Fri - July 15, 2005

First ever "geek test"

ELITE GEEKS ONLY

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Interest now obsessive for first 'otaku' test

By YOSHINO MATSUI

Thousands of young Japanese men are expected to take a nationwide exam next month that would, if they pass, grant them recognition as experts in the field of "otaku," or geeks.

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Ryota Ishizuka, an editor at Tokyo-based publisher Biblos who is organizing the Otaku Certificate exam, holds up a question sheet from a mock test. space

Since word of the first-ever Otaku Certificate exam broke in late June, publisher Biblos has been flooded with inquiries, including one from the United States.
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The Tokyo-based publisher has been busy making preparations to administer the exam, which is intended to give people who think they have extensive knowledge of comics, animated cartoons and video games "an opportunity to engage in a test of strength" with like-minded others. But the response has been overwhelming...

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Full story here

Posted at 09:08 AM    

Wed - May 18, 2005

Fakkyuu

Rude behavior is on the rise in Japan.


Childishly inappropriate behaviour has infected Japan’s political elite, as Junichiro Koizumi, the Prime Minister, revealed when he lectured a group of young MPs last year. “Don’t send e-mails on your cell phones or read comic books in parliament while in session,” he told them. “You can be seen very clearly from the Prime Minister’s seat. You should really stop that — it’s disgraceful.”

read the whole thing

Posted at 02:17 AM    

Thu - May 12, 2005

Twinkies at 75: munch 'em, fry 'em, save 'em for years

The Twinkie just turned 75. Considering that 500 million of them are sold yearly, it seems obvious that Americans are crazy for these sweet, spongy, cream-filled snacks. The question is - why?




By Judy Mandell | Contributor to The Christian Science Monitor

Eat the whole thing--I mean...read the whole thing....

Posted at 07:45 PM    

Mon - October 25, 2004

Legends of New York

My good buddy Lance (the blushing groom, pictured here on the right) got married on Saturday evening, at 11 Madison in Manhattan near Madison Park. Chizuko and I flew to New York for the weekend to attend the wedding. I met a lot of great people, and took a whole bunch of wedding snapshots, which I'll sample in a web portfolio soon, to share with all who endured my lurking and hovering. When it's up I'll link it here.



Normally I get a cold in transit, or right after plane travel, this time my wife and I got a early start, and had came down with a dual cold only days before traveling to New York. One of the highlights of our trip was dining at Brasserie Les Halles, on Park between 28th and 29th, where the French onion soup was comforting.




I haven't unpacked yet, just got home. Stay tuned for more. Best wishes and congratulations to Lance and Michelle!

Posted at 08:11 PM    

Fri - October 1, 2004

Eye to eye

Seattle Photographer and local friend Michael Matisse




opened a show last night. More details on the Exhibit as they come

Posted at 01:54 AM    

Fri - June 25, 2004

The Boxbots

What do you do when you're in Antarctica, thinking about waste re-use, with a lot of free time on your hands? Make Boxbots! --robots made out of box and label material, of course! Originally inspired by eboy, a visual artist -photographer-computer hobbyist who identifies himself as "c71123" is making and collecting these whimsical creations, more can be seen on his website. Make sure to check out the daily photo project as well.




My current favorite is this one:

Posted at 12:07 AM    

Thu - May 6, 2004

Alt Pick, ArtJam

The Alternative Pick's Juliette Wolf Robin made a welcome appearance in Seattle this week, to represent Alt Pick at ArtJam 7, the Premiere Northwest Illustrators and Photographers Show





Juliette was escorted in style, in Michael
Dougan's luxury Toyota Tacoma pickup truck,
from her customary room at Seattle's historic
Edgewater Hotel...

...to Wasabi Bistro, a trendy
fusion restaurant in Seattle's
ultra-groovy Belltown
neighborhood.




Juliette displaying her unique talent for disassembling
sushi while listening to her dining companion's
hyper-caffeinated philosophical thrill-ride through
the past, present, and future of illustration,
design, and photography

Among the topics discussed:

The Dotcom Boom what was that all about? Who were the winners? Who were the losers? Where did all the money go?

Stock Art & Photography an exciting new trend, changing the dynamics of our industry for the benefit of all humankind? Or Satan's workshop, where copyright-free images will multiply and doom us all to eternal damnation? (we only had about an hour for lunch, we didn't make it through all the stages of purgatory, we barely scratched the surface before the dessert menu arrrived)

What celebrities we think we look like Juliette's European heritage puts her in this category, but her TV-pop-star-girl-next-door appeal has gotten her mistaken for this actress. No stranger to delusional thinking, I, on the other hand, have placed myself in the category of this fine actor. I probably should have chosen this one, which would have put us in the same prime-time sitcom.

Alt Pick Magazine Maria and Juliette's exciting new venture: a unique mix of personal profiles, controversial issues, great stories, and artistic talent (more info here)

There was one more photo, a duet snapshot, graciously taken by a Valet dude in the parking lot of the Edgewater at the conclusion of our visit, but my cell phone ate it before I could include it in this blog entry. We hope Juliette enjoyed her stay in Seattle, and continues the mission

Posted at 08:37 PM    

Thu - February 5, 2004

Novelty items

"What do you want me to bring you from Japan?

My wife asks me, before she leaves to visit her family. I never know what to say. I usually ask for pens or brushes, but I'm all stocked up. As for the rest, it's easier when I'm there, to browse around and see what's on display. So I never came up with anything, except, I think I said "bring back some interesting junk food". It's not fair to call it junk, Japan's snack food industry is better than ours, they have it down to a science, literally spending millions in research developing perfect-tasting powdered broth and freeze-dried shrimp for their instant noodle dishes. Nothing tastes ordinary, it's all good.

They also favor European-style chocolates, so even simple chocolate candies can taste surprisingly good. American chocolates, by comparison, are salty and waxy. European chocolates are buttery and smooth. Japanese chocolates are similar, but creamier, like truffles.

When my wife opened her suitcase, she handed me a gift-wrapped (everything is gift-wrapped there, probably even paper clips, individually) decorative metal box, very elegant. When I opened it, there were two rows of chocolate wafers, each about the size of postage stamp. On the right side, the chocolates were dusted with cocoa powder. On the right, they were covered in green dust.



What's this stuff? I asked. Turns out, it's finely-powdered green tea.

It's delicious.

Emiri, our nine-year old niece, also sent along this very special gift.



Inside the tiny metal box, are two erasers. I love it.

And finally, here are some of Japan's newest miniature cell phones.




Okay, they're not cell phones. They're disposable lighters.

Posted at 05:08 PM    

Fri - January 16, 2004

Japan invents the gadget of your dreams

The machine uses the voice recording, along with lights, music and smells, to help them direct their own dreams during periods of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, Takara Co said.

Sleepers are woken up gently after eight hours with music and lights that simulate sunlight so that users of the gadget do not forget their dream in the shock of waking.

Takara Co, which brought the world the "bowlingual" and "meowlingual" devices - which purport to translate your pet's communication - admitted the machine may still need refining.

"We are still experimenting, mainly with company employees," Kenji Hattori, a Takara marketing executive, told reporters on Wednesday.

"Some said the theme was right, but the story-line was wrong. Some said the noise woke them up. But it has worked for quite a number of people."

A Japanese company has invented a product which, it says, allows owners to create their own dreams.



Prospective dreamers are asked to look at a photo of what they would like to dream about and then record a story line into the Yumemi Kobo, or "dream workshop...

Posted at 02:23 AM    

Fri - January 2, 2004

Mon - December 29, 2003

Fri - December 26, 2003

Christmas in Tokyo

Don't miss this funny item: how Christmas is celebrated in Japan




...Christmas, as a concept, is not terribly well understood in Japan. In the blunder to end all cultural blunders, a prominent department store once allegedly erected a Christmas display of a Santa nailed to a cross...

Maybe a few copies of 'Christmas For Dummies' would be the ideal stocking-filler for Santa to bring along on his trip to Tokyo...

Posted at 12:04 PM    

Wed - December 10, 2003

questionable japanese novelty item of the week

"Japanese high school girls wear outrageously oversized socks called "loose socks." How do they keep their socks from falling down? You guessed it -- they use "socks glue." Here's some authentic socks glue for you, straight from Japan -- an incredible handy water-based glue that you apply to your calf to ensure your socks don't fall down..."




maybe the packaging itself is a product with another personal use?

Posted at 01:44 AM    

Tue - December 2, 2003

Minty Eye Drops

In Japan, a major category of product are "hard minty eye drops, " which you put in your eyes to both refresh yourself and wake yourself up, as well as wetting the eyes.

Why not take it a step further, and squirt lighter fluid in your eyeballs? That's how I wake up.

These are the slightly-less minty eyedrops Lycee, marketed to girls (especially high school girls) in Japan. Comes with the bottle of eye drops and a fancy case. A great item for fans of Japanese minty eye drops!

Posted at 07:38 AM    

Sun - November 23, 2003

Reasons to Love Costco

Let's talk demographics. We've heard of the Soccer Mom , to describe a particular kind of suburban voting block. There's also such a thing as the "Nascar Dad ". Recently Andrew Sullivan coined the phrase "South Park Republicans". I'd like to coin one.

THE COSTCO WIFE




When Chizuko first arrived in America. not long after we got married and her immigration status was successfully established, she arrived at Sea-Tac airport with two bags of elegant business clothing from Milan, Paris, and Tokyo, and a bag of golf clubs. Nothing else. True story. This is how she began life in America in 1996.

Skip ahead a few years later, she's employed at Microsoft--which means the clothing from Paris, Milan, and Tokyo still hangs in our closet untouched, as the Microsoft dress code is legendary for being exceedingly casual. It's not uncommon for MS employess to go shoeless, wear sweatpants, the same stale T-shirt for five consecutive days, or pajamas if they want to. The golf clubs reside in our basement, untouched. It rains here all the time. And at least one Saturday every month or so, you can find Chizuko pushing a cart around Costco, loading up on paper towels, Super-sized containers of pistachio nuts, and fork-lift sized packages of prime beef. In short, she's been fully Americanized.

On some occasions, she'll convince me to come along on these epic hunter-gatherer expeditions at Costco . We went there today, to get food items for our upcoming Thanksgiving feast. This product caught my eye, and I had to take a picture.





This is why I love Costco . Where else--except possibly a classic Ron Jeremy film --are you gonna see a "Yard-o-Beef "? This is what I call the money shot.

Posted at 05:00 PM