Video arcade and other things

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Vintage video arcade

Found footage shot of a hvideo arcade in Tokyo, Japan. The footage was apparently filmed in June 1979. A few things that surprised me about the video arcade:

• I didn’t realise how nostalgic I would feel for the vintage Space Invaders cabinet design. I had played one a number of times but wasn’t any good at it
• I was surprised to see English language on the screens rather than Japanese. Usually games had to get translated into English for use outside Japan
• The table service to table top games was really interesting. I remember seeing a few of those glass table cabinets in pubs and motorway services cafes (usually not plugged in). The use case in Tokyo was much more social than arcade designs became with stand up cabinets
• The 1960s era music playing in the background, I was expecting more current for the time western and Japanese pop

Liam ‘Aidyn’ Fitzpatrick

I knew Liam from my time in Hong Kong. He’s a journalist, a muso and so much more. He did an interview and picked a playlist on the Beats & Peaces podcast hosted by Jeanette Slack for Clockenflap. Think of it as a cooler version of Desert Island Discs.

Liam shares his love of post-punk music and the kind of material that I imagine would have been on the turntable at Q magazine. His love of Japan might seem odd, given the discussions around cultural appropriation now, but I think that his experience has never been more important. Jeanette and Liam also get on tear on the importance of ambience in restaurants and why music programming in restaurants is so important. You can listen to the podcast here.

Skateboarding

Nike has been having a great Olympics kitting out some of the skateboarding gold medals. Skating has featured prominently in advertisements targeting women to do sports.

Wieden + Kennedy have put together an advert that evokes vintage Disney with its style. The descriptor of ‘New Fairies’ made me think of the content by Korean professional long boarder Ko Hyjoo.

Tangerine Dream documentary

There is Tangerine Dream documentary to support the Tangerine Dream Zeitraffer exhibition at the Barbican Music Library.