{SUCKA PANTS}

WHERE SHARP TEETH GROW

noreply@blogger.com (sucka pants) — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 03:29:00 +0000

Photos of recent shows in Brooklyn: White Mice, Liturgy, The Death Set, Team Robespierre, Mannequin Men, and Greg Oblivion and the Tennessee Tearjerkers.

Great show coming up this week in Brooklyn: BAM's Sounds Like Brooklyn Festival at Station 171.
- Thursday featuring Japanther, The Death Set, Cerebral Ballzy, Boogie Boarder and Leaders.
- Friday dance party with Roofeo (of The Death Set), Mr. Andersonic, Murdertronics, DJ Morsy and James Stacher.

My friend over at Article is trying to raise funds on Kickstarter for two great projects:
- Cerebral Ballzy's first 7".
- Chris Weingarten's music review "book," 1000 Times Yes.

Chris explains the state of journalism in the internet age and why music critics matter:

Christopher R. Weingarten (@1000TimesYes) - Music Writer, RollingStone.com and Village Voice

MP3:

You might remember that I was running a contest this week for my new favorite song. Well we have a tie. There was stiff competition (although a couple submissions were disqualified because they were songs I had previously posted on here), and now we've got it down to two. So I'm leaving it up to you to vote for the winner, email your vote to sucka [at] suckapants [dot] com (one vote per person). Winner gets the LRG & STS9 prize package.

• Crooked Fingers - Sinisteria

• Tune Yards - Hatari

One band's place at last.
Another band's place at last.

GONE FERAL

noreply@blogger.com (sucka pants) — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 01:54:00 +0000

Photos from the Upper and Lower 9th Ward in New Orleans.

It's rare that I run contests on here, but I figure why not give people free stuff if given the chance? I've been given the opportunity to offer one lucky reader the chance to win a complete outfit from LRG as well as a copy of STS9's new album Ad Explorata. Details below:

- The winner of this contest will be selected based on who sends me my new favorite song. Actual MP3 files and links to downloadable files are fine. Send your submissions to sucka [at] suckapants [dot] com with STS9 in the subject. Please include your name and location as well.
- The contest will be open for a week from the date of this post.
- The prize pack will include: One full outfit from LGR (shirt, hoodie/jacket, jeans) and the STS9 album Ad Explorata. Upon completion, LRG will mail the winner the gear based on proper sizing info.
- This contest is open to US residents only, no purchase necessary (oooo, official-sounding).
- Courtesy of:

MP3:

• Tender Forever - My Love

A band's place at last.

YOU'RE JUST MY NEXT MISTAKE

noreply@blogger.com (sucka pants) — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 06:34:00 +0000

New Years in New Orleans and the days that followed:

- It's unseasonably cold while we are down there, so a lot of backyard campfires are sought out.
- Naked group hot-tubbing on New Year's Day at the Country Club.
- Several Sissy Bounce performances by Vockah Redu and his dancers as well as Big Freedia at the closing party for New Orleans Airlift group exhibition.
- Trying to visit Plan B and Rubarb (Rusted Up Beyond All Recognition Bikes), both closed for the holidays.
- Exploring some abandoned buildings (photos of that to come).

MP3:

• BlakRoc - Ain't Nothing Like You (Hoochie Coo) (feat. Jim Jones & Mos Def)

A band's place at last.

RUNNIN' WITH THE JACKALS

noreply@blogger.com (sucka pants) — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 01:04:00 +0000

New Orleans for New Years:

- Ridin' Dirty Three: The Shocker hosted by Black Label Bicycle Club

MP3:

• Three Inches Of Blood - Battles And Brotherhood

A band's place at last.

COLD WEIGHT + HOT SKIN

noreply@blogger.com (sucka pants) — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 07:39:00 +0000

Hunker down for the cold weight of winter in Brooklyn, and remember why you keep coming back:

- Ninjasonik show on Tellie's birthday.
- Basement oil wrestling in Harlem. . . as a fundraiser.
- Secret last-minute Japanther + The Death Set + Cerebral Ballzy show in Bushwick.
- Roving parade of costumed characters invades the bar scene in Williamsburg, for the hell of it.

MP3:

This one didn't make it on to the Xmas Mix '09, but it is kind of holiday-themed in the lyrics.

• The So So Glos - 99 Degrees (Ninjasonik Remix)

A band's place at last.

WANT NOTHING

noreply@blogger.com (sucka pants) — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 06:19:00 +0000

Keeping up the annual tradition, I'm offering up a new Xmas music mix for 2009. The sixth year in a row, but still holding strong (I think). The Yeah Yeah Yeahs win for best holiday song on this one. If you want any of the previous five years let me know and I will upload them.

XMAS MIX '09:

All I Want For Christmas - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Merry Christmas (I Don't Wanna Fight) - Asobi Seksu
Winter Wonderland - Cap'n Jazz
Oh Joseph - Burning Hank
Come On Santa - The Raveonettes
O Holy Night - Benji Cossa
Santa Clause - The Sonics
Christmas In Prison - Emmy The Great & Lightspeed Champion
I Wish It Was Christmas Today - Julian Casablancas
Christmas Card From A Hooker In Minneapolis - Neko Case
It's Christmas But Not For You - TIAC
Christmas Eve, Driving Home - Frontier Ruckus
Run Away With Me - Jens Lekman
Christmas Is For Losers - Mike Nicolai
Ain't No Chimneys - Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
Oh Hanukah, Oh Hanukah - Sinai Mountain Boys
Last Christmas - Swearing at Motorists
Crazy Cool Christmas - Kermit Ruffins
Hanukkah - The Mountain Goats
X-Mas Eve (She Got up and Left Me) - Rancid
Xmas Eve - The Damnwells

MP3:

I even got a couple Hanukkah songs in there this year. . .

• XMAS MIX '09 - Download .zip file here

As requested I uploaded all the other mixes from past years. Get your yuletide overload here:

• XMAS MIX '08
• XMAS MIX '07
• XMAS MIX '06
• XMAS MIX '05
• XMAS MIX '04

EXISTING IN DIGESTIBLE FORM

noreply@blogger.com (sucka pants) — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 01:54:00 +0000

Xmas Mix 2009 about to drop, in 3, 2, 1. . .

MP3:

Had to share this as soon as I heard it.

• Daedelus - Fair Weather Friends (Death Set Remix)

A band's place at last.

VESTIGES OF BETTER DAYS

noreply@blogger.com (sucka pants) — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 06:43:00 +0000

Nothing fancy for now. I took some time off for Turkey Day.

Also, I'm going to try and put together the 6th installment of my annual Xmas mix to share. But after five previous years I'm pretty tapped out when it comes to good, non-traditional holiday songs. So if you have any ideas or suggestions, please send them my way.

MP3:

It's like Rage Against The Machine with an organ. And that's not a bad thing.

• The Dead Weather - Treat Me Like Your Mother

A band's place at last.

A BIT OF BLOOD EQUITY

noreply@blogger.com (sucka pants) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 03:50:00 +0000

I go back to move my mom from Ohio to Florida, and then return to NYC:

- Going to the MTVU music awards with friends from Cerebral Ballzy and Ninjasonik to support Matt & Kim (literally, when they were crowd surfing). We eventually work our way in to the VIP area, start doing keg stands, and Tellie interrupts an on-air interview with Matt Pinfield to espouse the greatness of Ninjasonik.
- The opening reception for Punkabbestia hosted by Anonymous Gallery at Collective Hardware. I am showing my series of portraits of the crew of the Swimming Cities of Serenissima. The show is up till January 1st.
- The Gotham Girls Rollerderby finals.
- Punk show featuring Dawn of Humans at Ding Dong Lounge. I get hit in the head with a mic stand and swinging chains, twice.
- I had forgotten how nice a nighttime ride through Central Park can be, but apparently it is against the law since the park closes at night, as was threateningly imparted by the cops with their spotlight in my eyes.

MP3:

• Chain And The Gang - Deathbed Confession

A band's place at last.

REAL LIVES OF TERTIARY CHARACTERS

noreply@blogger.com (sucka pants) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 05:44:00 +0000

From the road down to New Orleans:

- Stopping in Pittsburgh to visit friends, a movie set, an abandoned boat, and Transformazium in Braddock, PA.
- Borrowing a floating dock, with the intention of paddling up river to Braddock. It was discovered to be a flawed plan, so we left the dock where it was liberated from.
- Our friend we stayed with lived in a house that was purchased for $4000, and the vacant lots on each side were fetched for $200 each.
- Next was Nashville, where we went to an experimental music performance at a local dive bar, and then checked out some of the local resident's dwellings.
- Heading down to New Orleans, still without any solid leads on a place to stay. Semi-frantic calling/texting commences. We end up landing at Gnatalie's recently-moved-in-to place, and all is good.

Also, thanks to New York Magazine for giving me a spot in their article on Brooklyn Music Bloggers.

MP3:

Also really good to dance up a sweat to.

• March Fourth Marching Band - Crack Haus

• March Fourth Marching Band - Pilot Erect

A band's place at last.

NEVER SANG A LOVE SONG, NEVER OWNED A CAR

noreply@blogger.com (sucka pants) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 04:50:00 +0000

(having fun with diptychs)

Photos from Halloween and more in New Orleans:

- First thing upon arriving in NOLA, we head over to the Dragon's Den to see Big Freedia and DJ Rusty Lazer.
- Hanging out on the banks of the Mississippi.
- Going on a quest for the sugar cane maze.
- Exploring some abandoned houses.
- Sneaking in to the Tree House.
- Later in the week we catch Meschiya Lake and her band. The song in the last post is from one of Meschiya's projects, Magnolia Beacon.
- Tagging along on a Sunday afternoon Second Line.
- Punk shows at Saturn Bar.
- Attending a Voodoo ritual.
- Campfires and a bizarre puppet show at The Pearl.

A new Ninjasonik video made by my friend Nick CT.

MP3:

No better way to wrap up Halloween than to dance your costume off to this.

• Big Freedia - Get Back

A band's place at last.

DRAGGIN' SOMEDAY OUT TO SEA

noreply@blogger.com (sucka pants) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 01:15:00 +0000

Halloween weekend and the Day of the Dead in New Orleans:

- Spending part of Halloween dancing in the street to Ethan DJing off the power from a taco truck.
- Hanging out at a nice party in the French Quarter, alternating between taking over the dance floor and the balcony/open bar.
- Going to see March Fourth and DJ Rusty Lazer for the rest of Halloween.
- The Day Of The Dead parade and viking funeral for Colby Watkins in New Orleans.
- Sitting on the porch of an abandoned house in full costume after the parade and startling a neighbor when they came out to feed the street cats.

Also, a video from the Distance Don't Matter installation at SPACE in Portland that I had mentioned before. Bonus points for anyone who can spot me in it.

MP3:

So fucking beautiful.

• Magnolia Beacon - Jolene

A band's place at last.

IT'S JUST YOUR LOOKS HOLDING YOU BACK

noreply@blogger.com (sucka pants) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 22:48:00 +0000

The dead walk in Manhattan, and I'm outta here:

- A little taste of Zombiecon 2009.
- On the road to New Orleans for Halloween.

MP3:

• The XX - Crystalized

A band's place at last.

SOMETIMES BAD THINGS MAKE SENSE

noreply@blogger.com (sucka pants) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 09:19:00 +0000

An underground explosion, and I head North for some calm and cold:

- Nonsense NYC 10 year anniversary party.
- Swoon and collaborators create an installation, Distance Don't Matter, at SPACE in Portland, Maine.
- I have a brief residency at The Bakery Photo Collective in Portland, Maine.

MP3:

• AFI - Halloween

A band's place at last.

KINGDOM OF FLESH AND BONE

noreply@blogger.com (sucka pants) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 20:18:00 +0000

Photos from performances by C. Ryder Cooley and Implied Violence, respectively. The performances took place in old houses in Colonel's Row on Governor's Island as part of the New Island Festival.

MP3:

• Phosphorescent - Wolves (Live on KEXP)

A band's place at last.

CHIVALROUS WITH YOUR SHANK

noreply@blogger.com (sucka pants) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 06:43:00 +0000

Brooklyn and Philly and back again:

- Swimming Cities fundraiser on the Waterpod with Apocalypse Five & Dime.
- Riding from Governor's Island to Shea Stadium in Queens.
- The Nuclear Squirrel Tour.
- Sissy Bounce parties with Big Freedia.
- Getting hit by a car and having to carry my wrecked bike over the Williamsburg Bridge (better than just giving up and going home).
- Seeing an old friend and hearing his story of being attacked by a deranged student who bit off his finger nail.
- Gadgetoff 2009.
- Going to Philly and staying at Basekamp.
- Dark Dark Dark house show in West Philly.
- A BBQ on an abandoned ferry.
- The Maze at Death By Audio.
- Meschiya Lake & Baby Soda brass band.
- On the heels of Carlos' passing, losing another great inspirational friend. R.I.P. Beau Velasco. You will be missed.

MP3:

A Sucka Pants exclusive.

• Dark Dark Dark - That Light (Paper Colt Remix)

A band's place at last.

YOUR GAME FACE GROWN OLD

noreply@blogger.com (sucka pants) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 05:28:00 +0000

(photos from the weeks that were upon returning)

It's ~~good~~ to be back:

- Hearing the phrase: "I'm a man's man" uttered in all seriousness.
- Watching an overweight mother eating the fries off her child's plate while the kid was distracted.
- Sitting across from a woman at the airport and watching as she simultaneously made a ring of food and trash around her, grabbed and jerked her kid around, and talked on her cell phone.
- Sign on a payphone: "Studio apartment available. Single pretty woman only."
- Being glad to be in a country with cheap fresh vegetables.
- Skinny dipping at Far Rockaway with the B.Q.B.C. (Brooklyn Queens Beach Club).
- There is now a turtle who lives in my kitchen. He's always staring at me.
- Monster Island Labor Day block party.
- These Are Powers playing in an alley under a railroad trestle.
- Riding fast late at night on the west side bike path, watching the lights of Jersey go by.
- Backyard BBQ with Brooklyn-style pool.
- My cat being "shell-shocked" from a flea infestation over the summer. She lives in the kitchen sink and tries to never touch the floor.
- Overheard from a cop to a man sitting on a milk crate: "So, you a married man?"
- NYC seems to still think vacant construction sites are better than old buildings.
- Getting an installation job on graveyard shifts, 6pm - 8am a few days in a row will mess you up.
- Seeing classrooms with "Be the change you want to see" posters while they run the A/C all night with the windows open.
- Missing Friday night because I didn't realize what day it was until after midnight.
- Culture-shock of going to the supermarket: full of large oxen-like people lumbering slowly around oblivious to anyone else, even their kids in tow who should obviously be in school right now.
- Getting caught riding in the rain still sucks.
- Going to some amazing performances on Governor's Island. Seeing Amaro from Eindhoven, and Marshall & Nona of Dark Dark Dark cooking and serving food for him in Dutch kitchen uniforms (wooden clogs).
- Shooting a Fashion Week party where Sarah from Parts & Labor/Noveller appeared to perform with her new band Cold Cave.
- More graveyard shifts.
- Going to see some friends give presentations at the Conflux Festival.
- Dark Dark Dark play a show, and it is so good.
- Checking out the Liger Beat "Cover Man Contest" party. Whoa.

MP3:

• Nurses - Technicolor

A band's place at last.

HOME IS WHEREVER I AM WITH YOU

noreply@blogger.com (sucka pants) — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 05:34:00 +0000

(B.Q.B.C. = Brooklyn Queens Beach Club)

Best homecoming I could have asked for. But pack it all up, summer's over.

MP3:

• Edward Sharpe And The Magnetic Zeros - Home

A band's place at last.

ASK FORGIVENESS, NOT PERMISSION

noreply@blogger.com (sucka pants) — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 20:25:00 +0000

(portraits of our friends and crew in Japan: Taku, Yoyo, Mattias, Kaji, Miri, Yuko, Kei, Andrea, Dirtyfinger, Gulgar)

As I return to the US, my friend reminds me that I am not-so-great at self-promotion. So here are a handful of links to things from this past spring/summer having to do with my photography. Self-promo vomit-time, go:

- Junk raft photos/slideshow featured in New York Magazine.
- Revel In NY interview video.
- Interview and t-shirt exclusively through Carrot Clothing.
- I awkwardly stumble through an interview I share with the Vivian Girls for MTV Brazil (click on the video "Bloco 2").
- One of my photos of These Are Powers is featured in Spin Magazine's "Sound Check".
- Some love from the Death Set on the Vans blog.
- Interview for Mossless.
- A blip in the NY Times for the Bicycle Film Festival.
- A nice pat on the back from How To Avoid The Bummer Life.

That said, I'm now looking for work. So hire/refer me time, go!

MP3:

• Zero Boys - New Generation

A band's place at last.

TELLING TALES OF AVERAGE LOVE

noreply@blogger.com (sucka pants) — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 21:32:00 +0000

(photos from Osaka)

We finish the ride from Tokyo to Osaka and begin the last part of our trip:

- We show up at 3am at a friend of a friend's place in Osaka and wake up our gracious host John, who then gangs out with us till dawn. He also has possibly the only tall bike in Osaka.
- Our first day in Osaka = sleeping in/recovering, a flea market at a temple, cooking dinner at John's place.
- Wandering around Osaka late at night and getting caught in the rain. I take shelter under trees in a park, which works, sort of.
- It turns out I picked up some poison ivy while sheltering in the park. It spreads all over my arms and back (where I am scratching the scabby jellyfish wound).
- We ride around Osaka with Bike Summer and another friend of a friend, May-Z, a messenger in Osaka. She is rad, and also turns out to have grown up about right next door to my hometown. Random.
- After riding around Osaka, there are games of blindfolded-smash-the-watermelon (or fancy new track bike, dependingon your friends' sense of humor), and water gun foot down.
- We go to the opening of another "Piss bike" (slang for track bikes, from "Pista") boutique.
- John kind of kicks us out, due to our now mostly nocturnal schedule (I think).
- Almost walking into traffic while watching two guys practicing their "hip-hop dancing" on the street in front of the mirrored windows of an office building.
- Going to check out the Osaka Cycle Center (bicycle museum).
- Going out every single night in Osaka to shoot till 3-4am, and pretty much striking out. When you don't got it, you just don't, and there's not much you can do about it.
- May-Z takes us in on our last night in Osaka.
- We have to wrap up our bikes to take them on the bus back to Tokyo, so we find some "leisure tarps" and make nice little packages.
- Back in Tokyo I am still amused by the trains that squeak/sigh like someone having sex.
- "Have you ever heard of a knuckle-rice-ball?"
- Spending my last day in Japan going to and from the airport to confirm that we will not be charged another exorbitant fee to check our bicycles. We tried calling, but the phone number for the Japan Airways office at the airport is not available for the public to use.
- Conrad DJs a Cumbia party in Roppongi, all of our friends in Tokyo come out. It's a great send-off.
- The reputation of the Japanese as being polite and patient completely dissolves as soon as you enter rush hour on the subway, or waiting in line at the airport.
- I leave Japan and head home to NYC. . .

Learn Japanese:
"Onaka Suita" = My stomach is empty (I am hungry).
"Yo" = Good.
"Oishi" = Good taste.
"Imaichi" = Not so good.
"Yokunai" = Bad.
"Shashinka" = Photographer.
"Hori shi" = Tattoo artist.

MP3:

• The Antlers - Two

A band's place at last.

KARAOKE OUTPOST SURVIVAL

noreply@blogger.com (sucka pants) — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 23:52:00 +0000

(photos of the ride from Tokyo to Osaka)

We head along along the southern coast of Japan for Osaka:

- Leaving on the first day of the ride at 3:30pm to ride to Kamakura.
- Staying at a little house on the hills overlooking the ocean. Inside the house are a huge wolf skin with green felt fringe, a calendar with a drawing of a smiling watermelon and the words "Knee-grows", and shag rugs in patterns of boobs and female genitalia.
- Riding up a pretty big mountain (874 meters high) near Fuji in one day, mostly at night. We camp under some trees on the edge of a parking lot on the shores of a beautiful mountain lake. In the morning we go for a swim (even though we were told not to) and watch the tourist pirate ship ferries and swan paddle boats on the lake.
- While we were climbing the mountain, we kept passing/being passed by a Japanese couple on "Mama-chari" (Mama-cruiser) bikes. They made it to the top, but found that their brakes weren't really cutting it for the long steep descent. But we did get a group photo together before they left to take a train the next day.
- Finding an abandoned motel on the mountain.
- Flying 874 meters down the side of a mountain on our bikes.
- Encountering another cyclist with some pretty sweet riding shorts.
- I get stung by wasps and jellyfish all in the same afternoon.
- Getting sloppy directions to Toxic Works bike shop and going 20km past it. It is not until when we stop for directions at another tiny bike shop along the way do we realize our mistake. The owner of the shop then closes his shop and gets a high-top van to fit the tall bikes and gives us a ride the 20km back to the town we had passed (with his friends as a motorcycle escort). He even searches up and down the street to help us find the shop before dropping us off.
- Staying at Mamiya's house and bike shop, Toxic Works, in Shimizu-ku. He gives us all the floor space in his bedroom,, hot showers, cold beer, dinner, and custom wooden headset caps. He makes custom bikes out of used bikes/parts, including one with wooden handlebars. Unfortunately, used things (even cool ones) are not very popular in Japan.
- When we leave the next day we stop by the tiny bike shop that gave us a lift and deliver a custom-decorated bottle of sake as a thank you.
- We find some anime porn in the trash.
- Andrea gets sick.
- Pitching a tent along a raised highway. Getting four hours of sleep before being woken in a puddle of sweat by the sauna-tent affect.
- Riding VERY precariously through many mountain tunnels.
- Getting terrible directions (corroborated by more than one person) that send us from the coast inland, but to a road that turns out to be an expressway. We try to avoid it and find alternate routes, but eventually the hills force us on to it. We head up into the hills with cars and trucks screaming past us. After passing through a few tunnels we stop to collect ourselves at the side of the road after a particularly nerve-wracking one. After a few minutes, a couple cops pay us a visit. They are very nice and seem a bit nervous about their lack of English. They explain that bicycles are not allowed on the expressway and point the way down an on-ramp (the first one we'd seen) to another route that we didn't know about. Disaster was averted.
- Riding along some beautiful fortified coastline.
- Finding a great river for swimming, complete with a playground and "bouncy tubes" (see video below).
- "I will show a titty for a carrot right now."
- Conrad's favorite snack foods in Japan seem to always look like turds.
- Mochi in my moustache.
- Coming across a crazy junk shop/scrap shop with weird, crazy stuff inside.
- Sleeping in a tiny railroad-side orange grove.
- The half-abandoned swimming pool.
- An upside-down house.
- Meeting a weird Japanese version of a childrens-style Jimmy Buffet puppeteer hanging out at a public swimming pool in a park. He dressed up in an elephant costume and did a little performance for us. He would also hang out just outside the pool area with his puppets and make them dance, but no one seemed to ever watch him.
- My jellyfish wound eventually stops swelling and the thin "tattoo line" of blood turns into a raised line of clear puss on my back. It eventually bursts, bleeds, scabs over and scars.
- We develop a tendency to sleep in till noon, putz around, and then leave somewhere between 3:30 and 5 pm and then ride late in to the night.
- Cranking out over 140km in one day to make it to Nagoya, or to the outskirts anyway.
- Finally landing in Nagoya, but failing to connect with our contacts there. We end up sprawled out all over the sidewalk in front of a closed Starbucks, using their internet and gorging ourselves on snacks from a .99 cent snack shop.
- We solve the mystery of why dumpstering quickie marts in Japan is no good: .99 cent quickie marts with all of the day-olds.
- While riding to find a place to sleep, we encounter a girl splayed out on the sidewalk next to a crashed bicycle. We fear the worst, but it turns out she was just passed out drunk. We move her off the center of the path and hang out until she moves on under her own power (walking her bike).
- Sleeping in a eucalyptus grove in a graveyard park in Nagoya.
- Hanging out the next day at Cafe Jaaja with the friendly owners and their band mates.
- Stopping to stay at a "love hotel" we unexpectedly encounter in between Nagoya and Osaka. It is called Chapel Coconuts, and there are waterfalls, tiki torches, and animatronic birds. There is an issue though, since we are a group of four, but with only one girl. It turns out that two men are not allowed to get a room, even if it's just to sleep, which is what we wanted. So we have Greg go outside, rent it for one person, and then sneak Greg in later. In the morning he goes to Conrad and Andrea's room to wake them up by sticking half his body through the room service door and yelling at them. He then gets a prompt and stern scolding in Japanese from a woman who suddenly appears in the hallway.
- Greg gets the first flat tires of the Japan trip, both in the same day.
- Getting my lips stuck to a red bean ice cream bar which rips off chunks of skin. A little bit of blood with ice cream is still good.
- Riding up into the mountains at night on narrow, windy, no-shoulder roads with lots of trucks. It's stupid. A handful of close calls happen, including Greg's shoulder being clipped by a truck's rear-view mirror.
- After climbing a lot of long steep hills all night, we reach a long downhill tunnel with a separated bike lane. We fly down through the tunnel, hooting and hollering, and pop out the other side to be greeted by a breath-taking view of Osaka lit up stretched out below us. A perfect punctuation to the end of the cycling portion of our trip.
- Favorite food: Mochi.
- Favorite drink: Tangerine "sack" juice.
- Mainly what I live on: Rice balls and milk coffee.

Learn Japanese:
"Jitensha" = Bicycle.
"Sega takai" = High/tall (as in height/location).
"Tasukete" = Help.
"Mayotta" = I got lost.
"Hidari" = Left.
"Migi" = Right.
"Honto" = I see/really?
"Sugoi" = Super.
"Yama" = Mountain.
"Tatami" = Bamboo mat flooring.
"Kurage" = Jellyfish.

MP3:

This is your new favorite song. Such a brilliant pairing.

• Japanther + Spank Rock - Radical Businessman

A band's place at last.

LOT LURKERS

noreply@blogger.com (sucka pants) — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 03:37:00 +0000

(photos from the Tokyo tall bike building workshop)

Part two of Tokyo:

- Taku and Yoyo take us to a beach outside of Tokyo, where there are huge hawks dive-bombing people on the beach - trying to steal their food. Afterward we go to a traditional Japanese festival in the hills.
- Taku's shower is just a square tub he installed in his kitchen, next to his sink. The water comes out of the faucet that you angle over the tub and it drains through a pipe that you run out the apartment door. When not in use, you cover it with pieces of board and it's the kitchen counter.
- Late night noodle shops where you pre-pay at a vending machine.
- I like that police in Japan are the traditional kind you learned about in elementary school. They sit in their office, direct traffic, and give lost travelers (us) directions. . . very different from the municipal thugs we have in the US.
- Going to the opening of a fancy new bike shop, Geek Garage. The owner is really nice. Afterward we head to a hard-to-find bar owned by Westerners: Kinfolk.
- Greg and Conrad host a tall bike building workshop in the courtyard of a design school. Three tall bikes and a trailer are built in one day.
- Andrea joins us. Somehow her front wheel is too big for her fork and we think our departure will be delayed for a day while we find a replacement, but Andrea and I are able to swap wheels without a problem.
- A farewell dinner at Taku's.

Learn Japanese:
"Kampai" = Cheers.
"Chin-chin" = Male genitals.
"Sensei" = Master/teacher.
"Mizu" = Water.
"Sakana" = Fish.
"Onigiri" = Rice ball.
"Shoyu" = Soy sauce.
"Ikura" = How much?
"Nekojita" = Have the tongue of a cat (literally) - heat-sensitive mouth.
"Nekoze" = Have the back of a cat (literally) - bad posture/hunched back.

MP3:

• Roky Erickson - Night Of The Vampire

A band's place at last.

CROWDED BY VACANCY

noreply@blogger.com (sucka pants) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 04:49:00 +0000

(photos from Tokyo)

We land in Tokyo before heading out on the road for the ride to Osaka:

- On the flight from Jakarta to Tokyo, I come down with the flu.
- It's hot in Tokyo, but really it's the near-100% humidity that gets you. It's so intense you can't ever really get dry. Various parts of my bike and some of my tools start to rust.
- Meeting up with friends of Nova (one of our friends in Indonesia) in Japan who promptly take us in to their homes and show us around Tokyo.
- Meeting Kei, who runs the activist space and info shop Irregular Rhythm Asylum in Tokyo. He promptly plans a party for us for the coming weekend.
- Going to a really good vegan brunch prepared by Yoyo in a bar on the one day that it is closed during the week.
- Taking my first hot shower in over a month, in a coin-operated booth at a laundromat.
- Getting caught in the rain while riding around Yoyogi Park. We take shelter under a pedestrian overpass and pass out, when we wake up we are surrounded by harmonizing groups practicing.
- Experiencing my first earthquake.
- Running into Mattias (of Road Kill Bikers) randomly on the street during one of his "Speed Night" group bike rides. We had been trying to find the club Conrad was DJing at that night, and Mattias promptly showed him the way.
- The party that Kei helps organize for us is at a little cafe called Lavanderia. Conrad DJs and I show photos while people take turns riding the tall bikes. It's gets big enough and crowded enough that the cops show up in response to a noise complaint.

Learn Japanese:
"Konichiwa" = Hello.
"Sumimasen" = Excuse me.
"Wakarimasen" = I don't understand.
"Arigato" = Thank you.
"Gomennasi" = Sorry.
"Hai" = Yes.
"Iie" = No (pronounced Eeyae).

MP3:

I know the movie takes place in Hong Kong and not Japan, but it's still a good fit.

• Shigeru Umebayashi - Yumeji's Theme

wiki.

IT'S NOT PARIS THAT IS BURNING

noreply@blogger.com (sucka pants) — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 16:31:00 +0000

(Jakarta and I have one more late night rendezvous before I leave, last of the trash fires I swear)

After the islands, back to Jakarta on our way out:

- Hellish overnight 12 hour thigh-to-thigh cramped economy train ride from Yogya to Jakarta. As unpleasant as it was there were a lot of friendly characters on board and some good food. Our bikes doubled the ticket price as "cargo," which meant that they just stuck one in the bathroom (half in, half out) and the others in the walkway.
- While walking down an alley I pass a food cart with some guys sitting around. One calls out hello and I answer the same. Just as I pass by, one guy leans over toward me and hisses "Osama Bin Laden" at me. I look at him and reply "Barak Obama" (it was the only equivalent that came to mind). He repeats himself louder, I do the same but with some laughter mixed in. He announces it once more with some intensity as I walk away.
- A lawn-mower-engine-powered rickshaw.
- Walking around alone at night I meet a guy who tries to pull the "art exhibit" scam familiar to me from China. Give away #1: "It's officially state-sponsored." Give away #2: This "official art exhibit" is down a dark side alley.
- Being warned three times in one night that I was in danger. There was some confusion with one guy who was warning me with head-cutting-off gestures. It turned out he was trying to explain that someone had recently been decapitated on the train tracks I was on.
- The mobile band system with generator cart.
- Running into three different streets totally blocked off to the public for wedding parties in one night.
- Meeting friendly guys in an alley who force me to hang out and drink some homemade liquor they called "manis"(?). My wandering got pretty stumbly for a while after I bid them goodnight.
- Accidentally coming across the #1 gay cruising spot in Jakarta (so I was told), which made sense since it looked like Times Square in the 80s.
- Some kids throw a bag of water at us from a balcony while at a local night market.
- Giving stray kittens fish heads.
- A mis-press of an elevator button lands Greg walking onto a floor of a building with nothing in the lobby except a security desk, and a ping pong table. Within seconds he has challenged the guard to a game.
- Going to a really cool Wayang puppet museum.
- Getting clipped by a tuk-tuk while riding alone around Jakarta.
- New favorite food/desert: es tyeler/buah ("Dizzy ice").
- Favorite new drink: avocado shakes.
- Seeing giant shark fins for sale at the Jakarta airport.

And off to Japan. . .

MP3:

• Santogold and Diplo - Right Brigade

A band's place in myspace

TOO MUCH EGO, TOO LITTLE REMORSE

noreply@blogger.com (sucka pants) — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 08:12:00 +0000

(photos from our trip to and time in Bali)

We leave the road for a little r & r:

- Night swimming in Bali.
- Cramming five of us (secretly) into a 2-twin bed room at a hostel which was a bunch of free-standing rooms decorated to look like temples separated by tiny alleys filled with birds in cages. Ira tried to sleep in a rooftop shrine he found, but decided the floor was better the next night.
- Riding pretty far to go to the market in Denpassar and getting there just as they closed.
- Feeling that if we stayed in Kuta too long we'd probably end up getting into a fight.
- Another friendly stranger taking Greg all over Sengiggi on the back of his scooter to help us find a room. He wouldn't even let Greg pay for his pack of cigarettes as a thank you.
- All the affordable places in Sengiggi were full, but the nice woman at Sonja's Hostel let us sleep on the (concrete) floor in a back room next door to some of the workers for free.
- Ira chasing a gecko all over our neighbor's room at Sonja's while we were hanging out with them.
- Meeting a bunch of very friendly devout Muslims returning from a religious conference on the four hour ferry to Lombok.
- Having to wade to and from the little wooden ferry boat to the Gili islands, since there isn't a dock it just pulls up close to the beach.
- On the islands are a fair number of bikes, but none of them have brakes. The only other form of transportation is horse-drawn cart.
- Being without out bikes for the first time on this trip feels weird (it was too expensive to get them to Bali).
- We find the Gili islands to be much more expensive than we were led to believe. So we sleep on the beach on these cabana platforms and eat at a local woman's house a bartender introduced us to.
- We are educated on the local cock-fighting tournaments.
- Lots of wooden outrigger-style canoes that use plastic bottles for their pontoon and coconut shells for the end cap.
- Being able to see tons of stars and the milky way out on the islands.
- I come within inches of stepping on a poisonous banded sea snake while wading in the tide pools.
- Going snorkeling and getting stung repeatedly by small jellyfish.
- The reefs are huge expanses of dead grey ghost towns, devastated from illegal dynamite and cyanide fishing.
- Having to climb over piles of broken coral in bare feet is quite unpleasant.
- Back in Bali, Greg gets picked up by a friendly deaf guy on a scooter who helps him find a mask, and later turns out to have a crush on him.
- We sleep on the beach on our last night in Bali, in what turns out to be a spot infested with stinging ants and sketchy dudes in the shadows all night.

MP3:

• Bat For Lashes - Use Somebody (Kings Of Leon cover)

A band's place in myspace.