Radiation Levels in Tokyo Warrant Fear?

I suppose that it is human to panic in a situation that one doesn’t fully understand and can’t control.

Is it all hype, this talk about radiation from the nuclear power plant in Fukushima being detected in Tokyo?

Can we trust what the government is telling us, that there is “no immediate threat”?

Why is the evacuation zone recommended by the American Embassy THREE TIMES that of the evacuation zone the Japanese government is recommending for its own citizens?

I attended a private press conference at the Foreign Correspondent’s Club of Japan to find out. Speakers included one of the engineers who worked on the design of the safety systems at the very plant that is so dangerously out of control and an expert on the effects of radiation on the human body.

I was floored at what they had to say.

Luxury in a Time of Austerity

In addition to the countless aftershocks, we had a fairly big earthquake last night. What’s the difference? Well, the earthquake we had last night was on a different fault line so it wasn’t an aftershock of the earthquake we had last Friday. Great, just what we needed.

I do want to clarify something very important. Compared to the people in Sendai that have been so affected by the tsunami, we, in Tokyo, have absolutely nothing to complain about.

With the nuclear reactor misbehaving, though, things are getting slightly worrisome here.

I have been thinking about some of the LUXURIES I have learned to live without. We have been asked to conserve energy because of the short power supply, so I only use one small light at night. I haven’t had my heating on since this whole crisis began. I make do with whatever I find in the stores to eat. We can live perfectly comfortably even without these things; how wasteful we have been!

And like I said, compared with the people up north, we are so fortunate!

But when I went to the LUXURY goods district of Ginza in Tokyo today, I was shocked at some of the blatant ways some corporations are wasting energy at a time we have all been asked to conserve. I got on my soapbox and just had to name and shame the bad guys. Here is the result:

What is on the mind of Tokyo's expats?

Another sleepless night due to pretty bit aftershocks found me awake at five and watching the constant news coverage of the unfolding events at the nuclear power plant.

I am trying to do my part: I have had the heating off in the house day and night. I use no lights during the day and only use one at night. I am not buying excessive supplies. What else can I do?

All of my appointments and work for this week have been canceled. But rather than waste the day worrying in front of the TV, I decided to go out again and film. This time I went to Hiroo, an area with a large expatriate community. I had heard what some Japanese people in my neighbourhood were thinking yesterday:

Let’s stick together and share our supplies.

What is on the minds of Tokyo’s foreign guests? Have a look here:

Japan Earthquake Update March 14, 2011

In Tokyo, we have some minor inconveniences such as interrupted train service and frequent aftershocks, but it nothing like what the people in the north of the country are experiencing.

I simply couldn’t stay inside today and just watch the news coverage, so I took my brother-in-law’s advice: I took my camera outside to see what was happening in my neighbourhood. The result is a ten-minute video about “panic buying” that you can see by pushing the link above.

Japan Earthquake Update March 13, 2011

It has been two days since the earthquake hit Japan. In some ways everything has changed; while in others, for those of us in Tokyo at least, seemingly nothing has.

On Friday, when the earthquake hit, I was at my friend Masumi’s boutique. I was talking on my cell phone at the front of the store near the plate glass window, while Masumi, in her 70’s, was standing near-by. Unlike in some other earthquakes where there can be a sudden jolt and loud bang at first, this one rumbled slowly. It felt like a tide coming in and became stronger. At first, I had I thought it would be like one of the countless earthquakes I have experienced before.

“Ian, this is it. Hang up the phone and take care.” Tada said.

“You, too”. I looked at Masumi who was frozen and couldn’t move. The shaking became more violent and I looked outside at the swaying telephone poles. We had two choices: go back further into the shop and take cover or try to run outside to the parking lot across the street before the glass potentially started to shower down around us.

The concrete building, more than 40 years old, was shaking so violently that I wasn’t sure it would stay standing. I grabbed Masumi and half-carried her outside. Other people had already started gathering in the parking lot. Masumi, petrified as the ground moved us as if we were in a boat on choppy water, had tucked herself under my arm and had her face buried in my chest. I looked up to see what could fall on us.

The rolling lasted for so long, much longer than I had ever experienced in this earthquake-prone country. Was it two minutes? It was so violent and at its peak, Masumi and I looked up and saw her three-story building swaying. What was she thinking at that moment? Her nephew was on the top floor. Her brother… was he on the second floor or had he gone out? In my mind I could see the building crumbling, I could see the street opening up and swallowing the cars and people.

But it didn’t. The earthquake ended and the building was still standing. The twenty people or so that had gathered in the parking lot looked around at each other and silently bowed to one another. There had been no panic, no screaming. And we all still thought that what we had experienced had been centered in Tokyo.

I tried to call Tada back. Nothing. I tried again. Nothing. Everyone around me was on their cell phones and nobody could get a line though.

We went back into the shop (from which we fled again how many times during subsequent aftershocks?) to find the lights and electricity on. There appeared to be relatively little damage on the first floor. We went into disaster mode. Are there are any gas leaks? Are there any burst pipes? First floor: OK. Second floor: cracks up the walls, falling plaster. Third floor: a complete mess.

The third floor is where Masumi’s family lives. The water had been flung out of the toilets and was everywhere. The refrigerator doors had swung open and the contents strewn on the floor. The plates and glasses had fallen from the cabinets and were shattered. Each room held a new, horrible scene. Masumi’s mother’s collection of dolls had been in large glass cases which had been thrown to the floor and smashed. Framed photos, previously on the walls, were now all on the floor and broken. Things had been toppled to such a degree it was hard to tell: was that a treasured memory of Masumi’s or a pile of garbage about to be taken out.

We found her nephew to be ok, but barefoot among the broken glass. We all put on shoes, something that even in this emergency felt wrong to do in a Japanese house with its delicate tatami flooring. We trampled over their prized belongings in our “outside shoes” to check for gas leaks. As it should have, the emergency shut-off valve had been triggered. Nobody hurt, no fire hazard.

Although we couldn’t get phone lines out, we quickly discovered that texts were getting through. Tada was ok. So was his mother. Between running back out to the parking lot during the large aftershocks, and enduring the countless smaller ones inside, we began to clean up the glass and debris.

Starting with the entrance ways and hallways to ensure a safe escape if needed, we worked our way through the front bedrooms and kitchen. The living room, with its glass cases of curios smashed into the tatami flooring was the last room. While we worked we turned on the TV to see if any news reports had started to come in.

We could not believe what we were seeing! Towns had been washed away by a tsunami. Fires. Devastation. I looked from the broken dolls on the floor to the images on the TV. We realized the earthquake hadn’t been centered in Tokyo after all. We were unhurt and cleaning up broken dolls. In the north, entire towns had been washed away. It was getting to be night. We had electricity and heat and water. In the north, they had nothing.

This is not to say that Tokyo had been unaffected: the trains had all stopped and people could not get to their families, to their children’s schools. There were some deaths and injuries, but it was nothing like what we were seeing on TV.

Then a manager from the wedding/ events company that I work for on the weekends called (I later learned that calls from some landlines were going through with a greater success rate than from cell phones as the mobile network was simply overloaded). After checking that I was ok, they informed me that I was to report to work in the morning as usual(!) as we had dozens of weddings scheduled- seven of which I was personally responsible for. I let them know that I was an hour away from home by train and reminded them that the trains weren’t moving. They said that they would call me back.

As it grew later, more and more train lines announced that they would not resume service that day. Some people joined streams of orderly, polite commuters who calmly made the journey home. On TV it showed thousands and thousands of people who had decided to walk home- some for three, four or more hours across this sprawling metropolis. Others had decided or were required to stay put in their offices.

I decided to stay the night where I was. Without gas, we had no way to shower or cook, but compared with the people near the epicenter we could not complain. We went to the supermarket to buy something to eat. It was so orderly! There was no panic! People were buying simply what they needed for that day. There was no hoarding, no pushing, nothing even impolite.

Exhausted and finally allowing ourselves to relax enough to feel the stress, we picked at our food in the warmth of the TV even as we watched images of the displaced in shelters who had no food. No water. No heat.

Close to midnight my office called again. They had required the full time employees who had been working that day to stay in the office to work through the night and organize the 300 part-time employees who were obligated to be at work in the morning. They apparently had tried to send a car to get me, but it had had to turn around after sitting for hours in the massive traffic jam of nervous people who were either trying to get out of Tokyo or get back in. As I hung up the phone, I was still having trouble believing that I needed to report to work in just a few short hours. Were they not seeing the same news that we were? Were people actually going to carry through with their plans to hold a wedding in the midst of all that was going on in their country, not to mention to risk congregating in buildings that may or may not be still structurally sound after enduring such a powerful earthquake? With all the train lines now stopped and the airports closed, with all the dead, with all the unknowns, I couldn’t even believe that the issue was being discussed.

In Japanese, there is a saying: company first, family second. It is simply a reality here. Does it sound cold and heartless? I have thought a lot about that over the last couple of days.

When I got to work the next day I learned that when the earthquake had hit, hundreds of customers were attending a banquet at the facility. After everyone was evacuated to the parking lot, the building was inspected to make sure it was safe for everyone to go back in. As it would take a long time for the inspection of such a massive complex to be completed, the employees were sent back in to get chairs for each and everyone guest standing in the parking lot. Within minutes, they were distributing bottles of water and had passed out table clothes for people to wrap up in to keep warm. The owner of the complex simply would not have his guests uncomfortable in addition to the inconvenience. With the trains stopped and without a way to get home, 200 guests were stuck without a place to go. The owner invited them to spend the night. They were fed dinner and breakfast the next morning. Mats were rolled out in the largest dinning room to try to make a place for them to lay down. Among the guests: a few babies, some elderly persons and a pregnant woman. The employees remained there working all night to take care of the customers. Who would have done that if the employees had all gone home to their own families?

Back at Masumi’s, we all decided to try to get some sleep. Large aftershocks were happening at the rate of two an hour and were so unsettling. With the images of the devastation we had seen on TV still in my head, I decided to sleep with the light on. I hadn’t allowed myself the luxury of changing into the pajamas that were Masumi’s father’s that she had laid out for me. I wanted to remain in my jeans and sweater- even if they were soiled- in case we had to run out again to the parking lot suddenly.

It was almost one in the morning, and I laid down and turned off the news. As I tried to rest my mind, I couldn’t believe my ears! Was that the sound of Karaoke coming from the bar across the street?! Could people actually be in the mood to go out for a night of drinking and singing at a time like this? The party went on until the morning. Needless to say, between aftershocks and endless bad renditions of old favourites like “My way”, I slept little and wondered much about what the world was coming to.

I heard Masumi in the kitchen at five. She hadn’t been able to sleep either. I asked her what she thought about people singing Karaoke at a time like this.

She said, “The trains are stopped and the people can’t get home. If the bars and restaurants close, these people will be out in the cold. Even if the owners can do nothing else, they must stay open.” I again realized things aren’t always as they appear.

My office called again and asked me to try to take a taxi into town. I hugged Masumi and thanked her for her hospitality. She handed me a few hundred dollars in cash just in case I got into trouble along the way as the ATMs weren’t working. I went outside to try to find a taxi.

It was eerie. Even at 5:30 in the morning, there were lots of people out. Many haggard-looking men in suits and dress shoes had been walking all night and were still not home. I found my way to the main street and eventually hailed a cab.

During the hour drive, I was thinking about what I would find when I got to my apartment. Would it still be there? Could there have been a gas leak? I opened the door to my apartment and a piece of shattered pottery fell out into the hall. I just left my shoes on and went in.

I swept up the shards and broken pieces of things that I had cherished so much at one time and yet now, as mere things, meant nothing when compared to what really matters. With no gas for a hot shower, I boiled some water in the electric pot and found an unbroken bowl that I used to take a sponge bath. The news images of the devastation flashing in the background, I put on a suit. And then I walked to work.

Out of the seven weddings I was in charge of that day, four had been cancelled. Of the 25 weddings in total that were scheduled for that day at the events complex, 12 went ahead as scheduled. It was an unbelievable day, filled with big aftershocks, tears for family members who were still unaccounted for and many people still in shock about what had happened. One of my co-workers spent our lunch break sitting on my lap crying. A dancer at Disney Land, she was at work when the earthquake hit and saw people stuck in rides. Believing they were going to die at the time, she was grateful there were no deaths at the theme park, but was traumatized by the peoples’ screaming.

I still haven’t worked through all of my feelings about what is happening either.

After work, my friend Martin came over for dinner. He had found some eggs at the grocery store near his house. In my neighborhood I hadn’t been able to find any milk, bread, rice, water or eggs. I did manage to get some oranges and a few other things and, of course, I had things in the house as well. It was nice to just have someone over, and we watched the news as we ate. We wondered how people would react if the earthquake had happened in America. Everyone here is just so calm and orderly! We watched footage of a volunteer passing out food at a shelter. There was only enough rice for each person to have one riceball. Although they were on a big, open tray, each person took just one riceball and sat back down quietly.

The first time I even heard the Japanese word for “looting” was during the news coverage of Hurricane Katrina, and I have since forgotten it.

Martin and I had both gotten in touch with our families who were very much relieved after having seen the news. We were both feeling a little… is the word homesick?... and we were playing a round of SkipBo to try to distract ourselves for just a little while from what was happening. The doorbell rang, and we opened the door to find a delivery man from Japan Post with a package for me from my sister, Amanda. In the midst of all that is happening and at 8:00 on a Saturday night, a care package from home made its way to me! Inside, homemade pumpkin bread and chocolate chip cookies… heaven! And a small prayer shawl Amanda had knitted for me. How could she have known the significance of that package and its perfectly timed arrival when she had sent it a week ago. One of the Mysteries of life.

Another sleepless night and then I went to work again today. More weddings and events, more strange and thought-provoking happenings, more news of devastation up north.

I have spent my free time both yesterday and today gathering supplies. I found some peanuts at one store. Although there is no bottled water anywhere, I did find a case of sports drinks. And I found a box of little candles that are meant for use on a Buddhist altar. I have just come back form the supermarket where the possibility of what could still come became so real- there is almost nothing on the shelves. Even still, on the way home I passed restaurants filled to capacity with people eating and drinking. This gap is so strange.

Because of the problems with the nuclear power plants, they are calling for rolling blackouts beginning tomorrow, so it could be a while before I can write again. I appreciate your thoughts and prayers so much, but rest assured that here in Tokyo, I am ok. Please keep the people in the most affected areas in your thoughts and prayers.

"the ballad" goes to croatia

the ballad of vicki and jake can be seen in competition this week at Zagreb:Dox. The screenings will take place:

Wednesday, February 28 at 17:00
(Student Center Theatre)

Thursday, March 1 at 17:00
(MM Center)

Visit the festival site here.

remember me?

It has been a while since my last update; the last time I wrote was before my trip to Montreal in November to attend the North American premier of our film. We had successful screenings both in Canada and at our Scandinavian premier in Copenhagen (also in November). We were in competition in both festivals, and although we didn’t receive any awards this time, we didn’t come home empty handed: the contacts we made and the experiences we had both are benefiting this film and will prove to be invaluable to our future projects as well. I also had a wonderful time with my family who came up from Maryland to be with me at the festival.

I have found it difficult to update my blog and even just to keep up with correspondences since coming back from Montreal. I think I found that I needed some space to be able to figure out what my next step was, not only with the film but indeed with my life, too. I often talk about the trials and tribulations of the film, but not so much the ones in my personal life. When I look back on what I have written about “the ballad of vicki and jake” I can see that it really parallels what is going on in my life. But it is somehow easier to talk about things in relation to the film rather than directly talk about my life

Since returning from Switzerland last year with the award for our film, I haven’t submitted to any other festivals without invitation; that is, I am ready to focus on our next film and have only sent “the ballad” to a few festivals who have heard about us and requested our submission. This still doesn’t guarantee a screening, but of course it means that the chances of being screened are higher.

I am happy to announce that we have been selected for the international competition category in the Zagreb:Dox International Film Festival in Zagreb, Croatia which takes place next week. I leave for Croatia in the morning; I just couldn’t bear the thought of our baby being unaccompanied in a foreign country. It will be a short trip (just four days), but I am looking forward to the festival and also to having a chance to see a bit of the country as well.

Wish us luck!

in the news

I leave for Canada and the RIDM festival tomorrow.

I googled our film, the ballad of vicki and jake, to see if anything was posted after our screening on Saturday in Copenhagen. Couldn't find anything in English regarding the CPH:DOX screening, but here's a few postings from Canadian sources.


The Canada.com website, in an article titled Really Real Lineup of Films, offers this quote about us:

First Camera shines a light on new directors, with fresh points of view. Ian Thomas Ash's "The Ballad of Vicki and Jake" looks at the documentary form itself.

While the RIDM festival press release Look Harder. See for Real. has this to say about us:

First Camera presented by Planète is all about discovery— emerging filmmakers, original viewpoints and narrative innovation. It’s an invitation into the unknown where tomorrow’s documentary greats are hard at work. Newcomer Ian Thomas Ash’s "The Ballad of Vicki and Jake" is a pointed investigation of the nature of documentary itself. It begins by capturing every detail in the life of a recovering heroin addict and her pre-teen son, and ends with the viewer wondering just who is manipulating whom.


In Highlights of the City’s Ninth Annual Doc Fest, the Montreal Mirror says:

Thorny questions about the relationship between the documentary filmmaker and their subject are raised by "The Ballad of Vicki and Jake". In this British entry by Ian Thomas Ash, the director sets out to capture the rehabilitation of a young junkie and single mom. The bond between filmmaker and junkie subject soon becomes tortured and their manipulations back and forth entangled.


An article from Hour called Getting Off on the One-off says:

Things get troubling in "The Ballad of Vicki and Jake", when the very green filmmaker, Ian Thomas Ash, spends a large chunk of the film convincing his subject - a cracked-out mom and her son trying to make good - to sign release forms that give him and his producer the rights to their story.

And perhaps the strangest piece linked to our film comes from our very own website's guestbook:

Drug Information for Prescription Drugs. Free information about buying meds online, alumogur, tramadol. Canada Drugs is your online Canada pharmacy for xanax. Order from an Online Pharmacy.

How ironic.

Will try to post while I am away. Wish us luck!

three years ago this week

We met Vicki three years ago. The weather was cool and the leaves were changing. This photo was taken in Novemeber during one of the first interviews we had with her.

It is so hard to believe all that has happened in the time since this photo was taken.

castle park, 5 november 2003
photo: ken kwek

I have been busy with preparations for the festival in Montreal. I leave on Tuesday and can't wait!

first date without a chaperone

oneill's pub, 3 November 2003
photo: ken kwek

Our baby, the ballad of vicki and jake, is having its first showing without one of us holding its hand tonight when it has its Scandinavian Premier at the Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival.

We're thinking of you, baby!

burst my bubbles

Feeling a bit stressed lately? Yeah, me, too.

You know how good it feels to pop bubble wrap between your fingers? Well, thanks to my friend Bullfighter6.2 who pointed me in the direction of THIS website, now that feeling of release is only a click away.

Almost as good as the real stuff. Pop away, stressballs.

Update:

The voice that you hear when you push "fresh sheet" sounds just like Anthea, our assistant editor, when she hasn't had enough coffee. Scary.

what they're saying about us 2

The English version of the CPH:DOX site is now up, so now I can finally tell you what they're saying about us in Copenhagen.

'The Ballad of Vicki and Jake' is a film about the omissions, manipulations and compromises involved in making the film...improvised interviews and choleric conflict resolution dominate the film. A meta film about the negotiation of power relations and the human decency demanded in every form of documentary.

If you have a degree in Film Studies, maybe you could explain the above to the rest of us. (Perhaps you, Matt?). In the meantime, I'm just glad they're talking about us.

For the full synopsis from CPH:DOX, go here.

babtists for "ballad"

I would like to thank all of my friends at the First Baptist Church back in upstate New York* for their lovely send off. Only a week to go until the ballad of vicki and jake premiers in North America and Scandinavia!


*Actually, I would like to thank my new friend, Bullfighter6.2, the vibrating blogger, for making me laugh with his tomfoolery and shenanigans.

posting poster

This is what the new posters look like that we ordered for the festivals in Copenhagen and Montreal for our film, the ballad of vicki and jake.

rob him!

Well, actually it's free.

My friend, Rob, who I met back when I was living in Bristol, has since moved to Japan and is making music up in the mountains of Toyama prefecture. OK, his journey has been a bit more complex than that, but let's talk FREE MUSIC!

He has just made his newest 10 tracks (a pop/techno album of music called 'Jigs for Jobots') available for free on his website. His music uses a lot of natural sounds that have been mixed together into a hip soundtrack that would be at home in any music lover's collection.

blog my vlog

In case you missed my blog entries about my new vlog, you can find parts 1 and 2 here on the RIDM website. Part three will be cross-posted soon.

Thanks, RIDM!

scandinavian premier for "the ballad"

In addition to our North American premier next month at the Rencontres internationales du documentaire de Montréal (RIDM), our film, the ballad of vicki and jake, will also have its Scandinavian premier at the Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival in Denmark.

The festival in Copenhagen runs from November 10-19, while the RIDM runs from November 9-19. I had been planning to go to Denmark for the first half of the festival and then travel to Montreal for the second half of that festival; so that I would be able to accomplish this, I requested screening preferences to both festivals. Unfortunately, the Copenhagen schedule wasn't announced until last week, and it is no longer possible for me or anyone from our team to attend either of the screenings in Denmark. I am disappointed I won't be there to accompany our baby to Scandinavia (a place I would love to visit as well), but we are very greatful and honoured to have the opportunity to be shown there.

We will be in competition in the New Vision category. Dates and times below:

SCREENINGS

Cinemateket
		11.11. 19:00
Cinemateket
		14.11. 20:00

Drop me a line if you or anyone you know are living in Copenhagen and are planning to attend the festival. I would love to hear first-hand how our film is received!

I spy something in me eye

When I spent a few days in the mountains last week, it seems that I brought home more than just some waffles. I woke up last Thursday with a pain in my left eye. The lower eyelid was swollen- so much so that somehow it had caused a wrinkle to appear(!). The wrinkle was almost cause for more concern than whatever was behind this pain.

I have been unable to wear contacts since, and because of work and the weekend have been unable to go to the doctor. Now that the worst seems to be over, I finally have a chance to go to the eye hospital today to find out what is going on.

My guess? It is something to do with the hotspring at our inn. I bet somebody didn't wash every nook and cranny before getting into the public bath. The baths are just the right temperature to turn those healing waters into a bacterial soup that takes down dozens of elderly each year. Gee, when you look at it like that the onsens don't seem so inviting.

update:

Just back from the eye hospital and it was most probably from the hotsprings. I'm all set now and even the wrinkle seems to be on its way out. Good riddance!

my new my suits, update

My suit just arrived from Hong Kong- yes, at 9 on a Sunday morning (thanks, Japan Post!).

A lot of the clients of my friend's tailer are older men, so I really stressed that I wanted a young-looking modern cut. The tailer said that recently the trousers are being worn lower. But he also said that with my "kick boxing legs" that he should put a couple of darts in. Wearing the trousers low may look good with slim-cut trousers, but combined with the dart...

I don't look like I'm wearing a trendy tailer-made suit from Hong Kong. I look like I'm wearing a hand-me-down from a retired kickboxer from the Mainland. Dammit.

what they're saying about us

The website for the Rencontres internationales du documentaire de Montréal is up and running. Complete with links to our film, the ballad of vicki and jake, to this blog and to my vlog, the site also carries a synopsis for our film.

Festivals always ask for a synopsis when a film is programmed, and the readers of a catalogue could easily assume that whatever is printed has been written by the producer of the given film. However, more often than not the blurb included in the festival catalogue has been adapted, edited or completely created by the festival itself.

No matter how much I agree or disagree with it, I really enjoy finding out how a festival is describing and promoting us by reading what they have written themselves. For example, when we were in competition in the Visions du Reel, the catalogue description of our film included the following:

...it isn't only the social tragedy of the drugs and poverty that emerges... but also what we suspect is a romantic relationship (between Vicki and Ian), spoilt by clumsiness and a lack of understanding.

OK, not exactly how I would have described it, but I see their point. And what is RIDM saying about us?

Some will find The Ballad of Vicki and Jake poignant, and others, simply repulsive.… In this pointed investigation of the nature of documentary itself, The Ballad of Vicki and Jake is both troubling and troubled. How far can a filmmaker go? The answer is left up to the viewer.

"Simply repulsive"? I love it.

For the full synopsis, please visit the RIDM website, click on the list of films, then on "the ballad of vicki and jake".

update:

Thanks to Claire at the RIDM, I have updated all the links to the RIDM on this blog and on my vlog to lead straight to our listing on the festival site.

what's in a name?

Thanks to Matt for the following activity that will add a few fleeting seconds of fun to your day at work. Just click on the following icon and it will take you to a website where you can see how many people in the US have the same name as you.

There are 8 guys named Ian Ash. Good thing I have that whole Thomas thing working for me.

HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 8 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

I forgot to pack the maple syrup

I am back from the moutain convent where the nuns have a waffle factory. The waffles are really good, they just don't serve them with maple syrup. Or warm.

There more like little waffle-taste, waffle-looking cookies.

They're nuns. Cut 'em some slack.

the sounds of music

I'll be away until Thursday visiting a Catholic convent in the mountains of Japan where the Sisters make and sell waffles.

Seriously.

The next post will be when I get back. Have a good week!

throwing money away

Throwing something away in Japan can be quite a task. It isn't that Japan isn't a wasteful country; Japan, the home of the individually wrapped sweets in a paper wrapped box which is gift wrapped, put in a decorative paper bag and then placed in a plastic bag to protect the... you get the point.

When I lived in the countryside for three years there was more space and therefore more of the separating was left up to people to do curbside. In Tokyo, the streets often aren't wide enough to accommodate separate bins for each of the categories of garbage, so we're allowed to mix some types of rubbish which will be separated out at a processing facility.

"How many categories of garbage can there possible be?", you wonder. Well, where I used to live there were sixteen. Yup. Sixteen. 16. Let's see if I can name them.

1. Raw. (kitchen waste)
2. Aluminum. (soda cans, canned goods)
3. Steel. (some foods/ drinks are packed in steel)
4. PET. (plastic drink bottles)
5. Cardboard. (boxes)
6. Paper. (newspaper)
7. Dangerous. (batteries, light bulbs)
8. Clear glass. (drink bottles, etc)
9. Brown glass. (beer bottles, etc)
10. Other colored glass. (green bottles, etc.)
11. White Styrofoam. (food trays)
12. Other non-burnable. (misc. plastic, metal)
13. Over-sized. (appliances, furniture)
14.
15.
16.

I can’t remember the rest right now (it was a lot to keep track of then as well). The pick up days of the different categories varied- some once or twice a week, some once a month and some only a couple of times per year. It seemed like I was always preparing some type of garbage for disposal and running it to the collection site. Yeah, each of these categories even has a certain way the items have to be cleaned and bundled.

The real kick in the face has to do with the timing of the disposal. One has to bring the items separated and prepared appropriately to the collection site (usually one or two per neighbourhood) by 8:00 in the morning on the day of the collection. “Oh, I’ll just drop it off on my evening walk so I don’t have to bother with it in the morning” , you suggest. Don’t even think about it. It must be dropped off on the morning of collection and by 8:00. In addition to appearing to want to make the process of taking out the trash as inconvenient as possible, the powers that be also have fears of animals getting into the rubbish during the night. (When was the last time a crow had a go at a washed and regulation twine bound white Styrofoam food tray?)

Night before garbage drop offs are a declaration of war.

People in this peaceful country have been KILLED by neighbours in disputes over garbage. I guess tentions run high when keeping track of the garbage is such a pain and then some ne'r-do-well comes along flaunting his rebellion by casually tossing his unbound, unwashed and unregulation cut milk cartons before the appointed time when you are some housewife who is going bald due to the stress of keeping in line with all of the trash rules.

Why am I going on about garbage anyway? Right. When I moved into my new place here in Tokyo in June, I had to buy a couple of essentials- refriderator, washer... what wasn't essential was the cutest three-bin stacked garbage can that cost $240 that I saw in a department store. Needless to say, I did without. Since I moved in I have had two garbage bags sitting in a cardboard box next to my fridge serving as a trash can. Classy.

Garbage disposal is much easier in Toyko. All you have to remember is three days (burnable, non-burnable and recyclable) and separate the trash accordingly. To help me with these three catagories was a lovely garbage can in a department store. But, alas, I have had to give up my dream of a life together with that lovely, sleek, designer receptical. I broke down last week and bought a cheap plastic number who called my name as I walked by in a discount store. I feel like I have cheated on my true love, but alas, she was in a class above me.

And anyway, I was having guests for dinner and the thought of them being welcomed by my cardboard box and trash bag contraption pushed me into action.

Happy tossing. I'm talking about throwing away the trash, Brits.

how NOT to make a documentary, part 3

Click to Play

The last part of this series brings lessons 9 and 10. Click here for part 1 and part 2.

I would like to thank everyone (and expecially Gaelle!) at the Rencontres internationales du documentaire de Montréal for giving me this assignment. It was really fun, and I have learned alot as well.

We are really looking forward to the RIDM where our fim the ballad of vicki and jake will have it's North American premier.

From now on you will be able to find my video blog entries on my new vlog. I'll post alerts here on my blog when I add a new video. Thanks for watching!

my new my suits

Since I will be attending the RIDM film festival next month, my friend decided to buy me a present I could wear to the reception.

My friend's tailor from Hong Kong was going to be in town on business. If we went to his hotel, he could measure me, make the suit when he got home and then ship it to me in time for my trip. How would I like a new suits?

Lesson #1. In Japanese, every single word that doesn't end in the consonant "n", ends in a vowel. Every other word in the entire language ends in a vowel. This may clear up something you've wondered about for a long time... how come when the Japanese speak English they pronounce words like:

KATO= cat
DOGU= dog
KA= car
and the above example:
SUTSU= suits

This is all fine and not a problem once you get used to it. The problem comes when you start bringing the japanified words back into English without realizing it. "I bought a new suits". My brother-in-law thinks I sound like a non-native English speaker in my e-mails from time to time. He so funny.

Back to my new suits. We went to said hotel to get measured for my first my suits.

Lesson #2. The Japanese import tonnes of English words into their language. This should make speaking Japanese easy, right? No such luck. Before they put the words to use, they change the meaning so completely you can hardly recognize what the word was to begin with. Take the English word "my", as in the above example, my suits. "My" doesn't mean "my own" in Japanese. It means "one's own". It may sound subtle, but take a look at these examples:

Will you take my car? means: Will you take your own car? (ie, or will you take the company car?)

Do you have my room? means: Do you have your own room? (ie, or do you share a room with your sibling?)

Hey! That's not my drink! means: That's not just for you! (ie, it's for everyone to share.)

This then gives the grammatically-challenged my suits a meaning equivalent to the English phrase "order-made suit". When you've lived here long enough, it all starts to make sense and even begins to seem so much more simple and economical when speaking.

We're in the hotel room, and I am being measured for my first my suits by a lovely bloke from Hong Kong. He measures my neck, waist, chest and so on. Those who know me know that while I am fairly tall, I have a fairly small build and don't weigh all that much. According to the American height/ weight ratio I am underweight. Yet compared to the average Japanese guy, I have slight love handles and a way bigger butt and legs.

I bring this up because a lot of the trousers in Japan are "stove pipe" cut, which is quite fashionable if you have chopsticks for legs. I would have to buy XL just so my legs could fit into the most fashionably cut trousers, but then two of me could fit into the waist.

The tailor has finished taking my measurements. He's measured just about everything on my body, except one important part. No, not that. He hasn't measured the circumference of my legs. I know he has been lulled into a false sense of security by my small waist and the deceptively well-cut trousers I am wearing. I suggest he measure my legs, but he insists there is no need. I insist that, in fact, there is. He sighs and begins the big measure.

"Oh! You are kick boxer?!"

But no, sorry, I am not a kick boxer, and that is not muscle, but what amounts to fat.

"I put dart in pants or your leg no fit!"

Lesson #3. Beware of having your thighs measured by a Chinese guy in a Tokyo hotel room. It could very well ruin your day.

my new vlog

I have decided to create a new blog to hold the videos I am making. Don't worry, I'll post the final segment, part 3 of the how NOT to make a documentary series here on my blog to join part 1 and part 2. After that, I will be posting videos directly to my new video blog (vlog), documenting ian, vlog. From today, this blog will be called, documenting ian, blog.

how NOT to make a documentary, part 2

Click to Play

Part 1 contained the first five lessons, and now Part 2 brings the next three, lessons 6-8. For more information on our film, the ballad of vicki and jake, please visit our website and RIDM, the festival hosting our North American premier.

triple time, part three

Comment on the following sentence (350 words max.)
“vicki and jake is a 101 how NOT to make a documentary. Ian and Ken threw themselves into this with the enthusiasm of people who had never made a feature documentary before. It shouldn’t have worked. Except it has.”

I feel like I am back in school! I guess Matt Crowder, who wrote a criticism of our film which you can find on our website and from which this quote is from, was commenting on how the way we were filming should have made the film fail but didn’t. I really don’t know that much about film theory or technique, so even while it may look like I am a “rule-breaker”, I was just doing whatever felt natural at the time. I actually wouldn’t recommend making a film this way to anybody. We “borrowed” equipment that wasn’t ours because we didn’t have any money to rent it; I got really personally involved with our subjects which prevented me from being an “impartial observer”; we screwed up loads and then left those bits in on purpose. I can’t believe that we survived without anybody getting killed, hurt, robbed or arrested as a result of what we were doing. And we have a film to show for it! Does the film work? I certainly hope so, but I think the audience has to decide this. The version that we are showing has been cut-down and will be the first time that a big audience will see it. I am really looking forward to hearing what the RIDM audience has to say in Montreal which is also our North American premier.

triple time, part two

3 things about Ian Thomas Ash for people who don’t know anything about you but by chance are reading this (the RIDM'S) blog.

1. I have never made any money making films; I make them because I love to.
2. I learned more about filmmaking by making the ballad of vicki and jake than I did in my post-graduate film course.
3. I have done several documentary projects, but they are always in a foreign country (UK, Japan). There is something about my “foreignness” that makes it all somehow work.

3 good reasons to make another documentary like this in the future.

1. Our way of filmmaking is pretty close to being as honest as it can be; showing both our subject’s mistakes and ours.
2. By not trying to cover up the way the film was made or make it “professional” and “slick”, we actually learned a lot more about filmmaking because we were open to criticism.
3. This is the only way I know how to make a film.

3 projects you would like to realize soon.

1. I want to do a travel documentary of Japan showing some of the strange and wonderful things about the country that has been my home for five years.
2. A documentary about the strange culture of Japanese singers of chanson, French songs, that are still wildly popular here.
3. A funny documentary about the perceived differences and stereotypes of white men vs. Japanese men.

3 lists you would like to write in your blog soon.

1. Ways to get money to make your doc. I have to check them out to make they work first, though.
2. After I attend the RIDM, a list of the best things about it.
3. A list of my favourite lists.


... and have you ever had the idea of making a film in a list form?

I haven’t actually thought about that before, but that’s a really good idea! Maybe I should begin by making a list about why that’s a good idea…

triple time, part one

Gaelle at the RIDM has given me another assignment, to write an entry for the festival blog (I will link to it when it is up and running on the 25th of October). After reading my blog she saw that I like to make lists and therefore asked that I answer in list form. She calls it "the ballad of vicki and jake in triple time".

3 other good titles you could have imagined for your film.

1. My editor thinks the film should have been called the ballad of vicki and ian because the film really becomes focused on my relationship with Vicki.
2. When we thought that the film was going to be more focused on Jake’s birthday, the other producer and I talked about turning twelve as a possible title.
3. Along the same lines, had the film been just about Vicki getting the house, we could have called it something like making home.

3 good reasons to come at the RIDM and meet Vicki, Jake and Sid.

People should come to the RIDM for so many reasons!

1. They can see many unique documentaries from all over the world.
2. There will be lots of interesting people in the industry to meet and talk with.
3. And of course we hope that they will meet Vicki, Sid and Jake by watching our film.

3 words to describe your relationship with Vicki.

Intelligent answer:
1. Unpredictable.
2. Indefinable.
3. Evolving.

Real answer:
1. Confusing.
2. Loving.
3. Maddening.

3 risks you have taken during the making of the film/ 3 difficulties that made making this film a “struggle”, a term you used in one of your flyers.

Some of the risks we made were very real and others were more subjective.

1. We were filming with expensive equipment in places that were dangerous and unfamiliar to us.
2. We were inexperienced and that made filming difficult, but that also forms much of the story.
3. The fact that we were dealing with people’s lives and that what we were doing could have a huge impact on them was also something that we struggled with a lot.

3 aims you wanted to reach by making this film.

I think my aims changed a lot during filming.

1. In the beginning I was focused a lot on getting more experience in filmmaking and using that to further my career.
2. I became very much focused on telling Vicki’s story in the midst of filming.
3. By the time we had seen the footage and had begun editing, I really wanted the story of what happened between Vicki and me to be told.

montreal screenings

I have just received the times and cinema locations at the RIDM for our film, the ballad of vicki and jake.

- November 17th (Friday), 17h40, Cinéma ONF
- November 19th (Sunday), 17h30, Cinémathèque québécoise, salle
Claude-Jutra

Have I mentioned that this is our North American premier?!

video blogging for RIDM

I have been asked by Gaelle from the Rencontres Internationales du Documentaire de Montréal (RIDM) where our film the ballad of vicki and jake, will have its North American premier, to make a video blog about our film.

It should be easy for a filmmaker, right? Wrong!

Between Quicktime files, video compression and Firefox, I have had an adventure. The technical stuff makes filming look like a cakewalk.

Well, I've done it. I think. The topic for my first couple of posts, as assigned by the RIDM: How NOT to make a documentary. Enjoy!

how NOT to make a documentary, part 1

Watch the Video

the weather or just plain lazy?

Either I am regressing back to adolescence when I couldn't get enough sleep or there is something else going on. Lately I can't seem to sleep enough and it is really preventing me from getting things done.

I have been going to bed at ten in the evening(!) and still having trouble dragging myself out of bed at eight the next morning (!). This is after 10 hours of sleep! At first I thought that I wasn't getting "quality" sleep. But in all honestly, I think I really am sleeping fairly well. It is not a tossing and turning sleepless time in bed.

It takes forever to wake up (involving coffee, the morning paper and lots of stretching/ yawning), and then to top it all off, and here is the kicker, I am not very productive when I am awake and have been TAKING NAPS! Seriously, what is going on? Am I am having a "growth spurt"? Is it the changing weather? (Not in the global warming sense, just in the getting cooler, autumnal sense). Am I just plain lazy?

Whatever it is, it's getting pretty annoying.

10 things I should be doing instead of sleeping:

10. Clean my bathroom.

9. Study Japanese grammar.

8. Do some sit-ups/ push-ups.

7. Figure out how to block YouTube access on my computer so that when I am awake, I can't waste hours looking at it.

6. Wash the dishes in the sink.

5. Laundry.

4. Take out the recyclables.

3. Reply to an inbox full of old e-mails!

2. Round up some cash for my next film.

1. Keep my blog up to date!

Sweet dreams!

hello, stranger

I've been away. I'm back. Hope you have been well.

I'll fill you in on my absence over time, but first things first.

The top ten reasons I have been letting my blog go :

1. I was trotting the globe.
2. I've been busy looking up recipes online for squid legs and mayonnaise.
3. I had event-specific amnesia which only affected my ability to remember to write in my blog.
4. I was washing my hair.
5. I've been leading a boring life and have had nothing to write. OR
6. My life has been so extravagantly exciting I couldn't possibly put it in print.
7. I've been busy preparing and eating above-mentioned squid legs and mayonnaise.
8. Blog? What blog?
9. I like to be fashionably late to the party.
10. Mmm. Squid legs and mayo.

Stay tuned.

long time no see

Well, I am in my new flat and back online. Life is grand.

I am loving living on my own again and all of the freedom, quietness and prepared meals that it brings. For my first post in over a week and in celebration of having a place of one's own, I think I will write a list. Today's theme: Things you can do when you've got your own place.

Things you can do when you've got your own place:

1. Get up at noon.

2. Go to bed at noon.

3. Take a bath any time of day or night.

4. Take as many bathes as you like.

5. Walk around in your pants.

6. Walk around without your pants.

7. Take your time flossing and not worry that somebody is waiting for the bathroom.

8. Leave the seat up.

9. Leave the seat down.

10. Pee in the shower. (Not that I do, it's just that you CAN, see.)

11. Come home late.

12. Not come home at all.

There are just an endless number of great things you can do when you are on your own. I can't recommend it enough. If you currently live with somebody else, I suggest that once a year you check yourself into a hotel for a week and do all of the above in differing orders (even the peeing in the shower, at least once) just so that you don't forget who you are as an individual. I met myself again this week for the first time in a long time. He's a bit of a strange guy, but really cool.

the big move

Well, today is the big move... to the small mansion. Have been busy all week with the gas man, water man, telephone man... get your mind out of the gutter, Matt.

The internet guy is coming on Friday- until then!

japanese lesson #2: let's drink

In honor of my new mansion (I move on Friday!), I thought I would use it as an opportunity to teach you some more handy Japanese. Today's lesson uses the verb "NOMU", to drink.

NOMIMASU: I drink
NOMITAI: I want to drink
NONDEIMASU: I am drinking
BIIRU: beer
BODUKA: vodka
JIN: gin
WAIN: wine
TEKIRA: tequila
MIKUSU DURINKU: mixed drink
KOKUTERU: cocktail
NOMISUGI: I drink too much
NOMISUGITEIMASU: I am drinking too much
NOMISUGI KOTO GA SUKI: I like to drink too much
NOMISUGIMASHIYOU: Let's drink too much together
NOMITAKUNAI? Don't you want to drink?
EH? NOMENAI? What? You can't drink?
SHIZUMU HODOU NOMU to drink until you drown
NOMU NOWA YAMETA I've quit drinking
JODAN! Just kidding!

Will be moving and settling in over the next few days, so I may not post unitl next week when my internet is connected. Unitl then!

the wedding on the bridge

I am back from my weekend away at the hotsprings resort town of Nasu Shiobara, about an hour north of Tokyo by bullet train. This was the fourth year I participated in the "Flower wedding" that my friend's event company puts on. It is sponsored by the tourism bureau of the town and it consists of five (!) couples walking across the longest suspension bridge in Japan (billed as the "longest virgin road" in Japan... trust me, there were no virgins anywhere near the bridge on Sunday, let alone on it) and then get married.

My job was to go up on Saturday night, soak in the hotsprings (onsen), drink a ton of beer and watch Pay Per View. Oh no, that was the perk. My job started on Sunday were I donned a tuxedo and led the couples from the hotel to the bridge. Then I lead them across the bridge. Then I went home.

Yeah, it's a bit anticlimactic- like it is every year. The difference was that this year we had the good fortune to be doing this outdoor event in the middle of a downpour. With no umbrellas. Everyone got soaked. Think cold, shivering ringboys (one of whom dropped a ring into the mud) and wet, crying flower girls trying to scatter soggy flower petals that just stick to their tiny, numb fingers.

After the wedding, their was a reception in a tent in the flower garden where the bride's dresses got so muddy that after a few glasses of champagne they just didn't care anymore and started to run around in the sludge chasing little ring boys and flower girls.

I made the mistake of giving my card to the MC when she asked for it; she keeps texting me with messages that have little hearts in them. I guess love was in the air.

a life in the day of ian (sic), part ii: my new mansion

Back by popular demand (not really), I share with you "my today".

7:00 wake up, shower and put away my futon (so the spiders can't get to it)

8:00 have breakfast (the last melon bread... tomorrow it will be sweet bean-filled bread) and catch the subway

9:00 to the bank branch in Roppongi (the famed entertainment district) to figure out what is happening with a foreign check I had deposited. it turns out that foreign checks take one month to clear and for that service the bank takes a few percent cut off the top (but they gave me some free tissues... ) bureaucracy!!!

10:00 a few more stops on the subway to my immigration lawyer's office where I picked up passport with my new visa in it!

11:00 to the landlord's office with my realtor to sign the paperwork for my new "mansion"! Yes, I am moving.

I now hold the key! (to my new flat)

12:00 go to the new flat and get the grand tour (including how to properly dispose of rubbish within the City of Tokyo guidelines... read: "lecture")

13:00 met my partner for a quick celebration lunch at a restaurant near MY NEW MANSION!

15:00 after dropping by home for a quick change, went to work for a couple of hours

19:00 here I am, typing at the computer and thinking about curtains, fridges, etc and looking at the key to MY NEW MANSION!

It has been a long, eventful week.

And it will be an even longer weekend; for the 5th year in a row, I will be the "leader" at a wedding event that my friend's event company produces. The event: five couples get married on the longest suspension bridge in Japan. My job: put on a tux and sunglasses and lead the couples across the bridge, which sways in the wind above a canyon.

All in a day's work.

a life in the day of ian (sic)

Mt sister chided me the other day for not having written anything new on my blog for several days; she's half a world away and wonders what I am up to. Well, here's what I did yesterday:

6:30 woke up and had melon bread* for breakfast

8:00 left my house in Gokokuji area of Tokyo and took two subways to Shirokane Takanawa neighborhood.

8:30-10:30 explored the neighborhood around the mansion** I am thinking about renting (because I AM MOVING!!!). I found a dry cleaners, vegetable store, bean-filled cake shop and a homemade tofu stall. What else do you need?

10:30 met with the realtor to discuss the contract for the apartment

11:30 went to Ebisu neighborhood to be interviewed briefly about a story for a financial magazine on one of the companies I work for

12:30 met my immigration lawyer regarding my new visa (which has finally arrived after months of worry and stress)

13:30 met one of my private English students for two hours of English study. "What is your hobby, banana?"

15:45 we watched the Da Vinci Code as part of our English lesson (OK, we really just wanted to see it)

18:30 had a ten dollar "fruits jelly parfait" (my student's treat)

20:00 went to the Foreign Correspondent's Club for a drink. Met a friend there, went drinking at an "izakaya", a traditional Japanese bar, was taken by well-dressed said friend to a cigar bar(!) wearing jeans and split-toed shoes*** where we continued to drink...

??:?? lost time, missed my curfew****, and am a bit hung over now.

And that was my day.


* it's best not to know
** cruelly, the word "mansion" in Japanese means apartment
*** basically, Japanese sneakers
**** thus I AM MOVING

in a funk

Well, I haven't been into writing in my blog at all lately. It's strange, because I was really enjoying it, and then suddenly I was too busy or too stressed.

Matt, over at Saving The World, seems to be in a similar situation this week. I wonder if "blogging funk" is like when girls live together and their "blue days" eventually begin to coincide; that there is some kind of blogging hormone. If there is, I am pretty sure I don't want to be regulating my hormones with Matt's.

I am writing today because I have I received encouraging e-mails from a new blog pal Rachel (thanks!) and from my sister, Amanda (I miss you!), who's birthday is coming up. Thanks, ladies.

I have needed it, because in addition to an infestation of spiders (!) in my house, I have received some lovely fan mail as well.

The newest comment on our website the ballad of vicki and jake says:

"God - what an unbearably awful film if the stills/synopsis are anything to go by. Presumably you are some middle class atrocity on the first year of a film studies BA, spending Daddys money and having a gawp at the low life. Trust me, after college you will end up in the press office of some grim council office depressed and masturbating over the arts pages of the Guardian."

And it ends with:

"I hope you get cancer."

Lovely. I have been threatened with death before and was even threatened with death while we were making the film. But it's always been something like "I will shoot you", never something like a disease. I can't tell if I am moving up or down on the scale of "the state of having death wished upon oneself". My guess is that I am one step higher.

I have asked our webmaster to remove the comment. But don't get me wrong, I don't want to hide the criticism we receive. In fact, I want to make a new section on the website specifically for giving our detractors a voice. If anyone wants to respond to, agree with, or otherwise make contact with the sender of the above comment, please do so by sending an e-mail to:

foxfoxton@yahoo.com

I'm not so adept at using the internet, but since not so many people access our website, I think I can discern that Foxy came across us by looking at this link on Matt's website. The entry is, strangely, about a guy who makes execution(!) equipment that although illegal to use in the UK, he enterprisingly ships abroad. Not sure how Foxy got over to our site from there, but am hoping that he (or she) just pushed on the link for "the ballad of vicki and jake"(which is located in a menu to the right of Matt's entries) and not that Foxy was drawing any kind of connection.


Since I am back on Matt anyway, it seems that he has hayfever. It also seems that this makes him better than those who don't. Let me just say that I made my "hayfever debut" this year and my doctor said that that was about right since I had turned 30 and was now, officially an OJISAN ("uncle" in Japanese) and no longer an ONIISAN ("older brother"). Gee thanks. Anyway, that puts Matt's rate of decay at a higher pace than mine, so he may be younger than me now, but...

I feel a bit better now.

update:

The e-mail address on the comment was fake, so don't bother to respond to it. It figures that a person who would write that kind of personal attack wouldn't own up to it. Just plain weak.