The Farthest Shore by Ursula K. Le Guin was the book I was waiting for in the Earthsea series. After the failure of Tombs of Atuan to capitalize on the tantalizing promise of A Wizard of Earthsea, I was desperate to see this book step up to the plate. Ged had to get out there and fight something big, something so large sacrifices were required, something that was threatening the fabric of the world. And Le Guin delivered. Amen. The Farthest Shore tells the story of magic fading out of Earthsea. Reports come back to Ged, now Archmage on the …
Ironic Posing at the Russian Village
This is the third part of my new series of Daily Haikyo Photos. See the first in the series for an explanation. This week’s theme is photos with me in them. I think I never posted this shot anywhere- it’s just too much like a regular tourist shot, though I think I took it ironically. I also took a photo
Looking out of Sun Hills
This is the second part of my new series of Daily Haikyo Photos. See the first in the series for an explanation. This week’s theme is photos with me in them. This is another shot taken by Su Young, this time in the Sun Hills car park. We headed out to Sagamiko Lake in Kanagawa hoping to find the ruined hotel still standing. What I’d been able to research on the Internet suggested it would be very smashed-up, dilapidated, and cool. What we found was the place it had been, and the car park it had used. Lots of sheer …
Surveying Ashiodozan
I’ve got 1000’s of haikyo photos I’ve never used. Occasionally I dip into them to put together a combo post, but for the most part they lie fallow; maybe because I’m in them, or other people are, or they’re not quite as striking as other shots in the set. Still, I think they’re informative, interesting, and I want to use them. Here’s my idea- I post one (usually new) photo a day, for as long as I have good photos left to post. Each week there’s a theme that pulls that set together. It could be that they’re all photos …
Adventures in Website Marketing: michaeljohngrist.com 5.0
A few days ago the 5.0 version of this site went live. I’ve been hard at work redesigning and coding for the past few weeks, learning how to do all the things I wanted to do through simple CSS and html. It can be an incredibly frustrating experience at times- but when finally the pixels click into place, the target image floats properly left, it can feel like a momentous achievement. Big changes include: – everything is now within borders and wrappers – the front page is laid out as a magazine – it’s a calmer and more serious color …
Pepsi Mont Blanc
Pepsi Mont Blanc is the latest in a series of crazy-flavored products in the Japanese soft drink market. Past favorites include- Pepsi Blue Hawaii Pepsi Yoghurt Pepsi Ice Cucumber Pepsi Baobab Pepsi Beefsteak (shiso) Pepsi Beans (azuki) And that’s not even mentioning the Coke products. Mont Blanc is an Italian dessert of whipped cream and chestnuts on a meringue cake or tart. I picked up the drink without really knowing what the dessert was- I guess I never ate many chestnuts growing up in the UK. In Japan though they’re very popular, as ice cream flavors, on cakes, and now …
Haikyo 2011 Calendar
My haikyo 2011 calendars have arrived! I ordered 5 for the whopping cost of about $60 (with a bulk order discount), and a shipping cost of $30 to Japan. I’m really pleased with their quality- they’re on good stiff card, the print is sharp, the design is clean, and they’re plenty big enough to scrawl all your necessary info onto. For those inclined to buy- here’s a link to the lulu page. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. And if that’s not enough to convince you- check out my video walk-through of one sample calendar, giving you a great idea …