Only typing can save your life

by Grant Martin on

I can’t even begin to tell you about all of the strange games and contraptions in the arcades of Tokyo. I’ve seen rows of Tekken 6 and Pachinko games that go as far as the eye can see. I’ve seen two foot deep fish ponds in which you catch carp for points to win prizes. I’ve seen crane games where you have to pluck a beating heart of a recently slain pig.

Ok – not so much on the last one. But the rest were accurate.

My favorite game among all of the experiences I had was the game called “The Typing of the Dead”. It kind of goes like this: there are a bunch of zombies wandering around this town and you and another guy have to run around killing them. Only you don’t have machine guns or knives or poison arrows. No, you’ve got a keyboard. Monsters burst out of boarded up windows and manholes with the word “kanamatasufishu” under them and you have to type it as fast as possible. Get it right quick, you “shoot” the monster and get a rating A-F.

The best part about the game is that they actually animate the heroes with keyboards and Sega Dreamcasts strapped onto their backs into the plot.

Maybe in a zillion years I could imagine zombies raising from the dead, eating my family and wandering through the streets in a murderous torrent. But there’s just no way I could see someone coming to the rescue with a Dreamcast and a keyboard. You couldn’t even make it a modern gaming system?

But hey, you’re in Japan in a 6 story arcade and you just finished fishing for carp to win a plastic tiara. Suspension of disbelief isn’t too much to ask for 100 Yen. Just don’t even think about challenging me head to head in a match – two people already tried that and left with sore fingertips.

Photo of the Day (5-28-08)

by Jamie Rhein on

This photo that woofboy111 calls “Giant Swimmer” is an example of a photo taking technique that works well when taking pictures of monuments. Choose an interesting angle. Taken at Daytona Beach in Florida , this reminds me of a scene in an Esther Williams movie or Beach Blanket Bingo. Seeing just part of this scene draws me in wanting more.

Are you seeing life at an interesting angle? Send the photo our way to Gadling’s Flickr Photo Pool.

My new favorite show: Locked Up Abroad

by Jeremy Kressmann on

If you haven’t had a chance, I highly recommend you check out my new favorite show, Locked Up Abroad, on the National Geographic Channel. I stumbled across it recently and have not been able to stop watching since. Each episode chronicles the real-life stories of young men and women who have been incarcerated while traveling in countries including Venezuela, Mexico, Nepal and Thailand. As you might guess, the arrests frequently involve drugs, although other incidents include a kidnapping by paramilitaries in Colombia and gold smuggling in Nepal.

Using first-hand interviews, each story unfolds as the protagonist chronicles a series of bad decisions and rationalizations that led to their eventual arrest. What starts in many cases as a free all-expenses-paid holiday, a chance for “adventure” and an opportunity to make a quick buck quickly turns into an all-too-real nightmare. They describe endless days waiting in isolated holding cells, confusing foreign justice systems and getting caught in the crossfire of deadly prison gang wars. Interestingly enough, not all episodes involve prison – in one of my favorite episodes so far, an American sets out on a motorcycle trip across South America, only to be kidnapped at gunpoint by guerillas in Colombia. Not only does he manage to eventually escape, he also refuses to be sent back to the U.S. after his ordeal, choosing to continue his motorcycle trip to its completion. Fascinating television to say the least.

What makes Locked Up Abroad especially compelling for a twenty-something like me with a bad case of wanderlust is that the situations hit very close to home. Granted, I will never be stupid enough to accept an “all-expenses-paid vacation” to South America or try to drive my motorcycle into an area controlled by Colombian guerillas, but I do understand the mindset. Travel can skew our sense of reality, making us crave opportunities to push our boundaries and have truly unique, memorable experiences. That is for most of us, a very healthy instinct – it’s only when it crosses the line between reality and fantasy that it can become horribly serious.

Check out Locked Up Abroad Monday nights at 9pm on the National Geographic Channel.

A portrait of global proportions

by Anna Brones on

Drawing to scale can be hard enough, I can’t even imagine attempting to draw on the whole globe. But that’s exactly what artist Erik Nordenankar did. On March 17, 2008 Nordenankar sent a briefcase containing a GPS tracking device with the global shipping company DHL. He gave the company exact instructions on where to go and in what order, and 55 days later the briefcase came back to its departure point, Stockholm. Using the information from the GPS, Nordenankar created the above image. The continuous line of the drawing is exactly 110,664 kilometers long. Now that’s one big portrait.

Update: Yes, this is a hoax. ‘Biggest drawing in world’ revealed as hoax — thanks to everyone who sent this in. –Ed.

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier: Changing of the Guard

by Jamie Rhein on

At 3:00 p.m. today, there is a supposed to be a moment of silence to honor those who have died in war. I’m not usually one to be moved by pomp and circumstance, although, during high school graduations, the song “Pomp and Circumstance” played by a high school band does tear me up. Even though this is how I am, the “Changing of the Guard” at the Tomb of the Unknowns, another name for the memorial in Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C., is an experience I’ve never forgotten. There is something tender and honorable in the gesture of remembrance. So, here is my 3:00 p.m. EST offering.

The laying of a wreath at the tomb is one in which the public can participate. Here are four middle schoolers doing just that. Ignore the kid at the end of the video. The person who shot the tape was not too pleased, but in a way, that’s how life is. As we travel about, those we come in contact with don’t necessarily see life–or memorials, the way we do.