what I see - a tokyo photolog: 02 October 2005

If you're seeing an error message:

If you are seeing "picture currently unavailable" error messages from flickr.com on this blog, don't worry. Click on the picture area and you'll be taken to my flickr page, where everything will be all right. Cheers.

写真のエリアに「現在表示できません」というFlickrのエラーメッセージが表示されていたら、そのエラーメッセージをクリックしてください。Flickrのサイトに飛びますが、写真はそこでは表示されているはずです。

5 October 2005

Wata of Boris

Wata of Boris
Originally uploaded by nofrills.

Picture taken on 9 July 2005 (very late into the night, so exactly 10 July), at the Loft, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. (Too much smoke!!!!!)

VIEW FULLSIZE HERE.

My friend Wata, guitarist of a Tokyo band called "Boris" (website | last.fm). Do not expect a stereotyped "girl on guitar". She's a feedbacker. How they sound ... imagine Pink Floyd meet Black Sabbath in the 21st century in a desert.

They are touring in the US very soon (in October 2005). Check Caroline Records' website for dates. (Click on the name "BORIS".)

Earlier this year, they toured the UK, Ireland and Europe with SUN O))) and Thrones (Joe Preston).

--

Here are some video clips of the band (RealPlayer needed), three songs during these five years. They've been around for more than 10 years and they keep changing, and these three clips are just a part of what they've been doing.

I've found some of their gig posters. This one was for their first UK tour, and this one is for the forth-coming US tour. This and this are for their tour in Europe (spring 2005).

They are soon releasing a new full album, and a collaboration with Merzbow is on sale, too. (CMJ has a sample audio file, or try wfmu radio's archive.

Actually I'm translating for them. One of my first works is "Black: Implication Flooding" by Keiji Haino and Boris, which was recorded live in Tokyo at the end of January 1998 and released in the summer of that year. The original phrases for this album in Japanese have never been made public, I think. There was a lot of discussions between the musicians and me, about word selection etc. One of the things that Mr Haino thought most important was to erase subject as much as possible. In a way, "Question The Language Itself" was what they asked me. It was tough, indeed, but it taught me a lot.

4 October 2005

creeping paw

creeping paw
Originally uploaded by nofrills.

you talkin to me?

you talkin to me?
Originally uploaded by nofrills.

"Well, I'm the only one cat here..."

I met him one morning on a street. He's someone's house cat. He's overwhelmingly friendly, and full of curiosity. And he LOVES camera. He does have some interest in this shiny round part of the shiny box-like thingy.

A stunning contrast to the camera hater on the same street.

3 October 2005

dragonfly

dragonfly
Originally uploaded by nofrills.

taken on 30 July 2005

2 October 2005

our weather today

our weather today
Originally uploaded by nofrills.

The weather we've had today (01 October 2005). The black and white stands for the past (actual weather) and the full-color is forcast.

I've been away from flickr for a couple of months. I've been too busy for it. Hopefully this "work hell" will be over in a few days (or weeks). (^^)

While I was away from flickr, Japan had:
-a lot of hot and humid days and nights
-several typhoons, including the one that badly affected Kyushu (Nabi, or simply Number 14)
-an election, which was, for me, the most un-interesting election since I got the right to vote

Tokyo had a flood on the night of 4 September when it rained more than 100 mm an hour. My area wasn't affected as badly as some riverside areas in Nakano and Suginami wards, but on the next morning, in my neighbourhood, I saw a front yard of someone's house got totally washed away.

sky_01102005_more-cloud

sky_01102005_more-cloud
Originally uploaded by nofrills.

Tokyo, Japan. Around 15:00, 01 October 2005.

sky_01102005_crane

sky_01102005_crane
Originally uploaded by nofrills.

Tokyo, Japan. Around 15:00, 01 October 2005.

Even decades ago, when there was no skyscrapers and things, a poet said "Tokyo has no sky". We all learn the poem at school, well at least as far as I know. I was thinking about the poet, who suffered nervous breakdown, looking at the sky.

For weeks, I looked at the sky just to see if it was raining, or it was going to rain, or not. I didn't think about it's beauty. 1 October was the day I got back a little bit of me.