Is it hawt enough for you yet?

Shit! I haven't been writing enough, as usual.

Note, non-existent reader, that I don't find these pages to be of any real importance or literary gravity. My eagerness to scribble merely comes from an ambition and determination to write. Anything. 'Cause, you know, words are cool and stuff.

Two weeks ago I celebrated midsummer's, a very Swedish thing to do. Me and Melody got our blue and yellow groove on in expert fashion by cooking a lot of food. Like, a lot of food. I think the total amount would have sustained a small village for two weeks, but alas we settled on eating it ourselves. What? At least it took us two days.

The menu included a Västerbotten cheese pie, a strawberry- and mint salad, a french-ish potato salad, smoked salmon, home-baked parmesan bread and, oh why the hell not, a cheesecake.

I like food.

Today I saw Ponyo, the latest film by animation-God Hayao Miyazaki. Having deliberately limited my impressions of the movie to merchandise (which was hard to avoid in Tokyo) and the trailer for the english version, I didn't know much about the actual story.

To say the least, I was impressed but not surprised or really blown away. It's not his best work, but his worst is still miles ahead of damn near any other animation. Yes, Pixar included.

Ponyo on the cliff by the sea gets four hamsters out of five.

On Monday I start work for real, but I still have three days in which to get funky. So, tomorrow me and Fredrik are watching all six Star Wars movies back-to-back.

Yay!

We'll try to get started by 3 PM, which means we should finish Return of the Jedi around four in the morning. Not a bad day, indeed!

Although watching trilogies in one sitting have almost become a standard for me and Melody (we did Terminator 1, 2 and 3 a week ago and finished by going to see Salvation. It was fun.) I have yet to watch all six installments of the Star Wars saga without so much as a nap in between. We'll see how it pans out. I might need some sugar.

Also, summer is the biz.

Blackberry cheesecake. And you can't have any.

Nathalie doesn't actually need my hand, she can walk on her own.

It's awesome.

Boatness in the city.

A very slow afternoon.

Like a real musicplayerperson

It occurred to me just now that I haven't written anything in a while, despite "ideas" for posts (which will never be written.)

So. I've spent the past two days in a studio in Gävle, about two hours on a slow train to the north of Stockholm. The first six or so hours of that time were spent recording bass for the new Jesaiah record, which may actually turn out pretty good. 

I thought two days would be enough. Enough to get everything nice and tight, fix any mistakes, and take my sweet time fine-tuning a massive sound that would melt people's brains. Turns out, I underestimated my own awesome bass playing skills, and was able to finish all my parts in less than a day. Well, all but one song, but we did that this morning with Joel finishing the last guitar parts.

The sound is gritty, dirty and mean, which I like. But it's still simple and punchy enough to actually break through all the other crap (namely, guitars and drums) and make a difference. In short, I'm stoked.

Having completed our task, me and our producer Björn (whose apartment is covered in sawdust, by the way) spent the rest of the day at his friend Bosse. This came to be by Bosse's invitation to partake of some DIY vegan sausage that he'd just made.

If my friends called me because they had just made vegan sausage and wanted me to eat it, I would be a happy rabbit. This never happens.

Does this not look like the most delicious thing ever? 

Okay, don't answer that.

Today Melody moved back from Malmö, for real. She now lives in the same city as me, and that makes me more excited than everything Nintendo revealed at E3 combined. 

Yeah, I said that shit.

New Super Mario Bros. for Wii? Mario Galaxy 2? Some new ultra mega burn-my-eyes-out Metroid game? Oh, and Monkey Island on WiiWare. Fuck it. I get to see my girlfriend.

Yes, I am quite aware that one does not negate the other. I'm trying to make a point.

Smiley.

09210

I'm really quite bored.

Sappy go lucky

This weekend I visited Melody in Malmö, Sweden's link to the cursed lands of Denmark. She's been studying photography there since August, and is moving back to Stockholm in just three short weeks. This makes me happier than a pig in crap.

Melody is my Favorite Person In The World™, a title previously and occasionally held by Kim Gordon, Aragorn and this dude I met once.

She's funny, smart, unbelievably kind, pretty, cute, sweet, more cool than anyone. She smells good. She loves good food, music, books and film, and she cares about it. She knows everything and doesn't mind teaching me. She actually and continuously makes me happy. She is the best.

I arrived on Thursday morning, after a four-hour train ride that began around sunrise and which allowed me to unintentionally eavesdrop on a married couple's awkward conversation about breasts.

There was obviously none of that in Malmö, as me and Melody paraded the sunny streets in search of adventure. Or, as it were, cheap candy and Star Wars action figures.

In four days we made obnoxiously good food, watched Gilmore Girls, sat on a blanket under a warm sun, visited a library and a Vegan convention (sort of), rented a boat, fed ducks, made plans, took pictures of everything and otherwise enjoyed the hell out of ourselves. It was fantastic, and now Malmö seems like the most fun place on earth.

And I've almost started working. I had two days of introduction and initiation this week, whereby I was told and shown how business is conducted at my new workplace (which also happens to be my old workplace, but that's not very important.)

Work isn't my favorite thing in the world, and could largely be held accountable for some of the times I've wanted to kill myself. But that's a different story.

I try not to think too much about work when I'm not there. I guess I'm not very good at playing grown up.

I am however a serious tourist, as evidenced by the image below.

So long, and thanks for all the fish.

I'm back in Sweden now, and have been for a few days. During that time I've met Melody (to everyone's explosive delight) had dinner with my parents, listened to an early cut of Jesaiah's new album, and begun to organize my grown-up life. 

It's surprisingly hard to understand that I have just spent three months in Tokyo. Really.

Nothing here has changed, obviously, but it's funny how quickly you pick up old routines and habits. In many ways, it's as if I never left.

My last night in Tokyo took place in Shin-matsudo, hometown of Philippe and Robin. The former was kind enough to let me stay at his place for the night, and together with Robin's friend Andreas we set out to find something fun to do in Shin-matsudo on a Friday night. It started well enough with sushi, which I've eaten less of than I had hoped in Tokyo.

The plan was then to find a karaoke place and/or bowling alley, which proved difficult. I was initially determined to find something really colourful, like a paintball/casino/dog race establishment, but there's not that much available in Shin-matsudo. At last we settled for an hour of free drinks and karaoke, servicing both the thirst of my comrades and my eagerness to sing Whitney Houston songs.

It was a nice hour. I sang pretty much non-stop, plowing through both One Moment In Time and The Greatest Love of All, as well as some old favorites by Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins and Feist. Me and Philippe also tried to conquer Hysteria by Muse, which nearly killed us.

The journey back to Stockholm was smooth, thankfully. My overweight suitcase and bus-sized backpack made it through check-in and customs at Narita without any fuss, and the 10-hour flight to Copenhagen wasn't too bad at all. I watched some of The Incredibles and about 9 episodes of The Simpsons. The food was great, and I got some sleep.

At Copenhagen I again bought some internet-time, and the flight to Stockholm was barely noticeable.

Before I knew it, I was back in my apartment.

I've already been asked the question "How was Tokyo?" to which I have no good reply. It was amazing. It was difficult, at times, and confusing. It's the greatest city in the world, and probably the most expensive one I've visited. 

I'm sure the significance of this trip will become apparent over time. Right now, it's a collection of photographs and new acquaintances, fond memories and some vague understanding of the Japanese language.

But three months is a long time. Maybe not spent going to work as always, but learning new things every day and discovering a city like Tokyo, it's a lot of time.

I've seen snow and summer, listened to noise and the shamisen, eaten every type of Japanese food I could ever want, seen the sakura blossom. I've been to temples in Kamakura and seen robots on Odaiba, I've watched a Japanese game show being made, and seen silent movies accompanied by a benshi voice-actor. I've been to retro videogame shops and ten-floor department stores, the Imperial Garden and Electric Town in Akihabara.

Despite all that I have done and seen, I can't wait to go back. 

As far as "How was Tokyo?" goes, I advise anyone who asks to find out for themselves. It's the best city in the world.

Packing all the essentials.

Philippe's glorious home.

Hitting the notes.

My ten-hour flight: Simpsons, onigiri and Soyjoy, and sleep (not pictured.)

Oh harrow.

Everyone's favorite niece, making friends with Totoro.

Back home, as it were.

Packin' heat.

I'm leaving.

Tomorrow, that is. Due to Sakura House's lovely adherence to bureaucracy, I had to move out today, and will be spending the night in Philippe's room (or possibly on the subway or in an alley, we'll see what happens.)

I barely managed to squeeze my belongings into a suitcase and a very serious backpack, which will no doubt leave my spine mangled and shattered by the time I get home.

Home! It's exciting, and scary, and a bit sad. With so little time left, I just want to get moving and bring everything back safely. Well, at least my records are already in my apartment.

This, the last week of my stay in Tokyo, has been a good one. I had my doubts, but then I met a really nice girl from school who didn't oppose to spending three afternoons in a row walking aimlessly around some of my favorite parts of Tokyo. It's a bit of a kicker that I met her now, four days before leaving. Anyway, we walked and talked and bought cool stuff and ate crêpes, and I'm really glad we did.

Monday was my birthday, so Robin and Philippe bought me sushi for lunch. Then me and Robin went to the Yushukan war museum at Yasukuni shrine, to see broken helmets and the Japanese' thoughts on Pearl Harbor (amongst many other, really interesting things.) 

I've been there before, and I still like it.

So that's about it. One night and one morning to go.

Now I'm literally sitting outside my vacated room in Shimura-sanchome, ready to depart and eventually return home.

Philippe and Robin, happy about sushi.

My stand-in birthday cake, with cotton candy-flavoured ice cream.

Not bad at all.

Lunch at Yasukuni with Sanna. Yes, that is nattō.

Bright lights in Ginza, one last time.

Yoyogi.

よこはまへくもをみにいきました。

Yokohama is, apparently, the second largest city in Japan. Huh. I wouldn't have guessed it.

With it's seaside location at the entrance to Tokyo bay, Yokohama has ever been a vital commercial hub of Japan. It's also been torn apart more than once.

In 1923, a staggering 95% of the city's entire population died in the Great Kantō earthquake. Some 22 years later, American bombs repeated the effect and erased most of Yokohama along with the rest of Tokyo.

As I said in my previous post, I keep this in mind when looking at the infrastructure, architecture and everyday life of Tokyo. Most of what I see around me has only been here for about 60 years.

Anyway, I went to Yokohama today! Perhaps that was obvious. I've been wanting to go there for some time, if only to get away from Tokyo for a day (not that I don't like Tokyo, it's just nice to check out the surroundings.)

Although Yokohama is officially it's own city it's still within the Tokyo subway system. Me, Philippe and Robin were able to get from Jimbocho to Yokohama in less than 30 minutes for 510 yen, which was nice. 

Once there, we eventually managed to find our way towards Chinatown, following the water.

Chinatown was cool. I mean, nothing mind-blowing, but it was different. We had some proper chinese food for lunch, which was really good. Also, there were about 80 shops selling panda-related items of every kind. Panda candy, panda t-shirts, panda umbrellas. Panda meat? Maybe.

Chinatown being the first, we did have a second motive for being in Yokohama today. As Philippe informed us early on, a giant robotic spider was scheduled to make an appearance in Yokohama today. Sounds good, I thought. But where? And when?

These two pieces of information were gathered quickly and easily enough, and after our colorful adventure in Chinatown, we decided to try and locate said constructs.

When looking for a gigantic robotic spider, you'll never do wrong to follow the crowd. We did, and even though "the crowd" covered most of downtown Yokohama, we eventually found the spiders. They were, in fact, gigantic. And robotic. Sort of. It was actually a set of limbs on a Matrix-inspired body, that moved as though the spider was walking. Except, it was hauled around on a truck. 

A touch lame, I have to say. See, when someone says "giant robotic spider", I envision a scuttling cyberbug of lethal, inhumane power climbing up the side of the Landmark Tower. This did not happen today.

Anyway. I enjoyed Yokohama. The sun and the heat helped, I suppose.

Three days ago, I returned to Kugahara for dinner with the family. It was great to see Akiko, Kobayashi-san, Eric and José again, and eat good, real Japanese food. I guess that's the last time I'll see them for a very long time. A bit sad, really.

And tomorrow it's my birthday. Hip hop hooray!

Sea Bass. We saw this error on least six different signs.

We also saw lots and lots of dogs in silly clothes. 

As one does in Tokyo.

Giant robotic spider.

Chinatown.