Friday, August 29, 2008
噛まれた
Yesterday, I was out for a run and as I was crossing one intersection there was a lady with a huge golden retriever. It looked pretty chill as I approached, but as so as I had passed behind it, the beast turned around and bit my ass. I never wanted to kick a dog in the face more, but I just kept running as the lady wrestled with her dog who was looking for more. It didn't really hurt and I didn't think much of it until I got home and saw he had managed to break the skin and leave me with a reasonably sized mark. He didn't make any holes in my shorts or underwear though so I don't think I really have to worry about rabies or anything, but perhaps I should still get it looked at.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Summersonic 2008
Saturday, Andrew and I headed to Maishima in Osaka for Day 1 of Summersonic. For those unfamiliar with Summersonic, it's a big 2 day rock festival held annually in the summer in Tokyo and Osaka. The majority bands in Tokyo for Day 1 come to Osaka for Day 2 and vice versa. It's a good mix of Western and Japanese bands, and they tend to get a few fairly huge bands to come every year as well. The big draw for us this year was Coldplay headlining Day 1 in Osaka, but of course they were on dead last. So without further ado let's take a look at the line up we enjoyed throughout the day.
First up was Silversun Pickups. I really wanted to see them, and their show was at the indoor, air conditioned stage so that was just a bonus. They were pretty good, but the bass player was just standing around, not getting into it at all. She didn't even look like that good of a bass player either. Luckily, the singer/guitarist and drummer saved it with their enthusiasm.
Vampire Weekend was next on the main stage. The lead singer/guitarist looks exactly like my dad when he was young. The guy loves minor chords too. Too much, in fact maybe. A good listen, but I wouldn't pay to see them alone.
Moving to a side stage we saw the Japanese band, HY. I looked around and I was the only white guy in the crowd as far as I could see which was a little weird (there are a lot of foreigners at Summersonic). I had heard a bit about them from some of my students which was the reason I wanted to check them out. Overall, I'd say they're a very good live band. More specifically, a good summer festival band, but again, probably not a band I'd pay to see playing solo.
We took a break here and got some food and went back to the air-conditioned stage. Slept through a band called Biffy Clyro. From what I heard, they were nothing special.
Back to the main stage to see The Kooks. My buddy James, who taught here in my town and came the same day as me, is friends with the bass player, but aside from that I didn't really know much about them. They were very solid. Nice solid catchy (not pop-catchy, but riff-catchy) songs and lots of energy.
We stayed at the main stage the rest of the day. Next up was Radwimps. I knew nothing about these guys except they were Japanese, and I was blown away. Aside from Coldplay, hands down the performance of the day. The had the whole crowd going from the first song and kept it at the high the whole set. The bass player and guitarist had an amazing jam session in the middle of their set as well and it was just awesome. Very impressed, and I'm looking forward to seeing them sometime soon playing solo.
Alicia Keys was on next, and while I didn't think she really fit in with the rest of the bands on the schedule, she put on an impressive show and it was cool to see her, because I doubt I ever would otherwise. She is an impressively beautiful person as well, and has a fantastic voice.
Finally, Coldplay rounded out the day. It was a long wait, but well worth it. We were really close, probably about 100 feet away, and halfway through their set they moved to a side stage closer to us. At that time we were probably about 20 feet away and it was incredible. They played mostly songs off their new album, but mixed in some of their older number ones as well. Because it's in Japan too, they don't waste time talking to the crowd so it's just song after song after song.
It was pretty tight for time for me to make it back to Shiga cause their set went long, but I managed to see the whole thing and make it back home which just left me feeling good as I crawled into bed after a long, fantastic, music filled day.
First up was Silversun Pickups. I really wanted to see them, and their show was at the indoor, air conditioned stage so that was just a bonus. They were pretty good, but the bass player was just standing around, not getting into it at all. She didn't even look like that good of a bass player either. Luckily, the singer/guitarist and drummer saved it with their enthusiasm.
Vampire Weekend was next on the main stage. The lead singer/guitarist looks exactly like my dad when he was young. The guy loves minor chords too. Too much, in fact maybe. A good listen, but I wouldn't pay to see them alone.
Moving to a side stage we saw the Japanese band, HY. I looked around and I was the only white guy in the crowd as far as I could see which was a little weird (there are a lot of foreigners at Summersonic). I had heard a bit about them from some of my students which was the reason I wanted to check them out. Overall, I'd say they're a very good live band. More specifically, a good summer festival band, but again, probably not a band I'd pay to see playing solo.
We took a break here and got some food and went back to the air-conditioned stage. Slept through a band called Biffy Clyro. From what I heard, they were nothing special.
Back to the main stage to see The Kooks. My buddy James, who taught here in my town and came the same day as me, is friends with the bass player, but aside from that I didn't really know much about them. They were very solid. Nice solid catchy (not pop-catchy, but riff-catchy) songs and lots of energy.
We stayed at the main stage the rest of the day. Next up was Radwimps. I knew nothing about these guys except they were Japanese, and I was blown away. Aside from Coldplay, hands down the performance of the day. The had the whole crowd going from the first song and kept it at the high the whole set. The bass player and guitarist had an amazing jam session in the middle of their set as well and it was just awesome. Very impressed, and I'm looking forward to seeing them sometime soon playing solo.
Alicia Keys was on next, and while I didn't think she really fit in with the rest of the bands on the schedule, she put on an impressive show and it was cool to see her, because I doubt I ever would otherwise. She is an impressively beautiful person as well, and has a fantastic voice.
Finally, Coldplay rounded out the day. It was a long wait, but well worth it. We were really close, probably about 100 feet away, and halfway through their set they moved to a side stage closer to us. At that time we were probably about 20 feet away and it was incredible. They played mostly songs off their new album, but mixed in some of their older number ones as well. Because it's in Japan too, they don't waste time talking to the crowd so it's just song after song after song.
It was pretty tight for time for me to make it back to Shiga cause their set went long, but I managed to see the whole thing and make it back home which just left me feeling good as I crawled into bed after a long, fantastic, music filled day.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
The Past Two Weeks
Since I've been pretty lazy about updating this in the past few weeks I thought cover the past couple of weeks in one go.
Last Friday there was a 10,000 firework, fireworks spectacular in Hikone. I was sitting ridiculously close and it was fantastic.
Saturday, I had organized an event at the rooftop beer garden of the ANA Hotel in Kyoto. It's right by Nijo castle so the view was fantastic and it seemed like a good time was had by all.
Sunday, I headed to Taga to check out the illumination/festival they were having at the shrine there. Also very beautiful.
The new teachers for the year are here now. I've only met one of the five new teachers who are in my city. He's a fellow Canadian, and seems like a decent guy.
A couple days ago I also found out I passed the entrance exam for the JET translation and interpretation course this year. I forget how many people they take every year, but it's a pretty small number (40-80) from all over the country and somehow I managed to squeak in there.
Thursday and Friday night were spent at beer gardens in Kyoto saying goodbye to friends who are heading home.
Yesterday I went to Summersonic with my buddy, the Ha, who just started JET this year as well and is living down in Osaka. Summersonic deserves it's own post and it was only yesterday so I'll try and get my impressions up soon.
Today I've just been chilling, doing laundry and watching the Olympics. I've been pretty impressed with the coverage NHK has been doing so far, and I must say it looks and sounds spectacular with the LCD TV and surround sound speakers.
Last Friday there was a 10,000 firework, fireworks spectacular in Hikone. I was sitting ridiculously close and it was fantastic.
Saturday, I had organized an event at the rooftop beer garden of the ANA Hotel in Kyoto. It's right by Nijo castle so the view was fantastic and it seemed like a good time was had by all.
Sunday, I headed to Taga to check out the illumination/festival they were having at the shrine there. Also very beautiful.
The new teachers for the year are here now. I've only met one of the five new teachers who are in my city. He's a fellow Canadian, and seems like a decent guy.
A couple days ago I also found out I passed the entrance exam for the JET translation and interpretation course this year. I forget how many people they take every year, but it's a pretty small number (40-80) from all over the country and somehow I managed to squeak in there.
Thursday and Friday night were spent at beer gardens in Kyoto saying goodbye to friends who are heading home.
Yesterday I went to Summersonic with my buddy, the Ha, who just started JET this year as well and is living down in Osaka. Summersonic deserves it's own post and it was only yesterday so I'll try and get my impressions up soon.
Today I've just been chilling, doing laundry and watching the Olympics. I've been pretty impressed with the coverage NHK has been doing so far, and I must say it looks and sounds spectacular with the LCD TV and surround sound speakers.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
淡路島
This is a bit late but a couple of weekends ago we had a long weekend for Marine Day. What better way to celebrate Marine Day then by heading to the beach. Keiko found a nice cheap hotel on Awaji Island in the inland sea so we headed there for some quality R&R. The hotel was on top of a hill so it gave us a great view of the surroundings. There was a golf course as well and I was interested in potentially playing a round, but they had this asinine rule that golf shoes were absolutely necessary to play. Since they didn't rent shoes, and I only had sneakers (which are perfectly fine to play golf in by the way) so I couldn't get out on the course.
The beach was very nice and not crowded at all. Although I wish it would have been a little deeper. You could go out 50 meters or so and still only be knee deep. It's nice for little kids, but I wanted to get out in some deeper stuff.
Food was fantastic as well. The first night we ate at a small local restaurant and chatted with the locals. It seems to me that even more so than Osaka or Kyoto people, Awaji locals are intensely proud to be from Awaji Island. The second night we ate at the hotel which was featuring a Korean/Japanese buffet. It was nice, but I ate way too much.
The drive wasn't too bad either. We hit some traffic both way through Kobe. Why a city of 2 million only has 2 lane highways I'll never understand, but maybe that's just because Toronto's highways are massive. Anyway, once we got through that it was clear sailing.
The beach was very nice and not crowded at all. Although I wish it would have been a little deeper. You could go out 50 meters or so and still only be knee deep. It's nice for little kids, but I wanted to get out in some deeper stuff.
Food was fantastic as well. The first night we ate at a small local restaurant and chatted with the locals. It seems to me that even more so than Osaka or Kyoto people, Awaji locals are intensely proud to be from Awaji Island. The second night we ate at the hotel which was featuring a Korean/Japanese buffet. It was nice, but I ate way too much.
The drive wasn't too bad either. We hit some traffic both way through Kobe. Why a city of 2 million only has 2 lane highways I'll never understand, but maybe that's just because Toronto's highways are massive. Anyway, once we got through that it was clear sailing.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
涼しいっす
For the past 3 weeks or so it's been unrelentingly hot and humid here in Shiga with no signs in the forecast of any changes. Even at night when it gets a little cooler the air is still so humid that you feel a glaze coat you the second you step out of an air conditioned room. When you have crazy nappy hair like mine too it gets annoying when it's long in this kind of humidity.
I'd been thinking about it for a little while, but yesterday I decided to chop of all my hair and go for a buzz. Luckily for me, James, another teacher in my town had a hair clipper set so I was able to head over to his house and take care of business. Now I'm rocking a 6mm buzz and I must say it looks a fair bit better than I initially expected. It seems a little bit cooler as well, but maybe that's just all in my mind.
I'd been thinking about it for a little while, but yesterday I decided to chop of all my hair and go for a buzz. Luckily for me, James, another teacher in my town had a hair clipper set so I was able to head over to his house and take care of business. Now I'm rocking a 6mm buzz and I must say it looks a fair bit better than I initially expected. It seems a little bit cooler as well, but maybe that's just all in my mind.
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