TOUR DIARY: Japan & Australia with w/New Pornographers
PACKING. That's what this life is about. Oh! And don't forget your passport! I just got a new one (the Australian government forced me to. They said since it was stamped on the last page it was now invalid. Which country's stamp is on the illegal last page??? You guessed it! AUSTRALIA!) My new photo makes me look like a proboscis monkey with impetigo around my mouth. Thank you Island Continent. I am on a 13-hour flight to Osaka. I'm enjoying myself. The light in the airplane bathroom accentuates my beard hairs. They are silver and flossy like unicorn hair. Really. they're kind of wizard-y.
WOW! What a great time! Our awesome translator Katsu is having a rough day here in Osaka. He has been hired to do the Japanese translation of the "Tenacious D" album. He keeps gripping his temples and saying " there's no word for 'choad' in Japanese!" I think he's hit a wall. I ate delicious noodle soup and walked around. My mind is officially blown. Yummy food, tiny beds, really deep bathtubs¬¬, I could get used to this, but wait, the second I get here and say "Hello" to the New Pornographers and have drinks with Mitch and Peter, it's off to Australia. Did that really happen? I now own an airplane neck-pillow that looks like a fuzzy bunny so it must have.
Adelaide! YES! This is my favorite Australian city. I love the food (EVERY place in Aus has killer food though) but my favorite part is the art museum. They have some crazy stuff. I love the Australian colonial paintings. They really creep me out. They have a lot of paintings by one of my favorite painters, Sydney Nolan, too. He's famous for the "Ned Kelly" paintings. I love most of his stuff though. It's like scarier Francis Bacon with mind-blowing landscape. Don't even get me started on him... The museum of South Australia is next door to it, too. There is SO MUCH to look at. I watched a movie called "The Shark Callers of Kontu," it was mesmerizing. A guy lures mako sharks up to his tiny canoe by calling them with a rattle, then he strangles them with a lasso while singing. He shares the meat with his village. WOW. I spent the rest of the time driving around with my friend Ross. He is a host! We drank wine, looked at the countryside and walked all over the beach. (WHERE THERE ARE SHARK PATROL HELICOPTERS! YEAH!) We met up with the rest of the band (who just flew in) and then, of course, we pigged out. A 20-hour fight (including a layover in New Zealand) makes a person hungry. So does looking for sharks.