June 26, 2011

My luck is going up?

One last thing.

I won this bag after the knit-along in May (a pink sweater I made a few weeks ago).  The organizer selected a winner of each prize randomly.  It's a handmade knitting project bag sold by Jen (YarnPlayCafe on Etsy).
I never win anything, at all, so this is pretty big for me.  And the bag is cute.

Surprisingly, in the same week, I also won a pattern (design instruction) of this very cute sweater by sheer luck. I sincerely hope that I haven't used up all my luck for the summer!
Photo courtesy of the designer, Elizabeth Wolden.

Mountain Diner (山食堂)

 Our respected gourmet colleague took us to another new restaurant in an old neighborhood.  Called Yama-Shokudou, meaning "mountain diner" in English, if you must translate.
 A dimly lit, very low-key Japanese style restaurant. They have traditional home cooking menu with fresh vegetable and eggs and such. Everything we had was so delicious. This Japanese wine, below, was also one of the best I'd had among Japanese ones.

 This area seems to be becoming more hip in the recent years.  Something like below, an eclectic second-hand book store, is also nearby.

Some cute things

 A gift from my sister from her trip to Seoul.
 A simple cute horn for iPhone.  It actually works.  My dad trades these things from China, so it's always fun to visit his office for goodies.

 Sorry for the bad color - I should have used a regular lens to photograph...
 And, a back cover to match....
 The front!! Of my new iPad2!!!! (yes, I bought it!)

Father's Day

I haven't updated my blog for 2 weeks (because I was dog-sitting last weekend, which I enjoyed a lot), so please bare with me for a few more.

My family had a reunion for the belated Father's Day this afternoon.  There is a new reverside restaurant not far from his office, called Cielo y Rio.  One of my colleagues took us there on Friday for lunch, and really liked it, so I decided to go back with my family this time.
the 3rd floor, river-front view outside the window

food is itallian / fusion
We had a great afternoon. My niece eats so much, she loves all kinds of noodles and fruits. She kept asking for more.
It was surprising that my dad was also talking about Zaz, passionately.  He even let me copy his CD.  But come to think of it, I grew up listening to his records and cassette tapes and CDs, so I guess it's natural that our tastes in music are alike.

Zaz

French. Classic.

 My French school, L'institut Franco-Japonais a Tokyo, is hosting a small exhibition of Yve Sant Laurant's old black and white photographs. (Original photos by Jeanloup Sieff)
When he was young and just released a new fragrance line, he decided to use his own nude photo for the advertisement, and commissioned Sieff the work.  Yve and Sieff worked together for many years and left these amazing, classic, chic photographs. 
The show is still on until July 31st.

Long journey to finishing a dress

 As I may have written before, I had been sewing a very simple linen dress these past weeks.  Last weekend, my sister's family were traveling to Seoul, while I was dog-sitting and borrowed her sewing machine as well.
 It's a wrap dress in dark navy linen.  A splash of purple in it.
 While I was sewing the hem (the finishing), one of the dogs, Rey, climbed up my niece's (baby) chair on her own.  So cute.
 Still sewing.
The dress looks like this, it's hard to make out, but it's a wrap dress and there is a bow-tie in front.
Here are something extra: some shots from this afternoon stroll in an old neighborhood not far from Akihabara (Tokyo).  Lovely wall gardens.

TRON

I am completely sure that only 1 or 2 people I know have watched this movie.  One of them could be my dad, who watches all the Hollywood movies out there. 
Everytime I saw its teaser in theaters, it left me utterly lost.  The story looked so uninteresting.  But, since Disney has spent enormous amount in its production, I suspected that it can't be all bad.
Then, I found out that there used to be an previous old version of TRON in 1980s.
I actually rented the movie.  80% of the movie looks like below:
It left me in awe. In awe, by its geeky-ness.  How could someone with a right mind have made such a geeky movie with geeky computer terminology back in 80s, when nobody was really using personal computers?  And that someone was Disney production!
You have no idea what I mean unless you watch it.

So I finally rented the new one (TRON Legacy) and watched it tonight.  Wow.  I wish I had seen it in a theater.  I already have the soundtrack, which is a masterpiece (AND the music directer of the film is Jason Bentley, the host of Morning Becomes Eclectic at KCRW Santa Monica, my hero).  The story is not as geeky but not so bad, and the visual was fantastic.  I am not saying TRON will make your heart throb and leave you with tears.  This movie is for "wow" experience.

We need more mind-blowingly creative films like this.  Some of them may turn out to be complete disaster, but we definitely need them.

La Lettera in Kagurazaka, Tokyo

There is something about those "Y" shaped street corners.  You will understand what I mean if you look at this.

The bright street corner is an italian restaurant.  Once I was walking around the neighborhood after my French school, found this place, and I couldn't resist looking into the door.  The place was full.
I was so sure this place to be a French restaurant, because this neighborhood is sort of like a French quarter in Tokyo, and also because of this cafe in Paris:

Au Soleil de la Butte
http://nyctaloop.free.fr/index.html (an amazing photo site)
Looks familiar?  This cafe was where Xavier in the film "Spanish Apartment" met his old girlfriend (portrayed by Audrey Tatou), and the only thing I remember about this movie.  According to various online sources, this place also appeared in Meg Ryan's film some time ago (French Kiss?).  I LOVE this kind of setting.

So I finally got to dine at this restaurant (La Lettera, not Paris) last week, and it was perfect (only, it turned out to be an Italian, not French).  The food and the atmosphere were exquisite.
On that evening, my friend showed me some photos from his recent trip to Istanbul.  One of them was:
See? There is an open air cafe behind the tree in the center.  There is something about this setting that makes things vibrant and cozy. (Photo courtesy of Mr. T)
He treated me with so many breathtaking photos, by the way. I really have to visit this city sometime soon.

June 12, 2011

Books

 Still not sure why, but I am trying hard.  Studying French with the class text, above.  Below, I bought a book on "keeping your journal in French."  Why not?
And, I keep buying books (FREE is not a new book, it had been hiding in my bookcase since it first came out.)  From top, 1) a translation of American college level biology textbook, a book on Twitter, Kotler's Marketing 3.0, and a book on Western philosophy and thinking.

Intentive Bach Course

I was looking for Richter's Matthaus-Passion CD, couldn't find it anywhere, then finally found it at a local library. I thought I was borrowing only 1 CD. Instead, below was what I received.

Quite intense? Yes.

I didn't know a public library has these things. Tax money very well spent.


Florist

Found another very pretty florist in the neighborhood.  I don't know its name, I just know where it is.  You can't find many standard flowers such as tulips and carnations.  Instead, they have many standard garden tree branches.
近所にまた素敵なお花屋さんを発見。普通の民家の1階をぶち抜いて土間にして、お花屋さんにしてあります。木枠にガラスの嵌った引き戸を開けて入ります。
普通のお花屋さんと違い、お花じゃなくて庭木の枝が沢山あります。色も緑が主体。
I bought a branch of hydrangea and another with small white flowers.
These are what you can see everywhere in the neighborhood gardens and streets, but I don't have a garden, unfortunately.  So these made me feel like I belong to the neighborhood, to the ground below and its soil.
今日は紫陽花と白い小花のついた枝を買いました。近所の道端そこいらじゅうに咲いている花、勢い溢れる緑。家には残念ながら庭が無いので、少しだけ路地の匂い、湿気、土の肌触りを部屋に取り入れています。少し地面に近くなった。
Below, I found while I was walking a back alley.  It's hard to read, but it reads: "Please tie the rein of your horse here."
ちょっと読みづらいけれど、こんなの見つけました。「馬でお越しの方は此処へおつなぎ下さい。」繋いでいるところ見たい。

GALA (Completed)

Pattern: GALA by roko
Yarn: Pierrot Cotton Neat in Yellow, 8.5 skeins
Needles: US 8 (5mm) needles
Details are here: (Click)
Just finished GALA tunic on Friday.  It was a fun and quick knit!
I finished a sweater in May, a tunic in June.  It feels pretty productive these days.

June 09, 2011

Zaz

I came across an NHK program called Amazing Voice a few weeks ago, and instantly became a big fan.  The program was featuring a French artist called ZAZ on that day.
She is so amazing.

Zaz is in similar line with Adele, I think, as well as Trixie from Black Dub (which I introduced in this blog a few months ago).
As for Adele, I love this Tiny Desk Concert series from NPR radio (this series is awesome - I am subscribed to their podcast as well).  You can also watch the videos on YouTube.  They sound so effortless.  Wish I could sing like that.

追記

ちなみに、これ、これですよ。
なんで日本人の俳優じゃだめなんだろう、このアプローチ(これがマッコリのCMだということは置いといて。)
このCMの余りの上手さにうなってしまいました。売れるでしょ、マッコリ。
何故なんだろう〜。

CNBLUEのビデオをみてマーケ的に考える

今日はちょっと体調を崩して休んでいるので、家でブログなんてやっています。とちょうどその時、妹からCNBLUEという韓国グループのビデオが送られてきました。(スゴく可愛いの!)
今日はなんで日本語で書いているかというと、コリアン的思考の考察っぽい内容になるかな、と思っているので。韓国人の知り合いの中には日本語が出来る人もいるのですが、気を悪くしないで下さいね。わたしは韓国や韓国人や韓国ドラマとても好きです(ちょっと変な日本語?)

わたしは韓国のオフィスの人と一緒に働いていることもあり、コリアンの友人が沢山います。カタカナでコリアンと書くほど彼らは西洋的・合理的なので、あまり典型的な韓国の人ではないかもしれません。親友やその他仲の良い友人は整形してない(自分に自信がある?)なのですが、「韓国と言えば整形」という報道を耳にすると皆整形しているのではないかと疑いたくなります。

ここが文化的にジレンマのあるところで、日本人にとっては整形って「えっ」て感じですが、韓国ではごく普通のことっぽい。オフィスにも「目を二重に」くらいだったら何人もいる様子です。ただ、どうしてそこまで完璧を目指したいのか、日本人からすると不思議な感じがします。日本人はその点結構適当です。ダイエットだって失敗しても「えへへ」くらいな様子です。

上のビデオクリップを見て思うことは、「これは日本人か?」っていうことです。これまでも韓国の人は外見に関しては中国人と日本人の両方にコンプレックスなのかな、と思っていたのですが、本当にそういう気がしてきました。
個人的には、韓国には素敵な人が沢山いて、韓国的な力強さがカッコいいと思うので、わざわざ日本人のナヨナヨした感じに似せないで欲しいな〜と思うところです。

でも一方で、こういった韓国のスターが日本では大人気。世の中の中年以上の男性がどれくらい気がついているか分かりませんが、最近若い女性(友人やネイルサロン、ヘアサロンなどで働く女性)と話すと日本人の芸能人の話は一切出ません。みんな韓国ドラマや韓国スターの話ばかり(そうでない貴方は若くないかも?!)。これはどういうことか、と暫く考えているところです。

最近日本でテレビを付ければお笑い芸人ばかりで、見た目はイマイチでも面白いし味があるから大人気!
。。。と思っているのは男性だけで、やっぱり世の中の女性は逞しくてカッコいい完璧な男性像を求めているんですね。
もはや電車で見かける高校生も大学生も皆痩せてて頼り無さげな中、体格はがっしりしていて顔は日本人好みな韓国のスターがこれほど人気があるのは分かる気がします。
日本のテレビ界や芸能関係の仕事をされている方々、これまで適当にやっていても広告収入が入ってきたし、なんとなく内輪でなあなあでやってきたんじゃないかと思いますが、今後はもっと真剣にスターを発掘して育てていかないと、益々女性の心は韓国へ行くばかりだと思います(と、テレビをろくに見ないわたしが言ってもかなり説得力は無い。。)
でもね、韓国のアプローチはマーケティング的に正しくて、日本はそれが出来ていないように見えるんですよ。

韓国の人は自分にも他人にも非常に厳しく、日本人には考えられないほどエリート主義で、それに耐えられない優しい(&激しい)心を持ったひとは自殺しちゃうような人たちです。日本人の「のほほん」とした感じはわたしも好きですが、もう少し国の外をみてスピード付けて頑張らないと、行く末不安だなあという気になります。
とはいえ、日本らしいことの良さ、美しさ、というものもあり、その辺難しいんですけどね。

芸能人に関して言えば、やっぱり日本はマーケティング的に戦略間違えているうえ、それが韓国の若い子たちにも歪みを産んでいるのではないかと想像しています。根拠はないけど。
やっぱり自分の思考も「産まれたままが美しい」という日本的な枠組みに制約されている気はスゴくしてしまいますが。なんだろう、この違和感。分かります?

June 05, 2011

Early Summer Evening

Yesterday I had a small home warming party at my place. I waited until now because I wanted to have the painting first, before inviting people (you can see a small part of the picture in the background in my previous post).
I didn't invite too many people because (1) I haven't cooked a real dinner in a while and (2) I only have 3 chairs and 3 mugs (one a bit broken).  So there were just my sister's family (but unfortunately they left before anyone else came), my artistic colleague, an artist who painted the picture, my amazing classmate, and 2 old male friends, one film director and the other a city planner.
I felt so very happy to have these amazing friends.  They all have sparkly eyes with curiosity and aspirations to be different.  Not like those people who always try to pretend to be smarter than others with their egos.
To tell you the truth, I don't have many friends.  I am just so picky about people, and most people just don't pick me either.  Every once in a while, I literally "meet" someone.  It's always a love at first sight, whether the person is male or female. Many of them are not in Japan so I don't get to see them often.
Since I started my career in business (after working as an editor and an entrepreneur), it became more difficult to meet new people.  I think I prefer to hang out with architects and entrepreneurs than hard-working business people.

Anyway, the party.
I cooked a few dishes, but it was really my friends and my sister who brought bottles of wine and great appetizers. And, we didn't have enough chairs...
I am not very good at taking care of people.  If you are my guests, you are forced to just help yourselves (I am so sorry!).  But I love having people around at my place, cook for the guests, and chat with everyone.  It gives you a great advantage - only you know everyone. Also it helps to keep your place relatively tidy.

I will find more chairs (preferably pick up something second hand) and will practice cooking.  So please come visit me.  You are always welcomed.

Folded

Taken photos of the finished sweater (by my sister) yesterday.  I really like it. The color is pretty in person, and the alpaca/merino yarn is comfy.  It even obscures many errors I made.
Pattern: Folded by Veera Välimäki 
Yarn: Madelinetosh Eyre Light (fingering weight, Merino/Silk/Alpaca) in Fragrant colorway, 1.85 skeins (approx.860 yards)
Needles: US 6 (4.0mm) Circular/DPNs
Size made: S (2nd smallest, and it turned out a bit too loose)
Mods: Skipped one last increase round on torso. Added 2 extra rows of stockinette and 1 purl row to the neck line before binding off.  Made sleeves shorter.

I am also half done with the yellow tank.  It's such a fun pattern to knit, so one panel was knit up quickly.... then I found...
Do you recognize the left side cable just beside the bottom of the "V" is wrong?  I didn't realize this error until I had spread it on the floor and stared at it for a couple of minutes.  Wish I didn't notice it (because now I am going to have to fix it.)

Also, I am totally pretending that one fact has not yet crossed my mind - the fact that this yellow color may not look great on me.  It's such a cute sunny yellow, don't get me wrong, the color itself is fine.
But anyway, I really enjoy knitting this piece, so I guess it's alright!