Photoshop Phun

I rarely play around in Photoshop.

So, when I do and the results are somewhat decent, I like to brag about it. Plus who doesn't like Giant Squid?

Old Time Felting

Last night - err, last week - okay, fine - Last month, I dropped by a cozy little gallery by the name of Hanahou for a show with the rather weighty name Four-Ring Needle Felting Extravaganza.

The show featured the work of four artists who focus on the intense but seemingly therapeutic art of felting. Specifically, the work of Hine Mizushima who I 'collaborated' (and I use that term loosely) with on a TMBGs' music video. Basically, she made the music video for the re-booted version of "Why Does the Sun Shine?" and I dropped scenes from it in to the music video Dave Cowles and I made for the updated "Why Does the Sun Really Shine?".

Despite 'working with' Hine and being Facebook 'friends', we've never actually met before so I knew I needed to walk the block from work to check it out, give her a hug and snap some pictures.

Hine with squid!

Close-up of creatures over her shoulder -

Her Ectoplasm series -

And some fancy jellyfish! And while I'm slightly biased in my estimate of Hine's Unnatural History work being the best, the other artists, particularly Yoko Nomura's Fractured Fairy Tales -

And Moxie's Icons & Totems & Pieces of the Past were equally charming and photogenic (this is the company camera, which I might need to borrow more often)!

I particularly love needle-felting as a technique and would LOVE to employ it making puppets for a stop-motion video some day. In fact, I've toyed with the idea of a re-telling of the Owl & the Pussycat set to Jim Stafford's Spiders & Snakes using just that...

300 YEN!!!

Speaking of Japanese advertising methods, here's a few from the streets of Sendai -


I'm not sure why this store thought a suspiciously tanned body builder in a Darth Vader mask would entice passers-by. Maybe it's the fact that he appears to be selling for only 300 YEN.


Here a familiar face turns sinister as it gropes the air with lifeless hands.


I'm not really sure what he's selling but that little girl sure seems interested.

Windows 7 Whopper

I'm sure we've all seen the commercials for the new Windows 7, almost as grating as those arrogant Mac commercials. Maybe if I still ate meat, Japan's approach to advertising would have won me over.


Documented here by my friend Eric Robinson, a resident of Tokyo (where he has a plush job designing video games for a major studio - he can see Mt Fuji from his office!) this re-envisioned Burger King Whopper holds 7 -


Yes, 7, 'all-beef' patties. Now, while I can't ignore the very neat and organized tray (try getting that at your local Burger King) I must point out that Japan's population has been slowly tipping the scales in the past ten years, though certainly nowhere near America's waistline.


Yet.

20,000K

As you might have noticed, I took last week off. Between switching jobs (more about that later), catching flights (again, more about that later), stitching socks (you get the idea), etc... I decided it'd be best to ignore my obligations here for a few days, give or take a little.


But, I'm back and to start the week off nice and easy, how about some pictures of Japan? Specifically, Tokyo Disney Sea.

Japan boasts the only Disney Sea Park in the world, but don't get too excited. It's basically MGM Studios complete with Tower of Terror and Indiana Jones. But wait, what's that?


That's right. Nestled between Aladdin's Arabian Coast and Ariel's Mermaid Lagoon sits Jules Verne's Mysterious Island complete with -


'Journey to the Center of the Earth' and -


'20,000 Leagues Under the Sea'!

The later is fairly lame. The nostalgia was not lost on me, though, remembering back to the first time my family and I visited Florida's Disney World when it still housed a 20,000 Leagues ride.


Unfortunately, this version trades the (slightly lame) sea dragons for some (really lame) sea aliens. Not to mention the very non-Nautilus looking pods...


I seem to remember a squid at least, but I'm not too sure about that...

Man Bites Dog

Ended last week with a picture from Japan. This week, let's start with one.

I've seen all manner of impersonations in my time. Good, bad, brilliant, weak.


This, though? Possibly one of the best.

I promise some doodles tomorrow for all of you out there wondering "Wait, I thought you were an artist? Where's all the notebook scribbles and self-pitying?"

No quero...

In Japanese, the word for octopus is tako, pronounced the same as that Mexican delicacy enjoyed by so many chihuahuas.


This was and still is kinda funny to me, but it was especially amusing to my students when I tried to explain what a taco was. One thing I learned in Japan is that they love puns there.

Oh, and tako, not to be confused with taco, is also really disgusting.

There are places...

Last Saturday marked the first time I've seen a Miyazaki film since returning home from a two year stint in Japan. The result? An unexpected nostalgia.


The quality of animation, character design, layout, scoring, etc. has been discussed at length already and by folks who are far better at articulating these points than I. So, I'm simply going to comment on the nostalgic charm I've found in Miyazaki's films, namely Ponyo and another favorite of mine, My Neighbor Totorro.

One thing Miyazaki is a master of, which many Americans may or may not fully appreciate, is capturing rural Japan in his layouts and backgrounds.



Kannari-cho, my 'hometown' in Miyagi-ken, is a spitting image of the small town in which Totorro takes place, complete with rice fields, moss-drenched forests, rickety buses, half-hidden stone statues, a single-car red train and cat-bus.




Okay, well, I wish the last one was true but you get the idea.


About an hour west of Kannari was the coastal town of Matsushima known for it's wind-worn islands and shrinking pines. Having ventured out to the islands several times, I'd be tempted to say this is where Ponyo's story plays out (although I'm certain it takes place somewhere further south).



Many people describe Miyazaki's films as 'magical', further mentioning Japanese folktales and mythology as heavy influences. I guess as 'Westerners', it's only natural that we find ourselves so intrigued by the East. Why is anime so popular? Because it's foreign to us. And this only heightens the sense of mysticism.


Yes, there is something VERY magical about this setting.


But there's also something VERY real about it. Japan actually looks like this. It's Elementary Schools, Senior Centers and bus stops actually look like that.

But to most Americans, these settings are foreign, yet welcoming and therefore, 'magical'. When I first saw Spirited Away, I was in love with the 'magic' of it. Watching it now, I'm still 'in love'. But there's a fondness mixed in now, a longing to be back there surrounded by that 'magic'.




I worked in 'that' Elementary School, I visited 'that' Senior Center, I lived near that house. The foreign became familiar and now I miss it. It's a strange feeling and one that I honestly don't know how best to describe.

Beachtown - the beach = Nyack!

Headed out of town this weekend to see what was what at one of my former spots of employment: the Renaissance Faire.

I never made it. Always one for an impromptu adventure, I took a slight detour to Nyack to check out the Hopper House.

I had only been in 'downtown' Nyack once before, to drop off a DVD to the They Might Be Giants folks. It's 'quaint and cute'. I only have a problem with 'quaint and cute' when there's no beach attached to the town.


But on to the main attraction!




When visiting the Florida Keys one year, my mom and I took a tour of Hemingway's house. In a way, this was even nicer than that, being so 'off the beaten path'. There are guided tours of Hemingway's estate; Hopper has a girl sitting in a side room selling postcards. It was more personal.


Inside also housed a gallery for local artists. The outside caters to them as well, mostly in the form of outdoor concerts. Unfortunately, as far as the fine arts are concerned-


This sign was tacked up out in front. Apparently Nyack has problems with cat-burglars.


A few blocks down was this sign. Coincidence?

Now for those of you still upset by my negative view of the folksy downtown area, I'll confess it wasn't that bad. This book store (and it's non-human employees) saw to that.


Such unoriginal reading material.


Keeping an eye on everything; the store's muscle.

Our Town

I like to think my little town of Kannari was the best in all of Kurihara-shi, perhaps all of Miyagi. Now, even I know that isn't true (how can you beat karaoke and kaiten sushi in Tsukidate?), but we did have this great little park on the edge of town...


In the distance, you can make out the bridge that lead out of town and to the 'secret' back-route I'd take out-of-town.


Every spring, the park wouldbecome home ot thousands of fireflies, thus establishing one of my town's claims to fame - the Firefly Festival. Although I did see LOTS of Firflies around that time, I never actually attended the official festival at the park.


I did got there quite often to just sit, relax and sometimes even sunbath which amused the locals to no end.


They could tell I was around by my signature 'Cherry Red' bike, passed on to me by the previous ALT. Lately, I've been day-dreaming about getting myself a bike here in Brooklyn. I think I'll try for one with working breaks and gears this time.