Month: February 2017

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Sebuhiroko live

Went to Blue Note Tokyo last night For Sebuhiroko’s live, Album release tour.

 

 

and from her Instagram account:
https://instagram.com/p/BQkU_sgjYrJ/

 

 

As she said during the concert, difficult to call two shows a tour, but it is still called so by the production company.

I love the Blue Note, the crowd and I love Sebuhiroko. Not really the standard Blue Note music, she rocked in some songs, Alternative in others, Jazzy in some.  Explosion of music, passion on stage. It was great. It was obvious she is having wonderful time on stage and wished she could do it more.

Some songs from the Album were arranged differently, “Night Walk” changed from a loud rock sounds, to one guitar in slower rhythm.

 

Another that caught my attention is Zazen boys’ 本能寺 (Honno-ji) cover, which was excellent, Jazzy, Rocky, Cute, Loud .

Could find this cover on youtube from a concert last year,  the original Zazen Boys is here.

 

 

 

 

 

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Changes

A sweets shop was closed yesterday in Shinjuku.
Though I usually don’t eat sweets, the smell of this shop brightened my mornings.
Walking past it, seeing the preparations for the day, smelling the sweet sweet smell.

Afternoons were different. The same sweet smell, this time with people (mostly women) buying something sweet after a long day at work.

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Nick Drake on Starbucks Japan playing list

Heard it several times, but was not sure.

“Shazam”ed it just in case, and it is true. Nick Drake’s Pink Moon is on Startbucks Japan playing list.
Love the selection but puzzled.

Nick Drake to me is the Melancholy king cool kids listen to. It is a name and Album the Indie group in high school shared, knowing the others do not know and never heard about.

Ambivalence of people recognizing good music as such, but feeling something is stolen from me.

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Cray Financial reports

A different subject than usual, and obviously expressing my own opinions.

Cray published their Q4 and 2016 full year results , which gives some insight into the volatility of their business.

 

Quotes:

Actual results for any future periods are subject to large fluctuations given the nature of Cray’s business.

 

Revenue in the first quarter of 2017 is expected to be approximately $55 million.

 

While revenues for Q4 2016 were $346.6M, which are more than half the full year revenues of $629.8M, while Q1 is estimated at $55 million.

As an amateur investor, I would not invest in Cray stock. Volatility and uncertainty are scary.

What I fail to understand is analysts opinion that still rate the stock between Buy to Strong Buy (Closer to Buy). Am I missing something

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A Brief History of Seven Killings

Started reading the 2015 Man Booker prize winner, A Brief History of Seven Killings .

Many reviews warn it is difficult to read and follow the different character, but so far I find myself fascinated with the book and flow.
Maybe even more than that, I realize I know nothing about Jamaican recent history, as depicted in the first part of the book.

Will definitely try to read more about it once I finish this book.

Fascinating

 

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Silence 沈黙

Watched Martin Scorcese’s film, which I am still thinking about.

I probably need to read the book to get a better understanding of the period and message.

Is it a movie about Japanese prosecution of Christians, a movie about Faith, God and it’s place in our life?
Is it a movie about pragmatism against fundamentalism and extremism ?

As a Jew who suffered from the hands of the Christian faith in a similar manner, I prefer to ignore the simple story.
500 years ago (or so), my family lived in Spain and had the options of converting to Christianity, flee Spain or die.
Some Jewish families decided to stay, converted while keeping the Jewish religion in hiding (Anusim).
They were also prosecuted and targeted by the inquisition, and even now there are some communities in Spain/Portugal who have traditions similar to Jewish religion.

I am afraid I have too many questions, not answers:
1) If Christianity was allowed in Japan, how would Japan be today. Wasn’t it better off keeping the Japanese culture than adopting another.
2) Were the Christian converts true believers or merged another religion into the Japanese beliefs
3) What is the place in religion in our life ; is it more important than life? – Well, for that I have an answer. Life is more important, choosing life is stronger than any belief.
4) Did the Jesuit priests continue to believe in Christianity or did they realize it is yet another religion