Monday, October 31, 2005

we

Img_0470since december last year, when we basically spent the whole winter locked away in what i like to think of as a cosy log cabin in the woods but was in actual fact a studio apartment the size of a caravan on the outskirts of tokyo, we have been meaning to get together, collaborate, mix it up multicultural style. for any of you who have read the about page of this site/blog/page you may have noticed that we originally intended to  go halves on the writing side of things. so far i have been 100% writer and the boy has been more of a silent partner in this whole venture, a fact finder and information giver/interpreter.  but i am pushing more, ensuring we are going on plenty of dates to trendy tokyo hot spots to fuel him with enough inspiration to spring into literary action sometime soon. so keep yours eyes peeled for some entertaining english to come...
oh and happy halloween - alas i fail to provide any post worthy pictures of me in the insanely oversized, neck to toe, fluffy bear costume i sported all day. i danced, sang, read, drew, skipped, smiled, guided, played the day away with a superficial aura of friendly beary fluffy love, while underneath it all i was literally sweating like a pig. feeling my legs go to jelly on a number of occassions due to my out of control body temperature, i gave thanks to the saint of halloween for providing the candy sugar rush that kept me on my paws just long enough to wave the last buzz light year and disney princess off at 2 oclock this afternoon.

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there was some crazy heat happening on the street as i rushed to the station saturday night (was on my way to meet zume at a spunky daikanyama cafe - a date at the place we first met aahhh how romantic) trying ever so hard not to be late, as i usually am for most social events, i was struck by the bright flashing lights and the men in uniform swarming the street. i couldn't help but take a few snapshots. the crowd was so intense and ever increasing and the fleet of red fire trucks made our eventless street seem like a hollywood movie set.
seems someone or something was trapped on the 5th story of a tired looking apartment block. i really couldn't stick around to witness the full outcome of the rescue. but alls i can say is that 'when the subway explodes into a million pieces and i just happen to be riding it - there had better be just as many frantic fire officers and their shiny red trucks at my rescue!'

Saturday, October 22, 2005

mt fuji animation

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some friends and i got together today for a short course on clay animation. i have played around with imovie, sprouted fancy ideas and made a few video collections but i had never known the technique behind the pingu style flicks.
after a quick brainstorming sesh, we decided to go with the erupting volcano theme. scanning the classroom we were in, we caught site of a spring water bottle brandishing the almighty fujisan as its logo. we were thinking something educational with a twist. a simple 123 or abc concept, infused with a splash of mechanically operated and heavenly sent natural disaster.
the end result... "Now is the time to learn count to 4!"
You can click here or on the above photo to check out our first and slightly rushed attempt at clay animation on vimeo.
for those of you who cant view it...
its basically a paper and clay model of fuji with cherry red lava already spilling over the sides, a fine looking hand comes down from the heavens, finger outstretched to press an oversized button perched on the side of the volcano, causing a construction paper and clay explosion resembling a volcanic eruption. numbers in sequence start to fly out, spinning this way and that... (we originally wanted to count to 20...but ended up getting to 4) and landing next to fujisan which continues to erupt with ferocity until that same hand reaches down squashing fuji with almighty force and then rips it fair off the earth. (a bit of dramatic and horrific counting practice for early childhood learners - that oughta get em lovin math!!!)
oh and 'the watch' well thats another story...

Monday, October 17, 2005

integration matsuri - claska



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clicking around the yogajaya
site, as i often do in the hope that i will latch onto enough
inspiration and good intention to propel me from my daydreamy state in
front of this bloody computer fair onto the floor of their studio in
omotesando with the yoga mat i bought for the purpose 3 MONTHS AGO, i
found that an ultra cool event had been organised. an event i wasn't
going to miss for the world.

integration matsuri was a line up of all the things my daydreamings
consist of...capoeira, yoga, smooth tunes and lush vodka and tonics,
all in a very sleek space - claska meguro.

most excitingly the craziest awe-inspiring man i have ever had the
pleasure of casting my dreamy eyes over (as i laze around staring at
the photos of him in his books in seriously impossible yoga
poses)...david swenson - ashtanga yogi extradonaire.

the night, for us, kicked off (literally) with a high energy, steam
building capoeira performance by an very fine looking yokohaman group



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and ended as i turned around to watch zume drop, with fainting
motion from the perch he had been sat up on, all pale faced and ready
to vomit over the silent and yogafied crowd.  seems that the warm,
concentrated energy of the room created during the yoga performance
coupled with the fact that the room was asked to be silent to aid the
focus, was all too much for the boy who had been clock watching, deep
yawning, mint chewing and fidgiting for 20 mintues in an attempt to
prolong the inevitable...a near social disaster and a rapid escape from
the over heated and far too centered room.

an extremely awesome event!
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Saturday, October 15, 2005

novice knitter...indeed

Dsc06825recognition and public esteem come in many forms, but i am oh so proud to announce that zume has made his mark, exhausted 3.5 seconds of fame as a 'novice knitter'. obviously looking like a fish out of water at last week's tokyo stitch and bitch meeting, zume spoke candidly (as he is often known to do) to a curious reporter from the asahi shimbun...and whadda you know he made it to print...
"I'm getting the hang of it," says Masao Tamaoki, a novice who admits
he has yet to be struck with the knitting passion. "I think it's good
for the brain. That's why I'm doing it right now."
i'm as proud as punch (never really known what that idiom means but it sums up exactly how im feeling)
read the full story on asahi.com
thanks to anna for the tip off

Sunday, October 09, 2005

hair update

our appointment was made for 12 at the harajuku toni & guy salon. i think we were both a little apprehensive as we rushed to make it on time. but once inside all my worries seemed to float away. i adore the salon experience, the washing basins, the smell of hair products, the sound of the driers and those funky stylist hip bags that hold all the tools of their trade, its the whole package.
my stylist, sunao, put me at ease straight away confidently displaying what he would like to do and saying 'yeah let's go for it' (a straight perm).
anna and i sat side by side and chatted as the team went to work on our locks. she was done before me and swished from the salon looking so captivating and cosmopolitan, in true anna style. i took my camera along to snap off some shots of her new do, but i was wrapped up in the goings on and didnt have a chance to take any pics, so i hope she posts some on her site, she looks fabulous.
my transformation was a lengthy one, but a relaxing and new experience. wash - massage - cut - dry - treatment - rinse - dry - iron - treatment - rinse - cut - dry - style and...tadaa
the final product



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GOD SORRY BOUT THE BIG GAUDY PIC - not sure how to resize it
i have never had smooth straight hair before, its a strange but good feeling. and i dont think it is possible to look more like my sister, unintentionally i am her doppelganger.
here she is showing off one of her fine hair moments



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tokyo stitch and bitch

who knew knitting could be so cool? and so addictive...i have tried to resist the urge, and while i really cant see myself getting any further than a scarf, i have been sitting on the couch knitting just a little.



Dsc09978on tuesday night we ventured out to hang with the tokyo stitichers and bitchers at the pink cow in omotesando. i had first heard about the group after reading pinku's (organiser of the tokyo group) posts. the thought of going along and getting crafty had kind of slipped away. although seems it is such a small world, it was not long after that as anna and i sat sipping on our afternoon cuppas, she began to tell me about this cool knitters group and a very awesome chick, knitter extraordinaire that she had met (pinku).
anna is a pretty whiz bang knitter herself, her completed projects range from the very cute to the very vintage, so it was a bit intimidating to consider myself surrounded by such pros. to soften the blow i decided to take zume along with me. anna offered to be his knitting sensei and a very fine job she did. surpisingly he was not the only guy there. the other male knitters showed off their speed and precision, while zume was content to dabble in a bit of soft core knitting, but i think far more interested in what was on the pink cow's menu. unfortunately he was not overly inspired by all of the super talented knitters, although he found it very intriguing and i'm sure was wondering how the crafty group found time to play their PSPs and muck around with their macs if they were creating such complex treasures.


Tuesday, October 04, 2005

tokyo hair

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in an attempt to make up for the previous egomaniacal post and get back to the real issue at hand - TOKYO...i wanted to share with you the small range of, yet typically cool, tokyo hair dos i found in my recent search...

if you are checking out some new looks for your tuft, you should definitely sneek a peek at uk hairdressers, while the focus is on salons in the uk, they also feature a few funky styles crafted by Xchange Japan.
and the farouk salon USA take hair to a new level



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and while i did stumble across some pretty trippy stuff when i goggled tokyo hair styles (e.g. japanese women styling their pubic hair to resemble the hair on beckhams head, which i personally dont think is a fanatical thing i think the resemblance is pure coincidence. ive been to onsens, thus have conducted adequate research on the shape of japanese womens pubic hair and i noted a number of grandmas, mums and unsporty types flashing a stylish albeit much darker beckham)



i think the best bet for the latest and greatest street styles, hair or other, is style-arena tokyo street style



as for tokyo hair salon's...
you could try hairfinder.com

and if you are ever in doubt that you are in good hands...frame mag assures you tokyo is the place to be as far as your hair is concerned

metropolis lists some of the problems
as for me...i'm going straight to the ones i know and love - toni & guy

Monday, October 03, 2005

hair today gone tomorrow

Reality_bites_2i totally blame lelaina for this! as i sat here dribbling through my past and grasping to recollect most of it, i ran smack bang into one of the turning points in the life of my hair. sure i had always been obsessed with brushes, combs, mirrors, hair pins, hair ties, ribbons, even scrunchies (and other weird and wonderful hair contraptions that would be advertised on the burt newton show for the amazing price of $39.95 but then sold off at the $2 shop when the original sales figures plummeted) but it was winona's character in reality bites that really fuelled the flames of hair obsession for me.
1994 was a tender time, 17 years of age, fresh out of senior and looking to break free, try new things. as a teenager with a head of wild and wooly hair i was especially eager to change the look that had given me so much attention. others would pour it on thick...'wow look at your hair' 'most women would pay a lot of money to have hair like you' and other continuous ramblings. i often thought but never said...'well most women would be friggin out of their tree if they ended up with a mound of curly locks like me, so thick and revolting, cause of the most irritating scalp itch and soaker of gallons of hair products'
so when trends started to change and the grungy, short matted look grew more popular...i was hooked!! i would parade in front of the mirror for hours - hair pinned back glancing from side to side, admiring my new look to be. 
i remember the day i did it, a friend had an aunty who i thought was seriously one of the coolest women i had ever laid eyes on. her fashion was street, her piercings were many and her hair was shaved and dyed purple (it was the 90's). best thing of all she was a hair dresser. i was dropped off at her house with a flowing golden mane and picked up with a funky new do. i think there was a tear in mums eye...and maybe a tear in mine when my new style was so very much different to the pinned back version i had simulated in the weeks before the chop. after a number of bad cuts i think i ended up growing the mop back for a while. but i always envied the girls with the funky crops and knew i just had to try it again
perhaps it was a year or two later and i ended up in the barbers chair again, this time at a stylish and expensive inner city salon. my stylist was reknowned for his work, sporting a spunky bleached shag he asked me what i wanted. feeling adventurous and wanting to appear cool and carefree i said 'just go for it, do what ever you want' about 2 hours and $211 later, i swished from the salon not quite sure what had just happened but later realising that in my eagerness to act hip and desensitised to any kind of shock, i had allowed the spunk with the shag to basically shave my hair down to the roots apart from a few whisps from the crown of my head which were a shimmering gold and copper colour.
i dont know if it was the exhiliration of that experience or the fact that i never had the energy to go through the 'growing out' phase, but i have pretty much had my hair short (and loved it) for the last decade. i have have had crushes on most of my gay stylists, rejoiced in the feeling of a 3hour salon visit, and always felt a weight lifted with every new cut. the wonderful thing about short hair it that it allowed so much experimentation, i wish i could show you some of my older predigital photos, i have been every colour from platinum and champaign to blue black and silver/ purple (that one was not on purpose), i have chopped it myself, chipped at it, shaved it and smoothed it.
but since coming to tokyo i have pretty much had the same do, with a few shade and style variations...586032882106_0_alb


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i had been floating merrily along until people started commenting again 'wow look at your hair' 'its so curly isnt it?' 'what have you done to your hair' then zume reminded me, much to my horror, i have not had a hair cut for 6 months!! i dont know how this could have happened, i am the six week girl...alas 6 months has slipped by...and this is where i'm at -



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and this is where i need/want to be -



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its a little/lot different from where it all began, and it may take a straight perm and alot of chopping, but i'll let you know how it goes.
so what do you think?
zume is making the appointment in the morning...



oh and ps speaking of change, i think i can say this because there is very little chance that mr.d will read this...you might be spotting an ultra chic anna dilemna cruising the streets of tokyo with her stroller and knitting very soon

Sunday, October 02, 2005

happy birthday sis

Kikilalato my lil sis in oz...i hope you have a rad yet relaxing birthday bash - lets celebrate soon! love tar xx ooKiki

Saturday, October 01, 2005

happy birthday finn

FinnchanHAPPY Birthday FINN! I know I'm a little late to post this - but I'm still recovering from your party, a massive one for your first birthday...imagine how huge your 21st will be! Thanks for the Anpanman cake and tell your mama thanks for the top grub!!