Giant Robot Store and GR2 News
After a 13-year-long hiatus, the Deltron 3030 super group has reunited for a full LP, some festival shows, and… a couple of free in-stores? Pretty damn cool that the heroic trio of Dan The Automator, Del The Funky Homosapien, and Kid Koala would play a Long Beach record shop. But after a long day of travel and press, they had to eat. Good thing Berlin is connected to Fingerprints.
Left to right: Dan The Automator, me, Kid Koala, and my pal Paul Kwon scarfing an early dinner at Berlin. How cool is it that there is a coffee house that serves high-end food connected to the record store? Brilliant and tasty, too. Del didn’t eat with us because he was busy practicing his ollies and had some cheese pizza coming to him. No artisan flatbread slices for Del. He’s a purist.
After a 13-year-long hiatus, the Deltron 3030 super group has reunited for a full LP, some festival shows, and… a couple of free in-stores? Pretty damn cool that the heroic trio of Dan The Automator, Del The Funky Homosapien, and Kid Koala would play a Long Beach record shop. But after a long day of travel and press, they had to eat. Good thing Berlin is connected to Fingerprints.
Left to right: Dan The Automator, me, Kid Koala, and my pal Paul Kwon scarfing an early dinner at Berlin. How cool is it that there is a coffee house that serves high-end food connected to the record store? Brilliant and tasty, too. Del didn’t eat with us because he was busy practicing his ollies and had some cheese pizza coming to him. No artisan flatbread slices for Del. He’s a purist.
The other day, a friend asked me if I was going to HIFF. I wish. I’ve been to a few film fests around the country but I think Hawaii International Film Festival is the best. And after looking over this year’s excellent schedule and its survey of arty, indie, genre, and dramatic flicks from the around the world (especially Asia), I really miss interviewing filmmakers and reviewing movies for Giant Robot mag. Too bad I can’t justify buying all those movies anymore–let alone carve out time to watch them. Man, I could go for some hurricane popcorn, too. That being said, you don’t have to be a journalist or even an otaku to enjoy or appreciate HIFF. I would hop on a plane to Honolulu this afternoon if I could, and my schedule might look something like the following. Some arty stuff, some intellectual stuff, and definitely a lot of junk. This is for enjoyment and not to impress anyone. (If you see one and it’s a stinker, sorry! Ditto if I scribbled down an incorrect time or date.) Of course there are plenty of slots to watch random movies and go to Waiola, Leonard’s, Jimbo, Don Quijote, the Human Imagination… Mornings are reserved for the beach. Enjoy, and let’s definitely make plans to meet at HIFF next year! Thursday, October 10, 6:00 The Wind Rises (Japan, 2013) – The festival’s opening movie may be the last for the much-loved animated filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki. Friday, October 11, 5:30 A River Changes Course (Cambodia/USA, 2013) – Gorgeous, powerful documentary about the effects of modernization on Cambodia. Friday, October 11, 9:00 Escape From Tomorrow (USA, 2013) – The already infamous experimental thriller filmed on the sly in Disneyland and Disney World. Saturday, October 12, 6:30 Unbeatable (China, 2013) – Stool Pigeon‘s director Dante Lam and actor Nick Cheung team up once again for this underdog/MMA flick. Saturday, October 12, 9:45 Pig Death Machine (USA, 2013) – If you can only see one movie, make it Jon Moritisugu and Amy Davis’s newest eyeball-melting, brain-frying experimental flick that captures the surreal beauty and boredom of Santa Fe, NM like nothing else. Not only is Jon and Amy’s band Low on High on the killer soundtrack but so is Dirty Beaches (above). And the people mentioned above have Hawaiian pedigrees, brah! Sunday, October 13, 3:00 One Night Surprise (China, 2013) – Screwball comedy/chick flick directed by Eva Jin starring Fan Bingbing. Sunday, October 13, 8:00 Harlock: Space Pirate (Japan, 2013) – An eye-popping 3-D update of anime’s favorite space pirate. Monday, October 14, 6:15 A Tale of Samurai Cooking: A True Love Story (Japan, 2013) – Expect mouth-watering training scenes. Monday, October 14, 9:00 Evangelion 3.0: You Can (Not) Redo (Japan, 2012) – The update of arguably anime’s greatest mecha saga/religious parable/mind fuck. Tuesday, October 15, 3:00 A Touch of Sin (China, 2013) – Jia Zhangke’s collection of shorts is inspired by by the stylized martial arts flicks of King Hu but are thematically...
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The other day, a friend asked me if I was going to HIFF. I wish. I’ve been to a few film fests around the country but I think Hawaii International Film Festival is the best. And after looking over this year’s excellent schedule and its survey of arty, indie, genre, and dramatic flicks from the around the world (especially Asia), I really miss interviewing filmmakers and reviewing movies for Giant Robot mag. Too bad I can’t justify buying all those movies anymore–let alone carve out time to watch them. Man, I could go for some hurricane popcorn, too. That being said, you don’t have to be a journalist or even an otaku to enjoy or appreciate HIFF. I would hop on a plane to Honolulu this afternoon if I could, and my schedule might look something like the following. Some arty stuff, some intellectual stuff, and definitely a lot of junk. This is for enjoyment and not to impress anyone. (If you see one and it’s a stinker, sorry! Ditto if I scribbled down an incorrect time or date.) Of course there are plenty of slots to watch random movies and go to Waiola, Leonard’s, Jimbo, Don Quijote, the Human Imagination… Mornings are reserved for the beach. Enjoy, and let’s definitely make plans to meet at HIFF next year! Thursday, October 10, 6:00 The Wind Rises (Japan, 2013) – The festival’s opening movie may be the last for the much-loved animated filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki. Friday, October 11, 5:30 A River Changes Course (Cambodia/USA, 2013) – Gorgeous, powerful documentary about the effects of modernization on Cambodia. Friday, October 11, 9:00 Escape From Tomorrow (USA, 2013) – The already infamous experimental thriller filmed on the sly in Disneyland and Disney World. Saturday, October 12, 6:30 Unbeatable (China, 2013) – Stool Pigeon‘s director Dante Lam and actor Nick Cheung team up once again for this underdog/MMA flick. Saturday, October 12, 9:45 Pig Death Machine (USA, 2013) – If you can only see one movie, make it Jon Moritisugu and Amy Davis’s newest eyeball-melting, brain-frying experimental flick that captures the surreal beauty and boredom of Santa Fe, NM like nothing else. Not only is Jon and Amy’s band Low on High on the killer soundtrack but so is Dirty Beaches (above). And the people mentioned above have Hawaiian pedigrees, brah! Sunday, October 13, 3:00 One Night Surprise (China, 2013) – Screwball comedy/chick flick directed by Eva Jin starring Fan Bingbing. Sunday, October 13, 8:00 Harlock: Space Pirate (Japan, 2013) – An eye-popping 3-D update of anime’s favorite space pirate. Monday, October 14, 6:15 A Tale of Samurai Cooking: A True Love Story (Japan, 2013) – Expect mouth-watering training scenes. Monday, October 14, 9:00 Evangelion 3.0: You Can (Not) Redo (Japan, 2012) – The update of arguably anime’s greatest mecha saga/religious parable/mind fuck. Tuesday, October 15, 3:00 A Touch of Sin (China, 2013) – Jia Zhangke’s collection of shorts is inspired by by the stylized martial arts flicks of King Hu but are thematically...
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This exhibition is taking place quite soon and as much as I’d like to be there, I won’t make it. Once upon a time, I studied photography. It’s a longer more involved story, but I was decent and even participation in student exhibitions and even an alumni one. It’s nice to have a chance to show a piece of my work again. The exhibition begins tomorrow and there will be a reception on the 19th at ROPPONGI 605. My photo below is called Milky and it was shot during the Perseid meteor shower earlier this year. I used a Ricoh GR on a RAW setting. I actually forgot my tripod and had to figure out other means. The photo was near Pyramid Lake which is an hour and a half north of LA. When I look at the Milky Way Galaxy, I’m… “not expecting any return”. Gallery Lara Tokyo + Cafemode present HOMING PIGEON「伝書鳩」 Edition 2 : Tokyo group photo exhibit curated by Kio Griffith ARTISTS RECEPTION: OCTOBER 19, 2013 from 6 to 9pm EXHIBIT RUNS: OCTOBER 9 – OCTOBER 19, 2013 FREE ADMISSION ROPPONGI 605 7-5-11Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan 106-0032. Casa Grande Miwa 6th Floor Wednesday through Saturday noon to 7pm and by appointment 〒106-0032 東京都港区六本木 7-5-11 カサグランデ･ミワ６階 605 水曜日から土曜日、12:00-19:00 http://gallerylara.com/ cafeartmusic.com featuring: Naoko Akiyama | Douglas Alvarez | Michael Arata | Yajuro Bando | Terri Berman | Nick Brown | Ako Castuera | Sean Chao | Sijia Chen | Sally Coates | Emily Counts | Ludmil Dimitrov | Veronica Duarte | Mark Dutcher | Shigenori Ebata | Aya Niibo Edamoto | Doug Eisenstark | Gabriel Escalante | Roni Feldman | Jon Flack | Shingo Francis | David French | Rema Ghuloum | Aaron Giesel | Allen D Glass II | Mat Gleason | Dean Gojobori | Kio Griffith | Michelle Carla Handel | Doug Harvey | Shisei Hashimura | Jun Hiraoka | Lusine Hovsepian | Bryan Ida | Mari Inukai | Aska Irie | Ichiro Irie | Yoko Irino | Tomoyuki Iwanami | William Kaminski | Virginia Katz | Phil Kim | Kohl King | Celia Ko | Minako Kumagai | Gil Kuno | Masumi Kuramochi | Michelle Lai | Jeremiah La Torre | Aleve Mei Loh | Leora Lutz | Yumiko Matsui | Douglas McNamee | Jon Measures | Adam D Miller | Shinnosuke Murakami | Masami Murao | Misato Nagare | Eric Nakamura | Clary Newell | Tony Ng | Emily Noguchi | Devon Oder | Shinichi Ono | Kazuyuki Ozonoe | Sara Pae | Kosta Potamianos | Max Presneill | Eron Rauch | Max Razdow | Christy Roberts | Satoshi Saegusa | Chigusa Saga | Samvel Saghatelian | Chiaki Saito | Ray Sato | Rob Sato | Tomoaki Sato | Nicolas Shake | Mika Soma | RIccardo Spinotti | Kenji Tajiri | Mayumi Tanaka | Ken Tatewaki | Ilan Terrell | Devon Tsuno | Mike Vegas | Minoru Yamaguchi | Fujio Yamazaki | Will T. Yang | Michiko Yao | Akihiro Yasugi | Kouichiro Yoshio and more…...
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