nattydredmon.co.jp
Aside from the dreads of my potlady (cos she's my potlady and I've been friends with her since I was 15), I'm not a big fan of dreadlocks on white folks, or anyone else not of some African descent... it usually does not look right and it's rapidly turning into a pet peeve of mine.
Last night, after I got off the plane at Narita, I got on the KeiSei express train to Ueno in central Tokyo. Planerides generally dry out my sinuses and for a couple days afterwards, I have a really acute sense of smell and the first scent I smelled on the train was that unwashed hair smell that I usually smell on Telegraph Ave. I look over to see some loud Californian neo-hippie with her dreads arranged like an insane, multicolored mop. If having dreads wasn't bad enough, they were dyed, like those weird F8 trance dj's. A few sararimen were casting disdainful glances at her hair... Does she think that my serious Japanese countrymen are going to take her the least bit seriously? 'I can't escape dreadlocks even in Japan!' I remarked to my father, and we both grimaced. I asked whether the real Berkeley hippies of the 60's and 70's ever grew dreadlocks, they did not. So I wonder, are these neo-hippies thinking they look like Rastafarians or something?
Ugh.
Ironically, my weird problems with sleep have translated into me not suffering jetlag anymore. It's 7pm over here, and it really feels like 7pm, not 2 am.
My grandfather is in good health, as witty as ever, although I'm trying to convince him to get a hearing aid; he has gotten a bit deaf. We've talked over politics, the ass in the American white house, Iraq, the Japanese prime minister, a remilitarized Japan, The Lord of the Rings trilogy (which I am reading right now, thanx Miki!), and much much more. My grandfather cracks me up, he's like an 86 year old version of me, albeit in a better mood and more apt to smile.
I'm not a big fan of the Christmas holiday, I am glad it is over. I don't enjoy New Years in the states either, but New Years in Japan is quite enjoyable... the food is really something else.
Kids in Japan are keeping their awesome fashion sense. I see more and more color contacts being used, which is really weird, but... kinda cool as well. I mistook a Japanese chick for being Russian or something earlier, but no, just color contacts in her eyes, and a good hairdye job.
It's good to be back in the land of my birth... Over here, I don't feel bad about my growing conservative views.
Last night, after I got off the plane at Narita, I got on the KeiSei express train to Ueno in central Tokyo. Planerides generally dry out my sinuses and for a couple days afterwards, I have a really acute sense of smell and the first scent I smelled on the train was that unwashed hair smell that I usually smell on Telegraph Ave. I look over to see some loud Californian neo-hippie with her dreads arranged like an insane, multicolored mop. If having dreads wasn't bad enough, they were dyed, like those weird F8 trance dj's. A few sararimen were casting disdainful glances at her hair... Does she think that my serious Japanese countrymen are going to take her the least bit seriously? 'I can't escape dreadlocks even in Japan!' I remarked to my father, and we both grimaced. I asked whether the real Berkeley hippies of the 60's and 70's ever grew dreadlocks, they did not. So I wonder, are these neo-hippies thinking they look like Rastafarians or something?
Ugh.
Ironically, my weird problems with sleep have translated into me not suffering jetlag anymore. It's 7pm over here, and it really feels like 7pm, not 2 am.
My grandfather is in good health, as witty as ever, although I'm trying to convince him to get a hearing aid; he has gotten a bit deaf. We've talked over politics, the ass in the American white house, Iraq, the Japanese prime minister, a remilitarized Japan, The Lord of the Rings trilogy (which I am reading right now, thanx Miki!), and much much more. My grandfather cracks me up, he's like an 86 year old version of me, albeit in a better mood and more apt to smile.
I'm not a big fan of the Christmas holiday, I am glad it is over. I don't enjoy New Years in the states either, but New Years in Japan is quite enjoyable... the food is really something else.
Kids in Japan are keeping their awesome fashion sense. I see more and more color contacts being used, which is really weird, but... kinda cool as well. I mistook a Japanese chick for being Russian or something earlier, but no, just color contacts in her eyes, and a good hairdye job.
It's good to be back in the land of my birth... Over here, I don't feel bad about my growing conservative views.