My Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

When it comes to movies, I want something that is going to make me laugh, has a lot of action and if possible, zombies. Generally I avoid the science fiction genre because it often is beyond what my mind wants to accept as plausible or entertaining. But what happens when you see a science fiction movie or in this case, a BBC series (narrated word for word from the novel) that came true and is genuinely enjoyable?!?!

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If it isn`t general knowledge than it should be known that, The Hitchhiker`s Guide to the Galaxy featured in Douglas Adams book of the same name (and the Trilogy of Five books thereafter) predicts and predates the internet. What began in 1978 as a radio sketch, before being published into five novels a year later, is hauntingly familiar. The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy is a source of universal information for those hitchhiking the galaxy, accessible from anywhere and is reminiscent of a `lap computer`.

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So, in honour of things that make me go whoa, I will revisit a mild obsession of mine, for which I can thank my man… and Douglas Adams of course.

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My Top 5 Websites that make up my version of THE HITCHHIKERS GUIDE TO THE GALAXY.

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1) Google.com- this is often my first stop and aids me in linking to cooking sites, how-to sites and answering the random questions that come into conversation.

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2) AllMusic.com- It does a pretty damn good job filling me in on bands I love and introducing me to others, with brief biographies, discographies, etc… it has settled many debates.

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3)IMDB.com- it tells you all about movies and television show with episode guides, casts and synopsis. One of the most used features is the actor`s resumes because when you think you recognize an actor it tells you if you are right, or often in my case, wrong.

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4) Wikipedia.com- is an online encyclopedia compiled by international volunteers, most often experts in their subjects. Interesting fact about Wikipedia: it follows the same format as H2G2.com, which is an actual online Hitchhikers Guide to the World that invites users to contribute content and it predates Wikipedia by 2 years.

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5) Favourite time wasters*: Trendhunter.com, various food and fashion blogs I peak at periodically (such as seriouseats.com and stylebubble.typepad.com). For online shopping: I use ebay.com for vintage and etsy.com for artist products and unique jewelry. I also have become a fan of themeatguy.jp.co and theflyingpig.com to order food goods while living in Japan. *I know that this is actually more than one site and I would probably say that I waste the most time on ebay but I thought the others were worth noting.

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What is your Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy? What sites do you used the most?

An ongoing love affair

I have already spawned/inspired local gajin/foreigners to sport the lipstick and badass leather look but you need not worry as that hers is fake leather.

Dayum!!!! My man makes this and takes this coat to a whole new level of cool while in Tokyo.

Sunday Morning... heading out to vintage shop.

Coming home after wearing the coat out for the first time, it was so good, I had to cap it with a smoke.

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Shit son, it's been a long time gone since I have contributed to the inter-web. My apologies if anyone has been awaiting word(s), I have been too busy having Japanese adventures in my dream leather coat. Thus I am dedicating this post to my beloved.

Before I start having to make unnecessary apologies, my jacket is vintage and thus I am saving it from the blazing death that is my town's incinerator.

I am living in small town Japan; no not all of Japan is technicolor, neon, explosions of technology and fantasy.

Once upon a time....
After work one day I met up with my favourite friend, a musician from Brooklyn, and we headed to a local reuse shop. He had already visited earlier in the day and spotted this punk rock and roll beauty but was turned off by the original owner's decision to puke all over the back with a poorly painted white tribal design. But it was 2300 Yen which is about $27 Canadian dollars and I just couldn't resist the challenge to revive/ rescue the jacket I was already calling mine (until I turned around). Purchase made. My friend was not even trying to hide his mounting jealousy.

I have dreamed about this coat, or something like it, leather, studded, androgynous, used and abused with a story to tell. So I barely felt bad about scooping it up and making it my own (perhaps a better person would have offered to help him remedy it).

Knight in, soon to be, shining armour...
But there was no way that I was going to unleash the back design on the world as any kind of personal style. So, before heading home I stopped at a food/drug/home store to get some nail polish remover and scrubbing sponges (a challenge considering my lack of Japanese). After some exhaustive charades I was finally armed with the necessary tools for the surgery ahead.

Four hours of switching between aggressive scrubbing/cursing to forceful caresses/ promises of the life we could have, only the faintest ghost of it's former ugliness remained.* *Unless I shove your nose in it and use the power of suggestion you would never know it had been there.

AND THEY LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER...
I love wearing it with sweet little lady dresses and pared down basics. Recently, I insisted upon hauling it around to Tokyo, Nagoya and Kyoto to have it's own parade. I also made it worth my man's while to carry it by demanding he don it and look like a total stud (hey! that's a pun and I'm not even going to change it).