One of the best things about having kids, apart from the unconditional love and free back massages, is re-reading all your old favourite books as a child. As a gift for finally giving up her pacifier (remember that scene in The Basketball Diaries when Reggie locks Jim in his room in the hopes of getting him through one night without heroin. Picture the kicking, crying and nose running but with a two year old) I bought her a copy of a beloved Dr. Seuss book One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish and the 30th Anniversary Edition of former Playboy cartoonist Shel Silverstein's classic book of poems and illustrations Where the Sidewalk Ends. Both of which have been on heavy bedtime reading rotation. Another beautiful children's book I picked up at the library was The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats. I don't recall reading this as a child, but his unique illustrations using cut-outs, watercolours, and collage are really something to marvel at and well worth putting into our bookcase permanently.

One of the last books I purchased before leaving Japan was a reprint of William Eggleston's Guide. Eggleston's homage to the mundane accompanied his one-man show, and the first of colour photographs exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in 1976.

In filmmaker Michael Almereyda's newly released documentary, William Eggleston in the Real World, he "poses a fundamental question to the renowned photographer: What does it mean to see the world so differently that "common" images are converted into unforgettable photos?" Now I just have to figure out how to see this film short of traveling to New York.

William Eggleston on the web:

The Eggleston Artistic Trust

Salon Brilliant Careers on Eggleston

Getty Museum

Metacritic reviews of In the Real World

I took Frankie to the library downtown yesterday, signed up for a card and made our way to the youth section. The new web based catalog system is superb. The last time I was in a Canadian library they had computers for searching, in fact I think that's all you could do with computers then, that and play Asteroids. Trying to think of some classic titles I spotted a favourite, Where the Wild Things Are (to be made into a film directed by Spike Jonze and Dave Eggers no less). The second to come to mind was the absolutely gorgeous series of books by architect turned children's book author and illustrator Miroslav Sasek. With the help of the librarian, who had never heard the name, we were able to track down two well worn copies of This is Paris, and This is Australia. I remember reading about how six of the original 18 books published were being re-printed, and after telling the librarian she immediately started the request to purchase the entire re-printed collection.

Buying books for Frankie is very hit and miss, but even if she doesn't appreciate Sasek's unique style I'll keep them on my side of the book case until she's ready.

There are some interesting comments at Signal vs. Noise where they've asked what their readers think about self published books. Most are positive, or simply don't notice the difference between self published books and books from the larger publishing houses. As long as it can be found via Amazon who cares right.

The trend is obviously changing, but I find it odd how self publishing is looked down on as something that was not good enough to be picked up by a large publisher. Compare that to the music and film industries where independent bands and film makers are considered hip and underground when they self produce and distribute their works. Yet for writers this some how shows their work wasn't "good enough" to have been picked by a *real* publisher.

It's comforting to meet or read about people who share your addiction, no matter how odd your drug of choice may be. Seeing this in print somehow legitimizes my expensive habit and makes me feel almost -- normal. The Polysyllabic Spree is a collection of Nick Hornby's monthly column "Stuff I've Been Reading" from The Believer magazine. More specifically, Each chapter starts of with a list of BOOKS BOUGHT and BOOKS READ, some appended with (unfinished) or simply listed as Unnamed Work of Nonfiction (abandoned), as to not break the Spree's (the magazine's editors) golden rule of providing only "acid-free literary criticism". I love how Hornby describes his reading and book buying habits. He writes in the July 2004 footnotes how he, That goes for both of us Nick. Only wish I was getting paid to write about them in my own column.

Last night I read a small blurb about a book titled Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation. Not a favourable review mind you, but I was curious to learn the joke behind the book's name. As if by magic the answer popped up in my RSS reader a few minutes ago so I read it out to an Australian co-worker. Apparently they have a similar, yet dirtier version of the same joke in Australia about a koala that eats, roots and leaves.

And no I'm not being ironic with my punctuation.

I had John Leland's Hip: The History in my hand right up until the sales clerk pointed out that I was looking at the price in American dollars, and with tax it would have come out to more than $45 Canadian. After rolling my eyes back to their previous position I politely informed the clerk that I had changed my mind, leaving the book on a stack of marked-down Atkins material. Every book shop I walked into in Canada had the same outrageous prices, which is a shame as I enjoy browsing the shelves of brick and mortar shops as apposed to Amazon or other online book retailers. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to be the guy that supports local shops but when Amazon can sell me the same book for almost half the price there's not a lot of debating going on in my head.

Leland's website has plenty of great information including a series of top ten lists like, Hipsters We Could Imagine Hanging With and People Who Don't Seem Hip But Probably Are (Karl Rove? Maybe it's cool, or rather hip to say to a guy like Rove is hip when in fact he's the furthest thing from it). The Hip timeline is also worth checking. Currently, as Leland puts it, we're in the sixth hip convergence. As the product description says, without these hipsters (pimps, hustlers, outlaws, junkies, scoundrels, white negroes, Beats, geeks, beboppers and others) we might all be listening to show tunes.

Jeremy's post today reminded me that this book's been untouched on my shelf for too long. When I first learned about Kuhaku I knew if I didn't order it then it would've been forgotten shortly after. I bought the book and it seems to have been ignored on the shelf anyhow. Having only skimmed it I would still recommend this book for anyone who appreciates quality crafted and beautifully designed books, and of course an interest in Japan helps. Serious thought went into creating this book which is evident from the Chin Music Press website. Details like the book's cover and even chapter headers are documented in great detail and one could learn a lot about the publishing process from their weblog. And can't forget the cool illustrations by Kozyndan created from panoramic photos by art director Craig Mod (who was also kind enough to mail me a copy of the book from Japan).

The inaugural issue of JPG Magazine is now available hot off the presses. I'm familiar with a few of the featured photographers in this issue, Redrick deLeon, Tracey Hoyng, Sam Javanrouh, Rion Nakaya, Brian Utley and looking forward to discovering the others.

I chose the International Economy 'Slow Boat' shipping option so I'll be holding my copy in 3-4 weeks. It's not cheap at $19, but the numbers convinced me. 52 pages, 6 inches wide, 9 inches tall, 20-pound white interior paper, 100-pound white exterior paper, and 0 ads.

If you're interested in Japanese skateboarding then I highly recommend finding a copy of a quarterly magazine called Skateboard Journal. I wish I could point you to their website but they don't have one, or at least I haven't been able to find it.

Quality designed, fifty-plus full page and spread photos on thick glossy paper for 500 yen is an absolute steal considering the price of photo books. The last photo book I purchased was Masataka Nakano's Tokyo Nobody (recommended as well) but also five times the price. Of course photo books aren't packed with advertisements but I'm not complaining, as some of the best photography is found in the ads. And I wouldn't find cool websites like this, makers of the Full Metal Jacket.

The autumn/winter 04 issue highlights local talent Koichi Kitamura, Hiroki Saegusa, Jin Takayama, Hirotaka Akaguma, Shin Okada, Junnosuke Yonesaka, Shintaro Maruyama, Tadashi Muroi, Tatsuya Nogami, Daisuke Tanaka, Hisashi Nakamura, Daiki Hosoda, and Ryujin. And yes, they've been doing that well before the iPod ads.

The new collection of short stories by David Eggers, How We are Hungry, has finally been released . Yet another book to add to my shopping list when we fly to Canada for Christmas. How I miss English book stores, as Amazon's look inside this book feature just isn't the same, and I don't consider a half shelf of Stephen King and Tom Clancy a worthy selection. I'll need to schedule an afternoon alone at Chapters for some serious caffeine-fueled book ogling. I�m due.

NPR's Morning Edition, Ah, good times. But I went to elementary school in the mid 80's so why do I remember filmstrips? Now that I think about it our wood and iron desks had built-in inkwells, and the duck and cover strips seemed oddly meaningless.

The other day on a crowded train I started reading How to be Alone: Essays by Jonathan Franzen. I can't remember how it was I came across this book, most likely from someone's recommended list during one of my frequent travels down the many Amazon tributaries.

I was afraid that the first essay about his father's battle with Alzheimer's titled My Father's Brain would set the tone for the rest of the book, because to me, a stranger to Franzen's other work, seemed way too private and personal. Then in the next essay Imperial Bedroom he takes air out of the popular belief that privacy is on the decline, or has he might put it, the illusion of privacy. The real gem so far is the essay titled Why Bother? or more commonly known as 'The Harper's Essay', his 1996 lament on the state of the novel, or maybe more specifically the social novel. I just stared reading it and have already doggy-eared a couple pages for later review. Here's a favourite quote (okay, it's more a quote of a quote),

In the past few weeks Frankie has started walking on her own, up to six steps before proudly falling back on her bum. During her peak playtime hours our apartment looks like it�s been hit by a smaller, albeit dryer, hurricane Frances with books and toys strewn across our 3LDK. In an effort to create more walking/falling space for her I removed the kotatsu (low Japanese table) from the living room and to help create some balance replaced it with an overflowing book case that was tucked away in our spare room.

I've built up a sizable collection of books during my half decade in Japan and it feels great to display them nicely in the living room where we spend the majority of our time. And of course the bottom shelf is reserved for the likes of Curious George, Dr. Seuss, Winnie the Pooh and other fine board and sponge books. I�m amazed how much this small case has opened up the apartment and of course created more space for all the walking, walking, falling, head-on-ledge bumping and crying.

Picked up issue #35 and #38 of lodown magazine, a unique german skateboarding, music and graffiti mag found at murasaki sports. A few too many ads for my liking but the graphic design and refreshing photography was well worth the price, plus English interviews always help. There's also a book by the same name from lodown's art director Thomas Marecki.

In Italy, and France, The above quote from a New York Times article on French author Corinne Maier's new book "Bonjour Paresse", which translates into "Hello Laziness". I wonder whether the word "sloth" came from the animal, or was the lanky limbed tree climber named after it's apparent laziness? Either way I'm sure they would be in favour of compulsory siesta.

Links stolen from Vincent

I've walked by it thousands of times on the newsstands, yet never picked up a copy. Aera magazine, from what I gather, is a weekly Japanese current events magazine but what makes it different is the cover design. The cover portrait is usually some current newsmaker, politician, business person or celebrity but the style is very simple yet unique and really sticks out on the newsstand magazine rack.

Most current event magazines seem to rely on flashy graphic photos and big bold headlines to attract the eye but Aera Magazine goes in the opposite direction. Not much more then the magazine name, portrait photo, and issue date with a solid colour background. Sometimes the photo lighting looks quite harsh and most of the portraits seem to be shot without any makeup, (with exception to the Lisa Marie cover, they must have come to an understanding during that shoot) or professional hairstyling creating a very simple, clean and realistic look and feel. I don't intend on actually buying a copy any time soon because I would hate to open it up and be disappointed. Rather I'll choose to believe the content is as good as the cover.

In the currnet NEWSWEEK Elise Soukup introduces us to a new book on the study of rats in NYC "Rats: Observations on the History & Habitat of the City's Most Unwanted Inhabitants." by Robert Sullivan.

Instructions:
1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 23.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions. via Achikochi