Tuesday, May 20, 2003

 
i cant begin to tell you, how much i need to update on this page...i have TONS of photos and alot to talk about,,,but no time to do it. this is my last two weeks here and i have tons to prep for on the return trip. not to mention i still have outstanding projects. i have to say to those of you who do me the kindness of actualy reading this..i am so sorry for being MIA.

my parents came out...Tamara came out..i went to Kyoto twice, and discovered a new passion....antique chawan..tea bowls..i have done 3 more magazines...Boon, 25Ans and one other that i forget.....i am also struggleing with my love of pasta and a desire to get in better shape.

i also have like 800 photos to go through....Josh B and Jake are comming out the end of this month, and with josh here, i may get to post some photos. he keeps me in line ;)

The swat shoes are out, and i found a pair on Yahoo japan for 26000 yen....odd
My art gallery show at the Arcuate went very well, and now they want me to design some apparel graphics for a new levi concept.

Also i dicussed some possabilities with the guys from levis about One of us and japan....fingers crossed..we will see.

other than that, i am trying to find time to sketch and i am way behind on some personal projects i want to get together.

J, if you read this...i promise i will get back to you soon.

anyway, i will update shortlyin a less crazy and more detailed manner....Boston/NY here i come in 15 days. weird.

j10

posted by Joshua Fraser 8:55 AM

Tuesday, April 08, 2003

 
There is nothing like going out for a run, with a newly burned cd mix , at night in the middle of Tokyo, and deciding simply to go in one direction and see where it leads for an hour.(can you say run on sentance?)

I shaved my head last night in preporation for the return to my running days. for some reason, people(guys mostly)seem to ritualistically do this when a change occurs in one's life.. :)...a girlfreind dumps them, and they get self rightous and decide to become a machine, and work out and diet....(i am having flashbacks of Rollins spoken tapes right now..lol)

Anyway i really get a rush from just exploring the back roads of the outer city. my goal is to do it every night until i leave. I am regretting i did not do this sooner, but i suppose everything has a reason for its timing. i did not have the time really to do it before Ray was here to help out anyway.

My folks will be here in 3 days. i am really looing forward to making it memorable experience for them. I know they will love japan, and i know its been a dream of my father's for years. he will get to participate in a tea ceremoney in Kyoto, and it is making him giddy like a school boy. They deserve the fun, as they both have had a rough year physically, and i hope this trip raises their spirits.

On another note, i will be doing an art show in the end of this month at a gallery owned by Levis. Mike my freind from levi's showed me the web site, where they promote up and comming artists on a monthly basis. I guess i am next on the list. They also have a theme in their product line of Rock an roll, so they asked if i could paint some jackets for them as promotional sales items in their flagship store. I asked if i could promote One Of Us, and i played them the music which they liked . they said to bring what ever promotional items i have. So John and the crew will be painted on the jacket. :) they also are looking at starting promotion for bands, and will be doing some major shows. They mentioned the possability of doing something with One of us...of course i will keep close tabs on this and try to make it happen...fingers crossed.
i have been consistantly working on some peices for the show, and i think i am finally getting back into the painting groove again...slowly. i can't wait to get back to the states so i can really start up again .

its been hard work, but i think things are finally comming togehter.

see you soon
j10
posted by Joshua Fraser 8:46 PM

 
So i am trying to get back in the condition i was in when i was 20 years old......almost 9 years ago..sigh.

Yes...thats right , i am trying to get into fight club condition..lol. i ran two hours today through the back streets of naka meguro tonight and went to the gym with Ray and lifted for an hour....now the tough part...not drinking Cokes and other sugar based soft drinks...which i imagine will be the hardest part. Also coupled with my Diabetes..its not the best idea as well.

You realize your getting older when you can say your 10 year high school reunion has already passed, and when you figured out some of your freinds were 8 years old when you were at the first Lolapalooza...

How old were you when Pretty hate machine came out?? Wait you dont know Depeche Modes first album??? it creeps up on you like the layer of fat on your once washboard stomach. when you could eat anything because you had the metabolism of a bird at age eighteen, and thoughts of your 30's seemed like ages away. You hope you want be that old guy in the club trying to pass off as 24 under all the band shirts and makeup.

anyway....as melancholy as it may seem, those are my thoughts for the day. The pasty white post goth,newly wrinkled man boy in tokyo has spoken.

talk to you later.
J10
posted by Joshua Fraser 4:24 AM

Saturday, April 05, 2003

 
Its Cherry Blossem season.....and the streets are lined with white and pink flowers all along Daikanyama, and Naka meguro. The park behind our house has been the home for lots of parties this past week..drunken parties. :)
my window and balcony are directly next to the park entrance, so i get to hear every slurred nuance.

The weather is finally warming up, and i look forward to when i can wear shorts and t shirts. I arrived during the hot rainy season in june, so it is my first time being here during the official spring season.

i went to the local AM PM, and saw a copy of "Get On" magazine...which i did an interview and photohoot for. Its so odd to open Japanese trend magazines and see of all people, some punk kid from boston smiling like an idiot.

Hopefully the other magazines will be out before i go in 2 months.
My folks are comming out this next saturday. They will be here for a full two weeks, and we have lots to do. We are going to Kyoto for 3-4 days, and i guess my mom is bringing a gift from the mayor of boston to the mayor of Kyoto...go figure.
So it should be an amazing time for them. I am really looking forward to the vacation as i am embarrased to say i have not been outside Tokyo more than once.
Since it is colder in Kyoto, i am hoping the Cherry Blossems will be still blooming when they arrive. i know there is a chance they may not get here in time for the Sakura in tokyo.
On another note, i have decided to start drawing everyday...personal projects not shoes.
Its a good feeling to get back into the practice, and i am pleased i have not lost too much skill set since i have been neglecting my art for the past 10 months. But it could not be helped as i had such a huge workload. Luckily Ray is picking up alot of the projects since i wont be here to complete them.
I am stressing a little about the packageing and booklet and handtag i am doing for the limited project i am working on. The shoes come out in Goldenweek here in japan...late april, when everyone comes to tokyo for vacation and shopping from all over japan.
its a really busy and extremely important week for retailers, and especially the fashion and shoes accounts.
the limited shoes i am doing are only 450 pairs globally, so its our hope they sell out that week. There has been alot of PR for them in various trade and fashion magazines that will be published around the same time, so i hope the media hype helps make people aware of the product...but ultimatly i hope they buy them just because they are well designed.
Well , got to get back to work..even though it is Sunday. arg.
take care,
J10
posted by Joshua Fraser 5:36 PM

Tuesday, March 25, 2003

 
Its been almost 10 days since my last report...post...whatever you want to call it. To be honest, alot has happened in terms of work and in terms of interesting day to day events..but i have been so busy with work related stuff, that at times i lack the motivation to update on a regular basis....sigh...i know i am lame to say so.

Well, for those of you who frequent this site more for the toy aspects, you will be happy to hear(or amused) that i have another little story to tell.
I went to Nakano mall with Ray, and we walked around for a couple hours. There is really something special about an underground mall that has at leat 10 different toy stores and magazine and cell shops. Its the Mandarake super stop.
Now i have one bit of good news...the main Mandarke in Nakano has gone through an entire face lift and is now looking very sweet. I was stealthlike enough to shoot some new photos which i will send to Josh B verry soon, and you can see for yourselves, that all the toys are in really nice glass casing. They basically took alot of the cheaper items and sent them to a new spot in the mall and opened another branch.
The main store now deals mainly with Chogokin, tin ,(diaclone and TF)and vinyl.The second store has more recnt items and of a lower price range.
I guess since the unfortunate closing of the Shinjuku mandarke(which is a total shame, since in my opinion)as it was the best of all the stores i have been to(i have yet to be in the Osaka one though) in the Mandarake chain.
I have been promising myself this past year to really cut down on my toy spending...in years past i really have been not the most realistic or responsable person, and would blow good parts of my paycheck on c10 boxed toys....now i cant complain about that really as it brought me great pleasure..but it left me pretty poor.
As i had the oppertunity to save some money here due to the living situation(reebok pays for my house),i really wanted to take full advantage of it. BUT,( and thats a big but....Hmm i feel a Prince song comming on) there are times when i just can't resisit the temptation of the Chogokin....i mean what a time to start being responsable...while i am in the motherland?

So with that in mind, i bought ANOTHER GA51 first version with unbroken belt sticker and c9 box....for 50,000 yen. i know i know its my obession...but hey at least i did struggle with the purchase and did manage to walk away from the case the first couple of times before i caved in. :)
the funny thing is, that the toy was by itself in a case in the main hallway on thesecond floor in a shelf full of manga. It was the only toy,in the whole case as if it had been placed specifically to ambush me.
Now the added bonus was that the little red plastic peice that attatches the arms to the body was unbroken...and in all my years of first version GA51 collecting, its the first time that peice was intact...it was just so fragile, and the way they constructed it compared to the later versions was really much more fragile. So the horror i had with the pricetag was offset by the luck of it being true deadstock. can someone say otaku??

On a more sane note, my parents will be comming out here on April 11th. i am really looking forward to taking them around. Also we will be going to a very famous Inn in Kyoto for 3 days, and as of yet , i have not been to Kyoto.
The weather is starting to warm up this week, though it still gets rainy and cold every 3 days or so. I really can't wait for the cherry blossems. I want to go to the Shrine in Yoyogi park soon, and see the flowers that i saw last June. I can not beleive it has been almost a full year since i came here. The time has really flown by.

Well until next time.
best
J10

posted by Joshua Fraser 3:34 PM

Monday, March 17, 2003

 
so, i am lame...its been almost a month now, and no update. well i have to say alot has to do with the fact i have had little time other than to work. I did manage a nice week back at home to see Tamara and to see my folks though, which was very needed as it had been a couple months since i last saw anyone.

I have about 3 months left. Actualy i have until June, so as it is march 18th, so its closer to 2 and ahalf. Not that i am complaining about the stay here, as i have seen and learned alot, but it will be good to get home at some point.

So since we last talked(?) i have been interveiwed by 5 magazines. the last one GET ON, was last night(its 3:30 am right now), and the guy who wrote for the magazine(or owned?) was really cool. he bought me the "Chogokin" book as a gift, and he and i talked about toys for a bit, until he showed me his amazing sneaker collection on his website. He has a number of shoes in the Green Arrow Grafitti book that he sold to them to put the book together. He was amused by my photo of part of my toy collection and asked if hw could print it...so i guess the first time anyone will see part of my collection will be in Get On magazine....too bad the photo was not the greatest quality. :)
My parents will be comming out on April 11th until the 25th. they are very excited as it will be the first time they have been outside the country. I guess Japan is as good a place as any to start. T will be comming out on the 26th until the 5th, as well, s o it will be a busy month. Lucky for me, Ray will be here to help pick up any slack that month.
On a more scarey note, there has been news of a mysterious virus that came out of south east asia, and has infected numerous people, from vietnam, Hong Kong, China, and aslo in Canada and in the US.. Its been warned that anyone traveling in Asia should be extra careful and avoid the areas affected.. Thats all i need now....Iraq,, Korea and now deadly airborne fatal viruses. fun fun.
So for now, i stay in Japan...no more travel to China factories for me thankyou.
Well i am getting tired again....so i will take advantage of it and say goodnight. I hope i can be better about the updates. I think Once Ray is back from the US things will become more manageable.. Luckily he is comming back...as we lost 6 designers in the past month in the US office. long story, but alot of changes are going on. It seems that way about many things these days, so i am not suprised.
take care all,
J10
posted by Joshua Fraser 10:38 AM

Sunday, February 23, 2003

 
i am going to be interveiwed by Fine Boys magazine tommorrow...wish me luck. ;)

j10
posted by Joshua Fraser 9:54 AM

Monday, February 17, 2003

 
Hey, sorry for the long delay...this has been a week from hell.
I am currently writing from China...Fuzhou to be precise. I have been elected to come back to the factory(SYS) and oversee 4 vulcanized shoes we are looking to do in the next few months. Luckily the shoes are all on the same tooling(bottom), so its a matter of doing good uppers(the tops of the shoe..the pattern).
I am actually looking forward to the challenge, but at least i will have the time to do them, unlike the one day i had to fix two projects before Xmas. I was in this factory from 7 am to 4pm...and then i had to go home...it was a jam packed day i can tell you, as i was rebuilding from scratch the flagship product.
Fuzhou is a cool place...or should i simply say interesting. there are no rules whern you are driving here...be it bicycle or moped or 18 wheeler....they are all CRAZY! i think we almost killed 10 people on the way over here, and then Rey(the head developer here at the factory) said alot of people actually go out of their way to get "hit" so they can get cash from the driver....i guess courts are not involved...cash in the street is the career of choice here. :)
So i have to say, i feel pretty lousey physically....my head is killing me, and for some reason(lack of any sleep and staring at my computer screen for a week straight doing Illustrator files has caused my lft eye to hemorage...literaly. there is a huge broken blood vessel in my eye, and it hurts like a bitch. It made me nervous at first, but my mom said it was most likely stress induced..she gets the same thing from time to time....i guess the apple does not fall far from the tree.
One a cooler note, we met with Hommyo and got great feedback on the projects weare working on, and now i feel that we are working closer to the market and finally starting to get somewhere in terms of making good product for Japan. its only taken the better part of a year to do so.. lol
FINE BOYS magazine wants to do an articale on the RDST and me on Feb 24th. i am looking forward to that, as its less an industry magazine, and more shallow fashion hype...woo hoo, i get to be a fine boy for a day...

"dont believe the hype".......

So, i am sitting here, just finishing work, watching a kickboxing match and wondering if my eye will fall out by friday....

perhaps its time to go to bed ....yes i beleive it is.
goodnight.

J10

posted by Joshua Fraser 6:52 AM