Osaka Day 13 June 1, 2008

Day 13 began at Obake party in Downtown Osaka.. or, right near the american town, right near channel.. some place like that. After the event, we all crashed out above Kulu Kulu in Sakai, Higashi-Ku. When we awoke, it was to a beautiful bright sunny day. The weather had cleared and the day was perfect. It was hot enough for shorts, tee shirts and flip flops. The highlights of the day was the birthday cake for yours truly by Kumetani Satoshi, a happy anniversary phone call from my wife and a birthday text message from my son. It was quite an exceptional day. Of the day's events was to hear Ash Grunwald perform for the second time in japan, Afnica, a jazz sound five piece from osaka, Caravan, Keison, and Blue King Brown. That is in fact, not to say that the other bands were no good, it was that I did not have time to check out all the musicians involved and actually feel quite sad about that. There were many beautiful ladies and gentlemen who approached our walls and all the artists and their artworks made the osaka festival even more eventful than the yokohama event. In osaka, the arts was actually seperated from the live music venues by a staircase and a wall lined with windows that faces out to the outdoor stage. In our vantage point, we could hear all the music filtering from outside as well as get beautiful sunshine and be in the shade. how dope is that?! The artists that were at the event who especially made the times super exciting was, Naki, the camera. He was especially enjoyable!! Thanks for the wines and hugs! Yusuke Hanai! U-Ske! Taisuke's Wall from yokohama! and even a special guest appearence by Rockin Jelly Bean!!!!! my favorite! The day flew by like a dream. After the show, we had to pack up and ship out. Tired from the crowd, the music, the sun and all the sake, we finally arrived back to Hiro's spot and got another birthday cake and ate some awesome unagi courtesy of Jinta's Eels, the best Osaka Eel Eatery. After the cake, I crashed like a paper plane into the wall. My life passing before me like a pleasant blur.