Monday, October 04, 2010

Harley Davidson - Blue Sky Heaven

I played at Harley Davidson's annual event at Fuji Speedway in Japan on the 1st. I had a great time and the place was packed with Harley enthusiasts from all over the country. Harley wanted more of an American rock image to match their iconic bikes so my long time friend Keisuke Nishimoto set up the gig. I heard there were 30,000 in attendance and there were certainly thousands there watching my show. We played at a speedway which is obviously outdoors, so the weather is always an issue in rainy Japan for events like this, but the weather was perfect.

To make the whole thing even more interesting, the lighting engineer coincidentally turned out to be a grad from the college I teach at (check the photo album link below).

There is nothing like getting called for a gig that is perfect for you, where you can play what you like, dress like you like and still get paid like a professional. Long live Harley Davidson!

Tuesday, July 06, 2010

Double Nutty T-Shirts



A double dose of nutty t-shirts. One on my right:


FAST FOOD
NO BURGER
NO LIFE
HAMBURGERS 
FOREVER

And the one on my left:

Legalize Gay

I didn't know it was illegal to be gay.

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

And More Nutty T-shirts

I
I found another nutty t-shirt today. This one says:

AT EVERY TIME AND
IN EVERY WAY IMPOSING
SPEECH WITH THE SPELL
IT THROWS OVER US
PREVAILS OVER THAT
WHICH AIMS AT PERSUASION
& GRATIFICATION

Anybody have a clue?

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

More Goofy T-Shirts

Yes another one. This one says:

WONDERFUL
SCENE
YOU HAD 
LOOKED IT!

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Moving Relaxable Space

In Japan, we call a bus a:

Moving Relaxable Space

And that's just the way it is!

Sunday, May 16, 2010

More Nutty Japanese T-Shirts and other Daily Occurances

Another good one I found on one of the Japanese students at the college here in Tokyo:

Crystal

Super Haze

With a big pot leaf in the middle. What the 88 and 24 mean, I'm not sure. It cracks me up because even thinking about drugs in Japan is enough to land you in the slammer but a T-shirt like this one you can find on any innocent teenager.

Sunday, May 09, 2010

Monster in the Bathroom

Found this on the bathroom door today. It says:

You cant go in the bathroom because
there is a big monster in the bathroom.

This is my daughter's way of saying: don't take a shower, I want you to play with me.

But it had me thinking. She is just six years old and in Kindergarten. When I was her age, I could hardly write my own name in block letters much less full sentences with abstract meaning.   

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Yikes..

Sushi is Japanese for "vinegar(ed) rice." Of course most people associate Sushi with fish but not all Sushi has fish on it. Sashimi is the fish or other thing without the rice. A dab of soy sauce and maybe a dab of wasabi and in it goes. One Japanese delicacy is Basashi, see it over there? It is raw horse meat Sashimi. Raw garlic, ginger and green onions go on top, a little soy sauce and its ready to eat. Sorry Mr. Ed.

Sunday, January 17, 2010

NAMM 2010 Report

Well, the NAMM Show is done. If you didn't know, NAMM is the acronym for National Association of Musical Merchants. Basically it is a trade show where equipment makers sell their stuff to music stores. Endorsers are expected to show up at the booths for signings, performances and demos. So you get to see everybody from Steve Vai and Joe Satriani to just about everyone. And you get to see all the new products for the year. Unfortunately it also draws crowds of crazy people who have no interest in doing any business and wannabees. It is inescapable for professional musicians and as usual I was there for three of the four days. It is pretty much my image of what hell is like. I imagine when I die, god will send me the a NAMM show where all the doors are locked from the outside and it runs 24 hours a day for all eternity. So basically I will have to spend infinity listening to crappy, loud guitarists playing various versions of "Smoke on the Water," "Sweet Child of Mine" and "Stairway to Heaven" and sweep licks coming from everywhere played on out of tune guitars. Anyway, here is my top five impressions of the 2010 NAMM Show (with photos as well, just so you will get the full imagery):


  1. Fat, 40 something, tattooed, long haired guys everywhere.
  2. Basses with more strings and frets than guitars
  3. Butts
  4. Cheap girly guitars
  5. Giant crowds of people with nothing better to do.

Saturday, January 09, 2010

Tea for Professionals

Is this funny? I was trying to make myself a cup of tea at a college I was doing a seminar at and gave myself a good laugh. It's not just any tea bag, it's a:

Professional Tea Bag


-CJ