Modem, not modern, but not dead either

by | Aug 16, 2009 | Post

It is just a phone in a phonebooth, but it deserves to be part of permanent collections in any museum of modern technologies. First, it is inside a phone booth (rarity +1). Second, it has black, glossy, phone-like earpiece (rarity +2). Third, it has a modem port. THIS...

Schoolgirl syndrome

by | Aug 11, 2009 | Post

今日は久しぶりに日本語で。理髪店（とはもう言わないのか）はたいてい表通りに面した壁がすべてガラス張りになっていて、ドールハウスみたいに中の様子が見えるようになっています。ヘアーサロン（とも言わないのか）、マッサージ、それに台北名物、小龍包（ゼリー入りシュウマイ）の厨房はみなどこも透明です。これは要するにどこかが透明方式で売り出して繁盛すると、他も追随して、それがいつのまにか業界標準となる、といった例なんでしょうが、疑問は...

Shrines can be glorified while not being glorified

by | Aug 10, 2009 | Post

This is a typical scenery in Taipei – a shrine built into an ordinary building. At a glance it looks cheap. Some might even say it is a gimmick. But it is a shrine, in its true sense. Aesthetically it might not receive great attention. Maybe it won't be...

Inconsistency

by | Aug 9, 2009 | Post

In theory, an advertisement should provide a consistent and persuading story which puts us into an imaginary world where everything just works. Therefore, at least inside that context, things always make sense. Wearing an OMEGA will suddenly make you as cool as James...

Cover song compilations

by | Aug 8, 2009 | Post

Note: the title doesn't have much to do with the content, as usual.The coffee shop I am sitting in keeps playing the same set of songs for ages. It reminds me of the days working as a busboy in one of Denny's restaurant chains in Tokyo. It was around 1991,...