Lotusblog

Got my tax return done after all. The pre-preparation was the hardest bit- the filing and consultation (and subsequent payment of outstanding taxes) was relatively painless.

The last week was insane. I lost 3 kilograms. Got incredibly stressed out. Vomited. Had lots of silly fights with my girlfriend. Shaved my head. Worked very hard. Started some new projects. Bought an iPod. Got some suede Puma Mostro’s. Rediscovered some clothes I forgot I owned. Went to some gallery reception parties.

And now I feel great.

I am sitting in a cramped, stuff Honda wagon, speeding towards Tokyo with 5 colleagues. Well, speeding is not technically correct given the state of Japan’s highways, but to be honest the traffic isn’t too bad. We’re almost half way. But we still have a good 4 or 5 hours to go. My iBook’s battery has only 2 hours remaining. This is a worrying development.

I will be in Tokyo as we’re launching a new series of products; audio components, furniture and tableware. And we’re having a party.

I will be in Tokyo Thursday, then half of Friday. I have to be back in Osaka for Friday night for another party- the opening reception for an exhibition at our gallery. If any of my Tokyo friends are reading this, I am sorry but I am not going to be able to meet you. It’s just too tight a schedule. Breakfast is about the best I can do. Call me if you’re interested.

And then, when I get back to Osaka, I have a weekend off! At last! I am so relieved that I don’t have to fly to London on Saturday- for those of you who haven’t heard directly from me, this has been postponed until March. I still have to go to Geneva at the end of the month though, but, heck, that’s still more than 10 days away. 10 days in my life is an incomprehensibly long time during which countless inconceivable events will undoubtedly manifest themselves.

I think we have finally outrun the rain. Will post this later when I have network access.

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a week later: for some reason this post was never uploaded. Perhaps it will now. Perhaps.

They certainly got the knack

I was at Black Panther tonight and as always the drinks, the music and the people were up to the high BP standards. Bunshiro played the “Get The Knack” album (both sides) and it was great. “My Sharona” needs no further explanation, but the rest on the stuff on the album was also pretty good. Bunshiro took a picture of the album for me, but I have a feeling this is different from the regular cover.

Just can’t pin it down…

A very small bicycle

I just got back from Tokyo.

It’s Wednesday morning, 2:30am. Actually, this is what happened. I went to Tokyo on Sunday. Checked into my apartment, did some work, saw satellite TV for the first time in years and became entranced by BBC World. For about an hour. Met Sally and Taka for dinner. Went back to my apartment (Taka had parked his car in the underground garage) and before he left, produced an incredibly small bicycle. We rode it around the car park. Had a laugh, and he went home.
Monday morning I went to the office of one of my clients in Roppongi and exchanged New Year’s greetings. Then I headed to our (graf’s) new office. Had lunch with our new partners. Had a meeting with a client. Got ready for the party. Mingled with 400 people. Exchanged dozens of business cards. Got the night bus back to Osaka. Arrived at 8:00am on Tuesday morning. Had breakfast. Went to work. Finished work at 10:00pm. Met some friends for drinks. And I just got home. Checked my email, and found that Taka had sent me the picture posted above (taken with his FOMA ‘phone).
And now I need a bath.

So on that note.

Good-bye.

The human body is pretty remarkable. I am just recovering from yesterday’s annual Flounder’s Editors Conference (FEC) during which an astonishing amount of liquor was consumed.
My usual method of recovery involves a cola beverage and a bento; usually tonkatsu or karaage with curry. Today was a diet coke and a karaage curry bento. I feel sated. And I actually do feel better. Kinda.

I keep remembering certain things from yesterday. I remember trying to call Matt (I don’t know what time it was, and I think we certainly hadn’t thought of the time difference) but for some reason not being able to get through. Or maybe we were connected, but were just too drunk to actually realise we had someone at the other end of the line.

Anyway, I am finding it rather difficult to concentrate.

The weekend just gone was definitely one of my top 3 weekends of all time. But it passed by so quickly. I was given a glimpse of paradise and then the doors were slammed in my face. But I guess a glimpse is better than no glimpse, right?

Also became a member of this club which is highly recommended. They’re having a party this weekend, and then closing (and moving) the following week. I look forward to the new venue, and my next visit.

Yesterday was a lot of fun. The Dieci crew came over for dinner and ended up staying until 02:30. Now that’s what I call a dinner party. Sakata played bossanova on my guitar which totally blew me away. I knew that he could play the guitar, I just didn’t know that he could play the guitar. If you know what I mean. It was the first time that such beautiful melodies were produced by my guitar.

On Friday night I was invited to Disco University- an event being held at Kirin Plaza Osaka. Keiichi Tanaami was DJing and the event was hilarious. I was surprised that most of the people there were under 25. Tanaami was active in the 60’s and 70’s (dare I say that was his peak) but it seems that even now he still has quite a cult following.
Tanaami exhibitions are being held at both KPO and graf media gm, so head down there and taste the Tanaami experience.

Disco Unversity flyer

Thursday afternoon. 34 degrees. A blue-skied rainy season afternoon. Osaka in summer. I once again successfully got up early enough to be able to ride to work and enjoy some quality jacuzzi time. However there were a few moments when I didn’t think I would make it.
Last night’s restaurant opening was fun- the champagne and beer flowed freely, pizzas were in abundance and I left around 1am. Since I was near a friend’s bar, I figured I should drop in and say hi, which I did, and then left around 02:30. Emboldened by the alcohol, and unhindered by traffic, I managed to make the 13 km journey home in 25 minutes.
I didn’t end up getting to bed until after 03:30, which meant getting up and hitting the saddle for another 30 minute morning bike ride didn’t seem too appealing. I forced myself to do it however, and boy am I glad I did.

Can’t wait for the ride home.