The "Gaijin cut"... or "Hey, let's not bother with all that 'style.'"

(Skip down to the links below if you don't feel like reading)



Went to Kumamoto City over the weekend and was amazed, yo. Amazed.

Look, I'm just going to come out and say it: why does every foreigner have the same fucking haircut? The same one. Close cropped to the skull, max half-inch sideburns, damn near bald, cancer-tastic. I was in shock. Not in a "you're a conformist, mannnnnnn" way that you would be if you were a 15-yeard old obsessed with the Sex Pistols, but in a real "wow, that's just odd" way. My grandparents had more hair before their heart-breaking demise, even with the onslaught of chemo-therapy and mood-altering substances. That shit makes Johnny Unitas look like Animal from the Muppets.


THIS guy looks adventerous in comparison. No shit.

Granted, ok, perhaps there's a dearth of great bilingual hairstylists out there... I've been growing mine out for 6 months now, save a screwed up bang trimming by a relative who demanded that I do it for my "yeah, I give a shit about some invisible guy who's obsessed with my genitals" satiation of her family's chosen religion*, but good God, did every other male in Kyushu start up an aggressive religious ascetic sect and not tell me about it? IS NOBODY LISTENING TO SABBATH ANYMORE?!?!

* = (The winner here, of course, is my dad, who despite being a decent and thorough guy once told me blankly that "I'm probably going to hell, Evan", before returning to watching Major Dad. Thanks for smoothing out my existential crisis, dude)

I'm just saying... it's weird. It's really weird. In fact, I'm going to start collecting pictures of the weirdness. I harbor nothing against these dudes, in fact I've met several of them and had a good time talking to them and getting to know them. I just find it strange that an entire group of people find it desireable to get their haircut like Harry Truman in 2006. And I'm from Texas, mind you.

Coming up soon: Interviews with Dylan Carlson of Earth, an interview with yours truly, and another episode. Have some links:

Article on women starting businesses in Japan. Found this while trying to find pictures of fellow foreigners to malign.

Excerpt from the new Earth album. Far more focused and enjoyable listening than their last one, which despite having a cool name, sort of blew ass.

My favorite garage rock song ever by Le Shok. 1 minute of pure awesome.

Keith Levine from Public Image Limited bitching out Tom Snyder. This is the infamous appearance everybody talks about.