09.23.03
Posted in Media at 12:21 am by Thomas
Now this movie was a pleasant surprise! Lost in Translation is the story of two strangers meeting in an upscale hotel in Tokyo, both being there without really wanting to be there, bored out of their minds, discovering each other and sharing each other’s lifes in a very honest and tender way.
The two main actors are impressive and deliver Oscar-worthy performances. I was especially touched by how open and honest Bill Murray comes across as an aging actor. He is touching and funny at the same time.
The third star in the movie was Tokyo – this movie was very close to my own experience of Tokyo… I recognized several scenes with the characters out in town as my quintessential Tokyo moments. And the city shines!
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09.16.03
Posted in Media at 12:31 am by Thomas
Satoshi Kon’s second movie “Millennium Actress” is a fascinating trip through the life of an actress and her life-long love for a stranger she met when she was still a girl. It is also a rollercoaster ride through Japanese history and the history of Japanese film making. Ultimately, it is a mediation on love like no other movie has ever delivered.
Like in his first movie, “Perfect Blue“, the director masterfully blends the real world the characters inhabit with their inner lifes, keeping the viewer guessing to which is which.
Where other movies, specifically out of Hollywood, take the audience by their hands and guide them through the story like a Disneyland ride, Satoshi Kon locks his viewers in a haunted house for one and a half hours before opening the doors again.
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09.13.03
Posted in Modern Life at 2:01 am by Thomas
James Meehan built himself a high-altitude weather balloon with a computer running Linux attached to it.
His homebuilt balloon flew to more than 79.000 feet while the onboard Linux system took pictures, recorded GPS data and broadcast its location via packet radio.
From 79.000 feet the payload descended with a parachute and landed safely, to be retrieved by James and his friends.
It’s simply amazing what a dedicated hobbyist can achieve nowadays with off-the-shelf technology and some cool programming.
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09.10.03
Posted in Japan at 11:10 pm by Thomas
My Private Tokyo is the weblog of a Australian photographer living in Tokyo.
He takes digital pictures as well as on film with a wide array of cameras. Many of his shots are very personal snapshots of life in a metropolis that never goes to sleep – or at least only very reluctantly…
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09.09.03
Posted in Japan at 10:55 pm by Thomas
Yamanote 29 is a site project dedicated to an urban rail line.
Doesn’t sound like much, but the Yamanote Line encircles the inner city of Tokyo and since its tracks are raised it allows for a great one-hour tour of the city, rumbling through busy shopping districts, along parks and graveyards and quiet residential sections.
If you spend any time in Tokyo you will find yourself more than once on the green Yamanote trains, forever circling this metropolis. It can be fascinating to follow this zen-like circle, but then again the trains are also often crowded to the point of bursting.
I have a love-hate relationsship with the Yamanote line myself and it is nice to see that I’m not the only foreigner who feels that way…
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09.08.03
Posted in Modern Life at 11:19 pm by Thomas
If you were already hooked on computers in the 80s, chances are good that you played at least one text adventure. Maybe more than one…
Maybe you can only remember the summer of ’84 as the time you played Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy on your Apple… Well, then this site is for you: Classic Infocom Games Revived
This site contains lot’s of Infocom history, with emulators and enough links to the game files to keep you from leaving your desk for a month. You’ve been warned. 
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09.06.03
Posted in Modern Life at 1:28 am by Thomas
TypeNow.net has a very good collection of free fonts that recreate the typefaces used for movie posters, CD covers and product names.
Now you can improve your correspondence with well-known fonts like “Atari”, “PacMan”, “Looney Tunes” or “Jurassic Park”.
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