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Good Morning! #kyotofilmmakerslab #day2

Hide and seek (at Toei Studios Kyoto)

Great seeing Yamaguchi-san again!! #uzumasaeigamura #boss #muga (sorry I had to say it) (at Toei Kyoto Studio Park)

Participating in a program instead of hosting one for a change. Quite edifying. 久々の京都久々の時代劇#kyotofilmmakerslab (at Toei Studios Kyoto)

#kyotofilmmakerslab

In Japan, on the film set of the family drama and coming of age story「恐竜を掘ろう」(Let's Dig for Dinosaurs) directed by Shinya Owada, starring the legendary Hiroki Matsukata, who starred in the seminal Yakuza flicks of all time - Battles without Honor or Humanity series - and 50+ other films, though this would be one of his significantly less bloody roles. I was there translating for Mizuo Peck (Night at the Museum 1 & 2) who had a cameo in the film. They decided they wanted a foreigner among the kids digging for dino bones, so there I was.

The scenes above were shot at Fukui Prefecture's world renowned dinosaur museum - apparently third largest in the world, according to Mizuo's lines anyway. There was a very interesting mixture of Japanese stars on set including: Ai Takahashi (former leader of Morning Musume), the comedian Taro Yabe, Hikaru Yamamoto (girlfriend of Kamen Rider 2011) and a guy who used to play Ultraman's brother, among others. Not to mention the director himself, who was Kaku-san for many years on my favorite Japanese TV show of all time: MITOKOMON!!!

Translating direction from Dir. Owada for Miz and her questions back at him was interesting and at times challenging but I think we were mostly able to avoid the infamous Bill Murray "Lost In Translation" scene. "...look into camera and more intensity!"

#dinosaurs #fukui #hiroki #japan #matsukata #mizuo #museum #owada #peck #shinya #tender pro #battles without #honor #honour #humanity

Green curry miso ramen - excellent. At Zuzu Ramen in Park Slope Brooklyn.

I was expecting a thick and overwhelmingly green curry flavored soup. This is not what I want in a bowl of ramen but I do love my Thai curries, so I was willing to take a chance on it.

What arrived was a superbly well balanced, flavorful and well crafted soup that was not even green. It was tasty without being thick and the curry flavor was very subtle.

The noodles were just hard enough and very good as well. The soft egg was a nice touch and unusual in NY where all the eggs are hard boiled. The pork slices were fatty and their charring was a nice touch.

$10 was a tad high but acceptable amid the NY scheme of thoroughly overpriced ramen. $14 was way too high for the Zuzu ramen. The broth I didn't find very interesting, but perhaps suitable for those who like a thinner broth. It really ought to be $11 or $12. What is up with these $14 bowls of ramen? C'mon! Ramen is typically 500 - 850 yen. When the yen was 100 to the $1, that would be about $5 to $8.50. Now with the yen at an outrageous 70 to the $1, that translates to about $7 - $12.

Still, not feeling the $14 bowls of ramen!

What's next? $14 hamburgers? ...D'oh!!

#zuzu #ramen #brooklyn

If one does not speak when it is time to speak

And does not act when it is time to act,

No matter how much knowledge one has

It will amount to nothing.

By the Buddhist monk Ara Ryoukan of Tendaishu

#wisdom #zen

Shot this episode on Junior's cheesecake:

http://beta.abc.go.com/shows/the-chew/episodes/May-23-2012

Oh yeah, and the cheesecake was killer. My top choices are: the plain NY cheesecake and the red velvet cheesecake (above).

#junior's #cheesecake #to die for

Climb a big mountain

Slowly

by the Buddhist monk, Ara Ryoukan of Tendaishu

---

Yeah, simple? But how often are you trying to run up that mountain???

#Ara #Buddhist #Hawaii #Ryoukan #Tendaishu #monk #zen #wisdom

A night of four one act plays at Theater for the New City. I directed two of them and Dan Kelley directed two.

With a very talented cast: Lucy Cottrell, Jared Mark Smith, Hank Offinger, Bridget Fidler, Scott Lilly, Emily Blake, Juan Villegas, Haley Aronson, Lily Fremaux. Hire these actors! They were phenomenal!

Yes. It's true. I sat through over 12 hours of Wagner. I think I'm ok on Wag for the next 10 years, give or take. I now understand why people either love or hate him.

One word to describe it? EPIC (of course!)

The multimillion dollar moving set was pretty amazing. I was trying to figure out how they made the projections look so good - they didn't look like projections; they looked like the panels were producing the images from within. Stunning visuals on a multi-panelled moving thingamajig which I'm just gonna call the Megatron. My favorite scene with the Megatron was the final scene in Die Walkure in which Brunnhilde is hung upside down from a dizzying height above the stage against Megatron which is blazing with a virtual ring of fire all around her. Also impressive: the opening scene of Die Walkure with the Megatron's panels moving like seesaws while the Walkeries rode them like horses which is the image that was on them - white pegasi. Except that this part of the scene went on too long and felt redundant after its initial punch. Hands down the best performance of the whole show: Eva-Maria Westbroeck as Sieglinde. Wow & bravo

#Wagner #Ring Cycle #EPIC

sticks n stones

The notes ("mad" scribblings) and artwork of one of the great pop artists of our time.

#Brooklyn Museum #First Saturdays

If you are ambitious,

Set yourself lofty goals,

And you pursue them diligently,

In both your day to day work

And play

You will find meaning.

by the Buddhist monk, Ara Ryoukan, Tendaishu sect

---

Excellent words to ponder and savor as one pursues one's goals.

#zen #wisdom

Hinaningyo at mom's for March 3, "Girls' Day". These are the dolls that she grew up with in Japan, which she inherited from her mother. Suffice to say, a lot o' history there. They represent the Emperor, Empress and their various courtly attendants. The ritual of displaying Hinaningyo on March 3 apparently dates back over 800 years (thanks wiki!). When she told me about it, I told her that I wanted to get some photos, and she was like, well hurry up because I need to put them away asap once March 3rd passes. There's a superstition that if one leaves them out too long one's daughter won't ever get married!

On a side note, mom mentioned that she wasn't sure if the right objects were in the right hands. She couldn't quite remember what goes where. She suggested we google it.

#hinaningyo #girl's day #japan

Me on a winter camping trip, explaining how to roast a marshmallow, properly. In Japanese. As my fellow Japanese campers continued burning marshmallows before letting the heat sink in, there was a growing sense of why do Americans enjoy this? wherein I decided that I had to step in and explain & also demonstrate The Art of Roasting a Marshmallow.

[Camping trip organized by Nature Service, a Japanese nonprofit organization, in startup phase, with a mission to foster contact with nature among a generally overworked and stressed populace.]

#nature service #marshmallow #roasting #how to #マシマロ

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