The intricate and surreal visuals of Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski’s stop-animated story Madame Tutli-Putli are alluring from the very first frames. Stadium lights are the only evidence given that the first scene takes place at a train station. They turn on like a controlled explosion to illuminate a foggy world. The camera pans along the ground where random objects are lined up: a record player, empty picture frames, a rocking chair, stacked books and piles of suitcases. They have sentimental value. They …
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Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz reads Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss on the Senate floor during his 22-hour filibuster against ObamaCare. In response, New York Democrat Chuck Schumer is “appalled.” To a crowd of reporters he said, “Green Eggs and Ham has a moral: Don’t criticize something, don’t reject something, until you actually try it. Sam said he didn’t like green eggs and ham for a long time. And then when he finally tried it, he liked it.” …
My five-year-old daughter, Kantra created “Trying To Be Friends.” The story was all her idea. I didn’t help or critique her output. Any subtle hint of me trying to do so was met with, “No, I don’t want that.” “Did she really think of it?” my wife, Haruki asked me. I was half way done editing our footage when I showed it to her. Making a movie came out of Kantra and I crafting hand puppets. She was out of …
Kantra’s first year of school and first “Crazy Hair Day.” 
At my daughter, Kantra’s school they have a “crazy hair day” where kids come to school wearing funny hair styles. Last school year, new to the game, we just bought Kantra a fluorescent orange wig. She looked ready for a rave. I couldn’t help noticing the dichotomy of the kids wearing afro wigs and calling it crazy while my daughter wore white girl hair under the same banner. “I think its just a joke,” my wife, Haruki, said. “I know,” …
Three weeks ago when my latest Tokyo Weekender piece, “A Shut Door: ‘Japanese Hip-Hop Has Sectioned Itself Off’” was published online, it got more attention than I anticipated. I got to talk on The BBC. The article was to expose an extension of Japan’s xenophobia and its rejection of multiculturalism, even while it is straining western influences through a Japanese filter. To avoid talking about it is like braving a sand storm. Taping one’s windows, doors, and air vents still …
