BIG SUM

I'll be completly honest, the first two months of 2008 sucked copious amounts of ball. Non-stop cloud coverage coupled with tumour sized phlegm generally ensures that a good time will NOT be had. Don't get me wrong, there were some definite highlights, but I couldn't shake the feeling that things could have been a hell of a lot better.

But it's March, and with it comes spring, graduations, new classes and a overall breath of fresh air. I've started to seriously look at what I have to offer to future companies, and as bleak as it looks, I can't help but feel optimistic about the whole job seeking dealie. Sure, I might not have any real tangible skills... But tangibility is SOOOO overrated! I mean, where's the trust?!

Meh, I'll tackle that problem once I reach it. Haha!

WAIT WAIT! SCRAP THAT PREVIOUS STATEMENT!

I will NOT be heading down the route of procrastinator extraordinare. Times are a changin' and so must I. Okay. I'm gonna jump on that job hunt tip RIGHT NOW! You'll see!

Good grief, I just had a terrible thought. I'm pretty sure I write the exact same way I wrote when I started doing this blog thing. I think I'm gonna cry now...

-Hitoshi "WAAAAAH!" Murakami

Hitoshi's foray into Wedding Photography vol.2
Hitoshi's foray into Wedding Photography vol.1
Heroes Unite!
Hannah's goodbye party
The much belated Tokyo album.
Same Ol' Christmas part 2
Same Ol' Christmas part 1
10.07.07-12.04.07

With a bunch of my classes cancelled due to Graduation prep, I'm left here with nothing to do. I figured my last post really didn't touch on my brief stint as Wedding photographer, I would copy and paste the blurb I sent to Stella in an E-mail.

Ready, here we go!

Several weeks ago, my friends Gino and Danielle ask me to photograph their wedding. They want a more "Photojournalistic" feel as opposed to the "Everything posed" album which is right up my alley (essentially meaning I get to shoot whatever I want within reason.) Ok, so I decide to take a really relaxed attitude towards the whole thing. I mean, it's pretty important and whatnot, but I figured if they didn't hire a professional, they wouldn't mind if I hit the open bar while "working" (tee hee). I also made sure that they didn't pay me. I didn't want the pressure.

Ok, I just wanted the opportunity to buy a few more toys. Remote Switch, Extra Batteries and a New lens! Woot woot!

So I meet up with Gino and Danielle around 10am as they leave the salon all pretty and dolled up. Danielle is looking absolutely radient in her Kimono and her hair is done up swimmingly (I use the term swimmingly because I really can't describe how hype it looked). Gino is straight up pimpin with his Kimono/Fedora combo. And I start taking pics and talking to their family and whatnot.

THEN IT ALL GOES WRONG...

Ok, it didn't go wrong. But for a second there you thought it did, right? Hooray for dramatic effect! Haha! Ok. I'm getting ready to shoot when out of nowhere they surprise me by giving me an order form and tell me that they bought me a new lens! DANG IT! That means, I'm getting paid! BLARG!!!! Pressure mounts and the day changes from "hey, lets have fun shooting around" to "oh man, I'm working on sunday..." Haha! I’m buggin’. Hindsight being 20/20 I suppose it's all for the better. I would have felt like a total piece of poo if I was clownin’ around and didn't get a single decent shot. Sometimes you need that extra motivation, at least I do.

The first location is at the shrine where a Japanese style ceremony is being held. We get there and out of nowhere a TV Camera crew shows up! The priest called the local TV station and they sent a crew out. Nuts, I tells ya! Nuts. So they come up and start interviewing the Danielle and I’m taking pics and so on and so on. Ok, moving on. The shrine is on the side of a hill, so we get to the top and I realize that I'm gonna hafta jockey for space. I went to the shrine and reception hall earlier to check lighting and all that stuff and figured everything was gonna be okay. There is a bit of space in the back and side that ONE person can get through no problem. Two is a different story. The entire morning was a BATTLE! Well, a battle as far as Japanese people go. I mean there were a few bumps and tripods getting tangled appologies and saying "sumimasen", but we were pretty inobtrusive (methinks) and I think we both got some good shots.

After that, I took the couple around and we tried to get some shots with nature and whatnot while they were in Kimono's. Now the forecast called for clouds and rain which really sucked because there is a GORGEOUS view of the ocean from a mountain side road. We went anyways and lo and behold, the SKY OPENS UP! For about 5 minutes we got amazing blue sky. It was awesome! We tried a few other locations, but by that time it was about 1pm and we were hungry and cold.

For lunch they had the idea that a grill at the Oyster festival would be a good idea. Hahaha!!!! They're one of the most wonderfully eclectic couples I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. So many things could have turned the afternoon into a giant ball of "OH CRAP!"
1) It was COLD!
2) EVERYTHING smelled of oyster brine and grill smoke!
3) It was FREAKING COLD!
4) Expensive Kimono rentals and sausage grease is NEVER a good combination.

Anywho, we go to meet up with everyone else. Now the whole deal is like a large covered pavilion with small grills set up for people. You go buy oysters and other things and cook them yourself. We arrive and immediately you can hear everyone turn their heads and say, "EHHHHHHH?!" It was like Brittney Spears arrived! Imagine you are chillin' out, drinking beer and eating oysters with friends when two English teachers wearing very expensive wedding kimono's arrive out of nowhere, trailed by a photographer snapping away like mad. Random people started to come up and ask for pictures! It was a media circus! There was even one really creepy guy who was taking pictures with his cellphone. I chased him off by taking his picture. Haha! Finally we were able to settle in and Danielle managed to enjoy a Beer and Sausage. Lovely! All in all, we were the best dressed group to enjoy Oysters and Beer. (well everyone else. I was Driving...) But more importantly, it actually worked out really well! There were no spills on the Kimono, and I had me a grilled chicken breast and an amazing slice of cheese bread (one of my biggest regrets is that I didn't take a picture of the cheese bread...)

We packed up and Danielle went back the stylist to change and redo her hair (I feel it's important to note that she was up at 7 or so after sleeping at 3am the night before.) I managed to get in 30 minutes of naptime and got ready for the reception. (Note: Being the lazy slob that I am, I opted to sleep instead of removing the smell of grill smoke from my being. Classy.)

The reception was held at the Navy base in Sasebo. I've only been there once and it seemed pretty big, but once I got in I almost wet myself. It really was incredibly beautiful. The Bride and Groom sat on a stage with a red torii in the background and everyone sat at a table surrounding an open space with a really beautiful white lily centrepiece. Anyone who downplays presentation is an idiot. But I'm going to stop before I lose all sense of my manhood. I spent some time taking pics of everything before the masses entered.

Oh, it was DARK. Now, I don't know if you know this, but I have some shaky hands. Like seriously shaky. It's really bad. And in low light conditions, that's not a good thing. I think this was the craziest part of the day. I had to take so many pictures to get one or two that I liked and sometimes I couldn't get a shot I liked at all.

I'm going to be honest, the worst thing about doing the wedding photography gig is missing shots. I mean it. Especially if you are friends with the bride and groom. I could literally go on ad nauseum about the number of shots I wanted to turn out that completely flopped. And while a lot of it had to do with my own ineptitude as an amateur, it has even more to do with not being more direct with people. It's really hard to take pictures when you have 39 other Japanese women trying to get the same shot with their cameras. At some point, I probably should have just stood up and assumed some authoritative pose. But that would draw unnecessary attention to my stankin’ self.

The night started out with speeches and video presentations followed by the serving of dinner. Now usually you get the "Beef of Chicken" deal but this was different. I'm talkin' BUFFET! Aw, hells yeah. Now I'm not the biggest fan of the Country Kitchen Buffet stylin's, but this was AMAZING! I'm talking Fish, Chicken, salad bar (and not in the ghetto-tastic way, but the salad-tastic way) and ROAST BEEF! When you go about a year without seeing a large cut of beef, seeing some dude carve meat is indescribable. Needless to say, I took pics.

The night progressed with a ceremonial dance by the priest who performed the wedding ceremony. It was pretty cool. He was dancing with three swords (one was held in his mouth) and doing somersaults! Dancing with the father and mother of the bride and groom followed and all those other wonderful moments that require capturing. You’ll notice I’m skimming through these details. There was actually a lot going on with speeches, singing, toasts, videos and whatnot. But this point was probably where I was secretly buggin’ out. I remember one point where I couldn’t get a decent shot out of like 100 pics. But it soon passed and I even found myself just watching the magic that is a wedding reception.

Then the monkeys came out.

By monkeys, I mean dance monkeys. Gino's friend Charles DJ'ed for a bit and good times were had. While this was going on, Gill, another ALT at the wedding was preparing a small music joint named Rogiq for the after party. I would also like to note that she has the voice of an Angel and can reduce you to tears with the single utterance of a note. We all headed over there and spent the rest of the night dancing away and listening to tunes. I ended up bouncing at around 1 because I had school the next day.

Now Gino and Danielle were headed to Kyoto to show their folks around Japan in two days and I had a conversation class to teach that day so quickly rushed to sort pictures, edit and print out an album. I really really wished that I had one more day to actually make a proper album rather than just stick pictures in, but I think it turned out nice. (I’m not a perfectionist by any means, but I can’t help but think of a hundred small things I could have changed as I type this out.) At this point I was completely drained but drained in the best way possible! I brought the Album to the newly married couple and waited for their response.

SUCCESS!

I'm not going to lie. Seeing the two look through the album with huge smiles on their faces just made EVERYTHING worth it. I'm sure once they have a good look at the album they'll notice errors here and there, but for now I'm gonna call this a personal win. Hooray for me!

I slept like a baby that night.

It's interesting being on the other side of a wedding. Heck, it's interesting being at a wedding period. But being able to see everything that happens behind the scenes and try to capture it all is a totally different creature. Through the course of the day I took about 1364 pictures and actually managed to get a couple shots here and there that were pretty good. It's actually a lot of work and if you're a lazy bum like me it can be a bit intimidating at times. That being said, I would have done it again in a heart beat. With a few changes here and there on my part.

1) You can never have enough memory cards
2) Take charge. People need to respect your authority!
3) Make business card! Who knows?
4) Don't think about shots missed. Stuff happens.
5) External Flash for indoor shots. If I had an extra 400 bucks, it wouldn't have been a problem. Ah well.

So that's that. It was an absolutely amazing experience and even greater honour to participate in something as important as a wedding. I can only hope for another opportunity to do it again!

THE END.

Okay, so it's a bit longer than a blurb. Haha! Appologies if you actually read the WHOLE thing. Here's a link to the facebook albums.

Hitoshi's foray into Wedding Photography vol.1
Hitoshi's foray into Wedding Photography vol.2

-Hitoshi "It's sunny today!" Murakami

1) Hiyo is different! What's going on?! Where's my link page? Can I change it myself? How do I do that without the total destruction of Hiyo? Are my posts the only one showing up on the main page? So many questions! Will Chris ignore me, or send me a pipebomb?

2) Now I shall attempt a proper congratulatory note to Nathan and Christy, sans stupidity or improper comments about CJ's recent foray into the realm of boy-love

Ahem.

Dear Nathan and Christy,

Congratulations to the both of you on your engagement! I think I speak for everyone when I say- OH NO! Rampaging Craw Wurm!!! BLARGH! Double block with Benalish hero and Hill Giant! BANDING! WOOT WOOT! Assign all damage to Benalis- OH NO! GIANT GROWTH! BOURRAHGH!!! SET PHASERS TO STUN! Metaphasic Shields Holding sir! Captain on deck! BOO-WEE-OOO!!!! BATMAN: ANIMATED SERIES OPENING! DUUUN DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUUNNNNNN DUUUUUNNNNN.... In this episode, Batman foils CJ "Boy-lover" Heng plan to go back in time and rob Jonathan Brandis of his "childhood"- and for many years to come.

Sincerely,

Hitoshi

...

Aw crap.

3) Along the same lines as the whole wedding bit, I spent my sunday acting as "Unofficial Official Photographer" at Gino and Danielle's wedding. Gotta say, although I spent the good part of my day snapping away, It was one of the best weddings I've ever had the pleasure of attending. And the best part is I set a new personal best of 1364 pictures taken in the span of a day! Woot woot! Congratulations, guys!

4) Spring is around the corner. I know that because I turned off my heater and my laundry is outside soaking up some of that sweet sweet spring shower scent. Nothing like the natural scent of acid rain. Mmm mmm.

5) I guess that's all for now. I'm in serious need of a napski, but I got pics to sort.

-Hitoshi "Rain rain, go away!" Murakami

WOW!

Now, I know what you are all thinking.

"Maaaan, why are you so interested in some tabloid shit? I thought you were better than that..."

Oh, sweet sassy molassee, you were so INCREDIBLY wrong! I'll be the first to admit that I love reading tabloid shit. It's fantastic! I think most people read about stuff like this because they're enamoured by the whole notion of being famous and place these individuals on pedastals and whatnot

But I think there are people out there who just enjoy seeing other people fall on their asses. Anyone who says public humiliation isn't funny is a racist! And the larger the audience that can see you slip up, the funnier! I mean, think about it. If I slip on a banana peel in class, that's pretty funny, but if I slip on a banana peel at my baptism, well that's just HI-larious.

Aside from playing sports, rockin' out and whatnot, a celebrity's job is to essentially display a certain persona for the public 24/7. And if you do something stupid, EVERYONE is gonna know! Oh the shame! It's so wickedly delectable! Yeah maybe it's hard to be on point all the time, but that's why you're gettin' paid big money!

So when I first heard about the Edison scandal, my immediate reaction was, "WOOT WOOT! THIS IS THE MOST FANTASTIC THING SINCE SLICED BREAD!" And Boy, what a treat!

Think about it!
1) What kind of man uses a PINK Laptop?!
2) Are celebrities so stupid that they would leave sensitive material on their computer.
3) Will Edison lose his hand to the HK triad?

Now admittedly, a large percentage of the fun comes from the fact that as sleazy and stupid as this whole thing is, I look over the list that Edison has bedded and I'm left completly speechless. I mean, take a look!!!

"The naughty pictures included Bobo Chan Man, Cecilia Cheung Pak Chi, , Gillian Chung Yun-Tung, Joey Yung, Yu Chiu, Vincy Yeung, Yumiko Cheng, Mandy Chen, Rachel Ngan, Candice Chan, Jolin Tsai, Maggie Q, and some say even Japanese star Chiaki Kuriyama, and possibly more."

HOLY SHIT! Go-motherfucking-go Yubari too?! Are you kidding me?! Edison has pretty much been with the who's who of tasty hotness in HK and beyond! Madness!

Madness?

THIS!
IS!
SPARTA!

Okay, I'm not going to go on further. If you don't know the faces, just Google them or something.

See, here's the thing about sex scandals in Hollywood. The ladies are PUG-FUGLY! I don't EVER want to see Brittney's roach infested pooter. I don't! But some of the girls on the list make their money by pretending to be cute and innocent.

And it's pretty hard to be cute and innocent with a penis in your mouth.

BA-ZING!

Now I know there's a serious side to it all. Celebrities trying to kill themselves, families breaking up, careers crumbling. And I suppose I should feel bad on some level.

But I don't.

The way I see it, celebrities exist on this planet for the sole purpose of keeping me amused.

Mission accomplished!

-Hitoshi "AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Murakami

I was talking to my mother this morning when she told me that Fei Fei passed away.

For those who don't know, she was a famous HK actress known for her rotund features and regularly rocking a pair of horn-rimmed glasses. Think Chinese version of a Far Side comic female.

Anywho, It really made me think about the one thing that I've been missing these past 18 months.

Ugh...

I really don't want to use the phrase "Where is my Chinese Side?!", but I suppose it works. (My excuse is that I didn't have my coffee this morning. That, and I'm an idiot)

For those of you who keep regular contact with me, you probably heard me bitch about how incredibly BAD Chinese food is in Japan. But there's a bit more than simply a fat kid's desire to eat something more than "Ebi-chili".

One of the things that I respect my Mother for was her attempt to expose me to all things Japanese and Chinese, but I was essentially raised by a group of HK Aunties. (Interestingly enough, I call one of my closest aunts on my Mom's side Maria-san. Haha!)

Chinese New Year, Dimsum, feather dusters and HK cinema were some of things that made up an incredibly large part of my childhood, adolescence and adulthood. Hell, I remember mealing on leftover Dimsum instead of packing on my last night in Toronto. (I know where my priorities stand)

What I'm trying to say is that while I haven't really thought about it, I guess I'll always "be as Chinese as I am Japanese". Or something like that.

AAAAAAANYWHO!

Enough of this rather silly topic. I just thought I would vent for a bit. I don't want to get all, "I'll never forget my heritage" or "aZn pRIde" and whatnot. That shit's so incredibly weak.

Sooooooo incredibly weak.

I just think it sucks that I can't watch Ah-Fei and Uncle Bill one last time while mealing on leftover Turnip Cakes.

-Hitoshi "aZn pRIde!!!!!!! HAR HAR! (don't punch me...)" Murakami

When was the last time you rocked out? I mean completly, and utterly rock out like there was no tomorrow.

Hmm...

I suppose "rocking out" is a poor choice of words. It seems to bring up images of the Headbangers Ball, Wayne & Garth and other icons of that specific genre of music. And that's not what I really want to know.

No. Scratch that.

I DEFINITELY want to know when the last time was your found yourself completly lost in some crazy bass driven tune. Sure, it might not exactly be your cup of tea, but there's gotta be a song or two that makes your head bob, even if it's for a second or two. If you really haven't ever rocked out, you have a serious problem.

Do you know what that is?

It's quite simple.

You.
Are.
A.
Racist.

And I have no time for non-rockin' out racists like you.

Good bye.

As for the rest of you, if it has honestly been a while, I suggest a half hour with your favourite pasty white rock god/goddess. You'll thank me later. Trust me. It's pretty much scientific fact that everyone secretly wants to rock out, even if they don't realize it. I mean, what could me more cathartic than flailing your arms and screaming out the lyrics to a rock anthem or two? Drugs?

Drugs are bad.

I bring this up because for whatever reason I started thinking about all my CD's I left at home and the one CD that seemed to stick out was Powertrip by Monster Magnet.

Yeah, I know. I questioned the purchase at first, but I stick by my decision.

-Hitoshi "When you get tired of the crap, baby move over here and maybe buy some of mine" Murakami

1) I don't like MSN Messenger. Never have, never will. I think it has something to do with being tied down. Don't get me wrong, I still use it here and there, but for the most part I prefer E-mail or phone over it any day.

2) I love youtube. The only thing is that you can't stream videos one after another. If I could do that, I would string together all the music videos I could find and play them one after another without have to search and click play.

3) Look up "Get Involved" by Raphael Saadiq feat Q-Tip. If you like the song, find the MP3 and give me a shout!

4) I came to Japan with two duffle bags and a bag with my laptop. I realized that if I were to leave right now, I would pretty much have the same amount of stuff. I have no idea when I stopped being a packrat...

5) I love that most of the kids I teach now are really comfortable with me. It's really gratifying to be able to walk that line between Teacher and Friend. That being said, I DON'T want to know which students have large penises.

6) Shaq and Nash! Shaq and Nash! I wonder if it will work out. I really hope so. Sure, Shaq ain't now spring chicken. BUT HE'S SHAQ!

That's it for now. If you haven't figured it out by now, this is one of those filler posts where I don't even know why I'm writing. I really wish I had something more to say. I really do. The thing is, my life is pretty damn boring. I mean I keep myself busy with stuff during the weekday and I'm usually out and about on the weekends, but I'm starting to feel like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day. Now I'm not complaining. In fact, I like having everything regular-like.

Don't worry. I'm sure in a few months I'll be bitching and complaining about how everything's gone down the pooper and how I need to find a job. But for now, I think I'm gonna ride this current for a bit.

-Hitoshi "Everything's on the back burner" Murakami