少年ナイフ

On Friday night I went to see 少年ナイフ (Shonen Knife) they were amazing. I've never watched a band who smiled throughout a show, but these ladies did. Seems like forever since they last toured (12 years apparently) I missed out then. Thank goodness they did sideshows as I really wasn't interested in going to the festivals they're playing.
Fun show, great catchy pop/punk tunes Muddy Bubbles Hell is such a fantastic song especially with the synchronised head banging & metal stances. Easily the best song of the night. Gotta love ladies who love Judas Priest, Iron Maiden & Motörhead. My memory is always terrible when it comes to set lists but I'm pretty sure these songs were played (in no particular order):
- Konnichiwa
- Sushi Bar
- Ah, Singapore
- Twist Barbie
- E.S.P.
- BBQ Party
- Super Group
Hopefully it won't be another 12 years before these Osaka ladies are back.
Go see them if you can, they're definitely worth it.

Inspiration

Almost finished reading Lovecraft, these are some the artist he references in his work.
Francisco Goya


Gustave Dore


Henry Fuseli


John Martin


Salvator Rosa


Aubrey Beardsley

Ponyo

I saw Ponyo today, the English version (I know, I didn't actually mean to see it in English) but it was on a massive screen so that was a plus. I have to say I was a little disappointed, the English cast was wooden. I thought there was very little emotion, all those great actors were just boring. I didn't laugh where I should have nor did anyone else in the cinema. Granted it was an early session & the cinema was pretty empty. The visuals were amazing, all the undersea scenes with thousands of jellyfish, giant ancient fish and oh the OCTOPODS! a glorious feast for the eyes. It really should have been more enjoyable than it was. By the end of the week I'll have seen it in it's original Japanese on a smaller screen. Fingers crossed it'll be more entertaining.

I was actually in town to get my Dad a Father's Day present & my Mum a birthday present. Having asked my younger brother for suggestions and getting nothing I went to the source & asked Mum. Apparently books are the order of the day, I can cope with that. I am however a little uneasy about giving my Father a book, last time I did that (again at Mums suggestion) he sounded quite disappointed when I talked to him later. At least he'll get a kick out of the card :?
Pretty sure Mum will be happy with what I picked up for her, though I didn't buy them at her recommended store.


Edit: I've now seen Ponyo in Japanese and my goodness the difference is amazing. The joy, life & comedy of the Miyazaki film really shines through. I don't know what the english translators did but they made it a dreary thing (in my opinion) not a easy thing to do. Miyazaki films are always full of joy, one of the reasons I love them so, I wonder what happened.

もみもみ - Momi momi

This is currently my favourite commercial (featuring the bad boy of Sumo - Yokozuna Asashōryū Akinori), granted it isn't on TV here and you can't actually buy the product. Well, maybe you can, but I doubt it'd be easy to find.
There is also an instructional video on how to do the もみもみ dance, which is also quite funny. The lady instructor has quite the husky voice.

Orangutans

Guess where I've been lately. Look at that little face, isn't it gorgeous?

New header

I've been working on this for a while, not sure how long exactly. A few minutes here a few minutes there. Completely re-doing the legs the other day. Pretty pleased with it, did do a couple of colour versions but frankly I like the black & white.
Oh yes there is Bodoni :)

Bodoni <3

I love Bodoni. I did write up a little something about it earlier but never posted it. I think it's on the computer at work. I may add it to this at a later point but probably not.
Anyway ever since I entered the realm of Graphic Design and became aware of the joys of a well kerned word and a lovelingly leaded paragraph I have loved fonts. Bodoni was one the first ones I ever got to play around with for an assignment. Sadly, I never get to use it now, as work is all about sans serifs and mutilation. Occasionally I muck around with it for my own amusement but that's not often enough.
I came across this t-shirt on Nubby Twiglet & couldn't resist. Frankly my credit card probably wasn't happy about it but that's a thought for another day. I also bought a poster of the same design, that has yet to arrive.

Much love to you Giambattista you're awesome.


Edit: Picking up the poster tomorrow morning :) Yeah!