Author: Don

Uchu Senkan Yamato

YIPE!, “the costume fanzine of record,” attempts to come to terms with anime in issue 2.9, now available for download. Of particular note are Karen Dick’s recollections of her enthusiasm for the Leijiverse, illustrated with pictures of the costumes she made thirty years ago. There’s also some discussion of conflicting fandoms, an interview with a costumer, more reminiscences, and pictures. In addition, the writers admit the obvious:

Face it folks, anime may be a medium not-entirely-catering-to Sci Fi, but it produces more Sci Fi and Fantasy than American television. Better quality, too.

Books as investments

What does $1,186.27 look like?

If that had been the paperback edition of Lafferty in Orbit, you’d be looking at $2,162.26. However, a hardcover like the one pictured is available for a mere $23.98.

By the way, if you ever spot any collection of Lafferty’s stories in a used book store — Nine Hundred Grandmothers, Strange Doings, Does Anyone Else Have Something Further to Add, Ringing Changes, Lafferty in Orbit, Iron Tears — grab it. There never was any other writer like him.

I have measured out my life in login codes

The .doc File of J. Alfred Prufrock

Let us go then, you and I,
When the evening is spread out against the sky
Like a laptop, put in sleep mode on a table
Let us go through certain half-deserted streets
The blinking-light retreats
Of restless nights in free-wifi cafes
And public libraries with internet
Streets that follow like messageboard argument
of insidious intent
To lead you to an overwhelming blog post
Oh, do not ask, “What, yaoi?”
Let us go and post an entry.

***

I grow old… I grow old…
I shall add some links to my blog roll.

(Via First Thoughts.)

Addendum: Not fond of 20th-century poetry? Here’s a bit of apocryphal Chaucer for you.

The universal language

I wasn’t able to go to Winfield this year, so I only just now discovered that the winner of the International Fingerstyle Guitar Championship last Thursday evening was Akihiro Tanaka of Kyoto. He took second place last year, and I caught his main stage performance then.

Update: The international language II

Old-time music has its followers in Japan. Some friends of mine recently discovered one of their videos on this bulletin board. (See item #104.)

Higanbana

Lycoris radiata was blooming this morning at the local botanical garden. This is allegedly called “the flower of the dead” in Japan. It figures prominently in episode 18 of Shingu, in which Harumi and Moriguchi discuss events eleven years earlier.

The last time I watched Shingu, I was surprised to realize that I was smiling and occasionally laughing. Laughter is social behavior; when I watch the Marx Brothers or read Terry Pratchett alone at home, I don’t crack a smile, no matter how much I enjoy the absurdities. The people in Shingu are alive for me in a way fictional characters rarely are.

*****

A couple of noteworthy links from the two Jonathans:

Jonathan Tappan writes an introduction to Shintoism.

Jonathan Clements provides context for Summer Wars. (Via Ubu.)

Fifteen in fifteen

Blame John Salmon and Terry Teachout for this.

The rules: Don’t take too long to think about it — choose fifteen albums you’ve heard that will always stick with you. List the first fifteen you can recall in no more than fifteen minutes. (These aren’t favorite albums, necessarily, just the fifteen that will always stick with you.)

Mahavishnu Orchestra, Birds of Fire

Chopin, Waltzes (I forget who played on the first recording I heard. It was a record I found in the University of Dallas library back in ancient times.)

Bach/Isolde Algrimm, Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I, first disc (This and the next were other records in the UD library that I frequently checked out.)

Songs by Tom Lehrer

Simon and Garfunkel, Bookends

Fairport Convention, Liege and Lief

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band et al, Will the Circle Be Unbroken?

Beethoven/Claudio Arrau, The Last Four Piano Sonatas

Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks, Last Train to Hicksville

Norman Blake, Whiskey Before Breakfast

Don Ross, Bearing Straight

Pentangle, Basket of Light

Mothers of Invention, Absolutely Free

Scott Joplin/Joshua Rifkin, Piano Rags (The first disc, with the green cover.)

King Crimson, Discipline

Science!

The manga magazine Young Jump has published a history of the Ig Nobel prizes, noted here and here. There’s no translation, but the images speak for themselves.

The 2010 Ig Nobel prizes will be awarded September 30. Fans of Moyashimon will be interested to know that the theme of this year’s ceremony is “bacteria.” Scheduled events include:

The Bacterial Opera: World premiere of a mini-opera about the bacteria who live on a woman’s front tooth, and about that woman. Conducted by David Stockton. Starring Maria Ferrante, Ben Sears, Roberta Gilbert and Thomas Michel as bacteria — and Jenny Gutbezahl as The Woman. Pianist Branden Grimmett. Costumes by Jenn Martinez.
Microbial Miniconcert by Evelyn Evelyn (and their friends Amanda Palmer and Jason Webley)
Pre-pre-show Boston Squeezebox Ensemble microbeconcert in lobby (begins at 6:45 pm), led by Dr. Thomas Michel
Pre-show Pathogenic Bacterial Pianoconcerto by Maria Eliseeva

*****

If you get tired of reading manga and watching anime, you can always watch the Japanese Vesuvius. Sakura-jima has been puffing away quite energetically recently, and this webcam has a good view of the active crater. (If you click on the cross-hairs, you can take control of the camera for a while.) It’s best viewed during daylight hours in Japan, though allegedly, if you’re lucky, you can occasionally see some incandescence and lightning at night. (Update: Visibility might be impaired by clouds, particularly when tropical storms are in the region, as is currently the case.)

Very miscellaneous

Words versus image. (From episode six of Asobi ni Iku Yo.)

*****

Courtesy of ANN, it is now possible to watch the unclassifiable anime Oh! Edo Rocket online.

*****

Attention designers: Note the third special category for Costume-Con 29‘s Future Fashion Folio:

REDESIGN YOUR FAVORITE ANIME CHARACTER ($100 in cash prizes sponsored by Karen Dick): You know what your favorite characters wear in that anime you love, but what do YOU think they should wear when they’re out of uniform (or when they get drafted into the military), or on that special date, or going to that themed costume party? Extra points for believably recasting anime characters in Broadway musicals to suit the theme of the convention.

You don’t need to be any kind of an expert costumer or an artist to enter designs, nor do you need to be able to sew. You don’t even need to plan to attend Costume-Con (I won’t be there — New Jersey is a bit out of bicycle range).

*****

Sushi and spaghetti; or, to be is not to be: a comparison of Asian spirituality and Christianity. (Via First Things.)

*****

(From Dr. Boli’s Celebrated Magazine.)

This has absolutely nothing to do with the otakusphere, right?

Blame the ducks

Specifically, GreyDuck and Wonderduck.

1. If you’d like to play along, reply to this post and I’ll assign you a letter.
2. You then list (and upload or link to the video, if you feel like it) 5 songs that start with that letter.
3. Then, as I’m doing here, you’ll post the list to your journal with the instructions.

So here are five tunes in the key of H. I’ll skip the obvious ones — you all know “Highway Star” and “Hardware Store,” right? And “Harold the Barrel” and “Happy Jack”? These you might not have heard before.

Ghost Hound was a major disappointment. I expected so much more from the Lain veterans. But the opening did introduce me to singer Mayumi Kojima. ((Some of her recent recordings can be found at amazon.com, but they don’t show her at her best.))
Mayumi Kojima, “Himawari”

[audio:http://tancos.net/audio/himawari.mp3]

The Webb Wilder Credo: “Work hard, rock hard, eat hard, sleep hard, grow big, wear glasses if you need ’em.”
Webb Wilder, “Human Cannonball”

[audio:http://tancos.net/audio/Human Cannonball.mp3]

Here are John Jorgenson, Will Ray and Jerry Donohue, and lots of guitar.
The Hellecasters, “Highlander Boogie”

[audio:http://tancos.net/audio/Highlander Boogie.mp3]

To clear your ears, here is some finger-picking from a Winfield veteran.
Pete Huttlinger, “Hortensia”

[audio:http://tancos.net/audio/Hortensia.mp3]

Let’s finish up with a classic anatidian tune.
Raymond Scott, “Huckleberry Duck”

[audio:http://tancos.net/audio/Huckleberry Duck.mp3]

Here’s a more recent recording by David Bagsby and Kurt Rongey, alias “XEN.”

[audio:http://tancos.net/audio/Xen – Huckleberry Duck.mp3]

*****

Bonus H tune: What show does this come from?

[audio:http://tancos.net/audio/mystery H tune.mp3]

Want to play? Leave a note in the comments, and I’ll give you a letter.

New poll

Which anime has the best opening? I ended up with over 30 candidates, so I’m going to do this in two rounds. In the current one, you can vote for up to three openings. The ten with the most votes will advance to the final round.

I found videos for most, but there were a couple that eluded me. If the openings to Dennou Coil and season one of Hare & Guu exist somewhere on the web, please send me the links. It will save me the trouble of extracting them myself. Update: I have Dennou Coil up now, but I still need Hare & Guu.

If there is an opening missing that you feel absolutely must be in the poll, please make a note of it in the comments and include a Youtube link. Maybe — maybe — I can add it.

Please note that not all these openings are “family-friendly.” I put a couple that might be problematic inside spoilers.

Continue reading “New poll”

Boo, hiss

Light Yagami is the best villain in anime, with more than twice the votes of his nearest competition, Johan. Sephiroth came in third and Gendo Ikari fourth. There’s a three-way tie for fifth place between Knives, Lord Genome and Vicious. Ladd Russo and Beatrice tied for eighth, and Lord Shishio and Orochimaru tied for tenth. Other candidates receiving votes were Lust, Diva, Vegeta, Char Asnable, Yomi Isayama, Friagne, Millennium Earl, Leader Desslok, King Hamdo, Joker, Cell, Queen Beryl, Frieza and Piccolo Daimao.

There’s a new poll up.