Photoshop talent...

on the left is the current image of Liza promoting her upcoming tour... on the right is also a recent picture of Liza. Hmmmm.

*Thanks to Photoshop Disasters for this tip.

Why I'm smiling...

Japan

I love it.
The trip began with Judo and I meeting up for dinner before our flight. We had a late flight out of Sydney so there was no hurry. Once we boarded the flight I sat in my seat watching the other passengers board. One by one they passed by me when to my complete surprise I saw a very familiar face. It was my good buddy Dave... and behind him was Judo's buddy Scott. My thoughts went something like this:
What the fuck? Is Dave going overseas somewhere too? Hang on, he's on this flight he's coming to Japan! Nobody told me. Shit. Is this all part of my surprise? It must be!This is just the BEST surprise. It's a boys road trip to Japan! Yey!!! this is going to be the trip of a life time... and it was.

So there's too much to fit into a single post so here are some thoughts on Japan:
Despite its size, the city is reasonably quiet. Car and bike traffic noise must be heavily regulated.
Mobile phone use in public is restricted to txting. If you want to talk on one you have to move to an area where it's allowed. If you're on a train you have to switch you phone off.
Tokyo is an expensive city, but you can find good cheap food if you want it.Not being able to read signs on the outside of restaurants can lead to some very interesting dinner experiences.
Beer is good and often the same price or cheaper than other drinks on the menu including softdrinks.
The city is super clean. How this is possible is beyond me because finding a bin is not always easy on the street.When it rains, it rains well.
Everyone has an umbrella. Everyone.
Unlike here in Australia where office workers and patrons pile out on to the street to smoke, I noticed that in Japan you are not allowed to smoke on the street unless there is a designated smoking area.
Smoking in restaurants and while dining is very common.The people are courteous and respectful. Now that is something the rest of the world could learn a big lesson from.
You'll find fantastic and unique shopping opportunities, but be prepared to pay for it.The gardens are beautiful. The streets are well manicured and also very clean and beautiful.

Oh, I forgot to mention...

that the 2009 MotoGP racing season has begun. The first race was rained out and re-scheduled to some really stupid broadcast time here in Australia so I missed it. The second race is this weekend. It's on the Motegi Twin Ring circuit in Japan and I'm really looking forward to it and I really DON'T want to miss this one.

No, I REALLY don't want to miss it. I fly out of Sydney tonight and land in Tokyo tomorrow morning for it... I can't wait. I just can't wait.

Sign here please...

I wasn't in the mood to be too nice today.

Remeber this post...

Wanderlust

Well, #1 on my list just got a step closer.
August.
Thanks J.

I'd like to take a moment...

to remind you about the post below.
I only have 4 videos, and I know you want to be part of this, so come on. I've mostly covered off the start and the end. Wouldn't you like to be in the middle? Pull that finger out and get to it...

Do it do it do it do it do it now...

I've got an idea but it does rely on your participation. It can be as fun as you want it to be. All you need is a web-cam and a sense of fun.

My aim is to edit a video together of my online friends miming, dancing or just goofing off in front of a web-cam to a song. Are you willing to join in my experiment. If you would like to see my inspiration watch this:


Our song: "Ready For The Floor" by Hot Chip.
Are you with me? C'mon, join in the fun.


All I need is you to send me a 30 sec - 1 minute clip of you having fun and miming to a section of "Ready For The Floor". Sure you can do longer if you want, hey do the whole thing, but I hope to get a good cross section of mates doing different sections of the song. Maybe choose a verse or a chorus. I'll edit this together into a complete clip. I would like to get at least 10 willing participants. Get your friends together, have a few drinks then see what you come up with. Shouldn't be too hard.

If you can't record a small clip, then fell free to Skype me and I'll record one with you.

Are you ready for the floor? Go on.

So anyway...

accepting someone before they become your "friend" is a basic principle of "social networking". Sites like Facebook, MySpace or Twitter rely on this. It is an important principle that, aware of it or not, is the key to what makes these sites work and what makes them very popular.

So, you're online, what's your standard for accepting friends? Is your online acceptance equivalent to how you accept people in real life? No? Yes? I'm curious.

What do you get when you mix...

D'oh. Pink underwear.

I want one...

and it's called a "Tenori-on". I was introduced to this cool device on the weekend. It's mighty cool and it appeals to my joy of repetition. But what is it? I guess the best way to describe it is that it is a new kind of digital musical instrument. You can not only create audible music, but you can create visual music as well. I think one of these may be on top of my shopping list when I hit Japan in a few weeks time. Check out this very cool demo of the instrument.


And here is Little Boots showing how much fun these things can be, if you throw in a bit of talent:



I REALLY want one...

Human League

Let's get the non-music bit out of the way. This was the first gig I've been to this year where I wasn't the oldest dude there. In fact, if you were under the age of 30 I think you would have been feeling very out of place. If you were 30 you were a baby. Let's face it, I was a teen when some of these songs were released. Are you counting the years with me? Yep, close to 25-30 years ago. It was a good crowd of Gen X.
The band: Phil Oakey looked rather alien like. Susane also looked alien like but with the added affliction of anorexia. And then there was Joanne. She looked like a tuck-shop mum. I imagined her back stage making sure all items of clothing had the correct name tags sewn into the collar.

But we were there for the music. We were all there to enjoy the euro techno pop styling of the sound of the 80's. Now, I would never consider myself a "fan". In fact, I only have 3 songs in my iTunes library, so I wasn't overly excited or prepared to be swept up in the event. I had even confused them with Depeche Mode and Yazoo at some point during the lead up. But I was surprised at how many songs I knew. In fact I think I knew the tunes to them all. It was fun, it was energetic and I even found myself singing along out loud (not quite as loud as Dave) to a few classics. Highlight for me: "Mirror Man" and the finale "Electric Dreams". I'm glad I went. I have a feeling that concerts like this are rare and I actually feel lucky to have had the chance to go. I enjoy doing these things on a school night.