Giant Robot Store and GR2 News
Racing Hong Kong Dragon Boats Benefits Body, Spirit “Even the newly anointed Duchess of Cambridge, Catherine Middleton, was a dragon boat racer in London until she had to leave her team in 2007 for security reasons.” The Chinese have been racing dragon boats for over 2,000 years. For most of that time, such races were ceremonial affairs to celebrate rice planting in summertime, and to pay respect to the Chinese water dragon god. But since around 1976, when the Hong Kong Tourist Association made the shrewd move of holding the world’s first dragon boat racing competition, racing these very long and beautiful boats has become an international sport. At the link, you’ll get some insight into how dragon boat racers prepare both physically and mentally for an event. According to one racer, after training or competing “the body is tired, but the mind is refreshed.” (Wall Street Journal – Go Dragon Boat Racer Go) CNNGo also has a visual dragon boat trivia guide: Dragon Boat Quick Start. Yoshitaka Kawakami’s Digital School Girl Horror There isn’t all that much to say about the link below; because as you will see, these very different and offbeat images really do speak for themselves. And what some of them say is rather unsettling. It seems digital artist Yoshitaka Kawakami has a thing for Japanese school girls. Okay, so even though this can be a dicey subject, suffice to say that many males also have a thing for Japanese school girls. The difference in Kawakami’s case, however, is that he has the talent and the twisted vision required to alter the appearance and circumstances of this Japanese icon in very unusual ways. And that’s about it, except to say be prepared for images that run the gamut from weird but playful, to downright odd and disconcerting. No nudity, but some images are NSFW. (Daily Onigiri – Japanese Schoolgirl Variants) In India, They Take Holy Men Seriously. Mostly. “Now more godmen and activists claiming to know the will of the people will be encouraged to hold an elected government hostage. Mr. Ramdev has avowed to resume his disobedience elsewhere.” Last week, India’s most famous yoga guru, Swami Ramdev, went on hunger strike in New Delhi. The aim of his strike was to protest widespread government corruption and to demand solutions to the problem, which include instituting a death penalty for government officials convicted of corruption. Okay, pretty extreme. But the Indian government took Ramdev seriously enough that it sent in police last Sunday to remove the guru and his followers from the Ramlila Grounds in New Delhi. This was to avoid letting the ranks of Ramdev’s followers grow into a larger and more vocal force which may have spread civil unrest beyond controllable levels. In April, India’s prime minister caved to another hunger striker’s demands to enact anti-graft legislation. We don’t know how well these tactics would work here in the U.S.A.; but you have to respect the fact that bold and earnest protest will get you...
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – the Cinefamily and Giant Robot Present: Japanese Director Sion Sono in Person at Cinefamily
Four Sion Sono films showing at the Cinefamily. June 10 and June 11, 2011 611 N Fairfax Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90036 323 655 2510 cinefamily.org Giant Robot and the Cinefamily is proud to host four Sion Sono films, with director Sion Sono in person to do a Q and A after the first screening on each day. Sono is scheduled to introduce the second screenings if time permits. Sion Sono is among the hottest filmmakers from Japan and is a film festival favorite worldwide. June 10th Cold Fish 8pm *free, Hair Extensions 12 Midnight $10. June 11th Love Exposure 2:30pm $10, Noriko’s Dinner Table 8pm $10. the Cinefamily screenings are free for members. In addition: Giant Robot Friends will be showing their wares, art, and more, before and after the screenings. Pick up some zines, prints, and artwork. Friday: James Chong + Jesse Fillingham Saturday: Mari Inukai + Albert Reyes For your hunger, we’re bringing in some great GR approved food trucks. Friday: Lomo Arigato (Peruvian Japanese) Saturday 2nd screening: Mandoline Grill (Real Vietnamese) Eric Nakamura Giant Robot Owner/Publisher eric@giantrobot.com (310) 479-7311
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Of course I was excited to see my old friend Ray Cappo at yesterday’s Glass House show because I’d never seen him play with Youth of Today. But I was also excited because a trip to Pomona meant I could drive by Covina Tasty. I wrote an article about Mark Tsai’s fast-food joint in Giant Robot 65. He opened a Tastee Freeze franchise in 1961 and then started replacing the meat with vegetarian substitutes. Although the company tried to shut him down, Mark persisted and operates to this day. The left side of the restaurant sells official Tastee Freeze frozen desserts. Although TZ suits were unhappy about Mark deviating from the official menu–and their meat-selling distribution model–his business was so strong that they came back to him with desserts. It’s packed on summery nights and allows him to maintain the vegetarian side, which is his labor of love. Customers who choose not to eat meat don’t number as high as the ones with sweet tooths, but they are extra dedicated and drive from all over. I happen to fall into both categories. I’ve only seen people in the covered section of Covina Tasty once, and that was Mark and me when I interviewed him for the article. He was reluctant to talk but turned out to be very passionate about the health benefits and economy of vegetarianism, as well as the wastefulness of the meat industry in terms of water, grains, and the environment. But he wasn’t on any soapbox. How tough can a guy be if he makes and invents shakes and sundaes for a living? He also happens to be an artist who paints during the restaurant’s downtime. You can see his latest works (and works in progress) in the patio. When I first met Mark, he was planning on retiring. But I’m glad changed his mind because his story is awesome and inspirational and his vegetarian taquitos and mocha icy are the best road food ever.
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(Thank you, B.D. Wong)
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Pain Mobiles in Odaiba “Proud itasha owners from all over Japan rode up to proudly display their wheeled wonders.” In case you were curious, those cars you may have seen on the internet with the amazing anime, manga and/or video game character paint jobs are called itasha, which literally means ‘pain mobile’. Typically the cars are decorated with a combination of actual paint, and stickers. And the typical itasha theme centers on cute female characters. The fad started back in the ‘80s, with only stickers and plush toys for decoration, but has evolved into the visually wonderful results you’ll see at the link, which features a big gallery of photos from the recent ItaG Fest in Odaiba, Tokyo. (Crunchyroll – Odaiba Itasha Fest) (For the odd origin of the term itasha, see Wikipedia.) Dazzling Gallery of Hand-colored Japan Images “Farsari’s photographic work was highly regarded, particularly his hand-colored portraits and landscapes, which he sold mostly to foreign residents and visitors.” In the 19th century, strange fate brought an Italian photographer to Yokohama, by way of the American Civil War. And now, over a century later, it is our good fortune Adolfo Farsari made his way to Japan. At the link, you will see many wonderful images which give us a visual insight into what life was like during the period in the late 1800s when Japan was just beginning to open itself to the world. Farsari shot his work in black and white, of course, but then made his stunning pictures all the more eye-catching by hand coloring them. We can only speculate that, try as he might, Farsari’s beautiful hand colors pale in comparison to the colors he actually saw in the images he photographed. (My Modern Metropolis – Farsari Colors Japan) For Malaysian Man, Apology is Such Tweet Sorrow “Whilst this is a fairly harmless outcome to the case for Fadzil, it does raise more questions as to the legal implications of what we say on public forums.” Fahmi Fadzil’s heart was probably in the right place last January when he used Twitter to criticize BluInc Media on behalf of a pregnant friend he thought the publishing company was treating badly. It still isn’t completely clear if the Malaysian social activist was entirely right, or entirely wrong. But a court in Malaysia found sufficient cause to rule that Fadzil’s comments on Twitter about BluInc were defamatory, and that he must take some kind of action to apologize. So, as part of an out-of-court settlement, Fadzil has agreed to post the following tweet 100 times: “I’ve DEFAMED Blu Inc Media & Female Magazine. My tweets on their HR Policies are untrue. I retract those words & hereby apologize.” Not a bad outcome for the guy, really, considering he could have had to pay a hefty fine, or been sued by the publishing company. (The Next Web – Malaysian Tweets 100 Apologies) Forget Disneyland, North Korea is the (Second) Happiest Place on Earth “North Koreans who are completely brainwashed, repeatedly...
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