Kick Ass Pajama Party Music

All-girl bands are cool, period. Guys think they’re hot. Girls do to. You don’t come across them too often and when you do, they’ve usually got a unique sound, feature or kink that sticks with you in one way or another.

“Niña con Frenillos” (Girl with Braces) is no exception.

They’re attractive, accessible and fun with a raw grungy punk sound that you can’t help but groove too. Their songs have a colorful quality that’ll either have you nodding your head and swaying your hips, dancing like an idiot, or yelling, “This is awesome!” to the person next to you.

Most would file the group under some classification of the punk-rock category, but that’s not what they’re going for. “We don’t want to be called punk or party-punk or pop-punk,” lead singer Winifrede Walbaum (24) said. “We play pajama-party music.”

Makes perfect sense.

While you won’t be blown away by high degrees of difficulty or flashy solos, you will notice that everyone is comfortable, slightly reckless, uninhibited and having a blast – a pajama party.

The Chilean band, whose influences include Sonic Youth, Michael Jackson, El Otro Yo, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Le Tigre and Nirvana, was conceived only a year ago, out of a group of friends just partying together.

Winifred, the lead singer, is sexy and sweet with an effortless, smooth and loud voice that leads but doesn’t stifle. I get the sense that she just rolled out of bed one day, started singing and that’s what came out.

The bassist is hilarious, clowning around on stage and taking swigs from the crowd’s drinks. If we were at a college house-party, she’d be the one jumping off the roof into the swimming pool. The guitarist and drummer are a little more out of focus, but work well as parts of the whole.

I saw them play at El Clan in the Bellavista area of Santiago. Cool place. Small enough to keep it intimate but spread out enough so you’re not getting bumped, stepped on or spilling your drink every minute. After the band was done the place switched to more of a bar/club scene with a DJ and a small dance floor. Really good time.

The girls have their first album coming out in August which I’ll definitely be on the prowl for. Until then, I’ll be attending as many of their shows as possible. If you’re looking for a good time and think you can appreciate some good old fashioned pajama party music, then you should check them out too.

www.myspace.com/niniaconfrenillos

www.elclan.cl

I'm in Santiago, Chile

Been here a little less than two weeks now. It's winter - pretty cold but not snowing. Real hazy at night and smoggy during the day. I'm interning at The Santiago Times - a local English news publication (mostly online) that is, to say the least: janky. It's a good experience though; I'm learning things, my writing's improving and I'm getting published. Unfortunately you have to be a subscriber to read full articles online, (which makes absolutely no sense to me in this publication's case) but if you email me I'm sure we can find a way to extend the access a bit.

I spent the first few days living in the worst conditions - on the couch in the office. A place not fit for working in, much less living in, but it was free. On the brighter side I just moved into an abode of my own a few nights ago. Nice enough place on the 18th floor of building in the center of town. Great location - has a neon beer billboard on the roof so it's easy to find stumbling home after a night on the town - a cheap drunkard's north star. Has a cool view of the city which will be great in the summer when the smog clears. My roommates are a couple of Chilean law students. One of them, Ricardo, speaks perfect English and just got back from studying in Maine for a semester. The other, Anita, is real nice - that's about all I got regarding her so far.

Santiago suits me a lot better than Koga (Japan) did. Feel much better after a week here than I did after a week there. Most people I work with are decent human beings (from what I've gathered so far) and down for a good time. Lots of stuff going on in the city. Metro's easy to use - the buses are usually packed or empty. When they're packed, there's usually some type of entertainment or peddling to the captive, cramped audience. Some guys sell pens and candy, others play guitar or rap, while some are sob stories with a disease or disorder begging for help (money).

The beer's pretty average - wine's great - food's not healthy and usually meat-based - things are cheap - I like it.

7 Days of Pain - The Nightmare of Obtaining a Japanese Driver License

This was the breaking point for me. I'm sharing this so others in the same situation will know what they're getting into and hopefully minimize the pain.

Back in March, I was planning on teaching for another year in Koga. I hadn't set up anything anywhere else yet and I had a relatively new Japanese girlfriend that I'd put a lot of time and effort into and wanted to maximize my return on the investment. I liked her too. Things were starting to take shape for my next year of teaching and that included the miles of red tape and hours of paperwork that went into it.

My next school was going to be located about 20 minutes away by car from my apartment - with no train or bus access. Therefore I would need to drive to work. Therefore I would need to get a Japanese drivers license. Even though I'd been driving on an International Drivers License since August of last year with no problems, the system wouldn't accept a renewal of that one, and required that I get a new official Japanese Drivers License. The driving center is located in Mito, the capital of Ibaraki. Living in Koga - I was literally as far away from Mito as one could be while remaining a registered Ibaraki resident. Figures. Koga is much closer to the driving center in the neighboring prefecture of Saitama, but rules are rules and all residents of Ibaraki must go to the Mito driving center. The gaping holes in the systems over here swallowed me up. Everything was taking forever, nobody was giving me straight answers, the processes were completely inefficient and horrible.

My 7 days of pain went like this:

Friday - Got out of school early to go to the immigration office in Mito to extend my Visa. Two-hour train ride one-way. The Visa I was issued by Interac expired two weeks before my working contract did, so there was a gap that needed to be filled. The only way to fill that gap was by purchasing a year-long visa extension. After waiting 3 hours and barely getting in before the office closed (at 5pm) I submitted all the necessary paperwork only to be told that I needed to come back next week to pick up and pay for my new visa when I receive a postcard from them telling me it's ready. Back to Koga.

Monday - Got out of school early to drive the boring 2 hour drive to the Japan Automobile Federation (JAF) office in Mito. JAF is where I had to go to get the Japanese translation of my Arizona Driver License. I got lost - had a horrible map - couldn't find the place until 6:30 - they closed at 5:30. Turned around and drove the 2 hours back to Koga.

Tuesday - Got the afternoon off to drive back to JAF in Mito. Paid 3,000 yen, slept 30 minutes in their lobby and received my official Japanese translation. Drove back to Koga - another 2 hours in the car.

Wednesday - Got the whole day off for my big trip to the driving center in Mito. Woke up at 5am. Got there at 8 - with all my paperwork - rules of the road memorized - wearing a suit - ready to kiss some ass. I was one of the first in line - submitted my documents - paid my fees (4,500yen) - bowed to the guys - smiled at the girls. The processing windows are only open from 9 - 10 am and at 10 they shut those babies down and process all the paperwork they just received in that hectic hour of exposure to the masses. At 10:45 they called me back up and asked me a bunch of questions about my driving history, any classes I'd taken, occupation, background. It's best to paint as pretty and clean a picture for them as possible (i.e. lie your ass off). After another half hour of waiting, they called me back again asking for a certificate that shows the original date that my Arizona drivers license was issued. I didn't know such a document existed - either way they needed it and I didn't have it. Apparently I had to prove that I was a licensed driver in America for at least three months. In my case, my current license was issued in 2006. I've traveled quite a bit and have stamps from all over Europe in my passport. When they looked at those stamps and my license from 2006, they had no way to prove that I had been legally driving in America for a full three months. I laughed at them when they requested this - they didn't smile when they handed me back all of my paperwork (and none of my money) and told me they couldn't accept my application that day. Right then I decided I was done with Japan. Drove back to Koga - empty as ever.

Thursday - My postcard from the immigration office in Mito arrived Wednesday - so it was back to Mito on Thursday to pick up my new visa. Took the train this time - didn't hurt as much knowing it would be my last. I was able to jump ahead in line - my visa was ready - and I was officially cleared to work another year in Japan. Train back to Koga spent chewing on the annoying irony of it all.

Even if I had submitted all the required documents at the driving center - the odds are I would have failed my practical driving test. Many times the administrator fails you just based on appearance or personal grudges. I understand Americans have the most difficult time with this test. Sometimes they'll fail you just to make sure you're taking it/them seriously. After the test they'll tell you you did great, but then when you recieve your grades, you failed. The course looks nothing like roads in Japan. The rules they watch for are rarely used in everyday driving and far from a practical assessment of the driver's ability. It's there just to make you work for it. Just to inflict pain upon you so you will appreciate your license once you get it and so they can say they've thoroughly tested you. Most people I talked to had to take the test at least twice. When I went to the driving center on Wednesday, there was a Russian girl there who failed for the 5th time. You also have to pay your application fee every time you go. Absolutely ridiculous.

Here's my advice if you have the unfortunate task of applying for a Japanese Driver's License. Keep in mind that my only experience with this process is the driving center in Mito, Ibaraki.

• Wear a suit when you go to the driving center.
• Arrive early - at 8am - since they are only open from 9 - 10am.
• Be as polite as possible - speak as much Japanese as you can - "yoroshiku onegaishimasu" goes a long way
• Bring a lot of cash - at least 10,000 yen to be safe - actual application costs around 4,500
• Bring these documents:
• Current foreign driver license
• Japanese translation of foreign driver license
• Certificate of Alien Registration
• Passport
• Photos (3x2.4cm - if your photos are the wrong size or if you forget them - they have a photo shop right next door that can take your picture right there - the one convenient thing about this place)
• International driving permit
• Copy or certificate of your original driver license from your home country that shows the original date of issuance.
  
• If you are going to JAF to get the Japanese translation of your current foreign license - be careful - the map I got showed its location (in Mito) on the intersection of the 50 and the 50 - so confusing - make sure you know exactly where it is before you drive out there - you won't be able to just look around and find it
• Be flexible and plan in advance enough so that you can weather a few failed attempts.
  
• Click here for a site with some great info and advice

Suns Lose - I'm Out

I'm back in Phoenix and have been here long enough to get unhealthily geeked up for a thrilling Suns championship run in the NBA playoffs - only to have it all come crashing down on me in a sputtering first round loss to the ever-present, ever-solid, ever-dominant San Antonio Spurs.

I was in a state of limbo for the first few weeks in April when I got back into town, not knowing where I was going or what I was going to do next. The only sure fire thing was that I'd schedule everything around the Suns and their playoff run.

Well, after the Suns' series squandering game 5 loss Tuesday night, my schedule's pretty flexible now. I'll be moving to Santiago, Chile in early June to work at The Santiago Times, the city's biggest (from what I've seen so far) English newspaper. This gig is more of an internship (no pay) and will go for at least six months. Pretty excited for my first full-time journalism job. I'll probably be teaching English on the side to get by also.

I've got a few more things to post about Japan on this blog (my crippling experience with the Japanese Department of Motor Vehicles in addition to pretentious, nostalgic and broad sweeping thoughts upon/after leaving), but I'll start a new one for Chile once I move down there.

Back to the Suns.

Enduring the heartache of last year's Western Conference Semi-finals loss to the Spurs, from Japan, through online play by play game casts and cell phone score updates was one of the most difficult sports experiences of my life. It's up there with the '93 Suns' loss to the Bulls in the NBA Finals; breaking my wrist freshman year of high school, a day before our first game, sidelining me for the whole season; the '03 Cubs' NLCS collapse; and my middle school RAMS basketball team's first round playoff loss - down by one with 4 seconds left in the game, forcing a pass that wasn't there into Bodie (our team's first round pick and dominant low post presence - forgot his last name) on the right block and turning the ball over.

After thinking about all that, I guess the Suns' elimination this year isn't that bad. But it still sucks.

Everyone is ripping on Nash for his late game turnovers in game 5, and D'Antoni for never practicing defense, and Shaq for slowing the team down and missing free throws. While I do agree that these were all bad things that contributed to our disappointing season - I'm stunned at how nobody (NOBODY - newspaper, radio, TV, fellow Suns fans (except for Greg Levin), basketball fans in general) is talking about Amare Stoudemire's complete no-show, lack of aggressiveness and failure to step up when the team needed him.

He's been getting abused on defense all year long, but the Spurs attacked him and made him look like a kid who just had his shovel and bucket jacked while playing in the sandbox. Everyone's complaining about game 1 and how lucky the Spurs were when Duncan hit his only three of the season at the buzzer to tie the game and send it into a second overtime - but not many people mention Stoudemire's defensive breakdown - failing to switch and cover Michael Finley as he nailed a wide open 3 pointer to tie it up and send it into the game's 1st overtime. Champions don't break down like that in crunch time.

In Game 4 we blew out the Spurs getting great performances from roll players like Boris Diaw , Raja Bell and Leandro Barbosa. It was the first time in the series we were gelling and making it look like the Spurs had some weaknesses we could exploit. Diaw was the main factor scoring 20+ points for the first time in a long time. But what did Stoudemire put up? 7 . And it wasn't a supportive 7 points with a bunch of boards, hustle on defense and smiles and high fives for all. It was a sulking performance - like he was playing second fiddle and upset that everyone was looking to Boris instead of him.

Then Game 5. Stoudemire was nowhere to be found in the fourth quarter. The season's on the line - we've got a close game that we can win - we need some big plays on offense (where he should be shining as our self-touted go-to-guy and franchise player) and he might as well have been in the locker room. Nash has to force passes to him that aren't there because he's not cutting and moving without the ball. When the rock does end up in his hands it's like he's got a hot potato and it's shoveled off to Diaw or Shaq - or back to Nash who's getting smothered and needs some help.

This is the guy who's taking us to the promised land? Where's the player of two and three years ago who just feasted when he got the ball within 15 feet of the basket? The guy who attacked the hoop like a rabid animal The guy who put the team on his back against the Spurs in the '05 Conference Finals after Joe Johnson's fluke concussion that sidelined him for the series. The guy we're gladly paying $15+ million this year and $16+ million next year.

Instead we get the guy with his hands on his hips during crucial late game possessions. The guy who gets caught in no-man's-land (that should be his new nickname: No Man's Land) on every pick-and-roll. The primadonna who can't be taught how to play defense because he's too groomed to accept criticism.

Still, the only mention of Stoudemire in The Arizona Republic the day after the Suns lost was a half-page article about whether or not the Suns' "star" would play in the Olympics this summer. Give me a break. The picture on the other page, however, said a lot more to me. A small shot of the "star" sulking, arms crossed, without his jersey on, soaking his feet in a tub of ice with his knees heavily wrapped...alone.

There's a lot more that goes into the pain Suns fans feel (or should feel) after another disappointing year. Bill Simmons' article goes into greater detail than I ever could.

What I'll focus on here is the fact that we'll never get a championship with Amare unless he improves - defensively, mentally and emotionally. And the first step to improving is admitting that there is a problem - something he has yet to do.

State of the Gaijin - Losing Credibility - Leaving Japan

It's done. I'm leaving Japan 3/25 and will be home indefinitely. I just quit Interac, telling them I've once again decided that I will not be renewing my contract. I wasn't thinking straight when I originally decided to stay for another year and it took a terrible week of Japan crapping on me for me to realize that I need out.

I spent 4 of the past 7 days driving 2 hours one-way to Mito (capital of Ibaraki) to get my Japanese driver's license and my visa extended. I still have to go back once more to pay for and receive my new visa. If I was staying, I would have to go at least one more time to the DMV to get my license - but that wouldn't even be a sure thing since the driving test is ridiculous and most people have to take it 2 or 3 times before they are passed.

It's going to be hard to say goodbye - in a Stockholm Syndrome kind of way.

Officiating Japanese Junior High School Basketball

This whole year I've been half-assedly participating in the basketball team's activities. I say half-assedly because they practice every day - literally - with no weekends or holidays off. They do the same drills that they've been doing for the past two years - every day and get yelled at for the same reasons every day. So, since I don't want to submit myself to that kind of punishment, I go the slacker route and show up about twice a week, depending on the week. At the beginning of the year I made the all too common mistake of taking the advice of my peers and trainers to heart and felt the pressure to go every day along with the pain of their resentment if I didn't show up one day. I had to learn not to get too worked up over it and not to feel like I have to apologize or explain myself if I don't go. Now, I go if I have time (which I always do), or more importantly, if I don't have to rush home for my after-school b.m.

The club activities are a good time though. Participating in these activities is one of the most important/beneficial things an ALT(gaijin english teacher) can do. One of the best moves I made at the beginning of the year was going to one of the basketball team's practices on a Sunday. I told the coach that I liked/played bball and he said, if you're free this sunday, please join us. I did. I barely knew any of the kids or teachers, and was still in that shy fearful state that being around shy and fearful people puts you in. It wasn't fun. Nice to play basketball though and it was my first structured practice in a few years (10). The practice didn't mean much to me. It was raining that day, and I was without a car at that time, so I didn't have anything else to do. I road home in the rain, pissed off at myself for moving to Japan and missing home.

A week or so later, I hear from my company that they heard about my appearance at the practice - all the teachers at the school were talking about it - and all of a sudden I'm a great teacher. I hadn't taught a class yet. This is one of many examples of how complete bullshit this job is - and shows you the kinds of things that make impressions in this culture. Cleaning with the students for 15 minutes a day makes you a hard worker. Going around and introducing yourself to each teacher on your first day means you have good character. Teaching English (improving my students' abilities to converse and comprehend the English language) is not anywhere close to my list of "Important Things To Do To Do A Good Job."

Aside from a good "career move" - going to the club activities is fun. It gives the kids a chance to goof off a bit without getting yelled at. The basketball club is a good choice because in the gym there are three different teams practicing - boys/girls bball, volleyball, and boys/girls table-tennis - so you can go to each team and screw around a bit and then move on. Keeps it fresh. It's also indoors which is a prerequisite for me here - no way I'm weathering the elements like the poor kids/coaches in the baseball, soccer, track and field clubs. If it's raining really hard, the baseball team sometimes does laps through the halls for two hours - all in perfect formation and every time I've seen em they've smiled at me when they ran by.

The boys basketball coaches are nice, but pretty cold and quiet. They like it when I go, but they put off that air of indifference (maybe because I go when I want to). The girls coach is a lot cooler/friendlier, and he also knows a lot more about basketball from what I've seen. The girls team is one of the top three teams in the state and regularly score 80 - 100 points. I couldn't believe it either, but he showed me the scores from the paper and video of some games and I believed it. They fast break and launch 3's all day.

So we're talking at the Christmas party and he asks me if I ever ref? Of course (lie), I say. He asks me if I want to ref some of the girls games when they play other schools on the weekends? Hell yeah. The next 30 minutes of the conversation was spent going through and mimicking every possible call you could make - very funny - I had the basics down, but I got a lot wrong and some of the details and motions are a bit different over here. I could tell that he knew what he was doing too.

The first time I reffed was the girls tournament. It was at our school. I think the way it works is that about every weekend there's a tournament (a bunch of games - no champions) at whatever school's turn it is to host that week. About 5 - 7 teams go and they play each other all day.

It was hilarious. I was terrible. Blowing calls, mixing up teams, forgetting time-counts, out of position, trailing the plays. When I called a foul and ran to the scorers table to report it to the kids manning the books/clock - I'd say one thing/number/team and motion something completely different - like I'd call a shooting foul on blue #7 - but I 'd hold up the number 8 with my hands and the only colors on the floor were yellow and red. Nobody said a word. During breaks in the action or in between games the coaches would come up to me and say Ohhh, you're so good - thank you so much for helping us today - you're really a great ref - please come again. It got to a point where I'd see a play developing and already decide in my head what the call would be - or see a team just getting trounced on and start calling a ton of reaching calls to help out the team down 37 - 14 getting eaten up by the full court press with 2 minutes left - they never call off the dogs. I got pretty emphatic/entertaining towards the end - I'd put some juice into my charging and traveling calls - the kids on the sidelines loved it and for the next few weeks at school they'd run up to me in the halls and call me for the offensive foul and throw their arm going the other way.

At the beginning of the games the starting five line up across from each other and bow. If a sub checks into the game they go to the scorers table and bow before coming on to the court - the player leaving the court bows upon arriving at the bench. There is no whining about any of the officiating - by the players, coaches, or the few parents that are watching. Absolutely none. I'd make the worst calls and the kids would apologize to me. I'd call a foul on #7 and #7's hand goes straight up in acknowledgment. They hand me the ball when it goes out of bounds saying onegaishimasu "please take this." Not one perplexed look or notion of opposition. A little different than the scene at some of the basketball tournaments I've been to - and I've been to a few.

Every game whether the team is up by 20, down by 20 or tied - a player is getting chewed out. The coach's voice gets really loud all of a sudden and the gym gets silent - some poor kid whose time has come gets reamed in front of everyone. I don't know what the various surface level reasons are that they get yelled at - maybe they didn't switch on a screen or box out or missed a lay up - but that's a tenth of the meaning behind it - the rest is establishing the coach as the pack leader and instilling/maintaining that level of fear that is needed for control and order. It's so sad sometimes. I'll be screwing around with one of the scorer's table kids or talking with one of the coaches one minute, the next there's screaming, veins popping out, kids crying quietly on the bench into their towels, hiding their faces as the game goes on. Every coach/teacher yells at kids the same way with the same intonation and rhythm. The kids don't respond really, and just stand there taking it - like nothing I say or do can stop this furry-eyebrowed man from screaming at me for the next 10 minutes - which is true - they could have DNA evidence and blood stains and 10 eye witnesses proving them innocent for the crime in question - but the sensei is never wrong and if they try to prove otherwise then they're guilty of that too.

I've reffed at three tournaments so far. Two of them girls games and one boys. The boys coach saw me reffing at the girls first tournament and used that as a lead in to inviting me to one of theirs. The girls games were a lot more fun - I think mainly because the coaches were generally nicer - which made the kids nicer/funnier too. Also, the level of play with the girls is significantly better than that of the boys. Maybe because of the coaching too. Most teams (boys and girsl) have 8 - 12 players on the roster - but some are stacked 15 - 30 deep - since everyone is accepted (no tryouts/cuts). In these cases about half of the kids don't play all day and spend their time on the bench cheering and singing. The teams are made up of 1st and 2nd graders (since the 3rd graders finished their club activities in the winter and now spend their hours after school studying for the high school entrance exams). The 2nd graders play and 1st graders support - they (the 1st graders) bring the players (the 2nd graders) their water bottles, fan them during time outs and, never look like they've ever had a complaint in their heads.

My third time reffing, I'd gotten my motions and positioning down and the coach said I'd moved up a level - I'm now at 3 of 5. All of the refs are coaches for the teams that aren't playing that game - so it's not like these are paid officials - which takes some pressure off. I'm probably still more of a 2 - but the boldness of him not telling me that I was a 5 was appreciated. You don't see that kind of honesty much.

State of the Gaijin - Another Partial Retraction

There's been a change of plans.
I'm now renewing my contract with Interac and continuing my Egnlish teaching tenure in Japan. Due to my last minute decision and the rigidness of Japanese companies, I won't be teaching in the Koga area and will instead be posted at two elementary schools in Sakai machi, which is a small town about a 20 minute drive away. I'll still live in the same place since it's so close and there's not much in Sakai. Ideally I would have liked to continue at one of the Koga area junior highs and/or elementary schools because I've gotten to know a lot of the teachers - but there was no budging due to all of the spots being filled up. Ironically, when my placement was defaulted to Koga when I first signed with Interac a year ago, they used the excuse that the position I was originally slated for in Maebashi (a much bigger/cooler city) was no longer available as the ALT there decided to stay at the last minute. Go figure. Not the end of the world - and teaching at elementary schools will be a lot more entertaining than the waves of boredom that bludgeon you at junior highs.

I'll still be going home on 3/26, but am only going to be in town for about a week. Staying on with Interac makes the most sense right now - financially, logistically and personally. Mental, emotional and social states are another depraved story.