danieru in tokyo: Lounger

Sunday, October 16, 2005

Lounger

Picture of apples for sale at 630Yen = over 3 pounds.

Saturday afternoon: after lounging around the flat accomplishing a grand sum of Zero things done, I jumped onto the Yamanote and headed down to Shinjuku for coffee. Coffee and Jazz. and then productivity began, starting with a great deal of reading, followed by a flirt with writing some Japanese. I am quite useless, having been here for so long, and being so utterly incapable; so every now and then, guilt and humiliation work together to make me learn a handful of words and symbols. A shrinking hippocampus works to allow me to forget with expedition. The cafe was excellent. I will hand over my cash to anyone who can drown me in Art Pepper and play the sound of Hoegaarden flowing into a real Hoegaarden glass. Whilst staying at home results in the internet the chance to sucking my life away, being outside {reading, learning, excercing} - all developing - allow you to end the day with a feeling that somehow, your existence was, perhaps, dare i say it, worthwhile. So, to be repeated. Especially on school nights. Got home, and heard a fantastic quote from Matt: After the first date, gays sleep together. Lesbians move in together. "I like you" versus "You complete me".

Sunday was earthquake day . My first, so rather exciting. I was on the phone at the time (VoIP, of course) which was uninterrupted. The building shook a little, and then the doors began rattling, a few seconds later, it all calms down. A few more vibrations with the aftershocks. Rather exciting, and it was good for me too.

After making several phonecalls on Sunday, including one failing to convince my father to by a Tuscan villa, and another rather more unnerving one I also took some time off to wander around Tokyo trying to get lost. It's quite hard, you will eventually wander out of the residential area and into retail terrority, and find a subway. And then I found myself eating a cream cheese bagel, and thinking about heading home. Sunday evening was spent watching North by Northwest. Cary Grant is The Man.

My agency called me today to complain about the fact that I have blown 16,000 Yen on the phone they 'gave' me to use last month, despite the fact that international calls are barred.

My favourite break right now is James Lavelle's Eye for an Eye. About 2 minutes into the track, the music quietens to silence, favouring instead a sample from a film. A voice of controlled despair informs us "Where you're going you're not coming back from." Then immediately invoke heavy drums and a synthesizer. I know nothing of classical music, but I'm starting to think that breaks are reversed. So, in BreakBeat, you have slow build up, and the rhythm finally starts on break, repeating ad nausea; whereas in the Magic Flute I was listening to this morning, the great crescendo signals the end of the melody. If this is either tosh or rudimentary, I'd love to know. Comments please. I'm sure they are out there, but I am yet to meet an aficionado of Classical music (other than Benj) who doesn't sneer at my lack of knowledge. I remember being laughed at when I asked someone if Classic FM was a good place to start learning. The concept of Frasier Crane is hilarious, until you meet him. The reason why I am so bothered about classical music is that I reckon a good portion of melodies in todays house music derive from them. Again, either tosh or rudimentary.

- posted by Daniel @ Sunday, October 16, 2005

Comments:

Phillip Glass is a good place to start, as is John Adams.

# posted by

Dominic : 7:39 PM

About Me