rupert murdoch is a dick/epic bike ride

well first off let me pronounce that rupert murdoch is a slimy piece of controlling shite!

fuck him.

anyways, i went to the polysics myspace secret show on saturday night, it was kind of fun. the djs were awful, playing stupid “indie rock” of yesteryear, i.e. blood brothers and bloc party… they weren’t even mixing songs, just song. stop. new song.

hecka lame.

then i was trying to take pictures to show all my friends the fun i was supposed to be having, but i kept getting shut down by the myspace police. so i tried to convince the myspace staff that i needed a press pass because im a temple daigaku no gakusee (temple 　大学のだうがくせ, and my senmon （専門わ）is communication and i work for the paper and im writing a write up of the show, but they werent having it. but i did give them my contact info, and they are supposedly sending me the “official press photos”. weak. i snuck a camera in for nothing!

anyways, the first band was awful… basically bloc party plus placebo. typical british rock shite plus japanese teen heart-throb lead guitarist/singer. kinda catchy but they sucked, i was thoroughly nonplussed. and i think their band name was “ogre you asshole” which doesn’t even make sense, and sounds ridiculous. hecka lame.

polysics was pretty awesome, the venue was packed, and i got a little something-something for alon who is totally stoked on the polysics. at least someone will be totally stoked that i went.

plus, even though i showed up in the only blue shirt i owned, i had to wear a bright blue t-shirt into the show because light blue isn’t blue enough for myspace. once again, i curse the name of rupert murdoch. ill have you know i threw away the shirt right after i left the liquid room, just to stick it to ol’ rupey one last time.

fox news corp is a stupid stupid organization.

anyways, sunday was way cooler than saturday.

as you might have known, on friday night i blew my back tire. lame.

i thought it was the actual tire, but it turned out to be the tube which was a much cheaper repair. but i had to walk for more than an hour to get to a bike shop that sold more than mama chari tubes, which are decidedly smaller, wider and less applicable to my sort of tire. but nonetheless, i prevailed over the standard shopping bike stores, found a road bike store, and got to get all manly and change my tube on the sidewalk… with the tools i had in my backpack! (plus the pump from the store)

it totally rules to have a wrench and tire levers in your pack all the time! my dad would be proud. for the first time in my life, i own tools. and i carry them around with me. i wonder if john wayne carried a wrench with him when he was righteously metering out ol’ fashioned cowboy justice and rescuing damsels from savage indians? i wonder if john elway carries a wrench? what about bruce willis? bruce willis could probably defuse a bomb with a paper clip… he probably doesnt need that wrench.

anyways, i walked the first half to harajuku　はらじゅく, changed a tube, then rode the other half… it took like 2 hours to get there. but it was fun. i noticed quite a few fixie riders on the way.

so i got to harajuku　はらじゅく, helped out this dude im working with on a rad website/blog/impending clothing line and online store and then rode all the way to shimokitazawa　しもきたざわ… which was kind of far. i kept having to ask people “shimokitazawa wa doku des ka?”　”下北沢毒ですか” and then hoped that they pointed in a direction, so i could nod and smile, not understand anything they said, and then ride off in the direction they hopefully pointed in. the highlight of that leg of the trip was when i went into this childrens bookstore, the two ladies looked at my map, then looked up the spot on google maps (double true!). they then proceeded to print out 3 pages of maps, cut them out, tape them together and then highlight the route in highlighter! japanese people can be so damn nice sometimes! or so damn racist, but gaijin　外人　 usually suck, so i dont blame them. the only problem was that all the google maps for japan are in… japanese… and i dont know kanji yet… so i just kind of had to gesture at the map i couldnt read and hope that someone pointed in the direction i should be heading it… needless to say after 90 minutes and many miles more, i arrived in shimokitazawa and it turned out to be the best neighborhood in tokyo ive seen so far!!!! simutaneously low key and bangin’ at the same time! awesome little shops (ps: graniph you rule as a store… i want your pink hoodie that says helvetica (in helvetica) [even though helvetica is the font of the petty bourgeoisie masses] ever so badly) (pps: my size is small and if you are in the process of buying this for me you probably know my address. im aware that the only color is “frost pink” but for the love of christ, its a “frost pink” hoodie with a typographic reference… love!) anyways, i got invited to a bike event of some kind, and then hung out on the roof of a bar looking at some radical tokyo skyline… really cool! and im ashamed to say that i drank a cappuccino from starbucks but it was ironically the best coffee ive had in japan… thats a new low, japan! the other older low was the first week i was here being denied entry to a bar because im white, but get this… the bar specialized in budweiser and had a huge american express sign outside!!!! IRONIC!!!!!???? maybe it was because i was in a group of pasty whiteys, but that is just silly. what self respecting japanese person would drink budweiser and pay with an american express card?

then i had to ride for like an hour and a half back to the dorm, and my chain fell off for some reason, but it was alright cause i had a wrench in my backpack!

then i got home and typed this. mom, i hope you enjoyed it.