If you’ve ever been curious about what goes on behind close doors at Buckingham Palace, now is your opportunity to get more than a peek: the Queen has launched her own You Tube channel!
Celebrating 50 years of the Queen’s first televised Christmas address, this year, you will be able to watch her Christmas speech on the video-sharing network. At the moment, the site opens to her Christmas talk from 1957.
Called the Royal Channel, it currently has 18 videos that go as far back as 1917 and include: the Queen Mother’s wedding (1923), Palace garden parties, her accession and coronation, her relationship with former Prime Minister Tony Blair, and part one of a day in the life of Prince Charles. It’s their way of being more accessible to the youth and people around the world.
Not home videos and nothing close to reality television, it’s merely an official peek (but a peek nonetheless) into many aspects of the royal family’s life.
. Here at Big in Japan, we’re dedicated to bringing you the latest fads – no matter how strange – from the Land of the Rising Sun.
With that said, I am proud to introduce you now to the latest Japanese fad that is sweeping across the country, namely the Oshiri Kajiri Mushi (?????????????????) or ‘Bottom Biting Insects.’
Seriously. Check out the video above if you don’t believe me.
Alright, now that your mind has no doubt been blown away by dancing insects who alternate biting butts and singing in two-part harmony, allow me to explain exactly what is going on here.
(Actually, I am not sure if I entirely know myself, though I will do my best!)
The Oshiri Kajiri Mushi song was originally created by the husband and wife duo Uruma Delvi (???????????), who wanted to encourage Japanese people living in big cities to spontaneously interact with each other.
Are you with me so far?
If so, keep reading as this where things start to get a bit weird…
According to the creative minds behind Oshiri Kajiri Mushi, the bottom biting insects are magical creatures that seek out lonely people.
By biting bottoms, the victim realizes how lonely their life is, and seeks out human companionship.
Of course, it’s not that easy for the Oshiri Kajiri Mushi as Tokyo butts taste bitter from all the loneliness that is stored within them.
Are you still with me?
Really? That’s impressive considering that I’m not even sure if I understand myself at this point
Aimed at children and their parents, the song debuted earlier this year on Minna no Uta (みんなのうた) or Everyone’s Songs, a five minute NHK TV and radio program broadcasting several times daily since 1961.
Much like the Crazy Frog song that swept across Europe a few years back, the Oshiri Kajiri Mushi song broke into the top 10 singles charts, and has recently become something of a national pop culture obsession.
In fact, NHK TV recently announced that the butt biting insects will soon be getting their own TV show entitled Oshiri Kajiri Mushi to Odorou! (おしりかじり虫と踊ろう！), or ‘Let’s Dance with the Bottom Biting Insects.
Needless to say, the program will feature the Oshiri Kajiri Mushi dancing with children at kindergartens and nursery schools across the country.
The mayhem doesn’t stop there.
Mono Comme Ca, a Japanese apparel brand aimed at tweens, teens and twenty-somethings, has recently licensed the Oshiri Kajiri Mushi for their clothing.
This means that if you’re searching for the perfect X-mas gift for any of your Japanese friends, might I suggest an Oshiri Kajiri Mushi sweatshirt, which will help you stay warm this holiday season!
In case you’re wondering, the Mono Comme Ca shop is located right across the street from the Meiji Shrine exit of Harajuku Station in Tokyo.
** Special thanks to my future roommate Isaac, who is nothing short of a walking library of Japanese pop culture **
Apparently there’s a big debate among tourism officials in New Mexico about a series of new commercials meant to urge potential tourists to visit the fifth largest state in the U.S.
“Instead of highlighting New Mexico’s picturesque desert landscapes, art galleries or centuries-old culture, the ads feature drooling, grotesque office workers from outer space chatting about their personal lives,” according to an article from the AP.
I hadn’t seen the commercials until I pulled them up on YouTube (which you can watch after the jump), but I can see why there’s a debate. On one hand, they are a bit funny and quirky (though still cliché in that funny-because-it’s-weird way), but the aliens are definitely grotesque, not very exciting to look at, and really have nothing to do with New Mexico or tourism other than the catchy “best place in the universe” tagline. Oh, and the whole Roswell thing. But it seems to me they made an ad like this to get people talking… and, well, people are talking.
Watch them yourself, after the jump. Do they make you want to go to New Mexico? Alternatively, do they make you want to do to New Mexico what my father did to Ohio’s page in the atlas when he ran out of toilet paper? I’m indifferent, honestly. And no offense, Ohio. Really.
This video is classic. And by “classic” I mean “awesome.” So why didn’t he just say awesome? you may be wondering. Because it’s classic too! As in Citizen Kane classic. The method acting, use of deep focus, low-angle shots — it has everything!
Anyway, somewhere in Bangkok, there is a market with a commuter line train running through it. The beginning of the shot seems normal enough for any major Asian city, but it’s what happens at the end to really set it a part. I wonder how many times the train comes through per day? Insane.
Now, savvy Gadling readers… dig up some more info on this market! Is it really in Bangkok? What’s the story behind it? [via]
This might not be up for long, but it’s worth a mention. Bill Snitzer, a tech guy over at BitGravity has a webcam hooked up to some sort of mobile Internet device and is live broadcasting his drive from San Francisco to Los Angeles. Below the video feed is a embedded Google Map that shows his exact location.
It might not be the most entertaining thing in the world to watch, but it’s an impressive display of what technology can do these days. “But how is this different than ‘Internet lifecaster’ Justin.tv?” you might be asking. Well, it’s not, I guess… but the Google Maps integration is what sets this apart from the rest. Very cool. [via]