At work today I was tasked with the job of setting up our next book sale. This meant taking a lot of books out of boxes and putting them on the display tables. It also meant I had first look at all the books, and therefore first dibs. Must say there wasn’t much there of interest. There was big book on the films of Stanley Kubrick, and another on the films of Sergio Leone. They were interesting, but not enough to tempt. I need more big picture books about movies like a hole in the head. As usual, some patrons saw what I was doing and started sniffing around in hopes of getting a first look in too. I shooed them away, but one girl was especially persistent. She even offered to help me unpack the books.
Bought a couple of Playstation 4 games in EB Games. They were Ghostwire Tokyo and Story of Seasons: a Wonderful Life. Ghostwire presents a deserted Tokyo with supernatural forces prowling the streets. Your character gets to wander those streets, fight the supernatural forces and work out where the people went. I’m hoping this will feature in splendid detail some of the places I visited when I was there. Kind of a virtual re-visit. The other game is a warm and fuzzy-looking kid’s sim game that features adorable kawaii anime people. You get to ‘tell your story’, live ‘a carefree life on the farm’ and join ‘a town of friendly faces’. Looks very iyashikei and wholesome – a nice change from all the guns and violence of most other games.
One week later update. I tried playing one of these games, Story of Seasons, and realised I’d actually bought the PS5 versions of both games. What an idiot! Sometimes I do not pay enough attention. I took them back just before the one week guarantee expired and got my money back, so all good. They don’t have PS4 versions of these games, so I’ll miss out – unless I buy a PS5 player, which I have no intentions of doing at the moment.
Media Watch did a segment on the Israeli soccer hooligans in Amsterdam incident. A week late in coming, but better late than never. Apparently a lot of news outlets showed that footage of Maccabee hooligans running amok, but labelled it as pro-Palestinian rioters. The disinformation doesn’t matter in the end. The story’s past the news cycle now, especially since most news outlets don’t want to own up to their mistakes and just want to keep pushing the anti-semitism narrative.
Arvo work at Mooroolbark and thinking about the Pearl Jam gig. Mooroolbark library’s my local (easy drive down), and it was a sunny day, and with memories of the terrific gig last night I was thinking my life is pretty nice sometimes.
Saw the clip for Twice Nayeon’s Moana 2 OST, a song called Beyond. She looks wonderful in an Islander skirt and white top, her hair thick and tousled like Moana. The clip is interspersed with scenes from the new Disney film. This seems to be part of a trend of using Kpop artists to sing Disney theme songs. NewJeans’ Danielle did something similar last year with the Disney reboot of The Little Mermaid.
Went to the Pearl Jam concert at Marvel Stadium, which I’ll write more fully about here. Support act was The Pixies!
Watched the third and final instalment on the Time To Twice: Part Timers series on Youtube. Like the second part, it began with the members having a break and reviewing their jobs. Sana seemed to be having an epiphany about her idol career versus a cafe career. Jihyo was still flabbergasted about the twelve drink order that had just come in and she was tasked with filling. Jeongyeon mentioned her conversation with Nayeon about the whimsical possibility of their starting up their own cafe. Nayeon said it would be successful for one week and then it would collapse ,which sounds about right. Their responses to ‘real’ jobs were revealing and touchingly honest and humble. As the girls went back out on the floor Jeongyeon and Chaeyoung were singled out by the mentor who announced he wanted to take them aside for something. Some of the members speculated this was a reward for their good work, some teasingly said the opposite (Nayeon: ‘You didn’t work hard enough!’). It turned out it was a reward. They were given a free meal in a quiet alcove away from the cafe and a special button for being ‘Outstanding Part-Timers’.
Meanwhile, back in the cafe the other members were working hard. Nayeon seemed flustered in her role of mixing coffee and self-deprecatingly saying ‘I can’t believe how bad I am at this’. I liked the subtitled commentary that came up for her here: ‘Flustered but thriving’. Mina was given a choice of tasks, one of which was dish-washing, and said, ‘I can do that’. This was a classic introvert’s move. Working with dishes means she doesn’t have to deal with customers. I understand completely, Mitang. Please come away with me to my Paradise planet Calypso and you need never be bothered by customers ever again…
The final shift continued, more customers/fans came in looking bug-eyed at who was serving them, and I couldn’t identify more. Mina broke a glass, Jihyo squashed a pastry, Tzuyu made many Sunsets, Jeongyeon and Chaeyoung returned as Outstanding Part-Timers, night came and the shift eventually came to an end, with much applause. As the Twice members lined up for final words the Mentor thanked them and made comment on their participation. They had all been ‘kind, clean and diligent’. He gave them all a gift in envelopes, which turned out to be their day’s wage. For a bunch of already millionaires, they received this with amazing humility. Jeongyeon said she would not spend it (Nayeon said she’d definitely spend it right away!), but all were quite touched. Reflecting on the job and the experience of dealing with customers, they had all gained an insight into what workers go through. Sana said (as a cafe customer) she would never dither about her food choices, she would state emphatically what she wants. Jihyo said, if her food or drink comes out late, she’ll never complain. Momo said, in a line that really sums up their appreciation of what they’d learned, ‘A single cup of coffee is so precious’. This was definitely one of the best TTT’s, a sentiment reflected by the many entertaining comments left on Youtube. Putting the members in such a real world situation, even if it was somewhat controlled, really brought out the best in them and made for entertaining viewing. With not just this but the recent Amazon Live performance, we Onces are so blessed.
Finally made delivery of my Urusei Yatsura Vol 16 manga order. I’m so happy my collection is finally complete! This one has some classic episodes, including the multi-part story Open the Door, where Lum and the crew meet rabbit-suited Inaba and the Destiny Creation Management Bureau and its many dimensional doors to the future in subspace. I saw the reboot anime version of this story on Youtube and it’s one of Takahashi’s most bravura pieces. Can’t wait to read this and put it in its place in the manga cabinet.
The main news story today was former radio presenter Alan Jones being charged with sexual assault of several men. This is a charge that’s been a long time coming, and only is happening now because Jones is out of broadcasting. But some right wing hacks lined up to defend him. Sky’s Peta Credlin defended him, saying it’s ‘out of character’ and she’s never seen him act inappropriately. Some Twitter responses to this were pretty hilarious. Matt wrote: ‘Oh honey. Oh sweetie. You’re a 54 year old woman. Not exactly the target demographic are you?’ And Jane O’Connor wrote, ‘As if Alan Jones is going to display his mode of abuse in front of you, Peta Credlin’.
Borrowed from the library Soara and the House of Monsters Vol 1 manga by Hidenori Yamaji. Read it. A pretty wacky story about a war between monsters and humans that gets called off right at the point when Soara, a young orphan who has been trained all her life to fight monsters, is ready to join the fight. What do you do when your entire vocation is made redundant? In Soara’s case, it’s find a travelling band of dwarf builders tasked with building cosy houses for various newly warm and fuzzy monster types who now want nothing but to live in peace and comfort, and join them. But can Soara overcome her sense of bigotry at the idea of helping monsters instead of fighting them? This is a pretty funny and inventive fantasy manga. I hope it gets made into an anime.
I was on my van run today (music was Misamo and Aespa) and had the usual terrific pop culture talk with patron Michael at the Millgrove stop. Michael likes borrowing DVDs, and this time he was getting Oppenheimer. He fills me in on a lot of stuff I don’t know about that interests me, like the fact that the film The Long Distance Piano Player, starring Ray Davies of the Kinks, is on Youtube. He’s also, like me, a big XTC fan, and he told me about a book Andy Partridge wrote called Complicated Game, which is all about him talking about the XTC songs. He asked if I could order it through the library, which I did when I got back. Turns out it is available. It’s the sort of book I would like to buy for myself. Can’t believe I didn’t know about it. Michael also informed me of some interviews Andy has done online. Good old Michael. Then another patron, Diane at the Woori Yallock stop, lent me some books she had recommended. They were Harry Harrison’s West of Eden trilogy, a series about an alternate timeline where the dinosaurs did not become extinct and developed intelligence and came into contact with humans. It was a nice gesture, but it commits me to reading them – she wants the books returned at some point. I’ll at least try to read the first one. Harrison’s book A Translatlantic Tunnel, Hurrah is one of my favourites, so this won’t be a chore. Diane is a voracious reader (borrows about ten books on average – often big historical fiction tomes) and has a house full of books.
I’m still working my way through the anime series Starship Operators. Just watched ep 10, which starts with the crew of the Amaterasu enjoying some r and r on the planet Palmyria, having just survived a hard battle with the Empire. Main character Sinon has just started a relationship with the engine room chief, but it’s clear this is doomed. The tell-tale signs are all there: the happy (and final) farewell as Sinon and her crew go to some party on the planet while the work crew stay on board; some bad guys creeping up on the ship in dock; Sinon’s beau deciding to indulge in some heroics. Oh, and the episode’s titled ‘Sudden Death’. You get the picture. By episode’s end Sinon is crying ugly alone in the observation lounge, her tears turned to water bubbles in the zero gravity and sparkling against the black space backdrop like stars. A beautiful image, and I feel sorry for Sinon, but hate the obvious manipulation of it all. Why can’t characters be happy for once?
Started that PS4 game Cloudpunk. I’m flying around this very Blade Runner-ish cloud city called Nivalis in my hover car as courier Rania and delivering strange packages to people. There’s my radio dispatch dude, Control (real name Ben), to talk to and get advice from. He actually looks and sounds like Morgan Freeman. Rania’s also got an AI in the car who is an avatar of her pet robot dog Camus. There’s some other back story about Rania being a musician down on her luck. It’s pretty cool. When she gets near a delivery or pickup she has to park the car and make the rest of the way on foot. I’m not crazy about the very blocky look of people in this game – makes it look like Minecraft – but I’m enjoying the atmosphere of these rain-strewn streets I fly about in. And there’s definitely an endorphin rush every time Rania completes a delivery and gets a new one from dispatch.
After listening to the soundtrack a few times I decided to watch my copy of the Heavy Metal movie from 1981. It’s hard for me to be objective about this film (based on content from the magazine) as so much of my youth was spent reading that magazine and then reading about the film they were making. Looked at today objectively it’s a strange beast this film, very much of its time. So violent and so sexist. Definitely aimed at adolescent males like I was. The animation is still pretty crude, especially in the earlier sequences like Harry Canyon and the Loc Nar sequences in the house. It gets better with the Den and So Beautiful So Dangerous sequences (it helped that So Beautiful was supervised by original artist Angus McKie). Best of all is the final part featuring Taarna and her trusty bird steed. This one gives a nod to something closer to ‘Girl Power’, and it would definitely be the best introduction for modern audiences. Weirdly, all of the women except Taarna are really badly drawn or don’t even look attractive (at least to me now). They all get their clothes off within the first minutes of their appearance. A lot of online discussion about the film, especially on Letteboxd, seems to revel in the film’s lack of political correctness – ie, they don’t make ‘em like that any more. I definitely get it.
Although I enjoy the music, it’s down real low in the mix, and the featured rock songs almost never get a chance to shine – they just come and go seemingly at random. The only one that seems a good fit between sight and sound is the battle sequence in Taarna when Black Sabbath’s The Mob Rules is used. Oh, and maybe the chase scene in the Captain Stern sequence with the Cheap Trick song. The orchestral score by Elmer Bernstein (yes, him!) works best in the film. I especially liked the piece he used for the scene where Taarna sexily puts on her battle costume.
There’s a case to be made that the film misrepresents the actual contents of the magazine at that time. In the early days, around 1977 and 1978, it was more like what the film was. But by 1981 the mag was highlighting more cerebral stories, like The Incal Light by Moebius. And the mag’s resident music critic, a guy called Lou Stathis, was writing about the more cutting edge sounds of the time from the likes of The Residents, Yellow Magic Orchestra and Ultravox. I’m pretty sure he hated that soundtrack. The only band on it that fits its editorial taste at the time is Devo. It’s a strange funky mash-up of a film. All sex, violence, scifi and adolescent fantasy. Pretty much like the magazine.
