I spent quite some time in japan during my years working overseas, alot of time in narita. i enjoyed japan (what i saw of it ) and..have maintained an enduring interest in japanese modern culture, popular culture, insane trends, and their personal individual art forms. Which explains my recent exploration of anime as an art form......i just ordered several books, one on the cellphone in japanese culture and it's subsequent technological and social effects titled::: Personal, Portable, Pedestrian: Mobile Phones in Japanese Life::a study of the effect that mobile cellphone technology & texting has had on japan--for there is a cultural difference in that the japanese use their cellphones way -way more that americans do, and for more than simply having a random conversation. Japanese schoolgirls for example can charge their purchases at convience stores ( the japanese have tremendously cool convience stores by the way )by waving their cellphone at the cash register. The phone has a personal credit limit downloaded and linked to their parents credit cards.....there has been a marked decrease displayed in keyboard capability by the average japanese college student which has been acknowledged to be the result of only "thumbing" text----the second book i ordered is called Japanamerica: How Japanese Pop Culture Has Invaded the U.S. a study of how once pop culture was a flow from america to japan and within recent years that flow has reversed with the major elements of pop culture flowing from japan to america and what this means in the restructuring of mass, popular culture in the US. the japanese have a particular methodology in combining elements from other cultures and adding a particularly bizarre, personal twist of their own culture to it. i attempt to pay attention to these unique mass cultural items from japan for my own theories and possibly for that novel i'd like to write sometime which in my head takes place here and in japan...so i mentally view this exercise as keeping up with the latest in cultural trends as well a research.


keeping in the japanese cultural theme of things here is something however that really was somewhat shocking..we had decided to make the switch to a hybrid vehicle and the pack leader of course is the toyota prius. I cannot understand why a company like toyota which displays such forward thinking and excellent product design makes such a fatal flaw as salesforce....i have difficulty believing that a company, like toyota that has the engineering and design brainpower to develop a gas/electric hybrid vehicle cannot understand that their local salespeople should not do business the american way by attempting to scam the consumer...so after much thought in making the determination to change our personal patterns and lifestyle----the green revolution loses a new member because of the same old carney worker salespeople....Here is a perfect case in point where american social stupidity will kill off an avenue individuals are attempting to pursue towards our own rescue. I hate to tell you this toyota but people considering buying a hybrid are alittle bit smarter, and require a little better handling than the local salesforce are providing ----- so too bad toyota, and too bad for the earth---

jennifer government by max barry is turning out to be an excellent book that i can highly recommend for anyone into fictional futurism--the corporate future described in the book--is thought provoking with an excellent, action filled plot as well. The premise i described previous is that everyone takes the corporate name for their last name--i.e.-JOHN NIKE--and a shoe corporation decides that the thing to give their new line of shoes "street cred" is by killing individuals wearing them.....everything is capitalism to the extreme---A future where if you wish the murder of your daughter acted on by officals you have to sell your house to fund the criminal investigation-- with corporate mercenaries currently working in Iraq this really makes you wonder exactly where we are going, where are they taking us?


here's a unique concept involving shipping containers redesigned into apartments.....you can find this article at a site called inhabit

http://inhabitat.com/ and if you don't mind living linear this is a very, very interesting reuse of materials to provide living space with a sense of style..the article advises that the container house is capable of being shipped where you go--needing only land, foundation, and normal house hook ups-- the designer also displays how for city living these homesteads are stackable with exterior stairways and balcony's added. it is exactly this type of outside the box thinking we require in today's world and the drive to find simple solutions to complex problems. i was going to ask why this type of concept was not use for katrina housing, or anywhere there are homeless in the US, but surely i jest.

just a few unique chronograph photographs for your pleasure on chronograph design...interesting executions for those like me with the watch Otaku jones going on. i'm not sure yet if this square faced chrono actually appeals to me or not---it's something i am definately not used to---it may grow on me tho... i do enjoy the clean design on the 4-sub dial stainless steel chronograph, very clean and classic looking a steve mcqueen type watch..
and lastly a new clock in old housing