Par exemple:

If I understand the brief correctly I shall be playing before, during and indeed after the ‘battle’ proper. So it’s essentially an extended BETAMAXNOMATES set interrupted by some bouts of laptop-based lunges, parrys and reprisals. The spectacle of Laptop Battle truly is something to behold; every Laptop Battle (and I’ve attended three – twice as a competitor) throws up some genuine eccentrics, the occasional shit-hot talent, and perhaps one or two out-and-out chancers. (Which bracket you might choose to put me in I’ll leave to your own discretion). Suffice to say, there’s not another event like it that I can think of and if you do find yourself in Roppongi of a Friday evening there are far, far worse ways of spending your time.

See you there!

website | myspace |mixi

Podcast time once more! In this episode we’ve got the lowdown on the Tokyo Laptop Battle – an innovative new electronic music event happening Friday June 19th in Super Deluxe in Nishi-Azabu. There’s an interview with the organisers, Matt and Claudius, not to mention a unique ‘ethniglitch’ mix from Matt’s alter ego Control Freak. Be sure to check out Control Freak’s free ‘Desert Fox’ EP, available now from Heavy7Productions.

AudioPost

Tracklist
01. Shackleton – I Want To Eat You
02. Azam Ali – La Serena
03. Control Freak – Drop Your Guns
04. Cheb I Sabbah – Alkher Illa Doffor (Bassnectar Remix)
05. Control Freak – Forty Breaths
06. Chase & Status – Eastern Jam
07. Control Freak – Doub Taka Dub
08. King Soly – Tamil Dub
09. Maurice Jarre – Lawrence Of Arabia Movie Soundtrack Main Theme

subscribe in itunes | subscribe via rss | download

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

director | Ryuhei Kitamura

starring | Bradley Cooper, Leslie Bibb, Vinnie Jones etc.

Based on a Clive Barker short story, a deadly game of cat and blah blah blah, when obsession turns to yada yada yada, Vinnie Jones etc.

Delightfully stupid film, this. The plot is pure nonsense: in a nutshell, mild-mannered photographer rescues a prostitute from being attacked in a subway station, she later vanishes and he becomes obsessed with learning the truth of her disappearance, believing that a mysterious butcher may be slaughtering people on the last train. Yeah, nonsense. But it’s well acted nonsense. Bradley Cooper (him from Wet Hot American Summer) is good as the lead, Leslie Bibb puts in a nice turn as his exasperated girlfriend and Vinnie Jones -- bravely playing against type -- gives a sensitive, nuanced performance as an existentially conflicted homosexual performance artist. Only joking -- he’s the emotionless psychopath killing people on the train. The reason why though isn’t made clear until the final ten minutes and is -- ultimately -- a bit of a cop-out (and doesn’t really make a lot of sense) but up until that point the film does a good job of maintaining suspense and has a nice line in grisly (if not especially gory) death scenes. The director is Ryuhei Kitamura who made the similarly silly Versus a few years ago, but while that film was leavened by a sly, subtle sense of humour The Midnight Meat Train is relentlessly serious -- as blunt and impassive as the craggy face of Mr. Vincent Peter Jones.

meaningless rating | one and a half thumbs up

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rk4u8dOOEcE

Brooke Shields is in it for a bit too. Here’s a picture of Brooke Shields licking something off her (enormous!) hands.

great day. still beating the jetlag. went to Harajuku saw loads of crazy stuff. bought amazing GoGos tshirt. just had a swim on 47th floor.

Disappointingly, there were also about 486 million other people milling around Harajuku today so wherever Boots was I didn’t see her. To be continued…

Made it to Tokyo! Flight was fine, been dreading this trip a bit but now I’m here am super excited!! Blaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!

‘Blaaaaaaaaa’ indeed. And there’s this, from about an hour ago:

Staying at the hotel from Lost In Translation. Incredible. The view from my room literally took my breath away.

I’m off to Shinjuku so…

Yes indeed. Yours truly doing the DJ thing this weekend. The place is Club OVO in Nakameguro (my manor) this Sunday between 19:00 and 24:00. Other DJs on the night include the most estimable MattB, the highly edible Lucca, and the generally indelible sAne who will be performing a unique audio/visual set that’s surely not to be missed. Entry is a recession-busting ¥500. Be there or you be this [ ].

clubovo | ipromo | freestylemovement

I quite like hanami season. It’s essentially a more sophisticated version of a popular Irish past-time known as ‘knacker drinking‘. As ‘pennyr200′ very eloquently describes it:

‘When Irish teenagers are underage and have nothing less to do they go knacker drinking. This is where they buy (or some one who is over 18 buys for them) cheap alcohol (usually Dutch Gold or vokda) and drink it in woods or the side of the street parks are also popular… It’s usually pissing rain and you go home feeling like shit and wet… but it was a night out and you don’t feel the wet cause you are so drunk. All is well until some night the guards catch you and you are brought home in the back of the cop car or your stomach gets pumped’.

I never really did much knacker drinking when I was younger. A friend and I did attempt it one night  a few years ago though. Hopelessly middle-class types that we were though we did so not on some dingy allotment but on the grounds of a stately home. With a bottle of champagne. A bottle that neither of us were drunk/socially irresponsible enough to smash after we had finished it it. I can’t remember if we just put it in a bush somewhere. We may have taken it home. And recycled it. Huzzah!

The new series of The Apprentice is a bit rubbish. It’s still entertaining and all (and hilariously tone-deaf to the current economic climate) but I’m not sure I’ll bother watching the rest of the series. Too many obvious set-ups, too many disingenuous edits, and contestants that – far from being a selection of Britain’s best and brightest -  just look like any other bunch of reality TV chancers, equally at home competing on Big Brother or Deal Or No Deal. That said, this weeks episode did produce this rather spectacular turn of phrase:

‘James couldn’t pour shit out of a boot if the instructions were printed on the heel’.

Poetry.