Here’s a fun pic that Michael Holmes took of me and Yuki at the recent PechaKucha Night Vol. 88 — there’s an entire gallery on Facebook.

I’ve produced a second video for Vimeo’s “1 Minute” group. This one, “Sound Board,” was recorded at last week’s PechaKucha Night Vol. 88 at SuperDeluxe. The first video was the one with my dog.

I mentioned the upcoming PechaKucha Global Cities Week event last week, and now we have some banners ads to share (also designed by Ian), in a variety of colors and sizes. If you’d like help spread the word on the event, you can download them here — and you can point to the front page of the PechaKucha website, which will get updated later today with more info.

And don’t forget that PechaKucha Night Vol. 88 happens this Wednesday at SuperDeluxe from 20:20 (doors open at 19:00).

We’ve just officially announced details for our upcoming PechaKucha Global Cities Week, and I really hope you will all be able to find a PechaKucha Night in your city that you can attend — and dig the great logo design by my main man Ian Lynam. The event in Tokyo will happen on Thursday, February 23 (note that it’s not on the regular Wednesday), and we’re currently on the hunt for some great presenters — if you’d like to take part with a topic that relates to our dear Tokyo, get in touch!

In the meantime, this month’s PechaKucha Night (Vol. 88) is happening next week (Wednesday, January 25, at SuperDeluxe), and it looks like it’s going to be a great night of presentations, with quite a few friends and fellow PauseTalkers participating. And speaking of PauseTalk, the first edition of 2012 is coming up, with Vol. 57 set for Monday, February 6.

I’ve made it a habit of kicking off the new year with a post that tries to address what I’m looking at in terms of the coming year, and I’ve used it over the past couple of years to announce some personal projects — both the launch of SNOW Magazine in 2010, and then the closure of the site in 2011. This year I don’t really have anything specific to announce yet, so this is going to be a short list of things that I have on my mind and wishes for 2012 — a state of my union, if you will.

The biggest change I think that I’ve experienced over the past year is that I’ve fully transitioned into working full-time on PechaKucha. My role as Executive Director sees me doing so many interesting things in relation to the PK community and network, and it’s one that I relish — I so enjoy the fact that I’m constantly in contact with people from all over the world who are producing PechaKucha Nights in our 460+ cities. 2012 is going to be an even bigger year for PK, with lots of cool things already in the works, and I can’t wait to share them with you all.

Something that also relates to PK is that I have it in my mind to organize something that would be gaming-related — to quench my thirst for doing something in that world, since it’s been quite a while since my days as a writer for Wired‘s Game|Life and the Arcade Mania book. I’m hoping to team up with some friends on this, and we’ll see how it goes. Expect it in the second half of the year though.

And speaking of Arcade Mania, there may be some developments with that this year, but nothing that I can talk about or promise for now — stay tuned.

On the SNOW Magazine front, when I closed the site I said that it was actually going on “hiatus,” and by that I meant that I would still love do something with that again, but that I just don’t feel like a regularly updated website works. I’d love to maybe do it as an irregular magazine on iPad, but since I want to keep this all indie and not have to depend on anyone (and can’t pay anyone), that means me trying to do it myself, which is a lot of work — the release of Mag+ for singles did give me hope that it might be doable. 

Codex, my music podcast, has been back for a few weeks now, and I look forward to getting back on a regular schedule with it this year, now that I’ve found a setup that works for me (for recording a show live while using Spotify as my music source). Over the next few days (maybe even today), I’ll release two episodes with my favorite music of the past year. And my other obsession, magazines, will continue to be covered over at The Magaziner. I wasn’t able to do a magazine-related event like I did in 2010 (the SNOW Magazine Cafe), but I hope that this year I can produce or participate in some cool new magazine projects.

PauseTalk also continues its run — 2012 will see it celebrate a 6th anniversary — and I have a few PT-related developments in mind as well, but I’d rather have them more concrete before I share them.

This past year has also seen more active — in a physical sense — than ever, both in terms of cycling (with the occasional bike commute to go work at the Klein Dytham architecture office in Ebisu) and with me and my wife’s mountain trekking lifestyle. On the bike front, I’ve slowed down a bit with the cold weather, and also because I’m really hankering to get a regular sized bike (not the foldable BD-1 that I’ve been using). As far as the mountains go, we’ve been adding bits and pieces to our equipment every month (since we can’t afford to spend much), and next up on our want list are sleeping bags and a tent. I also need to post photos from the last two snow treks we did over the past couple of week in Nagano.

The last thing that I’d like to see happen this year (at least for now) is that I would like to try and write some longer pieces, something a bit more thought-out than my regular posts. I don’t quite know what I’d like to write about — and hey, maybe I could try fiction for a change — but it’s something that I certainly have on my wishlist of things I want to do in 2012.

So there you have it, a few reflections as we transition from one year to another — here’s to an amazing 2012!

Let me start by thanking everyone who came out this past Monday for PauseTalk Vol. 56, the last one for the year. We were a larger group than in the past few months, and it was a really nice way to share some thoughts on the year that was, covering how various projects fared, and what our hopes are for 2012. As with recent PauseTalks, Michael Holmes — who is also taking photos for our PechaKucha Nights in Tokyo now — was there and snapping away, and so I’ll share those photos once they pop up (probably on Facebook, so join the PauseTalk FB page why don’t you).

Below, a partial (but pretty much complete) list of those who attended. Please note that January is a skip month, and so the next PauseTalk (Vol. 47) will happen on February 6.

• Anna Jasinksi (Illustrator/Graphic Designer)
• Christopher Lindstrom (Grad Student/Voiceover Performer)
• David Steinberg (Game Developer/Musician)
• Don Kratzer (Creative Director)
• Haruna Tsuda (Graphic Designer)
• Jean Snow (PauseTalker Emeritus)
• Lachlan McTaggart (Designer/Architecture Student)
• Megumi Nishikura (Filmmaker)
• Michael Holmes (Photographer)
• Mio Toyoda (Web/Graphic Designer)
• Niko Lanzuisi (Film Director)
• Raymond Ellis (Gallery Director/Artist)
• Said Karlsson (Journalist/Photographer/Game Producer)
• Seiko Yoshida (Hair Color Specialist)
• Shunya Sugawata (Product Designer)
• Taylor Cass Stevenson (Visual Artist)
• Tom Coombs (User Experience Consultant)
• Walter Gethrey Peach (Video Artist/Creative Director)
• Weaw J. (Peace Studies)

Update: And here are the photos from the evening.

Just a reminder to everyone that the two event series that I’m involved in will have their final edition of the year over the coming week. First up, this Wednesday (November 30) is PechaKucha Night Vol. 87 at SuperDeluxe (doors open at 19:00, presentations start at 20:20), and it will indeed be the final PKN of the year here in Tokyo since December is always a skip month (because of the holidays). Also, I should maybe mention that my wife will be one of the presenters.

Then, this coming Monday (December 5) sees PauseTalk Vol. 56 at Cafe Pause (from 20:00, although people usually start showing up from 19:30). It’s also the last one of the year, since I always skip January for the same reason (holidays), and so hope to see many of you there — consider it a creative bonnenkai (year-end party).

First off, let me start by thanking everyone who came out for last Wednesday’s PechaKucha Night Vol. 85. It was a great turnout and I think a nice collection of presentations, but even more important for me, it was the first regular PKN we do without my longtime colleague Tomoko Kagawa, who recently left the organization. So it was me and my colleague Yuki Takai behind the deck, and although I think everything went smoothly on the screen, I can tell you that there was a lot of hectic work going on in the back, as we continued to receive last-minute images for a few of the participants (who were coming from the World Congress of Architecture). But live and learn, and I think all the battle scars will mean that nothing can phase us from now on. Apologies also to anyone who wanted to chat, but that I had to turn away because of how busy things got — it shouldn’t be like this in the future, so do feel free to come and say hi.

Also, let me remind you all that this month’s PauseTalk (Vol. 54) is this Monday (October 3), at Cafe Pause as always, with the official session starting at 20:00 — feel free to come early, as a few people usually do.

I just posted about tomorrow’s PKN Vol. 85, but I can now confirm that u+uco — see the video above — will also be participating with a special performance at around 22:30. 

So yes, time again to remind everyone that the next PauseTalk (Vol. 54) is coming up, set for this coming Monday (October 3) at Cafe Pause in Ikebukuro, with the usual start time of 20:00. As I wrote for Vol. 53, we had a terrific night, so hoping this next one will be just as good.

Also, PechaKucha Night in Tokyo Vol. 85 is happening tomorrow (September 28) — following our annual summer break — at SuperDeluxe in Roppongi. Doors open at 19:00, presentations start at 20:20, and entry is 1000 yen. You’ll find the list of presenters on the official event page, but we’re also expecting a few extras, courtesy of this week’s World Congress of Architecture.

You’ll find PauseTalk on Facebook here, and there’s a Twitter feed too.

Just like I usually put PauseTalk on hold during August because of the summer slowdown (people tend to go awway on holidays), so does our regular PechaKucha Night series, but on the PK side of things, we are having something just as good this Wednesday (August 24) in the form of a special Heineken-sponsored PK event. It’s part of the Open Design Explorations competition — the winner participates in a project to design a temporary club space at next year’s Milan Design Week — and the even in Tokyo will have finalists presenting their own work (just like in a regular PKN), with one chosen to go to Milan.

It’s going to happen at SuperDeluxe, as always, with the regular start time of 20:20 for the presentations (doors open at 19:00), but with one bonus: Entry will be free, and the beer — Heineken, of course — will be cheaper, at 500 yen. Should be a good time!

A new episode of the Codex (33) is up, another entry in the alphabet series. And while I have your attention, let me mention that this Wednesday (June 29) is PechaKucha Night in Tokyo Vol. 83 at SuperDeluxe, and it’s looking like a great lineup. 

If you’ve been to the front page of this site sometime this week (I have to assume that many of you reading this in your feed reader), then more than likely you’ve noticed the giant banner I have there now. It’s for the big Global PechaKucha Day – Inspire Japan event I’ve been working on over the past few weeks, set to happen this Saturday (April 16). I alluded to it in a recent post, but if you don’t know about it, it’s a big charity event we’ve put together, bringing together the PechaKucha community — we’re 404 cities strong, as of this writing — for a day/night of events all over the world, with the goal of raising funds for reconstruction efforts in Japan. As with last year for Haiti, we’re teaming up with Architecture for Humanity.

The core of the event is on Saturday, with a whole bunch of cities holding PKNs, and a lot of them will be streaming live as well — just go to the Inspire Japan site on the day of the event, and whatever is currently streaming live should be up at the top of the site. But our Inspire Japan efforts will also span all of April and May, and we’re inviting organizers of all PKNs during this period to collect donations — because this all came together so suddenly, many cities were not able to re-schedule already planned events, and some just found it difficult to organize something on the 16th.

Here in Tokyo, instead of our regular home of SuperDeluxe, the event will be held at the Roppongi Hills Tokyo City View (52nd floor), with doors opening at 17:00, and presentations starting at 18:00 (it should run until around 21:30 or so). Entry will be a minimum donation of 1000 yen — you’re of course welcome to leave more. To access the event, you’ll need to go to the 3rd floor to get a free ticket to get to the top, and we’ll have signs there to point you to the event space (where you’ll pay the entry fee).

This will also be the first time I present in quite a while — I only presented once at a PechaKucha Night, 3-4 years ago at a special Tokyo Design Week edition with my friend Jesper (it was about the Swedish Style event we had organized at Cafe Pause). This time, I’ll be teaming with Ian, who is responsible for all of the Inspire Japan graphics you’ve been seeing. The presentation will pretty much be about design efforts to raise money for Japan aid, based on that post I started a few days after the quake, as well as the follow-up I did in last month’s edition of my “On Design” column for The Japan Times. For his part of the presentation, Ian will cover the projects he worked on to help raise awareness and collect donations.

The event should be amazing — I mean, you can’t really beat that view — and you’ll also be contributing to reconstruction efforts, so I urge you all to come and support us. Also, if you’d like to help spread the word, feel free to get and use Inspire Japan banners and ads that Ian created, as well as a very cool (and workable) QR code that SET Japan designed for us.

Hey, tomorrow night (Wednesday, February 23) not only marks the momentous Vol. 80 for PechaKucha Night, but this week (and February 20 specifically) also marks PechaKucha’s 8th anniversary. The evening’s presenters will also feature a few friends, including the New York Times‘ Hiroko Tabuchi, Tokyo-based artist Rob Judges, and Edward Harrison (Idle Idol, Fuzz & Fur). Come one, come all, it all happens at SuperDeluxe, with presentations start from 20:20.

After a two month break because of the holidays, PechaKucha Night in Tokyo is back on tonight (January 26) at SuperDeluxe for Vol. 79. It kicks off as always at 20:20, and feel free to come and say hi — I’m always sitting at the very front, next to Mark and Astrid (the MCs). Here’s the list of presenters.