Pandas in advertising: a threat to our way of life

A friend shared this recently, and I really enjoy the concept behind the advertisements.  It's not even that they're marketing their product as being good.  It's basically a threat. :)

New York Notes

From two hours ago:

I'm eating at Maoz Vegetarian on 8th avenue, near 44th St.  I think. 
They sell pouches of falafel, eggplant, hummus, etc.  You can add toppings.
I went on a small expedition to find a digitising stylus, to no avail.
Even in NY, Staples are much nicer to shop at than Best Buy.
I've seen more Staples than I've seen Starbucks.
Passed Kodama sushi and the Algonquin hotel.
Saw the library, the big one, on 5th Ave, near 41st St or something.
Accidentally walked down Broadway.
Diverse mix of people.
A young girl has a red Totoro umbrella.
It's strange not having a camera or Google Maps.
I'm about to try a cherry coca-cola.  The can is purplish.
I took a hot pepper with my maoz.  I'm eating it slowly on the side.
Maoz is very pretty inside.  It looks like one of those salad bar joints.
They have free electricity.  Across the street is Starbucks, but I cannot connect to their network right now.  Either too far, or I used it too much earlier from within Starbucks.
Border patrol were stiff and rude: I've generally liked law enforcement.
All of New York feels rougher.  Lots of service people are rough and unwelcoming.  No one is smiling: perhaps because it is raining.
I got soaked in the rain.  And I liked it.
With the fog, the city seems like it could go on forever, receding forever into the horizon but hidden by fog.  When the some comes out, you can see the city limits, though.

Right now I'm  sitting in a Starbucks in Harlem, drinking bad green tea for the privilege of Internet.  More recently,

Finally used the New York subway system.  Grungy like Toronto, not flashy like Berlin.
It really moves people.
U.S. money feels like monopoly paper.  Perhaps having close shades of green helps protect the identity of the bills: is that a $20 or just a $1?  $1 bills? Wow!
Harlem has a lot of cool houses.
It's January, there was enough snow in Guelph to stop the buses today, but it's just wet, warm, and Novembrish here.
The streets are well-labelled (unlike some countries (cough New Zealand cough)) and the numeric grid system (8th Ave and 141st St) makes it easy to get around.
8th Ave and 81st St has a museum, I think.  It has a subway stop.
I just witnessed a lady walk into the Starbucks, pick up food, and walk out while the staff warned her that they'd contact police and she was on camera.
My friend's apartment is on the 10th story of a building.  From the one window, I can see an amazing castle.  I like castles.  I like.

Transient Thought

I am now in New York, and the first thing I do is leave inappropriate messages on my answering machine. At least no one else need hear them? :D

Alarm clock for the Nintendo 3DS

So, with my phone unusable, I realised last night that I don't really have an alarm clock.  Unless I want to use my laptop as I used to, but you know, energy consumption, the environment, etc.

I decided to check if my Nintendo 3DS had an alarm clock.  It has a web browser, tells the time, and microwaves me, so why not wake me up?  After googling, I was saddened to see that while the Nintendo DS came with one by default, the 3DS did not.

However, there are a few very fun ones that you can buy from the eShop!  It was $1.99, which is cheaper than a physical alarm clock, and a lot more fun.

Consequently. I woke up in time for my lab this morning. And then I did the Mario.
    

Transient Thought

Early stages of phone's death, last week.  The screen
is completely black these days.  Good night Nexy.

Transient Thought

"Your ambition is perpetual!" - A friend to me after hearing of my latest endeavour.  One of the most interesting compliments I've received in a while, but I'm not sure that perpetual ambition is a quality I should want. :)  They have also compared me to the average bear, which is delightful company.

Running on Roof Tops

Wow, as I was leaving the symposium, I ran into the lady I had met earlier again and she offered to take me up to the roof right then!  So I went!  And it was awesome!  It was more like a white roof than a green roof, but there were plants!  Perennials!  And past the roof's edge were lines of pink, purple and blue cutting through the horizon as the sun set.  Another adventure complete!

Feed me!

Today I am attending the Environmental Science Symposium at the University of Guelph with a friend.  The theme is Food this year.  The best talk was probably on the role of space exploration on terrestrial agriculture, but my second favourite theme has been that of urban agriculture, green roofs, and roof-top gardens.

I mentioned at the one talk the temporary community garden that appeared in Vancouver while I lived there in 2008.  I think it was the result of an abandoned development plan, thanks to the recession, but I'm not sure.  It was quite neat seeing it appear.  There were a couple other ones around the downtown, and a friend and I used to covertly use the composters from one.

The community garden at Burrard and Davie in
downtown Vancouver, near where I lived for a while.
Via Google Maps

I'm mesmerised by the integration of nature and urbania.  Apparently the new city hall in Guelph has a green roof, and so does the Science Complex at the University.  I spoke to a lady today about it and will try to arrange to go up there and see it.  I'm excited.

One problem with a lot of cool, green approaches like this are maintenance and effort required.  There are lots of things to invest my time in.  I have to be very picky about where I allocate my time now, and I'm not sure I'd have the time to manage something like this.  I do like growing things.  I have a stable of five fine plants, and a neat rotation system to indicate when I watered what.  I'm going to expand to a tomato plant.  I still hope to have a small food garden at some point.  But I still need to outsource food production, as there are other things I want to specialise in.  It might be nice to some day have an almost self-sufficient home.  I do plan on moving around a lot, but I still like the idea of a small house outside of the city with lots of growth and some water, that can generate its own power.  My house will also be neatly kitted with the coolest of sensors and ubiquitous computing technology.  Mwahaha!