In September, I wrote about going to some crazy party up in the mountains at Kawasaki's house. We went back again, and this time it was even crazier.

Tim, Ivy, Hanako, Kawasaki-san, Diana and Hugh on the morning after.

Outside, it was a full snowstorm. It was so heavy that three other friends drove up an hour after we did, and they wussed out after 10 minutes. The snow was falling like a curtain... which happens to be falling, for some reason. maybe someone dropped it...
Anyway, the snow: It was soft fresh snow, the first of the season. Driving up was as beautiful as it was dangerous, as it was worth it. It was a real shame that the other three couldn't make it. Kawasaki-san really knows how to throw a party. He should, as he has about 15 every month.

This was an end of year party for some ALTs, and Kawasaki's own band. Yes, in the small mountain village of Toga, he assembled a complete band. We arrived early, and helped him move 2 large amplifiers into his 150 year old house. But first we ate. It wasn't a meal so much as a feast. And alcohol was flowing. After dinner the band got up to play, using up almost half the people there. It was an intimate audience, but these guys could seriously be playing for much larger audiences. Sure, they live in the mountains, but damn they could play. It was a drummer (on a drum that looks like a speaker), a bass player, rhythm guitar, solo guitar, a percussionist (who was awesome), and Kawasaki-san jumped in on the saxaphone. It was classic old-time rock n roll. Really good fun music played by very skilled musicians, with lots of solo's thrown in. They played for a good hour, and took a break. Some of them sat down on the couches and called me over.

"Ruben", they said, "come play a song for us". I don't know how they got the crazy idea that I played the guitar. Maybe it was one of my friends who spilt the beans. Maybe it was the fact that I brought my own guitar to the party. But after watching these old guys completely dominate their instruments, I was not keen on playing for them. The truth is, I have casually played for about 3 years now. However, I am merely a campfire player. I can mash out a few chords and sing some songs. I absolutely love it. There is nothing like playing and singing a good song in its entirety. I've even played for some larger audiences, which was pretty amazing. For those who aren't lucky enough to play an instrument, imagine listening to your favourite song on huge headphones, with your eyes closed. This feeling doesn't even come close to playing it yourself. I used to listen to this radio show every week called the "Woodsongs Old Time Radio Hour". Yeah, it tended to be a little bit white-trash sometimes, but they had great guests who were always incredible musicians. At the end, the host would always end the show by saying something like this:

"Music has been part of human culture and life for thousands of years. It has only been a profession for a tiny fraction of that. We can't all be professional musicians, and that's okay. As long as you can play your 3 chords and love doing it, that's all that matters. Play for your friends. Play for your family and your children. Pick up your guitar or other instrument and just play."

It is so beautifully put, but it is so difficult in practice. Here I was, sitting on the couch, holding a guitar while a roomful of people, most of whom were very skilled musicians, were watching me. I was put on the spot. My mind was blank. What could I possibly play that sounds good, after what we had just heard. Then suddenly, a vision appeared to me. It was Bob Marley.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4dvJArFwDo&feature=related

I first listened to Stir it Up when I was very little. One of my brother's first CDs was an early Bob Marley CD, One Love. This was before the days of highly retouched, flawless CDs. I really loved this album, and this one song stopped me every time. It was so perfect, so beautiful. I didn't even know exactly what he was saying. I used to have a cassette tape, on which I put about 6 songs that I could listen to over and over again and never tire of. Stir it Up was the very first track. I remember often biking to my friends house while listening to Stir it Up, knowing full well that this was extremely unsafe, and thinking that it wouldn't be such a bad way to go. Over the years I have loved so many other songs, but every time I hear Stir it Up again, everything in this world seems right again. When the retouched Bob Marley album came out, this song was exactly the same.

When I was still learning to play guitar, I came across the chords for it. I couldn't believe how A D Easy it was. 3 chords. And it sounded so good. It is so simple, but I made it sound really good. Now I know that it was the song that made me sound good. It is such a good song that it can withstand being played poorly.

So, I looked over to the bass player sitting next to me, and the electric guitar solo guy next to him. They were watching me intently so they could join in. And I started playing. The bass kicked in, the drummer started up and a lot of others grabbed some bongos that were lying around. The solo guitarist began filling in the gaps. I kept playing A D E. Someone noticed I was playing without a pick, and gave me one. I would have played until I had a bloody stump. We kept playing the song for 10 minutes, 15 minutes, maybe more. It was absolutely epic. I sang some verses, and other people sang them again. At one stage, the percussionist guy freestyled a verse, using only the word "snow". I have never played music with other people before, and here I was playing my absolute favourite song in the world with a bunch of very good musicians, and some of my best friends. Sure, I have sometimes played songs for other people, but nothing even close to this. It was incredible. From now on I really want to learn to play more than my three chords, but in the meantime I will play those three chords any opportunity I get, and love every moment of it.

Merry Chirstmas everyone!

I'm somewhat of a closet hip-hop fan, and so when I heard that an American rapper called Steph pockets was playing in nearby Kanazawa, I sacrificed my last proper basketball training or a night of drinking (it required driving going to Kanazaa. More than I anticipated, as it turns out).

I went with Ivy, and with her laid backness and my inability to make a decision, it turned out to be very interesting even before we arrived. See, we checked on the on-line map for directions, and it seemed simple enough. Of course, this should have been a huge warning. I believe that Japan is the most mis-directed country in the world. They have worst map-makers in the world. Most maps in Japan contain large cartoon characters, and there is no such thing as scale. Before I got to Japan, I was sent a map of Tonami. Going by that map, I thought my school was walking distance from town, and there were tulips the size of sports stadiums all over town. I have a theory that the 400 years of national isolation has a lot to do with this. Direction isn't important if you have nowhere to go. Even now, Japanese people hardly travel around the world, and if they do, they simply follow a neatly dressed girl holding a flag. Japanese people therefore have an awful sense of mis-direction.

I set out to Kanazawa before 9am, and we arrived in the general vicinity of the venue at 10. We had no idea where exactly the venue was. "Let's ask at the convenience store". What followed was a mystery treasure hunt, only without any accurate clues. The first convenience store hadn't heard of the venue, but they tried looking it up on a computer. They had no idea. I think they were just too ashamed to say they didn't know, so started punching things in on the contertop computer. When it comes to directions, even a Japanese guy is still a guy.

The next 4 convenience stores brought up the same results. One guy I asked replied "eeto", which translates roughly to "I haven't the slightest clue, but I will go out of my way to the extent of self-torture to keep you standing right there as I fail to find out the answer to whatever you just asked me". In an act of kindness, I rudely took leave.

We had a friend email this internet map to my telephone, and I asked another convenince store dude. He studied the image closely, ran out the back of the store with a map and some coins, and made me a photocopy. I actually think he used his own money. So he drew a bunch of lines on the new photocopied map, and explained it in excruciating detail. By now it was after 11PM. I thanked the guy, and we drove away again. With the help of his kindly act, we drove around the same block for another hour.We were driving in exactly the place where the arrow told us to go, and it was on the other map too. I suppose getting lost in Japan isn't only the Japanese's fault. They should blame whoever planned the cities and built the roads. Streets aren't named, they never run parallel, they suddenly stop or turn into a highway. At one stage of circular driving frustration, I said "I'm sure Hiroshima is easy to navigate". Yeah. It was futile. It was already 12PM, and we had ran out of ideas to find this place.

That's when Ivy made a huge discovery. We weren"t supposed to go to the arrow at all. That was just a "general direction" gist of an arrow. Look closely and you will see a B. That was the real destination. Japan can hardly be called a nation of cartographers.

Luckily, the event only really started at 12:30. Being sober driver, I was able to make many observations.The following is the description of all the main acts.

1. Some crazy DJ's.
I don't know if they have a performing name. There is a line in a Fugees song that goes :"Too many M.C.'s, not enough mics". This is exactly how I felt about this DJ act. Sure they were good enough, but was it really neccessary to have 6 DJs scratching in synch?

2. "Nacky".
She was incredibly pretty, and prettied up, which made up for her unfortunate performing name. She had a DJ playing sparse tunes, over which she sang very good average generic poppy Japanese RnB.

3. "Miss-art".
I can say with absolute certainty that she was wearing a hat. She obviously devoted herself to voice training as religiously as straightening her hair. What a great voice. However, for her last number, she tried singing an English song. She may as well have been humming, because Ivy and I understood as little as everyone else.

4. "The Switch-Blacks.
This was a very talented rapper, all rolled up into just 6 people. They also had a few back-up dancers, who didn"t dance, so much as making silly shapes with their hands.

5. Intermission. The screensaver on the projected at the back displayed the word "bathroom", while they played boring elevator music for a long time.

6.Shiva.
This was a very talented 6 piece hiphop band. They began their show with 25 minutes of someone trying out different ring-tones. These guys were in no rush to start playing any real music. But once they did, they were pretty good.

7. Steph Pockets.
Her DJ came out first; a huge black guy and started yelling out: "Steph Pockets in the house! Everybody say 'Steph Pockets!'"
"Steph Pockets", Ivy and I replied.
See, of the several hundred (I'm not good at estimation amounts of people), we were the only foriegners there, and the crowd was so passive. Ivy and I were like plain-clothes ALTs, trying to lead by example. This is surprising because usually Japanese music fans are said to be really good. The DJ kept at it, and eventually after much repetition, the noise level was sufficient for her to come out.

My god, I hardly even saw her, she's so short. She was great though, despite the numb crowd. After the 3rd song, she laughed to herself: "Kanazawa, you're pretty dead tonight, huh?". It was rough, but she powered on. It's a shame that her lyrics are good, because they were lost on the crowd. One line was noteworthy though: "from here to Japan".

A few members of the crowd did shout out a few words of encouragement to her. It was one of 3 things:
1. "Kawaii!". This is basically saying "you are cute!!". Not really a bad thing, but maybe strange to say to a rapper, no?
2. "I love you!" (in a heavy Japanese accent). Now, that is something you would yell out at a concert.
3. "Long hair!". Now, this was simply embarrassing to me. Yes, she has dreadlocks down to the floor (not really that long then...), but what, is this comment supposed to be a compliment, a question, or just a extremely obvious obvservation?

So she finished her last song, and the crowd of people was deathly silent. Now, this would be a good moment to ask for one last song. Bravely, Ivy called out "Encore", and then tried a few more times in katakana English.
"On-ko-re! On-ko-re".
We got a few people to join in, and Steph Pockets, who was obviously planning to sing the encore anyway, came out and did one last number. It was rough for her, but Ivy and I had to work hard too. By now it was well after 3PM, and I started on the long drive home. Unfortunately, I did not get lost, so it is not worth writing about.

Ruben out Japanland
Korea, Part II: eating.