Dear Dairy

This thing mesmerizes me every time I go to the supermarket.



Yuki confirms that Japanese children would have no idea what the oft-repeated slogan "three a day" means.

I tracked down the full-length versions of the entire 3 video dairy aisle rotation. The second one's pretty catchy.

One day the produce aisle was featuring a live-action music video about bean sprouts, but I didn't have my camera with me.

Our Toilet is Awesome

First of all, there's the vacancy indicator. Handy. Courteous.


Now let's take a look inside.

A: First electric eye. As soon as you walk through the door, this sensor tells the seat to begin warming. I find that on average it reaches optimum temperature about one second after I sit down.

B: Second electric eye. If you decide to sit down, this sensor will instruct another toilet robot to release some extra water into the bowl.

C: Control panel. I haven't touched this thing yet. As you can probably guess from the picture (click for a close-up), it offers a variety of bidet options. The main dial is for water pressure. The other buttons let you control water temperature and direction, as well as seat temperature.



D: Handle. Flip it up for "small flush", down for "big flush".

E: Spout. When you flush, the water that eventually washes and refills the bowl first flows into and through the small sink above the toilet, giving you 30 seconds of running water with which to wash your hands.

Lastly, when the seat is raised, a soft green light illuminates the bottom of the bowl, giving necessary aiming aid in case you don't want to fully readjust your eyes to overhead lights in the middle of the night.






Update!
Stubble Trouble reader Adamistic writes:

I once heard that in public restrooms, Japanese folk (particularly women? or no? that detail escapes me) addressed their shyness about eliminatory noises by flushing whenever they were pooping. Further, apparently some places had installed speakers and a button that could be pushed to simulate the sound of a flush to be used for this purpose, saving untold millions in water costs.

Maybe one of the mysterious controls on your control panel also does this?

After consulting my most reliable resource (Yuki) I can report that these devices do exist, and have become commonplace in women's restrooms since the 1980s, though Wikipedia and my own minimal experience show that they are rarely found in men's rooms. The name of the most popular brand that makes such devices is Otohime (literally: "Sound Princess"), also the name of a goddess from Japanese mythology.

My Favorite 25 Photographs

I recently chose my favorite 25 photographs that I've taken in the year since my Grandma gave me a digital camera.

Český Krumlov, Czech Republic, 2006.


Mayrhofen, Austria, 2006.


Dresden, Germany, 2006.
This 102-meter-long "Procession of Princes" mural depicts the succession of Saxon rulers dating back to 1127.


Prague, Czech Republic, 2006.
My girlfriend, Yuki, on the Charles Bridge. I like the (completely accidental) disparity in focus between Yuki and the random smiling guy at far left. (Click on the image for a better look.)


Prague, Czech Republic, 2006.
An observation tower modeled after the Eiffel Tower in Paris, though the tower in Paris is five times taller.


Prague, Czech Republic, 2006.
The tower from the previous picture is at far left.


Prague, Czech Republic, 2006.


Prague, Czech Republic, 2006.
Yuki at a restaurant.


Warsaw, Poland, 2006.
The Palace of Culture and Science.


Krakow, Poland, 2006.
I actually did a lot of tricky editing to make the building more visible through the haze.


Krakow, Poland, 2006.
Waweł Castle on the Wisła River.


Malaga, Spain, 2006.
A cliché picture, but I still like it.


Barcelona, Spain, 2007.
Circumstances helped romanticize this picture. I took it on my way home from a party as the sun was rising over Barcelona around 8am on January 1st.


Riga, Latvia, 2007.


Krakow, Poland, 2007.
St. Mary's Basilica.


Vienna, Austria, 2007.
The formula for pi, in German, followed by a numerical approximation to many hundreds of decimal places, extending around several corners of a subway corridor.


Niegowonice, Poland, 2007.
There's too much clutter in the background, but I love everything about the subjects here, particularly their odd relation to each other. The guy in the foreground is my friend, Adam. The girl was with a group of Polish kids celebrating a christening.


Berchtesgaden, Germany, 2007.
The Königssee (King's Lake). I actually reduced the glare on the lake and altered some of the colors here by holding polarized sunglasses in front of the camera lens.


Mayrhofen, Austria, 2007.
My dad and uncle.


Mayrhofen, Austria, 2007.


Obergurgl, Austria, 2007.


Obergurgl, Austria, 2007.
There's a trail out of frame that we climbed to get to the hut you see at the top. Also note the other hikers at bottom right.


Obergurgl, Austria, 2007.
This was taken from a mountain ridge that marks the border between Italy and Austria, looking into Italy.


Obergurgl, Austria, 2007.
The objects at the bottom are: a black rock, two white sheep sleeping on top of each other, and a brown sheep by itself.


Munich, Germany, 2007.
The Bavaria Statue at sunset. I'll admit I doctored the colors a little.