in May i was surfing the internet and by happenstance i came across an article that (in a lot of ways) basically sums up my view on music. here's an excerpt:
Marutani's theory is that people's personalities and life itself emerges from music, and that warped people can produce only distorted sounds.... "Each individual's technical level is low, but we are strong because (the players) have emotion."....He said that when players succeed in producing sounds that overlap with their feelings, they create music that strikes at the hearts of people when they listen to it for the first time. ( the Japan Times)
Perhaps "the marutani theorem" could be the new name for my "band", or simply "marutani". any thoughts? i've heard about the dissention about name efs. and i'm open to suggestions... here's why...
so my labelmates, books & mon are getting progressively better. they rock out. and as they get better, the theory according to arkay is that more people will visit the ol' judah site especially after strategeme's upcoming release. that means, passive exposure for me. so i'm pretty stoked about it but it means two things, i have to release the album soon somehow and i have to start developing an image accordingly...
... i may have bought the perfect jacket to help me in this quest...
the other day i went to "the combini" and -
let me preface with a long drawn out explanation - i go to this convenience store every day. seriously. i find myself stopping in here at some point for tea, sushi, rice balls, or ice cream, etc. they know me well at the store just down the street. i know every employee, from the morning shift to the nightshift. one night i even complimented a girl on her new glasses. one lady, like a surrogate mother, always makes short chat with me and lets/forces me to play with her daughter when i meet them at the gym. they ask about me when i don't come around.
- when i walk in, the lady who i always see asks me if i'm losing weight...
like winning an imaginary game of plinko. it made my day. i mean coming from people who see me everyday, it was an ecouragement.
though, that feeling will probably last until i blatantly get told i'm fat.
and finally i leave you with some advice from my doctor.
the key to my exercise program is this one simple truth, i hate my body. do you understand that the second you look into the mirror and you're happy with what you see, baby, you've lost the battle.
Dr.Percival Cox, Sacred Heart Hospital, NBC
i have been driving illegally in Japan for about a year and 2 months. sounds serious, i know. and it is. but it never seemed that way, there were always enough excuses to make me feel justified.
allow me to tell a story...
 | You scored as Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan. You are an evangelical in the Wesleyan tradition. You believe that God's grace enables you to choose to believe in him, even though you yourself are totally depraved. The gift of the Holy Spirit gives you assurance of your salvation, and he also enables you to live the life of obedience to which God has called us. You are influenced heavly by John Wesley and the Methodists.
What's your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com |
a girl in my eikaiwa invited me to her hip-hop dance performance in the neighboring town (30 min away). much obliged, i said i'd go. she handed me a ticket and i realized the time for the event: 430pm~830pm. i started wondering what i'd gotten myself into.
once i got into the area it wasn't hard to find the event. i just followed all the bboys and bgirls in trucker hats and dew rags inside the civic center. expecting seats, like one who goes to an event does, i was surprised to find that there were no seats in the auditorium and that we'd all be sitting crosslegged... on the floor... for for hours. at least it wasn't seiza.
the dancing began with two girls dressed in flashy red and yellow haltertops with long sleeves like that of a kimono. they were also holding fur covered fans. peculiar? yes.
it was at this point where i started wondering where does Hip-Hop stops being Hip-Hop. this thought process continued through the night.
let me explain more. i recently came to the conviction that hip-hop is a global phenomenon now. though its roots are in America's East Coast (old school) and West Coast (new school/gangsta). but now it's flowed way past that boundary. i used to laugh, like the racist i am, at j-bboys, because i -the great whiteboy- have more O.G.-style in my pinky than they could hope to ever have. but i've changed my self-centered idea of myself and my culture. they're fine to be who they want to be, but perhaps there are some elements that shouldn't be imported.
for example, where would we be without crazy japanese punk rock? necessary right. i think so. but in Tokyo, i saw the classic Dead Kennedy shirt: "NAZI PUNKS FUCK OFF" and i thought to myself: how often does a japanese punk run into a nazi punk? maybe it's just DK fandom. and it's not wrong for any person to wear it, just a bit peculiar. and that's where i was the other night.
where does hip-hop stop being hip-hop. the tap dancing? the ballet kicks? the dances where all the guys wore white? the over use of jazz hands instead of actual hip-hop dance moves? it kind of reminded me of a movie i saw once. it was a lot of moms, uncoordinated kids, and hot girls giving mixed together and giving it the ol' D.B. try.
then it got off the hook. there was a 3on3 BREAKDANCE BATTLE! i was so down with this. hours of head spins and robots and wiggling around on the floor. and i had to give the propers because the jboys really knew how to battle. it kind of reminded me of this other, cooler, movie i saw once. they'd pop moves right in the other teams' faces. it was rad. and they'd throw the middle finger around better than anyone i've seen here use it. it made me proud like a father.
in all i enjoyed the night. i like hip hop. i took a class on it at UT. Language Culture Communication Hip-Hop Nation. 3 upper level credit hours. Counted towards graduation. i rule. Dr.J-Street would be proud of this.
well that's where that story ends... and my side reflection begins...
i was the only foreigner in that room the whole day. the realization startled me, as we usually travel in packs (single file lines to cover our tracks*). long story made longer. as the day wore on and people noticed my existence, i felt the whispers of "Gaijin... Arre? Gaikokujin yaaa..." though i'm fairly comfortable with my foreignness, deep down i kind of wanted to be in a place where i'm not whispered about. where i'm just a guy. with a bit of facial hair. and a normal sized gut. and normal sized shoes... but we can't have it all.
after the hip-hop event, i went to see Hitch, the Will Smith movie, alone by myself. ahh, romantic comedies in the movie theater by myself, i've hit a new low in my singleness.
rock over london. rock on chicago. ICOCA. icoca de icoca!?
