Hello Kitty upchucked at my studio!

Thank you Charo!

Manga Mad Tokyo

Film Details from SnagFilms:

Manga Mad Tokyo (2008) 59 min

Exploring Japan's passion for anime, their biggest pop culture phenomenon, and largest export. From Tokyo, the comic capital of the world, comes an exploration of Japan’s passion for anime, their biggest pop culture phenomenon, and their largest export. A documentary about Japan’s biggest pop culture and deepest underground, filmed in the comic capital of the world, Tokyo. More people read comics in Japan than any other country. Comics account for 40% of all total books and magazines published in Japan. MANGA MAD gives insight into contemporary Japanese culture through the iconography of its biggest pop culture and explains why comics are not just for children, as depicted by the compulsive consumer obsessiveness of the otaku adult manga and anime scene. The tradition of graphic narrative is traced in Japanese art history through to the post WW2 boom of comics. There is extensive coverage of cyber-sex, ‘electronics town’, Akihabara. The virtual reality, manga-anime-mecca, for otaku, and most popular tourist attraction in Japan. In addition, Comiket Market, the biggest comic and cosplay event in the world is featured with an interview with its founder, Mr Yonezawa, who recently passed away. Candid interviews with artists, animators, publishers, historians, retailers and otaku fans punctuate vivid fantasy graphics and cartoon-clad, bustling, metropolis vistas, segued with an exotic, electro sound track. MANGA MAD opens the window behind the Japanese mask, to reveal what’s really going on in the collective imagination, and explains why manga is so ubiquitous, mesmerising, virtually uncensored, and is now contagiously popular world wide. - © Copyright 2008-2011 SnagFilms Inc. All Rights Reserved

Adios my iPod

Photo © MAK

In a world where electronics seem to be rarely designed to serve beyond the time when a new model is released, my third generation iPod has impressed me.  Bought back in 2004, it functioned till now – 2011 – for solid 7 years.  It was its beating heart, a.k.a. the battery, which finely gave up.  This slick piece of design still holds its ground and has not found a worthy competition, except maybe within its own family – the next generations of iPods.  It has been a worthy classic.

Hello Kitty everywhere!

When it comes to brands expanding into stratosphere, Hello Kitty is definitely up there. Born in 1974 through Yuko Shimizu for Sanrio, Hello Kitty exploded into a global trademark that graces pretty much anything you can think of. The cute stuff you can use at school, eat on or wear is a given, as far as cartoon characters are concerned, but toasters, television, computers, high end bling bling?! A Hello Kitty Airbus?!?! That is truly another level. So although I should not be surprised, my jaw dropped when I found out one can procure Hello Kitty tarot cards. Yep, they are out there. Now, tarot cards are not all fun and games. There are some grim, heavy themes there. Death card anyone? How about the Devil? Or the Hanged Man? Or ten swords stuck in your back? You see what I mean. How can the cuteness that Hello Kitty is manage that?! Well, to quote “A spokesperson for Sanrio says that Hello Kitty is not normally given a mouth because "without the mouth, it is easier for the person looking at Hello Kitty to project their feelings onto the character" and that "the person can be happy or sad together with Hello Kitty."…” I see. I think it is clear now… Kinda.

It can be all science

Cocktail Chemistry Set from Think Geek

Mixology – a fine art of cocktail making – as it turns out can get some scientific flair added to it. Think Geek has been ever so helpful in providing a Cocktail Chemistry Set for the geek in you to shift that paradigm ever so closer to measurable. Well… Ultimately, there is only one way to find out and that is by conducting a rigorous experiment worthy of a declamation in the hallowed halls of Ivory Towers and final publication is an esteemed journal. Pass me the white coat!

Daruma doll

“The Japanese have a custom that they employ when making a wish or setting a goal. For each new goal, a daruma doll is acquired. This doll, really a large wooden head, comes with no eyes. When a goal is set, the first eye is painted on. The second eye is added after the goal has been reached. Along the way, the daruma doll stands as a constant reminder of what its owner is working to achieve.” – Barbara J. Winter

Here Kitty Kitty

Photo © MAK

Maneki Neko – you’ve seen them in many a restaurant. Welcoming Cat, Lucky Cat, Money Cat, or Fortune Cat, whichever it ain’t Chinese cat.  Supposedly from the later part of the Edo period in Japan, the earliest documented evidence of Maneki Neko comes from the 1870s.  These Japanese bob tails beckon with a paw or maybe even two.  Left to attract and right to protect. Then there are the colors: white for purity, positive things to come, gold for intense wealth and prosperity, black for good health and to ward off evil and a stalker, red - a protective color to keep away evil spirits and illness and for love, marriage and personal matters, pink for love, relationships and romance, and green sometimes for health or education or studies.  The calico is the luckiest cat of all, but supposedly a white Maneki Neko is a calico coming to life from under lazy hands that did not want to give it its tricolor spots, so take your pick if the whitey is the luckiest of all. Might be. Either way, they are SO cute! If I could just get my hands on a jade or real gold one! For that I need my ceramic gold kitty to work overtime. Here Kitty Kitty! Beckon!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maneki_Neko

http://www.namaii.com/manekineko/maneki-neko-types.html

http://www.goodorient.com/pages.php?pageid=58