An Appetizer (A Small Pre-Meal Jumpoff)

Ah, another week another update, dear readers. I apologize for the longer-than-preferable lapse between posts, but 光陰矢のごとし （kouin ya no gotoshi, literally, “time, like an arrow,” but in this context it means that life is short).

My pictures are slowly uploading now, so I’ll hold off on a full-length post until tomorrow, most likely. I’m rather exhausted now anyway, so it’s best I refrain from writing too much lest I go off on several incoherent tangents about lord knows what.

Please accept this as a token of my appreciation and a reward for actually reading my infrequent musings:

Shugo Tokumaru is a singer-songwriter multi-instrumentalist from Japan who is currently blowing up my iPod playlists and blowing my mind. How can I characterize Shugo Tokumaru? He’s a bit like the Japanese Sufjan Stevens minus the pretension. One writer described him as “Sigur Ros meets Hello Kitty.” While I’m not sure how accurate that description is, I am sure that “Parachute” is beyond catchy and will be stuck in my head for several days to come. Please, please, please enjoy this song and stay tuned for a legitimate update post-haste.

DOWNLOAD: Shugo Tokumaru – \”Parachute\”

The Jumpoff – Volume 2

The Cool Kids are one of the hottest hip-hop duos in the nation right now. Coming from Chicago, these two take the rap game in stride, delivering tongue-in-cheek verses about everything from riding bicycles to playing Street Fighter to saying “What’s up?” to some cuties. Drop in some old school bass, rad synth lines, and you’ve got yourself an instant party starter.

“Delivery Man” is an as-of-yet unreleased cut off of Mountain Dew’s Green Label Sound comp. The video is fire and almost seems reminiscent of the Fresh Prince & DJ Jazzy Jeff, except with cooler shoes. Put it in your tape deck, roll down the windows, get nice.

DOWNLOAD: The Cool Kids – Delivery Man

One week later

Slightly over one week deep into my semester in Japan, I am finally starting to settle into my life here. Making friends hasn’t been a problem thus far, but communicating with them had been. Many of us don’t have internet access at our homestays and nearly no one had a keitai (cell phone). Until now, that is! Ladies and gentlemen, behold the pinnacle of cheap Japanese pre-paid phones:

There are a staggering amount of tiny pictographs and emoticons.

It takes a little getting used to, but it’s nice to be able to get in touch with people again. If you want my number, e-mail me, but if you’re not in Japan it’s going to be a rather expensive phone call. I would recommend either Skype (danielmcasey) or e-mailing instead.

Getting to school is much easier than KCJS made it seem. I ride my bike to the station (approx. 7 minutes), then take a train to Sanjo Keihan (approx. 20 minutes), transfer train lines to Muratamachi-eki (approx. 10 minutes), and then have a short walk in the blistering Kyoto sun (approx. 5 minutes). All in all, not too bad! I just need to figure out how to buy a monthly pass so I can save my precious yen for other things like “cultural activities.”

Can't wait to ghostride this piece

It’s a bit early to tell how my classes will be, but I have no complaints thus far. I am taking three classes — a double-length Japanese class Monday through Friday in the mornings, Japanese Pop Culture on Mondays, and Japanese History Through Film on Wednesdays. So, what does that mean? Yes, I have class everyday, but most days I am done by noon and the rest of the day is mine to explore the city. All in all, a pretty sweet deal, if you ask me. Though, some more of my time will be taken up soon once I either find a gym (the one at Kyodai Kaikan is a gym in name only) or join one of the student groups. Any suggestions on what kind of group I should join?

This weekend, I think I’m heading off to Osaka with some friends from my Japanese class so that we can try to catch a Hanshin Tigers game. If I get to see some Japanese yakyuu (baseball) before the season ends, I will be an unspeakably happy camper. More on that to come though.

Dashing swiftly through the wind blowin' from Rokko Like the big sun soaring in the clear blue sky Mighty spirit of the youth shows the victor's grace The name that shines in glory "Hanshin Tigers" Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Hanshin Tigers Hooray, Hooray, Hooray, Hooray! Powerful hits and skillful pitch achieved a thousand times Trained with every discipline here at Koshien Crowned with constant victory glorious, matchless feat Always proud, invincible "Hanshin Tigers" Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Hanshin Tigers Hooray, Hooray, Hooray, Hooray!

( FOR YOU VISUAL LEANERS OUT THERE, MY FLICKR IS UPDATED WITH NEW PICTURES)

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For those of you who need a little more bass in your life, listen to this Hollywood Holt jam that my homegirl Carrie sent me:

Hollywood Holt – Beat In My Trunk

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That’s all for now, folks. I need to go shower before heading back into the city tonight to hang out with some rad ryugakusei

The Jumpoff – Volume 1

The Jumpoff – n. – something good or positive. If you approve of something, it becomes the jump-off.

The Jumpoff is a lot of different things to a lot of people. It’s like the thumbs-up for the twenty-first century. In this recurring segment of my blog, I’ll be bringing you everything from music to videos to Aztec gold and more. Why? Because, clearly, I think these things are the jumpoff and I’d like to share them with you.

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For the first edition of The Jumpoff, I would like to share a piece of music that is not only blowing my mind, but tearing up my playlists. Today’s focus is Mt. Desert Island, an up-and-coming indie rock duo consisting of my good friends Jesse Kohn and Bennett Kuhn. Now, now — I know what you’re thinking: “You’re only posting this cause you’re friends with these guys.” Well, I suggest that you bite your tongue and get on this tip on the double because these guys are hot fire.

The duo creates lyrically beautiful and musically compelling songs. Kuhn’s ethereal beats and Kohn’s often wistful lyrics evoke a sort of otherworldly nineteenth century Paris or a long train ride across vast Russian plains with nothing more than a journal in hand and memories in tow. 

“The Waltz,” is a tale of love lost, in which the pair blaze a trail through the intricate architectures of memory with a driving ghosts-having-a-dance-party electronic backdrop and swelling synth lines. Do yourself a favor and blast this while you’re driving down the highway late at night, windows down. You’ll thank me later.

DOWNLOAD: Mt. Desert Island – The Waltz

For more, check out [Mt. Desert Myspace]