Sex and the dimwitted

FILM REVIEW: Sex and the City (PG 12)

I used to love Sex and the City the TV show. And while it pales on multiple viewings, it still has a big place in my heart. Here was a show that was candid about sex, and, more to the point, about mature female sexuality. If for nothing else, it deserved its fame simply for daring to say, "hey unmarried women over thirty can be sexy, can talk dirty, and can have sex with multiple partners without being worth any less."

Sounds obvious, but it is a message that is consistently negated by most TV shows and films. Whereas male actors can easily maintain a career as sex symbols way into their fifties, their female counterparts simply get replaced by a younger model. Recalling films from even just the nineties is rather poignant. Most of the biggest female stars more or less vanish once they're past forty. Demi Moore hasn't had a starring role since 1997's GI Jane, while ex-hubby Bruce Willis has had more than you can care to mention, from The Sixth Sense to the continuing Die Hard franchise. And whatever happened to Bridget Fonda, Jennifer Jason Leigh et al? They're still beautiful, but they don't get roles, and I am really scared that one of my favourite actresses, Naomi Watts, will go the same way soon.

So I was frankly excited to see this film if for no other reason than gender politics. Four women over forty being fabulous onscreen is rare enough to make that alone justify its existence.

However, the script is so far away from what women are really like (or what I hope they are like) that it left me, and there really is no other word for this, offended. I mean, seriously, does this guy look like he knows how women think? He looks like he thinks he knows. But he doesn't know.

The film is stupid. It is straight-up dumb. That's okay. The show was kind of dumb too. But maybe I remember it wrong or maybe it's just because I was younger then, but in the film, these women, while all over 40, act as if they were barely 20.

Mainly it's the marriage obsession. Early on in the film, a minor character gets to deliver the line: "She was such a smart woman. Until she fell in love." This is about her friend who failed to marry her lover millionaire. Because that's why we get married, right? So that we can gank half our lover's fortune? What the sweet bejeez, I thought this show was about four career women who didn't need men for that; who needed men simply for companionship and well, duh, sex. Not anymore. This film is all about getting that ring. To the point where nothing else matters, and GIGANTIC RED FLAGS are totally ignored just to secure that rock and that fairy tale day.

For example, Carrie and Mr Big are getting married. This is the major plot point. It's in the trailer. What the trailer doesn't show is how they decide to get married.

The conversation goes something like this (and I paraphrase):

Carrie: Um, you know, now that we're moving into this massive flat I can't afford and you're paying for, I'm going to sell my old one so I can pay for my part.


Big: Why?

Carrie: Cos we're not married so in case we break up, I won't have anything.

This is dumb on so many levels! If you're worried about not having anything, then just don't sell your flat! Keep it, rent it out, then you'll have an income and if something does happen, throw out the tenant and move back! The way to NOT have anything is exactly to sell it for a share in the house. If you do break up, someone has to leave anyway. Sure, you'd get some money eventually, but... it's not like one choice is better than the other.

The "proposal" scene continues like this:

Big: You wanna get married?

Carrie: Um whatever, but you don't right?

Big: Whatever.

Are you kidding me? If you want me to believe that these two people are in a mature and loving relationship, then don't make out that they have been together for five years and have never even discussed marriage. Seriously, wouldn't you talk to your life partner about that? It's fine not to get married, but it's a conversation you have, right?

Well not in this world. Not talking is a big thing for these women. After this conversation, who would believe Big wants to get married? Not you, not me. But Carrie does. That is the final word, and the wheels get set in motion. No point discussing this major life decision that Big is clearly so enthusiastic about any further.

***MINOR SPOILER ALERT*** (scroll to next paragraph to avoid)
Another plot point involves an infidelity issue that is blown totally out of proportion, and dealt with in the time-honoured manner of "talk to the hand." The woman in question is acting like it's the end of the world. She says something like, "you broke what we have." Dude, if what you have after five years together in a committed relationship is fragile enough to be broken by your partner having sex with someone else ONCE (and thoroughly regretting it), then there was something seriously wrong with the relationship. And yeah, they don't talk any　more about it. What's the point? The precious fragile union is "broken"!
***MINOR SPOILER OVER***

What is so sad about all this is that it turns what the original show stood for on its head. Sex and the City, the series, was clear that sex was something everyone enjoyed and craved and that getting it wasn't a big deal and didn't have to involve big feelings - sometimes it was just a physical need. But now, suddenly, someone is vilified for giving into this need after not having had sex for six months with his partner, and not for lack of trying on his part.

Suddenly sex is turned into this precious special thing between two people destined to be together forever and ever and ever, the same kind of BS, basically, that women are told to feel by all the other films and TV shows out there.

Sex and the City, then. Not a very accurate description. While there are plenty of shots of New York City, there is very little sex. What sex there is is negative: it's infidelity, it's not there when it's meant to be. Or its portrayed as positive because of its results (pregnancy) or because of what it means (a bond between two people). It is not shown as being worth anything in and of itself.

On the other hand, brands are shown to have plenty of intrinsic worth. While it is suddenly wrong to want sex for the sake of it, desiring a Louis Vuitton just because it is a Louis Vuitton is very right. Am I the only one who finds this frankly disgusting?

Sure, the upside of this is that we get to see some truly fabulous designer outfits. But pretty as they are, they cannot hide the fact that they are draped over four women who are stupid beyond their years.

Sex and the City is showing until Sep 26 at

Cine Twin 2

also showing until at least Sep 5 at

Hiroshima Wald

TOHO Midorii

Warner Mycal

Heroes out of west and the east: Hancock, 20th Century Boys

Two blockbusters open today; one Hollywood and one Japanese.

Will Smith's flawed superhero Hancock has had pretty good reviews despite a last minute reshoot after it receieved the box office killing R rating weeks before it's July 4 US opening.

Hancock is playing at Wald 11, Warner Mycal, TOHO Midorii, Al Park and Scala-za.

20th Century Boys is a massive 3 movie adaptation of the 20 million selling manga by Naoki Urasawa. It's Japan's most expensive movie project ever, and is packed with stars.



You can read more at Daily Yomiuri.

20th Century Boys is showing at  Wald 11, Warner Mycal, TOHO Midorii and Takarazuka.

Freaky Friday weather news

Chugoku Shimbun has two reports of unusual local summer weather today. I'll pretend you care and blog the  main points.

The rain is pouring down outside, but according to the local Met office this August has been remarkable  for the fact that not one typhoon has made landfall in the Chugoku area. August is usually the busiest typhoon month of the year, but it seems like high pressure in the Pacific is bouncing them all  over to China.

In another report, according to a survey by the Regional Maritime Safety Office, water temperatures in Hiroshima Bay exceeded the 10 year average for 47 days in a row between July 6 and August 21. The  average difference was plus 2.1°C. On  July 18 the water temperature  of 27.89°C was plus 3.5°C. The warmest day was Aug 13 when water temperatures hit 29.07°C.

Dead body found on uninhabited island

A body wrapped in a "blue sheet" has been found on the west coast of uninhabited Okurugamishima which lies about 2 km west of Ninoshima. A fisherman saw the body from his boat and called the coast guard. Reports say the deceased is a 165cm male. Several days seem to have passed since death and although he appears to be an adult, age is undetermined. The man's clothing were said to be in good condition and police are treating it as a case of illegal abandonment of a corpse.

死体遺棄 shitai iki abandonment of a corpse or dumping a body

Source: Chugoku Shinbun

UPDATE: The deceased has been identified as 29 year old Takuya Shirofumi whose address is registered in Yamaguchi Prefecture. There were no obvious signs of injury on his body and police are carrying out an autopsy.

Robot Anime Expo

Robot Anime Expo
Originally uploaded by Sandkat

Sandkat has posted this pic from the Robot Anime Expo currently being held on the 8th floor of Ekimae Fukuya. The expo continues until Aug 26 and costs ¥600 (¥500 in advance). Open 10am-8pm.

More info in Japanese here.

Classified users

If you post classified ads, please double check your email address before submitting your ads. Several ads have received a lot of interest recently, but replies are bouncing. I have tried to forward these replies, but some of these are bouncing too.

The good news is that one of the most used parts of GetHiroshima is going to get a long overdue overhaul. If you have any requests for support of particular functions, please let us know. Either post a comment here or reach us through the feedback link at the bottom of any page on GetHiroshima. We can't promise to meet all requests, but we will do our best.

Thanks for your patience in using a somewhat quirky, and often frustrating, system for the past 8 years!

Maciek Szczerbowski and Koji Yamamura

Maciek Szczerbowski and Koji Yamamura
Originally uploaded by GetHiroshima

Yamamura's Franz Kafka’s "A Country Doctor" was the Grand Prize winner and Maciek Szczerbowski was part of the pair who directed "Madame Tutli Putli" which won a special prize. Both happy to be winners, "It is great to have your work recognized" Maciek said. Yamamura commented that it "Is a dream come true to win the Grand Prize in Hiroshima again"

The Hiroshima Award and the Audience Prize: Kunio Kato's "La Maison en Petits Cubes"

The Hiroshima Award and the Audience Prize: Kunio Kato's "La Maison en Petits Cubes"
Originally uploaded by GetHiroshima

Kunio Kato charmed us all - softspoken, talented and such a touching animated film to share with us all- "La Maison en Petits Cubes"
omedetou gozaimasu!

Awards Ceremony Animation Festival 2008

A big otsukaresama to the event organizers and staff and the many volunteers who dedicated themselves to this festival for the last week day and night- you are greatly appreciated!

I will do a more detailed update tomorrow including my sticky faux pas with the grand prize winners wife tomorrow- with pictures from the event too. But for now, a simple list of the prize winners if you please...

Grand Prix - Koji Yamamura "Franz Kafka's A Country Doctor"
Koji Yamamura was the winner of the last festival with his FUNNY sakura tree growing out of a man's head in Mt.Head, but this year it was a chilling - Japanese horror at its best- rendition of a Kafka tale, I will have to sleep with the lights on t0night! Creepy!!

The Hiroshima Award and the Audience Prize: Kunio Kato's "La Maison en Petits Cubes"
This was a heartwarming tale without any spoken dialogue that says so much, how does a director so young know so much about family ties and nostalgia- beautiful- helps to offset the horror of Yamamura's film.

Debut Prize to Jean-Charles Mbnotti Malolo for "The heart is a Metronome" a beautiful tale of the ups and downs of a father and son relationship told through tap and rhythm.

Renzo Kinoshita Prize- Izabela Plucinska- "Breakfast"
Simple clay animation with some simple painting, but the simple story of a couple having nothing to talk about resonates with many of the (married) audience. I had a chance to chat with her after and said that once you have kids you have something to talk about until they leave the house, she laughed politely and said she was thinking of settling down so her next film might be about that.

Rene laloux prize- Francois-Marc Baillet "A Little Farther"
a journey through shapes and things eating other things- fun!

Special International Jury Prizes for:
"Madame Tutli-Putli", "KJFG No.5" , "Oktapodi", "Zhiharka", "Candid" and "Don't Let It All Unravel"

Special Prizes to:
"John and Karen", "Miniscule - The Ladybug", "Beton", "Lapsus", "Lavatory-Lovestory", "Lost in Snow"

Animation Festival Saturday and Sunday with Kids

It is always a bit of a challenge as a parent to find fun things to do with kids in Hiroshima on the weekend, but the animation festival this year didn't let us down.

I met a few families with kids who were enjoying the festival everyday from morning to the end of the competition program, but for my kids the daytime programs were more than enough- I would have loved to have been there enjoying the programs all day and if your kids have the late night stamina, there is a viewing room in the back of the medium and grand hall if you have babies (it is equipped with a cot, big window for viewing and a bit softer sound).
Unfortunately, I am pretty sure I would have been struggling with two sleep deprived, hungry kids who had no patience to sit and watch a bunch of short films- bugging me every minute to go home. But if your kids are sound sleepers or film buffs, take them by all means. Kids under elementary school age are free.

We started on Saturday with Animation for Children and I might venture a guess that the selection committee is not made of parents because some of the featured films did NOT belong in this animation for children section. If the festival organizers want to make this more family friendly- which it seems that they do- it is imperative that they attach ratings to all of the films- especially those which are obviously aimed at a younger audience. My 2 year old was scared witless by a pirate and a friend's 4 year old had nightmares about the woman who dissected a cow and cut off its head (and these were only in the first few films featured). Come on, G/PG/PG-1３/R, lets get some ratings in the book and schedule next time please!!

The fellow parents and I seemed to agree that there is a distinct difference between the European type of children's story- scare the heck out of them because the world is scary and they should be prepared. And the North American dogs and pigtails type of nothing bad ever happens that can't be overcome and the good guys always prevail type of story for kids.

As a mother of two kids under 7 I would definitely opt for the less violent and less full of harsh reality type- they are only children after all and their understanding of violence and problems that cannot be solved is very different from ours.

After getting our kids out of the theatre with their eyes and ears covered, we headed to the 4th floor for the kids to try their hand at making animation themselves.
It was a success as they were patiently led through the process of making animation with shapes and lines moving on a MAC computer by the friendly and helpful staff. It does help if you (parents) sit with them and try to encourage them to try new things otherwise you will end up with a page full of squares as happened with a friend's little boy who wasn't quite encouraged to try new things.

Then we moved across the hall to the drawing and clay/nendo animation making room. They had a few different stations of activity. Along the wall there was space for designing a fan that you looked through in a mirror to see it animated when spun. They also had lighted drawing boards for kids to draw pictures and put layers on top to draw the same picture with a bit of movement each time, then each page was filmed and made into a short animated film right in front of y0u. At the most popular table, kids were working hard on their playdo (nendo) creations to use for a short animation debut. Even blobs of nonsensical mess can be made into a moving, fun animated sequence as we found out with our little film "magic gate" by felix (6) and jolon (3). The staff here were great, very patient and even excited about helping all the kids with their little projects.

On Sunday we enjoyed the many short clips from "Children Around the World". I think watching this in coordination with making the same type of animation upstairs gives kids a real understanding of the process and helps them appreciate (as do we) the amount of time and hard work that needs to go into even the smallest of projects.

Animation Festival - Day 3

Not quite as busy as So Solid Crew but I literally have, like, 41 minutes to go so this will be a fairly concise account focusing on my personal little happys during the day.

Only managed to catch Finding Nemo of the features today. Any good film is a special treat on the big screen, and so was this. A joy. And although Japan has dibs on cute, I think Nemo has to be the cutest goddamn creature ever thought up by man or beast.

Today's highlight, however, was the press conference where some of the creators of last night's competition films had a chance to talk about their work, or not talk about it, as was also the case. Of course each artist is different, but it is interesting how some are very happy to wax lyrical about inspiration, creation and intention, whereas others prefer not to talk at all. I used to think that if you have to explain it, it is no good in the first place but I don't think so anymore.

The right person can add many dimensions to their work by commenting on it, some prefer not to. Simple as that. If we take examples from the live action film world, which I am more familiar with, Nagisa Oshima represents the former, David Lynch the latter. They are both great artists. One is also a great critic and analyst, one is not.

At the press conference, especially Ariel Belinco of Israel made an impression. His entry film Beton (co-made with Michael Faust) tells the story of a platoon commander who decides to blot out a kite by painting a huge simile of the sky and concrete wall and moving the painting to cover up the kite. He eventually fails. Belinco explained that he was himself drawn to animation by watching colourful and happy films like those from Pixar, and he said that he would love to make films like that himself. However, he felt a moral imperative to tell of his experiences in the Israeli army (where the draft is three years). While he was serving in Gaza, he had an extremely right-wing platoon commander who actually ordered a sniper out to kill the father of some children who were throwing stones. Belinco choked up as he was recalling this, and although the command ended up not being carried out, his talk certainly helped me appreciate his film much more - it added a context that might be obvious to many Israelis, but certainly wasn't to me.

I also very much enjoyed hearing Yasmeen Ismail speak about her intentions behind her lovely short film Love Triangle. It concerns a young woman who stays with her Indian family and is fed so many samosas that when she returns back to the UK, she has turned into the triangular treat herself. Ismail, who is from Ireland but whose father is Indian South African, explained that the inspiration came from when she went to see her family there and was indeed fed a ton of the stuff. On the phone to her boyfriend, he warned her that she might turn into a samosa herself, which kindled the idea. However, she maintains, "he wants the credit for this film but he can't have it." Too right. Although the main idea is strong, it is its style and heart that really make the film stand out. At only three minutes, it still has a clear, strong story and a wonderful dark ending, which, along with its use of simple black lines put me in mind of the early short films of Paul Driessen that I'd seen earlier yesterday. It is, as Ismail further explained, a meditation on long-term relationships and how you have to accept changes in your partner because you love them. As she put it, "If I get a bit squishy around the edges, I don't want him to say anything!" Too right, sister. But if you stop making films, I hope he does.

And... oops, 51 minutes have gone so



EDIT: This might be my last blog post from the festival, as I am leaving for Tokyo tomorrow evening. Watch out, though, for my final round-up of the festival on GetHiroshima.com in 1-2 weeks.

Animation Festival - Day 2 Part 2

First of all, happy Olympics! In celebration of the event and animation I decided to sport my precious original 1980 Misha pin all day.


While taking a break in a cafe, my badge was noticed by someone who turned out to be none other than Otto Alder, who has an exhibition on (for free, cheapskates!) on the 5th floor for the duration of the festival. "Are you Finnish?" might sound like a random question, but at a festival that so thoroughly covers Finnish animation (including another exhibition on the 5th floor) it is not so strange. See someone vaguely Nordic? They're probably Finnish. I am of course Danish but I bear no grudge. I went to see the exhibition, and it was small and rather atmospheric, aided by colours, ligthing and the use of incense. But kids, don't smoke!

Second of all, Joy already put up a comprehensive account so I will only add little here. I didn't, in fact, go to the Disney show but I did go to the upstart younger brother (AKA Pixar) one.

Doug Sweetland is the director of their latest short film Presto and has worked as an animator on every feature film the company has put out bar last year's Ratatouille (I made a mistake in my Hype article. I am sorry).

He came to preside over nothing less than the Asia premiere of said short and to give an hour-long seminar in which he revealed some of the voodoo that they do with their computers and stuff. It turns out that the main focus of his (wonderfully funny) powerpoint presentation was not on the technical magic but on the nitty-oldfashioned-gritty of crafting a good story. For a storytelling nutty like myself, it was a wonderful insight into the creative process. "Story isn't building, it's searching," explained Doug, a lesson he came to learn the hard way as idea after idea was considered, then tossed. He also showed some clips from classic cartoons that Presto pays homage to, and he will forever have a special place in my heart for the following three reasons:

1. He greeted us in Hiroshima-ben, hollering a "Nani shiorun?" at a crowd that didn't know what'd hit them before it was too late.

2. He provided his own improvised sound effects for the drawing board animated sequences he showed us, sounding like nothing so much as an episode of Road Runner on speed.

3. He used the phrase "cat-dog fight cloud" (which is inventive; seriously, I did the Google search) to summarise something we all know, namely this.

That's it for now. I went to see Competition 2 too, but since I am hoping to attend tomorrow's press conference I am withholding comment in order to do a more comprehensive post later.

Still, how about that Misha, eh? Don't think there's ever been a better Olympic mascot, and this year's offering is certainly no match. On the subject of animation and the Olympics though, I will leave you with this truly scrumptious snippet from Gorillaz team Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett. It was made for the BBC's Olympic coverage.




Somewhat cooler than Shingo-kun, I can't help but feel.

Animation Festival Day 2:

So pleased to read Sofie's fantastic review of day 1 of the festival below, here are some of my highlights from today (friday) day 2.

Press conference with some of the directors from last night's competition:

• Benoit Feroumont- Djivouveuvolti
  You can read about his work and activities on his blog, or either of his websites above. His film Dji Vou Veu Volti is a real mouthful but the man himself didn't have much to say at first at the press conference (too polite I think). Luckily some nice reporter (me) gave him another chance by asking all the directors there to talk about their current and future projects. He then talked about his feature film "Macrales" which is due out in October (produced by La Parti) and he is busy writing comics for the magazine "Spirou". He is also narrating a TV series called "Bud and Stan". On his blog he has some pictures from his trip so far in Hiroshima and he even caught a picture of us reporters during the press conference I see- touche.
• Robin King "Ten Thousand Pictures of You" This is his first animated film as he has been working as a professional actor in the UK. He produced it independently and hopes to win the lottery so he can build on the same concept to make a feature length animated film called "26,000 pictures of Daniel" but before having the time to take on that project (it would take a full year to do one of the shots he says) he will "need to win the lottery" (good luck!). Until he has time to do more independent films, it is back to acting- he will be in a Vampire film called "The Lonely Life of Tom Campbell" as "a vampire trying to live a normal life on the fringe of society". He was considered for the Steven Spielberg reality show On the Lot with a film he "designed, shot and edited in a week- a dark comedy about time travel", called "Unpossible" the website shows the documentary of making the film.
• Steve May "X and Y" Had a chance to chat with Steve May later in the day, very friendly chap making an effort to learn and speak Japanese while travelling around Japan with a friend. Gave me some postcards he made in exchange for the superb GetHiroshima map I gave him :-) His movie X and Y is a "homage t6o fictional ideas and characters that have been stored up (in his mind) since childhood" about superheroes and how a "ridiculous hysteria can occur over the smallest thing." His next project- he is working on a TV series with a writer. His main work is as a book illustrator and he is also writing a children's book on his own. He also trumped Robin King saying he made a film for a TV show in only 72 hours! You can see some of his amazing and fun shorts on his great website. He also mentioned that he loved the floating lanterns at the Peace Memorial ceremony, it is nice that the animation festival was held just after the ceremony this year- maybe we will see some of their depictions of the ceremony in a future festival.
  
• Koji Yamamura "Franz Kafka's A Country Doctor" Yamamura is Japan's modern prince of animation. He was the last Hiroshima animation festival's popular and prize winner- as the director of "Mt.Head" which was up for an Academy Award in 2003, Yamamura has come to this festival with a film sponsored by a theatre company in Japan and has been racking up the awards around the globe as it tours the animation festivals. This is bound to be a favorite in this competition too. He has rekindled a project he started 5 years ago with the film board of Canada.

Paul Driessen Screening and Seminar This talk and perspective was impressive. Driessen has a huge body of work including "The Yellow Submarine" Beatles animated film. I remember being riveted but confused by that when I was a kid, as I now realise, Driessen's animation was never meant for children. The messages are honest, hard hitting and unsympathetic, violent, revengeful and without apology or regret. His work seems to have softened as he got older and more comfortable or relaxed- a bit similar to reading books by Roald Dahl, but a bit heavy on harsh reality. He says he spent a lot of time alone as a kid and it sounds like he grew up in a very violent time, but he was able to use his art and drawing as a way to work through the isolation. He has a very unique drawing style which is not flattering to any of its subjects, but is effective in relaying the emotion and message of the stories and characters.

Disney's Latest Short: Glago's Guest - Screening and Seminar
Art Director Andy Harkness walked us through the process of getting a short film like Glago's Guest made. I think Sofie was here for this one too, so I won't go into too much detail. Harkness was so kid-brother cute & likeable and a knowledgeable guide to the process that leaves you dumbfounded by the amount of time and effort people like him put into making these short films so amazing. Although their marketing director who was there said "Shorts don't make money" we have to think of that comment in context to the vast number of independent animators doing their work without pay and without a huge billion dollar company to back and promote their work. That said, the stuff they come out with at Disney/Pixar are amazingly cool and beautiful- wouldn't it be nice if they could somehow better support independent animators somehow too (maybe show their work for free on the disney channel sometime?).

Animation Festival - Day 1

You know how you can emphasise certain likes and dislikes by indicating how long you've had them? Like, "I've loved olives ever since I was five." Well, for animation that just doesn't cut it. I mean, "I've loved animation ever since I was little" doesn't say a lot. Most kids love animation. But well, I have, and more importantly I still do.

I love how you can use pen, pencil, paper, pixels, PCs, photographic equipment and a whole lot of things that don't start with "p" to create other worlds, worlds that, removed from the constraints of live action might somehow be a closer to your soul.

And I will be damned if I give up my childlike innocence when it comes to certain things. Disney's Cinderella was a treat on the big screen, in a totally sentimental and irony-free way. It is romantic, full of stereotypes, slapstick, and lovely, lovely images. Pity about the punter next to me who decided to guffaw at the cheesier moments.

Next was lunch, and at the delightful café Otis we are seated next to Nobuhiro Aihara, animator of note and professor at Kyoto University of Art and Design. Upon hearing I am from Denmark, he informs me that 20 years ago he spent a week in Christiania, a "free town" in the middle of Copenhagen, and the source of much art and music.. I feel rather sad thinking that with the current attempts to tear down the town and build expensive apartments, Denmark's days of attracting talented and interesting types like Aihara might be over.


Back inside, there is time for a quick browse around the stalls, where tons of rare animation literature and DVDs (most of it in English) is for sale. A lot of this is sold by animators themselves, and the atmosphere is relaxed and happy.

I also make time for the various universities and colleges around Japan who have booths set up on the ground floor. The courses they offer are all in Japanese, but browsing around is a great way to chat to some interesting people, see some great student artwork and get some wonderful freebies - I secured myself a thick manga book made by students at Osaka University of Arts, a place I already knew of since they have the coolest student accommodation I have ever seen:


That green light changes colour all the time, folks. Proper cool.

There are also English speaking guides available, and a stock of some 700 student-made films available to view on request.

Finally, the highlight of my day. A documentary film made especially for the festival charting the history of Argentinian animation. The film is introduced by its creator, the eminent Oscar M. Desplats. I feel sorry for the non-English speaking members of the audience who miss his warm little comments. Especially his excuses for his English (which is by all standards excellent), and his humourful portrayal of Argentina as "land of soccer and tango." Later I catch him queuing up for a showing of new animation from around the world. 77 years old and still curious. What a mensch.

His film is very informative and comprehensive, although the lack of subtitles (in either English or Japanese) make me curse my long-forgotten, minimal Spanish. I do learn that the very first animated film was Argentinian (and if you have time tomorrow morning, the festival is screening a special documentary about this which promises to be interesting). I also find it especially hard to forget a Fiat 1600 ad from the sixties that resembles Pixar's Cars to a T, as well as a strange football-related ad from the nineties that uses Underworld's Born Slippy but replaces the "lager lager lager lager" chant with the repeated refrain "bol, bol, bol, bol, bol, bol, bol, bol!"

Dizzy from it all I decide to take a break and deliver this to you, but in a few minutes I am off again to the opening party - after all, I do love olives so. And animation.

Hiroshima A-bombing Memorial Ceremony

Click to Play

Sights, sounds and police in the streets around Hiroshima's Peace Memorial Park during the ceremony held annually on the anniversary of the bombing.

Beyond the Peace Park

Tomorrow is Hirshima's biggest day of the year and although we are often a bit ambivalent about Peace™ we encourage anyone who can make it to pay their respects at Peace Memorial Park either at the ceremony at 8:15am or at the lantern floating from dark.

As the lanterns are being pulled from the river, over in Hanover Park (behind the baseball stadium) the SleepyEye crew will setting up a sound system and BBQ for the 10th Summer of Love gathering. When they say "All tribes welcome" they really mean it and you should check it out if you can. They'll be chugging along until the keepers of the peace show up.




Also well worth checking out, BOM and Co at Koba will be open from 8pm as an art and live space. Live music includes RaBiRaBi×Piko (see vid below)



There's bound to be a whole bunch of other stuff going on around town - get out there, pay your respects and ask around.

Shimanami weekend

We just got back from a great weekend camping, dancing, drinking, eating, cycling, sightseeing and sweating in the Seto Naikai. Festa de Rama on Sunset Beach in Setoda was great fun and we packed in lots of other stuff we are eager to share. Have to hit the keyboards before it all evaporates!

Cafe Ponte pics

outside view
Originally uploaded by GetHiroshima

Cafe Ponte on Motoyasu River. Review coming soon, but it's worth a visit. More pics on Flickr page.

outside view

outside view
Originally uploaded by GetHiroshima

Cafe Ponte on Motoyasu River. Review coming soon, but it's worth a visit. More pics on Flicke page.

Free English tours of Peace Park on August 6

The Hiroshima Volunteer Guide Association is offering free tours of Peace Memorial Park accompanied by English interpreters on August 6. Tours leave from under the pillars of the Peace Memorial Museum and next to the A-bomb Dome 09:30-17:00 (final registration 16:15).

Cafe Ponte on the bridge

New Italian cafe "Ponte" pens on the Motoyasu River bank next to the Motoyasu Bridge opens today. The city run eatery, replaces the is open from 7:30am to 10pm and the pictures look quite nice. At the opening ceremony the other day, Mayor Akiba is quoted as saying he hopes that the cafe will become a center for the culture of the Hiroshima aquapolis (広島の水都文化の拠点になってほしい) - I'd be content if the just serve a nice latte.

If you go, feel free to share your impressions in the comments below.