Because we’d rather be in Shibuya buying something way too exclusive…

AKA, some random otaku stuff we’ve had across our desk in the last few days. The photos come from an update we wrote for Lifelounge about the Yakuza.

We were obsessed with this song for three days straight. Then we forgot all about it for a week. Then we remembered how much we liked it and posted it here. Cool story, huh?

The latest issue of Dazed and Confused has a feature article on Beyonce. You can read it here. In the meantime, here are the accompanying photos. Because you can’t ignore images like these when they show up…

A little while back we put together a thing for Lifelounge about Fatback Productions. Long story short, Joe Brook makes some of the best skate videos in the business. Here’s a little preview. You can watch more here.

If you were into hip hop back in the 90s you bought The Source. Before the internet, blogs, 50 Cent on Twitter and Hood-Lum it was where you got your hip hop news, reviews, features and whatnot. Sure, the magazine eventually went to shit, but back in the day (especially in the early 90s) it was essential reading.

Since we (a) recently found a couple of back issues, (b) have nothing better to write about, here are some images from the Dr Dre starts Death Row issue (November 1992) and Tupac signs with Death Row issue (September 1994).

Images were taken with a camera for that rough / lazy quality.

Long story shorty – back in April I went to Tokyo for a week. It was awesome. Apart from the getting drugged and robbed bit. I wrote a (sort of) account of what went down for Street Carnage. It’s based on facts. And is mostly true. Expect for the bits that aren’t. Anyway, here it is again if you missed it first time round >>>>>

Tokyo is considered one of the world’s safest cities. Crime is basically zero, everyone is impossibly polite and you can leave your bike lying on the street like it wasn’t a thing. Being the victim of crime in Tokyo is actually REALLY, REALLY difficult. But it’s not impossible.

Here’s a step-by-step guide that will have you balls deep in Rohypnol, cheap hookers and organized crime before you can say, “Sumimasen, Eizu no shinryoujyo ha dokodesuka?” (“Excuse me, which way to the AIDS clinic?”)

1. Head over to Shinjuku in the city’s inner east. Traditionally, Roppongi has been the place for idiot tourists to get hustled, but that area is totally played out and over as far as crime goes. Shinjuku has a much more indie / relevant underworld steez.

2. Once in Shinjuku find yourself a decent bar and get a few drinks in. Don’t get stupid and start hammering shots — you’re going to get drugged later on so you may as well pace yourself. Take a moment to appreciate the fact you can smoke cigarettes in all the bars and a packet of Marlboro Golds will only cost you about $4.

3. Once you’ve got a nice buzz going, it’s time to find Kabukicho, Tokyo’s red light district. It’s hidden away among Shinjuku’s back-streets but any map will point you in the right direction. You’ll know you’ve found it when the streets start to resemble a scene from Sega’s Yakuza franchise. Don’t bother heading over until midnight.

4. What you want to do next is spend a good 30 – 40 minutes wondering the block looking like a borderline retarded tourists. You’ll probably be the only white person around so it shouldn’t be too difficult to stand out.

5. By this point, you should have come to the attention of every halfway crook in the area. Proper Yakuza dudes have better things to worry about than tourists and won’t fuck with you. The African street touts are another matter: You won’t be able to walk ten metres without some guy offering you drugs, women, cheap drinks, whatever. Resist the urge to follow random black guys down dark alleys for “cocaine.”

6. Every African guy on the block will try and hustle you into “the best club.” There are two things to keep in mind here: Firstly, any place that allows you to have a look inside without paying cover is halfway legit and way too wholesome for our purposes. Also, you won’t be getting into any of the really good clubs with the hot Japanese strippers –- they’re reserved for locals and they don’t want your ass in there. Point is, neither of these places will get you bodied. You want somewhere several notches more ghetto. Keep talking to random African dudes.

7. You’ll know you’ve hit the jackpot when the club is: a. offering some ridiculous deal (i.e. two hours of unlimited drinks and women for $40); b. doesn’t have a name; c. is located up a scary elevator in a random building.

8. Does the club you’ve just waked into look like a third-rate brothel? Congratulations! You’re well on your way to getting drugged and robbed. As a rough guide, there should be karaoke, bad couches and a bunch of strung out Filipino “hostesses” sitting with drunk salarymen. You’ll notice the lighting is very dim and there are a lot of coats draped across laps.

9. So here’s where it starts to get fun: Although your drinks are free, you have to have a girl by your side and you have to buy them drinks. These ladies have expensive taste and the cheapest thing you’ll find on the menu is usually a $30 / $40 glass of champagne. Keep in mind that certain drinks are more than just a drink. Order a $100 half-bottle of wine for your new lady-friend and she’ll throw in a handjob under the table. Go for the $300 champagne and you’ll get yourself a private dance out back. It’s a pretty standard hustle designed to circumvent prostitution laws…

10. … but it’s one you probably won’t remember. If the bar is as dodgy as the description above, the African bar guy should be giving you a complimentary shot of “tequila” around the time your hostesses starts working on your belt. The Rohypnol in the tequila will take about ten minutes to kick in and once you’re under, the staff will retrieve any credit cards in your wallet and start charging huge sums to bogus offshore accounts.

And you? You won’t be waking up for another 10 – 14 hours and that tequila shot will be the last thing you remember.

EPILOGUE:
The guys who drug and rob tourists in bars are actually pretty nice about it. They won’t bother stealing your phone / camera and whenever possible, they’ll throw you in a cab and send you back to your hotel. Basically, they want the victim to assume they had a “really big night” and not realize their credit card has been emptied out until they leave the country. Also, virtually none of the Japanese cops speak English, so even if you do realize what’s happened, good luck making a report. The good news is your credit card company will (almost certainly) refund the money, so technically the drugs were free.

And this round two. Cute Cats. Read below if you don’t know what all this is about. Long story short – we’re trying to determine which is more popular online, cats or naked ladies.

>>>>>>

I was writing a guide to ‘better blogging’ this morning (for a proper actual magazine), and one of the tips I offered was that cats + naked ladies = web hints. I’m not sure if that’s true or not, but since they’re two of the most popular / searched for items on the internet it seemed like a given.

In order to test this theory out I figured I’d follow my own advice and post images of both cute cats and naked ladies in the same post and see what happened to the web traffic.

THEN I DECIDED TO NEXT LEVEL THAT SHIT and divide them up into two posts to see WHICH WAS MORE POPULAR.

So yeah: cats vs naked(ish) ladies. Not offensive because it’s research. Like or comment on the Facebook so we can finally solve this age old internet riddle.

I was writing a guide to ‘better blogging’ this morning (for a proper actual magazine), and one of the tips I offered was that cats + naked ladies = web hints. I’m not sure if that’s true or not, but since they’re two of the most popular / searched for items on the internet it seems like a given.

In order to test this theory out I figured I’d follow my own advice and post images of both cute cats and naked ladies in the same post and see what happened to the web traffic.

THEN I DECIDED TO NEXT LEVEL THAT SHIT and divide them up into two posts to see WHICH WAS MORE POPULAR.

So yeah: cats vs naked(ish) ladies. Not offensive because it’s research. Like or comment on the Facebook page so we can finally solve this age old internet riddle.

It’s 4:20am and we’re really tired. It’s been a long day. If you’re reading this we’re just going to assume you already know who Kreayshawn is and are across Gucci Gucci. Point is, we actually kinda like her non-rapping, blunt smoking, fashion styling, sometimes DJing side-kick more – Lil Debbie. Here are a few photos, you can find a whole lot more at the FuckYeahLilDebbie Tumblr.

We were hanging out in the office today doing lines of ketamine and looking at porn (i.e. research), when we accidentally stumbled across the Aria Top 40 – you know; the songs people buy.

Since we were bored / high / serious journalists and had no idea who half the acts where, we decided to listen to the Top 10 and see what the public was buying. Turns out the public has terrible, terrible taste in music…

>>>>>

#1 Adele: Someone Like You > Mum music. The sort of thing you buy for her birthday because she specifically asks for it. If you’re under 40 and listening to this you’re an asshole.

#2 LMFAO – Party Rock Anthem > And on the other end of the spectrum we have LMFAO, this is what your retarded (promiscuous) 14 year old cousin listens to.

#4. Adele – Rolling In The Deep > Two singles in the top ten? Really? This chart sucks.

#7 Jason Derulo – Don’t Wanna Go Home > Hatchback music for closet homosexuals

#8 Havana – We Run The Night > Isn’t Havana Brown supposed to be an R&B DJ? Why is she making bad club music? Oh yeah, smooth product placement there at the start there.

#9. Marvin Priest – Own This Club > You can always tell when a clip is made in Australia. Also, who the fuck is Marvin Priest?

Listen learnt. 1. We are old and out of touch. 2. Everyone has shit taste in music except us.