I borrowed and watched the Disney version film of A Wrinkle In Time. Seemed like yet another case of sometimes things find you, but it may just be that I work in libraries and am surrounded by books and pop culture (the way I like it) and am therefore bound to bump into things on my to do list. I read the graphic novel version recently, and I always like to watch the film after I’ve read the book. So, there it was. This film came out in 2018 and featured Oprah Winfrey as one of the three Misses. It was directed by Ava DuVernay, and I liked it a lot. The storytelling was much more to the point, in my opinion, and elements were added that expanded on the novel and gave it a lot more sense (mind you, it’s been a long while since I read the actual novel, so I could be wrong here). The conformity versus individualism theme of the novel was replaced by a more nuanced take on an evil (called IT) that insinuates itself into humanity and takes all the love, replacing it with greed, envy – sin, basically. I’ve recently become aware of the Christian elements in the story and L’Engle’s apparent intent to criticize what she saw as ‘Christian piety’. Perhaps this was the conformity that so many readers interpreted as a critique of Communism. The main character, Meg, battles IT in a spectacular finale inside an amorphous giant ‘brain’, with its neurons firing like live electric whips that grab at and sting her. This was a far more satisfying depiction to the novel’s disembodied brain in a container image. After Meg vanquishes IT with her love for brother Charles Wallace, who has been under ITs spell, the three Misses return to tell her she did well and will be a good warrior for the forces of light. They then go on to list such warriors that have been represented by Earth in the past. They mention Albert Einstein, Marie Curie, Gandhi, Maya Angelou, Jane Austen, Frida Kahlo, Nelson Mandela, and Oscar Schindler (remember him from Schindler’s List?). It’s an eccentric list, not particularly satisfying (to me), but I get the point. Some reviewers on Letterboxd were also a bit perplexed by it too. One wag suggested they give Oprah a mention. The book made specific reference to Jesus and Buddha, which gained it some controversy. Personally, I’m annoyed they didn’t give Karl Marx a guernsey. I really enjoyed the songs and music videos provided by the DVD I borrowed. They were I Believe by DJ Khalid and Demi Lovato, and Champion by Chloe x Hallie.
I re-coded and transferred those music videos from the Wrinkle In Time film to my music video collection files today. They featured DJ Khalid, Demi Lovato and Chloe x Hallie and excerpts from the film. I especially liked the Chloe x Hallie song, Warriors. And yes, I have a music video collection, mostly of videos recorded from the Rage music video show we have here in Australia. I know I could just use Youtube, which seems to have everything, but I want my own collection. And I’m pretty sure I’ve got some stuff that Youtube doesn’t have – so there, Youtube! Go here for a list of some of my fave music videos.
The penalties and rewards of working in libraries struck again because I encountered a couple items on the shelves I just had to borrow. They were The Art of D’scard’ng by Nagisa Tatsumi and British Weird edited by James Machin. It’s weird alright, since they both seemed to be waiting for me, especially the D’scard’ng book, a plain white hardback I found lying on its own on a shelf where it shouldn’t be – it had been discarded, you might say. When I saw what it was (the subtitle was ‘How to get rid of clutter and find joy’) and that the author was Japanese, it genuinely spoke to me. Flicking through it, I saw there was not much that hadn’t already occurred to me in the constant life hack that is clearing out your clutter, but I knew it would be a good reminder to get me motivated to do it, yet again. The British Weird book is a collection of short stories from 1893 – 1937, featuring works by Edith Nesbit, John Buchan and others. I was especially interested in ‘Mary Butts‘ influential 1933 essay on supernatural writing, “Ghosties and Ghoulies”‘ (from the blurb). Figured I’d just read that and leave the stories alone, so it would be a quick read, but I will probably read it all anyway. I love weird and wonderful themed short story collections. Anyway, check that cover!
I finished that book The Art of D’scard’ng by Nagisa Tastsumi. The author talked about a lot of items that don’t really apply to me, like clothes (well, I wear them, but I’m not obsessed), kid’s things, etc. The ones that did were books, dvds, cds and magazines. A survey done by the author suggested it’s exactly these things, plus clothes, that are the ones most people have trouble deleting from their lives. I sympathise. I enjoyed the many references to Japanese society and their traditions and ways of doing things. A chapter on what to do with dolls and soft toys went thus: ‘Through my survey I was surprised to discover that many Japanese people find dolls and soft toys difficult to throw away because ‘they have eyes’ or ‘they might curse you’. Anybody in Japan who feels uncomfortable disposing of dolls as rubbish could try a temple. Some Japanese temples, especially those that run pet cemeteries, hold special services for dolls.’ Overall, the book made me mindful of things I should throw out, but it also got me thinking of the items I should not have thrown out, but did. One such item was my old Face To Face LP by The Kinks. I had bought the cd, so decided I didn’t need the LP anymore. A lot of us did that back in the early days of cd. And we’re doing it again now with the streaming age, throwing out our cds. But that Kinks LP meant a lot to me. It was in stereo, for starters. The cd I bought was in mono, and I haven’t seen a stereo copy anywhere. Doing the life hack thing, throwing away your clutter is all very well, all very reasonable, but it leaves out important factors. Like memories, emotions, connections. There’s also the practical consideration of scarcity. As the author says in the book, ‘If you throw away something important and irreplaceable, then, yes, there’s a problem.’ I’ve since re-bought a lot of records I threw out in the day for these same reasons. One day I hope I’ll find another copy of that Face To Face LP.
In the course of writing up the previous entry I had to look through some old photo albums for that shot of a much younger me standing next to a fireplace with the Kinks album Face To Face propped on it. There was a series of such photos featuring that album. My girlfriend of the time and I were having an impromptu indoor picnic and for some reason I suggested a series of us including that album. All the more reason for regretting letting it go when I did. Anyway, it got me sorting through my photo albums and rearranging them a bit. A pleasant if slightly bittersweet experience. There’s a lot of them I haven’t scanned and digitized, which I really should get onto.
I did some more work on my No Man’s Sky videos. I’m adding some commentary text and inserting images of the Twice girls at certain points. It’s a bit of a challenge integrating the images into the game graphics, but I think the results are worthwhile. I still find it a little daunting though putting up my machinimas on Youtube, especially as they are hybrid mashups. I wonder what Twice fans will make of them, let alone No Man’s Sky fans. I want them both to have a good experience, but I’m not sure if that’s what I’m providing, or if I’m just being self indulgent. But I’m still enjoying the process and ambitious to see what else I can do with this weird machinima hybrid version of film making.
When things are slow at work I sometimes have a look at a site called Fantastic Fiction to see what books are out and what’s popular (call it professional research). I noticed recently on that site a new genre I hadn’t been exposed to before. It was called Harem Lit. Intrigued, I clicked the link, and was confronted with a Wondrous Wall of fantasy Babes with Boobies. I’m talking about the subjects of the garish book covers. Some were human, others were elves, demons, goblins even. Oh my god, there were cat girls too! ‘Stowaway Catgirl In Love by Peter North – a cozy slice-of-life vacation romance for men‘. It’s Mills and Boons for men. As far as I can see from the info, all are Kindle-only with very limited hard copy availability. I’ve always known about harem stories in manga and anime, but I didn’t know it had spread to the world of fantasy novels. Go figure. Don’t think I’ll read any, but I love those covers.
Had yet another listen to Twice‘s With You-th album, and bit of Carl Wilson‘s solo album from 1981. I won’t babble on yet again about the Twice album, but the Carl album was something I brought back from Japan. I bought it at the fabulous Tower Records store in Shibuya, so it is now a cherished memento. It’s a surprisingly tough-sounding album for Carl, so far. I expected nothing but syrupy ballads, for some reason. It’s early days yet, so I haven’t formed an opinion beyond that. But it’s nice to have that album. His brother Dennis was the first Beach Boy to release a solo album with Pacific Ocean Blue, and that’s a classic.
Okay, one more Twice-themed mention. It looks like member Nayeon might be making a solo comeback in June. Exciting news, but I have to admit I half expected it. Her very successful debut album, Im Nayeon, came out in ’22, and second lead singer, Jihyo, released her solo album last year. Twice’s third lead singer, Jeongyeon, would have been due to release something this year, but she has apparently declined the opportunity, leading the way for Nayeon to do her awesome thing again. And I am expecting a full Korean album from the group before the end of this year (it’s way due). So, all’s good in Twiceland!
Tezuka Museum, Takarazuka, Japan
Read some more of A Geek In Japan. It was the chapters on manga and music, two of my favourite subjects. The manga chapter was mostly about Osamu Tezuka, and rightly so. ‘The God of Manga’. I visited the Osamu Tezuka museum in Takarazuka when I was in Japan. It was quite charming, but I thought someone of Tezuka’s stature deserved at least a theme park. I would definitely go on the Astroboy ride! It was good to see my women, Perfume, mentioned in the music section. I was intrigued by the section on Enka music. It’s described as traditional popular ballad using western instruments and scales. The author mentioned a famous enka singer and actress, Misora Hibari, whose song, Kawa No Nagare No Yo Ni, is ‘considered by many to be the best Japanese song ever written’. Oh really, the best? Song ever written? In Japan? What would the equivalent be in our western world, or just say, Australia? I must check it out.
Caught up with some Twice-themed Youtubes to finish off the night. The first one was Mina’s Fendi show in Paris video. The members have been doing a few fashion shows of late, but it’s not my thing. I only watched this one because it was my fave, Mina. I enjoyed seeing some new quirks of her character working away from her Twice pals (they act very different when they’re alone), but there wasn’t much else in it. She mentioned a cat that seemed to follow her everywhere in her hotel and whose presence was said to be good luck. At one point, after the show, she was offered a line of French delicacies to eat that all looked revolting to me. She tentatively tried some caviar, but it didn’t look like she liked it. I’m glad. If you knew how caviar is taken from the poor sturgeon you wouldn’t either.
The other vid was another in the 2wice Date series, this time featuring Tzuyu and Dahyun, or DaTzu. They were participating in a flower arrangement class and chatting about their friendship and their lives. It was all very cute and healing but the conversation didn’t stray into any revealing areas. I liked the bit where they each took a thorn from a rose and placed them on their noses. I remember doing that when I was a kid. The rhinoceros nose. I really wanted to know if either of them were going to do some official solo things, like Nayeon, Jihyo and Misamo have done. Apart from what’s called their ‘Melody Projects’ (solo showcases), neither of them, or Chaeyoung, has done an official solo release. The three of them are the youngest members, the Maknaes, and they do have a collective title, the Twice Meal Club, from a series of videos they made early on. Could that be an official solo project? I don’t know. Visually the three members look a little ungainly. Chaeyoung and Dahyun or both quite short, while Tzuyu’s the tallest member. Chaeyoung and Dahyun could make a great duo. In fact they did a Melody Project for the song Switch To Me under the name DubChaeng and they looked so good together. The two are the featured rappers in the group, though lately they haven’t had much to do in that regard as Twice’s singles seem to be moving away from having rap breakdowns. Perhaps they could go into other areas. Dahyun has proven herself to be a talented TV presenter, she’s so extra when the camera’s on her…And so on. Anyway, that’s sort of how I hoped the conversation would go. Sometimes you have to answer your own questions.
Woah, speaking of weird, before I headed off for work today I saw in the TV guide a film coming up called Jesse James Meets Frankenstein’s Daughter, a 1966 film directed by William Beaudine (his last film, along with Billy the Kid Versus Dracula – wtf?). The title alone had me interested. I love wacky mixed genre films like this – or at least the idea of them. Reading the outline on Wiki, it turns out it’s the grand daughter who James meets, not the daughter (my god, Frankenstein having a daughter even, think about that!). Looks like fun, even though the reviews on Letterboxd were a bit lukewarm. So it’s getting recorded on the PVR to be seen at a later date.
I read James Machin‘s introduction to the book British Weird that I borrowed recently. It was a great read. It served not only as an introduction to the stories and authors in the collection, but was a great overview of the history of British Weird in general. I really liked his concept of the temenos or temenoi, a place imbued with a kind of psychic or historical power, where perhaps something extraordinary had happened, and which features in much weird writing. My favourite author, Ursula Le Guin, conjures up such places in some of her writing, and now I have a name for them. So too Machin’s delineation of recurring themes in the book, including ‘unstable geographies, or the landscape as a palimpsest or psychic reliquary of history’. Machin’s a very erudite writer, and used a number of words I hadn’t encountered before. One such word I liked was ‘atavistic’ – ‘reverting to or suggesting the characteristics of a remote ancestor or primitive type’, like having an atavistic fear of the dark. Good word. I will have to slip it into my conversation or writing some time. Now I’m looking forward to reading the book.
Our Foreign Minister, Penny Wong, has finally decided it might be a good idea for Australia to recognize Palestine needs a state of its own. The Australian and Herald/Sun newspapers, which my library holds, branded the suggestion as ‘controversial’, because some Jews wouldn’t like it. I’m not a fan of censorship in libraries, but I swear, why are we giving Rupert’s News Corpse the oxygen? No one will miss it, especially the Herald/Sun. Trust me, it’s just read by old codgers who often steal our library copies, and require us to instigate an under the counter policy with them. On Monday Media Watch revealed the News Corps media for the Zionist propagandists they are. We should do what Liverpool did with them.
Allkpop, that wacky newsletter of all things Korean pop outdid itself today with an article about, let’s call it, panda snobbery. Celebrity panda Fu Bao was recently transferred back to China from South Korea, amidst much publicity. I know, it’s just a panda, but let’s face it, pandas are the rock stars of the animal world. Now the question has turned to a mating partner for Fu Bao, who is a female panda. Thus, the headline on this that caught my attention was, ‘”It’s like pairing a princess with a beggar” Knetizens are discontent with Fu Bao’s future mating partner’. That and the picture above pretty much says it all. Other comments were, “He looks like a beggar”, and “It looks like we’re sending Fu Princess to marry some old man”, and two from the other side, which sum this up, “Wow, people are criticizing animal’s faces too now? People are crazy” and “So the unbelievable Korean ‘beauty standards’ have been extended to animals, too?”. This is so bizarre I can’t help but think this whole thing is a stitch up on the part of the staff and writer, Sophie-Ha. Just making things up to garner more clicks. If it’s real, then yes, some people are ‘crazy’. But, gotta admit, it’s funny. For the record, all pandas are beautiful, including that ‘little’ fella, who probably just needs a good bath.
Another wacky article was one about Aespa’s Karina, who shared her first photos since her ‘controversial’ relationship with actor Lee Jae Wook ended. This time the point of controversy was the t-shirt she was wearing, which had ‘send nudes’ written on it. Some ‘knetizens’ speculated it was another case of a Kpop idol not knowing the meaning of the English words on their clothing (pretty much a sub-genre of Kpop reporting), while others pointed out Karina’s English was pretty good so she would definitely know what it said. One poster suggested it actually said ‘Send Dudes’, which I wish was true, because it would make sense and would be kinda cool, considering Karina’s situation (they would be lining up!). Summing up, I guess I’ll sort of reiterate what I said about the panda: it’s just a t-shirt, but she’s a pop star of the Kpop world. I love Aespa (almost as much as Twice – big claim), and am seriously considering getting tickets for their concert out here later in the year.
Made some necessary pop culture purchases during my lunch at work today (the library is next to a shopping mall). They were blurays and dvds of animes Konosuba the Movie, By the Grace of the Godsseason two, and Yashahime season two. This was at JB HiFi, and I almost grabbed a copy of Goldfrapp‘s Felt Mountain on delicious gold-coloured vinyl with gatefold sleeve. Droolsome, and I was sorely tempted, but I already have 2 cd versions and, yeah, it was expensive, so I could not justify. Anyway, it was quite a stash. I didn’t know Grace of the Gods had a season two, and the Yashahime was a complete season edition, which works out much cheaper than the two separate half seasons they pushed on us for the season one editions. I can’t express how happy the thought of having these makes me, but just thought I’d share.
When I got home my first viewing choice was the By the Grace of the Gods season two bluray. This is what’s called an Iyashikei genre show. Let’s go to the Google definition for a good look at this fabulous word because it sums it up beautifully: ‘Iyashikei (癒し系) is Japanese for “healing”, a term used for anime and manga created with the specific purpose of having a healing or soothing effect on the audience. Works of this kind often involve alternative realities with little to no conflict, emphasizing nature and the little delights in life.’ Isn’t that yummy? Doesn’t it make you just want to watch something like that? I like this genre of shows because they are so damned anti-Hollywood. They don’t require an antagonist to stuff things up for everyone, and there’s very little outside conflict in them. The main conflict is usually internal, as it is for the main character in Grace, a young boy called Ryoma. Following the classic Isekai trope, Ryoma starts as a middle aged salaryman working a thankless job who dies in his sleep and is ‘reborn’ on a new world as a young boy. Thanks to the ‘Gods’ of the show’s title, he is also given great magic abilities and he uses these to tame pliant creatures known as ‘slimes’. Various characters, who are all wonderfully kind and helpful, befriend him and he eventually makes a good life by establishing a popular laundry service, using his talented slimes to clean people’s clothes. Sounds boring, I know, but if you’re attuned to the iyashikei experience, it’s very beautiful and restful. Ryoma is a warm-hearted and winning lad, who impresses everyone with his secret 21st Century knowledge (one of the few internal conflicts he faces – keeping his real identity from them). One of the joys of the show is seeing a character like Ryoma, whose previous life had been so miserable, get a second chance to live a life he truly deserved and where he can fulfil his potential. The female characters he meets are all super-cute (there’s even a catgirl, yay!), and the soundtrack is wonderful. I really enjoyed the first season, but I have to say, so far, season two is proving somewhat repetitive and lacking in story inspiration. We’ll see how it goes.
I watched a couple of episodes of By the Grace of the Gods, but was too tired to concentrate, so went to bed early. I have a vague memory that the episodes (4 and 5 of season 2) continued in the unsatisfying vein of the previous ones. I guess Iyashikeis can walk a fine line between being delightful and being boring, and these episodes crossed over for me.
My Ranker.com newsletter had a nice list of ‘The Best Sailor Moon AMVs of All Time‘. I think AMVs stand for Amateur Music Videos, which means videos fans have made using scenes from Sailor Moonplayed out over favourite pop and rock songs. I had a look at some of them on Youtube and found them thoroughly enjoyable. Some nice music choices too, including Evanescence and Sia. The clip for Sia’s song Unstoppable was especially good. I liked that, unlike so many of them that feature the Sailor Moon Crystal version, this one featured the original Sailor Moon anime from the 90s. And the use of the line ‘I put my armor on, show you how strong I am’ paired with Usagi‘s transformation sequence was inspired. The Youtuber responsible was someone called Kyuna_edits. Good job, Kyuna! There was some quite dramatic clips featuring some pretty heavy melodramatic music. I’d forgotten how angsty the show could be sometimes. The editing for some of these was exceptional. I could’ve spent an hour or more watching these, but I limited myself to just a few. By the way, I think Ranker needs to update its lists. This one was actually dated to 2016.
I had thought to explain here why, not being a teenage girl (or woman who was a teenage girl), I love Sailor Moon, but you know, I think I won’t. I don’t need to explain myself. Watch the show (preferably the original 90s version, and that first season – my favourite) and you’ll see why it’s good. It was clearly an influence on Joss Whedon when he created Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV show. I have a long list of references he used, but I won’t go into them here, just think about it. When I was in Tokyo last year, I caught a glimpse of the Tokyo Tower, and immediately flashed on an image of Usagi running down the street in her school uniform, with toast in her mouth. My little…rabbit.
After work I went to my local Officeworks and printed up a bunch of Twice posters I’ve collected on A3. At 90 cents a sheet it’s a good way to get rid of that pesky small change I have lying around. It’s a thing I do. Don’t judge, it makes me happy. I like looking at the Twice girls on a large format, instead of the dinky little phone screen size I usually see them on. It somehow makes them more real for me. And damn they’re photogenic! I’m still very much enjoying their With You-th album, with the song You Get Me in particular on high rotation. Wouldn’t be surprised if it turns out to be my most played song for the year. I love it so much. Here are some of the lyrics, which are by Twice member Dahyun. Much of it’s in Korean, but you can get the gist:
YOU GET ME by Twice
I’m standing somewhere 여긴 도대체 어디쯤일까? 낯선 곳에서 그만 벗어나 Wish I find the place 자유로운 그 공간 속에 너와 함께 머물고 싶어, yeah
‘Cause you get me
Oh, when I’m with you, I’m the best me Lately, I’ve been feeling like everything’s enough 너와 함께라면
You get me I could be the one if you let me Lately, I’ve been feeling like everything’s enough 네 곁에 있으면
Oh, you make me glow 날 비추는 네 눈빛이 마치 Yeah, it kinda feels like a movie This city is ours, 우리만의 (yeah) 아름다운 순간을 채워 완전한 이 세상을 이뤄 (oh-oh, yeah)
I never have to fakе it (ooh, yeah) 모든 걸 느껴 이미 (ooh, yeah) Don’t evеn have to say it (oh) You already know You got me, I got you, we got it for life…
Songwriters: Brooke Tomlinson / Jeoff Harris / Sofia Kay / Da Hyun Kim
