Share thy internet with thy neighbor...

Well it was great while it lasted. Our neighbor, whos internet we have been freeloading on for the last month, must finally have realised that he was not alone on his connection and there for decided to put a password on it! Damn it! I say that it was all the porn Amalie downloaded that tip him off. Ohh well. So now we are stuck with this poor slow on and off conection. Sucks!
This post was gonna be two posts but I didn't felt like doing this forever so it became one.

First a few shots from the 46th floor in Shinjuku. Then a few shots from ground level in Koenji.




A few pictures from our trip to Takaosan. A great day in the sun on a mountain 600 meters up in the air. A bunch of nice statues and shrines to go along with the great view.
We had lunch when we reached the top and we had some older dude playing his japanese flute as a soundtrack. Nice.








Tomorrow will be the last geekout day with Mattias where we will test out my new
softbox...uhhh...

Blood and thunder

Yesterday Dom came to get his giant beast finished. I have been wanting to do a whale piece forever so I was happy to see this one done. He had a few scaps in the black here and there so it was hard to take a good picture but next time in Japan we might add a big shark on the other side...if he has forgotten the pain by then.


...and yes we did listen to Mastodon...a few times!

So one out of 3 rib pieces done.

This little Viking owl got started last time we were here and after 3 hours of colors it is now done. It pictures how, in the old days, the viking owls used to hide inside roses and then shoot out lightnings from their claws when the enemy comes to close. Great camoflage skills, those viking owls. One of the many questions I get asked alot, frequently even, is: "how do you know so much about these desings of yours?", and the answer is simple. I read it in books filled with FACTS! That's how.



I could tell you the real meaning behind these next two tattoos but I would have to kill you and I don't have to to go around and find you all so you will just have to guess.

10-20 vision

We went to Shinjuku the other night. We do that so often but this time we had Hata and Rei with us and our destination was one of our favorite restaurants, Tiki Tiki...I think you can guest what kind of restaurant that is.
I decided to try out the 10-20 mm Sigma lens on my new Canon 5D II. It is crazy how much more picture you get with this camera. Since I am not used to shoot with a full frame camera this is a new world for me. Anyway. Here is a few ones from the cap ride.

Hanami

The day after we came back from Akita we decided that it was about time to go on a hanami while it lasted. We had been afraid that all the cherryblossoms were gone when we came back but I think we got there just at the right time. We got our selfs some lunch and went to a park in Shinjuku.
Later that day we went to maybe the best NOFX and Bad Religion show that I have ever seen and I have seen both bands a few times now. That was a really nice day!

If you want blood...you got it

I figured that it was time to give the people who are mostly visiting my blog for the tattoos something to look at. It has been a while and the photopart of the blog has been dominating the space a bit I will admit. One of the reasons is though that t not much have been finished yet and also I have enjoyed much time off that has been spend on things as shopping, sightseeing and lame stuff as taking pictures. But the waiting is now over...here is a few samples of what has been done in the land of the rising sun. Remember that there is still more to come...we havn't left the country yet.



My friend Takayuki aka the terrorist did not only come back for a new tattoo to his collection of Uncle A tattoos, he also brought gifts! Who doesn't like presents? He noticed last time how much we liked Rilakuma so he went out and found some sweet things. We got ourselfs a nice rilakuma clock and soapdispencer and some nice cake keychainish things. Awesome. On top of that I got to do a mutieyed goat from hell and that is always nice. Good stuff maaaan!




This little bamboo eating sucker was done in Akita while we visited our friends at Cotton Pickin.



This little Daruma was done just a few days ago...just for the record then I still hate doing necks!

I was supposed to finish on of the big rib pieces the other day but after 6 hours of drilling we had to stop. 45 more minuttes left before we go home. Another piece was supposed to be finsihed today but got moved till saturday...where I was supposed to finish the last rib piece but who didn't have enough cash to finishing it this time...Hmmm...I really hope that I will get to finish just one of them!!

Welcome to the family!!

Sooo...I am sorry that I have to skip a bit forward on our tales of this trip to Japan. Something happened today, something so big that I have to break that chronology of the many doings of ours here in Japan. "What can be so important" you might ask...I will tell you what:

It happend! I got my new camera!!

I am now the proud owner of a Canon 5d Mark II!

This is actually the same setup as I have now just with a nice fat batterygrip.

And what better day to get it than on my geek out day (part II) with fellow Camera geek and awesome photographer, Yes it's still Mattias Westfalk. When I came to myself again I met up with him in Shinjuku. We went to one of the big government buildings to have a good salaryman lunch in the cafeteria on 32rd floor. What a view for a lunch. Here the geekness started with some good conversations about what make a good photographer and what the difference is between a great photographer and a great photoshopper.
After lunch we decided to drop by the 46th floor for an even more crazy view over Tokyo. Since there wasn't any juice on my brand new camera I had to document these hights with my other little friend the LOMO LC-A+ so you will have to wait a bit to see those picture till I get the film back.
More geekness shopping was then done in Yodabashi camera where I got myself a nice little softbox for my flashgun! Looking forward to try that out. From here we went on a nice little walk to Harajuku where I picked up the bag mentioned in earlier post from last Geek trip. You would think that that would be enough shopping for one day but why stop there? We were gonna meet up with Amalie who were in Shibuya anyway so we thought that we might as well meet in Tower Records. Since we were there anyway I got myself the Watchmen graphic novel and a new tattoo book and then I fell over a classic that was too cheap to resist, Moby Dick. I have been fascinated with the story since I was a kid but never read the story. But here was an addition with notes, maps and illustrations so cheap that I had to get it. I was supposed to finish a great Whale rib piece tomorrow but he had to reschedule till Saturday! Dang it. Anyway, whale tattoo action soon and I have a feeling that it won't be the last whale scenery I will be doing!
After a great bowl of ramen we decided to head home before it started pooring down as the weather report had foreseen.
On the Shinjuku station Mattias wanted to show us a great cake place so instead of changing to the train on the other side of the track as we usually do we went down into the station. Next to the cake place there were these big walls of light that most likely usually have add on them. But not today. We had to try out the skills of the new Canon in front of these great light sources. Here is a few quick snaps that we took before heading home with the cake that by the way was delich.






Later we watched Little Miss Sunshine and ate before mentioned cake with vanilla ice cream!!

What an awesome day in Tokyo!

Lc-a+

Ok...I have officially lost track of the days (and I love it by the way). I forgot when this was but it was a good day. We met with Toshi kinda early since he had some things to do later that day. The plan, you see, was to go to the museum of my favorite Japanes artist, Kawanabe Kyosai.
After a few changes of trains we got there. The museum is in the familys private home and is only 3 small rooms. To get from room 2 to room 3 we had to go outside and into a nother building and between the two 2 houses there was this cute littl garden. Kyosai had a thing for frogs so there was a cool frog statue there.

Lc-a+

Lc-a+

Lc-a+

The prints and originals there are awesome and pretty and all that BUT...the small cafe where you can buy prints, postcards and most importantly books (SO cheap) was worth the whole trip....mmmmmm....Kyosai books!!! Well we got ourself a cup of coffee while browsing though all the Kyosai goodies.

Canon 30D

Canon 30D

Since it didn't take us all that long time to go through those 3 rooms Toshi still had some time left to hang with us. It also turned out that the plans that he had was to meet with some friends in a park to celebrate the cherryblossoms but it was kinda cold and kinda grayish so he wasn't that much in a hurry to go do that. We needed to go to Ueno and do some shopping so he joined us for that. We made a quick snack stop at a bakery called Andersen...a Danish name and yes when we came in there was Danish goodies and even Danish flags. We didn't felt tempted thought to throw ourself at what was supposed to be goodies from home. Looked pretty good though.

Canon 30D

Canon 30D

Off we went to buy Amalies grand dad a new watch...a real Rorax...that's right....Rorax! A cool (super cheap) gold watch called Rorax with the little crow on top as it's brother Rolex has. He had wanted one since he saw Amalies so we had promised him that we would brimg him one of these masterpieces from our next trip. These shopping streets has all sorts of things from bling bling to "designer" clothing to fishmarked and fruits and whatnot...always fun to walk these streets.

Canon 30D

Canon 30D

I can't seem to remember what we did after this but it was a really nice day. Fun times and great things were bought! You can always go see what Amalie posted about this day if you wanna know more. She is better at these day reports anyway.

It has been a great long day with awesome weather, Hanami and a great Punk rock show so I am busted. Sorry if the text didn't make too much sence! I will see if I can catch up with the dates soon.

Swedish Tungsten

The other day I had the pleasure of hanging out with my Swedish fellow camera geek and amazing photographer (yes maybe you have guessed it..) Mattias. The whole day was devoted to full blown geekness so armed with my LC-A+ and my Canon 30D I went to Nakano to meet up with him at our first of many stops, one of my favorite camera shops. They have 4 different departments spread out across from each other like 4 different shops...it might even be, who knows..anyway one has all the digital cameras and lenses new AND used in super condition to the best price I have found in Japan.
On top of that there is all the cool old school and analog cameras. We go there to browse and see how cool some of these old machines are.
Across the street there is a bag and tripod shop and the last shop is just random old crap that you might need for your camera like a lenscap (i actually needed one) and release cables (also needed one of those) and stuff like that.

We decided that lunch was in order before the next stop on the agenda. Mattias knew this great Thai buffet that not only was good but also cheap and who doesn't like a good cheap meal. Here we discused the world situation and philosophied on worldly matters. Good times!

LC-A+, Fuji 400

Next stop was two camera stores in Sjinjuku. One of them is if not THE biggest camera store in the world then close. One of the really great things about this store is that you can get to test all the amazing fancy cameras and that goes for all the different lenses too. There is a bunch of lenses lined up with a few cameras to test them on depening on what brand you are shooting with. This is really awesome so you can try out a lens before spending a whole bunch of money on it and also try out different models a brands that you might not would have gotten too if they weren't there for your pleasure. We also got to play abit with the mighty Canon D1 mark III. We decided that they must have put in a little gedget that makes that speciel sound a feeling when you shoot with it. What a feeling!!!! I do realise that this is a camera that I will never get or need since this is the über camera that my skills will never match. The 5D mark II however is deffinetly on my shopping list and as soon as they get it used in my little camera heaven in Nakano it might be mine. The used cameras is soo cheap and most times only taken out of the box and put on a shelf with a "used" label on it..well almost. We both agreed that this camera must be the best you can get...well next after the D1 obviously. Mmmm...5D....you will be mine!! Ohhh yes, You will be mine!!!!
Since I need a new camerabag we went to the department for that and played around with a few different models to see what I needed. Mattias was trying to trick me into buying a biiiig bag so I could have ALL my equipment with me but what I need is a bag that will hold a camera and an extra lens without turning into a new bagpack. Roomy but tourist-friendly. A few candidates was found and inspired by my wifes visual shopping list I took a picture to remember it so I could think about it and come back later if I decide to get it.
On this stop on our tour de camera we alse checked out a bit of lighting and flash equipment. I found out that I wanna try the softbox that you can use with your normal flashgun. I won't really need the big fancy flash kits with tons of light and stuff but a nice softbox or two with the flashguns that I already have will be nice.

LC-A+, Fuji 400

LC-A+, Fuji 400

After a great amount of drueling we met with Amalie who was out in Sjinjuku for a bit of shopping. We had coffe at what used to be Standard Burger, a place we many times had looked at because of the great name but never been to.

LC-A+, Fuji 400

Since it was getting a bit late we decided to skip one stop on the tour and go straight to Harajuku where Mattias had to drop off some flyers at a bike shop. Here more eye shopping was done. This time my eye fell on a Crome bike messenger bag. It is now added to the shopping list.

LC-A+, Fuji 400

From Harajuku we walked to Shibuya where we found a few great Lomo freindly shops. Mattias who loves sharp bright pictures have had a hard time with the thought of these toylike plastic thingies that I call a camera but since seeing some of the shots taken with the LC-A+ I think he is warming up to it a bit.

LC-A+, Fuji 400

The grandparents.
LC-A+, Fuji 400

The colored brothers and sisters.
LC-A+, Fuji 400

This has been one of our many topics as well. Fancy vs toy. Digital vs film. Big vs small. I have found out that I can't really shoot touristy pictures with my digital camera at least not as easy as with the little handy LC-A+ that I just wave and shoot. It somehow gives me more freedom to shoot as I see where as with the Canon I might use too much thought on how to shoot things and what setting and should I adjust this and would it be a great effect if I do th....LC-A+ you need to remember what your distance is and then shoot. Nice. But anyway...we found a few Lomographic shops where we met some of my little Russian babys family. We saw and talked about what there is too choose from. Good fun.

LC-A+, Fuji 400

Last stop on the tour was Tower Records that has a pretty good sellection of photo books. The 7th floor is a great bookshop with a bunch of english books and magazines wich is rare in Japan. Here we got to the subjekt of different favorite photographers and different styles. In the way out I picked up a few new cd among them the new Mastodon...mmmmmmmmm!!! Soooo good!!

LC-A+, Fuji 400

By this time it was getting late and time to go home. It was a great day of geekness and I hope we will get time to do that again before I will have to go back to Denmark.


Mattias shot some great shots doing the day and some of the can be seen here.
I mostly shot with the Lomo as a contrast to Mattias with his 5d but I had to shoot a few digital since I had brought it. Inspired from Mattias and his way of spotting thing that I couldn't see right away, I gave that a shot. I wouldn't normally try to take this kind of pictures...but when in Rome...

Canon 30D

Canon 30D

Canon 30D

...and the list goes on and on ...

As I recently warned you readers about (by recently I mean the Post that I posted a few minutes ago) here is more picture from my little Russian friend Lomo LC-A+.

I am a bit behind with my bloggings so these pictures are from last Thursday and Friday I think.

Thursday we met up with Mattias to go to an artshow opening for our friend Crystals Kappa show. We went for some Indian food before we headed to the Ghetto. By The Ghetto I don't mean some hooood but the name of a place in Shinjuku that houses a bit of everything and everybody. There is artshows, a bar, dj, I think the have a koncert there now and then, Stores with collectible toys, an indoor skateramp and it is also a place where Mattias and his "gang" of philosophying bikeriders hang out. Back to the story. oh yes...artshow...there was a nice collection of different tattooers version of the charming creature Kappa. Our friend Nico from Holland was In Japan as well visiting Crystal so he was there as well. It seems like we have to meet in Japan since non of us have time to meet anywhere else in the world even though our Countries isn't THAT far from each other. So see you next time you're in Japan buddy!
Mattias showed us one of the bike-maniacs own creation, a double bike. Yes...well...it's kinda a bike with an extra bike frame welded on top of that...well just see the picture below of Mattias riding this monstrosaty. Did I mention that it doesn't have any gears or breaks what so ever? Nothing! Madness...

The next day Mattias came to Koenji to go eat dinner with us at the infamous Osaka Pizza place but I already kinda blogged about that.

More pictures soon...I am trying to catch up with the days past. Tomorrow a day of...don't know what we will do with it...maybe blog about the fun things we have been doing the last couple of days.

I forgot that I was shooting an 400 asa film and not a 1600 so the pictures didn't turn out quite as as I wanted them to but here they are anyway. At least it is some form of documentation.

Our own Swedish meatball, Mattias

The smokers corner outside a convenience store.

I love their small houses that looks like half of them are missing and that by the way has been there way before the rest.

AC/DC

Sooo...I bet some of you are starting to think if this Uncle Allan guy really is a tattooer or just a freak with a plastic camera. To that I can only answer: Yes....yes to both. I am sorry for the lack of tattoos here on this blog of mine. The last 3 customers I have had here in Japan has all been big pieces that needs to be finished later on this trip so be patient. On friday we will go to Akita where I will do a few quick one shots at Cotton Picking that hopefully will make it to the blog if the north Koreans doesn't shoot us down with their "rockets"...yeah...try Missile...NOT COOL!!!

Anyway...Meanwhile you guys will just have to settle (and deal) with all my stupid picture and there is pleanty of them. There is no stopping me and my Lomo!!

These shots are from our little hometown Koenji.

We live under this little thingy... we just cross our fingers and hope it doesn't fry our brains.

mmmm...Mr. Doughnut.

The view from our front door.