The Constorium of Greater Minds

have you ever had a night out that just made you sick? i’m not talking about drinking too much; not that kind of sick. i’m refering to the feeling you get after you realize you’ve done something that just didn’t mesh with your philosophy; a feeling that you’ve wasted time, money, emotion and energy on the pursuit of something trivial and base. friday night turned out to be the most ridiculously wasteful and meaningless night i’ve spent in roppongi since arriving in japan. i despise roppongi. i will be completely content if i never spend another evening in roppongi as long as i live. i need a break from japan. my class in newport and the subsequent trip to visit friends could not possibly come at a better occasion. my creative reaction to friday night:

waste

Undeniably, I said
Softly, replied
The past
Dead
Dollar rise, dollar fall
The creation of man-made things
Changed us
God in a neon sign
A generation of degenerates
Subsiding on emptiness
Beckoned onward by a false justification
A tear
From her eye
She’s stopped eating now
She’s so thin
It’s beautiful

Double post for today. This one will be more visual than lyrical. From June 18th to July 17th, I called Omiya, Saitama in Japan my home. Let me satiate your pupils for a hot second. A month long stay overseas can’t really be broke down into one post, so I’ll let it marinate over a few entries.

so, as the kids say, i’ve obviously “slept on this one” – thanks to gary for putting me on this b-more fuck yo couch remix!

[kml_flashembed movie="http://jp.youtube.com/v/8kEryR5wj9o" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

yo, i’m off to Fuji Rock Fest 2008!!! who knows when i’ll get there…

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last weekend before heading to the park for the day we stopped by the kawasaki fertility festival. i presume the only bit of true tradition left here is the old temple and the wooden err…statues. besides these items it is quite evident that the entire festival has been tainted and taken over by vast multinational penis candy makers and their rich political beneficiaries. don’t get me wrong, i love seeing babes gyrate on seven foot long wooden dongs as much as the next cat but seriously, there’s only so much cock candy, wiener statues and dong candles a guy can take. all the paraphernalia aside the worst part about the whole scene was that when you made a really good non-penis joke and you and your buddies laughed at it everyone around you assumed you were making lewd wiener humor. oh, and if i ever catch my future daughter licking a cocoa penis pop, well just hold me back because there’s going to be a rumble in willy wanka’s chocolate factory.

looks like a nice wholesome time, right?

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357 days ago

it was exactly one year ago today that i touched down at atsugi air base north west of tokyo on a MAC flight from seattle full of excitement and anticipation. excited to live in japan, to be working at my first real job and to be a real officer in the united states navy (not a college student required to wear a uniform once a week). i didn’t know anyone, everything was new and fresh. the day was sunny, warm and i spent the entire two hour drive to yokosuka naval base with my eyes glued to the window staring out at my new home. one year later i am still excited and i still ride the trains eyes wide open taking in this amazing country. i love the ship i am on and the crew and what i do and how i have integrated and made a space for myself on board. i absolutely love tokyo and i do not ever see myself growing tired of the city. one year on i have few regrets and many plans and ideas for the next year and a half. in the new year i plan to see more of japan and steer my focus away from tokyo every weekend. i plan on spending less nights out in tokyo and less money on nights and girls in tokyo. i’m refocusing my energy from partying in the city to experiencing the country on a wider scale and taking in more of the day time scenes. i just purchased a digital SLR and plan on using it extensively in the coming 18 months. i want to continue to spend my days outdoors but keep my nights out of the clubs and off the streets or roppongi. no more fancy hotels and less expensive dinners. less energy spent on getting girls and not being fulfilled by the hunt nor the kill. i’m done with night girls and i’m moving on to day girls. meeting birds in the park, in the library or in the museum is how it will be done from now on. no more drunken nights with chicks that turn out to be half as nice sober as you thought they were when you were drunk. i will make a concerted effort to learn the language and experience the culture of new parts of the city and country. i love this place and would like to share it with all of my friends. you know the invitation still stands for anyone who wants to visit japan and have a free place to stay. one year down and i feel like i just got here one day ago. must mean something is right.

7 days ago

another weekend, another beautiful saturday…just can’t stay in doors when the world outside is coming out of it’s season long malaise. the vibrancy and life in the air is palpable. families, old couples, young couples, friends, solo travelers, school groups, visitors and locals alike all out in the sunshine…everybody loves the sunshine. the city alive and thriving, alive and well, and me alive within it. i love the city. some shots from a day in ueno

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started to read glimpses of unfamiliar japan by lafcadio hearn. hearn was the first foreign writer to really immerse himself in the culture of japan. moving there in 1890 hearn would never return to his home in america, but make a new one in his adopted homeland of japan, the country he loved so much. here’s a great quote of his in reference to yokohama – i think it pretty well sums up my feelings towards the city of tokyo.
“i could not, in those first weeks, resign myself to remain indoors and write, while there was yet so much to see and hear and feel in the sun-steeped ways of the wonderful japanese city. still, even could i revive all the lost sensations of those first experiences, i doubt if i could express and fix them in words. the first charm of japan is intangible and volatile as a perfum.”
–lafcadio hearn

so spring is finally here. went into the city for a re-up on that good urban life. the life blood that keeps me going, keeps me inspired and keeps me creating. every time i walk the streets i see some little thing that gives me energy. whether it’s the first cherry blossom tree of the season in daikanyama park, or catching a truck full of construction workers following a beautiful girl with their eyes as she walks past on the street, the hustle and bustle of busy harajuku back streets teaming with young people or the quiet lanes of naka-meguro full of amazing street cafes and shops. the poetry of the city, the noises, smells, sites, action. there is a life running through the veins of tokyo like no other! some photos from a stroll through a favorite neighborhood: naka-meguro. peace

naka-meguro

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just introduced to this group via the honeyee blog. “Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO) is a Japanese electropop band, formed in 1978. They were ranked No.2 in a list of Japan’s top 100 musicians by HMV.
The band is renowned as having pioneered the Synthpop and Electropop music genres, along with Germany’s Kraftwerk. The principal members are Haruomi “Harry” Hosono (bass, keyboards), Yukihiro Takahashi (drums and percussion, lead vocals) and Ryuichi Sakamoto (keyboards).”

YMO – Rydeen[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/9l6UpVqqtS4" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]
Sketch Show – Chronograph[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/E7XqkmtXnoE" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]