Melbourne
It’s summer time in Melbourne. They speak English here. And we’re staying in an apartment with our own bedrooms! This is all a little too normal coming from Japan and China and Beirut before that. We’re back in familiar territory, which is a little bit strange after so much strange…
Thankfully, we have a great, great host lined up in Melbourne. Beci Orpin is her name and she’s a graphic artist, graphic designer, clothing designer, sculptor, collector, mother of two and a true local Melbournian.
Beci’s house is full of colorful objects and artworks and inspirational things that she has collected over the years.
She seems to like beasts and so beasts abound. Most are fake.
But some are real.
In Melbourne, we kept encountering art, design, food and drink (often simultaneously). Creativity and debauchery: a winning combination. There were, for example, some delicious macaroons to be sampled at Di Chirico’s super stylized pop-up bakery.
And we visited a gallery where Beci had just had an exhibition.
Red dots everywhere.
I got some really nice custom Note to Self jeans made while in town. Yes the fit reference does say ‘36 stretch’…
We went to Grace Darling, a pub in Fitzroy. Nice wallpaper, a nice pint of Guinness and a great vintage clothing sale on upstairs.
We were also sent to the infamous Revolver nightclub by Beci and told that it really only gets going at 8 o’ clock in the morning. Of course we had to stay to investigate this claim. There were Banskys on the wall behind plates of protective glass. See…more art.
This appears to be the best photograph that was taken that morning…
Beci also introduced us to Brendan, an artist and lead singer of the local Melbourne band Eddy Current Suppression Ring. He was a lovely man and we saw him play a sold-out gig a little later in our travels at The Annandale Hotel in Sydney. Wicked.
Melbourne being in Australia, it was only a matter of time before we found ourselves barbecuing. Add a dozen kids to the mix and you get a Beci Orpin style barbecue: the perfect hangover cure.
Our lovely producer/friend/compatriot Amanda took us to her private beach box in Half Moon Bay to close out the weekend.
We ate fish n’ chips, drank beers, jumped in the sea and watched the sunset. It has to be said, life is damn good down under.
東京
December 6, 2009 | Category: by Thomas | 3 Comments
Tokyo is a megalopolis. If you get to a vantage point, it stretches out as far as the eye can see in every direction. Only Mt. Fuji in the distance suggests that there is an end to the urban undulations. It was a daunting task to shoot in Tokyo and try to wrap heads around something so colossal. Our strategy was, ‘lose yourself, let go, get lost fear and loathing style…’
On the ground, Tokyo is people. Everywhere. All day and all night.
Masa, a local music-maker and promoter, was our contact.
Masa put us in touch with Takeki.
Takeki put us in touch with Tokyo.
Takeki is a contemporary classical composer. As I write this he is probably playing his own compositions on the emperor’s grand piano to a group of dignitaries at Meiji Jingu. Besides composing, he is in 6 different bands, two of which he leads in a rare style of 70s lyrical J-Pop. He gave us a day and half of his time. We were left wanting more…
There was the miniature Hanayashiki amusement park in Asakusa.
There was the ukulele-playing rapper at Boogie Woogie bar in Ginza.
There were Emi Eleonora and Murasaki Baby Doll at Star Pine Café in Kichijoji.
There was drinking coffee and listening to Debussy at the classical Café Renaissance in Koenji.
And there was the tiny, intimate Yakan Hikou bar in Shinjuku owned by a drag queen barman (or barlady). If you look closely you can see a sassy photo of her with cigarette in hand on the wall in the background.
Before we left Tokyo we got a tour of Tsukiji fish market at dawn by Mr. Kouji Matsushita, a sushi chef from Tsutsuji Gaoka who was also known simply as ‘the master’. He navigated the market with a smile and chatted to everyone.
Fish and sea creatures of every kind are killed and cleaned and displayed and packaged with a uniquely Japanese kind of respect. Little to nothing is wasted. That tuna head on the table there for example…
…would become the centerpiece of a farewell meal.
The time was too short. Way too short. But we love you 東京.
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