…And back to music. Most of this will be old to you if you’ve been tromping about the blogospher whilst I’ve been tromping about Nippon. But what can I say – I may be 12 hours in the future, but media remains 12 hours in the past. Or something.

Billy Bragg’s recent travels in America seem to have inspired his creative muse – there’s a couple new tracks circulating that are decidedly political and pointed in their content. Both are reworkings of classic tunes – “Bush War Blues” is an update of Leadbelly’s “Bourgeois Blues” and probably requires no further explanation, though Bragg’s new label Anti Records will tell you about it anyway. The other track is based off Bob Dylan’s “The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll” and concerns the death of Rachel Corrie, an activist killed by an Israeli bulldozer while protesting in the Gaza Strip and comes to us via The Guardian. Salon has some commentary on both tracks and an exclusive of their own, his seminal tune “A New England”, which you’ve surely heard before but can also stand to hear again. And for more free Billy Bragg downloads, including his still sadly topical “The Price Of Oil”, go here.

MP3: Billy Bragg – “Bush War Blues”
MP3: Billy Bragg – “The Lonesome Death Of Rachel Corrie”
MP3: Billy Bragg – “A New England”

As I hoped, Zoilus has expanded on the interview he conducted with Bragg for The Globe & Mail Bugmenot) a little while back, publishing the full text of it on his own website (and to which I’m happy to provide visuals for, taken at his recent Toronto gig. And finally, Exclam! has an interview of their own with him. Billy, not Carl. His Volume 1 box set came out last month, his Volume 2 box set will be out in October. Again, Billy. Not Carl.

Pitchfork has an interview with Calexico brain trust John Covertino and Joey Burns about their new album Garden Ruin, which will be out next Tuesday. There’s now a video for the first single “Cruel”, which you can view via Prefix.

Neko Case was in town last night. How was it? All I’ve got are features on the fox confessor from The Chicago Sun-Times, The Toronto Sun, City Pages, The Boston Globe and NOW.

In what must be one of the odder bills to come through town in recent memory, Eels will be at the Mod Club on June 17 with Smoosh. I’d like to see Smoosh, but have never been a fan of Eels. What to do what to do. Furthermore. Mary Timony will be at the Music Gallery on May 30. And in town tomorrow night? The Flaming Lips. NOW features these unknown Okies.

So what, I go away for a week and hell freezes over? No, I guess this is only the sixth sign. Armageddon will truly come when Bob Mould calls up Grant Hart and suggests some coffee house Husker Du action. The Replacements’ new song-sporting best-of comp Don’t You Know Who I Think I Was? will be out June 13 and the box set out next year sometime.

24 (last week’s): You know, when you go a couple weeks between episodes and get some perspective, you start to realize what a truly ridiculous show this is sometimes. Just saying. Anyway, so two high-ranking government officials in Walt and Audrey were having an illicit affair in a hotel and they used their own names? I like Edgar’s replacement. Yes I do… And it looks like SHE’S hot for Chloe too. Too bad she’s crazy. “The first rule of engagement is that you have a contingency plan”. Or six. Or seven. Thousand. Jack gets tasered and then some sweet Audrey action in the span of what, 15 minutes? And finally – the Kiefer Sutherland/Julian Sands showdown! Their steely gazes said it all – “You were terrible in The Cowboy Way!” “Two words, bitch! Boxing Helena!”

PS – this was set to go up yesterday, but I mis-entered the publish date… whoops.

np – Okkervil River / Black Sheep Boy

This trip started in not a rural setting, but a decidedly less metropolitan one but as it progressed, we were spending more and more time in cities. The final day was in Osaka, and we got a taste of urban Japan as we headed into downtown for a couple hours of shopping. I wouldn’t say I was on any sort of a mission, but I was definitely keen to check out at least one Japanese electronics store to see if they were indeed all that I’d imagined. I was directed to Yobodashi Electronics, just behind the Osaka tram station, and wasn’t disappointed.

With something like five or six floors, the store is like Engadget and Gizmodo made retail. Okay, maybe not quite so cutting edge, but it was still a sensory overload for even a moderate tech toy geek like myself. Computers, cameras, stereos, cellphones, appliances, televisions, etc etc, if it had a circuit, speaker or lens, these guys had it and garishly labeled. It was awesome. What I liked best was that there was no distinction between high end and low end the way there is in North America. Whether you were looking for a $10 clock radio or $10,000 phono cartridge, they had it. Pocket point-and-shoot digicam or professional-quality Hasselblad photographic system, they’d hook you up. It was nice to be able to gawk at the really fancy stuff unmolested by staff (not that I’d have understood them anyway) before walking out with some cheap camera accessories. It’s probably just as well that I didn’t have more time to browse or else I’d have certainly spent more money than I really should have.

We had to abbreviate the shopping trip since there was one more stop in town before heading back to Taiwan – Osaka-jo Castle. Situated in the centre of town and rather toweringly so, it’s a reconstruction of a 17th century fortress complete with moats, gates and very impressive central stronghold. I liked that the castle grounds were completely open to the public and used as a city park. With the cherry trees finally blooming and it being Saturday, the grounds were filled with both tourists and locals enjoying a break in the lousy weather. It was a nice vibe. From atop the main tower, you had a terrific view of the city on all sides, a single bastion of the Middle Ages in a sea of modernity.

That was actually one of the pervailing themes of the trip, though far more evident in Kyoto than in Osaka – the proud history of the country sitting quite harmoniously with its ultra forward-looking character, and no one thinking it’s very odd at all. I found it all quite wonderful – if you couldn’t tell by now, I was very much won over by Japan. I felt a real sort of contentment in the places I went, the people seemed quite happy and all exceedingly polite and nice and apparently very much into dachshunds right now. Everyone had one). Everything about their gadget-y culture, from the ubiquitous vending machines to heated toilet seats and ultra-efficient hand dryers really appealed to the latent engineer in me. Things seem strange and gimmicky at first, but if you think about it they’re unbelievably logical and practical. If I was disappointed in anything, it’s that the Japanese cultural quirks weren’t nearly as over the top as I’d hoped. There was some charmingly butchered English on their Pachinko halls and in the airport, but otherwise it wasn’t like cruising Engrish.com in real time. But that’s actually probably for the best as well.

The choice to take a tour wasn’t mine, and it proabably wasn’t a bad one. I usually prefer to travel by skulking around a city and trying to play local, but I certainly got to see more, eat better and sleep better on this trip than I would have left to my own devices. It probably would have been better if I’d been able to understand more than every fourth word out of the tour guide’s mouth (note – tours booked from Taiwan will almost certainly be conducted in Chinese) but making do with a guide book and taking notes of where I was to look up what I was seeing later wasn’t the worst way to go either. Language was an interesting experience, though – I would instinctively spend a few minutes trying to compose my question or request in Chinese, and then realize that they wouldn’t understand that either. So most

But I will most certainly return to Japan one day to explore Tokyo – I suspect that’s where the giant robots are concentrated.

I am continuing to slowly upload my trip photos to Flickr, though it’s taking a little longer than I’d like since all the file dates are fubar-ed for some reason and I want them to display in something resembling chronological order. But they will be getting up there eventually.

For now, I’ve got another week in Taiwan that’ll be split between some tourist-y stuff and some sitting around complaining about the humidity. Should be a good time.

np – Maximo Park / A Certain Trigger

Dear Japan – it’s called WiFi. It’s great. You should look into it. That is all. Another unbelievably fancy hotel last night and again, their idea of internet connectivity is a second phone jack.

More snow greeted us on the morning of our last full day in Japan, but thankfully the weather would only improve from that point on. First stop would be Arashiyama, at the southwest end of Kyoto, and a very brief and brisk rickshaw ride around a few blocks of the town. Then it was a leisurely stroll through some towering bamboo forests to the station for the Sagano sightseeing train, a quaint little engine that trundled through the Hozu River gorge, eventually depositing us in Kameoka City.

The ride would have been a lot more impressive if the cherry blossoms were in full bloom as opposed to full bud – while some of them were finally beginning to emerge, the trees as a whole were still more bare than bloomed. With things finally warming up, I expect they’ll be busting right out within another day or two. On one hand, it’s a shame we’re missing that but on the other hand, with the cherry blossoms come huge crowds so maybe we’re lucky after all.

Then it was back into Kyoto proper for a quick stop and lunch in Maruyama Park, home to the rather imposing Chion-in Temple. There wasn’t time to actually go in but I did get a moment to contemplate the busker in the park singing the theme from “Rawhide”.

A little ways north was the Path Of Philosophy, a picturesque little pathway along a ravine that was favoured as a site of contemplation for Zen philosopher Nishida Kitaro in the early 1900s. Again, if the cherry blossoms had been in bloom, this would have been stunning. As it was, it was merely pretty. That was another quick stop as our lightning tour of Kyoto continued on to Okazaki Park and the dazzling vermillion structures and broad gravel courtyards of the Heian Shrine. It was a setting tailor made for epic martial arts showdowns but sadly, none were in the offing that day.

The final stop of Kyoto was easily the most dazzling and certainly one of the city’s finest attractions, the towering Kiyomizudera Temple. Dating back to the 17th century and built in honour of the deity Kannon, it sits high up on a hill overtop Kyoto and offers a magnificent view of the city from its observation platforms. I’m told that the massive system of wooden supports that holds the whole thing up is built entirely without nails or fasteners. You have to see this thing. It’s cr-aaaazzzy.

That was it for Kyoto – the rest of the night was spent driving down to Osaka with a pit stop for dinner at a bizarre Korean BBQ/all-you-can-eat buffet.

It occurs to me that without the pictures to accompany the text, these posts are reading like a bit of a laundry list of places around central Honshu. Sorry about that, but my brain was stuck mainly in observe and absorb mode, rather than analyze and critique, which is just as well since I’d look like a bit of a damn fool trying to analyze Japan. I’ll have photos up on Flickr over the next few days.

Tomorrow – Osaka and a wrap up.

I have to admit it’s a complete mystery to me how I can get an internet connection in a little traditional Japanese hotel on a mountainside, but not in a huge Western-styled one just outside of Kyoto. The mind boggles.

On day three we bid farewell to Nara and began the rather long trek towards Kyoto. First there was a stop in Uji City, on the outskirts of Kyoto, for a visit to the Byodoin Temple. This complex comprised several buildings, the main of which is Phoenix Hall, home to statues of another giant Buddha and 52 attendant Bodhisattvas on clouds. We didn’t actually go into the Hall itself as it was an extra charge on top of admission to the grounds, but that’s not a really big deal since there were replicas of everything in the temple museum (Hoshokan), which didn’t cost extra.

After the Byodoin, we attended a traditional tea ceremony almost next door and then it was back on the bus for lunch in Kyoto proper. We went to an Ochaya-san and were treated to a rather elaborate performance from a Maiko. After that we hightailed it to make an appointment for a tour of the Suntory brewery, but were running so behind we had to settle for the abbreviated version (paraphrased – “This is the water, barley and hops. These are large machines that make beer. Have some beer”. For refreshing time, make it Suntory time indeed.

Side note – driving a large tour bus through the streets of Kyoto is slow going. Just in case you were wondering.

The next stop was downtown Kyoto and a chance to actually experience a bit of Japanese urban life – a nice change from all the austere and historical-ish temples and shrines we’d seen thus far. I spent most of the time trying to track down a 3-prong to 2-prong plug adapter and was happily successful, finding one in a most peculiar sort punk rock department store. Yeah, that’s what I said. Otherwise I wandered about a couple of large retail avenues and just soaked in the atmosphere.

The final stop of the day before the hotel was the Gion quarter, which we were told was exciting because of its role as a location in Memoirs Of A Geisha. I guess that’s exciting. It was kind of funny watching all the tourists camped out in the street, cameras at the ready, hoping to catch a Geisha passing by. Efforts for which they were eventually rewarded (I saw three) but it just seems strange to make such an event out of someone simply walking to work.

The massive and opulent, yet internet-less, hotel we’re staying at is just outside Kyoto on the shores of Bitwa-ko, Japan’s largest lake. This place is built like a castle. And oh yeah – it snowed. SO not part of the original deal.

The second day of the trip was again spent in Nara. One of the big selling points of the hotel we were staying at was the hot spring spa, which I partook in this morning. And damn if it wasn’t comfy. After breakfast, again of the highly traditional type, it was back to Nara Park for more canoodling with the sacred tame deer. There were far more here than on the mountaintop yesterday, and they were far more aggressive in checking out your pockets for food. But they’re so damn cute I really didn’t mind them nibbling on my coat or tour book. Thankfully deer feed was cheap and plentiful so it was easy to make friends with them, at least until the grub ran out. It was funny to see one small kid taunt the deer a little too much and get butted to the ground for his troubles. No one hurt, but satisfying to see.

The main sight in the region of the park we were in was the Todai-Ji temple, the main building of which is Daibutsuden, a gargantuan wooden structure – the largest wooden structure in the world – which houses a 50-foot Buddha. Very impressive, though I was disappointed that no giant moths or lizards appeared to challenge it to battle. That’s two days now without a Mechagodzilla sighting. Maybe I need to be closer to Tokyo.

After lunch it was off to another portion of the park, the Kofukuji Temple, built in the 1400s as exact reproductions of buildings dating back to the 700s. The complex consisted of several buildings including some impressive pagodas and a main temple which again housed more Buddhas. Where we were off to next, I’m not entirely sure since I fell asleep on the bus. Near as I can figuure, it’s about an hour outside of Nara and near the borders of Nara, Kyoto and Osaka and fairly high up on a mountaintop. The hotel has more hot springs (a guy can get used to those!) and is a short walk to yet another temple complex, this one more picturesque as it’s built onto and into the mountainside. So far it’s my top pick for site most likely to house a secret warrior ninja-monk society but they haven’t revealed themselves. Yet.

For the two days we’ve been here, the weather has been both cruel and erratic. Tuesday was all about the rain and yesterday was just damned cold. With a dash of rain. Needless to say, I hadn’t packed for anything quite so blustery so it’s been a bit of a struggle with the elements. It seems to have eased up a bit today, though, so god willing I won’t have to wear the entire contents of my suitcase to stay warm. Plus I think we’re going to be in Kyoto proper today, so less wandering around the countryside.

My laptop is down to the very last nub of power. The Japanese don’t believe in grounded outlets. As such I’m keeping my computer activities to a minimum. Writing, posting. No photo processing so those’ll have to wait till I’m back in Taipei this weekend. But for now, enjoy the fawn up above. Awwww.