Giant Robot Store and GR2 News
It’s happening. Uniqlo is on their secret mission of becoming the world’s largest retailer. Why is it that while the economy still blows, a giant can continue to get more giant. They’re not selling oil, gold or diamonds at inflated prices. They’re selling cotton and polyester. Often times nearly the same as clothing makers of the past… but, who are American. The Gap and Old Navy have been around, but Uniqlo? Sounds like a name for the ages. 20-30 new stores in the US in the next eight years? Sounds doable, especially when they’re charing low prices in high rents in Soho and 5th Avenue in Manhattan, NY. Much like IKEA revolutionized dorm rooms, first time home owners, and great “IKEA hackers”, Uniqlo will do the same. Where will that leave the small shops like Giant Robot, which nearly at the polar opposite end? We’ll be here. (NYTimes – Uniqlo) There are plenty of Uniqlo posts in the past on GiantRobot.com and a recent visit yielded new clothing collaboration by Undercover (Uu) x Uniqlo at sale prices. Meanwhile in other Uniqlo news: They signed up Novak Djokovic.
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Philip Gotanda’s latest play is called I Dream of Chang and Eng. It’s based on the Siamese Twins who could be considered one of the most famous Asian Americans at the turn of the century. They lived large evidently because of their Circus tours and were both married. Philip Gotanda, a friend of GR, is a master play writer and seems to always be working. This topic is a fascinating concept since it will feature conjoined twins! (Rafu – Bunker)
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That’s the Tokyo Sky Tree. It’s a huge structure that exists just to have it exist. A tourist trap, a monument or a testament, it’s huge and open. It’s 634-meter (2,080-foot) and will get featured in films and more. The Tokyo Tower as much as any huge monument made appearances in films including one of it’s name sake. (Huffington Post – Sky Tree)
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Anyone who’s read Giant Robot magazine, been to one of the shops, or visits the website knows that we’re big supporters of Goh Nakamura and his music. While his roots are in ’80s metal and his style is more like Elvis Costello or Elliott Smith, his worth ethic is as indie as you can get. He plays living rooms and theater lobbies, sits in on local jam nights and community gatherings. Most recently, he’s been featured in two independent features, Surrogate Valentine and Daylight Savings, which are making the film fest circuit. The movies directed by David Boyle are very cool and I hope everyone supports them, but in the meantime Goh hasn’t been releasing enough of his own new music… Yes, the Music from the Motion Picture CD is a cool collection of tunes and scores from both flicks, but we fans are ready for a full-on album. The Dream Sessions, Goh’s latest Kickstarter effort, would remedy that. He’s trying to raise money to record sessions in three studios. Three cities, three different sets of musicians, same rad guitarist and singer. To help publicize the campaign, he’s been webcasting live sets featuring various friends playing music or just hanging out. Today, I was the visitor, and brought Eloise as long as well. You can watch the link here, in which she sings along to The Ramones and The Go-Go’s and dances around to The Beatles. How lucky are we? Coming up on Wednesday is Tamlyn Tomita, star of Karate Kid II and patron saint of Asian American cinema. I hear she used to skateboard in pools, so watch the webcast, jump in the chatroom, and request Agent Orange’s “Bloodstains” or some other skate rock! Then support Goh, a rad musician, good friend, and awesome guy.
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Takashi Miyakawa is a furniture designer and according to his attorney, the illuminated bags he was putting up was for NY’s Design Week. He put them on lamp posts around town. He was caught by police and was arrested and now getting a month long mental evaluation which means he must have said something odd. (Daily mail UK – Takashi Miyakawa)
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