Theodor Kittelsen

1857-1914

Kittelsen was a Norwegian artist known for his illustrations of mythical creatures and historical scenes. He did a lot of paintings of trolls which are sort of goofy, and landscapes that aren't that interesting. I do, however, rather enjoy his Svartedauen series - some of these images have been known to grace album covers of Norwegian Black Metal bands, like Burzum's "HVIS LYSET TAR OSS". Grrr. . .

Illustrations for Svartedauen (The Black Death)

Gustave Dore'

I recently bought a book of all the illustrations for Dante's "Divine Comedy" by the 19th century artist Gustave Dore'. I'm a huge fan of engravings, and this is as good as it gets.

I've not previously looked into Dore's work. He's super neat. He illustrated soemthing like 400 books in his career, including "Rime of the Ancient Mariner", "the Raven", various fairy tales and the mother fuckin holy bible. I think his most interesting stuff is the dark stuff, but I'm sort of goth at heart. Look:

More Japan Pictures:

Christopher in Hotoku shrine, Kyoto

Old pine tree in Hamarikyu park, Tokyo

Kyomizu, Kyoto

Tomb of unknown soilder, Kyoto

Yasaka Jinja, Kyoto

Various pictures from our trip to Japan:

Yasaka Jinja temple at night, Kyoto


Shinjuku temple at night, Tokyo


Shop called "Sambo", Tokyo



Small Pagoda at Ryoan-Ji Temple, Kyoto


Our small hotel room in Kyoto


Kyomizu Temple, Kyoto


Engrish Business, Kyoto


Delicious Pocari Sweat


Asakusa pagoda, Tyoko

Matcha
Matcha is a type of Japanese green tea that is ground into a powder. It's closely associated with Japanese culture, as it has been used in tea ceremonies there for centuries. There's been a lot written of it's health benefits; it's supposed to be super high in antioxidants and vitamin C.

I fell in love with it on a recent trip to Japan. It has a totally different taste than other green teas. This is probably due to the high standards in cultivation and preparation. The tea plants used to make matcha are grown under reed screens to to block out direct sunlight, and is harvested, steamed, and ground according to centuries old traditions.

The Japanese, as with a lot of their food, place a lot of emphasis on matcha's freshness; it has a relatively short shelf life, something like 90 days. As a result, it's sort of hard to find good matcha in the United states.

It's prepared by whisking it in hot water until it's frothy. The final product is opaque and bright green. The flavor is smooth and slightly sweet. It's caffeine is countered by the presence of a chemical called L-theanine, which increases the alpha wave activities in the brain and creates a feeling of relaxation.

The best shop in Kyoto to purchase tea of any sort is a place called Ippodo, which I was fortunate enough to visit. You can also order from their website, which I plan to do frequently.

The Daguerreotype

From the maybe-not-factual wikipedia:
"The daguerreotype is one of the earliest types of photograph in which the image is exposed directly onto a mirror-polished surface of silver bearing a coating of silver halide particles deposited by iodine vapor. In later developments bromine and chlorine vapors were also utilized, resulting in shorter exposure times. Unlike later photographic processes that supplanted it, the daguerreotype is a direct positive image making process with no "negative" original."

I would love to experiment with an archaic photographic process like this or it's successors (ferrotype, calotype etc. . ) They have an extremely creepy quality. I'm sure that the mercury vapor would not be very good for me, however.

The Adventures of Antoine Doinel

I'd like to get this:
The Adventures of Antoine Doinel is a DVD collection of 4 of Francois Truffaut's films that span 20+ years in the life of a semi-autobiographical character named Antione Doinel, played by Jean Pierre Leaud (who I always thought was sort of a hottie):

The first film in the series is "The 400 blows" and is the only one I've actually seen. The criterion synopsis goes like this:

"François Truffaut’s first feature, The 400 Blows (Les Quatre cents coups), is also his most personal. Told through the eyes of Truffaut’s life-long cinematic counterpart, Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Léaud), The 400 Blows sensitively recreates the trials of Truffaut’s own difficult childhood, unsentimentally portraying aloof parents, oppressive teachers, petty crime, and a friendship that would last a lifetime. The film marks Truffaut’s passage from leading critic of the French New Wave to his emergence as one of Europe’s most brilliant auteurs.Three years after The 400 Blows took the world by storm, François Truffaut returned with the second chapter in the ongoing saga of romantic ne’er-do-well Antoine Doinel, Antoine and Colette. Originally appearing in the international omnibus film Love at Twenty, this nimble short subject is classic Truffaut, depicting a teenage Doinel (Jean-Pierre Léaud) living on his own and pursuing his first love affair, initiating a lifelong career of quixotic dreams and amorous restlessness. "

Leaud made 3 other films as Doinel, included in the box set. He was also in Pasolini's "Porcile". A movie that features cannibalism and hints at pig fucking. It's also a good film, but I guess that's another post.