When I started this class, I was very worried. For one I had never started my own blog, nor had I read them regularly. Suer I jumped the wagon on Myspace and Facebook, and still linger, but just because I know it, it is comfortable. Like the diner with the terrible food, but you go anyway because its comfortable and predictable. That being said I had not used many things like Twitter, or even half of the sites we are using now, I never even used my Gmail until now!! But something that I had not realized, was that I had always read blogs. I may not have known it but I loved a blog called “Plastic Bamboo” I discovered it when i was 14 years old, in middle school. It is long gone, and I do not even know the person who operated it, but in essence it was a blog about fun trinkets and facts from Asia. Being from Colorado, in the middle of nowhere, like cows and corn, it was a teenage-energy fueled hobby. So in tribute to that site, “Plastic Bamboo” I will always love you! I dedicate my next DS106 assignment to whomever was the up-dater of PB Thank you for keeping my middle-school years interesting.

Because of the loss of my beloved Plastic Bamboo, I will instead write about my newest favorite “tokyomango” A blog that I have faithfully followed for the last 4 years:

Tokyo Mango, is done by a woman named Lisa Katayama, I believe she is half-American and half Japanese. She writes some amazing articles, she usually tries to tie together American and Japanese cultures. I believe she is located in California, and she is very active in terms of writing (she has published a book) and she also is a news correspondent for things like the Tsunami and other events that may appear on the news.  The reason that I follow her blog, and have followed her blog for so many years is because of the powerful, professional and profound images and videos that she posts. All of the best videos that I have seen have been on this site, and I often re-post them on my own Facebook Page. She does everything from silly toys like the “Otamatone” a ladle like toy that makes for an interesting instrument, to advertising for upcoming films about the tsunami. She is also working on a movie, called “We are all Radioactive” about the people and the effects of the power-plant on their bodies over time. Not just current things, Lisa also does articles about artists, and they are always amazing! The only way for me to convey my full love for her and all of her hard work, is to ask everyone to look at her blog. Tell me what you think! Do you agree that she is a incredible blogger that deserves to be paid for her site? I do!

Happy surfing~

Oh and here is a questionnaire about Lisa: incase you fall in love with her blogging like I did~

I may have misunderstood the assignment, I guess a fanfic, is to do something pretending that I am that person. It will be hard to achieve the greatness that is Lisa Katayama, but also the problem is that all the cool gadgets and movies that I see come from her blog!! I will do my best to find something equivalent~

In Japan this week, gatherers in Kawasaki assemble to show their respect to the penis. Yes you read that right, the penis. Here is what Wki has to say about the topic:

The Shinto Kanamara Matsuri (?????? “Festival of the Steel Phallus”) is held each spring at the Kanayama shrine (????) in Kawasaki, Japan. The exact dates vary: the main festivities fall on the first Sunday in April. The penis, as the central theme of the event – is reflected in illustrations, candy, carved vegetables, decorations, and a mikoshi parade.

The Kanamara Matsuri is centered around a local penis-venerating shrine once popular among prostitutes who wished to pray for protection from sexually transmitted diseases. It is said that there are also divine protections for business prosperity and for the clan’s prosperity; and for easy delivery, marriage, and married-couple harmony. There is also a legend of a sharp-toothed demon (vagina dentata) that hid inside the vagina of a young woman and castrated two young men on their wedding nights. As a result, the young woman sought help from a blacksmith, who fashioned an iron phallus to break the demon’s teeth, which lead to the enshrinement of the item.

Today, the festival has become something of a tourist attraction and is used to raise money for HIV research

 I think that it is great that something as spooky as sexualy transmitted diseases can be opened to the public like this, and some festival that may seem silly, really has a great message for health and awareness for HIV. I am afraid to say that I missed the festival myself, but I wonder if some of you made it? Did you hear the story about the teethed vaginas? Did you have a penis lollipop? I will share a picture that I found of the festival, looks great I hope that I can go next year!

I think this is the type of article that you can find on the Tokyo Mango site mentioned above. She has a great eye for art and talented people. GIve her a look it is worth it!

When I started this class, I was very worried. For one I had never started my own blog, nor had I read them regularly. Suer I jumped the wagon on Myspace and Facebook, and still linger, but just because I know it, it is comfortable. Like the diner with the terrible food, but you go anyway because its comfortable and predictable. That being said I had not used many things like Twitter, or even half of the sites we are using now, I never even used my Gmail until now!! But something that I had not realized, was that I had always read blogs. I may not have known it but I loved a blog called “Plastic Bamboo” I discovered it when i was 14 years old, in middle school. It is long gone, and I do not even know the person who operated it, but in essence it was a blog about fun trinkets and facts from Asia. Being from Colorado, in the middle of nowhere, like cows and corn, it was a teenage-energy fueled hobby. So in tribute to that site, “Plastic Bamboo” I will always love you! I dedicate my next DS106 assignment to whomever was the up-dater of PB Thank you for keeping my middle-school years interesting.

Because of the loss of my beloved Plastic Bamboo, I will instead write about my newest favorite “tokyomango” A blog that I have faithfully followed for the last 4 years:

Tokyo Mango, is done by a woman named Lisa Katayama, I believe she is half-American and half Japanese. She writes some amazing articles, she usually tries to tie together American and Japanese cultures. I believe she is located in California, and she is very active in terms of writing (she has published a book) and she also is a news correspondent for things like the Tsunami and other events that may appear on the news.  The reason that I follow her blog, and have followed her blog for so many years is because of the powerful, professional and profound images and videos that she posts. All of the best videos that I have seen have been on this site, and I often re-post them on my own Facebook Page. She does everything from silly toys like the “Otamatone” a ladle like toy that makes for an interesting instrument, to advertising for upcoming films about the tsunami. She is also working on a movie, called “We are all Radioactive” about the people and the effects of the power-plant on their bodies over time. Not just current things, Lisa also does articles about artists, and they are always amazing! The only way for me to convey my full love for her and all of her hard work, is to ask everyone to look at her blog. Tell me what you think! Do you agree that she is a incredible blogger that deserves to be paid for her site? I do!

Happy surfing~

Oh and here is a questionnaire about Lisa: incase you fall in love with her blogging like I did~

I may have misunderstood the assignment, I guess a fanfic, is to do something pretending that I am that person. It will be hard to achieve the greatness that is Lisa Katayama, but also the problem is that all the cool gadgets and movies that I see come from her blog!! I will do my best to find something equivalent~

In Japan this week, gatherers in Kawasaki assemble to show their respect to the penis. Yes you read that right, the penis. Here is what Wki has to say about the topic:

The Shinto Kanamara Matsuri (?????? “Festival of the Steel Phallus”) is held each spring at the Kanayama shrine (????) in Kawasaki, Japan. The exact dates vary: the main festivities fall on the first Sunday in April. The penis, as the central theme of the event – is reflected in illustrations, candy, carved vegetables, decorations, and a mikoshi parade.

The Kanamara Matsuri is centered around a local penis-venerating shrine once popular among prostitutes who wished to pray for protection from sexually transmitted diseases. It is said that there are also divine protections for business prosperity and for the clan’s prosperity; and for easy delivery, marriage, and married-couple harmony. There is also a legend of a sharp-toothed demon (vagina dentata) that hid inside the vagina of a young woman and castrated two young men on their wedding nights. As a result, the young woman sought help from a blacksmith, who fashioned an iron phallus to break the demon’s teeth, which lead to the enshrinement of the item.

Today, the festival has become something of a tourist attraction and is used to raise money for HIV research

 I think that it is great that something as spooky as sexualy transmitted diseases can be opened to the public like this, and some festival that may seem silly, really has a great message for health and awareness for HIV. I am afraid to say that I missed the festival myself, but I wonder if some of you made it? Did you hear the story about the teethed vaginas? Did you have a penis lollipop? I will share a picture that I found of the festival, looks great I hope that I can go next year!

I think this is the type of article that you can find on the Tokyo Mango site mentioned above. She has a great eye for art and talented people. GIve her a look it is worth it!

When I started this class, I was very worried. For one I had never started my own blog, nor had I read them regularly. Suer I jumped the wagon on Myspace and Facebook, and still linger, but just because I know it, it is comfortable. Like the diner with the terrible food, but you go anyway because its comfortable and predictable. That being said I had not used many things like Twitter, or even half of the sites we are using now, I never even used my Gmail until now!! But something that I had not realized, was that I had always read blogs. I may not have known it but I loved a blog called “Plastic Bamboo” I discovered it when i was 14 years old, in middle school. It is long gone, and I do not even know the person who operated it, but in essence it was a blog about fun trinkets and facts from Asia. Being from Colorado, in the middle of nowhere, like cows and corn, it was a teenage-energy fueled hobby. So in tribute to that site, “Plastic Bamboo” I will always love you! I dedicate my next DS106 assignment to whomever was the up-dater of PB Thank you for keeping my middle-school years interesting.

Because of the loss of my beloved Plastic Bamboo, I will instead write about my newest favorite “tokyomango” A blog that I have faithfully followed for the last 4 years:

Tokyo Mango, is done by a woman named Lisa Katayama, I believe she is half-American and half Japanese. She writes some amazing articles, she usually tries to tie together American and Japanese cultures. I believe she is located in California, and she is very active in terms of writing (she has published a book) and she also is a news correspondent for things like the Tsunami and other events that may appear on the news.  The reason that I follow her blog, and have followed her blog for so many years is because of the powerful, professional and profound images and videos that she posts. All of the best videos that I have seen have been on this site, and I often re-post them on my own Facebook Page. She does everything from silly toys like the “Otamatone” a ladle like toy that makes for an interesting instrument, to advertising for upcoming films about the tsunami. She is also working on a movie, called “We are all Radioactive” about the people and the effects of the power-plant on their bodies over time. Not just current things, Lisa also does articles about artists, and they are always amazing! The only way for me to convey my full love for her and all of her hard work, is to ask everyone to look at her blog. Tell me what you think! Do you agree that she is a incredible blogger that deserves to be paid for her site? I do!

Happy surfing~

Oh and here is a questionnaire about Lisa: incase you fall in love with her blogging like I did~

I may have misunderstood the assignment, I guess a fanfic, is to do something pretending that I am that person. It will be hard to achieve the greatness that is Lisa Katayama, but also the problem is that all the cool gadgets and movies that I see come from her blog!! I will do my best to find something equivalent~

In Japan this week, gatherers in Kawasaki assemble to show their respect to the penis. Yes you read that right, the penis. Here is what Wki has to say about the topic:

The Shinto Kanamara Matsuri (?????? “Festival of the Steel Phallus”) is held each spring at the Kanayama shrine (????) in Kawasaki, Japan. The exact dates vary: the main festivities fall on the first Sunday in April. The penis, as the central theme of the event – is reflected in illustrations, candy, carved vegetables, decorations, and a mikoshi parade.

The Kanamara Matsuri is centered around a local penis-venerating shrine once popular among prostitutes who wished to pray for protection from sexually transmitted diseases. It is said that there are also divine protections for business prosperity and for the clan’s prosperity; and for easy delivery, marriage, and married-couple harmony. There is also a legend of a sharp-toothed demon (vagina dentata) that hid inside the vagina of a young woman and castrated two young men on their wedding nights. As a result, the young woman sought help from a blacksmith, who fashioned an iron phallus to break the demon’s teeth, which lead to the enshrinement of the item.

Today, the festival has become something of a tourist attraction and is used to raise money for HIV research

 I think that it is great that something as spooky as sexualy transmitted diseases can be opened to the public like this, and some festival that may seem silly, really has a great message for health and awareness for HIV. I am afraid to say that I missed the festival myself, but I wonder if some of you made it? Did you hear the story about the teethed vaginas? Did you have a penis lollipop? I will share a picture that I found of the festival, looks great I hope that I can go next year!

I think this is the type of article that you can find on the Tokyo Mango site mentioned above. She has a great eye for art and talented people. GIve her a look it is worth it!