Free Choice

Well, it certainly has been a while. For my free choice, I've decided on the topic of music. I recently went to a death metal concert at Club Quattro in Shinsaibashi, where Revocation, Behemoth, and Job for a Cowboy were playing. I haven't gone to a death metal concert before, and I've never really heard of the bands that were playing before, but I figured hey, I like metal, why the hell not? They look pretty badass too. I mean, come on, wouldn't you expect a good performance from guys like these?:
Behemoth is actually a band from Poland -Yes, Poland - that, for some reason, decided to stop in Japan. After the concert I went to, however, they probably won't come back. I'm not just saying this, either. The band literally spoke of their distaste in the crowd, and even stopped performing and just left the stage without saying a word, which is how the concert ended.

The club itself was very small, and a lot more personal than what I first imagined it would be like. Not many people were present, to say the least. As you might imagine, there aren't many Japanese people into the whole death metal scene...The people in the crowd were very amusing. Besides me and my other foreign friend, there were about three others. Among the Japanese, there were salarymen with their briefcases and suits just chilling in the back, listening to the music. There were also quite a few girls in heels, fake eyelashes, fake nails, the works - that one just wouldn't expect to find among a death metal crowd. Hate to say it, but I think they were probably someone's girlfriend. Some of the tshirts people were wearing were also quite humorous. By humorous I mean so controversial and unacceptable, I just wondered if they even knew what the tshirt meant. You can see one in the picture above.

The concert itself was excellent - great bands, sound, setup, atmosphere - but the crowd was such a mood killer. Usually when one thinks of a death metal concert, a rowdy crowd of headbangers and moshers might come to mind. Maybe even with a bit of alcohol thrown into the mix. Well, in Japan everyone was plenty sober. There was 1 headbanger, whom everyone moved away from, and he was also the only one who tried to start a mosh, in which people once again moved away from him.
The above picture is me attempting to capture this one brave moshing soul, despite the lethargy of the crowd around him. Look at that picture more closely - they wouldn't even put their hands up or cheer for the band. This made the intermissions incredibly awkward. Just imagine the sound of heavy metal deafening your ears, followed by full on silence whenever the band members wanted to take a drink.

The friend I went with, who is from Argentina, has been to many Behemoth concerts and told me this concert was far from the concerts she's been to. Nonetheless, we still had a good time.

Leibovitz vs Nachtwey

Leibovitz Both are similar in the fact that they are photographers; however, their styles differ completely. To put it simply, Nachtwey goes for the shock factor whereas Leibovitz aims for awe. Leibovitz can be found in various magazines such as Vanity Fair or The Rolling Stone, covering more of the glamorous side of human nature. Nachtwey captures human despair, destruction, and violence. Let's just say one would never come across Nachtwey's photographs in an issue of Vanity Fair. Even with such drastic stylistic differences, they can still take pictures of the same thing [i.e. a human being] and have completely different effects. To compare, let's first take a look at one of Annie Leibovitz's pieces:

Because we all wanted to see Whoopie Goldberg naked.

As you can see from the above photo, there is a well known, nourished celebrity "emerging" from a tub of white milk, symbolizing an African American rising out of a majority white pool we call the Hollywood scene. Leibovitz draws on color to make her picture powerful - if this were to be black and white, no one would grasp the meaning Leibovitz was trying
to portray through her photo. Now, let's take a look at some of Nachtwey's work. I must warn you, this war photographer [as you can guess by his title] has a drastically different photography style. I personally find these photos more powerful than Leibovitz.Whoopie Goldberg giggling in a pool of milk? Why, how delightful! Next picture, please! :

This ain't Whoopie Goldberg.

Oh dear God..this isn't delightful at all!

Here we can see one of the many examples of how Nachtwey uses black and white pictures in contrast to color photos. Leibovitz plays on color in her photos, whereas Nachtwey voids his pictures of any color but grey, white, and black. I suppose this is for dramatic effect...and I honestly have to say, Nachtwey, you really do take dramatic pictures. This picture is in no way in resemblance to Whoopie in a bath of milk. It's a lot more depressing than that. Unlike Leibovitz, Nachtwey has a knack for showing what's real - the real world, whereas Leibovitz tends to focus more on fantasy, something that wouldn't happen out of the ordinary. In a way, her pictures are more vibrant than life itself - the use of colors, the clothing, etc. all seem part of a fairy tale. Let's take a look:

I do this daily.
But seriously, on a side note...is that the chick from Buffy?

I bet you couldn't take a picture of this, Nachtwey! You won't find this in Palestine or Africa, that's for sure. Leibovitz requires a set, certain shades of lighting, a costume designer, makeup designer - the works. I don't think Nachtwey gives any of his subjects a makeover like this. To be fair, though, Leibovitz does [or did do] various photographs of the reality of rock and roll bands. No, they weren't posed all nicely and lined up. If I remember correctly, they were for the most part passed out on the floor and couldn't remember the picture even if they tried. I suppose this sort of picture holds some kind of power within it. For me, I would have to say its the vibrancy of the colors within what looks to me like more of a painting or digital art than a photograph. Nachtwey also has a picture that looks similar to a traditional drawing. However, once again, the mood is completely different. Check it out:

Sorry, no smart ass comments. I really like this picture.

The landscape, the cracked ground beneath the kneeling woman completely dressed in black, the touch of the woman's hand upon the tombstone of a loved one. Honestly, this picture really moves me. There's actually feeling in Nachtwey's photos. For Leibovitz I think it's just all about looking good with perhaps a hint of symbolism touched onto it.

I'm terribly sorry, I will finish this tomorrow. Of course you can mark me off for not finishing.

Japanese Portrait..or my attempt at taking one.

So I've been postponing this for quite a while - I honestly didn't want to ask any Japanese natives if I could take a picture of them and post it on the internet. Personally, I would have preferred to capture one of my friends...given that I only know most of my Japanese contacts as mere acquaintances, this proved to be a challenge. Since I only know them at a shallow level, it will be hard to capture their "essence", or personality in a photograph they are uncomfortable of me taking.
Well, here it goes.So this is my friend Ami. I tried capturing her in a more natural way than usual - notice the smile is not posed, and she genuinely looks like she is having a good time. I think this captures her "fun" side (yes, that sounds lame, but what else can I say?), because, to me at least, she seems like the goofiest out of all the Japanese girls that I've met so far. I took a few shots of her while she was laughing but, she became more reserved after the first shot, and I decided this was the best to display for her personality. As for the background...not only was it convenient, but she is a native Japanese so, going to a shrine for her portrait fits, right?!

Oh, and can't forget the peace sign.

I thought that I should also note it wasn't hard to negotiate taking her portrait. If anything, we were both lost as to where she wanted to be photographed, what pose, with what items, etc. We eventually mutually came to this conclusion.

香里園

So I've been living in Kourien for three weeks now. I have to say, I'm very pleased with the overall atmosphere of the place. I'm about twenty minutes away from the train station, Starbucks, some kind of generic bookstore, and a variety of pachinko parlors.It's a very 'exiting' place, guys. Look at Becca's 'exited' face.

Well, I suppose Pachinko isn't really unique to the area, considering there's pretty much one on every block in any city in Japan. Still, it's a neat town. I've heard from a few Japanese girls that they're afraid of going into Kourien after dark but...since I get home well after the sun goes down, it hasn't necessarily been a problem for me. The streets seem to be crowded any time before midnight, and that's good enough for me.

Although I live in Kourien, I feel like I belong more with the city of Hirakata. Sure, I live in Kourien, but I stick to the same route to the station so I don't get lost. I haven't had the courage to explore deeper than the route I was designated. I've been around Hirakata and just wandered the streets, though. One thing I noticed immediately were the gardens plotted right outside of some apartment buildings, with most windows covered in clothes in order to dry them in the sun.

For some reason, this scene makes me think of the country Jordan. A lot of houses over there hang their clothes up to dry outdoors, and they also have gardens in the front/back yards of their apartment buildings. This scene, minus the neatly paved road and shackled roofs, could be a spitting image of some Jordanian areas. I like how this small garden is so close to Hirakata - shi is still of interest to the neighboring residences in this city. It really blows my mind..

First Impressions of Japan

So I'm a little late in blogging about my first week...about two weeks late, I believe. I'm not particularly sure what I want to write about, since I'm new to the whole blog scene and I'm not particularly accustomed to expressing my thoughts anywhere else but in my head.I suppose I need to try, though, so here it goes.. My first impression of Japan is no doubt a positive one. The people are nice, the area is clean (from what I've seen they seem to take recycling more seriously, that's for sure), the food is delicious, and the main source of transportation is either a bicycle or your own two feet. Cheap, healthy transportation, am I right?! In those respects, Japan is everything I thought it would be.

Something of this nature, thanks to cracked.com

. On the other hand, there are a lot of images I've had of Japan that didn't hold true. For example, I felt that Japan had a sense of individuality when it came to fashion (not that Japan isn't unique, I just expected something different), however, glancing at passerbys in the train stations, I've realized most people have similar if not the same style of clothing. A lot of women tend to wear green/earth toned coats with fur lined on the hood, in combination with knee high boots, rocking the same brownish red colored hair, bangs down to their eyes, whi te makeup, and heavy amounts of blush applied on their cheeks. I suppose it's some kind of babydoll look, and there's nothing wrong with it, it's just one of those things I've noticed among the crowd. Guys have more or less the same spiked hair, some dyed reddish brown like the females, and I've been noticing this one particular coat among the men that's dark purple which appears to be made out of down. I must admit I payed more attention to female fashion than the males, so I can't necessarily point out any more similarities between Japanese men. One thing I absolutely love, though, is that some of the older women have cotton candy dyed hair. Pink, baby blue, even purple sometimes. I always joke with my mom that when she gets senile I'll dye her hair pink, so it's a nice reminder of my mom... Anyway, overall, I expected more diversity in style, but maybe in a big city I'll get what I'm looking for.

To give you a clearer picture of what I was expecting, the movie Kamikaze Girls (Shimotsuma Monogatari) should sum up my previous thoughts of Japan.

I've also noticed a good amount of Engrish, and I absolutely love it.

This is deep stuff, guys.

It just makes me feel better about my own Japanese proficiency. Hey, if they're making mistakes in my own native language, maybe they'll cut me some slack when I speak to them in Japanese and make a fool of myself in turn. As soon as I got off the plane, I came upon an Engrish sign more or less telling me to stay to the left, and that was my first picture in Japan. Since then, my friends and I have decided to take part in a never ending search for the best Engrish t-shirt. We've come across a few, but I don't think they have the "OMFG I need this!" calibur that I'm looking for.

Octopus ball with good tast, how can you go wrong?

As for the food, I kind of wish there were more zero calorie options for drinks, and I REALLY miss Mountain Dew, but that's just me being a spoiled American. I love tea, which is healthier than diet Mountain Dew for sure, and may not induce cancer, but it's just not the same. I'm addicted to my own ways -_-
That's about all I've got at the moment, じゃあ、また