Archive for December, 2011
Saturday, December 24th, 2011
Happy Thing, from Japan!
This, in case you didn’t know, is Shibuya Crossing. Watching it as the lights change is hypnotic. 😀 Whether it’s Christmas you’re celebrating, or (like the Japanese) New Year is the big thing for you, or what, here’s wishing A Very Happy, er, Thing! to all readers. *waves from Tokyo* Sam
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Friday, December 23rd, 2011
More Faces of Tokyo
Reactions to my presence here have varied. There’s been warmth and friendliness, as from this chap at The Edo-Tokyo Museum… …mild curiosity, as from these guys… …and, of course, the occasional stare. The only time I’ve felt a bad vibe here was from this bloke: But that was probably just because he’s heard how much […]
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Thursday, December 22nd, 2011
My New Favourite T-Shirt
Meguro Parasitological Museum is awesome. See the brown, um, detailing on this t-shirt? It’s part of the design. This t-shirt celebrates the pride of the museum’s collection – an eight metre long tapeworm. As anyone who’s read Crawlers will probably have guessed I’m fascinated by parasites: I knew I was going to visit this museum […]
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Thursday, December 22nd, 2011
Where The Monsters Are Kept
One reason I came to Japan was to look for monsters. One place I’ve found them is Mandarake, in Nakano Broadway. It’s a hive-like mall of small stalls selling manga, anime, idol merch and all kinds of other stuff. My favourite things were the toys and figurines from old tokusatsu films and dramas. Everything was […]
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Wednesday, December 21st, 2011
Dug For You
Another year has passed since I last made some music recommendations. So here goes… That people are out there tracking down strange, amazing, otherwise-impossible-to-find things and showing them to the world is probably what I love most about living in the internet age. But what was new in 2011 for me was that much of […]
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Saturday, December 17th, 2011
Faces of Tokyo
Spotted this guy soon after arriving here. I knew how he felt. This fellow below was guarding a shrine at Mount Takao. I think the wire was to protect me, not him. I met these two characters below at Meiji Jingu, a very solemn and serious place. …More faces of Tokyo to follow. 😀
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Saturday, December 17th, 2011
Vote Monster
Thanks to @Destroyer_199 for linking to the best thing to come out of the US presidential elections so far: If Godzilla became America’s president, could Tim become Britain’s prime minister? Now, that would be a ‘special relationship’ I could believe in. ;p
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Thursday, December 15th, 2011
One of my heroes
I saw the first reports on Twitter last night as I was finishing up the day’s writing: Russell Hoban has died. There have already been some fine things written about him. Here’s an obit in UK paper The Guardian. This one from his editor David Lloyd, is my favourite. Though his creativity remained as strong […]
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Tuesday, December 13th, 2011
MwaHAHAHAHA!
Have just heard via @BarringtonStoke on Twitter that the very first finished copy of my forthcoming novella for them, MY NAME IS O, has just arrived from the printers. Here’s the pic they posted of it together with the other fine books BS are bringing out in Jan: …SNEE HEE HEE!
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Sunday, December 11th, 2011
Future Space Metropolis
To Odaiba, to visit Japan’s “Future Museum,” the Miraikan. The trip across Tokyo Bay on the (driverless, rail-less) Yurikamome Line made me feel like I was in the future already… …so when I arrived I was delighted but strangely unsurprised to find what appeared to be a real giant mech under construction. The Miraikan’s exhibits […]
