Interactivehank's New Home

I have always been of a mind that wouldn't it be cool to have your camera at the ready while traveling that empty cultural vastness of this place we call home. So with that in mind I am trying to keep my digital camera at the helm.

My first two entries are "Bourbon Water" from the Mitsuki Market across the street from where I live and the second one is the new Japanese restaurant on the corner of National and Sawtelle (I think) For two days he had a sign that said SUSHI: HALF PRICE! I actually got a great picture of that, but of course somehow deleted it from my camera before uploading. Anyway, I liked this one because he posed. I told him I will be back to eat, and you know what? I will.

Cool, the very day after I upload the Photos above, I find the half price sushi photo. Pretty amazing doncha think, I mean how many new customers can he honestly expect selling hal price sushi? AM I nuts, I would think zero, zilch. I would have posted this on my Dada pages, but nobody goes there anyway. I do I even bother with all of this??

OK, all of the sudden there are huge spiders all around my house. I know there are good luck, but is this thing dangerout:

If anybody knows an arachnophobist that could identify this item, please let me know.

OK, I gotta go for a bike ride.

DDR

like two years ago I made a note to put up some info about DDR, or Dance, Dance Revolution.
A friend of mine has taken it up as her workout, date night, keep in touch with the younger generation activity of choice. It is a little hard to explain, but basically it is video game that has a floor pad with five light up pads on it. You buy a song, scroll through the seemingly endless number of selections and then get ready to "play" (sic).

There are actually two side by side monitors and dance pads, so you can compete with other people. The object of the game is to see the upcoming dance steps which are constantly scrolling up the monitor to the beat of the song you have chosen. As the indicated pad moment arrives on the beat in question the floor pad that lights up exactly when you are supposed to make contact with the pad with any part of your body.

Sounds harder than it is get started, but boy getting started is only the beginning. The culture is huge, bizarre and freaky. The DDR website "DDRFreak" has an introduction, song lists you can download so you can practice the footwork at home, just a printout of the dance steps need to complete a song.

Of course there are also PS2 and Computer versions, but NOTHING beats the arcade experience.

Other bizarre and interesting DDR facts:

Kids line up to play and put quarters up on the machine ledge like a pool table.
It is predominated by pre-adolescent boys.
The world champion is a 15 year old japanese kid.
On the website you can search nationwide for a machine by zip-code,
this is an important function that my friend uses often while going to unchartered territory.
A day without DDR is really a bad scene.

Have I done it myself, yes twice and I kicked the machines ass. To prove it I made a little video of my me and Glenn K. trouncing the machine, I think it was version two.

This whole DDR thing seems to somehow dovetail just perfectly with new Dada updates, BoBa and Lava House!

I would love anymore DDR info, so please pass it along if you come across any. Till then, see you at the mall.

Gonna be a little re-shuffling here over the next few weeks. I really want you folks to be more explorative within my "interactive" site. So, like food related stuff goes to DaDa, Jack related stuff goes to JWCNow, etc. I think everybody is just getting too lazy and thinking they can just to the HankNow area and get all the updates they need. Fuck that! Feel put off or want to vote on which new car is going to buy in 2004?, then head on over to the completely unused Hank Forums

But, because it fits no where else, here is the latest Hank stuff:
I cannot explain it, but Lego is making a huge seaway into my life recently. First there was Lego Escher which has gotta be one of the coolest things I have come across in recent past, but then I get directed to something far more incredible, not about Lego, but about Escher. You gotta go to this site and make sure to look at the final product of there mathematical reintroduction of Escher's piece, "Print Gallery". So it is not about Lego, but Lego got me there. then a week later I see this Honda Element commercial made entirely of CGI Lego. What's the point, I don't know?

And finally I have decided to fully embrace my undying love for coffee and that made me remember a comic book entitled "Too Much Coffee Man" that I have seen over the years. Anyway, the guys website is pretty funny and sometimes a little repugnant. Here is a banner link I thought would be a good way to lead you there:

And speaking of comics, did you know that the Silver Surfer is back! Issue #2 Volume 4 just arrived and it is getting great press. More on that later.