Penises, Strange Art, and Bad Ass Volleyball

Actually ventured OUT of Ikebukuro today and met my friend Sops for lunch and art. Sops had free tickets to the Mori art museum, which i had never been to, so after a nice cheap lunch set at Chinese Cafe 8 (AKA the penis restaurant) we went to see some modern art.


modern art is strange. i don't get some of it. scratch that, i don't get most of it. with art, its like first impressions for me. i either like it or i don't. Sops says he doesn't like it if it looks like he could make it himself. i understand the logic but i don't subscribe to the theory myself. the exhibit was a retrospective of the Turner Prize over the last 25 years. i thought some of the sculptures were interesting and there were a couple of video pieces that i liked. also the Hirst piece with the cows cut in half and preserved in formaldehyde was cool. i will admit, there were several pieces i didn't understand at all. what i thought was funny was that the informational labels next to the pieces had interpretations written on them telling the viewer what they were supposed to be thinking about the piece. like i don't know how i feel about it? i do! i DON'T LIKE IT!!!

we went to do a bit of window shopping afterwards. roppongi hills is an interesting building. he design is beautiful but not very user friendly. i've gotten lost here almost every time i've come.


we parted ways in the late afternoon as my friend Yukari had tickets for a group of us to see the Japan Women's Volleyball team play against the Dominican republic team. We met at Tokyo Gymnasium at Sendagaya Station.


first of all, me and sports don't get along. i can't play ANY sports that takes score or gets timed or has anything to do with balls, bats, goals, nets, sticks, lines, targets, baskets, pucks, or any kind of special footwear. and although i readily admit my total suckiness with playing sports, i really like going to see live games of just about anything. i don't understand the rules or the chants of the crowds but i really get caught up in the whole atmosphere. before today, i had never been to a volleyball game before in my entire life. and you know what i found? i LOVE volleyball!



it helps that we had KICK-ASS seats! yukari scored FRONT ROW seats for us through her company!




these chicks were crazy tall too (at least 6 ft easy). and really ballsy! they were smacking that ball super hard.


there were cheerleaders at half time (this is your you dad!)


and some boy band called Hey! Say! Jump! was also there. the girls in the crowd were going nuts.


Go Japan!


Here's a video! Check it out!

I cheered for the Dominican team too. #1 Vespa would serve the ball by punching the fucking thing! but my fav was #10 Cabral who had one of the meanest fucking spikes in the game.



this is the channel 6 pig that loves volleyball


we walked through the big balloon thing in the front as we left.


Thanks for getting us tickets Yukari! We had fun!

2 Festivals in 1 Afternoon? Noooooo Problem!

Double Whammy Festival Sunday!!

after my two morning lessons were through, i ran out to the station to meet with friends for a festival extravaganza! we started by going to Asakusa for the Sanja Festival.

They raised Kaminarimon so the mikoshis could get through:


i dont know if this is a con or what. but it's a perpetual sleeping/praying cat.


check out the huge crowds!


and this band of miscreants!



does this qualify as a swarm?


one of the things i love love LOVE about festivals are the vendors. there are tons of them selling all kinds of stuff and all sorts of delicious foods. (i even got a hundred yen discount on my second chu-hi because i had boobs. gotta love it!)








there was some bad ass drumming going down in the back:


and another little band on the side:


INAPPROPRIATE CAPTION TIME:

"Dude, cover it up. you never know when the
little guy is going to spring into action!"

"Who says don't be a square? my junk is."

there were even these super cute kids doing stuff!


these "brave" police officers were not trying to control the crowds at all. just enjoying their good view:


and the hauling of the mikoshis was on!




at about 5 in the afternoon, we decided to catch the end of the jamaican festival in yoyogi park. we figured it would be pretty dead since we were going so late but it was still hoppin'!


just when you though beer couldn't get any better . . .


Dr. Rasta, i presume? this dude's clothes looked like reggae hospital scrubs and crazy shoes.


this guy has the crowd going!


yum! the jerk was good although you paid a ton and only got a few morsels. damn them!!


a fun but exhausting day!

Aliens in Odaiba

Ended up going to my field trip alone this month (no students) but since it was an exhibit that i really wanted to see, i went anyway. The Science of Aliens exhibit is being held at the Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation in Odaiba until about mid June. If you get a chance to check it out (this is a travelling exhibit on loan from the Science Museum in London), i definitely recommend it.


i don't think i was supposed to take any pictures but i snapped a couple anyway. here's the Aliens alien! very cool! (and very scary, even as a prop)


and lots of aliens as they are represented in films (yes, that's an Ewok you see here) and television.


There was this super cool video showing of this alien like organism called a water bear. they move around like bears with 8 legs and munch on all kinds of things that make they change color. very cool! here's what they look like:


the exhibit also had an interactive component that showed what other viable planets would be like. you could "touch" the thing moving around that you wanted to know about and a menu would come up that you could work with. Japanese AND English too! take that, science!


after the exhibit, i decided to take a walk around Odaiba and see a bit more. considering that the whole island is built on a giant trash island, it's quite pretty. lots of greenery!


weird pointy phallic statue:


i think this is a question best left up to someone else . . .


Yum! boba drinx!


post aliens, i got to see some dinosaurs . . .


and some of the most creative condoms i've ever seen. i wonder if they're flavored . . . .


(from left to right: condoman condoms, titack condoms, and star condoms. at the bottom it says "a long time ago in a galaxy for for away . . ." For away indeed.)