Man in Tokyo

Making a move

2009-03-08T20:49:00.003+09:00

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I will be posting things here until further notice. The posts should be coming a bit more often than in the last few months. Please update your info if you are interested in seeing what's next.

Later

Up by the bootstraps

2009-01-18T16:16:00.004+09:00

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The reason for the lack of posts is not very clear to me. But rather than waste time parsing it out, let's move on. The above shrine is in Kagurazaka, a slightly more traditional area in Tokyo.

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So nothing much has changed over my absence. I have been reading, shopping and eating out as usual. Actually, one thing has changed – the weather. Each winter I contemplate getting some boots. I came close to pulling the trigger last year on some New Balance boots like this. But they were not at all comfortable. This year I started to see some nice things from Nike like this...

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and this...

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[pics via Mita Sneakers]

But they were not quite right: too bright and dark, respectively. Although I loved the shape of the second one, the Air Magma. But somehow a suede-like material on a boot just doesn't seem proper to me.

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But then I saw that Nike was releasing the Air Magma in ripstop. I figured that these might be the ones for me...and, they were.

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I ended up getting the tan/khaki colorway over the black because I think the color matches the shape better. Plus it looks better with jeans as seen below.

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So there you have it – one of my more recent purchases. I hope to get back at this more often.

As for music, lately anything by either Rusko or Caspa has been devastating. This one is by both of them and its dope, a complete growler.

Until next time.

Book Corner: Unruly – King of the kitchen

2008-12-01T21:26:00.003+09:00

Eat Me: The Food and Philosophy of Kenny Shopsin is a fantastic book, but it is really a combination of a things: a magazine article about Kenny Shopsin and his restaurant of the same name; Shopsin’s musings on topics like family, customers, fancy restaurants, food critics, etc.; as well as about 100 recipes, each with a short story, all thrown in for the cover price.

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Since I love books more than cooking, Shopsin’s writing appealed to me just a bit more than his food. However, with food this appetizing – “mac n cheese pancakes” as just one example – it was a close contest.

You can be forgiven if you haven’t heard of Shopsin, since he first started serving food in his corner store in New York City he has taken great pains to shun the media. Not only has he vehemently rejected offers to be in any restaurant guidebook, he also tosses potential customers back on the street about three or four times a week.

Shopsin writes that customers’ “neuroses are coddled and their misbehaviors are tolerated for their patronage and their money by every restaurateur in America. But not by me. My approach at Shopsin’s is the exact opposite of ‘the customer is always right.’ Until I know the people, until they show me that they are worth cultivating as customers, I’m not even sure I want their patronage.”

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Shopsin has a lot of rules in his restaurant, although he says there are fewer now than in the past. Here is just a sampling; no copycat ordering, no special orders (unless he thinks it sounds like an improvement), no seating for groups larger than four, no take out, and everyone must eat.

How can you not love such a grumpy old man? But he is not all gruff and blustering, Shopsin just wants the respect and attention from the customer he feels he deserves. And it seems he and (some) of his customers have found a comfortable niche to inhabit.

Regarding the atmosphere of his shop he writes, “The thing that makes my restaurant special is my relationships and interactions with my customers – and the way they relate and interact with one another.”

One of the things I like most about the book is that he dispels the commonly held belief that there is some magic or mysterious “thing” that occurs in a restaurant kitchen that cannot be replicated at home.

Shopsin’s philosophy on cooking is both simple and elegant: “Do what you can within the limits of what you can do, and it will all be just fine.” For him, that means using good ingredients, buying quality equipment and finding the most direct way to create dishes that taste good.

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In addition to an amazing assortment of recipes, Shopsin dispenses wonderfully efficient methods for cutting peppers, grilling chicken, cooking burgers and making eggs that have already proved successful in my meager kitchen.

One of my favorites from the book is the “Gidget” sandwich – tuna salad, avocado, and tomato on garlic bread. As he says, this is more of an assembly dish than a true recipe. And since he says “use the ingredients you like,” I threw on some cheddar and it was delicious.

The book also contains a replica of his menu, which he reprints at least twice a week from his home. The six-page behemoth has more than 900 items squeezed on it to the point of illegibility. But each one gives just one more example of Shopsin’s creativity.

The next time I visit New York City I will surely visit his restaurant, whether he wants a food tourist or not. I just pray I measure up to his strict standards and get to try one of his dishes first hand.

Make it your own

2008-11-15T22:30:00.001+09:00

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I took this picture in the neighborhood of Roppongi in Tokyo. [It is kind of the nightlife center of Tokyo...and the mecca for foreigners looking to have fun (with a bunch of other ex-pats). I have a bad attitude about the area, but its not really worth going into.] My girl recently started going to a new salon there, and I discovered this little playground festooned with robots nearby. It was dope and I hope to tag alone again next month and snap some more pics.

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As anyone who has read this blog for a minute will know, I have a little thing for track bikes. I continue to see them in the streets and outside shops more and more often. The fad/movement shows no signs of flagging with the release of a new toy. (JB...that is the bike I was trying to explain the other day.)

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That's right, now you can buy your own 1/9 scale track bike from PedalMafia for a measly $30. Not only that, but they sell optional parts you can get to customize your mini-ride.

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[via: PedalMafia blog]
If and when I see this in the shops, I might have a hard time not throwing away some hard-earned cash on it. I have resisted buying toys for a while, and there is only one good way to reward myself for such good behavior – buy some toys! Until then, I have will to settle for PedalMafia's online application.

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Yup, you can build your own virtual track bike. So far I have thrown together four, but I will show some restraint and only show you my two favorites. And it is very possible that, since I have no practical knowledge of these bikes, that I have embarrassingly misplaced some part. That would be really sad, but if that is the case...please do tell. (I'm looking at you JB) I would hate to remain ignorant.

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You can try it out yourself HERE. All the items are way on the left, so make sure to scroll on over. If anyone wastes as much time as I did, feel free to send the pics my way.

So customization seem to be the name of the game, from bikes, mobile phones, and all the way to cars – see Ferrari's Carrozzeria Scaglietti program for evidence.) And let's not forget sneakers! Nike introduced their NikeiD program years ago, and now Puma has its Mongolian shoe BBQ, and Reebok and Adidas have both had different schemes running in the last year or so. Well...not to ruin the suspense, but I finally did it after debating about it for a long time.

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I have to explain, there are two different types of NikeiD's you can do: (1) you can use their Web site and select from the options available or (2) you can go to a NikeiD Studio and have a "Design Consultant" help you and there are "special" options that are not available online. Wanting only the best, I always hesitated going the online route but there was a problem – there was not iD Studio in Tokyo. (Well, after I had mine made...one just opened last month in the new Nike Sportswear store in Harajuku, but that's a story for another time.)

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Until very recently the only iD Studio has been in Osaka. And wouldn't you know it, I had an opportunity to go there this past September for the first time since 2002. I knew I would only have one afternoon there...after spending time with my girl's family and before heading back to Tokyo. My only goal was to go to the NikeStore...never imagining that I would have a chance to make a shoe.

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But...since we didn't really have much to do, my girl and her brother encouraged me to go bananas. But I knew they would be patient only for so long...I figured an hour max before there would be trouble. (Not really enough time...but since I didn't even make a reservation and it was such a spur of the moment thing, I was game!)

So, with no real time to prepare I sat down at the terminal and started working. It was a given I would make an Air Max 90 (if there had been the Air Max 87 I would have had to make a tough decision) the only real question was whether or not they had mesh available: and boy did they ever!

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They had white and black mesh available so those were easy bases to work from. But I quickly ended up wasting quite a bit of time trying out some wacky lime-centered colorways. After regaining my senses, I decided to take a more conservative path. The Design Consultant was not all that helpful and I have no idea if I used any of the "studio only" options. But at that point I was getting signals to wrap things up, so I said I was done.

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All of the colors came out a little darker than what I had expected, but I can't really complain. I am pretty happy with the results. They provide two lace options and I was sure I would like the blue better than the red...but I like the red a lot. And of course any sneakerhead worth his sole can see the influence the original Infrared 90 colorway had on my shoe. What can I say...I like the classics.

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In addition to the two laces that came with it, I can easily see some crisp white or black laces spending some quality time in there. But for now, I am really enjoying the red.

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I am not sure if I will ever do another pair of iD's again...but I am happy I did at least one. I to think that at some point, you will be able to customize shoes even more – either online or in a studio and more options and colors would be a nice start.

Music

Here is a great video for my favorite track of DJ /Rupture's new mix album Uproot. I might do a more complete review of the album in the near future. For now...enjoy.

That's it and I'm out.

Book Corner: Making the case for a long attention span

2008-11-06T20:57:00.003+09:00

Not to put too fine a point on it, but I am a big fan of Neal Stephenson’s writing. Since I first read his groundbreaking work Snow Crash, I have eagerly awaited each new novel. So I approached his latest effort Anathem full of high expectations.

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Let me assure you, Stephenson did not disappoint. From its comedic and slightly confusing start, to its verging on hopeful ending, the reader is led every step of the way by the likeable main character Erasmas, or Raz for short.

The story is set on the planet Arbre, which has a 7,089-year history that is somewhat similar to Earth’s. One of the largest differences is that there are two separate groups of people on the planet that interact under only the strictest of rules.

On one hand we have the “Saecular World,” which goes through endless cycles of booms and busts, world wars, and climate change. At the time of the story, it is a consumer culture with people forever distracted by blazing advertisements, “jeejahs” (advanced mobile phones), and all the food contains “Allswell” (a type of anti-anxiety and anti-depressant).

The people are for the most part aliterate or illiterate, and receive all their information coming from “speelys” (a type of advanced television). There are some educated people – who often become leaders – and artisans as well. Religious groups possess a lot of power, but are split into countless factions.

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On the other hand, we have Raz and his friends, which live in one of many “concents” (a type of walled monastery) that are dotted around the planet. This group, called the “avout” – made up of scientists, philosophers, and mathematicians – have taken oaths to stay cloistered for one, 10, 100, or 1,000 years.

Raz, who entered the concent when he was eight years old because he liked books, is a Decenarian (Tenner), and is allowed to visit the Saecular World once every 10 years. The only other time an avout leaves the concent is when whatever government is in charge at the time needs help solving a crisis. And wouldn’t you know it, but a crisis is in the making as the story begins.

So, with that brief sketch of the novel’s story, you might see that Stephenson is working with some pretty conceptual stuff. And once he starts talking about string theory, “new matter,” and high-level math, the reader is bound to learn something whether they want to or not.

The book tackles such weighty topics as the conflict between science and religion, as well as comments on today’s culture here on Earth. Stephenson was quoted as saying, “As far as culture and politics are concerned, the important theme is long-attention-span vs. short-attention-span thinking.”

The avout, especially the Centenarians (Hundreders) or Millenarians (Thousanders), have a very different relationship with time and it allows them to do things that others can’t.

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But don’t think this is all work and no play. For as much as Stephenson writes incredibly technical and challenging novels, he is also a big fan of adventure stories. Every one of his novels to date has at least one badass character, and Anathem is no different.

The reader meets the avouts from the concent of the “Ringing Vale” just at the right time. We quickly learn that they practice the concept of “vale lore” or “vlor,” a short jump from the English word valor. While some concents have been studying geometry for thousands of years, they have been working on their own unique martial arts – and they use it to devastating effect.

As great as this novel is, it is not perfect. There is a dead spot about three quarters of the way through that is tough to get through. That 50-page section – dealing with divergent realities – is the most abstract and challenging part of the book. But, once you make it through that, it is a tremendous, adrenaline-pumping race to the finish.

As you may have noticed, Stephenson created a lot of new words in the novel, so many that there is a 20-page glossary – not to mention 25 pages of math lessons that are interesting, but not strictly necessary for the reader to understand. But the words soon become second nature and you stop looking in the back about halfway through the book.

But I have to warn you, because you forget there are 45 pages of filler at the end, the grand finale may catch you by surprise. It was not the best feeling to eagerly turn the page, only to find the start of the glossary.

But, I went back and re-read the last couple pages a bit more slowly and it did provide a satisfying ending – even though I could have read at least another 100 pages.

The World of Anathem

Knowing without understanding

2008-11-02T15:58:00.000+09:00

I'll admit it, I can't understand everything I see in Japan. I am always improving, but it is taking longer than it should. Oh well. Luckily, a lot of the time, complete understanding is not really necessary. Case in point.

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I always loved this sign in my girl's hometown. We always end up visiting the local supermarket where I encounter these 16 people encouraging me to "Take my time shopping" (but way more polite). Even if you can't read it (rest assured...this sign I can read) you can understand the meaning. On our last visit to her hometown, I spotted another sign I enjoyed, and it takes no reading to understand.

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Homeboy looks like he is having way too good a time popping pills! But even without the English writing, the slowest person would peg this as a drug store.

Moving on...

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This is the cover to the Keep Watch Vol. 2: Teki Latex put out by Mishka NYC brand. The mix is really good, although a bit of a slow starter. You can read an intro and download it HERE.

The mix by Teki Latex – being the Frenchie that he is – reminded me of this post I have been meaning to put together for the longest time. See...I have this fascination with foreign/non-English hip hop. The following clips (none of which are new) come from different countries and artists. And they are able to pull "it" off with varying degrees of success. The French for their part, seem be able to do just about anything and look good while doing so.

We have a chubby guy (in two different pairs of colorful Nike's) who infects everything he touches with rainbows. He ain't trying to be nothing he isn't. And he pulls it off with aplomb. I love the electro-vibe of the song.

This is Afasi & Filthy and all I know about them is that they are from Sweden. I do like the beat and can enjoy it, even though I don't understand one word. But, I feel like they are trying just a bit too hard, fronting in some way. It is a small thing, but I'm pretty sure these two homies check the mirror on the way out the door for a bit longer than Teki Latex.

Sexfemman seems to be another Scandinavian rapper, couldn't really find that much info on him. (Didn't look all that hard.) I like this song better than the last one. But again, there seems to be a false vibe of trying to be "down with the streets" here as well. Being down is not necessary to make good hip hop. The sparse beat – featuring a well used tambourine of all instruments – is slick enough to stand alone. (But maybe I am reading all the wrong stuff into the track. How would I know??) [both clips via - Discobelle]

Alles Neu - Peter Fox
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One of my favorite tracks that I have stumbled across knowing absolutely nothing about the artist. This is Peter Fox (according to the meta-data and the fact that he says his name multiple times) and I like the way his German just cuts through the dense track. I love the building of momentum with the cellos in the verses that burst in varying ways into the chorus. The video ain't too shabby either. There is no pretense here...just an artist making a good song. [via Kanye West]

That is about all. No big statement about non-English hip hop. Its just something that has been floating around in my head for ages. For me, if you don't try to emulate something, and just put out good music I will give it a listen.

CAUTION: Since I really know nothing about any of these artists, I really don't guarantee my judgement over their entire bodies of work. I only know these track which could be their best or worst work...how would I know??

Until next time.

Book Corner: What no one told you

2008-10-26T15:23:00.003+09:00

When I first heard about The Adventures of Johnny Bunko, to say I was skeptical would be an understatement. I mean, it’s a career guide in the form of a manga or comic book – depending on which term you are familiar with.

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From what I understand, career guides are supposed to be big serious books that you read at the library during the last years of high school. Or possibly when you are just starting out in your career and in need of some sound advice. The career guides I’m used to echo what counselors and my parents told me as I graduated high school – make a plan, choose something safe like accounting or business and then, work hard. In all that advice from the experts, no one ever mentioned anything about job satisfaction or actually liking your job.

And then we come to the simple fact that this book is a manga. Confession time: I have never sat down and read a comic book, Japanese or American. To my thinking, comics are frivolous and only for kids. Real adults don’t read them, despite what you may see on the trains in Japan.

But wait a minute, let’s think about this…career guides are usually boring and useless because of outdated information and no fun to use; young people need career guidance more than any other segment of the population; and young people seem to love the ease of reading comic books.

Well, what do you know? This book sounds like it could be on to something. After reading it, I can gladly tell you that the author, New York Times best-seller Daniel H. Pink, and artist, Rob Ten Pas, have put together something special. Yes it’s the first American business book in manga, but its much more than that.

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It might just be the perfect guidebook for people thinking about their future or current careers. If I had any say in the matter, it would become required reading for all high school students. I wish someone would have given me a copy when I was younger.
Pink says he was inspired to create the book after seeing how Japanese tear through manga. He was quoted as saying people were “racing through it, devouring it. Coming from prose, I’d love to see someone read my stuff with that greedy speed.”

He also said that manga, contrary to my original thinking, “is a very potent way to tell stories, convey ideas, and give advice in a world where people have limited time and attention spans.”

In talking about the types of career guides I am used to, Pink said, “Career books in the United States are painfully, alarmingly out of sync with the times. They’re packed with information that’s outdated before it’s even published. What they want from a book is what they can’t get from the Internet: strategic lessons, broad lessons, those things that elude Google-ing.”

And that is exactly what the book gives the reader. Yes, it takes less than an hour to read, and yes, if you really wanted to, you could flip to the last page and see a list of the six key points, but that is not the point. This is a book that you actually tear through and along the way, learn some valuable lessons.

Bless this...

2008-10-19T00:15:00.000+09:00

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Went on a trip the other day to some small town called Nakayama in Chiba. It was only 40 minutes outside of Ueno, but it felt really far outside of Tokyo. We went to visit this small gallery – the Higashiyama Kaii Memorial Hall if you must know – but the temple on the walk from the train sation was almost as interesting.

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My girl and I weren't sure if this temple was famous, but it sure was nice. There were hardly any people which always makes us happy. On the temple grounds there were also a lot of cemeteries. Outside of one of them there was actually a salesman chatting up some older ladies about securing a plot. According to the sign, it was quite a deal, only about $20,000. I'm not sure if that is over- or under-priced to have your name carved on a a stone for eternity...but it sure did look beautiful though.

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As we were leaving, we heard some chanting and bell ringing coming from behind this large Buddha. Oh, just to set the scene, here is the enlightened one.

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So, we followed the chanting up and behind Buddha. And this is what we encountered. Can you figure out what's going on?

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This Burberry-pants-wearing lady and her husband were getting their (newish) BMW 5 series wagon blessed. Hence the opening of all the doors and such. I never considered the need to bless a car, but I guess its not any worse or better than praying before eating. And while applaud that they got their car washed prior to the blessing, I think not cleaning out the tennis gear in the back was in poor taste.

Just in case you were wondering what shoes I wore on such an (un)eventful trip...here you go:

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OK. As for music this week, I give you a 10 min clip from Starkey's 15 minute set on Mary Anne Hobb's big show from last month – Generation Bass. It was good, I mean as good as six 15-minute sets can be. But Starkey's was the most impressive in my mind. As you watch the clip, after the short interview, the drops at 5:55 and 7:45 get me moving the most.

If you want to hear the whole show, click HERE. It is 2 hours of mostly new dubstep. And its worth a listen, even if you only get into each set as it ends.

That's it for this one. Hope to be back posting again soon.

Book Corner: Even superheros can have bad days

2008-10-12T23:19:00.005+09:00

It seems the world has been taken over by Batman, Spiderman, Superman, the X-Men and all their friends. Superheroes began by infiltrating the comic book world, then they moved to our television screens, before staging a complete takeover of our theaters. By now, it seems that even the staunchest critic would have been able to find some hero to believe in.

(This is the U.K. cover I bought, much better than the U.S. version you will see later.)

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But if that is not the case, and you are still looking for a way to join in the fun – this book gives you yet another option. “Determined to become costumed crime-fighters, but baffled by a lack of super-villains to tackle, the quintet soon finds the ramifications of their new powers are more complicated than they anticipated, and that human (even themselves) are much more fragile than they’d ever realized.”

You guessed correctly – this book attempts to provide a realistic portrayal of what it would be if a group of five average college students were suddenly blessed/cursed with super-abilities. Admit it, just like everyone else living in this hero-obsessed world, you have imagined what it would be like to be strong enough to lift a car without breaking a sweat or fly like a bird, effortless and free.

But maybe strength or flying wasn’t what you had hoped for, maybe you had always wanted to hear other people’s thoughts, or to be able to run faster than a speeding bullet. This book has those powers, plus a personal favorite – the power of invisibility.

The students that these powers are bestowed upon are believable, if less than completely satisfying. The five students are not stock characters that are often found on poorly written TV shows, but they feel slightly underdeveloped.

They do some of the things you would do if you got these powers, like run to Egypt to see the pyramids in an afternoon or spy on the people you care about. But they don’t allow themselves to do anything really bad, something most people wouldn’t be able to resist. They are a little too good, too earnest and too moral. (But, maybe that says more about my view of people, rather than the author’s storytelling ability.)

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But whatever you think of their morals, the characters do lack depth, and since the readers spend most of their time with these five kids, it is not exactly an ideal situation.

None of the characters has a clear development arc and they are a bit thin and static. Now as a reader, you could take that two different ways: you could put that to the fact that this is simply a brief look at one period in these characters’ lives, or you could see it as a lost opportunity in searching deeper into how these powers affect people.

But the thin characters are not the biggest problem I have with this book, my biggest complaint is that it gives away a couple plot points before they have had time to fully mature. (I for one, won’t do the same thing by stating them here, but be forewarned, before the halfway point you will know more than you want to know.)

The book feels a bit too eager to please. I don’t know if this should be blamed on first-time writer David J. Schwartz or maybe an aggressive editor. But, if I had my say, I would let the story build up the suspense, and not give it away. I also might not beat my message of how fear makes people do stupid things into the reader’s head. I might tone that down, just a bit.

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With those minor changes, observant readers would be able to enjoy the book’s journey a bit more, without feeling like the writer is holding their hands at ever turn. And don’t worry about the non-observant readers, they will figure it out in due time, as long as they finish the book.

Now, don’t take all this negativity to heart, this is not a bad book. It was not exactly the page-turner I thought it would be, or the in-depth look at how superpowers would effect your life I hoped it would be. What it is, is an entertaining and face-paced story, filled with humor and an interesting supporting cast.

In this age of superhero overload, this book provides a nuanced look at how superpowers would affect people in the real world, even if it doesn’t do it flawlessly.

Traveling man

2008-10-06T23:11:00.004+09:00

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Yes, I was in Honolulu – and no, I wasn't happy about it. My direct flight to Minneapolis quickly spiraled into a 36-hour marathon trip that had me fly from Tokyo to Hawaii, wait for 8 hours than fly to Minneapolis. Not fun at all. But, it was worth it to see my people, even if for only 27 hours.

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Luckily, I had some new shoes to wear on the trip that just wouldn't end. These Nike Rejuven8 fit the bill perfectly. Besides the obvious breathability, they are extremely comfortable and light.

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This version was released to celebrate the Olympics in Beijing. The regular version doesn't have the speckled mid-sole, but this tier zero version does. And I like it. It also came with an Olympic inspired interchangeable liner. But, I kept things simple with the black liner - which made for the perfect in-flight slipper.

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As you can see, the other liner really represents the Olympic flavor. Shocking, but I have yet to wear the multicolored version. Maybe someday. If anyone does a lot of flying, I highly recommend these kicks. From now on, these are my travel shoes. (Which will same me a lot time debating and deciding which shoes to wear each time I fly anywhere.)

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I don't get to ride in cars all the much here in Tokyo, and certainly don't get to see many corn fields. But that is really neither here nor there. It was good to see my whole extended family all in one place, even if the occasion was not happiest. One happier occasion is coming up soon...my b-day. And I got an early gift.

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While shopping my girl's Goyard wallet I spotted this orange masterpiece. I have been pining for this wallet ever since, and thanks to a very generous soul, it is now mine.

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This will be my first bi-fold wallet in many years. I might have to get a card case to hold all the various store point cards, business cards, etc that didn't fit in this fella. We are still just getting to know each other, but I have high hopes for the relationship - considering how much it was, it better work out really well.

I will leave you with a taste of this hilarious meme that I stumbled upon last week. It is the perfect mix - combining footage of revival churches and the audio from drum & bass parties. It matches up way better than it should. I had thought I had found the best one ever, (the "raise it up" at 1:45 is amazing!) but i was proved wrong when I hit this one.

Book Corner: Making it look easy

2008-10-05T16:20:00.003+09:00

It’s a book like these that might make the average reader think, “Gee, this looks easy. Maybe I could write a book and become rich and famous too!” And I agree, it does “look” easy, but this is only because David Sedaris is so good at his job.

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So, before you decide to quit your day job and write a collection of essays to be published and enjoyed by all the world, you have to ask yourself some questions.

These questions would have to include: Am I funny? Do funny and bizarre things often happen to me? Did I always keep a diary, so that I can still remember the name the girl who sat next to me in 9th grade? Will the people in my life, including family and friends, allow me to reveal their deepest secrets for the whole world to laugh at? Can I share some of my most embarrassing moments? And more importantly, can I turn that personal mortification into something that readers can enjoy?

If you answered “no” to any of these questions, close your laptop and quit dreaming of becoming the next David Sedaris. He is the true champion of the humorous autobiographical story and these 22 essays represent him in his prime.

Although the book is a bit uneven – not every single essay is milk-coming-out-your-nose funny – it shows Sedaris’ confidence in his storytelling ability. He feels assured enough to often bring the reader through an unlikely chain of association, and as often as not, bring it all back together again.

For example, he begins one story at his house in the French countryside at mid-morning. Sadly for him, the town officials, as they do from time to time, have shut off the water unannounced. Now, each time this happens, Sedaris is faced with the awful conundrum of needing coffee to think, but needing to think in order to make coffee when he has no water.

This leads to the sleepy consideration of using wine, day-old tea and even the water in the vase of flowers his partner gave him the day before. I won’t give away which option he chooses, but rest assured, you won’t be able to look at vase-water the same again.

But from this inauspicious morning in France, he takes the reader on a journey to unexpected places – buying drugs from a fighting couple in a mobile home in rural North Carolina, to an encounter with a well-dressed couple on a plane whose language would make a sailor blush. All of these associations are done with so much ease and wit, that it almost hides the skill and quality of writing.

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The last quarter of the book was easily the most enjoyable for me. Sedaris takes us with him on his trip to Japan. Now, why would Sedaris travel to Japan you ask? Well, to quit smoking of course!

Sedaris cheerfully recounts his all the significant episodes in his life connected to smoking. The telling of his grade school trip to a tobacco factory, where they handed out free packs to the kids was a memorable one. But as much as Sedaris loved his cigarettes, his love of clean and luxury hotels – which in recent years have gone increasingly smoke-free – led to him making the difficult choice to quit smoking.

And as anyone who has read Sedaris before knows, he lacks will power. And as anyone who has tried to quit smoking knows, will power is what you need to quit. So, to help himself, Sedaris reads as many self-help books as he can and one of them recommended that changing your routine is one of the best ways to break the terrible nicotine habit.

Sedaris concludes that there is no better way to change your routine than to move to a foreign land, and about a week after he decides, he and his partner head for the land of the rising sun.

His time in Japan plays out directly from his dairy. He takes us with him from the moment of landing, all through his three-month stay in Tokyo. His battle to quit smoking, learn some of the language and conform to some of the rules and customs of Japanese society – all at the same time – provide the best this book has to offer.

So, in closing, for all you prospective writers out there, save your energy and quit dreaming. I recommend you simply enjoy a master storyteller tell masterful stories.

Festival time

2008-07-27T17:50:00.007+09:00

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My man Boba Fett welcomes you to another installment of my blog. Its a Be@rbrick that came a free gift with Pespi Nex. Confession time: I hate Pepsi, and I really don't like Coke too much either...but it was worth the price of the soda to get the free gift. And other thing, I don't love Be@rbricks all the much, but this bounty hunter special came out pretty dope. Shout out to John at Super Punch who was interested to see the finished version.

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Mid-summer in Japan means fireworks and natsu matsuri. And since I am not waiting all day in the hot sun to see some fireworks, this leaves the local summer festival.

With my old job, I would always miss the party...but happily I was able to go this year. (By "go" I mean walk through the tiny park filled with the local community on my way home from the grocery store.)

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It was a nice thing to see. I was also happy by the way the pics turned out. I tried a bunch of settings and ended up with something kinda cool...in my opinion.

Well, on to other things.

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This is the poster that Mita Sneakers used to announced a special edition that they designed with Asics. The images of the shoe were the first I saw and they looked promising. Even from the drawings, I was already leaning towards the black ones - call it growing up, blame it on the new job, who knows - but these days I like a bit more subtle look.

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On the day they were to drop I woke up early to snag me a pair. I think I was at the shop a bit before 11 a.m. (they open at 10 a.m.) and if you were in the Ueno area around that time, I was the tall white guy walking fast and trying not to run. I'll admit it, I got all worried at the last minute that the black one would be sold out.

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But of course, all was well...and it looked like I was one of the few people interested in the release. The one thing that made me hesitate before pulling the trigger was the patent leather. I have never had patent on a shoe before, and I am still getting used to the idea.

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The ripstop nylon toebox saved the shoe for me. I mean, the mix of materials is quite interesting. I mean, the tongue is a quilted nylon with the inside being some felty kind of thing. It sounds bad, but its actually really well done.

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And as you can see, it's only on the toe and the heel of the Gel Lyte III's. And I looked past it - to the split tongue, the specked outsole and the braided laces. And I love the electric blue highlights that add a nice contrast to the overall darkness of the shoe. Last pic here, I promise.

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And there you have it folks, my latest pick up. I have already worn them a couple times and they are very comfortable. If you like them...head HERE to get yourself some. But hurry, they don't have many sizes left.

MUSIC

I don't have much this week. Just one clip and one mix. Clip first - an oldy but a goody. This track has turned up an a bunch of the mixes I have been listening to lately and I simple love it.
I give you Poison Dart the Bug featuring Warrior Queen.

The mix is from Nick Catchdubs of Fools Gold fame.

Click HERE for the download (scroll down to the bottom) and a track listing.

Later

Pay attention people

2008-07-14T23:14:00.005+09:00

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Some street art I ran across in Harajuku a while ago. Always nice to see a little creativity popping up in unexpected places. Always puts a smile on my face. In certain areas in Tokyo, graffiti everywhere. But one thing you very rarely see is graffiti on trains. One reason is that they if there ever is any...they hold the train in the station. See HERE for an example.

But the other day I found some etching on the windows of the Yamanote Line. It was the first I had ever seen.

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Not sure why "VEGAN" chose such a lame name...but I thank him for reminding me, if only for a moment, of all the time I spent on the trains of NYC. Those windows were often so scratched up you couldn't see the grime walls! For shame!

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I will use the pic above, possibly THE most boring picture ever posted online, serve as the intro for my latest pair of shoes. Those of you who have been paying attention will remember that I teased you with a receipt a short time ago. Well, here is what I bought.

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They are a pair of Visvim F.I.L. Jokhang's. Most of you are scratching your heads right about now. That's all right. It's not the most famous brand in the world. They have been on my radar for awhile, as a step away from sneakers, but staying within the streetwear spectrum. The company doesn't have a full on website. The designer, Hiroki Nakamura, is part of the Honeye collective and the site carrys news and some products.

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As you can see, the F.I.L. of Visism F.I.L. stands for Free International Laboratory. And if you think that sounds all fancy, wait till you here the name of the name of the Spring/Summer '08 catalog. "Dissertaion on the Future Relationship Between Materials and Technologies in Product Fundamentalism"

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So yeah, with a catalog title like that, you know them shits is gonna be pricey. And boy were they. But, I justified it as a grown-up shoe, not just another sneaker. And again, for those of you who are paying attention, just might be sensing a hint of a moccasin in the design. For the catalog: "The fusion of the 1/2 California construction used for running shoes and the self-customizing foot-wrap of the Native American moccasin crafting featureing our original engineering updates with custom outsole and midsole components." And that people is just the first paragraph describing the shoe.

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So basically these are handmade with the best materials by people who spend way to much time thinking about what makes the best shoe. Japan being Japan, of course the company has a cult following, and there stuff is hard to get. Visvim makes clothes and bags, like $200 button-down shirts and $700 backpacks. And me being me, I love it.

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So, I like them. They are amazingly comfortable and breathable in a way I didn't expect for a suede shoe. Of course all the people that see them don't like them much at all. So it goes. Feel free to tell me just how you feel about them, cause you know I wouldn't hold back.

MUSIC

.

This is L-VIS 1990's album preview. It's exactly how my girl reacts when she hers some of the dubstep I have been listening to lately, except for the dying part at the end of course. But maybe it would happen if I made her listen long enough.

This is N.E.R.D.'s track Spaz. It's the best song I have heard from them in a long time. "Everybody Nose" is alright, just gets annoying really quick. Maybe that's the point...who knows. (achoo, achoo)

Amazing stuff from Africa again with DJ Mujava Kwaitodance's number “Township Funk." Not new apparently, but still a banger, even if it does go on a little long.

Later

Spend, spend, spend!

2008-07-10T22:44:00.002+09:00

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As promised, no longer just a boring shot of the sky to get us going. This time I give you a "trying-to-be-arty" shot of a new building in Ginza. I like the twisty-ness of it, plus the reflection of the sign on the left. And since I started in Ginza, I might as well keep it going on the commerce tip.

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This is my new Porter pass-case. I had been wanting to get a leather case for my commuter pass for a long. And partly in celebration of getting a new job, I treated myself to this little piece.

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It was not cheap, but I am kind of obsessed with perforated leather and I dropped a chunk of change on it. But each day I get to use it and it makes me smile. Actually a couple weeks back I dropped a boat-load of money in a matter of hours.

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It was fun, but now with the empty wallet ain't so fun. At least I used cash so I don't have to live in dread of some massive bill coming. And some how that bill is always more than you think it should be, every time! I guess that is one advantage of using mostly cash in Japan – no bill shock.

Eagle-eyed readers (viewers?) will notice a large Undefeated purchase in the pic above. I will share that one in the next post. (I think)

One more example of out of control spending.

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Ever seen a baby-blue Lamborghini Murciélago? It was a first for me too! Maybe first and last? I mean how many Lambo owners can reject the factory options and go for the customizing route? One more look?

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I say the color works. Thoughts?

Lastly, tell me, is it wrong that I like this song, even though it is basically an add for _______. Can you figure out what its for?

Santogold, Julian Casablancas, and N.E.R.D. Produced by Pharrell

The song was produced by Pharrell for Converse. I want to dislike it for its so thinly veiled corporate message, but I like the song. (Shrugging my shoulders)

Later

On the slow side

2008-06-20T21:58:00.004+09:00

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Maybe it's getting old, but I keep taking pictures of the sky. I guess I should branch out a bit. OK. I will try. As an example, please observe below.

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This is an ad that can be found all over Tokyo at the moment. It features Kosuke Kitajima. He is a very famous swimmer in Japan and will be trying to add to his medal count in the next Olympics. But there is something very disturbing about the ad. It took me a minute to figure it out.

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It's his hand! It's on the wrong side!! Maybe it doesn't bother you like it bothers me, but it gives me a little pause every time I see it. You could be asking yourself why. Why would they do this? I asked myself that question as well. And the only answer I could come up with is that the designer took the hand in reference to his most famous win in the 2004 Olympics.

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But seriously, why couldn't they put the hand on the correct side??

Great track right here. Fader said he says 19 words in the whole song...I think its closer to 23. Love the slow flow and the bounciness. The beat is non-too shabby either.

Enjoy Tabi Bonney "Cool and Fly"

Later

I like RAP.

2008-06-15T15:05:00.003+09:00

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This picture is cleverly entitled "Moon Over Shinjuku." I had been playing with the camera settings and I liked the results.

It has been a while again. But this time, I have a really good excuse. I finally found a new job. So after four years of doing the same thing, its off to greener pastures. (I mean, at least I HOPE they are greener!) But, during my job search and now as I am learning my new job duties, it might be a little thin up here.

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As I have said before, I am not a huge fan of Engrish/Japalish mistakes. Mostly because whenever I speak Japanese I murder the hell out of it. I see no need to throw stones from my glass atrium. But saying all that, I love this sign. Its just so great with the Chinese, Korean, and English all neatly written. Notice they got the "AN" correct, not the more common article "A", and more importantly, how is "an irrelevant person" defined exactly I wonder. "Do not enter" just seems a whole lot more accurate. Besides...with that huge lock on there...who could enter anyways!?!?

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So I have been shopping again. Any regular readers should recognize at least two out of the three names on that shoe box. Patta is the shoe store in Amsterdam I am always jocking. Alife is one of the originators and leaders in this streetwear scene. I don't always love there stuff, but at least they are well thought out. Rockwell is the clothing line by the artist Parra. Parra's stuff always has great color and a playful attitude.

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I had read about the shoes and seen pics online. I was pretty sure I wanted them. And there is a newish Alife shop in Tokyo, so I was pretty sure I could get them. Of course I was worried about a line, availability etc, but luckily the Saturday they were to be released was a holiday, so I had no work! From the pic above you can see what time I left my house.

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This is what the store looked like just after 9:30 a.m. I was the only person there. I was surprised. Another surprise was waiting for me there. According to the web, Alife opens at 11 a.m. on Saturdays. Not true! They open at 12 p.m. SHOCKING...you can NOT trust everything you read on the wide wide wide. Needless to say, I had to wait longer in the rain, by my self, without a line. But since I had the time, I decided to walk around.

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This was the line out front of Undefeated.

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Here is the line for the re-opening of Milkfed.

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And here was the long line in front of Real Mad Hectic. How come I can't ever get a line?!?

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Well, the explanation was actually pretty simple. When I walked in the store at noon, the shoe I wanted to buy was no where to be found. That explained the lack of line and why the shop staff was confused why some joker was waiting out front. According to the web, the shoe was to be released to all Alife shops on the same date. But the shop staff said the shoe wouldn't turn up for another 2 weeks. (That damn internet lying again!) I was pissed, wet, embarrassed and irritated.

To make myself feel better I went and bought the Grand Theft Auto IV. Of course the shop only had the deluxe version so I ended up paying way more than I wanted to. But I got all this other crap too.

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I went to ALife again two weeks later, on the day after the release and got the shoes with no drama. I asked the guy if the shop had been busy the day of release. He answered "no, not really." All that worrying for nothing. The shoe is called "Rockwell x Alife x Patta 'RAP' Everybody Mid."

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The shoes are really nice, and quite different from the usual running shoes I get. But all the materials are very nice well made.

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There is a 3M reflective strip below the perforated leather. And I have always loved rip-stop nylon. It is such a good material for shoes; light, strong, and breathable.

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The soles are pretty amazing. I hope they don't get dirty quickly. Do you think they gave enough lace options?

And there you have it. My newest shoes. And I can't leave you without at least one music link. This video is pretty amazing. One of the more clever communication techniques I have come across. The song by David Byrne & Dizzee Rascal is not too shabby either. Enjoy "Toe Jam". It looks NSFW, but it totally is safe for work.

later

Night Out

2008-04-21T15:50:00.005+09:00

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This past Sat night was no usual Sat night. After a couple false starts the moons and stars finally aligned and I went out to a club in Tokyo. One thing that was usual was my working on Saturday. I have to until 8pm and I knew the club wouldn't open until 11:30. So I had some time to kill.

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So after doing some extra work I left around 9:30 and grabbed a nice dinner. Oh...just so there is no confusion, I was by myself the whole night. I had one friend that was interested in going, but he bailed at the last minute. It will become clear later why this was no big loss.

In order to kill some more time I decided to walk for a while towards Ebisu. It was fun to see some interesting things. Like the guy above. It looked like he was trying to stop people from stepping on him.

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His frown worked on me. I stepped over him as I bought myself a refreshing drink from the vending machine he was guarding. Everyone has a job to do, who am I to knock his. I hope someone puts him up-right again soon. I am not his frown will dissuade everyone. Near Hamamatsuchō station I ran into something else that was worth taking a picture of.

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In all my years here in Tokyo, I have yet to visit Tokyo Tower. I mean, I usually avoid touristy places...but no one can avoid them all the time. I wonder when I will finally have to get up close and personal with this icon. I like this photo for the repeated image of the tower in the sign. Almost artistic wouldn't you say??

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So my even after all my lollygagging I was still early. Why can't I ever learn cool people are always late? I am always the loser that is waiting for the doors to open, like I have nothing better to do with my time. Little did they know that I had had to seriously KILL about 3 hours. Maybe that's why people have friends, to help kill time. I will have to look into that.

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I was a bit worried about a line and even availability of tickets. But one look at the photo above and you can see I worried needlessly. That was around 11:25pm. I saw both headliningDj's being dropped off. I gave both a head-nod. That's about as friendly as I get.

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As you can see it was Drum & Bass x Dubstep Warz. I am so over badly spelled words, but that is another story. I loved the organization of the event. I hate having to guess who is playing and when the next Dj is up. Problem solved. I checked this picture on my camera many times through the course of the night.

As I sometimes do, I took some live notes while I was there. And this time I have pictures to add to the fun. Sadly, usually my notes are snarky and fun, but this time I having too good a time to take notes about the few things that rubbed me the wrong way. So, without further ado, let's get into it.

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11:40 - In early as always. As I type this I am leaning against the wall..and every time there is a low bass my vision gets blurry. I likey. And I have only been here for 10 mins. A nice welcome.

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11:45 - One brave soul is bouncing around slightly to the ever increasing beat of the dub. The other 10 people stand & stare. (I was sitting on the side in this little alcove. The first Dj was Rilla, just in case that means something to anyone.)

11:48 - Recognize my 1st track. Damn...it sounds a lot better on a big system. Crying sirens mixed with a climbing growler. Really nice mix. (A confession; it was my first time to heard dubstep on a proper system. I have been in my headphones for way to long, but it was my first time out.)

11:57 - Getting ragga in here. Maybe 50 people on the floor. Lots of non-Japanese. (It must have been almost 50% non-Japanese. I was a little surprised, but not overly so. Lot's offoreigners living in Tokyo.)

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12:08 - I'm up and bouncing to the beat. It's too go to be ignored. First "club kid" sighting. All loud greeting and shouting and hugging and shooting the sky. (This is not the early 90's NYC club kid...not this is just a kid who spends a lot of time at clubs and has club friends. It may sound like sour grapes, but I assure you it's not. I have no need to make a spectacle of myself. I strive to be unspectacular.)

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12:12 - New DJ...still dubstep. Nice deep rolling stuff...but not the kind that puts you to sleep. It's the move your ass kind of stuff. People on the floor. Don't like the all bent over forward dancing. Not a fan. (This seems as good a time as any to say this, people come to clubs for many reasons; to dance, to meet new/old friends, to find a sex partner, to drink, to do drugs, by mistake, etc. I come for one reason, to listen to music. So it is no big loss to go alone. It might even be a blessing. I was able to come and go as I pleased.)

12:24 - Breaking News: The ante has been upped...we are now going faster & more electro. And even as I type this in my phone, we are getting ragga again. Who knew the Japanese were such fans of the Jamaican flavor?

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12:29 - Holy f*ck that was a sick beat. Damn here it comes again hyper-kinetic beat extraordinaire. (At this point I was making my way from the side-back area to the front. As in my old rave and club days, I need to be directly in front of the speakers when the it's time for the proper business. Once I went up there I didn't change again until I left.)

12:59 - Really good music. I had to take a break and enjoy it...be in the moment. Who knows when this will happen again. On a bathroom trip I took a peak at the other room. ...weak sounding jungle, not a good scene. (It was then I realized the whole D&B versus dupstep thing, they were being played simultaneously and I was in the dubstep room. Ahhh...the mental arithmetic it took to figure that one out!!!)

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1:04 - Benga has taken the stage. But then left again. And know he is back and we all give some love to Dj Goth-Trad. I think I will write more later. I am at the front and the bass is try to vibrate my fillings loose.

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1:07 - My bag is off. It's serious now.

1:23 - A warbler like I have never known. Holy damn. (The air coming off the woofers was like waves washing over me. I am sure it was doing my ears no favors...but I can never step back from the bass. I need my chest rumbled every so often.

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1:51 - A monster track. Both arms in the air.(Briefly)

2:15 - Grime in the house. Things got close to being boring there for a minute...now we are back in business.

And then it got too good to even think about writing anything. For that 30 minutes it was just one amazing track after another. It was sick. And then before 3am it was NU:Tone's turn on the decks.

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He got some fresh lighting and I was ready to enjoy some drum & bass after an evening of dubstep. But, I was not feeling it at all. It was ok. But not good enough to keep me there. It was time for me to call it a night. So I did. After a long taxi ride home and wonderful shower I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow at 4am.

Here are 2 clips I found of the night. Strangely they are of the same moment out of a 2 hour set. I guess because it is when Benga dropped his most famous track "Night".

First from the chaos of the floor.

And then from the stage.

Because I can never be fully satisfied and I always need to complain about something. I have this complaint: no one played my current favorite track. Which granted, is a bit old...it is so good I thought some one my play it. Oh well. Here it is for you to enjoy.

	True Tiger - Bare Face What

	Found at bee mp3 search engine

To see all the pictures I took that night click HERE. Eagle-eyed viewers will see me in one pic. Happy hunting.

Later

New Kicks

2008-03-31T20:32:00.003+09:00

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I really like the signage of the Tokyo Metro. It is there for viewing everyday, and I can't say I notice it all the time. But, when I do, I am always impressed with it. It is always the simple things that get messed up. But, luckily not in this case.

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I finally got some new shoes. It seems like forever, but really only about 2 months. Still a long time considering how much I look at, think about, and shop for sneakers. I had been seeing these online and heard that they would be at less spots than the usually Tier 0 releases. Which means its like, Tier -1???

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They are called the, get ready for this...its a long one; Supreme Spider Tech Pack II Air Max One. Say that ten times fast. If you remember I bought an Air Max 90 from the original Tech Pack. They treated me alright, so when I saw these in a nice mix of materials and colors, I set my sites on them.

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I had been on the hunt for them for about 3 weeks. These and the "Zhu" Nike Air Max 1. But since I couldn't find them, and I am unsure I want to be supporting China at the moment with all the monk bashing, I decided to get the Tech Pack ones instead.

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I love the gum soles. A nice nod to the classic Air Maxes combined with all the newer materials. The subtle safari print on the mud guard is also quite nice. And to top it all off I have loads of t-shirts I can wear with it! I love a happy ending.

Hanami 2008

2008-03-31T19:54:00.003+09:00

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Well folks...it's that time again: Hanami! (Cherry blossom viewing season) This year was it raining a bit on Sunday, but don't think that stopped people from going out.

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I went to 2 different parks. There were lots of people at both. It never ceases to amaze me how the Japanese love their cherry blossoms. I always get caught up in the celebration.

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If anyone wants more pics of flowers let me know. I get many more.

Until next time.

Man in Tokyo's March Read-a-thon

2008-03-20T15:30:00.006+09:00

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I love this guys frown. He is so sick of telling people that no, you can't go this way. "Go around the other way...I mean, how many times do I have to tell you idiots." If you look closely, all of that is clearly stated in his frown. It is if you ask me.

Comment Questions Answered:

This is my current favorite Santogold track. It's "You'll Find A Way", the Switch & Graeme Sinden Remix. It is super. And according to my research the album is hitting stores on April 22. Info via Amazon.

The other question is related to the picture of the stone sculpture I posted last week. It came from a famous temple in Asakusa.

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This kind of shows what the area looks like. I went there a few years ago. It is one of the places that you HAVE to go to as a tourist. I resisted for a long time, but I did finally go. I wonder why I hate touristy places with such vengeance. I really hope to get over this personality foible at some point.

Now that those are out of the way, we can get on with the show. So, I have been reading a lot lately. It is the best way for me to deal with stress of my current project. I used to play video games to take my mind off of the worries, but that produced too much guilt. With books I can at least convince myself I am doing something educational to pass my time.

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I picked this promotional copy at second hand bookstore. A nice find for sure. I have a high expectation for Jonathan Lethem's books. Sadly, as good as "You Don't Love Me Yet" is, it did not hit me like his other books have. Still well worth the time I put into it and it did get better and better the more I read. I think I like what he has to say about friendship and relationships in general more than specifically love in the modern world. The comedy of the novel did work well. And his thoughts about copyright and ownership were very interesting as well.

It is clear that Mr. Lethem practices what he preaches because he is giving aways the rights to his story to a lucky film maker. Giving away as in for free. Read all about it HERE. Very cool stuff and ground-breaking too.

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Hari Kunzru is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. He is consistently readable and he was able to make a context (Early 20th Century in India, England, and Africa) interesting and compelling. The ending of "The Impressionist" may not have made me happy, but it was a very interesting work about identity. Specifically the struggle between who you are and who you desire to be. He also wrote a fantastic short story about our relationship with product placement...if taken once step further. Read is HERE.
[via Murketing]

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Let's take a break from all this highfalutin modern literature and get down into the gutter with my man Vachss. I have been on a mission to posses all of his books, and I am getting closer and closer. They are actually kind of hard to find in stores. Therefore, when I visit the US I made a monster order from Amazon and got these 3 older books. All 3 were great. All 3 were dark. All 3 were filled with his particular style of hard-boiled story telling. As always, I recommend anyone to read these books. One word of warning, "Blue Belle" had tons of sex in it. Trying to read on the train became quite a problem. Other than that...it was golden all the way! Oh, and just in case you have not been properly introduced, this is Andrew Vachss.

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Yeah, that is a leather eye-patch. I dare you to ask him about it. I will wait in the other room. Good luck with that. [image via The ZERO]

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What a book this was! Holy Crap! So depressing. It took a lot of effort to get through it. My benchmarks of what constitutes a hard life have been stretched significantly. That is not to say the book Dave Eggers "What is the What" is a complete torture to read. I just think you should be prepared to be in a bad mood for a week or so.

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Both of these were superb. "The Road" was a stark and moving a book as I have ever read. It really created a world with through the a sparseness words and images. The world is almost more memorable than the characters. Which is the opposite for "No Country For Old Men". The context matter little, the people and their quirks were way more important. I am in a hurry to read Cormac McCarthy's other books. I have a feeling they will all be good, but all different in their style and techniques.

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William Gibson's last couple books have been amazing. And "Spook Country" is no different. Color me impressed! If you have been sleeping on his last books, wake up and start reading already.

This edition of the Man in Tokyo Read-a-thon is completed. Now it's time to eat up!

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In Japan today we had ourselves a national holiday. Hooray! Sadly it was gross outside. There have been all kinds of signs about the coming of spring, but today was all cold, dark, and rainy. Not the sunny warm Spring I wanted. Booo! My girl was in no mood to re-live any winter fun, so she camped out at home until dinner. We went to our local place and had some tasty dinner. Above was their new Tuna & Avocado dish. Not bad, but I preferred soy sauce to the tarter sauce they provided. But, as you can see...

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...we didn't have many complaints about the food. We ransacked the place. Man, I love me Japanese food. The beer ain't too shabby either.

And lastly today, Earlier in the day I ran out to Shinjuku to pick up a little something I have been contemplating for way to long.

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These are the SHURE SE210 Sound Isolating Earphones. They are worth the pretty penny I dropped on them. They will be getting a work out in the next couple weeks!

Later

Kinmokusai & Videos Galore

2008-03-17T21:34:00.003+09:00

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These pretty flowers are right outside my apt building. Each spring they are some of the first to blossom. As you can see they are quite beautiful...what you might not know is that they smell very sweet. It is a pleasant to depart and arrive home in the aroma of early spring. Sadly, it also signals the start of my allergies. So....its not all rainbows and happy clouds over here. Speaking of bright colors, enjoy this assault on your eyes.

This is the Crookers remix of ADAM SKY&MARK STEWART hit of last year "We are all Prostitutes". The video looks likes like the song sounds; all random bleeps and weird sounds. The change-up at around 1:45-2:00 is particularly great. After that...it kind of just cycles around and around. [via Discobelle] (WARNING: Slightly disturbing images of some oil like substance coming out of his mouth near the end.)

So I found this video on Discobelle the other day: Huoratron's track "$$ Troopers". And, not for nothing, it's one of the hardest banging beats I have heard in a long while. The breakdown around 1:15 is what dreams are made of. All sharp, fast, and damaging. As I listened all I could think about was the 8-bit, Atari style sounds. So I did a little research and I found out Huoratron makes his beats on two Gameboys.

"Huoratron's key instruments are two hand-held Nintendo Gameboy consoles. The consoles are modified so that they can create more distorted, rough sounds and heavy bass - not the usual feature of Nintendo Gameboys. Using these nearly obsolete pieces of 80's gaming technology, and turning them into full-fledged electronic music composing tools, is the main ingredient behind Huoratron's unique raw sound." [source]

Don't believe me? Check out this other video of him doing a live event.

He is a from Helsinki. This does not surprise me at all. I don't see someone from Vermont doing this stuff. No offence. Oh...and of course he is not only a music maker, he is also an artist. Of course he is. Why are you surprised?

Let's take a break from all this crazy, epileptic inducing nonsense. (WARNING: Simulated scenes of violence, fear, and bleeding. Simulated being the key word here!)

Now some people thought the video for Santogold's "L.E.S. Artistes" is disturbing. And I can't completely disagree, but at the same time, the artistic merit trumps the slight shocking nature of the video. Especially when you consider that they reveal all the tricks of shots. The paint balls, the watermelon, etc. And have I mentioned how ridiculously beautiful this song is. Her voice crackles and spikes it's way through to a powerful chorus. I can't wait till her album drops, I have not heard one bad song from her yet.

And lastly I bring this monster of a track.

Again this comes from the hard working people at Discobelle. This is Buraka Som Sistema's track entitled "Sound of Kuduro" If you didn't know, Kuduro is a style of dance/hip hop music from Angola. It is hardcore, if you ask me. This video features M.I.A. among other big names in the scene. More importantly it shows some of the craziest dancing you will ever see. And by the looks of things, people in Angola just dance their asses anytime there is a video cramera in the place. The little kids get in on the game too. Too good not to post.

Later y'all

Beef & Changes Afoot

2008-03-16T23:44:00.004+09:00

I took this picture ages ago. I always had a soft spot for it. I love the impossibility of it, but of course, it is possible. (My skills with Photoshop are not this good.) Maybe you like the pic, maybe not. But no matter what your opinion regarding the photographic merits of the previous picture, I think you would be hard pressed to find anyone who could disagree with this...

I mean...come on...beer and yakiniku! Who doesn't want to get down with that? If you don't, maybe we can't be friends. My girl & I had a reason to celebrate last weekend so we went to:

It has to be one of our favorite place to eat cow. We went there for an early dinner on Sunday and had the whole place to ourselves. And let me tell you boy....was it tasty. By pure chance, while we were eating, we got news that my girl's mom was sending us some steak from Osaka. Crazy beef celebrations! We got it on Tuesday and cooked that sh*t up!

And it was mouth-wateringly good. Like caramel; you want to have it kind of melt in your and linger in your mouth. The pic above was just one cut off that hunk of beef. I think there are about 7 more cuts of the same size. We will be eating like a Texan for quite a while over here in Tokyo. And just to finish out this beef extravaganza, we had some nice burgers today.

That one was my girl's avocado burger. I had me this mammoth thing.

Yes, that that little tiny green thing fighting for it's life against the never ending sprawl of beef, cheese, and grease is asparagus. It was a pleasant little addition to the monster burger. We ate at the outdoor cafe on the 3rd floor of the Journal-Standard shop in Shinjuku. It was a great day and a great burger. I was a bit stuffed after though. I need to get my exercise on.

Lastly, this friendly looking guy will serve as a announcement that things are changing over here. I want to post more often, and I want to do it a little bit at a time. So, instead of a monster post once a week (or once every six months) I want to give you little tidbits more often. We shall see how it goes.

Later

Hello again, remember me?

2008-03-01T01:05:00.005+09:00

Rather than waste time apologizing and explaining why I have been away for so long, I will simply say this: I traveled some and I have been working on a project that is taking all my free time. And no, the project is not finished yet, but I couldn't let 6 months go by without some blog love. So, let's just move into the goodness that I may or may not be able to still bring into your lives. I will start with an event round up.

My arty picture to start us off was taken in the air over Alaska. I took it coming back from America after a great stay with my family over Thanksgiving. In my many trips back and forth from Japan to the US, I had never seen it so clear, sunny, and beautiful. I took a bunch of pics, enjoy them HERE. Moving on the next event in my event re-cap.

While I was away, I went to the Tokyo Motor Show. It was a blast. Oh and by the way...I like wheel porn. The wheel above is from the newest RS6 from Audi. My dream car, no two ways about it. The wheel below is from one of the many striking Mazada concepts that were shown. Innovative touch to add the color drops onto the rims. It must look interesting when on the move. Although...only from the one angle.

I took many pics of wheels. I like wheels. I like so much that I squatted down to take the pics every time. I hate to squat. It's not that I am old. I just really hate squatting. It may by my most hated position. It's one of the reasons I hate gardening. See, my Dad really loved gardening. And I loved my Dad. I loved to follow his A.D.D. having ass all over the place. From doing this little thing to that other thing he had been meaning to do. But the one thing I could NOT get down with was squatting. (Did you see what I did just then?) He would always lose me when he went to the garden. Cause the last time I checked...all the plants on God's green earth are all low down on the ground. With that family story out of the way. Feel free to check the gallery of wheels at the Tokyo Motor Show HERE.

Oh...I got full pictures to. I won't go through them all, but some are too good to not share. To start us off, we have the future of dump trucks according to Mitsubishi. I like how the future looks!

Next we have the half flowing lines and half sharp lines of the Toyota coupe FT-HS. And if you ask me, you can't call a car this interesting looking FT-HS. No matter if it's hybrid or not.

Not every car was looking so far into the future. This car is in the here and now and I love it. The color is an interesting choice. On a scale of 1 to 10; 10 being the best color/car match ever, I think this color is only so-so. I think there is a law somewhere that all Ferrari have to be red. I think its ok to break that law sometimes, but not with this specific pearly blue option.

And lastly we have the Suzuki X-Head concept. I am not the biggest truck fan ever, but I like this one. Clever side panels and well proportioned overall. Oh, and if you wait for the turntable to spin a bit...you get...wait for it...

...the Booth Model! They were everywhere. And this one was dressed modestly compared with most. I was expecting this part of the show, but I was still surprised. Even more surprising was the number of guys at the show for only the girls, not the cars. Don't get me wrong, I like girls better than cars, but have these guys never heard of the internet??? It was strange and a little disconcerting. I empathize too easily...so I was feeling the uncomfortableness of the women and the shame the guys SHOULD have been feeling for such obvious ogling and fantasizing. On that note! Click HERE to see the whole gallery of my pics for the motor show. And next on our event round-up is a family affair.

That there is my brother singing his heart out with his band Silent Drive. They came to Japan on a very short tour (2 shows!) and I was lucky enough to be able to go to one of them. Again, I took way too many pics and I will share only some of them.

I am not sure if this was my brother wiping the sweat of his brow or getting into the "heys" and "hos" of the crowd. I guess it's up the the individual reader to decide. The crowd was interesting. They were totally into every song. If they knew the words...they were singing along. But, during any break in the music they went as quiet as an nerd in a library. But...they did get there crazy on too.

This was the band FC Five. They were super. They might have been the crowd favorites even though they played early during the days line up. Oh...did I forget to tell you that it was an all day event? It was the "Pump Up the Volume Fest 2008" and it was in Kawasaki, Japan. It was good fun and the headline band was Bane.

It was the first time I had heard them play and they were pretty good. I prefer the more melodic stylings of Silent Drive, but the pure crunchiness and hardness is impressive. The crowd was certainly into them with nothing held back. And now...for my favorite pic of the night.

That there is my brother getting his grin on while avoiding the pig pile on the singer. It got straight up chaotic at the end. Good fun and a great day. For all 100 of my pics, click HERE. I think that is all for the events that have happened. Now let' get to the shoes. I have three to cover.

NO!!! I don't have any big news to announce. It is only that I loved these runners from New Balance JAPAN so much that I had to buy them, even if it is years to early. They were from a pack that was celebrating flags. This is the Japanese flag version just in case you missed it. And yes, the "N" is 3M reflective goodness. All this cuteness for the basement bargain price of ¥3000 ($27). It was too much to pass up. My kid will wear these someday, no matter if its a boy or a girl.

Here is a pair I picked up the day after I arrived back in the US. I found these Nike+ Digital Camo Moire's at the Nike Outlet near my house. I paid $40 (¥4400) which I think is a steal. I had been trying to pick up a pair of Moire's since they came out. I heard they were comfortable and, oh mama, are they ever! I wore them for the 2 weeks I was staying in the US and I was happy to do so. (Even though I had to break my self-imposed rule of never wearing the same pair 2 days in a row. Sacrifices have to be made while traveling...no??)

I was all ready to drop some serious coin on some shoes while staying in the Boston area. My sister and I even scheduled a whole day around hitting all the spots in Boston area. But on that day, the sneaker-god was not with me, and I could not find anything I liked. But that is the way the cookie crumbles sometimes. On the day before I left, I was finally able to find something I liked at Foot Locker.

It's a pair of Nike Air Max Light's. I have seen other colorways I like better, but I like this darker mix with hits of red. And the price was low enough to make it possible. A low low price of $60 (¥6500). They are not special releases, but that doesn't make me like them any less.

And there you have it. The Air Max Light is non-existent in Japan. Since they started re-releasing them I have been wanting to get a pair...and now I have one. If you want to know more about the shoes, Sneaker Freaker has a great little article about them.

Music

#1. First off we have the video for the infections track "Beeber" by The Count & Sinden featuring Kid Sister. It is not new by any means...but it is fun and catchy, just like a dance track should be.

[Via Catchdubs]

#2. This is another track that has been making the rounds in various mixes. It is T2's track "Heartbroken" featuring Jodie. This bassline sh*t is going to be the end of me. It is so good. This song gets stuck in my head at least once a week, so fair warning.

#3. And lastly, let's move into the mainstream a bit with a new track from Missy. It is her here is a remix of her newest track "Ching-a-ling" featuring Ciara and Jay Z. The video is nothing but the track is exceptional.

And that folks is all I have for you this post. It is my hope to do this more regularly again. But it may not happen that way. Let's hope it does!

Catching Up

2007-11-03T23:34:00.000+09:00

I'm back after an unexpected and unexplainable break. I'm not really sure what happened. Whatever the case, let's get through a quick sum-up of the last month. It might be a pic heavy post...still getting used to writing again. Let's get to it.

So that there is my old phone. She served me well for about 2 years. But in her old age, sending a few emails or taking a picture would tired the old bird out. She would need to take a nap right away. (My battery died all the damn time!) I replaced her with this hot number. (And no...it's not the iphone. I lust after it, but it's not available in Japan yet.)

I'm still getting used to being able to use all the functions without the phone shutting itself down. That is still a treat for me. But I'm most excited about 2 new functions. #1. I can send "Decoration Mail". Deco mail gives you lots of options for color, font size, special text options, embedded pics and video. Lot's of fun to play with on the train when your book ain't making you smile. #2. The other cool function is that you can download complete menu sets. It includes main menus, icons, screens for sending and receiving mail & calls. I could download any...but I chose the one my girl made. One advantage of being with a graphic designer. Moving right along.

Picked up some cds in the last couple weeks. Both of these are well worth your dollars. The Simian Mobile Disco tracks are some of the most solid & complete songs I have heard in a long time. They are so good that I have yet to hear a bad remix of them. At the same time, not many remixes are amazingly improved either. Here is a Bjorkish/low-budget/art school attempt of a video for one of my favorite tracks on the cd, "It's the Beat".

The "Ayres N Titties Baltimore Club Mix" is exactly what it says it is. A one hour mix of B-more goodness. Click HERE for a complete track listing and free samples.

What more can I say about M.I.A.?? The album is just really good. A bunch of great tracks and a couple amazing ones. The international edition had 3 bonus tracks that were well worth the extra money I paid. My fav track is still "Paper Planes". I can't help but post the remix featuring Bun B and Pimp C of UGK. More about M.I.A. to come.

Dizzee Rascal's album was a surprise. It was a huge improvement from his 2nd album, which I really couldn't get with at all. This one has lots of good songs and the beats are bangin' again. Strangely enough my favorite track also features Bun B. I need to get some UGK stuff soon! Here is the track, "Where da G's". (Not official video.)

What you see above is my only pic of the amazing M.I.A. show in Tokyo. My camera was taken away before I entered and security was NAZI-ish with the pointing and the wagging of fingers. I was about 5 feet from the stage the whole show. (Therefore the security also.) It was packed. People were jammed in there. It's been a long time since I have been to a show like that. And to be honest...maybe I'm getting to old for that kind of show. But, this show was simply amazing. If you ever have a chance to she her live...run, don't walk, to the ticket window. I have never seen someone with as much energy and stage presence as her. And the music was superb! Sadly, I was unable to take notes during the show as I was too busy loving it and getting pushed and jostled about.

My girl found the BEST curry place in Tokyo. Bondy Curry is unbelievably delicious. I have had the extreme pleasure of eating there twice now...and both times have been amazing. One word of explanation before we get to the food. This place is IN a bookstore. And not just any bookstore, it's in a vintage, dusty, old man style bookstore. After you weave your way through the shelves, you see the tiny entrance to the restaurant. It's like a hidden treasure. Ok...on with the food.

They start you with a very simple appetizer: potatoes with fresh butter. I add to that a nice beer. They throw in some cheese when you order beer...that's just how nice they are. And then comes the main entree.

Yes...that is cheese on the rice. It really adds a little something special. Not that the curry itself needs any help. I'm sorry I couldn't take any pics with the curry on the rice. Once I started eating...I was quite unable to take any pics. I ordered the chicken again. And let me just say...DAMN! My girl got the pork, and it was good, but it couldn't touch my chicken.

Quickie Book Reviews:

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is as good as the hype said it was. It brought characters to life like few books can. Read it as soon as you can. I challenge you to put it down during the the last quarter. I couldn't.

Haruki Murakami's collection of short stories is truly impressive. Each one of these holds a perfect world together. Some of these maybe familiar to people who read short stories, but most of them were completely new to me. A great collection.

Vachss just always hits me the right way. I can't even tell if I love his writing in an ironic way or if I actually love his dark justice tales. Give him a chance and you may never look back.

Transmission by Hari Kunzru was bought mostly on the design of the cover. But I also had a vague memory of a book review I read in Arena magazine a while ago. I'm so glad I picked it up...what a great book. Fast paced and smart in all the right ways. The ending was really fun as well.

A Scanner Darkly was an uncomfortable read. Kind of in a good way...but also not that much fun. Like a lot of PKD's books you are never sure of much in the book. Nothing is ever solid enough. But the end pulls things together nicely so I was not very angry at it. Glad I read it. I wonder how the movie is?

Nick McDonell's book Twelve was a really quick read. I remember reading a lot of hype about it years ago. It is pretty good. But, not earth shattering. An honest (sounding) glimpse of the upper-class teens in NYC. Not a bad book, but you could just watch KIDS and save yourself some time.

After spending about $25 on UNLUNDUN by China Mieville, I sat down to read it and I found this on the inside cover: "Mieville has written 4 adult novels and 1 collection of short...." WAIT WHAT!??!? Yeah, this here is a book for young adults. Nice. It was still good, but I was understandably disappointed. That will learn me to read the inside cover before I buy any of my favorite writer's new books.

Pink by Gus Van Sant sucks. I like most of his movies. I barely made it thorough his first book. Don't waste your time. (It's possible I'm just not smart, arty, or sensitive enough to enjoy this book..but I doubt it.)

These are the insoles from my new Nikes. Looks like some kind of digitized camo. I like it. I picked them up at the new Undefeated store in Tokyo.

I thought the store would be full of attitude, being they are one of the big players in the shoe game. But, the people have been pleasant each time I have visited. And they don't seem to jack up the price even on exclusives. I picked these up for ¥15,000 ($130). I do have one complaint about the shoe though. I feel like it would have been a better look to have the NIKE AIR & the swoosh in black. But it is a small thing.
This pick and the teaser pic of last month show the nice camo detailing. I like the color combination on this pair: black, tan, and just a hint of purple. Ok...enough fooling around. Here is the full shot.

That's a nice subtle looking shoe if you ask me. The quality of leather is really high. The whole shoe look and feels really solid. And they fit just a bit more snug than other 90's I have. I like how the dark laces look. But I like these better.

I love both laces, with the inter-weaving of the contrasting color. This shoe is from a new line called the Tech Pack. The Nike Lab has made some really nice pieces. If I had some extra money laying around, I would pick up a jacket or 2.

That is all for now. Take care...and let's hope it's not another month till I post more nonsenseup here.

Break Time

2007-10-01T15:34:00.000+09:00

I'll be back soon. Sorry if you have wasted your time checking here in the last 2 weeks. Just hold on just a bit longer. Enjoy this while you wait.

See you again soon.

And The Eyes Have It

2007-09-09T20:46:00.000+09:00

Take a look at this.

I see these menacing looking eyes all the time. They were always floating on the periphery. I assumed they were a community watch sort of thing. I was right. The sticker says, "Crime: We won't let it happen." Once I started to look for them, I really started to see them everywhere.

On doors.

On vans.

On bikes.

On buses.

It truly is part of the iconic landscape of Japan. I love it. It seems to have a bit more punch that the "Crime Watch" signs in the US. Another thing that is quickly becoming part of the city landscape...

...fixed bikes. If you thought the fixed bike phenomenon was just a passing phase, I got evidence to prove you wrong. This pic was taken outside the Stussy shop in Shinjuku. They were proudly displaying their membership to the fixed club. I also found more scattered through the city.

I like the solid back wheel. It looks very serious. It is also a great place to put all your cool stickers. On the other hand...I like the BMX style a lot. I feel like it would be a bit easier to control. But, what do I know. Would you like some more pics?

I like the pairs locked together. It means that they have fixed friends. I wonder if they would be friends with regular bike riders. From time to time I see a group of them sliding through the city. They look pretty damn cool. But they don't seem to co-mingle. I wonder. One side effect of the growing popularity of fixed bikes: when I see a messenger without a fixed bike, I think, "What a pussy." This happens even though I have never even come close to riding one, let alone buying one.

One other bike issue I would like to address is this.

Why is Hummer making a bike? And why is it being sold in Japan? Yes, it is a bit more environmental sound than the regular SUV. But I still ask why. I started seeing them a year or 2 ago. But they are not the only bike oddity out there.

The Chevy seems to be very popular. I see it all over. Is this the new recovery plan for the US car makers? This is the best idea they can come up with? Scary. But American car companies are not the only people trying to make a quick buck through licensing.

Even the defunct and now resurrected Rover is getting in the game. They make their bikes available in 2 sizes: compact and regular. Look, look, their seats have a stripe! Their bikes, like there cars look low on imagination and high on boring.

Even the French can't turn down a chance at some easy money. Actually the Peugeot bikes are everywhere. All differnt sizes and colors. Speaking of different sizes, I hear some people calling for more picks of the compact bikes. Well, you can't say I don't try to satisfy my readers.

Mini bikes that will fit in the trunks of the cars they are named after. A perfect circle. No?

Moving on.

As I teased last week, I bought some new shoes. First thing to notice is the box sizes. On the left is the modern larger size and on the right is the vintage smaller box. I wonder why they had to increase the box size? Wanted to kill more trees? Wanted to take up more room in my closet?

So as I said, I was looking at the re-sellers in Ueno last week. Usually I see my shoe purchases coming a mile away. I find the pictures online months before the release date, lust after it for some time, plan for the purchase with my banker, and then go to the store and pick it up on the day it comes out. It gives me time to think and I don't make many mistakes.

At the same time, I usually check at the re-sellers to see if there is anything I missed in the past, or any cheap deals. But it is hard: I need to decide on the spot, they need to have my size, they need to be unworn, and the price has to be right. All four came together and I got these.

As far as I know, these were not in any pack or named anything special. What I do know is that they were released in 2005 and are pretty damn nice. I picked them up for ¥8000. ($70) After I got home, I saw them on Flight Club for $200, but they have since been sold. Apparently I did some thrifty shopping. My Dad would be proud.

You know I am all about the pink highlights. The brown and green give me lots of options to match with. And for some reason, I love that the soles are navy blue. It seems like they went the extra mile, rather than the standard white or black. As for laces, again, I have lots of options. First up...pink. Developing. I wore them for the first time the other day.

It is not very often you can find a floor that matches you kicks. Had to snag a pic. One other shoe related news I bring you yet another lace color for the Hold Tights.

And since it has been a hot minute since I have shown a whole outfit, I will throw one at you.

I found this shirt in some random catalogue my girl had. I am usually not a big catalogue shopper, but I couldn't pass this "AIR" t-shirt up. There is a little paragraph about Air Max on the bottom of the shirt and a nice big logo on the back. I likey.

Music

#1. The first mix I have for you this week is from Catchdubs and DJ Ayres. Read all about it HERE. I like it because it is a bit off the beaten path. Not my usual stuff, but very good. It is a nice dancy rock mix. Never gets too far in any direction. Listenable from beginning to end. Some standout tracks include Depeche Mode goodness, the sick Cardigans remix, and the overly fun reworking of Foxy Lady. Click HERE for the mix. Track list below. [via Catchdubs, obviously]

Tracklist - Superfriends:

Gary Numan - M.E.
Depeche Mode - Policy of Truth
Squeeze - Take Me I'm Yours
Partial Arts - Trauermusic (Alter Ego Mix)
Kaos - My Reputation
The Cardigans - Love Fool (Catchdubs Bongo Edit)
The Gossip - Standing in the Way of Control (Soulwax Remix)
Speaker Junk - Foxy Lady
Adam Kesher - Modern Times (908 Remix)
Wolf & Cub - Thousand Cuts (Phones Remix)
Metric - Handshakes
Tones On Tail - Go
The Kills - Love Is a Deserter (Cavemen Mix)
Pixies - Alec Eiffel
Devo - Mongoloid
The Clash - Jail Guitar Doors
The Presets - Are You The One (Van She Tech NYC Rush Mix)
!!! - All My Heroes Are Weirdos
Snowden - Kill The Power
Maximum Joy - Stretch (99 Records Version)
Pyschonauts - Hot Blood
Harry Knuckles - Blisster<br>Intriga - Nostalgia Dance Orchestra
INXS - Original Sin
Psychedelic Furs - Love My Way
Hot Chip - Colours (Fred Falke Remix)
Robert Lippok & Barbara Morgenstern - Please Wake Me For Meals

#2. This is a mix that Diplo did for Pitchfork. It is a really good mix. I will explain it like this. This mix is like your crazy aunt. Whenever she comes back from whatever loony place she was last time...you never know what bizarre stories she has in her head or what crazy souvenirs she has in her bag for you. It's always unpredictable but always good...sometimes its exactly what you never knew you wanted. Click HERE for the music and lot's more info about the mix.

Tracklist - Diplo 4 Pitchfork:

01. I Like Turtles
02. Mr. Vegas: "Lean Wit It"
03. M.I.A. [ft. Bun B and Rich Boy]: "Paper Planes"
04. Schooly D: "Gucci Time"
05. Yeah Yeah Yeahs: "Rockers to Swallow"
06. Jellybean: "Sidewalk Talk"
07. Belle Stars: "Iko Iko"
08. Scala & Kolacny Brothers: "Heartbeats"
09. Diplo & Switch [ft. Elephant Man]: "East, West (Remix)"
10. Nirvana: Drain You / Huey: "Pop, Lock & Drop It"
11. Marc Houle: "Bay of Figs (Ward 21 Mix)"
12. DJ Tamiel: "Bump Like This"
13. Queen [ft. David Bowie]: "Under Pressure"
14. Eddie Money: "Take Me Home Tonight"
15. Soulja Boy: "Crank Dat Superman"
16. Bat for Lashes: "What's a Girl to Do (Break)"
17. DJ Shadow: "Organ Donor (Sandrinho Remix)"
18. Diplo & Switch [ft. Beenie Man]: "Solta Frango"
19. Mr. Vegas: "Hot Fuk (Diplo Mix)"
20. Enur [ft. Natasja]: "Calabria (2007 mix)"
21. Spoon: "Paper Tiger"
22. Circle Children: "Zulu"
23. M.I.A. [ft Akon]: "Boyz Remix (Hi Powered Boyz Get Down)"
24. Boy 8 Bit: "Suspense Is Killing Me"
25. KW Griff: "Tony's Back"
26. Diplo: "Work Is Never Over"
27. M.I.A: "Bamboo Banger"
28. Sizzla: "Bamboo Banger (Dubplate)"
29. Blaqstarr: "Supastarr"
30. Shai: "If I Ever Fall in Love Again (Dub)"
31. Orbital: "Halcyon"
32. LA Priest: "Engine (Erol Alkan Remix)"
33. Petter: "Some Polyphony"
34. Rihanna: "Umbrella (Vandalism Mix)"
35. Justice: "Phantom Pt. II (Soulwax Mix)"
36. The White Stripes: "Little Cream Soda"
37. ZZT: "Lower State of Consciousness"
38. Kia Shine: "Crispy"
39. Bart Simpson: "Bartman (So Kripsy Mix)"

#3. This is, as it says above, is the Electric Zoo Mixtape 2. It is also good, but in a different way than the Diplo mix. I will explain: This one is like your rich uncle. You could set your watch to his visits. Once every 6 months he arrives to take your whole family to the only nice restuarnt in your town. He always orders the steak, rare with whiskey on the side. (That whiskey becomes important later.) Like clockwork, after the appetizer he gives you whatever is the hottest item at the moment. Of course you are happy...but it seems just a little souless. He then talks about the same topics as always over his steak. It is only when he gets to the 3rd whiskey that he starts to get a little crazy and a bit funny and risqué. Click HERE for the music. [via Electric Zoo]

Tracklist - Electric Zoo Mixtape 2:

Justin Martin - 'Ghetto Train'
Radioclit - 'Divine Gosa (Brodinski Remix)'
The Bulgarian Ft. Spoek Bukky - 'The Zombie Door'
Jaimie Fanatic - 'Don't Act Like You Don't Know'
Crookers - 'Chippin It Up 4 A Killa (Trevor Loveys Rework)'
Uffie - 'Hot Chick (Bonus Beats)'
Eve - 'Tambourine (Edit)'
The Fratellis - 'Creeping Up The Backstairs (Remix)'
To My Boy - 'Model (Sinden Remix)'
The Ghost Frequency - 'Nightmare (Speaker Junk's Unleash The Beast Remix)'
Adam Sky VS Mark Stewart - 'We Are All Prostitutes (Crookers Remix)'
Aquasky Ft. Acafool - 'Have A Good Time (Count Of Monte Cristal & Sinden Remix)'
Jaimie Fanatic VS Missy Elliot - 'We Run This'
Jokers Of The Scene - 'Y'all Know The Name'
Bart B More - 'Killing It'
Hostage - 'Schweet Dreams'
Roisin Murphy - 'Overpowered (Herve & Roisin In The Secret Garden Remix)'

#4. Another mix from the Diplo crew, Mad Decent. Although this time it is from Paul Devro. It is a serious 30 min set full of goodness. It includes everyone from the Mad Decent family. Listen to this and enjoy. I am not sure which family member this mix represents. Plus, I think I took that analogy as far as it would go. Maybe too far. I will say that the mix out of Prince into Bode do Role is fantastic. The 303 of the RadioClit track is screaming right into the pleasure part of my brain. This is the stuff you love, but can never sing along with. That is one thing I envy about pop/rock lovers. The Mark Stewart track moving into the Charlene Dance track is also bananas. Click HERE for the music. (iTunes required?) [via Mad Decent]

Tracklist - XLR8R Podcast DJ Mix by Paul D:

1. Capricorn "20 Hz" (Global Cuts)
2. Garth Brooks & Baawawawa (ABC Primetime Special)
3. Mark Stewart "We are Prostitutes (Crookers Remix)" (Soul Jazz Records)
4. Prince "I Would Die For You (Zomby Remix)" (No Label)
5. Bonde Do Role "Cagado" (Mad Decent/Domino)
6. Expendable Youth "Just" Like (No Label)
7. RadioClit "Divine Gosa (Switch Remix)" (RadioClit)
8. Bonde Do Role "Gasolina (Fake Blood Remix)" (Mad Decent/Domino)
9. Mark Stewart "We're All Prostitutes (Crookers Remix) (Soul Jazz Records)
10. Charlene Dance "Mr. DJ (Speaker Junk Tarantula Remix)" (Dirtypop Records)
11. DJ Hype "Pussy Trak" (Bingo Beats)
12. Blaqstarr "Shake it To The Ground (Switch Remix) Feat. Santogold" (Mad Decent)
13. Santogold "Unstoppable (produced by Diplo)" (Lizard King)
14. Shorter Boyz "Bama Gettin' Money" (Shorter Boy Records)

Bonus Music

I have 2 videos to share this week. If you didn't notice, I am trying to make up for the lack of music last week. The first one is "Drivin' Me Wild" by Common featuring Lily Allen. Love the song. It is beautiful. Although, I am not sure about the combat boots with the dress at the beginning. I like the astronaut suit and the white dress with the Nike Air Max so much more. But, if you sing like that, how can I hate on you.

The second video should be watched for 2 reasons: 1st. Becuase it is a great song. 2nd. Because you can see a lot of Tokyo in the video. Lot's of stuff looks familiar. It is a slice of life. Not the exagerated images you often see. Enjoy the video MUSCLES - Sweaty.

That is all.

Later.

Leftovers

2007-09-03T21:47:00.000+09:00

I came across this great sign the other day. (Actually, it's a 2 for 1 deal, cause the pins in the background ain't to shabby either.) I was with my girl in a department store that we don't go to often. We were just checking out the upper floors looking for a quick place to eat. We turned the corner, and ran into this gem of a sign. I love the retro/futuristic feeling of the font. I also love that I found bowling lanes in a department store. It was a bit shocking. So shocking it started a little emotion in me to, I felt the pull of the pins and the big balls. My girl was less than enthused. Oh well, maybe next time.

So, this week I have a bunch of unrelated stuff that has been gathering in my mind and in various folders on my desktop. We will call it leftovers. It is past time to get rid of some of this crap. (The first pic being a prime example.) So, let's get to it.

Just in case some of you had some lingering thoughts about how underground Bathing Ape is, linger no longer. Bathing Ape provided the t-shirts for the huge nationwide NTV 24 hour TV extravaganza. It is all for charity, so I can't hate on them. The event sticks a bunch of celebs on TV for 24 hours to raise money for various good causes. This year was all about the environment and childhood diseases.

They made 300,000 of the t-shirts and sold them all for the low low price of ¥1400. ($12) The "30" on the t-shirt is because this year marks the 30th year they have done this. Oh, I almost forgot the most iconic part of the show. They pick one celeb each year who runs/walks the entire 24 hours. It is an absolute torture to watch. They have 24 hours to finish a 70km course. This year it was a 66 year old comedian. He didn't finish the course in the allotted time, so it turned in to 27 hour TV. Again, I say this is not fun to watch. I only read about it and flicked through it a couple times. I don't want to see things that hurt my eyes.

This thing here is not harmful for your eyes at all.

I have been very lucky to run into some amazing cars lately. I snagged this pic in Shibuya on my way to play some table tennis. The guy driving this Ferrari 430 Spider did nothing to reverse the stereotype of complete asses driving Ferraris. Oh well. If you are wondering what I would drive, if I had to drive a Ferrari. Click HERE to see the 2008 Ferrari 430 Scuderia. I doubt it would make the best starter sports car...but, it is still my favorite current Ferrari. I also ran into another car I have no business driving. Actually, no one has any business driving this thing in a city.

From far away, it looks like your regular everyday Porsche. It is far from ordinary, move closer.

No, this is as serious as you can get without racing tires. This is the 2007 Porsche GT3RS. This thing comes standard with roll bars people. That is how ridiculous it is. I can't imagine what it would be like driving around a busy city. Can you imagine how hard the springs are? How sharp the brake response is? How much power this thing has from just a quick right foot tap?

At first glance the front doesn't look so different from the regular 911's. It is though, with many more scoops and diffusers. The emblem on the hood is not the usual metal one either, it is a sticker to save weight. That is how serious the German's are about this car. I love it. I love the color too. The orange really suits this shape. My 2nd fav detail on the whole car is the color matching brake calipers visible through the massive black wheels.

My favorite detail is the "RS" on the huge rear spoiler. So not needed, but so necessary. The owner of this ride was busy shopping in Gucci while I and a few other people drooled over his car. When he came out, with 3 staff members holding his large bags, it took forever to find places to stash all his loot. No space in the front trunk, very difficult to stick stuff in the back with all the roll bars. What a conundrum. Luckily my man didn't bring his girl shopping with him so they stacked all the stuff on the passenger seat. Smooth. (Not that I was watching and judging...me??? Never!)

And the last hotness I came across was this monster.

This Lamborghini Murcielago surprised me. I came around the corner and BAM! The white monster was just sitting there waiting for me. As curvy and sensual the Porsche is, the Lambo is all straight lines and edgy. Look how far forward the driver's seat is, compared with the rest of the car. It just keeps going and going to fit all the engine in the rear.

The flatness of this car is pretty damn amazing. It is all wide spaces, angles, and clear lines, yet somehow it is full of emotion. This thing exudes passion in a way that the Porsche can't.

The exhaust is pretty sick. I think the center exhaust option works on only a few cars, and this is one of them. It is my 2nd fav detail on this crazy car. My top detail is the real wheels. They are so wide that they stretched the wheel design in 3 dimensions. This pic tries to show that, not all that successfully, sadly.

If you scroll back up you can see the difference between the front and rear wheels. I love it. And that is all for the cars I have seen lately. But don't you worry, I will have my eyes open and my camera at the ready.

Speaking of keeping my eyes open...this product caught my eyes.

So, yeah, these cookies were in the local drugstore. The perfect product for the girl on the go who is a bit hungry and wants bigger breasts. F-cups no less! Strange. I wonder if they sell this kinda crap in drugstores in the US. Anybody? Japan is a great place to live, no? (And I won't even get into the ringtones ladies can download to increase their chest size.)

As you remember the other day, I went to a graf exhibition. As I was there, I was thinking about the huge effect that the whole movement is having, and had for such a long time. It is being used in the mass media all the time, there is even a video game about it. Any person living in any city sees it everywhere. The good, the bad, and the ugly. Lot's of companies co-opt the look to make their ad more edgy. It took me a minute to figure out if this was real graffiti or Nike looking for for more street cred.

I finally figured out it was some writer throwing his shit up on the Nike billboard. But, who knows, maybe Nike paid him to. I kinda like the how it looks together. And Nike is smart to put up such simple ads. They are just begging for somebody to spray all over them. Here are more examples.

I also like the new logo they are using in Tokyo. It is simple but it has a nice balance. (The swoosh is between the kanji characters for Tokyo.) One more pic.

Call me crazy, but I read no clear message in this one. But I don't hate it all. It made me stop and think for a minute, which is about all we can ask of art. Speaking of messages, there is no doubt in this one.

[via Supertouch]

I'm not sure one French graf artist is going to make a whole hell of a lot of difference, but WK INTERACT wants this war to be over. This "Bring Me Back" is a pretty impressive piece if you ask me. But you are an idiot if you are asking me about graffiti. I don't know nothing. Click HERE to see more picks and read a bit more about it.

And finally for today, I went shopping again. I hit the outlets first. New Balance and Adidas were a waste of my time. Not even anything I slightly considered. Nike on the other hand had a bunch of maybes.
[source]

Like these Stabs. I like the color combination. I have a t-shirt that would match really well, maybe too well. And it is only the one shirt. No other options. That's a limited wardrobe y'all. Plus, the price was still a bit high.

[source]

I was liking these square-dots too. If it was a mesh toe-box instead of the dead looking leather, these would be in my closet already.

[source]

These are pretty old, so I was surprised to see them. I carried them around the store for a long time. These were best things they had in the store. The price was a bit dear again. So, in the end, I put them down too. I ate lunch and then took the train back to Tokyo. Before I went home, I stopped in Ueno. I had kinda made up my mind to get the Air Max Lights. Remember these?

[source]

Shockingly they didn't have my size. I took it as a sign that I should not get them. So I made my way to the station to go home. But not before stopping in a couple mini-stockists booths. I never find much there. They have a varied selection, some new releases, some collectibles, some used stuff. It is completely hit or miss. Low and behold, I found these!

I nice vintage shoe from 2005. I will share soon. See you guys next week.

Culture vs. Consumerism

2007-08-19T19:24:00.000+09:00

Just in case you didn't know, it's summer here in Tokyo. It has been crazy hot. Last week we reached a new record high temp for Japan; 40.9 degrees Celsius. That is a ridiculous 105.62 degrees Fahrenheit. Not surprisingly, some people died and some went into the hospital. Read all about it HERE. But don't worry my faithful readers, I have been able to survive the heat. I have also managed to live through a couple more small earthquakes. Yeah for me!

Last post I started with a night shot of Shinjuku from my apt. I got a couple requests for some daytime shots. This shot just below is the matching shot to my last post, only this time it's a bright sunny day.

My place has a 270 degree view. It is pretty nice, if I do say so myself. If you look a little more to the left, I can see the limited towers of Ikebukuro.

And if we turn slightly more we get the view of the suburbs of Hoya/Nishi Tokyo. Nishi means in west. We live to the west of central Tokyo. But if you take the train for 30 mins, so start to get to the deeper suburbs. And now you know what it looks like from the 11th floor of my apt. Yippee.

Thanks to all of you how threw your 2 cents in about the "This or That" sneaker question. I could only find the orange Air Max Lights. Which I do like, but I wanted to see the brown 90's in person before deciding. So....I went with option "The Other Thing": Rainbow 6 Vegas. Which may or may not have been part of the reason for the lack of a post last week.

All this shopping and gaming made me feel like a bad person. So I have been trying to get some culture as well. Let's see if I can balance my consumerism with some cultural experience.

Cultural Experience #1.

A couple weeks back I had a chance to go to a Japanese Tea Ceremony. Otherwise known as Sado: "the way of tea". I had no idea what to expect. I thought we would watch some people perform it, learn a bit, and I figure it would be a lot of sitting "seiza style". This is when you sit with your on your knees with your feet tucked under yourself. I was right and wrong. We did have to sit seiza style, but we were also expected to try doing it as well.

The key is moving your hand as fast as you can. As you can see from the pic, she could do it really well. But when she put the cup in front of me, with the green tea powder, and a little water; I couldn't move my hand fast enough to make the tea good.

After my second try, she tasted my attempt and declared it "green juice" not green tea. She didn't really smile about it either. I almost told her her Rolex didn't really match her kimono, but I held my tongue. In addition to my failed and insulted tea, my legs were dying. Seiza style is so hard, like torture. My legs did not recover until a couple of hours. It was a good experience, for sure. I LOVE CULTURE!

Consumerism #1.

So, I have been having a lot of bag related problems on the weekend. During the week, I need to carry a book, magazine, ipod, etc. I got that bag situation covered. But on the weekend, I only want to carry my wallet, sunglasses, and maybe a bottle of water. I wanted something small, but not tiny. Last weekend I finally found what I had been looking for.

For bags I lean away from sports brands; Nike, New Balance, and so on. It would give me too much of a headache trying not to cross brands. Also, camouflage works pretty well so I don't have to be too concerned about color matching.

I used it today, and it worked well. Although one of my friends said it was pretty gay looking. I never got a chance to ask him if it was the dots or the shape. He is a backpack only kinda dude, so...um...yeah. I won't let one tiny comment scare me away from what looks like a promising relationship.

Cultural Experience #2.

I have an interest in graffiti and how it connects to underground culture and culture in general. I really don't know nearly enough to be able to comment on it intelligently. But I do try to go to exhibits when I can. This show of Barry Mcgee was pretty good. Sadly, I couldn't take any pics inside. Rules! He is also know as Twist, click HERE for some shots of his stuff out in the open. He has been around forever, so he uses a real mix of styles and materials. What I really love is his graphic textures. Here is one shot that I found floating around on the interwebs.

I couldn't figure out where I had see these kinds of patterns before. They had some really warm feelings attached to them. It took a while to come to me, but I realized where I had see them before. I found out they are based on back covers of old sheet music from the 30's and 40's. My Dad had some old music that had these types of patterns on them. It was nice to be able to connect something of today's subculture to my Dad's memory. I wonder where all that old music went to?

Consumerism #2.

If you know this logo, you just might be a brand whore. I am. My girl is. Come join us. The brand is Goyard. They are an extremely exclusive (<--- read f*cking expensive) luggage maker. They also make wallets, see below.

My girl has been looking forward to owning one of these for years now. We were finally able to make it a reality. That is fun. It is also a nice way to balance out my large purchase of the Xbox last month. Compromise and balance is very important in both relationships and consumerism.

I didn't love the wallet right away. I thought the pattern was classic, but on the boring side. Now I have changed my mind. I like the quietness of it. All signs point to my next wallet coming from Goyard as well. I gotta start saving my pennies! If you have a chance, check them out, they are beautifully made pieces. But good luck finding a shop in your neighborhood. Less than 15 shops worldwide. Now that's what I call brand management. Taking forced exclusivity to a whole new level. They also do bespoke pieces and personalized monograms at your request. Developing.

I hope I found some balance in the ongoing struggle between my arty side and my side that wants to buy everything. Let's get to some music.

Music

#1. M.I.A.'s album finally dropped. I have yet to pick it up. I have been content grabbing stuff of the web. Case in point: this her track "Jimmy"

I swear I heard the original before. I think my CitySis turned me onto some bhangra remixes of this track ages ago. Who knows? Also came across this adorable and heartbreaking snippet of Diplo and M.I.A. in happier times. (They used to be together and now they ain't.)

That shit almost makes me cry every time. I have no idea why. Maybe it's the amazing song. The happiness on their faces. The bittersweetness of it. Here is the track in it's entirety. (Not the proper video, just audio.)

#2. Since we are on a ethnic tip. I found some shit that brought me back to my high school days. I got this awesome mix tape got from some kid in my school. We aways swapped rap tapes and this one day he gave me this tape full of Spanish hip-hop. At the time I played the hell out of it, and then kinda forgot about it. I had now idea it was so good. It was way before I understood what was happening culturally in the music. Click HERE to read all about it. But if you want to hear it click HERE and HERE. A 2 for 1 special. Just call me K-mart. [via Negrophonic]

#3. Not too much to say about this one. It is just a great mix by the South Rakkas recorded live at Fabric. What more needs to be said, really? Lot's of different styles, all of them good. Riddims galore! This shit should make you smile all the way. Love the amazing re-working of a Lily Allen track at 7 minutes. They tear it to shreds and build something fierce. [via Mad Decent]

#4. Nothing to say about this one either. Or, actually, a challenge. See if you can listen to this song without your mood improving. It is one of the most joyful songs I have ever heard. Click HERE to get happy. [via The Fader]

Off to kill me some terrorists.

Later

Congrats all around!

2007-08-05T21:37:00.000+09:00

This is the view from my apt once again. On clear nights, the Shinjuku skyline is really nice. The Empire State look-a-like in the center is the Docomo Tower. If and when we move from this apt, I will miss the view, that's for sure. But wait! This is a happy post, let's get to the happiness!

That's right folks. Man in Tokyo is 1 year old! My first post was on August 2nd, 2006. Congrats to me! I made it one year without stopping. I started this thing with a lot of encouragement from my City Sis. So of course...a big shout out to her! To all the kind people that spend some of their time to read this, thank you. Still not exactly sure what the point of this thing is, but I hope to be able to stick 2 candles in something someday! While we are making announcements.

* Congrats to my Country Sis and her family! They welcomed a new daughter to their ever expanding family. I got a new niece on the 4th of August. Can't wait to meet her in Nov.

* An early HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my brother! August 7th is his big day. I won't be able to make it back to see you for this one. Good luck on your tour! If any of you readers are in Europe and you like hardcore. My brother will be going on tour with Bane. Click HERE if you want to have your head kicked in by some live hardcore loudness.

Ok...that's enough congrats to last me a long while. Let's get back down to business. Last week I informed you that I made a big non-sneaker purchase. Now is the time for the big reveal.

That's right people, I bought an Xbox 360. It was one of the more difficult choices in my life. I knew I needed to upgrade, but I was not sure which direction to go in. Other times in my life I had no doubt. My 5th system was the most difficult to decide on. I have been a game player all my life. I still have fond memories of buying my first Sega Master System.

For more picks click HERE. Back in the day, It was my first big purchase. I remember walking out of Kay-Bee Toys a very happy boy. I played the hell out of After Burner,

Alex Kidd,

and many more. (Outrun, Zillion, Double Dragon, Sonic, etc...) My brother and I played a lot. (Mind you, we were also active outdoors: BMX, basketball, wiffle-ball) And just in case you were wondering, I had both the gun and the 3D glasses. This was just my first entry into the video game world. I never got down with the Nintendo, besides Mario of course. Much later I got the Sony PlayStation 1 and 2. I loved them. They satisfied me very well. So, why did I jump ship you ask? Good question!

What you see above are 2 good reasons. I thought long and hard about which system to go with, Xbox or PS3. And as you see, I went with the new boy on the block. I have been dying to play Forza and Table Tennis. Both of these games are NOT available on the PS3. Gran Turismo (on the PlayStation) served me well, but I thought it was time to move on. I'm not sure what GT thought. (Not that I care.) So far, I am very pleased with my choice.

The Rockstar Table Tennis game is pretty amazing. I wouldn't say its JUST like playing ping pong in real life, but it's pretty damn close. Do you know what's even better than playing the one player tournaments at home? Playing against my new friends online. Although I lose more than I win, it is a complete blast.

As for Forza...

Here is my first tricked out car. It is first generation Lancia Delta. So far the game is making me happy. I am not quite used to it all yet...but I am having fun.

Lastly, and for no reason at all...an in game shot of a vintage Porsche killing the competition.

I will keep you updated with the good times as they occur. Sadly, the purchase did put a large dent in my sneaker funds. It might be quite a while before I can pick up a new pair. But...that doesn't mean I have to stop thinking about them. Right now, these are my top two contenders.

[source]

or
[source]

I am leaning towards the brown ones. But I have yet to see them in the flesh. Let me know what you all think. I might just listen to your opinion! (Maybe)

Music

#1. As I have said before, 50 Cent ain't my favorite rapper ever. That being said...I can get down to some of his tracks. I am still loving that remix from a couple weeks back. Here is his new track "I get money".

Now...you might ask "When will this conspicuous consumption as art ever end?" Who knows? But, I think it's hilarious. Plus, does anyone else think it's strange he talks all about Ferrari Enzos and Jaguars in the video, but is surrounded by Lamborghinis? I will have to ask him if he knows the difference the next time I see him. And if you can't get down with the original, from Catchdubs comes a nice fix up of "I Get Money". It is somehow simpler and better. I can't quite put my finger on why. Maybe it's cause I don't have to watch that video. Maybe? [via Catchdubs]

#2. This next one sounds like the best video game you've never played...at 140 BPM. Just picture Mario and Luigi getting their groove on. Watch out for the "Game Over" before everything goes into double speed! If I had any talent at all, I would be making a You Tube video for this right now. Sadly...I am only sharing it with you. It is a Switch remix of a Les Rythmes Digitales track "Jacques Your Body Make Me Sweat". [via Attorney St.]

#3. This track speaks to me. I am not sure why. Is it the slow heavy bass? The organ like twiddling? The old school hook from Gang Starr's track "Ex-Girl to the Next"? The smoothness of the MCs? Or is it all of the above? Click HERE to read a bit more about the track and listen to the track. [via The Fader]

#4. I don't have much info on this one. And...to be honest, I don't really need any. Neither should you. It is a hot-ass remix of Lil' Mama track "Lip Gloss". I don't think it could get any more fun. [via Palms Out]

BONUS TRACK. Holy goose bumps Batman. This thing killed me. It is ridiculously good. A bit of a slow start, but once it starts getting its groove on, you won't want it to stop. You must listen to Bjork's Timbaland produced track "Innocence" as remixed by Simian Mobile Disco. The synths are to die for. The beat just never stops. And Bjork floating above it all in the minor key...fantastic. [via Discobelle]

That's all for this week. See you next week!

We got snacks now.

2007-07-29T20:26:00.000+09:00

That is a left over shot from my trip last week. Those are the dark typhoon clouds being broken apart by the sunny skies. Pretty dramatic sky if you ask me. I thought it was appropriate considering the storms that happened in Tokyo today. And a shout out goes to my family as well. They had their chimney attacked by some lightning over the weekend. Glad everybody is ok, in spite of not following your kids advice.

Also left over from my trip is a report on the books I read. Along with that...I'd like to start a snack report. This will be a import edition. I am not sure why, but I see some weird candy coming from America. The normal good stuff; Skittles, Take Five, Reese's...those are impossible to find. But strangely named candy, I can find that shit. Let's get to it. Books first!

Mark Haddon's book A Spot of Bother was the book I blew through over my long weekend. I bought it in spite of what it said on the back cover. It sounded a bit too depressing. But I loved his first book so much, I would read anything by him. And this book did not disappoint in the least. Wonderfully well written characters, not one of them is perfect or the good/bad guy. It is the story of a family. And as we all know, families never run all smooth. All anyone can do is to try to hold themselves together and help each other when they can. This story will make you feel attached to these flawed characters from beginning to end.

As you know, I love me some LEGO. As soon as I saw these Candy Blox, I had to buy them. I thought it would be cool if you could actually play with them. I was picturing hard, clear candy. Similar to Jolly Ranchers. From their website:

"Assorted fruit flavors blocks. These tasty treats look like real legos the only difference is after your done playing with them you can go ahead and eat them."

Here is what I found when I opened the bag.

What a rip-off. They say you can build stuff. How? By stacking them? These stupid sugary things don't fit together! You can't build anything! The packaging is a big, fat, stupid...

Back to the books.

I don't read a ton of hardcover books. There is the weight in my bag issue plus the expense over here in Japan. This one I picked up last year when I was visiting my family. It took me almost a year to get to it. Not sure why. I really like China Miéville. I have enjoyed all of his books, except for the first. (Not even going to link to it, if you are dieing to know, YOU do the research!) Iron Council might be my fav by him. It is sci-fi: with weird monsters, slightly altered technology, and all set in a far and sometimes mystical land. Thankfully, most of it is not concerned with the strangeness and by and large, the characters are freaked out by the strangeness along with the reader. It is much more concerned with friendship, political upheaval, and what people will do when they believe in something. He does some really cool things with language and doesn't leave you in the dark for too long. It does have a slow first 2 chapters, but after that, I couldn't wait to find out how it was going to end. Super, super book. Any sci-fi fan should read add his name to their list of authors and pick up this soon. Click HERE for an interesting short piece about him. He even explains his name!

Getting hungry for a snack? Here you go.

I bought these on the name alone. I remember my Mom shouting a hundred times that I had to move my clodhoppers from in front of the back door. (Even then I had shoe issues!) Let's see what they same the meaning of this word is:

1. A clumsy, coarse person; a bumpkin.
2. A big heavy shoe.

Yikes! I hope she meant #2. I never understood why she used that word though. Whatever, it stuck in my head for good. To run into this strangely named snack in Japan of all places was quite a surprise. And..they were not have bad. A bit dry, not moist like I was thinking. But not nearly the lie that the stupid Candy Blox perpetrated. Damn them! No, these Clodhoppers were alright.

Books! Books! And more books!

This was purchased in a blind leap. Yes, it was on the NYT best seller list, but so what. I had never heard of it. AND...it was by a female author, which is rare for me. But, I loved the cover and the back cover write-up was interesting. So...how did this blind leap end you ask? Special Topics in Calamity Physics is simply amazing. Marisha Pessl is clearly way smarter than the rest of us. This book needs to be read by all people who like to read good books: fascinating & lovable lead protagonist, unbearable coming of age moments, frenemies, bizarre dad, a deep & unpredictable plot and a very clever ending. It also includes one of the best descriptions of a character ever. The girl is talking about her Dad and how he hates to be "informed" of things he already knows. This is one of my pet peeves. Calling it a pet peeve makes it sound cute. I really hate it. I have to fight myself not to tell people, "Yeah...I already knew that!" (In a bitchy tone, of course.) I often lose the fight. Ok, the book is great and you should read it now. It is safe for Moms too, not too violent or gross at all.

Snacks galore.

Yes, these are not that strange, I know. But...of all the snacks in the US, how in the world do these make it over to Japan. What is the criteria? Who decides? Do they take suggestions? This find did bring back a flood of memories of the huge green boxes that would be devoured way to quickly by JB and I. They are still the same: sticky, sweet, and chewy. After I finished the small bag, I felt a bit sick. How did I eve eat so many of these little guys?

Let's see what the library has for us this time.

JPod was a decent book. I wanted to tell Douglas Coupland, yeah, I get it. He was using so many tricks, strategies, literary games, and played with the text so many different ways, I just wanted to tell him to relax. I get that living in the age of Google is quite a trip. Got it. Can we move on. What I have loved about his writing is the relationships between the characters and how they interact in the world. That was here in this book too, but it seemed secondary. Read this if you love Coupland, if you don't, skip it. I will not stop reading him, but I was a bit let down by this one. Great cover though.

You still hungry? Ok, one more snack. But, then you have to brush your teeth!

Again...it was all about the name on this one. I mean, could you walk out of a store without buying some Hanky Panky. (No link to the candy, way too much crap to filter through.) What does the intertube say about the meaning of this word. I have an idea about what it means to me. But, let the web tell us.

1. mischievous behaviour
2. sexual intercourse, especially if illicit
3. A debaucherous act; a sexual act that is considered inappropriate.

Huh, I was two-thirds right. I guess I knew the first meaning too, but come on. Who uses it like that? Your Grandma? Your Great Aunt? Hanky panky means straight up s-e-x. Besides the name of this snack...I don't have too much to say. It was pretty good. The quality of the chocolate left a bit to be desired. But, that's life.

I saved you a spot in the reading corner. Come sit next to me.

Another book bought for the cover. I bought this book ages ago too. I was always putting other books in front of it. But, I finally read Oh the Glory Of It All . And it was really good. It the true life coming of age story of Sean Wilsey. The first part, recounting briefly the story of some of his ancestors...you would make you think this rich kid had it made. Not even close. The story is heart wrenching at times. And the last chapter or two should read at home, not in public. Fair warning.

Wow. That is enough about that. A Japanese edition of "We got snacks now" is in the works. But as for now, my sweet tooth hurts and so do my eyes. Let's talk about something else.

Remember when I talked about the Uniqlo store UT. Click HERE for a refresher. I finally was able to pick one.

I bought it thinking the red would match my new Asics. But, when I put them next to each other...no good. The red of the shirt was too orange. I still like the design a lot though. Pretty simple and clean.

It was close, but sadly, they are mismatched. So, I played with the purple instead. I am happy I could find a second choice. And, to be honest, I think I like it.

Music

#1 & 2. This week lets start with some nastiness from the ATL. I give you Crime Mob. (I may not be the first to give them to you...but...I give them to you none-the-less.) Sit back and relax...if you can, and watch the video for "Knuck if You Buck"

My City Sis was onto these nice kids way before me. (I'm sure many people were.) Click HERE for their latest track. She described them as kids that are likely to murder you and then go get a pizza. I find this an apt description. Whatever their disposition on homicide, they sure can put together a bad ass song. Oh...before we go to far, how about an explanation of the title.

1. To want to fight if someone offends you; preparing to fight if someone steps to you
2. A phrase used to express the intent of violence, literally translated as "knuckle up if you're buck wild".

How I came to discover them is by a remix. Not just any remix. Without a doubt, one of the best remixes I have ever heard. It combines cruck, grime, dubstep, and plain and simple badassness. It is by DJ/Rupture. I have been onto his stuff for a long time. Always interesting and worth your time. For the amazing and remix, click HERE. [via Sellbesting & Negrophonic]

The rest I have for you are longer mixes, not tracks. You can decide if this is a good or bad thing.

#3. The first long mix is by The Captain. The 50 minute mix is "All Around NY". It is a fun, high tempo mix. Full of nice reworkings of cruck, baile funkc, and general techie dancyness. If you were at a club with this mix coming out the speakers, your ass would be dancing. Watch out for the late middle section...it will get you dancing at your desk. This is just before a nice mellow finish. A solid mix. [via Dirty Down]

# 4. This is a take no prisoners, beat you to death as quickly as possible mix. The beating you are about to receive is made possible by Herve. He did a mix for the BBC. They give a DJ 21 minutes to impress. Here is his "21 Minutes to Know". Notable minutes:

* Minute 5 - for the deep beat and the whistle.
* Minute 7 - for the clean bouncing head nodding beat.
* Minute 11 - for the nasty acid break down.
* Minute 17 - for the smooth transition from the dark beat to the bright songstress and then back again.

Surley 21 minutes of your time well spent. Enjoy. [via Electric Zoo]

That is all for this week. Stay tuned next week for a large non-sneaker purchase.

ps. Whithout a doubt, all the musicians I write about have a MySpace page. But I think MySpace is the fucking worst and I hate it with every fiber of my being. It is a slow loading, music pushing, eye-bleeding, worthless, ugly in the extreme mess. I could go on and on...but I don't want to waste your time. And yes, I do have a page, but it is only cause I am too lazy to take that shit down.

Traveling Man

2007-07-18T23:47:00.000+09:00

This was Tokyo Station Saturday at the start of the long weekend. It was just a touch crowded. We had no reason to worry...we had reserved seats on the Shinkansen. But all those people and commotion increased my stress level a tiny bit. But one look at any of the signs soothed me.

I love the timetables at Tokyo Station. They look exactly what they should look like. With 10 mins to go before our train was to leave, up to the platform we went. It was a rainy day...stupid typhoon. (More about that later.)

We were not taking the most super fastest express train. But it still looks pretty fast. It still looks fast, even though this is the back of the train. It has a kind of sinister look, if you ask me. In the short time before our train was to depart, I was able to snag a pic with two other flavors of Shinkansen.

The closest one is the fastest. It was what we took to return to Tokyo...but I don't want to get ahead of myself. Back to our trip. As I have said before, a good bento is needed when you ride the bullet train. I think there is a law somewhere. And...I am no rule breaker.

That's my girl's on the left. It was some kind of Thai rice bowl with pork. And on the right...I had me some fried chicken with a tasty sauce. And you know I rock the tall boy can. Both were damn tasty and the beer hit the spot. Our train ride was a bit long but mostly uneventful. This was not a guarantee...see, there was a typhoon headed up the island of Japan. We were heading west, and the predicted path of the typhoon was mostly eastern in nature. From the train all was saw was clouds on rain. After 4 hours, and a train transfer, we arrived at a tiny local station called...
Awaraonsen. It is a small onsen town on the Japan Sea coast. Onsens, for those people not down with the lingo, are hot springs in Japan. Usually they consist of a hotel built over a natural hot spring which allows for some killer baths. Yes, you usually have to bathe naked with strangers (of the same sex)...but it is totally worth it!

hotels in it. They call it an "Onsen Town". After calling the hotel from the station, we were picked up and brought to the hotel. It was a bit surprising that it was so big. And it was not in the mountains or set far away from the town, was I was expecting. No, this one was in the center of a tiny town...a tiny town with 4 big onsens.

Our room was enormous. It was a 2 floor suite with 3 rooms, large bathroom, jacuzzi, and tatami flooring everywhere. (Somehow I have no good photos of the room...strange.) As soon as we arrived, I hustled to grab a bath before our dinner. It was the perfect antidote for the long trip and cloudy weather. I came back to the room to find the staff setting up our dinner. I love dinner your room. It's like "breakfast in bed" x 10!

This was the first course. Lot's of traditional foods. Nothing super fantastic, but it's rude not to try the strange looking stuff. The tofu was good.

Courses 2-5 certainly made up for the first course. The raw beef was a first for me, super high quality, thinly sliced beef, which you then dip in a sesame sauce: it was pretty amazing. The mini-steak was good, but it couldn't compete with the prime cuts. And the tempura and sashimi were very delicious as well. There was a soup as well, and beer, and beer, and a bit more beer. It was one of those meals that takes 3 hours. Time well spent. After the dinner, the staff hooked us up with a nice surprise. They gave us a chance to take a bath the private bath for couples.

As I said before, bathes are usually separated by sex. Because of that, I have never had a chance to enjoy a onsen soak with my girl. This is NOW not longer true. We had this secluded bath, with adjoining room, all to ourselves for a solid hour. The bath was on a deck facing an Asian style garden with a steam running through it. Since it was so late, the pics leave a little to the imagination, but trust me...it was fantastic. After a wonderful hour, it was back up to our room for a nice sleep.

Through the night, unbeknownst to me, the typhoon past our area. In the morning we were left with less rain and more clouds. The above pics were taken from our room on the 11th floor. The area was so flat. It reminded me of my days in Iowa: Hawkeyes stand up! But in this case, they are growing rice, not corn. And in Japan there are mountains in the near distance, not so much in Iowa.

I was able to enjoy another bath in the AM, before grabbing some breakfast. Which, to be honest, was a bit disappointing. Another disappointing thing for the whole weekend was the fact that because of the rain, I had to go with my older New Balances. But, I was able to rep my newest shoes with my backpack.

It worked out pretty well. It is a touch small, but that is a good thing since I hate huge bags. It was able to hold my reading material, some snacks, wallet, and camera. So, back to the story, we checked out and then made our way back to the train station. We were heading to my girl's parents house outside of Kyoto. It was local trains all the way. I am not train otaku. (Otaku = obsessive geek) I will keep my obsessiveness to shoes, cars, and music. But, one can not help but love the variety of trains they got in this country.

The bad-ass old school locomotive work horse is a true winner. We arrived safely to their home and it was straight up relax city. I read a ton (more on that coming soon) and enjoyed watching some soccer on their huge new TV. Interesting fact: It is impossible to take a good picture of a TV that shows the scale without getting out a rule...and this automatically pushing you far from taking a good picture.

On Monday, a National Holiday, we got to eat my fav: yakiniku. I was only able to take one pic between stuffing my face. It was better than usual. They changed butchers. Yeah for improvements!

One Tuesday we made our way back to Tokyo, via Kyoto station. It is the time for summer festivals, and even Kyoto station is getting in the spirit.

And that was our long weekend. A good time was had by all. As you can see, it tool a while to get back into the swing of things in Tokyo....but we are firing on all cylinders again.

Music

#1. So....ignore the beginning of this track. It's some lady talking important sounding nonsense. Just wait for 50 Cent to come sauntering in. Usually, I can take or leave 50. Sometimes I can groove to his stuff. But this re-working of "Just a Little Bit" is pretty damn amazing. All syncopated and off beat hotness. It pleeps and bloops with almost no coherence. But hot damn....does it make me smile. [via Discobelle]

#2. I kinda missed the whole Bloc Party hype from a couple years ago. I was already in Japan...and not totally up on it. But, the songs I did run into...I enjoyed. This remix of one of their songs I enjoy a lot, click HERE to hear it and read a bit more about it. It's a solid effort with an interesting mix of styles. I am not sure you could dance to it...but...you can certainly nod your head. [via The Fader]

#3. Let me hit you with some straight up grime. This is no mash up. No combination of different micro genres. This is just hot fire high energy grime monster shit. The words per beat (WPB) is off the charts. Get your ears ready for Durrty Goodz - Axiom. [via Negrophonic]

#4. And lastly for this week. The best mixtape I have heard in a long time.

Produced by Catchdubs and featuring the rhymes of Wale. It is well worth your effort to download this fun summertime jam. It sounds like your coolest friends hanging out in a studio filled with the best beats just having a party. Click HERE to download. [via Pinglewood among many others]

That is all for this week. Stay tuned for some snacks and books coming soon. And of course we weill be getting back to the shoes too!

Later

Talking To Strangers

2007-07-09T20:49:00.000+09:00

Hi again folks. I have a lot to say today for some reason. It might be a bit disjointed...but as we all know, life doesn't always run smoothly. Kyuta, the smiling red guy above, works for the Tokyo Fire Department. I like his helmet a hell of a lot. Is it me, or is it strange they were inspired by Dumb Donald from Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids.

He was never the smartest kid in the group. He would more than likely burn the house down, then figure out how to call "119". That is what you have to dial in Japan, not 911. I have had to dial it twice here in Japan. Come to think of it, I had to dial 911 twice in NYC too. Someone should be more careful! Enough about that...let's move on.

So these are the other laces on the Patta Asics. And I tied them without using the "Granny Knot". (Thanks for the helpful comment.) I like these laces a lot. How about one more pic?

After a photo session this morning, I unDS'ed these bad boys. (DS = deadstock = never been worn. "unDS" = wear a pair of shoes for the first time, meaning they can't be sold for mad money.) It was a nice moment. But...wearing such treasured shoes makes you walk carefully. Here is some evidence:

Mind the gap.

Watch your step.

Here was my complete outfit.

Oh...you know I need to show you a close up of that shit. You knew that, right?

You see the connection right? Between the shoes, and the t-shirt. I am sure you do. I will not be explaining it. It is too obvious. So, where did I take my bad self in this well thought out outfit?

To play ping pong of course. I decided it was high time I used my own paddle. It had been a long time since it had seen any action. And boy did it ever get a workout today.

Story Time:

Usually it is 3 of us who go play; G, B, and Me. G is not good. B is ok. Sadly, B couldn't come today. So competition was hard to come by. After about 45 mins of kicking ass and fooling around I was bored. I had noticed a group of 5 college aged guys at a table on the other side of the room. They looked like they had some skills. After gathering my courage, I walked over there to challenge them to a game. They were shocked. I don't think it is very often that white guys come over to talk to them, let alone challenge them. Whatever. I did. So...2 guys come over. They were all nervous and laughing. The stronger of the 2 players, Kato, pushes Atshushi to play me first. After getting the rules squared away and a bit of rallying, off we went.

After a pretty even start, I pulled away and won 20-16. They were surprised I could play. I guess the stereotype of the superior Asian ping pong skills made it across to Japan too. (Too bad no one told me about this nonsense.) So, up steps Kato. He looked confident. From my spying earlier, I knew he was there strongest.

This time, we both had shaky starts. Lots of silly mistakes. His serve had me confused. It took most of the game to figure out how to deal with it. By then, it was too late. I lost 17-20. I was none to pleased. After some debating, we went at it again. He served first...cause I am a gentleman. At the change of serve it was 4-1, me. The next change of serve was 7-3. At this point I told him, "Gomene, chotto okotoimasu." (Sorry, I am a little angry) I said this half laughing. I won the game 20-6. They had had enough. I guess there was no need for a rubber match. As he was leaving, Kato said he was scared, and that I should smile more. THAT made me smile. They were nice guys.

Next time I will try not to look so fierce. G was laughing his ass off at the change in me. I was pleased I showed my skills. I hope we will meet again so we can play some more. Meaning, I hope I can continue to kick his ass!

And now back to our regularly scheduled program.

Once ping pong was over, and after a bit shopping at Tower Records, I said bye to G. I was then off to check some spots in Harajuku. I saw some nice things, but nothing screamed my name. (Except for a t-shirt at UT, more details later.) BUT...as I was walking around I was lucky enough to run into some huge players in the street wear and shoe game.

On the right you have Hiroshi Fujiwara. I mentioned him before. Known as the Godfather of Street wear and underground culture. He is as high on the hipster chart as you can go. Way back when, he gave Nigo his nickname; "ni" meaning 2 in Japanese, Hiroshi being number 1.

On the left you have Fraser Cooke. He is a huge member of the Nike design group. He started out with a store in London called Hideout, before moving to Nike. He is such a big player they made a shoe with his hair. (It's the shoe on the right.)

I am a pretty relaxed guy, except for the odd ping pong match, but it was kinda exciting to see these big shots walking around Harajuku. It must be an interesting experience for them to see their influence all spread out for them. I was not brave enough to talk to them.I can only talk to strangers once a day. Maybe next time.

Last shoe news for today:

On Sunday, I tried a new color in my Hold Tights. I rocked these with a white polo shirt with pink and blue stripes. I like the new color a lot. Thoughts?

And the obligitory close-up.

Notice the new lace up style. The old style didn't bother me. And with longer laces it actually works better for me. But with these shorter laces, this style looks better. If you forgot what the old style looked like, scroll down and peep any of my old shoe pics. They have the laces pointing up and down the shoe, heel to toe. This new style has the sitting pretty on the top going off to the sides.

MUSIC

#1. Here is a track that takes The Beatles to Baltimore. It starts a bit shaky, like a bad mash-up from 5 years ago. But in the end it comes together well. The B'more madness continues. [via Attorney St.]

#2. This track by some Belgium band call The Subs made me say, "Holy shit." Listen to it HERE. (Lyrics NSFW or my mom) The break just before the chorus comes in is ridiculous. Taking me back to my raving days. It is dark and heavy. With some 303 thrown on top. [via Discobelle]

#3. After teasing you with a broken link. And then finding a fixed one, I can now give you the video for Dizze's track "Old School". Best. Dizze. Track. Ever. As you nod your head to the slammin beat, please notice: Blue Nike Air Max 90s, dope 80's phone, vintage Nike gear, Magnum's Ferrari, sick dance moves, and vintage Porsches. [via The Fader]

#4. Another track I talked about before has a new video out. Here is Kanye's video for "Stronger".

It looks over produced and not that exciting. This despite all the money they threw at it and the Japanese flavor. I do like his shades. And I still like the song. But, for those out there that are not feeling it don't worry, Diplo has got you covered with a fun but yet slammin edit (read remix) of the original Daft Punk track. The track is called Work Is Never Over. It gets glitchy as hell....but you will like it. [via Pingle Wood]

That's all I got for you this week. Next week might be late getting up. My girl and I are off on a weekend jaunt.

Later

UPDATE: Hiroshi Fujiwara is so big in the game they are making him an action figure. Click HERE to see it. [via High Snobiety]

God Is In The Details

2007-07-02T18:01:00.000+09:00

So...after two posts that were light on the kicks, I am back! This post sneaker heavy with some music to top off the sundae. I got a new pair people. And I am just a bit excited about them. EXAMPLE: I took about 50 pics of them yesterday. I have widdled them done to a paltry 17. Clean your glasses, color calibrate your monitor, let's get to the sneaker porn.

I love these shoes, and I worked hard to get them. (That is a story is for another day.) Other people can't quite see why I worked so hard to get them. "Why these?" they ask. It is a valid question. But for me, it is all about the details. Let's go through them, before we zoom out and see the big picture. First thing, I love that the shoelace aglet has the "X X X" on it. That is wonderful attention to detail.

The speckled sole is beautiful. I don't have the words to describe how dope it looks. I love the color combination. Also the perforated leather toe-box ain't too shabby either. Lastly, those two grey tabs are important. That is some 3M goodness right there.

The speckled sole continues into the back. And now...we can see that these are a pair of GEL LYTE III's. You can start to see the main colors of this shoe: white, black, red, and green.

You can see how they put a lot of effort into these shoes. The opposite colors of the insoles are pretty damn nice. The "P" stands for Patta. They also designed the Nike "Homegrown's" that I picked up in New Zealand. Their shop is in Amsterdam...the land of my ancestors. This shoe was inspired by the flag of Amsterdam. Those St. Andrew's crosses are everywhere on these shoes...and I like them.

In my travels on the net I have seen the total production somewhere between 120 - 192. It is nice that they are limited. But it is more interesting that the collaboration is with Asics, not the regular players. (Nike, Adidas, New Balance) Another interesting thing about these Asics is their tongue. It is a something called a "split tongue". It is supposed to be the ultimate in comfort. I think it looks pretty dope too.

Ok, enough with the teasers. Here are the Patta Asics I have been lusting after for way to long.

And here they are from the back. Notice the green mesh. It is so fine.

Another killer touch is the reflective material on these bad boys. Not too much...but just enough to give it a little punch.

Now, I have not worn them outside yet. And, I don't have any immediate plans to do so. But I will. Shoes are made for wearing, not staring. Regardless of the money I could make on Ebay. Well, after this next pic I can't say they have never been worn.

I like the tiny hit of green on the sole. You can see how the split tongue works here.

So, it was quite a set of goodies that came with it. Everything seems really well thought out and executed to perfection. Some people might think the green laces are a bit ho-hum. They want something with a bit more excitement. Try these...

Those should get your excitement meter jumping. But maybe you wanted to play up the crosses. Got you covered there too.

Here is a pic with all the small goodies. It came with a key chain as well. I'm in no need of a key chain...but I am pretty damn happy I have one.

Oh, there was one other thing that was included in the set. Here is a hint.

For all of you that guessed a backpack...well done! I have not had a backpack in a long time. But this one is pretty damn nice. And to answer your question, I won't be wearing them at the same time. Not ever.

But, just cause I won't be wearing them together doesn't mean I can't snag a picture of them together.

And there you have it. The shoe that easily popped to the top of of my shoe heap. You all will be the first to know when I end up wearing them. I already have the perfect shirt to rock with them. Fun times over here.

MUSIC

#1. T.I. or T.I.P., I am not sure who...but this is them(?) at their best. All over-dramatic strings and piano with a slamming beat, When the beat drops at the beginning of each verse it is goosebump worthily. Click HERE to hear who is going to save hip hop for us. [via Discobelle]

#2. This here is an amazing track with whistles and funky synths. It just floats around and then gets down to business...the business of grooving it's electro ass off. It is a track by Simian Mobile Disco, a wonderful name if you ask me. Here is the Switch remix of their track "I Believe". [via Electric Zoo]

#3 Here the evolution of a track.

Part One: A song in praise of big rims.

Part Two: A song in praise of big t*ts.

Part Three: A song in praise of mopeds.

[via Discobelle and many other places]

You know I got the most love for the last indie effort. Plus how can you hate on a track that includes this line; "If the headlights going out...just jiggle the cord."

Enjoy your week.

PS. Here is a link to Patta's blog. You can peep all the stuff they are up to. Be warned, the site is heavy as hell. Almost crashes my shit every time. It is worth the risk though...do check it out.

Later

How Japan Gets It Done

2007-06-24T20:21:00.000+09:00

Japan is nothing of not punctual and well organized. It is filled with rules both spoken and non. This suits me to a tee in almost all situations. One perfect example is that after work, I know there will be a train waiting for me at the platform at 9:01. Very different from my life in NYC, where you are never quite sure when that train will show up. It makes the biggest difference in the morning. I don't have to worry about being late. And for anyone who knows me...I HATE being late.

One further example of Japan's fascinating rules: the protest march. Now, in NYC, and in almost any other city in the US, protests, riots, parades, are a major headache. It means delays, road closures, and sometimes property damage and worse. Let's see what a protest march looks like in Japan.

Coming. And going.

See how all of them stay inside the orange cones. They do this every time. I have see more than 10 of these "protests". On this day they were chanting some (weak sounding) slogan, pumping their fists, and waving their flags. All of this was taking place on a main street in Ginza on a Saturday. And not one person was delayed. How do they do this?

See my man there in the yellow and blue jumpsuit? He is controlling the traffic light to prevent any delays. They force the protest marchers to travel in small groups. This is the head of one of those groups.

Through this technique the protesters get to say there fill: inside the cones, and only in small groups, and only for the so long as the cops say...AND us regular people, be us walking or driving, are neither inconvenienced or delayed. Man, Japan does have some stuff figured out. Another thing they got down is cars. They are currently kicking all kinds of sand in the face of the US manufactures. One of their newest efforts is the Nissan Dualis.

It is like a mini Murano. (What's up Lisa!) But you may be asking yourself...what is that big thing behind it. Oh, that's nothing. Just a real life transformer robot!

Yeah...so I took a bunch of pics. I won't bore you with them all. But, come on...it is not everyday you see a huge ass robot. For those of you who care, here it is in action.

Nissan is doing well to get a lot of attention for this basic (but bland) mini-CUV. Plus, to release it at the same time as all the Transformer hype...marketing genius.

Moving on.

Last weekend I was able to get a good ping-pong session in. After it, and after I had had a couple of drinks, I found myself bowling. Yes, bowling.

It was kinda cool that it was all black lit and all, but still, I usually think bowling is beneath me. apparently not. And the worst thing, I did have to wear bowling shoes. They were not THAT bad, but I somehow don't have any pics of them. And I was relieved that I didn't have to hand over my shoes to anyone. This lead to some black light photos.

And just in case you forgot what these Air Max 90/360 One Time Only's look like in regular light.

And after some "help" from a friend, I grabbed this picture. I am not usually such a rule breaker...but it is what it is. Enjoy.

MUSIC

I'm lovin' this Chamillionaire track featuring Slick Rick. It's got a nice rolling beat with some strings, piano, and West coast synths thrown on top. Plus, how can you deny the eye-patch?!? [via The Fader]

Next we have a single from Marc Ronson's album featuring Lily Allen. I got lots of love for the song. I got only a little love for the video. I am not really feeling the Roger Rabbit tribute. Take a look and tell me what you think.

And lastly, here is a dope Catchdubs remix of a Lil Wayne track. It is some slow banging goodness. He just keeps tossing different stuff at that simple beat. [via Pinglewood]

Just a bit off...

2007-06-17T21:49:00.000+09:00

This might be a strange post: not one shoe or car in sight. I am still waiting for those Patta Asics. And believe you me...all this waiting is killing me. They were released over in Amsterdam last week. Later this month they will be available in only 6 other stores worldwide. Luckily one of them is in Tokyo. Click HERE to check out Patta's blog...with lots of pics from the release.

Moving on.

So, after weeks and weeks of only shopping and eating, my girl and I decided to do something different. I found out about an exhibition that I really wanted to see. After doing the necessary research online...off we went in search of the museum.

We did find it, and what a nice building it was. It is tucked away on a side street in a nice looking neighborhood. For a second we wondered if this was the right place. The sign partly hidden on a side wall put all worries to rest.

That's right, we traveled off the beaten path to get our culture on with some
Henry Darger. I am not sure what my attraction to his work is. Just in case you don't know what his stuff looks like...here is one example.

I would love to have taken lots of pictures of the well displayed work...but the Hara Museum of Contemporary Art was having none of it. Click HERE for a small taste of what his stuff looks like. I went to see his stuff when I was living in NYC years ago. I am not sure what my interest is. Maybe it is the pure, unquestionable authenticity of it? He didn't need to be validated or told he was great. He just did his stuff. Or maybe it is my respect for the intense focus it must have taken for him to produce such a vast amount of work? I am not sure. I can easily recommend seeing and reading about him to anyone. The story of the work matches the quality of art.

Here is a clip from a documentary about him and his work.

And lastly...click HERE for the trailer that documentary.

That's all I got for you this week. Keep scrolling down for some (slightly dated) music links.

MUSIC

A good remix of a Ciara track that makes in much more listenable. driving beat with electro finishings. Fun, I could do without the breakdown...but it wraps up nicely. So, I guess it is needed. [via Dirty Down]

This next one goes out too all my peeps serving time. Specifically poor Paris. This is a fun blend of her terrible song with some Petey Pablo jam. Click HERE to hear how sometimes two wrongs do make a right in this case. [via The Hood Internet]

Here is the video for the M.I.A. song BOYZ that I posted 3 weeks ago. It is great in a 8-bit, bright color, fresh dance-move kinda way.

Can't wait for the album to drop. And lastly today, here is a that Dizzee Rascal song that I tried to share last month. The link was taken down before most people could enjoy it. HERE it is one more time. Enjoy!

Red Hot

2007-06-10T17:27:00.000+09:00

Rainy season has begun. It is my least favorite time in Japan, although...talk to me in August, and I might answer differently. After a warm week, the temperature dropped and so did the rain. All this rain throws all kinds of monkey wrenches into my shoe rotation.
Rain or no, off I went to Tokyo Dome last Monday. Why you ask? Well...it wasn't for no baseball game. That's not how I roll.
My girl came too. Actually...she's the reason why we went in the first place.
As is our way, we arrived way too early. We quickly discovered that our seats were not all that great. It was the first time to Tokyo Dome for both of us. (FYI: it's big.) Earlier in the day, I'd had a hard time choosing what shoes to wear, thinking that it would be like an American baseball park: all sticky floors and dirty everything. Come to find out it is very clean.
They even had smoking rooms, which was very nice. It was to be my first stadium rock show. I have have always been more of a club or small gig kinda guy. I don't think I will make a habit of it, but once in a while won't kill me.
Eventually time passed, and the place filled up. My girl and I were just having fun crowd watching. I was feeling kinda excited, but I wasn't really sure why. I guess the energy of 40,000 people can't be denied. Then the lights when down. The crowd stood up and cheered, and off we went.
The Red Hot Chili Peppers didn't waste any time. No intro, straight into their jams. After their first song, Anthony apologized for having to postpone their show for 2 months. Later in the night, Flea also said they were sorry. Nice guys.
Not being the hugest RHCP fan in the world, I decided to take notes on my phone throughout the concert. This is in no way saying that I didn't enjoy the show. I like a lot of their songs. Their set included a good balance of new and old stuff, though kinda leaning more towards the newest album. Lot's of good sing-along songs. Good times. Here are some of my notes.
* One person stands...we all stand. (We never did sit back down.)
* If you stand ON the seat, security comes in less than 15 secs. Vigilant to say the least.
* Modern technology changes everything: cellphone lights instead of lighters.
* Guitar solos still rule, who knew.
* Punky & funky times are happy times for this crowd. Love the synchronized cheering and jumping.
* Lot's of banter between songs, but I'm not sure how much of it this crowd is understanding. Maybe they can ALL speak English?
* Someone is tape recording the show in front of us. I think that is illegal, where is the security. Wait...they still make tapes?
* RHCP are nothing if not professional; consistently energetic and on point.
* The sound is mixed pretty well. Sometimes it is bass heavy..not a bad thing. But the melody gets lost from time to time. the space does the sound no favors.
* My girl seems to be the only person not signing. That's not how she gets down.
* Seriously...solos are still awesome?
* The drum set had individual lights. It is a cool idea that is not being utilized.
* If you thought this crowd loved only guitar solos...think again. Drum solos rule too!
And then, after 2 hours of rocking out, it was over. We were back home and showered by 11pm. My girl had a great time, but was happy to get home. And after going to this, it made us want to go to more concerts. Not necessarily more rock shows, but just shows in general. Developing.

Alright...that was plenty enough about that. Let's move on. Remember the Homegrown hyperstrikes that came out 6 months ago? Well, now is your chance to pick them up. Here is a pic to remind all of you forgetful fellows.
[source]

Sadly they only have limited sizes, and the price is a bit dear: $2000. Click HERE to pick them up. I will pass on these, they don't have my size. (Ha!) But I did come across another orange pair that peaked my interest.
[source]

Those are the Air Max Light's. They come in some plain colorways, and then they come in these bright-ass colorways. I'm liking these. I do hope the neon yellow is a little less lime. I have yet to see these in person. But, don't you worry...I'm in the hunt.

While I was messing about on Sneaker Freaker's site...I also found these.
[source]

Some great childhood memories came flooding back. (To see the other colorways and products, click HERE.) According to the site, Vans had released some special editions when the movie Rad first came out. And now they are making some retro versions available. For those of you too old, too young, or just plain missed it...here is the best scene. Keep your eye out for synchronized dance routines, parachute pants, ankle boots, that chick from Full House, endos, tailwhips, wheelies, and bunny hops. Enjoy!!

And click HERE to watch the entire movie online. It makes me miss my old Skyway. And speaking of awesome old movies. How about a clip from another of my absolute favs; Condorman.

I love this movie for all the terrible gadgets and killer cars. How can you not love those Porsches: all whale tailed and slant nosed! I does hurt to watch them get ruined though. Ok...enough of that old crap.

Music

Here is a beat stuttering remix of Kid Sister's "Damn Girl". The synths make me smile. [via Discobelle]

It seems I can't get enough of remixes of crunked out tracks. Here is another one. This one is Sinden's remix of "Everybody's Rocking" with some E-40 hotness. [via Electric Zoo]

And finally, the best song I came across on the interwebs last week is THIS THING HERE. Click on the link and you will not only hear the track...but also find out more info. I don't really care about the details, cause whoever it is, they are bringing the electro groovy goodness. [via The Fader]

Later

The Train Rolls On

2007-06-04T01:33:00.001+09:00

Hello, hello, hello. It was a long ass week. I had a couple big things planned that just completely fell apart. But...such is life. To make myself happy I met some friends today for a therapy session.

Some ping pong therapy that is. I destroyed them. I can't boast about many things. This is sad but true. But...one thing I do have...is some mad ping pong skills. I tried to warn them, but they paid me no heed. Well, after many ass whippings, they know I ain't no joke on the table. Now that I know where this place is, I plan to go more regularly. Happy Happy!!

I started a project many weeks ago. It has finally come to fruition. Here it is:

To finish that reference I give you the Quad City DJ's in all their glory...circa 1995.

All of those pics I took on the train on the way to work. It was not so easy. I could only take the picture if the carriage was mostly empty, cause I don't need to be accused of taking pervert shots of girls. (A big problem in Japan) And wouldn't you know it...but the train was crowded more often than not. Unbelievable....I know!! Well, that project is done now, so I can just chill on the train. And to clear that terrible song out of your system. I give you my favorite The Avalanches track.

It is a fun video...nice to see all the different samples acted out. I had this cd at one point, but I have it no longer. This is a sad thing. I wish I still had it...I wonder where it went?

Last weekend I made it to one more sneaker consignment shop. La Avenue was much cleaner than the stores I went to the week before. I am not sure that is important...or even a good thing. It made me happy, but it doesn't mean the shoes are better. I found a couple winners, but nothing jaw dropping. I have been on a mission to find the Nike Air Zoom Spiridon's that I used to have...but I have not been able to track them down yet. Here is a pic to let you know what I am talking about.

[source]

I really miss these shoes. I have been keeping my eye out for them for a long time. I thought I got lucky on Sunday. I found these DS (dead stock: new/never worn) with the box and only ¥13,500. ($110)

BUT!!!!! They were one full size to small. I can stretch a half size up or down, but NO way can I do a full size. I was disappointed. But...I have not given up. I will find them someday! (Or I could always just order than here from Pick Your Shoes. But that would take some of the pleasure of the search out of it.)

Music:

Here is a super dope use of a good Daft Punk sample track by Kanye West. Grabbed from EVR Authentic Shit show. [via Discobelle]

Here is a crazy remix of the Boston song I Need Your Love by B.O.B. [via The Fader]

I feel like I have posted this M.I.A. track before...but I'm too lazy to make sure. Sorry. Here is her Boyz track.(again) [via Pinglewood]

You might have noticed there has been a slight increase of music links and clips on this site. It is not an accident. I spend a lot of time listening to good music. If there is something exceptional...I feel like I want to share it. I also posted my Top 5 Music links. If you like something you hear...go to those sites...they have way more.

SPECIAL NOTE:

A big happy birthday to my Country Sis!!! I miss you and I am already looking forward to seeing you and your fam in Nov. You are the best big sis a person could want. No one cannot stop the tank! Keep rolling over the tiny crap of life!!!

I post this pic...cause after looking through hundreds of your pics online....I couldn't find ONE that worked!!! Stop taking so many pics of your adorable kids, damn it!

Have a great week. I will have a big event Tuesday..and I will tell you all about it next week.

Later

Ps. Which colorway of the Spiridon are people feeling. Right now...I would take either. But if I could find them both, what shall I do?? Aany thoughts out there?!?!

A Little Bit of Everything

2007-05-28T20:47:00.000+09:00

I always love it when you can see rays of sunlight. It is like "seeing" the wind. We feel them all the time, but how often do we see them. It was a happy moment. Seeing this was happy too...but for very different reasons.

If we can ignore for a moment the offensiveness of the term, we can see how rightly named this car is. Plus...how can you hate on a car that WAS popular in the 60's. It has no illusions that it is still popular now, no no, it's heyday is over. But it has good memories, and you can't take those away. Ok, ok, enough chit chat...let's see what the rest of this thing looks like.

If you don't think that is an adorable face, there is something broken in you. That is a car looking to be loved. Sorry to get carried away. I will put my emotions on hold for a sec, please notice that the Midget II offers seating for 1 and 1/2. So either you can take your kid with you...or half your wife.

And the fun doesn't stop there. Oh no...it is actually a truck! You carry....ummm...a small TV? A bike...with the back tire hanging off the end? What else could you store there?

I guess you could tie a stool back there, so you can bring a friend. I condone this...I am just saying it's possible. I hope the smallness of this thing is coming through loud and clear. It be tiny y'all. The owner lives near me and I have seen him and his wife in this thing. Saying they looked squished is a large understatement. On the plus side, parking must be a breeze. For fun, let's look at a car on the other side of the spectrum.

Nothing like taking things to extremes. Why not spend a boat-load of money on a Bentley Arnage and then throw a couple more stacks at it to trick it out. Those 20-something inch wheels are probably worth more than the Midget II. Wait!!! You could fit ONE of them in the bed of the Midget! Now that is a proper use of that space! Speaking of good uses of space.

So, by now, most people have at least heard of Uniqlo: the retail giant that has some hipster cache. Since I came to Japan I have been purchasing their cheap and not un-stylish clothes. I stick to their t-shirts and shirts, not a huge fan of their pants or jeans. Well, they have decided their t-shirts needed more attention. Solution: open UT.

I went there on a Monday and I was able to grab this pic with no customers or staff messing up the consumer perfection. One of the best concepts ever: wall to wall white and t-shirts hanging displayed on a simple pole.

But this is where they take it to the next level; the t-shirts you buy are in plastic containers that are stored in coolers.

They have tons of corporate tie-ups and artist collaborations. This is were they flaunt their hipster rep. You really should check out their website or if you can, one of their shops. And by the way, the price can't be beat; ¥1500. ($12.50) There were a lot of t-shirts I liked, but nothing made me reach for my wallet. Partly because it is almost empty...and party cause I have been in a holding pattern as of late. I have been saving my pennies for these.

Damn...the Dutch know how to do it right. Would love to grab that bag as well...but chances are slim. The release date for Japan is not confirmed yet, but that there is a shoe that belongs in my closet. While I wait for these I have kept entertained by the all the music on the interweb. And over the last couple weeks the wide wide wide has been very good to me. I lost track of all the good mixes, videos, and individual songs I have enjoyed. It have been a musical bonanza! Here are just a few that I have come across.

Who wouldn't want to hear a Lupe track with a nice Thom sample. Also features Pharrel and Kanye. [source]

A ridiculous tranced out remix of the Wes Fif's crunk hit Haterz Everywhere by Sinden. I don't know how it works...but it oh mama does it ever! [source]

And here is a video, for those of you who are too lazy to click on links. Dizzee is doing his thing with his old hit I Luv U. Tell me...is it just me, or does it look strange to see Dizze rocking his shit to a festival crowd? His stuff belongs in some dirty, grimey, basement; with sweaty walls and ceiling. A mean bouncer and a some anxiety about your car, will it be there when you get out of the club or not, also come to mind when I hear his music. Is it only me? Whatever the case...enjoy the clip.

[source]

While I was messing around looking for more Dizzee I came across this: a drum & bass remix of Sirens. I have no idea why this user posted it with a DangerDoom album cover, cause I doubt they made this. Strange. Ignore the incongruities and enjoy the Dizzee drums.

And lastly, just to mix things up just a bit, here is The Streets for you; a remix with some other people I haven't heard of. Not knowing who they are does not make me enjoy the track any less. I am usually not a fan of rappers as story tellers; "I walked to the store on a Friday afternoon, saw my friend...." (Yes, I talking to you LL.) But, somehow Mike makes it work. He has that ironic, but optimistic song down pat.

[source]

That is all. Later

This or that?

2007-05-21T20:45:00.000+09:00

I took this shot in a fancy building near Tokyo Station. The picture doesn't quite do it justice...but it is a nice and unusual interior. The lighting structure is designy but somehow doesn't overwhelm the place. While I was there I had a nice, if expensive, meal. (Sorry, no pics.) And most likely I will be going there again soon. If any of my friends or family ever came...I might just take their sorry asses here!

Moving on. Near my work there is a Nissan showroom. These days they are holding some exhibitions with the focus on vintage cars. Right now the focus is on the...

...Fairlady Z. Or as it is known in the US, the Datsun and then the Nissan 240Z. On the right, is the top of the line NISMO tuned 300Z for 2007. It was great to see them together. I have always had me some love for the 70's and early 80's Fairlady. It seemed like an underdog of a sports car...and plus it looked cool as hell. Then they were terrible for most of the 90's. I hated that car. But now, with the latest car...they really got it right.

The lines of heritage are perfectly clear. But not in a retro cheeseball way, a la the Beetle. It is a little retro, but in an update way. A way that reminds you of the vintage years but doesn't pretend to want to take you back there.

As simple and cleanly designed as the 240's back end is...it pales in comparison to the NISMO. That looks as serious as a heart attack. All those diffusers and spoilers and the dual exhaust and on and on. I like it. Click HERE for some more pics. Put them up for a vote and I would go with the modern 300Z every time.

And now for your moment of Zen.

Today I went to Inogashira Koen in Kichijoji. The reasons for traveling to this area, a bit to the west of Tokyo, will become obvious soon. But while I was there, I took advantage of the gorgeous day and ate some lunch in the park with my trusty can of beer.

This was my view as I ate my lunch and got my drink on. All those parents taking their kids out for a spin and all those young couples working so hard. I was not about to rent a boat all by myself...but...me and the little lady have in the past. We did it in spite of the long standing superstition that if a couple uses the swan boat, they will break-up. I'm not sure how much weight I would put in that claim...we are still going strong.

It really is a nice park. But forgive me one complaint; there is a complete lack of garbage cans. This is not cool. But it is a small thing. I won't let that stop my enjoyment of the park. It has lots of bridges and paths through the forest. I even came across a tiny shrine.

Make sure to notice that the little statues of different animals are wearing some red clothing. I see this from time to time...but have yet to hear why. I will not give up though, I'm on the case!

But, as nice as the park is, it was not the main purpose of my trip. This was.

You may not be familiar with this shop. And to be honest...neither was I. It was a serious over site on my part. I am ashamed of myself. Here I was thinking I had it all figured out. How silly of me. But hey...life goes on. So, last week I was doing research about sneaker spots in Tokyo and I came across 2 that I didn't know. SKIT was the one in Kichijoji. It was quite a find. Just off the main drag, in a nondescript building, is a medium sized room utterly jammed with shoes. I didn't have the courage to take any pics...plus I was kinda dumbfounded. None-the-less, I was able to grab some pics from their website to give you the feeling.

[source]

It is crazy. I could never step back far enough to get an overview. I kept stepping on shoes and knocking my head on the stuff above me. I found some great stuff. They carried deadstock and used stuff. Each shoe had a tag with it's details: condition, box (yes or no), size, year made, and price. I can't even remember all the stuff I saw and considered. To give you some idea, click HERE to see the shoes they put in stock ONLY today. Here are the two that came the closest.

[source]

These are some Air Max 90's from 2005. They were part of the Albis pack. They have become known as the Sertig 90's. I love them; the bright colors mixed with black, the laces, the speckled midsole, all of it. I was even preparing myself to overlook the leather toebox. Then, these caught my eye.

[source]

These are some Opium Air Max 180's from a few years back. The air is actually glow in the dark...which is pretty dope. But today was not my day...both were not in my size. If they were, I would have gone with the 180's. Those neon laces cannot be ignored. But is a close one. As for the store...I will be checking in on the regular. Sadly, the staff left a bit to be desired; not so friendly.

The other store I found out about...I went to on Sunday. I had totally forgotten about it. I went there by chance about 3 years ago. It is very similar to SKIT...but a bit nicer. It is PX-Station. They had some nice stuff too...but nothing I just HAD to have.

A word about these stores. While I am happy I found, or at least re-discovered them, they are not exactly my cup of tea. If I were a hardcore collector or wanted to buy and sell shoes on the web, I think I would be peeing in my pants. But, I basically love going to regular shoe stores. Knowing all the shoes are in perfect condition and there is a good chance they will have my size. Who knows, maybe I will learn to love these types of resellers...but I doubt it.

And that's all she(he) wrote, besides some music.

I heard this track on EVR a bunch of times. Today I came across the video. And BANG...2 million views!! So, yeah...I might be just behind the curve on this one. I still like the song. (And I'm gonna ignore the plethora of all-over-print hoodies up in this video.)

Lil Mama - Lip Gloss

And if I am waist deep into the shit that is pop music...I might as dive all the way in. Here is the other pop song that is getting stuck in my head. (And I am not all that angry about it.)

Avril Lavigne - Girlfriend

Wow...good luck choosing the winner in that match-up! I pick Lil Mama, just cause. Well, to be honest, it might be because I just don't like Canadians. (joke)

All right everyone, on that note...have a nice week. Make sure to let me know if you agree with all my choices. To refresh your memory: 240z vs. NISMO 300z /Air Max 90 vs. Opium 180 / Lil Mama vs. Avril.

Later

PS. To clean out your ears after that pop crap, make sure to listen to the new Sinden Kiss show. (via Mad Decent)

Doing Things Differently

2007-05-14T16:31:00.000+09:00

I still love the signage here in Japan. I have been here for a couple of years, and I still want to whip out my phone to grab pictures. This one was taken from a train platform around my way. Speaking of signs...how does this one grab you?

Came across this while I was out on the morning run. I'm still undecided if it is a case of Japlish: "white" instead of "wild". Or there is the competing theory that it is just a joke. Whatever it is...it was a nice excuse to stop running and take a short break to snap a pic. As interesting as it may or may not be, it's nowhere near the most common sign that is to be seen. These are:

This 7-11 opened up nearby a couple weeks ago. This combini makes it 3 I pass on my four minute walk home from the station. Regardless...I was happy the 7-11 opened cause they are my favorite. They truly re-define convenience. I don't think I can tell you all the different things that you can do and buy in a combini: buy prepared foods, send packages or golf bags or skis, pay bills or CODs, buy beer, buy magazines or comic books, buy concert tickets, use the ATM, buy stamps, use the restroom, and on and on. 7-11 is actually starting their own e-money scheme. They are truly taking over the world. Click HERE for a great article. Just another example of how things are done differently in the land of the rising sun. Want one more?

First off, I'm not sure I saw too many chrome trucks when I was in the US. That's cool. If you look close enough...you must be able to see me in the reflection somewhere. But all of that is beside my main point. The larger question is this: why is this truck popping a wheelie?

To unload it's steamroller of course. In Japan...the truck lifts you! Why make a complicated lift system for the trailer when you can just slam a couple of jacks onto the front end. I was happy to catch one of them in action, cause without pics, it would be a bitch to explain. And a lot less shiny!

No interesting segue comes to mind so let's go straight into some sneaker math.

[source]

Take an Air Max 90. A shoe I am clearly a big fan of. Add it to this.

[source]

Adding the Air MAx 90 to the quarter of the Nike Humara Air. A shoe I had a long time ago, and miss dearly. I like this colorway a lot and if it crossed my path for a decent price...I would have to snap it up. For this math problem, pay special attention to the stripe-like green and grey things.

[source]

Put those together with the sole from Nike's Talaria Boot. It being an interesting shoe in it's own right. A shoe that gets almost no love on all the sneaker sites. Anyways...put them all together. Throw some hot colors and a speckled midsole at them. And what do you get?

[source]
They are only samples at the moment.But they are pretty hot samples. They are part of Nike's hybrid strategy. Nike puts different parts of shoes together to create something new. Some are successful, others...hmmm not so much. This I would say is pretty damn good. Who knows if they will be made. But, if I was a betting man, I would say yes.

One last sneaker tidbit. After all of those lace changes of last week, I have just one this week.

I rocked these today and I was pretty happy. But sadly my killer outfit went to waste cause I was mostly a home-body today. Oh well. I'll be able wear the same thing again in a couple weeks!

And before I leave you for another week, some music.

A dope track from M.I.A. [source]

A slammin track with a nice electro "dooo-uuuu" by The Cool Kids. [source]

Hold Tight