Aung San Suu Kyi

There are many reasons why I love howstuffworks.com and their new television show, first and foremost their abundant articles on very random topics, and today, I found a fun one on ghosts.

Apparently, TV host Regis Philbin "is among those who claimed to have seen Mrs. Whaley's ghost." The Whaley family had built this house on the land where a man known as Yankee Jim dangled from a poorly-composed noose for crimes of grand theft. (A boat) After at first suffering a blow to the head which left Y.J. Robinson nearly unconscious and with an infected wound, the convicted man swung for 45 minutes before finally dying of strangulation.



Gruesome. And exciting! Of course, nothing could be more exciting than a house with an unknown number of rooms owned by a woman taking orders from her haunters. If California is ever in the cards for me (Spring Break? Takers?), this is the place to visit. Check out the article on it - The Winchester Mystery House.

Myanmar! Burma! No, wait, Myanmar! Yes, this chunk of country is worth its weight in history, but I have to admit, it's a lot to cover as there seem to be so many problems there. But who could ever forget Aung San Suu Kyi? Seems like everyone - I hate to admit it, but I had to reintroduce myself to this famed leader of the National League for Democracy when her name came up synonymous with Myanmar/Burma in my research. Colleen herself just about fell off the map when I mentioned the woman's name - thought I was singing Christmas carols.

While she may not be a yule-tide favorite, this Nobel Peace Prize winner has been a huge figure in the fight for Burma's freedom from the rule of Myanmar's military regime. In and out of prison and detained, like many others, for voicing her views on the country's continuing oppression and massacre of its people, Daw (respectful title, "Madam") Aung San Suu Kyi was the world's only imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize recipient.


Here's some websites on Burma and its current situation today:

Aung San Suu Kyi Pages
US Campaign for Burma
Activists Sentenced by Unfair Courts
Burma Comedian Activist Arrested

Not sure what the deal is with the last video I posted for the US Campaign for Burma, but the site even lists that the videos are no longer available. Thank Buddha for YouTube.

Ah! Found a better explanation of the Myanmar/Burma naming confusion: "Locals call the country 'Myanmar' in their language since independence, even though early British called it 'Burma'. In 1989 SLORC changed the country's name officially to 'Myanmar' to synchronize it with the local language."

Lighter things on Myanmar for now (cyclones tomorrow), I searched for some national dishes of the country, but wasn't too successful. The Danbauk recipe didn't look too appealing to me (peas and yogurt, eugh), but Myanmar's common cuisine, Mohinga, didn't look too bad. Check them out if you're into this kind of food!

Tomorrow, I believe I will Gløgg it up. Finally. Wish me luck! (It'll all end badly, I'm sure, but I'm antsy to try out the kava!)

And what fortuitous circumstances be these? It's Kachin Manaw Festival time! Every January, the "Scots of Myanmar", the Kachin people, hold a week-long celebration recognizing the new year, past battle victories and the reunion of tribes.

Tribes such as the Thaisan, Kharku, Lisu, Rawang, Thaikhamt and Lacheik come dressed in their finest to show their gratitude and respect to ancestral spirits and pray for a bright future, especially for good harvests. Red, black and white totem poles loom over the grounds as the tribes join in dancing and feasting.

Also, the New York Times today listed off the Top 44 Places to go in 2009. Unfortunately, Phuket is on there. Damn you, Phuket! And Washington, D.C. was beat out by Berlin? Lame.

Then again, Alaska, too, is listed on the top places to go. Of course, that may just be for tourists to go and gawk into Sarah Palin's windows and ask, "Did she really run for vice-president?"
Inside tour: See Russia, too!

Still plowing through Warlords, but its an amazing read. A favorite part so far, in the year 1941 during the stagnant Nazi occupation, Hitler and his propaganda chief, Joseph Goebbels, sat and read through a book written on Winston Churchill. They made fun of Churchill as the author documented that the British prime minister "drank like a dish, wore pink silk underwear and dictated messages in the bath or in his underpants." Gotta love Winnie.