BIG IDEAS

This is an ad sent to me from a friend who lives in Singapore. Who would have thought the “morning zoo/crew” radio format would go any further than the States?

Japan is known around the world as Trend Central. Whatever is influencing this particular hipster needs to be stopped immediately.

The folks from Microcinema International, a distributor of independent docs, compilations and artistic videos from around the globe just released Tokyo Streets, an innovative documentary designed to mimic a video game style navigation through the fashion, music, trends and street culture of modern Japan. As a documentary, don’t expect Ken Burns or anything like context. It’s a visual travelogue, pure and simple, designed no doubt for people to develop their own conclusions. Worth a look.

View the trailer here.

Speaking of Tokyo , what’s up with the state of contemporary Japanese dentistry? You mean all that unsold stock of Darkie toothpaste isn’t being put to good use?

Much has been made of late about the dramatically increased financial and now even immigrant presence of the Chinese throughout Africa. If you’ve ever been to the continent - and the sub-Saharan oil rich nations especially - you will have no doubt noticed the size and scale of Chinese embassies in those nations, particularly in stark contrast to almost subtle in comparison presence of the United States. That visual difference says almost every thing you need to say about why China is leading the way today in working with African governments to exploit (in a business sense, not an evil sense) the continent’s vast natural wealth.

Well, there’s a flip side to that story as well and that’s the African presence in China. As students, ambassadors, vendors and shop owners and more, Africans are choosing China as a place for immigration. And according to journalist Jen Brea, catching a little bit of hell in the process.

See her post on a reported beating of Africans in the Beijing nightlife district of Sanlitun here.