Blurry pre-drinking photos of Hakata

Big cities at night make me feel awlraaaight! I'm not doing this because I think I can take photos (BECAUSE I CANNOT!) It just reminds me of a certain time and a place and the onset of winter in a glittery city. Hmm, luurvely! It's about time we had some cold over here.

HAIKU!!!

I went-a drinking,

Because I was thinking

I should get legless.

The tricky subject of Karaoke

Karaoke! It is a big hand which divides the population exactly in half. Some people get drunk and will never, ever do it, the second half get drunk and have to have the mic prized from their cold, dead hands.

Unfortunately, I am embarrased to even hum a tune in the sober daytime air, but, after 10 beers and rounding a few people up, I always seem to be the karaoke ringleader. Once I'm in the room, I grab a catalogue, throw the remote control away and kneel down by the video box. This is to usurp the remote control users-if a song comes on which I dont know, I'm king of the CANCEL button.

The favourites all emerge right away- "I Touch Myself", "Debaser", anything by Guns N` Roses or Queen and (how this began I dont know) "I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues". But, everyone knows that the worst songs are the best in karaoke, and otherwise, there is no point in going.

However, I will not do it anymore!!! It's the point where the night just goes too far. Karaoke is what happens when everyone has had more than too much and should definetley go home. But, instead, they put themselves in a private, comfy room with a big wall-length couch, several microphones, loads of music, friends and can order food, beer and anything they fancy at the push of a button. It is just basically evil. No more karaoke- It's bed for me!

Sunderland Boys and karokebox

I just got these photos developed from a disposable camera I bought in August. Dont you just love it when you find an old camera and the photos really surprise you? These are gold! I met some blokes from Sunderland in a little hip hop club in Kokura one Saturday night. They were there the next week, and a few weeks later, then we arranged to meet up one Saturday during a festival so we could scout around and see the sights. They worked for Nissan and were here to fix some cars which had been sent to Japan.

Only, there was nothing much wrong with the cars anyway, so they spent a lot of their time here getting completely legless and staying out until at least 5am, even on worknights. The Saturday of the festival turned out to be one of the funniest nights here, the blokes had loads of banter and stories to tell, were really game for anything and generally, great company. We sat in Kokura castle garden with bottles of ASTI from the supermarket, ended up getting locked in and having to climb over the gate to get out. THEN....KARAOKE!!! Damn! Not again. Good night, though!

They went home the following Tuesday, and me and my mate Guy met them for a farewell drink. They were dressed in pimp outfits, cowboy hats, diamante glasses and big plastic rings, etc.. and because it was the peak of the humidity here, they were sweating like...well, stocky, balding lobster-coloured men in their forties, really. Dipping the little Japanese flannels in champagne buckets, ringing them out and resting them on their sweaty fods. One of the best weekends I've had, without a doubt.

"Cultural Event" at a countryside Kindergarten.

Hahaha! Culture! Not to be too cynical, but an event which involves tiny girls in far too short dresses all doing the same dance in different national costumes and boys either prancing about in tribal dress banging hollow drums or jumping over impressive sized sports horses is not as varied as the title suggests.

I do admit that it was a nice show for parents, though, due to it being much more anally organised and coordinated than anything I was ever in as a kid.

Encho sensei does an annual magic show...the dance he came exploding onstage to is apparently called "The moustache dance" and was popular about 15 years ago. So, a typical old dude then, really, sticking firmly to his memories. I do admire his ability to make fun of himself, though (see video below) and think he's not such a bad sort. It was pretty funny halfway through his piece de resistance of making a handkerchief float, when a little kid shouted out "I can see strings!" See the vid.

They really could have offered us a seat, after going to the trouble of inviting us on a Saturday bloody morning. I may not have been so cynical if I was sitting down for the 2 and a half hours we stayed for. Lower back pain is not the phrase!

Kindergarten Cultural Event

Koujyaku "Cultural event".
After being dragged unwillingly by aforementioned invisible "duty" from my lovely Saturday morning bed to attend a kindergarten "Cultural event", I took this brilliant video, which wont upload right now, so I've posted a picture. The little boy (in the middle) made my day...have you ever seen that bit in "Wayne's World" where the show goes live but Wayne resigns halfway through and Garth has to do it alone and just stares at the camera for ages? This boy carried out his own revolution against the stringent order of the perfectly coordinated dance...or maybe just a touch of stage fright, ne?

A Post For Nothing...

Just to get that horrible picture of my less than appetising leg off the top spot.

Mosquitoes launch a final attack...

Before going to "live underground" for the winter, as one of my partner teachers told me (is this true? I thought they just died, like cicadas or spiders...) it seems the Kitakyushu mozzers are launching a last attack on my ravaged ankles and calves. A war on two fronts, just like 1914...

Do mozzers sit underground sleeping like cute, tree-bound furry squirrels and lovely hibernate-y creatures in general, or do they actually just pop it mid-air one day, like the suspicious, creepy articles that are spiders and cicadas?

I would have placed them in the latter camp myself. They are the LAST things I would put underground for protection. Surely there are more deserving beings than mosquitoes to be hibernated for fear of their lives.

The same, obviously, goes for Hitler. Why dont witness protection programmes evict the mozzers and hide folk there? I'm sure people like Trotsky and Catholic Priests during the reformation would have appreciated that insight. And vampires.

The little buggers! I just cannot think of an upside to them (mozzers, not Vampires, chill out Ms.Rice...), there is no silver lining to that ugly, tiny, viscious cloud-see illustration for details...

PS) Those legs are from the UK, make no mistake.