stupid winter...

well it happened. my first cold of the season. back in October i had a throat infection, but that doesn`t count since 1) it wasn`t a cold, and 2) it only made me cough and lose my voice for two days (much to Ulala`s joy). but this is a Cold. just a regular, run-of-the-mill, make-you-feel-miserable-but-not-miserable-enough-to-stay-home Cold. but Ian, you say, you`ll infect all your students if you go into work. GOOD! they`re the bastards who gave it to me!! i cannot even count the number of times a student has sat down in my lesson room and when i ask "How are you?" they look at me and say "Not so good. I am catch a cold." or some variation thereof. and then i think "Great! now i have to spend forty minutes in this tiny liuttle cubicle, breathing in the same diseased air as you!" a few times students have even said that they took the day off from work because they were sick BUT THEY CAME TO THEIR ENGLISH LESSON!!! so yeah, i`m going into work. today, tomorrow and even saturday. HA! *sniffle*

The Rise of Symian

(The Fall still in pre-production...)

So, i played again at Zerro for a little of the ol` practice at the wheels o` steel and Lo! (no beholding) but i have been offered a gig! nay, TWO gigs!! Both at Zerro. one on the 2nd of December (i am very much looking forward to this since it will be a Saturday and i have the next day off so i can play whenever and for however long! and the next is on Decemeber 8th, which is, alas, a Friday. This means that i will have to play fairly early, not drink, and go home in time to get rest before my Saturday morning double shot of Cafe-Mocha-Grande-Kinder-Kids-Classes. Nothing like an ADHD four-year-old screaming at you in a foreign language to get you going in the AM. oy.

in case you were curious about the title of the post: my new DJ name is "Symian". *lick!* I CALLED DIBS! but yeah, "The Pants" was outdated and had weird associations for my listeners (most of whom do not know where the name came from) soooo... changed it. i owe the final decision making to Matt Anaka, breakbeat hero that he is. i`m still working on my first mix to post on the net. just when i thought i had the proramming figured out i decided to switch some of the tracks. but soon. maybe. i hope.

and yes, Mom, i know i mis-spelled simian as "Symian". it`s deliberate. =)

and since i feel weird posting with no picture here is a picture i took recently in downtown Osaka just for fun:

Kurama and Kibune

as i mentionned in my last post, Ulala and i went for a short hike near Kyoto last weekend. we started at Kurama and the temple there, took a very short cable car ride up the mountain a ways, and then hiked over to Kibune and Kibune Shrine. it`s not too far and it was a nice walk through the forest. the sun went down when we were almost at Kibune so when we got there we were delighted to find long lines of beautiful lanterns and open fires at the shrine. we also got our omikuji (paper fortune) at the shrine. the omikuji at Kibune-jinja are somewhat unique in that the fortune is invisble on the paper until you dip the paper in the water from the natural mountain spring in front of the shrine.

the weather was good, too. sunny and cool but not too cold. this week has been getting colder everyday. i`m not complaining at all though. we had a long summer and the changing leaves are quite late this year. now if only i can convince Ulala to call and get our heater fixed....

here are a few of the pictures from our hike:

Tuesday`s Child

i played another good set tonight at Zerro. after the usual rocky start as i re-learned the mixer yet again (every time i go in there the channels and switches are set up differently!) i played some good, fun and funky breaks for about two hours, averaging around 128 to 136 bpm the whole time. i had planned to throw in some slower interludes but meh. and i almost have recording figured out so there WILL be a mix on the net soon (he said wistfully more than determinedly...).

and on Monday Ulala and i went hiking in Kurama and Kibune (near Kyoto) and had a great time, so there should be some pics from that up when i sort through them this week.

here are a couple pics from tonight:

All good things...

come to think of it ALL things...



And so ends the era of the Pants. after slowly becoming frayed and worn, it has come time to retire my final pair of phat-pants. i may once again own a pair of big ol` phatties (in fact i intend to since i recently found a small community of ravers here in Osaka - it`s like a tiny socio-historic time capsule: they still listen to HHC!!!) but these beige Lithiums were close to my heart... and far from my leg hair. this by no means marks the end of my dancing days. certainly not! but dancing quick-step, kick-step, or liquid does look a whole lot better in phats. meh.



thank you to Mel in Toronto, from whose site i "borrowed" this comic. =)

Monday Monday

can`t trust that day...

i can`t believe it`s Monday again already!! where does the time go?! what happennnnnnnnned these past two weeks? hhmmm.... let`s see...


Curse of the Tech begone! i played Tuesday before last at Zerro again and it was awesome! there weren`t many people in the bar, but that`s why i practice on Tuesdays. and i played for three and a half hours! i just kept putting on another record and didn`t stop until i`d played everything in the bag. lots of fun! and thanks to Anthony and Kousuke for being suportive (and for a couple beer and a pizza!).

Wednesday i was finally able to say with certainty that i was over my throat cold or whatever the heck it was that made me lose my voice last week. it was a long time in leaving. one of the disadvantages to working in a little room with near strangers...

Thursday went out for drinks with Tony and had a good time at Captain Kangaroo. after a short inner debate i caught the last train home, which was definitely the "smart choice." didn`t want to piss of the missus or get myself sick again.

Friday was a chill day at work and an early night (after watching Lost, of course).

Saturday morning my problem child Taiga (the ADHD kid i teach every Saturday morning) was kind enough to remind the other students and i that bathing is important... by showering us in his spit. lovely. just how i want my day to start. but Saturday night was good. since Hallowe`en is on a Tuesday, all the clubs and bars had their Hallowe`en parties on the 28th. good times. we went to Club Opium, which i`d never been to before, for the SWASS party. lots of costumes and good music and dancing. Ulala and i wore the same costumes as last year sincc they were expensive and we really liked them. Ulala was super-cute in her bright orange pumpkin-Go-Go-girl outfit and i got lots of compliments on my back-less suit and "yakuza shirt". enjoy the pictures!

Saturday was also my three-year anniversary in Japan. yup. three years. wow. more on that later... maybe.

Sunday was chill. so chill that i don`t remember it.

Monday i had an eye doctor appointment (6000yen so the nurse can do 10 minutes of "testing" and tell me my eyes are the same as they were six months ago!! argh!) and then went to CostCo with Tony. sweet sweet CostCo, where everything is HUGE! i bought a massive jar of peanut butter, a case of Heineken, a case of Shark energy drink, and a printer. yes, you read that last one correctly. i bought a printer. a Hewlett-Packard scanner/printer/copier all-in-one. and it cost less than a hundred Canadian dollars!! how did i get all this home? through the magic of 500yen delivery! sweet sweet CostCo...

And Happy (belated) Halloween!! on the 31st i went to lunch with a good friend who has recently undergone somewhat of a romantic trauma. i`ll spare you the details (though i know you want them) and say simply that he is an impressive man for being able to handle it as well as he has.

then the rest of the week flew past in a blur of work and... work. come weekend time and another fun Saturday out and Sunday chilling. finally watched The 40 Year Old Virgin and found it to be much funnier than i had expected. and it`s good to see Canadian Seth Rogen doing well.

and tomorrow its back to work. i`m sure i`ll blink and it will be the weekend again. i can`t believe how fast time seems to be going. i say that a lot but its because its true. it continues to amaze me!

Pics from the 28th: