jrocknyc

May 24

intense interview with PM Abe @ Foreign Affairs:  It always seems to cause problems when you talk about history, so why not just avoid it? And let me ask a related question: In order to put these issues aside, can you promise that as prime minister, you will not visit Yasukuni Shrine in either your official or your private capacity? I never raised the issue of history myself. During [recent] deliberations in the Diet, I faced questions from other members, and I had to answer them. When doing so, I kept saying that the issue is one for historians, since otherwise you could politicize it or turn it into a diplomatic issue. About the Yasukuni Shrine, let me humbly urge you to think about your own place to pay homage to the war dead, Arlington National Cemetery, in the United States. The presidents of the United States go there, and as Japan’s prime minister, I have visited. Professor Kevin Doak of Georgetown University points out that visiting the cemetery does not mean endorsing slavery, even though Confederate soldiers are buried there. I am of a view that we can make a similar argument about Yasukuni, which enshrines the souls of those who lost their lives in the service of their country. But with all due respect, there are 13 Class A war criminals buried at Yasukuni, which is why it makes China and South Korea crazy when Japanese prime ministers go there. Wouldn’t it be easier just to promise not to go? I think it’s quite natural for a Japanese leader to offer prayer for those who sacrificed their lives for their country, and I think this is no different from what other world leaders do. “~Crazy!~”

intense interview with PM Abe @ Foreign Affairs: 

It always seems to cause problems when you talk about history, so why not just avoid it? And let me ask a related question: In order to put these issues aside, can you promise that as prime minister, you will not visit Yasukuni Shrine in either your official or your private capacity?

I never raised the issue of history myself. During [recent] deliberations in the Diet, I faced questions from other members, and I had to answer them. When doing so, I kept saying that the issue is one for historians, since otherwise you could politicize it or turn it into a diplomatic issue.

About the Yasukuni Shrine, let me humbly urge you to think about your own place to pay homage to the war dead, Arlington National Cemetery, in the United States. The presidents of the United States go there, and as Japan’s prime minister, I have visited. Professor Kevin Doak of Georgetown University points out that visiting the cemetery does not mean endorsing slavery, even though Confederate soldiers are buried there. I am of a view that we can make a similar argument about Yasukuni, which enshrines the souls of those who lost their lives in the service of their country.

But with all due respect, there are 13 Class A war criminals buried at Yasukuni, which is why it makes China and South Korea crazy when Japanese prime ministers go there. Wouldn’t it be easier just to promise not to go?

I think it’s quite natural for a Japanese leader to offer prayer for those who sacrificed their lives for their country, and I think this is no different from what other world leaders do.

“~Crazy!~”

May 23

[video]

May 22

hide TRIBUTE II -Visual SPIRITS- [TKCA-73924] [pre-order/buy@cdjapan] sadie, daizystripper, defspiral, heidi, machine, matenrou opera, Hitsugi (Nightmare), etc… ~ hide TRIBUTE III -Visual SPIRITS- [TKCA-73925][pre-order/buy@cdjapan] r-shitei, screw, d-out, born, etc…      

hide TRIBUTE II -Visual SPIRITS- [TKCA-73924] 
[pre-order/buy@cdjapan]

sadie, daizystripper, defspiral, heidi, machine, matenrou opera, Hitsugi (Nightmare), etc…

~

hide TRIBUTE III -Visual SPIRITS- [TKCA-73925]
[pre-order/buy@cdjapan]

r-shitei, screw, d-out, born, etc…

 

 

 

Elec-trick Schematics: Steve Appleton Tour #3 -

jimi-electrick:

I just wrapped up another tour with Steve Appleton yesterday, along with the usual suspects JJ, Thomas, and Taiki.

Rehearsal day was very long. We only had a handful of new songs, but we were also adding in older songs we hadn’t played before.

The first show was at Shibuya Duo Music Exchange,…

Always good to see jimi’s still performin’ some!

“Deadly She-Wolf Assassin at Armageddon!” continues through June 2 at La MaMa’s Ellen Stewart Theater, 66 East Fourth Street, East Village; (212) 475-7710, lamama.org. http://theater.nytimes.com/2013/05/22/theater/reviews/deadly-she-wolf-assassin-at-armageddon-at-lamama.html

“Deadly She-Wolf Assassin at Armageddon!” continues through June 2 at La MaMa’s Ellen Stewart Theater, 66 East Fourth Street, East Village; (212) 475-7710, lamama.org.

http://theater.nytimes.com/2013/05/22/theater/reviews/deadly-she-wolf-assassin-at-armageddon-at-lamama.html

May 21

[video]

Amazon Cloud Player isn’t an iTunes replacement. It definitely ain’t a Zune (software) replacement. It capitalizes artist tags! It won’t let you organize stuff in common sense ways (like by date). It feels five years old. Get it here! http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/?ie=UTF8&docId=1001067901- PS - I would like to point out my nice Blitz 5 Days album art :)

Amazon Cloud Player isn’t an iTunes replacement. It definitely ain’t a Zune (software) replacement.

It capitalizes artist tags! It won’t let you organize stuff in common sense ways (like by date). It feels five years old.

Get it here! http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/?ie=UTF8&docId=1001067901-

PS - I would like to point out my nice Blitz 5 Days album art :)

May 20

GACKT: How are you all? First time in a long while here on LINE.I’m about to leave the hotel near the venue. We have a live in Omiya today.  So. The reason why I’m updating LINE after a long absence is the article on FLASH that was issued yesterday. Do you know FLASH? Well, it’s a tabloid magazine…They reported that  I imprisoned, battered, and raped a female hostess several years ago…  Their idea is… what should I say, eccentric….? I can’t believe how much they can fabricate a story. I was beyond angry, so appalled that my jaw almost came off. Their content reads like an erotic novel. <== GACKT reads erotic novels! They came out with their story to go against my tour. Clearly they’re trying to sell a lot of copies. But there’s nothing more disrespectful than this.  <== Child slavery?  Terrorism? …? I can understand that using me leads to selling many copies.  I know that tabloids are desperate because their sales are dropping. But isn’t this just a bad cycle spiraling down?  To sell, they keep reporting exaggerated lies. People stop believing them. They have to write even more hurtful things in order to sell more copies.  That ends up in less sales, and ultimately their cancellation. <== Not unlike releasing  multiple versions of a single, to make up for reduced sales, which leads to even less sales because “fuck you, I’m not paying $50 for four songs.” So uncool………. <== YES. In the first place, if it’s true that I battered, imprisoned, and raped a woman several years ago, wouldn’t the police have made a move right away and arrested me? And this woman that calls herself the victim…. Well, to go back a little, she suddenly demanded that I pay her 10,000,000 yen  by handing us a letter riddled with lies. Isn’t this so-called racketeering/blackmailing? <== Why didn’t you tell the police you were being blackmailed and trap her in a sting? There’s really a limit to how far you can go.  I answered her through a lawyer, “Why on earth will I pay you for such complete lies!!?”  There was no further contact from her…  But then it turned up through the tabloid…. What in the….?  The article states that she’s simply asking for an apology, but hey hey, the first thing you did was demand money, was it not? <== Who, me!? I’m just reading this!  Listen. Since there’s this convenient thing called LINE, I’m gonna say this loud and clear, so all of you in the world,  clean out your ears and listen to me well, OK? <== I am upset at your implication that my ears are unclean, Gackt-sama. “I’m doing just fine with women, I have no need to tie up a resisting woman and satisfy my need~~!!!!”  Do I seem like such a despicable man? <== hmm, little bit, actually! If I do……I will polish up on being a man a bit more. Ahahaha. What in the world is this fuss anyway? <== something about publicity for her book and your new CDs, mebbe? I decided to fight them by hiring 3 excellent lawyers this time.  Even I couldn’t let this one go.I can endure a whole lot, but being accused of brutality is….  Give me a break, really.  I wrote the details of the truth in my blog, so you can read that. I’ve also included a portion of the response letter from my lawyer (to the woman). This is just way too dumb……  http://gackt.com/gacktblog/ Well, I’ll go stake my life on the live again today. See ya. Adios!!! <== JA NE! GACKT 

GACKT:
How are you all?
First time in a long while here on LINE.I’m about to leave the hotel near the venue.
We have a live in Omiya today. 
So. The reason why I’m updating LINE after a long absence is the
article on FLASH that was issued yesterday.
Do you know FLASH?
Well, it’s a tabloid magazine…They reported that 
I imprisoned, battered, and raped a female hostess several years ago… 
Their idea is… what should I say, eccentric….?
I can’t believe how much they can fabricate a story.
I was beyond angry, so appalled that my jaw almost came off.
Their content reads like an erotic novel. <== GACKT reads erotic novels!
They came out with their story to go against my tour.
Clearly they’re trying to sell a lot of copies.
But there’s nothing more disrespectful than this.  <== Child slavery?  Terrorism? …?
I can understand that using me leads to selling many copies. 
I know that tabloids are desperate because their sales are dropping.
But isn’t this just a bad cycle spiraling down? 
To sell, they keep reporting exaggerated lies. People stop believing them.
They have to write even more hurtful things in order to sell more copies. 
That ends up in less sales, and ultimately their cancellation. <== Not unlike releasing  multiple versions of a single, to make up for reduced sales, which leads to even less sales because “fuck you, I’m not paying $50 for four songs.”
So uncool………. <== YES.
In the first place, if it’s true that I battered, imprisoned, and raped a woman several years ago, wouldn’t the police have made a move right away and arrested me?
And this woman that calls herself the victim….
Well, to go back a little, she suddenly demanded that I pay her 10,000,000 yen 
by handing us a letter riddled with lies. Isn’t this so-called racketeering/blackmailing? <== Why didn’t you tell the police you were being blackmailed and trap her in a sting?
There’s really a limit to how far you can go. 
I answered her through a lawyer, “Why on earth will I pay you for such complete lies!!?” 
There was no further contact from her… 
But then it turned up through the tabloid…. What in the….? 
The article states that she’s simply asking for an apology, but hey hey,
the first thing you did was demand money, was it not? <== Who, me!? I’m just reading this! 
Listen. Since there’s this convenient thing called LINE,
I’m gonna say this loud and clear, so all of you in the world, 
clean out your ears and listen to me well, OK? <== I am upset at your implication that my ears are unclean, Gackt-sama.
“I’m doing just fine with women, I have no need to tie up a resisting woman and satisfy my need~~!!!!” 
Do I seem like such a despicable man? <== hmm, little bit, actually!
If I do……I will polish up on being a man a bit more. Ahahaha.
What in the world is this fuss anyway? <== something about publicity for her book and your new CDs, mebbe?
I decided to fight them by hiring 3 excellent lawyers this time. 
Even I couldn’t let this one go.I can endure a whole lot, but being accused of brutality is…. 
Give me a break, really. 
I wrote the details of the truth in my blog, so you can read that.
I’ve also included a portion of the response letter from my lawyer (to the woman).
This is just way too dumb…… 
http://gackt.com/gacktblog/
Well, I’ll go stake my life on the live again today.
See ya. Adios!!! <== JA NE!
GACKT 

[video]

May 19

I have a bunch of random mp3s from the 80s, 90s, &amp; 00s that need album art.  Rather than google-image every song for album art (there&#8217;s hundreds), I&#8217;m just gonna use: Patrick Nagel&#8217;s &#8220;Michelle&#8221; for the 80s stuff I DONT KNOW WHAT for the 90s stuff Takashi Murakami&#8217;s &#8220;Gero Tan&#8221; for the 00s.  Anyone got a good suggestion for that 90s stuff? It has to really scream &#8220;THE NINETIES!&#8221; &#8212; but also not be UGLY (so no &#8220;Myra 1995&#8221; but maybe Hirst&#8217;s &#8220;Physical Impossibility of Death&#8221; dissected-shark thing, except it&#8217;s not a painting/2D!) Any of you art majors got any ideas?

I have a bunch of random mp3s from the 80s, 90s, & 00s that need album art. 

Rather than google-image every song for album art (there’s hundreds), I’m just gonna use:

Anyone got a good suggestion for that 90s stuff?

It has to really scream “THE NINETIES!” — but also not be UGLY (so no “Myra 1995” but maybe Hirst’s “Physical Impossibility of Death” dissected-shark thing, except it’s not a painting/2D!)

Any of you art majors got any ideas?

[video]

NYT:  The board of Yahoo, the faded Web pioneer, agreed on Sunday to buy the popular blogging service Tumblr for about $1.1 billion in cash. Nice workin&#8217; with ya, Tumblr.

NYT: 

The board of Yahoo, the faded Web pioneer, agreed on Sunday to buy the popular blogging service Tumblr for about $1.1 billion in cash.

Nice workin’ with ya, Tumblr.

[Benedict Cumberbatch is Jon Turturro in Star Trek: Barton Fink] star trek: into darkness (2013) WOW. Several times during this movie (seen in 3D), I thought to myself &#8220;This is the greatest movie of my life!&#8221; Not that it actually is exactly, but it was pretty spec-fuckin&#8217;-tacular. There&#8217;s this one particular shot of a ship crashing into a city. SPECTACULAR.  There&#8217;s a scene between Kirk &amp; Spock that echoes a memorable scene from another Trek film. SPECTACULAR. People violently ejected into space, a whole bunch of times: SPECTACULAR! And there&#8217;s plenty of fun and jokes and pretty visuals and god damn. Only during one scene did I seriously introspectivize the notion that &#8220;this is not trek!&#8221; and that was when&#8230; [vague spoiler] &#8230;Spock went to town on the villian, like Indy wailing on the big airplane wrestler Nazi in the face that time&#8230; [/vague spoiler]  &#8230;and I was thinking then, Hmm, this seems vehemently anti-Trekky. Anti-intellectual, even. Other than that, GOOD FUCKING MOVIIIIIEEEE!!!! Action and violence and all kinds o&#8217; hijinks. :)

[Benedict Cumberbatch is Jon Turturro in Star Trek: Barton Fink]

star trek: into darkness (2013)

WOW.

Several times during this movie (seen in 3D), I thought to myself “This is the greatest movie of my life!”

Not that it actually is exactly, but it was pretty spec-fuckin’-tacular.

There’s this one particular shot of a ship crashing into a city. SPECTACULAR. 

There’s a scene between Kirk & Spock that echoes a memorable scene from another Trek film. SPECTACULAR.

People violently ejected into space, a whole bunch of times: SPECTACULAR!

And there’s plenty of fun and jokes and pretty visuals and god damn.

Only during one scene did I seriously introspectivize the notion that “this is not trek!” and that was when…

[vague spoiler]

…Spock went to town on the villian, like Indy wailing on the big airplane wrestler Nazi in the face that time…

[/vague spoiler] 

…and I was thinking then, Hmm, this seems vehemently anti-Trekky. Anti-intellectual, even.

Other than that, GOOD FUCKING MOVIIIIIEEEE!!!! Action and violence and all kinds o’ hijinks.

:)

[video]

May 18

[video]