Takeshi and Me

Before the day was over, back in December when we were in Tokyo shooting for the new ads, Takeshi Kitano was nice enough to pose for a picture with all of the teachers that participated that day. Until recently, we had thought this photo was lost forever, as none of us had been successful in our attempts to track it down. But about two weeks ago, ECC presented us with this nicely framed photo of our group shot with Takeshi. Sweet.

Mode Gakuen Fashion Show: Behind the Scenes

Here's a video I made of all the hours of hair and makeup magic before the fashion show last Friday at Mode Gakuen.

Chicken Soup

Just like nonna's. God bless Japan--and it's butchers. It is so easy so find chicken bones here in almost any supermarket you may stumble upon, and for cheap. I can't remember how many times I'd look for them in Publix, or other grocery stores in Florida and, even after asking the meat dudes, leaving empty handed. Chicken skeletons may look gnarly, but when it comes to soup, it's gold, baby.

Rocky: The Homecoming

Here's a video our puppy Rocky when we first got him, and his first few weeks at home with us. You can see he's gotten much bigger in the last month, and he seems to grow every day. More videos to come, but here's the starter:

Wasabi Kit Kat Taste Test

On Christmas Day we tasted what might be one of the strangest Kit Kat flavors yet: Wasabi. This is also one of the biggest taste tests so far. As for the Kit Kat itself, overall it was alright, most people gave it a "so-so" though there were also quite a few where were disgusted. Only a small minority actually liked it. I'd never buy it again, that's for sure. Check out the video:

Billboards in Nagoya Station

Marlow made this really cool video of the ECC billboards and posters all around the Higashiyama platform of Nagoya station. Holy cow, my face is huge.

Mode Gakuen Fashion Show

Walking through Nagoya Station about two weeks ago, I was approached by six young girls with outstretched arms encircling me--essentially trapping me. I look up, thinking I must know them--were they students of mine? Nope. Eyeing each of them, I didn't recognize anyone. Turns out they spoke pretty decent English and told me they were students at Mode Gakuen, a cosmetology school located just across from Nagoya station in the spiral tower--which I'm just now finding out is actually pretty famous. They asked me to appear as a model in their end-of-the-year fashion show--what is actually more like a test for them. So I agreed, and last Friday spent about 4 hours getting dolled up along with my new buddies and fellow models, Angela and Deya. There's a behind-the-scenes video I'm working on to come, but for now here are some pics.