2008/04/25＊Chihiro

『Don’t become close with gross guys.』

Yes yes. ‘Tis Chihiro.

Me and Kazuhiko actually have a monthly feature in this print called “DROPS” by Shiseido. Each time I pick the no. 1 of whatever is the category in question — according entirely to my own arbitrary, narrow-minded, prejudiced and preconceived judgement. My one such manuscript for next month’s issue was rejected. Apparently, the subject matter wasn’t family-friendly enough. What a shame. Since it’d be a waste to just scrap it as I did go through the trouble of writing it, I’ll just publish it here.

——————————————————

This time, I ask those who are turned off by gross stuff to please refrain from reading. Just to give you an early heads-up. Those of you who are able to stare at an open large intestine surgery while stuffing your face with food, this is for you.

The topic this time around are the loved-by-all “torture & execution devices.” Things like these as well as photographs of dead bodies… I feel ashamed for having an interest in them. To me it’s something we the modern people don’t have in this age anymore: an important tool to help us reaffirm the joy and meaning in our lives. It’s a way to study humanity through the dark history of convicts.

Although we did have some in our own country as well, the variety of these gadgets was very rich in medieval Europe. “Iron Maiden” is one of the more famous ones. “A thorny casket imitating a woman’s body. A person is put in and skewered by spikes, missing the vital organs.” “The outer walls of the pitfall trap are covered with knives. Once reaching the bottom, all that remains are small lumps of human meat.” What calculating execution apparatuses. The human intellect sure is wonderful.

But there’s also many that aren’t as gross. The painless guillotine is one cute example. “Placing scorching hot pots etc. on one’s head/burning” “Forcibly plucking off women’s nipples/nipple removal device” “Letting rats or countless of ants eat the body or genital area/animal punishment“… etc. But, after all, if there’s one that’s not exceedingly brutal or gross but is very painful, it’s the “Pear of Anguish“. It’s quite popular. “Forcibly inserted into either the vagina, anus or mouth, the pear expands with use of the handle, tearing skin and pulverizing bone.” Hee, isn’t that just lovely. I think this guy gets the no. 1 this time.

See, one who knows pain also knows how to be kind to others. Not only physically, but emotionally as well. Alright, I was able to wrap this up nicely. See ya.

2008/04/24＊Kazuhiko

『Guinness sure is good』

Hello, this is Kazu Nakamura.

Today is my 24th birthday — thus, I received 24 Guinness from the 9mm team. That’s pretty awesome, though I do wonder if I’ll be able to drink them all. For the next several days, I’m gonna be full of Guinness. I’m happy. Thank you.

Now then, we return to doing shows again from around tomorrow. We have a lot of ’em in May. Looking forward to them. I’ll do my best.

This was Nakamura Kazu.

2008/04/21＊Staff

They’re going to be regulars for the months of April and May… From the beginning of April until halfway through May on FM Aichi, you can look forward to radio personality Takuro inviting the others to join him as guests for fired-up, 5-minute stretches. Please check it out!

2008/04/19＊Staff

Today was the show at Shibuya AX!

The solo show on 6/6 is also at AX!!!
The tickets went on sale today and we’re happy to say that they’re already sold out.
Thank you very much.

2008/04/19＊Takuro

Shibuya AX today!

Yoyogi Park’s just thriving since it’s Earth Day.
Our show, too, is linked with Earth Day.

These are a variety of flowers I received over there.
Looking at them on a glimpse, they kinda looks like matches.
I think I’ll try letting them grow.

2008/04/17＊Takuro

We have a PV shoot today so I had to get up early! It seems we’re going to have those kinds of scenes and these kinds of shots… Look forward to it!!

Pictured here is Takuro Sugawara, regretting his use of half-hearted words of gratitude in his last post.

2008/04/13＊Takuro

Walking outside yesterday, a foreign man suddenly greeted me.

As I was thinking if he was going to enquire about directions or something, he turned out to be Scott, the drummer from J.

He started the conversation off with “How are you? You guys sure are working hard～” I replied, “We’re going to Matsuyama tomorrow(?) and after that we’re off to Osaka～ We’re super busy!” And so our chat continued, all smiles. But, even though I could understand what he was saying, I could only open my mouth to say “yeah～” “yes!” “thank you～”. That was the regrettable end result. Next time when me and Scott talk, I’ll try conversing with him a little more seriously… is what I decided in my heart that time.

As we were parting, I gave him a 9mm sticker and he said “Thank you! I’ll stick it on my pedal!” which again made me smile. Stomp down on it to your heart’s content please～. The next time we’re doing a show together, I think I’ll stealthily have a look and see if he really did stick it on. Fufufu.

Pictured here is Sugawara Takuro, silently swearing revenge over at the EMI lobby.

2008/04/05＊Taki

This is Taki. Our songwriting camp a while back was really fun. We wrote a lot of songs which we’ll now be practicing a lot. Right after that, we had more shows lined up and due to the excessive drinking and muscular pain that goes with them, I’m completely exhausted. I thought I’d die. Looks like I’ll have dark circles under my eyes.

For our show at JCB Hall, everyone was excited as there was talk of there being our figures on display there. I took advantage of the occasion to also lined up my handmade effect pedals. They were not for sale though. I was really happy to get to show everyone my own work so it was well worth doing. Pictured here is a headphone amp I finished making yesterday. I’ll explain it to you just in case, but the headphone amp seems to be a magical box that improves the sound of headphones. Hmmm.

Making my own effect pedals is fun, but lately as I’ve also grown an interest in making my own ramen, I went and bought a cheap pressure cooker. I want to try my best to make ramen that has punch. Once I manage to make delicious ramen, please have it on sale at the merch table.

This was Taki.

2008/04/01＊Chihiro

『Shinano no kuni wa jyuusu ni.¹』

It’s been a reaaally long time. I ought to write once in a while.
A senior-like senor, this is Chihiro.

I’m sure there has to be some guy out there who pronounces “senior” as “senor”.
Well, there’s me. Forgot in all my thoughtlessness.

…It’s not like I was being lazy with writing on the blog. It just smelled like trouble. Things like printed media, rehearsals, commutes for shows, the monthlies… I had a lot going on.

Watching Kiki’s Delivery Service the other day, it reminded me of how I wanted to become a witch. Well, back when I was in kindergarten anyway. I really wanted to become one.

But, you know, nowadays I’ve already grown ○nge, so I’ve given up.

I think some among you might be confused right now, so let me just clear that up for you.
You put “chi” inside the ○, not “ma“. (Chinge = penis hair, mange = vagina hair)
Don’t get me wrong… it’s just that it’s easy to make a mistake there, so be careful.
If I had man○ down there, I’d be going all “mahariku maharita“² right about now.

As a child, a jedi knight
In middle school, the captain of Space Battleship Yamato
In senior high school, a Spriggan archeologist
In college, a researcher for the secret military agency NERV
As a graduate student, a really cool adult
…is what I wanted to become.

And right now… I want to become John Rambo.

I wonder if you’re all still hanging on to your dreams.
For me, my dreams all disappeared completely as if they were mere bubbles.

A life of non-committed half-assedness spent lying around and shitting your pants — though fun — is something you can let someone else do instead. Before the chances of you realizing your dreams are non-existant, you should chase after them with all your power.

Don’t join the class of dropouts like me.
I pray that you consider what I’ve just said.

(Attachment: A charm I bought as 20-year-old admirer of Rambo and Yu Ominae. It’s really sharp.)

¹ Opening lyric of Nagano’s prefectural song “Shinano no Kuni“.
² Witch lingo, don’t know the English equivalent. What do English-speaking witches say?

2008/03/30＊Staff

The new towels go on sale today.
The material’s exceptionally good for absorbing sweat!
There’s now also a red version besides the standard black one.

In addition, there’s other gorgeous goods lined up.

↓ Handmade effect pedals by Taki

↓ Handmade figures by Kama-chan