You’re an idiot, Glenn Beck
October 9, 2008
Where is the comments section on this editorial?? Why can’t I tell Glenn Beck that he’s an idiot?
Commentary: Voting against Obama doesn’t make you a racist
I had to brush off the old “WHA—–T??!??! ME??!??! RaCiSt??!??!1″ U.S.A dunce cap before I could make even the slightest bit of sense from this diatribe.
I might have agreed with the headline had I not actually read the article.
Sometimes I wish I was a member of a racial majority again, but would make me broke and potentially jobless, wouldn’t it.
Fuck you Glenn.
Obama ‘08
Niigata Jazz Street Festival
August 12, 2008
I was profiled on the blog “Bean’s trio and friends”:
(English and 日本語)
More pictures of the performance here: http://trisa.exblog.jp/blog.asp?iid=6&acv=&dif=&opt=2&srl=7378165&dte=2008%2D08%2D08+08%3A38%3A00%2E000
(Japanese only/日本語だけ)
The Jazz Street Festival in Niigata City was held July 19-20 and I performed twice on the 20th; once with pianist Yuichi Sato, singer Keiko Fumita, saxophonist Nagasawa Yoshihiro and drummer Ataka Minoru, and again with piano and singer alone.
Butoh and Bass
August 11, 2008
I’m currently working with Hisako Horikawa to put on something this year and it looks like I’ll be able to perform with her in November at a show she has coming up in a town called Maki. I will be playing free improvisation along with a saxphonist from Niigata.
Here are videos of her on YouTube; I’ve only seen her dance live once for about 5 minutes, so these videos were an important find for me.
With Tristan Honsinger of ICP Orchestra in Amsterdam
Solo in Barcelona
Hisako was originally a vocal improviser, which is why she sometimes sings during her dances. She told me she studied vocal improvisation with Takehisa Kosugi, and went on and on about him before I realized she was talking about the brilliant violinist-composer who works for Merce Cunningham Company I had seen perform back in Ann Arbor a few years ago.
She studied butoh with Tanaka Min, and like him she enjoys dancing in nature, carrying the audience with her as she performs. The place where we will perform in Maki has a bamboo forest which I can play in too, if I want. I’m looking very forward to it.
It’s been a while
May 21, 2008
…since I’ve posted anything.
But there are times when one cannot ignore a call to action.
“Tuna-flavored” Cat Smack.
Clearly this cat’s had his share.
Last week in pictures
January 18, 2008
One day in Akihabara…
Another in Niigata…
I Want My Money
August 21, 2007
There are many reasons why I like this video, despite it featuring a swearing baby.
The overwhelming one will be quite obvious however…
Today was yet another drive practice to get my japanese driver’s license in frickin’ Niigata City which is an hour away. Only Americans have to take the drive test after our international permit has expired while the Brits sit back and laugh, getting away with just taking the written test, probably because the driving system is based on the British system.
The test is optimally performed by the test-taker with machine-like precision on a specialized track you have to pay $50/hour to practice on. Among the moves are keeping as close to the edge of the road as possible, checking right-left-left bicycle (behind diagonally) before turning, randomly speeding up to 40mph in certain places, and driving through a very narrow S-shaped and right-angle obstacle track. I have practiced it 3 hours and still feel shaky about taking the test this coming Tuesday. If I fall off the track on the obstacle portion or make too many tiny mistakes they fail me.
Anyway, I was in a really shitty mood after getting out of the practice, so I went to a nearby grocery that happens to have a very wide selection of things. As I was purchasing my can of Sapporo beer, I suddenly saw that familiar penis-shaped bottle beckoning to me from a distance.
Now, I do not usually drink soda, unless it is weird. Even better if it happens to be Ramune.
What do we have here?
WASABI RAMUNE
It was all downhill from there:
Ahh!!! Wasabi Ramune gave me hiccups!!
Today’s taiko practice was cancelled because they found asbestos in the school we practice in, and now we have to find a new place to lug a whole bunch of hundred pound drums and equipment so we can prepare for the festivals coming up (why do I insist on playing such huge instruments???) More info about taiko here and here (the last link is THE taiko group, Kodo. I happen to live an hour from the island where they practice).
The local clothing store has stocked the new summer fashions and it looks like goofy English T-shirts are still in style. I bought two of them for about $5 each.
The one on the right says: Good Bread GET mind Bad guys know us and they leave us BB
The one on the left says: Rise with the aim of the climax suddenly CLIMAX SUDDENLY Female Concave Game Empty Black waves Realize many collaborations and introduce the new work which got universal point of view 21 & up only I.D. a must A flexible ensemble to surge like a wave and to return
It reminds me of the time I owned a shirt with Chinese characters on it and when I went to Versailles, France some asian girls pointed at my shirt with a really surprised expression. I REALLY wish I had known what it said.
