Trivia that matter
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.
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“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?
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Here’s the second-most impressive Touhou video I’ve seen: ((The most impressive remains this one.))
Then there’s this:
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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.
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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.)
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.
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.
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.
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.)
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.
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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.)
The top ten finishers in the fist round of the “best opening” poll were pretty much the ones I would have predicted (though I did expect a better performance from Azumanga Daioh). Cowboy Bebop took a clear first place when voters could choose three. Will it still be the winner when the voters can only choose one?
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
… versus Mozart:
They plan to tour North America next year, though no dates have been announced yet on their site. It’s probably too much to hope that they’ll stop in Wichita.
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
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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.)
A cover for G.K. Chesterton’s The Napoleon of Notting Hill, drawn by Hayao Miyazaki.
(From here, via Ben Hatke. Hatke, by the way, is the creator of Zita the Space Girl.)
Bonus: Here’s Daniel Mitsui’s rendition of a Japanese St. George.
Satoshi Kon, 1963-2010
