I always like to be ahead of the game so it was no surprise to see my Vox profile pic in the Guardian Guide today. Page 31, "What we learned on the web this week". They mention the square and smiling melons and the heart-shaped cucumbers of Japan. If only they read my blog (or Tokyomango!) they'd have known about them weeks ago! I followed the tinyurl link (http://tinyurl.com/ytd4he) just to see if it was my blog they were reading. It wasn't.
Been playing with my new toy - an Oregon Scientific ATC200 All Terrain Cam - basically a camera that's waterproof and can be attached to helmets, boats, surf boards and the like - but most importantly bikes. Also gave me the chance to play with Windows Movie Maker - the package that comes with XP. I hate editing video - I just dump all our videocam footage onto DVD as is after making menus and so on. This just had to be sped up and have some techno added though. Didn't quite make it home either as the cam was showing I only had 31m of record time on the 1GB card and I had a puncture. Anyway - here's the 1st attempt. More to come.
Thanks to Tokyomango again - here's another unusual Japanese watermelon - this time from where I lived, Fukuoka!
Before anyone starts getting too excited (Jens, Dino) they are made like this - it's not a Look Again Laura style natural freak.
Tokyomango have also sourced some of the heart shaped cucumbers and made a salad from them - not that great but there's a pic on their page if you're desperate to see one sliced and dressed.
This time heart shaped cucumbers reports MSN here and brought to my attention by Tokyomango. Esther Rantzen would have a field day with all these funny shaped veg although they aren't particularly phallic. Unlike the cubic melons these aren't too expensive either at only 300yen a "cuke" (£1.50). Not sure about giving them as wedding gifts though!
This article reports the amazing "buzz" around the new Michael Moore film, Sicko - his look at the lack of health care provision in the USA. This isn't media hype or advertising or marketing campaigns. This is real Americans coming together after seeing the film and deciding to do something about it. I'm not sure whether it's the embarrasment of seeing 9/11 rescue workers getting free healthcare in Cuba or US ex-pats enjoying France but it seems it's shocking enough to get even Texans questioning the system.
PS. Well worth checking out the film particularly for the hidden recording of Nixon deriding and ruling out healthcare for all before going on TV the next day and announcing better healthcare for all and for the early attempt at viral/word of mouth campaigns - Ronald Reagan, then still an actor (wasn't he always?), with a vinyl recorded message to be played at coffee mornings by housewives telling of the evils of "socialized medicine" (sic) like that in the Soviet Union!
Made famous by Homer Simpson, square melons are back - 800 of them according to this article and at 25,000 yen they are just over the $100 Homer paid. Fruit, in general, is hideously overpriced in Japan - I remember paying over £1 per apple back in 1994. Premium fruit such as top melons can go for over £200 - Homer got a good deal really!
Inspired by Dino's Reason composition for the XBOX competition I was determined to get to grips with it once and for all myself. After some hints from Matt and endless messing about I've produced my 1st track. Really pleased with it. A little rough around the edges. The 1st rain effect should fade, not just stop and the end fades, then comes back for the final rain effect. I could also do with thinking about the middle a bit more. But anyway - I like the sound of it. Taken me about 5 hours - not bad. Have a listen.
Hot on the heels of that I've done another.
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Jens Bachem said:
oh well. at least you know you're ahead of the curve. read more
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Dizzy said:
[this is good]You see, this is why I don't cycle - looks far too dangerous! You went past the road that I... read more
on My Journey Home
Crikey. It's only a bit of Flash. Not totally sure how it works as yet though. read more
on Talk to me