Almost there - Ikura deska?

(Poster for Detroit Metal City, Japanese film based on a popular manga that aired at the TIFF last year)

One more exam to go and the experiment that was becoming a Hong Kong exchange student comes to an end. Time definitely flew here, and now with a good friend and one of my roommates leaving, it's starting to hit home. At the same time, this means that my long-term dream of visiting Japan is that much closer to fruition! T-minus 5 days and I will be alighting to Tokyo for a 19-day sojourn throughout several parts of the country. I will attempt to increase my blog frequency while I'm over there as I'm sure I'll be experiencing sensory overload and short of buying a fancy minimalistic leather-bound journal/notebook and getting all bohemian up in here (my chicken scratch isn't condusive to worldly hand-written scripture) this form of publishing might be the best form of media to chronicle the trip. First up: Tokyo for 5 nights, wherein 4 will be spent in a hostel (named NUTS) in Shinjuku, a major commercial and transit hub, and one in a capsule hotel along with other drunken businessmen. It is also where I intend to have experiences such as the infamous early-morning Fish Market trip, Fugu (blowfish) consumption, sake bar-hopping, taking in the May Sumo Wrestling tournament at the Ryogoku Kokugikan arena, checking out a baseball game (likely Daisuke Matsuzaka's old team the Seibu Lions), and sufficient amounts of shopping for all of those things that I'd never find back home. Oh, and of course the requisite sight-seeing: luckily we'll be staying next to one of the better parks in the city (Shinjuku Gyoen). But of course, the blog will hopefully tell the tale on a day-to-day basis in sufficient detail.

Peace. Next update will likely be on a frustratingly difficult keyboard somewhere in Tokyo.

MUSIC

Doman and Gooding - Runnin' (Ian Carey Remix)
http://www2.zippyshare.com/v/73458577/file.html
Here's a nice pop-house track remixed by the funky American genius Ian Carey. Just love the sampled strings reminiscent of those in Armand Van Helden's "You Don't Know Me". Uplifting, romantic and dayum funky, with sufficient electro-grooves after the breakdowns.

Procrastihatin'

Currently enjoying 36 hours of birthday wishes being across the world, one advantage of being 12 hours ahead from EST. Scott Young, a fellow in my hall, mentioned that on his flight back to Vancouver, he will arrive two hours before he technically "leaves" Hong Kong...which got me thinking...TIME TRAVEL. Given that the Star Trek movie is coming out soon, a movie that apparently is "pritty pritty good" (Curb Your Enthusiasm reference) based on Rottentomatoes reviews, it got me thinking about the potential that he has for those two hours. He could, in effect, alter time and future events/past events that he experienced before the flight by his actions. Too bad that two hours isn't enough time to test the "Grandfather Paradox", but oh well one can try. Yes, I know this logic doesn't make any sense at all, but given that I'm doing ANYTHING I cant possibly do to distract myself from the inevitable and painful reality that is my impending Advanced Financial Accounting exam on Friday, this is where I stand. I've watched all the TV I can possibly watch, taken long food breaks and facebooked my day away while also concurrently planning for my Japan trip (Tokyo! Osaka! Kyoto! Fukuoka! Kumamoto! Beppu! Hiroshima! Nara! The fun don't stop in the land of the rising sun). Once the Accounting exam is finished, I'm coasting. I'm considering using my time (and funds) to do the world's tallest/highest bungee jump from the Macau Tower, and with sufficient peer pressure I'll be doing it on Sunday (weather permitting). The other two exams...are jokes.

I just can't fathom how over 4 months have already passed. It's been a great time.

MUSIC:

DJ Punish - Meet Her at Baltimore
http://www.mediafire.com/?mwnjmjmhjo3
I've been waiting for this track for FORFUCKING EVER. I heard it first on a Laidback Luke mix in maybe early March, but I only just found it today after diligently hunting it every week. A redux of Da Hool's 90's classic Meet Her at the Love Parade, Dutch Bmore up-and-comer DJ Punish, who has been pumping out banging Euro-meets-thugged-out-baltimore-club music for the last half a year or so, did a killer job with this track. When the bass drops into a baltimore club riddim at 0:51, watch out. An explosive club track.

Reflection Eternal - Back Again
http://www.mediafire.com/?y0y1ztzwui4
I merely like the IDEA behind this...it's time that Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek got back together in an official capacity. Hip Hop, especially Independent Hip Hop, has been one of the biggest losers of the death of the music label. With fewer and fewer A&Rs or up and coming labels, amazing hip hop artists haven't found the funding or distribution necessary for them to make cake. It feels like it's been 3 years since either a) independent hip hop artists/groups sounded inspired or b)new refreshing acts came out and really blew my mind. But hey, why not reassemble one of the best things to come out of the long-dead Rawkus records collective that ran the game in the late 90s into the early 21st Cen. Unfortunately I haven't been that blown away by anything Talib has done since Quality...and I think a lot of it has to do with the production he's been getting. The first album Reflection Eternal put together was definitely inspiring and fresh for its time, both artists definitely still hungry and at the top of their craft. The beat that Hi-Tek serves up here is decent, but I'm not overwhelmed by the hook by any means. Talib still does the job though. Check it out and hope that we see more from these two and other old Rawkus types in the NEAR NEAR future!!

Armand Van Helden - The Robots are Cumming (2001)
http://www.mediafire.com/?qqw4mmridtw
I found myself repeating "The Robots are Cumming" to myself all day...and I couldn't figure out why...I probably heard it at some point in the last year and just never got to downloading the track. It's from back in 2001, when eternal ear-to-the-streets music trendsetter/chameleon Armand Van Helden decided to share a bed with one of the Daft Punk robots...not Thomas or Guy...but definitely an actual robot...and this song is the result. With french touch filters, hi hats, guitar licks and chopped up samples all over the track with a wicked robotic one-liner spit all over the track, the track's just a lot of fun. Everybody put this on, do your best impression of Star Trek's Data or a BSG Cylon in front of a mirror and wait for Cyberdyne to blow up the world...because then the Robots are definitely cumming/coming.