6: Not full house

In Japan they are replaying old "Full house". Then again the 80`s and early 90`s are very popular here.

5: Something into Nothing

Last week I was a Zombie. A teacher comes up to me and tells me that I must prepare a class, "But aren’t you checking the Exam???". I went to the class unprepared, if I did prepare anything for this teacher, they would not go along with my lesson plan, and completely turn it into something they wanted. I just wanted to talk about to the kids about my experiences in Japan and how to say goodbye. Although for some reason the Teacher just wanted me to talk for half the class, answering her questions.

Last stop Minami Ostuka

(right: Waiting for the train at Seibu-Shinjuku)

It was hard and fun drawing as I went around. I think it also pissed off some people too, as it distracted me from other people around me.

Some of the pictures I have manually downloaded via a computer. I’m also thinking of Changing the other ones that were taken with my phones camera, as they are a little blurry (although this could prove a little time consuming).

two cups

two cups
Originally uploaded by tippettg.

after a coffee with koich, we found the bus stop which was a much more profesional affair with a seated waiting area & toilets.

mexican elpancho

mexican elpancho
Originally uploaded by tippettg.

sunday night bbq...

sunday night bbq...
Originally uploaded by tippettg.

...at the moriokas house

A lazy Monday

A lazy Monday
Originally uploaded by tippettg.

A lazy Monday public holiday

Coffee and donuts: 2

The Osamu Tezuka Manga Museum

The Osamu Tezuka Manga Museum
Originally uploaded by tippettg.

www.city.takarazuka.hyogo.jp/tezuka/index.htm

Guitar room

Dinner

Dinner we went to a drinking and eating restaurant. We had a big range of food and all you can drink for 2600yen.

Before then Koich and I had two drinks on the streets of Kobes china town.

Mister Donuts

Mister Donuts, originally uploaded by tippettg.

Osaka highway mania

Osaka highway mania, originally uploaded by tippettg.

Hiyogo to Kobe: We went through the smogy Osaka highway with buildings & signs lining the skyline.

Tall Size Capuchino

cups.jpg, originally uploaded by tippettg.

Off the bus and into the local coffee shop.

Photo taken by Morioka on his mobile.

On the bus

On the bus, originally uploaded by tippettg.

After handing my ticket over to the cardtable counter in the street, I eventualy boarded the right bus.

The highlights of the bus was the fake crystal covered lights - like a chandleer. And having all the curtains up, which made me disorientated, I couldnt see where I was going. Just plenty of noises & flashes of light.

On a train

On a train, originally uploaded by tippettg.

The train to Shinju was so quiet. One high school student cleaned after his five frnds. Now I'm waiting for this 11.10 "mid-night" bus to take me to Osaka.

A Drawing Holiday

A Drawing Holiday, originally uploaded by tippettg.

From Friday to Tuesday I will be going on a holiday to Osaka. Every day I will aim to post some drawing through my mobile phones camera. I will be drawing things along the way, documenting things I do and see.

Saturday, Sunday and Monday are full days; therefore I will aim to post 7 drawings. Friday and Tuesday are half days so I will only post 3.

I will be using pens and paper that I find. My phones camera has a low resolution, but I have wanted to do this for a while now and I may not get the chance again.

testing 1 2 3

testing 1 2 3, originally uploaded by tippettg.

Lets see if this work. Although I'll have to wait till tomorow to check this post(its from my mobile).

(updated from blog) Hazar! it worked. This weekend I will be blogging using my phone on a trip to Osaka, taking photos of drawings/sketches that I make along the way.

Five most commonly asked questions...

....by Japanese High School Students (to me)

(in no order)

• Do you have a girl friend? (In return I reply “Do you have a boyfriend/girlfriend?")
• Do you like Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms (Insert Japanese teachers name who is standing next to you)
• What do you think of Japan?
• Do you like Sushi?
• Can you use chopsticks?

4 - That alarm noise

Sunday Tokyo

These photos are around Harajuku with the exception of the bottom right, it was found in Shinjuku.

Disconnecting NTT phone line in English

Nothing to do with art, but this might be useful for anyone who needs to know how to disconnect there landline in Japan.

NTT
NTT East

I am living in Saitama so I called up NTT East, on there toll-free number 0120-364-463 (on the 7/7/2005). This is the English information line; you just go through to someone who will translate for you. To confirm the number go to this may of changed go to the NTT website or NTT East Contact page (if you live in that area) and scroll to the bottom. They are open from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.

When calling you will need to know the name on the telephone line (meigi-nin). For example my name is printed on the bill, but someone else’s name is on the telephone line. Also have contact details handy and a contact phone number, like your mobile. The call took about 30 minutes to complete everything.

They will need to confirm your address (so they can talk to the right department), and an address in Japan to send your last bill and also a contact phone number. You can pay the last bill at a convenience store. There will also be a disconnection fee of 2,000yen. You will be asked for a reason for disconnecting “Leaving Japan”. Someone from NTT will come to your house to disconnect the service, but you don’t need to be there.

Finally they may want to disconnect your telephone line on the billing date. My billing date is on the 15th of each month. I will be leaving Japan on the 26th of July, so they will disconnect it on the 15th of July.

A couple of weeks ago I disconnected Yahoo BB, but this is all in Japanese, no English service, I had to get two people to help me. You do need to be there to say your name. The two telephone number you may need to call are 0800-1111-820 or 03-6688-1970. The Yahoo BB site is all in Japanese, so finding these numbers took a bit of time.

Design Festa: ART PIECE ROOM

Title: The Trip, Medium: Acrylic and Enamel, Date: 2005 (Please note that this is not the exact original but a composite of some the parts of the original and the original computer idea, Greg 9/8/2010)

On Sunday I placed a panel work up at Design Festa`s (DF) Art Peice Room. This is my last exhibition this time in Japan. DF gallery is fairly much an anything goes gallery, and you can see anything from fine art to graphic art to installations.

Statement in Japanese

私はオーストラリア人で、この作品は私が日本に滞在している11ヶ月の間に作った物です。
私はテレビ、映画、アニメといったポップカルチャーに触発され、又間違いの中にある美しさを見出す事に興味があります。
これらの作品は私の最小限の表現になります。
私はこの作品の中で最小限の描写で出来る限りの表現を試みました。

Translated by Koich

Statement in English

This work was made while living in Japan. I am from Australia and have been living in Japan for the past 11 months.
I am inspired by pop culture, such as images from TV, movies and animation. I am also interested in finding beauty in the mistake.
My aim is to make these works look minimal and expressionistic.

The bottom picture you can see my bag, which is what I brought everything in with me to the gallery.

The short, small, exhibition is from 3 to 10 July, 2005. At DF gallery, in Shibuya-ku, Tokyo.

Nothing

One afternoon I was watching TV and had three phone calls which were all silent. I had originally thought that they were from some Japanese person who didn’t want to talk to a foreigner. But later on I found out it was my girlfriend. Sometimes calling internationally doesn’t always work.