the blog has moved...

Seeing this post? Then you've landed on one of my archived blogs. I've since consolidated all the content posted here on a new site at blog.tardate.com. It is actually built with Jekyll and the sources are actually freely available on GitHub.

Modern Art

A great quote from Craig Damrauer that I found in "Steal Like an Artist"..

Blogarhythm: Modern Life ~ Regurgitator

SNGLISH L.A.

"Of all the driveways in all the streets in the world, you had to stumble into mine.." This caused a mild double-take and u-turn while traveling down Rodeo Drive in LA with a colleague..

Blogarhythm: I've got your number - Elbow.

What if? Journalists had to reference sources...

No matter how they're viewed at home, the BBC remains in my view the international gold standard for news, information, and entertainment. God bless'em. And could you imagine any other "news organisation" (a.k.a. pernicious purveyors of distracting deceits) going so far as to require ".. inline links must go to primary sources only– eg scientific journal article or policy report .. " in their new linking guidelines?

You can find a brilliant argument for why this might be a good idea in Ben Goldacre's book Bad Science: Quacks, Hacks, and Big Pharma Flacks which I've recently read and cannot recommend too highly for anyone with half a brain. And while you are reading, if you find yourself getting pretty angry and muttering curses under your breath, you will probably appreciate a regular media assassination courtesy Curry & Dvorak of the noagenda show.

Blogarhythm: Don't Lie - Black Eyed Peas Update 17-Oct-2011: Ben Goldacre had a good rant about Bad Science at TED this year:

McCheeky

Blogarhythm: Top Jimmy - Mean Street (covering Van Halen)

Shinjuku Pit Inn

10th July 2010: Jazz has been huge in Japan since whenever, but unless you go searching, it's easy to miss the fact that Tokyo has a thumping great live scene. Sites like tokyojazzsite.com are great for getting around the language barrier.

So, it's Saturday afternoon and we're looking for a place to chill so we jump on a train to Shinjuku sanchōme and by my very rough guide we manage to find the Shinjuku Pit Inn. As is always the case with food and music, it's a basement venue.

I had no idea who we might get to see, but we were very lucky to catch a 5 piece outfit who played a 3 hour set through the afternoon (sunglasses definitely required when we emerged back onto the street in the early evening).


This was trad jazz at it's most enthusiastic and dedicated best. Who else would be playing in a dingy, smoke-filled basement on a Saturday afternoon instead of out shopping or lazing the weekend away?

And being in the audience is a serious business - the rows of desks are at once a reminder of a stricter scholastic past and yet a wonderful setting to prop up you G&T, smoke if you please, and just get lost in the music.

The ¥2500 cover charge (including drink) is not bad. I only wish I had discovered this place when I was working in Japan. I can't think of a better way of relaxing on a Saturday afternoon.

Blogarhythm: Relax, take it easy - Mika: Live In Cartoon Motion

NB: I am retro-blogging Tokyo which is why this post is a little delayed

Tsukiji Market

Spoiler alert: not advised reading for those who can't stomach the idea of "real" food!

10th July 2010: Up at 6am to sleepily jump on the train to the Tsukiji Fish Market, only a few stops and a short walk away.

I knew we were going in the right direction because of all the old men with wellington boots and wicker baskets.

Although we didn't arrive in time for the auctions, there was still fearsome activity underfoot, and a seemingly infinite selection of seafood fresh from the boat.


The prize catch is of course the tuna. A fish may have lost it's life, but there's something terrific yet beautiful in the way it it is treated with such reverence.


The true pleasure in visiting the market comes afterwards ... finding a nearby sushi restaurant to enjoy the morning's catch in the best way possible.

The Chutoro was divine as could be expected, but the real surprise was the Kampachi which absolutely knocked my tastebuds out of the ballpark. And even weeks later the thought of the Uni+Ikura sushi immediately makes my mouth water in anticipation of the salty creaminess!


Which leaves me with only one question: is the princely ahi and maguro tuna in ANY way related to the sad excuse for nutritious cardboard that ends up in tins on the supermarket shelves?



Blogarhythm: Fresh - The Lost Fingers

NB: I am retro-blogging Tokyo which is why this post is a little delayed

三鷹の森 ジブリ美術館 Ghibli Museum, Mitaka

9th July 2010: lazy morning before jumping on the train to Mitaka and from there a short walk through the suburban backstreets to the Ghibli Museum - the showcase for the work of Hayao Miyazaki and his スタジオジブリ - STUDIO GHIBLI.

I've always wanted to visit, but discovered on past trips that tickets are extremely hard to obtain! There are some international ticket agents, but most of us need to buy at a Lawson's outlet once in Japan. The problem is that unless you are in Japan for some time, the odds being able to get tickets at Lawson's are not good .. and you also need to struggle with a Japanese touch-screen system;-) Luckily, this trip I was able to get my Uncle to buy tickets in advance.


The museum is one of the very best I've ever visited. I absolutely recommend you put it on your itinerary when visiting Japan!

Whether you are a Miyazaki fan or not, this place can't fail to enthrall. The exhibits are fascinating, many using stroboscopic effects to produce live animation. All have clearly been designed, constructed, and maintained with loving care. This is not your typical two-blocks-of-wood-knocked-together-by-a-work-experience-student-and-probably-not-working-today kind of museum.


There are many hours to be enjoyably lost simply browsing the huge collection of paraphernalia from Miyazaki's life and work - sketches, paintings storyboards, models, research folios, books, books and more books.

Although Totoro is perhaps the most widely-known character created by STUDIO GHIBLI, I think Porco Rosso remains my favourite film of all. What's not to like in a movie about a seaplane-flying pig who fight's off air pirates and rediscovers his secret love?



Walking back to catch the train from Kichijōji turned out to be a good choice; found lots of places for a late lunch near the station. I must have had pigs on my mind, since we ended up at Tare-Katsu where they soak the katsu medallions in lovely brown sauce straight after frying. Yum! Note what they stamp on your loyalty card;-)



Blogarhythm for this post: War Pigs(Black Sabbath cover) - Faith No More from the album Real Thing

NB: I am retro-blogging Tokyo which is why this post is a little delayed