SIMON & GARFUNKLE

Wednesday July 8. Heading to Nagoya Dome for the Simon & Garfunkle "Old Friends" tour. The subway was packed, as was the tunnel to the Dome... Tonight, the chance to see popular music history! Simon and Garfunkle live in Nagoya....
The stage from my seat. It was a simple stage as modern day lives go, but it was a simple show,...Then again, simple is best!  In this case, simple was fantastic!
Moments before the lights went down, Nagoya Dome was packed! The average age of the concert goers would have had to be about 55! When the lights went off, the 3 big screens showed a montage of S&G's historical moments from their beginning to the break-up, and later reunion show, finally leading up to today, and a final shot of Nagoya Dome,...the fans appreciated that! When the screens faded, the stage lights came on, and there they were! 
It was a brilliant show. Simon & Garfunkle have less hair, more wrinkles, but they've lost nothing else. Their harmonies were perfect, they played hit after hit, about 28 songs in all. (I always take notes, seen above)  during lives of set lists, who does what, etc.) Everyone who attended had nothing but rave reviews. The crowd remained seated for the majority of the show, -not unusual for Japan- until the final 2 encores. I had goose-bumps listening to "I Am A Rock", Art Garfunkle's "Bright Eyes", "Bridge over Troubled Waters" (last song) and "Sounds Of Silence" (1st encore song)  I now regret not having bought a tour poster and tour pamphlet, but at 3,000 yen ($30) I thought it was a bit expensive after ¥13,000 ($130) tickets.

IS THIS A CAR??

My car is currently undergoing what Japan calls Shakken, basically in a move to keep older cars off the roads and fuel the economy (ie, make people buy new cars) Shakken was introduced under the guise of keeping the air clean and promoting the use of fuel efficient vehicles. For that reason, older cars (those over 5 years old) are required to have all hoses replaced, engines checked and various other (probably quite unnecessary) points checked in order to remain registered. While my Rover is undergoing the checks, I've been loaned this X-mas bauble of a car, a Nissan March... 

RAINY SEASON

Japan is in the middle of Rainy Season, and in rainy season,...well, quite simply, it rains!  And it rains. And then it rains, and rains a bit more... Then suddenly, when you think it can't rain any more,..it pours!
Everything is wet, your shoes get wet, your sox are damp, the bottoms of your trousers get splashed, the air is damp and humid, and things are about to get steamy,... great if you're in an X -rated film, not good for city life....but at least it's better than the cold! 

FAREWELL MICHAEL

2am, Wednesday June 8. Watching the Michael Jackson memorial event on CNN. After all the Michael bashing that went on, it's nice to hear the media saying something nice about him.

I really think the media mis-read the feeling the public had for MJ for too long, particularly in the days surrounding his death. Even the station I work for missed the boat in regards to catering to the needs of listeners.

ANTIQUE MAP

At Sekigahara poring over an antique land ownership map,...fascinating stuff, seeing who lived where during the Great Battle, and wondering what happened to them and their descendants...

BATTLESITE TALK

Tuesday July 7. Straight after my program, I shot out to the site of the greatest Samurai battle ever, Sekigahara, fought in 1600. Today renown History scholar Professor Owada of the Shizuoka University was giving a talk on the townsfolk and farmers who once lived on what became the battle site. Many ran away and hid in the hills on the day of the battle (Oct. 21 1600) in which some 30,000 samurai were slain.

The sky was looking pretty ominous on the 50 minute long drive out there...

The talk was quite deep, but interesting, with the professor now attempting to locate all of the former sites of the townsfolk and farming houses based on antique maps and land ownership registrations left over from the time of the battle and dating between 1597 and 1604. He's also trying to track down the descendants of those families too,..big job!

POWER & THE MONEY

Been watching the MTV reality program 50Cent , The Power And The Money.  The show features rapper and businessman 50 Cent putting 14 would be business entrepreneurs through their paces in an effort to win $100,000 from the star. Never been much of a fan of reality TV, but this has been an enigma of a program. It's shown the good and the bad of people, the greed and stupidity of some, the thought pattern behind approaching each challenge and through the process of elimination, each members true colours. It's also been an interesting look at doing business the street hustler way. I've enjoyed watching it, but that's just my 50 Cents...