Author: Don

1947-2008

R.I.P., Mitch Mitchell

Update: This is the tune I wanted to post yesterday, but I couldn’t find a good video. Note the meter.

Jimi Hendrix Experience, “Manic Depression”
[mp3]http://tancos.net/audio/Manic Depression.mp3[/mp3]

Hot licks, horns and hippos

These past several days I’ve spent most of my spare time digitizing ancient vinyl, rediscovering many old favorites in the process. Here are a few examples:

Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks, “‘Long Come a Viper”
[mp3]http://tancos.net/audio/Long Come A Viper.mp3[/mp3]

Dreams, “New York”
[mp3]http://tancos.net/audio/New York.mp3[/mp3]

Robin Williamson and His Merry Band, “Zoo Blues”
[mp3]http://tancos.net/audio/Zoo Blues.mp3[/mp3]

Grrr

Yesterday’s post has mysteriously disappeared. This is not the only anomalous incident involving my websites this week. My guess is that the web host’s server migration is not going as smoothly as it should. Until I’m reasonably sure that what I write won’t vanish, this weblog will be even quieter than usual.

(The missing post itself was of no consequence. It was just a few amusing links: this, this and this.)

Month by month

I did searches at amazon.com and calendars.com for “anime calendar.” The results were pathetic. Between the two sites, 2009 calendars included only Naruto, Inuyasha, Bleach and Pokemon, and something called “Domo.” Bleah. Therefore, I paid a visit to YesAsia.com, where I did a little better: Soul Eater, Wagaya no Oinari-sama, Shakugan no Shana, Blue Dragon, Wolf and Spice, Ponyo on the Cliff, Chii’s Sweet Home, Clannad and Clannad After Story, Gintama, Evangelion and Petit Eva, One Piece, Gegege no Kitaro, Nodame Cantabile and Code Geass R2. And Gundam00, Tales of the Abyss, Keroro Gunsou, Shugo Chara, Studio Ghibli, Osamu Tezuka, Rumiko Takahashi and many others. And Dragonball Z.

I also found a couple of Yotsub&! daily calendars. The 2009 edition will be available March 31, 2009, suggesting that these run from July 1 to June 30, which means that the 2008 edition has eight months’ use left.

By the way, this year’s Edward Gorey calendar features “Neglected Murderesses.” I didn’t spot a Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei calendar, but Gorey operates in a similar pleasantly macabre vein.

A cure for insomnia

I watched the first episode of Tales of the Abyss to see if there was a good reason for eight different groups to subtitle it.

It starts off with some mythology, introducing a planet made of the seven “fonons.” After the opener, which features a whole bunch of people (you’ll probably need a scorecard to keep them all straight as the series progresses), there’s some more mythology, some history, and prophecies involving a boy with red hair. It’s all very portentous but not particularly memorable.

Then we meet a kid with red hair. He’s a prince named Luke who doesn’t remember anything before he was six. He evidently doesn’t remember much else, either, providing the writers opportunities to dump yet more lumps of exposition into the story in the form of lectures and flashbacks. I suspect that the viewer is supposed to see him as a spirited youth frustrated at not being permitted to leave the palace grounds, but he comes across more as an insensitive lout. He apparently has two belly-buttons.

There are other people, of course: the old gardener he thoughtlessly insults, his servant and keeper, his swordsmanship teacher, his parents, his fiancée — none of whom show much promise of being more than clichés. And then there is Tear, whom I wish would visit me late at night. I am a chronic insomniac, and she can sing people and monsters instantly to sleep. Tear magically arrives at the palace, where she attacks Luke’s teacher. Luke intervenes, and when their blades meet, some kind of supernatural resonance builds up and sends the pair flying out into the hinterlands. It seems that Luke and Tear are both “seventh fons” (is Luke the seventh fon of a seventh fon?). There are monsters out there, which they easily and bloodlessly dispatch, and —

The hell with it. What we have here is another fantasy RPG adaptation of no particular distinction. It’s not terrible, but there’s nothing of interest in it. I can see one or two groups subbing the series for the fans of the game, but eight? It’s squandered effort.

*****

A bit of good news: the second episode of Macademi Wasshoi has finally been translated. It’s as frenetically silly as the first episode, albeit raunchier.

Poll results, and a new poll

28% of the voting visitors to this page would most like to see Denno Coil licensed (my choice, too, but I don’t vote in my polls). Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei came in second with 19%, followed by Potemayo with 14% and, Banner of the Stars III with 10%. The other shows, in order of decreasing votes, were Sailor Stars, Oh! Edo Rocket, Dirty Pair TV, Animal Yokocho, Magipoka, Alfred J. Kwak and Aishiteruze Baby. I was disappointed that nobody voted for Mind Game, a movie that deserves much more attention than it’s received.

And now, the new poll: which mahou shoujo has the best costume? Note that I’m not asking who is your favorite or is from the best show. I just want to know who you think has the best designer. ((Who makes the magical girls’ outfits, anyway? What does a girl do if her costume needs alterations? What happens if she needs to transform while her costume is at the cleaners?)) Also, the inclusion of a particular girl is not a recommendation of the relevant show. Some of the series are very good, e.g., Princess Tutu, but others are not so good, e.g., Pretty Cure.

The astute will notice the conspicuous absence of Sakura Kinomoto. This is for two reasons. First, she is not a typical mahou shoujo; i.e., she doesn’t transform ((Toward the end of Cardcaptor Sakura she does sprout wings, which can be regarded as a transformation, but she still wears Tomoyo’s costumes, not proper magical clothing.)) Second, Tomoyo’s creations are worth a poll in themselves someday.

Marionettes and obsolete spaces

Halloween is approaching, so here’s another list.

Creepy, scary anime

1. Denno Coil, episode 19 — The series becomes darker and more intense in its second half. This episode, in which Yasako and Fumie are besieged by “illegals” while Kyoko’s cyberbody wanders in an obsolete space, is surprisingly scary for a show that began so playfully.

2. Mushishi, episode 4 — All of the stories in Mushishi are strange. A few are nightmarish, like this one about dreams.

3. Divergence Eve, episode 8 — The series is creepy from beginning to end, and I could reasonably pick any episode for this list. The eighth has perhaps the eeriest scene, in which Leblanc gives Misaki a tour of a room with unsettling specimens.

4. Vampire Princess Miyu OVA, episode 2 — Do you like dolls?

5. Serial Experiments Lain, episode 12 — Alice visits Lain’s home.

6. Hakaba Kitaro, episode 3 — Forget carnivorous plants. How about a vampire tree?