The Future Part 1: Rock n Roll BBQ

dun dun dun, delorean, etc etc, sorry that took so long, but I’m back! Where was I before, the Satsuma rebellion or something? Yeah I think I was just there in the last post, but now it feels like the future for sure, which, judging by the show I went to the other week, is very reminiscent of an awesome made-for-TV-movie about Pavement, with an all-Japanese cast. But only sort of! I really wish I had got the name of the last band to play at this outdoor show at the waterfront in Hakata, because they were pretty great, alternately doing awesome scream-punk and slowed out Pavement-up-your-ass guitar jams that were way better than ‘Japan does the late-80s’, like you may be thinking. I wasn’t thinking that. Maybe it was their attractive and skilled female drummer, or the whole vibe of the place or something, but it was definitely a good set, and they were selling t shirts that said FUCK OK and had the nirvana smiley face on it… dude I wanted one. If I didn’t have to save subway fare, I’d be wearing it right now. PS, the whole thing about guys reading ‘inappropriate’ comics on the subway in Japan, hella true. Also true in the convenience stores. But of course, like all things, there’s etiquette involved, like, you OBVIOUSLY don’t read over his shoulder. Now that I think about it, it’s basically urinal etiquette. You certainly can’t say ‘oh cool!’ or point at a particular frame, although I always want to do that.

Later on, an enormous bouncy ball made its way from the crowd onto the stage and slowly bounced onto the drum set, which was exactly what I wanted to do the whole time

Now, what was I talking about? Right right, the band that was great, with the drummer that was great. But! The show was also kind of a performance art day, basically I gathered that the underground music and underground art community are very closely linked, as is true in most places, so there was some real buggin’-out performance art happening. I couldn’t get a good picture in the evening light, but there was a naked guy, drenched in black paint, stalking around a small fire, throwing fish all over the place. Right above him there was a guy in a zebra-striped gas mask sitting on a large scaffolding, holding a black baseball bat. He was there the whole time, not moving. There was that and some other fun stuff going on, and little kids were walking around with straw brooms, sweeping around people’s feet. It was great! Hakata’s a cool area, kind of like the Brooklyn to Fukuoka-Tenjin’s Manhattan, except the scene seems way more about having fun. Big ups for fun/friends coming from me, for sure.

guy with the zebra mask and bat

Hakata Futoh, actually this is kind of a lousy picture- ごめんね！

After the show, me and my friend Mitch got real lost in Daimyo trying to find this Indian restaurant, but on the plus side I saw two things that made the 2 wandering hours worth it; first I found out where the Var is– this is something Holden tipped me off to on Engrish.com, it’s a bar called The Var, and the engrish on the sign is spectacular. Unfortunately I couldn’t get a picture of it, but I totally intend to actually go to this place. In the meantime, if you know Holden, ask him to send you a link to the post on Engrish.com. I don’t feel like putting up a link.  The other funny thing I saw was a cat cafe, which is a little corner cafe specifically catering to cats and people who own/enjoy hanging out with cats. I thought at first you needed a cat to get in, but I think actually if you pay a small cover, they have some loaner cats that you can sit with while you drink coffee or warm milk or whatever.

I pulled these pictures off of other people’s blogs; again my camera wasn’t working at the time. Just google Fukuoka Neko Cafe. This place is awesome, look at the cats in that photo man, just posted up, knowing about poetry and talking about Norah Jones. Don’t worry, I’m going to this place, and then there will be pictures of me WITH these snooty cats. Anyway, sorry about that digression, I kind of lost my train of thought.

Oh right! I got an update on the who-stole-all-the-trash-cans-in-Fukuoka mystery, and this one really made me mad today. I was in the subway station and I needed a coffee, so I get a coffee out of the vending machine, and I notice that there’s a trash can right next to the machine. This is the only trash can in the entire subway station, or if not, the other one is probably next to another vending machine. The thing is, someone thought that anyone drinking a beverage in the subway station should do it, start to finish, within 2 feet of the place they bought it, that is if they don’t want to carry around a bright pink bottle all day. Well fuck that! I’m at the Nakasu-Kawabata transfer point, and I’m on-the-go, and I want a coffee while I’m in transit. One would think that, it being a subway, most people would be in a similar rush, and honestly wouldn’t be able to hang out by the vending machine for the sole purpose of drinking whatever they bought. It felt like the smoking section. But the plus side; you know how you always see people in big cities walking hella fast with a briefcase/cell phone in one hand and a coffee/vitamin water in the other, and it’s kind of irritating? Well, not many people do that here, because you will probably only see 1 trash can all day if you’re out and about, and that’s the one you need to use. Here’s some more pictures from the future.

In the future, people will only barbeque with healthy foods, like pumpkin, squid, cabbage and so on. It will take you at least 2 hours to get full this way

This is Kanako. She's totally awesome, and loves to compare pinky-finger length with tall people

Outside the HalloDay supermarket. The thing is, this type of sign only makes sense if you're in the future. Sorry.

Whoosh! Crowded day in Tenjin

more bluster than you can muster, motherftcker

Anyway, I was going to write some more, but I got kinda tired. Don’t worry, I got a lot more jotted-down on a receipt somewhere, and now that Golden Week is over, I can be a little more regular with these posts. Oh! I almost forgot! Well first let me say congratulations to all the seniors that are graduating from Kenyon reeaaal soon, Mike and Eddie, I heard about the Brero show, featuring the (duh) original lineup, all the Hello Kitty cookies in the Orient could not make me less jealous for missing that! Still though, if we’re not doing a Japan tour, that just means you dudes gotta come back and visit next year so we can, you know, break into Gund and steal some stuff. So anyway, right, if you’re reading this while gearing up for senior week in Gambier, keep it the realest! I’ll pour out some Shouchu for all y’all.

Dang, ALSO, whatup Mojo’s. Teri sent me this amazing video of Peelander Z playing in Richmond VA at Mojo’s, the place of my most recent employment, this was like 3 nights ago, and they got little Joe up there playing guitar! If anyone sees Joe, give him a long-distance high five from me, this video made my weekend.

There you have it, little Joe big-guitar solo, featuring Peelander Z. More later, byebye