(untitled)

88 Temples
88 Degrees
88% Humidity

On the turntable:  De Palmas, "Marcher Dans Le Sable"

Sunday Papers: Tom Bissell

"They say the mountains call your name, and you spend the rest of your life trying to figure out which one called you."


On the turntable: Dinosaur Jr., "Dinosaur" 

Imbibing Bibliophile #15

Nothing Sacred, by Angela Carter

Kin'oni SSS Pale Ale, Onidensetsu Brewery

On the turntable: Duke Ellington, "Ellington at Newport"

Nakasendo Waypoints #101

A shifting of angles.
Heat, and the summer rains,
Exchange places.

On the turntable:  Descendents, "All"

Imbibing Bibliophile #14

A Walk in Kumamoto, by Yoji Hasekawa

Enigma IPA, TDM 1874 Brewery

On the turntable:  David Bowie,  "Ziggy Stardust"

(untitled)

In old Kyoto,
What is the 'kigo'
For tourist season?

On the turntable:  Dizzy Gillespie, "1945-1950 Small Groups"
 

A Walk through History

My latest travel piece for the Singapore Straits Times, on walking Nara's Yagyu Kaido. 

http://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/travel/a-walk-through-history


On the turntable:  Deep Forest, "Pacifique"

Nakasendo Waypoints #100

Far from the madding crowd,
Between steadfast peaks and resolute water,
Into the future I go.

On the turntable:  Dizzy Gillespie, "The Cool World"

Imbibing Bibliophile #13

The Last Shogun,  by Ryotaro Shiba

Punk IPA, Brew Dog Brewery

On the turntable: Del McCoury, "Celebrating 50 Years"

(untitled)

Golden Week.
And it was that last day
That shined the brightest.

On the turntable:  Doyle Lawson, "Bluegrass Gospel"
 

Nakasendo Waypoints #99

High to low.
Defying natural wisdom
As summer dawns.

On the turntable:  Dead Kennedys, "A Skateboard Party"
 

Nakasendo Waypoints #98

Maples uncurl
Their tiny fists
To catch the fluttering petals.

On the turntable:  Dead Can Dance, "Unreleased Tracks 1"

Sunday Papers: Robert Twigger

"Adventure is the form art takes when it cannot find expression."


On the turntable:  Dr. John, "N'Awlinz: Dis Dat Or D'Udda"
 

Nakasendo Waypoints #97

Across the Mino plain;
The liminality of seasons,
As expressed in color.

On the turntable:  Dale Watson, "Carryin' On"

Nakasendo Waypoints #96

Winds off Ibuki
Caress the face of water,
Before the planting is done.

On the turntable: Devo, "Pioneers who got Scalped"  

Sunday Papers: Tom Bissell

"Environmentalism suddenly struck me as the most obvious philosophy imaginable: Let us not ruin forever where we live and work and breathe and eat. Earth’s future inhabitants will no doubt look upon our current environmental practices — maintained despite all manner of evidence that doing so will result in planetary ruin — roughly the way we look upon eighteenth-century surgery. And that is if we, and they, are very lucky."


On the turntable: "For the Masses -Tribute to Depeche Mode"

The Imbibing Bibliophile #12

London Orbital by Iain Sinclair

London Pride  Fuller's Brewery

On the turntable:  Danny Elfman, "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"

(untitled)

Above the forest floor,
Bluebells hang their pretty heads
In contemplation.

On the turntable: DJ Shadow, "Bombay the Hard Way"

The Imbibing Bibliophile #11

Stanboul Train by Graham Greene

Harvey’s Brewery, Sussex Best Bitter 

On the turntable:  Descendants:  "Two Things at Once"

(untitled)

April is the cruelest month,
If the land's only color is
A lingering grey.

On the turntable:  Descendants:  "Somery"