More Youtube…

Sorry for all the movies lately. Been busy with Midterms, etc…

Tonight, I have one from Japan, and one from the US. The first falls into the category of “WTF?” more than anything else. I’m not sure why you’d build a robot to do this, but if you won it like these guys did I don’t imagine you’d really mind having it around!

The second… Well, no matter how bad I feel for Peter Cullen or whoever they had do the voice for Prime, this commercial is pretty hilarious!

Link of the Night

So, tonight’s link of the night comes from the world’s second most regular source of strange news – that is to say, Jolly Old England! The first, of course, is my beloved Japan.

Known for their surprising readiness to accept deviance that goes on behind closed doors, the British are apparently not quite so understanding of any deviance that should find its way to light, as this young man can attest. Wow – that’s one of those moments you spend the rest of your life wishing you’d been a little less drunk during… But seriously, folks, what kind of terrible person reports the guy for it?

Wouldn’t it be easier to just take pictures for blackmail?

Music of the Future?!

Feast thine eyes on the reactable:

The same multi-touch interface that is used in the Microsoft Surface and the iPhone is used, along with acrylic blocks with embedded microchips, to create the most user-friendly and possibly the most powerful synthesizer ever. I don’t know if there are any other devices on the market or in development that use multi-touch technology, but if the first three to be produced can fundamentally change the way we see computers, the internet, and music, then I think we should all be paying very close attention to what is being done with multi-touch. Like Emery said, it’s amazing to think what the future might hold if such technology becomes commonplace.

Interface of the Future?

Another cool thing I stumbled across. We’ve seen this technology before, but this is a definite improvement on the practical functionality of it – especially in terms of transferring data instantly back and forth between devices. How many times have we seen tech like this in Sci-Fi movies? It’s amazing to think that within our lifetimes such technology will probably be widely available!

Youtube Bonanza!

I was just going to post one link, but seeing as how I was provided with FOUR wonderful links tonight, I’m going to post all of them…

From Tim:
For those of you who enjoy alternative exercise routines – Ultraman Taisoku!

I dunno who thought this would be a good idea… But I’m pretty sure I know where MY nightmares will be coming from for a while. After having watched this to the end, that is…

From Alice:

Because who doesn’t wonder what Sponge Bob’s like in China?

This fits my current attitudes about China, thanks to the combined efforts of a LONG report about Religion in China, and the “Society and Culture in Contemporary China” class I’m taking. Those guys really don’t make it easy to like China’s Government… Fortunately, I don’t.

Apparently Samurai have fallen so low that they are now hired out to kill common household pests…

‘Nuff said.

And finally:

Something for those of you wanting to learn about Japan…

Please note that while some of the info in these “Culture Labs” is correct, some is horribly, horribly wrong. Use with caution. Or use freely and live with being a Barbaric Foreigner. Personally, I make ample use of both methods as the mood strikes.

On a serious note… Tonight Alli and I wandered over to the Tonkatsu place that’s a block or two from out Apartment Building. I’ve been there a couple times – they’re a little expensive (1420 for a Teishoku and two glasses of beer), but the place serves some of the best Tonkatsu I’ve ever had, and it’s run by a woman, her mother, and her daughter (who is SO cute) who are really good people. Tonight, for instance, a neighbor (I think? Maybe the husband?) brought in some Ume-shu that he’d made. Apparently it was either ten or 5 year vintage (the Grandmother and the Mother said two different things…), and it was AMAZING. They must have put honey in, because despite the vintage, the sweet flavor was detectable through the kick. Unlike most of the Ume-Shu you find in Japan, it’s texture was silky-smooth and pure and the color was almost a molasses brown. Simply put, it was the best Ume-Shu I’ve ever had, and I kind of hope they will offer us more next time… I didn’t have a camera or I would have taken a picture.

People With Too Much Time

In tonight’s installment of People With Too Much Time, we explore things people do with their hands:

People can make shadow puppets. People with too much time put on puppet-shows of shadow monkeys having sex.

For thousands of years, people have painted their hands in intricate patterns with henna. More recently, people with nothing to do have painted their hands to look like animals.

Music has been a part of human culture since before recorded history, and almost every instrument made by man has involved the use of ones hands. Now, for the first time, hands take the place of the human voice.

One wonders why these people don’t just masturbate like the rest of us and spend less time screwing with their hands.

Drinking with the Brass

In Japan, it’s customary to go out with your office after work. Basically, the idea is that since while at the office your behavior is governed by a strict code of rules and expectations, when you’re drinking is the only time you can really be yourself. Drinking with your office becomes a way to make friends, to schmooze for that next big promotion, and to build office camaraderie. In exchange, it’s generally held that what happens at the bar STAYS at the bar – anything you do while drunk is “forgotten” by the next day at work. Actually – that excuse applies to just about any person and any time you’re drunk. Now, because my “office” is so fragmented, I don’t actually experience this custom that often. Last weekend, I did.

The weirdest part of last Saturday was doing calisthenics with a bunch of elderly gentlemen as part of “warm up” for that day’s A Capella rehearsal, but that’s a story for another time. I left rehearsal early so that I could make the hour-long trek out to Tachikawa in western Tokyo for a “Gakusei Benkyoukai” – which translates roughly to “student study-meeting” or something similar to that. Basically, the Representative I work for had some students come in and lectured to them about the Normalization of Japan and Constitutional Reform. I was impressed that I understood enough of what he was saying to be able to explain it to the other English-speaking intern who just arrived last Friday.

After that, most of the intern staffers and the students who’d come to the meeting went out to a Nomihodai – “All you can drink” – restaurant for a “get-together”. This is pretty typical, actually – it’s basically all we do when we go out drinking because alcohol is so expensive in Japan when bought separately.

So I argued with the Representative about Security Policy for a while – he drinks Guinness, BTW. I feel so very vindicated… Then some of the interns and I did a “Nijikai” – an afterparty. At a bar. Let’s just say I managed to be drunk enough to accidentally break two glasses and a plate (I maintain he let go before he’d handed it to me!) and witnessed a drink being THROWN at another person… It was good times all around. Only… One of my bosses then texted another student and told them he was coming for the SANJIKAI (After-after party) and wanted me to stay around so he could meet me. Eek! So much for the last train…

And that’s how we wound up at a VERY fancy bar. I’m talking 5 bar stools and enough space behind you for walking, as well as a tiny bathroom. In front of you there’s a bar that’s bigger than the rest of the space with more booze than I’ve ever seen in my life and a bartender in a tux who’s speaking formal Japanese. Classy.

Needless to say, they had good Port.

And the best part about this? I didn’t have to pay for the second two bars. Apparently they found out how little money I had left and decided I needed to keep 1000 yen for the ride home just in case. I wound up crashing on the floor of the afore-mentioned boss’s tiny apartment where I got almost no sleep and woke up with a terrible hangover. The commute home was an hour and a half. Worst. Walk of Shame. Ever. I think I was justified in shutting the windows and turning on the AC before I crashed in my apartment. I would also have you all know that no work was accomplished all Sunday, AND I managed to spend all Monday feeling incredibly dizzy.

That was about the fourth time I’ve decided I’m never drinking again. Which is why I’m buying more Guinness on my way home tonight.

In case you haven’t seen it yet

Batman’s new costume for The Dark Knight looks really cool.
Still not as cool as the bear suit guy’s latest idea, though.

The Definition of Hardcore

Meet: Mr. Pizza. When you have not only custom-built a double-necked Guitar Hero guitar, but also re-wired a footpedal to accept input, all just to play multiplayer against yourself, you have gone far beyond nerdom. You have left geekdom in the dust and outpaced dorkdom by a league or so. This man, Mr. Pizza, has come full circle back to awesome. I salute you, Mr. Pizza; your 8 minutes and 42 seconds of fame give other people who have absolutely nothing else to do with their time something to, well, to do with their time (a noble pursuit).

Goodbye, Sneaks…

For those of you who don’t know, yesterday (6/13/2007) my family’s dog of more than 14 years passed away. She developed Cancer around 6 months ago, so we all knew this was coming, but I don’t think I was quite ready for it to happen. Thankfully, it seems like she didn’t really suffer in the end. She just woke my mom up, then went to sleep and died. Sneakers meant a lot to my whole family, and I think anyone who knew her will miss her a lot.

I don’t really have access to my pictures right now to put up an album, so I’m just going to link to the pictures my older brother put up on his blog.

Album of Sneakers Photos
Some more pictures of Sneakers in Warren’s Random Photo Album