sams japan today

2007-02-02T11:28:00.000-08:00

some pix from the latest Beat Brew nite.
it was great.
more info here.
x

2006-12-01T12:35:00.000-08:00

touch my Rupert!!!
go on, hav a play...

Check more Monkey stuff at Monkey Love Records

2006-12-01T12:04:00.000-08:00

here's a picture of my cat.
i miss him
x

2006-07-12T00:29:00.000-07:00

lesson 38.9.18: general bitniz.
yo yo!!!
its been a bit of a hectic time recently, im now living and working in Cambridge!
YAY! i hav a job!
it only took 6 months! haha.
but this place seems nice. the classes r ok, 14-16 year-olds is a bit of a soul-crusher, but HEY, we all need a day job right?
the peeps im working with r pretty cool also.
Claire, my old buddy from Japland is the director of studies @ the school i am working @, so she landed me the job. good old girl.
so, what else is new...
erm...went to the Friday of that hyde park wireless festival thing.
here is leon lookin super cool on the way up there on the choo-choo.

and joey, lidnz and judith also lookin pretty snazzy. it was a good day really, not much of a 'festival' feeling but some good acts and good fun. apart from bloomin boakes who did a runner as soon as we got in the place, like the naughty little boy he is! we didnt see him all day, and we were meant to be stayin @ his that night. luckily he went home after the day finished and got his phone, good boy boakes!!!
that night was a bit uncomfortable, me and jude ended up being the 'o' to leons '/' on boakes' bed. imagine a '%' sign...and instead of just kickin him and tellin him to move, we LET him get a great nights kip! he EVEN woke up and took a look @ how i was sleepin cos he informed me in the mornin that i MUST have been uncomfortable!!!!!!
'the flaming lips' were a lot better than i expected. here is a piccy of the vocal dude in a massive hamster-ball crowd surfing his way around. it looked pretty cool. they also did a cover of 'queen's' 'bohemian rapsody', i was AMAZIN! good band 4 that event 4 sure.
'dj shadow' played as well. i think we all remember my photo with mr. davis from my time in Japland, so i dont need to say how AWESOME he was!!!!! but he was ; )
the next day we wandered over to the natural history museum and had a scoot around. it was fun. there was this strange beast...
he was HUGE! if i was around the same time as him, i think i would hav liked to hav tried to ride him.
right, thats it 4 now...there is loads more but i got some other work to do...i'll blog more soon,
x

2006-06-18T16:23:00.000-07:00

lesson 38.9.17: beaches and birthdays.
yesterday was my friend matt's birthday, there he is...

i met up with him and leon in the sunny afternoon on the seafront and celebrated with a couple of drinks...

then me and matty headed over to norwich and met up with chris and jane and went out for a few more drinks...

then we ended up in a dub reggae bar...

then we crashed. pretty good night all in all,
x

2006-06-09T17:03:00.000-07:00

lesson 38.9.16: dog sitting.
this week i hav been dog sitting the savage beast u can see in the picture.
ok, not exactly a savage beast, more lik a wet blanket.
her name is tess. she is a rag doll of a dog!
she gets well excited when she sees you and then she does a little wee.
haha!
she is gettin me an awesome tan when i take her for walks, although she has been trying to hump me.
this is pretty weird cos she is a bitch but she still tries and humps me like a boy dog.
oh well...

2006-06-07T03:12:00.000-07:00

lesson 38.9.15: oh oh, its the future, oh...oh, oh.
went to see the futureheads the night b4 last. they were pretty cool. a lot more punky than i thought it would b, the drummer was pumpin it hard from the start. i hadnt really heard much of their stuff, but they played pretty well.
here is my graphic representation of the gig...

as u can see it took mayb 18 seconds to produce, but i feel it serves its purpose perfectly.
one thing that is startin to annoy me tho is the way bands have to put 'the' infront of their names...why? does it make them think they stand out in the pack? the only problem with that is when pack does exactly the same thing it doesnt exactly make u stand out, it makes u kinda blend in...maybe thats the idea...
laterz x

2006-05-26T16:42:00.000-07:00

lesson 38.9.14: look what i did 2day!
check this out...i wanted to do them as screenprints but i did some research, and it might turn out to b a little trickier than i first expected, so i thought i'd try somethin similar...
at the time i thought it looked pretty cool, so i thought id try it out on a t-shirt....
haha! i still think they look pretty cool!
so who wants one?
all individually handmade, your choice of colour as long as it is either yellow, green, blue or purple, AND u really do get to hav a monkey on ure back!!!
im takin orders...
night night x

2006-05-13T05:36:00.000-07:00

lesson 38.9.13: golf, but not chevy chevy.
after being fully absorbed in the Chevy Chevy Golf phenomenon i spoke 2 my friend duncan and suggested we get a quick round in.
so this morning we lined up in hoodies and hats while those around us sported golf shorts and more than 2 clubs?!
why would u need more than 2 clubs? what R the other clubs apart from a 7 iron and a putter?!
ok, ok, i do know really and we DID hav a 9 iron and a 5 iron, but i thought i would try and make some kind of story out of my morning shenanigans rather than 'played golf today...lost'.
thats right. got beat. duncan went round in 42 (respectable score) and me in a 54 (i got a couple of 8's that really pushed my score up!)
by the 9th i was ready for another 9 holes, but it was all over...good job 2 'cos as soon as i got home it absolutely pissed it down!
and i know for a fact there were plenty of people still in the middle of their round...i bet they were well crushed!
it must hav taken a little more out of me than expected as i just woke up from a little sleepy on the sofa...
golf, dont play it if u need to get shit done!
laterz x

2006-05-11T13:18:00.000-07:00

lesson 38.9.12: the tale of two parties.
well well. the last couple of weeks i hav been busy partying ; ) well i say partying...i mean workin and then goin out to a party on a saturday...
hehe.
oh well. gotta get out of the house eh?
so a couple of weeks ago my good friend gumbo invited me to his works 6th birthday party. it was incredible! it was held in brick lane in london (ooooh the big city) and was a kind of big gimp/ sex (not as in every1 was having sex all over the place)/ freak party.
it was loads of fun.
there was lots of meat, a forest, porn, naked people, a crucifixion, a spinning naked lady (from a chandelier) pulling things out of herself and most importantly than all of that MY MOUSTACHE!
oh yeah! this was a condition of my invitation, gumbo said i had to grow a 'tash, so grow a 'tash i did. it was a doozy!
unfortunately, there were no cameras allowed @ the party (yup it WAS that kind of party) so i didnt get a pic. but there might b some winging around somewhere...i'll do my best to hunt some down.
the best part of all tho was when the spinning naked lady was doin her thing these guy were more interested im my 'tash than they were with her!!! HAHA! 'tash VS naked lady? 'tash wins every time!
last weeks party was a more subtle affair. a caveman house party in norwich. it was cool, it did get a bit messy in the end but hey, these things happen in messy places.
also, i got pulled by the feds on the way home and had to giv a breath test.
oh, when it rains...
also its frisbee season! oh yes, the frisbees r out and they r spinning. getting practise in for those long summer days impressing people with our finely honed skills!
today was a good session. dave, leon and i were frisbeeing lik bad-boys. there was some unusual techniques on show, but we r frisbee mavericks, so what more would u expect?
i can see there being more blogs coming about frisbee, so hold onto ure handlebars and enjoy the ride ; )
laterz xxx

2006-04-16T05:43:00.000-07:00

lesson 38.9.11: the rise of the monkey.
YAY! sammy = happy.
Monkey Love Records is now up and ready for action.
wow. its been pretty hard work so far, but its all worth it. please go and hav a look and let me know what u think of it...if any1 actually reads this anymore...
so, its easter time and the choccy chocs come flooding in. well, not 4 me really, but im sure there r some belly rumbling bad boys out there already feeling the evil effects of 2 much choc-choc ; )
last night i went over to Norwich and had a mix up on the old table-turners with a couple of friends. me, nobby and ben spent the evening clanging records 2gether with amazin inacuracy. hehe, actually ben did some really good mixes, he says he aint very good, but he is really.
now im gonna hav a day off, and relax.
byeeeeee x

2006-04-14T05:44:00.000-07:00

lesson 38.9.10: here comes monkey!
well, time has passed and its very close now! 2moro in fact. wow! that is close!
so anyway, here's a preview 'flyer' of 2moro's big release.
as u can see, Robberriff has Monkey Love Records first release on Fake Science online music store it should be available from 2moro at the 'oh so fair' price of $2 (about £1.20).
i know u can all afford that! so go and buy it u horribly beautiful people!
haha. but seriously...buy it. i mean it.
so the site should launch sometime 2moro also, 2 coincide with the release. there will b tracks on there available for FREE download from the truely wonderful Red Cassette, Robberriff and sonofsam.
we hav plenty more planned so keep an eye on Monkey Love news,
laterz,
sambo x

2006-04-09T16:35:00.000-07:00

lesson 38.9.9: grrrrr! the busy-ment!
helloooooooooooooo,
well the busy times hav continued, went to c ballsy (aka red cassette) play in the big smoke last week.
he played very well indeed...look there he is! mayb the country-trucker look is in?
then after we zipped over 2 camden to watch Cord play an acoustic set. they played fine, but the sound was really bad. it was a real shame cos i what i hav heard on record has been pretty good!
oh well, these things r sent 2 try us.
the weather has been pretty bad, it was doin some mad things yesterday evening. i'll post a pic, but it really doesnt do it justice! it was this massive BLACK cloud, but in the distance it was clear blue as the sun was setting. looked lik a mass of evil had descended over carlton colville. hmm...
other than that fun stuff i hav been workin trying 2 get sorted for the first release on Monkey Love which i think is on the 15th.
EEK! thats 5 days away!
i'll keep u posted,
laterz x

2006-03-27T15:52:00.000-08:00

lesson 38.9.8: it's been a while...
hello.
things hav been happening recently and i havent updated in a while so he goes nothing...
so got some great new tracks from Robberriff, he's working lik a man possessed @ the moment.
Red Cassette is playing @ the betsy trotwood on the 6th april...GO TO THIS GIG!
went to the swedish place where u can buy a lifestyle...saw some nice lookin things...and the furniture wasnt bad either! BOOM BOOM!
i had fun there, went with my old freind 'el noblo'.
saw this...
we even had some food in the canteen they had there 4 all the hungry shoppers. 50p for a slice of apple pie and cream!!!!! it was good apple pie 2! mmm : )
last wknd did a load of work on the monkey love website with the boys from anti-theatre. its all lookin very good!
apart from that just been workin on the label tryin 2 get things in order.
The Sargasso Trio released an ep 2day, u can buy it @ hmv...what i really mean is just BUY IT!
well done dave.
also 2day i found this. what a country!
right, thats it...
byeee x

2006-03-15T15:29:00.000-08:00

lesson 38.9.7: for christ sake! why cant we all just get along?!
this made me angry.
why do people hav 2 waste their time and energy trying to oppose this stuff?
b gay! WHO CARES?

2006-03-09T16:41:00.000-08:00

lesson 38.9.6: snore-i-yana!
went to the cinema last night...did somethin in there that i havent done in, well, i cant remember ever doing infact...i fell asleep!
the criminal charged with puttin me to 'snooze-land' was george clooney/ 'im matt damon' slumber-a-thon syriana.
please, dont get wrong, the actin was ok and it was filmed quite nicely, but it was just sooooooooooooo dull!
it was a non-event film telling me in 128 minutes that massive global oil companies are corrupt...hmmm, hang on, let me get this right...i know i may b slow, but oil companies are CORRUPT?!
how dare u good sir!
how dare u drag the good name of faceless money grabbing unethical war mongerers through the mud in such a public space as a cinema! the lord of motion pictures will strike u down for such crimes!
sorry about that but i had to even try and make writin about this film more interestin that the film itself.
sadly, it looks lik i failed.
laterz,
monkey love x

2006-03-08T03:26:00.000-08:00

lesson 38.9.5: u should always trust prince jel!
well, big day yesterday.
went to panel for my Prince's Trust loan.
i did a short presentation about how monkey love records will work. it went ok...1 or 2 little problems arose, but hey, nobody is perfect!
the loan isnt for an obscene amount of money, but it was good practice and it was something i had worked pretty hard towards, so was pleased by the end result...obviously! : )
one of the panel members described me to my main contact @ the trust as 'either a simpleton or a genius', which i think is AMAZIN! he did follow that by sayin 'i think he is a genius'...well, so i was told. hehe.
all in all, sambo = happy boy.
then after that met up wit joe and lindz and went to c Jel from anticon records @ the marquee in norwich. he was incredible! [and the marquee was a pretty cool dingy venue 2]
the best way i can think 2 describe him is lik dj shadow without the vinyl...and u know what i think about my old mukka josh!
so now the publicity machine can get in full swing! monkey love a go go!
i call on all who read this 2 get in contact, I NEED U! seriously!
until next time,
'simpleton' signin off x

2006-03-07T15:57:00.000-08:00

lesson 38.9.4: in memory of our cat.
unfortunately yesterday, due to extreme poor health me and my mum came 2 the decision to hav our cat, cleo, put 2 sleep.
her breathing was so bad, we couldn't keep her alive, it just wasn't fair.
she had a good life and she was nearly 15 years old.
so in memory of cleo...i hope u hav fun chasing string in cat heaven.
x

2006-03-06T07:43:00.000-08:00

lesson 38.9.3: the best laid plans of the mighty boosh!
last week = very busy!
whoa! what a week!
firstly, got some of rob's tracks up on myspace, please go and check em out, then let me know what u think of them.
then went 2 c the mighty boosh live with me old mukka morris, there he is on the sunny lowey seafront...doesnt he look happy!
the boosh were incredible. very, very, funny.
it was set up jus lik an episode from series 1, but every aspect of it was extended, they had loads of our favourite characters and did most of the songs from the show.
absloutly perfect! i was laughing from beginning 2 end!
there's 'rudy'...he "goes by many names..." haha. i better not start otherwise i will b here all day quoting lines from these magical beings.
then the next day i was up early 2 catch the train over to c red cassette [aka: ballsy].
after missing a couple of connections i finally got there, although by that point i was even more dismayed by the state of the train service in this country...i wont rant on about it cos i dont want to depress people 2 much ; )
anyhoo, we sorted a load of monkey love business out over coffee and then went out 4 a few beers with his housemates.
met a very strange old man in the pub who was telling us he has appeared in 58 films as an extra. we googled him, but no extras r credited on any of the films he said he had bin in so he was either tellin the truth r just fancied some boy action and thought that was enough to reel us in.
the list was quite impressive tho...'saving private ryan', 'shakespeare in love', 'the de vinci code'. oooh la la!
he did interuput our plans to write a gay rugby/ football [it kept switchin] musical. we r gonna try and get sir elton of john on board...i reckon he's WELL up 4 it! haha.
the following day we got the unfortunate news that the gig red cassette had in camden had been cancelled because the pub had no beer?!
but being the clever boys we r, we changed venues...it was a really good gig. red cassette played well...check him out.
i think he may do a little review on his blog, so b sure 2 visit that...get the facts from the horse's mouth, as it were.
we were a little dissappointed about the camden gig being cancelled, but where there's a will there's a way and all that jazz...well indie folk at least.
so all in all it was a really good weekend.
2moro i got to panel 2 try and get that loan so keep ure fingers and toes [and anythin else u can cross] crossed 4 me.
laterz x

2006-02-28T01:15:00.000-08:00

lesson 38.9.2: leon's birthday!
on saturday it was my freind leon's birthday [i know it's a bit behind, but i hav had 2 use this time to recover!! ; )]
look, there he is, with me. we r messin with my new phone [bitniz phone...oh yeah, im important now! the monkeylove hotline! hehe].
check out his non-dread hair [4 those of u who knew him wit dreads and aint seen him without].
anyhoo, we all went out on the splosh. it was a good night. lots of fun.
yay!!!
he got lots of lovely pressies, um...david attenborough box set, er...a funky led watch [which is really cool, u tell the time by addin up numbers on the face, i'll try and find a link], i did him a track and a mix, thats all i can remember right now.
so thats about it 4 the mo...
byeeeeee x

2006-02-21T11:53:00.000-08:00

lesson 38.9.1: i could hav been crushed!!!
the pic of the car that i posted yesterday made the Anglia news (not MY pic silly, the story).
apparently the loopy lady left it runnin and it drove itself off a cliff, hmmm.
also, it made news here.
thats all,
laterz.

2006-02-20T08:32:00.000-08:00

lesson 38.9: its my birthday and i'll walk 10 miles to southwold if i want to!
wahey! thats right! 2day i am 26 years old!
me and a few friends walked down the east coast from my home town of lowestoft to the nice, smaller town(ish) of southwold.
its about 10 miles (apparently) and took us 3 hrs 10 mins, which i think was quite good goin.
i hav gone a bit photo mad this post but i think they r all good ones so i hope u enjoy.this was the view as we left lowey on our merry way. it was very windy on route but it was behind us all the way! oh yeah! easy street ; )look @ those guys...haha. this pic makes em look lik they r lookin 4 penguins in the arctic, or is it the antarctic?! argh, the tundra!just as we arrived in southwold we saw this car. its very strange cos it seems to hav just bin crashed on the beach, how does a situation lik this actually come about?
so, i got my lunch bought 4 me by the boys (a big thanku 2 them 4 that) and then i had 2 rush home 2 do sum work : (
later, leon popped ova with a 12" lookin present, guess what it was? u got it! RECORDS! mmm, i lov records and these r real special ones. sum nice big beat to keep my foot tappin.
mum made me a lovely cake...that bad-boy tastes really good 2.
and she put up my special banner that she made when i was very young...and me in the mirror, look there i am!
so, all in all, quite a surreal birthday, i suggest every1 has a 26th just to see if it feels as surreal to them.
thanks 2 all the 'happy bithday's' i had 2day and of course a big boomshanka-birthday 2 gumbo who also has his birthday 2day,
peace out,
monkey love x

2006-02-18T05:00:00.000-08:00

lesson 38.8: local girl turns out a guddun!
went 2 c beth orton in norwich the other evenin, there she is, a bit blury mind, but hey, its the best i could do @ the time.
she was very good. she played quite a few songs as well, i was quite surprised/ bored. no, no, just kiddin, she was great!
she had a few failed attempts @ tellin jokes as well. i dunno if its part of her routine cos when i saw her @ glastonbury a few years bak she did it then as well. hmmm...
one other thing that i always thought was myth is that she IS from norwich. wow! although her 'local' accent sounded a bit more west country than east coast! just gotta find out if tim 'BOOM! u need this in your life!' westwood is from lowey and my life will b complete.
speakin of local musical talent, guess who i was standin next 2 in the bank the other day? huh? huh?! no? only self confessed chav drummer sammy from channel 4's hit lowey rockumentary 'rock school'.
oh yeah! i think he was cashin his giro ; )
on a slightly different subject i gotta say how much i am lovin the 'IT crowd' [im not a channel 4 rep, honest...although if they do need any help just gimme a buzz yeah?!]
goth noel fielding is a stroke of genius!
right, laterz peeps x

2006-02-14T01:46:00.000-08:00

lesson 38.7: the gem of camDEN! huh? huh? isnt it?
2 back up what has been written over on monkey love's myspace blog, red cassette is playin Big Note@ the Caernarvon Castle, Camden on Saturday 4th March @ 19:10.
im really lookin 4ward 2 this gig and every1 who reads this should b comin along to show support! 4 details either visit monkey love's myspace blog (link above and left) or the Big Note website.
now more about me...
yesterday i helped my friend naomi and my friend mick more into their new house.
it was quite fun cos i got to go all over the place wit mick pickin up his stuff from loadsa different people's houses [and hav a nose about, hehe]
his dad's house was especially cool as it had this old railway carriage in the garden that was being used as a summer house/ extra bedroom, complete with heatin and electricity. it looked really great 2!
it didnt really take too long to get all the stuff sorted.
its a nice house.
i did manage to drop 1 of mick's speakers tho [argh] and smash the grill on the front of it [arrgghh] and dent the cone [aarrrggghhh], but we sucked it back out with a hoover [!] and it seems 2 b workin just fine [yay!]. i did feel quite bad, im glad it worked ok.
they also hav a couple of cats, trisha and oprah, a bit scared 2 begin with, but they will b lovely. ahhh, i love cats. MEOW!
also, i tried geo-taggin my blog wit a blog map [on the left, sumwhere under my links]...look where it thinks i am! haha! they'll never find me or take me alive!
laterz x

oh and i was fortunate enough 2 b online yesterday when this little bugger turned up! he's in Nicaragua @ the moment [i think] squattin in sum rich dudes castle or summin! @ least he's alive and well : ) ahh, look @ him...

2006-02-08T11:35:00.000-08:00

lesson 38.6: myspace or your space?
monkey love has a myspace account.
i hav been fillin it in slowly but any of u lovely people out there who hav 1 come on over cos i wanna b ure friend.
also, if any1 has any gr8 ideas for things u want me 2 put on there then just let me know.
i hav been pretty busy this week, gettin all my Prince's Trust stuff 2gether to hand in. then i go to the panel and fight my cause (sleeves fully rolled up!) at the end of the month. after that they either giv me money or they dont. so get all ure bits crossed 4 me and pray to the lords of amazin music that they do ; )
this afternoon me and leon went ova to 'ness point' which is offically the most easterly point in ingerland and is based in my home town! it was the first time i hav ever been there.
unbelievable i hear u shout! i know, but true!
the pic is of our wind turbine (not mine, the towns!), gulliver is its name (i didnt name it, the town did!). isnt it lovely!
ok, well im off to tweak my forms ready to WOW every1 with my business skills.
laterz x

2006-02-05T15:03:00.000-08:00

lesson 38.5: back in the land of business!
thats right! im fully operational!
2day i spent the afternoon wit the 1 and only dave pye.
he has loads of mac skills and my dell wasnt readin my old hard drive so we thought it was a good idea to plug it in2 a mac to try and extract the old files. it WORKED! then i took ages to get the files from the mac to the dell cos the 2 pieces of electrical equiptment didnt really want 2 talk 2 each other!!! bloody computers!
but it all ended happily with the files findin their way to the right place. YAY!
so time to crack on wit proper work...
here is a lovely pic of my monkey and the fonts.
i really lik it.
another monkey can b seen @ the tempory page of the monkey love site.
any1 who might read this...please let me know what u think.
so 2moro is proper hard work, gettin all my Prince's Trust work sorted out ready 4 my trip to 'the panel', dun dun dahhhhhhhhhh! oooooooh scary!
what else hav i been doin? hmm, let me think...
went to c Jarhead during the week. it was ok, a bit muddled in the middle and the end seemed well rushed. played @ my friend joe's house warmin party on friday night. that was also ok. all his student mates tho, so i didnt know any1 and i couldnt really b bothered 2 mingle...it had been a hectic week : )
so another week rolls by...times flies when ure gettin pissed off wit computers! hehe.

2006-01-29T09:32:00.000-08:00

lesson 38.4: grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...
well, this week has been a complete pain in the arse!
my hard drive went on my laptop with all my 'monkey love' work on it. after panicing 4 a while i got a new hard drive and re-built windows. a few teethin problems later, it was all workin perfectly and i was feeling very proud that i had conqueured the evil windows.
my happiness was short-lived...
the very next day i hit the start button ready to get down to do some work and low and behold, the brand spankin new hard drive decided to die! either i am very unlucky or it could b somethin a little more fatal than just the hard drive. that would b bad : (
oh woe is me!
so i am in computer limbo @ the mo and its pissin me off, but hey ho, it could b worse!
there is a party this weekend @ my friend joe's new house which i think i am playin @ so am lookin 4ward to that.
so, until next time, a slightly miffed sammyboy will say goodbye,
monkey out x

2006-01-21T03:13:00.000-08:00

lesson 38.3: the East Anglian mini-tour.
whoa! how good was coldcut? well, let me tell u, it was ace! the tracks 'timber' and the new roots manuva track, i think it's called 'tru school', were especially amazing!
was good to hook up with my old mate moz. haven't seen him in a while and it's always good to get together with my old boys. he's a good guy 2 go 2 gigs with too.
oh look! there he is...eatin a burger! haha!
currently been workin wit the boys @ anti-theatre gettin our teeth into the design work for monkey love. WHOOP! that's all im sayin about the matter!
so this wknd has been quite hectic, from lowey to milton keynes, then to london 2 c coldcut, then back to MK, then back to london, the over to braintree to meet anti-theatre, then im goin bak to lowey today. phew!
it has been hilarious tho. went to colchester on friday night to a tapas restaurant and than to this pub on the A12 somewhere which was a transvestite night, so that was quite bizarre!
right, better get back 2 the old grind stone ; )
laterz x

2006-01-17T07:27:00.000-08:00

lesson 38.2: return of the b-boy.
whoooooooop! im back!
the clunky dial-up was gettin me down so i got a spanky new broadband connection.
i spoke 2 dave 'the guru' pye and he sent me in the direction of plus net and they sorted me out. remember in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation when Chevy greases up the bottom of the tray to use as a sledge? remember how fast that went? my connection is faster! oh yeah!
so, Christmas was good and so was New Years. Christmas was spent @ work @ the jollies, New Year was spent ravin it up in a barn in kent. we all dressed as chavs, it was all very good.
off to milton keynes this weekend to c my old mukka morris and then we r gonna go and c coldcut @ cargo in london, then im off to essex to c the sexy dudes @ anti-theatre 2 sort the website out 4 monkey love.
so, as of next week im back, so expect lots of updates!!
monkey out.

2005-12-20T13:24:00.000-08:00

lesson 38.1: home, sweet home.
well, its all over!
im back! BOOM!
so, its not so much sams japan today, but sams japan tomorrow or sams lowey today, but whats in a name?
the thing is...what do i do about the name? personally, i think i might just keep the name and keep on bloggin lik this and try and add some japan news whenever i can!!!
met up with dave and vix and ballsy yesterday. had a nice chat and forgot to giv dave the money for a coffee he payed 4...i think i got away with that 1! YES!
saw the tru vision that 'ninja' has been well and truely lifted for the side of millets. not happy.
saw matty also and i think we r gonna c king kong 2moro. should be fun!
right, im tired, the jet lag has crept up on me today and slit my throat so i cant talk 4 much lon...g..e...r...
ZZZZZZzzzzzzzz

2005-12-15T20:09:00.000-08:00

lesson 38: ok, hold it 2getha now sam...its ok...
thats right! today i am leavin for the big smoke of tokyo.
i hav been cleanin lik a furious monster the last couple of days, gettin my apartment sparklin clean for 2day's inspection. ooooooh...
last night went out with some of my little buggers for some barbeque. delicious!

we had a good giggle
and ate loadsa meat!!!! this is Shoko and Aki
this is Anna
and my crew...ahhh, i'll miss em!
ok, so no more of the sentiments, im harder than that (sniff, sniff).
back to ingerland the day after 2moro. im quite lookin 4ward to it. back to good old lowey. haha.
got my first business meetin for monkey love on monday, so that'll b good, get straight into it, no slackin!
speakin of lowey, my mate mr. wedge sent me this which suggests that our fair lowey is the cradle of British civilisation. i knew it! ive said it all along!
ok, i didnt, but check out the first paragraph of the article (actually, just the first line!) perfectly sums it up! haha!
well then...this may well b the last sam's japan today...im not really sure what to do...

2005-12-13T04:25:00.000-08:00

lesson 37: the best laid plans and all that jazz.
well, no kyoto!
got up early, got to the station in the city in good time, and found out that the bus wasnt runnin cos there was too much snow in kyoto! typical!
this was me...
very sad...so i had to spend the day in the city...
i decided to lark about!ok, mayb sittin at a bus stop isnt really 'larkin'...what about standin in steam? ok, no, but i did get my packin done. not as excitin as kyoto, but cheaper.
right, i need tea.
byebye.

2005-12-12T05:57:00.000-08:00

lesson 36: last day for more than 1.
2day i read richard pryor died. we hav lost so many people this year that hav made us smile.
it was a good last day at uni.
the little buggers had made me a big thanku book thing with all little quotes in it from them [that was their secret]. ooooh, it was lovely.
mostly it said how gr8 i am. haha.
this next pic is of some nato that 1 of my students gave me today. mmm...fermented soy beans!last is some of my crew...ace!
off to kyoto 2moro so will post with some more pix in the next couple of dayz,
laterz.

2005-12-11T03:37:00.000-08:00

lesson 35: and it goes a little somethin lik this...

first it was;
then it was;
and then it went a bit;
but then it was ok cos it was lik;
although, soon after is went [check the dude in the bottom right-hand corner!];
and finally it was;
haha! what a weekend!
last day 2moro. boohoo!
hav just found a gr8 radio show; Colin and Fergus' Digi Radio
pretty funny...laterz.

2005-12-08T02:57:00.000-08:00

lesson 34: asteroid ahoy!
so i was reading that an asteroid is gonna hit the earth in 2036...which is nice.
its called Apophis, which derives from an Egyptian myth where said Apophis is an evil ancient spirit who comes to destroy and plunge the world into darkness! oooooh, and i would of got away with it if it wasn't 4 u pesky kids. typical behaviour of an ancient evil demon if u ask me...but u aint...
so, experts in near-Earth objects (NEOs [haha...stupid name]) hav gathered [in anoraks and weildin lunchboxes full of egg sandwiches!] to discuss our pending destruction!!!!! THANK GOD! i was worried! hopefully their conference will end with the unanimous decision that what the world needs is an enormous frickin laser!
anyhoo, interestin article if u r bored on t break.
a third poster has arrived in class. my little buggers r in 'phase 3' by the looks of it and my limited readin skills in Japanese and Chinese tells me that whatever is goin down is goin down on monday. so hold onto ure pants for monday's last installment of 'what hav the little buggers got planned for the monkey?'
last thing, 2moro is the last day of proper teachin! ahhhhhhhh! yes! its comin to an end, and by way of celebration i am hittin the city! stones throw records r in town and draggin madlib and [the 1 and only...] peanut butter wolf with them! so a big whoop 4 that!
right, more news from Japan on monday...

2005-12-05T05:02:00.000-08:00

lesson 33: i lov karl pilkington.
i just downloaded the new ricky gervais podcast from the guardian.
even if u dont lik ricky gervais (and dont let this picture put u off), please, please, just giv it a go cos karl pilkington is amazin! u wait til u hear him explain how they sent a monkey into space! its so special!
thats all.

2005-12-04T01:24:00.000-08:00

lesson 32: a little bit of this and a little bit of that.
yosh.
right, lots of little bits and bobs 2day.
first go ova 2 matty b's blog for a link to a video off why?'s new album (i think) 'elephant eyelash'. its really cool, a good find by the boy wonder.
i aint bin up to much. went to the city ova the wknd to try and do som more crimbo shoppin...and came away with the word 'boo!' and 'bah, humbug!' firmly in place. i leave it at that.
err...
work was busy last week, sortin things out as this week will b the last week of teachin, then a party on monday. i dont really lik talkin about work cos it makes me think about havin to leave. dont really wanna talk about that either.
earlier in the week i was sayin to 1 of my little buggers about how most morninz and eveninz r really cold and the afternoons r still quite warm (the 'killer bees' r still about) and she said in Japanese they call it 'koharubiyori' which translates as 'small spring day'. nice way to describe a warm afternoon i thought.
me and my pals here r tryin to organise a trip 2 Kyoto when we finish. its the place to go and see 'old Japan' and they still hav Geisha and Maika there, so that will b gud. i think its all mainly for the tourists but all my students seem to think its the place to go, so i think there will b a bit of culture there 2.
a mate sent this pic, what u hav to do is find 50 band names in there, for example bottom left is guns and roses...u c? good. so i wanna find all 50, but cant, so if any of u clever people r bored and wanna post comments on what bands names r where mayb we can get em all. mayb some of u hav already seen this cos i think its an ad 4 a popular music shop (the big, round, red logo gav it away a bit), but its new to me.
a happy birthday to jane and thanks to my mum 4 sendin me an advent calender! haha. mmm, chocolate...
right, thats all for now...oh, apart from this amazin news; "...according to figures released by David Beckham's Company, Footwork Productions, the England skipper earned £32.98-per-minute last year." just lik bein an ingerlish teacher really.

2005-11-30T04:08:00.000-08:00

lesson 31: 'deepthroat' and george w. hmmm...there's a pair.
ok, got an new 'lead' from my man on the 'zaigongate' issue.
as u can c the cruciform is formed by the duplex of above sequences.
oh yeah...just what i was thinkin!
what worries me most about this is a 'linker' only does whatever the hell it does at 3bp!!! thats sounds lik trouble if u ask me.
i hav no idea what this has to do with a zaigon or a transpose OR ANYTHING AT ALL. i think im bein led up a dark alley lik a good lookin hooker leads a drunk only 4 him 2 wake up with a sore head and an empty wallet.
oh yes.
next, somethin somewhat different...
i received this pic on the right from a friend the other day, clearly some1 has been a bit handy with photoshop but it got me thinkin about the big man and how much he absolutely fascinates me.
he is so incredible. a little while ago i was readin an article in the paper on how he described his attack on Iraq as a mission from God!
apparently he "told a Palestinian delegation in 2003 that God spoke to him and said: 'George, go and fight these terrorists in Afghanistan' and also 'George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq'." of course, the White House later came out and denied that these statements were true.
my point isnt to go on a massive anti-Bush rant, we all hav out opinions on the man, i hav heard first-hand arguments for and against his policies from many people, of many nationalities, from all over the world, literally, what i want to get across at this moment in time is...he might b a mug, but he's 1 hell of an iconic 1!

2005-11-27T04:40:00.000-08:00

lesson 30: 'zaigongate'.
in lesson 28 i asked a question and i hav had a response.
i recieved this picture by email. it seems i hav my very own 'deepthroat' who whats to giv me clues in how to discover what a zaigon is.
this picture was titled 'transpose'. hmmm...transpose???? what could this mean?!?!?!
on first inspection it looks lik a formulae of some kind, but at the same time it just looks lik a face! it had no explanation attatched, just this image...
can u transpose a zaigon? is 'b' a zaigon? or is it 'c'? or is it '+'? or is it '?'?
these r the questions i hav been askin myself ova the last few days.
but, what if it is all just a hoax? hmmm...
other news, new link!!!!
red cassette has himself a website, which is gr8 news!! i'll get him linked up on the left there, go visit him please and buy his stuff because he sounds ace and is worth every penny in my eyes. the link to Fake Science Music Store is there 2. NO EXCUSES!
right 'deepthroat', if ure really out there, im ready 4 my close-up.

2005-11-27T02:40:00.000-08:00

lesson 29: new, new, news.
what a busy few days i hav had!
i will try and tell it in pictures as much as words because i hav lots of piccys and not many words.
so it begins...
on saturday i went ova to the city and met up wit my friend, Claire (thats her with ure's truly on the left), and we bummed around the city for a while, had a coffee and a chat, then strutted off 2 c Nagoya Castle.
neither of us had been there yet, even though we had both been around Nagoya for about 5 months.
we decided it was about time we took in some traditional culture rather than just bars and clubs!
so here is the first picture of us in the park around the castle, it was really beautiful because the leaves were really great colours as it is kinda still autumn here, different shades of red, brown, green and orange.
i lik this picture but it makes my right ear look quite deformed. check it out! it looks huge! haha. john merrick calling sonofsam, com in sonofsam! haha.
ok, so we trekked around the castle and for all the 'tradition' we find out that the original castle was destroyed completely in the war by the yanks so this is a re-build...from 1959! but neva the less, it did look really cool.
then we go and get som food at an izaka-ya, which is lik a Japanese pub, cheap food and drink and the lik. as we entered the establishment i got a bit confused with the door and i managed to walk into it b4 it had opned fully crunchin my skull between bone and doorframe. ouch! it made my teeth hurt!
was hopin 4 a bit of a shiner but only got a bit of a lump. that went down quickly 2 cos the beer glasses were really cold and i used it to soothe my throbbin 4heed!!! haha! the food was good and we chowed down and chatted.
then we went to another bar 4 another beer and headed home as i was crashin at Claire's cos we were goin to c the local footy team, Nagoya Grampus Eight, today.
the mornins and the nights r really cold at the moment, so crashin on Claire's floor wasnt the best nights sleep i hav ever had, and as it was really cold i slept in all my clothes, which meant that when i woke up this mornin my tshirt wasnt in the
greatest state of cleanliness! (i 4got 2 pack a spare) it seems that trekkin around all day, hittin restaurants and bars and then sleepin in the bad boy meant that i was a little stinky boy.
this brings me nicely onto the next piccy.
because of the state of my tshirt i had asked Claire if she had a spare tshirt i could borrow 4 the day...clearly that was a bad idea as this was the best she could com up with.
IT JUST WOULDNT WORK! so the stinky tshirt got a quick airin and then put back on.
we went to c the footy last term and i missed both goals of the game cos i was gettin beers. typical! so there are only a couple of games left this season and we decided we would try 1 more time (Nagoya Grampus is were now-Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger and house-wives-favourite, mr-nice-guy and 'crisp don' Gary Lineker used to earn an honest crust).
it was quite a dull 1-0 loss to Nagoya, but we were in the home fans end and we were able to join in on some of the songs, well, make noise at least : ) but the atmosphere was pretty good even tho the quality of the match was lackin a little bit.
it was quite funny tho cos the fans neva seem to get on the backs of thier players or their team. even if their team gets absolutely drubbed in a humiliatin drubbin. they neva 'boo' their own players. unlik us lot of course who giv stick to any1 that makes a mistake, but i guess if i was gettin paid £100, 000 A WEEK and made mistakes i would expect a little criticism!!!!!
so this picture is of the mad buggers at the football. megaphones, chantin, flags, scarves and a whole lot of passion! brilliant!
so, i am now enterin the final run-in, the last 10 lessons...booohoo! im well gonna miss my little buggers. oh well, better make the most of my last few weeks in this fair country and evade the authorities for a little time longer!! haha!
just kiddin mum!
right, sammy ova but not out...just yet.

2005-11-25T06:19:00.000-08:00

lesson 28: SHAVIN?!?!?!?!?!
another thing that really grinds my gears...everyday shavin.
WHY? a beard doesnt hav to look untidy, look at rolf harris...ok, dont...well, just a quick peek then.
i find that shavin everyday actually hurts my face...ah yes, thats right, bring it on, im a big girly boy who cant cope with the daily strain of the blade tearin my face to shreds, but its true, i find it hurts.
of course, i dont mind shavin, but in my own time and by my own design. once or twice a week is fine. remember the 'half beard'?!?!?!?! people who dont lik shavin dont get to the stage of that bad boy in hurry i can tell u.
but nooooo, 'the man' (he's back) has decreed that i shave everyday! this drags me back to the professionalism/suit/image issues of lesson 27. clearly 'issues' is the correct word because i clearly seem to hav some!
i dont mind playin the game, towin the rope 4 a while, wearin a suit here, havin a shave there, but i will b glad when this merry-go-round-circus of image fabrication is over and done with.
mayb if i was weilding a 'mach 10 turbo charged vibrating nitrosoxide filled power razor' instead of a 'disposable blunt in 1 stroke baby razor' i wouldnt hav these issues...hmm.

2005-11-24T03:53:00.000-08:00

lesson 27: IRONIN?!?!?!?!?!
rant ahoy...
the worst part of this job is the damn ironin. i dont understand it!
right, obviously i wash my clothes and then they dry and my shirts r all creased up from the washing machine. so they hav to b ironed. WHY?
ok, i understand that if i wore a creased up shirt 4 work then i would look a mess, so why the shirt at all? i hate the fact that wearin a suit gives the image of bein a professional! dont get me wrong i dont mind wearin a suit to work, it does hav its advantages, u can get home and take off ure work clothes and then u r away from work, but i dont feel that i am any better at my job if i am wearin a suit than if i am not.
but alas, the contract says 'suit' so i will keep ironin till the contracts says 'expired'. also, (sorry about this) cos i dont hav an ironin board (and i cant buy 1 cos we hav to remove everythin from our apartment when we leave and Japan gets upset if u just dump stuff lik an ironin board, u hav 2 get it 'removed') i hav to iron on a table, which is a pain in the arse...but i hav a system, so it aint to bad by lesson 27.
ok, finished.
pic is my view from where i sit to use my 'puter. enter my world...
monkey out.

2005-11-23T02:29:00.000-08:00

lesson 26: hectic lives make bleary eyes.
what a week! and its only wednesday!!
things r gettin busy at work cos its gettin near the end of term and i hav to evaluate all my students. they dont hav any tests or anything so its relatively easy cos i only hav to remember what they r good at and what they can improve on, and then i hav forms to fill in to determin their level and giv em som suggestions to make em better.
so really its kinda fun cos u think about the little bugger and what they can do and then that makes u think of some of the madness thats come outta their mouths, but its still work. haha, neva satisfied!
AND i hav had 2day off work cos its 'labour thanksgiving day' here and its a national holiday, but i hav spent it infront of the computer draggin myself through the interweb tryin to find distribution companies and the lik to contact.
aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh. MY EYES! i feel lik i hav been starin at kitkat wrappers all day! but i hav sorted a big chunk of stuff on my list of 'things 2 do', so thats all good.
so, thats it...
k, picture time...this the view from the window of my classroom and i lik it cos i always get the reflection of the sunset in it in the early evenin.
nice.

2005-11-20T03:31:00.000-08:00

lesson 25: when im teachin english.
good day yesterday.
i went crimbo shoppin in Nagoya and then came home and sorted some stuff out with my web boyz at anti-theatre (new link, new link, new link! left, left, left!) who r buildin the website for my label (thanku, thanku, thanku!).
they said there aint many pix on my blog of me. so here is one of me and my city purchases.
wahey! ive got a ukulele! and a scarf! haha!
laterz.

2005-11-18T17:34:00.000-08:00

lesson 24: sneaky buggers pt. 2.
they r definatly up to somethin! yesterday a new poster was presented. whats this, i ask. secret document number 2 is the reply.
ok.
so secret document number 1 is removed and replaced by secret document number 2. along with the bottoms of 2 large, brown envelopes. it was so funny sittin and watchin the construction of this notice. they had scissors and different colour pens and were firing instructions at each other in Japanese. every so often they would look at me, who was sittin, watchin, and just start laughin in a 'we know exactly what we r doin but u really hav no idea' kind of way.
so the brown envelopes r placed on the door next to secret document number 2 by blutac (which, was hilarious by the way as i dont think they hav the stuff in Japan, so givin them and watchin their reaction was amazin!!! i could see in their faces that at first they didnt understand what i was givin them, but then they did and let out an almighty 'EH?' and just started squeezin it and pullin it about with huge smiles on their faces! haha! brilliant!).
anyhoo, so the things r on the door. 1 envelope has different coloured cards in them and the other 1 is empty. i am under instructions to 'please dont look' in the envelopes. i wont.
students seem to b takin the cards, but not puttin them in the empty envelope as i had imagined. the plot thickens...

2005-11-16T03:49:00.000-08:00

lesson 23: cat attack
today was some feline fun.
i was sittin in the sun havin my lunch. it consisted of; 1 carton of orange juice, 1 salad, 1 chocolate bar and 1 chicken and rice dish.
from about 100 yards the 'university cat' came screamin towards me. the smell of the chicken was obviously too much for it to take. after rubbin itself around my knee and makin some 'im hungry' eyes at me (tryin to lull me into a false sense of security i bet...i hav cats, i know their games) it proceeded to try and claw the food from my chopsticks!
thankfully ure fair narrator is quite handy wit a pair of chopsticks, and kitty didnt get a look in!
so after a swift, but painless, shove the cat got the idea and went off.
not the last of him ill c today me thought, and i was soon proved right as kitty returned. 'stupid foreigner', i presumed it thought, 'ill show him!' and tried to pull the old classic of 'oooh, look at me, im really cute...watch me roll about in the sun, come and talk to me and show me love and touch me and love me'.
hmmm, not this foreigner kittykat!
so after a little time of bein ignored it was back at my knees...of course i gave in! he was soooooo cute. he had some chicken, i had some chicken, we laughed...oh what a day.
ok, the winner of the 'what does the pizza delivery leaflet mean?' competition...a hotly fought contest i can tell u. i was inundated with ideas to the riddle of the 'nut in pizza'. both were gr8! thanku!
but alas, there can b only 1...and the winner is...ooooh, i dunno, do i wanna send somethin all the way to dubai???
its the indecision that makes me say, with head slightly low, 'DRAW'. u both shall receive.
ever laid in bed and wondered what the inside of a Japanese train looks lik? eyes up people!
byebye.

2005-11-13T05:03:00.000-08:00

lesson 22: the university festival.
oh the university festival...what mayhem.
the busiest and noisiest ive seen it at that place i tell ya!
not only were there loads of people cookin stuff and shoutin stuff in Japanese, there was an intense amount of 'noise' comin from (and i use this term VERY loosly) rock bands.
now, dont get me wrong, im not scared of noise but i am scared of rock. especially rock that manages to transcend genre and become somethin totally, and uniquly rock.
let me expalin...
there WERE more than 1 rock band playin at this festival. i SAW more than than 1 band play at this festival. but, alas, i HEARD 1 long thrash of noise that became far too intense to cope with. bands changed, instruments looked different, but the sound comin out of them was the same sound, song after song, after song...u get the idea.
but not all was as chaotic. i found tranquility in the jazz room, mmm nice, and also bumped into some students, but mostly i wandered from stall to stall gettin gawped at by open mouthed students then shouted at in Japanese to buy their goods.
no way. hehe.
but it was all a bit of fun really and i did manage to meet these two stunners u see to ure right! what beauties!

2005-11-11T03:05:00.000-08:00

lesson 21: im not waggin guv...honest.
today was a half day at work cos 2moro is 'the university festival'. i dunno what this is, so im gonna go and find out.
yes, yes...ok! of course ill let u know. ure such a needy bunch!
but it was a very strange feelin cos i finished work at lunchtime and as i was leavin work i felt lik i shouldnt hav been, lik i was on the skive, i felt nervous lik i was gonna get busted and some1 was gonna ask me where the hell i was goin.
but it was all legal. so i went home and celebrated by buyin a shed load of vinyl. yay!
got this flyer thro the door. any ideas people? mayb Aoki has been listenin to a little UK grime and got da wrong end of da stick blood. nuttin wrong wit dat obviously.
answers on a postcard to 'sams japan today', Japan. it'll get here. the best idea gets posted and also wins a prize (seriously. a nice Japanese 1).
byebye.

2005-11-08T04:09:00.000-08:00

lesson 20: haiku ga goo goo ga chu.

today was so great,
almost as good as the day
i got them rappin.

haiku was the theme,
its a Japanese idea
of syllable fun.

i changed it about,
so that the english would count
and it worked a treat.

my students were ace,
they grabbed hold of the idea
and came up with these;

'i like hot pizza
because it tastes delicious,
but the dog ate it',

'i like strawberries
because they are very sweet.
they make me happy',

'i like vegetables,
they are delicious and soft.
rabbits like them too',

'i like hamburgers
because they are delicious.
they are very cheap',

'i like playing sports
because i sweat when i play.
i want to diet',

and last but not least,
my personal favourite...
this is so much fun ; )

'i have no money
but i want to buy a car.
now i am working'.

arent they just the best?
i love my little buggers,
im gonna miss them!

photo time is here,
origami for the soul,
from a students hands.

they are really small
and perfectly constructed
a joy to behold.

sam out.

2005-11-08T03:09:00.000-08:00

lesson 19: sneaky buggers.
ok, so my little buggers r up 2 somethin...im not sure what but they r definately up 2 somethin.
last week a few of my students and i were talkin about kimonos and the different styles of kimonos that r around. so then later in the week 1 of them brought this drawin she had done 4 me of the different styles we were talkin about. its really ace so i was well chuffed. infact, look left...dadaaaaa!
then, earlier this week she was talkin after class wit some of my other buggers which is kinda unusual. then today, she comes to class and out pops a poster and she asks me if she can put it up.
dingalingalingaling!!!! is that the dinner bell i hear a ringin mr holmes? thats right my dear watson tis the dinner bell.
of course, i say, what is it? top secret is the reply with a big smile. hmmm.
later, another student is in class and sees the poster. do u understand she asks? of course i dont understand (its all in Japanese-ness) i say, whats it mean? top secret is the reply. double hmmm!
mayb they r onto me and r generally miffed with my slack teachin and r plannin to eat me!!!!
eeeeek! shreeeeeeks sam.

2005-11-05T03:08:00.000-08:00

lesson 18: the frequent frequency has risen to new frequent levels.
wow. look at that lot! it seems that bloggin is the new ipod!
"what would u lik for christmas this year timmy?"
"well mother, i would lik to become a blogger."
not that i am complainin of course, the more we hear about each other the better we understand each other and the greater friends we become. although, when we all do eventually hook up again, we will hav nothin to say to each other cos we'll hav blogged it all!! hehe.
i do hav 1 complaint tho. if people r thinkin of startin blogs, please think about how it will look. although white writin on a black background does look amazinly cool, it unfortunately renders me semi-blind afterwards. U KNOW WHO U R! : )
also due to the new influx of bloggers i hav found myself bloggin a lot more frequently. why is this? do i hav more to say? NO. is any of it about Japan? NO. do i hav less to do in the day? NO. hmmm...mayb i just lik seein myself at the top of the growin number of blogs in my rss feed! probably.
right, somethin about Japan today...
it seems they dont celebrate Guy Fawkes here...funny that. not sure why. ill try and find out 4 ya. so its been a quiet 1.
also, i havent actually left the house today so havent actually seen much. although i got more video footage of this crazy gameshow (Japan...crazy gameshow!!! hehe) where these dudes are made up 2 look lik monkeys and the celebrity guests hav to do this song. and each guest has to do a line of this song, so the computer says 3 characters in Japanese and then the guest has to rearrange the characters in the song. then it goes to the next person and they have to do it successfully for lik 20 people or so. when some1 gets it wrong the other guests all gang up on them. but, i can DO this game. its easy, u just rearrange the words the computer says into the rhythm of the song. i cant understand how people get it wrong. mayb they dont hear the characters bein said, but even then, they should understand their own language right?
i dunno, these crazy cats.
ccchhhhhhuuuuuurrrrrr...fiiiiiiiiiiizzzzzzzzzzzz...wooooooooooooooo...BANG! happy Guy Fawkes night. dont blow anythin off.
sambo out.

2005-11-04T06:08:00.000-08:00

lesson 17: half way between home and here.
so, today is just past halfway of my contract.
this is both a sad day and a happy day.
a sad day as i know in a short time i will b sittin on a plane destined for good ol' blighty with no real date to return to this fascinatin country, but a happy day as i know that in a short time i will b sittin on a plane destined for good ol' blighty with the beautiful prospect of a brand new project firmly in the forefront of my head. sometimes the good really does outweigh the bad. yay!
here's a pic of the dog that regularly barks at me on the way to the train station! he often scares me as i am mumblin along deep in the word of mp3. he was well shocked this mornin. oh yeah! i got him. check the look on his face! ha! although he may hav the last bark as his house seems to b bigger than mine...
ok, enough of me, here's some info u should all pay attention 2!
"a new link has appeared on ure blog!" i hear u all cry. thats right! the good old boys at fake science hav their net label up and runnin!!! lots of great artists includin some dude called 'red cassette' who apparently produces genius moozak. CHECK IT OUT! eyes left...click the link called 'fake science' and check out the new music.
well, go on!

2005-11-03T06:46:00.000-08:00

lesson 16: my very own 'culture day'.
today is 'culture day' so i got a day off work. yay! but i had loads to do. boo!
[my neighbours above me r havin a blazin row! hehe. angry Japanese women sound very dangerous]
anyhoo, back to me...yeah, so i got up late(ish), well was kinda woken up by ballsy skypin me (im sure i muted my volume!) i was only dozin so had a bleary-eyed chat with him.
then did some bits and bobs i needed to do for work and went for a walk to the supermarket to get a new teapot to replace the old 1 i smashed. not in a fit of rage i might add, but merely placed precociously on the edge of the sink...silly boy.
then back to finish of some drawins to send to my web boyz.
[my neighbours seem to hav settled down...]
the evenin was spent chattin random madness to random people and discussin the absolute nonsense that is 'World Usability Day'! please! stop this stupidity. why does this 'day' exist? when is 'World Unusability Day'? how do we celebrate either of these days? "well done! u hav successfully used the tv today. wow! and u successfully used the oven. congratulations!" or "brilliant! u really screwed up the central heatin!"
ok...i stop.
here is a picture of a typical Japanese street around where i live. i do lik blogs wit pictures. short att...ent...tion... sp...look at that tree!
byebye.

2005-11-01T05:25:00.000-08:00

lesson 15: a little of the past in the present.
ok. so today was great!
school was good and came home to find i had my first shout for my label on a podcast!!! cheers vanessa.
every1 else, check the link on this page to Panda's Hideout!! cos if u lik my taste in my moozak u'll love this podcast. she plays some great tunz.
i am a happy monkey!
tomorrow is work but thursday is a day off!!!! rock on 'culture day' or as im gonna call it; 'sambo on his arse eatin food day'.
oh yeah.
a Japanese superstition from yesterday i 4got; 'its bad luck to cut ure fingernails at night cos when ure parents die u'll go blind'. hmm.
until next time.
byebye.

2005-10-31T02:40:00.000-08:00

lesson 14: dead man's food.
ooooohhhhhhh...ooooooohhhhhh...thats me bein a ghost.
happy halloween!
yes, its that time again where i hav to try and make halloween interestin for my little buggers. i wasnt lookin forward to it cos, bein ingerlish, i associate halloween with eggs and flour more than i do trick or treat. i was nicely surprised tho when my 'superstitions' section brought out some interestin outcomes. basically i showed em a load of superstitions like, 'dont walk under ladders', 'dont spill salt', 'smash a mirror and u get 7 years bad luck', blah, blah. then they told me Japanese ones.
there were some really cool ones so i wrote em down but left the bloomin bit of paper at work! i'll try and remember em and any ones that r good that i 4got i will let u know next time.
ok, memory dont fail me now, here goes...
'dont whistle at night cos it brings out snakes'
'sneeze 3 times means some1, somewhere is talkin about u'
'4 is an unlucky number cos, in Japanese, the word for 4 is also the word for death'
'9 is an unlucky number cos, in Japanese, the word for 9 is also the word for hurt'
'when passin food wit ure chopsticks dont let em touch (somethin to do with bones) cos its bad luck'
'its good luck if ure tealeaf stands up in ure tea'
and my personal favourite;
'its bad luck to put ure chopstick upright in ure bowl of rice cos it means ure eatin dead mans food'
ace!
any other peaches i'll post later.
sambo out.
oh, and the pic doesnt hav anythin to do with anythin, i just c it on my way to work everyday thought it was funny : )

2005-10-30T00:54:00.000-07:00

lesson 13: pop art and arty pop.
another saturday spent up in Nagoya. it was the last weekend of an exhibition on Pop Art and i wanted to check it out. so i did.
it was good. som interestin stuff to make the mind go "hmmm" and "errr" and "oh".
there was a cool sculpture of a rabbit in the park where the gallery was situated so i took a picture of it to show u all. rabbit, rabbit, rabbit, rabbit...
today i hav been lazin around, ive been well tired this week. too many late nights i think. also ive been workin a lot on the label, research and the lik so its all caught up on me, like a sneaky pickpocket! robbed of my energy i hav.
oh well...
and i smashed my teapot! not in a rage of anger ; ) it was in the sink so at least i didnt get glass all over the floor.
hey ho, lesson plans ahoy, byebye.
monkey love.

2005-10-27T06:20:00.000-07:00

lesson 12: killer bees from outside my window.
i seem to hav some new friends and they come in the form of 2 inch long "bees". i am informed that they are "bees" by my students, but i would call they more like "wasps", big "wasps" which, also accordin to my students, are "killers". hmmm...
thats right, i hear u all shouting! can ure illiterate narrator truly b in fateful danger????? has mr. sam finally met his match in Japan????? well, maybe.
currently they r only appearing at a certain time of the day. this time always seems to coincide with me teachin a class, so i am under the assumption that they r "killer bees" that want to learn english. either that or they want to get inside my classroom and massacre my students.
whatever their quest may b, sinister or otherwise, they r staying firmly outside my window. they can bang all they like. they aint comin in!
so u can all breathe a big sigh of relief, i am safe for the time being...
oh and its my mum's birthday today, so happy birthday mum x
monkey out.

2005-10-24T06:03:00.000-07:00

lesson 11: the penguins and the party.
the weekend was good.
went to see this amazin little documentary about penguins. its called 'la marche de l'empereur' in french which i guess means something lik 'the march of the emperors' in english. its just a guess tho...
it was all in japanese, but it did matter, those penguins looked so great, the colours and the way they were so unsteady on their feet on the ice. they kept fallin over as well. very funny, hehe. and the litwl fwuffy baby ones...aaawwwwwwww, soooooo cute! hmm.
so that was fun. it was being shown in this really small old cinema that sat about 100 people at the most, so it was a nice personal kind of atmosphere in there. i dont think there were more than 10 people including us watchin it tho. but i enjoyed it.
then it was off to a teacher friends for dinners. oh yeah, mexican style beans, rice, salad, nachos, dip, the business. nice chatting, a bit of beer, some yoga, then some vodka, then some limbo dancing????? whoops. i'll leave it there. let ure imaginations run wild.
go imaginations, go, run like the wind.
hehe.

2005-10-20T06:51:00.000-07:00

lesson 10: mmm nice.
no crazy stroies of japanese madness, no meeting famous dj's, no encouters that have been lost in translation, just a steady week with some beautiful sunsets...one of which i managed to catch.
yay.

2005-10-18T03:44:00.000-07:00

lesson 9: the people i hav to work with...
me and my work hommie were talking about sending our boss emails.
our idea was to make up strange things about each other that we could (hyperthetically) send to our boss to freak her out.
this is what was written about me:

"In light of your enquiry regarding my colleague Sam, I felt it my duty to bring to your notice some rather odd and disturbing behaviour of his. I don't know if you are aware of the 'fluffies' phenomenon? I believe it to be a fetishistic group of people who gain pleasure from dressing up in animal suits (rabbits, mice, badgers...), stroking each other and simulating sexual acts. Sam's interest in this practice would be of no interest to me (consenting adults can do whatever they feel inclined to in the privacy of their own homes), however, I understand that Samuel may be using his office here on campus as a kind of 'headquarters' of a local fluffies group. I also suspect he may be actively recruiting his students. He is apparently holding auditions in his office. One student tells me he calls the sofa in his room his 'casting couch' and utilises some free space at the back of the office for 'dance auditions' (the mind boggles). He has also recently made some uncomfortable remarks to me such as 'your hands remind me of paws' and 'have you ever considered wearing rabbit ears?' As you know, I am a vulnerable and delicate young woman, if this harassment continues, I feel I may be unable to come to work."

make of it what u will, u out there who know me know the truth!
now where did i put those rabbit ears?

2005-10-16T04:50:00.000-07:00

lesson 8: you cant keep a good son of sam down.
guess who's back...back again...oh yeah. he's back. the omnipotence of my ISP have given me my internet connection back and im rockin on da bloggin!!!!!
ok, so check this...the reason i lost my connection is that i got busted by the Japanese cyber police for peer to peer file sharing!!!!! eeeeeee! but seriously, for legal reasons i do believe i wasnt file sharing, but it was just a case of mistaken identity ; )
so, a word of warnin to those out there who do file share, its not somethin i condone at all, but there was a load of Buck 65 b-sides and rarities that would sound great in my collection...
the bit i love the most is that instead of being dragged down to the local cyber authorities and havin the indignity of my hard drive picked over with a fine tooth comb while having been hand-cuffed to a radiator with a bright light shone in my face, i just had to promise i wouldnt do it again : )
an offer i accepted graciously, my bloggin is far too important to lose! what would u people do if i was gone 4 too long? how would u cope without your Japanese updates? hmmm...i guess you'd cope.
until next time, happy sam out.

2005-10-14T19:15:00.000-07:00

lesson 7: the a ki ba kei.
one of my students who isnt a student of the university but a dental nurse (she only comes for English class) came sneakin into class the other day with an even sneakier look on her face. now this student is a bit quirky and always comes out with some well funny things, and her English is pretty good.
so she asks me what train station i use to get to uni in the morning, which immediately makes me suspicious of her questioning. "why?" i reply in a long drawn out tone.
it seems one of the people she works with at the dental clinic had seen a "very strange man" with an 'a ki ba kei' bag waitin at the barrier for a train to pass, u know, like in oulton broad.
'a ki ba kei' kinda means 'geek' or 'nerd' in japanese and i hav a bag that i carry my books to work in with this written on it. my student instantly assumed this is me and the person she works with drew a picture of the "very strange man" to see if it was.
the chances of two "very strange" men...both with 'a ki ba kei' bags...i'll let u decide.
sambo.

2005-10-11T00:17:00.000-07:00

lesson 6: taiko in the rain.
so, this weekend has passed and it was a goodun!
friday, i was glad to have finished work for the week, i was tired. it had been the first full week back so i was feeling the effects a little. friday night i was asleep by 10pm.
saturday i was off to the city with new teaching friend in tow ready to show her the delights of the big smoke...only its absolutly pissing down with rain!!! we trudge around for a while getting wet and then decide to abandon the tour and head straight to another teacher friends for beer and crisps.
we had arranged to head off to a free open air music festival to celebrate the full moon. so we do. we get more beer and use the bags to sit our bumbums on. now, a word of advice, plastic bags dont keep ure arse dry, not only do they not keep it dry, they dont add so much comfort to a cold slab of stone! if u have no other option then plastic bags r great, but if u do then use it. seriously.
so the first act is nepalese drummers, flutes and a mandalin. very nice. next, a japanese acoustic guitarist who detuned an awful lot, but it sounded great! then the taiko drummers... they pounded the shit out of these drums. they were amazin!! so powerful, but their timing and professionalism was incredible! i was blown away.
the rain had stopped so we went into the city and hit some bars until about 7am where i found myself behind a really natty mixer with loads of weird effects.
the train home was a snooze fest.
luckily i had yesterday off due to happy monday law. i love that happy monday law. just think japanese bank holiday monday.
sam out.

2005-10-06T18:11:00.000-07:00

lesson 5: i love high wycombe.
ok, first i wanted to hav a picture to go with this blog, but as my unhelpful internet box is still being very unhelpful, u will have to use the power of your minds.
most of you crazy bunch may be aware of a tshirt i own with the slogan 'i love high wycombe' upon it. i purchased this bad boy when i was at university in, u guessed it, high wycombe.
now any of u unfortunate enough to have been to this shitty little town will understand the irony of this slogan and over the years i have found that it gets quite a response. in fact i cant remember a time that i havent been questioned over this tshirt, albeit at music festivals and other larger gatherings of people. on 3 or 4 occasions at glastonbury i have had complete strangers approach me and demand to know where i had got it from. i remember the look on their faces as i told them they are available at the tourist information centre in the high street. others have just called out 'i love high wycombe?! u cant love high wycombe! high wycombe is a dump!' where i respond...'yes'.
but the occasion that has most surprised me was last weekend in nagoya, the city closest to where i work.
i was out drinking with a couple of other teachers in this really cool bar. the bar was underground and very small, but the entire back wall was rammed full of vinyl and the bar owner would select a record and stick it on. he was playin mostly old stuff, bowie, beatles, love, but it was a realy chilled atmosphere. as we were leavin a dude turned to me and kinda repelled in shock slightly at the sight of my tshirt. 'ive just moved to high wycombe,' he stammered, 'where abouts man?' i asked. 'hazelmere', he said, which is where i used to live also. 'most people have stupid things written on their tshirts, but when i saw that i could believe it!'
i wasnt sure i understood this comment so we left.
another weird coincidence is that my new teachin friend here is the sister of a girl i took over from teachin in china!!!!!! of all the arse end of nowhere school i end up...its a small world aint it?

2005-10-04T17:18:00.000-07:00

lesson 4: how to get annoyed in english at a japanese machine that wont let u use the internet.
thats right folks, the internet in my apartment has gone. just gone. all those plans i had for blogs with beautiful photos of this weird and wonderful land have a been cut down in their prime!
well for the time being anyhoo.
the damn machine that lets me connect to the damn internet has died a very horrible death and, damn it! im upset. hopefully it'll get sorted, but maybe not.
oh well, where there's a will there's a way and i will continue to blog from work, until i am either found and and told t0 stop, or i am found out and sacked!
so, it is early today and not too much has happened, although the good thing about losing the internet is that i am watchin a lot more japanese tv.
last night i was watching a game show where, in one of the rounds, women would basically line up while these 4 guys would guess whether their breasts were real or balloons! oh yes, the beautiful simplicity of japanese tv. so these women would come onto the stage in different costumes and states of undress. some would b wearing kimonos, some school girl outfits, some airhostess uniforms and some just a towel. the guys would then ask them some questions, or make them jump up and down, while they tried very hard stop themselves from drooling. then they would guess whether the girl's breasts were real or not. after they gave their answer, the girl would reveal the correct answer to them or just pop their ballons.
the winner? well, me.

2005-09-30T07:46:00.000-07:00

lesson 3: the blood day.
beautiful blue skies, the warmth of the sun and a bunch of happy students made today a good one.
the blood buses rolled onto campus this afternoon trying to recruit students to give their hard earned blood to the needy.
i asked but none of my students participated. although, i did find out an interesting fact about the relationship the japanese have with blood. apparently, the japanese believe that a certain blood group will have pre- determined effects on the character of its owner, so from birth a certain blood group will carry certain traits with it.
hmm.
what these traits are and to what blood groups they are associated still eludes me at this point.
the investigation continues...

2005-09-29T05:49:00.000-07:00

lesson 2: the half beard.
on a previous venture to this fair and pleasant land my ex teaching buddy (i will refer to him as SpecialK) and i were in discussion one morning on the train. we would usually try and pass the time by exploring the world around us and trying to identify new and exciting ways to explain and understand it.
on this particular day we stumbled across the topic of facial hair and the different varieties of facial hair. now, dont get me wrong, i am a big fan of facial hair, for the sole reason that i hate to shave! but as our discussions progressed, deeper into the world of facial hair, SpecialK and i found a massive omission from our list.
you see, we have the 'full beard', we have the 'goatee', we have the 'brazilian' on the chin (with/ or without moustache), we have the perfect symmetry of the 'boyband member' tramlines, we have the '70's chops' , we even have the 'neck beard', but under no circumstances do we have the 'half beard'.
We HAVE the 'NECK BEARD', BUT we DONT HAVE the 'HALF BEARD'???!!! please someone explain that one to me!
so i call upon you all, glance to your right and take a good long look, absorb the image and join me in promoting the 'half beard'.
men, women, children and boyband members unite, grow your beards and shave one half off!

2005-09-28T04:55:00.000-07:00

lesson 1: back to school.
awake at 7.30am and have a bowl of calbee natural fruit granola.
its raining.
catch train rammed with sleeping japanese students, who seem to continue to sleep while walking through the ticket gate and up the hill toward university like a zombie hoard of umberella weilding...well, zombies.
clock in, 'ohayo gozimas' a million then hook up with my old crew of admin freestylers who i smile at and nod at while they smile and nod back. hand out presents of marmite, dark chocolate ginger biscuits and colemans english mustard. confusion and hot lips beckon.
time to hit the classroom me thinks.
3rd floor...mmm nice...i have a lovely view, pity its being blocked by the grey of the sky.
in rock students. whoop.
after a day of easing my little buggers back into the relms of the mother-tongue i retreat back to the comfort of my cave. along the way i come across a tube of sushi that you could drown a horse with. i call it dinner.
cup of tea is calling, also shave (not whole body), iron of shirt and lesson plan for tomorrow.
until then...