I’m not an expert on art by any means.
My tastes might be considered “low brow”.
I listen to heavy metal music, my favorite TV shows aren’t really educational or anything, and I don’t see the appeal of “over-rated” movies such as “Lost In Translation“, “Forrest Gump” and “The Lord Of The Rings“…those movies were all boring to me.
The movies I like are more exciting.
And I don’t feel comfortable eating in “four star” fancy restaurants…I prefer a simple 「居酒屋」 (Japanese izakaya “blue collar” type restaurant).
Even though I may be a “simple man” I can appreciate art sometimes.
I have never attended an opera or even a musical on stage, but I have watched 歌舞伎 (Kabuki) plays and sometimes I go to art exhibits at museums.
I have seen a number of 浮世絵 (Ukiyoe Japanese woodblock prints) exhibits…and yesterday, my wife and I went to 渋谷 (Shibuya, Tokyo) to see the 「モネとジヴェルニーの画家たち」 (“Claude Monet and the Giverny Artists”) exhibit.
It’s at the “Bunkamura Museum” in Shibuya, Tokyo until 2011 February 17th.
I learned that Claude Monet moved to a tiny French village called Giverny and painted the natural views that he saw there. And his work inspired many artists from other countries, but the vast majority were Americans, to go to Giverny and set up an “artist colony” there to learn from Monet.
Also, Monet was inspired by Japanese art (other famous Western artists, including Vincent Van Gogh, were too) and he had a collection of Japanese Ukiyoe prints.
Monet's painting of his wife in Japanese kimono.
Monet's painting of his garden in Giverny, France.
Monet's painting of a hay stack.
Are you interested in art? Monet? Ukiyoe?
How about your taste in food, movies, music, etc?
Tokyo Five 
Do you know where i could find out more information about this? I tried googling it but I was unsuccessful. I went to a Picasso exhibit before coming to Japan and would LOVE to see Claude Monet!
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>Do you know where i could find out more information about this?
The tickets are ¥1,400 if you buy them at the museum.
I always buy tickets for movies, museums, concerts, etc at a discount ticket shop, which are located all over Japan. So I paid ¥1,200 each for our tickets.
The museum is in Shibuya, Tokyo near the Tokyu Dep’t Store.
The museum’s page about this exhibit is here in Japanese, and they have a page in English too.
Here is a map to the museum.
If you have any more questions, let me know (either by blog comment or E-mail).
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>When I was younger I was a fan of 浜崎 あゆみ, 倖田 來未 安室 奈美恵
>>You were “younger” not too long ago…they’re fairly recent. 😉
Ah yeah I should have explained a little, I know these artists are still releasing albums now, but I havent listened to them since around 2004 at latest, thats back when they were a little more popular, though I know 浜崎 あゆみ has a new CD out in 2010, however I’m not sure about any of the others. I just remember listening to them all when I was around 17-18 (which wasalmost 6 years ago now as im not about to turn 24 in a few weeks).
Die hard I and II are amazing, III isnt as good and IIII (or 4.0 as its known in the UK) is a different type of film, but still very entertaining.
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Those “Die Hard” movies are excellent. My hands always sweat really bad while watching them though… I tend to get nervous even though I know the outcome. I guess the story lines really “hit home” with their realism. Those 3-D movies give me vertigo, I can catch vertigo very easily unfortunately. The movie industry should give people a “choice” of going to see a movie in 3-D or without it… (then again, costs are an issue for the theater having two screens tied up for one movie).I know I’m not alone in getting vertigo from 3-D.
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Re: “Metal Odyssey”…
>Those “Die Hard” movies are excellent.
Well, you have excellent taste in music and movies!
>The movie industry should give people a “choice” of going to see a movie in 3-D or without it…
In Japan, the 3-D movies always have a 2-D version available on another screen in the theater since some people (especially parents of young children) don’t like the 3-D.
Don’t they offer that in the U.S.?
The only 3-D movie I’ve ever seen was “Jaws III: 3-D” back in the mid-’80s.
It was a dumb movie.
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Re: Dan Elvins…
>I havent listened to them since around 2004
Maybe I’m getting old. 😦 2004 seems “recently” to me. 😉
>Die hard I and II are amazing (but) III isnt as good
I think they’re all great. I heard they’re filming “Die Hard 5″…I can’t wait.
>(Die Hard) 4.0 as its known in the UK
My mistake. It’s called “Die Hard 4.0” in Japan too.
In America, it’s title is “Live Free or Die Hard”. I think “Die Hard 4.0” is a better title.
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I am a fan of art and appreciate “creating something from nothing”. I so enjoy the art of Monet, Manet, Van Gogh and Goya. Abstract paintings are “probably” my favorite to look at. My favorite painting of all time is Goya’s “Saturn Devouring His Son”. This is a painting done by Goya back in 1819… and it could very well be the cover for any Death Metal Band’s album! I love the “shock” and “awe” of this painting, the horrific theme that was covered here (cannibalism) back in 1819 really can be interpreted as amazing for it’s time.
I’ve been to the Modern Museum of Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC… those two buildings are “fundamental” in growing and shaping the mind into art appreciation. I can not say enough as to the importance that museums have to a society. I like to “stop by” at any museum I see in my travels… learning about new “things”, culture and it’s people is a “never ending life lesson”. 🙂 “Physical” art and music are what moves me… not any darn Hallmark Network “made for television” movie about a couple getting a divorce and finding new love.
“Escape From New York” is my favorite movie ever… “your, your the Duke of New York, your A #1” is my favorite line! I also LOVE every John Carpenter movie ever made. So many movies are made with the “intent” to go over peoples heads with the story line… don’t you know, Metalheads aren’t supposed to “understand” boring crap like “Fried Green Tomatoes”. I’ve watched more of these movies over my life than I can count… and I’ve stopped now. Life is too short to watch these supposed “intellectual” epics and/or films. Think about it, you are giving up 2 to 3 hours of your life sitting still and watching this Hollywood bull-crap. At least with music, you can “move around” and accomplish something while the Rock ‘N’ Roll jams!
Expensive restaurants exist for the same reason over-priced cars exist… like Madonna once made famous… “we’re living in a material world”. Or was it “I’m living in a material world”? Either way, my point is there!
I apologize for getting long winded here… especially with all of my “quotes”. It’s just that your blog site is so “darn” interesting and “fun” to comment on! 😉
– Stone
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>I so enjoy the art of Monet, Manet, Van Gogh and Goya.
I know all of those except “Goya”.
In Japan, 「ゴーヤー」 (“Goya“) is a very bitter vegetable from Okinawa.
>Abstract paintings are “probably” my favorite to look at.
I’m not really a fan of abstract art.
I guess you like Picasso and Dali too then.
>My favorite painting of all time is Goya’s “Saturn Devouring His Son”.
I just “Googled” that painting.
It’s pretty shocking.
>I like to “stop by” at any museum I see in my travels…
There are many museums in Tokyo.
Not only art museums, but also history museums, “ramen museums”, “tattoo museums”, etc.
>I apologize for getting long winded here…
Definitely no need!
Write comments that are as long as you like! I enjoy reading them.
>your blog site is so “darn” interesting and “fun” to comment on!
Thank you very much.
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I meant overly as in “did you ejoy the exhibition overall (despite a few boring bits and not being an art fan).
>Not even the movies. I can’t believe it! The movies and albums I chose are all great! You should check them out.
Well I do quite like Die Hard, im also not a fan of the “HUGE movies” such as Avatar etc, I actually hate 3D movies (I work in a movie company, so I worked on the most recent harry potter and Narnia movies, eventhough potter isnt 3d right now, the 3d side of things means twice the work for me). I’m not a clint eastwood fan at all, as all his roles are the same character in different settings, he doesnt adapt, but he does play those roles well. I’ve seen Shaun of the dead (its quite a famouse British movie that isnt about gangsters for once) but I havent seen any of the others in that list, but I have heard of them all.
>Which bands do you like best?
A lot, some are bands others are just singers, list below:
Half-Life
Remioromen
DOES
Sambomaster
10-Feet
Akeboshi
Fukui Mai
Kamaboiler (quite country style but they have very little music out there)
Smartail
Kennichi Asai
The Birthday
The Street Beats (very old I know)
MonoBright
Otsuka Ai
Shonan No Kaze
Ayaka
I watch quite a lot of Japanese Drama, so some of these bands (I have like 200 more bands ive listened to over my life, but these are the ones I listen to most in the past few months, some have albums out this month and last month so thus I listen to them again), some of these bands have insert songs, the drama モテキ contains a lot of old rock/indie music so I actualy picked up a band from there.
When I was younger I was a fan of 浜崎 あゆみ, 倖田 來未 安室 奈美恵, Shonan Kamikaze and other similar artists.
>They’re a classic metal band.
Yeah, honestly I quite like them, or at least the “gods of war” album.
The album covers are nicely drawn but nothing interesting to look at, just poses, nothing dramatic from what I’ve seen so far (I could be wrong).
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>I meant overly as in “did you ejoy the exhibition overall
I see. “Overall” I understand in that context but I’ve never seen “overly” used like that.
>Well I do quite like Die Hard
Parts I, II, III and IV are all great.
>I actually hate 3D movies
I haven’t seen a 3-D movie since the ’80s “3-D movie boom”. They seem to be a strain on the eyes.
>I’m not a clint eastwood fan at all
It’s like blasphemy! 😉
>I havent seen any of the others in that list
You should watch “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest”. It’s excellent.
>singers…list below
Not my type of music.
>When I was younger I was a fan of 浜崎 あゆみ, 倖田 來未 安室 奈美恵
You were “younger” not too long ago…they’re fairly recent. 😉
>The album covers are nicely drawn but nothing interesting to look at
Ken Kelly usually draws overly-muscular guys in macho settings. Very heavy metal. 😉
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I’m not much of an art fan (well…tradition art) eventhough im a 3D artist, its just not interesting enough for me, I can appreciate it, and I know I don’t have that level of talent as its a very differet type of talent then what I can do.
Oddly enough this got me reading your “top 5” lists for movies and music, cant say I really agree with any of the choices (im not a metal fan at all…eventhough in the office people often listen to a band called “manowar” but its not my style eventhough i like 1 album), most of my music is oddly enough Japanese, I know little western music as I rarely listen to the radio.
Did you overly enjoy the exhibition? Me and my girlfriend have been to art gallery’s a few times, she seems to enjoy it more then me, I barely remember the names of half the artists in the gallery.
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>your “top 5″ lists for movies and music…cant say I really agree with any of the choices
Not even the movies. I can’t believe it! The movies and albums I chose are all great! You should check them out.
>im not a metal fan at all…most of my music is oddly enough Japanese
Which bands do you like best?
>in the office people often listen to a band called “manowar”
They’re a classic metal band.
Coincidentally, the artist who designs their album covers (Ken Kelly) has also designed two of KISS’s most famous album covers (“Destroyer” and “Love Gun”).
>Did you overly enjoy the exhibition?
“Overly” enjoy it? I don’t know if I’d say that…but I did enjoy it.
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I am not a big fan of art, I do enjoy it but I am not crazy about it either. Now about food, I am nto a big fan of expensive food, usually you pay a lot for smaller portions with a bland taste, so for me expensive food is something I will try to avoid; I like most movies I see, but there are also some really big ones (in the US at least) which to me seemed pretty pointless and a waste of time, like Avatar, that movie was all abou special effects, the story made sense but I didn’t care for it.You know my music taste, defintiely not your background reastaurant/department store taste, although I do like a lot of classic rock which I have heard in some restaurabts before.
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>I am not a big fan of art, I do enjoy it but I am not crazy about it either.
Are there any particular artists that you like?
>I am nto a big fan of expensive food
I think the best restaurants have a relaxed atmosphere and offer a good portion of food that taste delicious…for a good price.
Lucky for me I live in Tokyo…the city with the most restaurants in the world.
And the food is delicious in Japan!
>You know my music taste
Yes. You have good taste in music! 😉
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I don’t have any favorite artists, and yes hte best restaurants are the relaxed ones which have good food that don’t burn a hole in your wallet.
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>I don’t have any favorite artists
There are so many different styles…Dali, Van Gogh, Picasso, Monet, Rockwell, et al. You should check out some art exhibits near you…you’ll surely find a style that you like a lot.
As for me, I like Japanese artists Hokusai and Kawase, and American artist Norman Rockwell a lot.
And of course, rock music album covers have been painted by some great artists too! Such as Michael Doret and Victor Stabin.
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Rock album covers are definitely poeces of art (most of the time), Hipgnosis is probably one of the most known music album cover designers. Iron Maiden has a really got artist too
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>Iron Maiden has a really got artist too
Suddenly, for some reason, Iron Maiden changed artists for their most recent album, though.
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yeah they did, and also for The X Factor and Dance of Death, I sorta like the artist foir Final frontier, but I do say Eddie is very groteque on the cover
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I think the artwork on their latest album is ‘average’. Nothing special…unlike their earlier album covers.
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Yeah, my same thoguhts, my favorite album cover for Miaden is Somewhere In Time which also happens to be my faovrite album from them. The album cover (front and back) is awesome, there are so many refernces to past songs and albums and Eddie looks awesom as a future space warrior guy
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>Somewhere In Time…my faovrite album (and cover artwork) from them (Iron Maiden).
I think their best work is on “Piece Of Mind”, “The Number Of The Beast” and “Powerslave”…and those albums have cool cover artwork too.
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I actually posted “The Final Frontier” as being my favorite album cover of 2010… I agree that it’s not “the best” Iron Maiden album cover. My favorite Iron Maiden album cover is the debut… the introduction of Eddie back then was WHOA! Back in those early 80’s, who else had an album cover like that? Nazareth “No Mean City” comes very close though.
I “think” we’ve become very used to fantastical album covers within the Metal genre over the decades… and now “The Final Frontier” is like: Yeah, seen it, it’s been done. Nonetheless, I looked at 2010 as a whole and my “Old School” heart strings were tugged at by this new version of Eddie! 🙂
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>I actually posted “The Final Frontier” as being my favorite album cover of 2010…
Actually, I saw that post of yours.
>I looked at 2010 as a whole and my “Old School” heart strings were tugged at by this new version of Eddie!
I see your point. Considering only albums released in the year 2010, I guess Maiden’s “Final Frontier” might have the best artwork.
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