Archive for April, 2008
Friday, April 25th, 2008
ANZAC Day
Today was ANZAC Day, one of Australia’s biggest national holidays. ANZAC stands for Australia & New Zealand Army Corps, and the holiday commemorates their landing on Gallipoli during World War I. More than 10,000 of the ANZAC troops were killed during the campaign, which was ultimately a failure. However, the event helped forge a national [...]
2 Comments » - Posted in Australia,holidays by Aaron Humphrey
Monday, April 21st, 2008
Visions of Doraemon
This is Doraemon I was first introduced to Doraemon in Spain, where he appeared as a tiny KinderSurprise toy inside of my friend’s chocolate egg. The toy was just a little figurine that didn’t do much of anything, so the instructions simply explained who Doraemon was. “Doraemon es el amable gato robotico del siglo XXIV. [...]
3 Comments » - Posted in comics,doraemon,strange things,travel by Aaron Humphrey
Sunday, April 20th, 2008
Music Notes
I intended to write something completely different, but ended up writing this. I thought I might as well post it anyway. The thing about loving a record is that after you’ve listened to them so many times, it becomes difficult to hear the songs in the fresh way you once did. After you’ve memorized the [...]
No Comments » - Posted in introspection,music by Aaron Humphrey
Thursday, April 17th, 2008
Furious White Boy Mask in the USA
When you send something like the Furious White Boy Mask out into the world, there’s no way to know just how the world will react. Chaos? Euphoria? Famine? I just received an e-mail from my excellent friends in San Francisco depicting just what my efforts have wrought in that part of the world. Ladies and [...]
7 Comments » - Posted in awesome,California,friends,masks,photos by Aaron Humphrey
Thursday, April 10th, 2008
Finding a Platypus: wildlife discovery for geeks
At the very top of my list of things to do in Australia was to see a wild platypus. Once I realized just how elusive the little guys are, this quickly became amended to “see a platypus anywhere.” I have been a bit obsessed with platypus since probably middle school. They’re the ultimate cross-over animal: [...]
6 Comments » - Posted in animals,Australia,platypus,pokemon,videos by Aaron Humphrey
Thursday, April 10th, 2008
Amateur Gaming Hour — Klik n Play memories
The Game On exhibition in Melbourne got me thinking about video games again, and back to middle school when I used to make my own computer games. There was this software program called Klik n Play, which billed itself as something like “the revolutionary game creation studio” or some such hyperbole. Twelve-year-old Aaron wanted it [...]
7 Comments » - Posted in AOL,gaming,klik n play,nostalgia,youth by Aaron Humphrey
Tuesday, April 8th, 2008
Super Mario Melbourne — Game On exhibition!
I was in Melbourne last weekend and found that Mario had invaded the city! Fortunately, there was no goomba outbreak for the heroic plumber to investigate, just a huge video games exhibition at the Australian Centere for the Moving Image (aka ACMI). We didn’t know this was going to be happening, but we were intrigued [...]
2 Comments » - Posted in Australia,melbourne,video games by Aaron Humphrey
Thursday, April 3rd, 2008
The Corner Zoo
Adelaide has a reputation for being Australia’s least exciting city. Sydney is where the action is, Melbourne is where the alternative scene is, but meanwhile Adelaide is “the City of Churches.” Can you get more square than that? However, perhaps because I’ve spent most of my life in towns that give new dimensions to the [...]
5 Comments » - Posted in adelaide,art,Australia,photography by Aaron Humphrey
Thursday, April 3rd, 2008
How I missed Salman Rushdie
Salman Rushdie spoke at my alma mater, Chapman University, last Monday. Of course, it was Tuesday in Australia. I half-way considered keeping my job at Chapman for a few months longer just so I could stick around to see him, because he’s one of my favorite authors. Rushdie is most famous for the fatwa, or [...]
No Comments » - Posted in authors,Chapman University,Salman Rushdie,writing by Aaron Humphrey
Thursday, April 3rd, 2008
The Smashing Pumpkins smash Adelaide
Kim and I went to go see The Smashing Pumpkins last night! The Pumpkins are on their first Australian tour in over a decade, and we I saw them at the Adelaide Entertainment Center. While Kim was standing in line for our tickets, I got randomly interviewed by an American chick for a potential documentary [...]