Pete Wentz and Ashlee Simpson Are Getting Hitched.

It seems like everybody's getting married these days. Jay-Z and Beyonce became Mr. & Mrs. Shawn Carter last weekend and today comes news that Fall Out Boy bassist and ultra cool human being, Pete Wentz is going to tie the knot with his own pop starlet/lady love, Ashlee Simpson. How cool. Congratulations Pete & Ashlee.


Source: Associated Press.

Jay-Z And Beyonce Get Married.

People.com, MTV and TMZ are all reporting that Jay-Z and Beyonce got married yesterday. Finally. After approximately two years of rumors and hearsay they couple are finally Mr. & Mrs. Carter, tying the knot before a small group of family and friends under a tent on the roof of their Manhattan residence. Further adding to the speculation, People.com said DJ Cassidy, who reportedly played the reception, let it fly a week ago that he was "really excited" about Jay-Z and Beyonce's impending wedding.

The super-private couple even tried to throw fans & media off their trail by writing songs and verses about their break-up, see Lost One from Jay-Z if you don't know. On Tuesday, April Fool's Day, they got a marriage license in Scarsdale NY., by sunrise Friday morning a tent was up on their building's roof and then Jay-Z's mom showed up, as did Beyonce's family, Chris Martin & Gwenyth Paltrow, KanYe West and Beyonce's former Destiny's Child bandmates, Kelly Rowland & Michelle Williams.

Presumably, Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo were there since N.E.R.D. has been in New York all week and Jay-Z's protege, Rihanna, since they are a very tight knit group. Pictures of flowers, 5,000 wild orchids imported from Thailand, AV equipment and candelabras showing up also appear on the people.com website. TMZ has photographs of the waitstaff on the roof of the building as well as of Beyonce's parents arriving at the Tribeca residence of the two pop music icons and right now MTV is reporting the wedding news on-air.

Yankees Outfielder Hideki Matsui Gets Married On The Down-Low.

I am a diehard NY Yankees fan. Having grown up in the Bronx, how could I be anything else? Anytime I see anything about the team or any of the players in the media, I immediately take notice. Take for example the reports that first surfaced in Japan, then in the U.S., that Yankees outfielder Hideki Matsui got hitched on the low earlier this week. The newly minted, Mrs. Matsui is a twenty-five year old Japanese woman, whom he described as a "civilian" who works for a good company. Alrighty. Not one member of the team attended the wedding, or even knew about it. Nobody knew he was dating, much less engaged.

Sidebar: my own Japanese woman, Ikue, and I have been arguing for nearly two years (virtually the entire time we've known each other) regarding Matsui. Ikue is from the same town as Matsui, and she tells me there have been rumors for years now that he was gay. Many of my gay Japanese friends are extremely secretive, and when I say extremely secretive what I'm really saying is C.I.A. covert, take-a-blood-oath, married to the mob style secretive about their lifestyle. The girlfriend says he's never been seen with a woman in Japan. Ever.

If Matsui is gay that may explain why he introduced his "wife" to the world as a drawing. seriously. Like, not even a photograph. He held up a sketch of her at a press conference. Now that's covert. On the other hand... the Japanese media has hounded the man beyond anything you could ever imagine.
Anyone who's has seen the amount of Japanese press that still, after five seasons with the Yankees, trail Matsui around can multiply that by at least three when he's on Japanese soil. That's insane. It might drive anyone to introduce their mate as a pencil drawing. Maybe he's just loosening up and having a laugh at everyone's expense. That would be a good as far as the upcoming season is concerned. Still it's kind of weird.

That is if you look at it from an American perspective. To an American, Matsui introducing his wife as a police sketch is actually normal from a Japanese perspective. Whenever a man or woman in public life marries someone who is not in public life they've introduced them the same way Matsui did to the U.S. media, as a drawing. He called  her a "civilian" but cause that is the literal English translation of 民間人, pronounced Minnkanjin, which means an ordinary person or a civilian. That's what all of us normal, working stiffs are called in Japan. To maintain a spouse's privacy, that is what is customarily done in Japan, somebody makes a sketch.

So Wednesday morning in Tampa he announced he was getting married, Thursday it was a done deal and Friday he was showing off his skills with lead. Then came word that he made a bet with Derek Jeter and Bobby Abreu, for an undisclosed amount of money, about whom amongst the three would get married first. It almost makes you wonder if getting in Jeter and Abreu's deep pockets was the motivation here. Hideki may have saw an opportunity to get Abreu & Jeter to cover some or all of his wedding expenses. Considering the pranks ball players play on teammates, this isn't an unreasonable assumption.

Anyway, I'm not naive, I realize, looking at the statistical percentage of gay:heterosexual males (approximately .07% if you're curious, err..., statistically curious, that is) in America, and the number of males in baseball to know, that statistically speaking, it is more likely that there are gay men in baseball than not. Seven percent would be more guys than got outted via the Mitchell Report. I have no idea what the numbers are for males in Japan. Given the fact that homosexuality has been around almost as long as sex and exists in every culture on the planet, I would guess it was the same percentage everywhere. So why not a Japanese baseball player, why not Matsui? It's not impossible although I would not believe so.
 
Not that it's a problem, in life or baseball. It doesn't change my love and admiration for the Japanese home run king or pinstripes. Frankly, I don't care about anything as long as the Yankees win ball games and, please merciful God, some more titles. As far as I am concerned, it is far more relevant that Matsui stays healthy this season than which side of the plate he bats from. I don't care what my girlfriend, the good people of Kanazawa or anywhere else in Japan has to say on the matter. Still, this news and the way it has unfolded is quite peculiar. At least from an American perspective.

David Fincher's Heavy Metal.

David Fincher, the director who brought the world popular, quality films like Fight Club, The Game, Se7en and Zodiac will executive produce a sequel to the 80s animated hit film, Heavy Metal. The new film will follow the format of the popular 70s large format comic book, just as the original film did, and feature several directors directing different fantasy, science fiction and horror vignettes. Check out this amazing collection of covers from the classic comic here.

Japanese DJ Kills Rowdy American Patron in Tokyo Club.

During most of my time spent living in Tokyo I worked at a nightclub in Azabu. Azabu is a fairly chic upscale community that is home to a few equally upscale restaurants, bars and nightclubs. One of the more famous Azabu clubs, Yellow, I blog about frequently. Due to Azabu’s close proximity to Roppongi, it is not uncommon to find foreigners sampling Azabu’s nightlife offerings, especially at places like Yellow, Super Deluxe, Warehouse, Heartland or any number of their many neighbors. I’m not taking any cheap shots at Roppongi, because the Roppongi today is not the Roppongi of yore, but let’s face it, there are more gaijins there than any other part of Tokyo, or Japan for that matter and it’s still can be a fairly rough part of town.

Despite the close proximity to somewhat troublesome Roppongi, rarely does anything ever happen to break the tranquility of Azabu. That is until last Wednesday night. Today I found a report in Japan Today about a 29 year old DJ killing a rowdyAmericanpatron while allegedly attempting to subdue the man after finding him shoving his way through the crowd at approximately 10:40PM.

Japanese people are notorious for minding their own business. Incidents of chikans, perverted men, molesting women on crowded subway cars are proof of that. I remember while living there, I was in a bar in Ikebukuro with some of my Japanese friends when a man began to smack his girlfriend around. As quickly as I stood up to stick my big American nose in my friends pulled me back down and said “that’s a private affair”. Considering those things, it’s easy for me to envision people standing around in mute witness while this tragic event took place without intervention.

The report says the DJ, Atsushi Watanabe, 29, choked and hit Tuker Richard Scott, 47 (probably Richard Scott Tucker, the Japanese always put last names first), from behind and the victim died an hour later at a local hospital. I don’t know. It would take some heavy duty beating to kill a man, especially if it was only with your bare hands. Is seeing someone shoving people out of their way reason for homicide?

As a former nightlife employee, DJ and impresario I can say that I’ve always looked out for my patrons and I can relate with Mr. Watanabe’s claim that he was just trying to protect the clubgoers. In nightlife, your patrons are your bread and butter and without them you have no livelihood. Furthermore, your regular patrons are something comparable to family members. I can’t say for certain what was the case here, obviously, not being there or knowing anything about the victim or his killer but, one would have to suspect there may possibly have been other sociological factors involved besides a guy wanting to play hero.

There have been recent crimes committed by American servicemen in Okinawa and other parts of Japan that have Japanese people, rightfully, up-in-arms. The Interracial dating that often occurs between foreign men and Japanese women, in a largely homogeneous society may tick some people off. My girlfriend and I have received a few less than friendly looks on the rare occasion in japan and here in the U.S. as well. Anti-American sentiment? Social Darwinism? Protecting people close to you? One psychologically f’ed up individual who happened to be a DJ?

The world may never know for certain but, such issues may have played even a subtle role. The DJ said is was accidental. Still something like this grabs my attention and makes me wonder how such an event could play out in the most unlikely place, in a night club on a week night in beautiful, quiet, fashionable Azabu, Tokyo. It’s a very unfortunate event that brings to mind that old nightlife truism, a DJ’s place is behind the decks.

Source: Japan Today.

Koda Kumi Apologizes For Radio Gaffe.

J-Pop starlet Koda Kumi made an attempt at humor that went totally awry. On a January 30th radio show promoting her new release, Kingdom, she said ‘Women over 35 had rotten fluid in their wombs’ making it difficult for them to bear children, drawing the ire of mature women all over Japan. Teary eyed, Ms. Koda went on Fuji TV “Super News” program . After that epic brain fart, her record company, Avex Entertainment, the biggest record label in Japan, put the breaks on all of her promotional appearances, and hopefully, enrolled her in a biology class.

Additionally, she lost a marketing deal. Kose corp, one of Japan’s major cosmetics manufacturer, drop her from their popular Vissee brand cosmetics promotions. Shutting down her appearances have in part been done for her own protection. The singer might have had a beatdown coming her way. Maybe now that she apologized for her lack of sensitivity, they’ll take their boot off her neck, but still it’s pretty shocking that she ever could say something like that.

Source: Japan Today.

Amy Winehouse: Where Did It All Go Wrong?

I’ve been having a difficult time putting my head around Amy Winehouse’s troubles. I used to think that it was all an act. You know, that she was crafting some kind of image, the way most of today’s rap stars do. Guys from upper-middle class suburban families - Dad’s an investment banker, mom is an English literature professor - talking about guns, drug deals and their hoes to score a few million record sales. They walk around singing “Good Times” but in reality they’re a Huxtable. You’ve seen them before. You know you have.

I first heard Amy Winehouse four years ago after she released her debut CD, Frank. Frank was kinda jazzy and bluesy in spots. Not overly raunchy with the exception of the single F**k Me Pumps. Still, that track was a ways removed from Me & Mr. Jones (Fuckery), Wake Up Alone and the collection of songs on her compelling sophomore effort, Back To Black. However, we have seen many artists change their style up musically. So that’s nothing new. The big change from Frank to Back To Black was with the artist herself.

I’d like to mention that all the images above and below are linked. This allows someone the opportunity to see the videos as well as larger images for the sake of comparison. So as I was saying, in all the videos, publicity shots, television appearances and record Jackets that I saw of Amy Winehouse circa that Frank CD, she was beautiful, voluptuous, sexy, well groomed and without a tattoo anywhere.

Compare the woman in the video for F**k Me Pumps or the video for Stronger Than Me and the woman on The Frank CD cover to the woman in the video below. Three years later not only do we have a completely different person, but the Amy Winehouse we have today is literally dying right before our eyes. She says all her songs are autobiographical. If that’s truly the case, then maybe the life is sadly imitating the art or, perhaps, this is who she really is and her musical talent is allowing her to liberate the true Amy Winehouse.

Maybe she was always sick and like a snake shedding it’s skin she peeled away the old Amy Winehouse to reveal who she truly is. Perhaps in the past she just had a better hold on her demons than she does today. Maybe she no longer wants to subdue a darker side. After all, there are a few drug references in F**k Me Pumps and she’s always expressed an affinity towards “bad girls” and the seedy, tough side of life. Take note of the lyrics as you what the video for Stronger Than Me. Lyrically, I guess nothing has changed that much, perhaps I’m the only one having difficulty reconciling this.

However, I trust my own eyes, comparing images of the woman before with what we see today, it’s is hard to connect the two women. It’s a drastic transformation. Which is what makes me wonder, what the hell happened? A little voice in me wonders are am I just being naive, like the college professor mom you see screaming on TV when her little baby gets caught with a smoking gun? You know what I mean.

Amy Winehouse isn’t the first artist to lose them self in a character, in the artistic expression of their own creative genius but, hopefully, she will be the last. As of this moment, she is back in a London rehab facility, hopefully she will get the help there that she so obviously needs.

Sixteen Year Old Boy Gets His Freak On In A Saitama Hostess bar.

Man, I haven’t laughed so hard in a long time. I was just going through today’s latest news in my NetNewsWire reader when I came across this funny tale of a Japanese lad running up an outrageous bar tab at, what sounds like, one of those cheezy Japanese hostess bars where all the salaryman type go after work to get buck wild before going home to their wives & families.

This youngster, all of sixteen years old - what? a high school sophomore - went to said hostess-type bar in Niiza, Saitama, just outside Tokyo, and ran up a P. Diddy-sized tab of ¥370,000 ($3,460.21/€2,369.94) on bottles of top shelf champagne, 60 cocktails and “four or five hostesses”. He walked in the joint at 10:30 PM and at 4:30 in the morning, when presented with his bill, told them he didn’t have any money to pay. I’m amazed he didn’t get his ass kicked.

They called the police and after they arrived, it was revealed that the suspect (name withheld because of age) was a mere child, that now only applies in the chronological sense. The young man certainly has gone were no Japanese teen has gone before, but it certainly cost him. I find it particularly interesting that this kid knew how to order drinks & hold a conversation with several grown women.

Talk about swag. Two things I am willing to bet, one - he is now the king of his daigaku and two - he probably did get that ass-whuppin’ when he got home because somebody had to pay for that. However, I am pretty sure dad’s pride held him in check a bit.

Source: Japan Today.

Blood On The Dancefloor: NYC's Stereo Nightclub Closed Down.

I was just reading in the Gothamist that NYC nightclub, Stereo has been shut down by the NYPD. I had been hoping to check it out one day since it has had a variety of old friend’s names attached to it. From DJ/producer Angel Moraes who designed the sound system to Mark Ronson’s kid sister, fashion designer Samantha Ronson who had a hand in designing the interior, to Matteo and Jus Ske who frequently manned the decks. According to news reports there was a shooting death there two days ago and that was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back.

There were the obvious drug violations (duh, New York City, nightclub…), you’ve heard it all before - busted coke dealers, owed taxes, violated ordinances, quality of life, blah, blah, blah. Same old song and dance. I want to cue up Mark’s Smith’s cover, “Stop Me (if You Think that you’ve Heard This One Before)”. It’s like a Peter Gatien/Twilo/Sound Factory/Studio 54 merry-go-round. That is the one constant in New York Nightlife; old clubs close, new ones open. However, it’s quite the buzz kill when they close prematurely like this. There are only two things people ever notice in nightclubs, when the record skips a beat or when someone dies. Same cycle in all aspects of life. The only difference is this one has a soundtrack.

It’s a shame, though. It always is when someone loses their life, and when it happens in a world that tries to cut itself off from all of life’s harsh realities, it can be particularly stunning. Clubland is where people go to lose themselves and disconnect from pain and sorrow and the harsh reality that this could be their last night on earth. When that facade is pulled away and the illusion shattered, just as it was when club promotor Michael Alig murdered Angel, a nice kid who got involved with drug dealing, back in 1996. Unfortunately, when the shock fades away and the disturbance becomes a faded memory, everyone just slips back into their trance. Lessons go unlearned and history repeats itself. Another one of life’s little cycles.

Stereo.

Source: The Gothamist.