Couchsurfing – My Latest Random Obsession
Saturday, January 22nd, 2011 in: News
Ok, maybe not so random; I am traveling after all.
I’m sure I’ve mentioned couchsurfing before, it’s probably one of the coolest concepts ever. It connects travelers with hosts interested in sharing their city with new people, or just gives people who share interests or locales a chance to meet up over a cup of coffee. It’s like facebook for travelers, but couchsurfing actually encourages real-world interaction with other human beings. On a global scale. Think hitch-hiking, but in peoples’ homes, with a feedback system. (more…)
Panstar to Busan
Friday, January 21st, 2011 in: News, Travel
As the time on my visa quickly drains away, I’m left sitting in a bathtub full of possibilities. Where to go next and where to go after that? Suddenly my life needs plans, not just for the following week, but for the coming months. This method of travel is hard to maintain; it takes a lot more forethought than I had anticipated. Visa dates, destinations, transport schedules, waiting for good fares… not to mention actually deciding where to go, in what order, and what to do there. This sounds like I’m complaining about living a pretty awesome life, but isn’t it in human nature to yearn for what we don’t have? Some stability, some responsibilities, a chance to work on something that makes a difference to people other than myself. I have to check myself when I start saying this out loud, as someone nearby invariably tells me to STFU, that they’d trade places with me any day. Sometimes I’m tempted to trade it in, at least for a while, but I know that a few months of stability turns into a few years a little too easily, and the next thing I know I’ll be yearning for instability again. There will be a time for that, but not yet. (more…)
How do you fix a Computer in Japan?
Wednesday, January 19th, 2011 in: News, Travel
Trick question!
After my troubles in Beijing, I would like to think that my computer karma meter was topped off and the gods of electronics would soon smile upon me and their warm caring embrace would fill me with bits and bytes of joy. About a month after getting my computer back from Dell China, and two days after my return to Japan, I turned my laptop on go be greeted by a familiar and unwelcome error: the same one I got when my computer first broke. (more…)
Daidougei World Cup Field Report 4
Sunday, January 16th, 2011 in: News, Travel
After Cru Cru Cirque’s professional ON performance, I was worried that it would be too easy to see the cracks in the less polished acts. I wandered back to where Hiro and Jun were watching an OFF performer by the name of Kana, a combination of hula hooping, object manipulation, juggling, balance and dance. The act was a bit meandering, with little segue from one sequence to the next, but every time she turned to the audience, she beamed a smile so warm and genuine that you could tell that performing was her joy in life. (more…)
Griddable’s Best of 2010
Tuesday, January 11th, 2011 in: News
January marks the 1-year anniversary of Griddable. I’m looking forward to the coming year and everything in store for me, but I must also look back to the previous year, to the good and bad experiences, to the lessons learned, lest they be forgotton. This site has given me a great outlet for my thoughts and stories, and rereading them brings those memories flooding back. Here are a few of my favorite posts from the past year, and why: (more…)
New Video Updates!
Tuesday, January 11th, 2011 in: News
Perched on the edge of yet another adventure, I looked back at all the files that I had to backup, and realized that I have been sitting on videos that I promised to post months ago. This past week has seen more activity on my youtube account than in the past 6 months combined. As with most things, the perceived task was more daunting than it was, and once I sat down to sift through my old videos, I managed to blow through them relatively quickly. They aren’t the masterpieces I had envisioned when I first took the video, but something is better than nothing. So, in relatively chronological order, with links to the articles containing the stories:
Kanamara Penis Festival
Enshi Grand Canyon
Teng Long Cave and Teng Long Cave River
Zhang Jia Jie
Gondola Ride in Fenghuan
Longqingxia Bungee Jump and Baihua Cave
Beijing Hikers
Hiking Huashan Part 1 & Part 2
Opening a bottle of wine with a shoe (no article attached)
Daidougei World Cup Field Report 3
Wednesday, January 5th, 2011 in: News, Travel
After the Kendama show, we headed back to the main strip to catch some other shows. On the other side of the ON areas were smaller OFF sections, for aspiring artists who hadn’t yet made it big. I wandered around a little bit and ended up in a sea of people swarming one of the ON sections, the largest audience I’d seen gather yet. The crowd was so thick all the way around the ringed area that the people on step-ladders gave the illusion of there actually being grandstands. The spot I squeezed myself into was almost behind the performers, which kind of gave an interesting perspective on the show. It turns out it was Cru Cru Cirque, an older troupe of more traditionally trained circus performers. Clowns, if you will. (more…)
…and a Happy New Year!
Friday, December 31st, 2010 in: News, Travel
Ok, so this is kind of out of chronological sequence, but I’m about a month and an entire country behind in my posts. Sometimes it’s refreshing to post something that is actually current, instead of just recollections of events passed.
I’m sitting in a cafe in Seoul, South Korea. I know my last post has me halfway through a day at the Daidougei World Cup in Shizuoka. Like I said, I’m behind. It’s been an interesting month, and I can’t share everything that’s gone down in recent weeks. I’ll catch up eventually. I’ve learned a lot about Korea and I like it here much more than I anticipated. We’re 55km from the most unhinged psychopathic dictatorship in the world, with the largest concentration of artillery firepower trained on a single city, namely, Seoul. Kim Jong Il has threatened a “sacred war,” using his arsenal of nuclear weapons against the south.
And nobody here cares… (more…)
Daidougei World Cup Field Report Part 2
Sunday, December 26th, 2010 in: News, Travel
After Mr. Apatch’s show, he implored the audience to come forth and drop some money into his treasure box, emphasizing “ORITATANDE” (the folded kind), insinuating a generous donation as the smallest bill in Japan is worth about $10. Hiro gave me a 500 yen coin and told me to go up for him. I was wearing my big sunglasses but there’s no hiding this fair complexion and westerner’s “high nose” of mine, so as he was doling out arigatous to his patrons, as I extended my hand to deposit the coin he froze. His eyes locked with mine, through my dark sunglasses, and as I smiled and began to turn away he regained his composure and bellowed a “thank you!”
There was a short break between Mr. Apatch and BlackRay’s set; the crowd started to dissipate, but quickly filled back up with people vying for a good seat for the next show. Some people carried around footstools and step-ladders so they could see from behind the massive crowds. As ON performers, Black and Rei were guaranteed a pretty good turnout. I took my position and waited for the show to begin. Kei-san lent me his dSLR so I could snap some photos of the show, but I knew that meant I would probably never see those photos again, so I took a little video footage in one hand as I happily snapped away in the other.
Daidougei World Cup in Shizuoka – 大道芸ワールドカップイン静岡 Field Report Part 1
Sunday, December 19th, 2010 in: News, Travel
As I said in my last post, one of the biggest annual venues for street performers is the Daidougei World Cup in Shizuoka. Daidougei is Japanese for “street art,” and encapsulates all kinds of street performance. As long as it’s entertaining, the only limits to street performance are your budget and your imagination. There’s even an official license for street performance in Tokyo, which is like a badge of honor and official recognition of being “pretty good.” Many skill players seek this license even if they don’t intend to perform on the street; they just want the recognition and prestige that comes with it.
Every first weekend of November, Shizuoka city gets overrun with talent from all over the world and throngs of people who flock to see them perform. For street performers, it’s the Grand Prix of exhibitionism. Although there is a contest element in it (last year’s winner was Princess Elayne, a contortionist who can shoot a bow and arrow with her feet, whilst balancing on her MOUTH), I think the biggest draw for street performers to the World Cup is that it’s one of the few events where there is literally a massive crowd of onlookers who come to watch, and although it’s not mandatory, pay the performers for their shows. A good artist probably does better in that one weekend in Shizuoka than they normally do in an entire month. (more…)
