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9 June, 2003

GI Joe Combat Photos

Now this is a clever idea: War photos with a GI Joe doll added.

The goal of the action figure photographer is to set up scenes and try to make them appear as though they were actual combat photos. My approach to photographing action figures is different; I find actual combat photos and combine them with action figures through the use of image-editing software. This technique produces images that are not intended to disrespect or make light of the soldiers and photographers that served in World War II.

Posted on 9 June, 2003

Arirang Festival

One person's account of the Korean Arirang Festival.

I'd heard and read plenty about this show before I came and had been kind of skeptical. A bunch of people flipping around colored squares? How cool could that be? Well, to put it mildly, my expectations were blown away. The show was spectacular, and somewhat eerie, all at the same time. If Orwell had put a stadium scene in 1984 this would have been it. How could 100,000 people, as everyone claimed anyway, all work together in such perfect harmony?

Posted on 9 June, 2003

Guitar Gabriel

I've been listening to blues music for a long time. Yet I'd never heard of Guitar Gabriel until I started listening to Whole Wheat Radio.

Born Robert Lewis Jones in 1925 in Atlanta, Ga., "Guitar Gabriel" moved with his family to Winston-Salem when he was 5. His family, who grew up sharecropping, shared a talent for music. His great-grandmother, an ex-slave, called set dances and played the banjo; his grandfather played banjo and his grandmother the pump organ; his father and uncle were blues guitarists and singers and his sisters sang blues and gospel.

When the family moved to Durham in 1935, 10-year-old Gabriel took to the streets with his guitar. He claims to have met and learned from blues legends Blind Boy Fuller and the Reverend Gary Davis.

Guitar Gabriel died in 1996.

If you'd like to hear him, go here (you can download three complete MP3 files). Start with "Old Fashioned Love." It's an incredible song.

Posted on 9 June, 2003

Microsoft's Product Activation

Product activation rears its ugly head once again. This time in Australia. From ZDNET: MS software-activation error hurts XP.

Microsoft's software activation service is coming in for a new round of fire in the wake of a system outage that prevented the company issuing activation codes to its Australian customers over the weekend. The outage struck during one of the busiest retail trading days, lasting from around 12pm to 6pm Saturday.

Posted on 9 June, 2003

Anti-Alcohol Posters

From Russia, a collection of anti-alcohol posters.

Posted on 9 June, 2003

Tacky Treasures

Julie has some tacky treasures.

What makes something a tacky treasure? A tacky treasure is, first of all, tacky. However, to be a treasure, it must possess an additional quality, which could be any one of these: a naive yet ultimately flawed effort to be sophisticated or stylish; a complete lack of shame in exploiting poor taste; or a deliberate flaunting of poor taste as a rebellion against established norms.

Salt and pepper shakers in the form of an outhouse certainly qualifies.

Posted on 9 June, 2003

Food Suit

Not just any food suit. This is the Amazing and Versatile Food Suit (patent pending).

This outfit was designed for people who attend sporting events -- the ultimate ballpark apparel.

Posted on 9 June, 2003

Gizmodo 1983

Gizmodo is a weblog that focuses on new gadgets. Yesterday, it went back in time, and took a look at the top gadgets from 1983. For example:

From Motorola, the first commercial portable cellular phone to receive FCC approval. The DynaTAC 8000X, which weighs just 28 ounces, works on the new Advanced Mobile Phone Service that's being rolled out, and has an LED display, memory to store thirty "dialing locations," and enough battery life for 30 minutes of talk time and eight hours of standby. Retail price: $3,995.

Posted on 9 June, 2003

Asian Snacks

The Amazing Asian Snack Selection:

The gift box includes 18 unusual items and a full-color instructional guide!

You'll find such favorites as Grass Jelly Drink, Glico Pretz, and Men's Pocky.

American food products that are marketed to men usually feature enormous quantities (think Swanson's Hungry Man meals), or pitch themselves to a rugged, meat-eatin' type of consumer (Campbell's "Manhandler" soup campaign). Glico has taken a different approach with its Men's Pocky snack, going for the William F. Buckley crowd.

(via Bifurcated Rivets)

Posted on 9 June, 2003

Spam Lessons From Microsoft

An instructional article at MSDN. It describes the Subject field  in an email message. The example provided:

Make $20,000 per week stuffing envelopes

Posted on 9 June, 2003

40-Ounce Malt Liquor

An entire web site devoted to 40-oz malt liquor. It boasts the world's largest collection: more than 250 bottles, with photos and reviews.

Posted on 9 June, 2003