disk union

Here is something that has grown on me. a place i go every week at least once. one could say i have become a collector of music. one could say i am a nerd for electronic music. not so much in the sense that i look for rarities, i buy what my taste is, and cheap.
so many bargains to be made, releases you would pay a fortune for in europe. i guess once i get my hands on a turntable i will totally go berserk.
it is the miracle of used record stores like "disk union" which throw out cds and vinyl like mad. the pressure of new stuff coming in every week lets them start campaigns where you just can't resist. my system is to pay not more than 500 yen (3,5 euro) per album. and i would say the average i pay is less than 300 yen.
needless to justify and maybe surprising for some my collection has seen an increase of over 250 cds over a years course...

sakura falls

Finally i do come 'round posting my tribute to cherry blossoms.
this year was a year of pity, the weekends rainy, washing away the beauty without a chance to go out there until this weekend ...
with the first leaves pushing through the white of the trees and blossoms falling i took the chance to watch some.
this is the most enjoyable time for most japanese. get out to the park, meet with friends, eat and drink your head off! and so it doesn't surprise that even here, in what i call an insider location, the aoyama cemetery, enjoyment can be found, too.

politics an' bullshit

This weekend the election for the new tokyo major is coming up. now, i don't want to bore anyone, although researching on amakudari is highly recommended from my point of view.
but the thing that excites me about this particular election is the guy number 6: kisho kurokawa, a fellow architect (if i may be as blatant as to put my name next to his)!
i am not only excited because architects in politics have always been mean-ass (germania, anyone?), but also about kurokawas (long gone) ideas of urbanity. those could thoeretically pop up during a city council meeting or something. (well, let's just forget for a minute about what his office is building nowadays in china and alike...). like, if he was still in his hot phase: the 1960's and 1970's.
picture this! city council member: mr. mayor, how should we solve the problem of the shortage of living space in tokyo? kurokawa: well, let's just transform the city into a giant double helix!
seriously, he was one of the heroes of my university days.
check out the nakagin capsule tower. one of the few buildings that the metabolist movement (Kurokawas brainchild) produced in real life.
sadly it din't work out and nowadays only an empty shell remains.