Well now. (さて。)

Well, that was an interesting way to start a Saturday.

With an epicenter in Kyoto, even. That's impressive.

Probably the most intense earthquake I've felt in a while... and yet I still wasn't convinced that's what it was until it was updated on the JMA.

Honestly, it kind of felt like something ran into my apartment building.

But I suppose that, in light of Japan's relative position on the Ring of Fire and all... that's the far less likely possibility.

Oh, well.

Too bad I won't be home to watch the news tonight; I bet we make at least a local headline.

Oh, right. 宇宙戦隊NOIZ concert!

But I've written about that quite enough. The earthquake was by far the most novel experience for the day.

... though I am going to Shiga. Which is a first. (Er, when it comes to live destinations, anyway.)

Although considering the fact that Melon and I are going straight back to Shiga for BUCK-TICK next week... it's not all that impressive.

...then again, tonight I'm going all the way to Yasu. BUCK-TICK's only in Otsu.

The highlighted one, as you may have surmised, is Yasu. The big one right next to Kyoto is Otsu... and I'm assuming that the BUCK-TICK concert is going to be somewhere near the very bottom tip of the lake there. (Yea, the thing in the middle is Lake Biwa. Shiga is mostly lake, dontcha know.) Couldn't tell you about the NOIZ concert tonight... All I know about Yasu is that the last train at night to get there is quite conveniently late.

So, yea. It's not as far away as the train ride makes it feel, I guess.

See? None of this is nearly as exciting as the fact that the earth kinda moved a little bit.

Especially because it was a tiny one that (theoretically) didn't hurt anyone.

Really, though, they're the only ones to get excited about.

...yeah.

This is Edo, signing off still feeling phantom quakes every five minutes or so.

SO glad I went. (行ってよかった！)

So, all I'm saying is...

If you ever get the chance to attend a one-man, three day, close quarters live event....

Take. It.

Especially if that band is as good during their performances as is DEATHGAZE.

I mean, good lord people.

I don't think I've ever produced so much sweat before in my life. ...Even calculated cumulatively.

And my neck isn't even sore! Who knew that the cure for headbanging aches... was more headbanging?

(And, admittedly, liberal ibpruofen dosage, but still. I haven't taken any since!)

If that isn't a valuable life lesson, I don't know what is.

This little dude was at the drink bar every night. Well, I say that, but as another audience member and I were discussing... was it really the same little dude? This picture was taken on the first night, and he never did seem to degrade in any real noticeable way. Thus, he was either made out of supremely high quality watermelon (which is possible--this is Japan... which also makes me hope that it got eaten eventually), or someone managed to get so very good at carving the little mascot dude and his brethren that no one could tell the difference from night to night.

Or maybe it was all thanks to the スイカパワー！(suika powaa, watermelon power). Apparently, that's what we were all going on, and who am I to argue?

There was also some sort of metaphor about us all being the seeds, but I'm still trying to work out the deeper meaning of that one.

After we got the red fan on the first night, I dithered about bringing it along the second. I ultimately decided not to, as I wanted to keep my nice little souvenir as pristine as possible, and lo! We received another, and in a different color as well! (They're lined up in chronological order, because I'm just that way.) Probably the best souvenir possible to get in that venue, in this season. Never let it be said that DEATHGAZE is not considerate of their fans!

(They also made a big deal, both in blog posts and each night during the pre-show announcements, about not trying to power through if you started feeling faint or sick, but to let someone know--even one of the band members if that's what you could manage--and get someone to help you out of the crowd and into an open space so you could recover. I don't think anyone ever did/needed to, but it was a nice thought regardless.)

And since I still can't even come close to containing my excitement (I mean, come on, they announced their new single coming in November, and then another new tour staring in December! Allow me to squeal in fangirlish delight.), I find I must share just a weensy bit more.

(Plug your ears, grandma.)



Pretend that guitarist Tataki's hair is blonde for the full experience.

And since that's the first song of the album... why not wrap it up with the last?


Glory Sky

I had to wait until the last day for this one, but ah, it's always worth it. The look of pure, unadulterated joy on  vocalist Ai's face as the audience sings along with the chorus is absolutely wonderful, and it gets me every time.

(You can listen to this one, grandma.)

This is Edo, signing off nursing only a mildly sore upper-arm and battling a serious case of permi-grin.

No, seriously... (いや、本間に…)

I know I shouldn't repeat myself, but.... seriously. I'm telling you. The 食堂 is the place to be, people.

 I mean, come on.

This? For 390? For dinner? 

Ridiculous. That is more meat than most young people see in a week. 

And that right there, my friends, is a medium rice. Oh yes. There are no attempts to stiff hungry students at my 食堂, no siree-bob. 

(I was thirsty. Don't judge me.)

Oh, and by the way.

This is what you get for 400 yen. (Would have been 390, but I wanted my miso soup.)

Admittedly, this set runs out pretty quickly come dinner-time, but you can see why.

All that meat.

True, it is chicken more often than not, but that just makes it healthy. 

... no, honestly, healthy. I promise.

And thus concludes another installment of "what Edo's been eating lately," cleverly giving me another couple of weeks of not having to think up any actual content.

... oops.

Um... Ah!

I am going to a live tomorrow, which I am naturally very excited about. However, as I have already given a play-by-play account of this particular band's antics... 

Even so, I'm sure something extraordinary will happen. It's just the sort of band they are.

Whether or not I get around to writing about it is another question entirely. 

Oh, and remember the LIFT-OFFs?

I'd better start studying.

(Pretend that there is a rhythmic, intense shouting going on through the entirety of the video. Gives you a better feeling of the actual event. Plus, it's way more awesome.)

This is Edo, signing off whilst wondering why the weather didn't get the notice about Golden Week. 

Nambu		Probability of Precipitation	Temperature Forecast
Today 02 May	RAIN	00-06  --% 06-12  70% 12-18  70% 18-24  50%
Tomorrow 03 May	CLOUDY, OCCASIONAL SCATTERED SHOWERS	00-06  50% 06-12  20% 12-18  40% 18-24  40%

Wow. (素晴らしい。)

Wow indeed.

That was the single most intense, involved, incredible live I have ever been privileged enough to take part in.

... someday, I'm sure, my unusual penchant for alliteration will catch up with me. Luckily though, that day does not appear to be today.

Though I must break the flow by adding that it was also the most fun. Goddamn.

(Probably also the hottest and sweatiest... but talk about breaking the flow. Being a fan isn't easy, you know.)

Oh yea. You know who I'm talking about. 


I thought, before going, that it would be your run of the mill live--maybe I would have to learn a few new hand motions, maybe there would be a bit more light show, that's all.


I could not have been more wrong.


This was, as mentioned above, by and far the most involved live I have ever been to, both on the part of the audience and on the part of the band. 


Which of course leads to that third one: intense. Oh, yea. 


Remember those lift-offs I was talking about earlier? Yea, those. 


That's how they come out on stage. Each one of them. 


You know it can't be anything but awesome from that point on.


And the audience? Oh, the audience. For one, they dance along during the lift-offs, having memorized the moves.


And that's just the beginning.


Every single song had a specific set of dances to be done at specific times. The coordination and involvement required was absolutely incredible. Not to mention that during the first MC session, the band gave us a new one to perform, the "N-Formation," which we practiced to their satisfaction before attempting to implement it in the next song. I was pretty impressed with how well we did. 


(The second MC had them debating about how to signal that we begin the N-Formation though, as we sort of gave up after that first song... which led to an amusing series of moves that Angel Taka could do to tell us when to go. Eventually we decided on a move, and tried again... but apparently the N-Formation just doesn't fit the beat of more than a few songs. We did it while waiting for the encore, though, which was amusing as hell.) 


The most impressive dance move, I thought, was the one where everyone started spinning uncontrollably as they bounced around the pit, waving their arms and towels above their heads. This lead to a great number of collisions (especially for one girl who I really think was getting a bit too into it for the good of those around her, as we're not all made of th same titanium-rubber blend she must be) which I think may have been the point, so after my first attempt (with stomped toe) I stood back and settled for waving my arms in the air only, watching the chaos and grinning like a maniac. 


Oh, I forgot the impressive part.


The spinning was controlled to a a certain bar of music, every time, and afterwards? Everyone ran back to the exact spot they had been in before. Which was important, if only for N-Formation time. 


Luckily, I was not the only newbie there, and thus did not feel horrible about my slow uptake on everything. Thank goodness, however, for years of dance and rhythm training--otherwise, I might have been a bit lost. And thank goodness also for the nice girl beside me, who readily involved me in team motions (mainly hand-holding moves, which were fun and surprisingly full of camaraderie) and didn't mind grabbing onto my shoulders for N-Formation. I did get left out of the robot dance, though, simply because there was an odd number of people in my row. Oh well, it was fun to watch. 


Needless to say, I now understand why everyone in the audience began the concert with a round of 「お願いします」(onegaishimasu, roughly translated to mean that you're counting on everyone) and ended with 「ありがとうございます」 (arigatou gozaimasu, thank you). 


Oh, also, the YAMATO Music Challenge. And YAMATO dance. I'm not sure how to describe that segment of the show, other than the fact that it was amazing and awesome and one of the most amusing things I have ever seen. 


(... got you again, alliteration.) 


If only it was on youtube. I could show you. For now, however, you're just going to have to take my garbled word for it. YAMATO is awesome.


And of course, no live is complete without goods.

Let's see, a wristband, two postcards for 500 each that were really for earthquake relief (all proceeds donated), and... what, what's this?

That's right my friends. I caught a pick and a drumstick. Oh yea.


The pick (MASATO's) was completely a surprise--he threw it out when he first picked up his guitar during the second song, and I couldn't even see where it went. Then, however, I felt something land in my outstretched hand...


I think I might start carrying it around as a good-luck charm, that's how strangely amazing it was. 


The drumstick was more intentional. At the very end, all members began chucking things--water bottles, picks, drumsticks. I didn't catch another pick, despite the number being thrown out, but when YAMATO came to my side of the stage and began peering out to see who to throw to, I jumped up and down like the maniac I am. He then pointed at me (or the girl in front of me, but let's go with that first assumption),  and lobbed it out with astonishingly good aim. I say it was iffy who he aimed to, because it bounced off that hands of the girl directly in front of me, and into my waiting grasp. She did not, however, fight me for the stick (merely said うらやましい [urayamashii, I'm jealous] once things settled down), and I wasn't about to give it up. I'm sure there was some concert etiquette keeping her nice about it, but really, that's pretty cool. 


So, yes, this was not only the most amazing concert, it was also the luckiest. How cool is that?


Oh, and one more thing.


叫 (Kyou), the bassist, came out afterwards to hand out the earthquake relief postcards, and shake hands with whoever bought one. Though it took me a while to determine exactly what was going on at the head of the long line, I jumped in and pulled out my thousand yen bill. (I rethought and pulled out more when I saw the wristbands.)


As expected, I wound up being a little bit in awe when I finally reached him, and told him that I was nervous. He asked why, and I told him that the whole experience had been way more amazing than I had expected. He thanked me, and asked me what I wanted. I got my wristband and two cards, and wonder of wonders, he unwrapped the wristband and put it on for me. 


... that was unexpected.


It's likely I started glowing red. 


I shook his hand, grinning like a dork, and he told me to come again. 


Oh, and the best part?


He did not bat an eyelash at the fact that I was (a) a foreigner and (b) likely the only one there. Not a pause, not a "where are you from" not a "oh you're so good at Japanese." Nothing. Just treated me like a regular fan.


And that, my friends, is worth a lot. 


This is Edo, signing off with a sore neck and more great memories than she knows what to do with. 

A bit of headbanging, anyone? (ちょっとヘッドバンギングしよか？)

That's right, kiddies, your beloved author here is off to another rock concert this weekend--all on her lonesome this time, which wasn't really all that worrisome until some of her coworkers suggested that it should be.

... Oh, the power of suggestion.

I must admit that I have never been to a live all on my lonesome.... I was supposed to go to a Dir live alone during my senior year, but a nasty bout of the flu kept me from making the hour long trek into Los Angeles proper and head banging my heart out.

Because, you know, doing that sort of thing with a fever, some congestion and even a bit of nausea probably isn't wise. Especially for all my poor fellow headbangers. And, well, every single diver on the 10 that particular evening.

... nevertheless, I curse my body's bad timing to this day.

Sigh.

However, I will not be cowed, and I continue on with the same degree of excitement and enthusiasm I have always had!

And really, it's only worth going together with someone when their love for the band matches yours. Thus, BUCK-TICK with Melon? Excellent. Dragging Melon to DEATHGAZE when they may or may not make her ears bleed?

Well that's just not something friends do.

And thus I head to Nagoya on Sunday all on my lonesome, dressed to the nines (is that the phrase?) and quite willing to have a sore neck for the following week.

Because it just wasn't a live if you don't feel it for days afterwards.

... well, ok, you don't really headbang to BUCK-TICK, but the arm-waving and the jumping does get you a bit sore, so it still works.

Anyway.

DEATHGAZE.

They're pretty awesome.

And this time, they get their own tour!

Very likely, this is due to the December release of their new album, because as far as I know they are still technically an indies band (which, as we all know, just means that they're not quite getting paid what they want need deserve are owed based on record sales yet.)

BLISS OUT. Quite enjoyable, says I, though I admit to liking pretty much everything I've heard by these guys.

Currently, I am trying to ascertain whether or not I will be able to wear my jacket and then store it in a coin locker so that I can rock myself silly without being encumbered and overheated. Provided that everyone else in attendance does not have the same idea and jam all the coin lockers in the station, I think I should be all right.

... hopefully.

Regardless, I will have a good time.

Also: who knew that getting into Nagoya on the cheap would be easier than getting there quickly and expensively?  Take that, 特急 (tokkyu, limited express train.)

This is Edo, signing off realizing just how much effort travel planning entails. Yeesh.

Strange things in a strange land. (変な国に、変なもの。)

... except not really.

But sometimes we sacrifice accuracy for clever titles.

Which, really, is better than the other way around, don't you think?

Anyway, once again, I find myself somewhat strapped for expositional topics, and thus will fill this post with silly little pictures taken of small bits of my day-to-day life.

....and once again I fall into the timeless trap wherein the villain foolishly lays out his entire nefarious scheme for the hero before he can, in fact, complete it.

Drat.

Oh, well; at least in this setting, there's nothing that you, the hero, can do about it.

Allow me an evil chuckle. Moo ha ha.

Anyway, first things first. I promised you a picture of my BUCK-TICK goods, didn't I?

A handkerchief (which actually has more of a towel texture, making it a bit more useful in the long run, though you won't see me wiping my grubby hands on it) and two very nice wristbands that came as a packaged set. Note the lack of tote bag. Curse high demand and short supply!

I personally like the two-for-one wristband deal. Admittedly, two-for-1500 is a bit steep, but hey. Concert goods. What are you going to do.

I also like how they worked the skull in. Nice maintaining of the theme, guys.

Next... I never showed you that super-awesome earring tree I purchased during my excursion to Osaka, did I?

3 Coins is an amazing place.

That's right, I got this baby for 315 yen. It's nice, quality metal too. None of that aluminum nonsense.

...she says three days before it breaks. Oh, cynicism!

Goes with the decor though, eh? I especially like that it's literally a tree. Almost didn't buy it, but it was very cunningly placed in the shop (aka I had to stare at it while waiting in line to purchase my warm socks) and thus...

Oh you clever, clever marketing people.

Speaking of shopping...

I don't like yogurt. I think it tastes like poo, to be blunt. Thus, I take acidophilus supplements to keep my insides happy, healthy, and other good things starting with the letter h. (I think I abuse that joke...) However, I have not been doing this since coming to Japan, as I have not been able to find your average, run of the mill, acidophilus pills.

And so, sick of my stomach being unhappy, today I went out and found this.

It has a number of probiotics within, including my desired acidophilus, along with some vitamin B compounds I may or may not need, but hey, what can it hurt.

We'll see if it works. Frankly, I don't think there's much that can replace my chewable, blueberry flavored supplements from Hi-Health, but... well. Beggars can't be choosers.

Or, well. Expats can't be choosers, anyway.

Also note the bright pink pair of nail clippers. I did not want a bright pink pair of nail clippers, mind you, but after much searching, they were in fact the cheapest to be found, and at the end of the day, my frugal nature always wins out.

And as a bonus, they have a nail file hidden inside, so they're not so bad.

And finally...

Once again I treat you to my rendition of omuraisu, because, really. There is nothing more delicious looking than a freshly cooked egg.

I mean, come on.

This is Edo, signing off wondering if you can get a placebo effect from supplements... especially supplements in such official looking bottles.

The weekend that ended too quickly. (終わりが早すぎの週末。)

And to further emphasize my point, I will right a very short post to tell you about it.

Saturday

Come home from work, make pasta -- Check.

Go to Yokkaichi with a co-worker for a night on the town -- Check.

Stay awake until around four in the morning -- Check.

Sunday

Wake up around noon -- Check

Drink coffee and attempt to eat breakfast -- Check

Fail to eat breakfast -- Check

Get all rocked out for the live -- Check

Drive to the station -- Check

Find the cheap parking lot with only a small amount of confusion -- Check

Arrive at the station way too early due to my inherent paranoia and wind up waiting for something like forty-five minutes for my train -- Check

Spend a good two and a half hours getting to Nara -- Check

Arrive and spend a while trying to find the concert hall with Melon -- Check

Find the concert hall -- Check

Rejoice because the goods line is nonexistent -- Check

Realize that there are no tote bags left; despair -- Check

Wait -- Check

 Wait -- Check

Wait some more; oh yes, they're late -- Check

Finally get into the hall and find our seats -- Check

Find out that the map in the lobby lied to us and that we are actually in someone else's seats -- Check

Get moved forward one row -- Check

Wait -- Check

Wait -- Check

What, half-an-hour late now? -- Check

REJOICE when the house lights finally go down -- Check

Have a BLAST for the next two hours or so -- Check

Leave in a daze -- Check

Manage to get some マクド, despite the delay having made me worry about catching my train -- Check

Scarf the マクド -- Check

Say good-bye and get on the train -- Check

Proceed to worry all the way home about making my connections, as every train is delayed -- Check

Finally make it home without issue -- Check

Spend entirely too long chatting with Melon and wind up going to bed too late -- Check

Monday

Spend an entirely uneventful Monday that just doesn't compare, other than the fact that I joined Fish Tank, the BUCK-TICK fan club (hopefully) -- Check

PHEW.

There we go.

Unfortunately, no pictures of the live, since they sort of frown upon that...

I have this though:

 

Sure, it's a picture of my flyer, but it's all I got.

Maybe I'll take a picture of my goods for you next time.

Oh, and that bitch of a last train home?

Yea, you'd be stressed out too, I feel.

This is Edo, signing off already eagerly anticipating the November live in Kyoto, and hoping her fan club membership comes through in time to get tickets for the next tour.

A bit more in-depth. (もうちょっと詳しく。)

I really wanted to keep my advertising campaign going, but...

Well.

Let's just say that I know my audience, and that my audience would be slightly less than thrilled if I suddenly changed the focus of this blog to things not me.

...egocentric as it sounds, I promise it's true.

Be that as it may, BUCK-TICK still plays a very relevant role in my life, you know.

For example, I have been listening to RAZZLE DAZZLE on repeat ever since getting it on Wednesday. After being originally somewhat nonplussed by the entire thing, it has begun to grow on me, and now I have 5-starred (the iTunes equivalent of saying that you love a song, for the laymen) three songs. The number may grow.

The eponymous RAZZLE DAZZLE, for instance, is quite catchy.



I admit, with that voice, Atsushi could probably sing about poo for five minutes and I would eventually come to enjoy the song.

Then again, it's not so much the lyrics I mind (because they're actually quite fun and catchy, for the most part.) It's more the fact that their last two albums had a very nice rock-like feel, and that's, frankly, what I was expecting from this one as well. Instead, it has more of a dance, techno feel, reminiscent of Sexy Stream Liner or Mona Lisa Overdrive.

Which, in itself, is not a bad thing.

I just needed to get over the shock of it.

(Also, I admit, I don't much care for the remixes of the two singles... but hey. It's because they gave me so long to fall in love with the originals. That one's on them.)

That said.

Three songs so far.

Like Django!!! -眩惑のジャンゴ- (Genwaku no django; dazzling django).



Don't ask me what a django is, because I have no clue. It can apparently be something related to programming in Python, any number of restaurants, a movie from 1966... take your pick. I'm not in a researching kind of mood at the moment. (Shocking, I know!)

I admit, part of what drew me to this song is the fact that it sounds suspiciously like Atsushi is saying "bippity boppity boo" during part of the chorus.

And then of course, there's my current number one, TANGO Swanka.



There was apparently some fun to be had in the naming of these songs.

Or simply some drinks in the stomach.

And hey, I'm not just being a blushing headbanging fangirl over here, this does relate to my immediate future in more ways than "it's what's on repeat in the car."

For I...

Am going to RAZZLE DAZZLE it up with Melon tomorrow in Nara.

And there's really just no better way to spend a weekend.

This is Edo, signing off with a bounce in her step and all those great pre-concert jitters in the stomach.

EDIT- It has been confirmed by both an internet search and Atsushi's emphasis of the line during the live: he is indeed saying "bippity boppity boo." (The fact that he spells it BIBBIDI-BOBBIDI-BOO is inconsequential.)

The live was incredible, as expected, by the way. Although, as always... much, much too short.

Melon and I came up with the idea of a BUCK-TICK festival. Like a regular weekend-long music festival, just... only BUCK-TICK. They have twenty-plus years of songs to work with, they could do it.

And man would I be first in line to buy tickets.

Just doing my part. (自分の役目を果たしてるわ。)

Because I am as much a devoted and loving BUCK-TICK fan as the next guy...

(Provided that next guy is actually a lady named Melon.)

I thought that I would get my own foot in on this little advertising campaign thingy-jobby.

Because, you see, today, October 13th, 2010,  is the release date of BUCK-TICK's new, fabulously named album, RAZZLE DAZZLE.

And really. How do you expect any other topic to compete with that for my attention today?

Especially since I'm off to one of the first lives for the album this coming Sunday in boonies-tastic Nara (though admittedly, not as boonies-tastic as Mie, since they're actually playing a gig there. Ah ha.)

Moo ha ha.

Here. We. Go.

...

... I say that like I'm going to be doing something more exciting than posting up music videos.

You can't say that I never excite you, though.



First, appropriately enough, we have the first single released for this album, waaay back in March:  独壇場Beauty (Dokudanjou Beauty, Unchallenged Beauty) .

... but I've written about it before, so please, don't let me bore you in the here and now with repetition and triviality.

Do enjoy the song and video again, though.

Because really. Those never get old.



Next, we have くちづけ (Kuchiduke, Kiss), which was released in September.

And not only is the song dreadfully catchy and wonderful, but I find the video to be terribly artistic and mesmerizing.
 

You can tell how emotional I am when I start using seemingly mismatched yet utterly appropriate words for emphasis instead of the traditional vulgarities.

...Unless you haven't read enough hoitery-toitey literature and are still trying to figure out what in the world I'm actually trying to say in the above statement.

Ahem.

Anyway.

... I've already written about this song to some extent too, haven't I.

I'm just making an absolute mess of my advertising campaign.

Perhaps I should have done it a bit earlier in the day, before my higher brain functions were compromised.

But let it be known that I tried, and that I enjoyed doing so!

...because Sakurai Atsushi is a gorgeous man.

Brain functions. Compromised.  

This is Edo, signing off with a song in her head and a live in her future.

An exciting kind of weekend. (興奮させる週末やん。)

Which is why my updating schedule got all out of whack.

Again.

But that's not what we're talking about here.

What we're talking about is the fact that I had a fantastic weekend with Melon, surprisingly right here in good ol' Matsusaka (and a little bit in Tsu, admittedly.)

Which admittedly made going back to work today all the more painful, but what are you going to do. That's just the way the world works when you're a contributing member of society.

Anyway.

Bullet form (somewhat), just because I'm lazy.

1) Melon arrived on Saturday night, and we got ourselves some Hakata-style ramen.

Admittedly, not the best Hakata-style ramen, but after you've have 一風堂 (ippuudou), there's just no going back.

Good enough, anyway.

We then went home, and watched late night Japanese television on the brand-spanking new (to me anyway) TV that is now in my room.

(Thank you, boss.)

I really love late-night Japanese TV.

2) Sunday was a busy day.

We were supposed to go to the post office to send in my JLPT registration, head over to work to show Melon my day-to-day life, to Honeys to pick up a shirt I had ordered, then out to lunch, all before coming home, getting all rock-oshare'd up and heading out to the live.

The post office being closed kinda threw a hitch in that plan.

Admittedly, I guess most post offices are closed on the weekends, but having had access to the mondo Kyoto-eki post office for so long... I guess I got a little spoiled.

The rest of the afternoon went off fairly well, though, even though we should have hit another hitch--we showed up at the Italian restaurant I had picked just after they had "closed" for dinner preparations. Luckily, the owner was feeling kind, and let us come in and eat.

We then went home to get ready for our rockin' evening.

And rock did it ever.

Despite the early start (4:30 open and 5:00 start? What, did you have to make it home for your bed time, guys?), both bands put on excellent performances--even though I went in thinking that I would greatly prefer DEATHGAZE (who unfortunately only got half an hour on stage), lynch. was excellent live, and I thoroughly enjoyed both acts.

I am currently suffering from headbangers-neck, which is truly the sign of an evening well spent.

I wanted to buy a cell-phone strap from both bands, but unfortunately DEATHGAZE had priced theirs out of my humble range.

My ticket stub went into their bucket at the beginning (indicating why I had come that evening), so I think that makes up for it, really.

3) Monday was also a busy day.

After wondering what to do, I ultimately decided that we needed to go and see BECK, since the nearby theater (Tsu is nearby, when it comes to movies) was having their customer appreciation day, discounting tickets by almost half.

And we'll take any excuse to see a bit of Mizushima Hiro action, admittedly. 

And it was actually quite a good movie, which I am very happy to have seen in theatres.

...aaand if this were a movie post I would summarize it for you.

But it's not, so I won't.

Maybe some other time.

Anyway. As we had to drive to Tsu, and as it was quite a long movie, that took up most of our daylight.

But that's all right.

Because our last bit of excitement did not require daylight.

That's right.

温泉 (onsen, hot spring) time.

Or really, more like 銭湯 (sentou, public bath) time, but it was good all the same.

And ridiculously cheap.

An excellent way to end a weekend.

Because I've told you before.

There is nothing better than naked time.

Especially naked time with your best friend at the close of an excellent weekend.

...admittedly more late night television was pretty good too.

But it was really all about the naked time.

...so much so, in fact, that I am tempted to go back myself this Friday after work.

Because damn. I'm already tired.

Ahem.

All in all, excellent, excellent times this weekend, and certainly enough to make me think longingly and nostalgically of only 36 hours ago.

... can you use nostalgically that way?

This is Edo, signing off feeling nostalgic no matter what you say.

No more news? (もうニュースない？)

You see, that's the problem with a big update like the one I made last time.

...you are conspicuously short on things to say the next post around.

So you're going to get (a) a rehash and (b) more cooking.

...because when you work a full day, cooking takes up a lot of your free time, I must say.

First, the rehash.

1. Melon is coming tomorrow.

As expected, I am happy happy happy.

And it will certainly make a full work day seem much easier.

Looking forward to something always does, have you noticed?

2. lynch./DEATHGAZE live at M'AXA

Because how awesome is that, really.

I mean.

In Matsusaka.

A hard rock/V-kei/metal live.

Which just happens to be taking place when my best friend is visiting.

Talk about your amazing happenstances.

Not to mention the fact that I got two tickets at least a month after they first went on sale.

Clearly, we were meant to go to this concert.

...you know, I say that, but every time I start trying to believe in fate, it juts backfires.

So.

We were lucky and therefore get to go to an awesome concert.

There we go.

3. The weather is awesome lately.

Seriously.

It will probably get hot again tomorrow, though.

Sigh indeed.

(Can you tell that I'm trying to space this entry out...?)

4. I made potato pancakes!

Of a sort, anyway.

I love left over mashed potatoes; they're so useful.

Who knew that all you needed to add was an egg to make delicious perfection?

...ok, and salt and pepper, but that's a given.

This is, of course, the second batch--first batches are always icky looking, you know. They were in my stomach long before cameras were ever brought into the picture.

The addition of the egg gave them a sort of scrambled-egg-and-hash-brown taste, which was quite satisfying, I must admit. I definitely recommend these to anyone with some mashed potatoes on hand. Delicious.

Sauteing them in butter helps, I imagine.

... and, yes.

I told you I was short on things to talk about today.

This is Edo, signing out incredibly excited for her weekend and now craving some more potato pancakes... curses.

How about cooking, then? (料理はどうや？)

Well, I originally intended to make today's post another weather-centric, super-interesting climactic-spectacular...

But then something else came up.

As of this weekend, I just realized, I have been in Japan for a month.

My, how the time does fly!

...no, that's not the "something else," but it deserved mention nonetheless.

The "something else" is, as you may have guessed, another adventure in Japanese cuisine!

... and of course, by Japanese cuisine, I mean cuisine Edo makes while living, breathing and shopping in Japan, not cuisine that has any particular Japanese slant or flavor.

Sometimes it does.

Just not tonight.

BUT FIRST.

There really was some interesting weather, all right?

As mentioned last time, today (Wednesday) was cool and overcast. So cool and overcast, in fact, that I made a point of opening every single window within my reach (yes, even my porch windows--I found the screens!) so as to save energy and get all that outdoorsy goodness working for me.

And then, wonder of wonders, it began to rain!

How cool is that.

...ok, for a desert girl like myself, it's pretty cool.

It doesn't rain in September, unless there's some late monsoon storm that got lost on its way to the Pacific.

So, now the windows were open not only for the cool, but for the glorious, glorious scent of rain.

...my laundry has probably suffered for this. I'm not sure, but I suppose I will find out one way or the other.

Anyway. Moving on.

I have had a nice chunk of beef (what sort of beef? absolutely no idea, that's what sort of beef) sitting in my freezer for a while now; I had intended to make it this past weekend, as some of you may know, but was foiled once again (the last time was with chicken for omuraisu) by my inability to remember to take things out to thaw the night before I want to actually cook them.

Last night, ah ha! I remembered.

And thus, today was beef day.

I also had a bag of small potatoes (new potatoes? yukon potatoes? who knows) sitting around getting old, so I thought to make it an all-american experience and whip up some mashed potatoes to go with my beef.

I wanted to make caramelized shallot mashed potatoes, but unfortunately, was stuck with garlic, as the supermarket I popped into today had nothing even resembling shallots, and as we all know, onions aren't the same.

...they aren't. I'm serious here.

There was asparagus though, albeit less-than-fresh-looking asparagus, so I got some of that to round off my meal.

So, later on, I set my potatoes (peeled, of course) to boil with a few cloves of garlic along with. I halved my asparagus, foolishly discounted the whole "tough ends" theory and did not peel them, popped them into a bowl with some butter, lemon, salt and pepper, covered them up and microwaved them for a bit. Sliced my beef, and pan-seared it in butter with salt and pepper.

What I'm not telling you is that my timing was such that the asparagus was done a good few minutes before everything else, so I am guilty of snacking on it during the rest of the cooking. Oops.

I also popped a few leftover rolls in the toaster, just to make things really American.

After my beef was done, my potatoes were just about ready to mash. I then had a brain wave, and took a ladel of the boiling potato water, dumped it into the beef pan, pulled up all the beefy-buttery goodness, and dumped it back in with the potatoes. Beefy-garlic potatoes! What an idea!

... might have been better if I had actually cooked the potatoes in this beefy mixture for more than a few moments at the end, because I honestly could not taste the difference.

Did clean the pan up pretty well, though.

Finding no potato masher in the kitchen, I improvised using that same ladel, mashing up my taters with some whole milk, butter, salt and pepper. Scooped some out onto a plate with my asparagus and beef, and voila, a dinner fit for a king:

I'm telling you, even though it was a bit over-cooked for my tastes (easily remedied next time), lemon butter asparagus is truly one of the finer inventions of man.

I will be less dubious next time and peel the bottoms, though. I wound up gnawing a few bits, omnivorous teeth sans canines not really working for me. (Curse you, pediatric dentist!)

I now have something like two meals of potatoes left over, and at least one meal of beef (which tasted somewhat like steak, if a bit tougher.) Talk about the meal that just keeps giving!

The bag of potatoes was... oh, maybe 128 yen, the beef was 304 yen, and the two bunches of asparagus were probably 200 yen together.

Not bad, eh?

I really do need to find a better way to make garlic mashed potatoes, though. Perhaps mashing the garlic up with the potatoes instead of taking it out beforehand? Hm.

Admittedly, I also should have been using cream, but my hips are wide enough as it is, thank you much.

Also, I honestly think that I haven't eaten beef since leaving America-land. It just isn't the meat of choice over here. And, of course, my stomach has already adjusted to that sort of beef-free diet. Moments after swallowing my tasty, tasty protein, I could feel the danger ahead and immediately went for the tums.

Sometimes I really just think that my stomach makes things up to suit itself.

In other exciting news!

Melon is coming to visit this weekend, arriving Saturday night and going back to Kyoto (lucky girl) on Tuesday morning.

At first, I worried that my humble inaka town would bore her.

And then, after the tiniest bit of searching, I found this (I've hyperlinked the date to the venue's website):

9月 19日 - 日曜日2010年

lynch.　オープニングサポート；DEATHGAZE

lynch. オープニングサポート； DEATHGAZE  16：30open／17:00start ◆前売り￥3,500  drink=￥500 ※入場は整理番号順となります。 ※未就学児童入場不可。 8月14日（土）より一般発売開始！ チケットぴあ:0570-02-9999(P:114-109) イープラス：http://eplus.jp ローソンチケット：0570-084-004（L:45682）

Hello, hard rock concert (or, hard rock live, as we say around here) right in my back yard!

What are the odds.

And, after a bit of checking, I have discovered that I like both of these bands.

And even though today is one month after the on-sale date...

I managed to snag us some tickets.

Which apparently were either the last ones, or at least some of the last ones.

Good timing? Yes, I think so.

A fun weekend? Oh, indeed. You can't go wrong with a hard rock concert, I always say.

So really. Productive day off?

I think so.

This is Edo, signing off full of beef, potatoes, and hope for the future.

...goodness, that got silly all of a sudden, didn't it?