Categories
Events Meta Photography

PechaKucha Control Center

Here I am, acting all serious and shit at the “control center” this past Saturday for the big “Global PechaKucha Night for Haiti” — in the foreground you see the back of the head of Mark Dytham, and my PechaKucha colleague Tomoko. The photo is courtesy of Arvin Panwar — more photos from that night here.

Categories
Events Music

Mammal at PKN Tokyo

Following its debut at the recent TAB 5th anniversary party, Mammal — the band/dance unit composed of Ian Lynam and Mari Kojima — returns for another performance, this time during the upcoming PechaKucha Night in Tokyo Vol. 67, which happens December 2 at SuperDeluxe.

Categories
Design Events

Happening at Tokyo Design Week 2009

  • Yes, it’s that time of the year again, Tokyo Design Week is just around the corner, this year kicking off on a Friday instead of the traditional Wednesday, running October 30 to November 3. Best way to find out about everything that’s going on is to pick up the guides to the events — they should be popping up around town soon — and of course to check out the official event websites: DesignTide, 100% Design Tokyo, Tokyo Designers Week, Swedish Style, and Design Touch.
  • So instead of “Happening in Tokyo” event posts, time to start some “Happening in TDW” ones. I still don’t know how much I’ll be able to take in because of my back (it’s much better, if still painful at times), but I’m still going to try and sample as much as I can.
  • Currently I’m most looking forward to the DesignTide opening party on Friday night (although I believe it’s not a public event). It’s always a good opportunity to get a first glimpse at everything, and chat up the attendees.
  • More of a pre-TDW event, this month’s PechaKucha Night in Tokyo (Vol. 66) happens this Wednesday (October 28), and it will of course have a TDW flavor to it. This will also be the first PKN I attend in quite a few months, so happy to be able to join up with team PKN again.
  • Berlin’s DMY will be participating at DesignTide, with products and prototypes from 14 Berlin-based designers.
  • Designboom presents Hermès Paris: “A design adventure from high-quality bags to helicopters and yachts, an online graphic competition for the upcoming tie collection and the world preview in Tokyo of new high-tech suitcases. A presentation of the most recent development inside the Hermès design department, and a Q&A with design director of Hermès Gabriele Pezzini conducted by Birgit Lohmann (Designboom).” It happens at the design conference/forum space at the 100% Design Tokyo venue in Jingu Gaien on October 31 (12:00-13:00).
  • And of course, don’t miss the Designboom Mart, again a part of 100% Design Tokyo.
Categories
Games

Playing Fez

Ever since I first saw a trailer for Fez at a PauseTalk a couple of years ago — when Polytron‘s Jason DeGroot (6955) was still living in Tokyo — I’ve been anxiously waiting to get my hands on a controller to bring that little Gomez to life myself. Well, I finally got my chance this past Friday. Jason is in town for a few weeks, carrying with him a demo version of the game on his laptop. So yes, despite my “current situation,” Jason was kind enough to come on over to my place, plug up that laptop to my TV, and I was then holding an Xbox 360 controller, playing through the demo level.

I won’t go into details, but let me just say that what I played was an absolute blast. If the idea of constantly rotating a world in order to maneuver through a level sounds like a chore, quite the opposite, it becomes quite natural, and you’ll quickly find yourself jumping, rotating, and then jumping again in no time. The 8-bit inspired visuals are indeed a treat, and Jason’s music fits the game’s atmosphere perfectly. Fez‘s release sometime next year cannot come soon enough.

In a related note, Polytron’s Phil Fish will be talking about his upcoming iPhone game (in collaboration with Infinite Ammo), Power Pill, at PechaKucha Night in Montreal (Vol. 13) next week — I posted more details on PechaKucha Daily earlier today.