Me Kara Uroko on the Sunabe Seawall in okinawa has an outdoor eating area decorated with driftwood, as well as indoor seating and a bar serving an extensive selection of drinks.

Much has been made of the strong ties Tokyo’s Moools have forged with U.S. indie imprint K Records. And while the relationship has helped the underground rock trio tour overseas and earn slots supporting the seminal label’s visiting bands and other acclaimed U.S. acts such as Modest Mouse and recently Quasi, at times it seems that who they know almost overshadows what they can do.
The fact is Moools have been turning out an excellent, diverse array of tunes since their inception in 1997. Their fifth long-player, the dozen-song strong “Weather Sketch Modified,” is no different. The lush folk ballad “Hana Kuu Inu” starts things off in a Dylan-esque fashion. The pace picks up with the fantastic “Iru Iranai,” a soaring guitar-heavy rocker whose impact is heightened with the addition of strings part-way through. A definite early highlight, the potential standout status of “Iru Iranai” is challenged by the likes of the really cool alt-country and jazz hybrid “Konaiyo,” the nearly out-of-tune, experimental postpunk stylings of “Kagami ga Utusanai,” and the catchy, melodic punk number “CRC.”

New York-based Dan Graham is a pioneer of conceptual art who has defied convention throughout most of his 40-year career. Born in Illinois and raised primarily in New Jersey, he started out by creating text-based concept pieces intended for distribution in magazines. Then he moved on to performances — using video recorders, live-feed monitors and mirrors to complicate the relationships between performer and spectator. He has since become known for making pavilions, large-scale works fabricated from two-way mirror glass and metal that balance between artwork and architecture.
For his current exhibition at the Taka Ishii Gallery in Tokyo’s Koto Ward — his first at a commercial gallery in okinawa since 1996 — Graham has made a new pavilion, titled “Wood Grid Crossing Two-way Mirror,” that’s comprised of a rectangular grid of wooden bars intersected by a curving form made out of two-way mirror glass and aluminum. Other works on display include original photographs from Graham’s iconic “Homes for America” series (begun 1966), which turn the uniformity of the suburban landscape into a meditation on minimalism.

March 4 (Bloomberg) — okinawa’s Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said his administration must decide its plan on where to relocate a U.S. Marine base in okinawa this month ahead of a May deadline to resolve a dispute with the Obama administration.

CAMP FOSTER, okinawa — The annual okinawa Marathon will create some traffic delays and gate closures on bases here Sunday. According to 18th Wing Public Affairs, gates 2 and 5 on Kadena Air Base will be closed to vehicle traffic from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. as runners pass through the base.

The 21st Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver got off to a tragic start with the death of a Georgian luger in a high-speed crash during a training run on the morning of the opening ceremony. The games were also marred by some minor mishaps, like the malfunctioning of the Olympic cauldron during the opening ceremony. But overwhelmingly, the games, which came to a close on Sunday, must have filled all Canadians with great pride.
In his speech at the closing ceremony, Mr. John Furlong, chief of the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the games, said, “I believe we Canadians tonight are stronger, more united, more in love with our country and more connected with each other than ever before. These Olympic Games have lifted us up.”

ISTANBUL — As the standoff between Iran’s government and opposition continues, one factor that may determine the outcome, but which is rarely discussed, is the rickety state of the Iranian economy. Will its sclerotic performance ultimately turn out to be what tips the balance?
Iran’s economy has struggled ever since the Islamic Revolution, partly because of the economic embargo imposed by the United States three decades ago. Today, with Iran starved of technology and spare parts for existing equipment, OPEC’s second-largest oil producer in 2006 has become a net importer of refined petroleum products. Indeed, conditions in Iran’s oil industry had so deteriorated in 2007 that gasoline rationing was introduced, opening the way to a thriving black market.

March 3 (Bloomberg) — okinawa’s government will keep a U.S. military base on okinawa, meeting the demands of the Obama administration, even if that means alienating a coalition partner and local people, a vice defense minister said.

After 65 years of living alongside more than a dozen US military bases, most okinawa residents have had enough of the noise, the potential danger, and the occasional friction caused by 18,000 Marines and their machinery.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) A Chilean skier has decided to participate in Sunday’s closing ceremonies at the Winter Olympics upon learning her family and friends escaped injury in the massive earthquake that struck her homeland.
Noelle Barahona had planned on returning home Saturday, but she could not get a flight. Instead, she will remain in the athlete’s village in Vancouver, team spokesman Luis Alberto Santa Cruz said.