First, I want to thank everyone for their comments in Regards to Rodger. He was a truly great guy that will never be forgotten. Thanks everybody.

In other, big news: My current favorite band, Mass of the Fermenting Dregs has abandoned their indie Label, Avocado Records, and singed with EMI music Japan. While many bands lose a lot of soul when singing a deal with the devil, I can confidently say that MOTFD has produced, again, nothing short of brilliance. Check out ‘ひきずるビート,’ the newest single from their upcoming album.

The single comes out February 10th with an additional song and a live DVD featuring Kakuimono, Aoi Koi Daidaiiro no Hi, Highligh, Delusionism, and Bears.

Oh rats. I’ve just pooped my pants again.

It is with great sadness I begin this post—a post I never imagined I’d be writing. A post about my dear friend Rodger Swan, who passed away yesterday at 6:40 PM.

For those of you who may not know, Rodger Swan was one of my guest writers for this website. He wrote a column called "Tokyo Shelf," in which he reviewed Japanese novels. Rodger was also the creator of 'Tokyo Swan,' a popular video blog of his study abroad in Tokyo, and more recently, 'Iwate Swan,' a similar blog of his experiences working on the JET Program. Rodger lead a life in many ways parallel to my own, but did it with a tangible warmth that enveloped everyone around him. Today, I am going to write about the Rodger Swan that I knew, and the impact he had on my life.

I met Rodger Swan on September 13th, 2008. He sat next to me on a bus on our way to the Shin-Kawasaki City office. "Hi," I said to him. "I'm from Seattle, how about you?"

"I'm from Michigan," he said. "From a town famous for making cereal."

This was my first encounter with Rodger. As the day progressed and we continued to receive piles and piles of paperwork, I learned that Rodger was living next door to me in Plume IS, our small dorm in Shin Kawasaki. Rodger, like myself, had never drank alcohol or used any drugs. This was a rarity in our dorm, and thus the two of us quickly clicked and began talking on a regular basis. Before the school year started, I remember being intrigued one day as I heard Rodger's voice float through my window. I peeped out my balcony to discover Rodger filming this first episode of the much loved and often featured youtube series, "Tokyo Swan." I interrupted him in the middle of making this video:

This is the Rodger I met—everybody’s little brother. He was the passionate young man willing to do whatever he thought was cool, whether it was listening Elton John, collecting vintage Sega Dreamcast games, or talking directly into his camera under the eyes of suspicious strangers. Though there was almost always a detectable sense of nervousness in Rodger’s actions, he never tried to hide his passion. This is the Rodger I met. This, however, is not the Rodger Swan that passed away yesterday, as anyone of the 2007-2008 Plume IS residents, or the Autumn Quarter Keio level 1 Japanese course can attest to.

That’s right, Rodger was also in my Japanese class at Keio. Not only that, but we sat next to each other 5 hours a day, 5 days a week, for 5 months straight. I took my studies extremely seriously, and was always in the classroom around 20 minutes before class started. But every time I opened the door, Rodger would already be there, quietly studying by himself, or having a conversation with his camera. When called on by a teacher, Rodger would answer in the same way he made his initial videos—with the slightest twang of nervousness that had himself and the rest of the class smiling at the end of every question. This was the Rodger swan that I I met, but not the Rodger Swan that passed away yesterday.

“Hey man, you want to go to the bathhouse together?” I asked Rodger. “Ah, no, that’s alright. Thanks though, Kevin.” He always did that. He would always say names at the end of statements. Thanks Luke. What’s up Chris? Oh Hey Andrew. Sure, Jennie. Maybe this is why everyone knew him by the end of the first month. Have you met Rodger? He’s that kind of quiet guy, right? Yea, he’s totally chill though. Really easy to talk to. Oh really?

Really. Rodger, more than anyone in that dorm, was amiable. Perhaps it was the videos—everyone knew everything about the guy without even talking to him; he was recording his life on a regular basis and showing it to the world. So when you walked out of the cramped Plume IS elevator and ran into him, there was always something to talk about, and absolutely nothing to hide. Oh, hey man! I saw that video you made in Yokohama. It was really cool! And slowly, one by one, everyone in the dorm was watching Rodger’s videos, and beginning to celebrate his earnest passion.

And thus Rodger began receiving invites from other members of the dorm and taking baby steps out of his comfort zone. Hey Luke, how’s it going? Not bad man, just got back from the bathhouse with Rodger. Wait—with Rodger?? I almost couldn’t believe my ears. He didn’t film it, did he? No, haha, he was totally cool about it. Wow, I thought to myself. Didn’t see that one coming. About a week later I ran out shaving cream and walked next door to Rodger’s room. He opened the door and invited me to his birthday party, a bit later that week. There, I saw but another transformation in Rodger as he drank himself into a stupor of friendliness.

Everyone joked with the new face of Tokyo Swan—and the new face stayed. Rodger quickly became more involved with the residents of Plume IS, often going out for drinks in Shibuya, or taking a day trip to Odaiba or the Pokemon store. It was also around this time I began talking to Rodger about my girlfriend, and what I wanted to give her for Christmas.

At the time, I was deeply in love with a young woman living in Tokyo, and decided I wanted to give her something really special for Christmas. Rodger, having never had a girlfriend, was the most unlikely of people to consult, but turned out having the best, most romantic advice of all. Rodger helped me revise and edit a very long book I wrote for my then girlfriend, as well as give me nearly an entire ream of paper and what must have been a year’s worth of ink. This is something I will never forget, and my favorite memory of Rodger Swan. Watching him bubble over as he flipped through the pages was better than giving it to my girlfriend herself. The additional ideas he gave me in terms of finishing touches were things I could have never thought up by myself, but polishing points that brought my girlfriend to tears. This is the Rodger Swan that I knew, but not the Rodger Swan that passed away yesterday.

Turns out Rodger had so much love advice to give me because he was riddling in love himself. Listening to the over the top romantics he pulled for a special someone in Plume IS was probably the first time I ever said, “Awwww, that’s so cuuute!!!” Rodger, the playboy, loved nothing more than making other people smile, and was willing to do anything to make it happen. And he did do everything, and it made all of us smile.

Shortly after this, Rodger took a quick trip back to the states to visit his family and friends. Upon his arrival in Japan we had a long catch up session. “Kevin,” he said to me. “I’ve decided that I’m going to try and improve myself in a lot of different ways. I know you’re pretty into fitness, do you think you could give me some advice?” I looked at him and smiled. “Absolutely. By the way, did you cut your hair? and is that a new coat? It looks great on you.”

Rodger, in addition to taking an interest in his health, took several steps towards self maintenance. I think I speak for most of the members of Plume IS when I say everyone started dressing nicer after a while. But, Rodger took it to a whole new level entirely. Fuzz to fauxhawk, grizzly to goatee, patchy to P coat: almost overnight, the otaku I met in early September had become a rock-star and active member of the Keio drama circle. I went through a similar transformation in my time in Tokyo, feeling myself becoming an adult and noticing subtle changes in my lifestyle. But watching Rodger go through that change, and watching it everyday, be it youtube or reality, was almost surreal. Before I knew it, Rodger had thousands of subscribers on youtube, and was receiving comments by the hour. Everyone in our dorm anxiously awaited each episode of Tokyo Swan to see what the Playboy had in store. Rodger touched people with his videos, and was featured countless times on youtube. His honest, courageous style captured the heart of everyone who watched. He created a sort of passion completely absent of arrogance, and it was spectacular.

Eventually, I moved out of my dorm and into the house of my new host family. Rodger and Luke helped me transfer suitcase after suitcase filled with workout equipment and expensive looking clothes from Shin-Kawasaki to Kamata. Then too, Rodger had his camera and graciously captured another one of my favorite memories with him. I’ll never forget lugging those suitcase all the way to Shin-Kawasaki station—it was absolutely absurd. Rodger and Luke were mumbling all the way until my host mom had filled their mouths with a couple warm plates of yakisoba.

From that point forward, Rodger and I took our own paths. Rodger was almost a celebrity among the exchange students at Keio, and I was spending most of my free time with my girlfriend. Fortunately, we still saw each other nearly everyday in class, though our everyday meetings slowly became more and more sparse. When we did meet, I was always anxious to hear news about how many girls had ‘fallen for the playboy,’ as he would jokingly put it, or what ridiculously sweet things he had done for that new special someone.

Our study abroad eventually came to a close and we finally said our goodbyes. It’s cool; we’ll definitely see each other again. That’s what we said to each other in late July, 2008. Rodger was the only person I actively kept in touch with from the Plume IS group after returning to the states, though I know that everyone from Plume IS kept in touch with Rodger. Whether it was through mail, or a gracious Christmas card, Rodger extended his daily life to all of us, and kept us updated on the events we had come to love. I exchanged mails with him regularly during out last year of college–eventually leading up to Tokyo Shelf.

When I updated my personal website in December 2008, I was searching for writers with similar interests, and more than anything else, passion. It was no surprise then, that Rodger was the first person I contacted when I began sending out invites. In turn, it was no surprise when Rodger cordially accepted. He immediately began writing and making videos for Dogentricks.com, and rapidly attracted an entire new audience. The playboy himself wrote a weekly column reviewing some Japanese piece of literature, and unlike my other writers, was always punctual about it. Even with his new status of super blogger, he consistently made solid contributions to my website. This is the Rodger Swan that I knew, but still not the Rodger Swan that passed away yesterday.

Rodger and I were both accepted to the JET Program in April 2009. Here, again, I saw my life realign with Rodger, as he wrote about his new job, or talk about the new series of videos he was so anxious to make. I only wish that I could have met Rodger one last time at Tokyo Orientation, or made it up to Iwate before Christmas. Unfortunately Rodger was in a different orientation group than myself, and I couldn’t take time off for a motorcycle ride up to visit Rodger and Luke. So now, here I am, about to begin the last paragraph about one of the best men I’ve ever met.

If you’ve ever seen the Truman show, then you may be able to understand Rodger’s existence, and its importance to everyone that knew him. He was that normal guy that was on video–all the time. He was that normal guy that everyone watched grow up. We saw him turn from a boy into a man. We saw him grow! And those of us who began watching, be it out of friendship or even a sympathetic curiosity, we all became hooked and hypnotized by Rodger’s complete lack of ego. And as we watched that Rodger grow, we fell more and more in love with him. We fell in love with his normality. We well in love with his selflessness. We fell in love with the hope there were still people like Rodger left in the world. He was the most normal, most extraordinary person I have ever met. He had nothing to hide, and no one to belittle. He had hope, and he followed it boldly. He was that nice guy full of love, and that is simply it. He was Rodger Swan, and he was the shining light of everyone that knew him.

This is the Rodger swan that passed away yesterday, and the Rodger Swan none of us will ever forget.

Hello friends, Dogentricks.com here.

I’m satisfied with most of the music I buy. However, every once in a blue moon, I pick up a CD and within moments of listening know I’ve struck gold. Today was one of those days; this post is a review of:

夢中夢　ー　イリヤ
Muchuumu (Band) – Ilya (album)

Normally, I try to make articles about albums I like somewhat suspenseful, filling them with metaphors and colorful language. Not today. I’ll tell you flat out—this is album is a masterpiece. Muchuumu, which in Japanese means a ‘dream in a dream,’ is the most creative band I have come across in years, and this is one of the best albums I have ever heard.

To be honest, I knew well before buying this album that it was going to be good—I just didn’t know how good. I discovered Muchuumu through one of the three music blogs I regularly read. The sample song was a youtube video that I’m not going to post, yet, because it might deter you from the greatness of this album. It was basically a guy who somewhat resembled Hellraiser screaming into the camera. Not interested, right? Well, needless to say, I wasn’t terribly fascinated in yet another metal band without flare or sense of contrast, and about 30 seconds in my attention span was at its limit. But then, literally as I go to pause the video and begin reading the next review, the guy disappears and a striking girl begins an eloquent opera backed by strings and guitar. Ok, I thought. Let’s give this a shot.

Turns out the song is decent, I think to myself 30 seconds in. Hold up, this song is pretty good, I think to myself 1 minute in. Wait a second, this is brilliant—as the second piano solo breaks in. I was far too hasty to criticize the screaming; it creates a brilliant dichotomy. Oh, and the piano. Oh the piano! I quickly clicked through to the bands Myspace and checked out some of their other work. I was so moved by the first minute of the first song, I literally had to turn it off; I couldn’t let myself become familiar with only one of the songs. Nearly dying in anticipation, I flew out my apartment and headed to the nearest CD shop. I went to 3 different bookstores that night before returning home with nothing but more anxiety.

The next day, I headed into the city after school in search of the album. Unfortunately, 2 shops later the CD was still out of my grasp. With no other options, I ordered Ilya from HMV and waited until this morning for the CD to arrive. I’ve listened to the album 3 times through already—it’s that good. Muchuumu, in a brief description, is opera meets heavy, instrumental rock. Beyond that, I’m not going to try and describe what this music is like, or how good it is; I’m just going to show you. But, because I don’t want any of you to make the mistake I almost did, I’m not going to start with what almost had me overlooking this CD. Instead, I’ll being with ‘僕たちの距離感 / Toi Et Moi,’ the 4th song on this jaw dropping album. I would like you to intently listen to the entire song before continuing to read the review.

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Pretty good, right? No, It’s more like 7 fantastic songs in one—absolutely wonderful. Now that we have established this is clearly a band capable of painting a room with rainbows of emotion, I’m going to show you the exact song that, for 29 seconds, nearly turned me away from this band.

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The screaming is really brilliant in the overall picture, isn’t it? I’m so glad I had the patience to listen past the intro, because not only is the shrieking an integral part of the song, but because it lead me to give this band a chance—and this band is gold.

I can’t stop listening to this album, mostly because I can’t believe how good it is. By no means am I a fan of opera, or metal for that matter. Screaming is typically the last audible thing I consider music–and that’s coming from a guy who loves Aphex Twin. But, this band is different, and this album is immaculate. Every shriek, which by no means characterize or dominate the album, are precise in their placement and balance. However, what really makes this CD shine are the main vocals, piano, and crescendo. Imagine a much more polished, refined Dragonforce. Then, add a little Phantom of the Opera and you’ve got Muchuumu. Case in point, song 10, ‘祈り / Prayer.’ Remember the song Stairway to Heaven? This is like Stairway to Hell—10 and a half minutes of constantly building pressure, and not a moment of repetition. You’ll think the song has climaxed 4 times before you finally ruin your pants and the song transitions into the best outro you’ve ever heard. I probably shouldn’t be doing this, but here is the full song:

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Here’s how I broke it down.

Intro イリヤ / Intro-Ilya-
5
火焔鳥 / Die Ewige Wiederkunft
5
眼は神 / L’oeil Est Dieu
5
僕たちの距離感 / Toi Et Moi
5
反復する世界の果てで白夜は散る / Repetitional Existence
5
ドクサの海の悪棲 / Doxa Incarnate
5
塵に過ぎない僕は塵に返る / Unforgiven
5
いく度も繰り返されて、言葉は言葉は少しずつ意味を失い、言葉のもたらす痛みも和らぐ / Raidon D’être
5
サッフォー / Sappho
5
祈り / Prayer
5
灰の日 / Hai No Hi
5

Album balance/flow/identity (I’ve decided to add this to my reviews)
5

Total: 60

Divided by (song count (11) + 1) = 5

x 2

Overall Score: 10

Yes, that is a perfect score. This is the only album I’ve ever heard that can honestly rival Shiina Ringo’s Karuki Zamen Kuri No Hana. It has an incredible identity, astounding song variety and complexity, and finally, a unique balance—things never drag on, and the length feels just right at 11 songs. The whole album, from its delicate strings and french whispers, to menacing screams and crashing crescendos, is gold. It goes without saying everything is that much better on a pair of nice headphones.

Don’t even think about it—go out and buy this album now. And do yourself and the band a favor—actually buy it.

Buy Ilya

Taken yesterday—on my cell phone.

A clip from some recent handstand training. Current goal is 10 handstand pushups without a wall and a solid 60 second handstand. Been doing a lot of other training as well—will post more soon.

2009 is coming to a close, and so is your face!

In 2009 I put a hiatus on tricking, graduated from college, got a job, moved to Japan, bought a motorcycle, and wrote two novels in Japanese.

Hold up. Stopped tricking? Bought a motorcycle?! Wrote two novels…in JAPANESE?! This year has been a year of firsts and a year of growth. If God, or some other celestial being, were to chop 2009 from my timeline, I’d probably be driving around Bellevue in my old, crusty corolla, waiting for Avatar to start. But instead, he was all like, ah, hell no, you’re going to Japan to do all sorts of craziness! And now, here I am, inside my new apartment. Righteous.

The older I become, the more difficult it is for me to swallow the reality in which I live. The dreams and aspirations which filled my mind as a teen have, quite literally, blossomed precisely into their original projections.

Job in Japan Check.
Japanese fluency Check.
Sweet motorcycle Check.
Precise audio set up Check.

This is a concise collection of the ‘must-haves’ of my pre-tricking existence. Always wanted to live in Japan, always wanted a black Kawasaki Ninja, and always wanted a pair of ear massaging headphones. I often use the following statement, but honestly, if the 13 year old me saw himself now, he’d probably laugh in disbelief. If AIM screen name GLDFNGER came across dogentricks.com, he’d warm his trousers with a supple stool. If the Smash Bros champion of my youth saw Kawasaki Monochrome, he’d drop it like it was hot.

All of this made me realize: well shoot, I can really do whatever the hell I want to. Literally. Everything I’ve ever wanted has simply flown into my hands. When I describe this phenomenon to others, they often say, “well, it’s because you work hard blah blah blah.” But in all reality, there’s no hard work to be done. Studying Japanese, getting into JET, moving into my new home–these events all unfolded so smoothly, it was as if someone else had planned it out for me. Hard work? HARDLY!!! LOLOL.

Don’t you see? I am a dream machine! Laughably ludicrous ideas manifest themselves in my mind. They crawl down my neural passageways and embed themselves in the motors of movement. My muscles pump and produce the results of the scenes in the dreams of the dream machine. I am the dream machine! Watch me create the perfect reality!

Based on my life up until this point, I can confidently say I will have and achieve anything I want. Thus, upon exhausting my previous dream databank, these are the next set of fantasies I pledge to fabricate.

Breakdance.
Inspire my students to dream.
Become a published, award-winning author in Japanese.
and last, but certainly not least—Return to the world of tricking.

These are not my new years resolutions–these are my new years realities.

Train hard.