oh, go for it then

i am not in a good mood, not at all.

so, went to the local hot spring/spa.
even the monkeys bathe in japan. so the clothing brand, bathing ape doesn;t sound like an original name to me, but hey.

link to my local

japan is a large volcano, so if you keep digging, you're bound to hit a hot spring. this is a fairly recent "trend" and my local one opened up maybe 5 years ago? in a building that was built in the early 80's that was supposed to be some hawt, trendy shopping centre. the building turned sour in a matter of years (i used to spend time there with my first girlfriend at age 14, everybody did). and the building's had identity issues since. it's been a health club, a music school, something after that, and now a hot spring. too bad, because there's a giant takashimaya shopping centre that's way better and right next door to the station.

i had heard about the hot spring place but never went. the hot tub fanatics i know of all said that "minoru, that place is a rip off". well, they were kinda right. $20. granted, you get to spend 12 hours in there if you want. but how the fuck am i going to spend 12 hours immersed in hot water?

what's special about these hot spring places is that the water is natural and contains minerals and other goodies that does stuff. by spending maybe 20 minutes in one of these places, the benefits are obvious to ANYONE. you relax and your body becomes just a floating tissue. i know what's wrong with my body now.

my local has two outdoor baths, one is dedicated per gender and one is unisex (w/swimming wear, damn!). didn't go to the unisex one because i didn't know about it. the outdoor one is the most pleasant. then there's the regular big tub, the jacuzzi tub, the "stay in there for a long time" tub, showers, and a sauna.

i have no concentration right now, so i kept chaning tubs every 5 minutes or so. then i got bored of doing that, so brought my book out of the locker and started reading. reading at these places is a WEIRD act, kept getting stared at every time, but what the heck.

i spent maybe 2 hours in there, 30 minutes of which was spent on a massage that was ok.
then i put my clothes back on and found the best japanese tradition post ww2, massage machines!!!

found the good old massage chair, spent 10 minutes being fondled by a machine whilst kraftwerk or the yellow magic orchestra was playing in mind. i want to marry that machine and unite.

then onto the back of the foot machine. this was new to me. little plastic poles that push your accupuncture points. kinda works.

the thing about these machines though is that the kinda work, but only for a short time. they don't really work from the inner, well you can'tr expect that effect from a machine. sometimes i notice people paying some money for a massage in the west, that could be had for a dollar here from a machine........

granted, cultures are different, etc. however, there are three things i would like to see gain semi immortal popularity in the west.

1. hot springs.
the soothing effects of these places has to be experienced. it seems there's one in ma. but the pricing there is ridiculous. there's one in santafe, i know that. i need to find one close to new york.

2. japanese style diners
main fish dish, veggies, side of pickles, etc, miso, selection of rice. tea, what else do ya fucking need?
sanma in season, grilled with the right kind of salt, salmon cooked just right. natto soy beans, tofu.

3. "decent and proper" ramen places
the ones i've had in nyc all suck, they're bad, i don't even consider going to them now, i go to chinese places now, at least they don't try to be some fancy weird shit. and don't spend 30 minutes picking on your ramen bowl, that is utterly disgusting.

i would like to see these things gain popularity in japan

1. reasonably priced  proper health food stores
2. more variety in organic food
these are obvious.

3. more guidelines published in english
i don't have any need for these, but we're supposed to be an international country here........

4. 24/7 public transport
they've probably thought about it but they probably can't and i understand why. hey, maybe it's time to bomb the whole place again, but let's have a plan though.......change the address system while we're at it.

oooooh, life is so...........

Posted by Minoru at 5:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Mein Kampf

Posted by Minoru at 3:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

is a weird thing, it really is.............

Posted by Minoru at 1:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Posted by Minoru at 12:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Been working all day with the windows closed and ac blasting away. I knew there was a typhoon approaching the country but suddenly, I hear this public announcement outside. So I open the window to listen in, seems like a storm warning. Not only that, all I hear is the sound of rain falling, hard. More intense than the sound of a shower, it's so intense that it makes me want to go outside and bathe in it. Maybe I'd do that later if it's going to pour like this for the rest of the night.

Always liked rain, don't know why. Maybe time to find out.

Update: oh oh, they're announcing to stay away from the river.......
Further Update: 12:30am, just came back from the local 7-11. Man, the amount of rain is ridiculous, it isn't funny........at this rate, I wouldn't be surprised if the river floods by morning. Police cars patrolling the streets, it's kinda spooky.

Posted by Minoru at 9:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

http://parallel.park.org/Japan/Selection/FishMarket/

When was this, 94? 95? Internet World Expo, what the fuck was all that about?! Remember Cyrus had a big muthafuckin' Apple digi cam.

I knew the Buffalo Daughter folk already then, so it must be. Maybe Christmas 95? Probably, because I quit the record company job in early 96 and then went onto work with Buffalo.......tour America, meet people, etc.

The internet was fun back then, being able to communicate with people on true intention of communicating. Being on the same server (www.eccosys.com RIP) as Cornelius, Buffalo Daughter, Fishmans, Friction, Mr. Bongo, etc, we probably had a sense of community. I hardly meet them on a physical regular basis nowadays, but when we do, it's weird and scary that we share so much common views on issues. Maybe I should reactivate my webpage on hito, I've had that account forever.

Update: http://www.glennhughes.com/bjl_index.html
This was 94, so it definitely was Christmas 95. That album was a lot of tape. Hope Glenn's doing well. He's a talented singer and deserves more exposure.

Ten years, man. So I've been online for ten years. I should reflect the past 10 years and write something on it.

I should go to Tsukiji soon and grab some fresh fish. It's starting to be Sanma season now, my favourite. What is sanma called in English?.............it's apparently called saury. Is that pronounced like saucy? Raw sanma, rare, but the taste is sooooooooooooooooooooooo niceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. Melts in the mouth, aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..............

Posted by Minoru at 3:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

KNIEVEL

......................
no, Microsoft are EVIL. Computers are evil. So, I'm doing this translation project at the moment which is for a secretive client, can't mention names, contents, etc, dib dib dib dob dob dob. Most of the source text is supplied via MS (MoreShit) Word or Excel(in being unstable). Can't they just create something simple and stable so that I don't lose bits of data?! I'm getting people calling me from Europe at 4am requesting the damn fucking files. I'm back on coffee now. There's got to be a better and easier way to handle this, but it ain't my show.

There used to be a time in the late 80's when I started working whilst in college, where I was actually "writing" translations down on to paper. The 400 letter/page Japanese format. in 15 years, computers have managned to vanish all of that for the under 50 year old sector. Or for that matter, the "word processor", which was/is a glorified electronic typewriter for typing in Japanese. I remember my first word processor I got getting into college. It was three times as thicker than my Powerbook is right now and weighed like dumbells. Used to carry that fucking thing around before tests, etc........

My first computer was an Atari 1040ST with a B&W screen which I got just to make music, it was a cute machine and I miss it to this day. It was useless for anything else, it didn't even have Japanese capabilities! Then I became an Apple guy and got a Powerbook. I had one phase of being a Windows guy for a few years but apart from that, it's been Apple. How many have I had, probably 3 Powerbooks and 2 desktop machines.......I have my old 7100AV desktop in storage for when I want to feel old.

I miss the handwriting, it's like you're doing something more physical while at the same time, using the mind. The word processor was definitely the most efficient form of translation, it was quick, effective and didn't fucking crash because it was only designed to do one thing, input text.

End of break time, back to being Terminator.

Posted by Minoru at 2:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

most of my acitions in recent have been utterly meaningless and useless. however, such is human nature, i am stupid after all. one part of me knows that it's all pointless, one doesn't. however, the real me probably isn't either one of them at all, it's an entirely different me that has a bit more depth and meaning. i just have to get him out a lot more often......

i just hope i don't go insane being this way, at least i feel alive........

Posted by Minoru at 11:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2678975?htv=12

this is a way which media could be used in the positive......
media is built by humans, run by humans, dogs don't care about the internet.......

Posted by Minoru at 7:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

what was expecting to be a quick vegan curry turned into fun last night.

after a meeting in shibuya, deciced to wander about to azabu and go see my friends running the club super-deluxe for some vegan curry. i don't really follow what they're doing on a daily basis (since i get in for free anyway.....), but they were having some bands play in the "punk rock" sense of diy and we don't give a shit what you think.......

one of them was this band with drums and sitar

then my friend mai played solo on guitar and bass, improv all the way. i was bored and had an urge, so did sound for him, no rehearsal, nothing. it's fun doing live sound, you get to commit on the spot and get the fuck out once you're done. i helped design the sound system at the club, so i had an advantage as well......wanted to test out the new extra speakers they've had for a while. still isn't loud and clear enough as i would like, but 4 is better than 2.

then i hung out with some girls in the kitchen, which is my favorite spot in the place. it used to be better when i still smoked, setup my bish ashtray there and talk bs. i sometimes clean the dishes at the kitchen as a hobby, sometimes fry stuff in the fryer, is that what it's called? do stuff i would never do at home........most of the crowd were too young and hip for my liking anyway. held discussion about cabbage amongst other things with the girls. talking to girls is usually a lot better for perspective.

then this band went on, drummer and flourescent light player.

kinda sounded like nine inch nails without the vocals, very cyber, industrial, william gibson. the lights sounded interesting.

here's a video of them

kinda got bored of the whole machismo, so buggered off home. during the cab ride, the bit of chinese lizard liquor i had a few drops of earlier had an interesting effect on my mind........i'm an alchoholic!

smells rather interesting, this stuff

maybe try the terrapin drink next time. i'm allergic to alcohol but have started to dabble with it by licking drops of it. it started maybe a year, maybe a bit longer ago, where i, for the sake of curiosity, stuck my finger inside a friend's drink and tasted the drop. this actually seems to do the trick for me. 3 or 4 drops of anything usually makes me unwind. the folks at the bar know of this allergy, so they didn't want me messing with strong stuff, but i knew i was in capable hands. besides, i didn't feel like having a coke.

the alcohol made me feel kinda like this

tadpoles. i want a few of those, could i maybe knick them off of the wall?

nah............

Posted by Minoru at 9:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

R.L. Burnside

Dedication to RL from us

Posted by Minoru at 6:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

shit starts to happen.

just noticed that my iTunes doesn't work for some weird reason. i use the damn thing not just to play music, but work on album song sequencing, go through my never ending arcive of stuff, etc and i actually use it as part of daily work. damn..............

Posted by Minoru at 10:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

the hard drives

Santa Fe, New Mexico USA, about a year ago, 2004

stuff taken with my phone camera, the old one, 2002 I think

Jin aka DJ Uppercut in Harajuku probably

Yuka Honda and singer Salyu, Chelsea NYC 2002.

saw Salyu a few weeks ago by accident, good to know she's doing well and a pop star and everything. we should go for some vegan food again sometime. picture from 2002.

Kostas Seremetis, Harajuku 2002. First time I met him, actually.

Jackie Farry, dressing room in Tokyo, 2002. I think she was happy about some sneakers she got that day. Or was it the present Cornelius got for her, forgot...........

Jenna Felling and I, this must be 1996 on the road in America, probably the west coast. Thanks Jenna, hope I bump into you somewhere again. This was taken with my old Casio QV10 digital camera, one of the first digi cams to be mass produced. I still probably have it somewhere.........

Which reminds me, wonder what I should do about all the old floppy and zip discs and scsi hard drives, ie, 20th century material. That's the problem with digital, things change radically in a matter of few years..........

Posted by Minoru at 12:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)