07/02/2005: "Ministering to the Heathen"

Beloved Parishioners,
apologies for the scarcity of epistles
but I have been Ministering to the Heathen.

I FUCKING LOVE IT HERE!!!

It is eight o'clock in the evening
it is raining into the tambou (rice field) outside the window
it is stinking hot & humid
but I have an electric fan and jazz and beer
and I am in a Very Fine Mood Indeed!

This afternoon I went in to Sharp to save some souls
and had a guided tour through their museum.

Waal, fuck me!

The guy started out in 1915 by inventing a revolutionary belt buckle
which allowed one to adjust one's belt to any degree of obesity or otherwise,
then moved into making those pencils with leads in 1921.
They were called Hayakawa's Eversharp Pencil - hence the name of the company -
and, to this day, those things are called shaapen.
From there into radio - crystal sets - whence he reverse-engineered some foreign jobs
& eventually started cranking out his own.

Lost his wife & children in The Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923
& moved all his factory guys to Osaka to make a fresh start. There is a most excellent history here, with pictures of all the stuff in the museum.


I saw his personal collection of shaapen,
I saw Japan's first radio, portable radio, Bakelite™ radio, b&w TV, colour TV, transistor radio, solar powered radio, microwave oven, photocopier, calculator (HUGE thing with push-buttons), talking calculator, PC, LCD calculator, solar powered calculator, combination abacus & electronic calculator, VCR (top-loading, of course), photocopier et cetera, et cetera - the list is long!

I think Sharp is most famous for it's LCD work & they have 6th generation sheets of "mother glass" LCDs which are 2 x 1.5 m and are moving straight into 8th generation - which must be huge! Sharp are also big into solar power & have devices with 18 & 28% efficiency. So WHY aren't we solar powered yet?

The thing that struck me was how early all this technology was around.

I think the most impressive thing for me was the hi-res medical imaging/digital archiving camera & screen - unbelievable resolution! They had a picture of Venus Arising from the Waves & I've seen it but never up so close & never in so much detail! And they had pictures of some cathedral I've probably prayed in but cant quite recall that were so unbelievably REAL! Its times like these you really have to stop & think "but what about my own eyes- aren't they better?"

Oh, the 500 x 500 x 100 block of crystalline silicon was fucking impressive - as was the shiny shiny rod that wafers are cut from - and I was allowed to put my filthy hands all over them for a probably inappropriate time and press my cheek against the block - and I loved it! Yes, THAT'S my favourite thing!

The final stop on the tour was meant to show off their one bit amplifier & home theatre set-up. The girl played me some sound effects & asked me which movie I'd like to see. I chose Moulin Rouge because

1) I've never seen it & what better time than now? and
2) I wanna hate that fucking bitch in the highest fidelity possible! It was the scene where she is on the roof miming & annoying that guy. I couldn't resist - after I'd had enough it reached the part where she reckons she wants to fly or something. I actually said "Jump!" & the girl laughed - but Parishioners know I really meant "Jump you fucking bitch and DIE!!!"

I'm impressed!

Did I mention I love it here?


lerevdr on Sat 02-Jul-2005 @ 14:23 e.s.t [permalink]
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