Yes, I’ve been remiss in keeping TofuWatch.com up to date with good stuff and noteworthy posts.

So, here then, is a photo of a street lamp in my neighborhood – complete with snow falling in front of the light and icicles hanging before the eye.

If you live outside the Seattle area and haven’t seen the weather, it snowed on Monday in this slice of the Pacific Northwest. Two words: Stay warm.

I’ve been busy with a few odds and ends recently. But certainly, a flying car – in 2010 – will catch my attention.

The people at Terrafugia are the brains behind this flying vehicle, the Transition, which has received much online and television attention.

I should note that while it captures human attention, there was another flying car from Moulton B. Taylor of Longview, Wash. It was called the Aerocar – and yes, newsreel cameras captured it flying in the 1950s.

The Aerocar is on display at The Museum of Flight in Seattle. And I will say this about the Terrafugia Transition – it is inspiring.

Oh, yes. You also can own a flying hovercraft, if you like.

I’ll get to more blog entries as soon as I can. I know there’s much to talk about these days.

If you only look up at the Victorian architecture in this city that borders the Puget Sound and Strait of Juan de Fuca, you might miss a fascinating human-powered vehicle.

That’s right – this red-and-white tricycle with hearts, beefy tires with fins in the rear, a long-necked steering wheel and wooden pontoons that would make any floating bridge engineer happy.

And you know what?

It apparently works – on land, sand, mud and water, according to a sign left on it.

It’s a kinetic sculpture that the artist left in front of some apartments until its next temporary home can be found.

My parents, wife and son visited Port Townsend in early June. My dad, son and I wandered off looking at the water and the great architectural sites that this city has to offer.

Then, for some reason, we spotted the tricycle, sitting across from these buildings.

I’m sure the Victorian-era building has much history for a visitor to learn. But for some reason, I kept studying the kinetic sculpture tricycle.

After all, it had everything a bicycle has – plus more.

It had a derailleur, crankset, turning mechanism, horn. You name it, it looked like it was there.

It looks just as fun to ride as I’m sure it was to build.

The only catch, of course, is that I didn’t have the chance to take it out for a spin – on the nearby beach and in the water.

That being said, though, my son enjoyed sitting on it for a few minutes. He pretended to drive it around – which was cool with me.

For decades, I’ve found human-powered vehicles to be fascincating, partially because you question whether a goal will actually be reached.

Of course, you rejoice when it is accomplished, whether that’s in the air or on the water.

And this red-and-white multipurpose tricycle and boat just looks great – so much so that I kind of overdosed on taking and posting images of it.

But think about how much fun you’d have riding that to your office, the store or school.

Like I’ve said before: Let the good times roll.

Given the number of colorful floppy disks attached to the Honda Civic at the Seattle Artcar Blowout, one question needs to be asked: Is a memory stick car soon to be created?

The artcar show is was part of this weekend’s Fremont Fair in Seattle - and before my family and I left Saturday, we walked around in search of some good-looking cars that have been given the tender, loving care that only artists can give to their creations.

And smiles came to our faces when we spotted the whimsical, colorful vehicles sitting in a parking lot.

Diskdrv caught my attention not only for the colorful, square-shaped disks that made an older Honda look, in a sense, like a dot-inspired painting but also for the details.

Yes, when I was younger, I never used the floppy disks that the artist attached to the hood – but my friend, Martin, and his family used them with their old IBM.

But when I was in high school and college, I used those smaller, plastic-covered floppy disks that are seen on the car’s bumper.

Man, I thought those disks were the coolest at the time. I even had a plastic box to hold all of those smaller floppy disks.

Keep in mind that my family once owned an Apple Lisa.

As for the car’s details?

Well, the car’s hubcaps and rear bumper have what appear to be AMD chips from the 1990s, as you see photographed below.

Some of the AMD chips actually have “1996″ stamped on them.

Let’s see, now. Where would that year fall on my Information in a Box timeline?

It’s the timeline I made last year so I could remember points in time and what type of technology or medium I used for news and information.

Yes, in 1996, I was fortunate enough to have been backpacking in China – and lugging an Apple PowerBook 520 laptop (yes, complete with floppy disks).

And in the Other Details Department: The car’s artist attached keyboard pieces around the windows.

In addition, this car is or once was able to park at the Ballard Health Club.

So, if you think about it, what you’re looking at is a combination of old-school high technology, artistic creativity, a fuel-efficient car and a nod to good exercising.

All great things, if you think about it as a whole or on an individual level.

Art Car Central, a blog, has a short interview with the maker of the car.

I wonder whether anyone who once owned one of those floppy disks has ever recognized it on the car and said to the artist: “Hey, that’s the disk I used in 1995!”

And on a closing note, I leave you with The Cars and their popular song about letting the good times roll.

Yes, after seeing the clip above, the only thing I’m waiting for is an actual online video game in which a person can go to Google maps (or some version of them), pick out a car and drive it (virtually) in a city just like this great video from Honest Directors.

Such a video game might actually exist. But you know, I’m a bit old school. I might be out of the loop.

Ah, yes: Google maps. You can do much with them these days. I actually still have paper maps of China, if you can believe that.

In fact, the whole online world has created a cavalcade (if you will) of online information that can inundate and wash over someone or something rather quickly.

A minor point: TechCrunch is certainly a leader in online news and blogging, especially with that AT&T news. But, um, the image used with this post is somewhat dated. I like the idea and understand it. I also like the old no matter what form it takes.

But the uniforms and equipment are much more modern. There’s also a huge push for more modern buildings – in some areas and in some cases, that has created, well, some discussions.

You know: Out with the old. In with the new. Or something like that.

I gotta run. And if I could merge reality with the imagined – or the layers and ideas between those two realms – I’d do so in a car which zooms down the street on Google maps.

Since I don’t get back to China as often as I’d like, I plan to watch construction, as projects develop, with the help of, yes, Google maps.

As a side note, I like color, too, especially the lucky color of red. And fun is good, as are serious topics.

One of the best things about running my own blog is that I can post items of my choosing when I want.

My son’s quasi stick-figure drawing with a round head, spiky hair, dots for ears, big facial features and loopy feet is a prime example.

I was out of the house during the morning. Upon my return, my wife walked past me to hang our son’s great drawing.

I’m a parent – so I can say things like that. Needless to say, my wife and I are proud of his creativity.

His grandparents will be notified soon of what’s now hanging in our house. My son actually suggested that I post this on the blog.

This isn’t the first time that I’ve done something and realized that my wife and son had made food, cut grass or created a flying machine.

Fireworks and crowds in Beijing's Tiananmen Square mark the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China in October 2009. There are some reports that the square is no longer China's largest. Photo source: Xinhua

Oh, boy.

On the day that my thoughts turned to Tiananmen Square, in the sense of the vast public space near the Forbidden City and which is so central to China, comes word (in English, too) of an eyebrow-raising news story. It certainly prompts questions as to whether some Chinese people are lost in the new awakening occurring there. Or possibly, is a new push for privacy and freedom emerging?

It involves a former college professor, who in Mandarin would be addressed as “jiao shou.” But as my wife reminded me, some in China have taken to chat rooms to describe this instructor as “jiao shou.”

The pronunciation is the same. The Chinese characters are different. When these other Chinese characters are used, people are calling the person a “shouting animal” – essentially, a wild animal.

I’ll stick to Tiananmen Square and one of the more intriguing possibilities that I thought would never happen – that other public squares are larger in square meters than the symbolic center, or heart, of the People’s Republic of China.

Could it be true?

Mind you, Tiananmen Square covers 440,000 square meters and is the place where leaders – including President Hu Jintao and others – gather each year to mark the beginning of the Chinese Communist Party leading the country.

The large portrait of Mao Zedong looks down on all who pass in the square or those going to and from the Forbidden City. Zhongnanhai, the central headquarters for senior Chinese leaders, is nearby.

Military troops and others march in front of the leaders, nation and thanks to the Internet and television feeds, the world. Last year, Hu stood in a Chinese-made Red Flag limousine and addressed the troops as comrades.

Chinese President Hu Jintao and other senior leaders gathered in October 2009 to watch the festivities in and around Tiananmen Squre that marked the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China. Photo source: Xinhua

Symbolically, the message was clear about who had the privilege to conduct such a review and the power to call soldiers, sailors, airmen, militia women and others in colorful, traditional garb for a grand review (see the embedded video from photojournalist Dan Chung).

Last year, in March, Chinese lawmaker Zhou Xiaoguang told reporters that Tiananmen Square – which blossomed as a central meeting place after the Communists gained control of the country – was no longer the largest in the country, and by extension, the world, according to a Xinhua article.

The Chinese news agency quoted him as saying:

Even some small townships have created squares 20,000 square meters bigger than the Tian’anmen square.

It appears that China’s race for luxurious, oversized construction apparently has pushed Tiananmen from the No. 1 spot on the list of largest public spaces on Earth.

From the Xinhua dispatch:

After a thorough investigation into the situation, the lawmaker said that a number of medium and small cities and townships have become craze in constructing mammoth government buildings with fairyland-like artificial lakes and squares….In China, there has been a long tradition of constructing oversized architects, such as mausoleums, palaces, dams and great walls, to show off the leaders’ merits.

The news article also identified Zhou as chairman of the Neoglory Group in Zhejiang province.

Zhou also did not list any of the squares that apparently are bigger than Tiananmen. But the news story carried a Xinhua tag to it and it was posted on China.org.cn.

China.org.cn is the authorized portal for China and has the support of the State Council Information Office.

There is no doubt that China can be a competitive place – what with 1.3 billion people or 20 percent of the world’s population and limited opportunities.

But if this is true, it’s fascinating that the competitive edge for the world’s largest square did not come from some other upstart country or mature one. Rather, the competition was internal – from townships and smaller cities.

In the sense of nationalistic pride, one could understand if the world’s largest square sprouted up in Shanghai, presuming the space was there. For years, senior Chinese leaders have favored the city, especially in shaping it as a regional, and possibly global, financial capital.

Keep in mind that Expo 2010 is going on in Shanghai.

For those who need a conversion from the metric system and presuming that my calculation is correct, Tiananmen Square covers 4,736,120 square feet. The China Daily has reported that is equivalent to 63 football fields.

Xinhua reported that it can hold more than 1 million people, meaning every single person in San Francisco could fit. For Seattle residents, the square could hold, in rough terms, two times the city’s population.

And you thought your high school graduating class or company photo had a bunch of people.

The space which is now Tiananmen Square was created in the 15th century as royal space for the Forbidden City, Xinhua noted. The gate itself – or Tiananmen – was built in 1417 during the Ming Dynasty.

Though it was originally a royal space, it became one for the public.

As part of the May Fourth movement in 1919, students arrived to oppose imperialism. They wanted a stronger Chinese government.

People gather in front of Tiananmen during the May Fourth movement in 1919, when students protested imperialism. Photo source: Wikipedia

In the 1920s, it was an open area where people of various backgrounds could gather, according to political scientist David Strand.

In his book, Rickshaw Beijing: City People and Politics in the 1920s, he writes on Page 172 (which has footnotes):

During the twenties Beijing was the site of social movements, such as feminism, mass nationalism, and unionism, which gave new political meaning to public spaces like the area outside Tianan Gate. In the 1920s Tiananmen ‘square’ was not yet a square in the formal architectural sense. The local press referred to the spot as the ‘empty space outside Tianan Gate.’ Filling this space periodically with townspeople (shimin) and citizens (gongmin) projected an evocative, albeit fleeting, image of municipal and national solidarity. Since many other ‘public’ settings, like temples, guildhalls, teahouses and parks, were either restricted to private or corporate memberships, charged fees, or required purchases of food or drink, spaces opened up to all by the pressure of social movements were critical to the generation of a truly ‘mass’ politics.

Mao had the area expanded after he took power, which was 60 years ago.

Today, you can stroll through Tiananmen Square and keep in mind all of the historic moments that have happened there in China’s long history.

It’s long been a popular place for kite flyers and a place for visitors to stand for souvenir photographs.

It apparently is so big that people get lost in it and need to contact the police for help, the China Daily reported in 2006.

That year, during the country’s National Day holiday – a popular time for sightseeing – a reported 3,700 people became lost in Tiananmen Square, according to police and cited in the press.

From the China Daily article:

Long queues formed at lost-and-found centres, which broadcasted messages alerting lost people where to meet. Police also provided broadcast and telephone services. Some lost visitors gave up looking for loved ones and police provided public transport information so they could return home. Cleaning workers were kept busy having to remove 113.8 tons of rubbish on the square in the first three days of the holiday, 20 times the usual daily amount, according to the Beijing News. 

My wife and I did a quick search of the Internet to find out what other Chinese squares might be larger than Tiananmen. We found other squares, including Xinghai Square in Dalian.

One Dalian tourism site reports that it’s 45,000 square meters and apparently Asia’s largest municipal square.

But using that number, Tiananmen Square is larger at 440,000 square meters.

It’s also unclear as to whether that 45,000 square meters area only covers the yellow star or includes the landscaped portion in the second photo.

That travel site about Dalian notes:

It is almost three times larger than Tiananmen Square.

Whichever square is the largest, Tiananmen will still be central to the People’s Republic of China.

It always will be.

One Chinese man reportedly has more than 20,000 items that relate to Tiananmen Square.

And one Chinese science fiction writer envisions that Tiananmen Square will feature prominently in 2069, which will be the 120th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China.

How so?

Chinese astronauts, this writer says, will be able to salute Tiananmen Square from the moon.

Stay tuned.

Our bellies were full. We had perspired the requisite amount given the amount of chili and Sichuan peppercorns that hit our taste buds Saturday at Old Sichuan in Kent, Wash.

What could be better to cap off a small but early Mother’s Day celebratory lunch?

Why, a stop at IKEA, of course!

The great weather (meaning sunny) that started a few days ago in the Seattle area continued through Saturday.

It sent us to the big-box retail store in search of an inflatable or plastic swimming pool for children.

But there was one lesson from last year that I overlooked until we arrived: They don’t carry them – at least from what I could tell.

But IKEA had a wide assortment of what looked like sturdy umbrellas to shield the sun and its rays during the coming sunny (we hope) months in the Seattle area.

I thought it might be time to look for some giant sun protection.

The only catch (besides staying within a budget): Picking what you need can be confusing.

Here are some of the images that we saw – all the umbrellas are functional but making a final choice can produce a swirling headache.

A few, such as the large white one photographed above, are so large that when you stand under it, you feel like you’ve shrunk. Yes, there’s good shade potential.

Others, such as that small black umbrellas pictured above, offer protection for one person but might not be suitable for groups of people.

This large white umbrella offered plenty of shade and a stylish side-arm design – mirroring some of the modern lamps that IKEA sells. I stood and looked at this one for a few minutes because of the design.

IKEA even offers a nice grid complete with large bullets and the names of each umbrella and base.

The only catch with that the chart: Five of these umbrellas share the same two names, forcing the shopper (or at least me) to study the actual sizes and features.

All of this unintended umbrella gazing reminded me of the time, years ago, that I had to buy a new pillow – talk about confusing.

Years ago, I interviewed two owners about their coffeehouse in Seattle. The owners had to move to make way for a mixed-use development of retail and loft housing.

Their customers chatted with me about how the place served as the neighborhood’s living room. One woman even showed me her ceramic mug that she brings in to fill up on a regular basis.

She held that mug with pride. She beamed as she talked about the place and its coffee.

One owner, though, uttered a great sentence: “Coffee is coffee.”

That meant that they kept the coffee and prices they charged as basic as possible – a few dollars for good old-fashioned brew.

In this context, I wish that a pillow was a pillow.

As a kid, I probably never realized that there were probably various styles of pillows on the market.

But I thought they a person would just go to the store, buy a pillow, go home and use it to rest.

Years ago, after I moved to Seattle, I realized I needed new ones.

I went to IKEA and other retail stores in search of softness on which to lay my head.

My quick lesson: Too many choices (at least for me).

Here are some pillow signs and images that I saw over the weekend. They give you a sense of how buying a pillow perplexed me for a bit when I bought new ones years ago.

You get the idea. I did buy some pillows – I forgot exactly which type – after I moved to Seattle.

They work. So, I’m happy.

So, you get the idea when I spotted all these great sun umbrellas at IKEA.

Keep in mind, too, that we actually stopped at IKEA to look for a plastic or inflatable swimming pool.

My only thought is that if Objectified, a documentary about humans and design, is correct – that people put thought behind the products we see in stores and use in daily life – then why was I so overwhelmed by the range of umbrellas for sale at IKEA and how they were displayed?

Shouldn’t they have been arranged by how much coverage you need?

Or by how many people might use the umbrella?

Before we left, I spotted a $149 poster of a rope bridge – an image taken somewhere in the world.

I stopped, as did others, and I thought: Wow. If you’ve never had the chance to go traveling in other countries, you can buy this poster, hang it in your house and just pretend that you’re on some type of excellent adventure.

This world map was below it. The message was clear: The implied context is that you’re a world globe trotter, a person who treks to places that are hard to reach.

Really, you’re at IKEA – but that’s OK, you know. I’ve shopped at the store before and walked out with items I didn’t expect to purchase.

I also spotted some discounted items that had dropped to a jaw-dropping 25 cents.

And I thought: Wow (again). These items were probably made in large amounts (economy of scale of sorts) and possibly overseas. They were then likely loaded on cargo ships and transported by truck to this IKEA.

They didn’t sell at their original price. So, they are now sitting here for a fraction of the original amount.

U.S. News is correct: Irrational consumers are needed. Frugality, well, is another topic.

At that point, I realized that my family and I had to leave.

We needed fresh air. It was sunny outside. We had finished a delicious Mother’s Day lunch.

And one of the best things from Saturday (besides celebrating)?

We have leftover mapo tofu and other mouth-watering Sichuan-style food.

That includes this jelly-like dish with a spicy sauce.

Yum.

Art that engages can keep you there for hours.

Enter the International Fountain at the Seattle Center. It’s commonly referred to as the fountain near the Space Needle.

We visited on Thursday on a warm, sunny day – a nice break from the gray skies and cooler temperatures that showed up in early May.

I watched the water go up and down and people go back and forth.

So, I thought I’d experiment with stop motion images. What you see are two sets of photographs in the stop motion above.

I used our pocket Fuji camera, shot more than 150 digital photographs, loaded them into Windows Movie Maker and played around with the speed.

Those who are more skilled at the form typically add music. I  just went with the visuals. You can hum along if you really want sound.

There are places in Seattle that I still find interesting, even though I might have visited a half dozen times or so. This fountain is one of them.

I managed to place both hands on the fountain without getting too wet. My son and I stopped together at the edge of where the water hit people.

That was the closest he wanted to be to the falling water.

Oh, yes. Fountains are popular around the world.

And an important day is coming up.

So, I’ll say it now: Happy Mother’s Day!

I wrote about the Gossmaer Albatross II late last year. But looking at the aircraft that requires pedal power hang in The Museum of Flight in Seattle still amazes me.

My family and I recently visited again because flight – especially when it’s powered by humans - still captures my curiosity. On this visit, the sun was just the right shade of gold.

If you’re unfamiliar with the Gossamers, one model, the Condor, was piloted by a human across the English Channel in 1979. This model, the Albatross II on exhibit in Seattle, went airborne in the Astrodome.

From June 6 to 14, The Museum of Flight will show two movies about human-powered flight and the Gossamers to mark the Albatross’ 30th anniversary.

There is something inexplicably satisfying about using your own power to accomplish something that you thought might have been impossible.

The Seattle area crew of OAR Northwest knows that feeling. The team of four men rowed across the Atlantic Ocean in 2006, ran low on food, encountered storms and unforgiving currents – and won a race against two other teams.

Next year, two of the original team members plan to row again in the Atlantic with two new crewmates.

At The Musem of Flight, I walked around the Gossamer Albatross II. I examined the wingspan, propeller and enclosed area where a human would sit and pedal, pedal, pedal.

And I thought: Would I ever be willing to climb aboard, take flight and pedal across a large body of water?

That 1979 flight only took 2 hours and 49 minutes, according to The Museum of Flight.

It’s tempting – but it might not be in the cards for me right now. I’m sure some of my friends from high school would give it a shot.

But I have experienced the exhaustion and joy of overcoming what I thought was a hurdle before – it probably wasn’t anything close to what the crew of OAR Northwest went through.

That was a true test of human power and intelligence against what Mother Nature could muster up in the Atlantic.

But in the 1980s, when I was a teenager, my friends encouraged me to pedal 100 miles in a century ride in Northern California. They did well. I finished the ride in under 10 hours.

I still remember what one veteran bicyclist told me as he saw me pedal: Drink as much water as you can.

In 1994, I accomplished a 1,200-mile solo mountain bike ride through China – at a time when I didn’t know how to speak Mandarin.

My parents had some reservations about the ride – the thought of bandits stopping me on a rural road entered their minds, and I think, stayed there for a bit.

The fact that I mailed home my Specialized bike helmet before I started my trek probably didn’t allay their fears.

At the time, a Western-style bike helmet would make the rider stand out like an alien force of one. My helmet also was silver.

But on that trip, in which I pedaled 8 to 10 hours per day, I saw parts of that country that I don’t think I’ll ever see again in the near future.

Near Luoyang in Henan province, I looked up and saw a pair of feet sticking out of a cave. A person was sleeping inside.

A big black Mercedes-Benz one time pulled beside me and everyone inside peered out. Another time, I watched a woman rake a field made up of dirt. She made orderly rows of what she had.

And I saw peasants lead water buffaloes down paths.

With the sun setting on the Gossamer Albatross II, I studied the rear-mounted propeller.

I also looked at the front and back wheels that made sure the pedaler arrived with a soft landing.

Then, I compared those tiny wheels to the tires on a nearby commercial jet.

I finally realized that I had to catch up with my wife and son. They were exploring another part of the museum.

As I climbed some stairs, I turned back to get a glimpse of the setting sun hit the outlines of the museum’s aircraft.

It was a great visit.

It reminded me, yet again, that going somewhere makes for only part of an adventure. It’s also how you arrive.