Saturday, September 30, 2006

J burger, fries and milk tea

On the flight over to Japan we watched Da Vinci Code and Mission Impossible 3
and on the way back it was X Men 3: Final Decision as it's known overseas and
Al Gore's eco movie was kind of impressive, presented it's case well and certainly helped wile away some more hours up in the plane
I noticed that there are just too many fashion adverts using Kate Moss at the moment
Time and Newsweek Asia were useful US based ref. points , good as they have been
McD's in Tokyo are superior in every way to the US version
from the ordering to quality the food itself there's a rather good shrimpburger currently available .
The bright white Mc'D's in Ebisu we split the party for a break last Sunday held promise of fresh air in the no smoker's area and we could chill there with a pair of smoking teens one with gray blond hair and eyeliner , others passing in and out
Becker's in Akihabara was not bad either their burger with a iced tea with milk
worked out nicely as we could Akiba people watch at the same time.
Buzz of layers of big neon , air conditioning and infrastructure outside
Almost all the other food we ate there was Japanese , Italian or Chinese and was all good to varying kinds of great including the katsu chain place we went to in Shibuya,
the Chinese noodle place up in huge shopping building and the one we found in Shinbashi with it's excellent hot Mabado on fluffy rice and a cold beer watching Matsui Japanese baseball news on TV on the wall behind us.
For some time during the trip i did effectively forgot the US , the run up to 9/11,
until I saw again on TV Bush going on about the CIA and torture issue
We heard from friends that some young people find London and NYC to expensive to actually live in these days and some have opted for cheaper Asian city like Bangkok Thailand , we heard people there were fine and almost happy after the coup
people also going to Viet Nam to spend time there
China and South Korea are in the Japanese news over then here ,
and the Shakey's in Tokyo was good solid comfort food
Tokyo's back side of the new Omotesando Hills with Ando's cool concrete shape
and story high Animation of shoppers walking up and down its length
and over Cat street winding down through the lane of shops,
shop people out catching the air peered up at the gathering storm clouds
Dior's white neon cube positively glowed on the skyline

Friday, September 29, 2006

Past Hanno gate

Through tunnel to tunnel
Yokoze
Motokaj
Shomaru
Agano
Higashi-Hanno
pink red orange gold blue sunset
Misty mountain hop

Thursday, September 28, 2006

Orange clouds billowing above

Back at home after 27 days in Japan ,
everything's calm and our bed felt so great last night
Shimokitazawa Shinjuku Daikenyama Shibuya Harajuku again Ebisu Aoyama Shibuya Chichibu Ebisu
3 weeks of High Definition programming on the family home's plasma TV
Abe comes in as new PM with good tone
There's a high sound some of the trains make as they accelerate , a synthetic tone rises and falls as the train leaves the station
A pair of outrageously S&M Goth styled women coming out onto the big Ginza intersection , intricate neck piece on one of the ladies was intense
as they left Ginza Green
Catching the outdoor performance that Hutchan and Hishinuma were involved in
White piano playing at what was really a ritual celebration of the start of construction for this large building project. Possibly a Shinto related thing ...
Excursions to Akihabara , hours spend in Ginza shooting film Omiya food shopping
A beautiful hostess getting out of taxis in front of Roppongi nightspot
Gold Street Kabukicho Shin - Okubo Shibuya Pride Glide Gold
One night Robot Ghosty Blow Strut Berry and the splendid Jusglitty
Leaving Gattaca Bar on it's quiet back street in Aoyoma,
scattering strays that hover by the Bar entrance
Newsweek and Time on Japanese web biz , what war with Iran would look like and immigrants in Tokyo
Madsaki Vs Takahashi HK book in Logo Bookshop
Best udon in Shibuya hit the spot

... great things going with DCC,
Amiens France white nights thing Oct.7 with James Chance , Gavin & Delia ,
heard Liquid Liquid mentioned earlier , but not confirmed. I hope they are there !
DCC album demo got out there and things seem to be coming along, heating up

Dominatrix ( Delic's Pieces 11 (2) Collection released 9/20) sounded great in Tokyo

IK is recieving great reviews Pitchfork yesterday, Dusted (odd one, that)
Downtown Music Gallery, Iank on Exploding Plastic
'dark in the best way--spartan ,careful, slightly dubby,vaguely funky,a little ambient, a little menacing'
We were talking about The Voodooists rerelease in Tokyo
I showed the Diaries to quite a few people and got a great reaction and encouragement towards doing the project (10 years of NYC Nightclubbing diaries between 1980-1990)

Another offer from Australia this time , re: The Rudements (1976,'77) .
what do we have ? , a good Ep's worth , the songs from Don Zientara's new Studio
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