Trivia that matter
Here are some spooky videos for the weekend.
Animation by Sally Cruikshank, with music by Danny Elfman:
Neil Gaiman and Gahan Wilson:
So you thought Hitchcock’s The Birds was scary? Try this bird-infested video:
Of course, there’s a sequel:
And a bit of high culture: one of the lesser-known Canterbury Tales.
Update: Let’s not forget Jonathan Coulton.
tancos.net was originally a GeoCities site, back at the dawn of the modern era. It was mainly a place to post pictures. If I remember correctly, I initially had a total of 10 megabytes of space — or was it 5? — available on the Geocities server, so the pictures had to be small. I eventually got premium account, partly for more space, partly to get rid of the damned pop-ups. Some years later I got a better hosting deal elsewhere and, after an arduous search of the Geocities site for the not-really-secret-but-curiously-hard-to-find relevant menu, cancelled my membership.
A year ago, the USA GeoCities site was shut down, though there is still a Japanese version extant. Before that, some organizations archived the GeoCities content. If you have a really fast connection and a spare terabyte drive, you can now download all of GeoCities as a 900-gigabyte torrent.
Six episodes, plus maybe one extra, for your sampler disk to a newbie with the intent of getting him interested in the form.
I would tailor the sampler to the particular recipient. My friend Bill would probably be most interested in series with distinctive art, so for him I would choose such shows as Mononoke and Kaiba. John would be more intrigued by complex stories such as Serial Experiments Lain. Deborah has a taste for grand fantasies, so perhaps the Ah! My Goddess movie would appeal to her. And so on.
For a potential anime fan whom I don’t know, the following might might constitute a decent introduction to the charms and range of the medium.
Angelic Layer, episode one — Cute kids, dolls, fighting, high tech, problem families.
Azumanga Daioh, episode twelve — More cute kids, high school, sentimental comedy. (Better this Chiyo-centric episode for starters than the first, which has too much Tomo.)
Dennou Coil, episode one — Not-so-cute but very three-dimensional kids, affinities with both Miyazaki and Ghost in the Shell, high tech, mystery, humor. It also illustrates the shortcomings of the licensing non-system: it’s one of the best shows of recent years, yet it may never be legally available in region one.
Mushishi, episode one — For sheer strangeness.
Paranoia Agent, episode eight — For the exceedingly dark humor. (Kon’s series is for college-age or older viewers only. If the prospective fan is a youngster, substitute an episode from your favorite comedy.)
Seirei no Moribito, episode one — Fantasy adventure, court intrigue, a strong female lead, outstanding animation.
As an extra, I’d include a CD of music from Cowboy Bebop.
It’s impossible to represent all the salient aspects of anime with just six examples — there are no magical girl or space war shows listed above, for example — but these might give the viewer some vague idea what anime is capable of.
Oh yeah, there’s always the first episode of Haibane Renmei.
Addendum
Speaking of Dennou Coil: it’s Halloween weekend, which is a good time to mention Miss Michiko.
When you see something like this:
You know what’s going to happen.
Gunung Merapi in Indonesia is beginning an eruption, and there are indications that it could be major — bad news in that densely populated region. I’ve been keeping an eye on the webcam (you will need to refresh the image every 30 seconds or so), ((Link removed — some creeps hacked the website.)) and I grabbed a few screencaps of the mountain in the early morning light. See the comments at Eruptions for discussion of the activity.
Update: Merapi did indeed erupt. There’s much discussion and many links here and here.
Update II: The eruption is turning out to be every bit as bad as feared. The best source of information remains the Eruptions weblog. Reuters pictures of Merapi, and also of Anak Krakatau (Krakatoa, Jr.), can be viewed here.
Update III: Here’s a regularly-refreshed link to the Merapi webcam. The camera has a good, close view of the mountain, which means that the image is frequently obscured by ash on the lens.
Update IV: Some very good pictures here.
Every educated person knows the contributions of Bill Scott and Jay Ward to Western Civilization. But do you remember Alex Anderson?
The Italian Spiderman, above, or the Indian Superman?
The blame for this one rests with Dale Price, who has returned after too long an absence.
Charles G. Hill notes that today is the Queen of Rockabilly‘s 73rd birthday. Here’s one of her songs from the ’50’s: “Fujiyama Mama.” Far from being offended, the Japanese apparently got a kick out of the tune. It was a #1 hit there, and it’s frequently covered by Japanese artists such as Petty Booka. Jackson herself is still belting it out.
In case you can’t understand the actors, the shows mentioned are Otome Youkai Zakuro, Squid Girl, Tamayura and Mahou Tsukai Sally. Also, it’s difficult hear the difference between “Miss” and “Ms.,” much to Ms. Doom’s annoyance.
If the embedded video above doesn’t work, you can watch it here.
People who are fascinated by volcanoes (Erik?) will be interested to know that the Réunion mountain Piton de la Fournaise has begun its anticipated eruption (Google translation). It’s located on the opposite side of the planet — i.e., it’s night there when it’s day here — but the glow is clearly visible in the webcams. Piton is known for Hawaiian-style eruptions, with lots of nice, photogenic lava (scroll down a bit).
Incidentally, you can keep tabs on Hawaii’s Kilauea here. The best viewing time is just before dawn on the big island (around 11 a.m. here in Kansas). Check Erik Klemetti’s Eruptions weblog for breaking news and much more information about vulcanism around the world.
Update: Grrr. Now that it’s daylight in Réunion, it looks like the cameras are all on the wrong sides of the mountain. There are some photos here and here.
Update II: Here’s a video.
One of the 1,714 pictures I took last night at Friends University.
Joe Carter posted his selection of “20 essential animated television series.” It’s a quirky and eccentric list (Rocky and Bullwinkle is only #20 (and is “completely unwatchable”), while The Flintstones is #2? Nonsense), but its main failing is that it only includes American shows. Naturally, I had to compile my own quirky and eccentric list of 20 essential anime series. Note that “essential” does not mean “historically or culturally significant.” Sailor Moon, for instance, is of great interest as a cultural phenomenon and for its influence on later anime; but, the show itself is not exactly a great work of art, and I don’t recommend it unless you have a serious interest in the history of anime, or in long legs and short skirts.
The following series I can recommend to anyone interested in animation, television, inspiration and craftsmanship.
20. Azumanga Daioh ((Included because of Osaka, Chiyo, Yomi and Sakaki. (I can hear Astro shouting “Yukari!” off in the distance.) In last place because of Kimura.))
19. Animal Yokocho
18. Mononoke ((Or at least the “Bakeneko” arc of Ayakashi: Samurai Horror Tales.))
17. Princess Tutu
16. Jubei-chan: Secret of the Lovely Eye Patch
15. Divergence Eve ((Including Misaki Chronicles.))
14. Paranoia Agent
13. Petite Princess Yucie
12. Noir
11. Kaiba
10. Kino’s Journey
9. Sugar, a Tiny Snow Fairy
8. Oh! Edo Rocket
7. Ghost in the Shell: Stand-Alone Complex
6. Crest/Banner of the Stars
5. Shingu
4. Cardcaptor Sakura
3. Dennou Coil
2. Serial Experiments Lain
1. Haibane Renmei
This list is somewhat tentative. I still haven’t seen much of Gurren-Lagann yet, or any of Dragonball, and there are probably some classic series that I’ve missed or don’t properly appreciate. ((The omission of Evangelion is deliberate.)) There are also cases to be made that Moribito, Nadesico, Slayers or Utena are as essential as others on the list, and that there should be something to represent Rumiko Takahashi. Nevertheless, I think my quirky and eccentric list is as at least as solid as Carter’s.
Here’s where this was shot. As far as I can tell, this is for real, though the people probably look closer to the hot stuff than they actually are because telephoto lenses compress distances.
The New Zealand mountains Ruapehu and Ngauruhoe were Peter Jackson’s stand-ins for Mt. Doom, but the video above is closer to my mental image of Tolkien’s volcano. (Tolkien is said to have modeled Mordor on the perpetually erupting Stromboli.)
Ubu watched Linebarrels of Iron so you don’t have to.
*****
“This is either going to be a laugh riot, or I’m going to want to hurt somebody.”
The one in pink is Sherlock Shellingford, not to be confused with Sherlock Holmes.
Just wondering: what exactly does the word “milky” signify to the Japanese?
*****
Here’s the second-most impressive Touhou video I’ve seen: ((The most impressive remains this one.))
Then there’s this:
*****
I enjoyed The Triplets of Belleville — one of the few movies I’ve seen in a theatre this century — and I’ve been waiting impatiently for Sylvain Chomet’s next movie. Unfortunately, The Illusionist is apparently a disappointment.
*****
Can’t get out for your morning run because of the weather? Crank up your organ and dash through Chopin’s “Revolutionary” etude:
(The 19th-Century Czech pianist Alexander Dreyschock played this piece with left-hand octaves, which is at least as impressive a stunt as this.)
(Via Frëd.)