Dave Rat - Roadies in the Midst

Oh boy, I get to remember a new age I am. Next year I need to remember to use my birthday as an excuse to have BBQ or party but this year I am more concerned with catching up on bills, making some decisions and doing the tour break scramble. I am up at 6 am and hit the sack around 1 am last night as I will do for the next few day. Jet lag, delirium, kids, lunches and carpools and right now just making it through each day with a smile good enough. Thank you to everyone for all the Happy BD wishes and such and here is by far the most unique.

www.photagious.com/slideshow?7fb74b7015b99a2e25eece1181394702\

The underlying story line is that a group of my bloggery friends from the Red Hot Chili Peppers fan club bought a pair of Rat Sound hot pants and have been shipping them all over the world, taking a picute with them, signing them and shipping them on. These things have been to at least three continents and may hold the world record for the most adventurous undies ever. Rumor has it that I will reunite with the traveling undergarment some time soon. I must admit it is really funny and fun.

Home. After exiting the plane, grabbing my bags, heading home and nearly two hours straight of deleting and quick responding to a few hundred emails, I was relieved to have just over 200 left.

Light at the end of the tunnel and hey, it's better than being neglected! Home sweet home, that comforting feeling of escaping to the blissful world of...

a construction site. But look! The insulation is blue, so very pretty and not by accident. I have been waiting and wanting for over a year now to use this stuff in a project and when my contractor, Woody (ha ha, a very fitting name) mentioned fiberglass, I requested he use this stuff instead. It meets or exceeds all the specs for fiberglass, it is fire, bug and mildew resistant, does not make you itch like fiberglass, does not shed glass fibers that make your lungs bleed, has better sound proofing qualities, is not a hazardous material like fiberglass and is a 100% recycled "green" product that looks like ground up blue jeans. Oh wait, it is ground up blue jeans!

http://www.bondedlogic.com/ultratouch.htm

Many cities have approved it as a building material and the only down side is that it is about 30% more cost wise but in the big picture of house building expenses it is still cheap, especially considering it's superior specs. What relevance does this have and why have I brought all this house remodel stuff into the blog? Finally, the moment I have been awaiting. This blue stuff is the cheap, readily available and non hazardous with excellent acoustic properties. Hmmmm, I wonder where it would work really well? Oh oh oh, I know! How about using it inside speaker cabinets for damping material? Perfect!

So to celebrate, how about we destroy something. Say bye bye fireplace. "Bye bye fireplace."

I love birthdays!

Dave Rat

 

So we say bye bye to Japan and hey look! Japan is saying bye bye to us with this specially constructed waving robot!

I can't remember the whole ordeal anymore but it went something to the effect of, 9:30 am lobby call, 12:30 flight from Osaka to Tokyo, hour long shuttle bus ride from one Tokyo airport to the other one, 2 hours of hanging out and then a 9 hour flight to LAX, 40 minute town car ride to North Hollywood, an hour drive to Oxnard, unload my bags and some stuff I grabbed from my unfinished moving and off to pick up my daughters, the little energy balls they are. While immersed in this meandering trek, I thought to myself "boy, it sure would be nice to have a cold beer." And look, a beer machine!

Having one of those at home would be dangerous.

Oh, and back to the pattern of tear apart the house, make a mess, clean it up and tear apart something else. Oh the joy!

Also, I will be diving in to trying to catch up on answering comments, I may be a bit slow but at least I am forgetful.

Dave Rat

Ok, though most people may find the next two photos boring at best, there are quite a few bloggery friends that should enjoy them enough to make up the difference. After many requests, not perfect shots but close enough if you look close, here is JF's pedal board for all you 6 stringers filled with curiosity.

I must admit though that though I have reluctantly and imperfectly acquiesced to providing a snapshot of JF's pedals, it is important to note that it is not the brand or mixture of tools that a carpenter uses, it is the timing, finesse and inspiration that create what is so desirable. For one who creates beautiful things, the tools are merely a convenience or preference. It is the images in the mind, made real by touch where the magic is born. All else is purely a facsimile.

Artist occur in all aspects of life and I was fortunate enough to cross paths with Yoshi.

Yoshi is a master of repair of the human body. Strange as it may be to some and comfortable as it may be to others, Yoshi is fluent in the not so westernly accepted art of acupuncture and acupressure.

Have you ever seen those questionable hair club for men ads with before and after pictures? Or the highly doubtful loose weight with a shaky rubber band around the waist or eat all you want diet. Or even the much more believable breast implant or lip injection advertisements? Well, not being one to feel left out, I figure I may as well give my own version. Accept this one is neither an illusion nor based in personal beautification. Utilitarian at best. Speaking of beautiful, Robin is beautiful and thank you! OK, this is Dave pre-Yoshi

As you may notice, there is a bit of a sway perhaps? And post Yoshi

And I had been to a chiropractor and I had no desire to take the waste-of-time pain killers that a standard US hack doc would have prescribed, and given my schedule, physical therapy as the true solution, was not an immediate option. In less than an hour, I walk away with an ache rather than limp, awesome! Thank you Yoshi!!!

So speaking of unexpected discoveries, look what I found. Though I did not have a choice to find it as it was the only option. Check out the old school Japanese toilet, it's a squatter!

And while linking thoughts and thinking of old school, here is the real deal wasabi root and shark skin paddle used to make the paste the real way.

Possibly you ponder what is the difference between real wasabi and the faux wasabi we get state-side. What you seek is a sharp flavor, fast that fades quickly. Similar it tastes but more importantly it is fun to partake in the authenticity.

As far as the gig well, the Osakans rule, and the venue is a bit smaller but similar to the Tokyo Dome. All good!

Dave Rat

Train that is. I believe that the brand and model # of the train is a Shinkansen Series 700. I know this because of my keen sense of the obvious and it was labeled correctly upon the side region.

Technology in Japan advances at a truly incredible rate which is why I was not surprised to come across this breakthrough cutting edge technological advancement in music playback, introducing "The Micro-CD!" It is so small and big around as a pencil eraser and most likely can hold a entire album's worth of tunes.

Think of how many CD's you could carry in your pocket! The CD player is about the size of American nickel, most likely, one would have to assume, I am pretty sure, I can imagine. Though as hard as I tried, my eyesight proved ineffective at reading the band or album title that must be printed somewhere upon it. As exuberant as I was with my discovery, both roadie Leif and Lampi Scott were not convinced and proceed to down play this revolutionary find as being merely a sequin. Then the presented the silly argument that just because I found it on the dressing room floor last night, it was doubtful to be a the latest top secret Japanese innovation. Oh, wow! I think to myself, sidestepping further exposure to the clearly confused non believers, just imagine how many CD's Elvis could wear on his sequin suit! The perfect combination of flashy fashion and rocking tunes. The ability to merely thumb through 10's of thousands of sequins before finding the band you want to hear and just popping it in to the player with the special sleek i-Tweezers. CD-equin necklaces would be all the i-Rage.

Once in Osaka, I was out doing a little shopping for chili coated whole baby crabs, some bags of shiny little fish and hmmm, so many choices of dried squids, how do you possibly know which one to buy?

Hey look! There's Lampi Scott and it looks like he has been doing a bit of shopping as well, "Hey Roadie, what are you doing?" I shout.

With Sushi being so healthful and delicious, one can not help but cross-project a lofty culinary expectation on to the Japanese eating preferences as a whole. But alas, like all cultures, Japan is not immune from creating the edible equivalent of a White Castle burger. Who amongst us has not, in a late night bleary state, stumbled into a 24 hour market, weighing choices between the mystery meat disc burger, pink tube shaped items created by putting a pig in a blender rolling on metal rods next to the hot dog buns, micro waving the frozen brown gush with bits of rubbery stuff wrapped in a tortilla that has a picture of a mexican lady on it or the triangular grease pile sitting below the the sign that says Pizza? All the while, most likely, your mind drifts back to the mouth watering delicacies of a foreign land. "Mmmmm, if I could only wrap my lips around some gelatinous thing I fished out of that uncovered soupy brown pond water back in Japan."

So perhaps dinner should take a different direction? I meet up with Roadie Larry, our newest roadie addition. He is taking over for Roadie Liam, who headed off to hang with his long time comrades, the band Rush. I have known Larry near 20 years from gigs up and down the Cali coast and it rules that we finally are on the same tour. So, we did what roadies do quite well, we ate and drank and ate some more before drinking of course for an absolutely amazing meal. Oh, we decided to have Sushi, for a change, in case you were wondering.

Tomorrow, rock show in Osaka and I will work on grabbing a few band shots and maybe even, if I remember, I will snap JF's pedal board as well.

Dave Rat

Continuing...

Back to Tsukiji, the Tokyo fish market and what would a fish market be without ice? Most likely stinky and empty so they have this big old conveyer belt machine where giant ice blocks are sent up to drop down and be pulverized. Bring your own bucket.

Though sparse, other necessities were evident and I am not sure what all that stuff is but I do know an edamame when I see one

What I did not know is what they make those little green guacamole balls out of that are sitting on sushi plates. Shhhh, for those who don't know Sushi that well, here is some advice: You will find a small green guacamole ball on your sushi plate. The really cool thing to do is just pop that whole delicious morsel right in your mouth really fast, first thing, mmmm, yummy! But hurry because that stuff is in high demand and someone else may get yours if you aren't quick.

So turns out that even though that green stuff looks like guacamole, and tastes of so yummy by the spoonful, it is actually called wasabi and looks like this

before being turned to paste. The old school way is to rub it on shark's skin but now a days they have metal grinders. What I also did not know is that nearly all the wasabi outside of Japan is fake because the real deal is too expensive.

Though the market does not smell, it is a bit messy and at the end of the day when it's time to run the numbers and do some calculations, I can see where the abacus would hold up a bit better in this environment that battery powered calculator.

Off to lunch and 9 am as all this fish walking made us hungry. Roadie James, Chef Assist Julius and Raymond our friend and tour guide of the market you can see and Scott, and Wayno you cant. Raymond is the one who hooked us up and has friends and relatives at a few shops in the market which is why the next round of sushi was some of the best Toro tuna I have ever had, so good I forgot take a picture.

And a short Youtube version for those that like visual motion.

**** End Fish Market Adventure ****

OK, now back to being jet lagged.

Dave Rat

First order of business today is a bit of back repair and the promoter has arranged so graciously an acupuncture/acupressure specialist to swing by my room and fix me up. While I am waiting, I head over to the mini bar drawer and find a coffee which both impresses and depresses me. Japan's creativity and creations are amazing and some of the things they come up with boggle the mind. So there is a coffee cup and a mini filter and little filter holder and cream and sugar and a stir stick and a top all in a neat little package.

Dump in hot water and poof, a perfect cup of drip coffee. While this is interesting and somewhat useful, it also highlights the reality that a many Japanese products are beyond belief wasteful in their packaging to the point where the amount of trash created often outweighs the consumable product itself, do you remember the plastic bottles full of ice when I was here before? Which in my opinion cancels out the cool factor. True beauty in design occurs when a harmonious balance between function, aesthetics and efficiency is reached while minimizing any negative impact that resides in the surrounding world from both manufacture and post consumption.

The massage /acupressure does a great job of lining me back up and reducing the ouch factor and it is time to head to the gig and a good sized gig it is. The moment I walk in through the revolving doors the instant air pressure surge hits me. "Ah, an air filled dome." It is one of those venues where they have a soft flexible roof and giant blower fans some where that pumps in enough air to keep the roof up, sort of like a giant version of those air filled things kids jump around in at the fair. All doors the are revolving and the trucks enter through multi-stage air locks to unload and it gives me a headache if I go in and out of the pressurized room too many times.

The air supported ceilings are surprisingly strong and as you can see in the picture below, you can hang lights and stuff from the flexible roof. Our touring production is too heavy for it though so we have everything supported by the stage we had brought in for us. Occasionally while touring I have come across and air filled arena where we have hung the sound system from the floating roof and it is really strange to see the chain motors running and the gear not lifting till the roof sufficiently sags to to hold the load. And then when audience leaves at the end of the show, the PA drops down a bit due to the air pressure dropping/escaping.

The double hung mains and 15 deep side hangs with 3dV-Dosc under all clusters plus 6 dV-Dosc in top of the side hangs and for center cluster totaling a whopping 90 V-dosc and 36 dV-Dosc not including delay clusters and that is one bad ass PA!

Down below is a modified sub cannon setup with 4 side stacks using a 2 foot spacing and an 8 sub center cluster.

Here is a graphic of the sub layout that roadie Lee put together, Lee rocks!!

Having this much clean sound power is really fun. Hello Homare, Tukiji and Raymond and thank you for the awesome fish market adventure and coming over to my office for a rock show adventure! Sashimi and Soju for all!

Speaking of rock show, hey look, there it is!

Now that was fun!

Dave Rat

Forth time to Japan in less than a year. Jet lag hits me hard this time. Usually I deny it's incapacitating grip but instead I just give in and rest my back and indulge in being horizontal. I could care less what the time is when I sleep or rise. Exhaustion from my marathon run at home during the tour break sets in. Nap after nap, computing at all hours and the 24 hour local quick market has fishy rice balls and water that sustain my hunger. A full night and day and night and day before a midnight load-in forces some reality into my mix. At some point while living this bleary timeless state the phone rings and it could be 6am or pm and it makes no difference.

"Lobby call in 3 minutes, the van is already here, we are headed to the fish market, hurry up" Lampi Scott's voice, I am pretty sure, is coming from the phone. Well, it's all news to me and I was out the door before I even bothered to ponder where or why I was going. The fish market we did, shopping with Wayno the Chef, in the seafood equivalent of New York's Wall Street. Passing through the gates, we are informed that we have entered a no-man's land where city laws no longer apply. The police don't enter except to haul out the occasional body from a miss step off off a high place or other questionable demise. The fish mongers rule this land and whatever you do, don't get run over by a cart.

Turns out there are two types of carts, old and new and one type gives you a bigger owie than the other when failing to move from it's path, though it is tough to figure out which is which. The old one was born in centuries past while the new one is nothing like anything I have ever seen. A rotating turret with a motor inside and a steering wheel and thinner round wheel brake on top. The powered front wheel can turn so sharp that it can nearly go backwards and turns inside less than its own length.

Isle after isle of any and every species of ocean life, now food, endlessly fills this massive warehouse and most surprising is what is not seen, the smell of fish and that fact that it is practically non existent. Amazingly, barely hint of scent of the fish as far as the eye can see, all perfectly iced or dry iced

and messes scrubbed clean into the constant flow of fresh water steams disappearing into rough gutters and away.

The king of fish here is the tuna. Massive multi hundred pound swimmers flash frozen on the boats to what I am told is the optimum 60 degrees below zero storing temperature. Earlier than the 6:30 am it is now, the booth buyer was earlier out bidding up to 10's of thousands of dollars for prime specimens. Check out the modern giant band saw slicing whole tuna

Followed by the old school method of hacking out the bones with a hand sharpened axe like knife

to be thawed, sliced, packaged and delivered to fill the daily orders from the endless multitude of restaurant's demand.

**** Ponderings ****

As we wander the endless labyrinth created by one species to consume a myriad of others, the potential to be aghast highlights the human hypocrisy of needing and enjoying to eat. Yet so many turn a blind eye to the foundations by which our polished food is acquired. Whether it be plants or animals, each person decides to draw their personal line of edible acceptability but it makes little difference as everything is interconnected. It is just a matter of which illusion we choose to present ourselves as reality. Is it better to eat the critter or hack down it's habitat to create a field to grow vagatarian crops leaving the critter with an extinguishing fate, and what do they feed those plants we eat anyway? Not unlike the self and society censored parallels where humans publicly gloss over their underlying desires and act in patterns of sexual interaction while pretending to ignore the necessity and natural humanly allure, not unlike an amazing meal on a hungry stomach. Then I ponder the true and unavoidable cause of global warming to be caused by both sex and food. As clearly as we humans are creators of the unraveling predicament, we as a species have the power to halt man made global warming merely by convincing all humans to simultaneously refrain from sex or food and the problem would soon be enough as we extiguish ourselve. It does not take a rocket scientist to see that we as individuals and a race are incapable of treading upon this planet so softly as not to impact it. A quandary indeed unsolvable, given the acceptable choices. Then it becomes clear that trying our best as a species to attempt to slow down the eventual and unavoidable reality is really the only sensible option. How hard, how much and at what rate becomes a personal choice with global ramifications for each to decide and rally for or attempt to dictate. In the mean time, I am quite hungry and there is a fresh Sushi meal in my near future I predict.

**** End Ponderings ****

To Be Continued...

Dave Rat

 

Japan Airlines flight number whatever bound for Tokyo. My back hurts, my body is crooked and I went to a chiropractor on the way to the airport. Must have pulled a muscle and it knotted up like a twisted rubber band does when let loose in someone's hair. Have ya ever done that or had that happen where someone would twist up a rubber band and let it go in the small hair behind your neck? Ouch! I seem to have acquired a bit of a hitch in my get-a-long which is just what I need right now.

So I immediately pass out on the plane and wake up hour after takeoff to discover I am sitting next to a mid meal Japanese businessman who is a few drinks into the wind. Handing me the menu, "oh, which one do you order? Japanese meal o American meal?" he asks while perfectly combining al R's and L's in into a hybrid that makes me smile. "Well," still trying to hack through the haze, "Um, which on is that?" as I point at his food. While the presence of small rubbery flower shapes, chopsticks and bowls of brightly colored mystery globes clearly gave it away, he nearly shouts "Japanese meal!" Well, then that is what I will have then. Engulfed in excitement he yells down the isle for the flight attendant, orderes my meal and then proceeds to partake in what appeared to be some sort of joke telling session with her that suspiciously felt like it was at my expense.

"To drink?, um water, please," still trying to form words awaking from one of those slumbers that leave your arms feeling like lead. "Water? why water, no wine? why no wine?" he stares, loud and curious as can be. Ummmmm, well, how about a wine please. "Ahhhh yes, Cab Syllah, velly good!" And so it went, with him asking me each time I ate something if I liked it. I could only come up with two answers able to break the language barrier without insult; "yes, good" if I liked it and "hmmm, so-so" when it was beyond the realms of edibility. He loved "good" but really loved "so-so" and so once again he calls the flight attendant over followed by more laughing, a bunch of sounds I don't understand mixed in with the occasional "so-so" followed by more laughing. Wine and more wine and more laughing and I soon figured out that whenever he did not understand something he would invariably look forward as if think intently and nod his head and say yes, yes, ah yes. Then I realized that he barely had understood anything I had said the whole time except "yes" and "so-so."

His English was very limited and very hard to understand and yet still light years more advanced than my Japanese which is primarily relegated to names of Americanized sushi items, "hello" and "thank you." But that did not stop us from chatting away and in the middle of a jumbled question I hear what sounds familiar but not English. So I ask if he speaks Spanish, in Spanish and that is when the fun really began. Turns out he is a car parts distributor for Latin America and he can rock the Spanish. Though I may not have the syntax all down, I fair pretty well as well. So there we go, a common language all good as we both get yelled at several times to hush down. Too much fun and say hello to my plane ride friend Tsuchiya!

Landing at the airport, turns out that all that wine has left me a bit less chipper than the average bear but not so bleary to miss this after Leif pointed at it. Check it out, up there under the C-Clamped webbing is a birds nest with little birdy chicks in it. The webbing and triangular roped off area is to prevent poo bombs from taking out unsuspecting travelers. Cool stuff, I like the awkward mesh of different speiceis looking out for each other.

Next stop, hotel and the 'day of landing production meeting' where a bunch of delirious western roadies attempt to discuss things we pretend are important through interpreters with a sharp team of Japanese perfectionists that tend to be damn good at what they do.

Dave Rat