It was the one rainy day on this trip, so went to Osaka to ride transit, duck into buildings, and experience Tadao Ando’s architecture. Felt like a groupie, standing outside his office, touching the signature Ando concrete. The security sticker probably deters theft of the nameplate.
Category: Create
Hotel Cycle
Checked into Hotel Cycle (yet again, third time), Onomichi, in a repurposed warehouse on a wharf. You can cycle right up to the front desk, then leave your bike on a rack outside your room. To mitigate bicycle separation anxiety, you can hang your bike on a wall rack in your room. I’ll rent tomorrow.
Renewed Places
Explored Downtown with a UK friend, focusing on fine old buildings, many sensitively adapted and reused. This former Milwaukee Road ticketing hall is now a hotel event space. Later, we rode a 21 bus along Lake Street to see how well it has come back after the protests of 2020.
Spirited Away
We usually rent a movie on Saturday nights. Tonight: Spirited Away from Japan’s venerable Studio Ghibli. They’ve just opened up their catalog for online rental. Tonight we got to watch this imaginative anime, probably their most famous production. It won an Oscar in 2003.
A Tiny Museum
Every now and then, when out cycling, I like to take in the latest exhibit at The Smallest Museum in St. Paul. The current show is “Paint it Before you Eat it” by local artist Lisa Burke who “loves the idea of art that can fit in one’s pocket, or in an Altoid box.”
What Makes a Home?
At the Guthrie tonight. “Vietgone,” playwright Qui Nguyen, “a story about love.” 1975, Saigon fell, Arkansas refugee camp, … . Comedy, rap, … still processing this excellent show.
Five Watt Mouse Door
Finally noticed this mouse door near the entrance to Five Watt Coffee. It’s probably been there for years, so much for mindfulness. The local artist, Mows, has hundreds of these doors with different designs, placed around the world through collaboration and travel.
Interpreting American Music
Tonight: dinner and a show at the Dakota Jazz Club, downtown Minneapolis. Lizz Wright interpreted Jazz, Blues, Gospel, the American Songbook.
A New Neighborhood
Cycled past this building. It was falling down until developers rescued the surviving structure. Nearby, apartments are going up on brownfield land. We’d planned to have dinner here with friends, but postponed: both friends have had COVID, one still tests positive.
Featureless Faces
Inside, featureless faces stared out from a wall while two men sat at laptops. “How did you find us?” one asked. “I was cycling past and noticed the open door,” I replied. Perhaps anticipating another prosaic response, he didn’t ask for my thoughts about the art. Or, maybe, he’d already asked.