Getting Schellaced: Farewell James(2)

The Festivities

James decided to have his farewell party at Amataro in Shibuya because the rain sucks. I got there late but quickly caught up with the crowd; mostly James' Australian friends and their friends/girlfriends. We were pretty schellaced by the time we headed out for the 300 Coins bar. Paul even decided to come out after being coaxed by his girl since he had to cancel his BBQ due to the inclement weather. I would guess there were about 15 of us crowded into that shitty little place; I hate the staff there, they are royal dicks. Around midnight we got booted from there, but James still wanted to party, so he convinced everybody to go back to Amataro for nomihodai until 5am. I decided enough was enough and had to run for the last train. I am not sure what happened to them, but I was feeling the effects all day today. It was a memorable farewell for a good friend....... with flavor for funky dues.

The Wedding after after after after after party

Saturday night was the final party for Hiro and Yuriko's wedding that was held in mid-August. It was a pretty quiet night with the neighborhood crew over a few drinks. Their marriage is working rather nicely for them and their first child is due soon. I want them to name it either James if it's a boy or Gertrude McGillicutty if it's a girl.

Quality James Time

J-Squared

On Wednesday after I got back from the Imperial Palace my old boy, Oz James, came over to my neighborhood, Futako Shinchi, for "a" drink at the infamous watering hole, Potluck. I brought 2 'warm-up' beers for us to the station, but that soon turned into 2 each. After a few more beers at the bar, the situation snow-balled out of control with shots and finally 2 more drinks that were shot-gunned at my place. I got too drunk and work was hard the next morning, but it was well worth it because it will probably be the last time James and I will be having drinks before he departs (excluding his official farewell picnic coming up). He is yet another friend who is leaving Japan for a new place: Costa Rica. Good Luck, Oz J!

PS. "Don't eat the dotted meat."

The Evolution

The Imperial Palace

Yuko

Me

Wednesday afternoon Yuko and I visited The Kōkyo, Imperial Palace, in Chiyoda-ku for what was probably our last outing together. She has become a great friend and activity partner, but sadly, she will be leaving for home, Kyūshū, next week and then to Australia for a year. It turns out you can't even see the palace, or any or the buildings, but we hung around in the palace gardens and had a light lunch. It was nice to go there once, especially with a good friend, but I never need to go back; the high point was seeing a turtle....

Farewell Fair Adelle

Sunday night was a small welcome party for two new teachers in the office, Jaime and Laurie. We got tanked at Dubliners in Shibuya with most of the teachers and one of the staff even showed. The next day after work I headed to Meidaimae for Adelle's farewell party. She is a cool Chicago chick who decided she had had enough of Japan. It sucks she is going, but I got to see some old faces like Kana, Rieko, Amber, Andrew, Sean, Yu, etc.... It was a fun night.

The last Birthday Blast cast

The final installment of the 'QC Birthday Bash' was held Friday evening in Kabuki-cho and was hosted two old friends from Orlando, Florida: Teppei 'Peppe' Yamauchi and So 'The General' Yanagawa. The General and I met up at Hachiko in Shibuya then headed for Kabuki-cho in Shinjuku to met Peppe and his wife, Yumi. The place he reserved for us was a classy little restaurant in a not so classy neighborhood; it was the perfect mix. We wined and dined (but with sake and umeshu, not wine) courtesy of the Yamauchi Family. Just when I thought we were wrapping up the manager presents me with an extremely high end bottle of sake, which Peppe and the General estimated at ¥30,000, then I was awarded with birthday gifts and a sweet cake. What have I done to deserve all of this kindness recently??? Who knows, but I came away with a delicious meal of Shabu Shabu, expensive sake, a cake, a Burberry tie, an IPod Shuffle, funky chopsticks, a round of karaoke, whiskey, and a my taxi fare home. Once again, I have to say it: "My friends are the best in the World!"

Getting the band back together: 'Peppe', 'Jimmy Bones', & 'The General'

The Uncertain Future

Mt. Fuji: Late Summer Sunset

It was a lame weekend; nothing happened and I didn't do anything. Right now the company that I am working for is about to collapse by most accounts and I have been on the internet looking for other jobs and rapping with friends about what their plans are. The conclusion that I keep coming back to is that my time in Japan is probably nearly finished. Thinking about leaving makes me feel empty inside, I have come to love this place and I will truly miss it. But, it also just so happens that I got an email from an old friend, Laís, in Brazil about a job opening in Salvador, Bahia. That would be neat if I could work that out, but I don't want to get too excited about it yet. Anyway, I have had a lot on plate for the last week in terms of big decisions, so I haven't been doing much else besides thinking. It sucks.

A passing glimpse at a fading memory

"A passing glimpse at a fading memory."

-JG

A Stroke of Color

“A Stroke of Color”

As I departed that night, a soothing sensation crept through my being as if all the nostalgia left my memory and I was left alone in life, with a clean slate. After passing along a winding trail I happened upon a young lady, no doubt an angel in this forbidding realm, who instilled in me a wisdom with no preconditions. Her eyes followed mine into the Darkness and we meet again on the Other side. I gently woke for my familiar routine with little hesitation, her face growing dim in the morning light. We had met, and lingered, while destiny passed us by.

-JG
-model: Miho I.

She Walks Away

"She Walks Away"

Illustration: Miho I.

Caption: James G.

Burnt Ash is out & Kanadian Kayo is back

¥5000 Between Friends: Dr. 352 & Ash Lee

With Ashley's time drawing to a close he decided to have one last 'hurrah' river party on Sunday night before he's off backing packing through Asia. So, I was really looking forward to this get-together, and then, out of the blue, I got an email from little Kayo, an old co-worker who has been in Canada for about the last 6 months, saying that she was back in Tokyo and wanted to come to the party. So she met me in front of my place and we headed to river where we found Ash and his girl, Haru, set up. The festivities brewed with a surprise visit by a team of paramedics attending to some drunken asshole and quickly fermented into nice evening with old friends. Most of the old crew showed up and some new faces did, too. Ashley is one of my closest roll dogs and was one of the key contributors to my "Big In '08" campaign. He will be missed for his undying optimism and 'gung-ho'ness for partying. But, on a lighter note, it is good to have Kayo back.

Kanadian Kayo & Jiimii

The Ice Cream Lady: Rie 31

Jimmy Bones & Rie

After the General’s BBQ I was pretty wiped out, but I had to muster up the energy for one last outing that evening, Rie’s 32nd birthday party. Hit up a cold shower, scooped a bottle of Zeller Schwarze Katz, and headed to Potluck. It was a struggle to stay awake, so with my present delivered and my glass of champagne downed I headed home and ended up passing out on the wooden floors of my apartment. What a fitting end to a superb day.

Ten-Hut: The General's Frat BBQ

I've known this cat for quite a few years: The General and The Bear

The General has recently founded a fraternity at his university, Tamagawagakuen, and Friday was the kick-off, kick-ass BBQ. Things started rather smoothly with the General over-sleeping after a drinking binge. He was supposed to rock up to my pad at 11am so we could scout a good location, but I got a call 11:45 that he had just woken up and that I needed to set the BBQ up with a few of his underlings. We got out to the river, Tamagawa, and were pleasantly surprised by the amount of dry, unclaimed BBQ real estate to park ourselves on. Immediately upon arrival bent over to pick up the 2 grills I was lugging and split my shorts from the top of the back seam down and up through the crotch. It was an omen for awesome day to be had.

The shorts went to Splitsville

With 3 confused 18 year olds running underneath my feet I assumed command and supervised the set up without a hitch and then the General showed up with the rest of his troops. The BBQ went on through the day and was a complete success. Paul even showed up about 5 hours late, but with a 24-pack to keep the good times rolling. I am already looking forward to the next Frat BBQ to which I have been invited for free.

Friday, September 14th, 2007

The Miracle Mile

Sunsets over Fuji and north Kanto

This week I have been diligently working on completing my blog and filling in the missing time spaces, so now it's pretty much a complete summary of my adult life (with some glossed over stories from the early years).

Note the watermark in the top two photos, it is about 6ft off the ground, which is about 10ft. above the current water level and 14ft. above normal. The water in the river has gone down about 15ft. and is STILL high!

Brazilian Festa in Yoyogi Park

After the cool sunset I hopped back on the Den En Toshi for Shibuya station where I met Paul and his friend, Canadian Dan, then we proceeded to Yoyogi Park for another one of the international festivals that are held at the NHK Hall entrance of the park. This time the country was Brazil. We ran into Oz James, Kumiko, Swiss Dave, Cam, and Sophi on the way there and they informed us the fest was closing up and the powers that be were running folks off, but we decided to try our luck anyway. We promptly parted ways, except for James who was showing off his purple finger and trying to hold my hand while telling me about how drunk he was (sorry bro, but gawddamit I'm going to miss you when you leave). So, Paul, Dan, and I were off again on our way. We ran into a few more of Paul's friends before running into the person who we were actually supposed to be meeting, Brian, an old friend whom I hadn't seen since February. Then we hooked up with a few of Brian's friends, Sabrina, Diana, and Rob, and had ourselves a small gathering. It was fun, but those kinds of things are usually done while drinking, which everybody besides me was doing. Anyway, it was cool chilling around the stragglers from festa and Paul even got the crew a few rounds of free beers. The Champ!

Sunset over Futako/GOOSH GOOSH

There was pretty nice sunset today from the top floor of my building, but I pretty much missed it by the time I changed and hurried up there. It was still nice. Getting over the hump-day of the week this afternoon (Sunday) was a Godsend. It has been really nice not drinking so far since my birthday, but it gets a little bit boring and lonely sitting at home almost every night. Anyway, I am saving money.

GOOSH GOOSH: The Most Boring Dude in the Universe
At the office, my coworkers and I have branded this lifeless lump on a log 'The Most Boring Dude in the Universe,' and, boy, he deserves the name 100%. I will give you an example of his complete social/storytelling/academic/linguistic/etc.... ineptitude. There were 3 students and I in the class and I had set the seemingly fun & easy task of telling an interesting anecdote about something that had happened to each of them recently. Two of them told fairly boring, yet comprehensible, anecdotes about their lame lives, which, sad to say, is all to common for the average Tokyoite. They completed the task, albeit minimally, and had succeeded in sparking some interest through a cohesive story. Then 'TMBDITU' started. First, he asked if "using my imagine" was ok, which I had to refuse because, of course, it was supposed to be an anecdote. So he thinks for a minute and begins: "I was very relaxing in my futon last night when sudden there is 'GOOSH, GOOSH' above my head. I was scary. Tear drop down my cheek. 1, 2, 3, 4. I move to next room. Drill above my head is 'IIIIIEEEE, IIIIIIEEEEE." At that point he stopped, at what was apparently the end of his completely pointless story, to look around the class like he was expecting applause or, at least, approval. All he found were empty faces and blank stares. Everybody was confused by his failed attempt at recreating, according to him, a mildly scary story and we decided to move on with the lesson without any further explanation. I found out later that the 'GOOSH, GOOSH' sound was his upstairs neighbor stomping around. Who cries from that? And what exactly does 'very relaxing in my futon' mean? Well, he is very boring and probably doesn't have any lovers besides Rosie Palm and her 5 sisters. Use your 'imagine.'

The Next Day

The following morning after the typhoon passed the water level had fallen significantly and people were out fishing in and BBQing next the the muddy waters of the Tama River. By my estimate the water had gone down about 3ft. (1m) since yesterday morning. There was still quite a bit of trash around, but it was much cleaner than usual since the flood took most of the garbage downstream. What a beautiful day.

The Aftermath

This is what I woke up to this morning. The Tamagawa River had completely flooded, overflowing it's banks and covering all our party spots and the baseball fields. I would say it was up at least 7 feet at the highest point. The rain has cleared away, but it is still windy as hell. There was lots of rain, but all in all, it wasn't such a crazy storm; nothing compared to a Florida Hurricane.

After & Before

Music and the Wind

the first band, Jelly (before I was reprimanded for snapping photos)

Tonight my good little friend Kotone invited Paul and I out to see her sister's band, Fuzzy Control, at Shibuya O-West (check out '6-Thu' for the show line up) in Shibuya's 'Love Hotel' district. It had been shitty weather all day, but it seemed to kick up a notch when we arrived in Shibuya. I think the typhoon knew Paul had on new Nike sneaks; I had worn old ones because I know typhoons can be crafty. Paul and I got in for free and got free drinks because we were with Kotone, but all I drank was water due to the antibiotics I am on for this sinus infection. After Kotone's sister, Satoko, played we headed backstage with Kotone's husband and friends to meet the responsible parties. It was killer. We met a bunch of semi-famous musicians, actors/models (half-breeds from Zoolander), some wealthy dude who may or may not have been an executive for Marshall Amps, and, last but not least, the owner of the club. Really fun night, but it sucks because today ends the week-long McDonald's ¥200 Big Mac campaign. boo woo. The typhoon is kicking again; time to hunker down.

Let It Rain

Chiho & I

Tokyo started feeling the effects of Typhoon Fito Wednesday morning and it should hit tonight, Thursday, and then be on it's way and clear again by Friday morning. I have been out M.I.A. with a sinus infection and generally feeling weak due to the heavy month of partying capped off with Sunday night's 'Birthday Bender.' However, I had to make it out of my studio sanctuary and brave the intermittent rain for a farewell dinner Wednesday night. Chiho, Oz James' ex-girl, will be leaving for England shortly and Kumiko organized a small and tasteful dinner party for her at La Boheme Qualita, which is a surprisingly classy joint for Shibuya. While I was waiting for Kumiko & Swiss Dave at Hachiko Square I saw some bizarre performance by what looked to be hippie Christian missionaries reenacting some sort of God vs. Satan battle with a ghetto blaster and acoustic guitar. There were about 20 of them. Needless to say it was weird. We met Oz James at the restaurant, then Chiho, Asuka, Eri, Bless, and Hana arrived. It was a very relaxing dinner with light conversation and I didn't drink due to the sinus infection. It was nice seeing Eri, Asuka, and Bless again; I hadn't seen them for a quite awhile. But most importantly, and the reason for going, it was good to see Chiho one last time. I guess I don't really even know her that well because we probably only hung out 5 or 6 times, but she is the type of person you can tell has a warm heart & pure character. That is pretty hard to find in Tokyo. I will most likely never see her again, but it was cool knowing her, even if it was briefly.

Let it rain

The Big 2-5 Birthday Bash: IBEX

The Birthday Boys: Jimmy & Jiro

Sunday night was the final party in the trilogy of "James's 25th Birthday." My friend, Jiro, called me up a few weeks ago and asked if I wanted to co-host this party with him for his birthday and two other friend's going aways, Andrew and Kareem. Of course I said, "Yes." Jiro's friend is the manager of the place and hooks him up whenever he sets up a party there; it's a pretty sweet deal. So I headed off about 7pm and met Shari, a UCF university friend who I never actually met until I lived in Japan, and Kotone on the train bound for Roppongi. We met Chiharu, Mayu, Kiho, and Rohan before heading to IBEX. An intersting thing happened while we were waiting, too. A group of Chilean Navy sailors approached me looking for a place to party, so I invited them to come party with us. I never would have thought I would be partying with Chilean sailors for my 25th birthday party. Anyway, we got there and it was kinda dead, but filled up very nicley rather quickly. All my other friends showed up at different times during the night. The QC Party was an amazing time. Big Shouts to all those who came; Paul, Matt, Rohan, Ashley, Chiharu, Mayu, Oz James, Kumiko, Dave S., Cam, Sophie, Manu, Derek, The Chileans, etc..........