June 2006

tomorrow is canada day! it’s time to celebrate. get down with this man with the great hair all day today, so you can reach the climax tomorrow. let’s party!

(click the image to view close up)

postcard of this photo is available in my online SHOP.

(click the image to view close up)

freshly drawn since last night. the japanese writing says “happy solo muscle knitting”. i have a good time playing alone.

i took more photos last night. but most of them turned out blurry. when i draw, i guess i don’t blink as often as i should so my eyes get dry. therefore my contacts get dry too. i couldn’t see very well.

i have very bad eyesight. right -7.0 and left -6.8. it’s sometime nice to see things blurrily, especially at night. neon lights look very beautiful when i see them without my contacts on. but that’s maybe not a good idea when it comes to taking photos.

UPDATE: you can buy a print of this drawing, or a postcard, from my SHOP.

cafe at home - to turn my apartment kitchen into my own cafe is one of my on-going project called “turn everything around you cute and fun” project. i love cafe-life, why not making it at home? i used to go to cafe a lot in japan. “cafe culture” in kyoto is lovely. there are hundreds of cafes in kyoto alone - from nostalgic to contemporary ones.　　my favorite was cafe soiree. founded in 1948, cafe soiree resides humbly by the river takase. the cafe is lit only with blue lights. there’s no music playing, just blue lights and fragrance of roasted coffee. quiet. that’s one of the places i like to stay forever. i wanted to create the atmosphere in my apartment.

at our cafe at home, i cook and paul chooses music.

i like dining out at restaurants but after the easy consumption, sometimes i’m left with vanity. by creating something together at home, everyday life becomes much more fun.

recipe: quinoa pilaf with cranberries

• 1 cup quinoa, rince well and remove any debris
• 1 3/4 cup water
• 1 TB margarine
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp lemon zest
• 2 TB fresh parsley, minced
• 1/2 TB dried thyme
• 2 TB green onion, sliced
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
• s + p
• dash soy sauce
• dash olive oil

1. place rinsed quinoa in a large non-stick saucepan and toast, until it darkens slightly.
2. add to boiling water, cover, reduce the heat and simmer about 20 mins.
3. in another skillet, heat olive oil; add onion and garlic; and cook until tender. add cranberries.
4. stir in cooked quinoa, lemon zest, thyme, parsley, pumpkinseeds; add margarine, soy sauce, salt and pepper to taste.

vermillion pleasure night is a japanese tv show directed by yoshimasa ishibashi, avant-garde director from kyoto, japan. vermilion pleasure night is an omnibus show, which was aired on tv tokyo on sunday midnight starting 2000. once again, yoshimoto kogyo, the king of comedy agency produced it. the show became a huge hit throughout japan. it’s kitschy and full of dark humour. i love it. now the shows are available on dvd. now i can watch them in north america! banza~i.

this “utau 6-nin no onna” is one of his short films. the title means “six women, who sing”. it sounds better in japanese. i like the use of kanji for “utau (sing)”. there are five ways of writing “utau” in kanji - 歌う　謡う　詠う　謳う 唄う. the first “歌う” is to sing from your throat rhythmically. the second “謡う” is to sing by developing your voice with melody. the third “詠う” is to sing / read a poem. the fourth is to sing in a suppressed voice with intonation as you bend your body. the last one, “唄う” is a transliteration from Sanskrit. it’s used when anything non-human creates a pleasant sound or beautiful voice. for example, “a bird sings” or ” a stream sings”. when it’s used in a noun form, it means folk song. for the title of this piece, the choice is the last one, “唄う”. it gives a nostalgic tone to this piece, yet this whole thing is absolutely modern. i love the ambivalence. it’s post-post modern.

i’m a slave for this sort of languid ambiance. i just think he’s brilliant.

(music)
ah~
i persistantly continue to wash
stain, i can’t get rid of
my fingers, cracked and swollen
my fingers, stung by cold water

(music)
on a windy day like this, my clothes might be blown away
but a warm day will come
a bright day will come

(music)

(click the image to view close up)

we’re just the same meat.

freshly drawn last night - another happy midnight drawing.

i meant to stop more often to take photos of the drawing to capture the progress. but i forgot. so this is my rough chop art recipe.

UPDATE: i’ve made prints of this drawing, and postcards, available in my SHOP.