I love the cool, blues and greens of Tokyo at night. They look great alone, but things really pop when mixed with the orange of the Tokyo Tower.
It’s starting to look a bit more promising on the border/travel front in NZ and one of the first places I’m heading when things do open, other than to see the family, is Tokyo. Here’s a 360 shot from a previous trip… man, it’s been ages since I had that 360 camera out. I should really see what the new models offer before my next visit!
I love it when designers get to go a bit nuts around escalators. I don’t mind if it’s some sort of classic architecture vibe, or something wild like this one in Tokyo. So much fun and way better than your average staircase!
I can’t tell if this guy has had an awesome evening, or a terrible one… either way he’s certainly had an experience!
When things work out with travel in and out of NZ task 1 is get back to the US to see the family… task 2: Get to Japan. Assuming they are open!
Here is another image from the special animated creations for the recent drop on OpenSea.
This was pretty much the last adventure before Covid shook up the world. I’ve been to Japan about ten times, but this time I was determined to go as far north into the fantasy-like snowy mountains and villages. When you get further away from Tokyo, English signs and speaking is almost non-existent. So, navigating the subways and trains is one thing, but the Japanese bus system is another beast altogether. Anyway, I had to figure out how to get here to Shirakawago. I finally got off the bus and started to hike into this village and this is what I saw. I didn’t know where I was gonna stay for the night, so I kind of knocked around on different doors to see if anyone had a room. I ended up staying in one of those adorable little farmhouses you can see in the back.
What a crazy couple of days! Those of you who read the last newsletter or some recent posts will know that I launched a new collection of NFTs on OpenSea this past Tuesday. It’s my fourth drop overall after some experimentation previously on Foundation, MakersPlace and another on OpenSea. They were all great learning experiences (and exceeded expectations) and this week was no different.
The short version is that in 2 days, split over the 50 Cities/NFTs in the collection, over $1million USD was processed. My thanks to any of you who got involved, it’s really incredible and we are full of gratitude. Today, along with there being some items still available on the first and secondary markets, there are 4 auctions ending (LA, Moscow, Tokyo and Paris) if you want to get involved in the fun.
As I’ve mentioned in previous mails, I think NFTs are certainly something artists and collectors should be getting involved with now. The potential is huge, and I think it will be a big part of the art world in the future. That, along with giving back to other artists, is why I’m now investing in other NFT projects. I know it can be a bit daunting though, so I’ll be producing a bunch of how-to videos and recaps of my experience so far for Passport Subscribers. There are already 3 or 4 available which can be viewed after signing up ($9.99 a month, cancel any time, and on top of those NFT videos you get access to all of my tutorials to stream, preset downloads, eBooks and a weekly video which can be anything from processing tips to behind the scenes of helicopter rides in 360.). Once you’re in there, check this page for quick links to the previous NFT videos.
In terms of getting yourself involved in this drop… it’s fairly simple. You’ll need an electronic wallet (MetaMask is one that works with most NFT sites, others are available so definitely read some comparison articles). You’ll also want a way to get Crypto in/out from the “real world” and services like Coinbase are used for that (again, there are alternatives so do a bit of reading to see what’s best for you). If you’ve got questions, drop into my new Discord collectors group where there are a bunch of awesome, friendly people who will be happy to help. Feel free to join and just lurk or chat too as you ease yourself into this wild new world as a collector or creator.
*On re-reading this I just realised I automatically #’d NFT… too much posting on Crypto Twitter. Time to go take a solo lockdown walk…
If you’re a Passport Member then you’ll see a fun sneak peek of an upcoming drop over there. I have a new strategy that will either be awesome or crash and burn. We’ll see! 🙂
Here’s a sneak preview of the drop and a little bit about the pricing strategy. I don’t really know if it will work or not. I have very low expectations… so I guess we will see!
I’m usually too busy in these cities to go for a swim, since I’m running around with my hair on fire taking photos. I often think, gee willickers, I should really have a swim and a relax. But I almost never do! If I have a little extra time, I try to hit the gym, which I enjoy more than swimming. Now that I think about it, I don’t really like swimming much at all. But I do like playing in the pool with my kids!
