Hanami Shinjuku Gyoen 2013

    My visit to Tokyo this year coincided with Hanami season, or Cherry Blossom season, that magic moment at the beginning of spring when the Cherry Blossoms come out, and everyone camps out in parks under the blossoms on blue tarp and gets thoroughly pissed.  There are different varieties of Cherry Blossom trees, and the majority of trees in Tokyo are a very pale pink, almost white variety.  Most of the shots here were taken of a couple of trees in Shinjuku Gyoen, a public park that costs 200 yen to enter, and have a few of the brighter pink variety.  I'm no expert on the different types, but it was a good excuse to test out my macro lens.  The weather for the Sakura season this year was arse, being mostly overcast with some days of serious rain.  These shots were taken on one overcast day.  My last day was spent again in Shinjuku Gyoen, and the skies were clear and blue.  Did I have my camera with me?  Hell, no, of course not.  For more info on different varieties, times to go etc. check the link just below. 

A beginner's guide to Cherry Blossom Viewing

    For varieties of beer to accompany the event,the tried and true method is serious experimentation i.e., buy one of everything, drink, decide.  And Sakura season offers a socially acceptable event to do some serious research into this area in astonishing quantities. 

Japanese Beers

My images do not belong to the Public Domain. All material in this portfolio is owned and © copyrighted by Peter Pascoe (Doctor Pedro). Any reproduction, modification, publication, transmission, transfer, or exploitation of any of the content, for personal or commercial use, whether in whole or in part, without written permission from myself is prohibited by law. All rights reserved.

Battle Axe Gig Vol. 5 Earthdom 30 Mar 2013

    Battle Axe Gig Vol. 5 went off at Earthdom in Shin Okubo on the 30th of March.  I went along with Makiko from F.I.D. (who recently played at Obscene Extreme Asia), and took some happy snaps.  Fatal Desolation were up first and were a regular death metal type band.  Decent sound, no pretense, solid act.  Necrophile were up next, a Black Metal act.  They were ok.  Velvet Worm, an all-female hard rock act, were the crowd favourite.  They've been around for a long time, according to Makiko, and they play a great live set.  The lead singer kept the crowd amused with raunchy ditties in between songs (to shouts of 'ERO!' from the audience).  The final act was Doraid, a Black-ish Metal band, and the crowd got between my camera and the band, so only one decent shot.  But they were a good finisher for the night.  Cheers Battle Axe!  And Cheers Makiko!

  Fatal Desolation.  I was wearing a Grave t-shirt on the night as well.  Fashion couple...eek!

 Necrophile dramatic pose.

 Windmill headbanging ultra-pose.  But wait...

 Check out these ultra mega mega metal shoes!  Ouch!

 Boom Tish Boom Tish....

 Serious hair.  I hardly saw her face all night.

 There we go...

Yes, that's right.  Fuck Your Brain!

 Crowd Favourite Velvet Worm.  A Femme Fatale cross between AC/DC and Motorhead.  Solid!

 What's not to like?

Rock On!

 (Yeah, I did take a few shots, didn't I...)

 (Well, the bass player was closer, and the crowd were going crazy at this stage)

 Ahh, the singer.

 Nice.

 Fan Service.

 I See You!

 The main act, Doraid, went sick.  So much so that I didn't want to imperil my camera.  Here's a sneaky shot of their gimp drummer.

Here is the gig flyer for the night

My images do not belong to the Public Domain. All material in this portfolio is owned and © copyrighted by Peter Pascoe (Doctor Pedro). Any reproduction, modification, publication, transmission, transfer, or exploitation of any of the content, for personal or commercial use, whether in whole or in part, without written permission from myself is prohibited by law. All rights reserved.

Do The Japan! March - April 2013

    Another trip back to Japan, and more photos in between drunken bastardry.  It's been one year (and a bit) since I was last in Japan.  What's changed in Tokyo?  Lots.  Tokyo is the city that is constantly rebuilding, and if you're not careful, it will all go and be replaced with something even weirder (apologies to Douglas Adams).

    So what has changed.  Fewer Pads and Tablets on public transport.  In 2012, there were probably 4 or 5 people per train carriage using some sort of pad or tablet to while away the oppressive commute.  This year, I reckon I saw maybe 2 in my whole trip.  Ipads are soooo 2012.

    Shimokitazawa Station has changed.  The underground, 3 levels deep Odakyu line (from Shinjuku) changed from above ground to underground during my trip.  I had one last use of the Odakyu above ground station early in my trip, then the next time I used it, I was suddenly in some deep well-lit, shiny subway station that took for ever to get out.  The odd little market that was next to the old station is no more.  Well, it's reduced to one little drinking venue on the North side, but everything else is eerily empty, awaiting demolition.  And the South Side exit, where I spent years drinking MD Super Hops from the conbini, is now a fully functioning exit.

    Tokyo Skytree is open for business.  When I was there last year, it was pretty much built, but not yet open.  Now, nearly a year later, and it's open.  BUT.  We tried to book a ticket for the observation deck online from Australia, and All. Of. March. Was. Full.  When we got there and tried for the beginning of April it was All. Full.  I guess I'm waiting till my next trip for those shots.

    Coca Cola is still 150 yen for a 500 ml bottle.  Still.  That's about a dollar fifty in Aussie dollars.  Australia gets raped for prices by Apple and Coca Cola, and many other things.  It's pretty much double to triple price here.  It's a very odd feeling to walk around 'the world's most expensive city' and wonder why things are generally so much cheaper than in Australia.  I do know, having lived there, that there are living expenses in Tokyo that aren't apparent to visitors that do make it pretty seriously expensive, but it's still pretty outrageous comparing prices of things to back home.  When I moved over in '99, everything in Tokyo was pretty much double what it was in Oz.  Now, it seems nearly everything is cheaper.

    My favourite eating hole, Iseya, in Inokashira Park, home of the best Gyoza in the world, is gone!  The classic old building with its shit service, its smokey atmosphere and its grubby appearance, is no more.  Iseya has reopened temporarily just past Yodobashi Camera on the north side of Kichijoji while the new building is being built, so I could still get my gyoza fix.  But that ramshackle old building is gone.  And that's a great loss.  That building had such rare character.  And probably serious health and safety issues, but that was half of the charm.  It was an oasis of grunge and character in a sea of sterile eateries.  Bugger.

    And the Robot Restaurant.  But I'll get into that in a subsequent post.  Right now, here's a teaser.  There will be more entries to follow.  Stay Tuned.

 Hanami.  Cherry Blossom Season.  Nicely timed. 

  Hentai Chikan Dragon

 These Robots are driven around during the day and night, advertising the Robot Restaurant in Kabukicho.  They are a part of the show.

 Another Cho-chin (paper Lantern) shot.  My obsession continues.

 A sneaky shot inside a Kabukicho Host club.  Alot of the clientelle are hostesses who have finished their shift.  The boys all look like they're from J-pop bands.

 More sleaze in Kabukicho.  Glitter girls!

 I'm happy to comply, but what the hell it is I'm not supposed to do!?!

  A Super Mario Bar in Shinjuku. 

  Evangelion Champagne, available in the Evangelion shop in Harajuku.  Are you fan enough?

  A quiet stroll in Harajuku...

  Mobile Suit Gundam, Odaiba

  Melt Banana in Super Deluxe, Roppongi

  WTF?!? in the Robot Restaurant, Kabukicho.  LOTS more to follow...

 Velvet Worm rocking on in Shin Okubo

 The Zombie Walk, Roppongi

 Tokyo is a 2020 Olympics Candidate city.  The opposition is small and polite.  But to the point.

  Secret shot

  A very leggy dragon.  Just, you know, on the street.  Because Japan.

 Warning!

  Akihabara Donkihote.  Home of the infamous Akiba48. who do a regular show on the 8th floor.

 Gacha Gacha Pon vending machines in Ahihabara.  'Gacha' is onomatopeic for the sound of cranking the handle to get the capsule toy, and the 'pon' is the sound of the capsule dropping into the chute.  There are vending machines for nearly everything in Japan.

'Itansha' in Akihabara.  I seriously just googled that term.  I have known of the term 'Itasha' for quite a few years now.  'Itasha' literally means 'painful car' and refers to cars that have been decorated with anime, manga or video games characters.  I saw this motorbike suffering the same fate, but only now when I googled 'Itasha' did I just find out that the term has morphed into 'Itansha' for motorbikes and 'Itachari' for bicycles. 

My images do not belong to the Public Domain. All material in this portfolio is owned and © copyrighted by Peter Pascoe (Doctor Pedro). Any reproduction, modification, publication, transmission, transfer, or exploitation of any of the content, for personal or commercial use, whether in whole or in part, without written permission from myself is prohibited by law. All rights reserved.

Pop Culture Pilgrimage: Marvel Comics

This is the first in what will be a series of articles revolving around the concept of Pop Culture Pilgrimage.  The idea is to highlight pilgrimages based on visiting locations that have been the basis for locations appearing in Pop Culture, or Pop Counter-Culture. 

MARVEL COMICS

Superman lives and operates in Metropolis.  Batman is the protector of Gotham City.  But the Marvel super-heroes, by and large, lived and and jumped around in a real city, Manhattan, New York.  Sure, Gotham City has been described by Dennis O'Neil in these terms, "Batman's Gotham City is Manhattan below Fourteenth Street at eleven minutes past midnight on the coldest night in November."  This is the mood Gotham is intended to establish, and the term "Gotham" itself was a well-known nickname for New York city, even before Batman was published.  

A map of Gotham City, which can be found here... 

But it remains a fictional city.  Manhattan, however, is very real, and the various locations depicted in Marvel Comics can be visited.  

Some of the locations, and street names, have been fictionalised.  The infamous Yancy Street, home of the Yancy Street Gang and former stomping ground of The Thing, doesn't exist.  But there is a Delancey Street on Manhattan's Lower East Side, which probably served as the inspiration for Yancy Street, and Fantastic Four co-creator Jack Kirby was born in the Delancey Street neighbourhood.  Similarly, the Daily Bugle (where Peter Parker used to work as a photographer) has a real address (East 39th Street and Second Avenue) but in the real Manhattan there is an apartment block at that address.  The movie placed the Daily Bugle in the Flatiron Building on 23rd Street, which in the comics served as the site of the offices of Damage Control Inc.  Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus have also battled on this building (Deadline #2, July 2002).  The Baxter Building (the headquarters of the Fantastic Four), Doctor Strange's Sanctum Sanctorium and the Avengers mansion also have real addresses, but don't actually exist.

For a look at these real life locations, click here

But there are plenty of Manhattan buildings and landmarks that have been woven into Marvel history and fame.  The Green Goblin threw Gwen Stacy to her death from the Brooklyn Bridge (Amazing Spider-Man #121, 1973).  Spider-Man and Mary Jane Watson were married on the steps of City Hall (Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21, 1987).  Many Marvel stories have taken place around the World Trade Center, and the destruction of the World Trade Center in real life was also depicted in Amazing Spider-Man vol. 2, #36 2001.  Daredevil's stomping ground (and Nick Fury's birthplace) of Hell's Kitchen is a real location, currently referred to as "Clinton" by its residents.  The Egyptian god Seth attempted to destroy the United Nations (Moon Knight vol. 4, #4, 1998), which was only one of numerous adventures set at the United Nations.  Daredevil was lured to Madison Square Garden by Bullseye and their battle was broadcast on live television (Daredevil vol 1, #131, 1976).  Howard the Duck crash-landed in Central Park (Howard the Duck vol. 1, #18, 1977).  Central Park also hosted the Beyonder's alien construct (in Sheep Meadow, to be precise) which he used to teleport heroes and villains to Battleworld for the original Secret Wars.  The Absorbing Man and Titania tried to steal a life-size golden bull from the Guggenheim Museum (Thor #447-48, 1992).  Sam Wilson (The Falcon) and Joe "Robbie" Robertson were born and raised in Harlem.  And so on and so on and so on.  

Lest we forget, the location of Marvel Comics itself, currently 417 Fifth Avenue, is also worth a visit.  They used to do tours of the 'Bullpen', and when I did it in 1996, they had the poor jerk conducting the guide dressed up as Spider-Man.  A quick google-fu informs me that they no longer do tours, but it would be still worth a visit just to say that you had been there.  I've heard stalking gets results...

And the Bullpen has appeared in Marvel Comics stories itself, most notably Fantastic Four #10 1963, featuring Doctor Doom, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.  

More info from the Marvel Wiki here 

But all of this has been covered in a guide book.  "The Marvel Comics Guide to New York City" by Peter Sanderson is the definitive guide to stomping around New York City and visiting real and nearly real locations depicted in Marvel comics.  

Have a look here for some reviews

But for the less enthusiastic, who may wish to add, you know, 'other things' into their New York visit, there is this map here, originally published in Wizard Magazine, issue #199, which gives you the basics.

A larger version can be found here

And if you're going , you may as well do it in costume.  Don't be shy, now...

All images used without permission but with love and respect.  Please don't sue me.  Copyright by original copyright holders.  One would assume.