Richie the acoustic guitarist

I was brought up playing bluegrass mandolin and my first ventures on the guitar were in the style of Chet Atkins, so playing 'Rock Guitar' is still a bit of a newish phenomenon to me but I'm slowly figuring it out. Our band came together about 4 years ago quite by chance (as do most good things in life); and because most of us were brought up on 80s music and were all at about the same level musically (except for Lisa who is exceptional) we've been able to keep things going for a long time, which is not an easy thing to do in Tokyo.

One regret I have is that Alimo has not made an originals album. Working full-time in addition to other extra-curricular activities makes it hard, but I really hope we find the energy and time to do it soon.

Music aside, today I went to Oedo onsen which is close to Tokyo Teleport station, just 11 minutes from where I live. The onsen was exceptional and they even have a shopping and amusement area which is quasi-edo period like where you stroll around in your Yukata. The foot bathing area is also pretty cool. Tokyo has so many hidden secrets (at least hidden until you find them). I took some nice pics but can't be bothered getting them off my camera at 12:25am on a Sunday so I'll try and post some next blog. The attached photo is me in Portugal a year or so ago after not cutting my hair for a few months.

I will leave you with a funny story one of my colleagues told me about the other day - and yes, apparently it's true.

In 1997, the crew of a Japanese fishing boat was pulled from the Sea of Japan after clinging to the boat's wreckage for several hours. They were immediately arrested, however, after authorities interrogated them about the boat's fate. To a man, they claimed a cow had fallen from the sky, apparently coming from nowhere, and struck the boat amidships, resulting in a huge hole and its rapid sinking.

The crew remained in prison for several weeks until Japanese authorities were contacted by several highly embarrassed Russian air force officials. It turned out that the crew of a Russian cargo plane had stolen a cow that wandered near their Siberian airfield and forced it onto their plane before they took off for a flight home. Once airborne, the cow apparently panicked and starting rampaging through the cargo hold, causing the crew also to panic because it was affecting the plane's stability. They solved the problem by shoving the cow out of the hold while crossing the Sea of Japan at 30,000 feet.

Unfortunately, following Rules 5 (Look-out), and 7 (Risk of collision) won't keep you out of trouble when the danger is airborne!

Source: Australian Financial Review, 16 May 2000