My first record player

I got my first record player when I was about nine or ten years old, passed on to me, I think, when my parents replaced the stereo in the living room with a newer one and I was allowed to have the old one in my bedroom. It was a big chunky box with a heavy wooden lid on top which you had to lift up to put the records on. In those days (around 1975) televisions and record players were designed to look like proper furniture, with dark wooden veneers and so on. There were three speeds on it - 33, 45 and 78rpm. Vinyl albums, of course, played at 33rpm and 7 inch singles at 45rpm. The 78rpm setting was already fairly obsolete at this time, used only for old style discs which were made of a hard shellac (which shattered if you dropped them.) I was actually given some of my grandmother's old 78's. I can't really remember the songs, but one of them was the Ugly Duckling song. Of course, as a child I enjoyed the novelty of playing records at the wrong speed, or putting my finger on the record and playing it backwards. Among the first records I had was Abba's Greatest Hits, which came in a gatefold sleeve. The cover showed the four of them sitting on a park bench; on the front Bjorn was reading a paper while Agnetha stared vacantly ahead looking vaguely sad, and on the back Benny and Frida were embraced in a kiss, which was slightly racey to my young eyes. After that I collected all the Abba singles, eagerly buying them at the local record store each time a new one came out. I always enjoyed the B sides too. Nowadays downloading is undoubtably convenient, you can get what you want when you want, but I don't feel like I own the music in the same way as when it was a physical product which can be handled and touched and looked at.

Concerts I've seen over the years

Since the mid-1980's I've been to many concerts and live appearances, some of them remain clear in the memory, others not so much. None of them are really legendary appearances - no Beatles in the Cavern Club or anything like that. But here's a selection of some that I've seen over the years, in no particular order. More often than not dates and venue names are very vague.

1. Patti Smith, Madrid, 1996

I was on holiday in Madrid when I saw a poster for this concert, which was taking place in a couple of months time. My holiday was only for a few days, but all the same I was so keen to go to the concert that I bought the ticket and decided to come back to Madrid especially for it. It didn't even occur to me that she might be doing some London dates right where I was living at the time. Or maybe I didn't want to take the risk that there wouldn't be any London dates. These were her first concerts for decades, after taking a long time out to raise a family. She'd assembled most of her old band to play with her again, including musicians she'd collaborated with like Tom Verlaine. There was also a surprise guest appearance by Michael Stipe, who came on to duet with her. She had real magnetism and stage presence, a great aura. She sauntered on stage to "Redondo Beach", wearing a hat, looking effortlessly cool. I've since seen her live in London and Tokyo, so she's the only artist I've seen in three different countries.

2. Iggy Pop, Miami, 1999

Again, another concert I went to while on holiday. This time I didn't fly back to Miami a second time to see it though. I was passing by the concert hall and saw that this concert was coming up in a few days (along with Eminem) and decided to go. Great to see another rock icon live.

3. A Flock of Seagulls, Hammersmith Odeon, London 1983 or 84

This was the first concert I ever went to. The band were always ridiculed and completely uncool, they seem to sum up the naff 1980's (the absurd hairstyles) but I liked them at the time and am still quite pleased to be able to mention them as my first live experience. I went with a group of sixth form school friends, taking a bus from a Berkshire into London. I remember I wore an old denim jacket my Dad had and flourescent pink socks, which I thought made me wild and dangerous.

4. The Smiths, Portsmouth Guildhall, 1985

One of many concerts I saw as a student in Portsmouth. This was on their Meat is Murder tour, so I remember lots of abbatoir sound effects for the title song.

5. Take That, Heaven nightclub, London, early 1990's

This was a live P.A. rather than a concert. My friend and I were regulars at Heaven on Saturday nights in the early 1990's, and there would often be a short live appearance by up and coming bands with an album to promote. So we saw Take That one night. They hadn't had a hit single at this stage and were still more or less unknown, so there was no build up or anticipation for their performance. I didn't even take much notice of them when they came on, as they could easily have been the kind of band you heard nothing of ever again. Of course, they're now one of the most successful British pop acts of all time.

6. The Ramones, Astoria, London mid 1990's

I really enjoyed seeing these punk legends, who played against a brick wall backdrop, like the cover of their first album. Loved the way they launched from one song into the next without even waiting for applause, just a quick "1,2,3,4..." By the mid-90's only Joey and Johnny remained from the original line up, but they were like a street gang - if you were lucky you'd be invited into their ranks.

7. Madonna, Wembley Stadium 1990

I've seen Madonna for three consecutive tours, this was the first of them, the Blonde Ambition tour. I went with a friend from work and wore a cut off pair of jeans, cut off so high they were like hot pants, with the pockets protruding out below, and I'd fixed a pendant thing I'd made on one of the belt loops. the support act was "Pump up the Jam" legends Technotronic. The second time I saw her was the Girly Show, also at Wembley, and the third time was for the Drowned World tour which I saw in Paris with a group of friends, which made it a fun weekend away.

8. Kraftwerk, Zepp, Tokyo 2004

I'd also seen Kraftwerk live in the early 90's in London, and they were great so I was glad to get the chance to see them again in Tokyo. The four of them stood in line at the front of the stage behind what looked liked laptops, barely moving. It sounds boring but it was actually captivating, they have really interesting films and visual images on a backdrop illustrating each song. But even with all the visuals there's something fascinating about seeing them just standing there, like scientists at work in a lab.

9. X Ray Sex, Roundhouse, London 2008

X Ray Spex had always been one of my favourite punk bands, Poly Styrene was such a colourful and intriguing character. As they'd more or less split up after one album in the late 70's I didn't think I'd ever get to see them live, so I was delighted when they reformed for a one off show for the 30th anniversary of their classic Germ Free Adolescents album. I was very sad to hear she died of cancer recently, so I'm grateful I got the chance to see them when I could. Hopefully she enjoyed it too and realised how well loved her and her music is.

10. Summer Sonic Festival, Chiba Japan 2003

This was a two day festival I went to with a couple of friends in my first summer in Japan. Actually, when we went we weren't planning to stay the two days, and so had an uncomfortable night of (no) sleep lying on flattened cardboard boxes in a cold air-conditioned hall. But the festival had a great line-up; Radiohead, The Strokes, Blur, Kings of Leon, Interpol and others. I've never been there since, and I've never thought the line-up was as good as it was that year.

11. Manic Street Preachers, Astoria, London 1992

My friend and me really got into the first Manics album, and particularly loved the style of the guitarist Richey Edwards. At this concert my friend was wearing a leopard print coat with no shirt underneath, and a couple fo girls at the concert started talking to us and one of them wrote "fuck me Richey" on my friend's chest in lipstick. Also during the concert a shirtless James Dean Bradfield leapt into the crowd, landing right on top of my friend and me.

12. Divine, Ritzy nightclub, Portsmouth, around 1985-86

This was a live appearance rather than a proper concert. In fact, I'm sure it would all have been mimed. I actually worked part-time in this club while I was at university. It was a rough place. Fights would frequently break out and bouncers would be leaping over the seats to break up the fights and throw people out. Girls dancing round handbags. The last song was always a slow number so guys could grab whatever girl they'd picked up for the night. For some reason I remember one of the slow songs; "Why Can't I Wake Up With You?" by Janet Jackson. Not that any of this has anything to do with Divine, of course.

I want to ride my bicyle, I want to ride it where I like.

Yesterday I bought a new bike from Don Quixhote, a great chain of shops which sell almost everything at very cheap prices. I guess it's what's known as a "mama chari", the favoured bike of middle aged ladies who use the basket at the front for their grocery shopping. I look forward to getting around Tokyo on it and hopefully discovering some new places along the way, but not today as a typhoon is sweeping in. The temperature has now plunged at least ten degrees - up until a couple of days ago it had been over 30 degrees every day but it was only 19 degrees when I got up this morning.

New home

A few weeks ago I moved into a new apartment in Takadanobaba, a lively, studenty area very close to the centre of Tokyo. As I moved from a furnished place to somewhere completely unfurnished there are still a few things missing like a proper bed frame and a washing machine and a TV, but gradually I will aquire these things. At least I have a fridge now though, as for the first week I was trying to keep milk cool by putting it in cold water in the sink.

Spot the various goodies from my recent trip to the U.K.

The bathroom is the typical size of Japanese bathrooms...i.e., tiny.

There's even a tiny garden area. Maybe I'll plant something there one day...or maybe not.

Room 101 - Japan

Following the format of the popular BBC show Room 101, here are five irritating things I would happily see banished for good in Japan.

1. Elevators which only go up one floor

Many train stations have this, and yes I know there are disabled people and people pushing prams or carrying heavy luggage with legitimate reasons for using a lift. My annoyance is more with fit, healthy young people who will wait for an elevator rather than walk up or even DOWN a single flight of stairs. Even if the stairs are often actually quicker. And it's not just train stations - the local gym at my previous apartment had a lift which just went up the one floor between reception and the gym itself. It amazes me that people will go to a gym to do a one hour aerobics class, but heaven forbid they should walk up one flight of stairs.
*I will also add to this catagory people who stand still on "travalators" instead of walking on them, don't even get me started...*

2. Smoking regulations

The dangers of passive smoking are, I imagine, fairly globally recognised. More and more countries are banning smoking. In Japan, however, the concern seems to be with smoking outdoors. You'll see posters warning that a cigarette held by a standing adult is at the same height as a child's face. I've never seen or heard of anyone being burned by the cigarette of a passerby. However, go to any bar or restaurant and many coffee shops and the air will be thick with smoke. I think they've got it all the wrong way round.

3. The dress sense of mature Japanese women

Older Japanese women, or "obasan", have a definite and unique look, and it's not, shall we say, particulary feminine or attractive. The regulation uniform for most women over 50 here is a shapeless shirt, often too big, slacks, a pair of a trainers, and a bucket-shaped canvas hat. Gok Wan would most definitely not think these girls are fierce. They top of the look with backpacks. Backpacks! Why? Are they hiking? There are some other accessories, for example in summer time they can often be seen with massive black visors pulled down to cover the entire face like welders' masks, and kind of long sleeved gloves with just the tiops of the fingers exposed. This is to protect them from the sun, as obviously more than one second of exposure to sunlight is fatal.

4. Machines that talk to you.

Ticket machines here talk to you - even though you can see what you're doing. There's usually an option on train ticket machines to switch the on-screen instructions to English. When you press this button a loud voice then declares "ALL FARE INFORMATION WILL BE GIVEN IN ENGLISH" Yes, I know! Otherwise I wouldn't have pressed the button saying "English"! I don't need the fact pointed out to me to everyone within half a mile radius.

5. Masks.

Those annoying white surgical masks which are everywhere. Why? I can just about understand wearing one if you have a stinking cold and are coughing, spluttering and sneezing everywhere, but most people you see wearing them are fit as a fiddle - there's nothing wrong with them. Apart from how awful they look, I really can't believe they make much difference to whether or not you will get ill. I saw a girl the other day wearing a mask AND an eye patch. She might as well have been in a burka or put a bed sheet over her head. Awful, awful things. It's also very annoying trying to hold a conversation with someone when all you can see is their eyes.

Budapest, Hungary

During my recent visit to the U.K. I also took a short trip to Budapest with my friend, Martyn. We've been on many European trips together, but this was the first time for both of us in Budapest.

With an hour or so to kill in the departure lounge of Heathrow Terminal 5, we sat in the bar where we joined by a six foot tattooed blonde lady wearing a stetson. She looked like she could be a female Terminator, taking out John Connor with one swipe of the hand. She was actually really nice and said she was off to the States to meet her American armed forces boyfriend who was just back home from time in Afghanistan.

Budapest was 37 or 38 degrees and clear blue sky; a great relief after two weeks in cold and grey London. By lucky chance our first full day there was a public holiday, which meant a lot of the main roads were closed to traffic and so it was easy to stroll around the city. There was also an air show over the Danube, with planes from various different ages flying over every few minutes. There was a great festival atmosphere, and with the perfect weather we really couldn't have hoped for a better introduction to the city. One of the main bridges was packed with people trying to get good vantage points for the airshow, as theswe photos show.

The city is a beautiful, elegant place full of statues, parks and grand old buildings.

There is also a very quaint Metro system, which looks frozen in a bygone era.

Budapest is also famous for it's natural thermal baths. We only had time to visit one of them. The place we went to had a variety of pools, both indoors and outdoors, some of them cool, some of them warm. Being a hot summer's day we spent most of the time in the cool pool outside, which had an interesting whirlpool feature in the middle where everyone was swirling around and clattering into each other.