The Good
Unreserved zygomatic responses.
Eijyuusha
2006.08.18, 23:22 | Comments (11)
As of about 1:20 p.m. last Wednesday afternoon, I am a permanent resident — 永住者 — of the great nation of Japan.
Vigourously ongoing
2006.08.13, 10:26 | Comments (7)
Imagine a roughly circular granite island 12 kilometres in diameter which rises to a series of peaks approaching 2 kilometres above sea level, the highlands of which receive, on average, 8,000 milimetres of rain a year (yes, that’s 8 metres of rain annually). You’d expect the water and the rock to come to some pretty interesting arrangements over the millennia. On Yakushima they most certainly have, and negotiations are vigourously ongoing.
Refugee Film Festival
2006.07.19, 17:11 | Comments (1)
If you’re anywhere near Tokyo, try to see some of the films in the first [Refugee Film Festival](http://unhcr.or.jp/news/event/20060720_RefugeeFilmFestival.html). The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugee Representation in Japan is organising the event, and it looks like they’ll be showing some must-see work.
Zooomr’d!
2006.07.18, 21:09 | Comments (2)
Congratulations to Zooomr – up and running and looking good.
Gen joins Mozilla Japan
2006.04.28, 07:32 | Comments (3)
Congratulations and *ganbatte* to [Gen Kanai](http://www.kanai.net/weblog/archive/2006/04/28/02h37m59s) who’s joined [Mozilla Japan](http://www.mozilla-japan.org/).
Hot Mama of Invention
2006.03.29, 19:59 | Comments (6)
Because I’m sick and feeling pretty dopey I’m going to single out the most whimsical winning entry from the National Press Photographers Association Best of Photojournalism 2006….
The real fluffy albino lobster
2006.03.12, 01:38 | Comments (4)
I thought kiwa hirsuta, the recently-discovered fluffy albino lobster was the best thing I’d seen on the internet all month. At least I did, until I saw this.
Free music from Asuka Kaneko
2006.02.20, 21:59 | Comments (8)
Asuka Kaneko is a wonderful violinist. For a limited time (only a couple of weeks longer) you can download a free track from her new album.
Skycar
2005.06.21, 21:47 | Comments (42)
Imagine a sky full of really, really big hair dryers and jet-skis off a beach suddenly seem like mere mosquitos.
N’s design
2005.04.10, 12:04 | Comments (7)
A few weeks ago an old friend of ours came to visit. N is a textile designer, and she brought us some absolutely beautiful samples of some recent work. This is a snippet of something she did, a kind of handkerchief, for a professional rakugo storyteller to give out to his fans.
Edward Burtynsky wins TED Prize
2005.02.28, 13:04 | Comments (1)
Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky has won one of three inaugural TED Prizes and will be working with WorldChanging.com to “encourage a massive and productive worldwide conversation about sustainable living.”
Happy birthday, waferbaby!
2005.02.23, 14:23 | Comments (2)
Happy 10th to waferbaby
It’s a girl!
2005.02.17, 21:33 | Comments (5)
My sister has had a baby girl! Mother and daughter both fine. Uncle pouring himself another glass of wine.
Markdown
2005.02.09, 08:08 | Comments (7)
I don’t know why it took me so long to cotton on to John Gruber’s Markdown, but it absolutely rocketh.
Plate
2004.12.01, 22:14 | Comments (1)
plate /pleIt/ n. ME. [OFr. = thin sheet of metal…]
New Yorker cover by Adrian Tomine
2004.11.26, 14:49 | Comments (0)
I was glad to see a New Yorker cover by Adrian Tomine recently
Astroboy stamp
2004.10.29, 15:47 | Comments (5)
On a package that arrived in the mail today.
Jay Allen joins Six Apart
2004.10.09, 12:11 | Comments (5)
… and together, I suspect, they shall rule the world.
Japanese Fanta commercial that never made it to air
2004.09.26, 15:40 | Comments (4)
Not exactly a ‘high concept’ piece, but the execution is faultless. This ad’s a scream.
XHTML validator to RSS
2004.07.07, 22:39 | Comments (0)
Consider this a public mental note to self to check out Ben Hammersley’s XHTML Validator to RSS tomorrow. Validation in a feed — but of course!
35mm film and the Golden Ratio
2004.04.02, 22:26 | Comments (1)
A neat little introduction to the Golden Ratio in 35mm film’s 3:2 aspect ratio.
Web Standards Awards
2004.02.10, 21:57 | Comments (1)
I’m for anything that helps spread the good word of standards compliancy.
Konishiki getting married
2004.01.14, 10:08 | Comments (5)
Former sumo wrestler turned TV talent Konishiki is getting married.
Tapestry: RSS Delivery of Comics
2003.11.07, 21:01 | Comments (5)
Three words: Doonesbury RSS feed.
MT-Blacklist 1.5
2003.10.29, 10:47 | Comments (7)
Jay Allen’s very good MT-Blacklist just got a whole lot better.
ALA 3.0
2003.10.23, 09:02 | Comments (5)
Let me be the first to congratulate A List Apart on the launch of 3.0.
Free Japanese Lessons from MIT
2003.10.17, 11:46 | Comments (9)
M. Sinclair Stevens discovers self-study Japanese language course materials in MIT’s OpenCourseWare initiative.
Professional Lego Builder Wanted
2003.10.14, 18:07 | Comments (11)
Jacob McKee, Community Developer Manager for Lego, wrote to me to let me know about something very amazing indeed.
MT-Blacklist: Fighting Comment Spam
2003.10.14, 10:10 | Comments (9)
Comment spam is becoming a real nuisance. The redoubtable Jay Allen has been giving this problem a little thought, shall we say, and has written MT-Blacklist.
TypePad’s Official Launch
2003.10.08, 10:53 | Comments (3)
Congratulations to SixApart on the official launch of TypePad, a beautiful piece of work.
The Gentle Art of Japanese Bathing
2003.09.13, 16:10 | Comments (12)
How to take a bath in Japan. (Illustrated.)
The Moon and Mars
2003.09.09, 22:33 | Comments (5)
Just noticed that the moon and Mars are taking a spectacular journey together across the sky.
Cocksec Mosquito Coils
2003.08.31, 20:31 | Comments (13)
I changed the header image in honour of Cocksec mosquito coils from the Japan Insecticide Manufacturing Company which literally save your skin. They must be extremely poisonous: light up one of these and within seconds there’s not a mosquito to be seen within a luxuriously large radius.
Buzzwhack.com
2003.08.07, 17:48 | Comments (5)
Yesterday a friend introduced me to Buzzwhack.com, a site “dedicated to de-mystifying buzzwords,” where I immediately signed up for the buzzword-for-the-day mailing list.
Blackberry
2003.07.15, 22:45 | Comments (6)
Welcomed a healthy blackberry specimen into the garden a couple of days ago, which sounds strange to say because the plant is considered a pest by farmers in many parts of Australia and New Zealand (and quite probably elsewhere).
En Charrette
2003.07.14, 16:34 | Comments (3)
How apt that today’s Word-a-Day is charrette
Crocosmia, or How the Web Works
2003.07.08, 11:13 | Comments (9)
If someone wanted to invent a serendipity machine, it might look a lot like the web.
First International Love Hotel Moblogorama
2003.07.04, 20:53 | Comments (2)
Didn’t manage to participate (damn) but there are vicarious thrills aplenty at the The First International Love Hotel Moblogging Conference. Cute, cute idea.
Webby Award for MovableType.org
2003.06.06, 17:02 | Comments (3)
MovableType.org wins the Best Practices Webby. Woo-hoo! Great news.
CSS Bookmarklets
2003.06.03, 23:17 | Comments (10)
Simon Willison on wrangling CSS with Jesse Ruderman’s remarkable bookmarklets. Don’t miss!
TypePad
2003.05.23, 01:58 | Comments (7)
A very belated congratulations to Six Apart for TypePad. Screen shots today, and they’re beeyooodiful. This is going to rock big time.
Tokyo’s Getting An Apple Store!
2003.05.21, 00:20 | Comments (9)
Tokyo will get the first Apple Store outside the U.S. Can’t wait.
Character to Entity Encoder Bookmarklet
2003.05.20, 00:42 | Comments (5)
Steve Minutillo’s character to entity encoder bookmarklet is pretty damned good
CSS Zen Garden
2003.05.08, 23:35 | Comments (7)
“A demonstratation of what can be accomplished visually through CSS-based design.” To which I can only say, bravo!
Background Patterns
2003.05.04, 16:39 | Comments (8)
Jeffrey Zeldman mentions that “Repeating background patterns, once the shame of web design, have recently made a tasteful comeback.”
The Venezuelan Waltzes of Lionel Belasco
2003.04.29, 00:38 | Comments (4)
I can’t stop listening to the Venezuelan waltzes, calypsos and paseos of Lionel Belasco on this amazing album from Rounder.
The Petal Storm Begins
2003.04.09, 12:37 | Comments (9)
[Photo] Now we come to the time where the cherry blossom petals start to fall
NetFuture
2003.04.02, 23:35 | Comments (0)
If you’re not already subscribing to the NetFuture newsletter, you should be.
Son of Hmmn…
2003.03.18, 12:17 | Comments (1)
Hey, Kurt’s a dad!
Ukelele Hero
2003.03.13, 12:14 | Comments (7)
The ukelele is a vastly underrated instrument. In Tokyo, one man rediscovers its awesome powers!
Uni
2003.01.23, 00:35 | Comments (3)
The divine delectability of sea urchin eggs.
Should I Be Tempted by the Devil?
2003.01.18, 18:29 | Comments (1)
Saw Ian McKellen in “Richard III” last night on DVD. Now that’s how you do a modern-dress Shakespeare!
Tokyo MT Gathering
2003.01.13, 16:06 | Comments (0)
Ben and Mena Trott will be visiting Tokyo next week. A gathering of Movable Type users is being organised. If you’re anywhere near Tokyo, try to make it.
This is a Magazine
2003.01.05, 12:55 | Comments (1)
This is a Magazine: old-fashioned photocopier ‘zine aesthetic with a modern twist.
Kyoto Journal
2002.12.22, 13:09 | Comments (0)
Congratulations to “Kyoto Journal” magazine, nominated for Utne Reader’s awards (yet again!) in the design and general excellence categories.
WordLookup
2002.12.13, 22:45 | Comments (4)
Looking for that special kanji for the tattoo you’re about to get? Use WordLookup, a free multilingual dictionary application for OS X from Lindesay Electric.
Eco-friendly Japan
2002.12.13, 21:32 | Comments (3)
The BBC reports on the recent Eco-Products Expo in Tokyo. Now if we can just get rid of those floating televisions in the Japan Sea….
Snow!
2002.12.09, 11:23 | Comments (5)
Woke up to a nice surprise this morning: snow!
Eclipse Photos
2002.12.05, 10:32 | Comments (0)
The Sydney Morning Herald has a page of photographs of yesterday’s eclipse.
Mikan
2002.11.27, 10:50 | Comments (7)
The neighbours’ mikan tree bears fruit.
Japanese Courtyard Gardens
2002.10.23, 23:54 | Comments (1)
Better late than never, I finally get around to posting this link from nipponDAZE: a brief look (with some stunning…
A Pilsener Runs Through It
2002.09.01, 09:41 | Comments (0)
We spent a couple of days camping west of Tokyo in an area called Oku-Tama for what passed as…
Macros in Movable Type
2002.08.20, 15:03 | Comments (6)
I have an unspeakable envy of people like Brad Choate whose MTMacros allows you to run macros through Movable Type…
More Fireworks Pictures
2002.08.18, 22:19 | Comments (0)
Pictures from the Tamagawa fireworks festival
Tamagawa Fireworks
2002.08.18, 00:12 | Comments (9)
Looking like something out of a biology textbook (Plates 1–9: the miracle of conception) the montage above shows a…
The Wild Blue Hither
2002.08.08, 19:34 | Comments (1)
Skies don’t get any bluer than ours was today. In the morning whisps of cloud hung on the southern sky…
Eldred vs. Ashcroft
2002.08.06, 22:02 | Comments (9)
The improbably-named Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act was signed into law by Bill Clinton on October 27, 1998….
Is Ian Thorpe Human?
2002.08.01, 16:08 | Comments (2)
With the Commonwealth Games happening in Manchester, the time has come to ask an important question: is Ian Thorpe…
Izumi Tamagawa Fireworks
2002.08.01, 00:03 | Comments (6)
I love fireworks. We rode our bikes down to the Tama river tonight to see the Izumi-Tamagawa fireworks. Pyrotechnics…
Caffeinate Your Garden
2002.06.27, 22:38 | Comments (2)
Coffee is just a miracle drug, no two ways about it. I’ve been dumping my coffee grounds in the garden…
A Visit to Studio Ghibli
2002.06.16, 15:19 | Comments (2)
Yesterday was a big, once-in-a-lifetime day. I had the great honour of accompanying the novelist Peter Carey and his…
May the Gods Bless Honeybees
2002.06.13, 23:45 | Comments (0)
For some reason I’ve always loved bees (at a distance). I’m a honey junkie as well as a hardcore caffeine…
Contax Customer Service
2002.06.11, 23:35 | Comments (2)
The control wheel on my old second-hand T2 broke. I took the camera into the Kyocera service centre and…
More Leunig Links
2002.06.05, 17:42 | Comments (3)
Curly Flat is “an appreciation of the work of Michael Leunig” and is probably the best place to start if…
Cintra
2002.05.22, 12:00 | Comments (0)
It is so good to see Cintra Wilson back in Salon. In Men who hurt themselves for a living she…
A Mind-Altering Swim
2002.05.10, 19:07 | Comments (2)
This is probably of minimal interest to anybody, but I just had the best swim I think I’ve ever had…
A New Aussie
2002.05.09, 16:16 | Comments (0)
My daughter became an Australian citizen today. You beauty, mate! I guess she technically became a citizen when the…
New Albums from Tom Waits
2002.05.02, 17:52 | Comments (1)
A new album from Tom Waits is always a big event – but two new albums is just an embarrassment…
The Colour of the Numbers
2002.04.28, 18:06 | Comments (0)
More than 10 years ago I sat in a café in Shimokitazawa, talking with a couple of friends. We were…
Murcutt Wins the Pritzker
2002.04.27, 11:56 | Comments (2)
Australian architect Glenn Murcutt has won the 2002 Pritzker Prize. The NYTimes has a story. Mr. Murcutt is that rare…
Omedeto!
2002.04.18, 01:39 | Comments (1)
Congratulations to Shinobu Fukutake, whose amazing ladybug icons won the People’s Choice Award for Pixelpalooza 2002. Pretty obvious that these…
Back in the Pool
2002.04.09, 11:54 | Comments (0)
Ah, the joys of idleness. Started swimming again yesterday, something I hadn’t been able to do for a while due…
Another Benefit of Joblessness
2002.04.08, 00:48 | Comments (2)
You’ll be thrilled to hear that you can expect the number of posts here to increase now that I actually…
Fukutake’s Ladybugs
2002.04.01, 22:05 | Comments (0)
I was looking at some of the entries for this year’s Pixelpalooza contest over at the IconFactory and saw…
One More Degree of Control Over One’s Life
2002.04.01, 13:07 | Comments (2)
An important step in regaining control over our lives. Hopefully other countries will follow suit. The Netherlands seems like just…
Auto-escalators
2002.03.31, 22:55 | Comments (2)
I’ve recently noticed a new development in escalator technology which I just love: escalators that only move when someone’s…
In Search of the Perfect (But Affordable) Headphones
2002.03.26, 23:53 | Comments (2)
At MacWorld Tokyo every machine in the Apple booth sported a pair of headphones (as befits a digital hub, I…
MT 2.0 is Here!
2002.03.23, 11:09 | Comments (0)
Teasting… testing… Seems the upgrade to Movable Type 2.0 went well (or at least the scripts reported that it did)….
Macworld Tokyo This Week
2002.03.20, 00:48 | Comments (2)
Macworld Tokyo kicks off on Thursday with Steve’s keynote. I’m not even going to try to get into that (fat…
Bye Bye Mobile Phone
2002.03.14, 01:04 | Comments (2)
Instead of carrying a small phone in my pocket I now carry a big mountain. Let me explain. I no…
Seems Like Old Times
2002.03.08, 01:05 | Comments (0)
How happy am I? I just got back from dinner with a bunch of friends who I haven’t seen for,…
I Can Ski!
2002.03.04, 23:07 | Comments (3)
…sort of. Had a great weekend skiing. The snow was lousy but what do I care; I didn’t know any…
MT 2.0 Coming Soon
2002.02.27, 12:40 | Comments (1)
Just stopped by the Movable Type site to see how they’re doing with 2.0, slated for an early-March release. There’s…
Break a Leg
2002.02.27, 12:35 | Comments (0)
I’m going skiing this weekend - for the first time ever. Can’t wait. I have no idea what this is…
Wear Kare
2002.02.13, 02:00 | Comments (1)
The Susan Kare shop!
Plum Time
2002.02.09, 16:13 | Comments (0)
The plums are flowering, their tentative little puffs of colour heralding spring. This old one in the photo above…
Antipixel’s Cool!
2002.02.08, 09:18 | Comments (0)
CoolSTOP site of the day. Gee…!
Red Bowl
2002.02.02, 23:30 | Comments (6)
Perfection in a red bowl
The Lego DAT Tape Loader
2002.02.01, 20:47 | Comments (2)
Now this is geeky, in the most honourable sense of the word. You have to use software on the computer…
Humming Across the Ages
2002.02.01, 00:00 | Comments (0)
I had an extremely stressful day yesterday. Lots of work, a dead computer to be resurrected, inadequate tools at hand…
Sweet Inspiration
2002.01.22, 08:28 | Comments (1)
Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham - Moments From This Theatre
Moof!
2002.01.20, 20:47 | Comments (2)
Clarus is back in OS X!
New Job
2002.01.18, 23:31 | Comments (0)
One reason I didn’t get back to Antipixel immediately after returning to Japan is that I started a new job…
Advances in Straw Technology
2001.12.16, 12:51 | Comments (1)
Astounding advances in straw design
Dammit, Dave
2001.12.02, 21:13 | Comments (1)
From Francis Heaney at The Modern Humorist: conversation between David Bowman and HAL 9000 as written by David Mamet.
The Last Leaf
2001.12.01, 23:40 | Comments (1)
We wrap up Leaf Week with the autumn leaf nonpareil: momiji, or the Japanese maple.
Today’s Leaf: Bamboo
2001.11.30, 12:42 | Comments (2)
Continuing in our day-late leaf series, here’s another something from the garden: bamboo (no surprises today).
Yet Another Leaf
2001.11.29, 02:03 | Comments (0)
Today’s leaf: wasabi
Today’s Leaf: Unidentified Ivy
2001.11.27, 16:12 | Comments (0)
Unidentified ivy, Henry Miller, and serious procrastination tools
Leaf Week at Antipixel
2001.11.27, 00:47 | Comments (0)
OK, let’s make it Leaf Week at Antipixel. Today it’s a blueberry leaf from the garden.
Ginkolicious
2001.11.26, 10:28 | Comments (2)
Here’s a recipe for chawan mushi (“Egg custard soup” - which makes it sound worse than it is) using ginko…
Marshmellowed
2001.11.24, 23:06 | Comments (0)
Had a great day out at Okutama. The autumn colours are spectacular.
Awestruck!
2001.11.19, 05:58 | Comments (0)
Just magnificent! I’m awestruck. The clouds thinned out and the show went on. Absolutely beautiful. By 4:00am the sky was…
Some Leonid Action After All
2001.11.19, 02:36 | Comments (1)
Cloud breaking up a little, mostly to the north. I’ve seen about 2 dozen so far. Going to walk up…
Getting Ready…
2001.11.18, 19:59 | Comments (2)
We’ve got about 25% cloud cover here at the moment, mostly to the south-west. But it’s early yet and I’m hoping it will clear up like last night (which was perfectly clear).
Australian Wine
2001.11.18, 11:55 | Comments (0)
The New York Times has an article by Aurelia Scott on Australian Wines That Travel Well (and Far) Scott concentrates…
iPod in Harajuku
2001.11.17, 01:20 | Comments (2)
Apple has placed a huge iPod banner on the Laforet department store
PaperSizes
2001.11.17, 01:05 | Comments (0)
It does one thing and one thing only: changes the default paper size in OS X from US Letter to A4.
New Scanner!
2001.11.16, 11:50 | Comments (0)
Got a new scanner last week…
Woodring & Tomine
2001.11.15, 12:32 | Comments (1)
Jim Woodring exhibition in Tokyo and Kyoto, plus a new book from Adrian Tomine
“With the Leonids there are no guarantees.”
2001.11.15, 11:31 | Comments (0)
Jaw-dropping Leonidsscience.nasa.gov Although certain parts of the world are favored for intense activity this year, Cooke encourages people everywhere to…
Happy Birthday, Jun
2001.11.14, 23:34 | Comments (2)
Jun’s 7th birthday today
Meiji no Bijin Ga
2001.11.13, 00:51 | Comments (0)
Beautiful women of the Meiji period.
Wherefore art thou, Leo?
2001.11.12, 14:13 | Comments (0)
Location of Leo at 2am PST, 18 Nov 2001, as seen from Tokyo
2001 Leonids
2001.11.12, 12:52 | Comments (0)
In a slashdot thread on next week’s Leonid Meteor Shower, Brad Templeton wrote: Though there are 4 different sets…
Dalliance
2001.11.12, 12:10 | Comments (0)
The 2002 Emigre font catalogue arrived today.
The art of the ricochet
2001.11.12, 11:31 | Comments (0)
Weblogs set up a giant game of billiards with a thousand balls and a thousand pockets and no one really knows what shape the table is.
Eurowelcome #02
2001.11.11, 23:37 | Comments (0)
(Antipixel’s big in Europe)! Welcome Germany, Greece, Italy and the U.K.
A Little Less Light
2001.11.11, 08:29 | Comments (1)
A little less light in the world:Novelist, 60s Icon Ken Kesey Dies “Anyone trying to get a handle on our…
Eurowelcome
2001.11.11, 00:15 | Comments (0)
Antipixel would like to welcome France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Youkoso. Send cheese!…
Shelter
2001.11.09, 01:25 | Comments (0)
The visit to the Minka-en got me thinking about Glenn Murcutt, and good houses in general.
Museum of Contemporary Ephemera
2001.11.07, 23:30 | Comments (0)
Plans are afoot for a new museum of contemporary ephemera
Wonderful Sky Tonight
2001.11.07, 02:50 | Comments (0)
A very clear night allowed for a spectacular show of the moon in gemini with Jupiter, Saturn & Orion
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