Impossible Gherkins vs. One Touch Jar Opener
Having spent 99p on a jar of pickled gherkins that no one could open, I hit Google in search of a solution and quickly found a device that appealed to the Heath Robinson in me and was only a mere 20 times what I paid for the gherkins in the first place.
The device is called the One Touch Jar Opener and is available exclusively (I think) from Best Direct, although I got it via their Amazon store… it’s one of those only available via our T.V. store (and website) companies.
The box turned up as promised and something in my head told me that it’d be hilarious to film and put on YouTube… even if the jar didn’t shatter potentially blinding me for life, the very fact that both a silly gadget and a jar of pickled gherkins were involved guaranteed a certain comedy value.
As you can see below, despite the promised 25 pounds of torque the Jar Opener did struggle with the problem jar. This made me feel slightly vindicated for not being able to open it by hand… although this feeling soon turned to anxiety when it looked increasingly likely broken glass was shortly going to be everywhere. Yes, I did jump when the lid finally gave in!
So below is my first (and potentially last) YouTube video… enjoy!
[SPOILERS] Death Note: Another Note
I’m a huge fan of the Manga series Death Note and have just finished the spin off novel Death Note: Another Note, The Los Angeles BB Murder Cases. The story is a prequel that sees my hero L team up with the future wife of doomed FBI agent Raye Penber in a battle of wits with another of L’s bitter heirs, B.
As the story progresses L’s investigation-by-proxy uncovers some increasingly tenuous clues that leave the reader wondering how the investigators could possibly have come to the conclusion that they did… until the inevitable twist is revealed and then all falls beautifully into place.
In some ways I did feel the huge plot twist was a bit unfair, as it relied solely on the original Manga’s audience making an assumption that someone new to Death Note wouldn’t necessarily have made, but it did turn what had been a slightly frustrating read into something really worth telling your friends about.
There is just one little geeky thing that does really bother me though. A huge part of the original Manga’s story was the rules that governed the supernatural Death Note world, they were misleadingly simple and very specific. These rules were at the centre of most of the plot twists and were a big part in what kept the reader trying to work out what was coming next… and this is where my geeky little problem with Another Note is.
The only real crossover with the original series (other than it shares some characters) is that the murderer was by chance born with the Shinigami Eyes, which normally would only be available to a Death Note’s owner in exchange for half their remaining life span. Through Shinigami Eyes you can see people’s true name and their remaining life span, unless they own a Death Note too, something that Rem tells Misa is due to a Death Note owing human becoming closer to a Shinigami and to prevent them from going mad with the knowledge of their own remaining life span. Misa later uses this rule to her advantage to spot another Death Note owner in a crowd, as he was the only one who’s life span wasn’t visible to her. In Another Note the murder’s attempted suicide fails because, essentially, it isn’t his time to die and the story implies that had he been able to see his own remaining life span he would have known that… but technically as he didn’t own a Death Note his life span should have remained visible to humans with Shinigami Eyes, including him self! A small thing… but it really bugged the hell out of me. I mentioned it was really geeky, right?
All in all the book is well worth reading for all Death Note fans - many of whom I’m sure might disagree with my interoperation of Shinigami Eyes rules!
The Future of Digital Editions
Last week saw this review of Ceros and a little interview published by mequoda.com. It’s nice to see that the press agrees with our customers!
Something else we’ve noticed about the Ceros platform, in comparison to other digital magazine providers, is that their look is extremely clean and their interface is intuitive. Not only is it search engine optimized, easy to browse and delivered digitally, it is as classy and elegant as the brand it is representing.
If you have a minute, read the entire review of Ceros.
Valentine’s Day saw us at Publishing Expo ‘08 - although the event could easily have been described as Digital Edition Expo ‘08 as there were (by my count) 13 vendors with ‘page turning’ software, a big increase from last year’s 3!
While there was some talk about business models and monetising online publications there was little real insight into the future of Digital Magazines or how they sit in the larger web… One vendor even suggested that trying to fool Google
was the best way to get a decent Page Rank!
It’s not over yet… at the Et Cetera Gallery
Thursday night I found my self in a basement in the Hollow Earth of Hackney, attending a private viewing at the Et Cetera Gallery.
I was there to see the work of Mr. Gary Alford, a friend-of-a-friend and occasional drinking buddy who’s work, despite being with the likes of the Wu-Tang Clan, I’d never seen.
Dark, understated and intimate - I loved it. A small series of oil paintings almost in the style of twisted fashion photography, depicting beautiful girls in dark suburban settings or doing disturbing things. Very different from the usual Hoxton Bohemia I’ve seen recently in small North London galleries.
Check out Gary’s MySpace or go along to the gallery!
Paul Mellon’s Legacy at The Royal Academy
In an effort to do something other than stay at home playing with my guitar or XBox, this morning I went to see part of Paul Mellon’s collection being exhibited at The Royal Academy with my Dad. I’m not a great fan of Stubb’s horses or Turner’s seascapes but having dragged my farther round a Georg Baselitz exhibition earlier in the year I thought I’d return the favour.
I was pleasantly surprised by some of the work on display, especially Turner’s softer water colours - something I knew he did but had never really seen much of. There was also a few of Blake’s illustrations in a rather crowded corner of the penultimate gallery, I wish I’d had longer to look at them but the display case had become quite a bottle neck.
I’ve said before that, in my opinion, art begins where reproduction ends. This is why I’ve never been a fan of the classic portrait in oils, but another (almost contradictory) reason is traditionally portrait artists were expected to embellish what they were reproducing - to make prize bulls beefier and daughters more attractive. Surely that is Craft not Art? Looking at some of the incredible farm yard animals this morning, it struck me that perhaps this ‘embellishment’ is equivalent to our modern day Heat magazine retouchers…
Afterwards we walked up to Tottenham Court Road to have a look at cameras as my trusty Coolpix S1 seems to have given up the ghost. We had lunch in the Fitzroy Tavern which is a pub I used to go to a lot a few years back. The more I read about London the more (in)famous characters I find that used to drink there - George Orwell being the latest. It hadn’t changed at all since my last visit, which was nice.
Nike+ Running Shoes (divide by pain)
Following Rob’s lead I got a Nike+ and some shoes to put it in this weekend. I took it for an eight hundred meter jog this evening and am still feeling the pain now! It’s been years since I got any formal exercise:
The trainers are really good, after wearing skater’s trainers for seven years it felt like I was running around in socks! The only thing that spoilt the experience was the surly treatment I got in the Nike store. The people working in the shop really didn’t want to help me… or even bother trying to pretend that they might. So I went to John Lewis instead - where the shoes were cheaper and the service much better. I’d strongly recommend any one else to do the same.
The device itself does exactly what it says on the tin and for £19.99 I can’t complain at all (well except about the service in the Nike store…)