Another Typhoon?!?!

So there have been a lot of typhoons lately.

This would be great, if I were working.  I say this because it means all the public transport shuts down for a day which means the possibility of going home early, or not going into work at all.

It's not such a great thing when you consider people usually die.

The biggest one this year was no joke, killing dozens through flooding and landslides.  The problem is that the areas most affected are always rural (there's no land left to slide in Tokyo) which makes access difficult at the best of times (narrow one lane roads are fun to drive around, until you need to fit an ambulance and fire engine on them).  Couple this inherent inaccessibility with the destruction of the already cramped roads and you have a knotty problem.

Adding yet another layer is the demographics - rural dwellers skew older, meaning they are more fragile and less mobile.  Not a set of characteristics you want when you suddenly have to run away from a wall of mud that's bearing down on your house.

Anyway, todays typhoon is much weaker than that, and has created that gentle rain that I find incredibly relaxing, borderline soporific.  Perfect for writing, dozing a bit, then writing some more, so that's what I will do.



I attended an event last weekend, took some pictures and wrote a thing.

A few of the pictures I took are on that page, but I ended up with about 650 or so from the event which means I have a lot left over.

Smile pls

 So these guys made a game called Projection Remains.  It was actually really well made, felt good to play and was polished beyond reason for a student game.  The only downside was that I got there almost immediately after the event had opened on the first day and they were still sorting their stuff out.  The lights went out and there was a mouse cursor in the middle of the screen for the entire time I was playing.

I came back around towards the end of the event and they were much more relaxed so it was probably just first day jitters.

Seriously, smile!

 This guy was studying to be an environment artist and had made some pretty cool things.  I tried chatting to him about his work but no dice.  He probably couldn't understand my crappy Japanese.  Seemed like a nice enough guy though.

The robot future approacheth, one finger at a time

 I didn't see it moving, but I assume this thing is a robotic chess playing arm?  It looks like it would be a fairly formidable presence at any chess tournament, not least because it looks like it could flick a piece at you with deadly force and accuracy.

Oh Japan...

Look.  If the internet has taught us anything it's that the world is full of perverts.  The world has always been full of perverts, but now it is plain for all to see.  What I don't understand is why we're suddenly seeing weird shit like this pop up outside of the seedy sex shops.

They were pretty soft though.

Jazz hands

 This little thing was a great example of why VR is so cool.

It's a tiny demo, where you walk along that piece of wood in real life, but you're outside on top of a fucking tall building in the virtual world.  You walk along a short plank, pirate style, and try not to fall off.  If you go out of bounds (step off the plank) you fall to your death.  You may also fall over in real life because the disconnect between your eyes seeing the fall and your ears not feeling anything makes the brain freak out.

I was fine with the heights aspect of it - although it did make me step back (literally) and appreciate the view before I walked the plank - but the falling part of the demo was absolutely not okay.  Guys, seriously.

Plummeting a bajillion feet was fine because I could remind myself that I was in a game, but when the ground got very close, very quickly, I had a mini crisis of being.

When the ground was about waist level (I was falling very fast so I don't know exactly where the switchover occurred) I went from being consciously in control of my everything, to be subconsciously very afraid for my well-being.  It was much more primal than, say, a horror film.  It was a realisation that things were very not okay and that I was about to splat on the floor.

If you ever find yourself falling a long way to your death, take this advice:  Look up.  Look anywhere but the floor.  If you're going to splat, there's no need to pile on the dread before you do.

Then I took the headset off and all was well with the world.

10/10 would fall again.

Fully playable, if you are a pixie

This dude made a very tiny space invaders clone with an arduino, a tiny screen, and (presumably) the world smallest soldering iron.

I have literally no idea how he made something so delicate with those big paws, but it was fully playable and was surprisingly vibrant considering the size of the screen.  It has a speaker in it too.

Brilliant.

Ah yes, I too can relate to this scene.  I can't count the number of times I find myself playing a phone game with a controller, while laying down on the floor in my room with my stuffed toys and talking into a microphone strapped to my face while being watched by dozens of people and being filmed at the same time.  Truly a scene we can all identify with.

Look how fluffy her socks are.

I have no idea why I'm including this picture, but I didn't want to interrupt her stage show performance (demonstration?) to say thanks for the pic, so I threw up the peace sign and she reciprocated, then immediately got told off by a producer.  I felt bad.

Sorry.

Damnit Bill from marketing, you had one job

This costume looks like it took flippin' ages to make.  Then they stood her in front of the single busiest backboard at the entire show, making it nearly impossible to make out any of the details on the costume itself. 

The model was good (she actually smiled!) but I have no idea what game this was for, so I don't know if it served its purpose particularly well.

The same hat for 4 days too...

Indies are where it's at.  This dude stood behind this screen for four days, showing it off to anyone who wanted to play.  I'm not entirely sure whether he has any intention of ever selling this, whatever it is, but that dedication is something to be admired.  Also, he was wearing a chicken hat.

I mean, it's nearly a smile.  Sort of

The cosplay section was absolutely jam packed.  The effort they put into their gear was universally amazing, and I don't think a single one of them were anything less than 100% committed to the thing.

I don't really get it personally, but talking to some of them outside the show it's an interesting mix of getting to be something they are not in real life, designing and making clothes and accessories, and outright showing off hot bods in a somewhat socially acceptable way.

I feel like the last type of person would be better served going to the beach and wearing something skimpy, but there aren't any good beaches within 100km of Tokyo, so it's certainly easier this way.

This character is from a game called Nier Automata which no one can pronounce correctly

The cosplayers are overwhelmingly female, and this is going to surprise no one, the photographers are overwhelmingly male.

I didn't know it, but it turns out there is a definite 'nerd with camera,' type, and he is a distinct beast from 'doesn't leave the house and only plays games,' nerd.  I don't know how, but 'nerd with camera,' has absolutely shit tons of money (seriously, I saw a guy carrying four Nikon SLR's each with multi thousand dollar lenses) and absolutely no manners.  'Nerd with camera,' is, alas, easy to dislike because of both these factors.

I was, at first, worried that I too was 'nerd with camera,' but then I remembered my bank account balance and worried no longer.

The character is called 2B, and yes it has a distinctly philosophical bent

I don't know how this woman sees where she is going, but she looked at the camera the whole time so I assume she can.  Either that or she is secretly a bat and doesn't need her eyes to see.

Neon Genesis Evangelion is the show these characters are in.  Yes I consider the robots characters.  No I do not know what 'Neon Genesis Evangelion,' means.

 The dude in this suit was sweating his ass off the entire time.  It wasn't even that hot outside, but I don't think inch thick acrylic is particularly breathable.

Hakodake no blues.  The sadness that comes from only having a box?  The blues of only having a box?  Only having a box sadness?  That feeling you get when you've only got a box?  I'm not sure how to translate the title of this one.

 This game was another fun one.  The guy on the screen is constantly running to the left (side-note, games run from left to right (think Mario) because early platformers (like Mario) did, and the tradition has continued ever since.  A lot of the world, and most early game designers wrote with their right hands, from left to right, so games followed suit.  This guy is breaking with tradition, go guy!) and when you lower the cardboard box and hide inside, the running guy does too.  The objective is to make it home without being spotted.

The one pose to rule them all.  If you want to be a model in Japan, learn how to do this.

 This is probably my favourite model photo.  The background is a bit busy, the hair is a bit frizzy, there's some moire if you look hard enough, but overall I think it's pretty good.

Shout to shoot.  Writes itself.

The great thing about the indie and student section is that there's always a game with a simple premise that is surprisingly fun.  This guy is shouting into a microphone in order to fire a gun which he is aiming with his right hand.  Simple, effective, fun, makes you look like an idiot to any observer.  Ticks all the boxes you need for a good VR experience.

Overall it was a solid event with tons to do.  It helps that I played all the games on Thursday and Friday before General Public came in and made the lines really long, but I'd probably still go even if I didn't have a press pass.

A Trip to Harujuku and Shibuya

So yesterday me and a couple of guys I met in the hostel went to Harujuku to see the crazy dressed up people, and to see what the part of Tokyo you see on the T.V is actually like.  It was a little too hot for all the costume people yesterday, so there weren't that many out and about; but the dedicated few who were present provided quite a show.

After one of the party members left to head to Osaka (I think) we decided to go to Shibuya, where he hit some arcades and I laughed as he got whooped repeatedly.

After another hundred mile day we got home, and after agreeing to meet up for dinner I fell asleep and woke up at 8 this morning.  Oops.

Onto the photos!

Welcome to jam packed Tokyo.  This bit is the cool section, evidenced by the macdonalds signs everywhere, and the western shops on every corner.   For the record, it was in the high twenty degrees with a whopping humidity, bear that in mind when you see some of the costumes...

These dodgy maid outfits are everywhere.  I thought they were just myth, but they actually exist.

Is this a well recognised chain?

Ok that red suit is head to toe... Hot much?  Those glasses are also awesome and so is the hat.  He even moves as if he were a robot.  I have no idea what he's selling, if he's selling anything at all.  I do want his glasses though.

Same guy again, he's worth three pictures I think.

Again, I don't know what she's selling, all I know is that it's worth 980円.  This picture has a spiderman just offscreen.  He was livid that we were taking pictures of this girl, and we presumed that was because he fancied her, and was trying to chat her up.  He was awfully friendly with her, for simply being colleagues...

We saw this guy a few times around the place, but were never able to get a good shot.  He is some kind of tron/power rangers mix, and the bicycle he walks around with kind of makes me lean towards tron more.

This guy/girl was standing in the exact spot for more than three hours, we walked past him twice!  A lot of effort went into this one, ten out of ten!

These girls went the extra mile, even putting blue contact lenses in.  Tons of effort also went into these costumes, 10/10!

Same guys again, slightly closer to show the detail that's gone into these madhat costumes.

The golden flowers mean this is some kind of imperial owned site I think.

Shinto priests.  A wedding procession went past while we were ambling around the site.  It felt kind of weird to take pictures of the procession as tourists, not knowing the couple and generally being an unwanted nuisance.  From a selfish perspective however, I'll never get  an opportunity to see that again so I took as many discreet photos as I could.

More covert photographs.

This is the procession.  Everyone doled up in their finery.

A closer look at the formalities.  I was going to use the word 'festivities,' but somehow it doesn't seem apt for this particular photo.

They had the whole thing filmed, and all the cameramen wore green armbands.  To make sure everyone knew who was holding the camera?

The woman in the green/gold/beige was running around in and out of train organising everyone and everything.

I noticed that I hadn't managed to get a photo of someone wearing the traditional dress, so I pretended to be american, and asked this woman if I could take a photo.  The exasperation was evident in her demeanour, but it was a minor victory for non american English speakers everywhere.

As you can probably see by now, these ornately constructed roof and edge parts of their shrines hold a particular fascination for me, look at how detailed and ornate they are!

Another covert photo op.

I don't know whether these guys are asian or what, but they are insane looking.

These are the guys I went around with.  Whereas Europeans try to look normal in photos, and Asians do the two finger peace thing, americans try to look like they're about to shoot you.

As they would say, 'go figure.'

Also, never follow a texan, their sense of direction is awful.

Elvis is not dead.  He has been cloned, and taught to 'bodypop,' and now performs in duplicate, in the park at harujuku.  I bet you didn't see that one coming!

Showing off is showing off in any country.

I've no idea how you spell didgerydoo.  But his has a mic and is attached to an amp...

This dog park, is in the middle of the normal park and has several zones.  The little dogs go here, and the big dogs go elsewhere.  This is quite possibly the most pointless thing ever.  For one, how do you get the dogs here without taking them through the normal park?

There were a lot of people chatting away though, so maybe it's more of a way to meet people than to do some actual dog based exercise.

The weight categories made no sense either, 3kg - 12kg?  That's mike tyson versus me.  That's plainly not fair.

One of their old olympic facilities.

This is the picture of Tokyo you see in the news, on tele generally and in the films.   This is the view from street level.

This is the same view from a few storeys up.  This is a non-crowded, average, any time of  day scenario for crossing this street.

 

There is a person inside that, waving his or her arms up and down in a slightly worried kind of way...

For all your voltage testing needs.  They had about five stalls in a row, owned by different people all trying to peddle the exact same models of these.  Strange.  And kind of utilitarian for a country that doesn't have the D.I.Y concept.

It's a real shame this photo came out badly, because these guys were good.







That's all for yesterdays trips.