First New Book in Three Months!

I finished my first new book in three months today. It is a small book made of recycled B5 paper folded into fourths (a quatro?). I used about 30 sheets of paper for about 120 pages. I used the perfect bound style but.. Ho, ho. It was not a pretty sight.

First, I glued the signatures together at the spine. Glue didn't hold them all together well. No matter, mull was added and the signatures sewn together. Quite nicely, I might add. Then the cover was constructed of a recycled flyer for a local performance of Puccini's La Boheme.

Finally, I attached the bright yellow endpapers and glued the whole shebang together. The end result was the creation of my first book in three months. Definitely a learning experience wherein - once again -

I learn the importance of taking accurate measurements and cutting to the measurements.

The original title was The Circle Book but the vision fell well short of the actual book. I need a new name. I'm thinking creatively now with The La Boheme Book but that actually means The The Boheme Book, doesn't it. I think I'll use either The Puccini Book or Puccini's La Boheme Book. Undecided.

Photos to come.

Walking and Shooting

Cool Video from Charlie McCarthy at Vimeo. I liked it because of the different ground the videographer covers, the editing involved, the music, and the colors that whizz past your head at color speed. Very cool.

walking and shooting from Charlie McCarthy on Vimeo.

Another Wordle Twitter

Just a little Wordle for Tedorigawa Bookmakers:

From http://www.wordle.net/

And Tedorigawa Bookmakers is now on Twitter at

http://twitter.com/tedorigawa

A New Horror Episode

The Zombie Saga continues with

The Dawn of the Nightmare: Third Corpse

In this episode, someone - who? - must deal with his girlfriend who has turned into a zombie. And then meets a Mysterious Stranger. Will this Stranger help him or Eat His Fresh Brains? Only episode four:

The Dawn of the Nightmare: Fresh Flesh

coming soon

Undead Horror Audio for the Squeamish

A new audio horror blog has been thrust upon the unsuspecting. A continuing story of the undead walking amongst us (with great music - this week: Surf Slut's Scary Tale in Old Yorke).

If you have the time (about 4 and three quarters minutes for episode one), check it t at:

Humangers.

But don't say we didn't warn you.

Bookbinder Video

Here's a pleasant little video about a bookbinder y'all might find interesting.

Chester bookbinder Andrew Brown from TONY CLIXBY on Vimeo.

LifeGame

It has been only one month since Goya2Goya started and I'm up to episode 10 (pending). However, I have learned the pitfalls of weight loss or fat loss. I lost two pounds in about two or three weeks and felt pretty good about even that small amount. However, I spent a weekend working with co-workers and we ate, worked, drank, and worked some more. Working consisted of sitting at a table with the others and munching on snacks. So, in two days I gained two pounds. I'm back where I started. Aaargh!

Weight loss is not a one week game; it's a lifegame.

But I did learn a few things: weight loss requires the obvious choice of not eating as much as you do when you're not trying to lose weight. Pretty simple. However, just eating less is not enough, you have to eat the right foods, too. No more potato chips - at least not in huge quantities. What are the right foods: vegetables, fruits, and that are naturally low or have no fat. (Just because it says low fat on the box doesn't mean it is.)

What does this have to do with art and art in my life? I am about to re-embark on my weight loss journey by calling it my body sculpture event. Through proper eating and exercise - On Goya2Goya I walk and talk - I'm aiming at a differently shaped body. Mine, not someone else's.

Enjoy your life, it's the only one you've got.

Goya2Goya: The Weight Loss Podcast

New Podcast at Podomatic.com called Goya2Goya. This is a podcast I've thought about for awhile. Just me talking, sometimes with a guest inquisitor, while I walk around my town and discuss losing weight.

How I hope to lose weight, how much I used to weigh and how much I weigh now, how what you eat is as important as how much you eat (those empty calories in alcohol tend to cause weights to balloon upwards), how much I hope to lose, and general observations as I walk around.

My current weight is 67 kg (148 lbs) and according to US standards, I'm not fat. But I have a beer belly (or, more politely, a 'paunch') that I'd like to get rid off. My goal is 57 kg (125 lbs). Good luck with that, eh?

Goya2Goya stands for Get Off Your Ass To Get (it) Off Your Ass. The (it), of course, is fat. Fat. Big Fat. But in my case, and in most men's cases, it's not so much the ass as the stomach:

The Beer Belly is Evil.

And here's why: those with beer bellies tend to suffer more heart attacks. And more fatal heart attacks. And they are ... uuuuuuugly.

If you're trying to lose weight and want some support, download Goya2Goya and listen to it on your mp3 player as You walk around losing weight. Then send me your tips and tricks for losing weight - I really need them.

Thanks. Our email is goya2goya@gmail.com

Zines

There's nothing like delving into a genre of life for which you have no experience. It opens new horizons and makes one desirous of a longer day with less time relegated to sleeping. This week:

Exploring the Online Zine World

And what better place to start than a zine about zines for ziners (?) at Zine World or a list of zines by keyword at E-Zine List. Or so one would think. Because zines appear and disappear like mushrooms in the rain, many of the links are dead, fronts for spam, or like the number 404. Or the creator of the zine has changed his or her mind and changed the focus since it was listed. (A zine about jazz bassists in Europe turned out to be a huge advertisement for phone services and equipment.)

For a neat site that allows you to judge a book by its cover, go to Cafe Royal (a UK distro.) Not a lot of any information about the insides, however, except the price. Not even scans of sample pages. Well, maybe it's not such a neat site but it looks nice and gives you an idea of cover art for zines.

I have read and looked at a few sites devoted to an individual creative outlets. Here are just three that you might want to look at:

Some clever and insightful writing and art at Chinese Sweatshop

A rather intense series of zines at the distro (distribution channel to us older fugs) Gimme Brains!!!

From the middle of almost nowhere (southern Arizona that is neither Nogales nor Tucson, almost normal zine at Almost Normal Comics

Wordle fun

From Wordle, a nifty site.

Type in words or a url and see what the site transforms it into. I, naturally, chose Tedorigawa Bookmakers and a bunch of words about it. There's another site: TypoGenerator, which is fun to use to. Interactive, what will the internet think of next?

Next, another one:

An odd book or two

Nothing is more fun than an odd book or two. Check out Dark Roasted Blend and MyWiki's The Most Unusual Books in the World.

Woodblock Printing

Each year in elementary school here kids have to opportunity to create an original piece of art which is then hung in an art gallery/museum/city hall with all the other works of art by kids from all the elementary schools. This year a nearby school did woodblock prints.

The kids carved their original design onto plywood, inked it, rubbed the paper and voila! A woodblock print. Some were more than one color which is difficult to do. Some woodblock artists carve separate blocks for each color. Others just wait for one color to dry before using another color.

Here is a link to an English-born Canadian woodblock printer who lives and works in Tokyo and is the creator of many a print. David Bull. Be sure to flip through all the pages of his websites as he also manages/operates/owns Mokuhan (木版館), an online woodblock store. If you are studying Japanese, his sites are bilingual.

Snow and Thunder, Life Couldn't Be Funner

A crack of lightning a few feet from my window followed by a huge crack of thunder. And it's snowing. Truly a remarkable Christmas evening. All the kiddies are asleep in their beds surrounded by their Christmas haul (socks and towels, eh?) and the year is coming to a close. What shall next year bring? Here's what I'm hoping it will bring me - and I realize for me to get all these things in the coming year require me to work harder at everything. Oh well, here's my list anyway:

More and better movies 

(YouTube The Bed Oracle )

More and better audio drama 

(Check out Detectives and Drama in audio noir at DinoSoarPix. 

In English and sometimes Chinese (Mandarin); sometimes both Mandarin and English)

More and better books 

(Check out Tedorigawa Bookmakers and Tedorigawa Bookmakers - The Blog)

More fun! 

(Check out life!)

More and better podcasts 

(Check out Hokudai/Cast - Trilingual fun in Japanese, Chinese, and English)

Have yourself a very merry new year and I'll see you real soon. Enjoy yourself!

Down in Flames

As you can tell from the date, I've been busy and it hasn't been with writing a 50,000-word novel in one month. I could blame it on the dog: the dog ate my computer. Crashed. Big time. Spent a few weeks getting up the courage to buy a new one and by then I was busy with some video production and, well, NaNoWriMo fell by the wayside, along with the dog and I didn't complete the Ruggles thing. Although I did get about 8,000 words into it by the time my computer crashed. Died. Gave up the ghost. And the re-write improved it. Much. So I gave it my best shot but the writing gods and goddesses were... Ah, the goddesses. Ah well, there may well be next year. 

As you can tell from the date, I've been busy and it hasn't been with writing a 50,000-word novel in one month. I could blame it on the dog: the dog ate my computer. Crashed. Big time. Spent a few weeks getting up the courage to buy a new one and by then I was busy with some video production and, well, NaNoWriMo fell by the wayside, along with the dog and I didn't complete the Ruggles thing. Although I did get about 8,000 words into it by the time my computer crashed. Died. Gave up the ghost. And the re-write improved it. Much. So I gave it my best shot but the writing gods and goddesses were... Ah, the goddesses.

Ah well, there may well be next year.

The Month of November at 6500

The month of November brings us smack-dab face-to-face with hyphens and National Novel Writing Month (Nanowrimo or Nanowreemo). And yes, we are heavily involved in it this year again, too. We've done it every year since 2004 and have managed to meet the 50,000 word goal each year, although we failed to finish one novel, we finished the others. (Two are here: The Priests of Hiroshima and Calvado.)

The trick, for me, seems to be having some Real Meaty Characters that either I enjoy writing, reading about, or just plain reading. The characters pull the story they want to tell better than I could force the characters through a story I want to tell. (The one novel I didn't finish, Caraculiambro, had great characters but even they couldn't end the story - a detective yarn.)

This year's NaNoWriMo novel: 

The Murder of Tan Tinh Ai by Ruggles Royce, Ex-Priest

Characters include (so far):

• Ruggles Royce -  ex-priest current mercenary 65 years old built like a linebacker and fast.
• Wings Kenosha - 40, tough, lanky, works for 'the company.'
• Tan Tinh Ai -  flirtatious 24 years old, works in a fruit stand owned by her mother and aunt.
• Da Xu Xi -  rough, male, 27, in love with Tan Tinh Ai. Owns a bar.
• Maxine -  50, American female black market exploiter living in Hanoi.
  

The Plot, so far:

Ruggles is asked to find a kidnapped woman. The woman, Tan Tinh Ai, was last seen leaving a grocery store in Hanoi. In his efforts to find her, Ruggles discovers himself, his heart, and love. All in the wrong places. 

Having read the synopsis so far, I am totally going to change it before I get into the meat of the story (I'm 6500 words into it - about 30 pages).