The Ostlund Times: September 2010

September 30, 2010

Signs Part 2

More crazy Japanese signs... hilarious!

What????

I love this sign... the designer tried making a Japanese man appear Mexican!

Yes, for heaven's sake, don't eat your ramen on the subway!

Don't know what SMOKIG is, but I'll do my best to refrain.

WATAMIN CHI

is that something like vitamin C?

Yes, there are health-E cigarettes....

Does this shrine poster make you think of a rock song?

"WALK THIS WAY!"

....and maybe Steven Tyler is the God waiting for you in the cave

Emma pointed out that POPCORN is spelled correctly at the top of this sign,

...don't know how they got POPCONE below

CLEAN LIVING is a laundromat... maybe for Mormons?

Love this! "Please don't make a NOISY!"

And last, but not least, the favorite of the bunch..... the winner goes to an album advertisement. The group? MR. CHILDREN. And if that isn't funny enough, the title of the album....
"SUPERMARKET FANTASY"... because everyone's fantasies take place in a supermarket; it is the ultimate location for romance!

Duran Duran

My friend Aviva Duncan got Lisa and I ticket's to a fundraiser with a 1980's theme

which included DURAN DURAN

There were several novelty performances:

HEY MIKI,

Robert Palmer's SIMPLY IRISISTABLE,

And electronic hula hoop dancer,

SOLID GOLD dancers on a RUBIX CUBE,

And GIANT GO GO GIRLS in white knee high boots at the entrance.

(I don't know where they found these huge Japanese girls?! We hypothesized that they are men in drag?)

.... and CHIPS.... yes, among prime rib and creme brulee,

this fancy venue served regular old potato chips for appetizers

Was that because they are considered a snack from the 80's or because they are "American"?

(Lisa and I worked really hard to get a photo of this delicious snack because it made us laugh!)

Then there was this HUGE model... he was cute, but SO BIG!

(Lisa was awesome to be my poser)

And best of all,

DURAN DURAN

Simon LeBon

still a hotty, still sang fabulous, and still could work the stage!

We were right in front of the stage (not in this photo)

at one point, I reached out and touched LeBon's shoe just because I could :)

Keyboardist, Nick Rhodes

Guitarist, John Taylor

Even though Lisa was pregnant, and I am in my "uh-hum" 30's, we got to be teenagers again; screaming, dancing, and singing.

Best songs : Girls on Film and Rio

Awesome concert!

September 28, 2010

Kabuki Theater

Since we came to live in Japan, I wanted to go to the local Kabuki Theater in Ginza. Kabuki is a classical Japanese dance-drama that has been around since 1603. The original plays had only female performers who were also prostitutes and their dances were viewed as erotic. Its hard to imagine that a woman wrapped tightly in 30 layers of clothing from her head to her toes, was considered erotic, ha! However, in the late 1600's the ruler banned women from performing and gave all roles to men only. In modern times, now both men and women play roles in Kabuki.

We wore headphones to translate the story into English. I expected Kabuki to be very serious and was surprised when one of the plays was actually a comedy with parts that made us laugh out loud. The overall atmosphere of the dance and music were so soft and beautiful I caught myself so relaxed my mouth was hanging open.

I think what surprised me the most was during the performance, was when the audience would randomly SHOUT out the actor's names to show appreciation for their performance. Imagine watching a Broadway play with Jack Nicholson and during a quiet scene your neighbor shouts, "JACK!!!" In such a completely reserved culture, this tradition was shocking.

Brent crossed a super busy street trying to get a photo of the theater....

can you say FROGGER?

On the subway back home, we spied a poster that read, "Please do it at home"

showing a couple occupying the subway "courtesy seat" while sharing a headset,

and ignoring the poor pregnant woman who needed a seat. Prego Lisa sympathized.

Kamakura with the Browns

My sister Lisa and her husband Brent came to visit us in Tokyo. Our first trip with them was to Kamakura. This is where we tried to take Michelle and Dallin and ended up at "Pub Snack" (blah). This time we tried getting there via the subway instead. Success!

We stopped at a conveni to grab onigiri for lunch and had a picnic. Lisa was newly pregnant and was still in the "super nauseous" phase, and yet she was able to eat a salmon rice ball with seaweed. Go Lisa! Brent ate everything and anything, even when he did not know what it was. Sometimes I thought he chose something completely awful, and when he ate it, he'd say "well, its not my favorite, but its not bad". Wow.

We had a hike through forests and some small towns with unusual places along the way. At the top of a mountain, we found a shrine where for 100 yen you could throw a ceramic plate and make a wish. Emma used her own money for the opportunity to be destructive.