#the amount of times I typed “fig” and changed it to “doll” should not be mentioned

[fourseasonsfigs]

Announcement: The Four Seasons Figthusiast Blog Branches Out!

Since I'm apparently incapable of not wanting to post about cute fandom merch, I've decided that my fig blog needs...a side hustle. So while this will absolutely remain a steady daily fig blog, I've decided to periodically add a few posts about other Word of Honor / Junzhe merch (primarily dolls) that are just too cute not to share. I'll try to post an extra one every weekend, but we'll see how time and my work schedule allows!

For the inaugural post in this new series, we're going back to where it all began - the First Encounter from Episode 1 of Word of Honor.

I find these series of fan produced dolls incredibly funny and absolutely delightful! I was first introduced to this sweetly smiling Hobo-Xu by a fan that posted a video holding him out a car window and his loose hair flying madly in the wind! I burst out loud laughing and have had an irrepressibly soft spot in my heart for him ever since.

Turns out (naturally), he has a husband, but the Lao Wen that he was originally paired with ... was crying! You know I can't stand to see figs cry! Well, that goes for dolls too. So when the doll maker produced this smiling version, I obviously snapped him up right away. I love him.

I will note that these dolls came exactly this way. Lao Wen's blushies in certain strategic areas, and both of their hairstyles. I was so absolutely delighted by the idea of the doll maker lovingly putting pony tails in each doll's hair (can you imagine how long that took?!?) that I kept it exactly so.

Ahahaha! Too funny! Have I mentioned how much I love this fandom?

These are 15cm dolls, which are my favorite. I love the 20cm dolls a lot, especially because the larger size gives them more real estate for their outfits, but they become a display space issue REAL fast. And you know I need that display space for figs.

The 15cm are much more compact and all the cuter for it, I think, while still having ample space for clothing detail. The 10cm dolls are in many ways even cuter because they are tinier, but then they start running into the problem of not having enough real estate for details on their outfits. So in my mind, 15cm is totally the sweet spot for dolls.

Here's the matching outfits I bought. Oh, you can see right here what the original Lao Wen doll looked like. He's cute, just not my style, and lacks the sheer hilarity of one scrunchied ponytail off to the side!

Here's a closeup of his fashion shoot card! The outfit did not come with his hat, sadly.

All the pieces of his outfit. YES that is an adorable wooden drinking gourd!

The clothing got a little wrinkled on the transpacific journey. To be expected, and originally I thought a few wrinkles would be just fine on a hobo, but it ended up affecting the look and drape of the clothes, especially the sleeves. So out came the steamer.

I was not at all sure what the white little thing was - I mean, obviously it's a dickey, but I didn't recall that Hobo-Xu was wearing a white underrobe. I mean, it makes sense, everyone in the jianghu must have at least 3-4 layers on at all time for propriety's sake, but I could not recall it on Zhou Xu at all. BUT I would never put money on my memory vs. a doll mama's exhaustive research. That's a sucker bet for sure - I am guaranteed to lose! So of course, I had to re-watch episode 1.

Yep, he sure does have a white underrobe. Good thing I didn't take that bet against myself (did I also have to watch episode 2 while I was at it? I'll never tell!)

Next layer is his blue wrap robe.

It's a bit more oversized than I expected, but that's pretty true to the styling of this outfit on the show. Very figure covering. Amazing that Lao Wen could even see his butterfly bones, really.

Note I really, really need all of these costume pictures released in a book that I can buy, I love them so much!

Now the darker blue outer robe. Again, pretty drapey. It's quite large - you can see how it covers his little feet there.

His belt barely fits. You can see it hanging on to the very end of the velcro there - I had to really cinch it tight. This laobinggui hasn't missed that many meals!

Look at this cute little wooden gourd. I love it so much. All the little details on these sets are so wonderful!

Ahh he's perfect. I felt totally fine putting his scarf to the side since it was too hot to wear in the show anyway!

This doll outfit card makes me laugh! Also, I'm admiring how perfectly styled the doll outfit is here. Those are some crisp lines! Beautiful.

I've mentioned before on this blog and on my Twitter how much I love Lao Wen's gorgeous episode 1 outfit. I love it so much that I bought the costume for myself. I was not disappointed by this rendition - it's wonderful! It too came a little wrinkly, but nothing too bad. The flying-shoulder outer robe here is actually silk, which is all kinds of amazing.

This underrobe is really pretty. I really wouldn't mind dressing like this, except for how hot it all actually is.

And the back.

Lao Wen, you exhibitionist, do up your robes!

There we go! This underrobe is actually fairly short, as in, we can see his little feet.

So pretty. Look at the shoulders! The bamboo print. So beautiful!

Here's the back. I see I'm going to run up against the 30-pic limit REAL fast for these posts.

Looking good, Lao Wen!

Can you believe his fan is metal!?! So nice. The official Rua figs only had a fabric and/or plastic fan. This is so much better.

I tried putting his fan around his little sunshiney paw there, but it ended up being hidden by his sleeve.

Unlike A-Xu, poor Lao Wen has been skipping some meals there in Ghost Valley...his belt snugs up just fine. A-Xu, your wallet please, let's feed this man up!

Ta da! One perfect little philanthropist, coming right up!

Here they are, looking ridiculously cute! I wish Lao Wen's outfit was a bit longer so it covered up his feet, but that just means I need to put 15cm "ancient shoes" on my purchase to-do list.

And here they are on doll stands (and yep, that's 30 images right there). I do actually have my Word of Honor dolls fully/permanently dressed and on stands (unlike my Junzhe dolls with their different outfits), so this is how they are on my display shelves. Until I need to relocate them for fig expansion space, that is!

Well, what do you think? Like the doll posts? I had a blast, that was so much fun. A nice complement to my daily figs, I have to say. I'm already excited to post on the next set of dolls, so I guess this special series is going to stick around a while!

If you're here for the figs and want to see some more of that content, here it is:

[link to the Master Fig Index]

#the amount of times I typed “fig” and changed it to “doll” should not be mentioned #but it was literally every time #I'm sure even now there are fig / doll typos #four seasons figs posts about dolls #word of honor #word of honor merch #zhou zishu #lao wen #wen kexing #wenzhou #woh

[tas32]

HW8

ANS TO QUESTION 1(a)

 Example: Airplane

Want to improve parameter “speed”

Conflict will be “loss of energy”

There are four solutions.

Principle 14: spheroidality-curvature

We can round the edges of wingtips!

 Principle 20: continuity of useful action.

All engines should work at same rpm.

 Principle 35: parameter changes.

If we can change the degree of flexibility of wings , I think that should too solve the problem.

   Example: Mobile phone

Want to improve parameter “ productivity”

Conflict “ease of operation”

 Principle 1: segmentation.

Can be divided into hundred of parts. This links the improving and conflicting feature.

 Principle 28: mechanics substitution.

Replace the mechanical system with a sensory one. I think, Automation is the key here.

Principle 7: Nested Doll

Place one object inside another.

I think, this means all the production machineries should be aligned, so that production process could be much faster!

 Principle 10: Preliminary action.

Perform the required change of an object in advance.

all machineries have their own functions, they should be placed in such a way so that no action is required after the production line gone into action.

ANS TO QUESTION 1(b) :

Drones, the very first thing that comes to our mind when we talk about drones is the power of destruction of human lives, property in wars. We already have examples of its destruction. The Nagorno-Karabakh war between Armenia -Azerbaijan, Ukraine-Russia clash where both parties using drones at intensive level.  

 But now we can use drones for a completely different purpose. We can use drones for the betterment of humankind. For example, we can use drones in agriculture. Farmers can use agricultural drones adorned with cameras to improve the treatment of their crops. The drones can allow farmers a unique perspective that previously used satellite imagery could not provide. They help to expose issues with irrigation treatment, soil variation, and distressed plants at a much lower cost than methods like crop imaging with a manned aircraft. The success of the drones can be made possible by technological advances in GPS modules, digital radios, and small MEMS sensors. Together, these advances allow farmers to bring greater precision to their craft in order to reap greater rewards.

ANS TO QUESTION 2:

A brief history of Automation

Prehistory

The first automation tool that was used by stone age people is   weighted fishing nets. This tool had been discovered in South Korea recently. The first automation tool was all about increase the productivity. This is actually the earliest known example of fishing technology.

                                            Fig: stone sinkers

Ancient History

Water and Shadow clocks were used for the automation of timekeeping as early as 1500 BC.  The oldest known example is dated to 1500 BC, and is from the tomb of the Egyptian pharaoh Amenhotep. There were actually two types of water clocks, one of them is outflow ,another one is inflow.  By measuring the change in water level of a container ,a viewer can tell time.  An inflow water clock actually follows the same concept.

The Early Common Era

The Book of Ingenious Devices, published in 850 by the Banu Musa brothers in Iraq, describes numerous automated technologies developed early in the Common Era. These included automatic fountains, an automatic flute player, and various regulators and valves that were important precursors to control and fail-safe systems we use today.

The Renaissance

The Renaissance is famous for the  advances in art and philosophy, but it was also a time of exciting scientific and technological developments. In 1439,  a German craftsman and inventor Johannes Gutenberg invented a movable type printing press by which mass amount of books could be printed . In 1642,Blaise Pascal invented a digital arithmetic machine ,modern calculators are direct descendants of it.

The First Industrial Revolution

In the late 1700s, the Industrial Revolution reached new heights,  with bursting  technological advancements .  James Watt’s  rotary-motion steam engine was finished in 1776. Edmund Cartwright’s power loom, designed in 1784, patented it 1785 which used water power to increase the weaving process. In 1786 another scottish inventor  /mechanical engineer Andrew Meikle invented the threshing machine to remove the outer husks from grains of wheat , before the invention it was very laborious task ,required a large number of workers.

The Second Industrial Revolution

The second industrial revolution reached its peak  between 1870-1914.  Automatic signals, air brakes, electric light, and typewriter were introduced in 1870.  The elevator and structural steel for buildings, leading to the first skyscrapers ,were launched in 1880. Bell Telephone Company began to adopt automatic telephone switchboards in 1919.

World War II and the Post-War Period

Colossus, the world's first electronic computer, had a single purpose: to help decipher the Lorenz-encrypted (Tunny) messages between Hitler and his generals during World War II . During the time of second world war various automobile companies conducting various experimentation in the field of automated production. The world's first electronic desktop calculators  The ANITA MARK 7 and the MARK 8 were launched simultaneously in October 1961.

The Third Industrial Revolution

Advancing computer technology enabled exponential technological progress in the following decades. In the early 1970s, the Third Industrial Revolution, or Digital Revolution, was in its infancy, supported by developments in magnetic memory, microprocessors, and battery technology that allowed computer systems to be further refined. The availability of personal computers increased dramatically in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and this put us squarely into the Information Age that we are still in today.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is one of the key technologies that transforming economy, society and the labour market. With the evolution of robotics and cobots, which is being designed specially to interact with humans in a collaborative environment will increase the production of a industry at a significant level. They can also save employees from doing dangerous and unhealthy task. Augmented reality and virtual reality, technologies that will merge the real world and the digital world using computer science. 3D and 4D printing  technology is becoming increasingly important in design, architecture, engineering, etc.

                                    Edmund cartwright’s power loom  

                                     Andrew Meikle’s threshing machine

https://hakaimagazine.com/news/possible-evidence-of-worlds-oldest-fishing-nets-unearthed-in-korea/

https://www.ancient-origins.net/ancient-technology/ancient-invention-water-clock-001818

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/book-of-ingenious-devices

https://www.britannica.com/technology/calculator

https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/cartwright_edmund.shtml

http://scihi.org/andrew-meikle-threshing-machine/

ANS TO QUESTION 3:

“commuting by car has been found to be a debilitating, continuous drain on our happiness and quality of life”

Completely agree with this.

The time we waste on road,in traffic jams that actually impacts our life,our mental health condition. We can easily divert this whole time to our family, to the things we actually enjoy to do.

 “Collaboration over great distances is now often possible without travel” that’s actually true.

According to a survey by Global Workplace Analytics,25-30% of the workforce have been working remotely from 2020. All around the world, more and more employers are embracing flexible schedules for their remote teams leading to new remote work trends and remote work options.

 “The World Wide Web is making us all part of a giant global digital village, enabling efficiencies beyond what merely living nearby would or even could provide”

It connected the world in a way that was not possible before and made it much easier for people to get information, share and communicate. It allowed people to share their work and thoughts through social networking sites, blogs and video sharing. The world wide web made it much easier for people to share information.

 Actually, got to know what kind of jobs we can do remotely, and which we cannot. How can we be a live-anywhere, work-anywhere-else society, the author explains it very elaborately, also I agree with the fact how this modern civilization depends on centralized foods and energy production.

[ahntravels]

Day 5: Caylus (I think I am retiring here)

Sorry for the delay. We had a LONG day yesterday (I think the drive yesterday was the WORST) so by the time we got to Nic’s uncle’s I was really exhausted. Nic drove the last hour because I really could not do it, and it was better for him to drive since he knew the area. 

So, where to begin! We started the day in La Rochelle. We parked in a spot near hotel which was quite expensive (30€) and we had to be out by 9AM in the morning. This meant we had to wake up early again, pack, get a coffee, and then leave. 

I think I mentioned this in my previous Paris entries, but there is no big coffee in France. There is espresso, double espresso, and the cafe Americano which is one shot of espresso and hot water. Still, the total liquid amount is like...5 sips, and it really isn’t what I wanted or needed for the long impending drive. 

Anyway, after the coffee, Nic mentioned some canals/swamp that was about...45 minutes away that we should visit. He said we could rent a boat and paddle through the canals. Sounded like a great activity, so we did it!

So, I will say I am learning (even more so) the big differences between myself and Nic. I already know I’m kind of neurotic and almost militaristic about certain things. I like to have a plan, I like to be on time, I like to pack and move efficiently, and I like to move from one thing to the next. I hate not having all the information, to the point I get very panic-y if something is missing. It’s kind of ironic because I don’t think I was this crazy when I was a kid, but maybe I was and my parents can correct me about that. I am still kind of messy, so that hasn’t changed, but I don’t think I was this like...strict about time when I was a kid. 

Nic is the exact opposite. “Ah well, we are 10 minutes late, what are they going to do?” Me: Uh...we will get a ticket for having an expired parking pass? He is way more lax about things, has a very “we’ll figure it out!” attitude. 

Example: the boat ride above. We both had paddles, and we rented the boat for an hour. Nic would get distracted while we paddled, and the boat wouldn’t go straight. I got so annoyed that the boat wasn’t straight. Which, in hindsight, who cares, right? But I felt like if we paddled correctly, the boat move in a straight line in the middle of the canal. Anyway, in Nic fashion he was trying to show me there was gas in the water by lighting it or doing something weird as usual, and meanwhile the boat was going left and hitting the shore and it was just a typical Ashley/Nic situation. Eventually I gave up and just accepted the fact that the boat wasn’t going to go straight. 

We spent the hour paddling around, and it was very scenic and actually quite relaxing.

Afterwards, we decided to get lunch at a cafe near the boat/camping park site:

I had another crepe. At this point, the vegan thing is going out the window. When I can, I try to stay away from meat/cheese (at least meat) but the dairy thing is really difficult, especially in these more rural/country areas. My crepe had mushrooms, tomatoes, and some type of cheese. It was very good, but the dairy is kind of hurting my stomach at this point. I eat about half of the food and always give the rest to Nic. Don’t get me wrong; the food is really good, but I’m just not used to eating this rich cheese so my stomach feels a little weird. 

We stopped by a gift shop and Nic bought a “cheesecake” for dessert tonight at his uncle’s:

I know, this looks weird. At first I thought it was a plushy, or a stuffed fake doll cheesecake or cake or something. Nope, this was food. They sell it out in the open like this; the outside looks burnt, but it isn’t. The inside is like Japanese cheesecake. 

After lunch, it was back on the road. Here is the trip:

We passed by Bordeaux and saw the fields of grape vines. We didn’t have time to stop, but maybe next time we can spend a day in the city.

By the time we got to Caylus, it was around 6 PM. Okay, so about this city:

It is very medieval. The landscape is completely different than Saint-Malo or Normandie or even La Rochelle. The houses are very old, and the city is built on the hills.

I posted this photo in the previous blog, but this is basically the city. It is very small. Nic’s uncle moved here with their grandmother and family because it’s warmer here than the north of France. Nic’s grandmother has since passed away (actually, about a month or so ago) so it’s just his uncle who lives here now. The house is 4 stories, and it is quite amazing. The uncle did a lot of work to the house (installed a bathroom, outdoor dining area, kitchen, etc) and he collects antiques which he has displayed all over the house.

He has a fig tree outside in the roof garden:

Nic’s uncle is a very interesting man. His husband died a few years ago, so he lives alone in the house. He is a horticulturist and also does pottery and does this very intricate type of crochet:

Nic’s uncle doesn’t speak English, so Nic has to translate between us. His uncle has a good sense of humor, so it works. Since I am a guest in his home, I didn’t want to annoy everyone with the vegan thing (and I’m sure that is a very odd concept here) so I just ate what he cooked. 

For dinner, we had a tomato salad (which I posted previously) that was dressed with olive oil, pepper, salt. We had that with a baguette and champagne. 

Main course was some type of pressed duck? Like a terrine, but not? It was served room temperature with sliced cured ham (prosciutto?) and a salad. I had half a slice of the duck, half a piece of the ham, and the lettuce.

It was very rich and had a flavor like chicken. I didn’t want to push it with eating a bunch of meat since it’s been...years? since I have had animal. It was interesting. 

Dessert was the cheesecake, but I don’t have a photo of what that looked like. We also had goat cheese. I had a small slice. It kind of tasted like cream cheese? I am sure my ability to taste things is completely off since it’s been a long time since I have had foods like this. 

Overall, I can see why people live for a long time out here. The clean air, good food, and relaxed atmosphere adds to a stress-free life. Of course there are probably issues that lie underneath the surface, but if I had to think of a nice rich life, I wouldn’t ignore living here, or France in general. Lots of outdoor activities, camping, biking, hiking, and beautiful scenery + the good food. 

So, Nic and I slept in today, and his uncle made lunch for us:

A shredded carrot salad with baguette and rose, and a stuffed pumpkin filled with cheese, mushrooms, and ham for the main:

For dessert, we had an local apple-like tart:

Again, I had a little bit of each, and the food was very flavorful and rich. We did our laundry as well, and now we are going to explore the town before meeting his uncle and his friends at a local bar for an aperitif before dinner. 

View from above the dining room table. 

If I don’t come back, you should look for me in Caylus. I may be laying out in the sun somewhere opening a small business selling knickknacks. 

Will write more either later or tomorrow morning!