Day Train to Kyoto

Taking the train back to Kyoto in the driving rain that has persisted through the week. As the Republican convention might be opening, keep an eye on this garbage.

Illmatic

I have been a hip-hop fan since the first time I saw Run-DMC in 3rd grade. I fell in and out of contact but have been pretty solid with it since Chuck D told me to not believe the hype. For the most part, I haven't. Sometimes I intentionally avoid albums that are considered hip-hop milestones the way I avoid Good Will Hunting. Of all the places to get my come-uppance, who would have thought it would be Natsuki's glove compartment. I got tired of Jack Johnson, whom I tolerate, but who I have decided occupies the rung between Don Henley and Jimmy Buffet on the musical ladder, so I looked for something else. There, with a photocopied cover and a pen drawing on a burned CD lay Illmatic. I have never been against Nas, as much as I have remained indifferent about everything except doing his wife. Here is the deal, believe the hype. Illmatic is a sick, sick album. It is very good and I say that without reservation. I won't go in depth about what makes it great, I'll just say that it comes right on the end of old, NY rap and has the spare production style that I didn't know that I missed. Solid album.

What a Strange, Strange Pick

Does anything carry the stink of desperation more than McCain's VP pick? It is one thing to try and break new ground and think outside the box. It is another thing scramble around and try to make news and pick up the scraps that Obama leaves behind. It is kind of like hearing Evan Tanner talk about digging for quarters in his truck to buy a can of tuna less than a month after having a professional fight. Really? Big oil plus creationsim in schools. No man-made global warming plus NRA. Great. Great choice there McCain. You're going' places.

It's Time for Them to Own Their Failure

Line of the campaign so far. Was there any flaw in Obama's speech? Aside from the fact that his syntax implied the Biden takes home Amtrak drivers. An insanely good speech. He was absolutely right in attacking McCain and challenging him on foreign policy judgement. The imagery of his grandfather holding him on his shoulders waving a flag and saying "Isn't it amazing what Americans can do." Was as touching as it was painful. Great, great speech.

These People are Nuts

I wager these are Republican set-ups. But they are still insane.

Michelle Obama

I wasn't really fired up about this speech, but she knocked a solid triple off the top of the wall.

Obama Addresses Hecklers

Sex and the Boring Boring Movie

It happened. I was in an actual movie theater watching Sex and the City. It has happened to boyfriends all over the world. As TV shows that boyfriends are made to watch, I remember it as being a little better than Friends so it had that going for it. I understand that this movie is not designed for me it is not targeted at me it doesn't care how I feel about it. One thing I was surprised about was how poorly made it seemed. The lighting was rotten. The cinematography was uninspired. There might be something to the whole TV stars being less than movie stars. Kim Catrall was the only one who looked like a movie star on the big screen. Any movie where you think "Man, I hope Mario Cantone can save this thing." Has a major problem.

I knew the movie would be shallow and self-centered but it was beyond. It was beyond anything understandable. There was an old man sitting by himself in the front row. I asked, "What is this old man doing here? Did he here 'sex' in the title and show up?" He rolled around in his row. Put his feet up on the seats in front of him. Laughed too hard it anything resembling a joke. Yelled out whatever words he knew in English and got up and danced in the aisles during songs. He was the most exciting thing in the movie.

I don't think any of you are going to see it anyway. Good.

It's Biden

He wasn't my first choice. I wanted Wesley Clark. I pondered Jim Webb. But now that the choice has been made, I feel that it is a solid one. Is Biden sometimes a lacky for the credit card industry? Yes. Is he willing to play it to close to the middle? Yes. Does he have hair plugs? Sure. Is he an arrogant asshole? You betcha, and that is why he is the right choice. Can you picture Biden letting whatever ramshackle, slime merchant McCain dredges up walk over him in the debates? Can you imagine Biden letting McCain surrogates talk down to him? Biden is a flame thrower and loves to put a motherfucker in their place. I love him for that. I think he has given the best performance in the debates over the past few elections. He speaks more effectively in that format than Obama. He is more willing to let it all hang out and nail someone down than Obama. The campaign needs that. I ain't agin him, Ize for em'.

This makes my point better.

IPhone

I have to get a new keitai. Marinating on the IPhone. Any thoughts? Detractors? Tractors?

One Day as a Lion

You know, it ain't bad. (usual disclaimer: give me a month and a studio.) That being said, I dig it.

I Knew It!!

I should have been an Olympian.....

Song of the Summer?

It seems like every summer has a song that you can't escape. My first in Japan it was Mogol 800. A while back it was Macey Gray's "I Try." A few years ago it was Beyonce "Crazy in Love." This summer....I don't know. Maybe I have been bouncing around too much. My nominee would have to be this:


I am not sold on Lil' Weezy, but this is a catchy mu fuhin song. Mainly due to the backing track.

Back in Miyazaki

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A six hour car drive, two planes, a bus, a taxi, trains and subways, my bicycle, another combination of trains and subways, a ferry and I am back in Miyazaki continuing my eventful vacation.

I didn't catch his rank, but soldier Alonzo in Atlanta, waiting to go back to Iraq for the 3rd time was a sweet guy. He said he had always planned to be in the Army for his career but he was tired of getting jerked around, back and forth. I suppose considering his situation wouldn't be supporting any troops. I hope he makes his last 6 months out okay.

The flight to Hawaii I sat next to an Army nurse who made me regret my lack of an actual profession. She was equal parts boring and inspiring. She leaves for Iraq in a few months, but she really want to deliver babies. I hope she does well.

To Waikiki where I was in the hostel next to the one I meant to stay in. Not the quite one with the low-key vibe and the half decent surfboards, but the one like the out of control dorm at a school for people studying English as a second language. I couldn't find Akko. I left to messages at her hotel so I went to the ABC store, my favorite convenience store ever, and got a pasta salad an onigiri and an Asahi. Polished them off and went to bed. I got up early only to be stalled by the morning shift changed and delayed by 30 minutes getting a shitty surfboard covered in foam. Still, 2 hours at Waikiki is 2 hours at Waikiki. Surfing that is, I would rather not be on the beach, unless it is 3am on the jetty with a Brazilian girl from Atlanta. It hit me that one of the great parts about surfing is that, compared to other sports, its legendary sights are accesible. I won't ever be able to play catch at Fenway Park, but I can paddle out to the break where surfing was born, look left at Diamondhead and catch a sweet ass wave through clear water over a reef.

On the way to the airport I run into Akko and her friend who turn out to be on the same plane with me.

I do my shopping and grab a cab to the airport. The driver was Vietnamese and moved here fairly recently. He was quite bright and we talked over politics. He was surprised that I knew Dien Bien Phu. I was surprised that he asked me "Do you believe in God?"

To Japan where, riding on the train, listening to an old man hock luggies into his own mouth and swallow them I swore, "I gotta get out of Japan." The next morning I got up early, rode my bike to the river and went jogging. My neghborhood renewed my faith in the country. Kyoto is lovely. Everday. At the end of my run, a ruckus errupted. 40-60 Uykou busses where caravaning down Kawabata screaming about education. No one ever knows what they are saying. Largely because every bus had its own diatribe.

On the ferry, 40 noisy, shallow, college boys and girls on a club trip to Miyazaki. The only time I am trapped on the ferry with hot chicks and they are trapped with lame dudes.

Now at Natsuki's drinking coffee and contemplating the IPhone.

In Japan

Alive with 9 hours sleep and a 7-layer burrito from the Taco Bell in Waikiki.

Alive

And in Hawaii. Staying in the hostel I like less. Can't locate Akko. Worst comes to worst, I still surf Waikiki in the morning.

Classy Lady "Represents."

DSCF8210, originally uploaded by wwc photos.

Oh Florida!

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Goodbye Florida

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Oh, FLorida, how I will miss your foods.

Me and Julian Bond

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We got it like that.