Haniwa (1)

Some of the haniwa at Heiwadai Park here in Miyazaki. Click to enlarge.

Kyklops' Stones Playlist (1)

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Weekly Photo Challenge: "Friday, March 30, 2008"

Avian Loo: The Birthing

In the past few weeks I've posted a couple of times about a pigeon who's made a nest in the toilet here at work, and the egg that she's laid. Well, nature has taken its course:



Sorry about the rather poor angle of the picture, but it was the best I could do without actually picking the little bird up and moving it. (I've often heard that it's a bad idea to touch baby birds--the mother may abandon them, etc. I don't know if these stories are true or not, but I didn't feel like risking it just for the sake of a cute picture.)

UPDATE: I took a peek just a few minutes ago and managed to get this somewhat better shot of baby and mom together:

Beach

Click to enlarge.

A Mill and a Garage

Basically just farting around with some crappy cell phone pics I took today. Click to enlarge (if you feel like it).

First Gig

Miyazaki's newest rock sensations [!], The Dead Flowers, had their first official gig this past Sunday evening at The Bar. As the opening act we took to the stage somewhat early, so there weren't yet quite as many people as we would have liked. There were enough to rock, though, and their apparent enjoyment of what we were doing was all we needed for inspiration. Like all new bands, a couple of the intros and endings were a bit tentative, but all in all we were quite pleased with the job we did. We played with spirit and had no "breakdowns" at all (which, frankly, is more than I can say for the "headliners"). [What, me snarky? Never! After all, rock n' roll is a vicious game!]

Personally, it feels a bit weird to get back into this game after so many years away from it. It depends on how serious it gets, of course, but I can foresee possible conflicts with family obligations, etc. But hey, in the meantime there's nothing wrong with having some fun, making some music, and being chatted up by nice-looking women! [Huh? What? OUCH! No, no, dear, I was talking about the bass player. He's single, you know...]

Wood, Wires

In black and white. Click to enlarge.

Steps

Click to enlarge.

Tidal Forces

Click to enlarge.

Vending Machines, No. 33

Click to enlarge.

The Dead Flowers

I've made a few references in the last few weeks to the fact that I play drums on Sunday nights. Well, things have been formalized a bit and I'm now a proud member of the rock 'n' roll outfit The Dead Flowers. We do our first official gig this Sunday opening for a bunch of Japanese rock/reggae/etc. bands. This gig will, of course, be happening at The Bar (I've posted before). At this point we're still exclusively a cover band, but we're confident that will change fairly soon. Probable song list for our set:

The Beatles-Come Together
Smithereens-Behind a Wall of Sleep
Rolling Stones-Beast of Burden
Georgia Satellites-Keep Your Hands to Yourself
Neil Young-Helpless
Rolling Stones-Just My Imagination (of course via The Temps)
Jimi-Hey Joe
Neil Young-Rockin' in the Free World

If you're in Miyazaki (or if you're filthy stinking rich and have your own private jet), then The Bar is the place to be this Sunday.

Old Fart's Friday Night Playlist (2)

[Dude, you're talking to yourself again...]

1. White Zombie - More Human than Human (4:18)
2. Boris - Pink (4:20)
3. The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy - Television (6:38)
4. The Pharcyde - She Said (5:15)
5. Luscious Jackson - Keep On Rockin' It (3:40)
6. Todd Rundgren - Soul Brother (4:21)
7. New York Dolls - Jet Boy (4:40)
8. Against Me! - New Wave (3:29)
9. Lynyrd Skynyrd - You Got That Right (3:47)
10. Lou Reed - How Do You Think it Feels (3:42)
11. The Kinks - Lola (4:01)
12. Jethro Tull - Living In The Past (3:23)
13. Hawkwind - The Psychedelic Warlords (6:50)
14. Espers - Dead Queen (8:13)
15. ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead - So divided (6:29)
16. Furnaceface - Government Cheque (5:43)

[Man, them other blogs talk and write about tunes and shit. Not you, dude, you just lay it down!]

Old Fart's Friday Night Playlist (1)

[Yeah, that would be cool. Post your playlists! Dude, you rock!]

1. Black Sabbath - The Shining (5:58)
2. Dire Straits - Once Upon a Time in the West (5:15)
3. The Fleshtones - The Dreg (3:10)
4. Garland Jeffreys - Wild in the streets (3:01)
5. Iggy Pop - The Passenger (4:44)
6. The Blue Van - Word from the Bird (2:21)
7. Brian Eno - Burning Airlines Give You So Much More (3:17)
8. Guided by Voices - Run Wild (3:48)
9. Helmet - Unsung (3:57)
10. Iron Maiden - The Number of the Beast (4:51)
11. Monster Magnet - Radiation Day (4:50)
12. My Morning Jacket - Lay Low (6:01)
13. Porcupine Tree - Trains (5:55)
14. The Rolling Stones - Stray Cat Blues (4:40)
15. Social Distortion - Dear Lover (4:43)
16. ZZ Top - Sure Got Cold After the Rain Fell (6:48)
17. Don Tiki - The Natives Are Restless (5:11)

[Holy fuck, man, they'll be flocking to your site!]

Are you fucking shitting me?

I could barely believe my eyes when I saw this, but apparently a medical clinic here in Japan used the same needle to collect blood from 37 different patients. Have they shut this dump down? No, the prefectural government has given them a "warning." [I shake my head in disgust.]

Weekly Photo Challenge: "Liquid"

The theme for Glenn and Dave's Weekly Photo Challenge this week is "liquid."

I just can't start the day without a cup o' coffee...

Awful Album Covers

[Numbed by overwork to a state resembling brain death, I plunder the work of others in search of ideas. Thanks Eli.]

Any site that claims to have the 50 Worst Album Covers, had better back it up with some real "winners" (and they do!). Some personal favorites:

Chicken Coupe de Ville
There's so much visual information on this cover that a good CSI team could re-construct this guy's entire life in a couple of days (never mind simply figuring out what kind of music is inside). The pickup, the mullet, the song titles, where to begin...

The Handless Organist-Truly a Miracle of God
Good fucking grief. I'm sure The Handless Organist can play up a storm, and I wish her well (honestly). I gotta wonder, though, about the kind of thinking that would allow someone to see a person with no hands and call it a "miracle."

John Bult-Julie's Sixteenth Birthday
Nobody would blame you, gentle reader, if you thought your eyes were deceiving you, but what you see is what it is...

Jimmy Jenson-Understand You're Swede
Hey, Jimmy, where you goin' with that axe in your hand?

Slim Goodbody-The Inside Story
What the fuck!?

Johnny Janot-Expose Yourself to Cajun Music
For Glenn and Dave. Heh, just kidding around, guys!

Water Lines

Click to enlarge.

Clams (or Something)

Click to enlarge.

"The Drink That Makes The Whole World Kin"

Here's an oldie. Who needs the UN when we've got Coke? Click to enlarge.

Goin' Down

Click to enlarge.

Driftwood

Click to enlarge.

Shade Tree

Click to enlarge.

Under the Coaster

In black and white. Click to enlarge.

Buddha's Face

What could anyone possibly say about this? Shonen Knife, "Buddha's face":

Gear Blues

About five years ago, in only the second post on this blog, I wrote briefly about a really good Japanese rock 'n' roll band called Thee Michelle Gun Elephant and their album Gear Blues (1998). Tonight, for the first time in a couple of years, I listened to this album again and remembered how completely floored I was the first time I heard it. I thought I'd mention it again because a) if you're a fan of punk you may not have heard of these guys (Gear Blues is most definitely a punk album), b) while this blog is still pretty small-time, I quite definitely get a lot more traffic now than I did 5 years ago (so there's more chance of exposing these guys to new fans), and c) it's my blog and this is what I feel like talking about right now!

TMGE-West Cabaret Drive

Clearly TMGE owe a sonic debt to The Stooges, but that one track doesn't really give you any idea of the overall range of their musical ideas and influences. In fact, choosing just a couple of tunes for this post has been driving me a bit crazy, because the band has a lot of different influences. It's how they assimilate and synthesize influences that makes them rock, and if I had to peg one thing about TMGE's music, it's that they're the first punk band I've ever heard with any real sense of swing (and as we all already know, it don't mean a thing if...).

TMGE-Boiled Oil

Two tunes is not nearly enough to convey what a monster album this is. Personally, I'd put it in the top 100 of all time, and in the top 50 of all time for punk albums. It's a great album. Check it out.

UPDATE: Video!!!

"Smokin' Billy"



"GWD"



Yeah...

Weekly Photo Challenge: "Attitude"

Time again for Glenn and Dave's Weekly Photo Challenge. This week's theme is attitude.

I wouldn't mess with the pair below...

"Hey Pops, what say we kick some butt?"

Digging It

Click to enlarge.

Dull and Depressing

I think it was Aristotle who once said that throughout human history blogging arose only after the basic necessities of life (food, shelter, etc.) had been secured. Huh? It couldn't have been Aristotle? Well, whoever said it knew what he was talking about because these days, between family and work commitments, I haven't had a spare moment to give any thought to this blog aside from throwing up a few pictures now and then. It's gotten so bad that even my dreams are dull and depressing. How dull and depressing? So dull and depressing that I'd advise you to stop reading right now. Last night I had what might conceivably be the dullest, most depressing dream in all of recorded history. Last night I dreamed that my armpits were smelly. Yeah, that's right, and that's all there was to the dream. I was working in my office and, for some reason, I lifted up my right arm and took a whiff and discovered that I had BO. End of dream. Now I ask you, with dreams like that who the fuck needs sleep? How I long for those days, so long ago now, when I would dream of flying over vast oceans (even if it inevitably meant that I had wet the bed). Even a good nightmare would be welcome: I once woke up with the realization that, in my dream, I had made love with Barbara Streisand. While it seemed pretty good in the dream, it's difficult to convey the sheer horror I felt when I woke up. (There are a lot of good reasons for ignoring Freud, and not all of them are "scientific." That is, there are some things better left un-contemplated!) Anyway, the fantastic, the horrible, anything is better than the dull and depressing dream of the mundane. Tonight I'll probably dream that I have a hole in one of my socks or something...

Lovey-Dovey: Recombinant Avian Loo

In a post last Friday I showed you a picture of a pigeon that had built a nest in the toilet at my place of work. I decided to take a quick look today and was shocked, shocked I say, to see this:



No father in sight, laying eggs in a toilet... I tell you, these hippy pigeons today have no sense of decency...

She Sells Sea Shells...

Click to enlarge.

Pool

Click to enlarge.

Amusement Park (2)

Bleh, still too busy. More pics. Click to enlarge.

Hmm...

... This looks pretty fuckin' weird to me. Click to enlarge.

Look Up...

Click to enlarge.

Amusement Park (1)

Click to enlarge.