So this Japanese variety show Punk'd the members of Japanese Pop band (are there any types of bands in Japan besides Pop bands?) Masume while showing them Ringu - the Japanese version of The Ring.

You can see the video by clicking here.

Personally, I think it would have been better had they had a bunch of water stream out of the TV first, but it's still pretty funny.

Kawaii! ;)

Bburago Touareg model
(click picture to see larger size)

Got the following concept from Bonnie - who got it from someone else.

1. YOUR PORN STAR NAME:
(Name of first pet / First street you lived on):
Sparkie Unknown-to-me
...hmm...that doesn't sound quite right...

2. YOUR MOVIE STAR NAME:
(Name of your favorite snack food / Grandfather's first name):
Sesame Stick Boo
...sounds like one of those old-timey radio actors...

3. YOUR FASHION DESIGNER NAME:
(First word you see on your left / Favorite restaurant):
Norton Cosi
...getting better...

4. EXOTIC FOREIGNER ALIAS:
(Favorite Spice / Last Vacation Spot):
Oregano Vallarta
...sounds so international...but from WHERE?!...

5. "FLY GIRL/BOY" ALIAS (a la J. Lo):
(First Initial / First Two or Three Letters of your Last Name):
J. Cro
...isn't that a clothing store?...

7. ICON ALIAS:
(Something Sweet Within Sight / Any Liquid in Your Kitchen):
Tangerine Dish Soap
...what's an icon alias?...

8. DETECTIVE ALIAS:
(Favorite Baby Animal / Where You Went to High School):
Hatchling Indianola
...don't worry, Hatchling Indianola is on the case!...

9. BARFLY ALIAS:
(Last Snack Food You Ate / Your Favorite Alcoholic Drink):
Fudgesickle Guiness
...an unfortunate first name for the young Irish lad...

10. SOAP OPERA ALIAS:
(Middle Name / Street Where You Live):
Patrick 15
...sounds more like a Sci-Fi name...

11. ROCK STAR ALIAS:
(Favorite Candy / Last Name Of Favorite Musician):
Jelly Bean Matthews
...Dave's brother who specializes in children's songs...

12. YOUR STAR WARS NAME:
(First 2 letters of your first name and the first 3 Letters from your last name makes your first name. Take the first 2 letters of your mother's maiden name and the first 3 letters of the city you were born in):
Jacro Lajef
...well, at least that one kind of works...

So the lesson learned is that I'm not very good at fake names!

Kim and I went to see Movin' Out at the Civic Center last night.

One word: awesome.

I first heard of the musical two years ago on my flight back from Cozumel, and had been interested ever since.  When I heard last year that it was coming to Des Moines I asked my sister to get us tickets on pre-order day (she and her husband are Civic Center members, so they can order extra tickets before they go on public sale).

We lucked out with 3rd row seats, which gave us an excellent view of the show.  What surprised me was that the show's only dialogue (with one minor exception) are the Billy Joel songs, and that the rest of the plot relies mostly on the modern dance of the cast.  And the synopsis in the playbill helped, too.  It's basically the story of 5 friends, 3 guys and 2 girls, who are friends, and between one couple coming together and another breaking up, the boys go to Vietnam, one dies in part due to the actions of another, and the remaining four try to reconnect with their lives and each other.

It's really amazing how they managed to take so many of Billy Joel's classic songs and work them in such a way to weave a story that was never intended when they were written.  And it works very well.

Plus the guy who played Eddie in our performance looked just like Anthony Michael Hall, so I kept laughing about that.

If the chance to see the show comes your way, see it. 

The Cheat shows off some of his work.

Have you checked out NASA's World Wind software?  It's a free virtual globe program that uses your broadband connection to download increasingly detailed satellite photos from their database as you zoom in.  A very cool use of their database of photos, making for a really cool experience.

Go from this...

...to this!

NASA World Wind Site