the wonderful Jenna Elfman:
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/060806/482/0f7e74f4a37b4a6bb1fbeb8187fd121d

The photo was taken at the Celebrity Center International, the Church of Scientology were celebrities take couses and Scientology spiritual counseling.

If you have never been there, you should drop by and do a tour. This is the location where the following speech was given: http://www.rtc.org/en_US/presentations/thisisscientology.html

Tom Cruise Does It Again

Tom Cruise has a history of coming to peoples' aid. From saving a woman who was being mugged, to getting a hit-and-run victim to hospital (and paying her bill) Tom epitomizes the care for one's fellow man that all Scientologists share. Well, he's just done it again, as reported by E Online: Tom and Katie to the Rescue!

Duff

A Scientology musician who really is underated is Michael Duff. He used to have a band called "Chalk Farm" and they really rocked.

Michael is an interesting person - he works with "Artists for Human Rights" and he is also a good webdesigner.

He has been a Scientologist for many years. See what he has to say about the subject.

Anne Archer on the Environmnet

Anne Archer is an IAS Freedom Medalist and a runner up in the Academy Awards. She is also a very beautiful and socially conscious woman.

Here's what she says about the environmnet (it's on the web site of the Earth Organziation.

"There is not one of us that is not aware, that the environment around us is changing for the worst. Yet we leave the task to others to do something about it.

"The Earth Organization is the first international organization that has realistic goals that all of us can
achieve right now to help preserve
our environment.

"Our own survival on Earth is dependant upon the well being of all the other life forms that share our planet with us because none survive alone!

"And as we contribute to preserving and enhancing our environment, our own lives are enriched because we "know we are contributing to the preservation of the Earth, our home.

"It really is becoming obvious that the time has come for all of us to be involved. If every one of us did our part, we could turn around this downward spiral.

"That is why I have decided to helpbecause I know I can help."

John Travolta

It was great hearing what John Travolta had to say about Scientology at the 37th anniversary Gala at the Church of Scientology Celebrity Centre last weekend:

"I've been part of the Celebrity Center for 31 years this year. So every year is a celebration for me because when I found Celebrity Center I found my life again."

Jon Stewart Made Fun of Condoleezza Rice's Tattoo

I caught a glimpse of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart tonight, where he made fun of Condoleezza Rice's Chinese character tattoo.


Videos: 4.12 MB Divx, 2.39 MB Windows Media, and mirror

This is after the Daily Show aired a clip showing Condoleezza Rice tried to use a Chinese phrase 危機 to describe American's war in Iraq (or terrorism in general?) during a news conference in August 6, 2006.

By the way, the term Condoleezza Rice used does not actually mean "danger+opportunity=crisis". My good friend Mark Swofford at Pinyin.info has posted an essay by Victor H. Mair on this misperception.

The character 猪 on Condoleezza's shoulder means "pig".


Update: August 9, 2006 - After receiving two emails from readers that felt the need to share their inside knowledge about The Daily Show with everyone, I just want to point out for those who hasn’t already know, The Daily Show is produced by Comedy Central, and it is a satirical television program.

The show is hosted by “the most trusted name in fake news” Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz, also known as Jon Stewart.

Another headline from the Gullible Readers’ Digest: Is Ali G, Borat Sagdiyev, Bruno, and Sacha Baron Cohen the same person?

Say it ain’t so!

Scientology Success: Juliette Lewis

Juliette Lewis is an accomplished actor and a dynamic singer/performer. Here is what she has to say about Scientology: Scientology Success: Juliette Lewis

Maclean's "Botched in Translation"

In August 7th issue of Maclean’s magazine (Canada’s leading weekly magazine), there was an article titled Botched in Translation about Hanzi Smatter by Nancy MacDonald.


(larger view)

Besides the rectangular tidbit at lower right corner of the page about “Polish grannies making skimpy, see-through women’s thong using traditional crochet patterns”, I thought the parts about tattooist 6ix Acheson (yes, that is his name “6ix” with a number in it) and Dr. Gerald Boey were very good:

“[6ix] Acheson thinks accuracy is a responsibility shared equally by client and artist. ‘Even if the client comes in carrying a drawing, they shouldn’t just blast it on.’”

“‘Unfortunately, it’s a buyer-beware market,’ cautions Dr. Gerald Boey of Vancouver’s Arbutus Laser Centre, a specialist in laser removal, noting that about 20 percent of those with tattoos are considering removal.”

Thanks Nancy!

Dodgy Asian-Themed Restaurants

I was talking to a friend of mine Marc about a new Asian-themed restaurant just opened in northern Scottsdale called Ten Asian Bistro. A quick browse through their website, I have spotted something that is not quite right. Under each item in the rollover menu, it has a corresponding character.



For someone that is not familiar with Chinese or Japanese, one might think the characters are actual translations of “home”, “menu”, “general info”, and so on.



These are random characters that are there to give the website an “Asian” feel. Especially when 澄 is used for both “home”, “décor”, 欽 for “general info” and “reservations”.

Recently in Phoenix New Times, Stephen Lemons wrote this about another Scottsdale restaurant called Ippei Japanese Bistro:

“Ippei general manager Justin Cohen would not allow any photos of his restaurant's food. His lack of confidence is telling… Ippei aims to be destination dining, but it is not there yet. As of now, I'd rather do the five or six hours via car to L.A. But if you're in Ippei's vicinity, you could do worse. After all, both McGrath's Fish House and the White Chocolate Grill share the same complex.”

Ouch.

I was about to post this, then I got an email from Igor with this photo of a Japanese restaurant he visited.


http://flickr.com/photos/ushkarev/197491685/

What are those characters in the left plaque? It could be due to poor lighting, but doesn’t the chef appears to be more Hispanic than Japanese?

Domo Arigato, Senor Avocado San.

P.s. Do not even get me started on the establishment known as P. F. Chang’s.

Scientology Success: Lisa Marie Presley

Lisa Marie Presley was born in the shadow cast by her famous father but despite that she has carved out a successful career for herself as a singer/songwriter. Here she tells us how Scientology has helped her: Scientology Success: Lisa Marie Presley.

Scientology Success: Isaac Hayes

Isaac Hayes is probably most famous as the composer of the theme song for the movie "Shaft". It won an Oscar. Here is what he has to say about his experiences with Scientology: Scientology Success: Isaac Hayes

Carlos Mencia Says "Get the Right Tattoo!"

Miara tipped me about during one of Carlos Mencia's monologues in season one of Mind of Mencia, Carlos has talked about people getting tattoos.


video: 3.35 MB windows media or YouTube

“…Let me get this straight, you got a tattoo in jail from a guy that has failed English and Spanish, but now he knows Chinese, is that what you telling me?

You have 26 letters in English and Spanish kicked his ass, but 1,300 characters in the Chinese language…

Are you retarded?! I can’t wait till this guy ends up in Chinatown and some Chinese guy goes: ‘oh, that is a beautiful tattoo, so you love to suck *bleep*…”

Having a tattooist who can't even spell words in English correctly to do your tattoo in another language would be a problem... It does sound like that person I recently got those angry comments from...

Scientology Success: Kirstie Alley

Kirstie Alley is a lady who doesn't mince words. She's very forthright and tells it like it is. So as you'd expect, her Scientology Success Story is short and to the point: Scientology Success: Kirstie Alley.