outwardly

Berserk

Recently I got into this new shounen style manga called, Berserk. Quite similar to Claymore in that it takes place during the Medieval period time (not necessarily Earth), in a magical period where human and monsters coexist. These monsters are known as Apostles who gave their soul and most precious thing(s) in their life to the “Gods Hands”, whom in turn gives them extreme powers. Our “hero” in the manga is, Gats, whom happens to be a sacrifice that managed to live and main objective is the kill all these monsters and the avenge the death of his comrades through the sacrifices they endured from Griffith.

The manga is extremely dark with a lot of graphical gore, so not for the fainted heart. This is a very long manga that began in 1988 and is still going, however, it comes out about once every 3 months so its relatively long waiting period.

I find it incredibly daunting and depression to shop for men’s clothing in North America because a lot of the clothings here are ill fitting and non stylish. The clothing here in North America are all generic and I don’t get any sense of much creativity or individuality in the style.

North Americans prefer to look alike from each other and not to be away from the norm. Maybe its because if a man were to dress differently or out of the norms in this society, he will be look upon and even judge by others around him, so to “fit in” he tries not to stray too far from the standards. Which all leads to a very boring and uninspiring ensemble. For instance, for a man to be carrying a purse or even wearing a fur coat (not that I endorse the wearing of fur) is unthinkable, he would immediately receive strange looks from those around him. Like for instance, I was on a bus yesterday morning and this gentleman came up wearing this fur coat from top to bottom. I notice he got a lot of stares from people around him, I notice this because as they were staring at him, I was actually staring at them to see how many would look at him. For a man to have a fur coat or carry a purse in Asia or Europe is relatively normal. In fact in Asian fashion, there are many men that carries purse for men.

Although, you might be able to go to some boutique or specialty stores that do carry styles from Europe or Asia that are much more edgy and stylish. I think in general all the major shopping stores carry the same generic brands and styles. To me, fashion is not just only something use to keep us warm or hide our nakedness, but should be something that expresses our personality, individuality and is an extension to our bodies. Because of this they should fit properly and should contain different styles that help the wearer to express himself.

The clothing in Asia are a better cut much more stylish (most coming out of Japan, Korea and Taiwan). Granted, there are some styles that may seem too much and too exaggerated, but thats great, because people are given that opportunity to be as creative as he wants to be. I have a list of some websites dedicated to fashion in Asia before to explore.

http://www.fashioninjapan.com

http://seoulawesome.wordpress.com/2010/11/11/korean-fashion-inspiration-for-men/

http://bntnews.hankyung.com/ (Korean site)

http://www.musinsa.com/ (Korean site)

http://www.syoff.com/ (Korean site)

http://www.freshnessmag.com/

http://www.japanesestreets.com/category/guys/

So the next time your on a bus and you seen a man wearing something that might not fit the norms of what he should be wearing in society. Instead of looking at him strangely or judging him, maybe you should get inspired by him and his style. It might not be your taste or style, but you can appreciate his self expression.

I got interested in a manga called Claymore through a friend. At that time he introduce me to the TV series. I liked the series so much that I decided to read the actual manga, I can actually say, this is one of, if not the best manga I have read EVER!

The basic synopsis of the Claymore is that they are female warriors (half monster and half human) created by an organization to battle with other monsters called, Yomas. They continuously battle and kill off these Yomas until eventually near the end of their life they would request a comrade to end their life or risk transforming into monsters themselves to be killed by other Claymore. Its a dark fantasy manga.

The storyline is riveting and intense and the drawings are beautiful. The story starts off a bit slow, but it takes you away soon and gets your addicted. Each chapter comes out each month. The manga begin in 2001 and still going strong. Currently, its in its 123 chapter.

Claymore

Below is a painting that I had a local Vancouver painter, Jose Rivas, painted for me. It was a photo taken during the 2010 Winter Olympic games in English Bay. The figure on the right is me. It was my lasting memory of the good times I had during my brief stay in Vancouver.

First of all let me explain that I have been in hiatus for a while….in fact, for over a year and more or less abandon this blog. Well, a lot of things has happened over the past year and preoccupied my time such as having a major surgery on my jaws and have them to be totally shut for 6 weeks, for which during that period of time I wasn’t able to eat anything solid…not even things that were even grain size, it was all liquids. I started a love affair with Ensure during those times…needless to say, I lost over 35-40lbs during that period.
Also I moved back to Toronto from Vancouver. I will miss the beautiful snow cap mountains, the oceans and the marvelous fresh air. But, Toronto is my home and as Dorothy said, “There’s no place like home”.

And so it was unfortunate that I was unable to be more active in my postings. Well, I promise that I will post more from now on.

Keep an eye out for raving and rantings…

Cheers!

S7N.

I have been living in Vancouver now for 3 years (today October 31) would be my 3rd anniversary here. I have grown to love this city since moving here from Toronto, which was quite a change between the two cities.

I have grown to love the hiking and running in and around Vancouver, the lovely mountain and water landscapes, the beautiful architectures, promotion of sustainability, the lovely weather and many great restaurants and small boutique shops that sells a myriad of things.

However, I feel that the city are not supporting their local artists/designers enough. The high cost of living and sky rocketing real estate market are pushing them away. I don’t think the city understand how important these individuals are to the community, a lost of these people in the community will lead to a dreary and boring city. Vancouver used to have a great artistic community ranging from painters, artists, dancers, actors, fashion designers, etc… However, I found that it is quickly driving them away – many move to other cities or out into the suburbs. How unfortunate.

Please…please Vancouver do more to support your local artists and artisans because if they leave, it won’t be long before everyone else leaves too because who wants to live in a uncultured city?