Category Archives: nostalgia

Maruzen Athena Ink advertising blotters, 1955

Posted on July 26, 2011 by

These are reproductions of 1955 ad blotters for Maruzen’s in-house “Athena” ink. They were made for Maruzen’s 2nd World Fountain Pen Fair in March 2011. Got a set recently from Maruzen in Nihonbashi, Tokyo.

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Wearever flattop – 1930s

Posted on September 15, 2009 by

The pen featured in my last post, but cleaned up and with new sac and J-bar installed. I couldn’t find a replacement nib so I left the original in. It’s a very wet writer. I did bend the nib down … Continue reading →

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Want vintage letterheads?

Posted on July 27, 2009 by

A sampler pack of vintage letterhead repros is up for grabs in this contest by “Everyday Correspondence” — a blog that extols the epistolary arts and paraphernalia.

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Flight and Regeneration

Posted on December 16, 2008 by

YMCK – Starlight: Daicon IV video (haven’t I posted this before?) – a legend in itself: The opening of the Densha Otoko J-drama references this:

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Le Lundi au Soleil

Posted on November 17, 2008 by

or, “Monday in the Sun” as interpreted by Kenzo Saeki. Ah, electronica and kitsch ^_^ As far as I can tell, this track is from a Japanese tribute album to French pop singer Claude François. More tracks/music videos: Chanson Populaire … Continue reading →

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Evangelion 1:0 – You Are (Not) Alone

Posted on March 26, 2008 by

“At last my arm is complete again!“ I enjoyed the new animation in the Evangelion movie — Evangelion 1:0 – You Are (Not) Alone — and let myself indulge in a bit of nostalgia for those memories of when I … Continue reading →

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Lobby Cards – the Leonard Schrader Collection

Posted on March 10, 2008 by

From the homepage: The Collection consists of 8,462 vintage lobby-cards and 5,000 related items – many the sole surviving traces of long-lost silent films – acquired by late screenwriter/filmmaker Leonard Schrader over the course of 27 years. While Schrader preserved … Continue reading →

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Vocaloid 2; Value from Efficiency; User-Generated Content distribution

Posted on September 19, 2007 by

I’m still impressed with the abilities of the Vocaloid 2 software (found via Boing Boing). Put in a melody and lyrics, and the software generates singing. It sounds pretty good. Try this sample: The opera sequence from Final Fantasy 6 … Continue reading →

Posted in anime, future, inspiration, Japan, marketing, media, music, nostalgia, religion, social networks, video games, YouTube | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

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

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 →

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