Thursday
Nihon-go Wa Wakari Masen
I'm back from Japan, and wow, what a trip. Suffice to say I have a lot to report, I'll get to it over the next few days. Thanks Tim for being a most excellent host and giving me an insider's view of Osaka! I love that city, the whole week was a blast.
I was lucky enough to get upgraded to business on my flight out of Tokyo, and my gosh, it's really the only way to travel. More than just more legroom, at the end of the flight, despite flying through the night, I felt refreshed and calm, not stressed and irritable, as I normally would after 8 hours in a plane. I sure as hell can't afford to actually pay for it, but I see why it's worth it now.
I have a mountain of film to develop, it'll be going on flickr as I get through it all. Some of the shots are from a camera I picked up at the MoMA store in Tokyo (but then saw later for cheaper at Tokyu Hands) called the P-Sharan STD-35, it's a papercraft pinhole camera I assembled myself, relying only on the Japanese instructions. I love the results, it makes Tokyo look as gritty as it did in real life. Most of the shots I took on my Mamiya 645. It was a bit tiresome lugging it around the city, but from what I've seen so far it was worth it. It's also comforting to know that any photo that turns out well, I'll be able to blow up as big as I like. I took my 35mm SLR but only ran two or three rolls through it. I didn't bother taking a digital camera (other than my iPhone) and I didn't regret it.
I'll be back with more about Tokyo Design Week, bicycles, Engrish, architecture and food stories...
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Monday
Eyeglass washing station
An old lady showed me how to use this. It's a two-bath process: first
you soak your glasses in the top bath, which buzzes and vibrates, I
don't know whether what it's doing is electric or mechanical, then
when that finishes, you rinse in the bottom bath and dry off. My
glasses were sparkling!
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Monday
Silhouettes Helping Silhouettes
I remember reading about these signs on pingmag, they are a lot more
calm and pleasant than the standard Australian "DO NOT CROSS TRACKS
PENALTY: DEATH AND $1000 FINE"
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Saturday
Bike Town
Of all the cities I've cycled in (admittedly not all that many), Osaka
is my favourite for riding. It's absolutely crazy but somehow feels
safe. Tokyo should be interesting.
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Friday
Tsutenkaku
This is the view looking North from Tsutentaku tower, in Shinsekai,
Osaka. You can see Shinsaibashi in the foreground and Umeda in the
distance. The tower was originally constructed in 1912, and the design
of it was a combination of the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe.
Fortunately it was dismantled during world war two because Japan
needed the iron. When it was rebuilt in 1956 it was replaced with a
far less ugly design.
At night, neon lights at the top indicate the weather forecast for the
following day by showing combinations of orange, blue and white lights.
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Monday
Hello Osaka
Bicycles everywhere! Rad!
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Saturday
Email Announcement
A brief note: I have ditched my old Yahoo email address. I can be contacted via my address at listsanddiagrams.com, or my gmail. This will not affect many people as my Yahoo address has been nigh-on defunct for some time now.
As you were.
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Monday
Brand-New
Congratulations Campbell and Liz. He's beautiful.
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Wednesday
Muxtape Remembers
Did someone you love make you a Muxtape, and you never had the chance to listen to it before the RIAA shut it down? Well now you can at least retrieve the artist and title information and rebuild it.
Go to muxtape.com/remembers/yournamehere
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Saturday
Light Box
I really feel a profound sense of joy and comfort looking at this thing. Like a notion that as long as objects like this are being made, the world is going to be ok.
It's an outdoor light fixture by Jeroen Molenaar. Details and more photos at bldgblog.
Thanks, Panda, for bringing it to my attention.
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Friday
Big Squares
At designboom: British Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale. I want a giant diagram for my wall!
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Saturday
2.1
My iPhone had a problem, whenever I was at home in Sydney, it would constantly cycle between good 3G reception, then 2.5G reception, then no reception at all, over and over again. It only happened in this house, so I assumed it was something wrong with the network or local cell tower.
Now I've updated my software to 2.1, it doesn't do it any more, it's just got good reception. I can't even begin to understand it, but it's fixed.
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A "Cyclist"
On Kottke, an article about overblown cycling culture in North America, compared to cycling in Copenhagen. Comparisons could be drawn between North America and Australian bike "culture", though I don't think we're as bad.
She doesn't know how much it weighs. Nobody she knows or has ever met could tell you how much their bike weighs. Likewise, she doesn't know how far she rides each day. It isn't interesting. She rides at a good pace, not too fast to cause a sweat, and the ride is nice enough. She likes the fresh air and she often sees friends on the bike lanes. She loves crossing The Lakes and seeing the transformation from season to season. That will suffice.
It's actually quite funny if you have a dry sense of humour.
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Thursday
Bzzt
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Thursday
Good Morning
Here's some news to cheer you up on an unreasonably cold and grey Melbourne morning - Polaroid is to resume production of three of their films. They're the peel-apart pack films, so they won't work in your 600 or Spectra or SX-70, and some people are whingeing that they're the same films that Fuji already have replacements for, but hey, it's a step in the right direction.
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Thursday
20/20/20
20/20/20 was on in Darlinghurst tonight, 20 pieces by 20 artists, in
editions of 20, for $20 each. I missed out because I neglected to go
to an ATM beforehand and it was cash only. By the time I got to the
front of the queue, one of the prints I wanted had sold out and the
other had only one left. Kicking myself.
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Tuesday
Three In One
Futura, Helvetica and Avant Garde all on one box. And it's for
stormwater pipe joins!
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Wednesday
Half Awake and Half Asleep
designboom has an article on Asako Narahashi's Half Awake And Half Asleep In The Water series of images, on display currently in New York.
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David Byrne's Bike Racks
David Byrne was asked to judge a competition for designs of new bike racks for New York, and he ended up making some of his own.
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Tuesday
Justin Ouellette and Jake Schreier
I've long been a fan of Justin Ouellette's photos, which I keep track of on his photo blog and his flickr, and today I saw the site he designed for Francis and the Lights' release of A Modern Promise. It's the picture of modernist simplicity, and showcases perfectly the amazing video, directed by Jake Schreier.
It's a real treat to see not one, but two quite simple concepts executed flawlessly, on the same screen. Read more about the video on Justin's blog.
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Sunday
Man On Wire
Really looking forward to this film, I hope it's released in cinemas here. Man On Wire. Michael Bierut has a short essay about it.
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Sunday
Unsensored 08
I am pleased to announce Unsensored 08, a group exhibition of film photography opening next Friday, 6pm at Collingwood Gallery on Smith Street. Come see two works by me and lots by the rest. Tell your friends!
More information at Unsensored.net or Silvermine.org.au.
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Photos!
A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that I went to China Heights gallery but there was no-one home. Well, that's because they've moved and are now at 257 Crown Street, Darlinghurst. I went there on Friday to see a photography exhibition put on by Vice to coincide with their Photo issue. Both were a little smaller than I expected, but still very good, and it's quality not quantity, right? Have a look if you can, and pick up a copy of Vice while you're there.
I also saw Darren Sylvester's Our Future Was Ours show at the ACP, a stunning series of group portraits where he's evoked fleeting moments of anxiety, longing, disappointment and occasionally happiness. As photos they're excellent but he's clearly a gifted director and has some very talented models working for him.
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Saturday
Proxy: Hacks
I am absolutely in love with the "Hacks" series made by Proxy.
More hacked products in this designboom article.
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I really don't know how this happened
I thought I had convinced myself I didn't need an iPhone
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