Since my w.bloggar software is on the blink right now (did they change to a new edition? I'll have to check it out), I had to log on to Blogger.com to update UM today. Doing that affords me an opportunity to play 'Ghost of a Chance', where I spot an interesting Blog name and discover another person giving the world at large a glimpse into their lives. Each time the page is refreshed there are a new crop of names, and the ones previously displayed are pretty much gone forever. Hence, 'Ghost of a Chance'. Anyway...
Today I found The Fruitcake Brigade. A collection of observations by a teacher (either elementary or middle, I'm not sure which), TFB sounds like a cross between Miss Mallard (aka Pangaea) and Kuri-sama. I especially liked Ms. S's thoughts about science fair season. If you ever wondered what your teacher did after school (or thought about their students), go on over and take a look.
Another pleasant diversion from everyday life is The Castings, an immersive doujinshi by Asidian and Beanclam (writer and artist, respectively). With a beautifully rendered art style that's reminiscent of classic manga like Fushigi Yuugi and a setting (not to mention a sense of humor, as well as a penchant for going from funny to horrifying in a heartbeat) like the webcomic Dominic Deegan: Oracle for Hire or Errant Story, The Castings is a tale of three young friends who set out on an adventure...and get much, much more than they ever bargained for. With the fate of their world hanging in the balance, these three must rely on each other and the friends they meet on the way to put right that which has gone terribly wrong...However it's not all sturm und drang--between chapters (TC is usually updated on Mondays), there's always time for a silly intermission. Shakespeare, popular plays, even a friendly(?) game of D&D--nothing is sacred!
The ladies of The Castings also have somewhat of a hometown connection for me; while in the writing lab for my screenwriting class this fall, I saw a beautiful poster featuring the characters of The Castings, and I immediately thought, "I need to talk to this artist!" In the process of getting an anime-related class and/or club off the ground, my professor told me to check out the website, and see if I might be interested in talking to the creators. If either of you are reading this, please email me at ladyrazorsharp@shadowspace.net, I'd like to hear from you!
"In February of 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, the presidential mandate that ordered 120,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry to be imprisoned in concentration camps during World War II. Decades later, the order was deemed unconstitutional and was belatedly but dramatically reversed by the passage of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988. The "Day of Remembrance" is an annual observance of the signing of Executive Order 9066. In recalling the sad events of February 1942, the Japanese American community aims to remind the public about the need to protect civil rights. The Day of Remembrance also honors all who fought -- and continue to fight -- for freedom and equality among all people."
The exact date of the signing of Executive Order 9066 was February 19, 1942. I plan to be at the Museum this weekend, if not tomorrow, helping to commemorate this event, and to pay tribute to those who were imprisoned, as well as to the men who fought to keep freedom alive in a country while their own kin were behind barbed wire. And while I'm at it, I hope also to pay tribute to men like my grandfather, who fought to keep my country free even as the whole world was being thrown into absolute chaos.
Okay, enough for this week. Like I mentioned earlier, I'm going out of town for the weekend, and will be back on Monday. Same Bat-time, same Bat-channel!
Takin' What They're Givin'/Cause I'm Workin' For a Livin'
That's right, while the rest of the country is having a holiday today, we're working. Well, it makes for a quiet day (so far).
LMH talked me into making mochi this weekend. Those of you who are regulars to Unfinished Metropolis know that I adore mochi, but usually don't get any until Obon at the end of July. Well, we decided to try our hand at it, and for our first experiment, it went very well. I'm sure that those ladies at the matsuri have much more experience, so theirs always turns out so perfect. Their mochi are always smooth little white and pink domes of chewy sweet goodness. Well, ours were chewy and sweet and pink (thanks to LMH's food coloring), but they weren't smooth muffin-like domes. More like somewhat-oddly-shaped pink blobs with measles where the koshian (sweetened red bean paste) filling showed through. We finally figured out the secret to making them into their cute round shape, though, and soon we had a plateful that looked right. We found a good recipe at Cooks.com (I think, I hope it's not a site for Cook's Champagne ^_^;;). There's at least two recipes on that site for 'an mochi', but the one we made uses all sugar and no Karo syrup. Mochiko (rice flour; it's in a white box with a blue star on it) is pretty easy to find, either at an Asian grocer or the supermarket, but koshian is a bit harder to come by. I found a can at the Asian grocer, but unless you want to puree the beans yourself, try and get the kind that are mushed already (and yes, it said 'mushed' on the can). Or you can be really authentic and cook and puree the beans yourself, which is a long but not really difficult process. I found a recipe for that somewhere, but unfortunately I don't remember exactly where. You should be able to find it with the help of the Massive Search Engine.
After a few tries, LMH figured out how to get them into shape. With hands dusted with cornstarch, flatten a golf-ball sized piece of mochi dough into a 2 1/2" round (not too thick), and put a scant 1/2 teaspoonful of koshian in the middle. Gather carefully into a small purse-like bundle, then twist the gathered ends slightly and tuck into the center. Lay tuck-side down on a platter. I'm not sure this is the right way to eat it, but we chilled ours slightly so they wouldn't fall apart. They tasted just like the ones at Obon! It was a lot of fun and we got cornstarch everywhere. Take my advice: don't wear black while making mochi. ^_^
While we were waiting for the mochi dough to cool, LMH and I drank barley tea and watched more Fruits Basket. Like we said before, it's getting darker. But still cute and heartwarming, even in the midst of poignant sadness. It just goes to show that every family has a darker side to it, with one member who chooses to exert undue authority over the rest of the hapless members of the circle...
Thank goodness for the Internet. I mean really, what did we ever do without it? On my quest to find the Kinokuniya bookstore in Los Angeles for my trip this week (can't wait, w00t!), I came across a really handy guide to 'anime' shopping in Los Angeles: Hangouts of Zelgadis. Not only a reference to shopping, this guide (compiled by three young Chinese-Americans) can give hints on cool places to eat and even has commentary on parking. All three of the contributors live in the area, and these are their personal recommendations. Sw33t!
Also, a big thanks to Yokoto-sama, who was very kind and responded to my email. Through a long series of search engine twists and turns, I came upon his site, Buddhahead Productions. Stop by his little corner of the Internet and read his op/ed pieces published in the Daily Bruin (UCLA's newspaper) and the Rafu Shimpo (a dual-language publication that's been around since 1903), or spot your own favorites--or get inspired to find some new favorites--over at his extensive music collection list.
Didn't get to go to anime club this week. Wahh, and I just remembered I can't go this week! Oh well. Take notes for me, minna!
Just a quick note before bedtime: Megacongratulations to Piro (Fred) and Seraphim (Sarah) of Megatokyo--Piro just announced that he and his lovely bride were married in Vegas on New Year's Eve. Best wishes to you both! *sniffle* I always cry at weddings...
As I said before, I have taken up the daunting task of trying to teach myself Japanese. It's really strange when you realize that you can recognize the kana in the 'Caution' sign beneath the platen glass of the copy machine...
For a timely commentary on this subject (hiragana, not copy machines), go check out Real Life today. Greg's a little farther than I am in his studies (the stuff he's translating has katakana and kanji in it) but our feelings about it are much the same...
Tadaa! Here's your anime club update of the week. Once again, LMH was our secretary. I started to take notes but gave up after the first few episodes, and just glazed over (I had a rough week).
6 Feb 2004
Not especially late this time. Yay! One day, as God is my witness, I will arrive at the beginning. (Thank you, Scarlett O?Hara) R-chan: That's my fault...if I only got out of work at 4:00 *sob* Gomen nasai! GOMEN NASAI! GOMEN NASAI!!
We came in to Aqua Teen Hunger Force. I don?t watch it at home, or pay much attention to it at club. (Bad me.) So I can?t really say what was going on. Something to do with Carl's disembodied head, and a lot of eyeballs. Uck.
Next up, One Piece. This little gem has been bandied about as the next big comedy anime thing, and I think that might just be true. Monkey D. Luffy (poor guy; his parents must hate him) is a man on a mission, to be the Pirate King, the best, the coolest, the richest guy around, or as his new-found friend Coby says, ?One Piece,? the guy who has everything. And Luffy-chan has the amazing ability to stretch any part of his body like rubber. Sure comes in handy when being shot. This one?s great, and I can?t wait to see more.
Next, Invader Zim. I love Zim, I really do. He?s adorable and funny, but he?s from Nickelodeon. Seeing Zim turn up at club is just a little strange. Is Rugrats next? Or Ahhh! Real Monsters? Actually, that wouldn?t be too bad, considering they?re not on anywhere anymore. Plus, it wasn?t the greatest video capture ever, so Zim was wandering around more herky-jerky than usual. Best bet? Wait for the DVD, then try again.
Then, my new fave show, Fruits Basket! Yay! Much hilarity ensues as Yuki and Tohru head for Ayame?s shop (last we heard, he sold lingerie.) But now, Ayame?s into selling ?manly romance,? and arranging a romantic moment for little brother Yuki, as well. If they can stop fighting long enough, that is. But understanding, and Tohru in a frilly white dress, save the day. (Ayame didn?t look half-bad in his white dress, either. HAHAHA!) The guest appearance by Okami-san (Gomen Nasai!!!) never fails to crack me up.
Gakkou no Kaiden - Okay, here?s the problem with watching stuff I love at Club. I was so engrossed in another conversation during this one, that I completely missed what was going on. There was a haunted school, and some kids (considering the title means 'Horror stories in school', maybe I wasn?t missing much) But if I?m gonna take notes, then I have to skip out on all the good conversation. But then, I may as well watch anime at home. Sigh. But here?s a link, with a much better synopsis: http://www.theblackmoon.com/Watching/ghost.htm
Full Metal Panic ? Confusion supreme. With a name like that, I was expecting battle suits and guns blazing, and not? High school kids? Apparently high school student Kaname Chidori is a target for kidnapping, and it?s up to secret agent Souske Sagara to protect her. But he?ll have to survive high school to do it. Interesting, but not what I was expecting. R-chan: Don't have an episode number, but in this ep, Souske turns Chidori's date at the amusement park into Mission: Impossible. As in 'impossible to have a normal date.' Funny stuff!
Dirty Pair ? 3WA Agents Kei and Yuri, the "Dirty Pair? are off to get to the bottom of a prison riot. Nothing says tough like a girls with guns in bikinis. Gotta love ?80?s anime. R-chan: I'm to blame for bringing this one. The cry for busty girls in bikinis, guns, explosions and blood goes up weekly...so I was happy to oblige. I love the one-liners in this one. "Come back here, damnit! I'm trying to rescue you!" "Get lost! It's the bonus round!"
Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi ? Wow! Uhm, gotta admit, I?m still trying to figure this one out. Arumi and Sasshi are bummed to lose their respective family homes in the old fashioned shopping district. But life gets really strange when they find they?ve been living on top of an inter-dimensional portal, and it?s a race to just to get home. This is one I?ll be looking into further, if only so it makes sense to me. R-chan: As Michael said, "It's from Gainax. This is even weirder than FLCL." w00t! Sign me up!
In the ?For What It?s Worth? department, what we didn?t watch was Grave of the Fireflies, a melancholy look at Tokyo-life at the tail end of WWII. This piece is sad, moreso even than Barefoot Gen, but the artistry and storytelling are unsurpassed. Well worth the time, and the box of tissue necessary to get through it.
Also ?FWIW,? these various comments wouldn?t be possible without the existence of Animenation.com, my personal favorite source for anime news and information. Though I have yet to buy from them (Support your local vendors!) I always stop in to read on what?s new and get release dates. And speaking of local vendors, I have manga due in, so it?s off to the anime store. C-ya?
Monday, February 09, 2004 Work It/Make It/Do It/Makes Us
Hey, Mr. Wizard (and everyone else, too)--Head on over to Big Big Truck and check this out. Just look for the entry called "All Men are Cremated Equal" and click on the item where EK mentions that "Life imitates art"(for maximum funny, click on 'art' before 'life'). You won't be sorry. Your face may hurt for a while afterwards, but you won't be sorry. As Asmodeus said, "OMG that's just so WRONG!"
The new "All Your Base"? Probably. But with a lot more style. ^_^
Went to anime club on Friday. LMH was our esteemed notetaker this week (glad you could make it!), so as soon as I get it, the report should be up. Knowing me, probably this Friday...^_^;
Also, send Piro some good vibes, he's feeling under the weather right now. Get well soon, Piro-san!
New chapter of "The Handmaiden" in the works. Stay tuned. Hope you enjoyed it, Miss Mallard (aka Pangaea)! Many many thanks to LMH who let me talk it out on the way to anime club. And thanks much also for the 3vil suggestions. Muhahaha...
I've watched Neon Genesis Evangelion through Ep. 14. I have a feeling I don't want to know how it ends (I think I've seen how it end--by accident at AX03; we walked in at the last 20 mins of "Evangelion: Rebirth"). But I do know that when it's all over, I want to go back and see Evangelion: ReDeath again.
Uggh. Practiced my kana on Saturday while proctoring an exam. Three hours of writing hiragana makes my eyes go buggy, but I'm getting there...
From Anime News Network.com: Heat Guy J is going to air on MTV2 on Friday nights beginning at 6pm--and it starts tonight! According to ANN and MTV, two eps at a time will air, and will repeat throughout the weekend. Go to MTV.com for the times. w00t!
A while back, I went around asking my friends and anime contacts about their favorite series, the ones that got them started. Asmodeus said that when he was at training school for the Air Force, he got started on Guyver, which I think is called Mechanical Bio-Booster Armor Guyver here in the States (and has just recently been released on DVD). I talked about this series a while back...
When I went to my local anime shoppe, I learned from one of the guys there that he got started while he was stationed in Japan, and he saw an anime called Tiger Mask. I'd never heard of it, but I kept it in my mental Rolodex. Today, for some reason that came up in my head again, and I typed it in to the Massive Search Engine. Lo and behold, I found a very interesting (if a bit Engrishy, with a kind apology from the creator about his translation skills) site dedicated to Tiger Mask--which I found out was a dramatic series about Japanese pro wrestling. Oh, come on, now. Don't roll your eyes and groan like that. Be nice.
What was interesting to me was that the series (like many others) was a manga first. I wonder who animated it, since a lot of the characters look like the ones for Mach Go Go Go (Speed Racer to us gaijin). Was that Mushi Pro? Or was that Toei? (Or are they the same?!) Ack. I need to get that straight. How can I teach about anime if I don't know something like that? Grr. I will admit that the manga has that scary Gigantor look to it...
Anyway, Tiger Mask looks interesting. Not just your 'villain-of-the-day' story, it seems that Tiger (Naoto in real life) used to be a notorious wrestler named "Yellow Devil" (I just realized how, uh, racial that is. Wonder if that was on purpose.). At some point in time, Tiger shunned the yoke of his managers, headed by the ruthless Mr. X. The executives of Tiger Cave, the wrestling dojo, want Tiger Mask to win even if it means fighting dirty, not caring if anyone gets hurt or killed in the process. Naoto is a good-looking lad who is still sweet on Ruriko, a childhood friend who now runs the orphanage where he grew up. With his best bud Daigo, Naoto divides his time between taking down bad guys in the ring and helping folks out, with a special place in his heart for the kids who live at Ruriko's orphanage. One of the episodes even deals with how Naoto helps a man who has made it his life's work to promote peace by making scale models of the famous bombed-out dome in Hiroshima. The series was broadcast in Japan from 1969-1971.
The whole scenario reminds me a little of Black Jack, a series by Leiji Matsumoto (I think; again, research) that was made around the same time about a tormented doctor who goes around performing miraculous operations for the deserving folks he meets (that series itself reminds one of The Fugitive, which may or may not have been inspired by Black Jack, or vice-versa. I shall have to do a bit more research on that...). I tried finding an English sub (don't think I'd find an English dub, and if I did it'd probably be pretty bad) but so far, not a whole lot of luck...
I'm also very interested in finding copies of Osamu Tezuka's Princess Knight, which bent genders long before Revolutionary Girl Utena. So far, the only thing I can come up with is Choppy and the Princess, a three-episode block that was spliced into a 90-min. feature, and the old, old argument of 'edited to a fare-thee-well for American audiences' is what I'm hearing about this. I know that a lot of this old stuff might be hard to come by, but I think it's important to preserve it. After all, without Tetsuwan Atom (Astro Boy), there'd be no Cowboy Bebop.
Wouldn't that be a cool job? "What do you do, R-san?" "Oh, I'm an anime historian." "NANI?!"
Today's Megatokyo is hilarious. The whole "Grand Theft Colo: Otaku City" arc is priceless, but today's 'almost-but-not-quite-DeadPiroDay' was great. Go see the adventures of poor Makoto-rin (the MT server) as she is kidnapped by Fro-Daddy Largoshin and his pimpmaster homies, and the rescue attempts by Gothic Lolita Erika and Benelli-packing Kimiko...The beginning of the story is just before Chapter 4.
Anime club tonite! According to Yuuji, we're going to start to watch One Piece, a series that's been running in Shonen Jump for the last year or two (I think it's two; I started reading SJ when I got back from AX02 but I stopped collecting them--they got too bulky and I'm not really into Yu-Gi-Oh! at all).
That's another thing. I was looking at my growing collection of manga novels and I thought back on something I'd heard not long ago--in Japan, manga is like our Sunday Funnies in that they are read, enjoyed, and recycled. Only special collections are ever bound and kept for long periods of time, and the things that are collected the most are doujinshi, or fan works based on popular professional comics (with the doujin circle's artwork sometimes surpassing that of the original artist). The simple fact that doujinshi are only available for a limited time and in limited copies is what makes them so collectible. Of course, keep in mind that I'm a gaijin (foreigner) and probably am all wet, but that's what I heard...
That's very Zen, isn't it? Live in the moment, appreciate the fleeting and let it go. That is so utterly foreign to us here in the States, isn't it? I know I love to have a matching set of everything, whether its anime or dishes or whatever. I'm learning that if you never know exactly what you missed, you won't miss it. Does that make sense? Like I know there's a lot of Cowboy Bebopdoujinshi out there that's really good, but if I don't find it, I won't agonize over it. Right?
I also got my Japanese for Busy People (Kana version) books yesterday. I'm thrilled...and completely scared to death. Will I ever learn this language at any level of proficiency(read: if R-chan ever goes to Japan, will she embarass herself and the United States of America if she tries to speak or write)? Hmmm. Well, ganbatte (do your best), R-chan!
Cool Thing! Piro just put up an informational 'rant' about his trip to AX Tokyo, and I found out something nifty. One of his traveling partners/partners in crime (and in the know about where to get cool sw4g) was none other than Glenn from Anime Tourist! Glenn was the gentleman who kindly pointed out to me a while back that the article about Gunslinger Girl wasn't a review. Neeto! And a bit scary...either AT's got a trace back to who's linked to them, or many more people read this than I'm even aware of...Probably the first one, but hey, I can dream, can't I? ^_^
In news of the weird, I had a dream the other night that I met a gentleman who I thought was Osamu Tezuka (aka 'the god of Manga', of Tetsuwan Atom/Metropolis/Princess Knight fame). I don't know why I thought he was Tezuka-san; he was in his mid-thirties and had shoulder-length hair...anyway, when I called him Tezuka-san he smiled and said "Oh, no, just call me Ben."
0_o Wookay. Well, ask HotRod, he'll tell you that my dreams are usually of the weird variety. It runs in the family; my mom has the same sort of dreams.
I had another dream a few nights later that I was at the Empire State Building, and it was still under construction. I remember being in the elevator, and it was basically just a cage. The platform was nothing but boards, and it was intensely terrifying to look down...it was something of an optical illusion; I couldn't decide if the ground was just a few feet below me or if it was allll the wayyy down there. I'm sure someone could have a lot of fun with the symbolism in that one.
Well, just for freaky value and animated content, I had a dream a few years ago that I was making an airline reservation for Sailor Moon, and another time I dreamt that Megatron was chasing me. When I was in junior high, I dreamt that I found a portal to Eternia in the back of a souvenir shop in Los Angeles (what can I say, I was a rabid He-Man and the Masters of the Universe and She-Ra, Princess of Power fan back then). Yeah, it's one of those 'today's thing you never knew about me but probably didn't care about anyway' (tm Greg Dean ^_^) days.
It's also raining here in sunny California, so I'm hitting the 'save' button every five minutes. The power went out the first time I tried to post this...
Thanks to Netflix, I'm finally watching Neon Genesis Evangelion. I must admit that after the first disc, I was scratching my head going "Okay, and I should care about this series because...?" After the 2nd disc, though, I got into it and by the end of the 3rd I'm starting to care about these characters. When I'm yelling "Hurry up Misato, that thing's going to blow!" and screaming along with Shinji as he tears off the superheated escape hatch of Rei's capsule, then I know I'm getting into it.
What I really can't figure is the mix of comedic action with the apocalyptic stuff. I mean, take the aforementioned predicament with Misato. She risked her life by manually switching off a prototype Eva-style robot that went berserk at a trade show (the Eva's can only run for 5 minutes at full power, but a corporation had designed a nuclear-powered model that runs for 150 days--a project that was strongly objected to by NERV, the corporation that developed the Eva's). Despite almost being fried by radiation, the next morning she shuffles into the breakfast room, pops a can of liquid nourishment (aka BEER) and lets out a belch like nothing ever happened. I wonder if Misato's modus operandi is the whole 'be crazy to stay sane' sort of thing. She IS under a lot of pressure at her job, being the Operations Manager at NERV, but she's really good at leaving her job at work and turning into a completely different person at home (much to Shinji's chagrin; Misato's not the tidiest roommate). And never mind that Shinji and Rei pilot the machines that will probably save the world, but they still have to go to SCHOOL. What's up with that? Oh, you're the savior of the Earth, but if you don't have your book report done, you're in big trouble, mister...Gah, what pressure. Although for some reason, I think that Shinji and Rei are much more comfortable in their Eva's than in the classroom...
And my new favorite character is Asuka. Half-Japanese, half-German, all action all the time. Easily one of the biggest mouths in anime. And she swears in German. Now I get the joke that was in Evangelion: ReDeath with Arnie as her voice actor...
Thanks to the Peanut Gallery at anime club and LMH, I'm also enjoying Fruits Basket. Incredibly cute story, pretty guys, sweet sentiment and warm fuzzies all around. LMH warns me that it's going to get darker pretty quickly, though...
I just couldn't wait any longer, so last Friday I went to check out the Anime Expo 2004 website. I even printed out a registration form and plan to send it in after my next payday...This year I'm going to be more prepared, and hopefully HotRod and I (and whoever else is tagging along ^_^ ) can snag a room at the Marriott that's right next door. Oh yeah, you know that R-chan's going to be staying up all night watching anime if that happens. And I know I told you all I wanted to go to Otakon, but Valancy and I are trying to put together a trip to NYC next fall (just in time to see the Christmas windows downtown!) so Otakon may be out of my budget range...unless I win the lotto (or don't buy any manga for the next three years).
Not a whole lot else to tell at this moment. Hopefully we'll have anime club this week.
