Category Archive for Cute Yummy Time
VIDEO FOOTAGE OF JAPANESE AMERICAN BENTO DOCUMENTARY! LA CARMINA ON NHK TV SHOW, JAPANESE POP CULTURE & CRAZY FOOD.
The NHK documentary about cute bentos has aired! Come watch my segments on my YouTube channel (please subscribe) or embedded below. Japanese TV is absolutely bananas, isn’t it?
In Part 1, I show the reporter how to draw and create cute character bentos. How many times can you spot my Scottish Fold cat, Basil Farrow?
Part 2 documents my visit to the Harlem elementary school to teach children (and their parents) how to make cute and healthy sandwiches. Don’t you love their enthusiasm?
Some parts didn’t make the final cut: the reporter and I had a five minute race to make cute food faces, and there was a segment where I modeled my fashion line. But I’ll post behind-the-scenes videos from the shoot later on (shot by Shichi, as were the photos above). You can see more from the NHK Japanese TV show in the last few pages of this blog — and to learn cute bento-making, do consider my book Cute Yummy Time!
Yesterday was an interesting press day. The Guardian (UK newspaper) reported that Cute Yummy Time was named one of the oddest book titles of the year — along with “Bondage for Beginners” and other head-scratchers. I hope my book makes the shortlist…
Moreover, a giant image of Ronan Farrow (Basil Farrow’s dad) is currently gracing the front page of Rosie O’Donnell’s website. The photo was taken by me! Next time, Rosie should post a photo of our fat, furry, earless son, don’t you think?
What do you think of NHK documentary? Are you eager to make kawaii character bentos now?
Song of the Day #300: Whatever happy tunes are going on in the NHK episode.
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JAPANESE TV SHOOT PREPARATIONS: MAKEUP, REPORTER INTERVIEWS, PHOENIX WRIGHT COSPLAY & HELLO KITTY STUFFED TOY.
A 20 minute documentary about cute character bentos requires 20 hours of filming… and 200 hours of preparation!
The NHK makeup artist, Tamami, is ultra talented and a doll to work with. She has a phenomenal line of makeup brushes — the lip brush is flat and made of high-quality hairs, and I really want one!
The New York Wave reporter, Hana, got her army green dress from a boutique in Shibuya 109. My silky dress is handmade — it’s part of the cosplay outfit that I later put on. I own three skull scarves; this one is from a random mall vendor.
I was scheduled to teach sixteen rambunctious 9-year-old students how to make kawaii bentos. We set up the tables with Tupperware boxes, cookie cutters, straws, toothpicks, plastic knives and other tools for making sandwiches with cute faces.
On camera, I interviewed Principal Cesar of the Talented and Gifted School for Young Scholars. Her school is one of five housed in a large complex at East 109th and Lexington. It’s crazy: in the course of a few blocks, the neighborhood goes from fancy Chanel to Harlem housing projects.
Tamami helped me clip on my onigiri hat. This and the furry cardigan complete my handmade Phoenix Wright costume; I’m the bento lady Angel Starr. (You may recall I wore this to my LA book signings; more photos here and here.)
To hold the childrens’ attention, I drew cute animals, wrote on the whiteboard and dangled my stuffed Hello Kitty.
Time to hide in the back… the uniformed schoolchildren are about to enter the library! (All photos by Shichi. You can see a slideshow of the Harlem photos in this video-post.)
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Song of the Day #294: Patti Smith – Horses (Halfway through her new book and still mesmerized.)
LA CARMINA
