Mr. Pettit and myself attended this 50’s party a few nights ago. Walking into it was like walking into the Twilight Zone: greasers, fancy suits with two toned shoes, poodle dresses, bowling shirts, big hair, …
It was awesome.
People “strolling“, “jiving“, “twisting” and ” shake, rattle, and rolling” everywhere.
200 odd people … but not odd really … just a subculture of 50’s Rock ‘N Roll officianados alive and well in the back of beyond Japan having a good time.
When I start to think about, it’s not really so strange: good music, good dancing, and fun.
As we were the only foreigners in attendance, I thought it was bizarre. After thinking about it, it seemed pretty normal.
I wasn’t dancing in the 50’s … and neither were most of these people. They just like the music and so do I.
Four bands played the classics and some songs that were great but just hadn’t made it through the filtered version of the 50’s that I grew up with.
I’ll be going to the next one … and I’m sure I won’t have to twist Mr. Pettit’s arm too hard to come with me.
.
note: my version of the 50’s comes mostly from “American Graffiti” and “Happy Days” sadly. I was born too late … but I’d probably be really old if I was.
double note: I ended up dancing with an 81 year old woman for most of the night. She is a former #1 dancer in Japan … so I was honored.
triple note: sorry all the photos are crap: I left my camera at home and took these images with the phone camera.
quadruple note: I thought there were going to be 5 bands … until I realized that “gest” meant “guests“.
.
notes to myself #41
You know those dance moves you do at 13 years old?
They will last you a lifetime.
It would almost be worth it to work at a movie theatre for the cardboard display stuff you could get for free.
note: the “cardboard cut out charity” needs your support.
double note: yes, I’ve seen “The Lonely Guy“.
triple note: planetross wants this cardboard display bad. I think after November 3rd it could be gracing my front entrance!
quadruple note: this is Nozomi Ohashi, the little girl who sings the theme song for “Ponyo“. I think everyone in Japan knows it. It’s quite catchy actually … like the flu!
notes to myself #38
Your brothers and sisters are going to call you “Walter” when you get the mumps. They will probably stop calling you that if you don’t get so mad about it.
… same goes for “Eggward“.
Here is a little videoKelly Pettit and I made.
It’s a mixture of the “Really Bad Things” series with a bunch of new ones thrown in too!
note: a very very very very special “thank you” to Kelly Pettit who did all the work on this one: director, producer, cinematographer, sound engineer, and most especially editor. I really couldn’t have done this with out his expertise in things I know nothing about.
He also carried half the pool table around with me looking silly for a few hours. Kelly rocks!!!!
double note: I should have smiled more in this video.
When you are 9 years old do not do Morris’ paper route for him. He’s not going to pay you; and him and his dad are douche b … oh! … you don’t know those words yet! … they are jerks.
On an IMPORTANT MISSION to obtain important things at a shopping mall about an hour’s drive away, I armed myself with my camera and i-pod shuffle for the trip. I guess I really “eyed” and “eared” myself with that equipment … and the shuffle was only half full … so it was really an i-pod “shuhalfull” … but I digress.
On the way I realized a few new things that I hadn’t realized before.
I’ve already prealized old things … so I can’t realize them anymore nowadays for some reason that I’m sure I will realize someday.
1. I don’t honk at bad or slow drivers: I just “boo” them a lot.
2. My headphones slowly work themselves out of my ears when I eat food*, but not when I sing**.
*piggishly **badly
3. I’d be a pretty good “disfigure skater” … if that was a real thing. I know I can do a “disfigure 8″ amazingly well!
4. If U2’s “Where the Streets Have No Names” started with “I want to hide, I want to seek“, it probably wouldn’t have been such a big hit.
5. It is impossible to sit completely still while listening to “Istanbul” by They Might Be Giants.
All important things were obtained and even one thing I didn’t know was important, until I obtained it, was obtained with money … which is very similar to purchasing or buying … but really quite different if there is an IMPORTANT MISSION involved.
The icecube tray was the added bonus of the trip.
What was the IMPORTANT MISSION? you ask while eating fish products with baited breath.
I’ll put that entry on next.
I was going to call it “The Next Entry”, but then what would I do after that? … so it will be called something else.
note: if you haven’t read the first “Saturday At Stoplights“, no one is stopping you … with lights … or anything.
double note: it’s difficult to get people with funny hats riding bicycles and the police into one photo … naturally.
The first “Visor Man” is here… or just askTony …he probably knows.
This was my 10th year of roaming the streets of Numata for 3 days in August … with a purpose.
It’s basically the exact same thing every year, but somehow that’s a good thing. It’s comfort food for the senses: like an old song, holiday decorations, or finding a few slices of yesterday’s pizza still in the fridge.
It ties the year together in a way nothing else can: not even a belt comes close! … or even a really strong belt.
I can’t explain it; it just is … like the word “is“.
Things I have learned over the years:
1. These 4 girls have not grown a centimetre since my first Numata Matsuri in 1998.
2. I can always find a place to pee within 50 meters of my current position.
3. I know which float represents my neighbourhood. It’s the one with the “funny wingy hat” thing.
4. I don’t let the “funny wingy hat” thing fool me. This is serious business.
5. Every year, the distance between where I am and where I want to go is populated with more people who want to talk with me … and slow down my progress.
6. One toy will prove most popular and by the 3rd day of the festival every kid will have one. This year it was “The Frog“.
7. Beer has no affect on me at the Numata Matsuri.
8. The “Tengu Drummers” are amazing.
9. I take less photos and drink more beer each year … which has no affect on me.
10. The guy that cuts the ceremonial twine to open up Suga Shrine to the Dashi (floats) and Omikoshi (portable shrine things) is not a high Shinto Priest: he’s as official from the Suga Shrine neighbourhood that does a lot of planning for the Numata Matsuri. This year it was the guy that does the sound boards and mixing at the local auditorium. (I think he calls himself “Shigibom”)
11. If there are 2 nice women who want to talk to me, they will approach me at the same time from different directions … and I’ll always have a big mouthful of food in my mouth … and be standing by my girlfriend.
12. I’ll be standing under the big tree in the Suga Shrine grounds about 10 pm on August 5th next year seeing this … and holding my beer cup in my mouth while I do the tradition final clap with all the other lovers of the Numata Matsuri.
don don don … don don don … don don don … don
don don don … don don don … don don don … don
don don don… don don don … don don don … DON!
Maybe those girls in the great outfits (at the top of the post) do grow up … but they probably never grow out of the Numata Matsuri.
I hope not; that would be a shame.
note: you are all welcome to come next year … but you are buying my beer.
I had 9 days off in a row one after the other consecutively: like a row of dominoes, each day fell quickly and toppled in to the next … and were rectangular, white, and had assorted black dots on them … unless you have those black dominoes with assorted white dots on them … then it was just like that!
My snake wrangling sister and her son came: so I polished off the bells and whistles (they were a bit dusty … and quiet), pulled out all the stops (hidden behind the Christmas ornament in the closet), and gave them the planetross super deluxe grand tour de forcefulness.
It’s kind of nice revisiting places, especially with people who haven’t been there before. It makes me look like I know something!
… and we had a rubber chicken which always comes in handy.
In Nikko, I know that the chance of actually seeing the “sacred white horse” in it’s stable is slim; I know what shrines and temples are included on the one day ticket; I even know where the monkeys are! (usually)
In Matsumoto, I know the castle has a secret floor, all the staircases are in separate locations on each floor, and the staircases rise at angles between 55 and 61 degrees.
I also know that taking pictures of things in glass cases doesn’t usually work too well for me.
I know cicadas are noisy little bastards everywhere! (random fact … consider it a bonus)
In Hiroshima, I know that I took the right exit when I see the “Boo Foo Woo” supermarket sign and the “Gush” sign … that I still have no idea about what they are selling.
Possibly there are other “Boo Foo Woo” supermarkets at the other Hiroshima exits, but so far I’ve been lucky.
I know it’s the #2 tram that takes people to the ferry going to Miyajima; I know the seats on the trams make me bounce up and down in a silly way; I know that I really should start checking when the damn tide will be in!
I know the A-bomb dome is pretty hard to miss at night too!
It’s amazing to think that I feel more comfortable driving in to Hiroshima than cities back at home: Vancouver is still a mystery to me.
I know that something in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum will make me think about the bigger picture and how lucky I’ve been … and that life is fleeting and you better enjoy it while you can because you never know what card will be dealt next.
In Kanazawa, I know that the same staff will be sweeping the same paths at the Kenrokuen Garden.
I know I will stick my head into this thing outside the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art on every visit.
I know I sweat a lot and am possibly getting a bit thin up top! Thanks for mentioning it! (the sweat is real, but the thinning hair could be a trick of light possibly)
I know I will see cool art/statues/posters around the city … that I didn’t see the last time.
I know that if a family member is with me, I’ll probably have to ask random people to do random silly things in front of the camera … and they will say yes.
I know I know I know. I’ve been there before.
note: If you come to Japan keep a bit of bread in your pocket because you’ll probably come across hungry carp in ponds somewhere when you least expect it.
double note: we also saw the Nagaoka fireworks and the Numata Matsuri … but I always go to those things … so I won’t mention them here. I think the “snake wrangler” and “son of snake wrangler“ had a good time: typhoonish weather, a little earthquake, a 5 hour traffic jam, and enough lightning to power a lightning storm rounded out the trip.
Thirty minutes from the small city where I live in Japan is another small city. There isn’t anything really special there: it’s basically a suburb of the next bigger city.
But …it is special in Japan for one reason.
It is Japan’s geographical center: … it is the bellybutton.
So what do you do when you are the bellybutton of a country?
You have a bellybutton festival!
A few hundred people dancing down the streets dressed up with painted stomachs or wearing t-shirts with faces on them; a few thousand people watching them; and a few thousand more trying to buy food and drinks at all the stands and kiosks.
There are no ifs, ands, or butts at this festival; … just innies and outies.
Even if you don’t join innie, you’re not left outie.
double note: I don’t think there is a festival celebrated in the geographical boobs of Japan … and for those of you living there, I stick out my tongue in your general direction.
triple note: I looked around for some lint, but I couldn’t find any.
quadruple note: razzbuffnik at “All The Dumb Things” left a very funny comment on my Boomerang entry. It seems to have taken on a life of its own. Have a look and add your thoughts if you are feeling silly.
If it didn’t affect the food chain or cause some other environmental catastrophe, would you really miss insects?
People are always spraying, trapping, squishing, and zapping insects … if they aren’t screaming, waving arms, and slapping at them.
It’s like they don’t really like them all that much.
My heart flutters a bit thinking about a butterfly free world and my eyes dim a little imagining no fireflies, but I’d get over it and move on probably … smelling of something other than DEET .
Humans are pretty good at wiping out the big things on this planet, but we just don’t pay enough attention to the little things … luckily.
note: there don’t seem to be too many proud insectitarians out there.
double note: In Japan some people eat inago (grasshopper): they are quite tasty actually (seriously).
Cook them in a pot with soy sauce and sugar. It’s a nice side dish to spice up your rice! Yum!
Check them out here … along with a bunch of other stuff some people supposedly eat over here. (not for the weak stomach crowd … you’ve been warned)
note: just a reminder to put the cursor over the pictures for more insight … or less outsight … or something like that.
double note: squid really does taste twice as good on a stick … unless you’re a squid or something.
triple note: I feel lighter now that I have deposited these stray photos somewhere.
… I guess I should read the mamera canual and find out how to phelete dotos.
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