富士山 - 7552

This is the best food mascot I've ever seen.

The logo on his superhero outfit is the katakana "chi."

First Sunrise 2012

Youtube Link

Total Awesome

Paradise.
Today I took my brand new bicycle out for a ride. My greatest passion is cycling. I've been without a bike for 11 months; this is probably the longest in my life since learning to ride. The new bike is smooth, fast, and colourful. The first ride was awesome.

2011 Review: it was okay

Whaddup 2011? You were pretty awesome. Let's bullet point!

In no particular order, in 2011, I...
-Graduated University (BBM)
-Moved to Japan
-Ran a full marathon
-Started a local running club
-Read about 30 books (not including uni or teacher texts)
-Toured my Mom around my home area in Japan
-Became a self-proclaimed egg-cooking expert
-Got engaged (at the top of a mountain)
-Climbed that mountain 16 more times
-Climbed Mount Fuji from zero to 3667 meters in 21 hours
-Climbed to the top of 4 additional mountains
-Was featured on 3 of my favorite websites*
-Became a teacher
-Made a bunch of things (art, photography, DIY projects)
-Went to the beach too many times to count
-Paid off all debts (and have salubrious savings)
-Learned the word salubrious

I was an awesome year. My goals for next year are similar to Woody Guthrie's.

*Birthdayshoes, mu-43 and diyphotography.

Merry Christmas, Minna!

SERIOUSLY, listen to this song. (Especially you, Tessa)

And now, my favorite Christmas movie of all time... "A Wish for Wings that Work"
Part 1 (of 3):

Part 2 (of 3):

Part 3 (of 3):

It's alive!

This is my most recent creation. I call it "Camera with Arms Attached."

Yoyo Motor Timelapse Machine

I purposely put the yoyo-motor in the frame. I slowed it to a choppy 6fps so you can see generally how it works.
I just found out that you can upload and watch videos greater than 1920x1080. Cool.

My next step is to put a voltage resistor thing on the motor (or get a slower motor) so the panning motion is extra slow. I also want to rig it up so that is can spin 360 degrees continuously for extra interesting time-lapses.

In the past I built a rail using a drawer slider, it was okay. I used it for an outtake (here) for an awesomely hilarious Xmas video here: 2012 Merry Xmas Dance.

Motor (and gear system): 925¥
Yoyo: 100¥
Battery holder: 100¥
Switch: 100¥
Random brackets: about 200¥

Camera: EP3 with Samyang 8.5mm Fisheye
Remote: TW-282 ($75)
Tripod: Giottos MT8361
Head (it's heavy but awesome): Giottos 5011

Here are some pictures of the setup:

Kitchen tables are okay for workshops, right?

*So far, music for test videos is just the "I'm feeling lucky" Youtube audioswap.
___
Previous tests: One and Two.
___
Some camera sites which I read for ideas, etc:
Cheesy Cam
43 Rumors
Micro 43
^Thanks!

Christmas Rocks 2011

For Christmas in Japan this year, we decided to paint xmas rocks. Why? Well, we wanted a tree, we'd been craving an art day, and we didn't want to spend money - especially on something like decorations. So we killed three birds with one stone.

Or maybe a dozen stones? Ha. Ha. Ha.

Here's Ana's nice little video of our tree:

(she has a small post about it here)

Here's my quick timelapse of our painting day. Maybe 5 hours?


And, of course, here are some images. Merry Christmas!

Marc's Action Alphabet

I made this fun alphabet. Bet you can't figure out each letter! My favorite is "Z", which one is yours?









Feel free to use these. They're great for teaching kids. Hang 'em on your wall!
Printable 26 page PDF file (5.2MB): Download
Printable PDF condensed to 3 pages (2.1MB): Download