At midnight, the date changes. On July 5, it is no longer appropriate to play with explosives. It’s nice that you feel like celebrating, but I really need to sleep.
American music
Charles Ives is often celebrated for having anticipated many of the innovations of twentieth-century music. Less often noted is that he also anticipated, if that’s the right word, P.D.Q. Bach. Some years back, an acquaintance for whom I played a recording of Three Places in New England was scandalized by the second movement — real music isn’t supposed to be funny, he said. (Tell that to Mozart.) Here it is, the ideal music for the Fourth of July:
It’s become trendy in recent years to complain that the music of P.D.Q. Bach overshadows that of the composer Peter Schickele. I’ll grant that the humor is hit-and-miss, with misses predominating on the later recordings. Sometimes, though, the jokes work. Here’s the fourth movement of the “Unbegun Symphony.” ((Strictly speaking, this isn’t P.D.Q. Bach, since Schickele claimed it as his own, so to speak.))
If you’ve got a couple of hours to kill while waiting for it to get dark enough for fireworks tonight, why don’t you invite 35 of your closest friends over with their instruments and run through some American music of a different sort. Here’s the score to Terry Riley’s In C.
Photo gallery additions
It’s lily season. This year’s Botanica pictures can be viewed here.
Music and dance
It’s time for the final round of the current poll: which anime has the best soundtrack? There was a five-way tie for seventh place in the second round, so there are twenty-one to choose from. You can only vote for one this time.
Disney versus Stravinsky
The rematch:
(Via John C. Wright.)
A bit of Copland:
Hoedown from Rodeo from Eleanor Stewart on Vimeo.
(Via dm00.)
And a little dance:
(Via Mark Sullivan.)
The last one reminds me of this classic.
Music appreciation
One of the books I tested my new glasses with is Alex Ross’ The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century, recommended by Steven. Here’s a trivia quiz based on it.
Identify the speaker:
1. “I have actually outlived myself.”
2. “Defend me, Spaniards, from the Germans, who do not understand and have never understood music.”
3. “All the doctors who wanted to forbid me to smoke and to drink are dead.”
4. “Beauty of sound is beside the point.”
5. “Thank God! Finally a Reich Chancellor who is interested in art!”
6. “There is, thank God, a large segment of our population that never heard of J.S. Bach.”
7. “Beethoven was wrong!”
8. True or false: Debussy served as the thirty-third grand master of the Prieuré de Sion.
9. Who told a tenor saxophone player to play a descending major seventh with “sex appeal”?
10. Who was known to wear “a peach-colored shirt, a green tie with white polka-dots, a knit belt of the most vivid purple with a large and ostentatious gold buckle, and an unbelievably loud gray suit with lots of black and brown stripes”?
11. Who, according to Pierre Boulez, “… had displayed ‘the most ostentatious and obsolete romanticism'”?
12. Who, according to Pierre Boulez, was “… a ‘performing monkey” whose methods betrayed ‘fascist tendencies'”?
13. Who was apparently born near Cologne in 1928, but actually was of extraterrestrial origin and had lived many past lives?
14. What is 8’37” better-known as?
15. Who was “the best drug connection in New York”?
I can see again
… or, less melodramatically, I finally got the new glasses I needed. I’ve read far less than usual these past few years because reading has been a tedious process: read 20 minutes, holding the book and my head at uncomfortable angles so the print is within the narrow zone of close focus, until my vision blurs; wait 20 minutes, until I can focus on nearby things again; read 15 minutes, until my vision blurs again; throw the book against wall and listen to a CD instead. My health insurance covers eye exams but not the glasses themselves, and even at the cheap mall outlets a new pair of glasses is still beyond my budget, so I tried ordering a pair from 39 Dollar Glasses.com. I need varifocal lenses with hefty corrections for nearsightedness and astigmatism, so my glasses cost about twice $39, but they still were only about a third the price quoted by the salesman at the mall.
Am I satisfied with them? Not entirely. The frames need a bit of adjustment, which I’m hesitant to do myself, and while I do have good distance and close-up vision now, intermediate vision, such as is necessary when working at a computer, is confined to an annoyingly small region. I may need to get a second pair specifically for work.
However, I’ve never been completely satisfied with any of the glasses I’ve purchased in the last 20 years. My new pair, even with its problems, is a better fit than the second-last pair, which was expensively mis-manufactured and ill-fitted by the optician at his shop. And my new pair does pass the crucial test: I can read all evening long.
To the Moon
Alex Ross, in The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century, states that Schoenberg’s twelve-tone method of musical composition “… finally reached the silver screen by way of Scott Bradley’s inventive scores for Tom and Jerry cartoons in the forties, notably Puttin’ on the Dog and The Cat That Hated People.” Which gives me an excuse to post some High Culture, courtesy of Tex Avery.
Best soundtrack poll, round two
The problem with the poll widget had to do with the update to the plugin, not WordPress 2.8. I was able to get the poll working again by dumping the new version of the plugin and reinstalling the previous one.
This is the second, and last, preliminary round. The top ten from this poll will advance to the final round. You can vote for up to three candidates.
Grrr
It looks like upgrading to WordPress 2.8 broke the poll widget. Nevertheless, I think there were enough votes to pick the first round winners:
Cowboy Bebop (42%)
FLCL (23%)
Haibane Renmei (23%)
.hack//SIGN (17%)
Aria (15%)
Last Exile (13%)
ef: a tale of memories (11%)
Death Note (11%)
Azumanga Daioh (11%)
Code Geass/R2 (11%)
These ten will advance to the final round of the best anime OST poll. I’ll post the second round once I figure out how to get the poll working again.
Anime knitting
Here are some curious items from the most recent batch of search terms:
heresy is not kawaii
gurren lagann knitting
cowboy bebop knitting
knitting anime themes
ponyo on a stick
sailor moon cardboard cutout
a religion based off of sailor moon
canzoni kawaii
languid gay charles solomon
gender critics are idiots
anime girl wolf boy frog
haruhi peanuts
kawaii the murderer pics
safe for work babes
oink supervisor
There were a few that make me glad that I am unlikely ever to meet the searchers:
anime manly girls
armpit hair pictures
kawaii tentacle monster
*****
Anime cosplayers are normal, sane people — at least compared to these.
Via Steven, who recently discovered Pokémon. (Update: note the third-place item in this list.)
Ubu, meanwhile, has discovered RahXephon. In a comment at Ubu’s place, Avatar confirms what I had suspected:
RahXephon was a show where we constructed a couple of really elaborate theories that explained everything, wrote off to Japan with a “so which one is it, we need to know for the translation”, and got back “huh? We did all those things because they looked cool.”
*****
I recently watched the first two episodes of El Hazard: The Magnificent World. Good grief. Here’s our hero:
I really wonder sometimes: do Japanese boys want to be girls? If you think I’m exaggering, count the thumbnails on this graphic:
The first El Hazard OVA was written by Ryoe Tsukimura. He also wrote the scripts for the first Tenchi Muyo! movie and the many UFO Princess Valkyries. They have their moments, but they’re all essentially anime junk food. Most of the rest of Tsukimura’s output looks similarly undistinguished. However, he does have one classic to his credit, Noir, which was his idea and his script. In this, he reminds me of Kou Ohtani, a competent, unmemorable soundtrack composer who on one occasion exhibited afflatus.
*****
Since I closed nominations for the current poll, commenters have mentioned Ghost in the Shell, Tenchi Muyo GXP, Kimagure Orange Road, Spice and Wolf and Wolf’s Rain. The first has been mentioned twice (the second time in an email), so I’ll probably add it to the second round candidates. Would anyone care to second any of the other series?
Bookless in Wichita
I had an unnerving experience last week. I made one of my rare forays to the shopping mall and stopped at the bookstore there. I couldn’t find any book I wanted to buy, not a single one. What looked interesting I already have in my library, and everything else looked irrelevant, tedious or dumb. This has never happened to me before. At every bookstore I’ve ever visited, no matter how small or specialized, there was always something that caught my eye. In recent years I’ve minimized the number of trips to bookstores because I’ve run out of space for more bookshelves and I can only pile books on the floor so high before the stacks become unstable. If my experience at the bookstore last week is a harbinger of things to come, bookstores may not be the dangers to my budget that they have been in the past.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, I can still find plenty at Amazon.com.
Something isn’t quite right in this picture. Although the spine of the book on the left end states that it is also “Fugitives of Chaos,” actually it’s “Titans of Chaos,” the conclusion to John C. Wright‘s trilogy.
Music appreciation
Just for the heck of it, here are some excerpts from noteworthy soundtracks that weren’t nominated for the current poll.
Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihohito:
Binchou-tan:
Spice and Wolf:
Metropolis:
Arjuna:
… and a little music depreciation. Here’s a tune you might recognize, sung by Haruna Ikezawa.
The winners
According to the visitors here, these are the top ten anime babes of all time, as of 2009.
The winner
After four rounds and over a thousand votes, we have a babe:
I’ll post the complete results sometime this weekend.
*****
There were 62 nominations altogether for the best anime soundtrack. I’m going to run two preliminary rounds of 31 each, in which you can vote for up to three candidates. The top ten in each round will go on to the finals.
Ideally, I should post excerpts from all the nominated soundtracks, but I’m lazy. If you want to campaign for your favorite, feel free to post a link to an illustrative video or .mp3 in the comments. (There are a number of such links in the comments here.)
Specifically …
… which Shinkai and Miyazaki soundtracks do you want to nominate for the next poll? The complete works of Makoto Shinkai are on my “buy” list, but I don’t have them in hand yet; and, I can’t remember a note of Joe Hisaishi’s music after any Miyazaki DVD ends.
Coming attractions
Previews of the summer 2010 anime season:
Trap Academy — A transfer student at an exclusive all-girl boarding school discovers that every single one of her pretty classmates is actually a boy in disguise.
Does Anyone Need Tenchi? Does Anyone Care? — Yet another spinoff of the venerable franchise. In this one, Mihoshi’s IQ approaches the single digits.
Mystery Meat — Students with paranormal abilities investigate inexplicable events in the school cafeteria. Chiaki J. Konaka’s script draws on quantum mechanics, evolutionary biology and feng shui in this account of alternate realities and healthy nutrition.
Planet of the Enormous Hooters — Al Franken’s masterpiece receives an appropriately respectful anime adaptation. The staff includes alumni of the Queen’s Blade and Eiken crews.
Apocryphelion — Aliens attack the Earth as foretold by ancient Mesopotamian clay tablets, and only neurotic adolescents piloting absurdly large mecha can save the planet.
inCurably Pretty — The latest iteration of PreCure introduces 17 more magical girls. The pastel mahou shoujo outfits feature second-order ruffles. ((I.e., ruffles on the ruffles.))
Sliders — The intense world of professional shuffleboard is examined in the suspenseful tale of the rising star of the care home circuit. Is her mysterious ability to put the puck dead center in the “10” triangle every time somehow connected to the fact that she has not spoken to her manager and husband in 53 years? And what about the mysterious reigning champion, who is as stacked as Carol Doda, and as old? The show sets new precedents for fanservice. (The DVDs will feature additional steam.)
Angels and Idiots — An ancient order of renegade priests and a nun in a slinky habit who lives her own version of aggiornamento are all that stand between humanity and an unholy alliance of vampires, demons and lawyers — or is it the other way around? This gnostic extravaganza is sure to be a favorite of cosplayers.
Godot Can Wait — Nabeshin’s first effort for World Masterpiece Theater is a breezy adaptation of Beckett’s play. Nabeshin himself takes the much-expanded role of Pozzo’s slave, Lucky, and finds surprisingly many opportunities for fanservice in Beckett’s barren landscape.
Type Two — Mika isn’t sure how she feels about Kai. Sometimes she treats him with affection, but just as often she subjects him to scorn and violence. Their budding romance abruptly ends when Kai obtains a restraining order against her.
Yokai Cram School — A vampire who faints at the sight of blood, a vegan werewolf, a succubus who made a vow of celibacy, skirts too short to sit down in … and the hell with it. It’s not easy to invent something as stupid as Rosario + Vampire.
Scandalous behavior
Should Haibane Renmei be rated “R”? ((Yeah, Haibane Renmei is not a “film.” The point remains.))
(Via Strange Herring.)
Here’s a list
Soundtracks nominated so far for the next poll:
Aria the Animation/Natural/Origination
Azumanga Daioh
Bartender
Bleach
Bubblegum Crisis OVA
Bubblegum Crisis 2040
Code Geass/R2
Cowboy Bebop
Death Note
ef: a tale of memories
Elfen Lied
Eureka 7
FLCL
Full Metal Alchemist
Haibane Renmei
Kaiji
Kamichu!
Macross Frontier
Madlax
Manabi Straight
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Noir
Oh! Edo Rocket
Princess Tutu
Record of Lodoss War
Revolutionary Girl Utena
Shigofumi
Shigurui
Simoun
Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann
True Tears
Vision of Escaflowne
Welcome the the NHK
A few others were mentioned, but I’m not sure that they were meant as nominations:
.hack// et cetera
Vampire Princess Miyu OVA
Vampire Princess Miyu TV
Witch Hunter Robin
Some other soundtracks worth considering:
Ah! My Goddess: The Movie
Angelic Layer
Binchou-tan
Denno Coil
Interstella 5555
Kaiba
Macross Plus
Metropolis
Mushishi
Paprika
Saiunkoku Monogatari
Shingu
Someday’s Dreamers
Sugar, a Tiny Snow Fairy
What else? I’m sure I’m forgetting something obvious.
Also, would someone care to nominate a specific Miyazaki movie OST?
Call for nominations II
The next poll will probably be anime soundtracks: which is the best? There are the obvious candidates: Noir, Haibane Renmei, nearly everything by Yoko Kanno; and some less-obvious ones: Denno Coil, Oh! Edo Rocket, Mushishi. What other examples are worth considering? Please leave your nominations in the comments. Links to illustrative mp3s or videos will be helpful.
Note that this is about specific soundtracks and not who the best composer is. That is a topic for a future poll.
I’m going to let the anime babes poll run for another week or two. I’d like to see at least 200 votes before I close it and compile the top ten. Please vote if you haven’t already.
Update: I just checked that other dealer. Although the soundtracks to Haibane Renmei and Noir are gone, there are still many noteworthy OSTs available for $4, including Arjuna (the series itself looks like toxic waste, but Kanno’s score isn’t bad), Azumanga Daioh, Someday’s Dreamers and Utena (four eccentric CDs’ worth of the last — if nobody else nominates Utena, I will).
*****
Poor neglected Eineus. She hasn’t yet received a single vote in the final round of “who’s the babe?” I’m trying to resist the temptation to campaign for or against particular candidates, but I will note that I think she has a better claim to be a proper babe than at least one who is headed for a top-ten finish.
