What I Did on My Summer Non-Vacation
I shamefully admit that 2009 has not been a great year for attaining my previous levels of web prolificacy. Recession and real life are keeping me from leisurely penning long essays on complex topics. Twitter has been a good outlet, but blogging has gotten to be hard. I think that Kyabajo one took me literally six months to finish up.
Anyway, here are some of the numerous things that I have been up to:
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1) I wrote an article in Japanese for Brutus on the late great writer George Plimpton for the Autumn Fashion Issue “Mr. Gentleman.” Now on stands, featuring a special Thom Browne-directed “Brutus Gentleman’s Book.” |
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2) I wrote about half the articles/interviews in the Onitsuka Tiger/Zoo Magazine collaboration “Made of Japan” — in celebration of the shoe brand’s 60th anniversary. It will be available on newsstands soon (I think), but TAB already has it on sale as part of a special limited-edition set. My interview/profile subjects include Shugo Tokumaru, Verbal (m-flo, Teriyaki Boyz), Chiho Aoshima, Kiyoshi Kuroda, Tomokazu “Matzu” Matsuyama, Hirofumi Kurino (United Arrows), Soichiro Ito (SOE), Toshikazu Iwaya (Dress33), Rinko Kawauchi, mint designs, Né-net, Writtenafterwards, Final Home, DOG, and Bruce Osborn. |
3) I was interviewed for a documentary on Japanese indie music called Live From Tokyo last year, and the trailer is out. Looks great.
Live From Tokyo Trailer from Lewis Rapkin on Vimeo.
4) I think I was on an episode of Tokyo Eye about Ura-Harajuku at some point this summer.
5) I completely forgot how to do formatting in HTML.
6) I published a Japanese language backpage piece in Weekly Diamond (週刊ダイヤモンド）in late July. New semi-monthly blog on market trends and culture in Japanese (and maybe also English) coming soon from parties related.
September 15, 2009 at 11:32 pm
More of the usual superfluous crap then.
Still pushing the “crazy Tokyo, look at the lights
and the trains and all the fashion” idea ?
September 16, 2009 at 7:39 am
Now you’re just being mean without making any sense.
September 16, 2009 at 8:49 am
Anybody who has spent ANY time in Tokyo knows there are no trains, lights, or fashions. Residents, if there even ARE any, get from “place” to “place” by bicycle, naked, in the dark.
Although I will say, in response to the implied accusation of frivolity, that it’d be cool to see a neoj panel about the election and aftermath.
September 16, 2009 at 10:47 am
Twitter is an amazing phenomenon, but I have noticed in many cases an alarming negative correlation (but not necessarily a causation) between the amount a blogger tweets and the amount a blogger posts. I would have thought that, in the same way a good jam session will bear fruit in a well constructed tune, the 140-character soup that Twitter is would materialize in everybody’s blogposts being more frequent and/or more informed.
It’s not just the Neojaponisme crowd. This negative correlation is everywhere.
[soapbox rant ends]
Anyhow, I like your podcasts, and I also hope to read the articles you mention above.