little irish jackhammer
Below is more or less what went on at Weller’s Club last night. You’d better scroll down and turn off the Black Crowes video before you watch it though.
A fun night, though God knows how I made it to work this morning… I’ll post a proper video of Satoko’s performance tomorrow. I’ll post the one without the smarmy git in the brown shirt repeatedly walking back and forth in front of my camera. (Curse him).
There’s a fresh review with video of Long Island Cafe up on Deep Kyoto today.
Also, Ueno-san the master of Tsurugi and Reiko the proprieter of Long Island Cafe have both kindly agreed to let me leave Intyatyambo collection boxes on their premises. Here they are showing their support.
I’ve got quite a backlog of reviews still to do with all the pictures taken, but the words as yet still in my head… Tonight I’ll be going to The Weller’s Club for the first time to see a bunch of friends do their thang. Yoshida-kun, Masuda and Nana-chan will all be spinning discs and Viva Sherry will also be performing. I guess I’ll be putting that on Deep Kyoto soon too… And now I’d better get on with some marking. Got heaps of it. Got heaps of bad English coming out my ears.
Some time ago I was looking for a copy of The Man Who Planted Trees, intending to give it to a friend as a going away present. If you’re not familiar with this book, it is a delightful fable by Jean Giono about an Alpine shepherd who, over a period of many years, manages to transform the land in which he lives by planting and tending to many many trees. It is one of my favorite stories and I thought it would make a nice present… Anyway, searching for it on the net I came across this book, which is not a fable but the true life story of a lady who planted and who is indeed, still planting many millions of trees:
“Unbowed” is the autobiography of Wangari Maathai, a Nobel Peace Prize winner and the founder of the The Green Belt Movement. In her book she tells of growing up in a small rural community in Kenya, during the 40’s and 50’s when it was still under British colonial rule, about her own experiences of the Mau Mau Rebellion, about Kenyan independance and then the long struggle for democracy during the years of President Moi’s brutal regime. In 1977 she began the The Green Belt Movement a simple idea that grew and grew and has transformed the life of millions of Africans. Relentless logging for private profit had brought many problems to ordinary Kenyan people; soil erosion, the drying up of water sources and a lack of firewood and fruit. Distressed by the environmental destruction of her once fertile country Wangari Maathai began the organization that would provide funding and training for rural women to restore their local environment through the planting of trees. They have since planted 30 million trees in Kenya alone and the Green Belt movement has gone international, working in many other African countries too. Wangari Maathai was also an outspoken advocate for multiparty-democracy during the time of the one-party state and was imprisoned and attacked on several occasions. However, after many trials she is today a member of parliament and assistant minister for the environment! This wonderful woman is an inspiring example of hope; hope that the world can be a better place if we just do our best. Here’s a nice quote from her on the subject of trees:
“Trees have been an essential part of my life and have provided me with many lessons. Trees are living symbols or peace and hope. A tree has roots in the soil yet reaches to the sky. It tells us that in order to aspire we need to be grounded, and that no matter how high we go it is from our roots that we draw sustenance. It is a reminder to all of us who have had success that we cannot forget where we came from. It signifies that no matter how powerful we become in government or how many awards we receive, our power and strength and our ability to reach our goals depend on the people, those whose work remains unseen, who are the soil out of which we grow, the shoudlers on which we stand.”
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Apropos of nothing, there’s a fresh review of Sunshine Cafe up on Deep Kyoto today, for those who are interested…
No time for posting. Here’s some Black Crowes till I do; “Soul Singing”:
Well, I’ve decided to name and shame yesterday’s rat-infested restaurant. Apparently, all restaurants are required by law to get thoroughly cleaned out once a year, so they are obviously cutting corners there. They have a problem, they are aware of it and clearly are not taking any steps to do anything about it. So, the restaurant in question is (drum-roll please): Didi’s curry house on Higashioji Dori. It’s a shame because I did like their veggie curry - but no more! Rats in restaurants is very, very wrong.
Here’s a couple of links. First off, there’s fresh review of Tsurugi with some arty pictures, up on Deep Kyoto that I’ve just finished.
Also, watch this and tell me you don’t want to see it too:
1408
And I’ve been reading about a Japanese Government decision to tone down reports that the army ordered Okinawan civilians to commit mass suicide at the war’s end: LINK
Now earlier this week, a group of MPs from the right-wing ruling party claimed China had exaggerated the number of people killed by Japanese troops in Nanjing in 1937. LINK
And Prime Minister Shinzo Abe drew condemnation abroad earlier this year after he questioned whether there was any proof that Japan’s military coerced women to work as sex slaves during the war. LINK
Which all follows a controversial new law that enforces the teaching of patriotism in schools. LINK
Not to mention ongoing plans to revise the country’s pacifist constitution: LINK
Is anyone else seeing a pattern here?
So I was sitting in a local restaraunt mere minutes ago, having just finished my dinner, when I saw something out of the corner of my eye, looked down and noticed a medium-sized brown RAT at my feet. Right by my left foot in fact. The rat looked about a bit and then scurried off back the way it had came.
“Jesus Christ!” I uttered quietly, and then went over to one of the staff and said in a low voice so as not to alarm the other customers,”Excuse me, but I just saw a rat.”
She didn’t seem particularly surprised. “Oh,” she said, “Sorry about that.”
“Do you think it came in from outside?” I asked.
“Oh, no. This is an old building so we get them occasionally. They come from upstairs. Really, sorry about that. Really.”
“Ah.” said I, and cancelled my plans to review the restaraunt on Deep Kyoto this evening. I mean it wasn’t the biggest rat I’ve seen (seen some monsters in Tokyo) but it was a rat none the less, and rats in restaurants is WRONG.
I went back to my seat to get my things, all the while looking about the floor in case the wee fella came back and fancied a run up my trouser leg or something, and another customer, who must have seen something out of the corner of her eye asked me if I had just seen something “down there.”
“Yep.” I said.
“It was a cockroach, eh?” said the lady with a smile (cockroaches are everywhere in this country and hard to avoid).
“Ah, no.” I said, “It was a bit bigger than a cockroach.” and left before she asked for further details. So nothing new on Deep Kyoto tonight, I’m afraid, although I am working on 3 separate pieces right now, all of which require a bit more “field work” to get them right. Right now I think I’ll head over to STT and regale people with rat tales. Sniffy-twitch-twitch!
I had a super bad class yesterday with a bunch of uber-noisy wind-up merchants who were deliberately trying to get my goat. Afterwards I actually felt quite depressed about it, and resolved to speak to their home room teacher today. Maybe, I thought, she might have some good advice. Well, sadly she doesn’t. She has a hard time with them too. In fact they are notorious. When I told her about my class she just looked really sad about it, poor thing. I have to count my blessings I guess because I only teach them once a week whereas she sees them EVERY DAY. However, it was kind of a relief to know I’m not the only one. Sometimes, working as a native teacher puts you at a disadvantage… and I worry that I’m not working up to Japanese standards. But with this class it seems, there’s not a lot you can do… but persevere.
Which I will.
Anyway, I go into work today and it’s such a contrast! Every class was nice but my last class of the day every Wednesday, I always look forward to. They are so lively and friendly and full of beans and they really seem to enjoy the lesson. We can actually have a laugh together… And then occasionally I could hear a student saying something like “ii benkyo ni narimashita” (”I learnt something good today”)… or “eigo ha tanoshii na” (”English is fun eh?”). And I thought, “Wow! - It’s almost like I’m a real teacher!” Hehe. Well, really I know those classes go well because the students are interested and positive and actively engaged…
Here’s a nice video from YOUTUBE JAPAN concerning dance. Your homework is to research the sources of all those quotes. I feel like adding one myself: “I dance like your drunken dad, and I enjoy it.”
Just checked out the prices to Ireland this August and… it’s going to cost me at least ￥２００，０００！That’s roughly 1,000 of your Earth pounds. (I don’t know what it is in imperial dollars…) Ouch.
I could just stay in hot and humid Kyoto this summer, I suppose. Or I could find a buyer for this:
A lady of Korean/Russian origin gave this to me the other night, because, she said I knew what it was like “to be an outsider”. Maiko use these things to fasten their obi (belts). I thought “That’s nice.” and then the guy next to me whispered in my ear how much it was worth and I was somewhat taken aback. It’s worth a LOT. It’s a bit rude to just sell the thing though, isn’t it?
Hey-ho. A fairly obvious video choice today. Way back when, I can remember dancing (well, sort-of-dancing) at a King’s College “Bop” to this one, with two girls, one of whom I really quite liked. Naturally I ended up dating the other one.
I went out with Nakano-kun last night and we went to a little okonomiyaki place on Teramachi. It was one of those old style, casual and slightly shabby places where you sit on the tatami floor, rather than at a table. What I love about this kind of place is that they always have a poster (or even several posters) of a bikini-clad girl on a beach holding up an immense glass of beer on a skinny little wrist that looks like it’s going to snap with the weight of it. Certainly she doesn’t look like she’s been drinking much beer herself.
I find these posters in their ridiculous catering to male fantasy, absolutely hilarious. But that’s not why I’m posting that picture. The reason I’m posting the picture is that Nakano-kun on seeing this picture said:
“She’s a bit fat, isn’t she?”
And I said: “What?!” And after a pause: “Where?“
“She’s a bit chubby around the waist. She could do with losing a bit of weight there.”
Truly the exacting standards of Japanese men boggles the mind.
Afterwards we went to the inevitable STT. And after Nakano-kun went home I stayed there. And I took some more pictures, of which I’ll share with you below. Just hover your cursor over the pictures for titles or double click for a better look.
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I spoke to my good friend Philippe last night and asked him if he would be working at the Chionji fleamarket today. “Oh, yes” says he. “Good,” I said, “I’ll come and take some pictures of you for the new website.” You see for the past couple of years Philippe has been running his own little stall there every month, selling his pies, pastries and preserves. Just the sort of thing I want to put on my new site: www.deepkyoto.com.
However, what Philippe forgot to tell me was that he doesn’t run his own stall anymore. He is in fact working part-time at the bread-stall which is owned by my ex-girlfriend’s previous boyfriend and with whom I share strong feelings of mutual antipathy. Much as I love Philippe, he really is a berk sometimes. Anyway, fortuitously, it wasn’t a completely wasted journey as I bumped into my friend the artist Rie Mandala and was able to do a piece on her instead. And you can read that here: Deep Kyoto.
