Trivia that matter
Petrus T. Ratajczyk isn’t available to record the tune I think of as “Santa Wears Jackboots,” and Vince Furnier’s version is mere schlock rock, so I thought I’d see how Hatsune Miku would do it. Nota bene: it gets loud.
Technical stuff for the curious: The guitars are the AAS Strum GS-2. The rest, except for Miku, are components of NI Komplete, run through various NI and Logic plugins.
Update: “Pay attention to the “I(Nice)” function.”
Taking a break from looking at dancers to see how well my new, very cheap light tent works.
Taking a break from looking at dancers to see how well my new, very cheap light tent works.
… except onstage.
I’m half-way through the Nutcracker pictures. You can see the party scene, the mice battle and the snow scene at my photo site.
Dress rehearsal at Friends University in Wichita, Kansas, December 7, 2017. Click to embiggen.
Dress rehearsal at Friends University in Wichita, Kansas, December 7, 2017. Click to embiggen.
Before Koichi Mashimo’s trilogy1, there was The Nutcracker, as produced annually by Friends University Ballet.
I spent the evening tonight taking far too many pictures at the dress rehearsal. I’ll eventually post a bunch on my photo weblog, but it will take a while to go through them all.
Update (December 10): I’m through with the party scene in act one. The pictures are here.
I’ve put one in puzzle form below the fold.
A couple of links to help you get into the spirit of the season:
• What to give the heretic on your list (See also St. Louis’ guide to dealing with barbarians.)
• Beware rogue carolers, and avoid broadcast media until December 24
If you absolutely must sing a carol, here are the words:
If you’re in the mood to procrastinate, you’re in luck. I’ve uploaded a few pictures to Jigsaw Planet and have embedded the puzzles in my photography weblog. I’ll be adding more. Click on the “ghost” button at the bottom left of the puzzle frame for a preview of the finished puzzle.
This is what the Wichita newspaper put on the front page above the fold on Saturday.
Crunchyroll continues to license interesting older anime. Recent acquisitions include the willfully eccentric Oh! Edo Rocket2 and Tatsuo Sato’s first major series, Martian Successor Nadesico. There’s also the exceedingly odd Cromartie High School. In all three, anything can happen.
I’ve compiled a short wish list of shows that the people at Crunchyroll might consider for future acquisition.
Dennou Coil — It’s available on disc, but I don’t think this classic Miyazaki-does-Ghost-in-the-Shell series has ever been legally streamed in North America.
Shounen Onmyouji — Protagonist Masahiro is the only shounen hero who doesn’t make me mutter “idiot.” The show was one of the last licensed by Geneon USA and was orphaned when the company went out of business. The later discs are virtually unobtainable.
Katanagatari — Also available on disc3, but I don’t think this eccentric and ironic chronicle of extreme swordsmanship ever been legally streamed here.
Crest/Banner of the Stars — Possibly the best thought-out dramatization of war in space.4
Pupipo — Short and funny doesn’t mean trivial.
Over the years I’ve watched my young friend Roger Netherton develop from a talented youngster to a first-rate fiddler. I’ve mentioned him numerous times, e.g., here, here, here and here; you can find additional mentions by searching here for “Roger.” He focuses on old-time music, but that’s not his only interest. He taught himself Japanese well enough that he was able to skip the first year of Japanese language class at college and start with the second year. He later spent a semester at a college in Japan. He did the translations for my notes on installing Hatsune Miku, which is the most-visited page on my website. Here he plays a melody from the anime Someday’s Dreamers, accompanying himself on piano.
Roger is finally ready to record an album. His Go Fund Me page is here. If you like old-time fiddle, you might want to check it out.
Like hell I’m giving these jackasses my phone number. It looks like it will be about two weeks before I visit Anime New Network again — if I bother. The encyclopedia is sometimes useful, and perhaps 10% of the news is actually noteworthy, but the rest is just a waste of pixels. I can do just fine without it.
