Globetrotting

Today is april 5th. A day forever burned in my mind. An entire winter I though of april 5th. Through the winter of 06-07 I found myself shoveling snow, hauling buckets of chips to Sunken Gardens, and packing boxes at home, all the while a piece of paper from an airline stared me in the eyes. April 5th was coming.It came and on april 5th 2007 Melissa and I got on a plane and flew to Japan. I can’t believe its been a year, but at the same time I can’t believe its been only a year. Being in school now I find my moments of recollection sporadic. Sometimes it seems like we never even left, and other times when I’m walking home from school I look up at Lincoln’s skyline squint my eyes and see the buildings lining the walk from Chris’s house to the closest kaiten sushi bar ( a walk made many times). I will say I miss Japan and the world very much these days. I think a cold winter had something to do with it. Spring is here and I can’t wait to whiteness Nebraska’s beautiful transformation from tundra to paradise.But I really want to go back too.I miss bells on bikes, and chu-hi’s  

Luke, Kyle and I are attempting to put together a YMCA bball team. Our current roster is totaled at 5. We need at least 7 to even register and should probably have at least 8 and up to 10 players, plus a coach. If anyone out there can commit to 8 season games, on sundays between noon and nine,  beginning late april let me know. We just want to play, it’s all about fun. It’s a fairly competitive league but I like being the underdog. Its rumored we have one all star player who can dunk like mad too, if so all our plays will be centered around the ally-oop.

Mel and I shelled out for a couple new ipods a while back. I think it’s mandatory to be allowed to walk around on campus, so we promptly joined up with the white headphone sect. I will say it was a great purchase. Everyone who works at the library listens to their ipod during shifts, so I’ve been able to really get into some albums lately and listen to them from beginning to end, uninterrupted, through headphones…the way music should be heard. 

I recommend giving a good listen to The Kinks album Part One: Lola Versus Powerman And The Moneygoround. Of course you’ve heard the song Lola “L-O-L-A Lola!” (And probably have it stuck in your head now), but it’s a great single in the middle of an amazing epic of music. Mick turned me onto this album. I’d known about the Kinks of course for a long time, but never really associated them with much beyond You really got me now. There’s no mistaking that Part One Lola Versus Powerman And The Moneygoround is one of the greatest albums of all time. It’s reminiscent of The Flaming Lips, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots to me, as they’re both album albums, focusing on a few thematic story concepts, uniting the tracks with a fusion of music that is unmistakably unique. Lola vs. Powerman was released in 1970, but seems to have gotten lost somewhere between the sixties and seventies and is begging for anyone to discover this classic.

The album opens with the track The Contenders, and a little acoustic bluegrass ditty sets the tone of the album. The first words Ray Davies tells us… 

Hush little mammy don’t you cry

I’ve got to see what it’s like on the world outside

Got to get out of this life somehow

Got to be free, got to be free now  

From the beginning we can see this is more than your basic British pop. Abruptly Dave Davies (Ray’s brother) rips a heavy blues rift with tone so boogieable it’s dangerous. With a full band jamming in psychedelic rock/country fusion sort of way, Ray goes on to say they “don’t want to sweep sidewalks…construct highways, and live under fascist dictators,” Progressive even by today’s philosophies. 

The second track Strangers has got to be one of my favorites. “Strangers on this road we are on, we are not two we are one”, the rest of the lyrics speak to me in so many ways. The future, the past, the ups and downs of life, the love you have, and the love you live for. Great songwriting.

In Denmark Street the Kinks get in to commentary on the business of music, and all the commercial bullshit that comes along with it.  In truth they’re just a band living in the shadows trying to write their way into history by spreading their message. All the while not getting much recognition and fighting the business of music every step of the way. This album is the Kinks telling us how hard it is to speak your mind to so many people. They make jokes of the whole situation, and question the concepts of “the rock and roll hit parade” and popularity in general.   

And of course Lola is a great song. It’s the peak of this musical opera, the Kinks going against songwriting, the music industry, and all the perils of the world. 

Ok Apeman! This is my favorite song. When the opening drums and guitar picking comes in you know this is going to be a fantastic track.  Davies voice has such a smooth teetering to it, as if it’s balancing high up on a tree branch. 

I think I’m sophisticated

‘Cos I’m living my life 

Like a good homosapien

But all around me everybody’s multiplying

We think were doing so good, living our lives to the best of our abilities however looking around our efforts seem futile so……lets not lie to ourselves and go live in the jungle like apes, like we really want to. I love it.

I think I’m so educated and I’m so civilized

‘Cos I’m a strict vegetarian

But with the over-population and inflation and starvation

And the crazy politicians

I don’t feel safe in this world no more

I don’t want to die in a nuclear war

I want to sail away to a distant shore

And make like an Apeman!

These guys are pouring their hearts out, through such a great song. They’re serious but not taking themselves serious. This album has a very honest feeling to it. 

Well, I won’t tell you how it ends, but the ideas and music The Kinks brought to their fans was revolutionary in its day. This album falls in that special category of music that went overlooked by the mainstream and is out there waiting to be found. Check it out, it’s a good day guaranteed.

Because I sure as hell don’t. I just ate a triple decker PB & J in about 3 bites WTF! It’s a goal I’ve always had and never fully mastered. I can easily abstain from putting crap in my body like animal flesh, milk chocolate, and soda pop, but when it comes to consuming my delicious vegan meals I can’t help but wolf them down like a grizzly bear about to hit the sack for winter hibernation. It’s just my instinct. Anyone who has dined with me can attest to the fact that I eat a ton. My ability to pack in massive quantities of food in my incredibly skinny body has made many marvel at my stomachs capacity. I remember this summer telling Li Baba (Chia’s father) that my legs were hallow. He didn’t really understand what I meant until we ate a couple meals together. We have a contest at our table, last person eating wins. I always lose by a landslide. My best reasoning as to the cause of this digestive dilemma is school. Through my entire public (and private) education lunch was a wham-bam-thank you mam sort of deal. Especially if you ended up at the end of the line and were left with much less time to eat than the kids who cut to the front. Not to mention recess if you finished early. Chewing your food to a liquidy pulp (that’s right liquidy) is so critical, and actually requires much more than 25 chews (try counting). Any food doctor, dietician, or naturalist could tell you a great deal more than me about how digestion begins in the mouth. Taking food into our bodies should be a sacred activity, one that requires focus and thought. I’m going to try harder to chew longer, but I’m not making any promises. Old habits die hard. 

Employment has finally caught up with me. I have a job for the first time in almost a year. It’s awesome (after only 2 days); I work in the circulation department of Love Library. Being a bit of a bibliophile myself, and a fan of organization, I think I will really LOVE the position. I can work any hours I want, and chose the various jobs I do, ie sorting, shelving, shifting. It keeps my weekends open, and works around my classes wonderfully. The only problem is all the sweet books that I’ll shelve and not have time to flip through, oh well. 

So Melissa and I are about 3 weeks into our first semester back at UNL. It’s great that after almost 6 years of academic absence I can still see many familiar faces on campus.
The plan as of now is a double major, Anthropology/International studies, double minor, Asian studies/Japanese. Our anthropology class is the highlight of the week, intro to cultural anthropology taught by Dr. Raymond Hames. I feel honored to have him this semester, one because all of his other classes are at the 400 level, and two with his 40 months field work in the Amazon with the Yanomamo he is a world renowned anthropologist.

We also have a Writing from Lit class, East Asian history classs, and intro to Astronomy, and all seem to be a nice bit of the semester.

Off to school!

Just wanted to say rest in peace Bobby Fisher. It’s always a shame when a legend passes away. What a guy. Play some chess today in the name of the greatest.

It’s a new year. Yay! We’ve made it all the way around our glorious Sun once again. The concept of a New Years holiday is about as galactic as we humans really think, aside from cosmonauts, but they’re not real Earthlings.

I can’t wait until the 20’s.

I’m really happy to not shovel snow for a living. I’m extremely happy and to be able to walk indoors via skywalks from 11th and O, to 13th and P. I love our city’s skywalks, we need more of them. I can’t help walking through the halls, picking up bits and pieces of everyone’s conversations, and imagining it’s some kind of live radio show.

Melissa has left the building. She’s probably enjoying the good company and good weather in North Carolina with Chia. It was weird going to an airport with her and not getting on the plane. She made it safe and sound despite the deadly storm that overtook the Midwest.

The two of us have been bouncing and bumming around for so long I am definitely used to the comfort of her by my side. After one day I miss her already. Have fun Melissa! “North Carolina!”

School looms before us and I can’t wait!

So it’s November, I guess. I was raking some leaves today, a typical fall activity. However I’ve never done it while sweating with my shirt off. I think I actually brought some life back to my summer farming tan in only a couple hours under today’s insanely hot sun. Melissa and I came home after noontime and walked into some kind of sauna. The apartment thermo read 85°, but I think it was at least ten degrees hotter in the bedrooms.

It was quite a shock to our dracaena Mr. D as well. We were all very thirsty.

Somebody said that it’s going to snow this week? Wtf! I didn’t believe them, until I asked my dashboard.

Oh hell. That’s my weather report.

I imagine one day…..50 years from now (if were lucky) I’ll kid around with my, or somebody’s, grandkids about the days when we all joked about global warming being a good thing, as we breathe from our local communities oxygen taps on our allotted day of the week.