523 Hermes

From a pure curiosity I have joined open course at an university this winter. The class was about brand and brand management which I found really fun to learn. As the class-end project, I picked up Hermes for a short analysis and creating a sample campaign. In terms of branding, Hermes is very unique because the brand has one of the world's highest branding power without caring for (at least, seemingly) branding and marketing. Finest quality and craftsmanship dedicated to their noble clients like Princess Grace Kelly, are the natural brand quality of Hermes, in the course of creating the finest products for the finest customer. Not all of us can live with these luxurious leather, scarf or jewelry, but sometimes we sense the force of will of the company.  If you visit one of their shops, you will soon find that they welcome guests as if the mason is hosting a gathering close of friends, instead of welcoming and obtaining "market" or "money". This force of will is the ultimate meaning of a brand value. 

522 Bathroom beauty

Among others, bathroom is an unique place in a house where such a clear function is required --- function to purify, cleanse and isolate oneself for a while from other habitants of the house. Mostly we see the minimum equipments in our bathroom, towel, mirror, and wall. It is likely to be a place of isolation and simplified functionalism in order to make us concentrate on washing out our body and mind. Kitchen is also a room where a clear function takes place, but it is more with talk and communication than in bathroom. The healthy quietness in visual and acoustic in the bathroom can refresh our eyes and minds which otherwise get accustomed to the sight full of our favorite, and sometimes excessive interior materials and decoration in other rooms.

521 Song One

ブルックリンを舞台に、ノスタルジックでスモーキーな音楽とともに展開する姉弟、家族と、出会いと別れの物語。主題は恋愛かもしれませんが、ここでより重層的にリアルに語られるのは家族愛です。仲違いをして疎遠になったまま、ある日交通事故で昏睡状態に陥った弟。ストリートミュージシャンの弟の日々と音楽と記録と思考をひたすら辿りながら、弟を理解しようとする姉。不安定な姉と弟をつなぐ存在として、弟が尊敬していたミュージシャンが彼らの間にひとときの温かさと光を与えます。この映画の描写で何より印象に残るのは姉の黙々としたひたむきな看病です。弟に音楽を聴かせ、語りかけ、好きな食べ物を鼻に近づけ、手を擦ってみて、果てはまぶたを開けて目を開かせようとします。視覚、嗅覚、触覚、聴覚のすべてを動員して、途絶えた意識に働きかけようとする真剣さに素直に心打たれます。

520 Fragile

Once a talk show host told the guest something like "You can be fragile, you can be sensitive and you can be strong at the same time." The opposite feelings can surely exist in one person. It can be understood once said. But if you think about it, you'll find it is not actually easy to declare that you have different, conflicting spirits which might make you unique. 

You can say "I'm fragile" or "I'm not that fragile", but saying "I'm fragile and strong" will make you feel a bit uncomfortable. Maybe we're a bit afraid of seeing ourselves as a conflicting being. It may sound like you are playing a double game. But it's not. It's a truth working in both ways, balancing yourself in the contradictory, unpredictable but playful life.    

519 Ceylon Tea

I've been such a huge coffee lover all my life. The taste and flavor of a fine cup of coffee seems to me a part of my life. It might be exaggerating. But if people are to have coffee, cigarettes and alcohol,  I can be allowed to take only one part of the three. That's what I've been thinking. I forgot to count tea.

The other day my friend gave me a excellent package of ceylon tea, which I hadn't tasted  for a long time. The spicy aroma, deep and fresh taste with a little bit of bitterness, and bracing fragrance overwhelmed me.

I drink black tea, green tea, roasted green tea, oolong tea and sometimes herbal tea, but I was amazed by the almost unmatched experience. What is this unique flavor all about? I've never known I could have anew experience through drinking tea.

It doesn't mean tea can replace coffee. But the unique taste of lush green cannot be duplicated in coffee and I'm fully glad to enjoy the two different great drinks. 

518 Marathon

Here's unforgettable words from a hairdresser whom I've known for a ling time. 

"Life is like a marathon. You may well run now, but can walk, if you want. Step by step,  little by little, even by walking, as far as you move forward, you reach your goal in the end. A lot of people give up in the middle and leave the road. Keep walking with ease and confidence. But be careful, for not just keeping it out of mere habit, which leads to no specific goal."

517 Chilltrax

I wonder why there's so many cool web radio station? The other day I encountered this awesome web radio station called "Chilltrax", which sends chill out musics all day long without any commercial intervals. It's amazing that those tunes can be in line with me literally all day long. It never be boring, not too loud, not too fragile. I was overwhelmed by the quality.

The great point about the tunes that the station chooses and edits is that they are highly sophisticated chill outs but away from the typical ones which provides stylish atmosphere and uplifting feeling like on the Ibiza beech, or stoic and meditative flavor. There's something more, or maybe less (in a best sense) than that. The musics never interrupt the thoughts but stay close to it and gives it the fresh air of unknown sounds. Not every tunes might be memorable but they are there purely for fun of music. They identify themselves in a quiet manner.  Splendid.

CHILLTRAX

516 Captain America: The Winter Soldier

MARVELから放たれる一連の映画の中で、Captain America : The Winter Soldierはアメコミ映画という括りを一切忘れて、本当に面白く、スリルとアクションに溢れ、映画を観る驚きと興奮に忠実に作られた傑作と言えるでしょう。ギャグと笑いのスパイスが大規模な（派手な）アクションを引き立てたAvengersも愉快な出来ですが、The Winter Soldierはそもそもがコミックの世界のヒーローという荒唐無稽さを殆ど忘れさせるようなリアルな映像と語り口が高く評価されています。ポリティカル・サスペンスやスパイ・アクションとしても成立するクオリティの高さですが、中でもやはりアクションは白眉と評して良く、プロの格闘家と互角の戦いを演じられるほどリアルに鍛え抜かれた俳優の身体能力、戦闘や爆発シーンでも、単なる迫力だけでなく繊細なスリルを感じさせるアクションシーンなど、全てにおいて際立っています。船上の潜入作戦から、エレベーター内の格闘、カーチェイス、銃撃戦、接近戦、巨大な空母を駆け巡るクライマックスの攻撃まで、アクションシーンの為にだけでも見返したくなるほどアクションが抜群に素晴らしい上、名優を配し、主役のソルジャーとスパイの役柄に相応しく終始最小限のセリフ、抑えた感情の描き方も見所です。