No matter what I do, I cannot reconcile this voice with this singer. It is completely mind blowing - in an extremely good way!
Jero, aka Jerome White Jr., is from Pittsburgh but is pretty much taking the enka world by storm. He was influenced by his late grandmother, a native Japanese who married an American serviceman during the war, and began singing enka at a very young age.
When you close your eyes, you're transported back to the '40s with this style of music. The fact that it's coming out of an African American man who is less than 30 years old is truly wonderful. It makes you realize that music and culture can definitely transgress time and space. I love that Jero remains true to his upbringing (in an urban American setting) through his clothing choices, yet he is still able to perform in the traditional manner for which Japan is famous.
April 10, 2010
April 9, 2010
Where Have All The Buskers Gone?
Tonight I ventured into Waikiki for the first time in a long time and had dinner at The Cheesecake Factory with my friend and old co-worker JC. We got there around 6:30 and had to wait about 45 minutes. I don't understand how this is possible. The restaurant has been here for years and there's still a wait?
Another reason why having to wait 45 minutes baffled me is because after dinner we walked a couple blocks of Waikiki and wandered around the International Marketplace. The place was empty! In the three block stretch, I swear there were only about eight buskers doing there thing. Where did they all go?
I remember a time when there would be two, three silver men. Tonight, only a gold man was out there. There were two musicians - one was a steel drum player, the other had an entire drum kit set up. There were about three spray paint or portrait artists spread down the road.
But the busker with the largest crowd? It was one guy with a black gym bag of basketballs and a bottle of water. This one guy was commanding an audience of about 75 people! Seriously. What was the draw? It was a one-many Globetrotters exhibition. From what I could tell, he wouldn't make the cut with the trotters, but I guess he beat out the drummers and artists.
Another reason why having to wait 45 minutes baffled me is because after dinner we walked a couple blocks of Waikiki and wandered around the International Marketplace. The place was empty! In the three block stretch, I swear there were only about eight buskers doing there thing. Where did they all go?
I remember a time when there would be two, three silver men. Tonight, only a gold man was out there. There were two musicians - one was a steel drum player, the other had an entire drum kit set up. There were about three spray paint or portrait artists spread down the road.
But the busker with the largest crowd? It was one guy with a black gym bag of basketballs and a bottle of water. This one guy was commanding an audience of about 75 people! Seriously. What was the draw? It was a one-many Globetrotters exhibition. From what I could tell, he wouldn't make the cut with the trotters, but I guess he beat out the drummers and artists.
April 3, 2010
Life Update
Not a lot has been going on that's out of the ordinary so I guess I'll just break it down for ya:
- Got a nifty, new hair cut and color on Thursday since I got off early. I went to Salon Tiffany at McCully Shopping Center for the first time. The guy, Jay, layered the hell outta my hair, which actually turned out nice. I let him do whatever as long as it wasn't too, too short. Because it's so layered (bold layers is what he called it), it's super light and bouncy. Guess there's a first for everything, right? Total for the new hair was 95 clams plus an extra 20 for tip. Not bad.
- Started applying for jobs in San Francisco this past week. I think I've applied to about four so far using the same resume and just slightly altering the cover letters. We'll see what happens. I'm not too confident that I'll get any call backs since I'm applying from out of state. However, at least there are writing jobs opening up. I haven't seen any like these in a while (like before I was seriously thinking of moving). I even applied to a real publishing company, but that was for an assistant publicist job. Still, I'd take it just to get into a national publishing house. I'm not real sure how much pay it'd offer though.
- Speaking of publishers, I followed up on my manuscript submission - from three damn years ago! Apparently, they are finally ready to move ahead on it. Geezus, it's only a kid's book man! What's the problem? Anyway, they sent it back to me with all these changes. I'll incorporate most of them, but I'm going to ask them about removing all the place names I've got in the story. They want to delete stuff like Kapiolani Park, Paki Park, etc., which I guess will make it more univeral and therefore more marketable. However, when I wrote this thing it was pretty much based out of my grandma's old place and I'd like to see that it stays that way. I'll have to contact them on Monday and ask about it. I mean, who cares if the tourist don't know where these places are. Locals - well, at least those who grew up in Kapahulu - will.
- The new (relatively speaking) girl at work is absolutely killing me. She really eff'd up this past week but apparently there will be no reprimands going on. I don't know how many chances my boss is willing to give her. The fact that he has different standards for her than me and my co-worker is ridiculous. I've already vented to one of the HR assistants, but she advised me to take it up the chain and go to my boss' boss. She said not everyone is naturally a boss so they may need some tutoring themselves. Whatever. I don't think it'll change anything. I figure if he wants to let her eff things up again, let him. Why should I save him from himself? I'll just put my blinders on and keep clip-clopping along like the worn-out, old workhorse that I am. What irritates me is that we have had so many extra-hours events lately that the two holidays we just had (Kuhio Day and Good Friday) almost seem like they're not there. They're making up for the time we had to work extra. Sometimes working in marketing really sucks. Well, no. Working in marketing sucks when you don't like the two of the three people in your department.
- I haven't read anything worthy of mention lately, despite having read a ton of books lately. Basically I got hooked on a series by Suzanne Brockmann and have just been devouring it. I haven't really had a chance to read anything of substance (although I did attempt to read some Jane Austen but just never got around to it). The books are what I'd call suspense romances, if that even makes sense. They feature a team of Navy SEALS who kick butt and fall in love. Yeah, it's stretching it but whatevers. Just let me live in my fantasy why don't you? I like the series because it's not only about all that lovey dovey crap. The characters seem real (in the completely exaggerated way that romance novels portray them LOL) with their good and bad points. They are faced with obstacles in love and battle and must find ways to overcome them. Although some may say that love and battle are one and the same, in this instance I'm referring to battle against terrorism.
- Got a nifty, new hair cut and color on Thursday since I got off early. I went to Salon Tiffany at McCully Shopping Center for the first time. The guy, Jay, layered the hell outta my hair, which actually turned out nice. I let him do whatever as long as it wasn't too, too short. Because it's so layered (bold layers is what he called it), it's super light and bouncy. Guess there's a first for everything, right? Total for the new hair was 95 clams plus an extra 20 for tip. Not bad.
- Started applying for jobs in San Francisco this past week. I think I've applied to about four so far using the same resume and just slightly altering the cover letters. We'll see what happens. I'm not too confident that I'll get any call backs since I'm applying from out of state. However, at least there are writing jobs opening up. I haven't seen any like these in a while (like before I was seriously thinking of moving). I even applied to a real publishing company, but that was for an assistant publicist job. Still, I'd take it just to get into a national publishing house. I'm not real sure how much pay it'd offer though.
- Speaking of publishers, I followed up on my manuscript submission - from three damn years ago! Apparently, they are finally ready to move ahead on it. Geezus, it's only a kid's book man! What's the problem? Anyway, they sent it back to me with all these changes. I'll incorporate most of them, but I'm going to ask them about removing all the place names I've got in the story. They want to delete stuff like Kapiolani Park, Paki Park, etc., which I guess will make it more univeral and therefore more marketable. However, when I wrote this thing it was pretty much based out of my grandma's old place and I'd like to see that it stays that way. I'll have to contact them on Monday and ask about it. I mean, who cares if the tourist don't know where these places are. Locals - well, at least those who grew up in Kapahulu - will.
- The new (relatively speaking) girl at work is absolutely killing me. She really eff'd up this past week but apparently there will be no reprimands going on. I don't know how many chances my boss is willing to give her. The fact that he has different standards for her than me and my co-worker is ridiculous. I've already vented to one of the HR assistants, but she advised me to take it up the chain and go to my boss' boss. She said not everyone is naturally a boss so they may need some tutoring themselves. Whatever. I don't think it'll change anything. I figure if he wants to let her eff things up again, let him. Why should I save him from himself? I'll just put my blinders on and keep clip-clopping along like the worn-out, old workhorse that I am. What irritates me is that we have had so many extra-hours events lately that the two holidays we just had (Kuhio Day and Good Friday) almost seem like they're not there. They're making up for the time we had to work extra. Sometimes working in marketing really sucks. Well, no. Working in marketing sucks when you don't like the two of the three people in your department.
- I haven't read anything worthy of mention lately, despite having read a ton of books lately. Basically I got hooked on a series by Suzanne Brockmann and have just been devouring it. I haven't really had a chance to read anything of substance (although I did attempt to read some Jane Austen but just never got around to it). The books are what I'd call suspense romances, if that even makes sense. They feature a team of Navy SEALS who kick butt and fall in love. Yeah, it's stretching it but whatevers. Just let me live in my fantasy why don't you? I like the series because it's not only about all that lovey dovey crap. The characters seem real (in the completely exaggerated way that romance novels portray them LOL) with their good and bad points. They are faced with obstacles in love and battle and must find ways to overcome them. Although some may say that love and battle are one and the same, in this instance I'm referring to battle against terrorism.
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