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    March 28

    Summary for Tutorial 10 - Online Marketing

    Note: This summary will not cover the question on social networking Web sites since the nature of marketing for this medium is speculative at best. It would be interesting to consider, however, if email applications might not be a better way to achieve the same marketing results as suggested in the reading.

    Q1a. Commercial platforms such as corporate Web sites that promote a single brand.
    The important keyword to note here is brand marketing, which should not be confused with product marketing. In today’s world where consumers can be considered as money rich and time poor, it is important to create a strong attitude towards your brand within their minds, and this is especially so for low-involvement products*. There are two reasons for this. First, positive attitudes once instilled are very difficult to change. Second, because consumer turnover for low-involvement products is high (i.e., for bottled water you might always just go for the cheapest), it helps to create brand loyalty, and to always have the brand within the consumers’ evoked set**. The way to do this is to have the consumer associate themselves frequently with your brand. In this case, the Internet provides the perfect medium for the use of interactivity to hold the consumers’ attention. Here, it is important to point out that the Internet is not the one-stop solution to the marketing mix. Television ads still have the ability to reach out to the largest number of audiences, and if you recall from the lecture, companies still spend millions to place an ad during the Super Bowl. The Internet only comes in after awareness is created. Think about the Nike case here, where an online context introduces the element of online interactivity into the sport of running, and where their Web site becomes a portal for users relatively independent of geography. In this situation, one might say that the concepts of Web 2.0 (i.e., user interactivity) have been ported over to ensure that brand loyalty remains high towards a single brand. On a separate note, the Web also allows the consumer to customize the products that they buy using the company’s Web site.

    Since the brand is probably an established one, it is more beneficial to consider the use of the Long Tail for marketing purposes rather than to push for a sale (as it would be for amazon.com for example). One might think of viral or buzz marketing, where a video is launched onto YouTube, which later circulates through blogs and RSS feeds. Further down the road, and provided the initial advertisement was quirky enough to draw attention to itself, parodies from the “cult of the amateur” may show up to further increase awareness towards the brand. Once again, if we think about low-involvement products, such user-generated content (UGC) is important because you would be more likely to believe something your friend pushed to you, than what might be perceived as a hard-sell by the company itself. Naturally, some companies might feel that such UGC is an infringement of copyright and through legal injunctions, may try to wrest control back from users. I would consider this, however, as an example of the locked-in phenomena in trying to stay with a copyright-oriented model even with the advent of Web 2.0. Unless the UGC is particularly derogatory, why would a company not want to take advantage of free marketing by users? Furthermore, isn’t generating prolonged user engagement with a brand the ultimate aim of brand marketing?

    *Low-involvement products are those that do not require much thought from the consumer before they follow through with a purchase. High-involvement products, on the other hand, usually cause the consumer to engage in more thought and fact finding before the purchasing behavior takes place. While what might be considered as low or high involvement products will vary between consumers, the former are usually low-cost items (e.g., bottled water, tissue paper), while the latter are high-cost items (e.g., car, a house etc.).

    ** The evoked set is the range of brands that comes to a consumers mind when they are thinking of making a purchase. Since low-involvement item are usually bought on the spur of the moment, keeping your brand within their evoked set is especially important.

    Q1b. Commercial platforms such as corporate Web sites that promote a single brand.
    This case belongs very closely to the realm that we have been discussing through the previous weeks. It is actually a moot point to discuss whether Web 2.0 exists for commercial Web sites such as amazon.com since their entire existence subsists on the availability of the “cult of the amateur” and UGC. Commercial Web sites are the portal to the niche end of the Long Tail, and it is through user purchases and comment postings that other consumers are pointed to more obscure products that they might like. In this case, networked effects are important, since the larger number of users you have, the more data you can work with to direct other users to even more products.

    Q2. Non-commercial platforms such as blogs or photo sharing Web sites such as Flickr.
    Non-commercial platforms are synonymous with free Web applications. Usually, the business model that goes with such a medium is akin to that which you have heard in the Google presentation. Namely, free software is used to aggregate a large number of users so that advertisements can be targeted at them. For blogs, marketing can be done through paid sponsorship of bloggers to test out a company’s products. As mentioned previously, a trusted blogger might have a greater influence on consumer perceptions for low-involvement products. Nonetheless, it might be that user skepticism will increase (as it is with television commercials) as blogs become more commercialized.

    Since the passage of information through blogs can be seen as a form of buzz marketing (i.e., the Discovery of a product or brand that Damien mentioned in his lecture), the use of UGC and the “cult” becomes inevitable. And since viral marketing online usually starts off as a niche video etc., information of its existence would probably also be transmitted through the same devices that make accessibility to the niche end of the tail possible.

    For Web sites such as Flickr, issues of copyright come into the picture. Interactivity means that the old ways of doing things, where a company insists that all its creations are proprietary, has to be abandoned. The reason for this is because the situation is different from Q1a., where the aim is to make consumers stay with a certain brand. As mentioned, since non-commercial platforms depend on targeted advertising, the important aim is to achieve a critical mass in the number of users. So, by adopting a more open format instead, mash-ups of different Web applications can occur (such as the whole bunch of Google Earth mashups I believe are out there); the greater the versatility of a software, the more users you can attract, and the more money you can make from advertising to them. In terms of the “cult,” well, this entire business model is designed to attract the creators of UGC, so it obviously doesn’t make sense to alienate them.

    In closing, I would just like to point out how my ideas are supportive of UGC and interactivity. You may choose to disagree of course, in which case the question becomes whether it makes sense to do so since Web 2.0 exists; if everyone else is using mashups and embedding user interactivity, then how would a Web site that refuses to do so survive? There are definitely more heads and more ideas out there outside the corporate world than within after all, and it doesn’t make sense to tap into this resource when it comes at such a low cost. And while UGC has it problems with accuracy, it is silly to think that any kind of portal can be completely objective in its reporting. Here is a link to the example I mentioned which actually happened in October last year (sorry about the misinformation there). Unfortunately, I can’t locate any news on the response from the other side, but you are free to do your own sleuthing: http://www.asiaone.com/News/Latest+News/Story/A1Story20071011-29532.html. Instead, statistically, it makes more sense for an erroneous fact or carefully concealed news item to be singled out when you have users on a global scale nitpicking at something.

    March 22

    Summary for Tutorial 9 - Content Protection

    Note: I won’t go through the facts of the 3 types of content protection (or lack thereof) since these are readily available in your readings. I have also chosen to discuss the issues with a more ideological slant, since the pragmatic aspects were already covered in class. By the way, thinking through the issues presented in the lectures and tutorials, rather than the regurgitation of facts, will be necessary for acquiring a good grade in the final exam.

    Copyright Protection
    In trying to understand the positions for or against copyright, it is helpful to first situate yourself chronologically as well as in terms of role; the former refers to before and after the advent of Web 2.0, while the latter refers to (a) a major distributor, and (b) a Poor Struggling Content Creator (PSCC). Let’s first consider the time before Web 2.0. In this situation, the PSCC has created something, but has no means to get the piece of work out to a larger audience. This person thus has to surrender any and all rights apart from attribution, depending on the agreement, probably in exchange of royalties. The only problem would be if the major distribution channel thinks that this piece of work is not worth the effort, and thus refuses to acquire the copyright. As long as this doesn’t occur, this can possibly be considered to be a win-win situation, with the PSCC less concerned about copyright because infringement issues are the distributor’s problem. Alternatively, one might also consider the PSCC as being subjected to the whims of the distributor, i.e., there is a loss of power for the individual, such as editorial censorship. Today, with Web 2.0, the PSCC no longer has to depend on the distributor (Web 2.0 is important because if you recall, niche products fall into the Long Tail model). In this situation, copyright becomes an issue for the PSCC as well, and can truly be envisioned, as many of you mentioned in class, as a piece of protection for the individual. The thing to remember here is the importance of interactivity and Web 2.0 in making this happen! Whatever the case, however, advocates of copyleft would argue that the aims of copyright are mercenary in nature, and therefore protect the individual’s right to make money rather than the greater good that might befall humankind from the free distribution of the user-generated content.

    Copyleft
    In order to understand the position of copyleft advocates, you must situate yourself in the mindset where pure commercialism is bad, and where adherence to the 4 freedoms of copyleft must reign supreme. So while you may actually sell your creation (in this case software), you cannot stop the buyer from copying it for their neighbor(s). This makes commercialism a moot point really, since with P2P networks, you are definitely going to have less buyers than distributors. Returning specifically to Stallman’s argument that it is not wrong to make a copy since you are not taking it away, one can also argue against his interpretation of the scope of theft - while the law might have referred to theft in relation to material property in the past, it is silly to think that it should not be updated in the digital age to encompass copying. In addition, I would also like you to consider whether Stallman’s aim to achieve freedom for all can really be achieved. For example, Stallman himself quit MIT to pursue his ideals, which suggests that his aims while not necessarily supporting capitalism, may in turn reinforce a new digital divide. My point here is whether the issue can really be looked at in terms of black and white – can a capitalist not also be a philanthropist?

    On a separate note, it is again important to consider the importance of Web 2.0 in aiding the rapid development and distribution of what we may consider as niche products until it enters the mainstream. Firefox might be a good example of this. Firefox is also an illustration of how the Internet in fact realizes the existence of copyleft. Consider, for example, if the only means of distributing a piece of software was by snail mail. A particularly entrepreneurial distributor with the means to package and ship this software might end up abusing the copyleft mandate by making money off PSCCs who had created them for free. However, the Web preempts this, and allows for greater altruism by freedom-supporting individuals since it supports economies of scale for free software, and which makes it senseless for anyone to attempt to commercialize it. Furthermore, it is important for something developed in such a way to have this kind of mass distribution in order for it to have networked effects rather than just what might potentially be a disorganized mass of software that can’t communicate with each other (e.g., HD-DVD and Blu-Ray).

    Creative Commons (CC)
    What you feel about CC actually depends on your position towards freedom and the capitalist enterprise. And I would suggest, as Sophia did in the lecture, that this position will change depending on whether or not you are the owner of copyrighted work that can actually make you rich. Whatever the case, CC is a middle ground that tries to preserve some moneymaking avenues for the PSCC, while also allowing this person to maintain an individually decided level of altruism. However, since CC more closely approximates copyright in that it allows for the PSCC to negotiate fees with others, its major detractors are not surprisingly copyleft advocates. And once again, in order to understand their position, you have to take a very extremist stand. For example, they would argue that any kind of copyright is bad because it encourages capitalists to create things that people don’t need so that they can make money. This is actually a very Marxist argument that scholars such as Guy Debord have made regarding the false “lack” that capitalists create in consumers so that they will always feel the need to buy and buy. Others might also argue that Web 2.0 is nothing but a tool that makes consumption more efficient, and therefore again benefits the capitalists and their copyrights. Regarding this point, you might want to consider if this position still makes sense today since the situation between producers and consumers is not as it once was after Web 2.0 and direct consumer-to-consumer transactions came along. For one, the accessibility of the Long Tail means that the “lack” is not necessarily top-down anymore. Second, the major distribution channels may be bypassed under such a bottom-up regime, which means that wealth has the potential to be equalized (provided you are in the “correct” half of the digital divide or course).

    In sum, it is very hard to posit any kind of steadfast position on this topic unless you contextualize your arguments. In other words, you need to consider who you are arguing for, and whether this person’s views are still valid in the context of Web 2.0.

    March 11

    Summary for Tutorial 8: The Long Tail

    clip_image002[5]

    The long tail represents the “end of scarcity” as niche products (yellow portion) are able to find a market when previously only hits (orange portion) could reach the masses through the major distributors. Scarcity here refers to limited shelf space, need to consider one’s geographically bounded consumer base (buyer scarcity), marketing and packaging costs (economic scarcity) etc. Once defined, the question is whether these scarcities can be reduced and why. Indeed, the long tail has always existed. However, the scarcities prevented accessibility to the yellow portion for both distributors and end users. What has made it accessible to all now is the Internet, and in particular, Web 2.0. This is because the Internet allows for infinite shelf space, relative low cost in putting something up for sale, and the elimination of geographic boundaries etc. However, since niche content is found primarily through user referrals, access to the yellow portion would be seriously obstructed if (i) there were no hits to first attract and consolidate a user base (networked effects), and (ii) no means for users to generate things such as referrals, reviews etc. From the business perspective too, companies can increase accessibility by tracking users’ purchase behaviors.

     

    In terms of how the Long Tail influences business possibilities, as mentioned, companies who take advantage of Web 2.0 will benefit greatly. Nonetheless, the yellow portion according to the literature has taken up ¼ to at most ½ of all sales, so the Long Tail model is indeed something to be looked as an adjunct, rather than as a totally new thing that replaces the old model; the Yellow portion is not so much an avenue of freedom for the end user perhaps, but a way for distributors to make more money when considered in this light. For the end users, this economic model allows them to have access to a market for the sale of goods because of the characteristics mentioned earlier (relatively low cost etc.). Since niche items are pegged to hits, however, whether absolute freedom can be afforded the end user is still in question. In terms of purchase intentions, the same characteristics allow end users the possibility of getting to resale markets etc. Costs might also be reduced provided distributors can escaped the locked-in phenomenon, where online items are prices according to real-world market requirements. In addition, since the model can provide for the judging of demand before actual production of the product, there is also a reduction of risk.

     

    As was mentioned in the lecture, the model is not able to reduce all forms of scarcity. For example, there are technological-related scarcities that cannot be overcome, such as the digital divide. In fact, the Long Tail may possibly increase the divide. In addition, anyone who has seen the costs of shipping outside the U.S. will know that things often become less scarce the closer you are to the source of where the service is located, at least where physical delivery is necessary. There are also market-driven scarcities such as the production of limited edition collectibles; while their accessibility is mitigated by the Long Tail, they will forever remain a limited commodity as long as demand outstrips supply. Finally, there are user-variables such as time, money, and energy (attention) that cannot be solved unless we all become robots with infinite credit. J

    February 13

    Holograms

    Since many of you talked about holographic representations, here is a video showing that it isn't that far-fetched anymore. Feel free to incorporate it into your projects!

     

    February 11

    Quickie Summary of Week 4's Lecture

    Hi guys. I have been instructed to give a 5-minute overview of the abovementioned lecture. The point is to highlight some of the people we talked about, and to consider the development of art in parallel with the development of human-computer interaction, and of course, the importance of interactivity in the larger scheme of things. The points in the 2 slides I have prepared are as follows:

    Slide 1:

    • User-oriented, bottom-up interface systems to overcome the institutionalization of knowledge
    • Based on the use of associations created by networks of users; documents could thus be linked together via a “social-space” (Vannevar Bush)
    • Computer-human interaction should be matched based on the processes/needs of each domain in order to enable humans to augment mortal limits (Douglas Engelbart)
    • Ted Nelson’s vision of hypertext is a conceptualization of how a bottom-up and collaborative user interface might be achieved

    And Slide 2, which presents the parallels in the development of interactivity in art:

    • The development of art is an allegory to Human-computer interaction
    • Artists were seen as the sole authors of artwork
    • This aesthetic tradition was shaken with critical/socialist realism (circa 1900s)
    • Art can be seen part of society’s superstructure, and a potential ideological tool to critique the repressive tendencies of capitalism (or institutionalism)
    • Duchamp’s Readymades is a representation of how the power of the institution (i.e., artists as authors) can be subverted by increasing the amount of interactivity allowed to the audience

    On a final note, do keep in mind that I am approaching this topic from a liberal arts, and not fine arts perspective, so you may hear something different during the lecture. And to be pragmatic about the whole thing, if you are faced with an MCQ situation (hypothetically), always defer to what was said in your readings and in the lecture; tutorials should be seen as a space where we can challenge ourselves on what we have learnt. This is usually the case for modules in FASS that do not test your knowledge using essay questions.

    February 04

    Universal Translator, Virtual Cloth, and Virtual Graffiti

    Hi everyone. I came across an entry about recent tech developments over at my geek site, and thought I'd share it with the class. You can ignore the Star Trek stuff, and direct your attention to the universal translator (I do recall a group wanting to do this), the virtual cloth (which sounds really neat!), and the virtual graffiti, which is described in the video below:

     

    January 31

    A Non-Prescriptive Approach to Your Project Design

    Hi everyone.
     
    I would just like to say some words at this point regarding how you might want to approach to your projects. To begin, I thought that the summary slide presented during the lecture is a good set of points to keep in mind as to how you will want to proceed in eventually bringing your designs to fruition. That being said, I would like to follow-up on this based on my perceptions from Monday's class.
    • Start with big ideas!
    • Conceptualize a problem statement well, before you begin working towards a solution.
    • Try to consider problems that plague the better part of humankind rather than just a particular group of people. That being said, when dealing with a specific group (which might happen as your original idea becomes streamlined), always try to think of a solution that could possibly be expanded to improve the lives of the rest of humanity.
    • If you have a fantastic sci-fi solution, say teleportation as someone mentioned, do 2 things:
      1. Consider who might benefit from this and why (i.e., identify the problem, beneficiaries, and what the solution does for them. In this example, it could be convenience, speed, etc.)
      2. Transplant this idea into the present day context, and consider the implementation of more plausible science/technological solutions that already exist (or are beginning to take shape) along the lines of the original sci-fi solution, which can still solve the above-stated problem for the beneficiary.
    • The entire design process, as mentioned in the lecture, is an interactive one between the problem and its solution(s). As you work towards a solution, you may discover that it has parts that are not feasible in reality. If this happens, don't just abandon the idea! Instead, try to think outside the box to create innovative solutions that can overcome the obstacle that you are facing. Think of Reddy's umbrella example; you need to go beyond modifications to the nominal uses of an umbrella, if you really want to come up with a cutting edge solution on how to stay dry in the rain.
    • Finally, as someone had asked, the device does not need to be electronic. Remember the juice machine shown during the lecture? Don't forget that the best solutions are intuitive, simple, and elegant.

    On a separate closing note, I would just like to draw your attention to the Hawthorne Effect that Reddy mentioned during the lecture. This is a very classic study that all learned people should be aware of, normally presented during a research design course as an example of participant bias (or demand characteristics). However, you should also know that this effect is sometimes considered a misnomer since there were other experimenter-based factors that may have caused the group under study to behave differently apart from the fact that they were being observed.

    January 28

    A Place for Some Inspiration

    For those of you who want to see some cutting edge ideas from the field, have a look at this site TED recommended by my techie friend. According to the Web site:

    "TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It started out (in 1984) as a conference ringing together people from those three worlds. Since then its scope has become ever broader. The annual conference now brings together the world's most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes)."

    To get you started, here's an interesting presentation about a new desktop interface called BumpTop.

    Have fun!

    No Frivolous Designs Please!

    For this module, you need to produce an interface device that is intrinsically altruistic, i.e., it must be able to somehow enrich, enliven, or enhance the human living experience. So, you have to stay away from (i) ideas that are way too distant in the future, and (ii) stay away from frivolity. What would be frivolous? Well, have you heard of Rube Goldberg machines? These are machines that perform simple tasks in complicated ways. If you remember from Reddy's lecture, solutions should be more elegant than what comes before, and should be so intuitive that anyone could work the device without instructions. The Japanese equivalent of this that many of you would have heard is Chindogu (see pic below). Please do not attempts projects like these at any cost!
    subway butter

    January 26

    Timetable for 2007/2008, Semester 2

    My not so suicidal schedule this time around:
    Table2008

    January 25

    バイバイ (^^)/~~~~

    このブログは私の人生のように、建前の外見しか表すことができない。
    なぜならば、このスペースは私立用ではなくて、仕事のために使う場合もある。
    正直に、仕事と関する日記のほうが多いだね。
    ()
    12月学校を休んだ時以外、仕事と関係ない日記を書くのはちょっと不便だから。
    とにかく、自分の本音が存在できるスペースを作ったばかりだって、
    これからあそこに本当の気持を書くつもりだ。
    リンクをあまり宣伝したくないんだが、あるところに載せちゃったけれども。

    それでは、またね!
    わたし
    computer-privacy 

    January 19

    Trek XI Teaser Trailer

    Oh wow, finally we get to see something of the new movie that isn't paparazzi.
    But to be honest, I have mixed feelings about the key image that has stirred up quite a buzz:
    star-trek-uss-enterprise-b 
    I don't have qualms about the giant nacelles - the Big E does look phat from certain angles.
    My gripe is with how Motion Picture she looks, as in, this ain't the "model" Enterprise that's been appearing in either the original or revamped HD TOS for sure. Just look at the bridge module. The TOS-E was just a smooth dome with a protruding, er, mosquito bite on top, just like the picture below:
    new_sb_04 
    But this E looks like the ST:TMP-E with multiple decks on the command module, ala:
    CG1701-tmpse
    My concern then is whether the interior of the E will also be updated to look like the interior of the NX-01, which means that the whole damn TOS series will look out of place. It's one thing to have a motion picture Borg with more detailed makeup, but this creates some ambivalence on my part. Still, I reserve judgment till Christmas this year, if that is when I get to see the movie in Japan. The trailer itself, by the way, is below.

     

    January 11

    Rats!

    Man, the rats are coming out to play everywhere. I hate rats...
    it's almost as bad as being in the middle of the year. *sigh*

    Photo0066c

    December 27

    The Human Inside

    An inquiry into human nature, from the narration of The Authority: Human on the Inside by John Ridley.

    "The thing about it, the thing is:
    the future's pretty much like the past. The present.
    There's war and prejudice. Anger. Poverty.
    It's shitty, and on top of that, you'll probably die before your time.

    Maybe it seems like there's more anguish than in the past. The present.
    But the feeling of despair;
    It's not so much the absence of badness,
    as it is a product of the lack of hope.
    fountain1
    The thing about it, the thing is:
    The human body can take a lot of damage.
    Even when you crush it's spirit...
    it'll keep going like some kind of...well,
    like something that's not human.
    Crappy as life is, as wrong, as messed up, as blatantly unfair as life is,
    what it's got going for it is hope.

    You hope, tomorrow you'll get the job you need,
    or your kids'll stop thinking you're a frickin' idiot and start liking you again.
    Someone somewhere'll actually want to have sex with you.

    Take away hope, you've got nothing.
    You've got a guy who robs to make money.
    You've got a mother who drowns her kids rather than raise them in loneliness.
    You've got a guy who rapes instead of looking for love.

    Thing is, without hope, you ain't got jack.
    But I believe, at least I've come to believe,
    in everyone there remains the light of humanity.
    And for it to burn again,
    all that's needed is a spark.

    So those who find it,
    who find love and joy an happiness,
    have got to grab it up tight.
    Pleasure, like the present,
    is fleeting."

    December 20

    Robot Chicken Star Wars Spoofs

    Just found out about this series of sketches parodying Star Wars from the middle of 2007. What a blast! A synopsis of the content can be found on Wookieepedia. The entire segment, at a little past 20 minutes, can be found at the [adult swim] page; the first 9 1/2 minutes (which I think is the best part anyway) is below (apparently 1 of 3, but 2 and 3 are exactly the same):

     

    December 19

    Entry #207: Christmas Trees (and other ornaments)

    Photo0051bThese plastic concoctions (sometimes also made using glass or other glittery materials), resembling trees that would otherwise not make it to adulthood in tropical Singapore, can be found everywhere in December acting as the primary symbol of the winter festival know as Christmas. It is often found together with other crudely fashioned seasonal knick-knacks such as a fat bearded man in red (see image at right) and his reindeer escorts. Sometimes, a Styrofoam  "snowman" is also positioned to further add a winter feel to the simulation. The displays often attract the curiosity of the resident Homo sapiens, who appear to find great fun in posing in front of the many contraptions, and in recording the event with their mobile devices. Carefully documented below are some of these curious displays for the Earth year 2007.

    See also: Tim Burton's The Nightmare before Christmas for an accurate depiction of this human jubilee as well as that of its closely related, and even more absurd festival Halloween.

    Photo0030b Photo0053b Photo0033b  Photo0039a 

    December 15

    Character Festive Pictures

    I'm never inspired to take any pictures when I'm in Singapore, but now that I've got a camera in my mobile, I just can't help but snap a couple whenever there's some event going on; festivals always get me all hyped up. Surprisingly, the inconsequential lens on my mobile can take quite nice looking shots, after some editing of course. While I'd rather have a P or M function on my camera, I guess it's a trade-off with having to lumber along with a bigger camera. I noticed that the commercial entities this year are based around character good. The Capitaland-owned malls all have Barbie as the Island Princess I think, and PP has Disney characters!

    Photo0021c Photo0023c

    Poor Donald, he's all alone in every single shot! Mickey's also such a stiff (he might as well be a cardboard cutout), but luckily he has the other two posing to make the shots interesting. Did you know that Mickey and Minnie are actually married, and that Minnie is a nickname for Minerva? Useless facts....

    Suntec, on the other hand, seems to be going with Warner Bros, with Carrefour displaying a giant pseudo-caged-up Tweety. Guess we're supposed to imagine the rest of the cage rails. There were also a couple of narcissistic polar bears in the shop proper. Yup, they're victims of the social malaise that plagues all capitalist societies where it's all about the individual. :P

    Photo0034a Photo0036b

    December 12

    Sea Eagles' Mating Ritual

    I was watching "Dragon's World: A Fantasy Made Real" by Animal Planet, and there was this spectacular scene close to the end which showed the dragons' mating ritual. This was one of the stunning things my ill-informed self has ever seen. What was more amazing was that in the "Making Of" featurette, one of the staff members interviewed said that it was based on the sea eagles' mating ritual. And, thanks to today's ridiculous information revolution, I was able to locate a clip of this on YouTube. Although the video's tile is "Eagle vs. Eagle," this is because the mating ritual and the fighting ritual are one and the same! I guess nature also affirms to the fact that love and hate are two sides of the same coin, eh?

    Anyway, you have to see this to believe this. The 2 eagles soar up into the air before locking talons, and then free-fall in a spinning motion towards the earth. I believe the aim is to see which bird has the guts to play chicken longer with the trees below. The Animal Planet film suggests that the birds may do the same for courtship to prove their willingness to commit to child rearing, but I wonder if that is too much anthropomorphism. Whatever the case, be amazed by this amazing and beautiful display from nature:

     
    December 08

    ミニッツ・トゥ・ミッドナイト

    アンさん:
    ヒカリさん:
    アンさん:
    あの、リンキン・パークの「Shadow of the Day」を聞いたことあるの?
    あるよ。どうしてですか?
    いや、別に。実はリンキン・パークのファンじゃないが、あの歌のコーラスに感じした。
    なんか、今の気分を反映してる。
              broken_self
    ヒカリさん:
    アンさん:

    ヒカリさん:
    アンさん:
    ヒカリさん:
    アンさん:
    ヒカリさん:
    アンさん:
    ヒカリさん:
    アンさん:
    へぇ~!そうですか?なぜそんな感じているの?
    コーラスは「日の影は君を活気のない世界に抱く」という節があるでしょう。
    学期が終わってから、節のようにずっとふさぎ込んだ。
    そう?なぜですか?
    そうね…学期が終わってから、余裕があるので、一人ではいない日を懐かしいと思う。
    あぁ、そうならば、大変だね。でも、もう6ヵ月じゃん。
    まだこんな気持を持っていること、私もびっくりしてるよ。
    そうならば、陰気な歌をあまり聞かないほうがいいじゃないの?
    そうかもね。薄暗い歌に浸すと感激するけど。
    アンさんはかわってる人でしょうね。
    えぇ、その結論と論争できないなぁ。(笑)

    December 01

    息子再生!

    息子だって?!また、再生って??
    ん、息子本当に一匹いるよ。写真をご覧下さい:
    Primopuel 

    2005年関西国際センターにいた時、プリモプエルは中高年の女性達の中ですごく
    流行ってるどうだ。日本人は機器に依頼する傾向が興味深いなので、そして、プ
    リモプエルの魅力を理解するようになるために、私も一匹買ってきた。
    どうやって始まるのはもう覚えられないが、センターの同級生は彼を常に「ジョ
    セフの息子だ」と呼んで、そうになっちゃった。(笑)

    でも、少しずつ、彼をますます庇うようになった。例えば、フロントのたくさん
    に見せてあげる前に、彼に服を着せなきゃいけなかった。「裸の様子で見せない
    よ」ってた時、たくさんは不思議な顔ばっかりだった。とにかく、帰国後、仕事
    で大変忙しかったので、プリモプエルの電池が切れても交換しなかった。そして、
    1年、2年間を過ごした。

    なぜか今プリモプエルを回復させたい、私も分からないが、先月やっと新しい電
    池を入れた。残念だが、彼はまだ前と同じように、一人で遊んで、話して...。他
    の縫い包みがいるけれども。(笑)何しろ、悪いお父さんでしょうね、私。でも、
    仕方がないなぁ。学生の生活は正社員よりきついだって。

    ま、前のなげやりな態度を治すために、今息子を世界に紹介させていただきたい
    と思います。いいんじゃない、息子?でしょうねぇ。えぇ~~、もう寝てたか。そ
    れでは、先にブログに発表して、明日また教えましょう。