It’s no secret that I am in love with this song. It’s simple, it’s cute, and it’s straight to the point.
When I found myself with a handful of extra time on my hands and an itchy camera finger, I quickly whipped the following cover of the Moldy Peaches’ song Anyone Else But You. I had a couple videography, film editing, and sound mixing experiments I had wanted to try, so why not put it all together? Yeah, it’s not perfect. Whatever. (And rendering anything on Windows Movie Maker turns florescent light into a tangerine colour.)
Wow. Two videos in one day! I am sure this is a record. Of course I am being fueled by love which is the only explanation I can think of to why I finished two silly videos in one day. (That or jet lag and insomnia.) This is for you guys, Kristine and Max Wood. Much love.
The following video contains footage from the wedding rehearsal day, the morning of the wedding, the hour before the wedding, and the impromptu singing of “Bohemian Rhapsody” from the wedding party.
My best friend, Kristine Owen, married Max Wood on August 21st, 2010. The wedding was set on Gabriola Island, a tiny picturesque island off the shore of Vancouver. There’s nothing more I can say except that I am extremely happy for her and that the two of them know how to throw a party.
How did Kristine and I meet? Let me show you what she had written down on her wedding page about our friendship. Why? Because I cannot write as well or as articulate as her; two, it’s already been written and I am lazy:
Ana, a.k.a “Anabanana”, “Nana”, “Anners”, “The Number Seven in Japanese” is “Sista from anotha motha”, best friend, co-conspirator, and number #1 partner-in-crime to Kristine. Their meeting in university is now the stuff of legend and folklore, and the memory of their numerous mischief-laden collaborations likely haunt many a East Asian Studies faculty member to this day. Kristine often claims that she is at a loss to explain how or why she ended up in JAPAN (of all places) for three years of her life, but if the blame can be placed on anyone, it is most likely Ana’s fault. A happy accident, for if it weren’t for Ana and her evil influence, Kristine’s life wouldn’t be as rich or as varied or as PLAIN FUN as it is today.
Ana is the girl who introduced Kristine to Japanese culture through “miruku” and the Chinese kanji character for “princess”; Ana is the girl who used to tear Kristine up with laughter when she’d forget how to count stairs or the number of plush Hello Kitties sitting ON the stairs after a few drinks at a house party; Ana is the girl who translated the infamous “Smelly Cat” song from the TV show Friends into Japanese so that Kristine could belt it out (to the chagrin of Ono-sensei) for a Japanese final presentation; Ana is the evil cohort who used to crash East Asian Studies graduate conferences with Kristine for the sole purpose of stealing sushi; Ana is the girl who used to set ancient Japanese haiku to modern commerical jingles and sing them (to the chagrin of Dr. Brown) in the hallways before class; Ana is the girl who always maintained a sense of humor in JAPAN 250, even when NOBODY ELSE thought it was funny when Kristine accidentally sent things flying off of her desk. Ana is the brave soul who dared to steal pork ribs right off of Kabata-sensei’s plate at that OTHER East Asian Studies conference she and Kristine crashed. Ana is the girl who’s been there for Kristine through triumphs and break-ups; Ana is the friend who visited Kristine in Japan not once, but TWICE. Ana has always been one of Kristine’s biggest inspirations and cheerleaders, and for that, Kristine has always felt extremely blessed to have such a wonderful BFF as Ana in her life.
Favorite memory from New Years, 2005: Strung out on brandy beans, malibu and pineapple, and falling out of our chairs lauging our @$$es off at that essay, “So You Want To Learn Japanese?” (Excerpt: “The Japanese writing system is broken down into three separate, complete, and insane, parts: Hiragana — all of which look completely different and bear absolutely no resemblance to each other whatsoever, Katakana — all look exactly the same, and it’s impossible, even for Japanese people, to tell them apart, and Kanji — letters that were stolen from China; roughly 4 million embodiments of your worst nightmares.”)
There are not a lot of people I can honestly say that I love who are not my sisters, but Kristine is like a sister to me. I love you Kristine. Seriously.
The tiny brown globes rested in a tiny mountain pile on top of steaming rice, almost appearing if they were steaming themselves. I leaned over and the pungent smell of ripe old age cheese seized my senses. Overwhelmed, I stumbled backwards, fingers grappling on the table to regain balance. I peered cautiously at the innocent ceramic bowl before me and then at the smiling, encouraging face of my host mother.
So this is natto, I thought to myself. I stirred the sticky mounds. The pile mushed and gossamer strings stretched, sticky on the chopsticks.
Looks and smells like a pile of steaming crap. Eww.
– circa. 2001-2002
Do you like natto on rice the most?
I do not like them, mom-the-host
I do not like natto on rice the most.
Would you like them here or there?
I would not like them here or there.
I would not like them anywhere.
I do not like natto on rice the most.
I loathe natto on rice the most.
Would you share them with a lark?
Would you like them with a Marc?
I would share them with a lark.
Nor will I like them with a Marc.
He hates them, mom-the-host
Like me, he hates natto on rice the most.
Not with a lark.
Not with a Marc.
I would not eat them here or there.
I would not eat them anywhere.
I do not like natto on rice the most.
I loathe natto on rice the most.
The second part of the Trio’s Atami trip involved spending time at the beach, wading around in rocks while we tried to catch tiny speedy crabs. We also ate udon and soba at a nearby restaurant before we walked around MOA or The Museum of Art, founded by religious leader Mokichi Okada.
Did I mention that a Beijing Olympic Silver Medalist was my neighbour for the past two months? Check out the video.
I like indulging in childish antics, be it gorging on ice cream breakfasts, playing pranks on each other, and being financially irresponsible. Going to the Atami Adult Museum is no different.
Here, the three of us – Forrest, Marc, and I — edged one another into exclaiming “Penis!” as loud as we could, pointed and laughed at the block prints of ye olde sexual positions, shrieked in glee at the perverted version of The Tale of Urashimatarou, and played “Whack-A-Penis”.
Among other things, life has been a constant stream of work, events, and play which has hijacked me away from the interwebs. I find myself deep in adventures during the weekend while I attempt to maintain a sane regular work week during the week days.
Unfortunately, this means unnaturally long breaks away from my blog. My blog queue and video footage queue has been building higher and higher since the arrival of Marc and has only been made worse by the short 2 week visit from Forrest. For that I apologize to my dear readers and beg for your forgiveness with the promise that my absence only means that all the following blog posts – planting rice, visiting an elementary school, and Atami – are worth the wait.
Marc waltzed into my favorite bakery, Danke, began a conversation with the owner of the bakery. After bonding over their mutual interest in cameras and audio equipment, Marc charmed himself into a personal tour of the bakery and an invitation to a BBQ that upcoming weekend.
Lots of boar, yakisoba, and turban snails to be had.
… because Marc in Japan just doesn’t have the same ring to it.
2 weeks or so has passed since Marc landed in Japan and joined me here in my wee little town of Izunokuni. I could romanticize the whole excursion, but in short he is here:
a) eating my food,
b) using my internet,
c) dirtying my towels,
d) charming my friends,
e) eating my food.
It hasn’t been completely terrible. I still laugh when he hits his head on the shower rod.
I have a new shirt designed by David Murray of Seibei. I met him and his band of merry men at Design Festa Vol. 31 a couple weeks ago. I feature the shirt in the opening sequence of my latest video blog.
Design Festa was fun. I think my video sums it up pretty well, so I don’t think I need to delve into detail here except that my two favorite things from the show were dinosaurs, my Seibei shirt and the dinosaur mural done by MAGO.
I also spent about a hundred dollars on art supplies bought at Sekaido, a five-storey art store found in the heart of Shinjuku. That was probably the most expensive part of my trip, my art supplies. I’m excited to start painting again. Before I left for Japan, I was encouraged by some of my friends (read: Momo) to continue this silly hobby of mine. I never realized how much I would miss it until it was gone. I knew I would miss it and had packed it away on my little luggage to be brought to me next month by a couple of my visiting friends, but I had pined away for my paints and my beloved brushes to be in my possession after two weeks landing here.
Besides, I’m taking part of an art show next month.
Yeah, nothing big. Just an art show here in Japan.
