MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY HOLIDAYS 2022

we touched this same spot with our hands, our feet, our gaze and our dreams

Thursday, February 28, 2013

ONE WAY OUT!


Jimi Hendrix All Along The Watchtower Lyrics
"There must be some kind of way out of here,"
Said the joker to the thief,
"There's too much confusion,
I can't get no relief.
Businessman they drink my wine,
Plowman dig my earth
None will level on the line, nobody offered his word, hey"

"No reason to get excited,"
The thief, he kindly spoke
"There are many here among us
Who feel that life is but a joke
But you and I, we've been through that
And this is not our fate
So let us not talk falsely now, the hour is getting late"

All along the watchtower
Princes kept the view
While all the women came and went
Barefoot servants, too

Outside in the cold distance
A wildcat did growl
Two riders were approaching
And the wind began to howl

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

DO YOU REMEMBER HARIMAO?

オープニング - 快傑ハリマオ 第一回 拳銃少年 (1960)

Monday, February 25, 2013

GOLD BRINGS RELIEF

Gold gifts still mystify tsunami-wracked city


Gold gifts still mystify tsunami-wracked city Kunio Sunow, president of the Ishinomaki Fish Market, shows off gold at his office in Ishinomaki on February 22, 2013 AFP
ISHINOMAKI —
A city devastated by the 2011 tsunami disaster remains mystified more than two weeks after receiving anonymous gifts of gold bars worth over 20 million yen.

A fish market in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, received a parcel containing gold bars weighing a total of two kilograms in early February, about a month ahead of the disaster’s second anniversary on March 11.

Kunio Sunow, president of the Ishinomaki Fish Market which was destroyed in the disaster, said he casually opened the mystery parcel addressed to him.

“I was stunned because… in there was 24-carat gold in two plates,” he told AFP.

“We don’t have to identify this person of goodwill… but we want to let them know we are grateful. If possible, I want to invite him or her to the completion of a new market” set for early 2015, he added.
More gold bars were sent to other area organizations. They were mailed from Nagano in packages which contained only the word “assistance” on the inside.

“We couldn’t be more grateful,” said Seitaro Omori, who works for Manbow, a public-private company helping rebuild Ishinomaki.

Omori said handwriting on all the parcels appeared to be the same, suggesting one good Samaritan was behind the gifts. Some of the bars were wrapped in pages from a health magazine for seniors, he added.

Over at the Ishinomaki Revival Support Network, the shiny gift sparked disbelief.

“I opened the mail half-worried as it was heavy… and then everybody in the room said ‘Wow!’,” said Yoshie Kaneko, who heads the non-profit group.

Ishinomaki was devastated by the 9.0 earthquake and massive tsunami it generated on March 11, 2011.

The disaster killed nearly 19,000 people, including more than 3,000 in Ishinomaki, and sparked the world’s worst nuclear accident in a generation.

At current market prices, the total of six kilograms of gold bars could be worth more than 20 million yen.

Saturday, February 23, 2013

100 YEARS IN TOKYO

Finnish photographer looks at life in Tokyo


Finnish photographer looks at life in Tokyo

TOKYO — 

“100 years in Tokyo” is a series of 202 portraits, photographed in Tokyo in 2009-2012. The book contains portraits of men and women for each year of age from 0 to 100.

The book has its origins in photographer Petri Artturi Asikainen’s deep interest in the city. He has lived in Tokyo on several occasions since 2009. For him, the visual abundance of the city makes it exceptionally fascinating. It feels as
familiar as any Western metropolis, yet completely different and strange.

The theme of Asikanen’s pictures is the full range of human life. Simultaneously, he hopes to have succeeded in creating a portrait of Tokyo. It is the people that make the city. A flip through video of the book is available here.

Asikainen is a Finnish photographer, who has worked on freelance basis for 20 years. He has contributed to several newspapers, magazines and corporate publications, specializing in portraits and photo editorials.

The book is available in Tokyo at Gallery and bookstore Sokyusha, NADiff a/p/a/r/t, NADiff X10 (Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography Bookstore), Aoyama Book Center Aoyama and Roppongi; Junkudo Ikebukuro, Kichijoji and Umeda (Osaka); Tsutaya T-Site Daikanyama and Shelf.
Price (including tax): 3,675 yen
ISBN: 9789526047003
216 pages, hard cover
Published by Aalto ARTS Books, Musta Taide
Languages: Japanese, English and Finnish

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Widespread fish fraud

Widespread fish fraud

A study released by the ocean-conservation group Oceana reveals that consumers in the United States often purchase fish that has been mislabeled. Read related article.

 

Saturday, February 02, 2013