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Ever since the first Free Sticker Week ended back in February '07, I've been sending out WTF Stickers to anyone that mailed me a SASE or a small Souvenir. Nothing specific, per the instructions page, "anything will do." Well, here goes anything, again! (first one here)
Guilken (Japan) sent "stuff he found on the ground on his way to work." I hate to tell you, Japan, but your 1 Yen coin is far too light and feels like play money. No wonder people throw them on the ground!
Artyom (Israel) sent a mix of Russian/Israeli souvenirs a few pages from «Компьютерра», a Russian boarding pass, a Poltinnik (50 rubles), an Israeli bus pass, and a Hebrew classroom exercise.
asdfghj Jenkins (UK) not only has an illegible hand-written first name, but sent along a fun little penguin. Nice try Europe, but I'm still not switching to your Ubuntu.
David Flores (Madrid, Spain) sent a map of Madrid's Plano Esquematico de la Red, which I'm pretty sure translates to Automatic Escalators from Below.
Paul (London) sent a pass from Live Earth '07, a postcard from his company (NineLivesLondon), and a pair of Hot Fuzz "beermats". Now Britain, I understand that you're into your own goofy names for things ("boot" instead of "trunk", "lift" instead of "elevator", etc), but "beermat"? What if I want to put a glass of water on one? Or Iced Tea? You see, it doesn't make much sense. Britain, I encourage you to switch to the multi-purpose word "coaster" for this particular item.
Rafael (Peru) set over a Sublime bar, which is apparently "Peru's most popular chocolate." And I can see why: it's muy extremo tastey. It's also nothing like that salmiakki that Finland tries to pass of as candy. Peru, you're okay in book!
Erwin J. van Eyle (Netherlands) sent three euro coins and three Dutch coins. I have to say, I was a little skeptical of the tiny little 10-something coin, but Erwin shared an interesting fact: "it is exactly the size of the inner hole of a compact disk... because, according to an old Philips engineer I know, the coin was the only small round thing around when he built the first CD player prototype." And I did verify the size thing: it's a perfect fit.
John Senner (Seattle, WA) sent this random assortment of stickers. I still have absolutely no idea what the bottom-left sticker is all about.
Richard Selly sent this Nuclear Waste mug from Poison Mugs.
And then there's this Kennedy Space Center pin from AMelinda Smith (Florida).
Alex (Germany) sent a metal postcard of the incredibly adorable Knut-bärenstark from the Berlin Zoo. By the way, ursus maritimus, such cuteness does not help your tough-bear image.
I received eight rare bus passes from Ming Han (Singapore)...
Ruiwen (Singapore) sent another rare piece of Singapore's history: calling cards for long-retired public telephones. They're much classier than the calling cards we have here in the US. Good job, Singapore Telecom.
Miikka (Finland) sent a patch from TechMu, a student organization whose main goal, I believe, is to bring together "tech" and "mu".
I was a bit nervous trying out this Finnish candy that Arto Nyhanen (Finland) sent. Even more so when I noticed the Lakritsi smelled like licorice. But it was actually good. Not Submlime good, but definitely not salmiakki bad. I'm still watching you, Finland.
I would have never guessed what this strange piece of french manufacturing that Adrien (Germany) sent in was. "This is clipped on your seatbelt," Adrien explained, "so that it can't rewind. That way, it doesn't press or run on your clavicle, thus avoiding skin irritation." Brillant!
David Rifkind (Tucson, AZ) sent in a rare piece of computing history: an authentic bottle of DEC terminal cleaner, once filled with 70% isopropyl alcohol.
And finally, direct from 1985, Hugues Johnson (Grayslake, IL) sent the 8"-Floppy installation disks for DEC's RT-11 v5.2.
There's still quite a bit to photograph, so stay tuned for the next Souvenir Potpourri. Feel free to snail-mail in your own in exchange for some WTF Stickers.
Re: Souvenir Potpourri: From the Streets of Japan
2008-02-15 10:22
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by
sweavo
(unregistered)
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1) where does a coaster coast to? huh?
2) britons drink beer and only beer when out on the town. beer + mat = beermat. The sooner you colonies fix your wayward language the better. |
Re: Souvenir Potpourri: From the Streets of Japan
2008-02-15 10:51
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SpoonMeiser
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Wait, I'm confused. A "glass of water"?
If you had a glass, why wouldn't it be full of beer? The only situation I can think of where a glass wouldn't be full of beer, is if I had just drunk the beer. |
Re: Souvenir Potpourri: From the Streets of Japan
2008-02-15 11:38
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by
Ritchie
(unregistered)
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Here we go again, you yanks think you're so clever that by using "sulfur", "flavor" and "color" you're reducing the world's RSI problem by cutting down on typing......
Beermats are made of card and pretty much disposable, unlike coasters which are more permanent. You'd find the latter in your grandmother's house, but probably not the former, unless she ran a bar. Many people think it's so that the mat can absorb spills of draught beer that's just been poured, but really it's so you can do silly tricks with flipping them on a table and throw them at people. Oh, nice to see some 5.25" floppies again! I only threw out my old drive a few years ago when the 3.5" part of it finally gave up the ghost. |
Re: Souvenir Potpourri: From the Streets of Japan
2008-02-15 14:19
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hunter9000
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The buttered popcorn and tacky fingernail stickers are from an ad out of a magazine. I don't remember which magazine it was, or what the ad was for, but my girlfriend has the whole sheet of stickers at home. They're all pictures of things that suck, like a dude wearing white socks with sandals, no signal bars on a cell phone, etc. She uses them to stick on random things around the house and at work. I've been trying to find out more about them, but google is failing me.
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What are you, a poof? |
Re: Souvenir Potpourri: From the Streets of Japan
2008-02-15 16:00
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by
yo mama
(unregistered)
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This stuff was found on the ground in Japan? There's not even a speck of dirt on it! It looks like it just came from the store a minute ago. I know Japan is known for cleanliness, but to this extreme?
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Re: Souvenir Potpourri: From the Streets of Japan
2008-02-15 19:02
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by
Postie
(unregistered)
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If you read the comment next to the photos carefully it says they're 8" floppies. Now thats not just cool, thats "War Games" starring Mathew Broderick cool! |
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