Marble Sheep...

...is the name of a Japanese band that described themselves as "so-so underground famous" outside of Japan, though not really known at all within Japan. Me and Amber had a bonding moment with them when the bass player let us stay at her tiny tiny Tokyo apartment on Friday night. Too bad Ken, the lead singer also crashing there, snored really loudly all night.
We met them that night at a small show in Tokyo (Shimakitazawa), where me and Amber made the haul to see Damo Suzuki, former lead singer of Can. Amber, in her mysterious life, met Damo with her music friends from Melbourne and so we used her mysterious connection to get on the guest list. How exciting! I went to a gig in Tokyo on the guest list! haha...

Not a terrific picture, but here's the old man doing his thing. His performances are all improvised, and he seems to make little to no contact with the band he happens to be playing with at the time. A hand shake and "arigatou" is about as close as i saw him get to the people he played with. Despite the lack of connection among the performers, he definitely inserted some energy into the stage. And his nonsense lyrics somehow matched the controlled chaos of the sets. We went to a nearby Chinese restaurant where everyone ate and drank for many hours. Marble Sheep members were among the guests, and were kind enough to shelter us later on.

He was performing again the next night, so we hung around and saw him in Aoyama on Saturday. I maybe liked this second round better, but its tough to say with music like this...
we sat up close and watched the sweat pour off of him. Guess he calls performing "sweat-bathing." Appropriate enough.
Amber is either really happy or just cringing in pain from how loud it was, and how close we were to the speakers. We deafened ourselves up front with some of Damo's other guests, including a belly dancer who currently resides in Brooklyn, her boyfriend with very tight pants, and a dentist. not the usual group of people I hang out with on my saturday nights, and though maybe i don't have a whole lot in common with all of them, i certainly appreciated the change of pace and interesting stories.
This is Damo Suzuki with a weird (/forced) smile, his entirely sweat soaked body hugging me and Amber. You may also notice in this picture that for the first time in maybe a year and half or so I do not have a beard. I shaved this past Friday. Amber seemed to barely recognize me, and I had to pump myself up for Monday at work, when I thought I'd be hearing comments all day. But, to my surprise, people seemed to barely notice. The teachers I've been working with for months didn't say anything until the kids actually pointed it out, and the all of a sudden it struck them that oh yah, i did look really different. The teacher who sits next to me and whom I eat lunch with everyday asked if I got a haircut. I said "no," and she thought for a moment and then insisted that something was different.... right? I thought she was joking, but in retrospect I'm not sure. I really don't get it. I could probably come in with a shaved head, an entirely new outfit, and an extra mysterious 5 inches, and i feel like they would still barely notice anything was different. Only the 14 year old girls really paid any notice... haha

In the mean time, I'm waiting for the glorious arrival of my good good good friend Jacob. Jacob has been my partner in crime and heterosexual life mate for these past four years, and it will be good to share some of Japan with him . I've already got plans that don't fit into either of our budgets. I'll keep you informed about my transportation plans, post red-bicycle theft. :(
With love,
Aaron