Spent Monday evening graced by the presence of a couple of Highnesses and a pair of Excellencies, along with 180 other people, enjoying a lecture by HIH, and the spectacle of a posse of dark-suited security men in black making sure everything went swimmingly. Learnt among other things that during the Edo period the night soil of Edo (Tokyo) was collected and sent up the river in a special barge as manure, called euphemistically 'golden fertilizer'.
The Princess kampai-ed with sake and I got my third, annual, square wooden cup (masu) - wonder how many more of those I'll acquire.
Then went down a British pub for a couple of pints of Spitfire and a chicken and mushroom pie and became somewhat (more) disoriented. Rugby on the telly.
Tuesday night I was invited to a bar run by one of my old dears that I teach once a week. We, the sole customers, were greeted on entry by a bloke who looked like a cross between Alice Cooper, Stanley Baxter and Ken Dodd, with a Sid James filthy laugh. Scantily clad in a skimpy low-cut red satin dress, but also wearing a pin-striped jacket to keep warm, he or she flopped and fauned like a kawai schoolgirl in the most over-the-top camp manner I have ever personally been faced with. He or she was joined by what I took to be a seriously obese schoolboy/munchkin who literally ran around in circles but turned out to be a young lady. Lesbian, naturally. The conversation was dominated by Alice Cooper whose main theme, nay obsession, was his or her and other people's sexuality. I have to say I found this slightly taxing.
Then I was asked in Pythonesque manner ("Excuse me - If it's not a personal question, are you a virgin?" "Not a personal question? How much more personal can you get?!") "Is this your first time in a gay bar?" I am with four little old ladies that I normally have tea and cake with. "Do you find Alice attractive?" And so on. It turned out that Alice was 46 and looking for a husband. Apparently he/she had had three successful operations in Thailand, which he/she was keen to point out, literally.
And then the karaoke machine was wheeled out. Thankfully a bottle of decent brandy was also on hand - Alice kept me topped up. I was press-ganged into singing 'Top of the World' by the Carpenters, as the grannies sang along, slapping their knees. I thought of 'One flew over the Cuckoo's Nest'. The bar owner and I sang a lovely duet of the Tennessee Waltz. I also recall 'You were always on my mind' and 'Strangers in the Night'.
Very strange.
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=AeZxRYXZ154
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=onap0Wou5Lg
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=FORgf_CXklE
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=Zjz16xjeBAA
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=syPZZxxFCe0
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=Gawdjmxdssk
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=hlSbSKNk9f0
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=mq5pLi0huhw
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=kRNdap-ioNM&feature=related
The Princess kampai-ed with sake and I got my third, annual, square wooden cup (masu) - wonder how many more of those I'll acquire.
Then went down a British pub for a couple of pints of Spitfire and a chicken and mushroom pie and became somewhat (more) disoriented. Rugby on the telly.
Tuesday night I was invited to a bar run by one of my old dears that I teach once a week. We, the sole customers, were greeted on entry by a bloke who looked like a cross between Alice Cooper, Stanley Baxter and Ken Dodd, with a Sid James filthy laugh. Scantily clad in a skimpy low-cut red satin dress, but also wearing a pin-striped jacket to keep warm, he or she flopped and fauned like a kawai schoolgirl in the most over-the-top camp manner I have ever personally been faced with. He or she was joined by what I took to be a seriously obese schoolboy/munchkin who literally ran around in circles but turned out to be a young lady. Lesbian, naturally. The conversation was dominated by Alice Cooper whose main theme, nay obsession, was his or her and other people's sexuality. I have to say I found this slightly taxing.
Then I was asked in Pythonesque manner ("Excuse me - If it's not a personal question, are you a virgin?" "Not a personal question? How much more personal can you get?!") "Is this your first time in a gay bar?" I am with four little old ladies that I normally have tea and cake with. "Do you find Alice attractive?" And so on. It turned out that Alice was 46 and looking for a husband. Apparently he/she had had three successful operations in Thailand, which he/she was keen to point out, literally.
And then the karaoke machine was wheeled out. Thankfully a bottle of decent brandy was also on hand - Alice kept me topped up. I was press-ganged into singing 'Top of the World' by the Carpenters, as the grannies sang along, slapping their knees. I thought of 'One flew over the Cuckoo's Nest'. The bar owner and I sang a lovely duet of the Tennessee Waltz. I also recall 'You were always on my mind' and 'Strangers in the Night'.
Very strange.
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=AeZxRYXZ154
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=onap0Wou5Lg
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=FORgf_CXklE
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=Zjz16xjeBAA
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=syPZZxxFCe0
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=Gawdjmxdssk
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=hlSbSKNk9f0
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=mq5pLi0huhw
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=kRNdap-ioNM&feature=related
