Lost In Translation

Textbook Reviewing

A couple of years ago I reviewed the upcoming New Interchange Level 2 Third Edition and received a modest fee. This year it has finally been released. And they’ve sent me a letter of thanks and a copy of the new text; I’m listed as one of the reviewers in the preface. I’m not sure how many of my ideas, in particular, they incorporated, but it looks much better. I felt that some of the activities were too general before, but it looks like they’ve cleaned it up. I look forward to using it next year.

I was approached by McGraw-Hill Publishing to review material for an upcoming text that is in development there as well. I wasn’t as impressed with their output so far, although no textbook is perfect and I always feel the need to skip, add, and modify. One of these days I should develop my own Japan-specific text for use at universities with 15 week schedules. There’s nothing on the market for that specific demand (30 90 minutes self-contained lessons with two tests). One of these days...

History Of The Mix Tape

I came across this article about mix tapes on Salon.com:

Lost in the mix

In a new book, Sonic Youth frontman Thurston Moore and his hipster pals lament the demise of the mix tape in the age of the iPod.

In retrospect, the era of the mix tape -- which began not long after Philips unveiled the audiocassette in 1963, crescendoed throughout the '80s and probably peaked in the early '90s -- looks like a vast, unintentional folk art movement. Nearly every music-loving teenager in the country participated. Think of it this way: If every kid who spent a Saturday afternoon making a mix tape over the past 25 years had instead spent that time painting, sculpting or writing poetry, the '80s and '90s would be known as a period of unbridled renaissance in American outsider art. Now that era is over, the hours of tape-deck labor replaced by the drop-and-click production of the iPod playlist.

I think anyone who loves music and came of age in the late 80s and early 90s should be able to relate to this idea. I would guess that most of the mix tapes were those I made for myself, something that Nick Hornby lovingly talks about in his book 31 Songs. However, I certainly made some for girls, friends, and family members (an unsuccessful attempt to get my younger sister into indie rock). I also received my share from friends-I always hoping to be turned on by a new band or song. Some of my roomates were obsessive about their mix tapes. This is a good description of my friend Gaje, who used to make mix tapes every year and give them out as Christmas presents (however, I have been guilty of attempted brainwashing as well):

For rock snobs like the fictional Rob Gordon and record-store geeks everywhere, the mix tape has an additional purpose: to brainwash someone, to alter their musical taste. Like most people, I would imagine, I got my biggest share of these in college, when I had indie-rocker friends with enough spare time to make me grungy compilations of abrasive screamo, the covers scrawled with obscure, vulgar band names and bizarre symbols. I was brainwashed into an affection for Robyn Hitchcock by an indoctrination tape that my friends and I repeatedly stole from one another over the years, a tape I still have in my desk drawer.

He turned me onto to some cool music, but I can remember a paticular isntance where I just couldn't get past a song by an industrial noise band called Throbbing Gristle, so I probably only made it past that point of the tape once or twice to hear the other songs he recorded. I think my old roomate Mike probably had the taste closest to my own as far as music went; he also spent the most time making really cool hand designed cassette song list art. But I think every roomate I lived with during my Seattle days turned me onto to some band or at least a song or two.

I brought my boom box to my new office and I still have some cassettes that I listen to there (also some MDs"mini disks"-an interlude before I joined the MP3 crowd). So when I left Seattle in 1997 we were still making mix tapes, I have a couple "bon voyage" tapes from my friend/former roomate Greg. My "punk rock" gal pal Michelle made me some tapes(and MDs), and left me her collection as well, when she went back to the states in 2001. The vast majority of my mix tapes are lost to the dustbin of history I suppose, since I left those with my friend Dave (who I believe admitted to dumping them-and I don't blame him), when I came to Japan.

So now I have to make due with song lists on my iPod adn iTunes. Reading this article brought back a lot of memories. Incidently, there's a great Japanese word-"natsukashii"-/which roughly translates to "nostalgia", but it's more like "this reminds me of the time when ...I was young and carefree and just getting into Yo La Tengo and Pavement"/, which captures the feeling I'm having remembering all the mix tapes of the past.

Fear Of Foreigners

Foreigners are routienly blamed for crime and many other problems (drugs, AIDS, etc...), even though we only make up less than 1 percent of the population. So this comes as no surprise:

Nearly 90% fear more foreign visitors will lead to rise in crimes

Monday, May 30, 2005 at 07:13 JST
TOKYO — Almost 90% of the Japanese public are concerned that a growth in travelers from overseas may lead to an increase in crimes, a transport ministry survey showed Sunday. Asked about the negative aspects of a rise in visitors, 89.4% said criminals, who pretend to be tourists, may enter the country, followed by 33.4%, who responded they worry about problems caused by differences in languages and customs.

The survey was conducted in February via the Internet, to which 86% of 777 people, between 20 and 80 years old and registered as monitors of the ministry, responded. A ministry official said, "We are ready to cooperate with the Justice Ministry and police to improve the system to prevent criminals from entering Japan." (Kyodo News)

Chiba: Nakadaki

My friend Jason invited me out to his cottage in Nakadaki, Chiba (a prefecture just east of Tokyo where a lot of commuters live), so I came out for an overnight stay. I don't know Chiba very well, but it's near the ocean and has some good surfing spots. When I go to Chiba, it is usually to catch a plane at Narita-where the interantional airport is. After a nght of excessive drinking we drove around to some beaches and there was a women's surf competition going on nearby-I liked the mural in this picture (plus a bonus for the penaut gallery). Next weekend we are planning to rent some cottages in Nagatoro, Saitama (a prefecture north of Tokyo where I used to live when I first came to Japan-but this area is in the far west and the least populated part of the prefecture). So that means, in the last three weeks, I've wil have hit all the local surounding prefecture-including my stay in Kanagawa with Arie last weekend-which is unusal, because I don't often get out of Tokyo proper since there's so much to do here.

In The iPod: Ryan Adams (and the Cardinals)

I’ve been listening to Ryan Adams a lot recently, so when his new album with a band (the Cardinals), Cold Roses , came out. I got it and Love Is Hell from a couple of years ago. They are tow very different CDs. The first is a return to alt country rock sound that Adams started with as a member of the now defunct Whiskytown. It seems cliché to complain about his prolific output and lack of editing, but it’s true. This is a 2 CD disk set, which would be more impressive as a one CD volume of the best material. My favorite tunes seem to be on the first disk (“Cherry Lane”/”Sweet Illusions”/”When Will You Come Back Here”). However, the second disk has the melodic “Easy Plateau.” Aside from those tracks, the collection of songs hasn’t grabbed me as much as those on his mope rock opus produced by former Smiths producer John Porter. Incidently, his knowledge and love of Morrissey is chronicle in a discussion that preceeds the first track on the album heartbreaker. The songs here are more introspective since they are about heartache and heartbreak, which leads to mellower and more dramatic songs than usual-hence the mope rock moniker. I think about half of the tracks are standouts in my opinion, I know he put out an EP of outtakes from this record as well-it just might be worth getting if there’s anything as good as: “Avalanche”/World War 24”/”Anybody Want To Take Me Home”/”English Girls Approximately”/”City Rain, City Streets”/ “Hotel Chelsea Nights”/”This House Is Not For Sale.”

Laki A Go Go

The owners of Laki Laki have opened up a new bar in Kanda on the opposite side of the station. They're both open at the moment, but Laki Laki will probably close at some point. It's become a sort of local spot for me, since I've been meeting my friend Darrel there for over a year now. It's much bigger, and as a result the excellent Indonesian-Balinese menu seems to have shrunk in proportion as well. But it still has good food and good tunes and I expect to keep meeting Darrel there every so often.

Time's Top 100 Movies of All-Time

There were a few surprises in critics Richard Corliss' and Richard Schickel's list of the 100 Best Movies Of All-Time. Some people mentined the exclusion of Gone With The Wind, but I saw it a couple of years ago and agree with it's exclusion. Kurosawa has Ikiru and Yojimbo-I agree with Ikiru, but I think it should also include The Seven Samurai and Rashomon instead of Yojimbo. I was happy to seee my favorite Coen brothers film, Miller's Crossing, make the list. I was also pleased to see a Kong Kar-Wai film make the list, Chunking Express, however, I think In The Mood For Love is probably more deserving. I would have included Hannah And Her Sisters rather than the Purple Rose Of Cairo if I were to include a Woody Allen film. Other favorites include: Goodfellas, Bladerunner, City Of God, and Brazil. But come on, The Fly(1986) and Finding Nemo?

Daishikan Ryokan

I thought it was worthwhile to do a post on, Daishikan, the ryokan I stayed at, since I don't do it very often. It was nestled in next to a river, surrounded by rice fields. Every year that Arie visits Japan he stays there and does the same hike up the mountian to the temple around to the golf course and back. The rooms are traditonal Japnese style with tatami mats and futons to sleep on. We order the tradtional breakfast in the picture above. It consited of salmon, pickles, tofu, salad, seaweed, miso soup, and rice-served with green tea of course. I believe there was a mystery dish that we couldn't figure out what it was, and which I subsequently didn't eat.

DVD Notes: Days Of Being Wild

I recently bought the Wong Kar-Wai Collection, which contains 5 early movies, made by one of my favorite contemporary directors. It seems that one of them, Days Of Being Wild, had been given a limited re-release in America last year. It is an excellent film that introduces several elements that will be seen in subsequent films. Kar-Wai has said that this is the first part of a continuous story that is continued in the films In The Mood For Love and 2046. All three films take place in the 60s; they explore the themes of thwarted love/impossible love and desire with rakish men and seductive women filmed in a cool atmospheric sensibility. Kar-Wai is another director who makes good use of musical motifs to evoke emotion in his films.

Leslie Cheung plays, Ruddy, a sort of incorrigible cad who seduces the lovely girl next door, Maggie Cheung (who appears in all three films), but discards her when she suggests marriage-he is not the marrying kind. He then tames the wild showgirl Mimi, played by the spirited Carina Lau. There is a subplot involving a policeman, Tide, who becomes a sailor played by Andy Lau. The Ruddy character, who is a sort of James Dean “Rebel Without A Cause”, makes some romantic gestures as do other characters, the types of gestures that will appear in other films and give Kar-Wai his romantic reputation. It’s interesting to go back and see his earlier films in light of the more recent ones. He has been refining his skills as a filmmaker; it is obvious the seeds for his extraordinary talent were already there in the beginning.

Fujiya Izakaya

Ito-san, Yuki's father and propieter of Fujiya, is inbetween me and Arie. He made the impressive tables and stools that you see in the pictures as well. The other three fellows are regulars who come by to drink everyday, the one on the far left lives next door. After imbibing copious amounts of nihonshu (sake) we chatted with these fellows. In fact, I think we met everyone drinking in the izakaya, there were a couple of families and some other locals tying one on for Friday. The food was great-a combination of hearty servings and fresh ingredients.

We started off with a mixed serving of tempura and unagi (eel) in a sweet sauce. This was followed by edamame (salted green beans great with beer), meshi soba (fried rice mixed with fried noodles), gyoza (fried dumplings), yaki soba (fried noodles), a vegetable that I was unfamiliar with (I forget what it's called) cooked in egg, and kawaebi (river shrimp which is another popular snack to have while drinking-see the picture below). Needless to say we couldn't finish it all, and had to switch to nihonshu, because we were so full.