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Perseids
Tonight we should be able to see the Perseid meteor shower if today’s bank of heavy clouds goes away and light pollution doesn’t spoil the show. I remember the first time I saw the Perseids. I was at a drive-in with a friend during a university break. The movie was too stupid to capture my…
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Polyceman
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iMovie crashed my Mac
I have a video editing project with no particular deadline, though I’ve put it off long enough that now I want it over so I can spend time procrastinating on other projects. For the past two months, I’ve been working on it, getting frustrated with my preferred software which is not OS X ready, and…
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Zoupi in Belgium
Zoupi is still enjoying his vacation in Belgium. He’s travelled all over and amassed an extensive photo album. Here he is in Brussels with Manneken Pis, the famous fountain that inspired the funny Suntory Dakara commercials. (Click on the videotape, then navigate the menu to choose MPG or animated gifs–you don’t really need to understand…
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SMAP’s soda
Pop superstars SMAP’s latest album cover art has been turned into a promotional soda with a discount price–just 105 yen instead of 120. What’s the flavor of SMAP? Its a cola/orange baby aspirin/gum fantasia. I haven’t had a cola drink in years and the contents of the can took me by surprise. I’ve become accustomed…
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The Global Cities Tokyo
The Global Cities Tokyo team (me, Fred, Chiharu, and Wilson) are smiling because the film is “in the can.” We wrapped up last night at about 11 pm; Wilson and Fred are on their way back to Frankfurt today. At the end of the night as we said our thanks and goodbyes, it really felt…
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Sugamo filming
Yesterday was a fun day of shooting at Togenuki Jizo in Sugamo, “Grandma’s Harajuku.” I’m too rushed to write more, but I’ll be back tomorrow.
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Stamina in Kabukicho
I have no idea how these guys shoot for 14 hours without stopping or eating. In this photo, taken yesterday at 17:30, I’m exhausted, sunburned, sweaty and starving after traversing Harajuku, Omotesando and Shin-Okubo from 10:00. They are taking shot after shot of Kabukicho’s neon-covered porn shops & pachinko parlors. I’m cranky and at the…
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Resident registration
On Monday, a national “resident registration” system launches. Japan’s citizens will be assigned an 11 digit number associated with their name, date of birth and other vital statistics, similar to the US’s Social Security Number. But not every citizen will be enumerated. Two communities in Tokyo, Suginami and Kokubunji, and several other towns around the…
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On the grass at the Dome
Yesterday one of our filming locations was Tokyo Dome. We captured the Yomiuri Giants’ batting practice and pre-game activities. We attracted some attention from the press. I guess it isn’t every day that a foreign film crew invades the regular reporters’ turf. I fielded a bunch of questions about who we are and what we’re…
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