Pokémon Nicknames: Drifloon and Drifblim

So if I grab then hold on — Drifloon will carry me away someplace?

Ahem. I have a lot of name suggestions and a lot of cosplay to share this week, so clear the hanger …

Drifloon and Drifblim were introduced in Generation IV (Diamond and Pearl.) These Sinnoh Region Pokémon are both Ghost-and-Flying types. From Bulbapedia:

Drifloon (in Japanese: フワンテ  “Fuwante”) is known as being one of the more “creepy” Pokémon because it supposedly captures unaware children.

From Pokémon HeartGold:  “It is whispered that any child who mistakes Drifloon for a balloon and holds on to it could wind up missing.”

From Pokémon Black 2: “These Pokémon are called the Signpost for Wandering Spirits. Children holding them sometimes vanish.”  

Drifloon evolves into Drifblim (in Japanese: フワライド “Fuwaride”) beginning at level 28.

I like to make my balloon a flying advertisement. I like to name a Drifloon “YOUR-AD-HERE” then send it out on the Wondertrade. Ha … because your fellow players want to know if they are missing out on advertising opportunities. ”Eat-At-Joes” is an old Looney Tunes running-joke reference.

Hey! You might even name your crazy balloon “Looney”!

Now some balloons are made of rubber. Some are made of latex. Go and have fun with those types of names. “Rubber Baby” is from the tongue twister:  “rubber baby buggy bumpers“.

Drifblim is more of a hot air balloon rather than a blimp, but I have used “blimp” type names such “Goodrich” or “NotAGoodyear”. Speaking of blimps, please enjoy this balloon cosplay:

My favorite name for Drifblim is “Zep Leddelin” as a play on the name of the famous rock band Led Zeppelin. Yes, zeppelins may be shaped differently than hot air balloons, but it is still fun.

“Hindenburg” might be another example. Maybe “Branson” after the Virgin Co. CEO who is always trying to set hot air ballooning records.

“PaperBalloon” might be a good historic reference to the Japanese Paper Balloon Bombs which were used in World War II. Japanese scientists figured out a way to launch a balloon  from Japan which would be carried by the westerly jet stream winds to North America. This resulted in the only civilian casualties on the mainland United States in WWII. A Sunday school teacher and his family were on an outing in the Oregon woods when his children – not knowing what it was –touched  it, and the explosion killed them all. In this case a balloon did take children away.

I also imagine that Drifloon may work as a weather balloon, so I name it “Radiosonde” after the instrument package carried aloft in a weather balloon. Of course, most UFO sightings are merely stray weather balloons.

I also suggest the names “Nadir” and “Nadar” as references in the history of remote sensing. Balloons were once used for military reconnaissance. In 1858, Gaspard Felix Tournachon (later dubbed “Nadar”) captured the first recorded aerial photograph from a manned balloon.

The word “nadir” is a photogrammetry term referring to the line to the ground directly below the remote sensing platform, and the center of the Earth. This term means that your balloon is right on top of things when you take your photo.

Drifblim trying to find the nadir point …

“Blim” and “loon” remind me of “Bloom“, so one name might be “Bloomers” as in … ahem …a ladies unmentionables. “Buys -Ballots” is another meteorology term (despite how it sounds, it does not have anything to do with George Soros).

Then I thought of “Bloomberg” after the former mayor of New York City who – I am not making this up — tried to ban 32-ounce sodas from being sold in NY. The idea there is that consumers suck up too much of the liquid candy. Thus they need a government nanny to stop New Yorkers from becoming a bunch of fat, lazy, government dependent, entitled welfare cheats. Really, drinking too much sugary soda can really make one balloon up – ha ha – balloon up! …get it?

You might us “99 Balloons” or some variation, after that German commie’s hit single from the 1980s: “99 Luft Balloons“. 

Others? How about “Blimpie” — as in the name of a submarine sandwich company. “Up and Away” is a reference to the famous song by “The Fifth Dimension”.

Readers: This may be my last post for some time. I hope that I have provided something for everyone here!

What do you like to name your big purple balloons? Please comment!

Hanako Oku and the Failed Landsat Program

Click for larger image

After 29 years in space, American remote-sensing satellite “Landsat 5” was officially decommissioned on June 5, 2013.   Near the end of its mission, Landsat 5’s use was hampered by equipment failures, and it was largely superseded by Landsat 7 and Landsat 8.  NASA scientists anticipate that Landsat 5 will re-enter Earth’s atmosphere and disintegrate around 2034.  NASA has turned over the Landsat program to the US Geological Survey, so complain to them.

Recognized by the Guinness Book of Records as the longest operating Earth-observing satellite mission in history, Landsat 5 orbited Earth more than 150,000 times while transmitting over 2.5 million images of land surface conditions around the world, greatly outliving its original three-year design life.

So what happened to Landsat 6? Landsat 6, equipped with upgraded versions of the Multi-Spectral Scanner and Thematic Mapper instruments of its predecessor, was designed to continue the Landsat program. It was launched using a Titan II rocket, but failed to reach a permanent orbit.  Before the satellite failed, it was able to capture oblique-view imagery of a wonderful Hanako Oku concert in Japan in 2009.  Yes, I know that Landsat was not designed for oblique-view imagery, but remember, the poor thing was failing … It is amazing that the imagery survived and was retrieved at all.

YouTube user 09875ma was able to post a good bit of this show, and I have provided a link to the entire playlist on my YouTube link below.  (Ironically,  “09875ma” was the launch code for Landsat 6 — what a coincidence!)

True, the video images are of low quality, and highly pixelated.  Landsat was never designed for resolving objects sized less than 10 meters (ex. Hanako Oku).  Also, despite what it looks like, this is not a “false-color” image.  It is just bad color.  Too bad, because Hanako Oku is wearing a nice kimono in the later images.  The images are probably shaky due to the satellite not able to correct itself before it crashed.  Despite these remote sensing issues, the captured images are a nice piece of Oku-history, when the Little Great One was rocketing (ha, ha) to stardom in the wake of her original songs for the “Girl Who Leapt Through Time” film.

If you are curious as to if the Landsat program will continue to monitor future Hanako Oku musical concerts, you may inquire at their website.

http://landsat.usgs.gov/

“Tell ‘em Denny Sinnoh sent yas.”