Sun, 21 July: Weekly Review 20

The library system I work for, like most libraries, puts on many events. Sometimes they are generated by library staff and sometimes from outside, either by community groups or individuals. I had one such individual come into my library today pitching to me an event he wanted to put on. It was titled A Live Demonstration of Time Travel. I kid you not. Upon questioning him he said it had to do with Astrology and horse race gambling. Sounds pretty dodgy, more a Live Demonstration of Betting On Horses than of Time Travel, but apparently he had already put on such a talk at one of our other libraries. When I mentioned it to our librarian to get her feedback, especially when I told her the title of the event, she was all agog. This was clearly something she wanted to see put on. She referred me to the relevant events personnel to pass the request onto, and I guess we’ll see what transpires from here. If it gets up it’ll be interesting to see how the gent spins that title in his demonstration. I’m gonna try and be there for it – or have another colleague witness it. Stay tuned!

Not long after I spoke to my time travel patron I had another patron come in with another interesting story. It was mainly in her surname, which was Iommi. Fans of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath will know the significance, as it is the name of their guitarist Tony Iommi. I was surprised at seeing the name, as it’s not one you see very often, if at all. The other weird thing about it was that just minutes previously I had been looking at my site on one of our computers, specifically my 2024 review page, and had been re-reading my review of Black Sabbath member Geezer Butler’s book Into the Void. Coincidence? Synchronicity? Who knows. It turned out the woman’s husband was Toni Iommi’s nephew and he had been visited by his uncle many times. When I told her I’d seen the Sabbs when they toured Melbourne in the 2010s she said she and her husband had too. I would have continued chatting with her and maybe picked the husband’s brains about his uncle and maybe got a selfie with him, if it weren’t for the fact that work called me back to other duties. But yeah – I saw Tony Iommi’s nephew today…

From metal to soul…I watched my Curtis Mayfield In Concert dvd tonight. It was recorded in 1990, just before Curtis’s tragic accident that made him a quadriplegic. It was for a German show called Ohne Filter with a studio audience. The sound was impeccable and Curtis and his all-white band of amazing musicans were splendid. Curtis was sporting a moustache and slinging a guitar, and looked fit in a black outfit and cap. He was also in fine falsetto voice and sang some of his best, including Superfly, Pusher Man, Freddie’s Dead, People Get Ready, Gypsy Woman and (my favourite) Move On Up. I really liked the last song he did, called To Be Invisible, that I didn’t know. It’s such a tragedy what happened to him – hit by a lighting stand during a rehearsal at a windy outdoor venue. He was one of the soul greats. I’m glad I have the concert dvd.

I read another story from Sinopticon. This one was The Return of Adam by Wang Jinkang. The story was published in 1993, the oldest in the collection, and as the editor notes, it ‘relies heavily on the “Male Gaze”’. But this sort of makes sense as the Adam of the title is an astronaut having returned to Earth after a 200 year absence and is thus ‘a man out of time’, with presumably old fashioned notions. He returns at a time when humanity has almost completely become cyberised, and the narrative is based around whether he – the last ‘untainted’ human – will join the rest of humanity in the Network. The story seemed a little old fashioned and preachy, but it was okay.

I finally got back to reading a book I have called Sinopticon, a collection of science fiction stories by Chinese writers. I read the short story Cat’s Chance In Hell by Nian Yu. It was a military scifi genre story about a soldier called Joe trying to complete a mission and thinking of his daughter. But in a world where humans are not allowed to fight and die in wars, leaving that up to robots, who is he really, and does he really have a daughter? It was a solid story about identity, humanity and the possible future of warfare. I need to make a concerted effort now to finish this book. I started it last year, but have been sidetracked with so many other books. This has gotta be its time. No more distractions!

I bought a tape deck at an op shop today. It’s a Technics and it plays and records well. I’ve connected it to my system in the lounge room and am ready to go with those old tapes of mine. The last time I really listened to tapes was when I had a tape player in my old car. The previous owner had hardly ever used it so it played real well and went for years and years, until it didn’t, and I had to get a car stereo unit. I still want to listen to my tapes. They are all albums that I don’t have on other media, like cd or LP. Well, most of them. There are a couple, like Jeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds and the Moody Blues’ This Is the Moody Blues, that I have on multiple formats, including tape, LP and cd (and super audio in the case of WOTW, an album I’m obsessed with). And, let’s face it, tapes are cool again!

I listened to that Pearl Jam live cd that I got with the magazine I bought yesterday. They really were rarities, so it felt like I was hearing most of them for the first time. And in their live contexts they sound so fine. The songs floated over me like a series of reassuring dreams.

I listened to the new Twice album, Dive, in the Van, a lot (today was book delivery day). It’s always a treat when Twice release a new album, and they do it so often. This is their second for the year, the fifth full Japanese album; although the last one, With You-th, was what’s called a mini-album. But the thing is, they are scheduled to release another full album by the end of the year, this time the fourth Korean album. Then there’s also the solo album, NA, member Nayeon released not long ago. The product keeps coming and I’m loving it. Dive is already yielding up its charms for me. I’ve already internalised and taken to my heart the title track. Other songs that are doing the business for me at the moment are opening track, Beyond the Horizon, Ocean Deep, the Baroque-sounding Here I Am, and the vocal showcase of Echoes of Heart. I’ve said before and I’ll say it again: New Twice, life is good.

I saw a copy of Mojo Magazine in a newsagents (remember them?). It had Pearl Jam on the cover with a featured article inside. The cover also promised articles on Jimi Hendrix, Brian Wilson, Phil Manzanera, the Pretenders and David Bowie, so I had to buy. I was mainly interested in reading what PJ have to say about their new album and tour, to get up to speed with their thought. As a bonus it also included a disc of PJ live ‘rarities’ which I’m looking forward to hearing. Sometimes you weigh the frivolous choices and decide, what the hell, I may as well make a poichase.

It was a weird day today, for various reasons. The weather was bleak and windy here in southern hemisphere Melbourne. I had occasion to go to a shopping mall to get change for the carwash to wash the van (it was van washing day) and the people there looked grim and hostile even. There had been flooding in the streets and traffic backed up and idle the previous day and fears it would happen again. Then when I got home I saw on the news the story about that CrowdStrike company’s update causing outages everywhere. It had even affected the news services which, lacking other stories to tell, decided to make it all about themselves. It was kinda funny seeing newsreaders looking like rabbits caught in the headlights desperately crossing to yet another talking head who hopefully might explain the situation. It was definitely a good night for some booze and pizza and settling in at home. When I paid the man in cash for my booze (from the carwash change) he said it was a good idea – ie, cash in this systems-down world. I laughed and said yeah, but the thought gave me the chills.

I was tired and about to go to bed when I realised the second episode of Time To Twice: Tdoong Workshop was ready to roll on Youtube, so I stayed up a little longer to catch it. I have my priorities in the right place. The girls were racing each other on the go-kart track. There were three preliminary races featuring the members in groups of three. Super-competitive Jihyo beat out Dahyun and Nayeon in the first race. Super-cool Mina won over Chaeyoung and Jeongyeon in the second race. The third race was an entertaining farce with Sana, who had been leading all the way, taking a wrong turn allowing Momo to win easily; while Tzuyu, who was last, got confused and did an extra lap of the course. The final, between Jihyo, Mina and Momo, was a nail-biting (well, not really) contest between Jihyo and Mina. Momo, who had won her race by default, was content to stay in the back and let the other two duke it out. Mina made a good effort to keep up, but nothing could beat Jihyo’s competitive fire. A well-deserved win to the group’s leader, who’s driving skills on the road are just as good as her go-karting skills. The second half of episode had the members taking a leisurely rail bike ride through a very pleasant nature reserve. Again, it was three members each in three rail bikes pedalling their way through the countryside and chilling out. Jihyo, in car one, got spooked by a bug but recovered quickly. There’s not much else to say here, really. The girls were relaxed and obviously enjoyed the scenery and the laidback activity. I must say, for a show that’s called Tdoong Workshop, it’s not what I thought it would be. I was thinking of an actual workshop with tools and things, but clearly this one is all about working on themselves, like therapy. I think it’s working. And I’m feeling pretty chill, happy and relaxed watching it – so it’s working on me as well.

I saw in another Anime Underground instalment an interesting list of 20 Most Anticipated Upcoming Anime For 2024 by Anna Lindwasser. I really haven’t been in the loop lately about these things, so this could be informative. Of the ones that interested me there was Mushoku Tensei season two part two, That Time I Got Reincarnated As a Slime season three, Konosuba season three, Kaiju no 8, the Witch and the Beast, Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki season 2, Laid-back Camp season 3, and the Elusive Samurai. I’m not sure when I’ll have time to check these out, or on which platform, but they’re now on my TBW list. The Witch and the Beast looks most promising to me – a sort of dark supernatural take on the X Files.

Today I ordered Twice’s Dive album and Red Velvet’s Cosmic album with my local Kpop supplier K-pop Time. The Twice one was the limited edition type B, which includes three cards, a photo, transparent trading card, tattoo sticker and 20 page booklet. The type A, which was more expensive, included a dvd of the Hare Hare video. I was tempted to get it, but I guess the lure of the goodies in the B package swayed me otherwise. Ideally I’d like both. Damn them Japanese with their packaging! The Red Velvet album was the Hotel version of the poster version. It just looked nicer. There was also an Smini version which included a little keyring with a member display and mini cd which also sorely tempted me. This will be my first Red Velvet merch. I wonder if I’ll become obsessed with them and buy everything by them eventually. I wouldn’t put it past me. Only time and my own urges will tell.

I recorded some Rage on my PVR last night and watched the results today. For some reason they were programming a patch of music videos that had desert settings. Thus we got The Killers, The Darkness (the very cool Love Is Only a Feeling clip), uh Shania Twain, and Say You’ll Be There by the Spice Girls. I actually like the Spice Girls (though I think All Saints were better) and I reckon I can hear some of their music in Twice’s colour pop. They were clear influences on and forerunners of the Kpop girl group genre, so kudos to them. The clip for the song is fun, with each member getting a cool Kung Fu name. Watching it made me want to bust out my Spice Girl’s Greatest Hits album, and maybe I will. The b-side to the Say You’ll Be There single, a song called Take Me Home, is my favourite song of theirs. Think I’ll play that too! No, I’ll make a Spice Girls B-sides playlist.

Before heading off for work I listened to that Blackfeather album At the Mountains of Madness. In two words: Groovy, man. Very much an artefact of its time (1971) with guitarist John Robinson’s wah-wah and effects laced guitar work all over it. Surprisingly good production for the time. Seasons of Change, the single, is the highlight. A heavy baroque ballad that sounds like Greensleeves meets Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast. ‘In the tower a small boy cries.’ I shall continue to listen to this fine album over the coming months.

As noted in my last Diary entry, I’ve been meeting some characters at work lately. I met another today. His name was Kenneth and he said he was a Viking. This is because he was born and raised on the Shetland Isles, north of Great Britain. Interesting fella. So today I met a Viking. Hrooodadoo…

I listened to some Spice Girls in the car, spurred on by my viewing of that Say You’ll Be There clip recently. Busted out my old Spice Girls Greatest Hits cd (also comes with a dvd of the music videos). The song Mama still stands up. Such a nice melody and beat. Move Over, their ‘Pepsi’ song, does not. In fact, it’s awful. I want to give a big shout out to Mel C, aka Sporty Spice, who’s voice is so strong, so distinctive throughout these songs. She was always the go-to voice for the high parts. I also had a listen to the B-sides playlist I made. As mentioned before, Take Me Home remains my favourite SG song, very good, very chill. Victoria Adams, AKA Posh Spice (or these days, Mrs Beckham), has her best moment ever with her line about ‘cooling from the sun’. Even Geri’s rap on this one ain’t bad. (Those two were always the weakest links.) Outer Space Girls is another one I like. I love a pop song with a science fiction lyric. ‘Close encounters of the female kind’. I want to make a playlist of such songs, but can’t think of many. ZZ Top’s Planet of Women might make it in there. And maybe Aespa’s Supernova. Still on the Spice Girls theme, I actually recommend the film they made, Spice World. There’s a touch of Austen Powers, and even A Hard Day’s Night or Head, about it in its wry humour. The ending is classic. But that’s enough Spice Girls talk (and listening) for now.

I also read the story, Rendezvous 1937 by Zhao Haihong in the Sinopticon book. A powerful time-travelling meta narrative of what we in the west call the Nanking Massacre (and the Japanese, to their shame, call the Nanking ‘incident’). One of the narrators who travels back in time to witness it asks of the horrors visited upon the Chinese, ‘Why don’t they fight back?’ Then, feeling the terror they felt, considers perceptively, ‘Courage and bravery are easy to imagine. But every individual has just one life and many choose to live with it with care, even down to its last moments.’ In seeking some kind of resistance to the struggle the narrator seems to be seeking her own salvation. But it is a search fraught with frustration. All time travel into the past is a dream of what we want to be.

I finished reading Vol 12 of my Urusei Yatsura manga. It contained that great story Last Date, which I saw adapted into the reboot anime recently. It’s the one about a girl who wants to date Ataru, but dies before she can and so remains a ghost tied to this world. Then Sakura intercedes on her behalf and gets Ataru to date the ghost and thus help her fulfil her wish and move on. Ataru’s tenderness and consideration towards the girl surprises both Sakura and Lum as they sceptically observe the date. The collection ends with the manic five-part masterpiece of A Stormy Date. Rich girl Asuka’s mum comes up with yet another hairbrained scheme to get her married off and away from her incestuous crush on ‘big brother’ Ton. But although she has supernatural strength, she is afraid of other men (except the brother and Mendo, whom she considers another ‘big brother’) because she’s been coddled. There’s a running gag in all of these Asuka stories where, everytime she sees a man, she goes ‘Eeeek, a maaaaan!’ and then karate kicks him into the stratosphere. It’s funny every time. This story was a heaven-sent delight. Mangaka Rumiko-San piles absurdity upon absurdity and takes the story to delirious heights. In the end the mother busts out her kung fu chops and challenges her daughter to a duel! I loved it so much.

Finally, I had a listen to Lee Camp’s recap of the Trump shooting, titled Trump Shot – What you aren’t told. He also mentioned the 46,000 Israeli businesses that have shut down in recent months. Of the Trump thing, bizarre as it was, he made the obvious though necessary point it doesn’t matter who wins: military spending will increase, two sides of the same coin, basically it’s about who gets to gain the most out of fucking over the American people, etc. So, not the most nuanced reading of the situation (well, really, it’s blunt as hell!), but cynically true. The main question I have about the whole election shenanigans over there is whether a second Trump Presidency will spark off a Civil War. People are talking about it, about he’s so divisive, etc. And there’s also That Film. Seems overly melodramatic to me. We’ll have to wait and see.

Saturday was all about The Work – at the big shopping mall library. During my lunch break I was pleased to see a guy in the food court wearing a Twice Ready To Be hoody. I wanted to go up to him and ask, ‘Who’s your bias?’ but didn’t. Then there was the patron, a man, whose name was Ningning. That’s the also the name of my favourite member of Aespa. So it can be male or female?

I read some entertaining Twitter/X feeds today. There was Batshit Moments in Aus Politics, reminding us of the time former Prime Minster Scott Morrison was speaking to press on a lawn and was interrupted by the guy yelling at them to get off the grass because he’d just recently re-seeded it. The tweet, titled Actual footage from the time an actual Australian Prime Minister was sniped from the grassy knoll mid-interview, prompted a funny thread, ‘He’d know about lawns if the fella ever held a hose’, etc. An account modestly called The Best tweeted some lovely cloud drawings that I retweeted. I love looking at interesting cloud formations, they conjure up so many images, and these pictures draw them in for you. Terrific! There’s also been lots of Twice content around the recent final Ready To Be concerts in Japan, and the recent release of their Dive album: Mina looking like a goddess, Minayeon having a twerking battle, Jihyo tease-pitching a baseball into the crowd. Another concert excerpt, this time of Aespa, showed Aespa Ningning getting her intro part right at the start of Hold On Tight and Karina, behind her, giving a thumbs up. It seems, the day before, Ningy got the timing wrong. It’s good to know that at least they do sing live. Another tweet, from Wholesome Memes, was about some Japanese grandparents who made a life-size Totoro figure to keep children company as they waited at a bus stop. Wholesome indeed.