I picked up my car, my Veloster, today. Andrew, the seller, was a stand up guy. He had the receipt all printed out nicely, with separate pens for both of us to sign over the paperwork. He rubbed his hands theatrically when I took out the money, and we finalised the deal. We then got to talking about other things, and he told me about one of his friends, who is dying of cancer, and how he showed up one day at his house with a Porsche car. It seems it was a car he had always wanted to drive, and so he bought one, so he could drive it before he died. It got Andrew and I thinking: what car would you want to drive if you didn’t have long to live? The only car I could think of was the one I was buying. We both agreed it was a kind of mid-life crisis car – or in my case, a late mid-life crisis car. Andrew told me he was selling it because he needed the money, and was having trouble getting in and out of it (he’s a little infirm). I told him I’d be heartbroken if I had to sell it. Hopefully, I never will. I then drove it to work (yep, another Sunday gig), taking the long trip from Cranbourne to Lilydale, listening to Neneh Cherry’s Homebrew album on the cd player all the way. It was a sweet ride.
I guess Neneh Cherry was on my mind because last night Rage showed the episode that she programmed back in the nineties. She played some classic songs and clips, including Massive Attack’s Unfinished Sympathy and Patti Smith’s People Have the Power. Her story about seeing Patti perform that song at a concert in the Basque country was worth hearing. And then there was a bunch of Neneh’s own great videos, including the Buddy X video, where she takes off her panties and throws them at a cheating guy. I showed it to my Media class once. They dug it. Her first album, Raw Like Sushi, is a kind of Rosetta Stone for me as it was my gateway into modern dance music. I have an original LP copy in delicious blue vinyl.
I get lost
The library system I work in has fourteen different libraries in it, and as a (mostly) casual, I get to work in all of them in the course of time. I mention this because today I went to the wrong library for work. Yes, I showed up at the wrong workplace! It’s because I have a habit of transferring my work calendar into my general phone calendar, and I refer to that rather than the work calendar. Consequently, if I write the wrong library into the phone calendar, and don’t check the work calendar, I end up at the wrong library. Clearly, I must check the work calendar from now on. But wait, there’s more. The weird thing is, the library I went to didn’t pick up on it. I was there happily working away for half an hour when one of my colleagues noticed an email from rostering saying, Russell, Where Are You? I called them and eventually made it to my proper workplace which, thankfully, wasn’t far from where I already was. Some of my colleagues had been concerned about my whereabouts, which was bad enough, but I was mortified that that email would have been seen by my whole community. What a fool I looked. This is surely a meme waiting to happen. Photos of me looking lost and clueless in various locations: a desert, Paris, Las Vegas, etc. Where’s that damn library? Russell, where are you?
I started reading a manga called Magus of the Library by Mitsu Izumi. This is Vol 5, so I’m well into it now. It’s a fantasy about a boy called Theo whose ambition is to become a librarian – or Kafna – at the great library in Aftzaak. It’s a pleasant Iyashikei type thing, pandering to my own love of books. There are lots of books and mangas about libraries or librarians (too many to list here). I discuss this sometimes with my library colleagues. We wonder, are they just targeting us so we’ll stock their books? If so, it’s working!
I love the detail of the illustrations in this one. Some other mangas can be so basic in their artwork, they’re just drawings or even doodles, compared to this manga. MC Theo is yet another in a long line of winning lads who is the moral centre of the story. He’s surrounded by girls and women, so this is a kind of Harem story, but without the icky ecchi factor. And there are books and book lore, and stories and myths and the search for knowledge. Theo and his student friends are firmly entrenched in their studies at book school now (think Hogwarts for books) and taking classes like Protections, Facilities, Cataloging, Guidance, and others where each instructor insists ‘this is the backbone of the library’. They’re all competing for one of the three top places where they will get to choose their vocation, but they seem to be having fun along the way. They are also learning to tolerate each culture’s differences. This is a huge theme of the story. The world of Magus is not only multi-cultural but multi-species, who are all welcomed as students at the Library. There are the Hyron, who seem to be based on Arab culture and whose religion is called Asin. The Rakta, who are split into coastal and inland factions, the coastal having Asiatic features, the inland having large eyes. The Kadoe, a horned, mask-wearing people who ruled the continent for many centuries. The Creyak, a cat-like prairie people who were enslaved by the Kadoe. The Kokopah, a small, winged people who look like sprites, The Syrrana, a large, winged, reptilian people, who mostly keep to themselves. And the Haupi, a people with pale skin and pointed ears, who Theo seems to be descended from. It’s a very wholesome story.
Well, all I can say is thank god I’ve got my car now. I was driving it everywhere today. I had to get the registration done in Ringwood, then drove to Ferntree Gully for some work, then drove to Croydon for some afternoon work. I still have to get my old car towed away, and then there’s insurance on this one. I can’t emphasise enough how much I hate the idea of insurance. I think it’s one of Capitalism’s biggest scams. Let’s exploit people’s fear and paranoia about losing or breaking their things. Talk about a manufactured need. Anyway, too many people in my life have been at me about getting comprehensive, and I guess since this is by far the best car I’ve ever had, I can sort of see the point. So I’m looking into insurance, though I hate it. Insurance people like to invoke Murphy’s Law – if it can go wrong, it will go wrong. I say Murphy was an insurance salesman.
I was listening to Rap Monster in the car whilst doing all this driving. I went through both albums, Indigo and the new one, Right Place, Wrong Person. Man, it’s rap heaven – especially with this car’s sound system. It has a built-in subwoofer, and it goes doof doof doof. Both albums are inventive and funny, and very musical. The first features more female guest vocalists, which gives it a slightly sweeter sound. But the new one’s holding up very well. I’d say it’s a little more experimental, a bit harder in its raps. I especially love the song Heaven, a sweeping guitar-pop thing with feathery vocals from Namjoon.
I watched another episode of my season two Yashahime anime. Just three eps to go. It’s coming to a head now as the Grim Comet that threatened to destroy the present world is hurled back in time to the feudal era by Kirin, who was once the arm of main antagonist Kirinmaru. With that, our three MC’s, Towa, Setsuna and Moroha, prepare to depart from the present era to join the fight in the feudal era. But first they must say farewell to Towa’s adoptive family, who consist of Kagome’s (from Inuyasha) mother and grandfather, and her brother and his family, including his daughter, Mei. Mei’s sad, almost angry expression at the three hero’s imminent departure is truly heartbreaking. It’s unusual to see children in animes looking this sad. It illustrates the dramatic power of sadness.
A more prosaic fight occurred today in Britain with the election which saw the Conservatives swept out and Keir Starmer’s Labor get in. What a pity Jeremy Corbyn wasn’t leading them this time around. He did regain his Islington North seat, but this time as an Independent. Next up it’s the French election.
Rage included a clip of Blackpink Lisa’s new song Rockstar in their programming last night. La Lisa looked good in her various outfits, especially the black star-shaped top. She had something on her lower lip that looked like a cold sore, but I think it was meant to be some kind of fashion accessory the way they highlighted it so much. But I can’t emphasise enough How Great she looked busting those dance moves with her crew on the streets of possibly Bangkok, wherever it was, somewhere in Thailand, I think. For a song called Rockstar it wasn’t exactly what I’d call a rock song. It was really more of the usual bump and grind Teddy hip hop that Blackpink were trading in in what might be their final days. A line in the lyric said something about ‘gold teeth sttin’ on the dash’ which reminded me of the Nmixx song, Dash. Then there was something about ‘make you rock-hard’, which seems a bit risque, even for Lisa. I have to say the lyrics sound like the usual boasting, materialistic bullshit you find in a lot of rap and hip hop songs. I wish they were better. Apparently there are some transgender people appearing in the clip, as well as some guys playing Yakuza guys. Not sure what message is being sent by Lisa and her Director, but it almost verges on satire. The song and clip have been doing the business on the charts and Youtube, and the fact that Rage is playing it on their Friday night new release playlist is testament to its popularity. Of course there’s another Kpop solo artist who has a song out now, but it’s not getting any love from Rage. I’m talking about Twice Nayeon and her terrific song ABCD. C’mon Rage, play the damn thing!
Another clip I caught last night and liked was Firefighters by Texas band Being Dead. Bringing a very low-fi, indie rock sound, the clip was pretty funny, with the three members participating in a silly marble obstacle race like it’s the Indie 500. The clip’s even weirder near the end when the guy (with a wonderfully bad haircut or wig) slips on his own marbles and goes on a tripping journey past a cook, a dancer and a graduation ceremony and ends up on a skate board on a street, where he is promptly run over by his blonde race partner who has been looking for him. It was silly and daggy and unpretentious, and the complete opposite of the Lisa clip. But I loved both.
I also checked out another Anime Underground list, this time it was 14 Types of Anime Fans (you’re definitely one of them)by Anna Lindwasser. I had to see which one was me, and there I was, under The Fandom Intellectual. The text read: ‘To the Fandom Intellectual, anime is an extension of their education. They probably majored in Literature, Media Studies, Science, History, Psychology or Anthropology, and they’re looking at anime through that lense.’ That’s pretty spot on – I majored in Lit and Media Studies. According to the list, some of my favourite shows are Neon Genesis Evangelion and Mushishi, which is exactly right. As an FI my fandom level is apparently ‘6 thesis statements on whether Light Yagami has Narcissistic Personality Disorder out of 10’. Other types listed were The Shipper, The Casual, The Fujoshi (fans of Yaoi), The Seiyuu Fanatic (voice actor fans), the Cosplayer, The Weeaboo, The Anime Hipster, The Monogamist, The Activist, The Entrepreneur, The Former Fan, The Furry, and The Fetishizing Creep. I have to say I take exception to this last one’s description as ‘this is the white guy in a Love Live t-shirt and a fedora who spends the whole convention trying to find Asian teenagers to hit on.’ Apparently black or Asian guys are never this type. Methinks this list needs some updating, Ms Lindwasser.
I borrowed a Lou Reed Covers album from the library, but haven’t listened to it yet. It’s called What Goes On: the Songs of Lou Reed. So it’s not the newer one, The Power of the Heart, that features Lucinda Williams and Keith Richards. This one has Beck, Bryan Ferry, Lloyd Cole, Cowboy Junkies, Iggy Pop and others. I think I’ve already got the version of Sunday Morning by Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs. I’m especially interested to hear Rachel Sweet’s version of New Age and I’m Set Free by Yo La Tengo. At some point I’ll have to check out the other album. Lou is so The Man, whether he’s with Velvet Underground or Solo.
One of the last sad tasks to do with my old car is to get rid of it. My brother in law had shown interest in it, being a collector of old cars, but I couldn’t get in touch with him. I even tried his daughter, but got no reply. I doubt if he would want it the state it’s in now anyway. I called the wreckers, got a pretty good price for it, and am waiting for them to take it away. With all this in mind, I sat in the old car, reminiscing, as you do. What can I say – I’m a sentimental guy. But it wasn’t like there were lots of good times to think about. There were no old girlfriends who rode along and held my hand, no special destinations I went to with it, as far as I can recall. Neither Neil Young‘s Long May You Run or The Beach Boys’Old Betsy ran through my head as I sat there. The most I could think of with fondness was the many audio books I listened to while driving it. There was Jane Eyre, brilliantly read by Thandie Newton, The Architecture of Happiness by Alain de Botton, and Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, read by Ray Porter. This last one was somewhat bittersweet, as I liked the story up to a point; but it went haywire near the end and, disappointed, I didn’t finish it. What else did I remember about the car? Oh yes, being a station wagon, it had been useful in transporting large pieces of furniture, and I appreciated the many reliable K’s it did taking me to and from work, especially when I worked over in Dandenong and Springvale. Good job, car. You were a good boy. Now be gone.
Today I went to K-pop Time, my local purveyor of all things K-pop. When I got there I found they’d moved next door to a bigger store. The extra room allowed them to add some special display tables for some of the bigger artists, including my favourites, Twice. That table was very impressive: so much good stuff. Twicerama. But I was there to pick up my new Nayeon and NewJeans albums. I got the NewJeans so-called Weverse version of their How Sweet/Bubble Gum single, which wasn’t what I expected. For the price, I thought I’d at least get a cd; but no, it had a pack of cards and an e-link to the Weverse app where I can stream the songs. Big deal: I can do that already with Spotify. WTF? What a ripoff! Note to self: don’t buy Weverse versions of albums anymore.
I had some time off today so did a bit of shopping at a mall. Besides doing some car stuff I bought a panda neck pillow for the car at Daiso (preferred it over the cat pillow – pandas rock!), and a copy of Neo magazine at the newsagents. I used to get that magazine all the time, but at some point decided I’d read enough. Magazines can be a drag to store, and they feel so throwaway. Often they make me wonder why I bought them in the first place, instead of just browsing them in the store. Anyway, I decided to buy the mag just to ‘catch up’. It’s a British mag dedicated to all things anime, manga, Asian (especially Japanese) film, TV and music. This was the April edition, so the main news was the Oscars wins for The Boy and the Heron and Godzilla Minus One, and the death of Dragon Ball creator, Akira Toriyama. The music section has a piece on one of my favourites, Scandal, and their new album, Luminous. In anime, they review and discuss A Place Further Than the Universe, the 2018 series about four girls going to Antarctica, which is getting a bluray release. I definitely want to see that one. There is a fascinating article about the London theatre production version of Miyazaki’s Spirited Away, which is playing until August. Man, I’d love to see that. There’s still time! And they also review the second season of Inuyusha. I have a complete box set of that one, and am just starting the second season.
Then I went to Alternate Worlds comic shop in the suburb where I was working today. Keeping with the Rumiko Takahashi theme (she also wrote Inuyasha), I bought volumes 12 and 13 of the Urusei Yatsura manga. That makes almost a complete set. I just need volume 16. Yay, more Lumarama. Flicking through one of the volumes I noticed there’s the multi-part story featuring Benten and Ryunosuke, called Woman Vs Woman Showdown. Can’t wait to read that. I love Benten almost as much as Lum. She’s a raven-haired space bike-riding babe. In fact, if I could, I would date Benten, rather than Lum. Lum is too imprinted on that baka Ataru, so I wouldn’t have a chance with her. But Benten don’t have no boyfriend. I’ve got a shot with her! Hey, what do you mean she’s not real?
I also snapped up a copy of season one of the Black Lagoon anime for twenty bucks. That’s about a third of the price I paid for season two at JB Hifi! And I was just thinking about that recently, how I didn’t have the first season (saw them both streamed on Funimation years ago). This time around I plan on watching it in the dub version. When I was in Japan I bought some great display stands of Revy and Balalaika. They look kick ass on my bookshelves.
The shop’s little newsletter, Comic Shop News, contained a funny new release from Archie Comics. It’s for Betty& Me #16. Check the cover image shown. I didn’t see anything wrong with it at first. The text said something about ‘the infamous cover’, and then I realised, oh, ‘Beat off’, I get it. Can’t say I’d go to those lengths to get Betty, but she’s definitely worth rescuing.
Throughout my travels today I was listening to Nayeon’s new album NA on repeat in the car. I must have heard it ten times by now, and it still sounds fresh. My car’s sound system is brilliant at bringing out all the little entertaining details in the music. It’s Korean colour-pop at its best. The last track, Count It, is really making an impression with its nice melody. The only slight disappointment with the album is there’s no extended version of ABCD.
2001 A Space Odyssey was on the TV this morning. I noticed a number of continuity faults in the conference on the moon scene. It was mainly just actors having their hands in the wrong place between cuts, but it was distracting. Kubrick is such a stickler for all the other technical aspects of the film, you’d think he could get that right. Looking at it now, that conference room where Doctor Floyd gives his report about the Object, with those big white screens that surround him – there’s so much more Kubrick could have done with that. They look like three green screens (or white screens) waiting to be lit up with images that illustrate the content of Floyd’s report. I guess it’s easy to nitpick the film’s dated elements, but it still holds up as an impressive piece of groundbreaking scifi, some of which has yet to be surpassed.
I’m up to the 69-70 period in the Beach Boys coffee table book now. Among other things, this is when the band performed behind ‘the iron curtain’ in East Germany and Czechoslovakia. Mike Love couldn’t help give a Capitalist diatribe about the tour, how they ‘symbolised the freedom that the United States represented for a lot of people’ and how they ‘represented prosperity and opportunity’. To Mike, they were bringing freedom and democracy to them heathen Communists, and while there getting a ‘crash course on the shortcomings of a planned economy’. Mike, blow it out yer arse.
I guess Neneh Cherry was on my mind because last night Rage showed the episode that she programmed back in the nineties. She played some classic songs and clips, including Massive Attack’s Unfinished Sympathy and Patti Smith’s People Have the Power. Her story about seeing Patti perform that song at a concert in the Basque country was worth hearing. And then there was a bunch of Neneh’s own great videos, including the Buddy X video, where she takes off her panties and throws them at a cheating guy. I showed it to my Media class once. They dug it. Her first album, Raw Like Sushi, is a kind of Rosetta Stone for me as it was my gateway into modern dance music. I have an original LP copy in delicious blue vinyl.
