slices of life whilst out n’ about – lots of street musicians, festivals, parade, transportation methods and vehicles, wandering, commuting, skating, riding – not a story so much a hint
For Halloween enthusiasts, especially with kids and especially living far away from usual trick-or-treat traditions, I offer you: “Little Blue Truck” Halloween storytime with Uncle Dave
With a special hello to the little human friends around the world and especially a little girl in Dubai comes a spontaneous conversation about Halloween memories in Canada, yesterday’s Halloween in Tsuchida, Okayama, Japan including our family’s costumes then reading Ichiro’s brand new book “little blue truck’s Halloween” with a bit of a beatbox :) finally a request for kids’ Halloween costume photos and flipping through a stack of books to solicit request for future storytimes.
Background: Rolling back to March 2023 when Michael (txtr @mschool) – who i noticed online doing video tours of records shops in this minor provincial city of Okayama and then met at a used record fair in Ushimado (post coming) – came over for a visit to talk about records, records, and more more.
don’t click this, watch the vids below, but dang, what a pose :)
How it started: I met him at the parking lot near the Tsuchida cemetery and the camera was rolling from the hop. I don’t get to talk about *all of this stuff* much and he and i had so many common checkpoints (including Internet Service Providers in the modem days!) that our convo turned into a heavy jam session which was released as a 3 part’r – all shared below with his blurbs + a sorta”part 4″ i made while tidying up all the records pulled out during the frenzy.
So, hold onto your toques, sharp turns ahead! All the records, all the time, so much more to say but this will get you started. Many stories, digressions, non sequiturs, a few missteps, mistaken dates, changes in latitude, fogging out mid-sentence as I remember something else meant to tell you about another time.
nope, don’t click this either… just a little bit more then you an click and watch ≠ look at that mess of records eh
Really though, give all 3 a watch, ask me questions, tell me *I’m totally wrong*, tell me you were there, and do the whole click and subscribe for this affable gent Michael of Rice Field Records who let me ramble in my “show n tell” (PS vid from the great record fair in Ushimado where i met Michael).
Part 1: “a 150 year old Japanese barn, vintage audiophile gear, and a very eloquent and happy man”
“We meet Dave Olson, an EXPAT who is a music lover and record collector. Dave lives in Higashi (East) Okayama, in a Japanese home which has a 150 year old Kura (barn) that Dave has restored and repurposed to be his art studio and listening room. Featured is a 1980’s rare vintage Yamaha “Gigantic & Tremendous” GT-2000 turntable as part of his listening system.“
Part 2: “a fascinating entrepreneur with stories told through a vinyl journey, tales from around the world”
“A decades long vinyl collection journey that begins in Canada, Dave Olson moves to the Pacific NW. Then criss-crosses the USA. Goes to Japan, Bali, and Europe. Records recently shipped from various storage rooms abroad to this resident of Japan. A fascinating story of music with a first hand knowledge of many Seattle and Canadian, bands, promoters and independent labels beginning in the early 1990’s.”
Part 3: “a 1990’s dial-up Internet ISP, a world traveller, a fantastic record collection, a very happy man”
“Anyone who knows my work history has a big smile on their face the moment this video begins. While Dave was the engine behind OLYWA.NET, I was the the Internet Service Provider marketing manager for Ascend Communications, who was the market share leader of access technology for ISP’s. Dave and I were marketing some form of dial-up access, ISDN, frame relay, and T-1 lines at the same time. There was so much excitement in our first meeting. I don’t know if this video deserves any more introduction. You have to be smitten by this guy’s infectious enthusiasm in the first 30 seconds.”
Bonus
Tidying Up Vinyl Records in the Kura (find the right neighbourhood to *spark joy*)
All these records bring me joy so i am tidying up in the wake of a super enjoyable visit fromRice Field Records and a used record fair in nearby Ushimado. I putter along talking about how i organize the records into “neighbourhoods” so they have pals to hang out with, pull out some box sets, try to find where i put that “one thing” and where *exactly* this one fits best while wearing an moth-eaten cardigan and noticing my beard is compensating for my thinning noggin (still cute :)). Finishes with flipping through some 7 inches while playing a live clip recorded at Ubud Jazz festival.
So many name checks for fave artists including: Courtney Barnett, Bill Janovitz / Buffalo Tom, Buffalo Springfield, David Bowie, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Joe Jackson, Talking Heads, Lone Justice, Ramones, Pixies, Weakerthans, more more more… and extra affection for compilations and soundtracks from Nardwuar, Flipside, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Urgh a Music War, Life in European Theatre, Easy Rider, Times Square (movie) etc infinity.
I managed to make a little bit of music – Just me riffing on a song (lyrics by me, circa 2006 and chords by B. Rees but don’t fault him for my lousiness) banging on a *cheap & cheerful* baritone ukulele while drinking iced coffee from a wood-oven pizza beach shack and waiting for freshly painted toenails to dry – words i wrote on the seabus in maybe 2006, Brad put some chords to it, I kind of go in and out of 3/4 time and digress into a spontaneous ramble about the “lonely seaman” to stretch it out.
Poor fella, just waiting for smokes & grub while crossing tropics no one seems to understand… but hey there’s an iced coffee involved}
A conversation about DIY constructing scrapjournals with board game backs, calendar paper fronts, mixed blocks inside, with a side sewing technique. Including: what materials to gather and adding a few treats to start so you “don’t get precious”.
Arts and Crafts with Peace and Intention
Plus using a Tin Tin calendar as a substrate for a travel scrapbook with a ephemera (coaster, tickets stubs, boarding passes, maps, etc) from Thailand, Malaysia, Nepal, Greece, Rome , Istanbul (with space for Suez).
Plus a few comments about the Vatican’s reconciliation *campaign* with Indigenous people of current-day Canada. Lighting incense and sage in hopes of sincerity and action.
All from the “Giggling Piglet studio” in a historic storehouse barn in provincial Japan with *Special hellos* to Kim in Austin, Jason in Gifu, Dan in Mass, Vincent in Victoria, Aki in the islands, the students of a school near Yokota, and others along the way.
More Importantcy:
* Indian Residential School Survivor’s Society (donate)
Just adding beat related ephemera to binders, poems to scrapbooks, cards and letters too, sometimes to one scrapbook, sometimes to another, depending on the form and function, music plays in the background – a compilation for Jack Kerouac – all in a historic kura storehouse barn in provincial Japan.
No commentary, no chit chat, just ya know,… hanging out playing with scissors, glue, tape and whatnot.
Ambient hang out and putting artifacts and items from the Kerouac “On the Road” exhibit in 2021 at Kobe, Japan – along with a dossier of items from Lowell, Massachusetts – into a plain white binder with sheet covers, while listening to a collection of hep songs assembled for Jack Kerouac’s hundredth birthday by Bear Family records while in “Giggling Piglet Studios” in a historic kura storehouse barn in provincial Japan. No commentary, chitchat – just hanging out.
Just hanging out at Giggling Piglet Studios – an historic kura storehouse in provincial Japan – taping and glueing ephemera, snapshots, stamps, postcards etc from a trip to Kyoto for Kominka Summit, plus stops at Gion Post Office and Ginkakuji temple – into an accordion-style scrapbook.
While listening to records by Sonic Youth, Iggy Pop, The Ramones, Husker Du, JFA… maybe something else.
No narration, banter (witty or otherwise) or “action” beyond, playing with papers, scissors, glue, double sided tape and whatnot.
Sorting, cutting and organizing scrapbook items – snapshots, insta-photos, fliers, brochures, stamps etc – from trips to Shimane and Kyoto in a historic kura storehouse barn (dubbed “Giggling Piglet Studio”) in Tsuchida, Japan.
Sort-ganizing ephemera from Shimane and Kyoto (with records) and cutting snaps.
While listening to records from Dan Mangan, Bob Dylan, and Courtney Barnett.
No chit-chat, narration or blah blah, just hanging out, playing with scissors, paper, scrapbooks, and cheap cutter knife.
