alexmclarenさんの写真

Found in Japanese mountain village, 1 full size lifeboat... now why would they need that?

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Very small office near Nagoya Station. It's as wide as the door, which is about 2 metres / 6 ft, maybe less. An interesting book on small buildings such as this one, but in Tokyo was published in 2007 and the authors called it "Pet architecture". "Pet architecture is a term for the buildings that have been squeezed into left over urban spaces. Curious shapes and inventive solutions for drainage, windows and air conditioning abound. Most of all, it is the extraordinary miniature size of these shacks, store rooms, sushi bars and bike shops which makes this project so fresh."

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Had the Yes mini replica LP sleeve CDs in stock last week, I never realised how good Yes actually were as a Rock band. I think Fragile is probably their best "classic" album. Roundabout and The Fish are totally amazing tracks. I also like Siberian Khatru on Close to the Edge. Not suprisingly these re-issue CDs are all out of print now. Sold out in less than 2 weeks! Great cover artworks as well.

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I checked this out and in fact Ice Cream often has seaweed in it. It's called "carrageenan" and a small amount is used to keep Ice Cream from melting too quickly.

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Last weekend I went to the mountains in Shiga-ken for a few days to Arihara, a village of about 30 houses. I'm very interested in old Japanese house architecture and take photos of these old wooden houses when I can, as they are fast disappearing. The restored house is used as a holiday home by the owners who live in the city. They've done a great job and it looks prefect. Sadly the other house in the photo is I guess past restoring.

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Not enough children in the village anymore. The school was closed a few years ago.

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I'm a big fan of the book and ideas in the Christopher Alexander book "A Pattern Language". I'm always on the look out for buildings which have some of his "patterns". This is a great example of Pattern 112 which is called "Entrance Transition".

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The idea is no one would want to steal a bicycle with the seat locked into the vertical postition. I can't see this one working outside Japan...

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This book contains pictures of the construction of the replica Totoro House at the Expo 2005 near Nagoya, Aichi-ken, Japan. Also contains very detailed b/w line drawings and floor plans.

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When I was a student at the London College of Printing I loved this Japanese graphic design magazine for which the LCP library had a huge 10 year archive. That was 30 years ago and Idea magazine is still going strong.

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Note the small van just manages to park on the tiny piece of land.

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Jitensha no kuukiire / 自転車 の 空気入れ Tiny can of compressed air for pumping up bicycle tires.

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Lots of fantastic songs. Anne Hathaway sounds stunning. Ben Folds performs the classic 'Red is Blue' which is one of my kids favorite 'singing in the car' songs. The film is also brilliantly clever, funny and highly recommended. Red: What big ears you have. The Wolf (as Granny): All the better to hear your many criticisms!

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