Music hall memo

Snitched from the land of LJ.

Copy this list. Leave in the bands you've seen perform live. Delete the ones you haven't and add new ones that you have seen until you reach 25. An asterisk means the previous person had it on their list. Two asterisks means the last two people who did this before you had that band on their list, etc.

1. The Cure**
2. The Tears
3. Brett Anderson
4. Bjork
5. Muse*
6. Morrissey
7. Ian Brown
8. Duran Duran
9. The Editors
10. Portishead
11. Blur
12. Massive Attack
13. Stereolab
14. Inga Lilestrom
15. Interpol
16. Angie Hart
17. Covenant
18. U2
19. Neil Finn
20. Dresden Dolls*
21. Machine Gun Fellatio
22. The Cranberries
23. The Cult*
24. Bloc Party
25. Inkubus Sukkubus

80s TV

YouTube is indeed an amazing invention. Think of your beloved children's TV show, one that you haven't seen since you were a nipper because video recorders were too expensive back then so you never taped an episode of said show and, anyway, it's probably so out of vogue that it would never be repeated on TV again - type the title into YouTube and - whizzbang! - the dust is shaken off Grange Hill recollections and flashed before your very eyes!

Here are a clutch of my fave intros and having never seen them since childhood, I was amazed by how accurately I remembered them!

Bravo things nostalgic!

The Tripods

These three-legged creatures terrifed me. As a child, I used to pass by a racecourse at night and, from a distance, the illuminated lights looked just like a tripod. Eek!

Willo the Wisp

Metal Mickey

This show scared me to death ... perhaps it was the bad acting?

She-Ra: Princess of Power

My Little Pony

Jem

KlanBag

Sir S and I entertained our Nihongo teacher, the Sensei Wisteria, here in our humble abode. As is the custom, our guest gave us omiyage or a small gift as a thank-you. In Japan, omiyage is usually packaged by the shoppe staff in a stylish paper bag, often patterned with Japanese motifs, calligraphy or occasionally English text.

As is noted by most Nihonophiles, the English word is often lauded as fashionable here in Japan, rather in the same manner as kanji in Western countries, where kanji's mystique gives a certain artistic quality and allure to bubble-bath bottles, T-shirts and tattoos. Similarly in Japan, English can be seen on T-shirts, advertisements, signs, confectionary packaging & c. And in both cultures, absurd and eye-goggling interpretations can be deduced from their aesthetically pleasing fonts and characters.

Is this innocuous item just a normal, household paper bag?

Of course not! It's a KlanBag.

There was much shrieking and inane giggling at the English there displayed, and the Sensei Wisteria - struck with horror that she had given us a gift covered in references to Ku Klux Klan partyfood and swastika cakes - apologised most profusely and explained that innocent customers at this shoppe wouldn't have a clue what the print says or means, or wouldn't bother to read it and would regard it as decoration only. We assured her that it was not a problem and that some Westerners were known to sport kanji tattoos that unwittingly say "please don't walk on the grass".

A most diverting souvenir indeed!

Kurayoshi capers

The narrows streets of Kurayoshi, where golden koi dash along its many streams.

With the Tottori entourage, we took in the curious wonder of the Pear Museum (yes, every brand of pear imaginable was on display in nerdy model form, with an amusement park of nashi pear insect pest attractions where one could ride upon a worm) and then on to Kurayoshi.

A delightful town of old wooden and white-walled buildings, Kurayoshi has a smattering of South-East Asian influence: a shop-cafe called Sular Chouk and a Vietnamese boutique which sold silk pyjamas, Thai curry pastes, bejewelled sandals and pretty slippers.

The red lantern alcove, looking out onto a little bridge and alleyways.

A peculiar Buddhist temple was hidden in the backalleys opposite the rushing, many-bridged streams that gush along every street. A heavy and severe wooden gate loomed above us, and behind it was a alcove in which was a huge, red bauble of a lantern, accompanied by an old telephone of the style I had back in the Home Country.

Are you there, God? It's me ... Miss Ember!

Through the doorway one could espy a prance of Indian-style elephant sculptures and Thai interlaced lanterns which gave a spooky will-o'-the-wisp glow. Graves were cheered by a scattering of colourful windmills that spun in the breeze. Bollywood caterwauling issued forth from a secreted speaker. It made for quite a wonderland in the pouring rain!

No elephants here - this was a smaller shrine claimed by Golden Orb spiders.

Taiko ushers in autumn

Last weekend Sir S and I rendezvoused with the handsome Mr Hiroki and Misses Kana and Hiroko in Tottori for a dazzling taiko performance starring the charming Miss Kaori (Mr H's young sweetheart and pictured centre of the trio).

Long, thick sticks were flourished about, skins were smacked with a hearty cry and sides were rapped in perfect timing, which took me back to my school days at St Clare's when Mademoiselle was unleashed upon the dormitories during the Midnight Feast Food Fights of '01. Miss K donned a fetching red headpiece, and the drummers were dressed in plain, pyjama-style clothes, some of them turbaned in cloths or towels. The simple yet traditional attire and the thunder of the drums evoked an ancient tribal Japan of Princess Monoke lore. I have heard that one of the practical uses of taiko in Old Japan was to announce the first harvest with its terrific banging.

Snaps by Sir S.

Borrowed lingo

In Japanese, one will find a curiosity of words borrowed from other languages, written in katakana, the square-ish, written script used for foreign words. Borrowed words in Japanese seem to reflect Japan's history since the end of isolationism, as many Portuguese, Dutch, and English words proliferate, as well as French and German.

On the weekend, whilst zipping around the countryside in a jalopy with Miss Hiroko and her family, after the rude interloping of a speedy driving hoon, Miss H shrieked in the Nihongo: "Papa, hit the Klaxon!", except the Klaxon was said in Japanese-English. Sir S and I were agog: Klaxon?! I had visions of tubular brass horns and squeezable bladders all shiny and gay and going "honk! toot! honk!". Most interesting!

Here are some other non-Japanese words used in daily lingo. A novel find was the 1920s slang below.

Arubaito アルバイト part-time job - from the German arbeit, to work. I was rather mystified when first coming to Japan that my younger students complained of tiredness due to their arbeito - "Oh, so you're working hard studying German too?", I would say.
Hotchikisu ホッチキス Hotchkiss - a brand of stapler which was first shipped to Japan in 1910 - not having a Japanese word for this item, the Japanese adopted the brand name.
Kurakushon クラクション Klaxon - car horn, borrowed from the trademark which came into use in the early 1900s.
Mo-bo モボ modern boy - 1920s slang referring to young Japanese men fascinated with Western clothing and dapper style.
Mo-ga モガ modern girl - 1920s slang referring to young Japanese women obsessed with Western frocks and flapper style.
Piero ピエロ Pierrot - clown
Baikingu バイキング Viking - buffet food

I especially like "Viking" as it conjures up images of horned and helmeted Scandinavian warriors tossing about chocolate mousse and steaks and rolling in the Caesar salad at the local Sizzler!

For further curious collections of borrowed words, peruse this.

More Tokyo snaps

From the courageous lens of Miss B in Tokyo - daring to go bravely forward to probe gargoyles, capture Christ, immortalise dubious lavatory seats and preserve other gothic ceiling adornments for posterity - more photos from the Christon Cafe, Shibuya. Thanks, Miss B!