I was thinking about New Zealand and I started to remember my 30 something hour flight from Manchester to Auckland. I arrived at my hotel room and started to watch some random music channel. This video came on and at first I thought I was going to watch some ho-down at the OK Corral...however 5 minutes I was blown away by the awesomeness of the The Cult. Go Bradford!
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Love Removal Machine - The Cult
I was thinking about New Zealand and I started to remember my 30 something hour flight from Manchester to Auckland. I arrived at my hotel room and started to watch some random music channel. This video came on and at first I thought I was going to watch some ho-down at the OK Corral...however 5 minutes I was blown away by the awesomeness of the The Cult. Go Bradford!
Sunday, May 12, 2013
The Professor's Midnight Zone.
Welcome to a place where the mind crosses from light to dark, the conscious and unconscious gradually meet... where sight and sound join together to form images of promotional clips from years gone by....brainwaves selecting a random song from the neuron jukebox...and no "stop" button to prevent a crap 1991 acid house video from materialisng. Welcome to the Professor's Midnight Zone.
Saturday, January 5, 2013
New soundcloud site and forthcoming E.P. release!
It has been a long time coming, but I am finally going to release my E.P. online (possibly an album). I have wanted to record my own material for over a year now, but due to completing my masters degree, it was pretty impossible.
I have carefully built up my own home recording studio (I'm proud to say that about 80% of it is secondhand gear) over the last year and I spent August/September 2012 drafting and recording ideas of songs. At the moment I have around 10 songs in different states of finishing. The music is a blend sounds in the electronic / experimental / alternative / acoustic / showgazing genres. Yes, that does sound pretentious, but it wasn't meant too as every time I sit down and create something, it always has a different genre than the last song...
I plan to get these songs finished and mixed by Spring 2013.
In the meantime, check out my soundcloud site ( https://soundcloud.com/rebelfighter). Hopefully I will be putting up demo ideas. Anyone is welcome to play with them and contribute to my ideas.
宜しくお願いします。
Rebelfighter.
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
2013: Money Never Sleeps. Happy New Year everyone
2013: Money Never Sleeps or 2013: Call me...Snake...
It was a close call, but "Money Never Sleeps" won the "theme of the year" as money will not sleep this year. I will be trying to save money as much as possible this year for reasons that I will go into later.
Anyway, happy new year to everyone - especially all those snakes and scorpions! (like me).
It was a close call, but "Money Never Sleeps" won the "theme of the year" as money will not sleep this year. I will be trying to save money as much as possible this year for reasons that I will go into later.
Anyway, happy new year to everyone - especially all those snakes and scorpions! (like me).
Shake a tail feather - The Blues Brothers feat Ray Charles
Mia's favourite song from The Blues Brothers.
Mia watches "The Blues Brothers"
We watched The Blues Brothers in the winter break and Mia loved it :-) She sat with us for the whole movie and would only get up from her sofa to clap, dance and point things out to us on the screen. She loved to clap along to the songs, as you can see here.
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Wednesday lite
Today felt like a "lite" day...kind of like a beta version of a program - there were flaws but they were,difficult to pinpoint. Being reminded that I am not Japanese also didn't help. I took Mia to the doctors as she has started to cough. We got the whole " strangers walk into a Wild West bar" deal in the waiting room, but no one bad mouthed us so that was good.
I also read a lot of articles on the flaws of the English education system in Japan. This didn't help my morale either. I think my negative vibes have originated from not running for 4-5 weeks. Also not doing regular exercise. So I've decided to walk to work next Monday...it will probably take me around 40 minutes and most of it is up hill. Bring it on!
I also read a lot of articles on the flaws of the English education system in Japan. This didn't help my morale either. I think my negative vibes have originated from not running for 4-5 weeks. Also not doing regular exercise. So I've decided to walk to work next Monday...it will probably take me around 40 minutes and most of it is up hill. Bring it on!
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Goodbye Ruby Tuesday
I spent today most of the day reading and researching about intercultural communication. I managed to read a few papers that I had stored away. The day was cold and miserable and it reminded me of winters in the uk - A perfect day to eat fish and chips with lots of vinegar and salt! At home Mia was happy and babbling a lot. Lately she likes to "read" books - she will flick through the pages and babble her way through a book. Ikumi taught English tonight so Mia and I spoke to my parents on Skype. Afterwards we watched YouTube videos. She likes "nowhere man" by the Beatles lately. She also tried to play my guitar...I'm thinking of trying to play piano with her over the Christmas break.
Monday, December 10, 2012
Writing again!
If anyone is still reading this blog, hello!
This is my first post in about 6 months...I'm writing again as I gave my English Composition class an assignment to keep a daily journal starting today and ending on Thursday. Their task is to write 6-8 lines every day in their journal. They can write about anything that happened on that day, reflect on previous memories, write about daily observations, ponder on life and contemplate on the future. The important thing is to keep it FREE and INTERESTING. So in this age of equality I have promised my students to do the same, but only on my blog (and I'll write as much as I fancy).
Today was a nondescript day. Nothing great or terrible happened. It was very...bland Mia woke up in a grumpy mood and cried on her way to nursery. Classes went ok, but most of day was taken up with planning classes for the rest of week. My legs froze a little whilst I was sitting at my office desk. Note to the powers that be - Air conditioning is not the best way to keep a room warm.
I picked up Mia from nursery and she was very happy to see me. We walked holding hands from the nursery to the car (about 200m) and it was great to see her walking well and fast too. I can remember that back in August I would have to carry her from the nursery as she wasn't that good at walking. Looks like Darwin's evolution all sped up! In the car I gave her some biscuits and we listened to music on our way back home. One song started to stick on the CD which made us both laugh and get all giddy. After dinner (which was pizza - YES) I taught my weekly English class for Nagasaki University staff. It went well as we had a discussion about the upcoming election in Japan and the policies that will influence voters on December 16th.
Thats all. This has been a bland post for a bland day. It has been hard to keep this post interesting as I'm not feeling inspired. Perhaps its the cold...or the position of the stars?
This is my first post in about 6 months...I'm writing again as I gave my English Composition class an assignment to keep a daily journal starting today and ending on Thursday. Their task is to write 6-8 lines every day in their journal. They can write about anything that happened on that day, reflect on previous memories, write about daily observations, ponder on life and contemplate on the future. The important thing is to keep it FREE and INTERESTING. So in this age of equality I have promised my students to do the same, but only on my blog (and I'll write as much as I fancy).
Today was a nondescript day. Nothing great or terrible happened. It was very...bland Mia woke up in a grumpy mood and cried on her way to nursery. Classes went ok, but most of day was taken up with planning classes for the rest of week. My legs froze a little whilst I was sitting at my office desk. Note to the powers that be - Air conditioning is not the best way to keep a room warm.
I picked up Mia from nursery and she was very happy to see me. We walked holding hands from the nursery to the car (about 200m) and it was great to see her walking well and fast too. I can remember that back in August I would have to carry her from the nursery as she wasn't that good at walking. Looks like Darwin's evolution all sped up! In the car I gave her some biscuits and we listened to music on our way back home. One song started to stick on the CD which made us both laugh and get all giddy. After dinner (which was pizza - YES) I taught my weekly English class for Nagasaki University staff. It went well as we had a discussion about the upcoming election in Japan and the policies that will influence voters on December 16th.
Thats all. This has been a bland post for a bland day. It has been hard to keep this post interesting as I'm not feeling inspired. Perhaps its the cold...or the position of the stars?
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Getting hassled at the swimming pool
This is a new topic - getting hassled by The Man. Everyone gets hassled by the man at some point in their lives. Some people shrug their shoulders and other people fight back. Both options have good points and bad points, however I believe that not all battles against The Man are worth fighting, as The Man is strong...but he can be beaten.
I've always had The Man hassle me in whatever country I have been to and I've mostly tried to fight back, rather than shrug my shoulders. Now that I live in Japan, The Man tends to be more in my face. This is because I am a minority and not being part of the socialisation process that continually goes on in everyone's lives has made me stick out and become a target of The Man. Obviously not looking Japanese makes me stick out to the locals like a lonely blue M&M in a pile of red ones. When I lived in the UK I would almost certainly fight back against the shit that The Man gave me, however in Japan I have learnt that patience is indeed a virtue and so this is probably why I have only lost my temper in public to The Man a total number of three times (three times in seven years is pretty good going).
Anyway, here is today's story....
I went swimming after spending a whole day stuck in front of my computer screen. I was researching all day and at the end of it all I decided to go swimming. I got to the swimming pool at 6.30pm. The swimming pool is a 50m Olympic style one and there were only 3 other people in the pool. No one goes swimming on a Saturday night. Those people that do are either researchers, training for some swimming competition, trying to get a date at the swimming pool, or just really in need of a swim. So I got in and I did one lap. However on my return The Man hassled me. The Man was actually an older Japanese woman and she pointed out to me that I shouldn't swim in the middle of the lane. Instead I should swim on the right side of the lane and I should swim in a clockwise manner. I was actually swimming in a clockwise manner, but I had swam IN THE MIDDLE OF THE LANE. Shock! Horror! At first I thought she was joking, but her expression and lack of polite language made me realize that she wasn't. I looked around at the pool and the other 3 swimmers. The whole pool was open and there was no sectioning of lanes. The other swimmers were swimming clockwise...and like me, they were swimming IN THE MIDDLE OF THE LANE. One man was swimming ALL OVER THE PLACE. So instead of getting angry, I said "Ok, I got it" (in Japanese) and I continued swimming. When I got to the other end of the pool the same woman continued to hassle me by making erratic hand gestures from her end of the pool. I couldn't see her face so well and her erratic gestures could have been an attempt to land a 747 on approach to the pool. I pointed at myself and gave her a "what?!" gesture. She then got out of her life guard seat and moved to the side of the pool to physically show me which lane to swim in. As all this was going on, the other 3 swimmers were still swimming ALL OVER THE PLACE. I then deliberated swam back to her end IN THE WRONG LANE, but not ALL OVER THE PLACE. I was starting to get pissed off and I wanted to see her reaction to my deliberate breaking of the rules. However when I got to her end she was talking to another swimming pool staff member. They both looked at me and...said nothing. Yes. I have found that a difficult, out-of-book situation happens in Japan, people tend to do nothing in the hope of the problem just dissolving by itself. The theory behind solving problems this way is in fact sound as if the harmony has being already broken, then breaking it further just serves to make the problem worse. Also Japanese people are brought up to realise and understand when that harmony will be or has been broken. However as people from other countries have different sets of behaviours and beliefs, this reasoning doesn't really work for them. Hence I deliberately broken the harmony by challenging her. In the end I continued swimming and shrugged off the situation...until I got home. Here at home I thought that maybe I should have asked her to explain the rules to the other Japanese swimmers. However past experiences in these matters have only led me to become more frustrated and angry with people who hassle me.
So the lessons learned today were:
- Challenge The Man, but avoid direct confrontations
- Make sure to read the rules of swimming, before swimming in the pool that I have been going to for the past 7 years.
- Invisible 747s trying to land in swimming pools don't exist. If a local Japanese person is making erratic gestures, it means they are talking to YOU.
I've always had The Man hassle me in whatever country I have been to and I've mostly tried to fight back, rather than shrug my shoulders. Now that I live in Japan, The Man tends to be more in my face. This is because I am a minority and not being part of the socialisation process that continually goes on in everyone's lives has made me stick out and become a target of The Man. Obviously not looking Japanese makes me stick out to the locals like a lonely blue M&M in a pile of red ones. When I lived in the UK I would almost certainly fight back against the shit that The Man gave me, however in Japan I have learnt that patience is indeed a virtue and so this is probably why I have only lost my temper in public to The Man a total number of three times (three times in seven years is pretty good going).
Anyway, here is today's story....
I went swimming after spending a whole day stuck in front of my computer screen. I was researching all day and at the end of it all I decided to go swimming. I got to the swimming pool at 6.30pm. The swimming pool is a 50m Olympic style one and there were only 3 other people in the pool. No one goes swimming on a Saturday night. Those people that do are either researchers, training for some swimming competition, trying to get a date at the swimming pool, or just really in need of a swim. So I got in and I did one lap. However on my return The Man hassled me. The Man was actually an older Japanese woman and she pointed out to me that I shouldn't swim in the middle of the lane. Instead I should swim on the right side of the lane and I should swim in a clockwise manner. I was actually swimming in a clockwise manner, but I had swam IN THE MIDDLE OF THE LANE. Shock! Horror! At first I thought she was joking, but her expression and lack of polite language made me realize that she wasn't. I looked around at the pool and the other 3 swimmers. The whole pool was open and there was no sectioning of lanes. The other swimmers were swimming clockwise...and like me, they were swimming IN THE MIDDLE OF THE LANE. One man was swimming ALL OVER THE PLACE. So instead of getting angry, I said "Ok, I got it" (in Japanese) and I continued swimming. When I got to the other end of the pool the same woman continued to hassle me by making erratic hand gestures from her end of the pool. I couldn't see her face so well and her erratic gestures could have been an attempt to land a 747 on approach to the pool. I pointed at myself and gave her a "what?!" gesture. She then got out of her life guard seat and moved to the side of the pool to physically show me which lane to swim in. As all this was going on, the other 3 swimmers were still swimming ALL OVER THE PLACE. I then deliberated swam back to her end IN THE WRONG LANE, but not ALL OVER THE PLACE. I was starting to get pissed off and I wanted to see her reaction to my deliberate breaking of the rules. However when I got to her end she was talking to another swimming pool staff member. They both looked at me and...said nothing. Yes. I have found that a difficult, out-of-book situation happens in Japan, people tend to do nothing in the hope of the problem just dissolving by itself. The theory behind solving problems this way is in fact sound as if the harmony has being already broken, then breaking it further just serves to make the problem worse. Also Japanese people are brought up to realise and understand when that harmony will be or has been broken. However as people from other countries have different sets of behaviours and beliefs, this reasoning doesn't really work for them. Hence I deliberately broken the harmony by challenging her. In the end I continued swimming and shrugged off the situation...until I got home. Here at home I thought that maybe I should have asked her to explain the rules to the other Japanese swimmers. However past experiences in these matters have only led me to become more frustrated and angry with people who hassle me.
So the lessons learned today were:
- Challenge The Man, but avoid direct confrontations
- Make sure to read the rules of swimming, before swimming in the pool that I have been going to for the past 7 years.
- Invisible 747s trying to land in swimming pools don't exist. If a local Japanese person is making erratic gestures, it means they are talking to YOU.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Dancing Mia
Lately Mia has started to dance to music. She Especially likes "There She Goes" by The La's (what a clever little girl). She won't win Britain's most strictly come X-Factor dancing, however she likes to bob up and down to the music. In the video she gets going after 1 minute :-)
I'm back!
This is the first post I have written since November!
I have been busy being a dad, working during the week and weekends, starting a new business, starting a band AND researching and writing my dissertation. There are not enough hours in a day. Here is a quick run down of the above.
Work during the week - my regular lecturing job.
Other work - In November I was the keynote presenter at this year's Nagasaki ALTs and Japanese English teacher conference. I gave my speech to around 200 people. I went all Steve Jobs (RIP Steve) by delivering my speech by walking around the stage, pausing, changing the slides (via my iphone) and telling a joke or two. It was a great experience and I had a lot of positive feedback from ALTs and Japanese teachers.
I've also managed to give a few different speeches on teaching and learning English.
Band - My friend Shuji and I have started an electronic band with two local musicans. We just get together and jam in whatever key we can think of. We all have different tastes ranging from jungle, electronica, rock and dubstep. Its all instrumental now, but I've managed to achieve my goal of playing in a band and having at least 2 keyboards to play from - one with each hand (think early 80s synthpop bands on top of the pops). I also use apps on my ipad to play live.
Business - Also with Shuji we have started a sell, repair and buy vintage synth business. We have just finished the start up side of the business that took a couple of months, and we are almost ready to launch. Expect shameless plugging on my facebook and blog.
Mia - Mia is doing well and getting bigger every day. Whenever I turn away from her, she manages to grow a little bit more. Lately she likes babbling and grabbing hold of anything she can get hold of. Her latest thing is "dancing" to music. She also likes to "sing" (shout) whenever I play the guitar.
Thats all for now, just a quick update as the only person who reads this (aka Ikumi) asked me to update :-)
I have been busy being a dad, working during the week and weekends, starting a new business, starting a band AND researching and writing my dissertation. There are not enough hours in a day. Here is a quick run down of the above.
Work during the week - my regular lecturing job.
Other work - In November I was the keynote presenter at this year's Nagasaki ALTs and Japanese English teacher conference. I gave my speech to around 200 people. I went all Steve Jobs (RIP Steve) by delivering my speech by walking around the stage, pausing, changing the slides (via my iphone) and telling a joke or two. It was a great experience and I had a lot of positive feedback from ALTs and Japanese teachers.
I've also managed to give a few different speeches on teaching and learning English.
Band - My friend Shuji and I have started an electronic band with two local musicans. We just get together and jam in whatever key we can think of. We all have different tastes ranging from jungle, electronica, rock and dubstep. Its all instrumental now, but I've managed to achieve my goal of playing in a band and having at least 2 keyboards to play from - one with each hand (think early 80s synthpop bands on top of the pops). I also use apps on my ipad to play live.
Business - Also with Shuji we have started a sell, repair and buy vintage synth business. We have just finished the start up side of the business that took a couple of months, and we are almost ready to launch. Expect shameless plugging on my facebook and blog.
Mia - Mia is doing well and getting bigger every day. Whenever I turn away from her, she manages to grow a little bit more. Lately she likes babbling and grabbing hold of anything she can get hold of. Her latest thing is "dancing" to music. She also likes to "sing" (shout) whenever I play the guitar.
Thats all for now, just a quick update as the only person who reads this (aka Ikumi) asked me to update :-)
Friday, November 18, 2011
Life in Tokyo
"life can be cruel, life in Tokyo" is what the 70s/80s band Japan sang...
However it's not really cruel in Tokyo, the subway system is a pain in the arse, but that's as cruel as it gets. I think the singer from Japan just needed to man up a little.
So, I'm in Tokyo! My first time since 2005 - when I arrived in japan. I'm attending a teaching conference that lasts for 3 days and so far I'm really enjoying being in a classroom and learning stuff. Makes a change from teaching stuff.
Tokyo itself is really cool and I managed to buy clothes at H&M ( big WIN ) and people watch over coffee. Also I met my friend and coworker for a late night drink - we both came to Tokyo on the same day, but we were completely unaware that we would be here attending different conferences!
Tomorrow more conference and after more real city life!
However it's not really cruel in Tokyo, the subway system is a pain in the arse, but that's as cruel as it gets. I think the singer from Japan just needed to man up a little.
So, I'm in Tokyo! My first time since 2005 - when I arrived in japan. I'm attending a teaching conference that lasts for 3 days and so far I'm really enjoying being in a classroom and learning stuff. Makes a change from teaching stuff.
Tokyo itself is really cool and I managed to buy clothes at H&M ( big WIN ) and people watch over coffee. Also I met my friend and coworker for a late night drink - we both came to Tokyo on the same day, but we were completely unaware that we would be here attending different conferences!
Tomorrow more conference and after more real city life!
Monday, September 19, 2011
An evening on the French Riviera
Last week Ikumi, Mia and I took a trip to the French Riviera. We ate lots of onion soup with lashings of red wine. We kept it stereotypical...
Not really! Nagasaki has a beautiful waterfront and everytime I go there I think I'm on the French riviera. However whenever I go there I do try and have a glass of red wine yo recreate a european atmosphere. However due to Japan's strict driving laws for drink and driving, I couldn't even have a sip of wine with my meal. If I was in the UK I would have at least a bottle before taking the wheel of my car ( just before anyone contacts the RSPCC or any other narc organization, this last point is a joke).
After our meal on the waterfront we went for a walk and we saw a local team preparing for the October Okunchi festival. Now that's something that would never happen in the UK.
Not really! Nagasaki has a beautiful waterfront and everytime I go there I think I'm on the French riviera. However whenever I go there I do try and have a glass of red wine yo recreate a european atmosphere. However due to Japan's strict driving laws for drink and driving, I couldn't even have a sip of wine with my meal. If I was in the UK I would have at least a bottle before taking the wheel of my car ( just before anyone contacts the RSPCC or any other narc organization, this last point is a joke).
After our meal on the waterfront we went for a walk and we saw a local team preparing for the October Okunchi festival. Now that's something that would never happen in the UK.
Downloaded blogger app
This is my first post using the blogger app on my iPhone. No idea how it will look though...
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Researching in the sun...
Summer is still here! However its gradually getting cooler. I spent a short while working on our balcony. The joys of cooler days, wifi and my macbook pro.
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| Researching in the sun with a fine year |
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Our first family trip - Fukuoka
The three of us stayed overnight in Fukuoka for our first family trip. We have had plenty of day trips to places, but this was the first time we stayed at a hotel with Mia. We didn't have a specific purpose other than eating, walking and having a good time together.
We spend the day walking around in different parts of Fukuoka. As its so hot, we spend a lot of time in the many malls of Fukuoka. Mia was happy to sit in her buggy and watch everything and everyone go by.
On our way home we stopped off at Tosu outlet mall. There is nothing in Tosu apart from this mall. Its an outside wide open mall and perfect for a baby buggy.
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| On the way to Fukuoka. Mia always sleeps in the car (Nice steering wheel...) |
When we arrived at Fukuoka we made a spur of the moment decision to eat at the Hard Rock cafe. This was my 2nd visit and my 3rd ever visit at a Hard Rock cafe in my life. I was surprised at how tasty my burger was.
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| Mia and mum waiting for a table. |
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| We buy Mia a hat, we didn't intend for her to look like a little samurai. |
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| Night time driving |
The next day was another slow paced relaxing day and Mia was was happy for us to once again push her around Fukuoka in her buggy.
We went to a book shop in Fukuoka....
We also went to Ikumi's favourite place in the whole world..
Mia also likes to sleep in noisy places...
Coming back from Fukuoka Mia slept for most of the way
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| Striking a business deal. |
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| Almost home... |
I'm happy that Mia enjoyed her first trip. Hopefully the travel bug will stay with her.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
New skillz = proud dad and mum!
Lately Mia has started to slowly turn herself over onto her front. Its really funny/amazing to watch as she tries really hard to push herself over. She gets so worked up that if she can't push herself over she gets vex and starts to cry :-(
Hopefully in the next few days I will be able to post photos of our first family trip - 2 days in Fukuoka :-D
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