If you’re voting in the U.S. midterm elections this Tuesday, last week’s Last Week Tonight episode on the Republican Party and the Far Right should be relevant to your interests.
While in Tokyo, I had to make at a stop that I’ve always wanted to visit: Roland Store Tokyo, the flagship store of the venerable Roland, maker of all sorts of electronic music instruments.
The store is located in Harajuku, right in the middle of where Tokyo’s various youth subcultures hang out, and where tourists (admittedly including myself) come to check out all the quirky shops, especially those devoted to kawaii.
If you’re an electronic musician and in Tokyo, this store is a must-visit…
It was the last hours of our last day in Tokyo, so we were short on time. That meant that I had to stick to the main floor (the synthesizer floor), and that’s why my photos are of.
The entryway featured the hot new boutique synths of the moment:
- The Jupiter-08, a “boutqiue-sized” digital recreation of the 1981 classic, the Jupiter 8
- The n/vision, a “boutique-sized” wavetable synth
Both were so new that they weren’t going on sale for a couple of days. The display models were there to give prospective buyers a chance to try them out, and they sound great!
A tour of the first floor
This was a last-minute stop, and we were pressed for time, so I stayed on the main floor with the intent of maybe buying one of the “Aira” series of compact synths.
Here’s the back wall of the first floor:
A view from the back wall:
And here are the display Aira units:
There was a guy ahead of me who was trying to choose between the S-1 (which I wanted) and the J-6 (nice, but it’s more of a chord machine with less sound tweakability, and I know how to play chords).
He went with the J-6, and when it became my turn to talk to the staff, it turned out that there was one S-1 left on their stock shelves that day. I took it as a sign from the synth gods that I should buy it then and there.
At the current exchange rate, I got it for $100 cheaper than I would’ve had I bought it in the U.S., and I bought it at the mothership!
Unboxing pics
As a foreigner, I was able to buy the S-1 tax-free, but that meant that I couldn’t unbox it until I left the country. So I unboxed it and tried it out on the flight to Manila.
Following internet tradition, here are my unboxing pics…
It’s Sunday, and it’s time for another “picdump!” Here are the memes, pictures, and cartoons floating
around the internet that I found interesting or relevant this week. Share and enjoy!
I’m heading to Japan soon, and while researching places to go near Gotokuji, the temple that gave the world the maneki neko (the lucky beckoning cat), I found out about a burger place called Easy.
I may have to check it out, considering their creations include the “Midsummer Burger,” which is topped with:
- Lemon zest
- Lemon marmalade
- Cream cheese
At that point, the thought that came to mind is “Your ideas are intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.”
They also have a pineapple mozzarella burger…
…a maple fried butter chicken sandwich…
…and the “Blow Ya Mind Burger”…
…whose toppings are:
- Maple syrup
- Strawberry jam
- Cream cheese
- A hash brown
- Bacon
- Cheddar cheese
For the curious, here’s Easy’s page on Japan’s restaurant site, Tabelog, which is like a mishmash of OpenTable and Yelp.
It’s Sunday, and it’s time for another “picdump!” Here are the memes, pictures, and cartoons floating
around the internet that I found interesting or relevant this week. Share and enjoy!
Categories
Tampa Bay deal of the day
If you’re looking to get into the erotic waffle business on a limited budget, there’s a seller in Tampa who has what you need!
Each press sells for $150. Links to their Facebook Marketplace pages are below:
Some men may require instructions on how to consume the female waffle. A strategically-placed Hershey’s Kiss™ might help.
Whoo-hoo! We managed to get a reservation to visit Yamaha’s Innovation Road museum in Hamamatsu, Japan!
Innovation Road is Yamaha’s interactive museum, packed with instruments that the legendary company has made over the past 130+ years. And yes, you’re allowed to play them, because the museum is meant to be a hands-on experience.
I hoping to at least see, if not play, the Yamaha DX1 (pictured above), a synth of which only 140 were ever made, and one that I’ve never seen in real life. For any synth players out there, it’s basically two DX7s in a single keyboard, and with much better displays. In 1983, it retailed for $13,000 (alomst $44,000 in today’s money):
Here are a few tunes you’ve probably heard that feature the DX1…
I happen to be the owner of a couple of vintage Yamaha keyboards — and they’re hard-to-find ones, too! One of them is the DJX, released in 1998, and the other is the DJX 2, released in 2000. The ones pictured below are mine…
Here’s a little bit of noodling I did on the DJX:
…and here’s a quick thing I put together on the DJX 2:
In addition to their famous synths, it’s also home to a lot of pianos…
…guitars…
…and all sorts of instruments because in the music world, Yamaha seems to make everything:
Here’s a tour from 6 years ago:
…and here’s a short video from a month ago:
And oddly enough, admission to Innovation Road is free! You just have to reserve one of the 150 spots they make available every day from Tuesday to Saturday.
I’m looking forward to this one!