Photos from Sapporo Snow Festival 2012

I'm interested to see how Google tying things together could make my life easier, so instead of rambling about another restaurant how about I try sharing some photos instead? I've put up an album of snaps of this year's snow festival on Google+ which I'm still kind of feeling out. STILL. I've been on there forever, or close to it.

So click on the following link and check it out. The album should be public and anyone should be able to see it, but I never take anything for granted.

Sapporo Snow Festival 2012

The Book of Mansion Names 8

The Book of Mansion Names 7

Well, it's been almost two years since I've done one of these. The names of apartment buildings in Japan that in some way I think speak of the aspirations and dreams that all of us keep in our hearts. Imagine, you could one day live in a building with a name like this!

Mr. House

I can't decide whether this:


makes the derelict building look more pathetic, creepier, or more awesome. I'll let you decide.

Oh, it's like the skeleton of the awning is his moustache! Aw!

Englanding #16 : Extra Brighton & London Content

Well, it turns out that I have a bunch of good snaps from Brighton and London and it would be positively criminal of me not to share them with your good selves. Thus, the Brighton pier that you can't go on:


God, people must love taking pictures of that thing. I kind of want to write an action movie in while the final punch up takes place on it. Awesome. As well as a burnt-out pier, while in Brighton you may also come across the gentleman with whom I'm drinking here, Robert:


He is a scoundrel and a cad and please treat him as such. We saw Fantastic Mr. Fox, which is very good but I have no idea who it's pitched at. It's essentially an animated film in very much the same vein as Wes Anderson's other movies but made a little simpler and with no swearing... y'know, for the kids. Then again, I don't really care who it's aimed at, I really enjoyed it.

Here's where the spies live in London:


Place on the left that is. And here's my touristy tube snap:


Trains that go under the ground?! Sapristi! There could be a whole civilization down there!

Englanding #6 : Pro Wedding Photographer

It's my new job:




Oh look! I can say it again: Congratulations to Nicky and Chris!

Death of Polaroid / Moerenuma

As everyone knows they stopped making Polaroid film and the last batch expired more than a month ago now. I still had two films (one left now) and was looking forward to using them up, so I took the big, lumpy camera-cum-spaceship to Moerenuma Park when Andy, Yuki, Tara and I went there for an "outing" last week.

The first time I pressed the button on the new film two pictures came out at once, one blank, the other partly ruined / enhanced by the effect you can see below (hint: there wasn't really a giant caramel blanket over half of the world). After that the camera refused to finish the film and now the plastic film cartridge seems to be jammed in.

So maybe they weren't shitting about that expiry date huh?!

Or maybe it's just that I've got some midas touch that breaks cameras at the moment.

Either way, I'm really happy with the way some of these shots came out. In scanning them I've tried to preserve the "Polaroid Palette" as much as possible. As Andy said, it has an instant-nostalgia effect - when he looked at the snaps he felt like it was the record of some warm, old memory; when in fact the trip had been earlier that day.





I hope you enjoyed that latest installment of "The Last Days of Polaroid." I'm going to take a knife to the camera and try to drag it out a little longer.

Sky Report Part 2

This Monday post was actually written on the following Thursday. Ah, backlogs.

You know that because of my job I barely saw the sunset for two years.




My life is pretty good right now.

Death of Polaroid / Moment of Silence

A great photo feature in the Guardian this week alerted me to the fact that the last batch of film manufactured for my beloved polaroid camera (that I have owned for approximately four months) apparently expires at the end of the month. Since I still have two film "cartridges" for the beast I guess I should use 'em up. I'm not too fussed though, I imagine that I can push that expiry date a bit, as you can with most dry goods.

Still I took the hefty thing with me when I went out yesterday, and I reckon I'll burn through those last two films pretty quickly. Here's the end of the first film I bought:


And here's what's left to use - hungry, gaping maw and all:


The, ah, guitar isn't actually essential for taking photos of course. My appartment is just pretty messy at the moment. Ideas for projects involving twenty polaroid photos would be very welcome.

Sky Report

Last weeks sky (day unspecified): Awesome. Please click to enjoy and embiggen.



They are distant, but I can see mountains from my appartment, and I'm beginning to think that was all I needed.

Click to avoid squinting.

Sunny Day:



Everything's A-OK.

Happy Father's Day Stephen!

I'm not being all that straight, I already sent this picture to my pa as an online Father's Day card. I snapped it in the window of United Arrows in Parco:


You can laugh, but I think they've really hit on something here. Even in Japan, the land of the beardless, a beard is still an integral part of the Father's role in their child's development. How many infants' growth have been stunted by a clean-shaven pater? Think on't recent fathers and fathers-to-be, do not deny your child the joy of a bearded dad.

Moments from Tromeo and Juliet

Tromeo and Juliet is like Citizen Kane. It's one of those movies that you've always known you should see, but somehow you've never got round to it. Well, I finally got round to it.





And it was worth it. God bless you people of Tromaville. God bless you every one.

Happy Birthday To Me

A Happy Birthday which included watching dancing, eating at my favourite restaurant, watching more dancing, looking at appartments and eating sukiyaki.


Pictured: Beer, Alex, Cake, Sukiyaki, Yuki's Arm, Olivia's Arm.

Hokkaido University Festival 2009

Polaroid Joy

So, Bunny bequeathed me a fantastic device upon her departure for England... a device the old ones call "A Polaroid Camera". That is, she has more than one, and she figured she could fit another four rolls of tape with animals on it into her case if she ditched the camera in Japan. I'm not sure how many polaroid cameras Bunny has - at times I imagine she lives in a hut on the moor, built entirely from polaroid cameras held together by animal pattern tape.

Anyway, this weekend I obtained film for said camera at a princely cost. Seriously, a real stomp to the wallet. But the sheer joy of weilding this huge plastic box that "k'chonk"s open and spits out actual physical photos soon put my misgivings away.



On polaroid film everything looks like it takes place in the 1970s and is awesome.

Kaerimashita yo.

OK, so I admit that I deliberately put off returning to posting duty and that I may have been back in touch with the internet for a couple of days, so that I might have spent some time posting blog posts, but I just decided to be lazy. It was probably good for me. Now, watch me recommence, daily, like a boss.

I went to Tokyo, it was pretty cool y'know, although a little rainy. We fuckin' walked the hell out of that city let me tell you; now I can recognize every cobble and kerbstone by feel through the rubber soles of my well worn shoes. Or something like that. I'll post a few things about the cool places we went to in Tokyo over the next few days for now I'll whet your appetites with some secret preview pictures. Strictly confidential, you understand:





When I got back I realised I should've taken a lot more shots, but that my dedication to documentation is still somewhat lacking. Ah well, you don't need a snap of the Mita Sneakers shop in Ueno Ameyoko, but it was cool that I could find it. I got new shoes from elsewhere, a fancy new t-shirt and lots of new clothes, so I'm happy as the proverbial pig. Bunny got all sorts of crazy stuff, like a live elephant, three stone dwarves and a three-quarter-size dirigible. It was crazy.

The Book of Mansion Names 3

Please click the tage below for previous entries in The Book of Mansion Names.

The Book of Mansion Names 2

See also: The Book of Mansion Names 1