Went
to Akihabara, aka Denki Town, aka Electric Town... every electronic
device available in Japan can be found here, but mainly everyone here's
in search of or selling computers, stereos, TVs, and that sort of
thing.
There's
some beautiful stuff to be had; the computers actually looked sexy!
Everything's just very aesthetically pleasing. I ended up getting
a nice 17" monitor (used, of course!) for $200 and a full-tower
case (lovingly marked "junk" by the shop) for $20. Aside
from an ugly blue power button, it's actually pretty cool.
Once
my computer parts actually arrive in the mail, I'll be all set! (I
dissassembled my PC in New York and shipped it over -- mailing it
via UPS was another $200, but the system's worth $1500, and more importantly,
I have it running PER-FECT-LY, and didn't wanna have to break-in a
whole new computer while I'm here. That'd take a full year. Es[ecaily
with the keyboards here -- important keys like the "@" symbol
aren't where they belong, so typing is a real bitch sometimes).
I'm
assuming the part wi'll work on Japan's electric system (which runs
at 110hz instead of America's 120hz... or is that the other way around?
Ah, whatever, we'll find out in a day or so).
Also
did a little bit more CD shopping... got the sparkly clear version
of L'Arc's Ray for Y580, and their singles for Neo Universe
and Lose Control, at Y50 a pop. Also got Aikawa Nanase's 5-track
single Sekai wa Kono Te no Naka ni / Heat of the Night for
Y50 and Ryuchi (Luna Sea) Kawamura's Raspberry Soda for Y80.
Ray,
of course, is perhaps the greatest J-Rock album ever; everything else
was just me being frivolous. <lights cigar made of $100 bills>
Oh!
I also got a free Luna Sea poster (the five guys, besuited, a la the
Tonight single, standing against a black background). There
were also some cool Hide posters at this one shop, hanging up behind
the counter, but I kinda despise Hide now, in a way! Face it, he was
great with X Japan, but then as a solo artist, he gradually went downhill.
He's one o' them types that needs structure, and I think Yoshiki provided
that for him; after he secured his place in history with Hide Your
Face and Psyence, he just started putting out crap (with
the exception of three or four exceptional tracks on Ja Zoo)!
That's how I feel today, anyway!
Back
to reality... afterward CD shopping, I hit Ochanomizu, which is to
guitars what Akihabara is to electronics, i.e., it has -gobs-
of guitar shops! They had some average/cool stuff here and there,
but the special items, like the ones signed by Noisy, Die, and Aiji
& Ken, were especially cool. So cool, I was inspired to buy tickets
for the upcoming Pierrot concert in Tokyo on July 17 & 18.
Buying
tickets wasn't hard either -- just find a Ticket Pia, go inside, flip
through the Ticket Pia magazine (a weekly guide for concerts, movies,plays,
yadda yadda yadda -- available everywhere). Find a concert, point
to it, say "Ikitai!", smile, hand over money, get ticket,
all done.
Sex
Machine Guns was sold out, but Pierrot had a few seats left, allllll
the way back (which is just as well -- when I stand, I block everyone's
view). Anyone else going to the July 18th show?
Ochanomizu
isn't as cool as it once was; fewer CD stores, mainly. And the one
that i remembered as being very cool/underground/visual-oriented had
turned into a DVD store. Very sad; no more "Guitarist seeking
band" type ads; it's been five days and I'm no closer to being
in a band than when I landed because fo this setback. Poo!
next
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