frangipani | photoblog

We think.

2008-05-09T01:07:23Z

Thought-provoking indeed, at a time when I'm trying to build a new career. "How do we make a living when everyone is freely sharing their ideas . . . " via Jackanory. Be sure to visit the Youtube page and read the comments.

Where I'm at

2008-05-03T05:03:12Z

2 men playing a boardgame in Nagasaki.

Maiko-san in Kyoto.

Petals in the Dutch quarter in Nagasaki.

Risa is a friend who volunteered to model for me after work one night.

Joe is a friend. Also a photographer and a model, these pics were to fill out his portfolio. And mine too.

The mighty Envy, one of my fave Tokyo bands finish their set at Shibuya Ax.

Performance artist Kate E Deeming approached me and video artists Richard Grehan to collaborate with her on a performance and eventual installation. More on that later.

Took this one of Darin & Jake at Tyer & Mihoko's wedding.

I took Sarah & Keisuke's wedding shots 2 years ago, I wanted to follow up with some anniversary shots. They are so happy.

Well, sorry Davey - I'm still being a bad blogger.

I thought I'd quickly squeeze in a visual diary of what I've been up to before my next shoot starts in about an hour...

These pics are a few highlights from my work life of recent weeks. I'm enjoying the change of lifestyle - nothing excites me more than to get behind the camera and shoot, or in front of my computer and edit, or to pick up one of the books donated by the awesome people who support me in my comical efforts to become a professional photographer! The latest one is from Tokyo's very own Ms T - thank you darlin' - your endless support is priceless.

Not enjoying the lack of money though, and I actually counted out my rent in ¥1000 notes a few days back - all earned from English teaching.

I'm working on completely replacing my embarrassing photography website, using Lightroom galleries, and I'll be putting the much-missed and endlessly requested return of the Manholes of Japan gallery there to draw in the page views.

In less than a week my besties Jackie & Adrian from Pendragon Shoes will be here, and they are shouting me a few days in Kyoto to celebrate. That's from the 9th. Pretty exciting.

Gotta run now, the makeup artist has arrived....

Love youz all! Please remember to check my Flickr page for new work - it's kinda updated more regularly than here. Also, I've been putting up my happy snaps at my facebook albums page. Go check them out. UPDATE: Facebook won't let people who aren't members yet to access my main albums directly but you can visit individual albums. Click on the links below to see some of them: Random Explosions in the Sky / Mono / Envy / WEGF @ Shibuya Ax

Technorati Tags: Japan, Models, Photography, Photography shoots, Tokyo

Tyler and Mihoko's wedding

2008-04-20T13:53:41Z

Tyler and Mihoko up at the wedding table.... Tyler and Mihoko arrive at their wedding party with a spotight, and a parasol. Saying their vows. Tyler and the priest waiting for Mihoko and her Dad to arrive. ]]> Mihoko and her mum share a moment while dressing for the ceremony. Make up went onto Mihoko's face, neck and hands. Mihoko completes hours of dressing for her wedding. Mihoko surrounded by dressers and family prior to the wedding ceremony. The finishing touches.... Tyler getting sick of the photos in the hour before his wedding.... Tyler looking like a samurai.. kinda.... sorta.... Mihoko's dad walks Mihoko down the aisle in the dress rehearsal. Sharing the cake. "You've been a bad blogger. What's going on there?" My brothers pixelated face came through as clearly as rural Australian internet speeds allow via our skype webchat on my monitor screen earlier tonight. "Yeah, well, I've been overhauling my whole frikken life - too busy!" He shrugged at me in that oh, whatever-way that may as well have seen him rolling his eyes at me. He made me feel guilty and so, here I am, finally blogging about Tyler and Mihoko's wonderful wedding down in Isahaya, just outside Nagasaki in Kyushu last month. Yes, OK, so I'm like, a month behind.... (Can't believe it's already been a month!) So. It was a 3 day extravaganza, with a pre-wedding dinner at a fancy restaurant with the 2 families finally meeting for the first time the night before the wedding. Poor Tyler had his work cut out for him trying to translate every single word and joke for both families, but he did a stellar job and the evening was quite delightful for everyone there. Kat, Darin & I (and baby Jake) were down the "kids end" of the table, with Tyers little bro and his wife, and explained the food and conversation as best we could. It was a lovely night so we walked back to the hotel from the restaurant via the spectacle bridge (a double arched bridge that, when reflected by the still water underneath, looks like a pair of glasses). Took lotsa blurry pics. Bonded. Everyone being very polite and not swearing, there were godly people in our midst... The morning of the wedding, both Tyler and Mihoko had to leave breakfast early to go and start dressing. Mihoko's family wanted a pretty traditional wedding, so the couple were to wear traditional kimono's - with Mihoko in the big "horn" wig and white hat. They were cool about me photographing them getting ready, so I spent most of the 3 hours there with them, watching them get into their kimono's with the help of professional dressers provided by the hotel. At this point I should mention that we were all staying at a hotel that specializes in weddings, churns them out day after day after day. It has a chapel on the 4th floor, alongside a bunch of multi-function dressing and waiting rooms, and event rooms. They also have their own minister. He happened to be a white American dude, and from what I could gather, he was actually a real priest, not just one of the fake ministers so common in the wedding-biz here (it is considered de rigueur to be married by a foreigner, has been for a while.). Anyway, watching poor Mihoko getting trussed up into that mighty kimono was an excruciating experience. She started in a little white cotton robe, and had inches of white makeup daubed onto her face and hands and neck, then, slowly, her torso was wrapped in great swathes of cotton wool to remove all her curves (this doesn't happen with a usual kimono, just a wedding kimono) and then robe after robe after robe.... layers and layers of cloth. It was INCREDIBLE. And then, a great wig, and finally the domed white cotton hat to hide her horns (don't ask!)! Tyler was also dressed by a dresser, she actually sewed him into his hakuma (men's kimono) and tugged and tied and pulled all sorts of cummerbunds and ropes and stuff with impressive flourishes - it was exhausting watching the whole process, couldn't help but wonder if they were making it more dramatic because there were foreigners present? They even did his hair, it was cute watching them turn him into a samurai with his hair tied back. The wedding ceremony was, strangely, a christian ceremony. It was quite amusing, the minister seemed quite nervous and he ended up forgetting the rings (until Tyler reminded him). But there was a good deal of emotion present in the room too. Seems everyone cries at weddings, don't they! Once the ceremony finished we were all free to wander around for a while before the reception, so that the couple could have their official family photos taken. Kat, Darin & I took Jake outside for a walk in the fresh air - it was a gorgeous day and we were worried we wouldn't get to see any of it! Got some lovely pics of their little family, all dressed up in their wedding best - Little Jake was wearing a bow tie and was hands-down the star of the show (sorry Mihoko and Tyler!). The reception started a bit later and so began an hilarious afternoon of formal tradition mixed with copious amounts of beer and nihonshu (marched out in portable crates by maid-frocked girls as soon as the welcome was announced) and karaoke and performances..... it was a hoot. The poor couple had to make a couple of costume changes as is the done thing at Japanese wedding parties, and they also had to waste buckets of beer in a secret container beneath the wedding table. It is customary for guests to approach the newlyweds with a bottle of beer to pour a glass for each of them, and toast their happiness together. Neither of them had eaten since breakfast so I was kinda worried - watching the endless parade of well-wishers - that they were both going to be smashed but then they let me in on the not-so-secret-secret.... The staff came by every so often and swapped the bucket for an empty one. Anyway, the party finished after some emotional speeches by the couple and their parents (Tyler's Dad had everyone - himself included - in tears) and we were all ushered down to the foyer (Darin and I swiping leftover bottles of beer from the table near the door as we were ejected) to mingle and go on our merry ways (the foreigners and younger folk to the nijikai (second party) at a cool local bar, the oldies at Mihoko's folks place). The night ended with a drunken wander home along the river back to the hotel and yet more (quieter) beers in the wedding suite with Tyler, Mihoko, Kat, Darin and baby Jake. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the story of Tyler and Mihoko's wedding. I will be putting more pics up from the wedding in my various internet locations but I wanted to wait till the couple saw the pics first and, well - we've all been so busy that they didn't see them till today. I shall make a sincere endeavour to start blogging again more regularly from today, these are exciting times and I really should be sharing them more with my beautiful family and friends. Speaking of which, Anna in Houston, thank you so much for your donation! The morning it arrived (Friday, I think) I did a little dance (a usual event when an unexpected amazon box arrives) and promptly made a cuppa and sat down to read it and didn't get up again for 2 hours. Truly valuable stuff, and a timely arrival, too. Thank you!

The new Al Gore slideshow.

2008-04-09T02:38:14Z

In Al Gore's brand-new slideshow (premiering exclusively on TED.com), he presents evidence that the pace of climate change may be even worse than scientists were recently predicting, and challenges us to act with a sense of "generational mission" -- the kind of feeling that brought forth the civil rights movement -- to set it right. Gore's stirring presentation is followed by a Q&A in which he is asked for his verdict on the current political candidates' climate policies and on what role he himself might play in future. (Recorded March 2008 in Monterey, California. Duration: 27:54.) Important stuff.

Explosions in the Sky / Envy / Mono / WEGF

2008-04-08T14:21:40Z

Explosions in the Sky plus... ]]> Envy plus Mono plus Worlds End Girlfriend... All in one night? OH.MY.F*CKING.STARS! I have my ticket. Do you have yours? Who's coming with me? April 26. If you only go to one show this year, and you're into post-rock - loud/soft - ear-bleeding, soul-stirring, gut-wrenching music, this is the gig to go to. Counting down the days...

April (and a new enterprise) begins...

2008-04-08T04:01:24Z

Hello again! I know, I know, it's been quiet around here, but that always just means I've been busy. I got back from an awesome 12 day photo-jaunt to Nagasaki, Fukuoka, Onomichi, Kurashiki, Nara and Kyoto last week and have been buried up to my eyeballs in catch-ups, backups and meta-overhauls of all things (and a little cherry-blossom madness, too). I'm in the process of eliminating all unnecessary things from my wardrobe, my house, my computer and my lifestyle. Running and doing yoga on alternate days and have actually - foolishly? - signed up for the TELL annual charity marathon in May, where I plan to run 5 kms (need to get pledges so friends, be warned, I'll be hitting you up for pledge support). I can hear my parents laughing uproariously all the way from heaven - I come from a long line of hedonists for whom the concept of scheduled exercise was ridiculed over an endless supply of rum and cokes and cigarettes.... I've also entered the "college of home-study" in the area of "Starting up a photography business from scratch". It's utterly terrifying not having a wage anymore. It's also deliriously exciting. (Don't panic, I have a weekly cash income from my private students so I am able to pay the rent and bills - but I foresee no more travel or dinners out for some time....) I keep getting asked "But what exactly are you doing?"... well, here it is: I'm spending my time overhauling my organisational file structures and backup systems, tagging everything and overhauling metadata stuff. Once all that is done, I'll start work on the final edit of a portfolio (and make a couple of portfolio books as well as an online portfolio gallery). I want to seriously tweak martinecotton.com and get my photoshelter stock stuff sorted out and then start putting my name out there in the ring. First impressions count and I want to be totally ready before I step fully into the commercial fray. Eventually, I plan to have an online store that features not only stock photography but also cards, postcards, calendars and *oh, so exciting!* photobooks. My main target here in Tokyo for basic bread-and-butter cash flow will be portraits, events, weddings and family shoots. But I mostly want to develop a great creative portfolio to get in to magazine work and since I already have some photos featured in a 2 page spread in a glossy mag here (coming out this month, based on this shoot) I'm off to a good start there. There's been some buzz around the intarwebs lately about the 1000 true fans theory. If you haven't read the article already, and are an artist/photographer/musician/writer or developing some new project, you should go and read it. NOW! (and make sure you read the comments too). It makes a lot of sense. Here's the basic gist:

One solution is to find 1,000 True Fans. While some artists have discovered this path without calling it that, I think it is worth trying to formalize. The gist of 1,000 True Fans can be stated simply: A creator, such as an artist, musician, photographer, craftsperson, performer, animator, designer, videomaker, or author - in other words, anyone producing works of art - needs to acquire only 1,000 True Fans to make a living. A True Fan is defined as someone who will purchase anything and everything you produce. They will drive 200 miles to see you sing. They will buy the super deluxe re-issued hi-res box set of your stuff even though they have the low-res version. They have a Google Alert set for your name. They bookmark the eBay page where your out-of-print editions show up. They come to your openings. They have you sign their copies. They buy the t-shirt, and the mug, and the hat. They can't wait till you issue your next work. They are true fans. One thousand is a feasible number. You could count to 1,000. If you added one fan a day, it would take only three years. True Fanship is doable. Pleasing a True Fan is pleasurable, and invigorating. It rewards the artist to remain true, to focus on the unique aspects of their work, the qualities that True Fans appreciate. The key challenge is that you have to maintain direct contact with your 1,000 True Fans. They are giving you their support directly. Maybe they come to your house concerts, or they are buying your DVDs from your website, or they order your prints from Pictopia. As much as possible you retain the full amount of their support. You also benefit from the direct feedback and love.

I've been receiving some unexpected and lovely gifts from you awesome readers (thanks so much -you know who you are!), and it made me realise that, after doing this blog for over 5 years, I already have my own supportive community - maybe not yet numbering 1000, but at least - well - certainly at least 4 (and I have the gifted books to prove it)! If you want to (and are able to) help me in any way, (in the spirit of the 1000 true fans concept), please drop by my amazon wishlist and buy any one of the books listed there. Most of these books are text books or the kinds of books you would expect to find in a photography course and include topics like legal guides, photo history, technical stuff, software guides and so on. Alternatively, if you don't much care for books and would rather see me buying new gear like strobes, filters, studio equipment, etc - you could try donating money through paypal (all donations will be used for the express purpose of photography related expenses): In return, you will be added to a private mailing list which will receive monthly updates on what's going on in my photo world, and also receive special offers such as postcards, calendars and ...eventually.. reduced rates on the photo books I plan to start producing (at the repeated behests of my family and friends). You will need to email me directly (martinecotton@gmail.com) if you go through Amazon as the gift system there doesn't include email addresses, just postal addresses. It's an interesting experiment and I have always enjoyed going down the road less travelled. Photos from the wedding and my trip should start surfacing soon...

On the road again!

2008-03-20T14:11:16Z

I'm off to Nagasaki at sparrows fart tomorrow morning, as are Kat, Darin & Jake Taiga, to attend Tyler and Mihoko's wedding. It's gonna be such a hoot! Tylers family are coming out from Wisconsin and it'll be their first time in Japan. There is a lot of cool stuff planned for us, hopefully the rain won't be too much of a problem. After the 3 day wedding celebrations settle down, I'm planning a slow trip up to Kyoto on my own, stopping off in Onomichi, Kurashiki and Nara. In Kyoto, I'm meeting up with my dear Aureole - she'll be in Japan for 5 days on her way to the European Tattoo Convention circuit. I'm pretty excited about being able to show her Kyoto in hanami time. The cherry blossoms will be out and there'll be a great vibe in the air. Spring is really an important time in Japan (as I have mentioned on at least 5 other occasions) - an annual cycle ends, another begins. Schools graduate. Companies accept their new staff intakes. Taxes are paid... More so than usual, this spring feels like significant time for me. Lots of people leaving, others swinging by for visits, and all the while all of them/us making great plans for the future. I had an interesting meeting with a guy today about a potentially awesome option for my fabulous new career (in all it's embryonic glory). Hope it pans out. Will be able to talk about it some more by the end of April (if we can make it happen!). Anyways. You can see some snaps from the past weeks worth of events over at my facebook albums. They include pics from the mad night out for the beautiful J-sters flying visit, Mountaingoat and Oshioto's itterashai party at Araku, a day at the park and Timbo and Andrews sayonara party. Actually, Tim isn't leaving till next week but Kat, Darin & I are heading off to Nagasaki so last night was the last night we'd all be in Tokyo the same night... seems so strange. I will really miss you, Tim. Tokyo won't be quite the same without you. Kanpai! Bye Timbo! Bye (again) Andrew! Walk long and prosper Mountaingoat *Love* that golden hair J-Ster! Oh. And I bought a new camera.

Hiwatari Festival

2008-03-18T06:59:22Z

A little while back - somewhere before the big night out with old buddies Billy and Sean, and another big night out with the J-ster, and another big night out for the walkers at their itterashai party, somewhere before I started archiving all my stuff to photoshelter (nothing visible to the public yet) and somewhere in amongst an excessive schedule of private lessons over a 6 day period, I had a lovely day out at Takao with Mountaingoat. This is a pretty pic I shot of him at the end of the day. He looks so pretty and huggable, doesn't he. "Kind eyes". (Who says the camera never lies?) He he. No, I love this pic and I'm so glad I caught this well-hidden aspect to the gruff cynical old bastard. Anyway, he wrote a really cool story about our day out there at Takao, so go read it here. And my Hiwatari gallery can be found at the usual place. I chose to edit these pics with a bit of an ol-timey feeling since it is such a timeless ceremony and place. I am totally backlogged with stories to tell and pictures to show but am heading off to Nagasaki for Tyler & Mihoko's wedding in a few days so don't know if I'll get time to catch up... I'll do my best though. It's been a fun time. It should be remembered.

The March Asoboo photo meetup

2008-03-06T14:10:20Z

Last weekend was spent wandering the streets of Sendagi - Nezu - Yanaka - Ueno (Tokyo Shitamachi) with some of the lovely photographers from the asoboo photography group. Once again, an inspirational day full of laughs, good conversation and great photography. We have set up an asoboo meetup pool at flickr. My photos from the day can be found here. The other attendee's Flickr pages: Alfie in Japan, Minimalized, *tk, Koji's Ethic and Nyan_da45, Mime_Monkey, Severinka, Naobashicon. In other news.... Life is good. Albeit way busier than I envisaged March to be.... My good buddy Billy (James) arrives this weekend for a visit, with partner and friends in tow. And only 21 sleeps till Tylers wedding in Nagasaki. I've never been to Kyushu before so it'll be an awesome adventure. After that I'm heading up to Kyoto where I'll be meeting up with my dear ol' friend, the bewdiful Aureole who'll be in the country for a few fun days of photography, sightseeing and general mischief. The biggest news of the week is that Jackie and Adrian, aka Pendragon Shoes have decided to make a trip to Japan in May to attend Design Festa and the Tokyo Shoe Fair. Can't believe that they are actually coming! These 2 people are very dear to me and to have the chance to show them around my world is really exciting. I'm a-gonna show them such a great time! Actually - that's not quite the biggest news of the week. My brilliant new career has had a significant boost. Some pics I took on the weekend in a special shoot are gonna be published in a 2 page spread in a fashion/beauty magazine here. But more on that later. I promise...

Nabe, oh, nabe!

2008-03-03T13:54:34Z

Tyler, Mihoko & I. We're off to celebrate their wedding in Nagasaki later this month. Andrew Darin and Tyler. Kat is up in Aomori visiting her old host family with Jake. Sandi, Jane & I Nate and Robert Friday was a significant day, so I celebrated the momentous occasion in fine style with a nabe party at my place with the local crew. Well, OK, so Sandi isn't exactly a local but she does have a toothbrush here so I guess that makes her an honorary local. More fabulously crappy drunken photos taken partly by people who weren't me on my camera here. Thanks to those who came, and especially to Justin who kept the cans under control and to Jane and Sandi for helping me clean up at 3 in the morning... Oh, and to Nate for the loan of the extra nabe bowl and cooker. Nabe parties have this magical way of making you feel warm in so many ways:

Eating together from a shared pot is considered as an important feature of nabemono; East Asian people believe that eating from one pot makes for closer relationships. The Japanese thus say, Nabe (w)o kakomu (鍋を囲む、"sitting around the pot"), implying that sharing nabemono will create warm relations between the diners who eat together from the shared pot. (source: wikipedia)

A cozy way to pass a winters 'eve, to be sure, to be sure.

Dr Sketchy's...

2008-03-03T13:00:07Z

Last week was stupidly busy day and night. It's no wonder that I'm a little sick now. It was my final week of classes at the high school (which was a wee bit more emotional than I expected it to be); had a truckload of private classes day and night; and did a coupla photo-shoots in amongst all that... These photos are from one of those shoots - definitely the most fun one! Dr Sketchy's Anti-Art School, Tokyo, meets the last Wednesday of every month at The Pink Cow in Shibuya. I've been asked to be the official photographer for the event every month and I have to say I'm utterly delighted by this opportunity to take fabulous photos of gorgeous women posing in all sorts of sultry poses, and also to meet tons of great people and great artists! I was impressed with how warm and friendly everyone was, and the event hostess, Lady Elle, kept the laughs coming and the energy jumping all night long. If you are into drawing in anyway, you should totally make the effort to come in to this special monthly event. Oh, and also, if you know anyone who would be up for modeling (dancers, models, exhibitionists - you know ya wanna!) for this event, please get in touch with the organisers as they need a new model every month! You can see a few more of the pics at my flickr page and - in the next few days - at the Dr Sketchy's Gallery.

To build a home...

2008-02-27T09:16:43Z

This song has been on iPod repeat all day today. I'm such a sucker for achingly beautiful melancholy, and this song is superb. Clear the decks. Sit down. Close your eyes and soak it up.

There is a house built out of stone
Wooden floors, walls and window sills
Tables and chairs worn by all of the dust
This is a place where I don't feel alone
This is a place where I feel at home
And I built a home For you For me Until it disappeared From me From you And now, it's time To live And time To die I'm in the garden where we planted the seeds There is a tree as old as me Branches were sewn by the colour of green Ground had arose in past its knees By the cracks of the skin I climbed to the top I climbed the tree to see the world When the gusts came around to blow me down Held on as tightly as you held on me Held on as tightly as you held on me And I built a home For you For me Until it disappeared From me From you And now, it's time To live And time To die

The Cinematic Orchestra - To Build a Home.

Walking the four corners of Japan

2008-02-22T14:21:10Z

Images © Tyler Ensrude / Outdoor Japan Ian (hereafter called Ivan) and I were at uni together some 20 years ago - both studying Film and Media at Griffith Uni back in the days when Griffith Uni was the coolest campus in Australia (It's true! It was such a great campus!). He was a few years older and way cooler than me and so I was always a little scared of him. He had this cynical, acerbic tongue and wasn't afraid to use it. The singer of a psychedelic-garage-punk band called Dementia 13 (who represented that particular mind-altering epoch for a whole bunch of us), he went on to bigger things when he moved to Sydney, with some fairly seminal bands like Nunbait who supported Nirvana on their '91 tour of Oz. Found this great quote about them:

Nunbait "The Hub" EP – Amphetamine fuelled, violent music. "The Hub" was a classic early '90s release from this Sydney band, and while this recording never did the band justice compared to what they were as a live act, they were quite the ensemble to behold. A band that appeared visually to possess a very short fuse.

Anyway, fast forward quite a few years and miles, and Ivan is now living round the corner from me here in Kichijoji, preparing for an adventure far more punk rock than any Oz Pub Band. He's going to walk solo across Japan, from its most easterly point in Hokkaido, to its most westerly point. Don't panic - he's done some massive walks before and survived to tell the tale in his inimitably enjoyable acerbic style. He's a brilliant writer. And there's a cool zesty-lemon tangy twist to this adventure: his buddy Chris - another brilliant writer - is also walking solo across Japan, but from the most southerly point to the most northerly point at the same time. They plan to meet half way... it's all - in the warm spirit of reckless adventure - for charity (and a toasty inner glow), and they're gonna blog the whole thing. Read on, friends. ]]> As many of you know, I'm walking the length of Japan this year, some 3300km over six months. I'm walking South-North, starting in March in the tiny jungle isle of Iriomote-jima, where I'll be trying to spot the elusive yamaneko, or Iriomote Wildcat. My friend Ian is walking East-West, starting in the four-metre spring snows of remote Hokkaido, where he'll be trying to stay alive. We're meeting somewhere in the middle of Honshu -- hopefully near a bar. We're both writing about our adventures on our expedition website: fourcornersofjapan.net/ I've been looking forward to 2008 for three years now. It's been said that I never get excited, but I'm excited about this -- and slightly intimidated. Hopefully the inevitable disasters that befall us along the way will make for good reading -- though personally I'll be happy if I never write about pressing the red button on my satellite distress beacon. To help convince ourselves we're not completely crazy, we're raising money for the Fred Hollows Foundation (hollows.org.au). FHF eradicates preventable blindness in the developing world, as well as among indigenous Australians. As far as "practical reconciliation" goes, you can't get more practical than helping someone see. So, if you enjoy reading about my adventures, please consider restoring the sight of another reader by making a donation. Twenty five dollars (or about $0.008 for every kilometre we walk), will pay for a 20 minute operation to restore the sight of one person, but even a few dollars will ease the pain of the daily 25km slog. Donating is easy -- see how at fourcornersofjapan.net/donate/. Please quote our fundraising ID number so your donation gets counted towards our tally. Feel free to forward this email. Also, if you know someone we should meet along the way, or if there's an interesting festival or place in Japan you've always wanted to visit, let me know and we'll see if we can add a stop to the list. And, of course, you're more than welcome to track me down in Japan and share a 100km or two... They are seeking sponsorship, donations and publicity, so if you can help them in any way, please shoot me an email and I'll make the introductions.... Oh, and one more link: the fourcornersofjapan Flickr page. I'm hoping to walk a few days with each of them when they get a bit close to Tokyo - should be quite the adventure.

This is where I live.....

2008-02-22T12:48:55Z

Found MylesInLondon via Japundit. He makes beautiful videos. Think he captures Tokyo exceptionally well. These pieces are all short, and well worth watching. PS - Bree in Vancouver, I love ya. What a lovely surprise! Thank you so much, the book is amazing and terrifying at the same time! A veritable text book. Really excited about sinking my teeth into it.

The Crystal Ball

2008-02-17T07:27:33Z

I spent quite a lot of my holiday time back in Australia rummaging through the mountains of crap in my storage shed in West End. Boxes and boxes of memories. I threw half of them out, I was ruthless. I can't believe the stuff I thought was important enough to save. Boxes of paperwork - old contracts, invoices, PR releases, emails, demo CD'S and so on - from a life long ago. ]]> who I am. It reminded me that I am a person who gets stuff done. It was great. I found, in one of the boxes, a little crystal ball I had given to my Dad for a birthday present many years ago. After we cleaned out his apartment, I put it in my little box of treasures in the shed. Pulling it free of its newspaper wrapping, I held it up to the light. looking for traces of Dad in it. A little magical sign. There wasn't one. But what I saw was cool enough to take a picture of. It was one of the things that survived the cull, and it now sits on the little alter I have made for Mum and Dad in my room. Wish that little crystal ball could show me the future. I know many of you are waiting for news on decisions. I've made a few. Here they are. 1. My school contract finishes at the end of March, I am not renewing it and will not be looking for any similar contract to replace it. Instead, I'll be a freelance private English teacher. I figure if I teach about 4 - 5 lessons a day, it'll be enough to survive on. It'll also offer me great flexibility with my schedule, and I won't have to dress up in stupidly stiff clothes every day. Give me jeans and a tee-shirt any day! 2. In my new and immensely valuable free time, I'm going to study photography using the internet, books and practice. As this develops, I hope to start generating more photography work to supplement the minimal income I'll be earning from my private lessons. I want to be a photographer. Seriously. I have always loved taking photos. I know I have a good eye, I just need the technical skills to support that. Leap, and the net will appear. It's going to be scary financially, but I think the long term results will be so rewarding that I'm willing to take that risk. 3. I have (reluctantly) accepted that I will have to stay in Tokyo for the rest of the year as I develop my skills and live quietly and cheaply. I plan to plug into the foreign community much more this year - go to more foreigner events and bars. It's a scene I've avoided for years coz I didn't really like what I saw (lots of banker-wankers and painfully arrogant, strange, cliquey "artiste's" at the first few such events I attended - but things are changing and there are a lot of cool people out there doing really cool stuff. Look at TokyoMade, Dr Sketchy's Anti-Art School Tokyo and so on... (speaking of which, it's TokyoMade's 1st birthday today - congrats to Deanne and Masao! ). Right now, though, I just want to try to survive this winter - apparently the coldest global winter in many years. Winter and all its associated gloom and melancholy is, I know, a necessary part of life, but this winter is proving to be harder than most. The cold just freaks me out, I don't understand it and I don't like it. So I'm not going out much (and I hate the crowds more and more each time I leave the house) and I'm certainly not doing any exercise. Spending way too much time in front of my computer - but it is mostly useful research and study stuff I'm doing here..... On the good side - I'm eating pretty well and have managed to drink more water and coffee than beer or wine in the last month which is an impressive feat, I think. So, there you have it. That's where I'm at right now. Oh, and tell me what you think of my new site: martinecotton.com - it's my photography site. A work in progress, of course. I wanna make it look quite flash but I am still working 6 days a week so I don't have much time to play with it at the moment.