The Trick is to Have a Breather

I’m writing this in a brief window of nothingness during a pretty hectic period. I wrote in my last post about carving a week out in order to finish my SF novel; well, it really was just a week. Not that I’m complaining: my schedule is (mostly) packed with fun things of my own choosing. There’s a lot of editing work coming in, plus some stuff for the day job that fills many of the hours, but that just pays for the fun. Priorities.

Last week, Minori and I did some hiking around Fuji (if you want to know about my experience of climbing Fuji, I refer you to The Only Gaijin in the Village) and a night out in Shizuoka City, somewhere I’ve passed through a few hundred times but weirdly never been. I’m not going to try and describe the mountains (I refer you to Mountain Retreats) and instead offer these photos. While climbing Fuji is something everyone should do once (and only idiots do twice, as the saying goes), climbing the peaks near Fuji is much more satisfying. The top of Fuji is the only place in the area where you can’t actually see Fuji and it’s just so photogenic.

Interesting things in the last three photos. The one on the bottom left, the view is the picture that used to be on the 1000 yen note and is now on the 5000 yen note (across Motosu Lake) but slightly angled to include Ryugadake, the mountain where the first six shots come from. The bottom middle photo is from Echizendake and shows the side crater of Fuji which we’d never seen before (from the Shinkansen, it’s just a bump). Last time Fuji erupted, it was out of this side and left that hole. The last one is fresh bear scratches on a tree that we only noticed on the way down the mountain. Yay.

I’m back home for a day (today, if you are reading this when it posts) then we’re off to see Green Day in Nagoya tomorrow. I’ve seen Green Day once before, at Summer Sonic. Festival sets are always a bit different (and shorter) so I’m really looking forward to this. That (2012) was a vintage year, by the way: Green Day, Franz Ferdinand, New Order, Garbage, The Cardigans, Sigur Ros, Death Cab for Cutie, Crystal Castles… I also saw Pitbull, Azealia Banks, Grimes all of whom were interesting but not really my thing. My friend Yoshi made me watch J-Pop nonsense Kyary Pamyu Pamyu so I made him miss Rhianna. He still hasn’t forgiven me. That’s karma, baby.

Anyway, Green Day are a big band for me. I still remember seeing the “Basket Case” video for the first time and being blown away. I remember sitting in my chemistry class resolutely not doing any chemistry (can’t imagine why that teacher hated me), swapping Green Day CD singles with Heather: I had “Basket Case”, the limited edition with live versions of “Longview”, “Burnout”, and “2000 Light Years Away” while she had “Welcome to Paradise.” I can name those b-sides because I listened to it so damn much, over and over and over. “2000 Light Years Away” is still one of my favourite Green Day songs.

It stood out on that CD because I soon bought Dookie (on the same day as Smash by Offspring, my part time job at the weekend washing dishes paid enough cash in hand to buy two CDs at One-Up Records) and “2000 Light Years Away” isn’t on Dookie. I’d have to work a few more weeks to get Kerplunk. They rarely play it live anymore, so I’m not holding my breath. Obviously they will play “Basket Case.” Green Day are supported in Nagoya by Otoboke Beaver, a band I’m really curious to see live.

This will also be Minori’s third big gig (not counting bar bands etc): Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan in Edinburgh, Queen & Adam Lambert in Nagoya Dome, and now Green Day. Not a bad list in all.

Monday (we’re staying over after the gig because countryside trains/night out in Nagoya) I’ll be back home for about four hours before heading to the airport and flying to Kathmandu where I’m attending a conference, delivering a presentation on writing and AI (I know but the theme of the conference is EFL and AI. Did I mention it’s in Kathmandu and if I do a presentation, work pays for it?) and doing some major sightseeing. It’s my first time in Nepal so I’m really excited. Expect a few thousand photos across social media.

After that there are gigs by Mogwai, Jack White, and PJ Harvey in quick succession, and then I suppose I’d better do some actual work. Oh well.