One of the most poignant stories that I’ve read recently was the short story, On seeing the 100% perfect girl one beautiful April morning by the great Japanese author Haruki Murakami. 1500 words (approx.) have never moved me so much. The story about lost love [...]
Having recently returned from Japan, my friend Brent brought back tons and tons of photos. Included in the hundreds of photos that he took are Tokyo, Mt. Fuji, the Japanese countryside , and concerts. He would have been lucky enough just to have gone to Shimokitazawa [...]
I stumbled into many interesting shops while cruising the downtown shopping district of Kumamoto. From designer clothes stores to hip-hop boutiques, there was a store for every style I could think of. The clothing shop that caught most of my attention was a t-shirt store named graniph.
graniph logo, graniph.com
I was walking by the stores, [...]
About the only manga that I read these days is “Love Roma” (ラブロマ) by Toyoda Minoru (とよ田みのる). I was able to purchase all 5 books from the series while in Japan. I also picked up a copy of AFTERNOON Magazine (アフタヌーン), the monthly manga magazine which first ran “Love Roma”.
As I flipped through [...]
Low-fi is currently all the rage here at SparkPlugged! Have a look and a listen with a self-portrait and a song.
Self-Portrait: Off and on for almost a year now, I’ve created pixel art. I really enjoy the technique and style. While appearing simple, creating pixel art is very tedious and precise. Each pixel is [...]
Browsing free font archives is sometimes an adventure. It’s always nice to discover the perfect font for your webiste or for anything. Sometimes you find a font that will fit just right into a current project. Other times you may find something fun for the sake of amusement though.
While exploring the depths of DAFONT.com [...]
Japan is known for some pretty great collectible toys. From the overly cute to the wacky to the grotesque, these are not your average children’s play things. With prices ranging from anywhere between $20 to $200 and beyond, these toys are for serious collectors. While all of these may not necessarily be made by [...]
Well, this is my first stab at a webcomic on SparkPlugged. That’s all I really have to say.
disclaimer: Not guaranteed to be at all humorous.
Please feel free to comment and let me know if a comic should or should not be done again.
I recently took up a more substanstial interest into Kabuki. I am actually interested in all the major Japanese play types, Noh, Bunraku, & Kyogen. But Kabuki strikes me as particularly intruiging. The hanamichi, mie, kata dances, and kumadori make up…so cool.
Specifically, I’ve been interested in a particular Kabuki play. The play is titled [...]
Harbin China’s 22nd annual ice festival is a great display for this winter season. The huge scupltures of ice are artistic masterpieces.
Sculptures include Buddha, Big Ben, the Eiffel Tower, Mt. Rushmore with the Statue of Liberty, and the Greay Wall of China. At night the sculptures are illuminated with an array of technicolor lights.
Check [...]
