北京へ行きましょう

中国のペキン行ったことがありますか。ペキンはおもしろくて、にぎやかです。ペキンの春の天気は暖かいですが、
砂嵐(sandstorm)があります。ペキンで天安門広場（てんあんもんひろば Tiananmen Sq.）へ行くごとができます。天安門広場へいってから、紫禁城（しきんじょう　Forbidden City）へ行かなければなりません。紫禁城の美術館に古くて、有名な絵(え　paintings）があります。とてもきれいで、おもしろいです。次の日に万里の長城へ行くことができます。水曜日に休みます。まちで、散歩したり、たべものを書ったり、居酒屋（いざかやで bar)でお酒おのみます。ペキンの居酒屋とダンスクラブはとてもたのしです。中国は共産主義 (きょうさんしゅぎ　communist)の国ですが、楽しい国です。ペキンはクレージーで、たのしいまちです。

boredoms

Boredoms:

this is me

だいがくいんせいのせいかつはとてもいそがしい

oh my

とてもむずかしですね。

terrible student

sorry

we're supposed to write again

but i don't know what:

おとといはごせんろくじにねました。くじはんにおきました。きのうはにじにねました。はちじにおきました。So I am tired.

Also, this year, apparently, is the 1000th birthday of 源氏物語, of the Tale of Genji. Tomorrow Prof. Shirane will talk about it. I might go because Genji is one of my favorite books. I've read it twice and it is very long. I'm not sure I'll ever read it again though and I've forgotten most of it.

Anyway.

things in japan that i like

i like japanese noise bands. the boredoms are my favorite. actually, i'm not sure they qualify as noise, but they are still awesome and i still otherwise like noise.
here is a link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoVrIjFVNT0

the boredoms also did this performance in dumbo in new york with 77 drummers. rad:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHwnoyZ3fRo&feature=related

i also really like this band called number girl. they are not noise, but they do a lot with distortion, which i like. i discovered them watching tv really late at night at my friend's house in tokyo in the summer of 2000. then i made her figure out who they were and how i could get my hands on them. the only thing i knew about them was that they were called, or had a song, or had an album named, 鉄風, which means something to me because i can speak chinese (sort of). 鉄風 turned out to be the name of a single and an ep. and i think i lost it but still have the mp3 on my computere and still love it. i sort of wish i'd started learning japanese then... but i didn't. number girl are no longer together, which is a little sad, but oh well. but the song that started my whole love for them is on youtubem, and apparently the title is more than i thought it was originally, it's 鉄風、鋭くなって. apparently the means, "Iron Wind, the sharp", according to google translate. i agree with the iron wind part because i know those kanji but still, that doesn't make sense. i guess that's why i have to learn にほんご。
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WqSa4VQDH0

i also like some japanese pop music. i think japanese pop music, unlike chinese, has this unmistakable sound that prevents it from sounding purely derivative, which is the sad fate of chinese pop music. i especially like this woman chara, who i guess is kind of huge in japan, but still seems kind of quirky. she was in this movie called "swallowtail butterfly" that i also like, even though it's not a great movie.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zL9GzM7dQi4&feature=related

but better is this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OJP42UyDlo

and finally, i saw this the other day. and it's hilarious:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7hIAVN6Evc
japanese allows one to be post-ironic in all the best ways. i don't even know if that word caught on in acadamese, but i used it all the time in college 10 years ago and i still think it has currency.

there's actually a lot more from japan that i like, but i have other things to do. and also, this basically reminds me that everything i love in japan is a testament to my past, how old i am, and with how little i've kept up with cool stuff; and that makes me depressed.