It has nothing to do with anime or Japan, but it’s such a heart-warming image I couldn’t resist posting it.
Category: Curiosities and silly stuff
Contraptions
Pythagoras Switch is a Japanese science show for small children. It’s very elementary and most of it is of little interest, but there are a couple of redeeming features. One is the “algorithm march,” a sequence of simple movements performed in canon, popular with inmates in the Philippines. The other are the many “Pythagoras Switches” that give the show its name. These are Rube Goldberg contraptions, designed to display the show’s logo in complicated ways. Some are fantastically elaborate; others are elegantly simple. All are imaginative constructions made with everyday objects: marbles, paper cups, books, clothes pins, tape measures, springs, scraps of wood, etc. I posted a brief excerpt featuring two of the devices on my video weblog. You can find more on YouTube.
There are a couple of “DVD books” out for region 2 that feature nothing but these devices. I’d be interested to see translations of the books, should they ever be made (not likely). The contents of the DVDs, however, don’t need translation, and the torrents are out there if you know where to look.
*****
Now for something completely different: Sally Cruikshank‘s “Face Like a Frog.”
(Via AniPages Daily.)
*****
The swelling in my leg is diminishing, finally, and the nerves and muscles are waking up. The immediate consequence is that I get cramps in both legs now. It’s going to be a long ten weeks until I get rid of the splint. Bleah.
Awards time
I’m not in the mood for deep thought and critical analysis, so here are the annual Kawaii Menace Anime Awards.
Best idiot, male: Isaac Dian, Baccano!
Best idiot, female: Miria Harvent, Baccano!
Least enviable magical (or quasi-magical) ability: Sawaki’s in Moyashimon
Most noble dog: Densuke, Denno Coil
Best spacesuits: Rocket Girls
Best resident deus ex machina: Oh! Edo Rocket
Most accurate botany: Mokke
Worst animated vehicle: Rocket Girls
Best battle: episode four, Denno Coil (Runner-up: episode three, Seirei no Moribito)
Most shameless almost-but-not-quite plagiarism: Oh! Edo Rocket OST
Best opening song: Mayumi Kojima, “Poltergeist,” Ghost Hound
Best ending song: Polysics, “Rocket,” Moyashimon
Best completely extraneous musical number: episode ten, Oh! Edo Rocket
Ugliest musician: episode four, Mononoke
Most popular current series I haven’t the slightest interest in: Clannad
Best fusion of kawaii and kowai: Guchuko, Potemayo
Worst behavior from good kids: Manabi Straight opening
… and others as I think of them. Later. Right now I’m heading back to bed.
Addendum:
“Kids Say the Darndest Things” award: Czeslaw’s request of Ladd, Baccano!
Best show for children and adults: Mokke
Best choreography: Lucky Star opening
Random notes
Some good news for Steven: it looks like there are plans for a Strike Witches TV series. I’m ambivalent, myself. The eight-minute OVA was perfect in its way (and perfectly absurd); a regular series, even if done well, is going to seem diffuse in comparison.
*****
I’ve got the week off. I’ve been reading Diana Wynne Jones rather than than watching anime, though, so I don’t have much to report. I have noticed that many recent visitors find this weblog through searches involving the terms “gothic,” “lolita,”, “Kei” and “Moyashimon,” which makes me apprehensive about the second half of the series. I suppose Kei does look a bit girlish, but I doubt that he’ll be as charming as Aspergillus. (If I were to tell a young woman that she’s as cute as a fungus, would she understand that I mean it as a compliment? Probably not.)
*****
We have an uncommon event here in Wichita: a white Christmas. That happens maybe once in ten years.
I considered posting a tune from the Sailor Moon Christmas albums today, but I’m not sure that punishing your readership is a good idea. If you would like to hear some less-familiar Christmas carols, there are some MIDIs on my other weblog.
*****
Not anime, but geeky: mathematical needlework; crocheting a Sierpinski triangle; a how-to book, with projects and papers. (The first link may be slow to load.)
Yuki meets the Lama
Who knows when Hatsune Miku will be ported to the Mac? Until then, there’s the Delay Lama:
(Via Fellini 8.5)
If that’s too passé for your taste, you can listen to music made with Nintendo Gameboy chips at the Blip Festival. Want to make your own bleeps and bloops, but you don’t have any old video games on hand to take apart? Try quadraSID.
If tht’s too old-school for you, consider Reactable. (Via Fred.)
Update: Accordion Hero? Sure, why not?
Let’s waste more time
Here’s another picture from the same event, this time a J-rock cosplayer.
Continue reading “Let’s waste more time”
Want to waste some time?
I found a site that makes Flash jigsaw puzzles from your pictures. Here’s a Suingintou from the Wichita anime festival last August.
Continue reading “Want to waste some time?”
Virtual boredom
I’ve spent my recent lunch hours investigating Second Life. This virtual world may have a lot of potential, but I find it disappointing. It’s fun to learn to fly and customize your avatar, but once you’re past the orientations and in Second Life proper, it turns out that there’s nobody there. ((There are supposedly 40,000 to 50,000 residents logged in when I visit, but they all must be playing hide and seek.)) There’s plenty to look at — elaborate buildings and landscapes, stores full of clothes, hair, skins, eyes, wings, animations, etc. — but wherever I go, I’m almost always quite alone. When I do encounter someone else, he is generally as disinclined to begin a conversation as I am. There are some busy sites with lots of visitors, but I dislike virtual crowds as much as real ones. I have yet to find a congenial spot.
It hasn’t been a complete waste of time. Some real-life musicians stream live performances while their avatars stand on virtual stages, and the music is occasionally quite good and offbeat. When’s the last time you heard virtuoso musical saw? Supposedly some well-known musicians like Suzanne Vega occasionally give virtual concerts, but I have yet to recognize any of the performers listed on the schedules. There have also been some discussions announced that look interesting, but never at times I can attend.
So, is there anime in Second Life? Well, there are Naruto fans, as demonstrated above. Quite a few shops feature clothing, hair, shapes and skins inspired by anime and gothic lolita styles, and there is quite a bit more that’s Japanese. I found one virtual shop devoted entirely to general anime cosplay and another exclusively to Sailor Moon.
(Notice how much of the snapshot above is blurry. It takes a long time to render all the fine detail, and if your computer, video card and connection are not the absolute fastest available, expect to spend a lot of time waiting for your system to catch up with SL.)
So there are anime fans in Second Life — somebody had to make the wares and rent or buy the virtual space for the stores — but finding them is not easy. There are over a hundred anime groups listed, a few with hundreds of members, but they don’t actually do anything. There are no meetings, discussions or events in any that I’ve looked at, and no newsletters. The only anime-related communications I’ve received were announcements of new costumes. In contrast, I receive regular updates from various SL musical and dance organizations.
There are a few haibane around:
If I do continue to visit Second Life, it will be for the music, not anime.
One unexpected pleasure: shopping for clothes. In real life, it’s a pain; the styles don’t appeal and the sizes are never quite right. Clothing your avatar, however, is fun. Penneys might not have much in the way of kimonos, but in the virtual world they’re easy to find. I haven’t yet seen any Abh uniforms, but I did find some other outfits of note. Snapshots below the fold.
Miscellany
Some odds and ends while I download Moyashimon:
*****
I’m not a fan of Star Wars, but this was uncalled for. (Caution: causes severe ear pain. Blame the LLamas for this one.)
*****
Here’s an alternate history story: if MGM had said “yes” to Bob Clampett in 1936, would the Japanese now be fansubbing American animation? (Via Aliens in This World.)
*****
I may be wrong, but as I understand it, the “sei” in “seifuku” is short for “sailor.” I.e., its distinguishing characteristic is the sailor collar. Consequently, I think only one of the outfits in this poll qualifies as a proper seifuku. (Update: I was wrong — see Andrew F.’s comment. Never mind.)
*****
I’ve added Yumedamaya Kidan to my to-investigate list.
*****
The next self-help bestseller: Aerophobics: The Easy Six* Step program to end your exercise addiction. It could be helpful in maintaing a proper otaku lifestyle.
*”’cause let’s face it, twelve steps is WAAAAAAY too many.” —SR
It’s a cute, cute, cute, cute world
While going through this month’s search terms, I noticed a theme:
kawaii watches
criticisms of kawaii culture
kawaii car stuff
kawaii room maker
couple kawaii hat
how to be kawaii
kawaii oak panio
teenage kawaii
kawaii camera
kawaii sequencer
kawaii computer
kawaii software
english clothes kawaii
chicago kawaii
kawaii multiply theme
kawaii comments
kawaii culture
Also:
japan fake reality cute
silly japanese cute words
Some kowai searches:
jewish anime
why is jackson pollock named jack the ripper
hello kitty boots without socks
dokuro chan costume prop — Don’t. Just don’t.
when did solomon become a satanist
horribly good saki
asian bluegrass metal — Something like God of Shamisen?
miss mune mune costumes — You probably shouldn’t, even if (particularly if) you have the figure.
paprika ubik — There’s a term paper here.
bartok lambda calculus music
rock critics are idiots — Obviously.
chicken dance accordion — Be careful what you search for. You might find it.
Tuesday morning miscellany
One of the pleasures of Dai Mahou Touge is watching Punie and Paya-tan, her mascot, instantly transform from cutesy and playful to utterly ruthless, and back again. Paya changes seiyuus when he makes the transition. I thought Dark Paya sounded familiar, and I was right; he is voiced by Jouji Nakata, who is Giroro in Keroro Gunsou.
I’m surprised at how little attention DMT has received, despite its being one of the better examples of animated black humor. Once again, if Steven hadn’t spotted it, I’d have missed it. Why has this been ignored, while Dokuro-chan, which you couldn’t pay me to watch, has been endlessly discussed and now has a sequel?
*****
Not anime, but geeky: U.N. Secretary General or Star Wars character?
*****
Also not anime but still geeky: A new idea for a first-person shooter.
*****
And finally, a word from Shunpei:
*****
Bonus link: Put down the duckie. (Via the LLamas.)
*****
Update: Congratulations to Avatar.
Pretty boys, macho men and monogamous good dads
(Via Darwin Catholic.)
Bleah, bleah, and a surfeit of seifuku
I’m back from my trip, but I’ve got a minor yet tedious project ahead and it’s still going to be a while before I have time for anime. Don’t expect much activity here for the next two weeks.
*****
Yesterday evening I was frazzled from travel and a long day getting caught up at work. I was in the mood for something pretentious and angsty, so I watched the first few episodes of Evangelion. It’s a bad sign when the least unsympathetic character ((other than the penguin)) is the flakiest, and worse when the putative hero is a basket case. So, does it get better, or should I abandon it now?
Update: Rei isn’t “emotionless.” She’s dead. The hell with it.
*****
It won’t cure angst, but you can dance to it:
Continue reading “Bleah, bleah, and a surfeit of seifuku”
The yes lovely idle singer
Hatune Miku, a “vocal android” suited for J-pop and anime songs, might be a lot of fun to play with. Unfortunately, she’s Windows-only at this time. (The Vocaloid website doesn’t list a release date for the Mac AU version, but I can hope.)
Number of the plushie beast
According to my camera, this is picture #666. Make of it what you will.
I’ve finished formatting all the pictures possibly worth posting. There are 139 of them, though I probably will cull a few. With a little luck, I should get the pages of thumbnails assembled on Wednesday. Then I’ll finally have time to read, watch and write again. Next project: Princess Tutu.
Update: Here they are.
Update 2: Here’s a calendar using my AFW pictures. (25 megabytes.)
Quirky, cutesy, strangely dressed
The only kind of “moe” I really understand is Moe Howard. I’ve been trying to get a handle on moe as the term is used in the otakusphere, and I have been following Avatar‘s reporting on this year’s Saimoe tournament, but I’m not sure that I grasp the concept (or that there is a concept there worth grasping). Let’s see if I have this right.
Moe.
Not moe. (From Oh! Edo Rocket)
Let’s try a subtler distinction.
Perhaps.
Probably not. (From Denno Coil)
Isako is possibly the most interesting character in any current series, but I think that she’s probably too intimidating to be truly moe.
Let’s see how far we can push the concept.