PauseTalk Vol. 60 happened this past Sunday (May 13), on the last day of Magazine Library 10, and I must say that it was quite nice to have the event in that setting (in the exhibition space, at Hillside Terrace). It also influenced the talk, and for one of the first times in the series history, we really just stuck to one main topic, “magazines,” although we raised and discussed quite a few points in relation to that theme. I’d like to thank everyone who made it out for this special afternoon (and later than usual) edition of PauseTalk.
We were about 20 or so, and below you’ll find the list of participants who signed the attendance sheet (and thanks, Eric Chan, for the photo above). There will in fact be a PauseTalk (Vol. 61) on the first Monday of next month at Cafe Pause, which will be June 4, so do put that in your calendar.
Just a reminder that I’ll be having a special PechaKucha event on Friday (May 11) as part of the Magazine Library exhibition at Hillside Terrace in Daikanyama. The theme is of course magazines and print culture, and I’m very happy with the lineup, which will include, among others, TOO MUCH magazine and my fellow Radio OK Fred co-host Audrey Fondecave, De Rigueur‘s Antonin Gaultier, Tokyo-based designer Ian Lynam, Amsterdam-based editorial designer Luis Mendo, and Postalco‘s Mike Abelson.
The event is free to attend, and will kick off at 19:00 (presentations start at that time). Hope to see many of you there, and it’s a good chance to take in the exhibition as well.
A new episode of the Codex (53) is up, a tribute to the Beastie Boys, a group I’ve had a great deal of love for throughout my life.
And here is our second live session of Radio OK Fred, recorded earlier tonight at the Magazine Library 10 exhibition in Daikanyama — download yesterday’s episode here. Our guest this time was Luis Mendo, who not only contributed designs and illustrations to the exhibition (flyers, website), but is also participating in the form of a few workshops, in collaboration with TOO MUCH magazine — the first one is tomorrow (Saturday, May 5, from 11:00) and involves the creation of City Reports. You’ll hear the interview we did with Luis later in the episode, and of course there’s music selections throughout. The last live episode of Radio OK Fred will happen next week, on Saturday, May 12 (from around 17:00).
Radio OK Fred 25 (71.4MB)
Yes, after what feels like a hiatus that has gone on forever (since 2010, actually), we were back tonight with a brand new episode of Radio OK Fred, recorded live at Hillside Terrace in Daikanyama, as part of the Magazine Library 10 exhibition. Our special guest was Antonin Gaultier (Digiki) who talked about his recently launched digital magazine De Rigueur, and who also contributed a few musical selections to the mix. It’s a longish episode (about 90 minutes), and you can download it from the link below (I may add the complete tracklist later). We will be back tomorrow night for another live recording (Friday, May 4, from around 17:00 to 19:00), and then again on Saturday, May 12. And yes, our RSS feed is still active, so subscribe to make sure to get the next few episodes.
Radio OK Fred 24 (75MB)
As I teased the other day, after a hiatus of a couple of years, Radio OK Fred is back this week, live! The Magazine Library 10 exhibition runs May 3-13 at Hillside Terrace in Daikanyama, and me, Audrey, and Yoshi are reuniting for 2 live editions of Radio OK Fred this week, on Thursday and Friday evening (May 3 and 4). We will be starting around 17:00-30, and each show will go for 1-2 hours. It will be a mix of music selections and interviews with special guests, so if you’re around please drop by and come say hi, we’d love to chat with you! There are also plans to do an extra edition on Saturday, May 12, and I’m have more details later about the time.
A new episode of the Codex (52) is up, for your listening pleasure. As I mention on the show — which I also did in my post about the next PauseTalk — if you like the Codex, then you’ll probably dig our live sessions of Radio OK Fred, happening next week, on May 3 and 4 at Hillside Terrace in Daikanyama as part of the Magazine Library 10 exhibition.
You may have been wondering what’s going on with the May edition of PauseTalk, which not only is Vol. 60, but also marks the 6th anniversary of the series. It will be a special edition indeed, and not only will it for the first time not be held at Cafe Pause in Ikebukuro, it will also not be on the first Monday of the month. I am very pleased to announce that PauseTalk Vol. 60 will be part of the upcoming Magazine Library 10 exhibition, taking place at Hillside Terrace in Daikanyama on May 3-13. The exhibition is a lovefest for magazines, and so it shouldn’t be a big surprise that I associated myself with it — on top of the PauseTalk, we will have a PechaKucha event (May 11), as well as the return of Radio OK Fred with two live editions (May 3 and 4).
The PauseTalk will cap the exhibition, happening on Sunday, May 13, with a start time of 15:00. Yes, it will be an afternoon edition, and although I’m sure the topic of magazines will pop up a lot, expect a regular session of PauseTalk, with people sharing ideas and opinions on all things creative. I do hope that many of you will be able to make it for this special edition — and yes, like I did for last year’s 50th edition, I do plan on producing a few badges for the first people who arrive.
I just discovered the Instapress plugin for WordPress, and so you’ll start noticing more of my Instagram photos (which I do take quite often) here on the site. In the extreme right sidebar you’ll notice that it now shows the latest three photos (I may change this later), and it also lets you add code to show a gallery of them in a post, which I’ve done here.
Most of the photos in this batch were taken today, while I was out and about in Ikebukuro with my dog.
As I promised earlier, here’s a new episode of the Codex (51). Just a bunch of great tunes to prop you up on this gray and rainy Tokyo weekend.
I know it’s been slow going these days here, and oh how I wish I could share with you some of the cool things we’re developing on the PechaKucha front, but that’ll have to wait for a bit. One fun little thing I did the other day was to put together a Tumblr blog to just share PechaKucha Night posters, as I thought it would be great to see them all together up on a wall like that. It only includes posters from 2012 (so for the past 2 and half months), and I’ll keep updating it with new ones I receive.
I know I haven’t put up the last PauseTalk participants list yet, but I’ll do that soon, and in the meantime, you can have a look at photos by Michael, up on Facebook.
I haven’t had time for much else, but I do hope to record a new episode of the Codex tonight, and over on Warren Ellis’ blog, you’ll find a few thoughts I shared with him on the topic of magazines.
Despite this gray and rainy weekend, it really does feel like warmer spring weather is just around the corner, which should mean my bike life will become active again — can’t wait.
Today is March 11, which marks the anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan both with its initial impact, and with the nuclear scare that followed, and that continues to worry us. Last year, about a month after that date, we organized a global PechaKucha event we called Inspire Japan, to help raise funds for reconstruction efforts in Tohoku, partnering up with Architecture for Humanity and ArchiAid. Today, we release a free iBook that commemorates that event. But more importantly, this is but the start of what we are calling a “living book,” with plans to update a few times a year with more content that helps highlight some of the work being done to rebuild.
Pictured above, the Inspire Japan event that was held in Kathmandu, on April 16, 2011. Below, one of the pages from the book. It includes event photos, posters that were produced for all of the city events, videos, 20×20 presentations, and more.
Here we are, episode 50 of the Codex, and to mark the occasion I’ve decided to spotlight one band, and for anyone who has been listening regularly to the show, it should come as no suprise that it’s The Pixies. They remain my favorite band to this day, and so here’s a collection of 10 tracks that I love (but as I warn on the show, I wouldn’t necessarily call them my favorites, since there are just too many tracks that I love so much). Hope you enjoy it, whether you’re a fan of the band or not, and if you’ve been listening to the show for a while, thanks for sticking around.
This is the second of my personal projects that reaches the number 50 — last year PauseTalk had its 50th edition — and this year also marks my 10th anniversary of blogging. I can’t speak to the quality of everything I do, but dammit, I’m pretty proud of the fact that I’ve been consistent with all of these things.
A new episode of my Codex podcast is up (49), for your enjoyment. Yes, that means the next episode is the momentous no. 50, and I do know what I will do — you can possibly guess if you know a thing or two about my musical tastes.
A week or so ago I shared a couple of trailers for my friend Niko‘s upcoming TOKYO X CREATIVES video series, and here’s a third trailer, this time for the episode that will feature the gaming/clothing shop Meteor, located in Kichijoji. Niko did a presentation on the project at last week’s PechaKucha Night Vol. 89, and it should be up on the PK site within a week or two.
Jean Snow is a contributor to 
He will be contributing to the upcoming fifth editions of 