Well, it's 11pm here in Tokyo and the temples are calling for 108 bell ringers. The TV is full of fighting and singing. The soba and mochi is being prepared. The sky is crystal clear. And we're all settling in for a big couple of days of massive movie consumption and alcoholic gluttony.

Before going analog for a few days, I just wanted to express my thanks to everyone we were able to work with this year. Looking forward to seeing how much of what we have planned for next year we can accomplish. There's a lot to be excited about — at the very least get ready to see our focus shift back to what we know best: Japan.

Wishing our readers and supporters a safe and happy new year. See y'all in 2007!

OK, to make up for the reviews and articles I referred to yesterday that weren't online, here's a good interview with Jason Berry from the Jackson Free Press in Mississippi that ran before Thanksgiving.

I first came across Philip Gould's photography in Jason Berry's living room down in New Orleans this February. Jason had just presented me with the mesmerizing Louisiana Faces. Gould is a masterful photographer on many levels, but it is his portraits of the people of Louisiana that grab me the most.

So it was a special Christmas treat to get the latest version of Louisiana Cultural Vistas. I knew it would feature an excerpt of Last of the Red Hot Poppas but had not realized the excerpt would be coupled with Gould's work. Gould's photos and Berry's words hit just the right notes together. And the fact that the magazine editors decided to print Gould's photos without explanatory captions allows us to imagine that the characters in the pictures have jumped right out of the novel. It's a great touch.

Some other good Poppas news: Curtis Wilkie wrote a glowing review of the novel in The Southern Register, the newsletter for the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi. Wilkie writes that "Berry gets it just right in this jambalaya of a novel concerning high corruption and lowly scoundrels," adding later:

"Money, of course, has flowed for years from Big Oil, which plunders the Gulf Coast, pollutes its people and puts money in the pockets of politicians. The skies over Baton Rouge are a testament to Big Oil's power; refineries burn there with the impunity of hell itself. Thus, an aide to the governor is pleased when the sky turns blue for LaSalle's funeral. 'He had persuaded Exxon to cut the smokestacks to clear air for the services.'

"Laconic lines like this drive the narrative; lines such as the one where an FBI agent is told, 'Your problem is deciding who not to indict.' This is, after all, a state where a recent roster of convicts included a governor, an attorney general, an elections commissioner, an agriculture commissioner, three insurance commissioners, a congressman, a Federal judge, a state president and sundry local officials."

Neither of the publications cited above are available online, which serves as another reminder that not all the good reading can be had on the Internet just yet.

Photo by Kimi

Nothing like a good review of one of our titles to put us in the holiday spirit. This comes from an entertainment magazine down in New Orleans called Where Y'at. Reviewer Ira Brooker had this to say about Jason Berry's novel:

Virtually every page is imbued with a behind-the-scenes quality that makes the reader think, “Gee, I bet that’s what it’s really like when they close the doors at a mortuary/FBI meeting/Governor’s Mansion!” ...

Equal parts dark satire, page-turning thriller and compelling character study, Last of the Red Hot Poppas is a sharp, provocative debut that should appeal to any reader who’s ever shaken his head and wondered just what this state (or country) is coming to.

Thank you, Where Y'at!

Even the person with everything doesn't have a USB Humping Dog. But Mark over at Digital World Tokyo does. And it sounds like they are going fast.

Check out these thought-provoking films on the state of our media in the years 2014 and '15. Thanks to Ross for the link.

We turned off the blog comments recently because of blog spam and a lack of solutions from our trusted publishing platform. Even though we only get a couple of comments a week, we feel like it's a necessary part of the blog, so we'll figure out something soon. But in the meantime, if you want to sound off about something you read here, drop us a line at speak-atmark-chinmusicpress.com.

Peace!

So Judith Regan, the publishing whizz kid who brought us such literary classics as The Way Things Ought to Be by Rush Limbaugh and Private Parts by Howard Stern (the book pales in comparison to the pay-per-view New Year's Eve special, BTW), has decided to wage war on Rupert Murdoch's Harper Collins after getting fired over the OJ book fiasco. If only Donald Rumsfeld could be cloned and appointed to manage both sides of this fight. That would make for a happy new year for small presses everywhere.

We're constantly on the watch for references to "chin music." The phrase is more adaptable than a cockroach, finding new strength through baseball, the jazz age, rap, pro wrestling. And today, I spotted this reference in an article about a cricket match in South Africa. It's used in the second paragraph.

I'm thinking "chin music" is being used as a synonym for "trash talking" here, but perhaps it is cricket's version of a brushback pitch or something different altogether? If anyone could shed some light on this, I'd be much obliged.

If you've completely sated yourself on our Chin Music holiday specials, allow me to guide you to some other great gift ideas on our sister site, Voices of New Orleans. Colleen Mondor has reviewed a dozen books for us since February — from Poppy Z. Brite's Soul Kitchen to the first four Neighborhood Story Project books — and any one of them would make a good gift idea. Check out all of Colleen's reviews here.

Minoru Morita is one of Japan's most outspoken and astute political commentators. He was a necessary thorn in Junichiro Koizumi's side at a time when most of the press corps was fawning over the "lion-haired" former prime minister. When Morita would be scheduled to talk on one of Japan's national TV networks, inevitably Liberal Democratic Party henchmen would apply pressure to the network to keep Morita off the air. Here's an illuminating Q&A of Morita from friend and Kuhaku contributor Takehiko Kambayashi.

The reason I bring up Morita is that we just recently closed a deal with his Morita Research Institute to begin translating his writings into English. Beginning in the new year, Chin Music will be translating one article a week. If you're interested in reading one of Japan's sharpest political minds, just visit our blog and we'll provide links to the articles (they're going to be posted on a site to be decided by Morita's staff).

We think Morita-sensei should be heard not only in Japan but in DC, in Asia Pacific think tanks and in American newsrooms. And if you think he'll have less to say now that Koizumi has stepped down, here's his take on the new prime minister, Shinzo Abe, in a Time article from September:

"I think he is the most dangerous politician in Japan." ... Morita, a liberal political commentator, believes a disquieting nationalism is on the rise in Japan, and he thinks that Abe's immense popularity is a troubling sign of that wave. "Of all the 700 or so Diet members, Abe is the most right-wing, the hottest, the most nationalist," Morita says. "He is the politician who could lead this country to war."

Look for more from Morita in the first week or so of 2007.

Guitar great Pete Townshend holds a copy of Japanamerica, a new book by Roland Kelts. Roland's friend, Kay, seems awful nonchalant about meeting one of rock and roll's all-time greats, don't you think?

I hear that the launch party for Roland's book on Wednesday in NYC was "crazy," with much imbibing at the open bar and more than 300 people in attendance. Craig was there to represent CMP.

Also pictured here is Roland with Gaijin a GoGo.

Now go buy the book.

Sometimes a movie has the feel of a play or a novel reads like a screenplay, but I had never come across a TV show that feels like a novel until I started watching HBO's "The Wire," which wraps up its fourth season this Sunday. If you have the time to watch each hour-long episode (there are 50) in order, do it. The writing and acting are incredibly sharp, and the format is similar to a John Sayles movie, with story lines from every level of society woven together. But where Sayles bumped up against a two- or three-hour limit for a feature film, "The Wire" can expand over 50+ hours. Great stuff.

And of course, like all good things, there is a Chin Music connection: Method Man of rap fame, who plays Cheese Wagstaff.

Finally, yes, we are guilty of silence when it comes to another famous Chin Music TV connection: Kramer from Seinfeld. I think Kramer needs to get a bit part on next season's "Wire" as a dope fiend who gets the bejesus beat out of him by Cheese. That would bring the Chin Music energies back into alignment.

We start 'em young at the Chin Music Press daycare center/publishing empire. We're looking for the next Gay Talese, Truman Capote and Tom Wolfe soon after the kids are out of diapers. A case in point is this Q&A conducted by Kimi Rutledge, 9, on her 5-year-old sister, who attended some yoga classes over the summer:

Interview with Kate Enomoto
By Kimi Rutledge

I will be asking Miss Enomoto some questions about the subject, yoga. She has been doing it for a long time.
Q: Do you think yoga is going to be easy for people trying it?
A: No.
Q: Why?
A: Because the yoga teacher does a lot of hard things.
Q: Was it easy for you?
A: Yes.
Q: How come?
A: Because I can do a lot of things now.
Q: Such as ...
A: I can do a lot of things like camel, tree pose ...
Q: Is yoga fun for you, and do you think it will be fun for other people?
A: Yes.
Q: Why?
A: Because you get to learn new ways of becoming more flexible.
Q: Did yoga help you with your health?
A: Yes.
Q: How did it help you with your health?
A: Becoming stronger, and it helped my heart.
Q: Interesting. Alright, one more question.
A: It better be an easy one.
Q: Is yoga an important part of your life and why?
A: Yes, because it's strong for your body. Can I go now?
Q: Uh ...
A: I’m leaving ...
Q: Fine.

Thank you for reading my interview with Kate on yoga.

Seattle writer Ryan Boudinot has published an entertaining essay on rock music on the Richard Hugo House website. It ranges from his infatuation with Billy Joel music to a live performance by his band 2AM where he chants,"George Bush [this would be the father] is raping you!" 50 times at his hometown's centennial celebration. It's a great read.

Of course, Ryan was one of the early entrants to our pantheon of canned coffee drinkers with this review on our sister site, cannedcoffee.com.

The New York Times has a nice writeup on the National Novel Writing Month -- the challenge to push out a 50,000 word novel in a month.

As one would expect, the results are usually disastrous, as they well should be. Every time I hear about this it makes me want to give it a try next year. Pushing out 50,000 words in a month is less about writing the novel and more about the experience of trying to sew coherence for 50,000 words. It's like running a marathon for the experience of the marathon with no intention of ever becoming a professional marathon runner -- nor, probably with the intention of ever running another one.

During the month the writers use various tricks to keep writing when they have absolutely nothing left to say — internal monologues, for instance, or impromptu sex scenes or the sudden appearance of a new character.

Which is not unlike how I try to steer my life when I've run out of things to say.

For all the literary masochists that can't wait 'till next year, there's always the January spinoff to take part in.

Even the one Republican in the room of 400 or so — radio host John Carlson — was against further loosening of media ownership rules in yesterday's unofficial meeting of the FCC in Seattle. Here's a wrap up of the meeting from co-sponsor The Seattle Times.

Two especially interesting speakers weren't mentioned in the above piece.

The first was David Groves of the Washington State Labor Council, who talked about how labor is no longer covered as a beat at newspapers, and that union officials can only get in print when they hold strikes or engage in labor disputes. Not so long ago, most respectable newspapers had a labor reporter, but now, they only have business reporters.

Groves' testimony showed how the stripping down of newsrooms accomplishes two things for the media owner: it increases profit and provides less leeway for reporters to do anything but the immediate task in front of them. When Groves calls to try to drum up interest in this or that labor issue, the No. 1 excuse he hears from editors is that no reporters are available. By squeezing their staff, media owners can keep unseemly topics out of the paper. And this is an industry with 19% profit margins.

The other speaker who caught my interest was Kathy Gill of the University of Washington's Communications Department. She was the only early speaker to bring up the topic of the digital commons and the hot-button issue of Net Neutrality. She used a simple analogy to talk about the Net Neutrality debate, comparing it to a system where one phone company could discriminate against another. Imagine if Cingular could charge more or block a call from Qwest. That's essentially what's at the heart of the Net Neutrality debate, but for those still wondering what the fuss is all about (aka, the folks who think the Internet is a series of tubes — and Ted Stevens ain't the only one), few people have framed the issue so succintly and persuasively. Let's get Gill on a bigger stage, please.

She also had this to say about the irritating label of "Net Neutrality": "What we really should be saying is that we are resisting network discrimination." Right on, Prof. Gill.