Been a long time, shouldn't have left you......

Hello everyone! Hope you're all doing well. Yes I know it's been a while since my last post again. Work's been busy since then; day in and day out. I'll share with you with what i've been working on once the project is complete. But for now i'd like to share some music if you haven't heard and got this yet. This mix features the Boyscouts on hunt.fm from last month. One of my favourite mixes to date. Marlon J. English throwin' down the hip-hop and P-Luv bringing us back into time. Check it out!

hunt.FM #102: It Tastes Like Pepperoni w/ Guest DJs the Boyscouts (Marlon J. English & P-Luv)

New Apples for the season

Apple's done it again. They've released an upgrade of models which include a new 27" iMac and the newly redesigned MacBooks. They've also released a new multi-touch mouse; the Magic Mouse. Looks pretty slick, might want to pick one up. Please check out Apple's site for more details.

I DREAM IN COLOR TV

WWW.PAULSKRATCH.COM

Japanese Commercial - Cratz

Hey y'all!

How's it going?

Watching in t.v. in Japan can be quite amusing. This commercial, which features Matsumoto Hitoshi from the TV talk show "Downtown", promotes a snack from Glico called Cratz. It's a mixture of pretzel chunks and whole almonds. It's marketed as an accompaniment with beer. The character he portrays is from a movie he starred in recently called "Shinboru" (the Symbol). I especially like the second half of the commercial.

鎮座 (Chinza) Dopeness Album Release Party @ Moon Romantic, Aoyama - Sept.15, 2009

Chinza Dopeness, one of W+K Tokyo Lab's latest artist, held an album release party at Moon Romantic in Aoyama. It was a good night consisting of good music and collaborations with other artists, such as Hifana. Chinza's a real humble and great artist. Please check out his music and his MySpace page at: http://www.myspace.com/chinzadopeness

For photos click HERE.

Izawa Ayame performing at Cafe Muriwui, Sept. 11, 2009

I'd like to present to you a good friend of mine, Izawa Ayame. She is a talented musical artist that plays the piano and the pianica. A couple of friends and I went to go check out her show. I surprised her by just showing up. I haven't seen her since I moved to Japan, and it's been a while since we've seen each other. She was a yoga student in Vancouver, and stayed with my family and I for a month. She's a friend of a friend, and we've kept in touch since. She's currently a yoga instructor in Tokyo. She creates and composes her music, and performs her music at selected venues. Please check her music out at: http://www.myspace.com/ayamelody

For photos, please click HERE

The Playface

Hello everyone!

It's been a long time again. I've been busy working and helping out the W+K team with their project with Playstation. I've been asked to edit the web videos for the Playface campaign. Below is the TV spot which was edited by London's Dayn Williams. Just recently I recorded some video with Takeshi at the Playface event in Odaiba at Mediage. There were some PSP and Playstation 3 setups, as well as the Playface booths where it captured a gamers expressions in 360 degrees with 18 cameras recording simultaneously, like "the Matrix" effect. More information and a detailed description on W+K's blog.

Hope everyone enjoyed their summer.

http://www.wktokyo.jp/blog/?p=2021

http://www.wktokyo.jp/blog/?p=2035

Hanabi!

Hello all! Hope you've been enjoying your summer holidays.

It's been another long minute since i've posted anything, but the past few weeks i've been kinda busy working. Aside from my teaching job at Gaba, I worked with W+K on a Nike project and recently on another Playstation project. Busy, busy, busy....

Anyways at the beginning of the month my lady and I, along with her brother and family travelled up to Niigata Prefecture to visit some relatives. Niigata is popular for it's fireworks festivals and I have to agree on that. I've never seen a fireworks display over a landscape. Nothing comparable like the ones I usually see in Vancouver at the Celebration of Lights. You be the judge of it. Below is a video I took of the finalé and I had to pan a lot because my lens was not wide enough to catch the whole landscape.

Enjoy!!

Vancouver Slop invades Japan

On July 3rd, I hooked up with my good friends Matt and Rolf, who hail from Vancouver. Shortly, another friend who's been living in Japan, Ephraim, joined us. We went for eats at a gyoza restaurant in Harajuku. Afterwards we stalked the streets of Harajuku and Daikanyama.

Matt, who is an Environmental Biologist by day, runs a couple of business' on the side. He is 1/2 of Finale Design and 1/3 of Vancouver Slop. As the founder of Vancouver Slop, he blogs about restaurants and places that he eats. As he is always on the go, Matt hardly has the time to cook. Please check out his blog at www.vancouverslop.com. Also please check out Finale Design.

Great to see you guys! Thanks!

Been a while...

Hi people!

How is everyone doing?

Sorry I haven't been on for almost a month. Haven't been in front of my computer for quite sometime to actually post anything up. I've had a couple of friends come through to Japan; 2 from Vancouver and another from the UK. It's always great to see friends in another country.

Recently, i've worked on an audition shoot for W+K Tokyo Lab, for Playstation. It was great to work with them again, as i'm always looking forward to shooting video and taking photos. The day of the auditions was interesting, as all of the auditioners were eclectic and quite a bunch of characters. Thank you W+K!

This past weekend was eventful as well, as it was a long weekend in Japan. Monday was "Umi no hi" or Marine Day. Nothing special, but just a day to take advantage of the summer. It's been hot and humid here too. Not liking it because i'm a winter baby and I don't like the heat.

I'll post up photos soon again of the events that have happened in the past month. Hope you're all doing well. Take care and see you soon.

Peace.

Behind-the-Scenes: 鎮座 Dopeness Music Video

Early this week, I worked on the set of Chinza Dopeness' music video, shooting behind-the-scenes footage for W+K Tokyo Lab along with Takeshi-san.

5:30am - Wake up
6:45am - Leave the house
7:10am - Catch the train to Chuo Rinkan Station
8:00am - Arrive at Tama Plaza Station
--- Walk to the studio ---
8:30am - Arrive at the studio after hitting some Red Bull for the system
9:00am - Setup, makeup and wardrobe
11:00am/ 11:30am - Rehearsal
12:00pm - Start shooting
.................
7:00pm - Wrap

That's the basic schedule.

What even made my mornings and evenings better (sounding sarcastic), was the humidity. As you may or may not know, i'm a December baby, so i'm not fond of heat. But I "toughed it out" and brought me a towel to dry myself off.

The staff, talent and crew were very professional and friendly. Everyone was a class act. Chinza, the main talent, is a gifted lyricist and has a great personality. He is signed with W+K Tokyo Lab and is friends with HIFANA. Good people; good friends.

I look forward in working with Tokyo Lab in the future. Until then, keep smiling and keep creating.

Peace out.

Photos

Gun-dAAAm! in the park

Mission: Beach & Coca Cola Green Tea Flavour

I used to rock Hammer pants.....

via Kanye West Blog

Typical Saturday morning

Nice day for a bike ride

He is ALMIGHTY...

I'd like to introduce you all to Paul Belen a.k.a. Pluskratch a.k.a. Paul Skratch a.k.a. Paul Mighty. Yes, this man has several aliases and that is in part due to his eclectic life. Paul, as long as I can remember during my DJing days, he has been a hard working individual. He is a DJ, a producer and a fashion designer. He has been interviewed recently on www.justalilhype.com. Watch out for this talented artist! He's makin' heads snap.

Here is the link to his interview.

Also here is the link to his websites: www.almightypaulmighty.com, www.paulskratch.com

Dedicated to the Hastings Set

As my title shows, this entry is dedicated to the Hastings Set. This movement has been inspiring artists from all mediums, as well as people who just love art, music and life. I was privileged to be a part of this experience when my good friend Jeff (Jeproc) invited me to a Hastings Set event. From there on my spirit felt renewed and had been longing for a movement, a collective to inspire me and others to open our minds and our ears and hearts. After the first event, I always looked forward to the Hastings Set and their partners work. I was getting hungry. It's been about a year since I was introduced to the Hastings Set. Everytime an event was hosted and associated with THS, I always encouraged friends and family to come along for the ride. To name a few, THS consists of a collective of musical talent, producers, promoters, photographers, dancers, dj's, etc. Here are some of the links I encourage you to look at and be inspired:

The Hastings Set
Love and Electrik/ Blog
Brad Dijkman
Tiffany May
Justin Tyler Close
The New Royales
Chin Injeti

A recent article from Vancouver Is Awesome website features the Hastings Set and can be seen HERE.

Love and Electrik will be releasing some new material in the near future, SO LOOK OUT AND COP IT!; Justin Tyler Close did a wonderful makeover of his site, as well as posting new work; The New Royales will be dropping their new single "Kinda Like A Big Deal" which features the Clipse and Kanye West, with the beats and talent of Chin and DJ Khalil. Single drops 4/20/2009, 12noon PST.


Congratulations to the Hastings Set!! Many blessings and love! Caesar misses y'all but so happy the internet keeps me connected.

Shout outs to Jeproc, Chin, Aidan, Love and Electrik, JTC, Tiffany, DJ Bles-sed, Niña Mendoza, DJ She, Brad, NaRai, Jeff Spec, Omar Khan, SVS Style Dance Crew, Boombox Saints, the Boyscouts, EH! Team DJs, Almighty, The Freshest, Beatstreet Records, Gman and Rizk, DJ OMG, Littlesumo, SDUBB, Baby J, Shaolin Ewok, Rock Royalty Inc., Riojex, El Kartel, VANCOUVER, and to you all!!

Hanami (花見 - "flower viewing")

Kinda late on this post, as the cherry blossoms have been winded away by now. But I had the opportunity to experience Hanami in Japan for the first time. I saw some sakura (cherry blossoms) in Fujisawa, Shonandai, Roppongi and Odawara. How beautiful they are..... I spent hanami first with the crew from W+K Tokyo Lab and it was a fun experience. Later on in that week, I went to Odawara Castle with wifey and her mom. Good times looking at the sakura with a cold can of beer. Ahhhhh...

Please click HERE for the photos.

W+K Tokyo Lab Presents “VIDEO MUSIC” - March 28, 2009

This past Saturday, W+K Tokyo Lab hosted another event, "VIDEO MUSIC". A night filled with great visuals, music and people. One of W+K's artists, JEMAPUR, did a couple of sets, giving the crowd an experience not to be forgotten. Also, Jemapur will be doing an hour exclusive set on W+K Radio, tonight at 1am (9am-Thursday PST).

"VIDEO MUSIC" was held at Roppongi Hills, at Mado Lounge on the 52nd Floor (great view!!).

For photos of the event, please go here.

Also please check out W+K Tokyo Lab's Blog here.