It’s been a crazy couple of days, getting ready for our trip to Japan. Today, we picked up our rail passes (it’s cheaper to buy train tickets here than in Japan), bought gifts to give to people there (it’s a custom that I think should be more common here — I want more gifts!), and ran various other errands. I also finally accepted all of my pending MySpace friend requests. (That took over an hour, as I always verify that the request is from a real person, not a stripper or some band I’d never listen to.) Tomorrow, we’ll pack, and then it’s off to the airport on Wednesday morning. Our flight leaves at noon, and the flight lasts 12 hours, but by the time we arrive, it’ll be 4pm the next day. Gotta love an 16 hour time difference. And coming home will be even better. We’ll leave Tokyo around 4pm, but arrive in Los Angeles at 10am on the same day we leave. It’s some crazy form of time travel or something. I’ve no idea how I’ll adjust to the jet lag.

Last week, AEJ and I drove up the coast to San Luis Obispo for a performance of “Turbine” at the American Bandmasters Association convention. Gary Hill conducted a (typically) spectacular performance of the piece with his ensemble from Arizona State. Before the concert, AEJ and I took a tour of the Hearst Castle. Man alive, it’s spectacular. Here’s a guy who knew how to spend his (insanely massive amounts of) money. It was a beautiful day for a tour of the grounds. This chicken agreed. (AEJ calls all birds “chickens.” It doesn’t matter if it’s a robin or an ostrich. It’s “chicken.” I assume they all taste roughly the same anyway.)

This is the view from the deck of the house. Imagine owning as far as you could see.

Hearst had a collection of sarcophagi, some authentic, some not. Not sure which this one is, but I like the random fruit on the ground next to it.

The castle has over 60,000 square feet, and over a hundred rooms. This is but one of the libraries. The books were all locked behind bars — not by the people who run the museum, but by Hearst himself, who didn’t want his guests — unseemly types like presidents and actors — wandering off with his stuff. Dude, I’m right there with you. I’m not one for sharing, either. I tell myself it’s because I skipped kindergarten, and therefore never learned to share, but maybe it’s just because I’m a bastard.

I’m digging this bedroom. It’s kind of bordering on creepy, which would make for a fascinating night’s sleep.

Now THIS is a kitchen. Like the view from outside, it goes on as far as you can see.

Awesome sink. CHICKENS!

Kind of the best thing in the house is the indoor pool. This picture doesn’t do it justice, but it was pretty spectacular. If I had this pool, it might be enough to convince me to learn to swim.

For contrast with Hearst Castle, we stayed at The Madonna Inn.

This place is insane. Every single one of the 109 rooms is decorated individually, each room more over-the-top than the next. The rooms range from “American Beauty” (a misnomer, I assure you – but also not related to the film) to the “Caveman Room to “Just Heaven”. We stayed in “The Chestnut Foal” room. Yeah, it’s horse themed, ’cause AEJ is a “horse fancier.” Check out the merry-go-round horse mounted on the ceiling.

Now here’s a palette for you: crazy multi-texture high-gloss blue-heavy wallpaper in the bathroom, a green door, and the reddish-brown western-theme wallpaper in the main room. I almost had a seizure. The good kind of seizure, though.

The beautiful bathroom sink. Totally our style.

One of the horse wall-hangings.

It’s tough to tell, but not only is that a popcorn ceiling, it’s a glittery popcorn ceiling. And did I mention that there’s a pony hanging from it?

Outside, there was more beauty to behold — like this fountain. Again, totally our style.

And here’s the building that houses the reception desk. (The whole complex was huge.)

We loved the place. It was actually one of those places that was so awful it was fantastic. As AEJ said, “it just plows right through tacky, straight to the land of awesome.”

So, there you are : Hearst Castle and The Madonna Inn. Two completely personal, but fantastically different, achievements in memorable design.

AEJ and I are flying to Japan a week from Wednesday, where we’ll be for a week. We’re flying there for the premiere of my new piece, “Kingfishers Catch Fire,” commissioned by a consortium of Japanese high schools and colleges. (I haven’t written much about this piece, but that’s because until a few days ago, I didn’t know if it worked, as I hadn’t heard a note of it. I received a recording last week, though, and I have to say that I’m cautiously optimistic about it. It’s ridiculously difficult — it’s for Japanese bands, after all – a county where there are middle school bands playing “Redline Tango” — but difficulty aside, I think the piece is a keeper.)

This will be my first trip abroad. The only foreign country I’ve been to previously is Canada, and lovely as Canada is, the most “foreign” difference is the fact that the money has pictures of chicks instead of dudes. Japan, though, will be an adventure.

Wataru Hokoyama, our friend (and first-rate composer) has been helping us a great deal as we prepare for the trip. The trip is shaping up nicely. Here’s the current itinerary…

• Thursday, March 15: Arrive in Tokyo. Stay in hotel in Tokyo that night. Maybe have some sushi.
• Friday: Bullet train to Okayama / Shin-Kurashiki. Rehearse with the band. Ichiro Saito conducts.
• Saturday: Festival opening concert, including Kannonji Ichi High School band performance of “Redline Tango”
• Saturday evening: premiere of “Kingfishers Catch Fire”
• Sunday: “Meet the Composer” session. This should be interesting. It’s me, in front of a Japanese audience. I’ve no idea how this will go. I think I do okay on panels when the audience speaks English, but I’ll be at the mercy of my interpreter, Tetsuya Nakayama. Mr. Nakayama used to be a student of Eugene Corporon’s at North Texas, so I’m sure that’ll go just fine — but I’m still a little nervous.
• Monday: AEJ and I head to Kyoto. We’re staying in a standard hotel in Kyoto on Monday, but on Tuesday night, we’re staying in the Tawaraya Ryokan, a traditional Japanese-style inn. Tawaraya is reportedly the best ryokan in the world (and some have called it the best hotel in the world), and has been run by the same family for 11 generations. The place is 300 years old. Guests have included members of the Imperial family, as well as Leonard Bernstein! (There are only 18 rooms; I hope we get the Bernstein room!)
• Wednesday: head back to Tokyo.
• Thursday: fly home to LA.

I plan to take a zillion pictures in Japan, especially of the Tawaraya Ryokan, but I need to make sure I also just enjoy the experience. I just found this little blurb by the travel writer from the New York Times:

On a recent business trip to Kyoto, I stayed at the Tawaraya Ryokan, one of the oldest hotels in Japan. We had a traditional multicourse kaiseki dinner one evening, and with each elaborate dish they poured more sake. While everyone else savored their meal, I was scribbling notes and asking people around me: “That was mackerel, right? What was in the soup again?” I stopped documenting our dinner only after the sake made it difficult to write anything coherent.

That could be me on this trip. I don’t want to worry too much about taking pictures of every moment — especially since those pictures will be increasingly blurry as the sake kicks in. Who knows if I’ll ever be back to Japan, so I want to take it all in, and not just worry about getting a picture of every delicious piece of sushi. Wow, it’s going to be an incredible trip.

And hell, maybe I’ll buy another crazy-ass Japanese watch while I’m there. Like this one! What the hell is going on here? It makes no sense at all! It’s perfect!

AEJ and I are driving up the California coast on Thursday. Gary Hill is conducting “Turbine” that night at the American Bandmasters Association convention in San Luis Obispo, about three hours north of LA. He’s doing the piece with his group from Arizona State University.

And he’s using seven trombones.