how high the dandy
I am back and highly medicated, so I don't have anything for you today. After that long vacation, I was about to abandon this blog altogether because it seriously eats into the time at work that I like to reserve for daydreaming. But we seem to be over-staffed right now, so I guess I can do both.
Thanks to my sister for driving me around L.A. (even though she made us leave the Clientele and Jon Brion shows early—ack!) and thanks to my brother for pretending to understand my stupid made-up language. He's the only one who'll put up with my nonsense, and I miss him already.
In a couple of days, I'll post some stuff that you probably already know, so I'm sure you're not looking forward to it. I just need people to go with, even though I've mostly been going to these things alone, you lazy, no-money-spending bizzatches. (Note to self: do not post while on drugs.)
I have to ask, which one of you crazy bastards sent me this question?
Monday, September 29, 2003
Monday, September 01, 2003
YIDFF
film
Those Athénée people made a liar out of me. Okay, this is the last post I'm writing before October. Athénée Français Cultural Center's contribution to the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival does indeed have a schedule. I'm none too sharp, so I don't know if I overlooked it or if they put it up recently, but here's the English version. Match the numbers to the ones on this Japanese schedule to figure out what's playing when.
International Competition:
1. Once There Were Seven Simeons (YIDFF 1991 Runner-up Prize), Herz Frank / 1989 / 89 min
2. Hoop Dreams, Steve James / 1994 / 169 min
3. Father, Son and Holy War (YIDFF 1995 Special Prize), Anand Patwardhan / 1994 / 120 min
4. Chen Tsai-gen and His Neighbors, Wu Yii-feng / 1996 / 90 min
5. Alpine Ballad, Erich Langjahr / 1996 / 100 min
6. Return to the Tribes, Howie Severino / 1999 / 45 min
7. Please Give Me a Job, Yang Ming-hui / 1997 / 35 min
(May also be known as Songs of the Wanderer.)
8. 6 Easy Pieces (YIDFF 2001 Runner-up Prize), Jon Jost / 2000 / 68 min
9. The Land of the Wandering Souls (YIDFF 2001 The Robert and Frances Flaherty Prize), Rithy Panh / 2000 / 100 min
New Asian Currents:
10. Mysterious Object at Noon (YIDFF 2001 Runner-up Prize), Apichatpong Weerasethakul / 2000 / 83 min
11. A Season Outside, Amar Kanwar / 1997 / 30 min
12. King of Dreams, Amar Kanwar / 2001 / 30 min
13. Out of Phoenix Bridge (YIDFF 1997 Ogawa Shinsuke Prize), Li Hong / 1997 / 110 min
14. State of Dogs, Peter Brosens, Dorjkhandyn Turmunkh / 1998 / 88 min
15. Swimming on the Highway (YIDFF 1999 Ogawa Shinsuke Prize), Wu Yao-tung / 1998 / 49 min
16. More than One Is Unhappy (YIDFF 2001 Asia Award of Excellence), Wang Fen / 2000 / 45 min
17. Along the Railway (YIDFF 2001 Asia Special Prize), Du Haibin / 2000 / 125 min
A Newsreel Retrospective Primer:
18. Plain Talk & Common Sense (Uncommon Senses), Jon Jost / 1987 / 117 min
19. Route One/USA (YIDFF 1989 Mayor's Prize), Robert Kramer / 1989 / 255 min
20. Accelerated Development, Travis Wilkerson / 1999 / 56 min
A Special Invitation Films Primer:
21. Domestic Violence, Frederick Wiseman / 2001 / 195 min
Also, on the 9th, there'll be a discussion with Amir Muhammad, director of The Big Durian (showing at the festival in Yamagata) and Fujioka Asako, the Festival Coordinator.
Okay, that's it. No, really. I mean it this time.
Those Athénée people made a liar out of me. Okay, this is the last post I'm writing before October. Athénée Français Cultural Center's contribution to the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival does indeed have a schedule. I'm none too sharp, so I don't know if I overlooked it or if they put it up recently, but here's the English version. Match the numbers to the ones on this Japanese schedule to figure out what's playing when.
International Competition:
1. Once There Were Seven Simeons (YIDFF 1991 Runner-up Prize), Herz Frank / 1989 / 89 min
2. Hoop Dreams, Steve James / 1994 / 169 min
3. Father, Son and Holy War (YIDFF 1995 Special Prize), Anand Patwardhan / 1994 / 120 min
4. Chen Tsai-gen and His Neighbors, Wu Yii-feng / 1996 / 90 min
5. Alpine Ballad, Erich Langjahr / 1996 / 100 min
6. Return to the Tribes, Howie Severino / 1999 / 45 min
7. Please Give Me a Job, Yang Ming-hui / 1997 / 35 min
(May also be known as Songs of the Wanderer.)
8. 6 Easy Pieces (YIDFF 2001 Runner-up Prize), Jon Jost / 2000 / 68 min
9. The Land of the Wandering Souls (YIDFF 2001 The Robert and Frances Flaherty Prize), Rithy Panh / 2000 / 100 min
New Asian Currents:
10. Mysterious Object at Noon (YIDFF 2001 Runner-up Prize), Apichatpong Weerasethakul / 2000 / 83 min
11. A Season Outside, Amar Kanwar / 1997 / 30 min
12. King of Dreams, Amar Kanwar / 2001 / 30 min
13. Out of Phoenix Bridge (YIDFF 1997 Ogawa Shinsuke Prize), Li Hong / 1997 / 110 min
14. State of Dogs, Peter Brosens, Dorjkhandyn Turmunkh / 1998 / 88 min
15. Swimming on the Highway (YIDFF 1999 Ogawa Shinsuke Prize), Wu Yao-tung / 1998 / 49 min
16. More than One Is Unhappy (YIDFF 2001 Asia Award of Excellence), Wang Fen / 2000 / 45 min
17. Along the Railway (YIDFF 2001 Asia Special Prize), Du Haibin / 2000 / 125 min
A Newsreel Retrospective Primer:
18. Plain Talk & Common Sense (Uncommon Senses), Jon Jost / 1987 / 117 min
19. Route One/USA (YIDFF 1989 Mayor's Prize), Robert Kramer / 1989 / 255 min
20. Accelerated Development, Travis Wilkerson / 1999 / 56 min
A Special Invitation Films Primer:
21. Domestic Violence, Frederick Wiseman / 2001 / 195 min
Also, on the 9th, there'll be a discussion with Amir Muhammad, director of The Big Durian (showing at the festival in Yamagata) and Fujioka Asako, the Festival Coordinator.
Okay, that's it. No, really. I mean it this time.
Yo La Tengo
music
Three things.
1) I updated my FAQs. Sort of. It's still thoroughly dull though, and I have only myself to blame.
2) This'll be the last post I write before I throw myself into the fire-y abyss, or as people who aren't drama queens like to say, "before I go to L.A." Please do not break into my apartment while I'm away. (The roaches will attack.) And if my plane crashes, please do not read my diary. Thank you.
3) Yo La Tengo's coming back to Japan! Yay! I can't tell you how much I love them...because frankly it's perverse. And, yes, I realize that a love like this doesn't come around very often, so I really should do something about it. I'm just afraid they won't reciprocate.
I know that the Tokyo concerts are in December and I know that that's a long time from now, but after the speed at which Death Cab for Cutie's concert sold out—and I don't even really like them all that much—I'm worried about the fact that YLT's tickets will be going on sale on the 13th of September, while I'm away. So I guess I'm going to have to beg some reliable person to please-oh-please get mine for me. Please? I'll give you candy.
To be exact, Yo La Tengo will be playing at Shibuya Club Quattro on 3 and 4 December. Doors open at 6pm, show starts at 7. Tickets are 5500 yen (with one drink), and all the information you could ever need on how to purchase them can be found via this page on Smash.
That's it. You won't hear from me again until October...unless you write me. And you know what? You really should write me. (As much as I love my parents, there's not a whole lot to do around their house. I'll be starved for e-mail and I promise to be exceedingly, desperately, almost frighteningly nice to you.)
Can I tempt you with beer and chocolate?
Three things.
1) I updated my FAQs. Sort of. It's still thoroughly dull though, and I have only myself to blame.
2) This'll be the last post I write before I throw myself into the fire-y abyss, or as people who aren't drama queens like to say, "before I go to L.A." Please do not break into my apartment while I'm away. (The roaches will attack.) And if my plane crashes, please do not read my diary. Thank you.
3) Yo La Tengo's coming back to Japan! Yay! I can't tell you how much I love them...because frankly it's perverse. And, yes, I realize that a love like this doesn't come around very often, so I really should do something about it. I'm just afraid they won't reciprocate.
I know that the Tokyo concerts are in December and I know that that's a long time from now, but after the speed at which Death Cab for Cutie's concert sold out—and I don't even really like them all that much—I'm worried about the fact that YLT's tickets will be going on sale on the 13th of September, while I'm away. So I guess I'm going to have to beg some reliable person to please-oh-please get mine for me. Please? I'll give you candy.
To be exact, Yo La Tengo will be playing at Shibuya Club Quattro on 3 and 4 December. Doors open at 6pm, show starts at 7. Tickets are 5500 yen (with one drink), and all the information you could ever need on how to purchase them can be found via this page on Smash.
That's it. You won't hear from me again until October...unless you write me. And you know what? You really should write me. (As much as I love my parents, there's not a whole lot to do around their house. I'll be starved for e-mail and I promise to be exceedingly, desperately, almost frighteningly nice to you.)
Can I tempt you with beer and chocolate?
Wednesday, August 27, 2003
Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival
film
I admit it. This has very little to do with Tokyo. Then again so did that Jesus and Moses thing, yet people still found it helpful. So just skip toward the end if you only want the Tokyo part.
I want to go to the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival except that it's just a wee bit outside of town (read: freakishly far). The first of its kind in Asia, the YIDFF started in 1989 and has been held every two years since then, providing an opportunity for film-type people to schmooze and feign support for one another. (Just kidding. It all sounds very friendly.)
This year's International Competition includes "Stevie" by Steve James ("Hoop Dreams"), which catches up with the very depressing life of a boy whom James met through the Big Brother program, and "S21, the Khmer Rouge Killing Machine" by Rithy Panh, which follows the reunion of former concentration camp prisoners in Cambodia. On a—well—weirder note, they'll also be showing "Flashback" by Herz Frank. Having questioned whether documentary filmmakers have the right to expose other people's lives, Frank takes a look at his own, even going so far as to show us his own heart surgery. Yum.
Descriptions of the festival's other programs can be found here. Among them: New Asian Currents, featuring the works of filmmakers from all over Asia, and New Docs Japan, featuring works from Japan specifically. Their extremely reasonably priced tickets can be purchased through JTB or Pia ([p code: 678-047] for individual tickets or [p-code: 678-048] for a pass). The event takes place October 10-16.
OKAY! HERE IT IS! Stop. This is the part that's Tokyo-related. As one of YIDFF's many fantabulous preliminary events (a list of which can be found on their main page), the Athénée Français YIDFF Selection in particular will be shown in our very own backyard during September 4-6 and 9-13. This includes the aforementioned "Hoop Dreams" plus 20 other works screened in YIDFF's past. While YIDFF lists the films, neither they nor Athénée Français Cultural Center could be arsed to provide a schedule. But while we're all waiting patiently for them to update their site, let me just tell you that admission for this program is 1000 yen per film or 2500 yen for three films. Also, the films screened at YIDFF post-1999 should have English subtitles (if they aren't already in English).
And despite this last bit, I still have my heart set on Yamagata. Studying the trends of contemporary Asian and international documentaries sounds like a lot of fun. Who's with me?
Oh. Okay, fine.
I admit it. This has very little to do with Tokyo. Then again so did that Jesus and Moses thing, yet people still found it helpful. So just skip toward the end if you only want the Tokyo part.
I want to go to the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival except that it's just a wee bit outside of town (read: freakishly far). The first of its kind in Asia, the YIDFF started in 1989 and has been held every two years since then, providing an opportunity for film-type people to schmooze and feign support for one another. (Just kidding. It all sounds very friendly.)
This year's International Competition includes "Stevie" by Steve James ("Hoop Dreams"), which catches up with the very depressing life of a boy whom James met through the Big Brother program, and "S21, the Khmer Rouge Killing Machine" by Rithy Panh, which follows the reunion of former concentration camp prisoners in Cambodia. On a—well—weirder note, they'll also be showing "Flashback" by Herz Frank. Having questioned whether documentary filmmakers have the right to expose other people's lives, Frank takes a look at his own, even going so far as to show us his own heart surgery. Yum.
Descriptions of the festival's other programs can be found here. Among them: New Asian Currents, featuring the works of filmmakers from all over Asia, and New Docs Japan, featuring works from Japan specifically. Their extremely reasonably priced tickets can be purchased through JTB or Pia ([p code: 678-047] for individual tickets or [p-code: 678-048] for a pass). The event takes place October 10-16.
OKAY! HERE IT IS! Stop. This is the part that's Tokyo-related. As one of YIDFF's many fantabulous preliminary events (a list of which can be found on their main page), the Athénée Français YIDFF Selection in particular will be shown in our very own backyard during September 4-6 and 9-13. This includes the aforementioned "Hoop Dreams" plus 20 other works screened in YIDFF's past. While YIDFF lists the films, neither they nor Athénée Français Cultural Center could be arsed to provide a schedule. But while we're all waiting patiently for them to update their site, let me just tell you that admission for this program is 1000 yen per film or 2500 yen for three films. Also, the films screened at YIDFF post-1999 should have English subtitles (if they aren't already in English).
And despite this last bit, I still have my heart set on Yamagata. Studying the trends of contemporary Asian and international documentaries sounds like a lot of fun. Who's with me?
Oh. Okay, fine.
Tuesday, August 26, 2003
TIP
audition
The audition notices just came out for TIP's next two shows (after Blithe Spirit).
The first is for a Children's Christmas Show to be performed at Tokyo American Club. The fact that TAC seems like some sort of hoity-toity expat cult might be enough to turn some people off. But I have to confess that I worked on the Christmas show the last two years (on crew), and despite my 1) fear of children, 2) avowed atheism and 3) aversion to wealthy Americans, I have to admit that I had a pretty good time. The cast usually gets to work with the script as a mere guideline, running around the stage, doing silly things and singing songs for a bunch of kids hopped up on candy canes and egg nog.
Auditions for the Christmas Show will be held at Tokyo American Club at the following times:
September 2nd from 7:30pm to 9:30pm
September 6th from 4pm to 7pm
No appointment is required. You just show up to do a cold reading and perhaps sing a simple song. You don't have to be an excellent singer. But if you are, it'd be nice to know. In fact, if you have any other special talents, they might be able to work it into the show. ("Special talents" being juggling or acrobatics. Not blowing ping-pong balls out of your body orifices. I can't stress this enough.) The performance will take place over a three-day run at the end of November (or early December?).
The second audition is for the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Proof by David Auburn and will be directed by Robert Tsonos, who also directed last season's Dial "M" for Murder. Try reading a few reviews to get an idea of the story. The roles are as follows.
Robert, American man, 50-60 years old
Catherine, American woman, 25-30 years old
Hal, American man, 25-30 years old
Claire, American woman, 30-35 years old
Auditions will take place at these times (location TBA):
Sat. September 20th 1:00-4:00
Mon. September 22nd 7:00-10:00
Tsonos asks that auditionees prepare one monologue. If you want to book an audition, please contact me for the director's info (I don't really want to post it here).
The audition notices just came out for TIP's next two shows (after Blithe Spirit).
The first is for a Children's Christmas Show to be performed at Tokyo American Club. The fact that TAC seems like some sort of hoity-toity expat cult might be enough to turn some people off. But I have to confess that I worked on the Christmas show the last two years (on crew), and despite my 1) fear of children, 2) avowed atheism and 3) aversion to wealthy Americans, I have to admit that I had a pretty good time. The cast usually gets to work with the script as a mere guideline, running around the stage, doing silly things and singing songs for a bunch of kids hopped up on candy canes and egg nog.
Auditions for the Christmas Show will be held at Tokyo American Club at the following times:
September 2nd from 7:30pm to 9:30pm
September 6th from 4pm to 7pm
No appointment is required. You just show up to do a cold reading and perhaps sing a simple song. You don't have to be an excellent singer. But if you are, it'd be nice to know. In fact, if you have any other special talents, they might be able to work it into the show. ("Special talents" being juggling or acrobatics. Not blowing ping-pong balls out of your body orifices. I can't stress this enough.) The performance will take place over a three-day run at the end of November (or early December?).
The second audition is for the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Proof by David Auburn and will be directed by Robert Tsonos, who also directed last season's Dial "M" for Murder. Try reading a few reviews to get an idea of the story. The roles are as follows.
Robert, American man, 50-60 years old
Catherine, American woman, 25-30 years old
Hal, American man, 25-30 years old
Claire, American woman, 30-35 years old
Auditions will take place at these times (location TBA):
Sat. September 20th 1:00-4:00
Mon. September 22nd 7:00-10:00
Tsonos asks that auditionees prepare one monologue. If you want to book an audition, please contact me for the director's info (I don't really want to post it here).
Thursday, August 21, 2003
Power and Terror
film
I won't be in Tokyo on September 11th. But if you're feeling the need to commemorate that infamous anniversary with anti-war activists (you dirty, dirty hippy), there'll be a screening at Nakano Sun Plaza Hall [map] of Power and Terror: Noam Chomsky in Our Times plus a recent interview with Chomsky. These will then be followed by a discussion with director John Junkerman, author and activist Chinatsu Nakayama and folk singer/songwriter Hitoshi Komuro.
I've seen Power and Terror at Uplink Factory earlier this year. And while it's true that it's largely a talking-head documentary that anyone already familiar with Chomsky would have heard/read dozens of times before, the discussion should add a perspective more specific to those of us living in Japan (within North Korea's firing range, no less). And this is, of course, all provided that your Japanese is at least as good as John Junkerman's. (The film is in English with Japanese subtitles, but the discussion will be in Japanese.)
The event starts at 6:30pm, with doors opening at 5:30 and the lobby opening at 3 (!). General advanced tickets can be purchased for 2000 yen through Ticket Pia [p-code: 500-109]. If you miss out on that, it's 2500 yen at the door.
Punch and pie.
I won't be in Tokyo on September 11th. But if you're feeling the need to commemorate that infamous anniversary with anti-war activists (you dirty, dirty hippy), there'll be a screening at Nakano Sun Plaza Hall [map] of Power and Terror: Noam Chomsky in Our Times plus a recent interview with Chomsky. These will then be followed by a discussion with director John Junkerman, author and activist Chinatsu Nakayama and folk singer/songwriter Hitoshi Komuro.
I've seen Power and Terror at Uplink Factory earlier this year. And while it's true that it's largely a talking-head documentary that anyone already familiar with Chomsky would have heard/read dozens of times before, the discussion should add a perspective more specific to those of us living in Japan (within North Korea's firing range, no less). And this is, of course, all provided that your Japanese is at least as good as John Junkerman's. (The film is in English with Japanese subtitles, but the discussion will be in Japanese.)
The event starts at 6:30pm, with doors opening at 5:30 and the lobby opening at 3 (!). General advanced tickets can be purchased for 2000 yen through Ticket Pia [p-code: 500-109]. If you miss out on that, it's 2500 yen at the door.
Punch and pie.
Monday, August 18, 2003
Ken Park
film
Art porn? Art? Porn?
There's been a lot of controversy surrounding Larry Clark's film Ken Park ever since its debut at the Telluride Film Festival last year. On the one hand, Clark, who also wrote and directed Kids, claims to be telling (or showing) it like it is—teens are sexually active, penises get erect and jism happens. While the film industry doesn't hesitate to show graphic violence in mainstream films, they get extremely tense about graphic sex, even to the point of telling other adults what they can and can't watch. On the other hand, there's a lot to be said for leaving things to the imagination. It's part of the art of storytelling, after all. And if Clark's trying to push the envelope, this attempt could very well be self-defeating since there's no way this film will be commercially released as-is in countries where the envelope needs to be pushed.
From Variety:
"Beautifully crafted but emotionally dispiriting and alienating in its insistence on spotlighting only the negative aspects of life, this Euro-financed contribution to contempo Americana resembles certain recent French films in its unblinking depiction of raw sex."
From D/Blog:
"...in many ways [Clark]'s continuing his life's work: showing teens fucking."
Sounds like it's right up Japan's alley.
You can solve this "art porn" dilemma for yourself when Ken Park runs at the Image Forum Theatre in Shibuya from 27 September well into October. I don't know if they actually card at these things, but just so you know, it's rated R-18.
(I could see my search engine referrals going to pot after this post.)
Art porn? Art? Porn?
There's been a lot of controversy surrounding Larry Clark's film Ken Park ever since its debut at the Telluride Film Festival last year. On the one hand, Clark, who also wrote and directed Kids, claims to be telling (or showing) it like it is—teens are sexually active, penises get erect and jism happens. While the film industry doesn't hesitate to show graphic violence in mainstream films, they get extremely tense about graphic sex, even to the point of telling other adults what they can and can't watch. On the other hand, there's a lot to be said for leaving things to the imagination. It's part of the art of storytelling, after all. And if Clark's trying to push the envelope, this attempt could very well be self-defeating since there's no way this film will be commercially released as-is in countries where the envelope needs to be pushed.
From Variety:
"Beautifully crafted but emotionally dispiriting and alienating in its insistence on spotlighting only the negative aspects of life, this Euro-financed contribution to contempo Americana resembles certain recent French films in its unblinking depiction of raw sex."
From D/Blog:
"...in many ways [Clark]'s continuing his life's work: showing teens fucking."
Sounds like it's right up Japan's alley.
You can solve this "art porn" dilemma for yourself when Ken Park runs at the Image Forum Theatre in Shibuya from 27 September well into October. I don't know if they actually card at these things, but just so you know, it's rated R-18.
(I could see my search engine referrals going to pot after this post.)
Art of Fighting
music
I'm fully aware that three of my last four posts are Australia-related. Purely coincidental, I assure you.
Instead of seeing the Lucksmiths on the 16th and 18th, as I thought I would, I decided to just go on the 15th and leave it at that. I'm a busy girl. I can't very well go around seeing the same band more than once in a single week just for the hell of it, can I?
Can I?
Thing is, I liked them so much on the 15th that I ended up going on the 16th anyway. They were that good. Precious little balls of energy they were. And collectively so cute as a freaking button that I just wanted to pinch their cheeks and read them a bedtime story. After Saturday's show, I thought, "Okay, so I saw them twice instead of just once. That's where I'll leave it."
And then I had this exchange (from my forbidden weblog of mystery):
The guitarist asked me if I was going to the Monday show (tonight). I said I wasn't planning on it...but then he said that the band they're playing with, Art of Fighting, was brilliant and "probably my favorite Australian band." At that point, I threw a tantrum and said "Okay, fine! I'll go, goddamn it!" I hope he didn't take offense. I meant that in the most enthusiastic way possible.
So there you have it. I'm officially stalking the Lucksmiths during their Japan tour. Fear me.
I suppose that, when they leave, I could always move on to Art of Fighting. Of their last album, Pitchfork Media said:
"With their soft, calm sound and assuringly warm vocals, Art of Fighting are determined to help you get your mellow on. This Melbourne-based band helped show Stephen Malkmus around when supporting one of his Australian tours, and now, with the American release of Wires, they're doing the same for us. Their full-length debut introduces them as a spare, dreamy slowcore band: The album is heavily reverbed but too guitar-based and concrete to be ethereal, and it's recorded with the flawless cool of a glass sculpture."
After tonight's "Australian Show Case" at Shibuya Nest, they'll be playing there again tomorrow night with Tokyo band Miaou (who are releasing their first album), before moving on to shows in Osaka and Nagoya.
I'm fully aware that three of my last four posts are Australia-related. Purely coincidental, I assure you.
Instead of seeing the Lucksmiths on the 16th and 18th, as I thought I would, I decided to just go on the 15th and leave it at that. I'm a busy girl. I can't very well go around seeing the same band more than once in a single week just for the hell of it, can I?
Can I?
Thing is, I liked them so much on the 15th that I ended up going on the 16th anyway. They were that good. Precious little balls of energy they were. And collectively so cute as a freaking button that I just wanted to pinch their cheeks and read them a bedtime story. After Saturday's show, I thought, "Okay, so I saw them twice instead of just once. That's where I'll leave it."
And then I had this exchange (from my forbidden weblog of mystery):
The guitarist asked me if I was going to the Monday show (tonight). I said I wasn't planning on it...but then he said that the band they're playing with, Art of Fighting, was brilliant and "probably my favorite Australian band." At that point, I threw a tantrum and said "Okay, fine! I'll go, goddamn it!" I hope he didn't take offense. I meant that in the most enthusiastic way possible.
So there you have it. I'm officially stalking the Lucksmiths during their Japan tour. Fear me.
I suppose that, when they leave, I could always move on to Art of Fighting. Of their last album, Pitchfork Media said:
"With their soft, calm sound and assuringly warm vocals, Art of Fighting are determined to help you get your mellow on. This Melbourne-based band helped show Stephen Malkmus around when supporting one of his Australian tours, and now, with the American release of Wires, they're doing the same for us. Their full-length debut introduces them as a spare, dreamy slowcore band: The album is heavily reverbed but too guitar-based and concrete to be ethereal, and it's recorded with the flawless cool of a glass sculpture."
After tonight's "Australian Show Case" at Shibuya Nest, they'll be playing there again tomorrow night with Tokyo band Miaou (who are releasing their first album), before moving on to shows in Osaka and Nagoya.
Friday, August 15, 2003
Tiger Party
event
As I walk around Tokyo, I often stop and say to myself, "Dandy, I would like to be surrounded by even more people. Is that possible?" or "Where in the city can I go to be pushed around by an even denser crowd of strange sweaty bodies on all sides and feel that same frustration that I must have felt in the womb lo those many years ago?" Often, the answer is as simple as a free outdoor party.
On 23 August (a Saturday), a bunch of people will be throwing a rabble-rousing event with music, dancing (or "dancing," as I like to think of it) and young hipsters donning knitted hats/inappropriate afros. (Pictures of last year's party can be found here.) It starts at 7pm, so you can stop by after breaking out of the Azabu-juban Noryo Womb. Er, Festival. I've never been to Harumi Futo Koen before, but apparently that's where it is. Luckily, Google is my friend, and I've come across information on how to get there via a tourism site. (The map will show you the closest stations; click on the "Harumi Port Park" bar under "travel route" to find out more.)
There doesn't seem to be any real specifics, so contact Oxygen Funk and/or BYO party favo(u)rs.
As I walk around Tokyo, I often stop and say to myself, "Dandy, I would like to be surrounded by even more people. Is that possible?" or "Where in the city can I go to be pushed around by an even denser crowd of strange sweaty bodies on all sides and feel that same frustration that I must have felt in the womb lo those many years ago?" Often, the answer is as simple as a free outdoor party.
On 23 August (a Saturday), a bunch of people will be throwing a rabble-rousing event with music, dancing (or "dancing," as I like to think of it) and young hipsters donning knitted hats/inappropriate afros. (Pictures of last year's party can be found here.) It starts at 7pm, so you can stop by after breaking out of the Azabu-juban Noryo Womb. Er, Festival. I've never been to Harumi Futo Koen before, but apparently that's where it is. Luckily, Google is my friend, and I've come across information on how to get there via a tourism site. (The map will show you the closest stations; click on the "Harumi Port Park" bar under "travel route" to find out more.)
There doesn't seem to be any real specifics, so contact Oxygen Funk and/or BYO party favo(u)rs.
Wednesday, August 13, 2003
Spirit Country
art
I heard that there are really big bugs in Australia. Is that true? A while ago, I noted that I had never met an Australian who was afraid of roaches. Faulty logic then led me to believe that the entire country was just crawling with them. Big black and red roaches. That probably fly. But then a Japanese friend who used to live there offered that they probably weren't afraid of roaches because they had other big insects to worry about. Spiders and such. And because I am in fact a pathetic wuss, the chances of my ever visiting Australia have now gone from slim, past "none" and well into the negatives. What does that mean? It means that I demand that bits and pieces of the country be brought to me so that I don't have to go there and be caught screaming like a little girl, desperately snapping a hankie at a gi-mungous spider in the corner.
What was my point? Oh yeah. Australian Arts Festival Japan [via MJ] is bringing aforementioned bits and pieces of Australian culture to us from July to December this year. Of the current events listed, the only one that really caught my eye was Spirit Country, an exhibition of contemporary Aboriginal art, because I loves me some indigenous peoples. Now in Niigata, the exhibition will come to Tokyo in early October. I know that's a while from now, but give me a break; I'm running out of things to get excited about and it's almost vacation time.
Spirit Country will be at Hillside Terrace in Daikanyama from the 1st to the 11th of October before it moves on to Kushiro Museum in Hokkaido. I heard that there are fewer roaches in Hokkaido. Is that true? Should I move?
I heard that there are really big bugs in Australia. Is that true? A while ago, I noted that I had never met an Australian who was afraid of roaches. Faulty logic then led me to believe that the entire country was just crawling with them. Big black and red roaches. That probably fly. But then a Japanese friend who used to live there offered that they probably weren't afraid of roaches because they had other big insects to worry about. Spiders and such. And because I am in fact a pathetic wuss, the chances of my ever visiting Australia have now gone from slim, past "none" and well into the negatives. What does that mean? It means that I demand that bits and pieces of the country be brought to me so that I don't have to go there and be caught screaming like a little girl, desperately snapping a hankie at a gi-mungous spider in the corner.
What was my point? Oh yeah. Australian Arts Festival Japan [via MJ] is bringing aforementioned bits and pieces of Australian culture to us from July to December this year. Of the current events listed, the only one that really caught my eye was Spirit Country, an exhibition of contemporary Aboriginal art, because I loves me some indigenous peoples. Now in Niigata, the exhibition will come to Tokyo in early October. I know that's a while from now, but give me a break; I'm running out of things to get excited about and it's almost vacation time.
Spirit Country will be at Hillside Terrace in Daikanyama from the 1st to the 11th of October before it moves on to Kushiro Museum in Hokkaido. I heard that there are fewer roaches in Hokkaido. Is that true? Should I move?
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