This or that?

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)

Golden Week Report

Vacation time in Japan means only one thing: Shinkansen! That's "bullet train" to all of you not in the know. Off to Kyoto again...but this time for a funeral. My girl's uncle passed away. We didn't know him that well...but he seemed like a decent guy. It was my first straight up Japanese funeral. I had been to a wake before. And compared to the ones I have been to in the US...man, was it different. (And long!) A two day affair. The wake the first day and then the for real ceremony the next day. It might have been a language issue...but I think they were pretty much same.


They did have really nice flowers, in an abundant Asian kinda way. (I snagged this picture when no one else was around.) After the last rights were said...in a Buddhist chant...the staff came in and cut all the flowers off. They put all the flowers in baskets and then all the family & guests filled the coffin with the flowers. It was a beautiful thing. Very sad, yes...but beautiful. I didn't get a picture of that, for obvious reasons. (And yes...I know it might be a bit tasteless to even post this picture, but I seem to be ok with it. But just barely.)


Then we hightailed it back to Kyoto Station. It was not a peak travel day, but it was still pretty crowded. As you can see, the transit cops like to keep above the riff-raff. More power to 'em. Keep those trains safe! The trip back to Tokyo was smooth and trouble free as always. Back in vacation mode there was more relaxing and eating good food to be had. As for relaxing...


I knocked off these two books over the vacation. Absolute Friends by John le Carré was ok. Not nearly as worthless as I thought it would be. It made me think a little. Shocking! I think I am a bit confused about him. I think I should read more of his book...because he did not give me what I expected. I expected all guns and spying and 007 style action. Not so, at all. Mr le Carré had other plans. What I got instead, I did like. The story was a realistic chronical of a mid-level spy in Europe during the Cold War and up the present so-called War on Terror. A friendship begins and remains over the years and through the different political changes. Not a bad read.

The Final Solution by Michael Chabon is a book I started and put down more times than I can remember. It seams there was a rather big hump around chapter 2.
Once I got over that...it was a quick mover. A good little book. I say "little" cause it clocks in at 131 pages. But what it lacks in length it makes up for in style. Written as an homage to the Sherlock Holmes style mysteries. It is almost too well written for me to enjoy. But I did...as much as I could. If you see it while you are out and about, I do recommend it.

While we are talking about books, here are some other books I have polished off in the last couple months.


I love buying crap fiction in Japan. They give you book covers so no has to know what utter nonsense you are entertaining youself with on the train. It's brilliant. This cover was pretty girly...but I didn't hate on it. It did it's job well to cover up this:


This monster of a book was pure popcorn poppycock at it's best. The Swarm that Frank Schätzing is talking about in his title is an intelligence living in the world oceans that gets pretty pissed at humans for f-ing up the environment. It is very well researched with tons of facts and descriptions of scientific and environmental issues. You can find it in the Science-fiction section but it is definitely heavier on the science. It could be one reason that it is 900+ pages. Long in the tooth? Yes. Boring? No. Worth you time and energy? Yes.


And last we come to Philip Roth's book The Plot Against America. The most serious literary fiction I've read in many moons. And serious ain't even adequate in the least. You should read this historical "what if?" now. It is pretty amazing. It had me mesmerized from the first chapter. But, get ready for one heavy and tension filled story. That is all I will say about that one, don't want to spoil anything for anyone.

So besides doing a spot of reading...I did some eating. Sadly I didn't snap pics of all the goodness I ate. Sometimes I can't be bothered. Sometimes the food is just screaming to be eaten post haste. And I submit to my cravings without taking any pics. But in one case...I was able to control myself. And it happend to be the one thing I was demanding to eat over the break was yakiniku.


And I got my way. The galbi was this restaurant's specialty. It was damn tasty: all tender and juicy and succulent. This, and all the other meat made for a great dinner. A bit too expensive...but wonderfully delicious. But it was not all sunshine and roses over the final days of my vacation.


This was taken around 2pm on Sat from my apartment porch. It was not pleasant out in the least. And what, you may ask was I doing to keep myself entertained at home? Watching movies? No. Reading? A little. Writing a book? No, not yet. Playing with my shoes? You betcha.


If you remember, these were my latest purchase in their original form. I had been considering what other laces would look good in them. The options are wide open...seeing as it such a clean and simple colorway. And once I started experimenting...I kinda got carried away. See for yourself:







So people...which color are you feeling? Let me know what you think. I have some other ideas, but I need to make a run to the shoe store to get the colors I have in mind. This might be an ongoing project. Sorry.

And lastly, a musical hit. This one is for those of you who like the dance floor fillers on the electro tip. The video will also be enjoyable for fans of dope t-shirts.

JUSTICE - D.A.N.C.E.
Uploaded by edbangerrecords

[via Electric Zoo]

Shopping, Sneakers & Donuts

I caught the Obey Giant vs WK Interact show last weekend. I would love to show you some pics from inside the gallery, but they had tons of signs up prohibiting cameras. Not that all the other people were obeying the rules...but I am not a boat rocker. So long story short, I got no pics.

It was a decent show. I have always been partial to WK Interact as compared to Sheppard Fairey. As much as I love me some Andre the Giant. I remember seeing both of their work all over NYC when I lived there. But it was WK Interact's work that drew my eye every time. Plus, I met the guy one time. He was trying to sell his t-shirts to the store I worked at. It was one of the few arguments I lost with the owner of the shop...and we didn't end up stocking his stuff. That must have been 7 years ago. It hasn't seemed to have hurt his career much. Found a great clip of his work he did for Nike a while ago. The music is pretty damn rollin too!


[stumbled across at slamXhype]

That same day in Shibuya I bumped into this guy rockin his shit so hard I thought he was gonna hurt somebody!


Loving his look. Respect! I try to rock my gear like that, but I'm not in his league at all. I can't quite pull off the tongue outside the jeans maneuver. I'll keep practicing and maybe someday! As they say, "Practice makes perfect!" Speaking of rocking gear...I often I talk about shopping and crap that I buy. (Actually I am about to again very soon.) But before we get into that...I just gotta show you this little pamphlet for a department store credit card I picked up today.


That's right. This confirms it. You ARE what you buy! And not in any ironic Barbara Kruger kinda way either. As soon as I read this I was sure I had seen one of her prints with that same text, but with a completely different message. But the closest I could find was this.


[source]

I guess my memory got mixed up...or my internet search skills are on the fritz again.

And that leads us nicely into my latest purchase! (Irony intended or not??? You decide.) As you remember the hint for my latest shoes was...


Sorry JB...your guess of underoos was a bit off the mark. "Hold Tight" is the call of pirate radio.


These shoes were designed by Ben Drury. They were part of "Air u Breathe" pack of last year.


Words from the designer himself:

IDEA:
Like most of my personal work, this design is inspired by the pirate radio scene in London. The shouts are instantly recognizable to the pirate aficionado. "Hold Tight!" barked out as if on a fairground ride, instruct and assure the silent listeners and live callers, who soak up London's unique listening experience. Calling out to all points, north, south, east, west, (my four favorite places) - the signal is strong, quality assurance filters through the airwaves, into the consciousness of the capital: Hold Tight - ON AIR.
[source]


Love the inspiration for these. I passed on them when they first dropped and I regretted it like crazy. Then I kept waiting for them to pop up again...hopefully with the price dropped. But no dice. After basically giving up...I was looking around Asbee in Shibuya of all places. (Like The Athlete's Foot in the US) And there they were, waiting for me!


After about a 10 seconds thinking about it...I tried them on and told the nervous sales lady to wrap them up for me. I was and am pleased. I love the details. The perforated leather and quality materials. The insoles with the antennas are fantastic as are the radio waves on the heel.


I am already debating about playing with the laces. I think I could go simple with a black or a dark grey. Or I could go big and throw some color in there. Any color would go with the slick colorways. And EVERYTHING matches reflective 3M!


With this purchase I have 2/3 of the pack. I will hopefully pick up the missing shoe in the next week or so. I was holding off...cause I would never be able to live with an uncomplete pack. But, now that I have the one that I thought was impossible to find, I can pick up the last one. Developing.

Here in Japan this week is Golden Week. If you are too lazy to click on the link...Golden Week is a string of 5 holidays within 7 days. It is like X-mas week in the US. A week off for almost everyone. And that means tons of people everywhere. But that is besides the point. What is important to me is that I have a 9 day break from work! Nice. Sadly 2 of those days will be taken up with a funeral. (Shit...how come cancer never takes a holiday?!?) But besides that, I will be maxin and relaxin with my girl.

And lastly before I go. I give you a glimpse into life in Tokyo.


Yes...that is a mad long, totally snakey line in front of Krispy Creme donuts. It opened about 2 months ago. It is the first in all of Japan. Everytime I walk past this place in Shinjuku it is the same. The photo above was taken on a Monday a few weeks ago. Monday is a day when most people should be at work...not waiting for donuts! On that day they had a sign out front stating the approximate wait time: 1 hour 30 mins. And just in case you don't believe me that it is always like this. This next photo was taken today.


I knew it was going to be bigger...cause it is Golden Week. But even I was surprised by the insanity. Here is the sign that posts the wait time.


That's right! 2 hours and 10 mins. That is a long ass time to be standing in the hot sun for fucking donuts. Even if they are good. Please, take a look at how long this line is.


It goes on across the entire bridge! And people kept joining it. "Hmmmm...should we go to a movie today...or stand in line for donuts???" Lines are nothing new for me, but this one is just ridiculous.

Spend your time wisely out there.

PS. Relating to a post a couple weeks back. Click HERE for a great article on fixed bikes from the NY Times.

Music & More

Met this friendly fellow while walking in my neighborhood the other day. Such a sweet dog. Not a bark or a whimper...but he is DYING for some lovin'. Something else that made me whip out my phone was this.


That's a big cone y'all. What else can be said....really.

And now for something completely different.

I have been on a CD buying bonanza as of late. I haven't been buying music all that much these days...compared to when I lived in NYC. In those days it was at least 1 or 2 albums a week. Since I moved to Japan, it is way less. Most of the time the time that is...


Lilly Allen first. Before her album dropped I heard a bunch of her singles here and there on the WWW. I was liking them but not really sure I would buy the album till I heard this one.

Lilly Allen - Alfie


My favorite track by far. The rest of the album is good and enjoyable. But that song is where it's at for me. In this age of single song downloads, complete albums are a rarity...but this one manages it. The same can not be said about the Rhymefest album. It is close to complete...but there are a couple songs I skip every single time. But 3 bad tracks on a 16 track album is not bad at all. I don't regret the purchase at all. The good songs on here are REALLY good. For example:

Rhymefest - Fever


I love how he seems to bounce and skim over that deep beat. It is my fav on the album right now. The video ain't worth getting excited about, but the song is!


After much hype and promotion the Timbaland album finally drop a couple weeks ago. On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd say it's so so. A couple of hot bangers, a bunch of decent stuff, and a few crapsters in there. This is an album that works well with some iTunes editing. Sadly for people in the US, it seems the best track was a bonus track for Asia and Europe only. Here it is. [audio only]

Timbaland & M.I.A. - Come Around


I'm not disappointed by the album. I just feel like he is kinda all over the place...and not in a good way. But I still love those good tracks. Easily worth the junk tracks. Seriously...who likes R&B anyway??? There is no kinda "all over the place" atmosphere on the Redman album. It is focused to the extreme: all East Coast joints one after another. If it catches you in that mood, it's perfect. If not...it is a tad monotonous. And one other sad thing, the 1st single is the best track on the album, which is always a bit dissapointing.

Redman - Put It Down


But any hip-hop album that can combines good slamin' beats with insults and jokes by Redman is all good in my book.


I also picked up some mixed tapes. The Junglist Now! has some good old jungle tracks on it. But damn!!! One key point for mixed tapes is to showcase the ability of the DJ, right? Not so much here. This has to be the worst mixed tape ever in that department: beats not matching, tracks dropping in and out almost at random, abrupt change in BPM or style. Yeah...it's got them all. BUT...the tracks themselves stand up to the non-stop assult they recieve.

The I LUV Baile album is very different...the DJ can actually mix! And who doesn't love some Baile Funk! I need more. For more info on Baile...which...if no one told you, is the music of the future, click HERE, HERE, or HERE.

And on this post rolls on with yet another non sequitur.

There is a holiday in Japan coming on May 5th which is Koinobori or Children's day or Boy's day...depending who you ask. It's mostly for the boys. And the main element I can gather is that you fly carp flags everywhere. Like this thing


Why am I talking about a kid's holiday when I don't have any kids you ask. Here is why.


[source]

A sneaker is the reason, of course! Loved these when I saw the sample up in MITA a couple weeks ago. They are Nike 360's as part of the Koinobori pack. They are hands down the best in the pack. I tried them on and they looked pretty dope. But the price and the brightness of the 3M all over was more than I could handle. In addition to that, I have my eyes on some future releases that I need to remain faithful to. That being said, I did pick up something else over the weekend which will be revealed soon.

Hold Tight

(ps. That there's a hint to what I bought last weekend.)