While living in California, it struck me how different regions produce their own particular kind of quirkiness and outright craziness. There's just something different about the crazy you find in California compared to what you get, say, down South. The former has a hippie quality that distinguishes it from the Southern Gothic kind you get in the Bible Belt.
Of course, things get even weirder once you go overseas. When in Indonesia, I witnessed the most bizarre parade in a Jakarta theme park. At one point, there were trumpet playing monkey/human hybrids sporting clown wigs and Elizabethan-era puffy trousers. It was like Mardi Gras on Planet of the Apes.
Then there's Japan. The Land of the Rising Sun has its special kind of weirdness, and the Japanese love to express it via technology and design. Hence, this slide show from today's New York Times. Alarmed by a rising crime rate (that is still enviably low by many standards), one clothing designer has created outfits that can be converted into "urban camouflage."
Got the feeling you're being trailed by some miscreant who is eying your handbag or wallet? Quick! Round a corner, jump into your vending machine disguise, and pray to Jebus that he doesn't feel like buying himself a cold beverage!
Before you rush out to buy your own, however, note the quotation on slide 6: "Ms. Tsukioka said her disguises were experimental and could even be a bit impractical at times, 'especially when your hands are shaking.'"
Watoosa pointed out that these disguises could just as easily be used by the criminal element itself. Naturally, someone will be tempted to get them outlawed for that very reason, but he should remember that when crazy urban camouflage outfits are outlawed, only outlaws will have crazy urban camouflage outfits!
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2 comments:
What a great post! I want to be japanese now.
Wow! I've decided that nothing will ever again surprise me here in Japan. They have a thousand vending machine options and grocery store options and clothing/fashion designs yet only 1 phone company, merely 2 major airlines, a scant 4-5 Japanese beer brewers easily found, etc.
Your allusion to the crime rate in Japan wasn't underscored loudly enough. Granted, we're not in a metropolis but we've visited them. We often leave our doors (both apartment & cars) unlocked and our bikes parked loose in the public parking lot beneath our building. It's absolutely HILARIOUS that in such a culture ANY crime is scary to the citizens, especially coming from a nation where a murder is about as commonplace as yet another sitcom series canceled after 3 episodes.
It was quite entertaining to witness the reactions from our friends in Osaka recently when we described corruption & crime in Venezuela in the late 80s & early 90s. I'm pretty sure we blew their minds. ;-)
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