nude highway driving

Today’s Japanese phrase is mushi atsui. It means “hot and humid as a motherfucker,” and that’s exactly what tonight is. And this is only the second day of rainy season. Ahhhhhh!

But I can deal with it. In fact, I am dealing with it. By drinking a kahlua & milk and connecting to the Net at amazingly high speeds for free. I finally found free Wi-Fi in this town, where the concept of giving a free wireless hookup to the Net hasn’t quite caught on like it has in the States. I love the fact that as I’m answering e-mails a truck full of menacing cans of Coke pulls up for a photo op.

I actually found this cafe by accident. I was heading to my normal high-speed hangout, a dessert-coffee shop that offers one of the many paid Wi-Fi services but has thin walls through which someone’s free signal seeps. I saw the sign for Media and noticed the word “freespot.” One of the commercial services in Tokyo is called “Hotspot,” so I gave it a shot. The manager explained in broken English that they do have a free Internet signal. The amazingly patient waitress read most of the Japanese menu to me and helped me find one of the greatest dishes in the world — tuna and avocado over warm rice in a bowl. Pure fucking crack. Love it. Num num.

Now I come here several times a week, whenever I need a high-speed Internet fix or just a hankerin’ for some kick-ass food. I found out there are other places in Tokyo that offer free Wi-Fi, too. You just have to look. They probably will get my business. As has been discussed on BoingBoing, it takes almost nothing to offer free Wi-Fi and guarantees customers will keep coming. When you charge, however, you suddenly have all these costs associated with billing and it makes people like me all bitter. Come on, Tokyo, take a lesson from D.C.’s National Mall!

This place is great, though. They have a little deck which slightly hangs over the sidewalk, and as you can see gives me a great view of Roppongi and all the madness moving past. On some weekend nights they have live DJs spinning some mad jams. The staff is super groovy (and eternally helpful to gaijin), and it’s not a far walk from home. I know I lived with dialup for nine years (21 if you count accessing CompuServe through a 300-baud modem on an Apple IIe), but after enjoying DSL for three years I just can’t go back to my room and dial into work, which is what I have to do from my residence. Please no.

As you know, the greatest force behind the early- to mid-80s punk rock scene died recently. I was searching old articles in our library to find out when Reagan visited Japan during his presidency, and found a piece from 1986 that cracked me up. He was visiting former Prime Minister Nakasone and attending a summit on world security issues, and was calling on America’s allies to band together in “the campaign against terrorism.”

I thought it was funny.