Lost In Translation

FCC Art Exhibition

My friends Jack and Lorenzo had another exhibition opening of their impressive art work at the Foreign Correspondants' Club in Yurackucho. It was some more pictures and stories inspired by riding on trains in Tokyo. The pictures and stories are on display in the dining area, of the club and will be there for about a month. I was pleased to meet Henry Scott Stokes, a journalist and writer who has been living in Japan off and on since 1964. He had some great stories about Japan. He is a journalist and the author of several books, including a well-received biography of the famous writer Yukio Mishima.

Film Notes: Ladykillers

I have to admit I was a bit reluctant to see this film. I am not a big Tom Hanks fan to start with, it didn't get good reviews, and I didn't care much for Intolerable Cruelty (which I think is the worst Coen brothers film yet). But I was pleasantly surprised by Ladykillers, perhaps a result of low expectations. In spite of my wariness, I found myself laughing a lot and enjoying the set designs as well as the impressive cinematography, I know some people (Roger ebert for examle-a rare difference of opinion) find it distracting from the story and show-offy, but I find it entertaining to get unusual camera perspectives and angles. Second-rate Coen brother movies still are better than most of what is being produced by major movie studios. However, they pale in comparison to their earlier work-in this case, comedies like Raising Arizona and The Big Lebowski. This film was predictable with some sophmoric toilet humor, however, extremely entertaining none the less.

Myonichikan Jiyu Gakuen

Myonichikan means "House of Tomorrow" and was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright when he was in Japan to design the Tokyo Hotel. It was bulit in 1921. A while ago my friend Damon invited me to a nihonshu (sake) tasting at the school, which is now a community center of sorts. The picture above is the facade of the main building, which is where the event was that I went to. It is a really beautiful old building with many impresssive details like the wood molding of the windows and the original chairs. It's in Ikebukuro near the West Exit, so when I went to have lunch with my friends Evan and Nori there we stopped by after lunch this weekend. The picture below is of the auditorium across the street, both spaces were being used-there was a wedding, a concert, and a community center class going on at the same time in various spaces.

In The iPod: Luna

Luna has just released a new album, Rendezvous, which explains why they were in Tokyo last month, something that I didn't find out until a day after they played! I really liekd the album cover above as well-sor tof retro hotel room looking. Unfortunatley, it sounds as if this will be their last. I'm going to miss their moody ballads. They are staple when I read or study Japanese. This album has some real standouts like "Broken Chair", "Still At Home", and "Malibu Love Nest." I think "Cindy Tastes Of Barbeque" is a great title and also a good song. There's a remix of "Astronaut" from their last EP Close Cover While Striking, I guess they felt the song deserved a greater exposure, and I agree I think it was the best new song on the album. A strong closing statement for what has become one of my favorite bands.

Favorite Places: Kaffir Lime

Kaffir Lime is another one of my favorite Harajuku haunts. It's a little pricey, but good authentic Thai food in a trendy area is worth knowing about. They have very good lunch specials and last week I stopped by for lunch.

Book Notes: Wiseguy

I was inspired to read Nicholas Pileggi’s Wiseguy after watching the Goodfellas Special Edition DVD, which had some commentary from Pileggi with Scorsese. Incidentally, Pileggi has been pegged to write the screenplay for Tokyo Underworld, an entertaining book by Robert Whiting.

It was interesting to compare the book with the movie and see what they changed and what they left out. In the end, I think they stayed pretty true to the book. Some of the stuff left out was really interesting-connections to other mafia families, the Boston University point shaving scandal (which I remember reading about in my father’s Sports Illustrated), and the effect of a G. Gordon Liddy food strike that got Henry Hill into the minimum security facility. I wonder if the prisons had to undergo reviews after this book, which outlined all the corruption that takes place inside. Like the movie, it provided a fascinating look into the everyday lives of mafia gangsters trying to earn day tot day. It seems that The Sopranos couldn't have existed without a book like this appearing first.

The Night Club

Another contributing factor to my late arrival at the airport. After eating Korean BBQ, we went to Night Club Julia, which is where I was taken my first night I visited back in August.

Dave and Tomoko on the dance floor.

Clare and Jeleesan get down on the dance floor (notice that it is yet another clothes change for Jeleesan).

The Reception

The reception was held at Edward and Jeleesan's local hoff (pub). The manager to the right introduced some games for the newlyweds. In this one Jeleesan had to peel and eat the banana tied around Edward's...ur...waist.

In this game, Edward had to move the egg in Jeleesan's dress form one sleeve out the other without breaking it. Once this was accomplished, it was auctioned off. Dave M. bought it for $50 Aussie dollars. He later cooked it on the Korean BBQ grill, well at least that which he salvaged after it slid off the grill.

We went from the hoff to a Korean BBQ place, this is the first time I've seen the domed grill which makes it easy to collect the runoff grease, and hard to cook an egg.

This is one of the reasons I got to the airport late. The green bottle on the left is Korean rice wine, which was mixed in the center bottle with Korean soju (Bek Se Ju-which means live for a hundred years) on the right. I should be able to live for many centuries after drinking a large part of the bottle.

The Traditional Wedding Ceremony

This is apicture of the groom and bride in traditional wedding garb. The ceremony was quite elaborate and interesting. At one point, Edward's mother threw a handful of chestnuts into the air and Edward and Jeleesan tried to catch them in a cloth-it signifies how many daughters they will have-it looks like more than 3. At another point Jeleesan jumped on Edward's back and he carried her around the table. There was some tea drinking and some other rituals that I can't recall at the moment.

This is a picture of another couple who had their ceremony next door to Edward and Jeleesan, i think it shows the variety of the traditional clothes.

Here's Edward and Jeleesan in casual traditional dress.

Intermission: The Buffet

After the first ceremony we were ushered into the buffet room, which we shared with the other weddings parties. There were at least 2 other weddigns taking place at or near the same time. The spread was pretty impressive: Korean food, Chinese food, western food (salad, bread and cheese, pasta, tacos!), sushi, desserts, etc... However, time was limited so I only made two trips through the buffet. Poor Edward and Jeleesan didn't have a chance to get anything to eat since they were changing for the Traditional Ceremony.

The presentation of the food was pretty impressive as well.