Oh, this poor, poor bastard. Just look at his face after experiencing a terrifying dinosaur prank on a Japanese TV game show.
This particular prank is “up there” on the shit-your-pants-silly stress-o-meter.
Via reddit
In an area of Tokyo known as “Foot Town,” a G-rated entertainment neighborhood for tourists, there sits the Tokyo Tower’s Wax Museum, the world’s greatest (only?) collection of progrock and krautrock wax figurines—but not for long. On September 1, the museum will be closing due to losing its lease as the Tokyo Tower building undergoes updating.
Exhibits on display in the wax museum include the improbable figures of Ash Ra Tempel’s Manuel Göttsching, Klaus Schulze, Mother of Invention Don Preston and members of Faust, along with the better-known faces of Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson, ELP’s Keith Emerson, Robert Fripp and Frank Zappa. The majority of the wax figurines there have nothing to do with krautrock, prog or music in general.
It is not known what will happen to the wax figures, which are owned by Gen Fujita, the son of Den Fujita, the multi-gazillionaire who originally brought McDonald’s to Japan.
Via The Wire/Thank you kindly Nick Abrahams!
Get your mind out of the gutter
Ha ha, very funny, Beavis and Butthead, so you think this Japanese face slimmer is some kind of a typically kinky sex toy? Nope. Not at all. It is the product of rigorously legitimate beauty pseudo-science, and only to be used for its intended purpose. To suggest otherwise undermines our intelligence and demeans our maturity.
To get and maintain the perfect visage, you don’t need the cosmetic surgeon’s knife. All you need is a mouthpiece. Yes, the Face Slimmer is a simple solution to the timeless problem of how to give sagging facial skin and muscles that much-needed daily lift. Just three minutes per day is all you need; pop in the mold and then make mouth movements. The makers recommend you say vowel sounds out loud over and over again, producing regular and methodical exercises that will strength the twelve facial expression muscles in a comprehensive way.
Just don’t forget to say those vowel sounds out loud over and over again… Their words, not mine.
See?!? It’s a totally nonsexual beauty product! And for a pittance of 61 US Dollars, you too, can look like a beautiful, slim-faced blow-up doll!
Via Today I Learned Something New
You can run from Suspiria... You can hide from Suspiria... and now you can eat there, too?
Huh? That’s right, kids, Dario Argento’s 1977 horror classic Suspiria, well-known for its sumptuous sets, innovative lighting and oh so Technicolor blood, has had its signature “look and feel” appropriated for a trendy new eaterie by the owners of Cambiare, an Italian bar & grill located in Tokyo’s Shinjuku nightclub district.
Most “theme” restaurants are tacky affairs with the sort of mediocre food that attracts tourists and never the locals, who’ll avoid them like the plague. Having said that, I think I’d simply have to eat at a Suspiria-themed restaurant at least once should one ever open in my backyard… if only to check out the lighting and the carpaccio (!)
I suppose Argento’s 1993 film Trauma was not in consideration for a theme restaurant? Probably not!
Via Fearnet
“Sound effect” rings expressed through katakana characters by Shuji Tomishima and Takushi Okina aka RGB.
The rings are available to purchase on Japanese site Mitsubai Tokyo.
Via Nerdcore
Artist and DM pal, the fabulous Norn Cutson forwarded this fascinating performative lecture given by pop oddity, musician (The Poison Boyfriend, Tender Pervert), author The Book of Jokes and The Book of Scotlands, philosopher, post modernist and artist Momus.
This is a fascinating and entertaining lecture with a Q + A session, which Momus presnted at Nottingham Trent University, October 18th, 2012. Now based in Osaka, Japan, Momus is available for public speaking engagements - email: momasu@gmail.com - and will be next available in Europe during March 2013.
For more information check his website.
With thanks to Norn Cutson!
What fresh madness is this? Well, apparently it’s the Japanese version of Rickrolling, “switch and bait” trolling using footage from American gay wrestling porn instead of Rick Astley, and it has been a relatively popular meme over there for the last few years.
As you can imagine from that description, it’s pretty fucking nuts. And very NSFW.
Much of this “wrestling series” stars a guy called Billy Herrington, who has become such a cult figure in Japan that a doll has been made in his honour (above, part of the “panty edition”.) You may have seen some of these kinds of clips before, in particular a 3D computer graphic version of Herrinton riding a clone of himself like a Segway, chasing after a guy on a steamroller, and thought “what the fuck am I watching?” Well, friends, wonder no more, thanks to the folks at Know Your Meme (Herrington also has his own Wiki page with more info.)
Here’s a great example of the wrestling series, an edit of a film called Bayollante, supposedly a parody of Bayonette. Even though this is completely made up, I love this quasi-review-cum-description by YouTube commenter skidreckums:
With a palette of visual effects that would make James Cameron blush and some of the most bone-crunching sound effects to be found outside of a Jell-O factory, Bayollante 4 leaves little to be imagined or desired by anyone lucky enough to stumble across this gem in their local video store’s import bargain bin. Fans of Bart Howard’s 1954 vocal jazz standard, Fly Me to the Moon, will also appreciate the subtle yet fully modern remix heading the otherwise brutal soundtrack. I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you that SEGAY really has outdone themselves this time. Just writing this review has gotten me wondering if I will ever be able to water my motorcycle with peace of mind again. The great thing about watching Bayollante 4 - Trillion Real Handguns isn’t seeing the beefcakes smack each other down with colorful energy attacks and hard gay magical summons, it’s showing everyone online that I did. It’s official, I’ll never be able to watch anything else again.
Bayollante - Stylish Gay Wrestling (in Japanese) - NSFW:
Besides the screaming kid heard in the background, Japan’s Wrecking Crew Orchestra put on a damn fine Tron-esque dance routine. Total eye candy. Just watch.
Via High Definite
Tofugu posted these curious images from an Edo period (1603 to 1868) Japanese scroll depicting what is called he-gassen or “farting competition.” The images show people happily expelling their gasses at cats, horses and even at each other. Apparently no one is safe from he-gassen.
According to the website Naruhodo, “similar drawings were used to ridicule westerners towards the end of the Edo period, with images depicting the westerners blown away by Japanese farts.”
For whatever reason, Tofugu chose to post censored images (black boxes over the naughty bits) on their site. I went ahead and captured a few choice pics from the scroll (naughty bits included) from the Japanese and Chinese classics at Waseda University Library which you can view there in its entirety.
More after the jump…
Fans of Japanese graphic design, rejoice: René Walter, of Germany’s Nerdcore website, has amassed an amazing collection of vintage Japanese advertisements on Flickr. He’s certainly found a lot gems.
Here’s a taste of René‘s Vintage Japanese Advertising (Misc).
More after the jump…
Hello Damage posted this rather odd Japanese sex-tip book from the 60s online. Now, I can’t read Japanese, so I don’t know if Hello Damage is pulling non-Japansese speakers legs with the translations or not? You decide. And if you haven’t figured it out by the title already, it’s probably NSFW.
(via reddit)
20-year-old Tokyo-based artist Mayuko of Tama Art University created this rather odd typeface using human leg hair.
I’m assuming it’s not hers.
(via Nerdcore)
David Greenfield has amassed a collection of records from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Japan which are all available for purchase online. I liked going through his collections from the 60s and 70s. It’s a great resource for loopy graphic design inspiration!
More after the jump…
Director Samuel Cockedey says, “A tribute to Ridley Scott and Vangelis, whose work on Blade Runner has been a huge source of inspiration in my shooting time lapses.
Shot over a year in Tokyo with a Canon 5dmk2, mainly in the Shinjuku area.”
(via Nerdcore)
Is this a reaction to the “perfection” of plastic surgery? Are we so inured to freakish “perfection” that the pendulum is finally swinging in the other direction?
Then again, this, too, is artificial. I’m confused!?!
Dental Salon Plaisir says its Tsuke-yaeba—or Stick-on Crooked Teeth—will impart that desirable “imperfect” look to men and women alike, making them more attractive to the opposite sex.
The theory behind that slightly odd approach is that classic beauty tends to scare away timid suitors, whereas a more down-home look is easily approachable.
Similarly, some Japanese women have been reported to favor men wearing glasses, as the physical flaw has a comparable aphrodisiac effect.
Anyone seeking Tsuke-yaeba will need to fork out upwards of ¥30,000 ($390) and undergo a short procedure as a Plaisir dentist applies the plastic gnashers with glue. Naturally, they’re color-matched to your real teeth.
Read more: Tokyo dental fad? Make your teeth look worse
(via Neatorama)