Halloween Bento

Pumpkin head skeleton man made from carrots, cheddar moon and stars on a bed of rice flavoured/coloured with sesame oil and dark soya sauce.

Faceless avocado witch with nori seaweed hat on a bed of rice seasoned with rice vinegar and spring onion.

For more accomplished spooky bento see: www.kawaiikakkoiisugoi.com

Jasper Sharp on Today's Show

Today I will be joined by writer and film curator Jasper Sharp to discuss his forthcoming book Historical Dictionary of Japanese Cinema and Zipangu Film Festival.

An expert on Japanese cinema, Jasper has written several books and is co-editor of the website Midnight Eye.
Jasper is now the director and head programmer of Zipangu Fest, the premiere festival in the UK showcasing Japanese films, and the co-director and co-programmer (with Chris Magee) of the Shinsedai New Generation Japanese Film Festival in Toronto.
He's also a bit of a foodie with a love of fungi and making his own berry wines. I will be bringing some ghostly bento to the studio for us to sample in this week's Dim Sum Lunch Box.

See also:
Upcoming Elctric Sheep Magazine Event An Evening of Subversive Japanese Cinema
Kôji Wakamatsu’s Sex Jack + Jasper Sharp and Julian Ross in conversation.
Tuesday 15th November, 7pm @ The Horse Hospital. Details here.


My Zipangu Pick:
The Ghost Cat and the Mysterious Shamisen
Back from the dead, a rare pre-war horror especially subtitled for Zipangu Fest
Dir: Kiyohiko Ushihara,1938 @ The ICA
Sunday 20 November 2011 at 3:00pm
Thursday 24 November 2011 at 8:45pm

Tune in today 3.30pm Resonance 104.4FM in London and www.resonancefm.com everywhere. Podcast to follow in the next few days. Don't forget for all the latest Lucky Cat news and updates you can join the Facebook Group or email luckycatzoe at gmail.com.

Lucky Cat S6 Ep2 (22nd Oct 2011) Playlist & Podcast

For Episode 2 of Series 6 I am joined by actress Lucy Sheen to talk about her career and upcoming project In The Mirror which also features solo performances by Anna Chen and Veronica Needa.
To book tickets please go to: The New Diorama Theatre web site

• China Night - Mary Leung (Hotel Miramar Hong Kong commemorative 7" picture disc, bought in Paul Au's shop)
  
• Autumn Wind - Zhou Xuan (Pathe 100 CD)
  
• Always Together - Stephen Cheng (Sunshine label reissue 7" 45)
  
• Soon You'll Be Gone - The Blues Busters (Sunshine label reissue 7" 45)
  
• Nursery rhymes - by Shanghai children (from the CD Sounds of Shanghai by China Record Company)
  
• Sans blouse et sans pantalons - Fonseca et ses anges noir (7" 45 EP Pathe label)
  

I finally own the only original Rocksteady Reggae tune sung in Cantonese recorded in Jamaica. OK so it's not original vinyl (this record is very rare and £300 + I think). Reissue is good enough for me - I've still been waiting 7 years to see one of these up for sale! I think this was originally a Taiwanese folk song, The Girls of Ali San, here's the lovely Carrie Koo Mei singing it:

Apparently Francis Yip does a version too - if anyone has on mp3 I'd love a copy. Please email me luckycatzoe at gmail.com
Thank you.

Lucy Sheen on Today's show

Today I will be joined by actress Lucy Sheen to discuss her upcoming show There are Two Perfectly Good Me's: One Dead, the Other Unborn.
This is part of a 3 woman solo show produced by True Heart Theatre, IN THE MIRROR: Three women, three stories from Chinese diaspora. Lucy, Anna Chen and Veronica Needa will each be performing solo shows at the New Diaroma Theatre from 9th to 12th November 2011.

I will be asking Lucy all about the new production and her acting career.

Today's dim sum lunch box contains some Tawianese fish balls - new recipe, all organic - courtesy of Daney Hsu from Borough Market.

Tune in today 3.30pm Resonance 104.4FM in London and www.resonancefm.com everywhere. Podcast to follow in the next few days. Don't forget for all the latest Lucky Cat news and updates you can join the Facebook Group or email luckycatzoe at gmail.com.

Lucky Cat S6 Ep1 (15th Oct 2011) Playlist & Podcast

In this episode I recount tales from my HK trip including my magical visit to Paul Au's record store in Kowloon. Includes and interview with Paul Au.

• Batman - Lynn Tait and the Jets (reissue 7" on Merritone, subsidiary of Federal Records. Distributed by Japanese label Dub Store)
  
• I Love Bat Girl - Josephine Siao Fong Fong and most probably Lui Kei (mp3 from softfilm)
  
• La Novia - The Peanuts
  
• Dance of the Yi Pipa - Pipa Solo from the 10" LP Year of Happiness, Folk Instrumental Music (China Record Company)
  
• Music Addict - Solo Banton (Jahtari EP)

Mentions:
Korean high-school horror Death Bell is released in the UK by Terror-Cotta and on sale now, check: terracottadistribution.com/films/death-bell
If you want to find out more about China's Got Talent UK look here.

Paul Au - a True Vinyl Hero (photos part 1)

I ♥ Hong Kong

Today's show will mostly be about my 3 days in Hong Kong earlier this year.
Here are a few reasons why I loved it so much:


Tony Leung was at the airport to meet me when I arrived (kind of).


The food is soooooooo good. Here's the meal I had at the Islam Food Centre. The veal dumplings were truly divine. Thanks to Phil and Alice for taking me and quick mention for Mango Vine where I saw a post about the restaurant which aroused my interest.

The stunning view after travelling up the hill on the peak tram. Pretending I was in Love is a many Splendoured Thing and trying to trek around to walk off the 2 dinners I had the night before:

Dinner # 1: Nyona style Malaysian chicken curry with roti and greens @ Asia Family, Gloucester Road, Causeway Bay.

Dinner # 2 @ Yung Kee Restaurant, the classic Roast Pork on Rice



It's not all hustle and bustle, I took some time to chill out on Lama island (birthplace of Chow Yun Fat and hippy idyll):

My last meal in HK was dim sum at the airport. Airport food - yeah I know, what you're thinking. But this is Hong Kong! The bar is set a lot higher, the food was pretty damn good. Check out these cute hedgehog shaped dim sum, yum yum:


One of the best things about my stay in Hong Kong was going to Paul Au's incredible 2nd hand vinyl record shop in Sham Shui Po. I will save my photos for a new post, coming right up....

Tune in to today's show for all my HK memories and vinyl delights.
UK time 3.30pm Resonance 104.4FM in London or via www.resonancefm.com anywhere. Podcast to follow.

Lucky Cat Series 6 Starts This Sat 15th Oct

This Saturday I will return to Resonance 104.4FM for the 6th series of Lucky Cat.
In the first episode I will be playing my interview with vinyl hero Paul Au of Paul’s Records Hong Kong, recorded earlier this year when I visited HK. Expect to hear some of the vinyl delights I picked up at the crate digger's paradise that is Paul's Records.
Lotus seed paste hedgehog shaped dumplings are in the Dim Sum Lunch Box.

Tune in @ 3.30pm Saturday 15th on Resonance 104.4FM in London or via www.resonancefm.com anywhere. Podcast to follow.

A HUGE THANK YOU to the talented Josue Menjivar for his beautiful illustration for rseries 6. Check out his blog: www.freshbrewedillustration.com