Honkers then Hawksmoor: happy Thursday.
Jordan Harper
Miscellany, waffle, gratuitously stolen links, and much, much less.
“This beer is not cool. You may think it is, but that is just a beautiful lie fabricated by clowns and gypsies.”
“The most important measure of success to me is whether everyone in the company enjoys their work.”
— Jeff Butterworth of Alien Skin Software, via Bootstrapped, Profitable, & Proud at 37signals
Gorgeous sky over London tonight.
“If you’re absolutely hopeless at something, you lack exactly the skills that you need to know that you’re absolutely hopeless at it.”
Italian umbrella/parasol makers in Piedmont, northern Italy, have for centuries spoken in a (now dead) language called Tarùsc to protect trade secrets and techniques. A fascinating article about the industry and the language by Angus Trumble, Italy, Language and Umbrellas | The Paris Review.
Apple's Attention to Detail
In July 2002, Appled filed a patent for a “Breathing Status LED Indicator” (No. US 6,658,577 B2). They described it as a “blinking effect of the sleep-mode indicator in accordance with the present invention mimics the rhythm of breathing which is psychologically appealing.”
The average… Read more
The bright lights of Shinjuku.
The coolest way of telling people your shop is on the first floor.
You’ll all be relieved to know that my new manbag search has come to a successful conclusion.
Is it wrong that I wished it would rain so it felt even more like Blade Runner?
Love this bag from Japanese brand Ace.I need a new bag….
D&Department Project, Osaka. Great food, coffee and design. Nice place to kick back for a couple of hours and read a book (Julia Leigh’s Disquiet).
On Japanese Food
So, yesterday was the day when the endless cycle of grilled fish, rice, miso soup, pickles, broth, tofu, seaweed, sashimi and the odd bit of sushi or beef for breakfast, lunch and dinner (miso soup, rice and mackerel for breakfast must take forever to become normal) finally got to us.
We cracked.
Spent the night in our hotel room in Toyooka eating dry special-k, raw carrots, peppers & tomatoes, cheese sandwiches and crisps. And I don’t care if it’s wrong, it felt good. And today, we felt better than we have done for a week.
If I never have to attempt to eat a cold, rock-hard piece of grilled mackerel with a pair of chopsticks at 8am ever again it will be too soon. The Japanese diet may be incredibly healthy in some respects, but I don’t think we’re the first Gaijin to be floored by the lack of fresh fruit/veg (in any meaningful quantity), the saltiness, the lack of variety.
And I love Japanese food. Just not, I’ve discovered, all the time. Particularly at breakfast.
Having feet ‘cleaned’ by hundreds of little fish: tickles.
