A 16×16 grid of LEDs turns the Tenori-On into a light show, but this shiny metal tablet is an intriguing synthesizer-sequencer combo. Each LED is a button, and each button holds a sound. Ten function buttons on the sides provide access to different effects, octaves, tempo, and volume. Experimentation with programming and playback variations using the Tenori-On is meant to be intuitive and fun. And perhaps mesmerizing for anyone watching the lights.

Beijing Photos: Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot (yum), Wangfujing Night Market’s starfish and insect stand (not so yum).

The world’s tallest snowman is a snowwoman, measuring 122 feet and an inch. She has her very own webcam. Oh and a weblog of course. Her eyelashes are made of 16 skis and her arms are 30 foot spruce trees.

A few months old, but new to me: Cat Cafe in Tokyo. “Visitors to (Cat Cafe) Calico pay 800 yen ($7) an hour or 2,000 yen for three hours in a big room where 14 well-brushed and shampooed cats hang out. After a thorough handwash, the visitor can play with the cats, read comics or just relax.”

Beijing photos for today: IKEA and Walmart. I took a picture of a Starbucks too, but it looks just like it does back in the U.S. Except it was slightly more expensive.

As I edit down my Beijing photos I’ll link to a few notable ones over the next week or so. Here’s the first: Totoro bread in a Beijing bakery (wikipedia link for those of you Miyazaki deprived).

I’m back from Beijing with 300 photographs (mainly from the 2 days of sightseeing I managed to get in around work and also the required photos of food), nasty jet leg (compounded by the ramming of Daylight Savings time into March), and a newfound appreciation for Beijing pedestrians (who have street-crossing fortitude beyond that of the expert Manhattan jaywalker). While I was in China, someone torched 3 luxury showcase homes in Snohomish (there’s nothing quite so scary as hearing the words “terrorism, fire, Seattle” on the International CNN channel), Jennifer 8. Lee’s book on Chinese (American) food The Fortune Cookie Chronicles was released, and my husband’s blog was Slashdotted (and is now on BoingBoing too).

I’m going on a business trip to Beijing on Friday and will be returning the following Friday. Updates here will be sparse. I’ll try to put in an update or two on how things are going. Right now I’m just reading through the TSA lists (I haven’t flown in a couple years) and wondering how many people try to bring snow globes (the last item they list) onto a plane every year.

Etsy, craft shopper paradise, will be featured on the Martha Stewart show this Friday. Not surprisingly considering the crafty focus of their magazines and programming, Martha’s producers are big fans of the site.

It’s a dying culture but a tightly knit one. Bike messengers, less of a necessity nowadays with electronic documents, hang onto their chosen way of life. Seattle has about 50-75 today, down from 150 ten years ago. Hard-working and loyal to their peers, veteran bike messengers spend their days navigating through traffic, riding elevators, and being yelled for both being on the sidewalk and off the sidewalk. And if you see one of them with wet clothing on, please don’t ask if it’s raining outside.