Monthly Archives: August 2007

Rebuild of Evangelion & “Beautiful World”

Posted on August 29, 2007 by

Neon Genesis Evangelion is one of my favorite anime series, and so I’m a bit unhappy over how Gainax so readily whores exploits the characters in a never-ending array of merchandise, the bulk of which is unrelated to the original … Continue reading →

Posted in anime, inspiration, Japan, music | 3 Comments

Content-Aware Image Resizing

Posted on August 29, 2007 by

Originally developed to resize images for different screens without losing important elements. Very cool demo. Gets freaky towards the end too when you watch people disappear from photos just from clicking-and-dragging. (from TechCrunch) Stalin’s removal of his enemies from photos … Continue reading →

Posted in censorship, photography, YouTube | 1 Comment

“Austerlitz” and Eric Gill

Posted on August 24, 2007 by

I managed to get a copy of W.G. Sebald’s last novel Austerlitz via BookMooch (I suspect this will be one of the last I mooch. Many books I want aren’t available through the site. And of the ones that are, … Continue reading →

Posted in books, design, fonts, typography | 1 Comment

Itasha – anime-decorated cars

Posted on August 24, 2007 by

Itasha are cars decorated with decals and paint jobs depicting anime, game and manga characters. The word itasha, which literally means “painful car,” is derived from the kanji for itai (”painful”) and sha (”car”). The word also appears to be … Continue reading →

Posted in animation, anime, cars, fun, illustration, Japan, marketing, media, obsession | 7 Comments

“The Willow Tree”

Posted on August 23, 2007 by

Watching Majid Majidi’s religious The Willow Tree again, I thought about this quote from Clive Barker’s Weaveworld: She’d taken this harlot century she’d been born into for granted, knowing no other, but now — seeing it with his eyes, hearing … Continue reading →

Posted in books, film | Leave a comment

Helmut Newton

Posted on August 23, 2007 by

Indie darlings: David Lynch and Isabella Rossellini (taken after Blue Velvet?) More Helmut Newton photos on this Russian blog (NSFW). (via Hugo Strikes Back!)

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Classic Magnum Photography

Posted on August 23, 2007 by

The Magnum Photos and Slate collaboration began on Dec 1, 2005, and the first uploaded set begins with: PARIS — Place de l’Europe, Gare Saint Lazare, 1932. Photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson writes, “There was a plank fence around some repairs behind … Continue reading →

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What happened to our National Day Songs?

Posted on August 20, 2007 by

This year’s National Day Song, like its recent predecessors, is forgettable. (What’s it called? Uhh… “There’s No Place I’d Rather Be”). As if admitting its own absence of originality, the lyrics and arrangement both sound like a bowdlerised “Home“.The only … Continue reading →

Posted in history, identity, nostalgia, Singapore, society, Uncategorized, YouTube | Leave a comment

A Singaporean in Pyongyang

Posted on August 20, 2007 by

Oikono blogs about his visit to North Korea. 5 parts so far, with the first post here. It’s depressing to think of how resilient that totalitarian regime is, despite its anguished millions. There were times in Pyongyang when it felt … Continue reading →

Posted in documentary, travel | Leave a comment

Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei （さよなら絶望先生）

Posted on August 20, 2007 by

Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei (So Long, Despair Teacher) is irreverent, sarcastic and crammed with anime in-jokes and otaku references. What I like the most is the old-style nostalgia that the series unashamedly uses, especially in the title cards and the kanji. … Continue reading →

Posted in anime, Japan, nostalgia, typography, YouTube | Leave a comment