Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield has been using his time on the International Space Station to show that space is not just for scientists, but also for artists and creators. He’s been posting some beautiful photos of the Earth from space, and now he’s made a music video of his cover… Continue reading
Courtesy of the Japanese girl duo “Puffy” (in the US, “Puffy Amiyumi” to avoid confusion with the rapper). here is a video of their song “Boogie Woogie #5”, a really upbeat swing song from one of their older albums. Puffy made it big in the early 2000’s by doing the… Continue reading
So, the last post I talked about enka music, but didn’t bother to link to any examples. Well, this time I’m going to show you what I mean by “Japanese blues”. This one is one of my all-time favorites, “Sake yo” by Ikuzo Yoshi. I even learned enough to sing… Continue reading
I’m a big fan of Japanese Enka music, which is an original Japanese style of music often called “Japanese blues”, because it was influenced by American blues, and because it’s usually about the same types of subjects that blues covers: Lost loves, old friends long gone, “the good old days”,… Continue reading
After many years of dithering and dawdling and otherwise procrastinating, I finally have a new book out! Hopefully the first of many, its photos cover one morning and early afternoon at the Kiyosumi Garden in Tokyo, Japan, on my first full day there. In case you’re interested, I have both… Continue reading
This is an interesting short (13 minutes) movie, “Reaching Autumn: A Calvin and Hobbes Movie”, featuring live actors portraying the characters “Calvin” and “Susie Derkins” from the comic strip “Calvin and Hobbes” once they’ve grown up and entered society as young adults. Calvin is portrayed as a serious businessman who’s… Continue reading
Well, after walking and walking and walking, I made it to the end of the parade route, where I was able to finally cross Constitution Avenue to the side where the matsuri was taking place. Then it was another 4 block or so walk to get to the nearest entrance… Continue reading
So, the last of the cherry blossoms are dropping their petals, and the primary colors are turning from pink and white to green, after a seemingly endless Winter. Here are photos I took during my walk from the Tidal Basin to the DC Sakura Matsuri (street festival) on Saturday. I’ll… Continue reading