Hybrid Shmybrid!

Here is the USA, we have very big cars. Even our "economy" cars are bigger than economy cars found in Asia and Europe. Why? The American diet has made us huge. I've done my part (and continue to do so) by lowering my body weight. I used to be as heavy as 243 lbs. I'm now 217 lbs. I feel that I can drop another 20 to 30 lbs. in another year or so.

Back to cars: We Americans need to do more to reduce our carbon emissions (make our carbon footprint smaller). Reducing our tendencies to be obese; using more efficient light bulbs; building tighter homes; cleaner and safer energy generation/collecting; AND making cars that produce less pollution.

I thought about hybrid vehicles. Then, I discovered that the auto manufacturers have no plans on how to dispose of the hybrid batteries once the cars reach the end of their service lives. They are so new that disposal sites do not have a way to process or contain them. That led me to think that we need to improve the efficiency of internal combustion engines until we have a way of applying solar, flywheel, or some other imaginative energy storage solution not yet available.

We're already seeing Smart cars being brought over from Europe here on American streets. People giggle and point when they see them. I think "cool!" Can they be made even smaller?

Then I found this:



The Chinese are notorious for producing counterfeit products; usually jewelry, fashion clothing, electronics, and software. This inventive guy in Shanghai built this car from planks of wood tied together with wire and pieces from the farm yard. It even has a headlight! Somehow, though, I don't think this will pass as a Prius. All I can say is...I WANT ONE! I'll be the envy of all the local Green warriors.

Ernie Opens His Prize From GirlTalkMD!

A few weeks ago, I entered a YouTube Contest conducted by GirlTalkMD, a Mother/Daughter team from Canada. They wanted to know: What's in our purses? They revealed what they had in theirs and invited the YouTube community to video reply with the contents of their purses. Well...I don't carry a purse, but I revealed what I carry in my fannypack. Technically, it's a gun holster that looks like a fannypack. Don't worry. I don't carry a gun. I like it because it's got lots of cargo compartments.


[One more thing to carry...yeah, I know!

Chill Pills or Sloppy Joes?

Christine's original video here

Hakkakukei Nunchaku - Episode 2

Here's the second part in my how-to make nunchaku series on YouTube:

Where Do They Get The Names?

Fellow blogger, Aviva Bowman, asked how do they (Japanese food/candy companies) come up with those strange flavor combinations when they adapt Western recipes/snacks for their markets. I'm like her; some work, others don't.

It's chocolate. It's crunchy... It's CRUNKY?



I thought CRUNKY would have the taste and feel of CRUNCH, but it misses the mark big time. Perhaps it's the percentage of cocoa or the way the "crispies" were made. I assume the candy was made the way it is so that it can survive tropical shipping. An American bar would melt a lot faster, in my opinion. On the pallete, CRUNKY has an almost plastic feel on the tongue, like the residue those wax-lip candies leave behind after you chew on them for awhile.

The parent company LOTTE is huge!

Lotte Group is a large South Korea-Japan chaebol (conglomerate). LOTTE Co., Ltd. was established in June 1948 in Tokyo, Japan by a Korean businessman, Shin Kyuk-Ho (신격호) also known as Shigemitsu Takeo (重光 武雄).

Lotte Group consists of over 50 business units employing 38,000 people engaged in such diverse industries as candy manufacturing, beverages, hotels, fast food, retail, financial services, heavy chemicals, electronics, IT, construction, publishing, and entertainment. Today, Lotte is South Korea's 5th largest conglomerate. Lotte has major operations in South Korea, Japan, China, the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, India, USA, and Russia and continues to expand. (Wikipedia)

I would like to submit my name for the position of: Official Candy Name Thinker-Upper. (I'd like to have offices in Tokyo, Naha, London, New York, and Culver City.) I'll head up the task of re-branding items people think are "weird."

[Scroll down for my "Pocky Party" video. I back dated it to coincide with the original YouTube posting date.]

Hakkakukei Nunchaku Episode 1

This is the first installment of what will be a multi-part DIY kobudo series.

New YouTube Channel - The Legion of Ernies

Here's a place where all YouTubers named "Ernie" can meet each other. The channel will act as a central repository for links to our work, and a hub where the YouTube community can easily find people named Ernie, both men and women.

Pocky Party

Here's a YouTube video response to YouTuber "wallofweird" (aka Katrina).

Rockin' on the 4th of July

Hakkakukei Nunchaku Episode 3

Here's the third installment of my "How to Make Nunchaku" series.