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It's official.
I'm getting too damn old.
Yesterday was my 34th, I mean 29th
birthday. I can't believe it myself. Before I know it
I'll be getting all the good parking spaces and extra
discounts. (I'll really know I'm getting old when I
start receiving direct marketing adds for bladder control
products and denture adhesives.)
But, I guess turning one more year older is not so
bad when you consider the alternative...(Which is not
living long enough to turn another year older) So I
guess I do have a lot to be thankful for.
Let me iterate a short list (In no particular order)
of some of the things I am thankful for:
- family
- izakayas (Japanese bar/restaurants)
- taco bell
- friends
- beer
- 400 Mhz FSB processors
- sunsets
- hangovers (They remind me of how good it is just to
feel normal)
- rain
- yoshinoya (beef bowl restaurant)
- coffee
- free time
- living in Japan
- my job
--
Next time you wander past a magazine rack or bookstore
go ahead and check out the January 2005 issue of Shutterbug
magazine. It contains an article about photoblogs and
on page 31 there is a photo from Sushicam along with
a short quote from yours truly. A little more publicity
for Sushicam. Let's see if this has any impact on my
daily site traffic.
--
I saw something funny yesterday.
Before I tell you exactly what it was let me first
set the stage with a description.
Upon arriving in Japan for the first time I was utterly
amazed at just how small some of the cars are over here.
I am sure a lot of those of you who have visited or
lived in Japan know what I am talking about.
Regular sized cars in Japan have white license plates
with green lettering (Green with white lettering for
commercial vehicles). But you also see a whole lot of
very small cars with yellow license plates with black
lettering. The yellow license plate means that the car
has an engine no larger than 660 cc's. (Yes that equates
to xx cubic inches) This is a smaller engine than most
regular street regular bikes, or a really powerful rotor
tiller.
I just realized something.
This is the first time I have used the words "Rotor
Tiller" here at Sushicam. I am sure this will bring
in all kind of new visitors from the countless people
who do Goggle searches for large gas powered self-propelled
gardening tools each day.... (or not).
Because the engines are so small on these yellow plate
cars they are really good on gas. (Which is a real concern
here in Japan since gas is so expensive, nearly $4 per
gallon) But in order to maintain a reasonable horsepower
to weight ratio and ensure adequate performance they
are also built very light and have about the same structural
integrity as a Doritos bag on a really cold day.
As a result of this seriously anemic engine the manufacturers
are always trying to come up with new ways to jazz-up
their new models.
Snazzy names, catchy commercials, and sleek styling
are some of the most common forms of marketing used.
But the styling part seems to have been taken to an
extreme lately.
What was so funny about the car I saw last night was
that and in addition to having a first class paint job
and chrome rims it actually had a hood scoop.
I'm not kidding.
The opening on the scoop itself was about the size of
a bar of soap.
As if that car would ever be able to gain enough speed
to make a hood scoop actually perform as designed.
Pretty ridiculous. Putting a hood scoop on a gas powered
radio flyer of a car like that makes about as much sense
as putting a spoiler on a wheel barrow. ("Wheel
Barrow", there's another hot search term on Google
no doubt...)
But it did give me something to write about, so I guess
it did have some redeeming qualities.
--
Voting in the
2004 Asia Weblog Awards wraps up in another 10 days
so make sure to go ahead and vote for Sushicam. We are
currently in the lead, but it ain't over until it's
over so if you deem this site worthy go ahead and vote
(up to once per day).
Comment 36
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