Sweet! Got our tickets to the #NekoSamurai screening and party at @japansociety_nyc at the end of the month! What could be cooler than #Japan & #cats?!?

Sweet! Got our tickets to the #NekoSamurai screening and party at @japansociety_nyc at the end of the month! What could be cooler than #Japan & #cats?!?

A photo posted by Mr The Pete (@mrthepete) on May 11, 2015 at 11:40am PDT

More Pics from the #NorwegianWood screening at @JapanSociety tonight

#NorwegianWood screening at Japan Society 20111214, a set on Flickr.

Here are the earlier pics I blogged along with five other pics of the Q&A after the screening. Such an incredibly well made movie!

Looks like things are back to normal... at least until September 2012 (or maybe not?)

Looks like my various streams are largely 911-ghoulishness free. I can start paying attention to the world again. :)

And don't worry, I remembered the victims and their loved ones, but I did it positively at a short film festival at the Japan Society called "Films for Hope".  Most of these films were warm and positive and reminded me of why we should cherish life as much as we do.  Humanity has an immense capacity for good.  It's a shame we focus so much on the negative.  I do it, too, but I hope to change that.  This is part of how I remembered 911 victims. In fact, making the world a better place through storytelling has been my life's goal since long before 911.

Making people think, question, learn, change and grow is what art can do.

When all we do is focus on fear and suspicion we kill our imagination and our potential.  I hope what I have written and what I will write will inspire people to do more than just that.

So, perhaps next year at this time we, as humans, will be able to remember the victims in more positive ways, reflect on how best to serve their memories, and not feel compelled to relive their passing.  I hope what I do in the coming year (and years), along with what others do, will help us all get to that place.

???? (Komaneko) playing this Sunday in the "Films for Hope" Festival @JapanSociety here in NYC!

I will always love stop motion! And Komaneko looks adorable. I'm seeing this on Sunday along with the rest of the "Films for Hope" series on the six month anniversary of the Tohoku Quake and the ten year anniversary of 9/11.  Live in NYC? More info on the festival here: http://www.japansociety.org/film In Japanese: http://www.yomitime.com/090211/0401.html Fifty percent of all proceeds will go to Japan Society’s Earthquake Relief Fund. So, if you are in town, come check it out!

Trailer found via Radbo and Japan Society's film blog on Tumblr.

Samurai Double Feature at the Japan Society in NYC TONIGHT!

Guess where I’m going tonight… Samurai double-feature! YAY Japan Society!! Going to stop off at Dainobu for ??????? (a couple of onigiri) on the way. In NYC? Dig Japanese cinema? See what else they’re screening this month: http://www.japansociety.org/japancuts

NBG J-cast episode 5: #Quakebook, Concert for JAPAN, Phrase of the Week and more!

This week thepete and Jeff-san talk about #Quakebook, how Japan keeps calling thepete, the “Concert for JAPAN” event at the Japan Society, and the phrase of the week! Also, find out what last week’s phrase of the week was!  Check out more episodes of the NBG J-cast here: http://thepete.com/a/NBG

The bands talked about in this week’s NBG J-cast are listed below:

Taikoza

Salme

Echostream

Me & Mars

The Suzan

Hard Nips

For pictures of the “Concert for JAPAN” event at the Japan Society, check them out here. or view them as a photoset on Flickr, also, there’s a slideshow, too.

NBG J-cast episode 5 is hosted at archive.org.

Slideshow of our time at @JapanSociety's "Concert for JAPAN" on April 9, 2011

View the original posts here on j.thepete.com for these images.

View them as a photoset on Flickr.

My favorite photo from @JapanSociety’s “Concert for JAPAN” (final post of many!)

It’s me with my first ever (and only) Japanese instructor, Akai Sensei! Seeing her again really brought back old times.  I felt like it was March 2011 all over again! ;P Isn’t Akai Sensei ???? (Just agree—she totally is!) She also happens to be a wonderful teacher.  She makes learning Japanese a lot of fun. I can’t wait to take a class with her again!

Hard Nips performs at @JapanSociety's "Concert for JAPAN" (pic set 12 of many) UPDATED WITH VIDEO

The Hard Nips are a crazy fun metal band out of Brooklyn made up of women from Japan (get it? “Hard NIPS”?)  Anyway, they’re a blast to listen to and did a great set at the CfJ. Check out their website: http://hardnipsbrooklyn.com



VIDEO:

The Suzan performs at @JapanSociety's "Concert for JAPAN" (pic set 11 of many)

This was probably my favorite band of the night—The Suzan is a high energy pop band that reminds me of Pizzicato Five crossed with Bananarama (kind of).  They’re just a really fun, interesting band that has a style that is really hard to not like.  Check out their website: http://thesuzan.com My favorite songs of theirs are “Home” and “Come Come”.

Me & Mars performs at @JapanSociety's "Concert for JAPAN" (pic set 10 of many)

Me to Mars (Me and Mars—“to”=”and” in Japanese) is a punk/ambient/experimental band that played a kick-ass set at the CfJ.  Their lead guitar can really rock and their bass is pretty awesome, too.  Check out their music at http://myspace.com/metomars (aparently their still isn’t a better site for bands than MySpace—what’s up with that?)

Echostream performs at @JapanSociety's "Concert for JAPAN" (pic set 9 of many)

Echostream is a real great, angsty rock band and they did an awesome set during the CfJ.  I highly recommend you check out their clips on YouTube ( http://youtube.com/echostream ) or their website: http://echostreammusic.com (they have more content on their YouTube, however).

Salme performing at the @JapanSociety's "Concert for JAPAN" (pt8 of many)

Salme is “a unique revue-style modern performance, based on Geisha entertainment infused with the feeliny of urban Tokyo.”  Put simply, Salme is a group of female dancers and singers that mix modern J-pop sensibilities with geisha traditions.  Check out their webpage at http://salme.info  I was too busy enjoying their performance to get a decent picture but I wanted to post about them.  They had a lot of energy and their set was fascinating and very entertaining. If you get a chance to see them, go for it.

The @JapanSociety's "Concert for JAPAN" Taikoza concert pics (pt 7 of many)

Here are two shots from the once concert we were in the theater to actually see (the other concerts were simulcast around the JS and, I think, streamed on Ustream, too).  In the first pic in this set, before the concert began, you can see Taikoza’s drums on stage.  In the second pic Taikoza is performing. Check out their website: http://taikoza.com

The @JapanSociety's "Concert for JAPAN" misc event pics pt 6 of many

In this batch, you get a shot of the notes of encouragement Sierra and I made in the “Reach Out to Japan” language class tought by my favorite Japanese teacher, Akai Sensei. Also in this batch are pics of the JS atrium, with a waterfall, greenery and a tranquil atmosphere, a plaque inscribed with John D. Rockefeller’s plan/hopes for the JS, the exterior of the JS with a nice little line to get in.  The most fun pic in this batch has got to be the one of the toilet control panel.

Good stuff!

The @JapanSociety's "Concert for JAPAN" more origami pics pt 5 of many

These are more origami pics, this time taken by @SierraRein (aka TheWife).

The @JapanSociety's "Concert for JAPAN" Origami pics! pt 4 of many

At the Japan Society event, not only did they have caligraphy classes, they had origami lessons. Here are pics I took of the demo pieces the had set up (my favorites are the two made from subway farecards!) along with pics of myself learning how to make a paper crane and Sierra and I posing with our finished cranes :) Would love to get proficient in making paper cranes.