Tiny Tea Dispatch #004

Published:

Apr 16, 2017, 02:00:00

I’m on vacation! This mainly consists of trying to sleep in, doing a few chores and trying to keep my mind otherwise occupied. I’m terrible at relaxing so I try to plan 1 or 2 things around it. Today’s purpose is: bringing you a newsletter.
Enjoy!

Made

You might have seen it in passing but I’ve made an Etsy store.
First items up there are Emergency Tea Kits. It’s an idea given to me by Booo, which I’ve been playing around with for months now. The most difficult part was finding good size metal boxes to store everything in.
Another thing, is a linocut print of a tea kettle, as you can see in the photo above. It’s been a while since I worked with lino and it’s very enjoyable. There’s still a few bits left, so I’m trying to come up with 1 or 2 new ideas to make.
Suggestions are most welcome.

Seen

Vending machines

Vending machines are interesting. Or maybe I’m just getting old, who knows. I came across some episodes of ‘Begin Japanology’ in the YouTube suggestions and there’s some cool bits in it. The show has episodes on many seemingly trivial but ultimately fascinating subjects. Unfortunately the presentation is often really boring (monotone presenter, uninteresting music, crappy editing, …) and the info selective in strange ways. Being a bit reductionist isn’t strange when you only have 30 minutes, but I’m regularly confused on the parts they choose to devote time to at the expense of other more potentially more interesting ones.
Try pairing their episodes with a short video about the same subject from another creator to get a better view on things.
For example, Vox explaining why there are so many vending machines in Japan.
Or Great Big Story on how 1 family still produces soy sauce the traditional way while 99% of production is now modernized.

Keef Cooks

Not on my regular watch list, but Keef Cooks is a rare gem in a world full of over-produced cooking shows. This is an actual, charming look at someone’s cooking. I loathe to use the term ‘authentic’ (blame hipsterization) but everything about it looks and feels honest and well-intentioned. He obviously puts a lot of time and care in what he makes and the little mistakes he acknowledges and the warm little laughs interspersed throughout, are utterly charming. If I were more of a cynic, I’d say that the slightly outmoded look is a way to play it up, but I’m not quite that far gone yet. The fact that it’s missing a certain sleekness (no 4K color corrected drone footage and time lapses) and the logo & site feel a bit dated, warms the cold void left by every sleek but ultimately useless gadget that has entered our lives.
The claim that he’s a professional web designer and developer simultaneously confuses me and gives me another perspective on the future of my current profession.
Yes, I am in web development and I do regularly ask myself why that is still the case, 10 years in.
I am getting old.

Listening

Tanis

Booo and I have been listening to Tanis, a terrifying… errr, terrific podcast taking its cues from the likes of Lovecraft and ‘Welcome to Nightvale’. I love that radio plays are coming back from extinction thanks to the podcast medium. Although these often seem to stick to a tiny cast and single-person viewpoint (because of budget I’m guessing). Neil Gaiman has said on numerous occasions that radio plays are his favorite medium to write for, so I’m hoping he will one day write for new podcast series, much like the BBC versions of Good Omens and Neverwhere.

Homecoming

Another great series, is Homecoming. This one is more of a psychological sci-fi thriller and equally engrossing. Some well-known voices in there and no single narrator perspective, which lends itself to interesting ways of playing with time and building mystery.

Read

Having read a few Haruki Murakami books in the past, I thought I’d get a couple from our local library. Due to their popularity, they’re lent out all the time so you either have to reserve a copy in time or just take what you can get. I finally got my hands on the Dutch translation of Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage and read through it with some disappointment.
Maybe it’s because the other books I read had more strangeness and twists to them (Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of The World for example) but this one really fell flat for me. The main mystery gets explained by the middle of the book and that’s about it. It’s done pretty plainly with enough satisfaction for the main character but doesn’t do much for the reader. Every other thread that was pulled (deaths, disappearances, relationships), remained either unaddressed or handles uninterestingly. This could mean to reflect the fact that the main character being ‘colorless’ or his experience with a big unexplained event changing his life, but honestly, there wasn’t that enough tension in the book to make that case. Of course the translation could have a lot to do with it but I’m not sure.

That will be it from me for this time, I’ve got some grocery shopping to do. Hope you’re having a good day or something to look forward to at least. Don’t forget to look after yourselves.

Tiny Tea Dispatch #004

Publishing info

Published:

~~ Made ~~

~~ Seen ~~

Vending machines

Keef Cooks

~~ Listening ~~

Tanis

Homecoming

~~ Read ~~

~~ Links ~~

Meta info

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Made

Seen

Listening

Read

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