Who would have thought it eh? Nudity and slander on the internet. What is the world coming to? The way things are going, people will be keeping online diaries next…
Archives for September 2004
Soporific shopping
I’ve heard the expression, I’m so tired I could sleep on a washing line many times. Although admittedly not recently. Is it still in use?
Anyway, considering the width of a washing line, the man pictured below might not have been quite that tired. But at the same time he must have been more than a little bit sleepy. And if his precarious sleeping and balancing act wasn’t enough, the photograph was taken in the middle of Akihabara on a Saturday afternoon. Which for anybody unfamiliar with the area, is incredibly noisy and busy to say the least.
High school hoax
School is not everybody’s idea of fun, but rather than feign stomachache, or simply skive off and spend the day down at the local game centre, a 16-year-old high school student made a bomb threat in a desperate attempt for a bit of time off.
The unnamed student hit on the idea after having one of his classes cancelled when the train line his school is situated on temporarily suspended services due to an accident. And with this in mind, he sent an e-mail to the Seibu Railway Company saying, “I’m going to blow up a station on the Seibu Line between September 14th and 18th. I have already planted the bomb. You’ll never find it so don’t waste your time.”
This resulted in the police and railway officials searching all 92 of its stations. An unenviable task to say the least. Although how this affected services, and whether the young prankster managed to miss any classes wasn’t disclosed.
But, as the old saying goes, every cloud has a silver lining. The school-hating hoaxer was arrested on Friday, meaning he got at least one day away from school.
Apple adoration
Japan is the second largest market for Apple, and a visit to the nation’s first Mac store in Ginza amply proves this. Whatever time of day you arrive there are always masses of pilgrims, all paying their respects to the luminous logo.
The birth of the iPod mini has further increased attendances, bringing in believers and converts alike. Even relatively late on a Sunday evening, the place was awash with worshippers.
Mildly amusing product names #1
Forget Viagra (no matter how cheap those friendly e-mail vendors may be offering it), as for a measly 135 yen you can now simply buy yourself some Horn.
And as you can see by the display, sales were expected to be brisk.
Firearm fest
Many of the U.S. military bases in Japan hold open days of some kind or another. With visitors generally consuming vast numbers of hamburgers and hotdogs. Plus perhaps having a quick look around a fighter jet or two.
The so called “American Fest” at Okinawa’s Kadena airbase yesterday was no different. Except that (perhaps to celebrate the expiration of the 1994 assault weapon ban), young children were allowed to play with helicopter machine guns.