Urban Modernist

Higashi-Yama : Tokyo

Admin — Sun, 10 Jun 2007 16:45:21 +0000

Located in the hip Nakameguro neighborhood of Tokyo this restaurant is one of the best examples of modern Japanese cuisine. The owners design studio Simplicity did the interior as well as creating the stunning

tableware. Round off the meal with a stiff one in the lounge downstairs.

Things that make you feel good

Admin — Sun, 10 Jun 2007 02:35:17 +0000

Laughter - What’s worse than a cardboard box? Paper tits

Some fresh air - Get high and mighty with a fresh dose of oxygen

A sensual scalp massage - Make sure to use custom botanical scalp oils

A stiff Drink - Raise your spirits with a cocktail or three

Chocolate - Remember, endorphins are your friends, so induce them with a tray from Richart

Good sheets - You don’t have to spend a third of you life in anything less then Egyptian

Things to make you appear smart

Admin — Sun, 10 Jun 2007 02:14:45 +0000

Being intelligent ain’t easy it takes years of tedious lectures, narrow beds and academics in musty cardigans, but here’s a crash course to look the part.

A muse - Find yourself someone for inspiration - every self-respecting designer has one.

A passion for music - Nothing lends an air of intelligence like knowing the score.

A Pair of Spectacles - Glasses make you look focused.

A library of classics - Keep one with you at all times, scan strategically.

A craftsman’s pen - A stylish stylo is perfect for pondering and for jotting down big, clever words you overhear.

Simple life

Admin — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 18:36:36 +0000

Vita Sackville-West, in a broadcast on the BBC in 1950 identified a whole range of insignificant, essential pleasures that everyone has experienced from time to time but hardly remarks upon. These brief moments were collectively termed through leaves, after the small but intense pleasure of walking through dry leaves and kicking them up as you go.

It was “through leaves” to run a stick along an iron railing or crunch thin ice; to suddenly remember a word or name you thought you’d forgotten; to write with the perfect pen; pulling curtains that run freely on their rods; sliding out a drawer which opened readily and silkily on ball bearings, cutting pages of a book with a sharp paper cutter; drawing a cork with a good corkscrew; drinking when your thirsty; feeling of sand between your toes at the beach; and reading in bed, all show us that we don’t have to go far and wide for our pleasures, since they are often right under our noses.

Others include ; sinking into bouncy seats at the movies; waking up to find it has snowed overnight; shopping in an outdoor market; putting on a freshly ironed shirt or suddenly catching sight of the sea. Make a list of your own, doing so can make everyday life more in tune with what we really enjoy. Modern living is about providing the means to experience things directly, without the distancing intervention of technology or the burden of too many possessions. Where and how we live is fundamental to our well being. For dedicated minimalists, space, light, color texture are not merely basic elements, they are the only elements. Thing however ordinary are banished or hidden. And when objects are brought out to be used they can assume an almost distracting significance in the absence of anything else. The results induce a Zen like sense of peace and calm revealing the beauty of the everyday-the play of natural light, the sheer dynamic of space and the subtleties of form and texture. Minimalism offers valuable insight too, which is recognizing the irrelevance of a good deal of what fills our homes. Almost everyone could do with a little less in his or her lives

Early Adapter

Admin — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 18:32:10 +0000

The Modernists’ most distictive trait is always becoming the first the accept a new technology. Doing so often leads to them becoming the first to master it and reap the benifits

Professions of Urbanite

Admin — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 18:25:39 +0000

Professions of
the Urbanite:
International Law
Landscape architecture
Middle eastern studies
Screenwriting
Plastic surgery
Psychoanalysis
Yacht Design

The Urbanite
studies include:
Artificial intelligence
Space Law
Disaster management
Forensic Pathology
Archaeology
African and Asian art

As time goes by

Admin — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 18:22:23 +0000

In a world filled with quick fixes and fast everything we consistently ask ourselves “Where has the time gone” Well the time has escaped into the vacuum of mediocrity and repetition. What’s happening is as we get older we are less likely to try new things and end up performing the same tasks over and over again. This creates fast time in which our minds look back and only remember the things that change ourselves and make impacts. To make time go slower we must consistently challenge and feed our minds with new experiences and new ideas.

TV

Admin — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 18:21:59 +0000

The urban modernist thinks that life can be more interesting than anything on the TV and makes it a point to stray from people that make a habit of living in their TV. Have you ever watched a TV show about people watching TV, it would be pretty dull right, instead of watching other people be interesting just turn off the tv and get out and be interesting. Most of the people around you are more interesting than the people on tv; you probable just don’t realize it.

Private Jets

Admin — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 18:20:51 +0000

Do the math- Put Eight people into a citation Bravo for a London-Geneva round trip and you’ll spend no more than flying business class on Swiss.

Bring your Swiss Army knife- And your tweezers, cuticle scissors, and that nasty pocketknife. There are no security hassles. And feel free to use your PDA, mobile throughout the flight.

Sleep in- You don’t have to check in two hours in advance, in fact you don’t have to check in at all. Just write down the tail number of your plane and show up at the specially designed terminal, which is usually reassuringly far from where the hoi polloi boards its flights. You don’t even have to be on time. The plane will take off 15 minutes after you’ve arrived.

Expand your Horizons- In Europe and North America private jets save time by avoiding crowded airports. Also many smaller airports have no curfews, so you can enjoy a late dinner or catch an opera and still get home the same evening.

Pamper yourself- Choose your own menu and beverages-yes whatever your heart desires

Be Safe- Stick with well-established charter companies in Europe or North America.

Consider time sharing- You have to be a fortune 500 company to justify outright purchase, but fractional ownership is all the rage. It’s what professional golfers do. You can also get annual contracts that entitle you to a fixed number of hours in the air.

Mind your jetiquette- If you are traveling with the boss, bear in mind the they probable have a favorite seat. If you don’t know which one it is, play it safe by sitting in the back or on one of those sideways facing sofas.

Avoid the toilet- Especially on smaller jets, it can be cramped and not very private.

Milk it- There’s no point in doing it unless your friends know.

Top five casino tips

Admin — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 18:19:17 +0000

Dont be put off your game at the Lisboa, in Macauby by the working girls from the Fuji sauna in the basement when they sidle up and whisper, Go upstairs? as your about to throw a seven.

Never - no matter how good you think you are- bet on backgammon in Morocco.

Its hard to get a decent game of Pai gow these day. Opt for a quite word with the bellboy at the peninsula in Hong Kong. He know the games behind the curtains. Just dont be suprised if he bets against you.

Remember the house advantage- 5.6 per cent on blackjack, betwwen one and sixteen on dice, 2.7 per cent on French roulett and 5.26 per sent on American roulette. Which means dont play roulette in Vegas. There are better thing to do in Vegas.

If, after half and hour at the table, you haven’t spotted a sucker- its you