I only have a few weeks left before the election to visit Obama, Japan. A sea side town only 3 hours from Osaka, this little place has gotten behind the American Presidential Candidate with vigour. Local vendors are even selling ‘Obama for Obama’ T shirts and cakes. I need to go.
On Sunday, Hon and I rewound the clocks to 1990 and went all USJ on your ass. AKA, we rehashed the fun that was Back To The Future, E.T, Terminator 2 and Jurassic Park! Here are some pics:
Yes, we are all devastated about the whole ‘no more polariod film’ fiasco. So are the folks at Dazed and Confused magazine, who have dedicated 24 pages to the art in their new sept issue.
In collaboration with savepolaroid.com, dazed are also displaying their picks from the site at polaroid nation. And you can upload you own favourite pics and become part of the action.
(my contribution is above!) xxoo
Here in Japan, I am still waiting for The Dark Knight, Iron Man and Sex and The City to be released in the cinemas. But we are lucky to be the first in the world to see the new Miyazaki, Ponyo On The Cliff By The Sea.
As my Japanese language skills are still rather lacking, and it is only screening in it’s native Japanese, I was taking a risk that I may not understand a thing, (I am still confused about Spirited Away, and I watched that with English Subtitles). But I had a look at the plot on wikipedia, and sat next to my trusted translator Hon, and enjoyed the film.
The film is beautiful, with Miyazaki and his illustrators staying aways from CGI, it is entirely hand drawn cell animation. I think I missed the intricacies of the characters due to language difficulties, but Hon said after that it was his favourite Ghibli film…and that’s a big call. So, I look forward to it being released with English translation, but for now I am satisfied with learning the theme song, posted below as performed on Japanese Television! Kawaii des ne!
Blanket Issue 11 is now live. You can download it as a PDF and read when your internet breaks, or when there is a electrical storm like in Osaka last night.
I think so.
Found at Enjoy Cafe, Orange St. Osaka.
Get your art on and head down to China Heights (I heard it moved recently, so grab the new addy while your at it) on August 8th and catch 888, an exhibition launch that coincides with the Olympic Opening Ceremony in Beijing.
From their website:
Launching at China Heights gallery a few hours before the Beijing Olympic Opening ceremony, 888 explores the complex and often controversial nature of contemporary Chinese society. At a time when the world’s gaze will be fixed on China, the artists of the 888 exhibition offer Sydney audiences a spectacle of a different nature by providing a striking juxtaposition to the commercial publicity and hype surrounding the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
I really wish I was there for this one, it’s great to see some art/activism still alive in the streets of Sydney.
I have noticed copies of a series called “Jam Films” at my local video store here in Japan, and was curious enough to hire it the other day. It was great, short films (my favourite) all by different Japanese directors. I love this idea, and have two more DVD sets to watch, yipee!
Here is a trailer for the whole series.
onedotzero’s second edition of Motion Blur.
I had a habit of booking the first edition out all the time at my university library. But, as I am now lacking the perks of a Commonwealth Education, I think I will need to get my hands on the new book and DVD set.
For those that don’t know, onedotzero provide ‘Adventures in Moving Image’ in the form of DVD’s, books, distribution and a touring festival. If you attend UTS in Sydney, the Haymarket library is stocked with their (and RESfest’s) back catalogues. If you don’t, well, cool bookshops like Kinokuniya often stock the books, while the rest of their collections can be purchased on their website.
onedotzero’s touring festival has also extended their deadline for submissions until the 31st July. So, all you motion graphic visionaries out there, you have exactly four days to start that final rendering session! Keep an eye out for when the tour is coming to your town on their events page.
Possibly the biggest band in Japan at the moment, Perfume have rocketed to the top of the charts with their latest hit Love The World.
The female three piece stay at the top with catchy tunes and cute dance routines. But the key to success in Japan depends solely on your ability to appear on as many day time TV shows as possible. Some genius worked out that the ratio of bored housewives to money spent on j-pop was quite high. So, the past two weeks have seen Perfume on most channels, in most stores and in most peoples heads.
Check out the video below. The song is pretty damn catchy.
(For Rob and Nicole xx)