Mau Mau + Beejoir's Far East Adventures

A Bizzar Ride to the Far East Side 2009

Souled Out's Mau Mau, Beejoir + Medicine Man 'For The Kids!!'

We are finally back after a whirlwind two weeks in Japan, Sushi, Booze, Art, Booze, Sushi, Planes, Booze, Flights, Sushi, Booze, a bit more Art. Sadly our late night sneaky camera was stolen from the luggage in Bangkok airport, so a few classic photos are now missing...... the most important being the ' setting off photo'. We fled the Studio in the middle of a late night Hollywood 'End of the world' style storm, with three HUGE boxes of paintings/prints which took nearly an hour to fit into the back of each taxi, leaving us soaked to the bone (except for Mau Mau who stood in the dry looking on snapping the odd photo from the now missing camera). All three taxis almost crashed on the way to the airport the rain was so hard not even a working windscreen wiper with rubber on would have helped..... but don't worry, there will be plenty of time with this storm they are bound to delay our flight..... WRONG, United Paranoid Airlines moved the flight forward, then insisted on searching, searching and re searching us, but thankfully overlooking the 180kg of Luggage we had. Mount Fuji Note to anyone flying anywhere.... NEVER EVER fly United Airlines, after treating us like shit they tried to feed us what looked like Sponge Bob Square Pants in rancid gravy, then went on the play back to back Jenifer Aniston movies, granted they shouted at Jon because I registered him as Deaf and in need of assistance, with a High Lactose Hindu meal while booking his ticket, but in all honesty they were the shittest airline we’ve ever had the pleasure of being stuck on. ''So Gentlemen, why do you have three fuck off boxes of art, a shifty looking guy with a beard and all stink of booze? Is your visit to Japan for pleasure or business? '' *Pic missing of airport shake down it was also on the robbed camera. Due to our accurate planning, we had left ourselves with only 18 hours to see the venue set up the first show and be ready to meet and greet the masses……. someone forgot the keys in the studio while we were taking care of the important things in life like drinking a bottle of Whiskey and picking up a bag of the worlds most expensive herbs, so some late night street drinking outside of the gallery kicked off while we waited. Managed to get the best part of the show up by 3am, before rocking back to our hotel, wait, its just up this road isn’t it….. no this road, down here? Lets get in a taxi, wait this isn’t it, anyone pick up a card from the hotel? No, anyone got Seigo’s number? No……. 5am….. we arrive back to the worlds smallest hotel room for 3 hours sleep.

Mau Mau 'Mermaid' Canvas 2009 Japan

Three hours sleep and you bring a camera along…… 9am and things are shockingly almost ready. The masses start rolling in and I get to meet a guy who beat me in a Bonhams auction a few months back, no hard feelings, you just bought 3 canvases! After carting 40 canvases, 200 prints + 3 people around the world and setting up a show in under a day. It's now Beer O'Clock. MauMau, Beejoir, Seigo. ...10pm, the shows sold out, tunes are playing, life is good. A quite night in Tokyo. To our disappointment Martin Sweet Toof had already smashed Tokyo…… Jon ‘’Young Bull’’ Vogel found out that if you hammer the Whiskey twice as fast as anyone else you don’t get to watch Arsenal bead Everton 6-1…… I wish I’d joined him, its awful watching Gooners gloat. Nice, 2am and the fish that I’ve half eaten is still breathing and winking at me……. don't read into that too much. Day 4: In Toyama to paint some walls and do the Toyama City Festival, lounge on the beach, play some football in front of the ladies and party like its 1999…… wait, Toyama’s beach is a dump, the city is void of anyone under 60 or anything for that matter. So we knocked up a Whack Ronald ………. Then Mr Coke Japan turned up with his side kick both looking sour and nervous, ‘’can you remove the Coke branding please?’’ , ‘’No’’, ‘’Ok then’’.

Mau Mau 'Bitsofishi' Mural In Japan

'BITSOFISHI' Read more about Japanese Mega Conglomerate hoarding Blue fin Tuna as they become extinct at an alarming rate……  Watching Japanese girls on bikes...... Rocking the Toyama City Festival Tee Shirts like Gary Glitter only wishes he could..... Girls on bikes was replaced by Guy on Ladder...... This is Medicine Man’s girl, he had to remind Jon of this minor fact throughout the night, thankfully we were in one of Tokyo’s finest Sushi bars, so the food kept his dirty hands more than busy. I wanted to go here....... ! We were told we could help ourselves to what ever we wanted in the Adidas store, enough to turn the four of us into giddy tarts for an hour. mmmmmm Gold Sneaks. Iced Expresso made out of a a funny machine that no one else in the world has. SouthLands Coffee is the dogs balls, the geezer has a café full of rad art, proper coffee and in Nagoya, one of our favourite Cities in Japan. A portrait of us + a hot girl that didn't exist to make it look less like a sausage fest. Money Bee. Then to MauMau town, Yes, MauMau town, this is a town built in the center of Tokyo which acts as a set to Japans most popular Drama, none of us knew about it till our last day in Tokyo, and were quite taken back at their recreation of Dred’s graffiti and the popularity of the show. Might as well add a real piece for good measure while we were there, smoke a bit as it must be legal in MauMau town, and laugh at the giddy teenage girls peeking through the fence at their favorite town being defaced by hairy dog town looking hobos. Thanks to Seigo (SOS Japan), Yoskii, Medicine Man and his Mrs, Seigo's Mrs, Mr Camera guy and His Mrs with the red hat, The guys that run MauMau town, Akira, Mr Coffee Man, Tomoko Okamoto and her Boss with the Love handles at the Target Gallery, The Narita Airport Costoms, The owners of Toyama City hidden Jazz bar, and everyone that looked after us on this trip, see you all again soon. Older Souled Out Homepages are archived in the menu bar if you feel like being all nostalgic. Below, A portrait of us + a hot girl that didn't exist to make it look less like a sausage fest.

Souled Out Portraits By Mau Mau