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Your Guide to Design and Pop Culture in Tokyo

TOKYO X CREATIVES: Meteor Trailer

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.

1 Minute of Pre-PechaKucha Night Vol 89

Here’s another 1-minute video for today, recorded at this past Thursday’s PechaKucha Night Vol. 89, before things started, as people were still arriving to the venue (SuperDeluxe) — it’s on YouTube too. You can quickly find all of my previous 1-minute videos here.

More Videos from the Ice Climbing Trip

Here’s the final batch of 1-minute videos I recorded while on a recent trip to the Southern Alps in Yamanashi prefecture for some ice climbing (my wife, not me). They’re all embedded in this post, or you can go directly to the Vimeo pages (Falling Ice, Water and Leaves, Water and Snow, Climbing) — they’re up on YouTube too (Falling Ice, Water and Leaves, Water and Snow, Climbing). I think a nice way to watch these is through Apple TV if connected to a big TV, looks great that way. You’ll find all of my previous 1-minute videos here.

Stream

Here are two more “1 Minute” videos that I recorded while in our recent ice climbing trip in the Southern Alps (Yamanashi prefecture) — here’s the first one. These two videos are up on YouTube as well (here and here). In case you’re wondering why I’m doing so many of these, my plan is do at least 10 before moving on to a different project.

Ice Climbing

I’ve got a new “1 Minute” video up, this time recorded during our trip this past Saturday to the Southern Alps in Yamanashi, so that my wife could do a bit of ice climbing. I recorded quite a few “1 Minute” videos while I was there, and I’ll be sharing them over the next few days. It’s up on YouTube as well.

TOKYO X CREATIVES

If you regularly check the participants list of PauseTalk events, then you’ve probably spotted the name Niko Lanzuisi quite a few times. A regular at the events, he’s a very talented filmmaker, and he’s been working on a few different video projects over the past year, and the latest is called TOKYO X CREATIVES. The idea is to create a series of shorts, with each focusing on one Tokyo creative — I’ll humbly add that I will be one of the initial six interviewees. Included in this post are the two first video teasers, and there are four more to come. Niko is actually trying to shop these around, to get some funding to continue doing them, so if you like what you see help spread the word (or if you’re a production company or publisher, get in touch with Niko).

The trailer above is for the interview with UAMOU creator Ayako Takagi, and the one below features chiptune artist OMODAKA performing at last month’s FAMIMODE event — you’ll find more details on each of the video’s Vimeo pages.

1 Minute of After-PauseTalk

Here’s a new 1-minute video for Vimeo’s “1 Minute” group, this time recorded after last night’s main session of PauseTalk Vol. 57 was over. I’ll have the participant’s list up later today.

Sound Board

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.

Sleeping Dog

I recently got an Apple TV — mostly to easily stream videos to the TV, but me and my wife have also discovered the joys of streaming music through it, which for us is the first time we have a “stereo” in our home (the speakers on our Sharp Aquos sound quite nice). One of my favorite things to do with it though as been to watch videos from Vimeo. It’s such a great experience, considering that most of them are in HD, and it truly feels like I’m having my own little film fests at home every day. I used to really miss the Resfest, since back in the day it was one of the only places where you could really see interesting short films, but not anymore.

Anothing thing is that watching all these shorts has really been inspiring me to try and do some little video projects. I remember being excited when I got my iPhone 4 in part because of the HD video it could record, but I never ended up using it. I’ve decided to start by doing little clips, based on this post I found on Vimeo, that suggests little projects you can do. First up, and the easiest, is to do clips for the “1 Minute” group (no editing, no camera movements, natural sounds). My first video, “Sleeping Dog,” is of course of my dog being pretty much oblivious to anything around him (it’s on YouTube too).

Kickstarter Campaign for Letter to Jane

Let me point you to a new post on The Magaziner that helps explain why you should go and support this Kickstarter campaign to help finance a fourth issue of Letter to Jane on iPad. Tim’s a friend of mine, and he’s been doing some amazing work in terms of editorial publishing on iPad — first with his independent magazine called Letter to Jane, and then by collaborating on the third issue of Port magazine. I really want to see this fourth issue happen, so please consider chipping in a few shekels — and for $200, he’ll even give you the source code.

u+uco at PKN Vol. 85

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. 

Salyu x Salyu

I’ll be honest, I haven’t been excited about any music coming out of Japan in quite a while, but as I mentioned in that quick post on the new episode of Codex, I am absolutely in love with the new album by Salyu (using the name “Salyu x Salyu”), s(o)un(d)beams, produced by Cornelius (Keigo Oyamada). It’s basically like getting a new Cornelius record, but an inspired one (something I did not feel with 2006′s Sensuous). 

Above is a video for the first single from the album, but even better is to experience it using the Chrome Music Mixer (and here’s another video that sort of replicates the same effect). There’s also an iPhone app music visualizer based on the album.

Gym Class Magazine 07

As I teased last week, Gym Class Magazine 07 is now out, and can be purchased online from the GCM online shop. Lots of great content in this issue, including a terrific cover story on George Lois, and a short interview by me with composer Shigeru Umebayashi. Steven — the man behind the magazine — even created a nice little video (above) to show off some of it.

Vogue UK on iPad Is Pricey

Vogue UK for iPad has just been released, and as much as I’d like to get it so I can review here, I’m just not willing to pay the $7 asking price. Here then is a video that teases the issue that was “ninety four years in the making,” and I’m sure we can expect some impressions from Jeremy over at MagCulture soon enough.

And speaking of Jeremy, do take a look at his recent post covering this past week’s big title releases on iPad (New York Magazine, Wired UK, and Eureka). I’m late on my reviews of Wired UK and Eureka, but will try to have something up over the weekend (and I do pretty much agree with Jeremy’s views).

Let me also mention that I’m very open to getting some review copies of iPad magazines (download codes) to cover here — it’s getting expensive for me to properly review everything I’d like to cover.

Linefeed Reading List for October 2010

Michael’s latest “Linefeed Reading List” video is up, covering a few releases from October. Magazines included are: Fire & Knives, Stranded, Gasbook Pop, Paris Vogue, Another Man, Circus, Block, and It’s Nice That.

PauseTalk

PauseTalk is a regular series of events that take place at Cafe Pause on the first Monday of every month, with a start time of 20:00. The idea is to create a forum where Tokyo-based creatives can get together and discuss their own projects, as well as cultural currents of the city. The next edition happens June 4.

We hereby define a new term, that of the magaziner, described as a person who exerts an unhealthy amount of love for all things magazine. The Magaziner is a site that mostly focuses on the intersection between magazines and the digital frontier, and what it means for the medium. This does not preclude the inclusion of a healthy amount of print love.

Codex is a weekly music podcast hosted by Jean Snow, recorded in Tokyo. Playlists for all episodes are posted on the site, and you can subscribe to RSS feeds of posts and episodes.

Jean Snow is a contributor to Arcade Mania, your guide to the arcade gaming scene in Japan (Amazon US/Amazon Japan). He also provided assistance on Tokyolife: Art and Design, a guide to Tokyo's cultural output of the past few years, covering the works of over 80 influential creatives.
He will be contributing to the upcoming fifth editions of The Rough Guide to Tokyo and The Rough Guide to Japan, due for release in 2011.

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Jean Snow is Executive Director of the PechaKucha organization. He also helps run the PechaKucha Night in Tokyo -- please get in touch if you are interested in presenting at a future event. For a more intimate salon-like discussion group, join him at his monthly PauseTalk event.

A longtime resident of Tokyo, he lives and breathes design, pop culture, and gaming, sustained by an unhealthy addiction to magazines and frequent visits to his favorites cafes. He has reported on these obsessions for various online/offline publications, including the following: Time, Inside (Australian Design Review), Gizmodo, Gridskipper, Kotaku, 1UP, Tokyo Q, Superfuture, OK Fred, Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel, I.D. (International Design), Metropolis, Azure, MoCo Loco, Kateigaho International Edition, Wired's Game|Life, PingMag, CNNGo, Phaidon, and The Japan Times.

You can subscribe to an RSS feed of this site, and also follow him on Twitter and Facebook, or get in touch by email.

 

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The "Jean Snow" logo is written using the free Kirimomi Swash typeface. The "M31" logo is by Ian Lynam, and is part of a series of 31 unique designs. The site's design is based on the Grid Focus WordPress theme by Derek Punsalan.

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