January 2010
24 posts
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My Concession Letter to the Tokyo Morning Subway...
Dear Tokyo Subway,
I’m not a proud man.
I don’t like to lose, but I admit when I have been defeated.
And I get it Tokyo Morning Commute, I get that I am but one humble man, where as you pack the brutal strength of thousands of crushing bodies.
My pointy elbows and cheap space-making tactics I learned from life on the basketball court are no match indeed for the frustrated, late for...
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The Rebellion is Silent in Shinjuku
The rebellion is silent in Shinjuku.
It’s being texted in the streets.
And tweeted in the alleys.
It’s being retweeted and followed in the crossing.
It’s being preached on graphic t-shirts
And being shouted through headphones
And being spread in the wireless ether to the anonymous masses.
It’s being followed by skaters
And girls dressed as cartoons
And etched into...
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Open Letter to the American Punks Olleying in a...
Guys, this isn’t Pasadena.
This is Tokyo, Japan.
There is no pre-existing history of imagined and overhyped cultural rebellion that you can clearly express by hopping up and down on a wooden board with wheels on the bottom.
Your angst filled ollies are falling on deaf ears.
There is no tradition of ‘sticking it to the Man’ here.
In fact, the Man hasn’t even been found...
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I Like How No One in Tokyo Judges Me For Wearing a...
If I wore this cape every day in the States, I would get ripped on every single minute of the day. No one would be able to get over it.
I’d be labeled a freak.
They’d call me Cape Guy, or Superman, or some other kind of really clever cultural reference designed to undermine my credibility.
But here, in Tokyo, I’m just another face in the crowd.
I can confidently stride to...
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iPhone App Review: Oyl In Tokyo
There is a new app out in the iPhone application store that allows you to follow the postings, photos and tweets of the author of Oyl In Tokyo, Oyl Miller.
The application has value when the content of this prodigious self-publisher is more universal than self-centered. Users will have to pardon the occasional personal aside that seems to make few more than the author himself giggle in delight.
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Indiana Jones in Tokyo
If there were an Indiana Jones adventure set in Japan, Indy would no doubt start off in Tokyo.
He would bump into, or get abducted rather, by a gang of yakuza thugs and be blindfolded and taken to the big boss in some lavish Shinjuku penthouse overlooking the city skyline.
There we would be promised the resources to retrieve an important Buddhist artifact located high in the remote hills above a...
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Tokyo Smokers Club
I just came to have a nice bowl of taco rice, not deal with a surprise attack of poisoned air.
After my order was in, THEY arrived.
Four dark suit clad gents, with corporate briefcases handcuffed to their wrists.
Apparently the briefcases were filled with nothing but cigarettes, because as soon as they sat down, they put on en epic / comic / tragic display of mega puffing.
Visibly stressed...
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The Native American Ethos of Harajuku
Amid the digital fury and forever newness of a metropolis like Tokyo, Japan, there lies something primordial in the trending winds these days.
The Native American spirit is taking over the streets of Harajuku.
The patterns, beads, chief heads and feathers have indelibly soaked themselves into the fabric of fashion now.
Nearly every shop across the district has a shelf dedicated to their take on...
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Park Hyatt Breakfast
The light coming in through the gargantuan triangular windows of the 39th floor lobby gives the whole place a science fiction, city in the clouds type of vibe. Everything perfectly lit in the pure white of brunch time daylight.
Robotically moving men and women dressed in black encircle you as they remove your jackets and scarves and point you in the direction of your table. It’s the kind of...
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The Analog Counter-Revolution
You can feel it starting to happen…
The world has become too digital, and too saturated with digital choices. Digital has become this vague blanket word, like Entertainment, or Music. What it all basically boils down to is some kind of elaborate imitation of life. Just as there is music of all styles and genres, so too are there digital representations and formats suited for all types.
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