Random Musings

1. I've become obsessed with westerners (and in fact any foreigner). Yeah, yeah, I'm white, but beyond the few Gaijins in my social circle here (known as "Expatria", the little world of Expats) I barely see any white people, or any foreigners at all. When I do see them, I tend to stare and I almost always get busted for doing so. You could say I'm super curious.

2. White people all look the same. Before I came to Japan, I'd been around Japanese people long enough to make individual distinctions, instead of grouping them into one homogenous group. Since I've been in Japan for a little while now, all the white people I do see tend to look exactly like someone I know back home...In fact, they look like all the people I know back home. Weird.

3. We're going to Beijing soon to visit our future superpower neighbour. We know very little of China, so we'll be doing a little crash course in Chinese History before we hit the Marco Polo Bridge, the Forbidden City, and the Summer Palace. Should be killer.

4. Mainstream/Beatbeat Electronica (Moby, Fatboy, Armand van Helden, Prodigy, Daft Punk, Gorillaz and The Chemical Brothers) is trying to make a comeback.....I love this stuff, but with the exception of the Gorillaz, there has been no real advancement with the latest batch of albums.

Time to push the last generation out of the DJ booth. We need some new talent.

You know what you need to learn?
Old school artists don't always burn
You're just another rapper whose had his turn
Now it's my turn,
And I am concerned
About idiots, posing as kings
What are we here to rule,
I thought we're 'sposed to sing
And if we are to sing,
Then let us begin to teach
Many of you are educated open your mouth and speak
--Cypress Hill