Category Archive for Cute Yummy Time
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.)
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TEACHING CHILDREN HEALTHY EATING HABITS, CUTE CHARACTER BENTO-MAKING AT HARLEM ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. NHK TV + SCOTTISH FOLD CUTE OVERLOAD.
I know you’ve been waiting for photos of the Harlem bento-making class… so here’s a slideshow on YouTube! (I’ll post my favorite photos and tell you more about what happened in the next few days — so check back.)
NHK, Japan’s national public broadcaster, shot a 20 minute TV documentary about character bentos that focused on my work and recipe book, Cute Yummy Time. In this segment, I taught Harlem students how to make healthy, cute bentos. It was a success — the children loved it and ate vegetables that they’d never tried before! The New York Wave episode about cute bento boxes will air this February on NHK; Ill be sure to let you know the exact time and put up segments on YouTube (please subscribe so you wont miss out).
Paws up! Baby paws up, gimme your heart gimme gimme your heart, gimme gimme…
Because we can all use some Scottish Fold kawaii to make our day a little sweeter.
When Basil Farrow is in an especially good mood, he rolls onto his back and puts his fat paws in the air…
… and gives you “the look” until you come and rub his tummy. You can see zillions of cute photos of Basil and his flop-eared friends on his Scottish Fold blog. Come see!
He’s also featured as a character in my cute cookbook, inspired by Japanese bento decoration. If you want to get in on the charaben action, please consider my recipe book, Cute Yummy Time. (Now in major bookstores and available online.)
Have a super-cute day!
Song of the Day #293: The Creatures – Believe In Yourself and Mike Mareen – Dancing In The Dark (Galactica Mix). Because feel-good Italo seemed appropriate for my Harlem bento lesson video.
LA CARMINA
