Slideshow Synopsis

The slideshow I plan to do is on how to make kanzashi, showing pictures on how to make different petal shapes, and how to put it all together, and depending on time I will include some tips that I have picked up over time.

Traditionally tsunami kanzashi (meaning "folded fabric hair ornament") are made with small squares of silk, folded using origami methods, and glued together with rice glue. The adaption I've learned several months back involves small squares of cut ribbon and hot glue.

One day I will try the traditional way!

Slideshow

Slideshows and then some

Here's an audio slideshow that shows pictures of, I believe, the L.A. River and has audio of a woman speaking of it. I don't like how the audio picks up on the background noise so much, it distracts me too much from what the woman is actually saying.

What I do like is that if you hover your mouse over the bar at the bottom (the one that shows where you are in the slideshow, I can't think of a good word for it at the moment), it will pop up with a mini image of the picture that is at that particular point.

For a silent slideshow I picked this one, which is of several different kanzashi. For this particular one I like the options it provides. You can select the speed that the pictures go through, have a mini info bar pop up about them, and have thumbnails of the pictures pop up so you can select a different one.

Following with the kanzashi theme, the photo gallery I found is also featuring kanzashi.


I think when it comes to storytelling, which method you use all depends on the particular story. I think photo galleries and slideshows can work together - have the option to use one or the other depending on the person's taste. Sometimes I like slideshows, but if you can't adjust the speed, it can be too slow for my tastes depending on my mood, and I much rather just click through a photo gallery.

I can see the benefit of having an audio addition, but I can't say I'm leaning either way on whether or not I like it.

Podcast

Podcast Reviews

X-Play Podcast
http://www.g4tv.com/games/xplay/

I chose X-Play's podcast as my first to review. X-Play is a show, one that I haven't watched in years, that reviews video games. Watching the video podcasts reminds me how much I enjoy listening to the hosts and their opinions on games. Through their videos you get to a good look at various gameplay aspects, and at the end they'll give a rating.

Sometimes there are reviews, other times there will be previews, interviews (that's a lot of 'views'), and they'll find themselves at gaming conventions to get a good look at what's-to-come in the gaming world. My only complaint is that the video quality could be better, but there's a chance that there's an HD option that I'm missing.


BrainStuff
http://www.howstuffworks.com/podcasts/brainstuff.rss

From there I checked out the BrainStuff. It sounded like it could be interesting, but I became wary when one of the podcasts was “What happens when you press Alt and F4?” and thought “Well gee if someone was asking that, why don't they just try it.” But not everyone is computer literate. But then you go to something like “What is dynamite? How does it work?” and isn't that just cool? I'm not sure if I'll continue to follow this one – it seems like a hit-or-miss, but from a creative writing view you could find some gems. It might not be worth the effort though, and I'm not sold on listening to the speaker.


Pet Food Alphas
http://petfoodalpha.com/

I did realize in my search for a third podcast to review that I preferred shorter podcasts. Getting longer than 15 minutes? Not in my preference. Nonetheless I settled back towards video games and checked out “Pet Food Alphas,” a podcast that discusses the MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) Final Fantasy XI.

Admittedly it took me awhile to settle into since it took them a bit to settle into it, but it is one of very few FFXI podcasts that keeps up to date, and I'm not bored listening to them since I can complete understand what they're referring to since it's a strong interest of mine. Downside for me is the length – minimum time has been 23 minutes and maximum has been 2 hours and 21 minutes and in trying to listen to two different episodes I got distracted partway through or needed to do other things. I'll subscribe, but I'm not sure how often I'll actually listen.



I won't listen to any podcasts on my ipod; it is filled to the brim with music and audio books.

Interactive Map

View Health Scores-Saint Johnsbury, VT in a larger map

Our group did a map of restaurants in St. Johnsbury, VT. Of all the restaurants in St. J, one of the highest in regards to health score (coming second to Dunkin Donuts) is New Century Chinese, which I believe is one of the newer restaurants in the area, so it does make sense, but it did have the problem (as mentioned on the map) of bugs – flies, to be specific. Richard and I took a trip over – it has plenty of parking (though I was blind and it took me a few shots to notice the sign signaling to where it was). The decor was odd, but I've seen stranger. We were the only ones, so service was good. I noticed quickly the place-mats advertising Asia and another New Century Chinese in Woodsville, and after asking our waitress she confirmed that the owners were the same. The food was your average Chinese restaurant taste, nothing to special, but I preferred it over New East Garden and was a closer drive than the places in Lyndonville.

One of my favorites places for a quick bite to eat is Anthony's Diner, which I generally go to alone or with one other so I can always easily find a seat, but with larger groups on a busy day it could be difficult, and around this time of year there are tour buses coming into the area for people to see the changing of the leaves. The food is decent and in my price range, and I certainly prefer popping in most days instead of going to McDonald's right next door.