Flying Fingers of Ukulele Death

Shimabukuro-san wa totemo sugoi deshita!!

So tonight was a great experience going downtown to the Florida Theater and seeing Jake Shimabukuro, world-renowned ukulele master! I was first exposed to him by the clip of him on YouTube performing "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" by George Harrison at Strawberry Fields in Central Park, NYC. That clipped actually jumpstarted his career. He must have an extra gene just for ukulele perfection because his performance tonight was bordering on freakishly genius! The sounds he got to come out of his instrument, and at that speed, were purely astounding and beautiful. If he didn't have all that inbetween-song banter, I would have thought he was some kind of idiot savante, like Rainman! Really inspiring - maybe I'll get my ukulele out again and start practicing. But it will be really depressing after what I witnessed tonight. His skill takes the ukulele to cosmic levels, unattainable by mortal man. To sum it up, Shimabukuro:ukulele::Einstein:quantum physics.

Here's what I remember of his set list tonight:

Ave Maria - Franz Schubert
Me and Shirley T. - original (J. Shimabukuro)
Flamenco piece (unsure of the title) - original (duet of J. Shimabukuro and Futureman)
In My Life - The Beatles
Spain - Chic Corea
Sakura Sakura - original (J. Shimabukuro - recreation of the koto (Japanese 13-stringed instrument)
Time After Time - Cyndi Lauper
Dragon - original (J. Shimabukuro - inspired by Bruce Lee and Eddie Van Halen!)
Orange Orange - original (J. Shimabukuro)
While My Guitar Gently Weeps - The Beatles (written by George Harrison)
?????? - one last original song of his that I can't remember the title of...

The opening act, Black Mozart Ensemble featuring Futureman, were incredible too. Futureman is a member of Bela Fleck and the Flecktones (I wasn't aware of that before the show). The Ensemble featured four violinists, one cello, one banjo, one human beatbox (!)/jembe player, one solo Indian singer, and a rapper/breakdancer. Confused yet? It all worked though, and was one of the most diverse, unique performances I've ever seen, in the vein of Beck or Blue Man Group. Very original style! And they performed everything from Classical to Bluegrass to gospel to Indian. Sorry...like a tool, I forgot our camera, so the picture above is from Jake's website. Check out his site. If you like Jack Johnson, mellow Hawaiian music/ukulele, The Beatles, etc., you'll really dig his stuff! Later...

Wasting Our Lives Away On The Internet / Mozzer

Not a lot to talk about today. Now that I'm back in the states, I'm able to catch up on a lot of the South Park I missed over the past 2 and a half years. The one Comedy Central showed tonight was hilarious - "Overlogged". Basically, the "internet" went away and the country was thrown into a state of panic and despair without the capability to waste countless hours looking at mindless crap online. The Marsh family packed up and drove to California in search of internet, a la The Joad family in Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath" - pretty funny comparison. Kyle saved the day by going to the government facility where the "internet" is kept. The "internet" was represented by a gargantuan Linksys modem - which had a flashing yellow light at the "online" indicator which normally is a solid green light. Kyle unplugged the modem and plugged it back in, the internet was back, and the country was saved. It's great to see that Matt Stone and Trey Parker haven't lost their edge or run out of ideas for their show. I guess in this day and age in our country, there's endless material to parody.

Speaking of wasting time on the internet, there was a link I looked at from the Morrissey site to TMZ, which I guess is some kind of fluffy, voyeuristic entertainment magazine which also has a TV show of the same name. They featured a "pop stars of the 80s - where are they now?" kind of section which had a short blurb about Moz. They made it sound as if he's dropped off the face of the planet for the past 20 years. But au contraire, he has been steadily and consistently making albums (some better than others, but all very good) and touring ever since the breakup of The Smiths. Get your heads out of your butts, TMZ! Moz is most definitely more popular now than he ever was, and probably has the most diverse fan base of any rock star out there (see Chuck Klosterman's essay about Morrissey in "Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs"). I'm devastated that I missed his show here in Jax last year - there's no chance in hell that he'll ever pass through this way again! He's on tour everywhere! He's even doing his first show ever in Israel this summer. One other thing on the Morrissey site - check out KT Tunstall's acoustic cover of "Everyday Is Like Sunday" - very nice! All hail King Mozzer!

Izakaya Culture

Hey all - not too much new here (work sucks, blah, blah, blah...), but I did want to mention two books I just bought from Amazon.com - "izakaya-The Japanese Pub Cookbook" and "Super Potato Design" (I'll cover this one in another post later).

As you probably know from looking at my previous blogsite (big in japan), I'm obsessed with izakaya, or Japanese pubs. I found a review of this book on the Tokyo Metropolis website, an English online magazine which covers all aspects of Japanese culture. I've added the link to this blogsite as well. A new edition of Metropolis comes out every Friday, and I used to check it every week when we were still in Japan for concert listings, bar and restaurant reviews, and movie/CD/book reviews. Anywho, this book, "izakaya", just came out by a guy named Mark Robinson, an editor and journalist who has lived in Tokyo since the late 80s. This is the first book I've come across that is solely about Japanese izakaya culture. Robinson reviews eight of his favorite izakaya and includes recipes for signature dishes from each of them that you can recreate at home (hopefully). It's great because it's not just your standard cookbook; the author goes into great lengths about the history of each izakaya, the owners/chefs, decor, atmosphere, etc. The establishments he discusses range from your very basic neighborhood mom-and-pop joint where the older salarymen hang out up to the more fashionable, upscale places frequented by the younger hipsters.

All in all, the word "pub" doesn't do the description of izakaya justice. They are so much more than that. They are the real vital venue of everyday Japanese life, where one can go to after work and unwind with basic Japanese comfort food and a couple drinks; where friends/couples/families can get together in a friendly, cozy setting and enjoy each others company for a quick bite to eat or an entire evening of drunken debauchery. For izakaya newcomers, the best comparison would be Spanish tapas restaurants, where people can gather for any length of time (unlike here in the U.S. where everything is "eat it and beat it" - e.g. Chili's, TGIFs, Applebees, etc. - you get the idea). As a big fan of izakaya, I'll really treasure this book, but I think it's also a good introduction for someone who is interested in Japanese cuisine beyond sushi and the standard Japanese steakhouses (which really don't exist in Japan - Gasp!! They're an American creation!). I think the American preconception of Japanese cuisine is only of meticulously plated sushi which looks more like modern art than food - which is probably why most people feel that Japanese food can't possibly be delicious or affordable. To the contrary, izakaya food is rather inexpensive (dishes which feed 2-4 people typically run ¥300-¥600 - my biggest izakaya bills usually included several rounds of drinks!) and features very basic, nutritious ingredients, focusing mainly on seafood and vegetables. I now have my arsenal. The next time somebody asks me to describe standard Japanese cooking I'll just hand them this book!

Active Day

Yesterday was a fun, action-packed day. Akemi had an all-day power yoga workshop so I took advantage of the beautiful weather by first going on a 7 mile run. Following, I loaded up the surfing gear and drove over to Hannah Park to catch a few waves. This has been my first outing surfing in the area since I've moved back home, and it was also my first time to use the surf racks I had installed on the MINI. They worked out well, but the "lift" created by my longboard strapped down like an airplane wing on that little car is almost a little scary. The Wonderwood Bridge nearby is incredible, cutting my drive to the beach down to about 5 minutes (a drive that typically used to take at least 25 minutes). Water temperature now necessitates only a spring suit, but I was freezing my butt off after about 45 minutes out in the water because of the severe wind. And I guess I paid for it last night because I had some water trapped in my sinuses and my ears and I awoke around 12:30 at night with a raging earache in my right ear - a first since I was about 12 years old. Today I'm ok, so I hope that was the worst of it. Guess I'll have to stay out of the water for at least a week or two. Following my surf session, I met Akemi at home and we headed to Caribee Key, a great seafood restaurant at Atlantic Beach with an upstairs patio bar which is always buzzing with people. They make the best Mojitos around, and also have Blue Moon Belgian Wheat on tap to boot.


One other thing - check out this great album on iTunes called 'Both Before I'm Gone' by chick punk band Girl In A Coma. Yes, the name comes from that old Smiths song "Girlfriend In A Coma". With influences from The Smiths, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Pixies, vocalist Nina Diaz sounds like a female Morrissey, who happens to be a big fan of theirs and had them open for him for half of his last tour. If you listen closely you'll also hear a little Beth Orton, Chrissie Hynde, Kim Deal, and PJ Harvey in her vocal stylings. The band is currently on tour around the country doing small live houses. They're bound to get bigger so download the album now while it's only $6!

Last Trip, Japan - Second Day In Kanazawa Pt. 2

Thanks for the replies on my last post. If you guessed that this is my high school yearbook photo, you were correct!! Congratulations! I don't know about your school, but back in my day shiny one-piece nylon jumpsuits were all the rage!

Just kidding of course! The man pictured in the photo is Canadian magician, illusionist, and escape artist Doug Henning. A perennial flamboyant figure on 1970s prime-time television, who was also involved with transcendental meditation (with claims to have the ability to levitate!). He unfortunately passed away in 2000 from liver disease. The world is lost without the likes of him and painter Bob "Fluffy Little Trees" Ross. May God rest their gentle souls.

For everyone that guessed correctly, you'll receive one free mustache ride!

Back to Kanazawa. On our second day, following the historic ninja temple, we jumped into the present/future with a visit to the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, where we also enjoyed a buffet lunch with Akemi's parents. The museum is unique in that the building is a perfect circle. Some of the pieces featured were very bizarre, requiring an open mind to digest. I really enjoyed it, especially the swimming pool, which is one of the permanent exhibits featuring what appears to be a conventional swimming pool from above ground, but which can also be entered internally via access through the museum. The water visible from the surface is only about 2-3" deep covering a sheet of glass. Visitors can see each other from below (or "inside" the pool) and above. Here's a few pics. Sorry - no pics from within the museum as cameras were verboten!

Does Anyone Remember This Guy?

Or was it all some weird childhood hallucination of mine when I was 7 years old? If you can remember his name, you'll win a prize! His persona seems like good fodder for a Will Ferrell or Mike Meyers-style biopic. By the way, has anyone heard about "The Love Guru" coming out this summer? Can't wait to see it, but I heard it's already getting a lot of backlash by the Indian community. Can't we all just get along!

Last Trip, Japan - Second Day In Kanazawa

Here's a continuation of the Kanazawa trip. On our second day in the town, my in-laws thought I might be interested in seeing a "ninja" house, so we went to Myoryuji, or Ninja Dera (ninja temple). This temple appears to have only two stories from the outside, as mandated by the local edict at the time it was built, but inside it is full of secret passageways, chambers, and staircases, and escape routes, and actually divided into 7 floors internally. Legend has it that it was intended to be a refuge for local samurai rulers in case of outside threats. It wasn't exactly a "ninja" dojo, per se, but local merchants have created that image somewhat to help sell ninja trinkets and souvenirs at nearby shops. The architecture was very clever and even featured traps for unsuspecting invaders, such as removable floor boards and shoji staircases through which arrows could be shot. The temple tour is by reservation and only given in Japanese, but most of it is self-explanatory. And at the time we went, early-December, it was actually colder in the temple than it was outside, so the brevity of the tour was appreciated! All in all, very interesting and a neat way to experience some Kanazawa history. No cameras were allowed inside, so all of these pics were taken around the outside. That five-pronged symbol you see in a couple of the photos was the family crest of the ruling shogunate and represents a sakura, or cherry blossom.