PETA, Paul & Mary Jane

Yeah, they love Grey Goose Vodka!

Is it just me, or does nobody give a shit about fur anymore? I remember a time in the 90’s that if you wore a fur coat, sploosh, you got a face full of red paint by some hippie. Not only that, but your bitchin’ fur coat would get fucked up!

Nowadays, Kanye and Snoop wear fur and nobody says a goddamn thing about it really, apart from PETA. Now don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against PETA, and I believe they have their place and do some good in the world. But in another way, they are a bit like ‘The Boy Who Cried Wolf.’ They kick up a stink about every little thing and it starts to become white noise. They need to choose their battles a little more. Sure, save the whales and make sure animals aren’t abused. But I’ve got to say; I couldn’t care less about a jellyfish, cat or a rat. If you want to eat those, I say, go mental. There are loads of them and they aren’t going anywhere. I am being told that we should not eat cats…I stand corrected. Other than that I stand by what I have said!

When in comes to fur, as it relates to clothing, I guess people are too busy worrying about climate change, Wills and Kate, the Olympics, David Beckham, something Jeremy Clarkson said, phone tapping, Afghanistan and to a (much) lesser extent, Greece. I seem to recall that I myself used to be against fur…at least I think I was? It’s hard to remember now what with the years of boozing and let’s say, extra curricular activities. I remember when I was a bright-eyed youth living in Tokyo in my early twenties and tried to be a vegetarian. I’d heard that Paul McCartney was one and I am a huge Beatles nerd so I decided to give it a go. But then he married that woman, you know the one I mean, that pirate broad. It was then that I realised that sure, this guy wrote a few good songs back in the day, but he is clearly just some idiot like me. Not that I ever married a pirate, but I have definitely been with some scurvy dogs.

Speaking of dogs, what the hell is a chinchilla? Anybody have a clue? Would you know one if it ran past you? Is it a dog? The simple answer is, no. Basically, they are giant mice that are from South America. If you said you had a jacket or a stole made out of mice, they would fucking lock you up! The Walk Disney corporation would sue your ass and/or make you disappear from the face of the earth. I’m telling you, they bloody well would. Those dicks will sue you for anything. And by dicks, I of course mean private detectives…yes…that’s the ticket…I mean… I myself love Mickey Mouse and all that shit and…et cetera.  Are we cool Walt?

Anyway, what was I saying? Oh yeah, if you wore a Mickey Mouse stole, people would think you were mad! They might say,

“Hey, that person is mad!”

Or something to that effect. And what about the mink? As in the mink coat. You’ve heard of that. But what is it? Have you ever seen a mink running up your drive? They are like an otter or a weasel, or a combination of the two. Much like an Ewok I would like to think, though I’m no scientist. Would you really wear that cute little fuzzball that was a bit gay for Han Solo’s leg? I mean, what kind of monster are you?

On the flip side, it you wear a Chinese raccoon dog coat like Jay Zed, then hey, it’s cool. He’s married to Beyonce so it must be fine, yeah? He’s got 99 problems but a “bitch” ain’t one. See what I did there? I meant the dog…

In essence, my point, if I have one, is this; why do we use these specific animals, and a few more I’ve not mentioned, for fur coats and other clothes? They seem to be animals that we rarely see. Is this done on purpose I wonder? Are we as humans, in this day and age, not able to live alongside our clothes? Is it because they are coats that we don’t see them, or do we not want to see them, because they are our clothes? Are we ashamed that we use these animals for fashion, and others like a cute puppy dog, or a fluffy kitty cat, we do not. Have you seen a baby chinchilla? They are cute as fuck man! Do you have a leather jacket?  Maybe. Do you have a cocker spaniel vest? Not likely. Think about it. Now, I am no vegetarian and I do own a leather jacket. Do I agree with fur…hmm, I guess not. Am I going to do anything about it…man, who has the energy anymore?

Nippon gambatte! (Good luck Japan)

It's in times like these that I wish I believed in God. That way maybe there would be something he could do to help. I wish I had any faith in religion, but I don't. I do have faith in people though, and it's people we are going to need now!

I will not write an inane article this week, about some little silly London adventure of mine. I wish to change gears a little and quickly talk about my home away from home, the place that I grew up as an adult, that place is Japan. As my online nickname may suggest, I am a lover of the country and people of Japan. I lived in Fukushima and Tokyo for almost four years from the age of 22, up until I was almost 27. These were formative years for me and I feel like I really became the person that I am today through my many good and bad experiences living and learning in Japan. I still have many close friends in Japan and this has broken my heart more that I can possibly communicate through mere words. They seem cheap and hollow as I write them, but feel I must, if only for my own sanity. I am generally not the kind of guy who can really talk about such things, so this is a little strange for me and a kind of therapy as well. I have the same sort of feeling I had as I sat horrified and watched planes crashing into buildings in New York on live television as I sat helpless in my Tokyo apartment.


I can only wish my friends, and all of the people of Japan for that matter, nothing but strength, courage and fortitude in this time of national disaster. Of course, these are all traits that the Japanese people have in great abundance, and I have no doubt they will show amazing resilience and bravery en masse. I can only imagine what it must be like for them right now living through this nightmare.

I read online the names of towns, cities and villages where I have been and have so many wonderful memories of and I wonder if the nice lady who I talked to at that izakaya in Izuwakamatsu is going to suffer the effects of radiation poisoning. Is my friend Adam, a teacher in Sendai, still alive? Are my old friends in Tokyo alright? These are only some of them!

I did hear from one friend who is from Iwate Prefecture and lives in Tokyo, he was traveling with his wife in Hiroshima at the time and therefore had no contact with the Quake or Tsunami. I was very relieved to hear that he and his family are fine and out of harms way. I really don't know what else to say except, if you are reading this and have the means to donate, do it. If you do not, please keep your thoughts and, yes, even prayers with the Japanese people. They are going to need it. We will be here to help when they need us.
I know I will be.



Be good to each other. Peace. Love.

 

      One of my tattoos I got some years ago to show love to Japan.

P.S. Negative comments about the media below.

I have one comment on the media before I continue. They are callously talking about the NIKKEI and Stock exchanges and economics of this disaster and you know what...I don't care right now! The time will come to deal with this, I realize it is a necessary evil, but people are fucking dying out there, man! I wish every stock broker and any person cashing in financially on this terrible disaster great guilt and shame, you're the one's who have to live with it!