Finally getting around to uploading this small compilation of bouncy jazzy electroswingy tracks I patched together for some party last year:

ElectroSwing Mix:

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[download link]

It’s been forever since the last mix, but I am a few weeks away from freedom and unprecedented amounts of free time… So fingers crossed: I might even resume playing with my home studio (it’s somewhere around number 4 or 5 on my To-do-list-of-freedom, just after sleeping and eating a normal meal).

Amidst the work, chaos and queasiness, a few snapshots of fun and loveliness:

Gavin doing his best impersonation of a mid-90s Ibiza DJ at some improbable makeshift rooftop thai bar in Tokyo, Fang-chan’s enthusiastically taking on a bucket of Hoegaarden at Pig&Whistle’s, 5pm sunset near the house, schnappy crocodile, playful lemurs and jackass penguins at Ueno zoo, remnants of snow in that small cemetery tucked in the back streets of Akasaka… oh yea, and the good ol’ camphor tree wishing me ãŠã¤ã‹ã‚Œã•ã¾ after my defence last week¹.

It has been nearly two weeks and it is now time to move on a little.

Don’t worry: I am not off Mr. De Angelis’s case and will keep posting updates to his dedicated page as they keep coming.

But I need to start resuming a normal life, one where I do not spend hours replying to emails and comments about this affair. You know there is something wrong when I am probably losing more sleep over all this than the rapist himself.

Anyway, I am sure my thesis advisor and my girlfriend will both appreciate regaining my undivided attention. And the three regular readers of this blog who come for pictures of cats and wacky Engrish signs will be happy to read about non-rape-related stuff again…

Before I temporarily close this chapter (and also because I cannot see myself following the last post directly with pictures of kitties doing adorable things, or some post about my love of bacon for breakfast), I felt there were a couple things I should share. A mixed bag of reflections, observations and justifications. It is long, rantish and all over the place, so you will be forgiven for skimming through to the parts you are interested in (that’s what the section titles are for).

At any rate, please stay topical in your comments and keep any remarks specifically about Mr. De Angelis’s case for the appropriate post.

(Also, I haven’t had time to edit it yet. Expect plenty of tpyos)

Here we go:
Read the rest of this entry »

My post and the publicity around the name of Cristiano De Angelis have uncovered a staggering number of testimonials from people throughout Asia. All of whom without exception had negative (sometimes very negative) things to say about the man and his behaviour¹.

To clearly show that my friend’s incident in Kyoto is not an isolated claim, I have taken the liberty to gather all sourced testimonials posted on CS threads or in the comments to my original blog post, and copy them below in chronological order. People (understandably) concerned about the credibility of my sole voice may want to look through these: while they may not fall under criminal law, they all paint an unambiguously negative portrait of a rude, untrustworthy, sexually aggressive and deceitful individual.

There is also a clear evolution: as he gets farther from home (and, presumably, from people who may recognise him and report his behaviour to his friends and family), Mr. De Angelis becomes increasingly rude and aggressive in his encounters.

Every single quote comes with a link to the source and to the poster’s public Couchsurfing profile (every single one of them have themselves flawless profiles, sometimes totaling hundreds of positive reviews from visitors):

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Update: After I posted this, my friend M. finally accepted to go together to the police station to file an official complaint. Read at the end for detailed update.

Cristiano De Angelis is an Italian-Brazilian “professor” of economics who enjoys travelling.

Cristiano De Angelis is also a sociopathic sexual predator, who raped a 20-year-old woman in Kyoto, sexually assaulted at least one other person and generally behaved like a pathetic excuse for a human being toward all the people unlucky enough to cross his path during his travels through South-East Asia.

Read the rest of this entry »

Inbetween travels, work and final thesis ramp-up, much happy-happy-fun times with friends in Kyoto…

The naming process for our newly adopted pet dragon (a Water dragon, as befitting of the year) was not without difficulties…

My beloved immediately veto’ed Drako, Draky or any similarly obvious variations. She did not share my enthusiasm for Robert either, putting it down as “lacking in fierceness”. However, in the end, we agreed that the only appropriately fear-inspiring alternative we could think of, Siegfried, may inflict needless existential trauma on our pride and joy (you try naming a kid after one of the most notorious slayer of its species, see what it does to its psyche growing up).

Say hi to Robert, the fearsome dragon!

Yet another one to add to the collection…

Happy New Year everybody!

PS: click on the pic for the full-size version.

In the plastic bag carried by the guy walking ahead of me this morning, at the entrance to the [officially closed for the holidays] university campus: 2 bags of crisps, 3 instant-ramen cups and 2 cans of Boss coffee. Happy Holidays indeed!

Some low-quality pics from nighttime Momiji at ShÅren’in

These days, I wonder if I’m graduating in Bioinformatics or in Petty Administrative Filing.

A tiny representative sample of the ten pages of instructions on how to file my thesis documents (bear in mind none of it has anything to do with the actual content of the thesis, this is all exclusively about how to format and present the documents, not what goes in it):

Yes, three paperclips, not 2 or, gods forbid, 4. And for the love of Amaterasu, make sure that you use a clear folder for your stack of 60 copies of each document. We can and will fail you if you do not comply.