1920s Japan

I'm trying to figure out what it was like to grow up in 1920/30s Japan. I think I'm going to interview my grandmother at some point in this, but I'm doing a more cursory look at references in the meantime.

The Beat-en Path

A Documentary Film:

If you find yourself in a world that fits like a shoe that was made for someone else, with rules that serve some ancient paradigm, if you wake up every morning because you hope to make a difference, if you have that inconsolable drive, the one that stirs and yearns and abuses you endlessly, if you scour the earth for meaning, and you'll never settle, don't give up, you aren't alone.

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Here's the concept:

Our mission this summer is to travel around the country meeting everyday people who just want to make a difference. On this journey, we believe we'll discover a world full of people using their lives as a canvas to create beauty and innovation. If we can prove this theory, then perhaps this world won't feel as lonely, perhaps we won't feel so hopeless, perhaps the war that we should be fighting is the war on apathy.

On Challenging Reality: An Uphill Battle

The Role of Psychedelic Imagery in Music

Do you think it's a universal correlation that music goes hand in hand with trippy visuals? Do you think Mozart envisioned the exhibition of his symphonies alongside something akin to a laser show or the last 30 minutes of 2001: A Space Odyssey? Do you think we've collectively changed as artists?

Kid Cudi - Pursuit of Happiness (Universal Motown Records)

Videos like this one used to freak me out. Halfway through, I actually had to turn this one off the first time I watched it.

Our Relationship with the Written Word

Written word is one of the earliest forms of phenomenological design, a means to affect the presence of another person within the mind of the reader. It's a powerful and emotional phenomenon when executed by a skilled author, weaving engaging narratives and endearing, rich characters all from the simple context of a common written language.

Techniques in written word have been evolving since the advent of written language and technologies for the distribution of written word have matured over the ages to reach the mass market, but written word has always maintained a single fundamental feature: that the reader's copy of the material is static, non-interactive despite its faculty for delivering emotional depth. Even a written letter has a static nature, despite its purpose in demanding a response.

FireSides #1 - Part 1: Cellini's Rave

FireSides is a repository of histories, legends, and anecdotes. Many of these stories are based in fact, while others are only rumored to be true. Like the flickering campfire, these tales aim to briefly illuminate life's mysteries, fueling the flame of curiosity.

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Here's what we know for sure:

While virtually all other Italian city-states had since adopted some form of monarchy, the Republican Commune of Florence remained a bastion of civil liberties. It's people took massive amounts of pride in knowing that no matter what station of society they were born into anyone could rise to the top. But this golden hippie paradise was perched atop a tenuous thread. Ambitions from within and without were constantly threatening to destabilize this brotherhood. When they weren't stringing people up in la piazza, power mongers in Florence were commissioning massive art projects in order to sway public opinion into their favor.