Categories
Art Books

Japan by Car

Japan by Car” is a series of illustrations — and soon to be a book — by Japan-based illustrator James Gilleard.

Categories
Cafes

Meikyoku Kissaten

I definitely knew about Lion in Shibuya, but this Japan Times piece introduced me to a few other meikyoku kissaten (“musical masterpiece cafes,” or classical music cafes), like Renaissance in Koenji and Violon in Asagaya. Would love to check out these places.

Categories
Music

Shinichiro Yokota

Here’s a great mix of tracks by Shinichiro Yokota, courtesy of Fact. Don’t know Yokota? Read this fantastic feature on the collaborative work of Yokota and Soichi Terada (of the Far East Recording label). I can easily imagine dancing to this at the old Space Lab Yellow in Tokyo (which I probably did).

Categories
Architecture Events

The Japanese House

There’s a show on at the Barbican right now entitled “The Japanese House: Architecture and Life after 1945.” What especially grabbed my attention when I saw mention of it — it’s featured in this Monocle radio show — is that it apparently includes a full-scale recreation of Ryue Nishizawa‘s Moriyama House (pictured), which just so happens to be the house that I introduced in one of the episodes of NHK’s Tokyo Eye program I appeared in back in the day. It was a fantastic experience to act as a guide to the house (check out this Google image search), which really is something incredible — and the owner who commissioned the project was a joy to speak with as well.

Categories
Design Games

Nintendo Logos

As Steve Lin wrote in this tweet, here’s a “visual history of Nintendo logos courtesy of a recruiting brochure they sent to interview candidates.” Absolutely love these.

Categories
Debaser

Blue Velvet

You know when you remember really liking a movie, but then 20 years or so pass, and you wonder if you’ll still like it? I’ve always had fond memories of Blue Velvet, and I’m a fan of David Lynch’s work in general — and Twin Peaks is my favorite TV series of all time. So while I’m in the process of re-watching Twin Peaks for the 6th time I think, how was Blue Velvet? (I watched it because it came out in 1986.) I thought it was even better than I remembered. I was completely entranced by the story and mystery that Kyle MacLachlan’s character tries to unravel — it had been so long since I’d last seen it that I barely remembered any of the story. La-la-loved it.

Categories
Fashion Photography

Bon Pon

A few weeks ago I came across the fantastic Instagram account of bonpon511, which is in fact Bon and Pon (he’s Bon, she’s Pon), a couple in their 60s who share photos of impeccably coordinated outfits. They’re the cutest.

Categories
Art Events

Tokyo Interiors

My buddy Luis Mendo has a brand new collection of lovely prints on display at the Isetan department store in Shinjuku, part of an electric display project called Electric Objects. You’ll find all the details on Luis’s site.

Categories
Debaser

Resident Evil: The Final Chapter

I ended up doing a double bill of watching Underworld: Blood Wars and this back-to-back, and I felt that Resident Evil was the funner movie of the two to watch. I’m not a huge fan of the series, but I’ve seen them all, and so I figured I’d see how they “end” it. It had some pretty fun/ridiculous action sequences, although the quick cuts (editing) throughout did get distracting at times. It’s not a great movie, but I had a pretty good time watching it.

Categories
Debaser

Underworld: Blood Wars

I used to enjoy watching these movies — slick gun-fu action with the lovely Kate Beckinsale kicking ass — but I think I’ve tired of the series, because I didn’t find much enjoyment in watching Blood Wars. The story was pretty boring, and the action sequences weren’t particularly interesting — save for the short battle on ice between Selene and Marius. And I really hated the look of all the white-haired vampires, which came off as too cheesy (and oh god those blonde highlights on Selene at the end, make it stop). I think I’m just tired of vampires/werewolves as well. I don’t imagine I’ll watch the next one (if another one gets made).