And now for something completely different. Well, not completely, but still, something different. It's again a fictional layout, but not a persiflage or a tribute to an existing one. This one is totally freelance and has a bit of an amateurish flair to it, but don't be fooled by this! The layout has quite a strong individual feeling to it and again very inspirational. Not so much with the used (sometimes crude) techniques, but more by the ideas and realisation of those ideas.
This layout is named Kaosu Dentetsu (Kaoden) (香生州電鉄). I think it is an implication to the English word 'chaos', as the Japanese translation doesn't make any sense whatsoever (Province the living aroma, what the shit?). It has probably something to do with a modern animé... Hell, I'm not an expert in that subject. I grew up with Pokémon, Dragonball Z and stuff like that. The only things I've watched recently are things from the Ghibli studios, Masamune Shirow's stuff and Sazae-san. Not any of that 'moe' (a.k.a. I-will-never-have-a-real-girlfriend) nonsense. Still, I draw manga errday. Does that make you mad bro? Anyway. That useless animé rant is maybe for some other time... Bad for the heart and all that stuff.
Let's talk about this interesting layout. It's something I can relate to actually. Apart from the bad planning, the quite extensive use of clay putty as a means of construction, landscaping and anything else you can think of, this is a layout I could be one I could have made. The layout is supposed to connect to other modules of the friends of the author (Ushipuu-san), which also works quite well (1 and 2).
The bad planning I mentioned before, is one of the small failures of this layout, but somehow it isn't very disturbing. It adds up to the flavour of the layout and adds a certain kind of charm to it to boost. One of these planning mishaps is the platform track being too low for trains to run with their pantographs (electricity collectors) up. This is demonstrated in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JTRxq99QY0 It seems that Ushipoo-san doesn't care about that flaw that much, which is a good thing IMO. One should enjoy model trains in one's own fashion and not care about what others say (only if it matters to you though). It's a very personal hobby all in all. The lowered platform track, despite being too low, is really really cool! It gives off a kind of cramped feeling which is omnipresent in Japanese urban area's. Especially among those smaller companies whose termini are tucked away beneath malls and office buildings.
One of the cool things about this layout is the repainting of rolling stock in their own Kaosu-Dentetsu livery. It's mostly white with red at the bottom, whereas the older stock has a quite standard red-dark cream-red livery. It's something I do as well with the more cheaper trains, just for practice. If I get my hands on really cheap models, I might make a whole fleet in this way, just to have a realistic fleet of fictional trains (sounds rather contradictory, doesn't it?).
Anyway, let's take a look at this interesting and inspiring web blog at: http://kaoden.blog.so-net.ne.jp/. Also, if you feel like it, you can visit Ushipoo-san's YouTube channel and subscibe to it. I think subscribing to these kind of channels is a motivation for the user to upload more and more video's! So, why not?
This is a repost from 06.06.2011
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Beer of the post: Guiness Extra Stout (Stout);
Location of consumption: my room;
This really is a classic and had to come by sometime soon anyway. So why not now when I'm downing Störtebeker Schwarzbier sixpacks, ey? Guiness is always a good choice when no other dark beer is around and you fancy some extra manliness in a glass. It's also fine to drink a glass of nails, but this does the job as well. Next to that it's much easier to swallow and doesn't give you an itch in the throat. Apart from the funny stuff, it's not the best stout I've ever drank (it will come to pass in the future, I promise!), but it certanly is a good one. It certainly isn't too strong in taste, maybe even a bit watery at times, and one can really drink it in greater amounts. Which is a good thing when you can order it per pitcher at the local Irish pub.
This beer is a something for everybody, but you really need to learn how to drink it. I can remember the first time I drank it with an old buddy and didn't really think much of it. However, when you grow older you'll learn to appreciate the more bitter things in life and even learn to enjoy them as well. Eventually you find yourself enjoying a bitter, wearing a tie for your enjoyment, appreciate tweed and rain, find orange and brown a swell combination of colours, grow a beard and drool at old-timer cars. This is also applicable for all you young girls out there! Yes, I know you're out there! Where's my pipe and hat?
Sláinte!
Toni
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