May 9, 20080
Apr 21, 20081
Japan Food Price Increases Video
With food prices increasingly global, particularly as a result of increases in American ethanol production targets, Japan is seeing the first price rises for many years across a broad range of products, including bread, beer, noodles and other staples.
I doubt we are going to see a corresponding increase in pay for foreigners working here in Japan in the near future though.
Apr 17, 20081
Amazing Japanese Amusement Center
This is a nice little video shot around an amusement center here in Japan. I found it here at Metacafe.com. The place is really amazing, and as the poster said, only $15 for 3 hours. It has all the stuff you would expect from such a place like a (baseball) batting area and indoor bowling, as well as more esoteric pursuits such as curling and archery.
Fun Place!! – More bloopers are a click away
I remember seeing footage of a giant indoor ski field here in Tokyo, but from what I hear that is long gone…
Feb 26, 20080
Congratulations John McCain
Congratulations to John McCain on his victory in the 2008 United States Presidential election!
Jul 18, 2007Comments Off
World Paragliding Championship in Ibaraki
Apparently a round of the World Paragliding Championship 2007 was held in Ibaraki earlier this month. 122 gliders took part in the event which was held on Mt. Tsukuba which is close to where we live. This was the second time that a world championship paragliding event was held in Ibaraki.
I found this video they put together. It has some nice taiko drumming as well as some great shots of the scenery around Ibaragi:
We are going to attempt the third round using a combination of specially imported Christchurch City Council rubbish bags and antique Meccano frames… wish us luck!
Apr 28, 20071
Photos from around Kanto
Running out of space on my mobile phone so I thought I would upload some photos. I used to use flikr, but since they got taken over by yahoo I haven’t felt that inclined to use their service. Anyway, I put them into a short video:
Most of the photos are from around Tsuchiura where we live, but there are some from the Earth Day festivities held last weekend in Yoyogi Koen near Shibuya, the Penis Festival in Kanagawa, and one from Chiba.
Special thanks to Martin from Corkshead – Tsukuba’s friendliest place for a pint or three.
The music is by Kora, from the Crazy Things track. I ‘borrowed’ that from their website – which I have mentioned before in a prior post. Their music is wonderful. Respect – as Ali G might say. Although I mean that!
Apr 24, 20071
Adventures in Japan – Musical Wonderland
Almost time to sleep, but before I turn in for the night, I thought I would share this great video that an English teacher working in Kumamoto put together. Shot over 3 days, riding around on her bicycle it is a wonderful montage of life in Japan – not just the temples and geishas and all the really touristy bits, but more down to earth and normal:
from the director Ciaela’s description:
About 3 days of riding around town with my bike, and Gatchan’s camera.
About 3 days of painstakingly trying to put this together, having the computer crash, start again, crash again.
F*** it, I’ll just post it how it is, and say youtube messed it up, and thats why its off sync sometimes.
Anyway, this was the first video project I’ve ever done. Don’t know if I’ll ever do it again. Just wanted to have something to show mom and dad.
Shot in and around Kumamoto City, in Kumamoto, Japan.
Maybe that will inspire me to put up some video from some of our travels….
Apr 21, 20070
Watching Cricket in Japan
If you come from one of the cricket playing nations of the world – which makes cricket the worlds second most popular sport after football, or soccer, or whatever you call it, then you will know that the Cricket World Cup is being held in the wonderful West Indies.
Of course with Japan still living in the shadow of their defeat during World War II to the nuclear power of the Americans, baseball is very much the mainstream sport in these isles, so it is a tricky proposition to catch any of what is a very minority sport under the haze of American hegemony. One option of course is to vacate oneself to the delightful isles of the West Indies, although for the rest of us mere mortals the best option remains the internet.
Luckily there is another option – p2ptv. With the SopCast system installed, you will be able to watch not just the World Cup, but a wealth of other programming besides. And it is all free.
SopCast, according to their about us file is:
Sopcast Team built on Dec, 2004 and focus on the research and application on P2P streaming technology. The first website http://www.sopcast.org is very famous in China and many other countries, is linked and introduced by many aboard website especially in Europe . The sop protocols, developed by SopCast Team, has some specifications like security, high efficiency, extendable and make it easy to support huge users to view the online channels in a standalone server.
The question does arise over who gets what from this. I am sure that if this was based in a country of limited freedom, in the intellectual sense, then this would be closed down as fast as one could say “attack Egypt”, “attack Sweden” or “attack Oman” or whatever the current flavour of the month was. The advertisers certainly do benefit from this service. They get eyeballs on logos, brand recognition – everything they could dream for. The channels themselves dont get anything, unless they work it into their marketing plans (their ability to do so remains to be tested – getting ads for Indian insurance companies is wonderful, but I don’t really need their services living here in Japan).
If you want an interesting viewing platform download sopcast. If you thought this post was crap, then you probably want to stick to fox (and I am not going to do you the convenience of linking to them).
Enjoy the fours, sixes, and drunk kiwis in ridiculous costumes.
Mar 17, 20070
Pearl Chorus Effects Pedal CH-02 Video
Here is the second video for today – showcasing the Pearl Chorus Effects Pedal CH-02. Chorus pedals transform the sound by adding multiple layers giving off a kind of ghostlike sound reminiscent of 80’s gothic greats such The Cure’s Robert Smith. I added some photos from a trip we made to Sendai in the north of Japan a few years back to the video. Some of the signs are quite amusing if I may say so myself.
No longer manufactured, the Pearl Chorus CH-02 effects pedal was made in Japan and can produce a wide range of sounds, including Leslie Speaker and vibrato. It has strong fat sound from a vintage analogue circuit. This pedal has four knobs to control the speed, tone, depth and the amount of mixing between the sound of the instrument and the pedal. It makes some pretty crazy sounds, so could also function similar to a phaser.
Again, if you like, you can check out the Pearl Chorus Effects Pedal page at our webshop at aquaeffector.com.