I've always had a hard time coming up with a first post for a website. Maybe it's just me, but I struggle to keep it introductory and interesting without it turning into a simple and pitiful 'Hi, this is me, how good is my website' affair. This time I thought I would start with a bit about the idea of a space potato and why I chose to name my blog 'Adventures of a Space Potato'.
I honestly can't remember where or how I came up with 'space potato', but somehow I did. It first entered my world as a Gmail chat status, and currently still remains so. Something in the ridiculously dodgy sense of humour I carry around found amusement in the idea of a potato in space, so I ran with it. The idea still amuses me, and while searching for some interesting content for this post I've managed to tickle my funny bone once more. I'll now pass this humour on to you, the reader, to enjoy with a laugh, or perhaps to roll your eyes at and use as an excuse to close this page. Whatever happens, hopefully somebody shares my level of enjoyment at the following items...
First was google image search, which turned up a variety of interesting images for the search terms 'space potato'. These are a few of my favourites:
Here we have what could easily be a poster for a movie titled 'Space Potato 2001 - Vegetables in space'. I find this one absolutely hilarious - seriously, what the hell? It's good to see that man and animals aren't the only beings exploring the vast universe we live in - the vegetable kingdom have put forward their own triumphant participant, who appears to be taking on the challenge with fervour.
This one is an actual space potato. Believe it or not, it's 600km long. Imagine the glorious quantity of mash you could make from this baby. Maybe NASA can put aside their space exploration projects to make some sort of device capable of peeling the thing.You can read about a potentially-unrelated space potato here (though I do believe it's the same potato).
Here we have a rather humourous depiction of a Mr Space Potato Head. I don't know why I find this funny. But in all honesty, I don't know why I find a lot of things funny, so why should this be any exception? Irrespective of why it may or may not be humourous, there it is.
Finally, here is a picture of a space potato appearing in all it's glory. I love how this picture makes the space potato appear majestic and important (which it is). There's not much more I can say about this one, so I'll just leave you to bask in it's majesty, reflect on it's beauty and question why space potoatoes do not have a more prominent position in our society.A general google search also turned up this website, whose purpose I am yet to discover (I didn't spend too much time there). It appears to be a forum for all sorts of things with fascinating areas such as 'The Lab - Birds dude, birds are hardcore' and 'The Fridge - Get drunk and talk about grilled salmon'.
Given that I'm learning Japanese and planning a move to Japan for a year this January (if you didn't know this already, SURPRISE!) I thought I would add a small Japan-related section on space potatoes. Space potato in Japanese is "uchuu no bareisho" (literally: "potato of space"), or in Japanese text "うちゅうのばれいしょ" (you may not be able to view this part if you don't have asian language support installed).
I was also highly amused to discover this page, which reveals that there exists a group known as the "Japanese Society for Potato Research". No, I haven't contacted them to find out if they know anything about space potatoes yet, but it's on my agenda. This discovery was thoroughly enjoyable and procured a few personal giggles.
When I'm in Japan next year I plan on having adventures. I've heard of them, read about them, even had a few myself - and hopefully there will be many to be had in the land of sushi and sake. So there you have it, the boring, long-winded and humourous-only-to-me reasoning behind the name of my blog. TA DAH!
And now my lunch break is over. Sadly I did not get to eat space potato as a part of my lunch whilst writing this entry, but the dream is that one day I will get to do so. And when I do, you will definitely all know about it.
