Japanese folding

I find this fascinating:

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This is totally unrelated to whatever is usually written on this blog, but that particular video might save hours to several readers who, so far, had been stuggling immensely with the daunting task of folding tshirts.

Time to fly to Seoul now, this time with a camera and the strong intention to shoot more videos (and share some of the experiences I keep on living in Korea).

User interface of a Russian powerplant

One can wonder if the interface is really intended for mistakes NOT to happen. All these red buttons :D

“Almost grateful” to land in jail

Don’t mess with Korean tourists :D I will keep that in mind next week when I’ll be in Seoul to prepare Lift Asia 09.

SOUTH KOREAN TOURISTS USE TAEKWANDO TO FLOOR ARMED ROBBER

(ANSA) – Rome, August 3 – A group of South Korean tourists honed their Taekwondo skills on an armed robber in Rome who ended up thanking police for rescuing him from a deathly beating, officials said on Monday.
“Thank you, I was being massacred,“ the 48-year-old unidentified Italian told Carabinieri police as they led him to Rome`s Regina Coeli prison.
The Koreans were touring the ancient Roman Theatre of Marcellus on Sunday afternoon when the man turned a knife on them and snatched a handbag. But before he could get away, one of the Koreans pounced on him, took his knife and floored him with some very deft strokes. Police said the man was decidedly very relieved to see them and “almost grateful“ to land in jail.

Link (thx Jaewoong)

The JetSleeper

Nice example of working around the limitations of a plane seat to offer a little bit of comfort. I must try this thing.

Fast food song

The art of creating a new form of art out of nothing: Fast Food Song.

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These things make me strangely optimistic, probably because they embody the unlimitedness of human imagination, anfd put humanity back in the middle of increasingly soulless cities.

Bush finally created value for someone…

…other than himself. The guys who claim to sell the now infamous flying shoes are making millions. Bye bye Bush!

Letters of non-motivation

On the day a Pizza has been used as a weapon for the first time, I found a link to Julien Prévieux‘s fabulous “letters of non-motivation“. In a very French spirit, he answers job offers with negative letters, finding reasons why he should not accept the job. Here is the project’s description from his portfolio, and a couple of examples. All letters have been compiled in a book available online here.

With this undertaking, which has been unrelentingly conducted for several years, the artist responds in the negative to job offers gathered from the press. The lack of “motivation”, reasserted on a daily basis, thus becomes a full-time job. Each missive is the pretext for a different stylistic exercise which, by its often tragi-comic dimension, stigmatises the kafkaian absurdity inherent in this type of ritual. From Bartleby to the elderly, from the paranoid applicant to the overbooked, the author plays a host of roles in order to vehemently increase the number of arguments for his refusal. The answers sent by companies are all evidence of an impossible communication whereby the entire hiring system is seen to be faulty.

Korean news

It’s extremely weird to be in the news in a language you don’t understand. If these articles say “Swiss-French loser comes to Korea to organize his crappy conference” I don’t even know it ;)

Thanks Channy for the press clippings, we found around 50 articles in blogs and media (there is no longer a difference in Korea) and are adding them progressively to the Lift press archive.

The 7 GPS guy

No idea why this guy, seen in Milano, has seven GPS in his car. Has he a very, very bad sense of orientation? Is this a secret Google project? Or simply an italian cousin of Dan Dubno?

Camouflage

These robes supposed to allow women to escape sexual predators in the streets of Tokyo are what I call serious urban wear. Amazing (and useful?).

Link