House Tour Video

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Here it is, finally! I edited the house tour video, getting it down to a decent length and size. Of course, I could pick it apart for mistakes, but that’s just me. Overall, I really like it, despite being able to hear snot whistling in my nose, jump cuts galore, and there being a raindrop on the lens. Actually, I like the jump cuts. For some reason they seem to add comic timing.

You’ll need to install Quicktime 7 to view it in its full widescreen H.264 glory. Unfortunately, these days you can’t upgrade QT without also upgrading iTunes to the craptacular version 5.

VIDEO

More videos to come, but life is still getting in the way. I spent all last night Crap Cleaning and defragging my landlord’s computers instead of editing media as planned. Also hooked him up with free anti-virus and anti-spyware utilities. He was very pleased. Next I’ll try to convert him to Firefox.

Rich Pav

Richard has been living in Japan since 1990 with his wife and two teenage sons, Tony and Andy.

24 thoughts to “House Tour Video”

  1. Why do you use diskeeper? Whats wrong with the free one in XP?

    Also, when I was digging thru your old stuff I found an episode where you deride crank call podcasts. I thought this was funny considering you made a live podcast of yourself taking a crap. Kind of hypocritical if you ask me(nobody asked me). Everythings pretty interesting here except the shitting episode, which was unbearable not becasue of the actual shitting but because of the carelessness and sociopathic nature of it all. Picking fights with Nigerians is a little bit more interesting and everybody will inevitably learn about Japanese toilets the first time they visit so you should have left that one part as a surprise.

    I prefer the casts where i learn a few words or get some insight into Japanese culture. Listening to your conversation in Japanese is fun when you explain what happened during or afterwards. I’m studying Japanese and want to move to Japan probably like most of your listeners.

    Could you delve further into your thing about Japan not being the wacky place everyone thinks it is etc? You started at one point but never brought it back up. I think this was when you were teasing the nigerian pimps in an early episde.

    1. There’s nothing at all wrong with the defrag utility that comes with Windows. Diskeeper has a 15 day free trial and has a few extra features, like resizing your paging file.

      I’m sorry you took offense. 10 seconds into the buttwash podcast, you knew I was on the crapper. You could have turned it off.

      “Picking fights with Nigerians” is an exaggeration. Only one guy got pissed off, which I didn’t expect. I tried to turn him around, but it wasn’t working so I walked away. Picking a fight would be to walk up to someone who’s minding their own business and purposely trying to make them angry.

      I do this for the people who enjoy it; my goal isn’t to satisfy everyone, because that’s impossible.

      Frankly, I don’t like being criticized and I don’t like being around people who criticize others. Call it a personality flaw if you will. I don’t feel obliged to appeal to your tastes after being critized by you. It kind of feels like presenting someone with a handmade gift that took lots of time and effort to create, and they turn around and tell you in detail why they don’t like it and how it could have been better.

      That’s the last word in this thread. I don’t like arguing with people, pissing people off or being pissed off. It’s not fun. I don’t care if you’re more right than I or vice versa.

        1. The other annoying thing about this version is that I can’t get either app to install in English. I don’t know if they’re force-feeding me the Japanese download or if the installer whips up the “appropriate” language version on the fly.

  2. I thought the crappercast was great 🙂

    I don’t know you from Adam, but I came across your podcast a while back and have become an avid listener/watcher. I hope continue to pop out ‘casts – it really is appreciated and enjoyed!

    1. See, you’re the kind of person I love to hear from. I know that there are plenty of people who won’t like my work, and I’m OK with that. I just wish they’d f**k off. Seems like if you do anything that puts you in the public eye, you inevitably become an asshole magnet. As if I’m obliged to take flack from them and change to their liking. One thing they have in common is they post anonymously.

      When it comes to handling criticism, Adam Curry is my #1 hero. He takes so much shit that he doesn’t deserve and he never lets it stop him. I need to become more like that. And I’ve said it before–that’s exactly why I started podcasting.

  3. Well, I didn’t only criticize you – I enjoy your show. I don’t know why I’d want to leave my real name or email if I get a hostile reaction to constructive criticism(you had a poll on your blog asking what content people preferred I might point out). And that would be stupid, especially if you’re as computer savvy as you seem. I wouldn’t call it an argument as much as a pointer.

    As far as the Nigerian guy goes – you should watch your own video – I’m not trying to bash your work, I didn’t expect you to even be surprised by that comment, actually. He asked if you knew him and you continued to taunt. I admit I laughed but you were being cruel.

    You’re obviously not a bad guy – you’re a family guy and very intelligent – just quirky – which makes for interesting pod casts. I know I personally wouldn’t hold up to the same scrutiny if I made one. Please don’t let my comments disconcert you and continue to keep your podcasts spontaneous like they have been. Sorry if I sound too harsh with any of this.

  4. i think that this blog is great too. I have found it interesting to listen to the soundcasts around Tokyo. That crapper podcast…I was interested to hear that was common. I never realised that they have that. But thats what is unique about “your” podcast. Dave @ Evil Genius Chronicles has a radio style to his podcasts listening to different music and going on, and you have a walkaround podcast. There is nothing wrong with that. I like both styles.

    Regarding those other people criticizing you. I think you said it best a few posts ago, about not worrying about it. There is always going to be those assholes. But there are people like me who appreciate your work. In fact, your podcast was one of the reasons why I got into it as well. I just couldn’t find your binaural mic setups here in New Zealand. That idea looked really good.

    Keep it going! At one point, I couldn’t get enough of that Akasaka (is that right?) podcast a while back when you were totally out of money.

    I look forward to hearing from your podcasts soon! 🙂

    1. Check out soundprofessionals.com. They ship overseas. There’s another site that sells a decent set of mics, but for the life of me I can’t remember the name right now or where I wrote it down.

  5. I love the editing job you did, it really adds a lot of comedy to the video! It is interesting to see a real look inside a house in japan. I thought it was interesting that there was no oven in your kitchen! Are ovens uncommon in Japanese houses? The look at the washlet was also cool.

    Please keep up the great work, I really enjoy it!

    1. I can’t remember ever being in a house that had an oven. I’d bet that expat housing in Tokyo has them, though.

      Full-size dishwashers are also rare. There’s a countertop model I’ve seen a few times, but you can’t fit too much in at once.

      1. While on the subject of aplliances, I was kind of fascinated by the washer/dryer combo. Like most American households, ours has given away a good chunk of square feet to seperate washer dryers that are often less than efficient. What is the capacity on something like the one you have and how dry does stuff get? Any manufacturers websites you could steer me to?

        Many thanks.

        1. That washer/dryer is the worst God-awful appliance I’ve ever overpaid for. My wife insists that it can only handle 1/4 of a load and it takes 3-4 hours to wash and dry. What I dislike most is that the lid locks until IT decides the load is done. And I can never figure out how to program it right.

          I wish we had bought a dryer that goes above the washer. That way you can dry a load while washing the next.

  6. hmm..my comment didn’t seem to go through. I’ll try again. I think your podcasts and soundcasts are great. I have learnt a lot through them ans look forward to the ones that you are going to do in the future. 🙂

  7. I have a love for Japanese phones. They are so much more advanced than here in New Zealand.

    Thanks for the reply. 🙂

  8. Great video, fascinating to see the inside of a Japanese house. If that really was Granpa’s house opposite then the in-laws live even closer than they do here in Spain! Mine are 5 mins walk away here in Madrid and I thought that was close!
    Keep casting, great stuff.

    1. It’s becoming less common, but it’s not uncommon for three generations to live in the same house. Traditionally, the oldest son or daughter is expected to take care of the parents when they get old.

      Along the same lines, if a couple doesn’t have a son to carry on the family name, sometimes a husband will take his wife’s family name. I know a Jewish American guy who’s last name is Kuroda now. (Hi, Ren. Yeah, you.)

      We used to live about 1/2 hr away, but after my mother-in-law passed away we sold the house and built a new one next door to her father’s house. And my sister-in-law’s family lives at the end of the road. Everyone gets along so it’s no bother at all.

  9. Been LOVING the videocasts, Rich. Keep ’em coming…

    Have you and your family been living in that house for long time? I notice that you all don’t have much in the way of personal items (other than “Chibi’s Bones”) cluttering your space. Is that Japanese minimalism or what?

    So what’s grandpa’s pad like? ; )

    1. It was built about two years ago. It didn’t look cluttered because I cleaned like a madman all day.

      The inside of grandpa’s house is…well, you know how you get used to your own clutter? And you can tell that the kids spend a lot of time there. The shoji covering the windows look like a typhoon blew through. Kids just love poking holes in it for some reason.

      I have some photos of it over at flickr.com starting here. (The kids look so tiny!) And I took a little video of it over the weekend, but not enough to make a comprehensive story. Maybe I’ll throw it in the chumbucket.

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