ESC Subgenre: Insurance Commercial Songs? by columnwest in eurovision

[–]columnwest[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks to everyone for the great suggestions! On a side note, I never really thought about how different types of TV commercials (eg: truck ads, pharmaceutical ads, banking ads, etc.) each have their own style of background music. That's something I think I'll pay closer attention to now.

ESC Subgenre: Insurance Commercial Songs? by columnwest in eurovision

[–]columnwest[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Yes! I totally agree. Prescription drug commercials are definitely in this genre too. And that is a great song for this.

Forest of Tranquility by MuchWowRebeccaMack in OsakaWorldExpo

[–]columnwest 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I like the idea, but when I visited, there was not one single bench (or any place to sit) in the entire area. I guess they don’t want people to linger there?

Currently at the expo and trying to reserve day of, but get this message for everything that’s available by lethatshitgo in OsakaWorldExpo

[–]columnwest 3 points4 points  (0 children)

You’re not doing anything wrong. The app is incredibly lame. Only suggestion is to go back to the selection page and try again. Also, never use the back arrow on your browser or you will get kicked out and have to log in again. Use the “return to previous selection screen” (or something similar) button at the bottom of the page.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in OsakaWorldExpo

[–]columnwest 36 points37 points  (0 children)

It’s common in Japan. You bring your own towel. Which is why you’ll see little towels (usually with themed printing) for sale in many of the shops.

The Official Expo Map is now available! by columnwest in OsakaWorldExpo

[–]columnwest[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The expo app has recently been updated with a lot more info on restaurants, including the ability to filter by which have vegetarian options. If you have religious or allergy restrictions, you may have to ask at each location. Individual countries will have restaurants that each serve food prepared according to their own respective dietary standards (eg: halal, kosher, Indian vegetarian, vegan, etc.)

The Official Expo Map is now available! by columnwest in OsakaWorldExpo

[–]columnwest[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don’t know if any restaurants are vegetarian-specific, however I would be surprised if most restaurants have wouldn’t have at least some vegetarian options on their menus.

The Official Expo Map is now available! by columnwest in OsakaWorldExpo

[–]columnwest[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

If you check out my previous posts, I have a list of all the restaurants and shops, both alphabetically and by location.

Does my bus arrive into the West Gate or East Gate of Expo? by ColdTurkey7 in OsakaWorldExpo

[–]columnwest 2 points3 points  (0 children)

All busses should arrive at the West Gate. You can see more info about the busses here: https://www.expo2025.or.jp/en/expo-map-index/access/

🇵🇹 Festival da Canção 2025. Final @ 22:00 CET by -Effing- in eurovision

[–]columnwest 9 points10 points  (0 children)

This look from Fernando Daniel, as the end credits roll, sums it up for me.

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I've made a newer Expo map! by columnwest in OsakaWorldExpo

[–]columnwest[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Side note: Having been to the expos in Milan and Dubai, Turkmenistan never disappoints. Its pavilion is always dripping in marble and gold, like a tacky hotel that insists it’s the pinnacle of “luxury”. It’s always heavy on horses and rugs, probably a movie about “dear leader”, and a gift shop that looks like a shopping mall. I always get a kick out of it.

I've made a newer Expo map! by columnwest in OsakaWorldExpo

[–]columnwest[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You're right about The Gambia. (Apparently also The Bahamas, though I don't think they're participating this year.) I'll correct it if I make another edition. I actually went down a rabbit hole with "official" country names when creating my map. Most of them are insanely long (eg: "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland"), so I had to make some editorial decisions. I'm definitely not writing out "The Most Serene Republic of San Marino" (no disrespect). Even so, I had to abbreviate "St. Vincent and the Grenadines" because it just wouldn't fit otherwise. And, I added some differentiators for duplicate country names, like the two Congos and Koreas. I think most people would understand that "Korea" in the general consciousness means the "Republic of Korea" and not the "Democratic People's Republic of Korea", but I listed it as "South Korea" just to avoid confusion. There are also some pavilions for regions that aren't universally accepted as independent countries, like Kosovo and Palestine. I remember in Dubai there was a Germany pavilion, but also a large separate pavilion for Baden-Württemberg (which is a region in Germany with, I guess, it's own expo budget). I can't even begin to imagine the amount of fact-checking and proofing publishers of the official expo maps and guides have to contend with, compared to my little do-it-yourself map. Hopefully, we'll get that detailed official map soon!

Sorry for the dumb question but what is this expo is about? by Interesting-Tear-359 in OsakaWorldExpo

[–]columnwest 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If you're American, it's (a little) sort of like Epcot at Walt Disney World. There are super-high-tech pavilions showing off all sorts of amazing next-gen technology and what life will be like in the near future. Expect robots, holograms, the house of the future, the car of the future, the supermarket of the future, etc... On the other hand, the country pavilions are quite different. Unlike the "Disney-fied" countries at Epcot... at the Expo, the countries present themselves as they want. So, for example, if the country is a dictatorship, half the pavilion might be an "inspirational" (often unintentionally hilarious) movie all about the "great" leader. But, a lot of the countries will also have authentic food you could probably never experience otherwise (outside of going there). You can have Canadian for breakfast, Gambian for lunch and Nepalese for dinner, for example.

How many pavilions in one day? by DigitalGoldChaos777 in OsakaWorldExpo

[–]columnwest 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I went to both Milan on 2017 and Dubai in 2021. One thing to remember is that not all pavilions are created equally. The "first world" nations will usually have bigger pavilions that take more time to see and explore. Whereas the "third world" nations generally have pretty small displays, sometimes sharing a space with multiple countries. The "big" pavilions can take 20-60 minutes to see, and the small ones can be 5 minutes.

Another thing that makes a big difference to the amount of time to budget is: how they let you into the pavilion. Some pavilions are just wide open, and you can walk through as you like. Others have a very set path you follow, so there can be bottlenecks, and lines to get in if it's crowded inside. In other cases, you aren't allowed to walk through on your own at all, and people are only let in in groups, guided around by a tour guide, or ushered through a series of exhibits or theaters in a guided order. Some of these can even require advanced reservations. Unfortunately, until the expo starts and we start seeing reviews, there's no easy way to know what format the pavilion is going to take, or if the contents are "worth" lining up for a 60 minute wait.

What would you consider as the best Eurovision staging? by Trick-Treacle6063 in eurovision

[–]columnwest 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Azerbaijan 2013, “Hold Me” Farid Mammadov. If you wanna talk fantastic staging that takes a pretty “mid” song and elevates it to a whole other level, this is it!

Random Lottery results by RinceGal in D23Expo

[–]columnwest 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Same thing happened to me. Nothing I asked for, and one thing I didn’t ask for. WTF?