i think i'm turning japanese

Meet Nirf. I did at a Big City Rock/Everybody Else show @ the Roxy. One doesn't normally see a Japanese posse at one of these shows so naturally I felt compelled to have them in my life! Plus, I had some down time. C'mon, JAPANESE PUNK POSSE. I'm part cat so curiosity is in my blood!

I've hung out with them a handful of times and they are pretty redic. (Spending time with them is always an adventure. I LOVE FOREIGNERS!). What's even better is that they don't speak English very well. Sometimes I wonder how we understand each other. Alot of pantomiming, pens + paper, and patience. I've even kept the scraps of paper and bar napkins we've written on because it looks like a war map! Pictures of butterflies and phonetic spelling. I love it! Seriously, the napkins can be found on my fridge. Mementos of random evenings. And I love how they are up for anything! They have this innocent excitement! Like, we'll be at a bar and a song we all know comes on the jukebox and while I may start off hesitant they are totally belting the lyrics as best they can and dancing around. They are just totally excited and happy to be in this city. (They cried when they played @ the whiskey this past weekend).

You know what I also love? Their obsession with Nirvana and Foo Fighters (hence "NIRF"). That is what I love about music. We all may have a hard time trying to understand what the other is trying to say but music becomes this common denominator. That and good drinks.

(Look! It's my friend, Albie, and I dancin' in the front row from a few months ago. I didn't know this existed.)

They are playing in Little Tokyo this Friday at Judo Chop. It should be pretty wild and they are fun live. I'm still not sure if they're singing in English or Japanese and quite frankly I don't care. I mimic sounds just as fine. "Wahhhh wahhh wahhh wahh" just like when you're singing along to the radio and don't know the lyrics.

Little Tokyo will also mean hanging out at one of my favourite divey bars and 25cent karaoke (or is it $1? All i know is, there's always alot of quarters involved).