Chindogu, the word you need to know!

Forks with outboard motors. Full body raincoats. Portable crosswalks. Leave it to the japanese to define objects that ostensibly fulfill a need, but create so many problems or are so embarrassing that they are effectively useless. Things that won't even make the cataloges in the back of Popular Mechanics. Things Ron Popeil will look at and say :"What were they THINKING?"

The important thing is, the function of a Chindogu can't be primarily silly; it has to be designed to meet an everyday need...albiet in a useless manner. And to my mind, in a world where the normal bland utilitarian items so often create their own problems, it's nice to see devices that wear their impracticality on their sleeve.

A pictorial of Cindogu


My favorite: the office in a tie.  It meets a need, is ingenious in design, and completely impractical in execution.

(no subject)

I like Latin Jazz, and I like electronica, and I like music that fuses different styles that really shouldn't go together. I also like music And happy day, here we have Senor Coconut..

Senor Coconut's (real name Uwe Schmidt) used to do standard electronic music under the band name of Atom Heart. Feed up with the seriousness of the European electronic scene, he moved Chile, and shortly released an album of latin jazz renditions of classic Kraftwek songs. In his latest project, "Atom™ presents: Around the world with Señor Coconut and his Orchestra" he expands his repertoire to include pop songs from bands like the Eurthmics, Trio, and Deep Purple.


Yes, his mosic is very kitchy, and he may be considered a novelty act. But his music treads the fine line between parody and tribute, and he translates the tunes of into engaging lating jazz so expertly that even between laughing, I find myself dancing.


( Here's some examples: )

Happy Birthday Random Girl!

here's wishing you many happy reruns of the things you like a lot!