I know it doesn’t have much to do with what I usually cover on this site, but I want to take a moment to point out this great little interview that is now online at the CBC’s ZeD site (something I’d never heard of) on one of my very good hometown friend’s, Mario Doucette. The piece is about a show he did to protest the unattractive urban developments taking place in Moncton (my hometown).

One of the things that me and Yuko enjoy the most when we travel in Asia is getting food at street markets, and the 2-3 night markets we visited in Taipei certainly did not disapoint. We mostly had meat-bun type foods, but also pancake style treats (wrapped around vegetables or meat), and some delicious egg tarts. These pics are from what is supposed to be the biggest night market in Taipei (sorry, don’t really know the name).

Weekly town magazine OZ has started a new series of special issues called “My Happy Town,” and the first issue covers Ikebukuro. I picked it up today on my way back from work (they had a big display at one of the bookshops), and after leafing through it I think I might have found a few places that might be worth checking out (that I didn’t know of). Pause gets a big mention.

SAMURAI CHAMPLOO, the new series by COWBOY BEBOP director Watanabe Shinichiro, has finally launched and, oh my, it’s sizzling. From what I could see in the first episode, we’re getting a samurai story, but told in a modern way (like with the dialogue), and with a very strong hip-hop influence. Watanabe has not only managed to give the genre a new life by using hip-hop beats in the soundtrack, but the visuals also take a cue from scratch culture (cuts between scenes are “scratched”). It’s still way too early to tell if the storyline is going to live up up to the visuals and atmosphere of the show (we mostly get an intro to the characters in the first episode, mixed in with plenty of cool-looking fights), but I’m certainly excited by what I’ve seen. Don’t get me wrong, I still wouldn’t put it in the same league as PARANOIA AGENT, but as far as stylish action goes, this is by far the best I’ve seen in a while.

Oh, and regarding all the shows I mentioned in my new Spring anime posts last month (part 1 and 2), the only show I’m still following is MONSTER (and PANDA-Z too, but only because they’re shorts – don’t think I could stand much more).

So I’m back from the weekend in Taipei, which was lots of fun, but also very tiring as I had to endure a damn cold the whole time (still not completely over it). I’ll write some more about the trip in a future post, but for now I’ll start posting some pics. As you can see, Taipei is the land of the scooters. Reminded me a bit of Rome.

Last post before I’m off to Taipei for the weekend. The shitty thing is that I started a cold yesterday, but I’m feeling a bit better this morning, although still not at 100%. I’m hoping it won’t affect me too much during the trip. We leave our apartment in about an hour, only to finally arrive at our hotel tonight (probably around 8 or 9), when we’ll meet one of my good friends and his wife for a bit of night market action. I’ll be back Monday night, and I doubt I’ll update anytime in between (so little time there). See you in a couple of days!

Found this bit of info at Joi Ito‘s blog (sounds like it could be interesting, but the time’s not good for me):

Dave Sifry, the CEO of Technorati is coming to Tokyo next week. We’re having a meeting for users and developers. Dave and I will speak and Dave will give some cool demos etc. If you are a Technorati fan, want to know more about Technorati or just want to hang out with Dave, please sign up and come. We will be charging 2000 per person for simple drinks and snacks. There will be wifi. The details are below:

5/27 Thursday, 18:00-21:00
18:00-19:00 Demo, Talk & Discussion
19:00-21:00 Reception with drinks & light snacks
Place, Tokyo 21c Club, 7th Fl of Marunouchi Building

Speakers:
David L. Sifry, CEO, Technorati
Joichi Ito, head of International and mobility, Technorati

2000 yen fee for participation. Deadline to apply, May 24th Mon, 18:00. Please RSVP to Kenta Ushijima. We have a 50 person limit.

From the description, I’m sort of intrigued by this release on the ATAK label.

“The third original album from ATAK is at once the first by a non-Japanese artist. Originally an Icelandic garage band, Stilluppsteypa have been distributing an original blend of their punk roots and minimal electronic music through various labels. After a first appearance at ATAK on the “60 sound artists…” anti-war compilation, a full album on the label comes rather surprising. The combo’s freakish attire and unpredictable style mix don’t seem to go well with ATAK’s reputable minimalism and monochromatic simplicity in sound, design, and album titles. The music here ranges in fact from what may have been recorded during street performances in Paris, via easy-listening kind of melodies, to aggressive experimentation in the darker spheres of electronica. Closing with a 23 minute-long sound art piece, this is the most eventful ATAK release to date. The contrasts between the images of musicians and label, and between acoustic and optical presentation add to it a nicely ambiguous element that might open new doors to ATAK.” (REALTOKYO)

A release party will take place May 21 at the new Sign in Daikanyama (not the original one in Aoyama).

Momus takes us on a tour of Japanese magazines released this month (courtesy of Magazo), and points us to a bunch of old Shiseido TV commercials. Viva Click Opera!

The AppleInsider reveals the possible expansion of Apple Stores in Japan.

“As part of its overseas retail initiative, Apple has maintained a Japan retail ‘Hit List,’ which currently references up to 27 prospective or secured storefronts, including 6 more in Tokyo and 2 others in Osaka. Each is assigned a deployment priority ranking, which coincides with surrounding district population figures also present in the documents.”

“Shortly after rolling out its high-profile Shinsaibahi, Osaka store, sources believe that the company will begin tackling its remaining ‘A-list’, which includes three 7,000-square-foot stores tentatively planned for Shinjuku, Tokyo; Shibuya, Tokyo; and Umeda, Osaka. A fourth location set in Harajuku/Omotesando, Tokyo would occupy a 4,000-square-foot space.”

They also mention a possible store in Ikebukuro. Read the rest of the article here.

Robert has just posted an interview done with me at his GlitchSlapTko site. It probably describes me better than my own “about” page, so have a look if you’re curious about the person behind the site.

There are currently quite a few Captain Porno portaits being shown at the Pause cafe near my place (took this moblog shot the other day). Here’s a link to the official Roughtoyz site.

The Cow Books section of the Dragonfly Cafe.

Robert (seems like he’s becoming an unofficial guest blogger here) keeps on finding the good stuff, this time introducing us to very cute (he dubs her “this week’s laptop kitten”) media artist Ueda Mai.

And the cell wars keep on going:

“KDDI Corp said Monday it will launch in mid-June a cell phone equipped with a camera having a resolution of 3.2 million pixels, which the company claims is the world’s highest picture quality for a handset camera. At present, the finest quality for a handset camera features a resolution of about 2 million pixels.” (Kyodo News)

If it comes with a decent flash (or at least basic camera controls), I might be looking to upgrade.