Our man in London is still in Nippon. Second update below.
"Coming to you live & direct from a bullet train, breaking new ground with 200mph email. Buck rogers sh*t.
Found a sick 2nd hand store, stacks of flannel, vintage denim, redwings etc. Got chatting (via my interpreter) to a dude in the Evisu store, they had 2 more 'hidden' branches in the same block. Absolutely no signage whatsoever, Goodfellas style intro, a la the restaurant dolly shot. Upstairs was full of yakuza suits & shirts then a room full of embroidered fishing vests, denim/neoprene golfclub covers (with tiny painted evisu pockets, natch). Just insane - how do they turn a profit?? Cool seeing them hand painting logos on jeans tho', my opinion of the brand is sky high now - hating on the big logos in London but totally different context here.
Turning in now - forgot to mention that I visited Beams yesterday & that I didn't snap anything...oops. Heading back tomo’ so should have another shot at it. Bullet train is The Man. High speeds/great scenery/no check-in/baggage collection... Ditching the trip to Nagasaki - 5/6hr round trip (don't mention the war, etc) - Checking out F'oka then back to Tokyo. Let's see if I get the bottle to ask out one of those beautiful Shibuya girls (whose skin is darker than mine). Collar & cuffs, mate..."
Tuesday, January 6
Monday, January 5
2008 cinescape
Matt Shapiro’s retrospective film montage "2008: The Cinescape" via slashfilm. Hoppípolla is getting a hair overused by all these trailers now, but hard to complain with your mouth full.
His 2007 montage is available here.
omil takes japan -1
Our man in London is currently in Japan. Update below is a few days old, but pictures and more to follow.
"Live and direct from Tokyo. Konnichiwa from the land of hideous jetlag! Arrived 11am (GMT+9) this morning, nearing 1am now. Hoping I can sleep well tonight and hit the streets tomorrow on the denim trail. Already scoped out the original Evisu store (location = a district of the same name).
Feeling vaguely human today after toughing out the ‘lag. Already scoped out a pair of those wooden clog things for the collection… in a local shoe shop, around a fiver, classic. Working the lone swordsman angle.
It is lost in translation style... but no pouty young babes in expensive hotels hahaha. NYE was a wash-out but have had a couple of good nights since… have yet to wake up the right side of midday yet... bit of a izakaya (pub) crawl yesterday, ended up in a local boozer. Drinking Mickey's and playing darts!! only in Japan. Off the dial. Heated toilet seats, electronic dart boards, what's not to love?? did the sake bit earlier in the evening, hence the late start 'ouch'.
Visited that Evisu main store, you've got to see this place... they have a huge vintage loom on permanent display with $300 pairs of jeans casually draped over it. along with the more ker-ray-zee modern styles/patterns. They have some beautiful workwear in there; gloves, bags, got my beady eye on a pair of dungarees-not selvage but really nice, stiff new denim. hmmm. will revisit to take some snaps.
Also found some low key local places (Nakameguro) that sell lots of original indigo cotton and denim but updated styling. Row upon row of the stuff. Suddenly, i feel like a real man .. I'm having to ask for L/XL rather than S/M sizes.. hahaha
did a blitz of Hanjuku yesterday but, aside from the neon and Harajuku girls, it's a bit identikit .. Gap, Gucci, Zara .. blah blah.
Had a good laugh thinking of something you'd enjoy .. it's like a "Do's/Dont's" paradise here. crimes against fashion as far as the eye can see but they still look killer. Speaking of which, weird episode in a department store. Drifting around, spotted probably the only active shop lifter in Tokyo surrounded by guards near an exit. In samurai style, no angry exchange, no tussle, the dude was just standing there looking a bit sheepish. 20 mins later, I'm a few floors lower down, same thief guy comes running at me, closely followed by the same guards. he turns around, pulls out a gun and fired it in the air!! turned out to be a starter pistol but was nearly touching cloth for a mo'.. never a dull moment, eh?
Apols for weird spelling etc but these Japanese keyboards a 'mare......"
"Live and direct from Tokyo. Konnichiwa from the land of hideous jetlag! Arrived 11am (GMT+9) this morning, nearing 1am now. Hoping I can sleep well tonight and hit the streets tomorrow on the denim trail. Already scoped out the original Evisu store (location = a district of the same name).
Feeling vaguely human today after toughing out the ‘lag. Already scoped out a pair of those wooden clog things for the collection… in a local shoe shop, around a fiver, classic. Working the lone swordsman angle.
It is lost in translation style... but no pouty young babes in expensive hotels hahaha. NYE was a wash-out but have had a couple of good nights since… have yet to wake up the right side of midday yet... bit of a izakaya (pub) crawl yesterday, ended up in a local boozer. Drinking Mickey's and playing darts!! only in Japan. Off the dial. Heated toilet seats, electronic dart boards, what's not to love?? did the sake bit earlier in the evening, hence the late start 'ouch'.
Visited that Evisu main store, you've got to see this place... they have a huge vintage loom on permanent display with $300 pairs of jeans casually draped over it. along with the more ker-ray-zee modern styles/patterns. They have some beautiful workwear in there; gloves, bags, got my beady eye on a pair of dungarees-not selvage but really nice, stiff new denim. hmmm. will revisit to take some snaps.
Also found some low key local places (Nakameguro) that sell lots of original indigo cotton and denim but updated styling. Row upon row of the stuff. Suddenly, i feel like a real man .. I'm having to ask for L/XL rather than S/M sizes.. hahaha
did a blitz of Hanjuku yesterday but, aside from the neon and Harajuku girls, it's a bit identikit .. Gap, Gucci, Zara .. blah blah.
Had a good laugh thinking of something you'd enjoy .. it's like a "Do's/Dont's" paradise here. crimes against fashion as far as the eye can see but they still look killer. Speaking of which, weird episode in a department store. Drifting around, spotted probably the only active shop lifter in Tokyo surrounded by guards near an exit. In samurai style, no angry exchange, no tussle, the dude was just standing there looking a bit sheepish. 20 mins later, I'm a few floors lower down, same thief guy comes running at me, closely followed by the same guards. he turns around, pulls out a gun and fired it in the air!! turned out to be a starter pistol but was nearly touching cloth for a mo'.. never a dull moment, eh?
Apols for weird spelling etc but these Japanese keyboards a 'mare......"
the 251 club
Text below paraphrased from VTLiving.com.
Vermont's 251 Club was suggested first in 1954 in a Vermont Life Magazine article by commentator Arthur Wallace Peach. The 251 Club was introduced to encourage Vermonters to get to know their state. Vermont has 251 towns and the premise of the club is that members visit every one of Vermont's 251 towns and cities.
The 251 Club is still active today and meets twice a year and distributes a newsletter by snail mail to club members. (nor do they have an real website- ed. but you do get a nice window decal...)
The club is open to everyone - you do not have to be a Vermont resident to join, and operates on the honor system and does not require member to "prove" they have visited every town, but members are encouraged to take photos for documentation and entertainment purposes. (a few members have set up flickr tags or websites, e.g. redjar, vt251(this site gives you a visual of your progress), or flickr tag 251club.
You can join for seven dollars a year. For more information call 1-802-229-0253 or e-mail thevt251club@aol.com.
Saturday, January 3
danny bhoy -visitors guide to scotland
Scottish humour. Dry as a freekin' bone. NSFW.
Scary part is, it is 90% true. Again, full disclosure, this guy Danny is the younger brother of a good friend. Great "fried breakfast" bit i posted ages ago here.
Scary part is, it is 90% true. Again, full disclosure, this guy Danny is the younger brother of a good friend. Great "fried breakfast" bit i posted ages ago here.
fisherman's friend -since 1865
Take your cold/cough treatment to a nautical level. Dexetrin, Licorice, Menthol. Aaahhhh. Extra starker geschmack.
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