Helen McCarthy

Fascinating interview if you're in the book world or even just like books. on bbc sounds: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/... One man who holds the fate of so many authors in his hands on both sides of the atlantic.

Ad dispute highlights copyright and ethics in Japan's art world - The Mainichi TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Renowned illustrator and manga artist Hisashi Eguchi is facing mounting criticism after allegedly using a photograph without permissi

It's not just #AI - human artists can breach copyright too. Not getting consent before publication from both the model and the photographer whose work was "referenced", is what we expect of AI; a professional artist with over 50 years' experience should know better.
mainichi.jp/english/arti...

Chaos as Arashi pop group's Sapporo concerts conflict with univ. entrance exam dates - The Mainichi Students and other applicants sitting university entrance exams in north Japan next year are likely to have difficulty securing flights and hotel acco

This could have been better co-ordinated, but at least now fans doing uni entrance exams only have to pay one air fare.
mainichi.jp/english/arti...

Couple who donated $164M for Japan city hospital offer more money for welfare facility - The Mainichi TAKARAZUKA, Hyogo -- A married couple who contributed to the reconstruction of a municipal hospital in this western Japan city are now offering a dona

I love it when wealthy people behave exactly as they should: supporting their community and using their money for good instead of hoarding it for greed.
mainichi.jp/english/arti...

Half-Naked Men Pound Mochi against Ceiling at Temple in Yamagata Prefecture; Nearly 400-Year-Old Ritual Is Held to Pray for Abundant Crops <p>YONEZAWA, Yamagata — A traditional year-end event in which half-naked men pound mochi to pray for abundant crops was held at Sengenji temple in Yonezawa, Yamagata Prefecture, on Thursday.</p>

Sending a tribute of mochi to India by way of pounding it against the temple ceiling: it's interesting how traditions evolve over the generations.
japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/features/tra...

capricious dawn
sometimes sunrise alchemy
goes retrograde
transmuting gold and jewels
to grey skies and rain

#tanka #poetry #Londonrain #wintersunrise

And just remember, that cute kid playing drums for Richard Curtis in 2003 would go on to play guitar as the young Paul McCartney in "Nowhere Boy" in 2009 while still looking barely a day older.

Alan Dye Is Leaving Apple. Let's Talk About the Designers Who Made His Career Possible. Everyone's talking about Alan Dye's move to Meta. It's a good moment to talk about the designers who made Dye's career (and mine) possible and he never got the credit from Apple they deserve.

Antonio White wrote some really nice things about us and the influence of the LCARS style on UI design.

www.linkedin.com/pulse/alan-d...

Great song, although I must admit my preferred version is the school concert edit from "Love, Actually".

The Art History of Studio Ghibli with Helen McCarthy Discover more from Studio Ghibli’s art, taking inspiration from mystical qualities and traditions from Japanese culture. Followed by Q+A

My last Seed Talk of 2025 is in Newcastle upon Tyne on 15 December 2025. My new Miyazaki book is due out next year! I love talking to Ghibli fans all over the UK, and look forward to meeting the North-East’s Ghibli contingent. Come along and geek out with me!

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-art-hi...

Gift Ideas 2025 #3: Books About Fandom - Helen McCarthy Books: the perfect gift. All shapes, sizes and styles, physical or immaterial, streams of data or sound waves to be accessed through a device. The physical sort can be exotically sensual and beautiful...

#GiftIdeas2025 #3 - books about fandom. #Trekkies #StarWars #Furries #Cosplayers #fandomscholars and more - check it out helenmccarthy.net/gift-ideas-2...

#SomethingBeautiful #NoToGenAI

#SomethingBeautiful

#SomethingBeautiful

Next time someone tells you drug abuse is a problem of today's permissive society, just look at what our grandparents could buy over the counter in the not-very-permissive 1930s.

How can they say claims of its therapeutic properties were misleading? It might not shift your cough but you wouldn't care.

come out from behind
that pile of offerings and
be truly present

#senryu #haiku #giving #Christmas

YouTube video by Aunty Sochelle Hour-ish Show Aunty Meets Manga with Helen McCarthy

I had SO MUCH FUN it ought to be illegal - my first time on the Aunty Sochelle podcast! Go over and listen to us old broads getting together, join in, maybe shout at the screen, explore some of her other shows.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VW24...

cover image of Maomao

A Conversation with Minoji Kurata, artist of #TheApothecaryDiaries and Assassin’s Creed: Blade of Shao Jun

We discussed how she brings her creative voice to a series that has multiple concurrent versions and the growth of female-driven stories in seinen manga

www.animefeminist.com/minoji-kurat...

Minute papillon! The 285 Manifesto girlcott halts the 2026 Angoulême Festival - The Comics Journal What's happening with the 285 Manifesto, the unprecedented girlcott against the 2026 Angoulême Festival by Maïa Hamilcaro-Berlin with Marlene Agius.

Minute papillon! The 285 Manifesto girlcott halts the 2026 Angoulême Festival by Maïa Hamilcaro-Berlin and Marlene Agius www.tcj.com/the-285-mani...

My trade union @societyofauthors.bsky.social guiding members through and ever more complex and challenging world for creative workers.

The Long Career of Romeo's Blue Sky Character Designer Yoshiharu Satō

Ghibli alum shares stories of working with industry greats and putting his heart and soul into Romeo's Blue Sky.

‘Attack On Titan’ Publisher On How Manga Is Expanding Its Reach Kodansha CEO Alvin Lu on how the top manga imprint is expanding into prose, digital, new content and new formats to build its audience.

Manga is a global business and projected to treble its global income by 2033. But it can't do that by standing still. One publisher talks about plans and possibilities.

www.forbes.com/sites/robsal...

the mist burns off in
flames like blazing diamonds
ice becoming fire

#haiku #poetry #wintersunrise

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Illustrators 49, the latest in Book Palace Books brilliant series of quarterly publications, is available now, a special giant-size issue that includes a fascinating history of the original comic that inspired…

https://downthetubes.net/illustrators-49-spotlights-the-art-of-frank-cho-the-eternaut/

Great #cosplayers in beautiful settings - the photos from this event will be epic!

A heavy door and narrow timbered passage lead into the communal courtyard of the almshouses that have sheltered poor elderly people and their caters since 1509.

The beautiful garden of Ford's Almshouses, still laid out in Tudor style. The outer wall is painted pink, another popular colour for Tudor timbered buildings.

The courtyard where the Doctor met Warwickshire lad William Shakespeare. Classic black Tudor timbers and white plaster. The original timbers were put together again after a Nazi bomb disassembled them. Three staff and six resident died in that air raid.

A black Iron plate with white lettering on a Tudor brick and stone wall gives a brief history of the building.

Coventry lost most of its ancient buildings to German bombs during WWII, but this beautiful survivor rose from the ashes and is still providing homes for the old and poor after more than 500 years. It's also a #DoctorWho location.

You and Idol Precure Manga Ends as Futago Kamikita's Final Precure Manga Twin sisters have been drawing iconic magical girl franchise's manga adaptations since 2004

After over two decades, the Precure manga artists earn a much-deserved retirement!

Amazon Streamed AI English Dubs on Banana Fish, 'No Game, No Life Zero,' Vinland Saga, Pet Anime Voice actors speak out against AI dubs, Kadokawa & Sentai Filmworks respond

Kadokawa stated that it did not approve of an AI dub, and Sentai stated that it wasn't aware of the dub beforehand.

What a wonderful night at Square One in Coventry talking about #StudioGhibli for #SeedTalks to an audience with some fascinating questions. Will the global spread of anime change it? How does Miyazaki really feel about futuristic tech? What's my favourite Studio Ghibli film?