Azumanga Daioh Volume 4 came out on DVD today. The disc a month release schedule has made getting your next Azumanga fix quite nice. I think the first time I really heard anything about this show was one of the first issues of Newtype USA. They had some character art and I remember looking at the episode guide and seeing that one of the later episodes dealt with Osaka's perfect yawn.
And how could you not be intrigued by a show like that?!
The show is a wonderful slice-of-life series revolving around a group of high school girls. It's been compared to Seinfeld in that it's a show about nothing so much as everyday life. I'm not sure the comparison holds up much past some superficial similarities though. Each episode is made up of smaller segments that reflect the show's origin, a 4 panel comic strip. The strips tended to end with a punchline and so many of the episode segments rely on similar gags or setups. If you've read the four graphic novel volumes, much of their content is repeated in the show, but it's fun to see it come alive through the animation even though you know the joke.
We've been listening to the dub and have yet to be disappointed with it. This is one of those shows though where the sub/dub crowds have drawn their lines in the sand. As much of the humor relies on Japanese specific puns, the translation team tries to do their best to get the humor across. I certainly have no complaints with some of the changes they've made and the liner notes included always try and reference the original joke so that you understand why they made the decision they did. Personally, I'm of the opinion that translating the joke so that the spirit remains intact if not the actual joke itself is fine. But to each their own.
The visuals in the series are great and the soundtrack is catchy too. The characters are nicely drawn and their personalities are bound to remind you of somebody you went to school with. To me, that's the great achievement here - you'll remember those years, wondering who you'd be and enjoying all the moments you had with your friends. The teachers, in counterpoint, show you that growing old, while encompassing new experiences, is really just more of the same.
So, if you enjoy manga or anime, you really can't go wrong with either form of Azumanga.
Update Oddly enough, volume 4 is the disc with the episode about the perfect yawn. There really are no coincidences.
Tuesday, August 31, 2004
Monday, August 30, 2004
Lovecraft's 15 minutes
This is the trailer for The Eldritch Influence. At first glance, it looks like it does for the Lovecraft fans/mythos what Comic Book: The Movie did for comic fans. One can certainly hope. I enjoyed Comic Book: The Movie quite a bit.
As this is the second post that deals with Lovecraftian oddities, it's probably fairly obvious that I'm a fan. Stumbled across his work in High School and have enjoyed it ever since. Were I either slightly *cough cough* younger, or married to someone that was a little more willing to participate in pen and paper RPGs I'd be a big fan of the Cthulhu RPG from Chaosium. It was starting up (I think) just as I was leaving that particular pastime behind. I think every so often about giving it a go, but it's more of a pipe dream.
But I still enjoy visiting Lovecraft's world through his own writings and the writings of others that enjoy playing in the playground. Neil Gaiman's recent A Study in Emerald was quite enjoyable (just as much for the ads as the story) as are several of the stories found in other anthologies. In fact, the Shadows Over Baker Street anthology looks to be doubly enjoyable.
One of the things that I really enjoy about his work, is that despite the great variance in his writing ability, you almost always get glimpses of the world that he was building. From the almost universally known Necronomicon, to good ol' Miskatonic U. to the surreal New England depicted in Innsmouth. Even if the writing was subpar, the fantasy wasn't. The fact that elements of his world have entered pop culture speaks quite well to that. Hollywood didn't have quite the love affair with his stories that they're currently having with Philip K. Dick, but there were a few gems produced. And it would be interesting to see what someone like David Fincher would create with some of his pieces.
Oddly, the only Lovecraft I have in the house is a biography of the man himself and a trimmed photocopy of The Thing on the Doorstep. I keep waiting for a nice anthology of his works that collects more than just a couple stories from his various periods. If one exists certainly point me in its direction.
As this is the second post that deals with Lovecraftian oddities, it's probably fairly obvious that I'm a fan. Stumbled across his work in High School and have enjoyed it ever since. Were I either slightly *cough cough* younger, or married to someone that was a little more willing to participate in pen and paper RPGs I'd be a big fan of the Cthulhu RPG from Chaosium. It was starting up (I think) just as I was leaving that particular pastime behind. I think every so often about giving it a go, but it's more of a pipe dream.
But I still enjoy visiting Lovecraft's world through his own writings and the writings of others that enjoy playing in the playground. Neil Gaiman's recent A Study in Emerald was quite enjoyable (just as much for the ads as the story) as are several of the stories found in other anthologies. In fact, the Shadows Over Baker Street anthology looks to be doubly enjoyable.
One of the things that I really enjoy about his work, is that despite the great variance in his writing ability, you almost always get glimpses of the world that he was building. From the almost universally known Necronomicon, to good ol' Miskatonic U. to the surreal New England depicted in Innsmouth. Even if the writing was subpar, the fantasy wasn't. The fact that elements of his world have entered pop culture speaks quite well to that. Hollywood didn't have quite the love affair with his stories that they're currently having with Philip K. Dick, but there were a few gems produced. And it would be interesting to see what someone like David Fincher would create with some of his pieces.
Oddly, the only Lovecraft I have in the house is a biography of the man himself and a trimmed photocopy of The Thing on the Doorstep. I keep waiting for a nice anthology of his works that collects more than just a couple stories from his various periods. If one exists certainly point me in its direction.
Sunday, August 29, 2004
Saturday, August 28, 2004
5 Random things
Well, Kidney Stones '04 is mostly over. Apparently there were two monster sized kidney stones causing my wife vast amounts of pain. They've successfully removed both of them and she is once again home. Now if the girls will give us a moment of peace we might actually get some rest...
The author list was interesting. I wasrelieved, surprised content to have read most of them. Frank Herbert's Dune was yearly reading material for me a few years back. I've never managed to read any of the rest of the series. Although I have read House Atreides... Stanislaw Lem's Solaris is one that I revisit every so often as well. I've seen both versions of that film and while there are a few things to appreciate about the original Russian film, I actually enjoyed the remake more. (I know, I know, there goes any sort of geek cred I may have had.)
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell comes out in a week or so. It looks rather interesting.
Van Von Hunter is worth checking out and will most likely warrant a post at some point in the future.
And for a last random thing, here's a return of the Haiku O' the Day:
I sit in silence
Broken by rampant children
I can't quite relax
The author list was interesting. I was
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell comes out in a week or so. It looks rather interesting.
Van Von Hunter is worth checking out and will most likely warrant a post at some point in the future.
And for a last random thing, here's a return of the Haiku O' the Day:
I sit in silence
Broken by rampant children
I can't quite relax
Friday, August 27, 2004
Thursday, August 26, 2004
From hospitals to dystopias
What a day this has been. Most of it has been spent shuttling back and forth from the house to the hospital. My wife's kidney stone started acting up again and sent her into premature labor again. So they got that under control and now she's waiting for them to schedule the surgery to just remove the stone. Terribly exciting.
The good news is that this is the hospital we will eventually have the delivery at and the maternity ward seems very nice. The doctor's we dealt with today were great and I have little worry about the upcoming delivery. Now if we could just get that surgery scheduled. Unfortunately the Urologist doesn't have any block time at this hospital. But due to insurance, it's the one we needed to use. Ah the joys of red tape.
But enough of that.
So a group of interntational scientists were polled to select the best sci-fi films. Sounds like a pretty worthwhile cause to me. The funny thing is that I was contemplating a retro review of Blade Runner for today's ramblings as it's one of my favorite films. Coincidences can be handy things.
My wife and several of my friends have absolutely no idea why I like this movie. They think it's boring. And annoying. And boring. But they're crazy. After all, my wife chose to marry me and my friends hang out with me, so we can see where that leaves their judgement abilities.
My experience with Blade Runner dates back to a birthday party during my teen years. Several of my friends wanted to rent it as it had just come out on VHS. My folks were hesitant to let us watch a rated R movie so Dad attempted to screen it before letting us watch it. I got to wander in during the shower scene as well as the scenes where Roy blinds Tyrell and shoves the nail through his palm. (To this day the 10th anniversary edition is one of my least favorites due to those last two scenes.) While we didn't get to watch the movie, it was nice to reverse the roles a bit and embarass Dad much like parents do when they catch you watching some risque bit in whatever random cheap horror movie you've thrown in for the weekend.
It wasn't until several years later that I finally got to see Ridley Scott's vision of Philip K. Dick's story. And what a vision it is. I suspect it was this movie that initiated my love of Scott's work. He's still one of my favorite directors in Hollywood. His dirty rain-drenched LA is still one of the best realized dystopic futures on film. The world he's created has been imitated so many times that it's starting to lose some impact as modern filmmakers continue to show us the same scenario over and over. But at the time, it was raw and visceral in its appeal. Here was a world where humanity was at the end of its rope. The replicants they'd created to serve them were taking over a little bit at a time.
The movie follows Deckard (played by a young Harrison Ford) a Blade Runner - someone charged with hunting down replicants (androids) that have illegally made their way back to Earth. Along the way he interacts with Tyrell, the creator of the replicants, Rachel, the newest model, and the four replicants that have returned and are his targets. One of the biggest differences between the film and the book is Deckard's identity. In the book, he's human. And the moral of the story comes through the empathy humans are capable of and replicants aren't. The book's replicants are inhumane creatures out strictly for their own self interests.
The movie, however, casts just about all the main characters as replicants, including Deckard. And they are much more sympathetic. The few humans that exist are, for the most part, the self centered ones that we have a hard time accepting. Both versions explore what it means to be human. Both ask questions about why we are here, but they certainly arrive at the answers along very different paths.
There is much to treasure about the movie. And there are several versions to chose from. The original theatrical cut features an recurrent voiceover by Ford that fills in little bits about the world as well as giving us a better view of the character we're following. The 10th anniversary edition adds in a bit more gore. The Director's Cut gets rid of the voiceover, adds a scene that sheds a little more light on Deckard's replicant nature and chops the happy go lucky ending of the original version. This movie is begging for a Criterion collection in much the same way that Brazil did. There are many beautiful moments captured in the film. Rutger Hauer's Roy Baty is probably one of the most memorable "villains" in cinema. His last moments are among the best Hollywood has to offer.
The score is also a wonderful piece of work. Vangelis helps to fully create the world we're visiting. For the longest time I used to fall asleep to the soundtrack.
So that covers some of my feelings on Blade Runner. I love this movie. I don't mind the slow pace as it allows me to appreciate the world I'm being shown. I can sit and think about the natures of the characters I'm seeing. I can come to my own conclusions about what it means to be human. This is what cinema can do when it's done well.
As for the rest of the scientist's list? Safe choices all. They're movies that probably every sci-fi fan has seen. I must admit a couple of the films have escaped my viewing - not by choice though. I really need to track down a copy of The Day the Earth Stood Still...
The good news is that this is the hospital we will eventually have the delivery at and the maternity ward seems very nice. The doctor's we dealt with today were great and I have little worry about the upcoming delivery. Now if we could just get that surgery scheduled. Unfortunately the Urologist doesn't have any block time at this hospital. But due to insurance, it's the one we needed to use. Ah the joys of red tape.
But enough of that.
So a group of interntational scientists were polled to select the best sci-fi films. Sounds like a pretty worthwhile cause to me. The funny thing is that I was contemplating a retro review of Blade Runner for today's ramblings as it's one of my favorite films. Coincidences can be handy things.
My wife and several of my friends have absolutely no idea why I like this movie. They think it's boring. And annoying. And boring. But they're crazy. After all, my wife chose to marry me and my friends hang out with me, so we can see where that leaves their judgement abilities.
My experience with Blade Runner dates back to a birthday party during my teen years. Several of my friends wanted to rent it as it had just come out on VHS. My folks were hesitant to let us watch a rated R movie so Dad attempted to screen it before letting us watch it. I got to wander in during the shower scene as well as the scenes where Roy blinds Tyrell and shoves the nail through his palm. (To this day the 10th anniversary edition is one of my least favorites due to those last two scenes.) While we didn't get to watch the movie, it was nice to reverse the roles a bit and embarass Dad much like parents do when they catch you watching some risque bit in whatever random cheap horror movie you've thrown in for the weekend.
It wasn't until several years later that I finally got to see Ridley Scott's vision of Philip K. Dick's story. And what a vision it is. I suspect it was this movie that initiated my love of Scott's work. He's still one of my favorite directors in Hollywood. His dirty rain-drenched LA is still one of the best realized dystopic futures on film. The world he's created has been imitated so many times that it's starting to lose some impact as modern filmmakers continue to show us the same scenario over and over. But at the time, it was raw and visceral in its appeal. Here was a world where humanity was at the end of its rope. The replicants they'd created to serve them were taking over a little bit at a time.
The movie follows Deckard (played by a young Harrison Ford) a Blade Runner - someone charged with hunting down replicants (androids) that have illegally made their way back to Earth. Along the way he interacts with Tyrell, the creator of the replicants, Rachel, the newest model, and the four replicants that have returned and are his targets. One of the biggest differences between the film and the book is Deckard's identity. In the book, he's human. And the moral of the story comes through the empathy humans are capable of and replicants aren't. The book's replicants are inhumane creatures out strictly for their own self interests.
The movie, however, casts just about all the main characters as replicants, including Deckard. And they are much more sympathetic. The few humans that exist are, for the most part, the self centered ones that we have a hard time accepting. Both versions explore what it means to be human. Both ask questions about why we are here, but they certainly arrive at the answers along very different paths.
There is much to treasure about the movie. And there are several versions to chose from. The original theatrical cut features an recurrent voiceover by Ford that fills in little bits about the world as well as giving us a better view of the character we're following. The 10th anniversary edition adds in a bit more gore. The Director's Cut gets rid of the voiceover, adds a scene that sheds a little more light on Deckard's replicant nature and chops the happy go lucky ending of the original version. This movie is begging for a Criterion collection in much the same way that Brazil did. There are many beautiful moments captured in the film. Rutger Hauer's Roy Baty is probably one of the most memorable "villains" in cinema. His last moments are among the best Hollywood has to offer.
The score is also a wonderful piece of work. Vangelis helps to fully create the world we're visiting. For the longest time I used to fall asleep to the soundtrack.
So that covers some of my feelings on Blade Runner. I love this movie. I don't mind the slow pace as it allows me to appreciate the world I'm being shown. I can sit and think about the natures of the characters I'm seeing. I can come to my own conclusions about what it means to be human. This is what cinema can do when it's done well.
As for the rest of the scientist's list? Safe choices all. They're movies that probably every sci-fi fan has seen. I must admit a couple of the films have escaped my viewing - not by choice though. I really need to track down a copy of The Day the Earth Stood Still...
Wednesday, August 25, 2004
A Wish for Wings (working or non)
So. Flight, Volume One. A few places around the net have talked about what a hit this was at Comicon a few weeks ago. After finally managing to snag a copy for myself I can see why.
I was reading Penny Arcade just after the convention and Gabe had several links to people he had met. Bolt City, home of one Kazu Kibuishi, was one of the sites he had linked. I'm glad I follwed the link.
I used to read comics when I was younger and then fell out of the habit for a while. It wasn't that I didn't like them or felt they were beneath me, I just traded that passtime for some other random thing. I've always enjoyed art and stories and the way the comic form melds the two is something I still really get a kick out of.
Fast forward a few years and I've lost pretty much all patience with comics in the newspaper. But I'd discovered web comics. And that was great. But it's not quite the substitute for longer stories told in the comic form. I started gravitating towards graphic novels (mostly manga) as I could find stories a plenty and the art style has always drawn me in like a moth to the flame.
Flight is great because of what it is, and what it isn't. It isn't manga. But there are certainly traces of its influence. It is great story telling. One of the untitled pieces by Chris Appelhans, when viewed through the simple lens of flight, satisfies on several levels. It isn't the same old thing. Each story, while focusing on some aspect of the concept of flight, manages to find it's own little niche. You may find yourself wondering what happens next. Is there more I can find elsewhere? It is, above all else, beautiful. I find myself just flipping the pages to look at the art as much as I stop to read the stories being told.
As this is a collection, sure, some pieces will satisfy more than others. But even if you don't like everything you see, there is certainly more to enjoy. I suspect anybody would enjoy more, rather than less, of what's found here. And some of what you encounter here is truly sublime. Jen, Vera, Rad, Kazu... thanks for showing me the glimpses you have. I look forward to volume two.
I was reading Penny Arcade just after the convention and Gabe had several links to people he had met. Bolt City, home of one Kazu Kibuishi, was one of the sites he had linked. I'm glad I follwed the link.
I used to read comics when I was younger and then fell out of the habit for a while. It wasn't that I didn't like them or felt they were beneath me, I just traded that passtime for some other random thing. I've always enjoyed art and stories and the way the comic form melds the two is something I still really get a kick out of.
Fast forward a few years and I've lost pretty much all patience with comics in the newspaper. But I'd discovered web comics. And that was great. But it's not quite the substitute for longer stories told in the comic form. I started gravitating towards graphic novels (mostly manga) as I could find stories a plenty and the art style has always drawn me in like a moth to the flame.
Flight is great because of what it is, and what it isn't. It isn't manga. But there are certainly traces of its influence. It is great story telling. One of the untitled pieces by Chris Appelhans, when viewed through the simple lens of flight, satisfies on several levels. It isn't the same old thing. Each story, while focusing on some aspect of the concept of flight, manages to find it's own little niche. You may find yourself wondering what happens next. Is there more I can find elsewhere? It is, above all else, beautiful. I find myself just flipping the pages to look at the art as much as I stop to read the stories being told.
As this is a collection, sure, some pieces will satisfy more than others. But even if you don't like everything you see, there is certainly more to enjoy. I suspect anybody would enjoy more, rather than less, of what's found here. And some of what you encounter here is truly sublime. Jen, Vera, Rad, Kazu... thanks for showing me the glimpses you have. I look forward to volume two.
Tuesday, August 24, 2004
First Post!
Sorry, /. flashback there for a moment.
I suspect the only way I was able to actually convince myself to finally get around to starting a blog can best be summed up by the following - no sleep since 2:30 this morning. Throw in a pinch of family trauma and the desire to see how this thing goes and Voila! New blog.
But it is nice to have my own little corner of the internet again. I've missed that. And I really need to get in the habit of jotting down random thoughts.
So, my wife is currently experiencing the joys of prescription pain killers due to kidney stones (during our 3rd pregnancy no less - it's good to know that my future son will be as screwed up as I am...) and I am experiencing the joys of a nice fleece blanket. The Olympics are being conveniently ignored in the background and I'm typing away pretty stream of consciousness-es, er, etic. Hmm. Brain tells fingers to hit keys. Yup, that'll do.
At any rate. I just wanted to take a moment to stake out some space. I have no idea what will end up here. But it will most likely remind anybody that stumbles here (poor souls all of you!) of every other blog they've seen.
So, in order to at least generate someactual cliche content I present the Haiku o' the Day. In order to immediately blow a tradition tomorrow when I fail to post another.
Night's blanket is pierced
by the angry light of pain.
Hush my love, I'm here.
And now for something of interest.
-d
I suspect the only way I was able to actually convince myself to finally get around to starting a blog can best be summed up by the following - no sleep since 2:30 this morning. Throw in a pinch of family trauma and the desire to see how this thing goes and Voila! New blog.
But it is nice to have my own little corner of the internet again. I've missed that. And I really need to get in the habit of jotting down random thoughts.
So, my wife is currently experiencing the joys of prescription pain killers due to kidney stones (during our 3rd pregnancy no less - it's good to know that my future son will be as screwed up as I am...) and I am experiencing the joys of a nice fleece blanket. The Olympics are being conveniently ignored in the background and I'm typing away pretty stream of consciousness-es, er, etic. Hmm. Brain tells fingers to hit keys. Yup, that'll do.
At any rate. I just wanted to take a moment to stake out some space. I have no idea what will end up here. But it will most likely remind anybody that stumbles here (poor souls all of you!) of every other blog they've seen.
So, in order to at least generate some
Night's blanket is pierced
by the angry light of pain.
Hush my love, I'm here.
And now for something of interest.
-d
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