From Eel to Chinatown again

That's Nao below, he's been here and there on this blog. But he took me to a place that has perhaps the most celebrated eel dish ever. It's a small spot and they specialize in just eel. Nishimura... It's well known. It even comes in a lacquer box. It's amazing and not as sweet as what you'd get in the US, which makes it a lot more delicate and fresh. In the US, we get eel in a vacuum pack.

We're a temple close by

That's what the front looks like of Nishimura.

This is Kohei and he's got a car. We took a nice drive to Yokohama - Chukagai

We walked by Fukken Ro. The greatest street ever. It's name is to the point.

Then ate at a tiny Chinese place. I want to say tiny and dirty, but Chinatown in Japan is clean as can be.

I am food otaku

No really I'm doing more than that here. Tons of running around for meetings etc. The food stuff happens when it happens. But it happened yesterday. Cheaper yakiniku. Look at the mini grill. I want one of those at home. This spot was in Matsudo, near the Goodsmile offices. That's Junko and Aki, two of my favorite people in Japan. Although it is of universal consequence, depending on what you believe, my ride home was stalled by a suicide on the tracks. I fell asleep on the train like a local. Somehow I woke up and the train was at my stop. The ride home took well over an hour.

I see red. This place gets packed.

I am a nerd at Goodsmile. I accidentally am flashing a gang sign.

Ramen. Hakata style, yes, oil and tasty in Matsudo.

This is Chinese style Japanese made ramen. Also great. This is green onion but with tororo, which is a mountain yam. It was chopped, not grated, and super good.

Muji x Lego Yurakucho

Muji Lego collaboration. The rumors are true. But at over $30+ for the larger set. Is it worth it? There's a few types, but in the end, I'll put the coolest Lego Muji thing in the magazine GR64. Yes, it's near done, and yes, we will get to press. The Muji in Yurakucho area is gigantic. Two floors, and it has everything. I've heard about this shop in the past and it's huge. You can even eat real meals there along with tons of fresh baked goods. You can almost live at this Muji. There's Ikea, which is quite different, and there are other great shops that are one step in this direction already in the US. So can a Muji make it in the US on this type of scale? I'd think so. Maybe not right now, but it can work.

Meal Muji! Behind the glass is the eating area.

Yoshi Kawasaki / ex-2k. There he is. The man the myth at the Tokyo Gift Fair. I was happy to see him. I also ran into a few others I knew there. It wasn't like old times though, so you won't be reading that from me.

Monjatown again

Anyone into monjayaki? It's a Tokyo thing and completely strange, but it's quite great. The "town" is in tsukishima. A bit out of the typical Tokyo visiting areas, but it's an interesting "dish". Check it all out. It's a sequence photo set.

Chop up and create a volcano!

Full the volcano with the liquid leftover in the bowl.

This looks not so appetizing, and you eat it with a tiny metal spatula.

some even have cheese. I'm not a dairy king, but I handled it. You take a piece of it with a tiny spatula, not pictured and you drag it towards you so it cooks even more while you drag it your way.

Some great comments about the donations...

I've been a huge fan of the magazine since I picked up the June 2006 issue, but I have to wonder if the choice to open up storefronts as an extension of the GR brand was a wise move, since those were/are resources that could have been put to better use towards the magazine itself and seriously ramping up your web presence to attract more readers outside of Asian culture enthusiasts.

-Yes, the storefronts kept the print going. It was definitely the right thing to do. If there were Oscars for publishers who've done more than just print a mag, I deserve a few gold mofos sitting on my mantle. And look at what it's done for popular culture and boutique culture around the world.


" I don't normally go for this kind of thing. I feel like if you can't run your business with an actual business model, I shouldn't be responsible for propping you up...but in this case, it's actually a really cool magazine and I'd like to support it. "

-Thanks but you're not responsible for it. We are. Thanks for the support.


I don't mean to brag about our growth, but honestly shouldn't a business move to a model that works?

-And tell me, what business model works today? Oh the internet?


Any magazine that uses Impact as a title face needs more help than just cash.

-We've had Impact as the title font before it came with Apple computers. Seriously.


Yikes this sucks! I wonder if the Hyphen crew ever worked with them. Wonder why these two magazines didn’t merge as one. Seems like same style and audience. I’m not sure if I’ve been to the SF store but I’ve been to the LA one and it’s super neat. Would hate to see it go out of business.

-The stores are one thing, the mag is another. How do we merge with another magazine? And no, our audiences are different!

You are a company and magazine that I hope to one day aspire to and this announcement broke my heart.
I will only donate my two cents.
The quality of your work and the image of your company was not reflected in your video. Boo! In this economy and in a country that felt cheated by a bank bailout, I think companies asking for handouts is really anti-America. You are in the creativity industry. The best you could do was sit in chairs and demand money? That was your best pitch? If you fail, you fail because you weren't trying hard enough, not because you didn't receive enough HELP. That's capitalism. If the entire print industry is failing, then do SOMETHING DIFFERENT. You do have a loyal fan base so dare to be creative.

-I've replied to this one in the comments from the donation post. I suppose we could have been more creative and stood up and forced you to send us money as an even better pitch. USA USA!

Tonkatsu and Tonki in Meguro

Epic tonkatsu at a spot called Tonki near Meguro station. You walk in and the space is decorated with raw wood everywhere. There's a wide open kitchen where you see about 6 people working on service, cooking, cutting, and it's amazing. The katsu is cooked per order so once you sit, you'll be waiting, but the wait is worth it. It's perfect all around. You put just a tiny bit of sauce at a time instead of just pouring it all over. I guess it's no secret, I'm in Tokyo at the moment.

It looks like this and below is how the outside looks. It's amazing.

Giant Robot Needs You - www.giantrobot.com/donate

Some of you astute followers of Giant Robot may have seen this already. What is it and why is it important? Imagine, the same problems that are affecting so many magazines are now affecting us. We held out for the longest time, but we are in a situation that's making print publishing incredibly difficult. If you see the video I cut up, it'll tell the story in under three minutes.

The difference between us and some of the other magazines? We're working hard and trying to find new advertisers, even if it's friends, family friends, or old acquaintances - we can do this. We have our core of loyal advertisers, great readers, and a bunch of fine shops who sell us, but we're still coming up short. We're not asking for help to make just one issue, we're actually asking for a whole year and then some. Your help goes a long way.

Our printer has stepped up to offer us some help for the next year, and we've been able to reach out for support from a few new advertisers. But for the balance, we will need your help. Take a look, tell us what you think, or help us out.

Here's the link to http://www.giantrobot.com/donate

The Car - Watch for it Soon

It's a small secret that I'm working on a secret project. It's a car! A few months ago, I was asked to design a car for Toyota Scion. I'm glad to do this project amidst the bad news of the venerable car company major recall which is throwing the car world into a whirlpool. That's a seat design pictured above. I won't tell you much about the car just yet, but the design is coming around. That's Len, a dude who can pimp your ride.

There's a view of the shop. I visited them on Friday in Orange County. The car is still two months off, and not anywhere near what it'll end up looking like just yet. It's neat that an idea from a napkin can actually turn into a serious automobile.

That's Len near his tool area and explaining something with his hands.

That's a 1961 Honda. It's not stock at all. See the gas tank and the seat? It's all custom by Len. He can do cycles too. I don't ride, but if I did, I'd want one of these.

Biennale Take Down -Souther Salazar and Albert Reyes

That's Souther sitting in the cubby hole next to his pieces. While it's slightly sad that the show is over, and it's on to the next, it's also great to see people stop in to take down their work, or in Souther's situation, to photograph it all. It's sort of like the party that wanted to keep on going. We need to figure out how to get that done for next time.

It's amazing what you can do with scraps of wood, Sculpey, and nails.

Souther Salazar Interview

Perhaps the most gracious person in the show was Albert Reyes. He took down his work in a matter of minutes and off he went into the smog. He's holding up Winona Rider. She's quite great in my opinion. But what is the Matt Furie text in the background mean?

Photo time

It's been rainy in Southern California, so you see boots like these once in a while. They're not true NYC snow boots that break ice with each stride. These are the kind that look cool and fun even when you walk through inch deep puddles. If they're holding a GR bag with them on... even better. If you see Michelle Borok on Sawtelle and it's raining, she might be wearing these.

The hipster grifter 2. I saw this at ANAP store on Sawtelle. This girl is apparently well known on Sawtelle blvd as a thief. I wish the photo were bigger. Reportedly, she's Korean and she's holding a boba.

Childrens! These two were nutty and funny at Scion before the show.

Children part 2. That's Kika. She likes anything warm. My computer gets super hot, and she'll put her paw and face on it. If I leave, she'll sleep on the entire keyboard.

Rafu Shimpo Newspaper

JANM Biennale - Closed! But the last hurrah happened this weekend. This Rafu Shimpo clip may have helped some too. It was quite an honor.

Scion Installation 6 - Me an Artist?

It's a rare thing for me to be invited to do something as an artist. It's maybe my first except something that I've done for GR shows, which sort of doesn't count. I don't have the nerve to say I'm an artist, although I think the title is used quite liberally. Let's face it, there's a lot of "artists" who aren't artists. Yet, I was gifted this title for the Scion Installation 6 exhibition which is all about video. I've blogged about the process before and I worked with Saelee Oh on my project. The opening was spectacular in a way. I pull up later 8:45 ish and there's actually a line to get in. Here's a link to the blog post.

People are hanging out talking and watching the projections on the walls. This isn't the most exciting of an art show, in the end, since the videos repeat and repeat, it's hard to give your full attention to a single project. But people seemed happy, and I think on this day and in this time, people are looking for things to see for free. This ended up being decently fun. I didn't know most of the people, and most had no idea that I did something here, but oh well, I'm thankful that people came by. Our piece is undoubtedly the cutest piece and maybe the shortest at a minute, but I heard a nice report that kids were playing with the animated bubbles! I think the music by Goh Nakamura really makes this project cohesive.

We were interviewed for the Scion site and for Current TV.

Here's a big ass group shot. Some are artists and some are their friends. I'm actually in this photo as an artist. Strange.

That's me and French. It's nice to see French again. He's a great lad from Croydon. He told me that I was the first to bring him to America when I put him into a show at Scion. Since then, I think he's come a half a dozen times and has done plenty of projects with them. He'll have a few pieces in out Metal Mad show at GRNY.

That's Len and Michelle. Len is from Hawaii and is a great guy. Behind (or in front in this case) of a good man, and a nice lady. Len makes rad cars. Onimotorworks.

Black Vans

Given a certificate way long ago when I did my Vans interviews (They're on Youtube and I linked it below), it's no surprise to me that I made all black shoes. It's the default when you start designing them. I changed a few things and made them black too and that was it. Boring Vans. At the same time, I tried a few combos of black and red, and multi colors. I almost opted for a blue and red pair which was always a great classic, but maybe next time. In the end, yes, black vans. I'll wear this color combo the most. The red logo in the back is still a classic. Vans are nearly a tradition in footwear, especially if you're in Southern California. Believe it or not, I was never a huge fan as a kid. I think it came from the trauma of having a bootleg version of the slip-ons and being made fun of at school. The copy versions were a bit cheaper and actually easier to access, but you were the butt of any shoe joke possible. So today, I have real vans, and all of the rip off brands from way back got reincarnated x 10. So many brands make slip-ons that look just like Vans. The main difference is I doubt you'll get made fun of for wearing them.

Thevansblog

Giant Robot Biennale Closing Party

The actual show closes this sunday, so you have a few days left to see it. But above are cupcakes by bigmanbakes. He's a huge dude and bakes tiny cupcakes. He's in downtown LA. That's how the night started, staring at these cupcakes. It was raining, but 600 people made it out which is a decent crowd. Imagine, some of the openings don't bring in 600, so this worked out well for a closing night. At three months, this was a fun show, a lot of people came through, it was super nice to meet folks who were either inspired by or do art. I got a lot of congrats, and I'm glad people had a good time. The Japanese American National Museum will be open through sunday.

That's The Binges / GR Table. Honest Tea also set up and gave away some drinks. See the hand at the bottom right? That's a beer, but there was no beer there. Hmmm...

Half of The Binges.

Albert Reyes drawing.

James Jean, Gary Baseman, and Denise Gray. Gary texted a congrats. That was nice.

DJ Puffs. I want one of those speakers she has on the right.

The Choe, Bobby and Enna.

Raina, Albert and John Pham. Albert got a camera finally.

Ali and Me. Someone should make a movie called that.

Ben Clark photo.

Monica and Souther. I finally made it upstairs and lo and behold, Souther was there.

Uh oh forgot her name, and Aaron Brown.

Aw how am I supposed to remember? Amir and Calvin are on the right.

That's me, Jessica (Perfect Day in Hawaii Jessica), and Chris.

Ako, Rob and James drawing while The Binges played.

The Binges rocked it. The lead singer came late, after the first instrumental, and they played on until after 9pm - closing time.

Kat, gets a drawing by Rob Sato. Her collection must be large. That's Pryor in the middle.

Anna Serrano and her friend. Anna has a piece in the show.

Biennale Closing Tonight. Party Binges!

It's been fun, and this is tonite. It's not over yet. The final weekend is actually upon us. It will be fun to see the artists in this setting one more time, LA's finest, The Binges are going to play at 7:30. DJ Puffs will be spinning records before and maybe some after. The Biennale show has been a great experience the second time around. I worked with new artists, learned new things, figured out how museums can work, and maybe some of the opposite. Yet the coolest aspect of a show like this is the human aspect. The folks who helped, the artists who were into it, and the people who came to see it and who enjoyed it. It's a rare chance to work with a fun staff and a really nice venue to make a project like this work.