Gareth in Japan // Los Angeles

San Diego Zoo

2010-10-02T13:02:00.002+09:00

If you received this blog by eMail or Facebook, please click here as you will need to view this on the blog homepage.

While in San Diego for the San Diego International Film Festival, where Ellen is playing twice, I took the liberty of visiting San Diego Zoo. Armed with just my Blackberry for photographs, I managed to grab some nice pictures of a lot of animals I've never seen before. Below, is the Flickr slideshow, for animal descriptions, please visit the link that follows the Flickr slideshow.

Enjoy!

Click the following link to view the page on Flickr (and see my other pics from Flickr)

Slideshow on Flickr

Thanks for reading!

A view from a room.

2010-09-30T10:50:00.004+09:00

This was the view this evening from my 9th floor room in Los Angeles. Not Bad!!!

Some California scenery.

2010-07-11T06:06:00.003+09:00

If you received from Facebook or eMail, click here.

Back in April, I had to drive to San Luis Obispo for a concert. This was a pretty long and epic drive, and the slideshow below (apologies, taken with my Blackberry so the quality isn't great).

It's amazing how all of this is really not far away from the never-ending concrete jungle that is Los Angeles. I hope I can catch more of this great scenery.

Thanks for reading / looking, as always.

Graduation. And more.

2010-07-11T05:49:00.002+09:00

*If you received this blog from Facebook or by eMail please click here.

So, on May 14th, I graduated from USC's SMPTV program, after eight months of pretty hard work. Hundreds of hours of classes, a number of student films, and a number of recordings later, I am certainly finished with education and am now happy to be hustling for work and generally doing as much as possible.

In other news.....

- I have updated my website, with a huge array of new music, and made the design slightly more economical. Please check it out here.

- Ellen, one of the short films I worked on at USC (website here) was selected for the Rhode Island International Film Festival, which I'm told is one of the few festivals whose films qualify for consideration at the Academy Awards.

- I have just finished scoring my first feature, 'Buried Alive', an independent production by Kevin Clark and Fubot Pictures.

- I am continuing work on 'Primal Carnage'. Progress is going well, if quietly right now, but rest assured I will keep you posted on further developments.

Apologies for not keeping the blog updated, May and June were very crazy months for me following graduation and going to screenings of most of the films I worked on.

Thanks for reading.

Remix Selected for EP

2010-05-19T13:52:00.005+09:00

If you received this by eMail or Facebook - click here to go to the blog page to view the video.

It's been a while. The last 2 months have been insanely busy and I have neglected the blog. That does mean of course, I have been writing lots of music.

Anyway, a track I submitted for a remix contest has been selected by the original artist to be included on a compilation album EP.

Which is nice!

So....here - (in a Youtube video!) - is the original song, and then the MP3 player below has my remix.

Original Song

And here is my remix of the original track featuring guitarist Willis Clow.

Click here to access and download the track.

News of the contest, and the subsequent EP release will be posted here...

http://thedamagehasbegun.blogspot.com/2010/05/damage-vault-vs-fixt-remix-contest.html

Thanks for reading!

Primal Carnage

2010-03-24T07:15:00.004+09:00

Click 'here' if you received this by eMail or from Facebook.

Check out the teaser trailer for this game I'm working on. The video does not feature any carnage. That will be the next one...!

Primal Carnage will be released later this year, probably sometime in Q4 2010. The game will cost $20.

Visit the official website here to find out much more information on the game.

Thanks for reading!

Pan-Asian Gymnopedie.

2010-01-16T01:44:00.003+09:00

If you received this blog by eMail or through Facebook - please click here to listen to the music in this post.

One of our assignments was to reorchestrate - in any style - the famous Gymnopedie by Erik Satie.

I also reharmonized the piece and completely changed the rhythm.

I chose to do a version for multiple instruments of different origin, including Dhol, Shakuhachi (or xiao), Toms, Timpani, Electric Cello, Handbells (or Thai gongs), and Harp.

I've broken all kinds of 'rules', but I like what turned up as the result. So...here goes...

Here is the original --

Here is my version --

A Scene from Seraphim Falls - GRAPHIC

2010-01-16T01:12:00.002+09:00

If you received this post by eMail or on Facebook then click here to access the blog and view the video / listen to the music.

**Contains some gory scenes of violence**

In November, we headed over to Wavecrest Studios, which is where Harry Gregson-Williams works. This was arranged through the USC Film Scoring Program. He gave us an assignment, which was to score one of two scenes from a movie he had composed the original music for, Seraphim Falls.

Naturally, I chose the bloodier scene.

I treated it slightly differently to the way Harry did, most notably after he falls out of the tree, I choose to treat it as a moment of relief, whereas Harry kept the tension going right through the part where he cuts open the guy's chest.

Anyway, comments and feedback are, as always, most welcome.

X32I : Redemption - Official Trailer 1

2010-01-02T08:34:00.006+09:00

You will need to click here to view the blog as it was intended if you received this update by eMail or Facebook.

This is the first official trailer for the video game I've been working on since July, called X32I : Redemption. We previously released two teaser videos, but this trailer presents some story background, and some gameplay from a cinematic perspective.

I am responsible for all audio on this game, which means not just music, but sound effects and the dialogue. It is not my voice in the trailer, but I am responsible for making sure that it fits properly!

It represents months of development not just with audio, but with the art, with the game design, the ship design and so on. When watching it, please consider that this is a completely unfunded project (for now!).

We are currently working towards producing a demo/prototype version of the game. The game itself is classed as a 'space flight simulator'. However, this is not a full-scale simulator, because if it was, there wouldn't for example, be any sound because there is no sound in space. That is where the two words 'artistic license' come into play!

As for the game itself, you are a pilot flying for the United Earth Alliance, and, as depicted in the trailer, you are a war with the Terran Chance. The game chronicles your journey, and you will fly missions for the United Earth Alliance, and watch as the story unfolds and goes through its many twists and turns. Missions MIGHT range from:

- Escorting a UEA diplomat.
- Bombing runs.
- Capture an enemy transport/shuttle/supply container, etc...
- Destroy the enemy base

etc.etc.etc.

Whilst this project is a videoGAME and you get to fly a spaceship and shoot other spaceships, we are also focusing heavily on the cinematic element of the game. We don't want it just to be an experience where you shoot things, we want it to be a story, and we want it to be memorable. I think of all the components of this game, and there are many, that is the part which will receive the most care and attention. If the story's narrative works, and is paced well and characters developed, then everything else can slot in around it. We're building a game around a story, not a story around a game.

Thank you for reading and watching, your comments as usual, are most welcome and appreciated.

Someone Just Like Her

2009-12-10T21:49:00.004+09:00

If you received this by eMail or Facebook - click here to go to the blog page to view the video.

On December 5th, we had the pleasure of visitng the scoring stage at Warner Brothers to record some of our music. The ensemble that we recorded featured 23 professional musicians; on 12 violins, 4 violas, 4 cellos, 2 basses, and a harp.

I chose a clip from the romantic drama 2046 - which is one of my favourite movies, largely because of its unique story and its incredible cinematography. It is HIGHLY recommended you watch this clip in HD!

I'm normally known for my loud and bombastic music, and this was a journey to 'the other side' to try and write something softer and with more emotional depth.

It was truly a pleasure working with some of the most gifted musicians in the world, and conducting for the first time at Warner Brothers is something I will never ever forget and will hope to repeat in the future, many times :)

Comments and feedback are, as always most welcome!!

P.S. Here is the music file on its own, uncorrupted by Youtube!!!

Photos from Saturday's Session

2009-10-16T11:06:00.005+09:00

Here are some pictures of me 'in action' (or not, in the first two pictures). The picture above was taken just before my session started.

Thanks to engineer Andrew Garver and composer Marc Jovani (and his father!) for taking the pictures!

This is me looking pensive on the podium and deciding what to rehearse next.

And I guess this is me conducting, because what else would it be....!

My next recording is this Saturday, for a student film. In fact, I have a recording every Saturday for the next five weeks. That's a lot of music to write and prepare, speaking of which, I'd better get back to it!!!

The Road To Bunnyville

2009-10-13T15:56:00.006+09:00

If you're reading this from eMail or Facebook, please click here to get to the blog itself so you can listen to the music.

On Saturday, we had a recording session for woodwind and brass instruments, with piano and percussion.

The lineup was: 3 Flutes, 3 Oboes, 3 Clarinets, 3 Bassoons, 4 French Horns, 3 Trumpets, 2 Trombones, 1 Bass Trombone, 1 Tuba, 1 Piano, and 1 Percussionist.

Quite a lineup, and quite a small room to fit us all into!

The session was recorded at the Spielberg Scoring Stage, which is USC's main recording studio for film music.

Yes.... a very exciting building on the outside..............!

I'm sorry I do not have pictures of me in action, or anything from inside the building, they will be coming when we have the next session (unless someone else took some pictures from this one!). Anyway, I can say that I was there, conducted the troops who were almost entirely USC students, and they produced a wonderful recording which I can use on my demo reel.

Why did I write a piece called 'Road To Bunnyville'? To be honest, I just wanted to write something upbeat, happy, jolly, etc..., and as soon as I started writing the main melody for this piece, that image you see at the top is what came into my head. It's been a very long time since reading any of the Beatrix Potter stories, but they do stick.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy listening to the piece as much as I enjoyed composing and recording it. Thanks to everyone involved in this recording, especially the players and the people behind-the-scenes who make it possible for us to do just go up and conduct and get a good recording.

*Picture from Beatrix Potter's Tale Of Benjamin Bunny
** There are still a few tweaks to be made on this recording, but this mix is most definitely 'blog-worthy'.

Less Music Is More Music

2009-09-22T11:53:00.011+09:00

N.B. You will need to click here if you received this blog update by eMail or in Facebook to experience it as it was intended.

So, last week we had to write a 'seamless loop' for a video game (the picture above is from the Xbox 360 console) of our choosing - in other words, write anything you want. A seamless loop is a piece of music where the track (usually between 1 and 3 minutes long) plays over and over again without you noticing an obvious start point or finish point. The difficult part of this assignment is getting the track to loop convincingly and remain interesting at the same time AND keeping the track within the confines of a video game situation.

My first effort, heard below, looped fine, but the music was - so I was told - too much for a video game. Basically, the first half is a bit like a 'pre-battle' theme and then all of a sudden we're in a battle. Also, the music is a little too overloud, but what the heck... I had some fun with it. It loops at around the 57 second mark.

The above picture is what the track looked like on my computer.

Anyway, in class, I was told I'd basically written too much music. The loop itself was pretty cool, but in a situation where I'd be working for a video game director, I'd probably be told...

"There are two themes in there, go and make two tracks out of that material."

So...I did, and yes, the results turned out much better.

The first track is based on the first half of the first effort. It's more like a 'menu music' track, as in the sort of music that might be heard when the player puts in the game for the first time. It loops at the 57 second mark.

The second track is based on the second half of the first effort. This is now without question a battle track. Again, it loops at the 57 second mark.

I guess what this shows, is that in many cases, it pays more to write less. Instead of one minute of music, I now have three minutes of music, and the second two minutes of music took me about 30 minutes to put together....

Comments as always - welcomed and appreciated.

Assignment - Score A Clip From 'Tom & Jerry'

2009-09-09T13:32:00.004+09:00

Last week, one of our tasks was to compose music for a clip from Tom & Jerry. When we first got this assignment, my first thoughts were "Oh ....$"£^!. This is going to be hard."

Anyway, it got to the point where the deadline was approaching and I made a start on it. In a weird and bizarre twist, I decided to do all the writing by hand for this music. I also didn't use a piano. Those of you that know me, know that 99% of the time, I'm always using the computer to put in the actual notes. This time, it was good old pencil and paper.

I had never done this before for a piece this long, and a piece this difficult.

If you're wondering why there is a computer on the table, that was used purely for referring to the video, nothing more.

Also - note the beer can on the right hand side of the screen. ;)

Anyway, so eventually I got around to finishing, and after about 7 hours of actual work, I had written 14 pages (105 bars) of music for a reasonable sized orchestra. Writing by hand actually gave me a fresh perspective on things and it was much easier than I thought.

We have all this great technology that allows us to do so many great things, but I think if I'd done this into the computer directly, I don't think it would have come out as well as it did. It was only when I'd finished the score, that I started using the computer to record the notes.

My version is nowhere near perfect (nobody's was!). In class today, our teacher, who has been doing this for a long time, pretty much slaughtered all of us. But I think the point of the exercise was to show that:

1) It's possible to write in styles that you'd never even considered.
2) It's not as difficult as it seems to sync up music to the on-screen action.

In addition, what I learnt from this activity, was that I can write music extremely fast by hand, and that my handwriting is neater than I thought! The process that I used to write the music for this Tom and Jerry clip was so alien to anything I'd done before, but it was actually extremely liberating.

By the time I'm done here at USC, this won't go down as one of my 'best' works, but given the completely new approach, which I'm certain I will repeat again, it may turn out to be one of the most important.

And finally - here is the video. The first half is OK, but it's really from about 0:44 where I really start to grasp the idea of what it is I'm supposed to be doing. My critique for this was basically that I was writing too much, and trying to be a little too clever. Sometimes less is more.

See what you think and let me know via the comments!

Click here for the link to the video - or just watch below.

John Williams - live from Hollywood Bowl

2009-09-06T17:29:00.007+09:00

Tonight, I was lucky enough to have tickets for John Williams' annual visit to the Hollywood Bowl, where a selection of his music is played throughout the evening. The Hollywood Bowl is a spectacular outdoor venue seating just under 18,000 people. It was probably just a coincidence, but on this glorious evening, there was also a full moon, clear sky, cool temperatures. A perfect evening to listen to one of the 'godfathers' of film music as we know it.

It was my first time to the Hollywood Bowl, and I only have positive things to say about it. Given that it is such a huge outdoor 'arena', I was amazed at the quality of the sound that was projected. I also enjoyed the different lighting effects, displayed above, the large screens showing clips from the movies and closeups of the orchestral players and John Williams, and also the general ambience of the whole evening. This really was a celebration of Williams' music. The set included a large chunk of music from Harry Potter, Catch Me If You Can, The Witches of Eastwick, a violin solo of 'As Time Goes By', the Superman theme, the E.T. theme, and of course - to finish with - the Star Wars themes. Speaking of Star Wars, it was the first time I had witnessed lightsabers at a concert, displayed here in the photos above. It was like being in some kind of weird cult rave, except without the thudding techno music, it was the Imperial March. To finish this blog, I have a short but very low quality video to show, just so you can get a vague sense of what it's like.

In summary, it's one thing to hear John Williams' music in the movies, but it is quite another hearing it live and played by the LA Philharmonic. If you ever had the chance, do try and go to see him live, and if not... then slip in one of his soundtracks, and enjoy his work.

Welcome to Dodger Stadium...

2009-09-03T00:33:00.008+09:00

I've been meaning to put these up for a week now, but have only just found the time to do so. Two weeks ago on Monday night, I went to the Los Angeles Dodgers stadium to see a baseball game though. I can probably say that it was - in terms of the view - probably the best stadium I've ever been to, surpassing even the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

The tickets I got cost $30, and considering the vantage point, I thought that was a pretty good deal!
However, one of the problems in Los Angeles is the traffic, and this meant that we didn't arrive until the third inning. This was further exacerbated by the terrible terrible infrastructure in and around the stadium, which just leads to ultimate confusion, tedium, and extremely long waiting times. It's a shame because the stadium is in a beautiful location, but is let down with poor transport connectivity.
Onto the game then, and it was quite an exciting and close game. The Dodgers were playing the St. Louis Cardinals. Both teams are top of the division in their respective leagues. However, it was Cardinals superstar Albert Pujols who won the day for his team, with a towering home run to left field. The Cardinals held on to edge out the Dodgers 3-2, but most of the fans had gone home well before the end of the game to beat.... yes, the traffic.
And the traffic, not really well represented in this photo, is exactly what greeted us at the end of the 9th inning. About 30 minutes to get inside the stadium, and about 15-20 to get out. The LA metro expansion cannot come soon enough!!! LA has a major problem with public transport, because people aren't using it, they are all using cars. This means that there is less money to spend on public transport and the local government can't improve the transport until more people use it. But...more people won't use it unless there is an improvement in the service.

A vicious cycle! But still, I've managed to get by without a car for one month. Let's see how far I can go!

Los Angeles Fires

2009-09-01T16:18:00.004+09:00

So, as I'm sure you've heard on the news, there is a huge wildfire that is spreading across the area North of Los Angeles. The pictures in this blog update are both taken from the balcony on the 2nd floor of our house. The cloud of smoke (yes, smoke, not a real cloud) is one thing, as seen above, but the nighttime view is perhaps more impressive. To put it in perspective, these photos are taken from 20 miles away!!!

I cannot imagine what it must be like for the people who live there, but I'm sure the LA Fire Department is doing everything they can to help. It's quite alarming when you see the hills on which the Hollywood sign is placed, in flames....

So... whilst the weather is hot and dry here, which is great, it does have its own risks.

In Japan, it would be floods and landslides because of typhoons (as well as earthquakes) - in LA, it is wildfires and earthquakes. What is it about me that likes moving to all these disaster prone places?!?!!

Two new trailers featuring my music.

2009-08-18T06:04:00.005+09:00

Here is the first of two trailers I completed some time ago for two different clients. This first trailer is for a crazy British action movie called 'The Tournament' - which looks very cool. My music is featured for the last minute or so of the trailer.

The second trailer - "Three Miles North Of Molkom" features my music for about the first 50 seconds. It looks like a very odd documentary but at least it was a chance to write some new music in a different style as opposed to the heavy action music that I've been doing for a long time.

If you received this by eMail - you will need to click through to my blog to access the videos.

Click here for my blog page!

Enjoy!! Comments welcomed and encouraged!

SMPTV Boot Camp - Week One

2009-08-16T15:30:00.009+09:00

So... the above video is my first assignment for the SMPTV course. (Please try and watch it in High Definition at Youtube).

In case the video doesn't work - please click here --

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XploZ3pbsW4

We had to write music for the trailer for the new Tron : Legacy movie which is due to be released next year. The original trailer hardly has any music at all. I feel that my version is a bit like a music video rather than an actual chase scene, but I think it works.

As part of Boot Camp, I had to learn and use software that I had never used before to produce the music, so I was pleasantly surprised at the result. It did help that we had a great teacher to help us learn the new software. (Some other students had used it before, but not me). It was also my first time working on an Apple Mac, and the experience was certainly pretty good.

Here is the room where this week's 'magic' happened. We all had the same equipment and same resources, but despite that, everyone came up with fairly different approaches to the trailer. I want those speakers at the front of the room....they are extremely powerful!

Boot Camp, Week One was not as taxing as I thought it would be, though I think we are just being eased in gently before the madness starts on August 24th!

There will be multiple blog posts this week, so check back regularly!

Also - apologies for the low quality video. A better quality one will be coming later this week.

Departure / Arrival

2009-08-10T17:07:00.006+09:00

It seems hard to believe that just over a week ago I was in Japan, getting ready to leave, and reflecting on 3 years of work.

Yet now, here I am, in Los Angeles, gearing up for a technology 'bootcamp' that is going to prepare me for the film scoring course proper once it gets going.

Everything has been slightly overwhelming so far especially when compared with Japan. New home, twelve new housemates, slower internet, less frequent and convenient public transport, better weather, LARGE portions of food, water that isn't so clean, police car sirens wailing throughout the night, police helicopters flying over the house, fantastic weather (no humidity), reduced threat of earthquakes, and oh.... the small matter of being able to write music full-time for the first time in 3 years!

My house is fantastic - I will do a whole separate post on it later. The picture above is the view from the front porch. It is a 12 bedroom mansion, that is 109 years old. It is a listed building. My room was formerly the chapel, and is on the ground floor. My room is probably as big as the main area of the living room, kitchen, and bedroom of my Japanese apartment, so I can't really complain! The house is located about 1 and a half miles from USC. Despite my house being a mansion, it is in a fairly run-down area largely populated by Mexicans / Nicaraguans. It's certainly not as safe as Japan was, but I'm not exactly living in a warzone (that is south of USC.....).

Currently, I don't have a car (the picture is me in a friend's car), which if I was living on my own, would be a disadvantage, but fortunately there are lots of other housemates who do actually have a car, which is very lucky for me, and I am very grateful to them! To be honest, not having a car may be a blessing in disguise.... drivers are pretty aggressive in LA!

The weather here is incredible. Every day is hot but not oppressive. In the evenings it becomes very cool, which is something I'm not used to, but it is very pleasant nonetheless.

Last night, I went to 'The Getty', which is an art exhibition centre located fairly near Westwood (upmarket trendy part of LA), and very much 'in the hills'. The photo of me at the top is taken at the top of the Getty overlooking south-west LA (not Downtown, where I live).

Currently, it's far too late, and I have school tomorrow, so I should probably be off to bed. Anyway, the posts will hopefully come thick and fast over the next month or two, before I get swamped by the work of this course (more on the course in a later post.

Thanks for reading as always! GC

"X32I - Redemption" Teaser Trailer

2009-07-10T17:51:00.004+09:00

Hello all. Here is a teaser trailer for a video game that I'm working on. Either watch it here or click the Youtube logo to watch it at Youtube.

It's still VERY early days, so this trailer is meant to be deliberately ambiguous.

Anyway, I hope you like the trailer, and of course the music ;)

Best viewed in HD.

Presentation from Tochigi Board of Education

2009-06-26T16:33:00.005+09:00

So today, I had to go to school at 8 a.m. For what it's worth, it is exceptionally rare that I arrive at school at 8 a.m these days!!! (My contract states that I start work at 8.30 a.m). Anyway, I was told that the principal would be giving me something, I had no idea what it was, and I thought I might be in trouble at first!

Anyhow, I was presented with the document that you can see above. This style of document is what is usually given out to students when they graduate, or employees who reach milestones in their working lives.

The basic gist of the document is for the Tochigi Board of Education to show its appreciation for my work. I can't translate it word for word perfectly, but I can get pretty close.

From right to left:

"Gareth Coker

"You have worked in Tochigi-ken for 3 years as an Assistant Language Teacher. During your time here you have worked hard in teaching language and internationalisation, and have thus helped to improve the working relationship between Japan and the UK.

Heisei 21st year (current era in Japan) , 1st July.
Tochigi Board of Education.
THE BOSS (I can't read his name/translate the kanji)."

That might not be perfect, but it's pretty close. I was not expecting this, so it was nice to receive it. I'm not sure if I'll be receiving something/anything from Utsunomiya High School directly. I will no doubt find out at the closing ceremony which is.... 3 weeks today!

The Home Project

2009-06-18T17:07:00.005+09:00

This is a quick post to inform you of a documentary that I was directed to by a friend recently. It is phenomenal. The photography rivals that of any BBC nature series, and in some places is simply overwhelming. The narration is a little bit preachy in parts, but I can forgive that for the quality of the documentary as a whole. In addition, the music is brilliant and features performances from many parts of the world.

The documentary - simply called 'Home' - is free to view on Youtube. It will be 93 minutes of your life extremely well spent. Here is the link.

http://www.youtube.com/homeproject

Enjoy!

Moving to LA -- Going to USC

2009-06-06T22:57:00.011+09:00

Now that I have my visa for America, I can make this announcement 'official' which I've generally kept to myself for the last two months.

For the last 3 years, I've lived in Japan, as an English teacher, and little by little I've managed to work my way into the music industry, notably in the production of music for movie trailers and also with a couple of games which are slowly moving through the development cycle. For the first time in my life, in the last month, I earned more from music than I did in my full-time job...and this was working part-time obviously, on top of my full-time job.

So...what am I doing going to the University of Southern California, when I could probably just pursue working in music full time?

From August, I will be studying on the University of Southern California's Scoring For Motion Pictures And Television course. It is a Graduate Certificate, with a schedule that seems to shape itself as a professional development/preparation course. There are very few courses in the world of this kind and of this depth, and that are so well connected with a film school, and none can match the location, which is right in the heart of the capital of the world entertainment industry. Then there's the faculty, who are all working professionals in Los Angeles, and then there's the opportunity to team up with USC's world-leading Cinematic Arts program, which should put me in touch with many of tomorrow's filmmakers.

The course itself is extremely intensive (classes on Sundays?!) and covers most of the things I learnt at the Royal Academy of Music, but in greater depth, and with a far greater emphasis of applying that process to film/tv/games, both in terms of the technique and the art. Additionally, there is the chance to have music played by a live orchestra on almost a weekly basis, and a lot of opportunites to work on 'real' projects with student filmmakers.

Combined with the networking opportunites that a place like USC (and being in Los Angeles) offers, it is my goal that after I leave USC, I will have a greater number of projects to work on, and have a large network of people who will contact me to work on their projects. That's the plan, it may not turn out like that, but USC gives me a great opportunity to realise my career goal which I've spent the last 9 years working towards - (in a somewhat backwards way, admittedly - via Japan!). If I can't do it here in Los Angeles, I never will.

My blog will be getting updated far more often (similar amount of posts as to when I arrived in Japan 3 years ago) - and I will try and upload videos of the live orchestra sessions, and more audio clips of any work I produce. For sure, this year, I will be producing a LOT more music. That's not to say that the last few years have been lean, but a huge amount of work will be forthcoming.

So, stay tuned for further info. I'm in the process of securing somewhere to live now and then I have to finalise actually getting from Japan to Los Angeles.

I will certainly miss my time in Japan, but it is most definitely time to close the chapter and move on to pastures new. Exciting times are ahead.

One of my favourite spots in Japan.

2009-05-17T19:50:00.006+09:00

The famous stepping stones at Heian Shrine in Kyoto. I just love it here!

This place first came to my attention when I saw Scarlett Johansson walking across them in the movie Lost In Translation. It took me a while to get here, but I was able to last year, and once again this year before I leave in August.

The Heian Shrine is one of the most tourist-crowded places in Kyoto, but on this day, we were increidbly lucky, and basically had the whole shrine to ourselves! This made a fantastic opportunity for some quick photos with no-one else on the stepping stones, quite a rarity.

Do visit if you have the chance!

Pictures from across Japan - V

2009-03-11T22:20:00.003+09:00

Here are some pictures from Kenroku-en. A wonderful and beautiful garden located in Kanazawa City, in Ishikawa-ken.

Enjoy!

Site Update

2009-02-12T21:35:00.002+09:00

Hello everyone, my website has undergone a significant facelift - so please check it out.

http://www.gareth-coker.net/

Also, there are 5 new tracks on there, with more coming very soon.

And an early Happy Valentine's Day!

Lightspire : Fortune’s Web - Teaser

2009-02-08T00:57:00.003+09:00

**Click the arrow in the bottom right and then 'HQ' to view the video in High Quality**

Here is the first demonstration trailer for the video game I am working on called Lightspire : Fortune’s Web. The project is at VERY early stages of development, but already is showing signs of huge promise. The developer is Lukewarm Media, and currently I am serving as Director of Audio on this project. As for this trailer, I composed the music for it, and an associate of mine produced the sound FX.

There will not be much news on this title for a few more months, but when we have more information I will post it here on this blog.

The game itself is a fantasy-action role-playing game, powered by Crytek’s CryEngine 2. We hope to release the game within the next 3 years, but we can’t honestly give an accurate timeframe.

Enjoy the video!

Pictures from across Japan - IV

2009-02-08T00:43:00.002+09:00

So, above is a view of Shirakawagoe. This is a part of Japan where section of the movie ‘Last Samurai’ was filmed. It’s a very old village which has been largely untouched by the modernisation of Japan, and still has a highly active community. How they can survive the cold is beyond me!

Above is a typical house that you might find in Shirakawagoe. Similar to the houses in the previous post, but a lot smaller/compact. I cannot imagine what it would be like to live here in the winter. Japan’s climate varies greatly, with its summers being tropical, and its winters feeling like the arctic.

However, given the secluded nature of this place, it would probably be wonderful to live here for a short period of time. Totally detached from pretty much all civilization.

Of course, a place like this has to be self-sufficient to a point, and above is one of the many ricefields that are located in this village.

Shirakawagoe is one of the more famous villages of this kind in Japan, but villages like this exist across the nation, and are a great reminder of a proud past. Places like these show how far Japan have come in a relatively short space of time, but what is more important, is that despite its fast modernisation, Japan has managed to maintain and keep communites like this alive.

Pictures from across Japan - III

2009-01-09T20:53:00.005+09:00

Another belated update, many apologies again. I have been extremely busy both at work and outside of work, but I the next 3 months are fairly normal.

So, to continue my Pictures from Across Japan series - this small set of pictures are from "Hida No Sato" - a small historical village/simulation in the mountains of nearby Takayama. We were incredibly lucky with the weather, and with the village being situated on the hillside, we could see an awfully long way into the distance.

The photo above was the best panoramic shot I could take -- with a mobile phone ;)

The picture above is what you see upon immediately entering the village, with the lake being the center of the village. Japan has an abundance of hot springs, due to it being located on the faultlines of 3 tectonic plates. Most of the water just falls naturally down the mountain from hot springs. It is said that the water from these hot springs have healing qualities, but I'm sceptical!

Above is a typical Japanese house from this period (Edo period). Despite the sunshine, the temperature was not warm at all, and one can only imagine how bad it must have been in the winter.

Above is a picture of a circular rice paddy. I had never seen anything like this before, and I live in Utsunomiya, Tochigi - a part of Japan which is considered rural and I see rice fields everywhere. I wouldn't normally take a picture of one, but to see a circular one is rare. The reason the rice is in a circle is so that it can be dedicated to the gods (represented by the pole in the middle).

And finally, the quintessential Japanese temple to finish off. More blogs soon. Thanks for reading!

Comments welcome.

New track, and website update.

2008-10-02T23:54:00.005+09:00

NEW TRACK - "MARCH TO OBLIVION"

A new track called 'Oblivion' is available to listen to. It is by far the best track I have ever produced on my computer, thanks largely to a new product called 'Symphobia,' that I am using. It is available to listen to on my website, so please visit www.gareth-coker.net, and leave a comment if you wish. More information on Symphobia is also there.

WEBSITE UPDATE

Song descriptions can now be accessed by clicking the upwards pointing arrow next to the 'X' on the music player. Both the arrow and the X are on the top right hand corner of the music player. There should be a picture and a short description for every song there. Full instructions are available in the 'News' section of my website.

If there are any problems with either the new track or the website, feel free to mail me either through the website or the blog.

And as always, please leave comments. The comments encourage me to produce more content for all of you!

'Reflections' - LIVE Video

2008-09-28T00:14:00.005+09:00

The piano solo 'Reflections' which I performed at Utsunomiya City Cultural Hall on the 5th September, is now available for viewing on my website - www.gareth-coker.net

Please visit the video section, and as usual, please leave a comment or some feedback!

Thankyou for reading!

The Warlords

2008-09-19T23:38:00.004+09:00

Hello everyone. You can now see the trailerfor the movie 'Warlords' for which I wrote music for. Please vist the video section of my website - http://www.gareth-coker.net/

Or - you can download a higher quality (bigger) version from here.... http://www.box.net/shared/vqt2x2c3dy

Enjoy and please comment!

Pictures from across Japan - II

2008-09-17T17:54:00.006+09:00

TAKAYAMA

A quaint little town that sits high in the Japanese alps. Not particularly foreigner friendly, but if you look hard enough, it is definitely possible to find your way around. Very quiet, and very clean, a good place for a short break or to use as a base for travelling to another area.

As shown in the pictures above. Takyama had a lot of interesting nooks and crannies, with a lot of older 'Japanese-style' buildings. Takayama's buildings are largely untouched by modern life (unlike Kyoto) - so the town still retains its charm. The shop you see in the 2nd picture, is a (judging from the writing above the shop) Takayama crafts shop. Different parts of Japan specialise in certain arts and crafts (much like other regions in other countries) and Takayama is no different.

Shown above is one of the MANY strange statues that were on display in Takayama. To be honest, I couldn't work out what they represented, but it's another example of some of the many strange and interesting things one can see in Japan. Another statue included a man bending over wearing no underwear.... I'm not kidding.... The chuckle from a group of girls walking past it made me go and check out exactly what it was, and it was exactly that.

And finally, below is the view from the hotel room in Takayama. One of the best things about being in the mountains, is that the air is SO clean and on a good day you can see for miles and miles.

Japanese Bento (Lunchbox)

2008-09-12T19:48:00.005+09:00

Japanese bento boxes are simply amazing. The quality varies, but in general, you get what you pay for. The above is the pinnacle of my bento eating experience in Japan, and it cost 1200 yen, which at the time was about 7 pounds. Everything is beautifully put together, presented nicely, and everything has such a clean taste, that you don't really care if you don't know what it is.

Bento boxes can be bought starting from around 500 yen and up to as much as 6000 yen, depending on how much you want to order and usually the quality of the meat. I don't even bother making my own lunch at school, as we have a great daily bento box which has a different menu every day. The cost...500 yen!! I certainly wouldn't be bothered to put something together like that myself, AND have to pay for the ingredients to get it, so for 500 yen, I will always be happy to pay for a bento box.

The above is another example, not quite as well presented, but for about 1000 yen, that is a lot of food!

You will absolutely not find lunch boxes as good as this in Europe or the US, for the same price!

Pictures from across Japan - I

2008-09-11T22:16:00.010+09:00

MATSUMOTO - Crow Castle

One of the landmark castles in Japan, here are a selection of photos taken way back in March! Unfortunately, the weather was not exactly spectacular on this day, but even on days like this, you can get some great images.

Pictures taken with my trusty mobile phone!

The castle itself is about 500 years old! It is called Crow Castle, because of it's black walls, and it's shape.

And here is Dad standing in front of a commemorative stone. I think!

Inside, were a lot of relics from the Edo period in Japan, including this samurai outfit.

Even on a day with bad weather, it is possible to get great long distance views.

And finally a picture of Dad. According to the sign, he is not supposed to "appear on the veranda" - whatever that means..... Another fine example of Japanglish!

Thanks for reading!

New music

2008-09-10T19:24:00.003+09:00

Hello, they're not on the website proper yet, so please have an early listen to these two tracks recorded (not so well) from last week's school festival.

Escape to Reality -- featuring Hiroki Masuda (violin)

http://www.box.net/shared/ttpch36ubi

Reflections

http://www.box.net/shared/1e970xjroj

Enjoy, and thanks for listening, and visiting the blog.

Brand new website.

2008-09-09T00:22:00.003+09:00

Please, please, take a look at my new website. Located at http://www.gareth-coker.net/

As opposed to my blog, which is my personal website, this one is geared towards my professional needs.

Gareth

Spring Hols Pt 1 - Dinner with the Yoshidas

2008-06-08T22:11:00.007+09:00

Japanese cuisine is arguably the finest in the world. Indeed, Tokyo has the highest number of Michelin stars of any city on the planet -- but then it does have 270,000 restaurants. And that's probably excluding the mom-and-pap shops that are literally all over the place.

On the first day of the holiday where I met up with Mum and Dad, we were invited to dinner with the Yoshidas. The Yoshidas are very close friends of mine. Toshi - is a referee for the Japanese Football Association, and was - once-upon-a-time a FIFA referee. Saeko - his wife - was one of my colleagues last year, and we have become very good friends since my time in Japan. They also have two children.

They took us to Kagetsu, one of the best restaurants (in my opinion - THE best) - in Utsunomiya. Below are some pictures of the food that we ate.

Presentation and preparation is of the utmost importance regarding food in Japan. If the food is not prepared lovingly, then it will not taste as good. As you can see from these dishes, the food is expertly prepared, and arranged, and only the highest quality of ingredients will do. Probably most of the dishes my parents hadn't ate before, yet they still managed to finish every single one.

Above is an example of exquisite sushi. My favourite is the 'maguro' sushi - otherwise known as tuna. If possible try and get tuna belly sushi, as that is far more succulent (and expensive) than just regular tuna.

Above is a picture of me with the Yoshida family.And finally, here is a picture of Mum, Dad, and I with the sushi chefs of Kagetsu. A very enjoyable evening.

More holiday stories coming soon..

My Minesweeper Times

2008-06-08T22:06:00.003+09:00

So the real question is can you beat my time of 199 seconds on Expert in Minesweepeer.

For what it's worth - the world record is 39 seconds I think. I'm not a professional, but I think my time is pretty good. If you click on the photo - you should be able to enlarge the picture.

I'm back.

2008-06-08T22:05:00.001+09:00

Apologies once again for the long layoff. New school year, I have different activities every day, and quite frankly when I get home I'm knackered. I'll try and keep going for more than 3 months!!

Nikko - in the snow.

2008-02-10T23:40:00.001+09:00

So welcome to Nikko again, this time from Lake Chuzenji and the Kegon Falls. Lake Chuzenji is pictured above, and well... I lucked out today. Not only had a massive amount of snow fallen, but today the conditions were absolutely crystal clear (but below freezing unfortunately!!). Anyway, I took a lot of pictures - WITH MY MOBILE PHONE! I think the quality of the photos are pretty remarkable all things considering!

So - that's Lake Chuzenji from all the angles. You can also see how clear the sky was today. It was just stunning. I've visited Nikko in all seasons, but this was by far the best time I've been. It's easy to see why Nikko is a World Heritage site.

Finally, you can see the huge gate that marks the entrance to Lake Chuzenji. These red gates are all over Japan, usually around historic sites, which Nikko is.

On arriving at Nikko, we unwittingly stumbled upon the remannts of the previous night's Snow Festival, where we learnt that people had been doing an igloo-building competition. Some of them - like the one above, were really really impressive.

After viewing the igloos, we proceeded to Kegon Falls, which at first involved walking through a short pathway through some not particularly dense woods. This led for some more decent phototaking opportunities.

Not bad for a mobile phone!

So eventually we arrived at Kegon Falls.

Random trivia about Kegon Falls, well... it's one of the tallest waterfalls in Japan, and..... it was once the top suicide spot in the country!!! Lovers who had no prospect of marriage would go and top themselves here!

Happy days!

So here is Kegon Falls in the snow!

Kegon Falls is a really spectacular sight in any season, but it seemed more so today. It's not just the size of the waterfall (105 metres), but also it's remarkable surroundings that make it a special place.

Next - well, it wouldn't be Nikko and Tochigi without some obligatory pictures of snow-covered mountains. So here they are!! I should add that my hands were really struggling at this point to even keep hold of my phone!!

The mountains in Nikko aren't actually that high in relation to some of Europe's biggest mountains, but that doesn't stop them from being spectacular.

So after a freezing day in Nikko, we returned to the train station, which was also covered in snow, and returned home! The train line runs through my school, so I thought I'd close with a picture from my school when the snow fell earlier this week. If you look closely you can make out my students playing soccer in the snow and sunshine!

Right, off for some hot chocolate. Please leave comments!! This post took a long time to put together!

SNOW - it only took 18 months!

2008-02-04T00:21:00.000+09:00

So, I woke up this morning, feeling rather cold. I went to turn on the heater, and then opened the curtains, looked out from my balcony, and saw the above image!

It's taken 18 months for it to snow in Tochigi, which given that this is a part of Japan which is more to the north of the country, it should be snowing more often!

The first photo above, is the house opposite mine, and teh second photo shows my parking space (the empty one!). I'd say that about 10 centimetres fell overnight, which isn't much, but given that it has remained below freezing all day, it's going to be horrible going to school tommorrow morning, as most of this snow will become hard and the pavements will become very icy.

Despite all the snow, the trains of course are running as normal. It will have to be really heavy for the trains to be cancelled.

And only if the trains are cancelled, is school cancelled. So, I probably won't be getting tommorrow off!! Never mind!

Oh - and if this carries on, we have the school's 130th anniversary ceremony on Tuesday. That will be interesting if it's still below freezing (forecast says so) given there's supposed to be some kind of short ceremonial parade!!!!!!!

Today's average temperature in Tochigi was -1 degrees, and with wind chill minus 6 degrees.

It could be worse, I could live in Hokkaido, where it's about -35 degrees Celsius!

Gadgets Galore - Part 3 - Nintendo DS

2008-02-04T00:07:00.001+09:00

After a long long wait, a wait in which the price of the DS decreased but so did the stock availability, I finally was able to purchase a Nintendo DS, the best selling games machine in the world.

Not only that, but I managed to get one of the coveted red ones, which are available in Japan but nowhere else I believe.

The DS is simply the iPod of handheld gaming systems. It trounces the competition so emphatically in every single way. It has a huge games library, but its real strength is that its attracted a new customer to the games market. There are educational games, mental ability games, dictionaries, recipe books. The list is incredible.

Then there's the design itself, it's small, it's light, the buttons just feel right. Everything is in the right place. For such a small and compact device, the fact that it has wireless in it, so you can communicate with your friends via the DS is simply incredible.

The real genius though is the two screens. The DS is the first games machine to have two screens. It opens up a whole new realm of possibilities for gamers. The big story when the DS came out, was that the second screen was touch sensitive. The touch sensitive screen is controlled by the stylus, a pen that you connect to the touch screen and it recognises your movements and interprets them in realtime.

This is best demonstrated in the kanji dictionary software that I bought.

My DS cost 15,000 yen, which is about 8000 yen cheaper than the UK.

On the second screen (the lower one) you can see a kanji figure quite clearly. I originally drew this onto the screen, the DS recognised the kanji, and then looked it up in the dictionary for me. Once it found it, it showed the dictionary entry in the top screen - and you can see the meaning of the kanji symbol, and example sentences.

This is incredibly useful, and I can use it absolutely anywhere. I just copy the kanji from any source, and I can find out what it means. I have since sold my electronic dictionary, because this is just much more functional than that dictionary ever was.

I did buy Super Mario DS as well, but gaming, for now is secondary on this system. Having said that, the Mario game is awesome!

Gadgets Galore - Part 2 - A Second Music Player

2008-02-03T23:59:00.001+09:00

Why? You may ask? Why get a SECOND music player.

Well - an iPod is sort of impractical for going running with, and as I go running regularly, I want something smaller. Also, the above player is pretty cheap, and if I lost it, it wouldn't be the end of the world, whereas if I lost my iPod, that would be a bit more cataclysmic.

So the above is the Creative Zen Stone Plus 2 GB. With capacity for about 1000 songs, an FM Radio, a stopwatch, and a microphone it has a great feature set. It has also has excellent battery life - around 15 hours, which makes it perfect for day trips, and for going running in the morning.

It is ridiculously light, and ridiculously small. I attached a wrist strap to it merely for the reason that it's so small and easy to misplace. To give you an idea, you can see the pictures below.

It is even easier to use than the iPod. It's literally a case of plugging it into the computer, and then dragging whatever music files you want onto the player, and off you go again. Brilliant. Simple. Efficient.

It cost 4800 yen or 23 pounds. It's not Japanese, but the Japanese price is 15 pounds cheaper than the UK. So I think that's pretty good!

I'll miss these gadgets when I'm gone!

Gadgets Galore - Part 1 - A New Phone

2008-02-03T23:23:00.001+09:00

So, I bought a new phone this week. It is the AU W53CA by Casio.

AU is the network provider, and Casio made the handset. Casio are most famous for their cameras, and in this phone, they've integrated their excellent camera technology with the functionality that AU phones are renowned for.

Japanese phones are so far ahead of the UK I reckon that the UK and other Western countries are about ten years behind. It's not just the design, it's the functionality and ease of use. These phones have so many functions, but kids and grandmas can use them equally as well.

Some stats about my phone.

As with all Japanese phones, it can make calls, and send eMail. No text messaging in Japan!

5.1 Megapixel camera - it takes good pictures. All subsequent pictures on this blog will be taken by the camera on my phone.

2.8 inch display screen - this is as big as most digital cameras. The screen can be rotated 180 degrees, so that you can use it as a phone, and then with a twist, it can be turned into a camera. Simple, functional, and just so...obvious!.

18.9mm thick.121 grams. (Good considering there's a camera in there)

GPS.

Fantastic music player. Really easy to use.

4 Gigabytes of storage.

A whole bunch of other stuff I haven't discovered yet.

The only tricky part was buying the actual phone. Buying a phone in Japanese is tough, but it was worth the 45 minute effort. I also managed to negotiate a better value contract, which will see me through to the end of my time in Japan. At the store, they transferred all my old numbers and eMails to my new phone, for no extra charge. I have the same number, same eMail, and everything works.

And this was all in Japanese. I can't help but remember that it wasn't quite so simple in the UK.

The phone cost me 5000 yen, as it was an upgrade from a previous AU model. I think it's absolutely terrific value. 25 pounds for a camera phone?? Yes, please!

To close, I'll post some pictures of other great Japanese phones!

Nature In Winter

2008-01-06T18:30:00.001+09:00

So - here is the latest composition - 'Nature In Winter'.

As usual, RIGHT-CLICK on the link below to open in a new window/tab - and then you can read the blurb whilst listening.

http://www.box.net/shared/198rrdds0w

After doing the huge epic piece last week, I wanted to do something a bit lighter in tone. What better way to do that then set music to a winter scene. The music is supposed to provide a backing to whatever images the listener can conjure up when they think of Nature in Winter. Therefore, this music is obviously impressionistic. The main influence on this music is Claude Debussy, who is maybe my all time classical music hero. The music has influences of serious classical music and film music, but it is categorically a 'scene-setter' for film music, or music that could go over a montage (a la BBC's Planet Earth series).

I haven't written for a solo instrument for a while, so this time I chose to focus on flute. Normally, I like to write for solo violin, because it's such a beautiful instrument when played well, but this time I decided to switch to woodwind. It was a toss up between oboe and flute, but flute won, merely because it has a range much better suited to this style of music. The oboe is a beautiful sounding instrument, but the range where it sounds 'nice' is not as big as the flute.

I hope you enjoy listening, and as usual - please leave feedback. Comments are always appreciated!

First Encounter

2008-01-02T16:00:00.001+09:00

Hello. It's a new year, and here is my first composition. I've been working on this for the past week as I've actually had some free time to do it.

Here is the link, RIGHT-CLICK and open it in a new window/tab. - http://www.box.net/shared/5gqbba1sgw

Once you've opened the link, then you can read the blurb whilst you're listening. It's a long piece by my standards - 5 minutes and 30 seconds.

The piece is called 'First Encounter'. It's really about a journey through space and the person journeying through space encounters something spectacular for the first time, but no sooner has it appeared, than it disappears.

This represents about 11 man-hours of work. It even crashed my computer!! None of the instruments on this are real, so don't expect it to sound like a real orchestra!!!

There's a distinct possiblitiy I might adapt this for a real orchestra, particularly the dramatic final section, as right now the only record of this is on my computer and a couple of sketches on paper!

Influences for this song include Globus http://www.globusmusic.com/ - and Bear McCreary - composer of Battlestar Galactica's music (the best series on television). www.scifi.com/battlestar

I wish I had an Arabian vocalist for this track, but I guess computers can't do everything! I need some slightly eerie/wailing singing to go over the top.

Anyway. below is a picture of the arrangement on my software programme. The little blocks all represent different bits of information. If you click on it you can see in detail the complexity of the software I have to use it, and that's not including all the subprograms required to operate the orchestra. In the bottom right, there is the synth rack. Only 3 synths can be seen, but actually 12 are running! These synths are making all the sounds, and are thus working very hard. However, so powerful is my computer, that if you look at the top right of the screen you'll see a CPU meter in alittle box called 'System'. Those are my 4 computer processors, and they are barely breaking sweat!

It's nice to be able to write some music during the holiday period. If I wasn't so busy during term-time I would write more. I'm still getting to grips with this new orchestra software that I have, but slowly, I'm getting more proficient at using it.

I'd take a real orchestra any day of the week though!!

Comments would be most welcome! Bye for now!

A message for my Japanese readers.

2008-01-02T07:31:00.000+09:00

みなさん、明けましておめでとうございます。今年に頑張ってください！

今年に、私はアメリカの大学にアプライします。来年、映画の音楽の大学に行きたいです。この大学はカリフォニャのロスアンジェレスいます。じゃ。。一年間半日本にあります！！

私のブロッグを詠んで下さい！ありがとうございました。

Happy New Year!

2008-01-01T23:38:00.000+09:00

Just a quick note to say Happy New Year to everyone and thankyou for reading my blog this year.

Updates will resume on Friday.

Please keep reading and leaving comments!

Best wishes for 2008!

Let'su making a keeki!!

2007-12-13T17:38:00.000+09:00

So, today I was invited to make a Christmas Cake with one of the 1st year classes.

All 1st years have domestic studies, and every December, they get to make a Christmas Cake.

Christmas Cakes in Japan are completely different to the cakes in England. You can get the more authentic kinds of cakes in expensive department stores, but most stores will sell a sponge cake with fancy decorations.

The above cake is by the domestic studies teacher (here's one I did earlier). It's a bit crowded for my taste, but that's the Japanese way.

So the cake is basically made up of sponge, and whipped cream. My cream also had a heavy infusion of brandy in it. Needless to say, the students didn't get the same cream. Also, the teachers who made cakes had better base ingredients than the students, and a bigger base sponge cake. All I can say is that it's good business for the company that receives an order for 300 circular sponges!

So inside the cake, is cream and strawberries, and then on top of the cake is even more cream and strawberries and whatever else you desire.

My finished result is below.

Needless to say it was tremendous fun using the piped cream! It was also even funnier watching students making a mess of it (15-16 year old Japanese guys are even worse than I was at the same age, and that's saying something!).

Finally, in true Japanese style, you do of course get a little presentation case for the cake.

So, to be honest, it wasn't really 'making' a cake, it was really decorating it. To be fair, the logistics of getting 280 students to make their own sponge cakes is pretty tricky. I'm just grateful that I got a chance to do it, and of course I could teach students (in English) about the differences between English and Japanese Christmas cake.

There's only one problem..... with it sitting in my fridge, it might get eaten well before Christmas Day!!!!

Try one of my listening tests!

2007-12-03T20:15:00.001+09:00

For the first time, I've decided to upload one of my listening tests. You will need the following links.

RIGHT CLICK TO OPEN THEM IN A NEW WINDOW

http://www.box.net/shared/s4m1yyh6ag - TEST AUDIO.

http://www.box.net/shared/id9ma8yo5s - TEST QUESTIONS & ANSWER SHEET.

I've also put the questions below. Please remember, I'm not a qualified English teacher, and that this test is for students who are having their first regular(once weekly) experiences of studying English listening and speaking. Before senior high school, students only study reading and writing extensively, with listening and speaking something of a novelty. This is due to change, but unfortunately, not in my time! It will be another generation before Japanese students start learning foreign languages from a younger age.

The script is crude, because I have to cover a lot of vocabulary that we have studied so far!

At the bottom of the post, there are some 'interesting' cultural explanations which may enlighten those of you who haven't been to Japan.

Anyway, I uploaded this so some of you could see what I get up to during school! Enjoy!

Section A (Lesson 1, Lesson 8) – 5 points.

Listen to the radio show and answer the questions below in English.

1. Where is DJ Coker speaking from?

2. What is today’s weather and what will the temperature be?

3. How does DJ Coker come to work and how long does it take?

4. What happened to DJ Coker on his way to work?

5. Why will DJ Coker never drive a car?

Section B (Lesson 2, Lesson 3, Lesson 6). – 5 points

Listen to the news and answer the questions below.

1a. Tonight’s news is all about Japan. TRUE / FALSE

b. This is the NHK six o’clock news. TRUE / FALSE

2a. High school students don’t use their mobile phones. TRUE / FALSE

b. Students should always use their phones in school. TRUE / FALSE

3. If a person sees a student use their phone in class, what eMail address should they use?

4a. Japanese drama is never performed in festivals. TRUE / FALSE

b. There are more festivals in England than Japan. TRUE / FALSE

5. If you want to go to Japan, what is the phone number you should call?

Section C (Lesson 4, Lesson 5) – 5 points

Listen to Christy and Gareth talk in the car. Fill in the blanks in their conversation.

Christy: Gareth, where are we (1a)____________ to?

Gareth: I’m driving you to a secret, special place.

Christy: Oh, wow, that’s exciting. What kind of place is it?

Gareth: I told you, it’s a secret. Anyway, we need to stop for (1b)_________________.

Christy: OK, there’s a (2a)_______ station on the left, (2b)__________ the love hotel.

Gareth: Love hotel?? Cool! Have you been to a love hotel before?

Christy: Yes, I have, but that one is very dirty. There’s a lot of (3a)_______________ there. It’s not clean.

Gareth: Wow, you know a lot of things about it. I guess you’ve (3b)______________ it many times.

Christy: Yes I have! But, I know one place that is even (4a)__________ clean.

Gareth: Less clean? Where?

Christy: Your car! You need to start (4b)_______________________ these magazines, newspapers, cans and bottles. You shouldn’t keep them in your car.

Gareth: OK! OK! So you want me to help the (5a)_____________________. I get it…. I have an idea. I’ll also stop driving. That will reduce (5b)_______________________. OK?!

Christy: Great! But umm… you’re not driving, so where will we go?

Gareth: We shall go to that love hotel.

Section D (Lesson 9) – 5 points

Listen to Gareth and Christy talk and answer the questions below in English.

1. What is Gareth doing this weekend?

2. What does Christy want to do on Saturday?

3. What three reasons does Christy like otaku?

4. What will Christy buy in Akihabara?

5. Christy is sad. Where will she go?

CULTURAL EXPLANATIONS

otaku - literally - a geek.. in reality - it's the weirdos that obsess over cute Japanese schoolgirls, read a lot of manga, and spend a lot of time in Akihabara reading, playing video games all day, and using the Internet. I don't have any pictures of otaku that I can post legally!

Akihabara - the biggest electronics district in the world, in the east side of Central Tokyo. Spiritual home of otaku.

maid cafe - a place where people - usually otaku (because they're fairly lonely people) - can go and speak to a maid. The maid us usually a cute girl in her teens or early 20s, and you pay not just for the drink but for the privilege of talking with her.

Anything to have cute girls on my blog!

Crysis

2007-12-03T19:55:00.001+09:00

Recently, I played and finished a game called 'Crysis'. Take out the science-fiction, and this game is the most realistic game I have ever played.

http://www.ea.com/crysis/home.jsp

The video game industry is now bigger than the film industry in terms of 'box office' income. With the success of the Nintendo Wii, and Nintendo DS, combined with the 'hardcore' offerings of the PC, Xbox 360, Playstation 3, there is pretty much something for everyone. The gaming demographic is no longer the 14-30 year old man, but now encompasses a much wider array of people from varying backgrounds. Games such as Wii Sports, Guitar Hero 3, Rock Band, and the upcoming 'game' Wii Fitness are party games that appeal to everyone, and inevitably some will crossover and play the 'AAA' (blockbuster) titles such as Crysis, Grand Theft Auto 4, Call of Duty 4, Assassin's Creed and so on.

I've linked to some trailers so you can see how games are pretty much treated like films these days in the way that they are marketed.
You will require a broadband internet connection to view the trailers.

The first 3 trailers are rated 18.

Call of Duty 4 Trailer - http://www.gametrailers.com/player/21256.html
Grand Theft Auto 4 Trailer - http://www.gametrailers.com/player/18206.html
Assassin's Creed Trailer - http://www.gametrailers.com/player/27823.html
Deus Ex 3 - http://www.gametrailers.com/player/28355.html?type=
World In Conflict - http://www.gametrailers.com/player/16652.html

Back to Cryis, Not everyone will play Crysis - mainly because it is a game that is only playable on the PC. Nevertheless, if this is an example of what is to come over the next 10 years, then you may find that interactive entertainment - instead of being played by single guys in their bedrooms, may just finally move out of the bedroom, and into the living room. Crysis is a game that not many can play, but the people who have watched me play it, have admired it, and said 'I didn't know games could be like this.'

When I finished Crysis, I was exhausted. The game actually only takes around 15 hours to complete, leaving you wanting more - a lot more. It's that lack of quantity, that made it such a complete experience. Combined with a reasonable story, a fun game, and photorealistic graphics, it was the most immersive experience I've ever had with interactive entertainment.

Photos can be seen in the slideshow above - higher quality ones can be seen below if you click on them.

Utsunomiya High School Marathon - The 2nd Attempt

2007-11-26T21:37:00.000+09:00

So - a 2nd year - a 2nd school marathon. Distance - 17.7 kilometres. This year - I was taking it seriously. The above picture is the banner that every student and teacher receives in commemoration of their participation. This was the 57th school marathon for Utsunomiya High School marathon.

I was the only teacher participating - quel surprise!

As usual - the weather was stunning again, the air temperature really wasn't that hot, but in the sunlight, it really got quite difficult at times. In the above picture you can see the students warming up.

The rugby captain actually collapsed when he had finished due to dehydration, but was fully recovered the day after. I was surprised because he is VERY fit, but it turned out he was in such a hurry he forgot to take water at the feeding areas.

So about 800 students set off at 10.00 am - after the tedious opening ceremony, and hilarious warmup.

Pictures were a little hard to take this year, as yours truly had taken the event much more seriously, so - no pictures during the race. There were however, a couple of teachers on hand with their mobiles to take pictures of me.

My time? A truly spectacular - 1 hour, 1 minute, and 15 seconds.

My position? A truly spectacular - 3rd place.

1st place however - went to a 1st year student - a FIRST YEAR STUDENT - that's a 15 year old.

The 15 year old finished in a frankly ridiculous time of 59 minutes and 22 seconds.

I will have my revenge on Sports Day.

In reality though, it doesn't surprise me that a first year student won the race. This year's first year students remind me of my year group in school. Totally jam packed full of talent in every aspect of school life, be it drama, sport, music, or academic work. They're a wonderful group of 280 students to work with, and it makes my job so much easier and more fun!

Thanks for reading - please keep the comments coming!

Step Into The Dark - New Music

2007-11-11T14:12:00.002+09:00

Hello people.

Please goto the following link and have a listen. I'll try and upload more music over the coming months.

http://www.anonym.to/?http://www.box.net/shared/ufytv8ac3t

School marathon on Thursday!

The Shibuya Crossing.

2007-10-13T20:15:00.000+09:00

The Shibuya crossing is probably the most famous crossing in the world. It is certainly the biggest. The pictures I took were taken from one of the biggest Starbucks stores in the world, which has the ideal location overlooking the Shibuya crossing. I had to wait 45 minutes to get this seat.

The pictures really don't show just how amazing a sight that the Shibuya crossing is. I can literally stare for hours at the people walking there!

Here is the calm before the storm. On the far side you can see the crush of people waiting to cross.

Then - you get the mad rush of people all crossing at the same time.

And then you get the stragglers who walk across even as the lights are about to turn green - which leads to lots of horn honking buy impatient taxi drivers.

I should mention that of all the places I've been to in the world, Shibuya is my favourite place on the planet. I can think of no other place that has as much energy and 'have-a-good-time' vibe as Shibuya does. As far as I'm concerned, it's the eight wonder of the world!

Incidentally - these pictures are not showing the Shibuya crossing at it's busiest - but I'm sure you get the idea!

A Room With A View

2007-10-09T17:28:00.000+09:00

On a recent trip to Tokyo, I managed to find time to go up the top of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building. This I believe, is the tallest building in Tokyo, and it offers a panoramic view of the city and on a clear day, the view is fantastic. One of the best things about it, is that it's free to go up to the top.

Fortunately on the day that I went, it was a clear day. There is another place called the Tokyo Tower which offers equally good views, but not as high up, so you can't take in as well, just how big Tokyo is.

I'll let the pictures do the talking!

The above picture shows the Park Towers. The tallest of which houses the hotel from the film Lost In Translation (the Park Hyatt).

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government building is located in Shinjuku -which is essentially the 'Wall Street' of Tokyo. It also houses Tokyo's red light district, and is therefore home for the most notorious Yakuza gangs. In the distance in this picture you can see Yoyogi Park, which is incredible during the cherry blossom season.

Here are two buildings that are the headquarters for two of Japan's biggest banks. Needless to say, they are probably filled with young ambitious men who get to use the company credit card A LOT (as is the culture in Japan).

I don't know why I like this final picture, but it's taken from the same height as all the others, but I loved the way that the shadow just completely covered the city, but in the distance you can just make out the faint outline of the mountains - which are also covered by a few clouds. It just serves as a reminder that whilst Tokyo is one of the great cities of the world, you are never far from 'inaka' Japan. Inaka means 'rural' or 'countryside'.

That would be Tochigi - where I live!

The Tokyo train lines.

2007-10-08T22:31:00.000+09:00

A brief insight into the 'standard' Tokyo trains. As in - the non-bullet-train type.

Japan is famous for it's trains. Tokyo is famous for it's train network. It's also famous for the sheer number of people that use it every day. When you consider that in the extended area of Tokyo there are close to 30 million people - that's a lot of people for a train network to cope with.

If you click on the picture you should get a close-up. The map certainly isn't as clear as the London Underground.

Then you have to of course factor in, that at a lot of the stations in Tokyo, (the ones that tourists don't really go to) - is that the maps are all in Japanese.

Then of course there are the trains themselves. Usually - during the daytime they are not too busy. But, it is wise NOT to use the popular lines (there are many) - during rush hour. Forget London trains, at least there is room to breathe. In Tokyo, on one of my most recent journies, I didn't even have any support - so I was 'balancing' on the people either side to me, I could also barely breathe at a couple of points. It's worse than the Tube during rush hour and I didn't think that was possible.

On the other hand - at least Japanese trains have air conditioning!

Here are some pictures I just managed to take with my mobile phone!

The picture really doesn't do it justice as to how cramped it was, but maybe that's because Japanese people are just so small!

Letsu habu fun taimu in Tokyo Gemu Shyo. (Japanglish)

2007-09-21T14:57:00.000+09:00

Yes ladies and gentleman, it's that time of year again. Another crazy weekend in Tokyo, another Tokyo Game Show. My diary for the weekend.

Friday pm - Official school party with all the teachers. 2 hours of all you can drink and eat.

Saturday - visit Akihabara (technology district), Shinjuku (Skyscraper district), Harajuku (fashion district), Shibuya (entertainment and beautiful girls district). Evening - have dinner with friends.

Sunday - visit Tokyo Game Show.

Sunday pm - goto Ageha (http://www.ageha.com/) - the world's biggest nightclub with a capacity of 3000 people.

Monday am - get the first train home to Utsunomiya and be thankful that it's a national holiday and I don't have to goto school!

Just to give you an idea of what's in store at the Tokyo Game Show

So -- have a nice weekend - I will!

Something wicked this way comes!

2007-09-06T18:18:00.000+09:00

So - here is the typhoon that in about a couple of hours will directly hit the Kanto area - the area which I'm based in.

It is a very strong typhoon - so strong that trains will be cancelled tommorrow morning (shock horror) - and even SCHOOL will be cancelled.

So I have tommorrow morning off. By tommorrow afternoon, the intensity - because the typhoon will have hit land, will have died enough for me to goto school - though it will probably still be pouring with rain.

It's never dull in Japan, earthquakes / typhoons, possibly both at the same time!

New year, new computer

2007-09-05T14:34:00.000+09:00

It took it's sweet time to arrive, but after months of saving and much appreciated help from the family, I now have possibly one of the finest computers ever created, a machine which if looked after properly will last me the whole of my early career as a musician. A machine that won't break, a machine that runs fast, and runs cool, a machine that looks great, and a machine that won't break down everytime I want to do something demanding!

Introducing the Voodoo OMEN

I have ordered from Voodoo before - a laptop, which served me very well throughout my university years and for doing stuff on the train, but it never quite had the firepower that I really require for creating high-end orchestral music. Anyway - as a brand I now trust Voodoo, and whilst some might say that their prices are outrageous, you do get what you pay for, particularly in terms of the technical support, which for machines as advanced as mine is exactly what you need.

Anyway - so after the ordering process, which due to the complex nature of my machine took some time, I had a wait of about 6 weeks for the computer.

Packaging

Unbelievably the packaging is just as impressive as the computer itself.

The box, with the not so subtle advertising on the side!

Ooh... the box is open. What are these four triangles on the top, and the square in the middle - it's just packaging right?

No each of the four triangular boxes contain parts for my PC, and the middle box contained a folder with all the documentation for my PC.

So here is the folder with the Voodoo logo. What's inside?

A letter from Rahul Sood explaining about the company and the brand. Not necessarily required, but a nice touch all the same.

A certificate of ownership - signed by my sales representative. These computers aren't exactly commonplace. Voodoo only ships about 3000 computers a year. They are highly desirable items.

The stats for my machine. The machine is tested for a long period of time very strenuosly. Think of it as like buying a new shoe, you have to wear it for a couple of days before the shoe adapts to your foot shape. This test gives speed results for the computers processor. Mine were on the higher end of the spectrum.

For the geeks amongst you - here is the specification of my machine.

CPU: Intel Quad-core Processor QX6800 - clock speed 2.93 Ghz (overclocked to 3.01)

RAM: 4 GB RAM - clock speed 800 Mhz.

Graphics Card: eVGA 8800GTX 768 MB

DVD Drive - HP Lightscribe Dual Layer DVD-RW, DVD-R, CD-RW,CD-R drive

Cooling: Liquid Cooled custom designed by Voodoo.

System Hard Drive - 1x 150 GB 10,000 RPM, Western Digital Raptor

Data (Music) Drives - 3x 250 GB 7,200 RPM, Hitachi

6 USB Ports

2 Firewire ports

Monitor: Sony Bravia 32" HDTV

Soundcard - Edirol FA-101.

Also included in the folder was the Warranty - obviously.

And a first-aid kit complete with a disaster recovery disk if something goes wrong.

Also in that compartment were a couple of manuals, my Windows CD, and a really really high quality mousepad - you'd be surprised at the difference that makes!

Next I took a look inside the four triangular compartments.

In the first one was a free Voodoo T-Shirt.

A nice touch but not necessary again!

The next one had all of the CDs for various pieces of hardware on my machine. Not particularly exciting, but it's nice to see they weren't just bundled into the box!

Again - not particularly exciting - but in another compartment were some crucial cables.

And finally - a completely amusing little gimmick - were the free chocolates and free temporary tattoos!

Remember we still haven't got to the computer.

The Computer

There it is - expertly wrapped - though the computer was so heavy it took me a good 15 minutes to get it out of the box and out of its packaging, thus keeping me waiting even longer.

However - this is what it looks like when turned on.

I think you'll agree - it's a pretty cool looking machine.

The blue pipes are what transport the water to cool the CPU and Graphics card, which can get very hot at times.

I have to admit I quite like the fact that my name is also engraved inside the machine!

PERFORMANCE

So far, everything has worked right out of the box. I did have one hard-drive failure a couple of weeks ago, but these things happen and nothing was lost.

Music performance is absolutely outstanding on this machine and it has performed to exactly what I had hoped for and then even more than that. Musically there is nothing that this machine can't do and will result into better sounding and better produced compositions from myself, which will therefore make me a more attractive employee if I happen to be working freelance.

CONCLUSION

Some people might say - why pay so much for a PC when you can get one almost the same for a lot less. Well - they do have a point, but those cheaper PCs are made of cheaper components, and cheaper components when put under stress, breakdown more often. I've placed my trust in Voodoo and they have delivered again. The Voodoo OMEN is an outstanding piece of craftsmanship that you don't have to be a computer enthusiast to be able to admire it. The fact that they are a minority company means that they can continue to work on creating high-end machines and not be pulled into the mainstream market where their product would eventually become watered-down.

If you are a computer enthusiast, a person working in the creative industry, or even just a hardcore games player - I cannot recommend Voodoo highly enough.

www.voodoopc.com

New blog, 2nd year, new look.

2007-09-03T09:42:00.001+09:00

Yes - that is me. After 5 weeks off, school is back, and I'm back with a new haircut, and new glasses.

The main reason for the glasses, is that my eyes were reacting to 'something' with my contact lenses and it was hurting my eyes. I have to say that going back to glasses has been a good decision!

So, I got two pairs of glasses, the ones with the thicker rims are more for casual wear, and the ones just above are my 'sensei' glasses - for teaching only!

My hair was cut by a friend of mine in Utsunomiya. She cuts hair for various Japanese DJ's and she's rather good, I went in with my slightly long Harry Potter like hair and just said 'Do whatever you want' - so she looked through a magazine, and chose a style, and what she came up with was pretty good as far as I'm concerned (everyone else agrees).

So now it's my second year in Japan, and I will try to post a little bit more this year, particularly in the 2nd half of the year.

It's hard to keep up though, because there is just so much going on, but 'ganbarimasu' (I'll do my best).

After the summer holiday - the blog will return this weekend.

2007-08-28T22:31:00.000+09:00

Good evening - after a 5 week summer holiday, and an even longer absence of submissions to the blog, it will return with gusto this weekend.

SUMO Sports Day Part Two!

2007-06-07T20:54:00.000+09:00

Yeah - so it's the moment you've all been waiting for. The sumo blog.

Well, first I thought it would be better to show pictures of people who actually know how to sumo, not some English guy...

So - over to my students!

OK - so for those of you who don't know - sumo is a very popular form of wrestling which takes place ONLY in Japan. There are sumo wrestlers from all over the world - Japan, Mongolia, Russia, Bulgaria, but you can only compete in professional sumo in Japan. It is a sport unique to this country.

Two wrestlers face off each other in a small ring. The objective, is to get your opponent out of this ring, OR by get any part of their body other than the foot - onto the floor , by any means necessary. This however does not include using clenched fists, or poking people in the eye, or anything else overly violent.

In the photo above you can see two students at the 'tachiai'. This is basically the starting point of sumo, and is the most important. A good start is usually the difference, - the average sumo match does not normally last more than 4 or 5 seconds.
After the tachiai - the two competitors use various methods of pushing (as seen above) to get their opponent onto the floor or out of the ring. Most sumo wrestlers have usually done some judo before hand. This is because the art of throwing is very very important. Needless to say you need to have a strong grip.

Another sport related to sumo is aikido, which is a martial art which is primarily used for self-defence and almost entirely based on throws. Most sumo-wrestlers are proficient in one or both of these martial arts - and then they turn to sumo to specialise further.

So you can see here another student preparing a throw move - which was executed to perfection . The student - in the blue shorts, does judo, and is thinking about sumo as a career (as far as I know).

Another important part of sumo - is the ritual beforehand. In professional sumo, the wrestlers have up to 4 minutes in which they can do pretty much anything to psyche out their minds (but taking into account traditional Japanese customs, which are too numerous for me to mention).

Anyway - my students took their rituals to the extreme - and a lot of strange/weird/crazy stuff went on - most of which I can't put pictures up of - anyhow - look at the picture below - and particularly the sumo 'referee' in the background dressed in some weird garb. Don't ask, I have no idea!

Boys schools have their quirks.... some of which I get, and some which go completely over my head!

The final two pictures are another example of perfect execution of a move in sumo. I believe this student does judo as well!

So - you've seen how it should be done, and now you can see me in action....

It's not pretty.

Anyway - the sumo tournament at school was based on a knockout format. There were 22 teams. These were made up of the 7 classes in the 3 years at high school, and of course one staff team. Each team had to have 5 members. I was the 3rd placed member of my team. You play against your counterpart. Each bout is based on a best-of-five format.

I should mention that it was done outside and it was absolutely pouring with rain!

So here is me doing a ritual. I had all kinds of vitriol thrown at me. It's probably one of the few times where my students can say and do what they want. I was in a no-win situation. If I win, I'm unpopular because I beat a student, and if I lose, well... I'm a teacher and I lost.

Well - I suck at sumo and let's just leave it at that. However, my bouts at least went on for a reasonable length of time.

So - here is me in my first bout - which was a bit of a stalemate, because we were both a little bit too high. To win in sumo - you have to stay low - and that was my biggest mistake. I have long legs, therefore it's harder for me to get lower. Anyway - we won the best-of-five bouts and progressed to the quarter finals.

My second bout was a disaster. I was playing one of my rugby students - a prop - so he was significantly bigger than me. It was a no contest! However we progressed to the semi-finals!

My semi-final bout was against the judo captain..................

You can see in the second picture we're both really high, and this is really bad sumo. Of course - when you're high, you're asking for trouble - particularly against the judo captain. This was my final bout, and the teachers bailed out in the semi-final as well.

After about 20 seconds, I ended up in this position....

Anyway - I have learnt a lot this year about sumo, and next year I expect I will be significantly better.

It's funny how the students give you feedback AFTER you lose....

Still - Sports Day is ultimately about the students, and despite the rain on the second day, I think the students welcome the respite in their studies, and overall had a great time. Here's to next year....

Sports Day - Part One

2007-06-04T00:37:00.000+09:00

Recently, my main school had their annual Sports Day. Sports Day is a little bit different in Japan. In England, Sports Day revolves around athletics and not much else. In Japan, it revolves around ... everything.

So of course, first there is the obligatory (and extremely important........) Opening Ceremony. All the students have to sit outside in the baking sun, and listen to speeches for half an hour.

One of the highlights of the opening ceremony was the rugby team basically doing 'cheerleading' for the athletics team members who had qualified for the regional championships. (First come prefecture championships, then regional, then national). So the rugby team have to wear these strange red bands and then do some kind of weird ritualistic dance.... I've seen it before many times. Even if someone gets to the national tiddlywinks final, they'll do this odd ritual.

The other highlight was watching the 'challenge to the teachers'. The teachers are encouraged to take part in Sports Day. However, most of the teachers being Japanese don't take up the challenge, as it's really a day for students (I should mention that it's two days, not one).

So anyway - after the ridiculously long (and pointless) opening ceremony, we then have the group warmup. All 800 odd students and teachers.

Perhaps you can see in the first picture that there is a student dressed in all black standing on a podium. I have no idea what that was all about, but he was leading the warmup and that was almost like a weird ritualistic dance as well. Most likely - it was an inside joke!

I was warned that odd stuff happens in a boys school in Japan.

And also there's some things about Japan I'll simply never understand.

Anyway -- sports on offer were... Softball.

I played in the teacher's team for softball. As I was the youngest participant, I got to lead off the batting. I went 2-4 (2 hits of 4 attempts) with one run scored. As the teacher's team though, we are obliged to lose. I think had the teachers been playing seriously, we would probably have won comfortably. Anyway - we lost 4-3 to a 2nd year team. I should mention that our game was played in the pouring rain. On the first day, it was beautiful and sunny - and teachers don't take part as it's the preliminary rounds of all the sports tournaments.. On the second day it absolutely poured with rain. But for most sports, the show went on.

Another sport - very popular in Japan - was basketball. The teachers didn't have a team, mainly because most are worried about getting injured due to their advancing years!! Basketball requires a bit more speed than softball!

There are many sports in sports day. Above you can see all the results sheets so students can keep track on what is going on. The sports included are softball, basketball, volleyball, table tennis (which I did very well in), relay (cancelled because of rain), tug-of-war (cancelled because of rain), volleyball, badminton (teachers team reached the final), soccer.

And of course........... SUMO!!!!

Below is yours truly - getting ready for the imminent sumo bout against the senior students. I will document my sumo experience - with photos -in the next blog! Note the pouring rain, and the sumo was outside!!

Birthday

2007-05-20T15:01:00.000+09:00

Many thanks to everyone who sent me cards/presents/left messages on Myspace/Facebook or sent me eMails. I can tell you it's a huge difference being 23 -- actually it's not!

Believe me everything was much appreciated, and I had a wonderful day.

Apologies for the silence of the blog, in all honesty, not a great deal has happened since April 30th!!!

Next week is the school sports day, which will be a very long article. Also coming up is the annual 'Mr.Tochigi' competition, and in August I will be going camping with some of my students.

A new academic year brings new students.

2007-04-30T21:10:00.000+09:00

It's taken me 3 weeks since the new school year started to actually come face to face with my new students in the classroom. This was due to orientation week, and business trips galore. So finally this week I was able to teach my new first-year students.

The general impression I get is that the standard is a little higher than last year. I can't post too many pictures, because recently a JET got into trouble for - well - not exactly writing complimentary stuff about his workplace on the Internet. So... I may have to take down the video, but I don't think that'll be necessary seeing as it's been up for 5 months now!

During the welcoming ceremony for first year students, which wasn't exactly short. There were speeches from the principal, vice-principal, a 30 year old video of the school (which was hilarious), some more speeches, the singing of the national anthem, the singing of the school song,

And then the buying of textbooks. Dictionary companies fighting it out for the hard-earned cash of parents. Oxford or Longman's - you decide....

Frankly - I'm amazed at how many textbooks these kids are given. One student was so small, I thought he might collapse and I'm sure if you piled up all the books he had, they'd have been as tall as him - if not taller.

Still - a new year has begun at my home school, and I'm looking forward to it. I'm a bit nervous about the first few classes, because I still have to gauge what the students know and what they don't know. In my visit schools this is even harder, because I see the students once every 2 weeks, which makes it extremely difficult to plan lessons. However, the general feeling I've gotten is that the standard is higher this year at all the schools I teach at. They seemed to understand a lot more of what I was saying.

This could also be due to the fact that I'm almost certainly a better teacher than I was 9 months ago!

More blogs in the month of May will be coming!

The website will be finished in the next 5-6 days - it is functional already - www.gareth-coker.net

Sakura / Cherry Blossom

2007-04-14T19:49:00.000+09:00

So - in Japan, one of the national symbols is the cherry blossom, or 'sakura'. Over the past two weeks it has been cherry blossom season. The blossom only lasts about a week at full bloom before the petals start to fall and the leaves take their place on the trees. A quote from Wikipedia - "Cherry blossoms are an enduring metaphor for the ephemeral nature of life."

So - the above is one of the sports fields at Utaka, and you should be able to make out the long line of sakura trees in the background. These trees are EVERYWHERE in Japan. Most Japanese go out for 'hanami' - which is basically cherry blossom viewing. Usually, the cherry blossom season is in April, which is the start of the school year and the fiscal year in Japan, so usually the first day of school or first day at work coincides with the cherry blossom season.

Because of the variable climate of Japan, the cherry blossom usually arrives in Okinawa - the southernmost island of Japan - in January. Then it gets to Tokyo and Kyoto during the end of March and the beginning of April, and then it gets to Hokkaido - the northenmost island of Japan - about four weeks later.

Finally, here is a picture of part of Utsunomiya High School (Utaka). Utaka has a lot of cherry blossom trees in its grounds, which are coincidentally one of the biggest school grounds in Tochigi.
Anyway - back to preparing classes for the new batch of 1st year students!

Comment page working.

2007-04-14T19:48:00.000+09:00

Hello all - the 'comments' - should be working again. I have no idea why they weren't working for a while.

If you don't see your comments immediately, it's because they have to be moderated - I haven't found a way to turn this off (yet)

Gareth's broken laptop saga.

2007-04-08T21:48:00.000+09:00

So earlier this week, there was an accident involving a hot drink and my laptop.

The two generally don't go so well together. This accident resulted in me losing the only computer I have. The main problem, was - once the coffee had dried on the inside - I could turn on my computer, but the keyboard didnt work - also the computer was behaving a little strange. Thankfully, it was only temporary, thanks to the wonderful staff at VoodooPC.

So - Voodoo, on their messageboards on their website, gave me advice on how to clean the inside. "All was not lost!" - I was told, but I was skeptical. I should have known better.

VoodooPC is one of the - if not THE leading manufacturer in high-performance PCs. They built my laptop, and I did my entire university portfolio of music on it. You have to pay a high premium for your computer, but you don't just get a great computer, you get impeccable service, and great after-care support as well. Most computer manufacturers, in my experience, seem very keen to sell you the product and then take your money and run. My laptop, has seen HEAVY duty over the last 3 years. Travelling every day, and in almost constant use, I am surprised it took this long for something bad to happen - and it wasn't even the fault of Voodoo.

Anyway - Voodoo sent me a seventeen page document on how to disassemble my laptop, and get to the inside so I could clean it. They told me I would need to use isopropyl - which is basically rubbing alcohol. I was told to 'wash' my keyboard in isopropyl for an hour, let it dry completely. So all I had to do, was take apart my laptop, take the keyboard out, and follow the above process. Easy, right??

Well, actually - yes, because Voodoo's instructions were so concise and easy to follow.

So, here I am, at the first stage of disassembly. I have taken out the keyboard, which you can see on the left. Underneath that metal plate is the motherboard which houses all the key components of the PC. Fortunately, due to the appearance of the metal plate, it seemed that not much liquid made it inside, so it could have been a lot worse.

The next stage was to take off each individual key from the keyboard, so they could all be washed separately. You would be amazed if you all did this with your computers, at the stuff that is underneath the keys -- it is scary stuff!!

Now - this isn't a high resolution picture, but if it was, you'd be able to see ridiculous amounts of dust and gunk. I had my 'can of air' and did my best to clean out the inside of the keyboard. Also during this time, in a basin of isopropyl was my keyboard.

After all the fun and games - it was time to put everything back together.

The results?

Well - sadly the keyboard didn't work properly. BUT the laptop is running at a much cooler temperature than before because I was able to clean out the inside - this results in a faster computer.

Anyway - I called up Voodoo to see if they had any solutions. My warranty had expired so I wasn't optimistic.

"Oh, we'll send you a new keyboard to your address."

My jaw hit the floor - it's just not what you expect from so many companies. And it's little things like that, that make me stay loyal to a brand such as Voodoo. I'm in the market for a new high performance computer right now, as I want to take advantage of my salary, and prepare a very professional portfolio and most importantly a new catalogue of music - for which I need a much more powerful computer. I've looked at many companies other than Voodoo, but I always keep coming back here. There's so many little things that they do, and they really REALLY care about the customer. You have to pay a high price for their service, and they take a long time to build (two months) - but what you're getting is an extremely high quality product, that probably won't break down unless something stupid is done to it - as is the case here.

Some people like to buy cars by Aston Martin.
Some people like to buy watches by Rolex.
Some people like to buy bags by Gucci.

Gareth - likes to buy computers from VoodooPC.

Thanks to 'Synister' and David who helped me on the messageboards and telephone respectively.

VoodooPC's website can be accessed here -- www.voodoopc.com

Rahul Sood - founder of Voodoo PC - his blog can be found here - www.rahulsood.com

Website taking shape.

2007-03-31T21:19:00.000+09:00

Hello all! The new - much improved, with more content (etc.etc.) version of my website will be uploaded soon. Will keep you posted on further developments.

www.gareth-coker.net

Feedback at any stage is welcome.

Graduation 2007

2007-03-29T20:52:00.000+09:00

So, in the Japanese education system, a student will experience a graduation ceremony on leaving elementary school, on leaving junior high school, on leaving senior high school, and on leaving university!

At Kingswood, we had the 'Leaver's Service' and 'Leaver's Ball' - but let's just say it wasn't as formal and as serious as this event at Utaka.

The above picture was made by one of the Japanese calligraphy teachers and was made for the graduation ceremony. Incidentally, a certificate is handed out to every student, and each certificate is HANDWRITTEN by the Japanese calligraphy teachers. This is 280 students, and then of course there are the separate certificates for club captains, and students who have achieved outside their academic study.

The graduation ceremony takes places in the bigger of the two gymnasiums at the school. It has to be big as it will hold all 840 students, all the staff, all the PTA, and all the parents of the students who are graduating.

This picture actually reminds me of a big conference (Model United Nations) that we did at school. It's incredibly formal and regimented, but - to be honest - that is Japan!

So, also during the graduation ceremony, the school orchestra is used. I will blog more on the orchestra - and the state of it (unsatsifactory considering the level of the students) in a later blog. However, for the graduation ceremony, their job is to play the school song, and the graduation song. They were of course, without the third year students, but the ni-nensei's and ichi-nensei's did a good job.

So, the order of the ceremony, if memory serves me correctly. The students process in whilst the school song is being played and all the staff/parents are singing it. Then the headmaster does a speech and the presentation of the certificates happens. The certificates are all just given to one student who represents the graduating student body. This is obviously a very prestigious honour! Then the special non-academic certificates are presented.

And then there are the speeches.... The headmaster, the head of the PTA, the head of the student council, some other student whose role I didn't know. It went on and on and on, - but to be honest ... that's like any graduation ceremony really!

Anyway - after the ceremony, the students go to .... get drunk, and the teachers goto a random hotel - to 'drink and celebrate graduation'. (interpret that in your own way).

The highlight for me at the party (apart from the free food and free beer) was the plate of sashimi (raw fish) that appeared. When you've had a bit to drink, it's quite shocking to see the following appear....

No - the fish head isn't eaten!

Until next time!

Decision to recontract.

2007-03-29T20:08:00.000+09:00

Most of you will know by now - but for those of you don't, I've made the decision to recontract for another year on the JET Programme.

This means I will be in Japan until July 2008.

It seems pointless to leave so soon. I've been enjoying myself so much, and as far as I'm concerned - if it ain't broke - it doesn't need fixing.

Utsunomiya Minami High School PTA Activity Day - Part Two

2007-03-04T22:01:00.000+09:00

So Part 2 of the event at Utsunomiya Minami High School, was my recital. I don't often play in public, and my piano skills, well - they're not quite as polished as they used to be, but I still have some skill I guess!

So this I believe was just the 2nd time since I came to Japan I played publically (the first being at the Utaka School Festival).

Above you can see my programme. On the left hand side, you can see my biography, in Japanese. On the right hand side is my programme. The 'Intro' piece is a new composition, just about 3 minutes long. Big, bold and brash, it's a good way to start off a recital of my own music in my opinion. "The Return", "Echoes of Minsk", and "Life Uninterrupted" are all previously composed pieces, "The Return" and "Echoes of Minsk" are now about 6-7 years old.

The "Live Improvisation" -- was exactly that. I asked for 5 volunteers, to pick 5 notes on the piano, and I would try and compose a melody based on those five notes. Fortunately, the audience picked relatively easy notes. The final improvisation sounded a bit like music from a psychological-thriller movie such as Sixth Sense, with perhaps a hint of the Harry Potter music as well!

The above is a picture of me in action during the concert.

There were about 50 people there in total. I was actually expecting 800, because Rico told me that all the students were going to be there. However, he was mistaken!

"For One Night Only" is an 'updated' version of a jazz piece I composed about nine years ago. It's on the first CD I made.

Finally, "Fly Away" and "Sunset Rose" are my two most recent compositions, with Sunset Rose probably being my favourite - even ahead of Echoes of Minsk, which is by far my most popular piano composition. Sunset Rose has a particularly strong melody, which is something I've been working on a lot over the past 6 months.

Anyway, the audience enjoyed my playing, and I believe there is going to be a similar event at Utaka later this year, so I will have to repeat this all over again. However, it is nice to be playing piano often.

Note 1: I have started writing the orchestral piece for Utsunomiya High School Orchestra - I'm very very delighted with the way it's started. Whilst it is not going to be a symphony, it is going to be about 10-12 minutes long. The title is 'Journey Through Earth'.

Until next time!

(Note the slippers, that I'm wearing, because in Japanese schools, you're not allowed to wear shoes indoors)

Utsunomiya Minami High School PTA Activity Day - Part One

2007-02-27T15:48:00.000+09:00

So - last week, I had to visit Utsunomiya Minami High School. 'Minami' means South. I went because I was invited to play piano at a PTA (Parent Teacher Association) event. More on that in the next blog.

The first half of the day was spent with Rico, the ALT at Utsunomiya Minami. Rico - being from Jamaica, decided to introduce us to some Jamaican cuisine.

If I can, I'll try and remember to get the recipe from him!

So there is all the food for what we were cooking. Basically, it was a salad as a side dish. Main dish, was rice/coconut milk/kidney beans, and Jamaican style chicken.

We were introduced to the PTA members at first by Unan's principal (Unan, short for Utsuonmiya Minami)- and then Rico set off to work instructing the PTA members with Akiyo-sensei (pictured) to translate.

Here is Akiyo-sensei being - from what I've been told by Rico - as strong willed with the PTA members as she is with her students!! Rico is washing up it seems....

Rico - the good looking guy that he is, now has the attention of all the mothers as he instructs them on how to prepare the chicken for cooking. The mothers watch attentively!

And again, here is Rico in action, actually doing some cooking! The rice/kidney beans/coconut milk combination is cooking right now. It took longer than expected because Japanese rice absorbs far more water than Thai rice, or any other rice for that matter, but when it was finally ready, it still tasted great.

Above is the food we eventually got around to eating!

Eventually we all sat down together, and whilst the Japanese were having a few problems with it being a little spicy, I had no problem with it. It's an awesome meal, and very easy to cook, which I was surprised with.

Rico and I are planning to do the same thing at Utaka some time. There were no real disasters apart from the extended cooking time of the rice, apart from that it all went to plan!

More on the piano recital at a later date!

Ohme Marathon - 4th Februrary

2007-02-09T12:55:00.000+09:00

After a month's sabbatical - he's back, and the first update from Japan. The Ohme Marathon - 30km of concrete roads to cover.

So above is my number - 5213. (out of about 10,000 runners). Signifying that I should finish in the middle of the pack, behind the pros and people who have trained properly, and ahead of the people who are doing it for fun.

I didn't train properly for a long distasnce race- I ran a lot of 10km distances in practise, but let's face it, who can really be bothered to go for a 30km run twice a week, not me. not when I have work as well! Things will change if I get selected for the Tokyo Marathon next year.

So here is a view from the start. The actual start is about 800 metres away!!! We were greeted by the Governer of Tokyo (Ohme, is situated just outside of Tokyo). As you can see, the weather is fantastic. Winter in Japan is cold, but it categorically does not rain at all. The temperature was cold but not too cold, there was no wind, perfect for marathon running.

That is until, I mention the course. It was a beautiful course, but WAY too hilly. I mean, who sticks a 50 metre climb at 20km....??? Not a great move by the course designers that one -- very cruel, and that climb really finished me off to be honest.

Despite the fact that Ohme is pretty much a countryside location, there was plenty of entertainment en route (and plenty of free food, including banana, chocolate, choco-banana, oranges, lemons, water, sports drink, energy bars, and a lot more). What I liked was the huge band of taiko drummers that greeted us at 6km and14km along the course. There were a group of school children banging the hell out of their Japanese drums (taiko) and to be honest I wanted to stand and listen . I did stop to take the above photo, but I was actually doing quite well, and wanted to continue. Listening to Taiko is unbelievable, and if ever you see tickets for the KODO Drummers in London - you MUST go and see them.

And here is me with my certificate of completion (and lots of other goodies, T-shirt etc..) This is about 5 minute after completion.I did not move from that spot for about an hour (I was waiting for my supervisor to finish).

My time -- a respectable 2 hours 39 minutes and 15 seconds, but outside my target time of 2 hours and 30 minutes. Never mind. I know I can do better, and now my body is getting used to these crazy differences.

The first 10km were a piece of cake, and it started getting difficult after 15km, and then there was that stupid climb which made the last 10km pure pain.

However, 2 days later I was fully recovered, which reassures me that my level of fitness is pretty decent.

My supervisor is still suffering!

So, onto more races, and hopefully the Tokyo Marathon next year.

And thankfully, the Tokyo Marathon is FLAT!

Nikko - beautiful Nikko

2006-12-27T14:29:00.000+09:00

So this blog is a LONG one exclusively about Nikko. Nikko is probably Tochigi's biggest attraction, and is also one of Japan's biggest attractions. It is a World Heritage Site, and there is so much here that is of astonshing beauty, today's blog will only cover half of it, and the rest will have to be covered in a future visit.

The picture above is of the Shinkyo Bridge or 'Snake' Bridge. The bridge overlooks the crystal clear (I'm not joking, it looks drinkable) water of the Daiya River. The Shinkyo bridge is the entrance to the shrine complex of Nikko.

Here is yours truly on the steps going up towards the shrine complex.

This man is Shodo-shonin. He is the founder of pretty much all the temples in Nikko. To put it in perspective of how long all this stuff has been around - he died in the year 817. This statue greets you on entering the shrine complex.

The dragon fountain underneath isn't of any significance, but I thought it looked pretty cool all the same.

This is a picture of the Shoyo-en or 'Strolling Garden'. It's connected to the treasury in the shrine which contains national treasure and antional cultural properties that have been held in one of the temples in Nikko (Rinnoji temple) since the Nara era. (The Nara Era took place from 710-794).

This is a picture of Sanbutsu-do. This is the largest single temple in Nikko mountains. Pictures aren't permitted inside the temples, but inside the temple there are three wooden statues. The Thoushandhanded Kwannon, the Amida Buddha, and the Horse-headed Kwannon. They are enshrined as principal objects of worship. They are the original Buddha statues representative of the 'Three Divine Manifestations of Nikko'.

Outside of Sanbutsu-do, there was this cauldron of 'something' giving off this rather putrid stench. However, if you put this stench and wave it onto your head - apparantly it helps your intelligence. I haven't noticed a change since I tried it...

Here is the Sorinto Pillar. This was built in 1643, and it's a bronze memorial pillar which is 15 meteres high. It contains 1000 volumes of holy sutra (some kind of religious scripture). It is also a symbol of world peace and it is supposed to purify the demons' gate of the Toshugu Shrine (enormous shrine in Nikko).

Here is the Five-Storied Pagoda. Inside the 'Five Wisdom Buddha' is enshrined, it was built in 1650. It stands at 34.3 meters high.

'

Here is yours truly standing next the pillar with the kanji that say 'Shrine of Toshugu'. Tokugawa Ieyasu is enshrined in the buildings beyond this pillar, and his dynasty ruled Japan for over 250 years, hence this location is pretty important for many Japanese.

Here is me in front of the entrance to Toshugu, in the background you can see Yomeimon Gate.

I thought I should illustrate just how big the trees are here. Not only is Nikko full of shrines and buildings which are incredibly beautiful, the nature here is just outstanding as well.

This is a close-up of the Yomeimon Gate. The inscriptions and carvings on it are representative of the Edo Period (1603-1867). The gate is named after one of the twelve gates of the Imperial Palace.

Here are the carvings of the 'Three Monkeys'. Monkeys in Japan represent "seeing no evil, speaking no evil, and hearing no evil." These three ideas are major principles of the Tendai sect. The Tendai sect is a Japanese school of Buddhism.

Here is the entrance to the actual shrine of Toshogu.

Here is Koramon (Chinese Style Gate). It's part of the Toshogu complex, but it is a lot smaller than some of the other buildings, but that doesn't seem to make it any less refined.

I should take this moment to talk about Yakushi-do Temple, which I didn't get a picture of. Inside, on the ceiling, there is a picture of a coiling dragon. If you clap your hands under the dragon's head, you can hear jingling echoes. It is known as the 'Roarding Dragon'. If you clap your hands anywhere else in the room, the echo doesn't occur, but if you clap your hands underneath the dragon's head, you get an echo. I don't know how this is possible, as just in terms of music physics, it is not scientifically possible for that echo to be achieved. The only explanation - is that there is a hollow behind the dragon's head - but that doens't explain why the sound would reverberate round the whole room. Very eerie, and one of the most memorable experiences I've had so far in Japan!

Here is Yashamon. It enshrines four demons, which are located in the corners of this gate. The gate doors and other parts are engraved with designs of peonies. Hence it is also called the 'Peony Gate'.

Here is me standing beside a big Buddhist bell - no prizes for guessing which of my blog-audience will be interested in this. Bells used in Buddhism have a much longer and deeper sound to them, and resonate for a very long time.

Whilst in Nikko, I also indulged in some fortune-telling. My fortune told me that I will generally have a pretty successful life, but I should never let myself get too comfotable!

Once you've read your fortune, it's custom to put the paper on one of these, branches which hold lots of fortune-slips. You can put them on trees as well, but I thought this one looked better. Mine is on the top right.

I mentioned the nature in Nikko - so now I'll just show a few photos I took whilst I was here. First is a picture of a cute little fountain I noticed.

Next here are some pictures of the sun coming through the trees - I took a little hike to the top of one of the smaller mountains to see a small waterfall and another small shrine, and these are the pictures I took on the way.

Not bad!!

Once I got to the top, I got to this gate. At this gate you're supposed to try and throw three stones through the hole in the middle of the gate at the top. I threw 3 stones, and missed 3 stones!

At the top - there was also a waterfall, with the most clear natural water I've probably ever seen!!

On my way back down - I was luck to see this on the way. Note the blue sky, and it's December 24th!

So that is Nikko - some of it. Next time I'll try and get to the lakes and onsens (natural springs) part of Nikko, and remember to take some photos!! I hope you liked this blog update, as it took quite a long time to put together! The final picture puts Nikko in context with it's surroundings.

Happy New Year!

Christmas Party!

2006-12-26T13:42:00.000+09:00

Well, first of all Merry Christmas to everyone.

Or メリクリスマス !!

So, I'll post pictures from one of the many Christmas parties that there have been. This one was organised by Romain, and over the evening I reckon there were about 70-80 people there, which was nice. It was a mixture of Japanese and 'gaikokujin' (foreigners).

So here is Romain, with Hisako on the left, and someone I don't know in the middle. Romain managed to rent a bar in the middle of Utsunomiya for practically nothing, and everyone bought their own food and a present, so there was PLENTY of food, and everyone got a present as well.

Romain managed to get a belly dancer at the party (who was also plugging dancing lessons for Japanese girls). She is a Brazilian girl living in Utsunomiya. There are actually quite a few Brazilians here. I have no idea why this is!

Romain also got his friend (and mine) Otogi to do some improvised live music. Otogi is a singer/songwriter who I orchestrate for. He is HUGE. When he was younger he got offered a sumo contract by the Japan Sumo Federation, but he turned it down. To put it in perspective though, his arms are as big as my legs.

Here's me with some of my friends. At the top is a picture of my good friend Haruki. Haruki is a pharmacist who lives in Utsunomiya. He has more expensive tastes than I do, which is some achievement. The second picture is of myself and Takahashi - dressed as Santa, and the third picture, one of the girls is called Nozomi, and the girl on my left - I can't remember her name....

We also had a baby Santa (he handed out the Christmas presents for the present exchange!)

Here's Romain with his current girlfriend who is very beautiful. She also speaks perfect English and speaks a lot of French as well. For a Japanese to speak French is quite an achievement!

Finally - here is Takahashi truly revelling in his role as Santa Claus.

For what it's worth, Christmas is celebrated in Japan, pretty much like we celebrate New Year - i.e. noisily. Whereas New Year in Japan is celebrated like we celebrate Christmas. A time for the family and close friends etc. etc.

Once again - Merry Christmas!

The Art Of Movement

2006-12-11T17:46:00.000+09:00

The music for the Parkour documentary is finished.

The documentary itself will be finished on Wednesday. I don't know when I'll have a final cut to show everybody - but it's imminent. I'm very proud to have been associated with this project, even if it is a small one.

Here is a picture of Joji - the guy who got me this gig. He's probably one of the most creative and forward-thinking people I know right now.

Finally, here is feedback from the director - in an eMail sent today.

"Gareth

Thank You...this music is fantastic. It works really well and i'm sure it will bring the whole piece together finally. Thank you so much for your help on his project and i'm really happy you offered to help out again in the future.

Also thank you for the advice on the sound elements, we had already picked up on many of them for example the levels on the dialogue but other advice has been great to have and also improved the final picture. I'll let you know how well the film is recieved by our tutors and our fellow students when we get our result and when we premiere it to everyone else after Christmas.

Thanks again

Jonny"

Needless to say - I was delighted with that verdict. It's been 6 months since I've written any music for a purpose - so it's reassuring to see that I haven't 'lost it'. Another plus point is that I have established a working relationship with another director, which bodes well for the future.

Stay tuned for more updates! I still can't believe I have time to write music as well as doing this JET Programme!!

P.S. For those of you who don't know what 'Parkour' is - please check the link on the right entitled 'Parkour'. Essentially Parkour is 'THE ART OF MOVING FROM ONE PLACE TO ANOTHER WITH FLUIDITY'.

Utsunomiya High School Tour Video

2006-12-07T23:17:00.001+09:00

After much delay, here is my guided tour of Utsunomiya High School, and what I might do on a typical day. I hope you find it entertaining in parts!

You'll need a reasonable broadband connection to watch it, but if you don't have such a connection, just wait some time for it to download.

It's 45 minutes long - so please set some time aside to watch it as a whole. This film was shot on a digital camera (not a camcorder) - so don't expect the world's greatest documentary!

Lastly - please enjoy!

P.S. If for some reason it doesn't work - please go to Google Video instead via the following link.

http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=281757750372673476

Wakakusa Yougo School

2006-11-26T17:05:00.000+09:00

One of my activities as an ALT - is once every two months - I visit a school for physically and mentally handicapped children. Some are not so severe, but some are very severe, including cerebral palsy.

My job is not to really be an English teacher, but to provide a fun environment in English. This was my first time teaching handicapped children, and also my first time teaching junior high school children and elementary school children. So a change of approach was definitely needed.

I learnt on my Music In The Community course at the Academy that music has a vital role to play in the teaching of handicapped children because it is a universal medium for communication. Thankfully every single class had a keyboard in it, so I was able to incorporate music into every class. This involved singing the ABC, various nursery rhymes, and a wicked variation on pass the parcel. I play crazy music on the piano, students pass around a big rubber ball, and when the music stops - they answer a simple question in English. Using music in the class also made my job significantly easier - as I'm obviously comfortable teaching through music!

(The tiny girl in the wheelchair was hilarious - I've never seen anyone go so fast on one of those things -she was clearly having a great time whilst I was there.)

I also had to teach a class of students who had cerebral palsy. During my past charity work, I knew quite a lot about cerebral palsy. Again my job is not to teach English, but to provide a fun English environment. Whilst these children cannot communicate, - for them to have their hands moved in time with an English song, or for them to hear some kind of music, it uplifts them so much. When you're in a room, you can always feel that response, the same as in senior high school, I know after 10 minutes if a class is working just by the atmosphere.

I think every Utsunomiya based ALT visits this school on a rota basis, so in fact - this school is probably getting the best internationalization out of all the schools in Utsunomiya. Something else I noted, it's also by far the most architecturally attractive school building (see picture at the top!) in Utsunomiya.

It was a pretty moving experience, and I look forward to going back there next month to perform Beatles songs with another teacher there who plays the guitar. The Japanese love The Beatles!

Utsunomiya High School Marathon

2006-11-18T19:47:00.000+09:00

So here are all the students getting ready for the marathon. This is taken from the opening ceremony. There is no school today, just for the marathon. Note the weather by the way, and it's the middle of November.

This is the captain of the Track and Field club representing the school, I'm not sure entirely what went on, but it was all very formal. The man on the podium is the principal. I think what was said is Utaka's motto, and then the principal basically said 'Do your best.' In every marathon in Japan, from school level to professional level, there is always a formal opening ceremony.

This is just before the start of the race. The race is 17 kilometres long, and is run 95% on roads. About 850 students took part in the race and everyone finished.

This was taken about 5 km into the race. Note the long hill in the distance, particularly evil in my opinion! I'm in the middle of the pack at the moment going along quite nicely. It was really fun to be able to run with the students, and I think a lot of them have a new respect for me, as I ran with them. I was certainly talking with students who I hadn't really spoken to before.

Here is a picture of some triumphant students finishing. The school marathon at Utaka is not really about who wins, it's about every student being able to finish, and to be able to share in the triumph and satisfaction of finishing together. After the race all students (and teachers!) were given 'oshiruko' which is a Japanese sweet soup with ricecake. It looked terrible but tasted delicious (like a lot of Japanese food I'm afraid!).

Yours truly finished in a time of 1 hour and 10 minutes. The winner finished in 1 hour and 2 minutes. Most students finished inside 2 hours.

A great and memorable experience.

High Definition Television.

2006-11-18T19:18:00.000+09:00

So - my defunct television (owned by Utsunomiya High School) - broke down, so it had to be replaced (by Utsunomiya High School). I was given a new one of the same value of the old one (bought about 20 years ago - therefore it's price of 20 years ago).

I therefore now have a Sony 32" High Definition LCD Television , and it's their latest model in the medium - high end range of products.

And there she is.

HD content is readily available in Japan, unlike the UK. What's more is that it's free. Apparantly I can get HD cable as well for no extra cost, so I will call up SkyPerfecTV (my providers) - and see what they can do for me.

Watching HD TV is AMAZING. It simply does not compare to Standard Definition (SD). Once you convert to HDTV, you will NEVER go back again. The colour is incredibly vivid, the sharpness is unbelievable, you will especially notice it when watching credits which are SO much easier to read now. It helps on subtitling as well.

One other great thing about HD programming, is that the content is so large, it is able to carry different audio channels. If you think that when you buy a DVD, you can listen to the normal sound and music track, or you can listen to the cast commentary, or the crew commentary. With HDTV in Japan, they have the capability to broadcast two audio channels at the same time. In the case of NHK (the Japanese equivalent of BBC) - they broadcast in Japanese and English. Many of the other channels do this as well. There is also the option of Japanese and English subtitling. I cannot begin to describe how useful this is for someone who is learning Japanese (me).

The other great thing about this TV is that it can 'upscale' the image from DVDs. DVDs output in a format called 480p - which is what you watch normally on your television when you watch a DVD. The Sony TV (and most of the HDTVs this year) - upscale the image to 720p - which basically has double the amount of information in the same space - therefore the image is a LOT sharper. I tried this with the Matrix and the sharpness and detail was incredible, and I wasn't even watching actual HD content.

When I get a Playstation 3 (not for a while!!) , and when HD-DVDs start getting released at affordable prices, it will be amazing to see some of my favourite films in complete glory. Whether it be the cityscape of Tokyo in 'Lost In Translation', or the panoramic views of ancient China in 'Hero', or the futuristic sci-fi world of 'Blade Runner' or 'The Matrix. '

I am very much looking forward to playing the Wii next month on this TV with friends.

If you're thinking about buying HDTV in the UK, I'd wait another year, because there simply isn't enough HD content available in the UK to warrant buying a new television. The UK is YEARS behind Japan and the US. The only reason to get one is if you're a DVD fanatic, but unless your TV has a good upscaler, AND your DVD player has an HDMI or Composite HD output - you won't get any benefit from it.

If you have no idea what I'm talking about - don't worry. Any of you who do have questions, then just ask. HD is a minefield, and I learnt a lot about it this week, because the manual was in Japanese, and I couldn't understand it, so had to research on the internet.

In short though - HDTV rules. It's only by sheer luck and genorosity that I have one!

3 months in Japan.

2006-11-15T17:01:00.000+09:00

Well - hello again. Apologies for the lack of updates. I'm working on a mega-video (we're talking about 40 minutes long) - which will be well worth the wait. Things are very hectic at the moment, more so than usual.

So, I've been here 3 months and one week now, and all I really need to do is reiterate that it has been the best decision that I have made. Of course I had reservations before I left, and reservations even after I arrived. I have been lucky though. Everything has gone completely smoothly since I got here. From moving in, to settling down at work, to finding stuff for my new apartment, paying the bills, teaching, finding stuff to do in my free time. There are a few minor niggles, most notably the garbage system, but apart from that there is nothing to complain about and I'm completely happy here.

Add to the fact that I've now got a number of music projects ongoing, and I'm pretty much set here. I have to admit, that I'd only planned to do the JET Programme for 1 year. The recontracting decision is coming up in February for next year. Whilst I have reservations about putting my music career on hold for another year, I wouldn't say it's exactly on hold. Another issue - is that I'd planned to study here anyway, so my total time here could potentially be 3 or 4 years. An old saying is 'if it isn't broken, then it doesn't need fixing' - and my situation in Japan certainly isn't broken. I'm surprised that I've managed to stay motivated for something that in actual fact, I have no formal qualifications for (English teaching) .

There will be many things to take in consideration come the time to make the decision to recontract, I love it here, but my career is in music, I'm still only 22, and I'm perfectly happy right now etc. etc. etc. Most composers don't even get their first film until about 30 years old... I'm making a couple of productions now - most notably Machine Children, which I'm really looking forward to completing. Anyway - when I've made my decision, I'll let you know. At the moment it is definitely 50/50.

So tommorrow is the school marathon - 17km of it. All students at Utaka have to run it and I will be running with them tommorrow. I'll take some pictures and post them in due course.

And keep any eye out for the video!

A drive through North Tochigi

2006-11-07T14:22:00.000+09:00

Well - this phase is very much in testing. But hopefully at some point a video should start playing. I'm going to aim to put more videos on my blog, so we'll see if this works! I hope so.

I took this drive with Rico and Chiharu-sensei and 4 girls from Otawara High School after a speech contest. She offered to drive us back to Utsunomiya from Karusuyama (North Tochigi) - so instead of taking the train and paying a train fare, we got a lift, and got to see some of the beautiful countryside in the process.

Enjoy!

Utsunomiya Senior High School vs Utsunomiya Seiryou High School - Rugby.

2006-10-22T13:55:00.000+09:00

I may not have written about this before on the blog, there's so much on it now, I can't remember everything I've written.

Anyway - so I'm the coach of Utsunomiya Senior High School Rugby club, and yesterday (Saturday 21st October) was my first game in charge.

I've been coaching the team for the last 8 weeks. My main focus has been to improve ball handling skills, fitness, and keeping the rugby SIMPLE, which when I arrived certainly wasn't the case.

So in my team talk before the game (translated into Japanese by one of the team members!) - I gave them 5 things to think about.

1) KEEP THE RUGBY SIMPLE.
2) The other team is big, but the bigger they are, the harder they fall. Tackle them hard, and they'll be scared.
3) The first 5 minutes, you have to be ferocious.
4) You must play as a team. Support your teammates all the time. You need to come together as a team, or fall apart as 15 players.
5)) Have fun! After all, it's a game.

And so the game starts.

MATCH REPORT

We won the coin toss, and not only did we get to choose kickoff or receive, we also get to use our school's match ball (each school brings their own match ball, and the team that wins the coin toss gets to use that ball.)

As requested - the team came out ferociously and kept possession for most of the opening 5 minutes. After our first try, there was no turning back. The opening 5-10 minutes knocked the stuffing out of the opposition. I was particularly delighted with the fact that there were no handling errors by my team in the first 10 minutes.

The front 5 of forwards are probably my best players. The number 3, is probably the best player in the squad, but mentally he hasn't quite got the positive attitude yet. We dominated in the scrum, and it was quite clear the other team was not comfortable. I taught them a few dirtytricks as well in the scrum.

The lineout was generally outstanding. There came a point when the other team didn't even bother contesting the lineouts because our lifts are so high. It's unusual for the Number 3 to throw in the ball at the lineout, but he is the best lineout thrower - so it makes sense.

It was a bit of an off day for the kicker, it's something I'll try and work on this week with the kicker. It could cost us against stronger teams.

You'll notice I spoke of 'stronger teams'. That's because we were pretty strong ourselves in the game today.

We won 60-0.

I have to admit I was surprised at the final score, becuase there is SO much that needs to be improved. There was hardly any support play, the backs were too greedy and didn't pass into space (admittedly, this was when they could see the other team couldn't tackle), and they got a little complacent in the 2nd half. Having said that, they played simple but highly effective rugby, and had the lions share of possession. Keep the ball and the other team can't score. It's pretty simple.

Here is the Captain - Takano-san - who had a pretty good game at No.10 - although I wish he wouldn't kick the ball so much.

And here is Vice Captain - Kaoru-san - who was also player of the game. He plays Scrum-half. His passing was excellent, and he made two excellent breaks for two tries.

Next week we play the #1 ranked team in Tochigi - Sano City High School. This team has the ability to beat them, but they'll need to improve a lot of things this week in practise. Nevertheless, I'll try to plan another victory.

Finally - here's a nice picture of the whole team, moments after the final whistle.

Saturdays at Utaka

2006-10-22T13:38:00.000+09:00

On Saturdays, students don't have to come to school .... but they do anyway. The baseball team practises virtually all day, and almost all the sports clubs get together. It helps that in mid-October the temperature regularly reaches 25 degrees Celsius!

So here's the baseball team practising. In my opinion the baseball team overpractises, but that has nothing to do with me. The Japanese philosophy is that the more you do something the better you get. However, I don't believe that doing things for hours on end makes you better, because you can't concentrate fully for such a long time, hence my sports practises are short, sweet, and high quality.

Sports pitches at my school are mostly dirt. The reason for this is that the drainage works a lot better, as it rains very heavily here in Japan. Indeed - after the typhoon two weeks ago, most of the rain on the sports pitches was gone within 6-7 hours. As you can see the tennis courts here, are made up of dirt.

At the top was the judo club, who have their own 'dojo'. Most of the students are black belts.

And finally here are all the final year students doing their extra classes on Saturday when they don't have to be in school. About 90% of the students turn up.

Can't imagine it happening in England!

Earthquake!

2006-10-14T13:31:00.000+09:00

Woke up at 5:37 this morning to feel an earthquake - of magnitude 5.3. - which is not insignficant.

"TOKYO (XFN-ASIA) - A 5.3-magnitude earthquake has struck near Tokyo, seismologists said, the second quake close to Japan in a few hours. The tremor struck at 5.37 am (2137 GMT) with its epicenter 102 kilometers southeast of the capital, the US Geological Survey said. It originated 23 kilometers under the sea. There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties. Earlier, a 6.3-magnitude undersea earthquake struck 435 kilometers northeast of Kuril'sk, on the Kuril Islands, the USGS said. "

And life goes on!! No major damage. Just a little bit of unease when your apartment starts shaking in the morning!

Gareth in Japan // Los Angeles

San Diego Zoo

A view from a room.

Some California scenery.

Graduation. And more.

Remix Selected for EP

Primal Carnage

Pan-Asian Gymnopedie.

A Scene from Seraphim Falls - **GRAPHIC**

X32I : Redemption - Official Trailer 1

Someone Just Like Her

Photos from Saturday's Session

The Road To Bunnyville

Less Music Is More Music

Assignment - Score A Clip From 'Tom & Jerry'

John Williams - live from Hollywood Bowl

Welcome to Dodger Stadium...

Los Angeles Fires

Two new trailers featuring my music.

SMPTV Boot Camp - Week One

Departure / Arrival

"X32I - Redemption" Teaser Trailer

Presentation from Tochigi Board of Education

The Home Project

Moving to LA -- Going to USC

One of my favourite spots in Japan.

Pictures from across Japan - V

Site Update

Lightspire : Fortune’s Web - Teaser

Pictures from across Japan - IV

Pictures from across Japan - III

New track, and website update.

'Reflections' - LIVE Video

The Warlords

Pictures from across Japan - II

Japanese Bento (Lunchbox)

Pictures from across Japan - I

New music

Brand new website.

Spring Hols Pt 1 - Dinner with the Yoshidas

My Minesweeper Times

I'm back.

Nikko - in the snow.

SNOW - it only took 18 months!

Gadgets Galore - Part 3 - Nintendo DS

Gadgets Galore - Part 2 - A Second Music Player

Gadgets Galore - Part 1 - A New Phone

Nature In Winter

First Encounter

A message for my Japanese readers.

Happy New Year!

Let'su making a keeki!!

Try one of my listening tests!

Crysis

Utsunomiya High School Marathon - The 2nd Attempt

Step Into The Dark - New Music

The Shibuya Crossing.

A Room With A View

The Tokyo train lines.

Letsu habu fun taimu in Tokyo Gemu Shyo. (Japanglish)

Something wicked this way comes!

New year, new computer

New blog, 2nd year, new look.

After the summer holiday - the blog will return this weekend.

** SUMO ** Sports Day Part Two!

Sports Day - Part One

Birthday

A new academic year brings new students.

Sakura / Cherry Blossom

Comment page working.

Gareth's broken laptop saga.

Website taking shape.

Graduation 2007

Decision to recontract.

Utsunomiya Minami High School PTA Activity Day - Part Two

Utsunomiya Minami High School PTA Activity Day - Part One

Ohme Marathon - 4th Februrary

Nikko - beautiful Nikko

Christmas Party!

The Art Of Movement

A Scene from Seraphim Falls - GRAPHIC

SUMO Sports Day Part Two!