It's been dumping snow here all day and we have a nice winter wonderland going on outside. I think we're due for another day or two of snow before we get back to the Kanazawa special, rain. I hate rain in the winter. It makes me want to move further up north where winter is really winter, and it snows regularly. Kanazawa never gets much colder than freezing, so the precipitation is generally little ice pellets rather than actual snow. Whatever though; at least it's frozen.
Last night's concert was unexpectedly good. There were three acts, the third and best of which was my friend/chiropractor. I was expecting the karaoke treatment but he and his fellow singer had a dude playing guitar as well. They sang some covers of J-pop songs that I could neither understand nor identify, but it was fun nonetheless. I also concluded that my tolerance for J-pop is indeed very low, even when it's being sung live by my friends.
The venue was called Bar Clapton, and I've passed it a million times but had never actually been. I don't envision myself turning up again any time soon given the crappy fake beer and lack of windows/ventilation. Japanese people, especially when drinking, tend to smoke their brains off. I was joking with my friend as we sat amid the haze that I was surprised nobody had brought their children. Almost on cue a couple came in with their toddler and 3 or 4 year old daughter.
There are two very common practices in Japanese society that seem (to my superior Western thinking) to go against every fiber of common sense. The first is bringing small children to smoke-drenched, non-ventilated, loud live music venues. Babysitter, anyone?
The second is to let children of all ages rule the roost in the car while driving around. Up on the front seat, in between the fronts seats, running around the back seat... Seat belts? Child seats? Who needs 'em. Meanwhile the cops will bust every teenager they can get their hands on for improper bicycle riding technique. Sigh.
Anyway, now that I'm all fired up, here are some pics of the gig last night. My buddy Hiro the chiropractor is the dude on the left. I wish I'd brought my tripod as the pics are a little blurry but the lighting was really cool (ironically the smoke in the air accented it). I also wish we'd chosen seats that weren't tucked in back corner with a damn video camera between us and the stage.
I also took a spin down to the beach today while I was out doing errands. Here are a few pics of the angry ocean in between snow squalls. Good night.
2 comments:
Dang,
THat's funny about the kids roosting in the car, like little hens running around a chicken coop.
drives me crazy...
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