Right now I’m playing loud music to drown out today’s treat: a bunch of no-longer-young drag queens lipsyncing to mediocre music down at the corner. No pictures; I want to forget the images, not share them with unwary visitors. There’s also an ice cream vendor playing tinny banjo recordings of teevee themes in the parking lot across the alley.
Seven
Aziz listed seven songs that he is currently “into.” I might as well, too. Most of these you’re not likely to hear on the radio, so I’ve uploaded mp3s.
Naftule’s Dream, “Speed Klez.” John Manning is the Tony Levin of tuba players.
Polysics, “Rocket.” The eccentric ending theme of the eccentric show Moyashimon.
Don Ross, “Dracula and Friends (Part One).” Motown on six strings.
Alkan, “Finale: Presto” from Symphony for Solo Piano, Op. 39, #7. (Marc-Andre Hamelin, piano). It is not true that Alkan was crushed to death by the Talmud, nor did his obituary begin, “Alkan is dead. He had to die in order to prove his existence.”
Gilbert and Sullivan, “Three Little Maids from School Are We.” If you want your kids to grow up hating Gilbert and Sullivan, play Iolanthe twice a day every day. Many years have since passed, and I can now appreciate the craft of G&S without too much pain. This number is from The Mikado.
Mayumi Kojima, “Poltergeist.” I’ve posted this one before, but it remains a favorite.
Kou Otani, “Ailes Grises.” A favorite for several years now.
Update: Here are the official directions.
List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they’re not any good, but they must be songs you’re really enjoying now, shaping your spring summer. Post these instructions in your blog along with your seven songs. Then tag seven other people to see what they’re listening to.
I’m not gong to tag anyone (though I would be curious to find out what Steven’s, Erik’s and Maureen the Suburban Banshee’s current enthusiasms are). If you feel like playing along, go right ahead.
Everlasting Moonlight
Miyuki Kanbe, the third actress to play Sailor Moon in the SeraMyu musicals, died Wednesday of heart failure at the age of 24.
(Picture from here.)
Reviewers at work
Ballet in the Park
The other ballet company in Wichita performed their version of “Peter Pan” yesterday outdoors as the temperature approached 90°F. More pictures here.
Aechmea
Unperfect intervals
Status report
I don’t have interests or hobbies; I have obsessions. They usually progress like this:
Stage one: What’s this?
Stage two: This is kinda interesting. Let’s investigate it further.
Stage three: This is really interesting. It’s worth a little time and money.
Stage four: This is absolutely magnificent, wonderful stuff. Let’s spend every waking moment on it and annoy all my friends with my enthusiasm. Let’s max out the credit cards, too.
Stage five: This isn’t quite as much fun as it used to be.
Stage six: In fact, it’s starting to feel like work. Let’s do something else tonight.
Stage seven: What a waste of time. The hell with it.
Stage eight/one: Hey, what’s that?
Not every obsession runs through every stage. Photography has oscillated between stages three and five for years and probably will continue to do so as long as I can hold a camera. On the other hand, I spent far too much time in the SCA, and I am very thoroughly burnt-out on that sort of historical re-creation. Don’t even mention Renaissance faires to me.
With respect to anime, I am currently at stage six. I’ve watched very little in the past few weeks, and what I have seen were old favorites, not new shows. I know I should be keeping up with Kaiba, and I would probably enjoy the recent episodes of Soul Eater if I bothered to launch VLC, but right now both look more like duties than pleasures. Rather than force myself to watch them anyway and guarantee reaching stage seven, I’m going to take a break from anime.
Perhaps I’ll spend the summer reading. There’s a whole generation of science fiction and fantasy writers that I haven’t yet seriously investigated, and at least two of them, Tim Powers and Neal Stephenson, are first-rate storytellers if what I’ve read is representative.
So, there’s not going to be much happening here for a while. I do have a few posts in mind, but I’m in no hurry to write them. I’ll be back when I’m back.
Miscellany
Hey, McCain has been ignoring the catgirl vote throughout the primaries, I say Obama should take advantage of this. As a matter of fact, a strong anti-tentacle monster platform would bring in both the catgirls and the Lolis. He could then show show his strength on defense by committing to a crash course of giant robot development. All he would need at that point would be a promise of combat training for all nubile young schoolgirls and he would have the entire geek vote locked up.
On a related note, here’s the most frightening title I’ve heard in a while: The Melancholy of Hillary Rodham.
*****
That other dealer has Geneon merchandise on sale. Haibane Renmei, Someday’s Dreamers and others are going for $5 per disc, and this time there’s no minimum order.
*****
Via Pixy, sophisticated technology in the service of sheer silliness:
And some Leeky Star:
*****
Stranger than anime: the operatic guide to dating.
*****
Yoshitoshi ABe will be in Minnesota in September. It’s a bit out of bicycle range for me, unfortunately.
*****
Update: No. No. No. No. No. No.
Achillea
I’ve added a few more pictures to the gallery.
Why do people drive like idiots?
Because they are idiots.
Three things to keep in mind when you ride a bicycle on Wichita streets:
1. If there is any possibility that a driver won’t see you, he won’t.
2. If there is no way on earth that a driver can possibly miss seeing you, he still won’t see you.
3. Right-of-way? What’s that?
Checking in
It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Life’s been very interesting lately, in ways both good and bad, and there’s little time for anime. I’ll be back eventually.
Today’s quiz
Baptisia australis
Dress rehearsal I
(more to come)
Picture day
Not everyone was fascinated by the dancers posing for their group portraits this afternoon.