On the Eve of my first 4th of July as a U.S citizen, I had to say it loud.
Is Shopping and Bargains at the Mall all that Independence Day, the national holiday stands for?
Could it be if nothing else a chance for a day of rest and time spent with family and friends?
A short July 3rd musing in the Consumed to Thrifty mindset.
Unfortunately I could not make it to the opening night of Japan Cuts, July 2nd at the Japan Society in New York so I set my fishing net wide and large in search of detailed pieces about what's on the program of this Film Festival.
In Japan Cuts Above The Rest Peter Gutiérrez (Firefox News) picks some favorites such as United Red Army a docudrama on the leftist group, Dainipponjin which he describes as "a mockumentary about “Big Man Japan,” an ordinary guy who expands to Gojira proportions when gargantuan critters threaten to trample the skyline" (my illustration, below) and the closing night film Kisaragi, one of the best on offer in his view as a "fandom-set whodunit is that rarity in a movie mystery—the kind whose ample surprises never seem forced".
Martin Tsai (New York Observer) introduces his review Japan Cuts: Far Out in the Far East by asking:
"Do you ever wonder what the Japanese think of Hollywood's interpretations of "Speed Racer," "Transformers," or even "Memoirs of a Gesiha"? For those who want to experience that reverse lost-in-translation feeling firsthand, the second annual Japan Cuts: Festival of New Japanese Film, which begins today at Japan Society, offers a healthy swath of selections that will do the trick. What's more, the lineup is reflective of how the country's film industry is grappling with its global reach while struggling to defend its home turf"
As part of a broader New York Asian Film Festival overview The Brooklyn Rail adds to the list of must see Japan Cuts movies, Fine Totally Fine which "follows horror-obsessed slacker Teruo and the menagerie of square pegs that satellite around him. A gardener by day, Teruo spends his free time scaring his friends in clever ways and aspires to open a haunted house" and Adrift in Tokyo in which actor Joe Odagiri plays Takemura "a scruffy young law student with a serious amount of debt. Suddenly Fukuhara, a threatening debt collector, bursts into Takemura’s shabby apartment with a one day ultimatum: payment or intense pain. But the next day, calm, cool and collected Fukuhara shows a change of heart".
Hopefully this roundup for Tokyo Thursdays #45 will broaden your view of Japan Cuts.
The festival runs until July 13.
My previous piece: 'Japan Cuts', Not Sandwiches, New Japanese Films Festival, New York, July 2-13
You might like the idea of walking into the garden to pick up some greens and tomatoes for a salad or fresh herbs to compliment a fish or meat dish.
For a fee, residents of San Francisco who want the garden but lack the time can rely on MyFarm to turn their backyard into an Organic Garden.
Basic installation can be from $600 to a $1000 (depending on the size of the project) and weekly maintenance costs run from $20 to $35.
You can choose between two options: Personal where you consume all your produce and Owner Member where some of your crop can be sold to others.
Ariel Schwartz shares more details on the company in Capitalist Dream: Company Designs and Maintains Organic Garden in Your Backyard (On Green Options, July 1st).
Tara Duggan calls MyFarm a "throwback to the Victory Gardens, a World War II government-sponsored program in which as much as 40 percent of the country's nonmilitary produce was grown in urban and suburban backyards" in her piece S.F. firm harvests potential of unused land (SF Chronicle, June 23).
The City of San Francisco actually launched a pilot program named Victory Gardens 2008+
Another option on the East Coast is Your Backyard Farmer with projects in and around Portland (Oregon) as well as on the East Coast according to the video below.
They've been around since 2006 and are booked solid for this year but taking applications for 2009.
Know of similar projects and endeavors, share them with us.
I know I show my age here.
I had the pleasure to see Al Dimeola, the ever friendly guitar player (not sure he got a seat on guitar hero) a day before he left for the European leg of the Return to Forevever reunion tour.
He had a couple pictures he took recently om his I Phone. I was surprised to see how changed (heavier?) Chick Corea was.
Al invited me to attend one of their local US shows later this year.
In the back in time music capsule in a different zone, I read today that The Feelies will be Reborn for the Fourth of July with concerts in Hoboken and in New York with Sonic Youth.
I would have liked to see if their guitars can still sing.
Unfortunately, all the tickets are gone.
So what groove has got you going?
While picking up a few things at Whole Foods, I noticed a new magazine on the racks, Green Guide.
I did not buy a copy.
I did like the cover story, 'Green on a Budget' (with matches my Consumed to Thrifty thread) so I checked Green Guide online and realized that it was published by National Geographic.
They have a very timely story in the second issue Going for Green: Eco-Friendly Family Vacations
by Kathy Shorr.
Her most sensible tip is Travel, don't tour as she reminds us "Vacations give us a chance to
do something our daily lives don't: slow down. By choosing one spot and
staying there for your whole vacation, you can become absorbed in the
experience".
Second is Get on The Train, the least polluting transportation and besides that you can see the scenery in between places. I also like the rhythm of the train on the tracks.
Third Propel yourself "Instead of driving a hundred miles a day, why not try walking 5, or biking 15, or paddling even just 1? " Helps you clear your head as well as the toxins in your body.
A short Green Day #33
Related: In Europe, Drop Plane for Train with 'The Man in Seat 61'.
and Greek and Green: the Levendis Estate on a Ionian Island
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