Your Stomach and the Ballz In It

"Ballz In Yo Stomach" Ghettosocks Video ft. Timbuktu & Pip Skid from Jason Levangie on Vimeo.

Dope li'l vid for Ghettosocks' "Ballz In Yo Stomach" from his I Can Make Your Dog Famous mixtape, featuring Timbuktu and my homie Pip Skid.

Look familiar? It is, 'cuz I made it, sucka. Recognize.

Damn...it's been a while since I heard a sex rhyme I like. Pip likes big girls as much as I do, if not more. And props to Jason Levangie for hookin' it up visually. The stealth use of porn footage? Thumbs up, sir.

R.I.P. Mitsuharu Misawa

Photo by Adam Etheridge.

This is devastating. What can be said, really? He was one of the greatest. I bought an All-Japan match comp on tape from RF Video several years ago, and it had a number of his epic matches with Toshiaki Kawada and Kenta Kobashi. Watching one of those was like listening to jazz: often a slow burn with some amazing highs and lows. Pro wrestling in Japan will never be the same after this.

Journalizing Japan: Home

So yeah, we're back. Mixed emotions, as expected. As great as it is to be home, I'd give anything to be back in Japan...at least another week. I'll get to posting the photos as soon as I can. There are many.

Journalizing Japan: Live from Vancouver

It's hot as fuck in here. That is all.

Journalizing Japan: Final Thoughts Before Boarding the Plane

• Narita Airport WiFi = not free. Sucks, but whatareyagonnado? I'm writing this with the "Notes" program.
• I'm missing the silly-ass/cute commercials already.
• There's a Lawson location here. May need to pay 'em a visit. I was really stoked to go to the Sevs out here, but Lawson became my favorite kombini chain. I love their blue, white & pink color scheme, the milk jug logo, and their chicken nuggets (cute packaging included). The selection of stuff is pretty cool, too.
• Sarah is here with her sushi. I'm off to Lawson. Peace.

Journalizing Japan: Sayonara.

• Our last day in Japan. Did I mention that I don't want to leave? I don't. Really. If I didn't love Winnipeg so much and had no real ties to it, I wouldn't come back. I'm sure Sarah would have something to say about that, too. Life is gonna seem a lot slower.
  
• We're in suite 902 of the Citadines in Shinjuku. This is one fine hotel, and I hope to return.
• I oughta have my head checked for coming back with so little manga. I have, however, found some kick-ass illustration books and magazines. And yeah, I've barely drawn anything while in this country, but I have many photos that will provide years of inspiration for drawing.
• I was planning on going to the Animate location in Ikebukuro to pick up one hentai title, but opted to hang out in Shinjuku and Shibuya. For some reason, I'd feel like a bit of a perv for having a filthy Japanese comic in my luggage. Can't put my finger on why.
• The next time I go to Tower Records Shibuya (if there is a next time), I'm just gonna give 'em all of my money. The bastards. I need the entire seventh floor (books and imported magazines) in my living room.
• At Tower, I picked up the new soso & Kutdown album, which is available through Japan's Hue Records. Gotta support my homies.
• I listened to healthy portion of the new Eminem album at Tsutaya in Shinjuku, just to form an opinion of it. I now have one: it's mediocre.
• Vinyl heads: if you didn't know already, the Osaka location of Tokyu Hands has a ton of second-hand vinyl. Some jazz, a lot of 70s rock, some classical. I suspect that the Tokyo location has the same, if not more, but I missed that section.
• Bed is where I should be.

Journalizing Japan: Koyasan and Random Japan Thoughts

• Went to the town of Koyasan today. While a place like Takarazuka is described as a town in Lonely Planet: Japan, I'd prefer to call it a suburb. Koyasan is a town in every sense of the word, in my opinion.
  Koyasan possesses a huge Buddhist cemetery (Oku-no-in) that has to be seen to be believed. Again, Sarah was way more into the whole thing than I was. As a person that has trouble confronting his own mortality, I was kinda down*, but still fascinated. Koyasan is a mountain town, and they have the tallest trees I've ever seen in my freakin' life. I was asleep for a good bunch of the trip to Koyasan's outskirts , so when I had to suddenly awaken to transfer to a cable car, it was rather jarring. Moving to an uncomfortably packed bus to get to the cemetery/temple wasn't exactly the most fun moment, either. I did, however, get to enjoy the slow and winding ride back. Such dense, lush forest. Truly amazing.
• A note about the Kyoto Manga Museum's hours: they're open until 8 from July to September. We were mistaken about them, and got there at 5:30, leaving us with only 30 minutes to view the goods (Sarah reasoned with a staff member to let us in, as the final admission takes place AT 5:30, and we were a couple minutes over the line). We had enough time to blast through the new Moebius exhibit and view most of the geisha illustrations that were on every floor of the museum, each by a manga luminary.
  You must see this place. It used to be a primary school, and you can read the titles that were donated to the museum. There's tons of 'em. If I didn't know better, I'd swear the museum was a lazy college campus, complete with students chilling on its (fake) lawn.
• While looking for the elusive Ring Soul Cafe in Kobe, Sarah and I came across these folks lining up outside a butcher shop. Turns out this shop was selling fried goodness out of a little window. Chicken, beef and pork cutlets, plus deep-fried shrimp. Naturally, we got in line. I don't need to tell you how good this stuff was. I was going to come up with a naughty simile about how our taste buds were pleasured, but this place is worthy of better praise.
• At the Kyoto temple where we ate soba noodles, we were given kudos by one of the shop's staff over our chopstick use. Sarah and I felt rather proud at that moment.
• I've got a shitload of Facebook birthdays to catch up on. I've just been doing the occasional status update. Don't get me started on Twitter and Google Reader. Or my e-mail.
• The trip is winding down. We're spending the last day in Tokyo, doing our own activities (shopping). I'll probably hit Books Kinokuniya and Animate one more time. I clearly don't have enough manga, or hentai. And Freshness Burger is calling me.
• I bought the new Tanya Morgan and DOOM albums here. Y'all can't say I don't do my indie rap shit on a global level.
• We went to a killer Italian place for dinner in Kyoto. Best Pasta Carbonara I've ever had. Don't knock the idea of eating Italian in Japan. We've had some dope French pastry here, too.

*I slept badly, and bumped my head rather nastily on a low ceiling overhang that morning, so that contributed to my whiny/cranky pussy baby mood. I fully acknowledge my lameness.

Journalizing Japan: Kobe and Kyoto

• One correction and two disappointments: The Tezuka Museum is Takarazuka, not Kobe, like I had mentioned previously. It's described as a town, but it doesn't seem very town-ish. The first of the disappointments? It was closed. Looks like it may re-open on Monday, so we might make a little trek back there. The second disappointment was that the wrestling/MMA-themed second floor of the Ring Soul (Rinso) Cafe in Kobe was closed. I'll get back to that later.
• Before heading to the Tezuka museum, we decided to get some Mister Donut goodness at the mall across from the Takarazuka train station. Sarah and I aren't in the habit of talking to strangers, but we ended up having a nice conversation with an expatriate English prof from the U.S. named Mike over donuts and Fanta Melon Soda. Of course, we talked about the extreme politeness and order in Japan, and just how refreshing it is. Admittedly, it was also kinda nice to speak English for a fair length of time with someone other than ourselves. When we were done with the donuts, he walked us to the museum, since it was on his way home. Nice dude.
• We spent ages looking for Ring Soul, only to find that the second floor wasn't open (as I had mentioned), and that we couldn't read the menu. Our kanji skills are wicked poor. I suggested that we go to a steak house that we passed during a walk through Kobe's Chinatown. This may have been one of the best decisions I've ever made. At Ruke, Sarah broke her bad steak streak (long story), and I had one the best steaks of my life (top 3). This place was perfect; from the design of the joint, all the way down to the music he was playing (Aaron Neville and Marvin Gaye).
• Funny story: I told Ruke's owner that we had passed earlier in the day, and that I made sure that I remembered the name of his place. He said he saw us. I guess we're pretty memorable.
• In Kyoto, we hung out with my homie Kenji, who chauffeured us to three of the city's many, many temples. Sarah is quite interested in Buddhism, so this was quite a treat for her. I've never climbed so many fucking hills in my life, but the sites were worth it. At one temple, we partook of some zaru soba, which really hit the spot. Later, we had some tonkatsu at a mall, which was great after a day of climbing a ton of stairs. Kenji rules.
• We also had Sukiya for breakfast, which made me feel like myself again (we started too early for my brain to properly function).
• Tomorrow, more Kyoto!

Journalizing Japan: Kobe!

• Turns out we have Internet here. I'm over the moon on that.
• We're off to Kobe for a short spell. The Tezuka museum is there!
• Hiroshima kicks ass, but I can't say I'm all that jazzed about nearby Miyajima Island. It's nice, but it's mad touristy. Can't say I blame 'em. The torii gate, which Sarah wanted to see, was pretty amazing.
• The deer on Miyajima are rather aggressive. One tried to eat Sarah's map.
• There's a new anime series with a heavy Jamie Hewlett influence starting, and I can't remember the name of it. It's killing me. I was so taken by the ad, I forgot to write down the name. Fuck.

Journalizing Japan: An Erostika Tale

If you're a Rockin' Jelly Bean fan like myself, and find yourself in Harajuku looking to pick up some of his cool-ass products, don't follow the directions to Erostika in Tokyo Underground.
Sarah and I found ourselves following conflicting directions in the book and the ones we got from Google Maps. We got to the old place, and saw a bunch of discarded "we've moved" fliers. We also noticed a final move date within July, so we thought we were out of luck. We doubled back and used the newer directions once we realized that the move took place last year. I would've been pissed to get back home and realize that I missed the place completely.
I totally got this here poster, man.