Shouldn't laugh, but....

A Japanese man who turned up at a school dressed in a girl's uniform and a long wig was arrested for trespassing, police said.
Tetsunori Nanpei, 39, put on the uniform he had bought over the internet and took a walk near the high school in Saitama, north of Tokyo, on Wednesday.
Students standing outside the school gates caught sight of him and started screaming, local papers reported, at which point Nanpei rushed on to the school grounds hoping to blend in with the crowds of teenagers.
When pupils in the school began screaming the man fled, losing his wig in the process. A school clerk pursued him and stopped him at a nearby riverbank.
Police confirmed the man's arrest but gave no further details.

'hoping to blend in'! :)

Back in the days...

I've been wallowing in nostalgia of late. There's me on the left, aged around 16, banging away on the drums in my former space rock meets the Stranglers type band, Food.

Most of this recent sepia tinted memory-fest has come about because of Facebook. I only joined it to play Scrabble, but it certainly works in a kind of, browse your mates photo albums way and, it throws up a fair few people you haven't seen in a LONG time. One add of an old friend lead to another and another, and then one of those old friends put up a photo or two, which inspired another friend to do the same, and, well, you get the picture (or I did :BOOMTISH:). I now have a growing collection of photos, that I'd never seen before, of me, fresh faced and fancy free.

You also get groups...I have joined a few. Basically related to my social circle here. The other day though, I noticed, amongst all the frigging pokes, that one of my friends had joined a group called 'Spiral Tribe'. Spiral Tribe were (are) the sound system I had some of the best nights/weekends of my life with, and there, in their group/on their website are photos of some of those events. Not brilliant photos it has to be said, but photos none the less and recognisable....parties in fields and warehouses from 17 years ago that I could still see more or less in my mind's eye, but now there they are on my computer screen. Torpedo Town, the best rave I ever went to, Worthing, which I remember for dancing for around 8 hours solid, and the New Year's Parties at the Round House in London, the first being brilliant, the actual New Year party being a bit of nightmare.

At times like this I really do love the internet. I imagine though that future generations will be able to call up almost anything, anytime, anywhere. I remember reminiscing, at around the time the top picture was taken, with friends about kids programmes we used to watch. I never thought at that time that I would see them again. Perhaps that was before nostalgia TV and video/DVD re-releases were so popular. More importantly though, it was before YOUTUBE. Hands up who's wasted many an hour on Youtube watching music videos/TV Shows from their youth? I have to say I love it, and it outdid Facebook in the nostalgia stakes when I discovered these videos of Nirvana playing at Reading festival in 1991. It's a gig I remember really well because they were so good on that day, but my god, the whole thing is there. My 17 year old memories, not just captured in a frozen image, but the whole bloody thing, audio an' all. It's like watching it projected from, or on to, as Alan Partridge would say, 'my mind's curtain cupboard'.

And why has most of this come from August 1991? Dr Emmett Brown might hypothesise about the cultural significance of that but for me, it represents a very (pleasant) surprising look back, and now record, of one of the most enjoyable times I've had. I never jumped into my drum kit like Kurt though.

Hajimemashite

Seeing as I'm trying to be slightly more regular in my posting I figured it might be an idea to put the blog out there, just a little you understand. If I'm going to waste my time writing it, I may as well waste your time by getting you to read it. I joined up with Japan in Motion after picking up a flyer one night last week, sooooo, if it's your first visit, you'll be cockerhoop to find I've linked to some past entries that might give you a rounded view of the 'whole boy', me. Well the blog anyway. Enjoy. (If you get beyond the first one)

Where I live
When WC learnt to dance
Listening to music
The day job
Hifana come to town
The Noro virus
Buy my music :)
Golden Week
Long weekends with Dangerous Drums
GH Festival
Dancing in Japan
I love Tokyo
Blighty
Trying to find the normal people
My year

A farewell to Roxis

It would be nice to report that we went out with bang but our last night at Roxis really only underlined why we can't be arsed with it anymore. Richard and Dai-chan have been great to us but at the end of the day, noone comes down for the event itself despite a few nights being busy with people on the dance floor. It seems that a lot of people go down to Roxis with a kind of unplanned private party in mind, bringing their own music and looking a bit put out when they realise they can't get comfy. A couple of times I've felt sorry for Dai-chan that we are there which isn't really what you want when you're doing an event!

So, no more regular nights but look out for irregular events at Lotus, Edge and the occasional spot at Mugen from us at 3K. Will ofcourse, keep you 'all' informed.

BRAINTAX Feat Dubble edge - ANTI GREY

qualla UKHipHop

An ode to tea...

PG Tips (warning: website includes slightly disturbing talking/staring monkey) tea to be precise.

An American colleague asked me if I ate lots of nice food while I was back in England at xmas. After I'd stopped laughing I did concede that I always enjoyed the bread and cheese back home, and do try and go for a curry just cos I can have it with rice other than Japanese rice, which I don't really find goes with curry. Oh, and bacon. Then there's tea. Now the tea in Japan is fine. It's not quite as nice as PG Tips, but then again neither is Tetley, but it is tea. It's pretty cheap aswell and very drinkable. So, no problem there, and what with Marmite being available in Jupiter and the high quality of food here (Asian or European) there really is nothing I miss foodwise about the UK (apart from your cooking Dad naturally....and you're not even English). I dread to think of a life without Ramen, Sushi, Okonomiyaki, Onigiri, Yakiniku, Soba, Kirin Lemon tea and Dars 100 yen chocolate. Oh and yakitori. I could go on.

Anyway, back to tea. This year's Omiyage involved a lot of PG Tips for expats and locals alike. I never really realised how NICE tea from England (not strictly from England obviously, you know what I mean) is until I lived in Madrid. Good GOD tea in Spain is undrinkable. Hideous tasteless dishwater. Emergency flares were sent up and luckily a steady stream of visitors kept us well in supply of our drug of choice. I think we even discovered you could buy PG Tips at an Asian food store. I suppose it is from Asia. Anyway, 2 tea stories that should leave you in no doubt as to the strength (brew) of a good cuppa...

1. In tea hell, Spain, I used to work for a British English language school. As you can imagine a lot of tea 'went down' in the staff room as most of us kept up the supplies with regular shipments from back home. Isabela, our secretary, eventually succumbed to the pressure of her peers and started taking the odd drop of cha. I remember her coming in one day to be offered a hot drink. Tea please she said only to break into a classic Madrilena sneer when she saw me reach for the only tea we had left (Spanish), 'Errrr not those ones, I want the ones you all usually drink' said the former dedicated coffee drinker. Don't think she'll be swapping her morcilla for black pudding though.

2. Concerning the omiyage I brought back this year. I presented my chum with a box of PG's finest at Opium the other day. Sometime 3K DJs Kazu and Daisuke where there with their lady friends. I don't think I have ever seen Kazu get so excited as when he spotted the box of PG. Jumping over to our table....EHHHH! Nani Kore? PG Tips!! Nande!!? Kazu used to live in England you see. His excitement drew the others over and for the first time in my life I think, I saw a Japanese person praise part of English cuisine......BARI UMAI! You should have heard him wax lyrical on how good it is. After that review we dolled out a bag each. Later on I noticed Kazu had 2 bags infront of him....one for his girlfriend he claimed.

Maybe I could become a PG pusher?

A listening loose end

Blimey it's cold outside. I'm not straying far from my heater at the moment, hoping it doesn't make too many of those funny sounds it's prone to and enjoying the fumes when it does.....mmmmmmm fumes.

Since I was back in the UK I have been listening a fair bit to Dubstep FM . The UK part isn't relevant, other than the music's roots, as it's based in America. My brother just had it on often. It's very good, streams at 192kbps geek fans, and showcases a lot of very good dubstep. Not everyone's cup of tea, it's been slowly growing on me. It's definitely good sound system type music. Dropped a couple of tracks late on on Saturday when I had drank enough not to worry if anyone left. Sounded amazing loud. Give it a spin, you, you might like it.....you might need some half decent speakers though.

Hello!

You really could only be in Japan when there's a Hello Kitty airplane taxiing (how do you spell that?) on the runway.

(Although on reflection it is an airplane so it's probably going to be going abroad at some point)

Rats!

2008, the year of the rat. My year. I'm a rat. The Stranglers album on the left is one of my favourite ever albums, Rattus Norvegicus. Nice link (not the hyperlink). 2007 won't be going down as WC's best so hopefully 2008 will be better and I'm being PROACTIVE! Starting with this blog, so, Hisashiburi.

I'm sat in my parent's home much as I was this time last year. Some things have changed though, we've been playing PES 7 this year. Also I seem to have a mild version of my old friend the Noro Virus. It's all the rage in the UK right now.




I did get to go via Bangkok this year though which was a lot of fun. Very hot, very crowded, lovely food, and all sorts of stuff to look at and be entertained by. 5 days seemed too short in the end and I soon forgot any plans to go on a trip somewhere although it now would be nice to see a calmer side of Thailand.

I have at least now, spent some time in another Asian country other than Japan and a couple of days in Korea.




And I traveled north, to see chums in Newcastle. That was nice as we toured Britains majestic countryside in a VW Polo. I'm not even being that sarcastic. The countryside is amazing. We went to the Lakes, Hadrian's Wall, Scotland, Holy Island and er, Bigg Market.

If you've ever read Viz and not been to Newcastle, you'll be pleased to hear the stereotypes are far from made up. Biffa Bacon, The Fat slags, I saw them all on a brief walk through town on a Friday night. That said, away from your herds of binge drinking pleasure seekers the people were very friendly, a far cry from the miserable bastards round here.

And so, tomorrow night I fly back to Japan to start 2008. Will the rat bring me luck?

Musically I should be off to a good start with one of my tracks featuring in a documentary about street life and hip hop culture in New York (word) and GHB and myself will be at Seacake Style on the 12th of Jan. We had a couple of great parties at Lotus towards the end of the year....look out for a few more of them.

Happy New Year

Break N Enter in Brighton Emcee killa cappo karizma foz

Electro Funk Daddy Superstar Brake

Dangerous Drums - Saturday Oct 13th

This October Dangerous Drums duo ED2000 and dj Vela touch down in Hiroshima again for 2 nights of Breaks, Electro, Dub Step and whatever else they fancy.

The main event is on Saturday 13th of October at Bar Edge. We haven't been there for a while and we're very much looking forward to getting back down underground.

Alongside ED2000 and dj Vela we are also proud to present

CA2 (CoA 3KBreaks)

Moco (ELECTROROCKERH)

Godfarm (Heartbeat of Dragon)

and your hosts GHB and, little old me, Windcheater

Saturday night will be a good ol' fashioned 3KBreaks night and costs 2000Yen in advance, 2500Yen on the door.

On Friday (12th October) night, we're having a little pre-event at Lotus. ED2000 and Vela will be spinning again, with a very different flavour to Saturday. Expect lots of Dub Step and records played at the wrong speed :)

Joining us on this night will be the Sleepeye boys, and it's free.

Come and chill out on the friday, then put on your d****** shoes for Saturday. Just don't tell the rozzers.

Making of the Doctor Who theme (full)

lovely stuff

Victims Family - In a Nutshell

I have a bad right ear. I've had it ever since I was about 17....after going to see this band and standing a bit too near the speakers. One of my favourite 'hardcore' bands at that time :)

beat box - nouvelle star

ho hi ho hi ho

If I keep smiling...

crikey!

Windcheater ringtones?

Showing just how much attention I pay to things, I've only just noticed that Beatpick have a ringtone of my track Apathetic on their MySpace page. It's free and comes in 3 formats, none of which seem to work on my phone. Hohum.

Don't forget (as if you would) Apathetic is available in it's entirety to listen to and buy (yes buy!) on my Beatpick page.

What are you doing this summer?

Finowfurt, Germany: 1,200 computer enthusiasts from Germany and elsewhere have gathered for a five-day summer camp, Chaos Communication Camp 2007, which describes itself as an 'open-air festival for hackers and similar lifeforms'

Hope they all remember to pack their sun cream.

New track - Long Time Rocker

I've finally put a version of my latest track Long Time Rocker, out there. You can hear it on my MySpace page.

Hopefully it will be the first track you hear when you go there, and it should be at the top of the list.

Any comments, fair or foul, always welcome.