As promised, here’s a look at the Canadian Style menu I designed. As you can see, the food selection is maple-heavy, and quite tasty I might add. My faves? The meat pie brought me back home, and tastes pretty much like the kind my mom made. My favorite dessert had got to be the maple pudding — it’s really sweet (more than I’m accustomed to, I don’t eat a lot of sweets), but deliciously so. For the beer, I tend to go for Moosehead when I’m in Canada, but here in Japan we could only get Labbat Blue, so that pretty much settled it. English text is all done in Helvetica Neue 75 Bold, with Japanese text in Osaka.

I put a PDF version of the event flyer online, which you can download here (or from the link in the sidebar). Feel free to pass it along to anyone you think might be interested in the event. It also includes a map to the cafe.

It’s no big secret that I’m a big fan of event merchandise, and you gotta figure that I’d do something for Canadian Style on top of the t-shirts. I’ve set up some stuff at CafePress, mostly a few things that I’ll probably order myself, but I figured that I’d make it public in case anybody else would care to order anything. I was rather happy with the Mamma Gun merchandise I ordered from Jesper’s CafePress store (especially the bags, the journal, and the mug).

Haruka, one of the staff at Cafe Pause, sporting a Canadian Style tee at our shinnenkai last night. You know you want one!

Here’s a look at the front and back of the DM (what they call flyers/postcards here) I designed for Canadian Style. It’s been sent to the printers, so should be ready soon. The map is courtesy of Jesper Larsson, and huge thanks go out to Shawn Doyle, a Canadian photographer, for letting me use his great picture.

Update: You can download a PDF version here.

I’m now ready to start selling the official Canadian Style t-shirts online (they’ll only be available at Cafe Pause when the event starts, February 1). As the image shows, there are 2 versions, red and white, and they each come in 4 sizes: Kid’s L, S, M, and L. These are Anvil t-shirts, so sizes tend to be a bit big (they’re like the Mamma Gun t-shirts). I’m wearing an M, which fits me perfectly (like a an M from Graniph).

The t-shirts are selling for 2100 yen, and here are the shipping/handling costs:

• North America — 700 yen
• Europe — 700 yen
• Japan — 500 yen

If you want 2, please add 200 yen to the shipping costs. For more, I might have to send them in separate packages.

Payment is accepted through PayPal in Japanese funds (PayPal takes care of converting, so don’t worry about it), and you can do so by clicking on the PayPal icon that you’ll find at the bottom of the sidebar on the right (if you have a problem with the direct link, make the payment to “jean@jeansnow.net”). In Japan, payment by furikomi is fine also -— email me for account info.

In case you’re wondering what all of this means in terms of US dollars, at today’s exchange rate (06/01/25), a tee would be around $18, and 700 yen is around $6.

Update: As of this writing (February 12, last day of the event), there are only 6 tees left, in the following sizes: 2 red Smalls, 3 white Smalls, and 1 white Medium.

Here’s a look at what both versions of the official Canadian Style t-shirt looks like. I think I’ll start selling these on the site before the event starts (they’ll only be sold at Cafe Pause from February 1), and I’ll post all the ordering details when that happens. As with the Mamma Gun t-shirt, supplies will be limited.

Also, I’ve finally added a “Canadian Style” category to the site, which I’ll now link to when I mention the event.

I’ve been in contact with some people from the Embassy of Canada regarding the Canadian Style event I’m producing at Cafe Pause, and yesterday I went to the embassy’s library to have a look at books and videos that I could possibly use. They had already agreed to send me various flyers, pamphlets, pins, and the like (sort of the equivalent of the books on Sweden we had during the Mamma Gun event), and what I was looking for at the library were books that I could possibly use as browsing material for all the shelf space we have at Cafe Pause, as well as some videos to project. I still haven’t had a chance to go through the video catalogue to make some selections (I really hope they have some compilations of animated shorts from the National Film Organization), but I did choose close to 30 books, most of them in Japanese, to display at the cafe. The thing with this event, versus the design-centric Mamma Gun, is that here the idea is to also promote Canada in general, so the selection covers different aspects of the country. Since I chose them based on imagery, there should be plenty to browse through while you’re enjoying a drink or meal.

Unlike Mamma Gun, with all the nice Swedish style/culture magazines we had to display, I wasn’t really expecting to use any Canadian magazines — basically because there aren’t that many style magazines that I’m aware of (but remember that I’ve been away for years). The only one I do follow is the design/architecture magazine AZURE, and I was surprised to see that they had it at the library, along with a few years worth of archives. I asked if I could borrow some issues for use at the cafe, and the person in charge said that it wouldn’t be a problem because AZURE was actually the least popular magazine they carry! Huh?!? Well, that’s good news for me, and for you, since every issue of 2005 will be at the cafe during the event for your perusal.

As for other updates, the DM (postcard/flyer) should be sent to the printer by the end of the week. I’ll give you a preview when the final version is done. Other things are coming along nicely, like musical compilations from mostly independent Canadian artists that will have different themes: roots, indie pop, singer/songwriter, French, etc. They’re being compiled by Marc Xavier LeBlanc, a DJ/photographer who will also have some Lomography on display. I also really dig the concept he came up with for the compilation covers. More on that later.

It’s been a busy past few days, and I figure it’s not going to let up anytime soon, but I’ll update you with more within the next few days (with images as well). And remember to make a place in your calendar for our opening party February 4 (Saturday, starting at 19:00). The drink menu hasn’t been set, but I imagine we’ll have a few drink specials (meaning cheap). Come one, come all!

If you’re reading this post in a browser and not a feed reader (well, unless you’re doing it through Bloglines, which happens to be my reader of choice) you’ll notice an updated theme, and it’s of course in support of the next event I’m producing at Cafe Pause (which is now pictured in the site’s banner): Canadian Style. What you’re seeing above (and in the sidebar) is the logo I created for the event (thanks go out to Jesper for giving help to the Illustrator-challenged — I’m a born and raised Photoshop boy), and you can expect to see it on a lot of CS-related things, including, of course, a t-shirt (of which there will be two versions: white and red). As I mentioned before, it will take place February 1-12, and the plan is to have an opening party February 4 (a Saturday). As for what exactly will take place, expect various installations (visual/graphic/audio), as well as a special food/drink menu. I’ll keep you all posted on things as they develop throughout the month.

So, 2006, it’s here, and I’m already feeling good about it. For me, it’s going to be a mean, lean, productive year, hopefully full of interesting projects into exciting new avenues. Yesterday (the 1st), I finally got to playing around with 37signals’ Backpack, something I’d been wanting to check out for a while, and I’m in love with it. I’ve already set up plenty of project pages, and it feels good to have things all in one place and well organized (and it helps that the site is a joy to use).

Here are some of the things that I already have lined up for the start of the year:

• I already mentioned the “Canadian Style” event at Cafe Pause, and things are advancing just fine with that. Of course, there’s a lot to do, but that’s part of the fun.
• That Japanese music podcast I keep threatening to launch is finally coming together. I’m really hoping we (I’m doing this with Trevor, of Music Related) can launch the first episode before the end of the week, but we still have to work out a few kinks. As of now, we’re looking at 30-minute episodes, with a possibility of recording the thing live, with me here in Tokyo, and Trevor in New York. As for Radio OK Fred, fingers are crossed that we can start cranking out new episodes sometime this month.
• I’ve got some other things in the wings with Cafe Pause. As a hint: the cafe is going to be opening a gallery space…
• Also, it’s no stranger that I love t-shirts, and so going from wearing them all the time to participating in the creation of a line is not such a big stretch, is it? More on that later.
• Next Century Modern has been working hard on the creation of a spiffy online store, and I’ll be helping out with that by providing goods/magazines from Japan. The store should launch sometime this month.
• On the writing side of things, all my regular contributions (THE JAPAN TIMES, Gridskipper, MoCo Tokyo) will of course continue, and there are already some other pieces, and possibly regular columns, lined up.

So that’s some of the stuff I have on my mind as we start the new year. There’s more, but that’s enough for now. Here’s looking forward to a great 2006!

It’s getting close to the end of the year, and if there’s one thing I’ve noticed on this site in recent times is that personal entries have been few and far between, with me spending most of my time just pointing out things that I’m into, and where my latest writings are appearing. I guess it’s time then to give an update on things.

First of all, and this is going to be deja vu for longtime readers, but I’m back at the Japanese, this time concentrating on kanji, and I’ve actually been pretty good about it during my vacation time (still have a week and a half to go). It started with Marxy giving me a 1st-graders kanji practice book, suggesting I start with the basics and work my way up, and that’s what I’ve been doing. It’s a good approach for me, since I like doing the workbook exercises (more than just sitting there and memorizing stuff), and I’ve noticed a vast improvement in not only recognition, but it’s also helping me build my vocabulary in a smart way. Add to that the fact that I’ve been spending so much time at Cafe Pause, chatting with the staff, which I think has done wonders for my conversation, and I’m feeling pretty good language-wise heading into 2006.

The next big project I’m working on now is another event at Cafe Pause, following the success of last month’s Swedish Style-related “Mamma Gun sager: Ta en PAUS.” This time I’m on my own, and it’s something that will hit closer to home: “Canadian Style.” The plan is to have various installations (photography, video, music), with of course a special food menu, and a few other fun things tacked on. The plan as of now is to have it happen February 1-12, and you just now that I’ll be updating you from here on out on how things are advancing.

So that’s what’s keeping me busy these days — well, that and an unhealthy amount of gaming — and I figure it’s a good way to exit one year and jump into the next one. And tomorrow, I’m getting a haircut!