Saitama Rundown

2-show days: 32 = 64 shows
3-show days: 20 = 60 shows
4-show days:   3 = 12 shows
_______________________

total days:       55
total shows:            132 shows

bonus count – crapping elephant shows: 45
                       shows without elephants: 4
                       shows with new 'phants : 11
                       new 'phant crapping shows: 0

On A T-Shirt

• zeal spirit
• motorcycle brothers
• The Mad Function/ everything whatevs thing
• last night we slept in the open air
• charmy natural party
• Everything you say goes around in circles
• chick you
• the mingle deeply

Meet the Roomies!

Here's my video introducing the current group of roommates. Fortunately they earn their keep.




I'm thinking I should clean their spaces every once in a while, just because they leave their trash hanging around.

The Great Grocery Hunter

I took a trip to the grocery store yesterday, picked up some discount deli items, and decided I would take the opportunity to shoot a bit of footage describing this phenomenon. Some have heard me talk about it, but now at last I have video proof complete with unscripted rambling.

I don't always pick up something from the deli, as I make a grocery trip two or three times a week; sometimes I just like to treat myself. Enjoy!

On A T-Shirt

• Deliciously sedated in luxurious [okay, so it was on a hat]
• stoked avocation hum playout livelihood
• cutie love
• smiley girl
• Pop art is for everyone [Andy Warhol banana picture]
• to the there ahead
• beauty lover girl
• special lucky
• Hello, my name is alpaca [picture of an alpaca]
• An . . . exhausted, this is serious
• mischievous blue rabbit skunk
• This is my wave baby, don't cut me

Container Tour

Ladies and gentlemen,

After many references, stills, and teases, I finally give you a video of my container room:



I like it. It's about 90% finished at the moment, maybe 85% at the very least. It is my pad, my base of operations, my sanctum sanctorum and it's larger than anything I ever had on Ringling Brothers. Not to say that I don't miss train life, but I definitely like having the extra room.

Sapporo Rundown

2 show days: 30 =   60 shows
3 show days: 26 =   78 shows
4 show days:   5 =   20 shows
_________________________
Total days:     61
Total shows:          158 shows

On A T-Shirt

• An enjoy no thinking valuable for yours
• goosy
• The Rocky Bloc Show [picture of Rocky Horror lips]
• space forming base
• grace of the sun and ocean
• brown honey
• admiration vast ground
• can't wait for next month's issue?
• we are so happy forever
• infinite space exploration
• New Standard Family
• jolie sucre fille

On A T-Shirt

[Note: This is the "slowly catching up from moving cities and not having internet" post. One of them, at least. You should see how backlogged I am on pictures!]

• Believe a thing called love

• balmy days shuffle tape

• Soul Sister, Brown Sugar

• Faker is same as you

• Make my happy

• Light after madness

• No more fish in the sea?

• I'm fun

• Enjoy yourself – it's later than you think.

• Sausage union – rebel forces gain the fame

• It always shines full stars

• Positive idea and wish fulfilled

• I will never be like your kind of the girls – The Villey of the Dolls

• Clover: four leaves of happiness

• Don't think. Feel!!

• I think I am cheated

• Big fun on a bicycle

• In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different

Baby's First Onsen

Yesterday I completed a walk across a few peaks of the Daisetsuzan National Park's mountain ranges, including and finishing with Asahidake, the largest peak in Hokkaido.

The hostel on the Asahdake side had a hot spring on-site, which meant that I would have my very first onsen experience. Since I am obviously not a "water baby" as was pointed out by my travel companion and clown partner (I think I hold more Earthbender potential), my appreciation of the hot spring was in doubt. It needn't have been.

For Japanese onsen, one of the main things is that one washes before entering the hot spring, which makes a load of sense; you don't want other people's dirt and crud floating around in a pool of hot water making some Jonathan Swift's Nightmare soup. I felt that it made the aftermath feel even more relaxing and therapeutic: you're already clean, you soaked in a hot pool, and now your pores are open, sweating a cleansing sweat.

I had the marvelous experience of being the only one in the men's onsen at the time. This particular onsen was open-air, so as I looked up, I could see more stars than I am usually able to see at night; I saw an amount of stars closer to the amount I am comfortable seeing.

And I sang. I sang "Transatlanticism." I sang "The Scientist." I sang "The Beautiful Ones."

I sat on my heels, body weight not being an issue with my knees in a hot spring pool. I breathed and meditated before I sang and between songs. I massaged my calves and feet. I spent a half hour in the hot spring and then I left to dry off and head back to my room to prepare for an early turn-in at 10pm.

Onsen? I like.

On A T-Shirt

• Sorry I am doing fine
• Life in the slow lane
• HOLeY SHIrT
• Salt Lake City – Messenger from Lover
• Carefully about teamwork goes to a high place
• Expose chicanery
• New Jersey out of the world
• I cannot afford to waste my time making money
• All we need is you
• WHAT ENERGY! I depart with my full bag of time all the things time has taught me
• Strange and unprepared
• Have a game of play

On A T-Shirt

• World's Heavyweight Fighter
• Love tights
• #3: Never Trust Nobody
• People 68 hundred million
• Bitter adventure life
• embarrassed
• Peace love heart
• It's harder in Detroit
• Surf before I go to town
• shutter choice [with a picture of a camera]
• believe possibility have hope
• sun lucky
• Just like [Mtv Logo]
• No goodness talk of anything
• you have eyes to find out
• assimilate knowledge
• My sneaker mo' flyer than yous
• Decisive actions most excite

My Circus Room: Sneak Preview

My Room Now: the kitchen and bathroom, a photo by cookiepants1973 on Flickr.

While I'm procrastinating taping a video blog entry, here is a still of one view of my room. It is one half of a converted shipping container and I love it!

It is still a work in progress, but it is progressing.

Music to Befuddle By

The interesting Japan thing that I experienced the other day was not the Japanese guy whose hair looked very similar to the flight control chief from the Curiosity mission. Oh no. It was music.

There has seemed to me to be this thing that Japanese stores have for their version of Muzak to consist a lot of American standards. These standards are usually interpreted in a lighter way, sometimes bordering on jazz, at other times firmly planted in adult contemporary. Still other times, it is just completely weird.

While grocery shopping, with a package of the day's fresh salmon and my favorite two-liter carton of plum wine in my hand basket, I recognized the tune playing. I was simultaneously horribly confused and rabidly curious. Surely this could not be the tune I thought it was. My feet slowed down as my ears and brain scrambled over each other, vying to be the first to name that tune.

It was "Take On Me" by A-Ha, performed by a Japanese ensemble that sounded like a group that kind of wanted to be like The Bird and The Bee or First Aid Kit and couldn't decide. But that didn't stop them from recording that song – no sir!

I can't say that my life is any richer or worse for having heard it. It definitely is a little weirder.

On A T-Shirt

• The story of my life: no music, no challenge
• When I die, I'm going to heaven because I've served my time on the road.
• A bargain is a bargain
• belief earnest heart
• What should I pray for?
• The keeper of the lighthouse
• big smile for everyone
• glitter lover tender heart

Personal Japan

I've been back in Japan almost two months now and there have been two things that have stood out to me that are rather personal people-watching experiences: doppelgangers and foreigners.

1) Doppelgangers

The last time I was in Japan I saw a Japanese double of a former girlfriend of mine. A week ago I saw the Japanese double of a former tour mate. The strangest one is my mother. I have noticed that there is no shortage of short, moonfaced old ladies in glasses who in more than a few ways visually remind me of my mother. I'm not certain if I only notice it more since she died or if that was always the case. Whatever it is, I notice that a lot now. It's interesting and even heartwarming more than it is disturbing or depressing.

2) Foreigners

Encountering foreigners on the streets has been an interesting study. Most of the time, I've noticed that foreign residents tend to A) act like you're not there, or B) have a subtle air of dismissive territoriality. No hint of acknowledgement, no smile, no reaction at all. You would think there'd be some bit of recognition for another obvious outsider or some brief, friendly human interactive flash, but no. The only exception was a chipper guy in the immigration office and black people.

Black people in predominately non-black foreign countries seem to tend to acknowledge each other. We're happy to see each other, maybe to encourage each other in this current phase of yet again being The Only One and S/He Who Cannot Blend In. Our eyes glimmer, our heads nod, and sometimes there's even a broad smile and brief conversation that would be mere disposable small talk in any other arena. It is a communion, a Celebration of Otherness, a five-second Juneteenth celebration on alien soil. Otherwise with other foreigners, it's usually a pageant of smug, a monologue of indifference – cold faces and dead eyes.

I don't consider myself a people-watcher in the way that some people consider themselves to be one, but this life/work situation affords me a great opportunity to practice looking outside of myself as well as inside.