This creepy song reminds me of why I have never been keen on trickery – which is why I detest this American idea of the similarly-named 'trick or treat' activity that we seem to have permanently imported into Britain in recent years, especially for this particular day of the year.
As in this item, there is always the threat ('treat' with an 'h' added, notice!) of something nasty being done by someone who has temporary power over you, whether on your doorstep or having drugged and then blindfolded you deep in the forest. Follow the subtitles to see what I mean.
I am reminded by this kind of scenario of the advice that the lady who jointly ran Byker Grove youth club with Geoff would say to her female charges: "Never let anyone put you in a position where your choices are taken away from you".
This jolly-sounding but actually quite ominous song is a good showcase for the Kagamine duo in its own right, so can be enjoyed on that level. Just don't forget the underlying message carried within it...
Thursday, 31 October 2013
Wednesday, 30 October 2013
Ur-Style
This is such an unusual item that it needs to be shared, so here is Ur-Style -arbitrary style-(I kid you not) featuring the lovely Saboten model of fairy Lapis. Just look at those eyes, and you know it's Saboten's.
The stage is also interesting in design, in distinct layers, front to back, each with its own character – and demonstrating considerable depth. We've seen such deep stages before, but entirely outdoors, rather than looking out on them from inside as is done here. The arch-like structure reminds me of the Wall's Ice Cream logo(!)
Even without English words (which, in this case, would I suspect have little significance, as becomes evident as one goes through this) it makes for a pleasant and absorbing diversion for just under two and a half minutes...
The stage is also interesting in design, in distinct layers, front to back, each with its own character – and demonstrating considerable depth. We've seen such deep stages before, but entirely outdoors, rather than looking out on them from inside as is done here. The arch-like structure reminds me of the Wall's Ice Cream logo(!)
Even without English words (which, in this case, would I suspect have little significance, as becomes evident as one goes through this) it makes for a pleasant and absorbing diversion for just under two and a half minutes...
Galaco's Last Day
Unless the campaign to save her has succeeded by now, at the end of tomorrow Galaco will be deactivated so that it will no longer be possible to use her in new projects that require codes from her 'parents' (Internet Co Ltd).
Fortunately there are a number of videos of performances by her, and these of course are stand-alone so can remain as a memory of this perhaps under-appreciated vocaloid, who was rarely used for original material so has given an impression of not being valued by users. My understanding is that it is this, as well as some hacking associated with her voicebank data, that has prompted the decision to deactivate her on 31 October 2013 (i.e. tomorrow, as I post this).
Here is a reminder of the cute character that was designed for Galaco in a video of the full version of Galaxias! with a particularly nice model. I showcased a different video of this three months or so ago, but this one is even better, and the subtitles even include a few English words (as they appear that way in the song). If you understand French, you can follow the whole song via the second line of subtitles..
It is not clear from the YouTube page whether it is Galaco herself singing this, or her voice provider performing it directly (it sounds like the latter to me, one Ko Shibasaki, but I could be wrong) but there is little apparent difference in practice...
Fortunately there are a number of videos of performances by her, and these of course are stand-alone so can remain as a memory of this perhaps under-appreciated vocaloid, who was rarely used for original material so has given an impression of not being valued by users. My understanding is that it is this, as well as some hacking associated with her voicebank data, that has prompted the decision to deactivate her on 31 October 2013 (i.e. tomorrow, as I post this).
Here is a reminder of the cute character that was designed for Galaco in a video of the full version of Galaxias! with a particularly nice model. I showcased a different video of this three months or so ago, but this one is even better, and the subtitles even include a few English words (as they appear that way in the song). If you understand French, you can follow the whole song via the second line of subtitles..
It is not clear from the YouTube page whether it is Galaco herself singing this, or her voice provider performing it directly (it sounds like the latter to me, one Ko Shibasaki, but I could be wrong) but there is little apparent difference in practice...
Fly-Tipping
This in our local newspaper makes for interesting reading.
This borough, Medway, remains at the numerical top of the the table of Kent boroughs/districts for fly-tipping, as a result of a recent sharp increase in reported incidents – incorrectly termed 'sites' in the article's text, but correctly cited as reports in the table there. Many of the reports will be for sites already cited in other reports. Notice that three other areas have had greater percentage increases than Medway over the same period, in two of those cases much higher percentages.
The two reasons for this stated in the article agree with my own local knowledge and intelligence sources: (a) the Kent County Council (KCC) decision to stop taking commercial waste at its household waste site, and (b) the improved reporting made easier by the Love Medway 'phone app. The former is bad news, whereas the latter is good as it means that more such dumpings are being cleared up and faster as a result. I think we all want that.
How to solve it remains a significant issue, and one that probably has no realistic prospect of being solved any time soon – merely discouraged as (hopefully) more of the perpetrators are caught and prosecuted. I suspect that Medway will one day decide that it would be better to make its own provisions for taking the commercial waste that is no longer being accepted by KCC's own site.
Even that won't get rid of the problem in Medway, but it should significantly reduce it and leave less of an incentive to fly-tip here.
Why here anyway? I suspect that it's largely down to the easy road access to so many of our more secluded spots, especially on the peninsula. Although other parts of Kent obviously have many locations of the same type, I have noticed in my travels around the county that at least some of these are not so accessible, especially to larger vehicles such as those that could carry some of the dumped materials shown in the photos in the linked article.
.Another point of interest regarding the Medway figures is that they are both a fair amount lower than what is called the 'baseline' figure from 2005. Even this past year's big number is still 29% down on the 2005 figure – which goes to show how easy it can be 'manufacture' headlines that are misleading. Perhaps the article's table ought to covered a wider time period...
Regardless, it's still quite a big problem everywhere in Kent and, no doubt, just about everywhere else in the country. It will disappear only when matter-to-energy conversion technology is developed (as it should by rights have been decades ago) so that need be no more waste to dispose of, ever again.
This borough, Medway, remains at the numerical top of the the table of Kent boroughs/districts for fly-tipping, as a result of a recent sharp increase in reported incidents – incorrectly termed 'sites' in the article's text, but correctly cited as reports in the table there. Many of the reports will be for sites already cited in other reports. Notice that three other areas have had greater percentage increases than Medway over the same period, in two of those cases much higher percentages.
The two reasons for this stated in the article agree with my own local knowledge and intelligence sources: (a) the Kent County Council (KCC) decision to stop taking commercial waste at its household waste site, and (b) the improved reporting made easier by the Love Medway 'phone app. The former is bad news, whereas the latter is good as it means that more such dumpings are being cleared up and faster as a result. I think we all want that.
How to solve it remains a significant issue, and one that probably has no realistic prospect of being solved any time soon – merely discouraged as (hopefully) more of the perpetrators are caught and prosecuted. I suspect that Medway will one day decide that it would be better to make its own provisions for taking the commercial waste that is no longer being accepted by KCC's own site.
Even that won't get rid of the problem in Medway, but it should significantly reduce it and leave less of an incentive to fly-tip here.
Why here anyway? I suspect that it's largely down to the easy road access to so many of our more secluded spots, especially on the peninsula. Although other parts of Kent obviously have many locations of the same type, I have noticed in my travels around the county that at least some of these are not so accessible, especially to larger vehicles such as those that could carry some of the dumped materials shown in the photos in the linked article.
.Another point of interest regarding the Medway figures is that they are both a fair amount lower than what is called the 'baseline' figure from 2005. Even this past year's big number is still 29% down on the 2005 figure – which goes to show how easy it can be 'manufacture' headlines that are misleading. Perhaps the article's table ought to covered a wider time period...
Regardless, it's still quite a big problem everywhere in Kent and, no doubt, just about everywhere else in the country. It will disappear only when matter-to-energy conversion technology is developed (as it should by rights have been decades ago) so that need be no more waste to dispose of, ever again.
Tuesday, 29 October 2013
Honey – Yukari and Friends
I haven't featured any of those multi-performer videos for a while, but this one is actually quite well thought-out and fairly well executed. The motion isn't the most natural, but it's better than many and most of the pitfalls seem to have been successfully avoided.
Here, then, is Honey, with Yukari taking the singing solo lead, and it's switchable to High Definition too.
The performers are, left to right in the following order for most of the track (and no, I hadn't heard of the little UTAUloid on the far left either): Nana Haruka, Lapis Aoki, SeeU, Yukari Yuzuki, IA, CUL and Akikoloid...
Here, then, is Honey, with Yukari taking the singing solo lead, and it's switchable to High Definition too.
The performers are, left to right in the following order for most of the track (and no, I hadn't heard of the little UTAUloid on the far left either): Nana Haruka, Lapis Aoki, SeeU, Yukari Yuzuki, IA, CUL and Akikoloid...
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