JAWing On – Life on Okinawa

This is a photo of one of the North American lizards.

(Click on image to view large size)

For those of you who were at Bar JET towards the end of July, the “documentary” that was being filmed is supposed to be airing on NHK at 8:00 a.m. Sunday, 20 August 2006, according to the info told to Taki. For those of you who were not at the bar during the filming, here is some background info. NHK, the Japanese version of PBS, was filming the musicians of the local music scene in the Okinawa City area last month. From what Taki was told, it was supposed to be a documentary. Therefore, we had an entire production crew at the bar. Normally, I would not care much, as long as the crew was filming from the observational perspective (without interfering with business as normal). Unfortunately, usually that is not the case. What does usually happen is these “documentaries” end up with a choreographed sequence of events (similar to promotional films) that have nothing to do with the real weekend to weekend bar scene.

It should be noted that you should not be seeing me in the documentary for several reasons:

1) The manner in which the documentary was explained, in order to get approval to film at the bar, was that the documentary was supposed to be about the band, not me or the club.
2) I was cured of the “fame” bug a long, long time ago (almost 25 years ago in fact)….after I did a local TV commercial for butter cookies that ran on the airwaves for many years, but I never received even one yen for. (As far as I know, the local agent that booked that gig and never paid me, is no longer in business for having the same business ethics with other people that she booked gigs for.) Therefore, I straight out told the crew prior to filming that I was not giving my permission to be filmed or recorded – which Taki had already explained to them earlier. (Of course, that did not stop them from filming and recording things (such as me and the counter) that they were told were not to be included in the “documentary about the local musicians”, despite the producer previously agreeing not to.)
3) The behavior of the crew described above just reinforced my NOT wanting to be filmed or recorded despite several other attempts made by the crew to change my mind. (I tried my hardest to conduct business as usual without ending-up in the film crew’s floodlights that lit up the club as if it was an awards show.)

Anyway, for those of you who were at Bar JET those weekends, and want to see how the “documentary” turned out, do not forget to put the time and date on your calendars.

Those of you who were on Gate 2 Street after midnight already know, NHK was out filming the area. They stopped by Bar JET for a few songs and then were on their way. Although the crew called Taki and received permission to film at the club, not may details were provided. So if you watch NHK, expect to see some footage of the area on one of their shows concerning Okinawa and the music scene.

Well last night was total madness, sardine city in fact. We try to maintain an open door policy with no cover charge at the club. On New Year’s Eve we throw-in free party goodies (as long as supplies last) as a way to say thank you to all those who have supported us over the year. Every year this adds up to Bar JET New Year’s Eve “mania”. At the end of the night, when everyone leaves, it looks like a typhoon hit the club – like more drinks ended up on the tables and floor than anywhere else. Even though the club was total madness, almost everyone remained courteous of others and the facility. Over all it was a hectic, nutty, but enjoyable evening for most.

Last night was a perfect example of the lack of understanding of a concept behind a message. When the evening was over I walked into the restroom area only to find a group of persons had graffitied all over the wall-sized mirror. (We normally allow people to leave a “little mark” on the bathroom walls, not the mirror, just to tell the world they were at the club at one point in time.) The reason I say it was a group is because the message was written not only in English, but what appeared to be Spanish, and Kanji as well. (I doubt very much the extensive Kanji was written by a non-native of this area.) The main message on the mirror was “World Peace”, among other sayings pertaining to such. The reason I said that the concept behind the message was lost on these individuals is that the method of delivering the message was anything but peaceable. Never, except in the direst of circumstances – such as to save a life of someone in immediate danger, is causing damage to another person’s property an act of peace, no matter how well intended.

Bar owners may soon have to deal with a new type of competition, if that’s what you’re into, for the over 70 neighborhood pub business.

There is a report on CNN about a new coaster that signals a bartender when a beer mug is getting low on contents. I don’t know about other bars, but it isn’t uncommon for the patrons to move about through out the evening. That would make locating the depleted beverage holder difficult. Not only that, just because someone’s glass is emptying doesn’t necessarily mean they automatically want another beverage forced upon them. However, there are some promising possibilities for this product. Suppose the coasters were set into the tables. If each table had a small keg somewhere under it with an above table dispenser attached, and the coaster signaled the dispenser when a beverage was getting low, customers who did want to replenish their beverage could simply deposit a pre-purchased token into the dispenser and refill the container with a pre-specified quantity. This would help eliminate an unnecessary waste of time on the part of bartenders and waiters, as well as eliminate any waiting on the part of the patron.

For those of you who keep up with the local music scene, you may soon be seeing Live Music Bar JET in a promotional video. Live Music Bar JET is a possible shooting location for an upcoming video involving former Bar JET bartender Shota, a transplanted mainland Japanese artist and lead singer of the jazzy J-pop rock band B-Trippers. (Some of you may be familiar with their music from an awamori TV commercial.) I’m not exactly sure what the promotional video is for, since the promoter for B-Trippers, also a transplanted mainland Japanese and celebrity, is the wife of another transplanted mainland Japanese and this year’s spokesperson for the local awamori company. And, at the same time, B-Trippers have a CD that is receiving some acknowledgement due to the TV commercial. I also don’t know why they haven’t chosen to use Shota’s own club for the video. (Taki was busy in a recording session when the call came through and didn’t have a chance to ask questions or get all the info.) Anyway, we wish Shota the best of luck with this new promotional video.

Last night we had our 3rd Annual Unofficial Start of Summer Celebration. Although the bar got a little over crowded, it was worth it to be able to ignore the nasty weather that has been trying to dampen what should be a time for celebration. The start of summertime, there’s nothing else like it. Over here the summer season tends to be plagued with too much humidity, but the ability to spend breezy nights staring at the stars and munching down on an array of tempting barbequed edibles seems to create a balance.

Former One Wish singer, Nancy , stopped by Live Music Bar JET this past weekend to announce the release of her new solo CD. While there, she belted out her rendition of Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain”.