Take the Good with the Bad/ 'When I was 23 I bought a squirrel in Ibaraki!'

It was a strange week this week with some crazy times but also, sadly to say, bad news.

Friday night was a major night. I had a concert in Youga to attend directly after work. ‘Carl’ Louis De’Andrade, one of my co-workers and good friends in Tokyo, hosts a open mic jazz night every few months at his friend’s bar in Youga. Louis is a really cool dude and has had a pretty fucking cool life, too. Anyway, I arrived late around 10 and promptly started getting my fill of the brew because it was all-you-can-drink and I only had 2 hours left by then. I had gotten word that my ex-‘living partner’ was going to be in attendance, so I had Ash, Sam, Rohan, and Betty working defense in case she tried anything psycho, but she didn’t and the concert went off without a hitch. Another old friend from work, Junko, came and Trenton came as well. It was a really cool open mic with various jazz and acoustic performances capped off with my personal favorite of the night: “I Want You Back” by the Jackson 5. By the time ‘nomi hodai’ finished we were already ‘schilaquered’ but Louis needed help carrying his and his daughter’s instruments back to his office/studio. Well after that he invited Ash and I back to his crib, which is sweet, to crack open a primo bottle of 18-year of Tequila and that’s when things started to get hairy. We 3 were tipping back shots of the best whilst Carl’s kid was mixing up cocktails for us and his wife was getting irritated because ‘she doesn’t like it when Carl drinks.’ Ash and I ended up leaving around dawn and getting a little lost in Youga before taking a taxi back to my neighborhood. Once there Ash almost got hit by a car while sitting in the road trying to take a picture then caused a scene at the convenience store under my apartment and topped it off by trying to fight me. What a night. I found a sandwich on my floor the next morning. It was delicious.

Evolution of a bruise, courtesy of 'Bruce' 'Ash' 'Lee' (get it?)

Sunday I went drinking with Eri and her friends, Sho and Emo. They were a couple of really cool fashion designers. And Monday I went out again with Eri and Oz James. It was really cool chilling with them again. I hadn’t seen either one of them for a month. Nothing really crazy though, just drinking, talking politics and catching up. Tuesday I went for a few drinks with my old French roommate, Manu. He is a cool cat who unfortunately got bent over by our company and was forced to leave Japan for a bit. Fortunately he is back but is also struggling to make ends meet at his part time job waiting tables in a French restaurant. All in all it was a relaxing few nights.

There is absolutely nothing like being back on a university campus with tons of hot young honey babies grilling you with everything they have. On Wednesday I headed out to Machida where The General is attending school at Tamagawagakauen (Tamagawa University). It was amazing; these uni chicks were literally tripping over their feet when they caught a glimpse of me. What great feeling. Then The General and I took in some more sugar faces while having dinner and beers before I took off back for Shibuya to meet Toshi. Toshi and I knocked a few cold ones back at my Shibuya favorite, The Funky Chicken. I was pretty wasted, but it was still an early night. And that brings us to tonight; another fairly relaxed evening: dinner and drinks with my good friend, Kumiko.

Back in Uni with The General

Back at it: Big In '08.5

These last few weeks really remind me of mid January coinciding with the kick off of my "Big In ‘08" campaign. I have been throwing fliff like Frank from The Professor Brothers. It is awesome partying every night but I am sure my wallet will be hurting in a few weeks. Whatever.

My work-week started early on Thursday to cover my last help shift from when I went back to Florida last month and I am sure glad that is over with because I am tired of working 6-day weeks. Anyway, I was working in Gotanda and it just so happens that the night before, news broke of a high court ruling against the company I am working for (big surprise). That day there were a heap of weirdo idiots calling up trying to get refund, one dude even threatened to burn the building down. I can understand why these people are so angry but they are really taking it out on the wrong people. Sure staff has their share of everyday fuck-ups, but the complete and utter ineptitude of the upper, middle, and lower level management in my company is 100% to blame. That was a tangent.

I had to work in Shinagawa Seaside the next day, which is kind of weird place, but after that I headed to Azabu-Juban for my buddy Toshi’s concert. It took me a really long time to find the place, but after I got lost 3 times another friend, Johnny, met me and took me there. It was really ‘Yuppie’ style loungy-bar called ‘The Baron’ and I was really curious why there would be a punky type band playing there. But after went down stairs the atmosphere totally changed and so did the drink prices, they went from ¥500 to ¥900 in a matter of 20 stairs. Hurtful, but it didn’t stop me from getting shitty and I missed my last train home then caught the train to Nakameguro with Toshi, his brother, Taka, and Taka’s girlfriend. Toshi and I drank for a while and then I decided to go for broke and take a taxi back to Futako Shinchi. Ouch…

I was still pretty good and drunk most of the day Saturday, but I was in my home environment of Shibuya and work went by quickly. I met up with Toshi again after work and we went for pre-drinks at the ‘Standing O Lounge’ in Shibuya, which is a really cool place that one of my friends, Kimura, is bartending at. After that we headed to the ‘Ruby Room’ because Johnny was going to be DJing there, but we actually bumped into him and a few of his buddies on the way. Kumiko was in the area, so I put her on the guest list (apparently Toshi is the unofficial booking dude and can get folks in for free, which is fucking awesome), but she got lost on the way. After I left to catch the last train home some hooker asked me if I wanted a BJ on Dogenzaka, then I caught up with Kumiko and we took the last train together. It was cool seeing her because I hadn’t seen her since she left for India last month. So that night turned out to be kind of chilled out which my body needed to be prepared for work early the next morning.

After work Sunday afternoon I bolted home, showered and headed for Yooga for Amelia and Jane’s house warming party. They are couple of really cool chicks from New Zealand and Australia, respectively, and they have a sweet crib about 2 minutes walk from Yooga station. Some of my Mizonokuchi friends turned up including two of my best buds, Paul and Matt. Julian was also there and it was cool seeing him again. It was pretty much a typical house party, but we got to hear a crazy story from the dude named Bob who I used to take Japanese class with. He recounted how he has been feeling fatigued, losing weight, and having bizarre nose bleeds over the last few years after swimming in some questionable rivers around the world on his travels. The doctors could never figure out what was happening so he just went on about his life until that morning he sneezed and out came worm. Everybody, of course, cringed at that point and the story more or less turned into a Q & A press conference and then evolved into an advice committee. So after a few hours of house partying I had to make my way to Roppongi for Trenton’s birthday party which I was already 2 hours late for. I had accidentally made commitments for 3 events that night before I realized that they were…… all on the same night. Paul fortunately, or unfortunately, cancelled his BBQ so that left me with only the house warming and Trenton’s thing, which was manageable. So I was on the train and coincidentally ran into Alister, the singer from Sunset Drive (Toshi’s band), and had a chat with him. I met up with Sam, one of my coworker’s at Roppongi crossing and then Ashley met us for to take us to the place. It was cool, but I got more drunk than I had planned for and consequently missed my last train again so Ash and I decided to stay and go for karaoke with a few of the crew then get a taxi home after that. Well, here’s where it gets interesting; a mystery woman takes the cab home with us, pays the bill, goes out for drinks with us in my neighborhood at 3am, then disappears step by step into the dawn dusk. Who are you……..?

Amelia, Steve, and I

me and Trenton

Monday I was surprisingly sober after the events of Sunday night, but work was still shitty. After work Kumiko came over and we were supposed to check out this new café in my neighborhood, Fil.Albero, but it is closed every Monday, so we just went to Potluck for drinks and then to my pad to polish off a 6-pack that Ash and I had bought the night (4:30am) before and not even touched. It is really cool having Kumiko back. Her and Ashley are probably my two best friends in Tokyo at the moment.

Tuesday was pretty chilled out. Ash came round the ever so popular Potluck for a few drinks then peaced-out and I visited the Sandman in Dreamland early from the week long beer fest. Wednesday Kumiko came over in the afternoon to finally go to that café which turned out to have a pretty cool view, but failed to really impress me, so we got beers and took off to the river where we met my friend Sato, his wife and there two dogs. I really love my neighborhood because most days, no matter what I am doing, I can randomly bump into my friends. Anyway, after that we went back to my place and Kumiko helped me sort out some tax shit that has been giving me a headache, then we ate and she went home. She has truly become a genuine friend.

Today I went on a stroll through the neighborhood and down to the river a snapped some photos with my trusty side-kick, the Canon IXY 900IS. Here are a few:





So that is last week in a nutshell and it is 8pm on Thursday night. Who knows what tonight might have in store…………..

Lephty Lucy & Wrighty Tidy

It has been an eventful week. The river drinking has become an almost ever Sunday affair and is frequently filled with fireworks. It is clutch as summer starts rolling in from now.

Last Wednesday Paul, my Bronx friend, and I took a trip to the Electronic Town of Akihabara. It was my first time and it was really interesting seeing so many geeks together in such close proximity, but the novelty wore off after about an hour and we headed back to Shibuya to meet one of his lady friends and then to Futako for river beers. It was a relaxing day off.

Friday Helene, one of my French friends who I used to work with, came over after work to shoot some pictures of me for her upcoming photo exhibition. The whole thing is going to be about the lives of Tokyoites coming home after work and their feelings. I am really excited she chose me as one of her models. Well, after we were finished with that, one of her friends Nils, also French, came through and we went for drinks in my neighborhood spot, Potluck. After a few drinks they convinced me that going out all night to ‘La Fabrique’ was a really good idea, so we caught the last train of the Den En Toshi line bound for Shibuya. It was blast, they were right. Helene’s boyfriend got us all in for a discounted price and we raged until around 5am.

I was still drunk almost all day on Saturday from the previous night’ s escapades, but I got an invite from my buddy Toshi to see his band, Sunset Drive, so I headed to the Ruby Room after work and proceeded to nibble on a late strand of doggy hair. I saw some old faces and met some new ones. It was another cool night.

Sunday I almost passed out after work, but I held on and went out with my two good Futako friends, Kiyo and Baba. We drank at Potluck and then at Kiyo’s place for awhile before we went for sushi at another local spot that I had no idea existed (like so many others in my neighborhood). It turns out that another friend from Potluck is the sushi master/owner of the place and he hooked us up rather nicely. We were getting pretty drunk and they kept tricking me into eating the most spicy shit like wasabi rolls and the whole root of ginger, when in walks in a very important looking older dude. He looked really important because he was old and the woman who followed was about half his age and had a stacked rack. Kiyo elbows me and says, ‘He is famous man.’ He was actually the drummer of an old greaser rock band called ‘Yokohama Gimbai’ and when I mentioned that I was drinking with him the next day to some of my students they were quite impressed. Anyway, his wife gave me some sake and they seemed generally interested in my presence. It was cool. We went back to Potluck for more drinks and were fucking drunk after that. Bed time.

I was once again shitty for work on Monday, but for some reason I had an incredibly fun day. Who would have thought? After work I jetted to Yoyogi park to meet some coworkers, Ash, Rohan, Betty, and Dan, for the tail end of their picnic. We drank and played Black Jack and 31 for a few hours then changed spots and played a game Circle of Death. 31 and Circle of Death are my two favorite card games ever. After a bit, Dan peaced out, then Ash took off with his lady, leaving Rohan, Betty, and I to ponder the meaning of life. We soon were on foot back to Shibuya for sushi. After sushi, Betty headed her way on the Yamanote line and Rohan and I caught the Den En Toshi. I was about to flop from so many days of drinking, but I convinced Rohan to come for a beer at Potluck. We ended up chillin in Potluck for two hours playing 31 again. I won 500 yen off Rohan and we called it a night. Chalked up one more solid day.

Tuesday night Ashley and I hit a familiar watering hole in Shibuya, Jinpachi. The place is famous for its cheap ‘nami hodai,’ or all you can drink, which is only 1300 yen for 2 hours. I thought it would be dead because it was a Tuesday night, but as we entered our ears were filled with the cries of screaming idiots. It was cool at first, because it seemed like such a lax, party atmosphere, but we were quickly annoyed by some random salary men trying to talk with us. Whatever. We shooed them away and got our fill of beer. There were no women to look at in there that night, so we proceeded to have pretty deep discussion about our current situations in life and what we intend to do to make them better. Thanks Ash, I needed that talk.

Now I am looking forward to next week. I have 4 party invites and I am counting on next week being better than this last one. Hit ‘em up, gun ‘em down.