Last night I went to Meltdown Comics for an anime-themed benefit event for Japan. I couldn’t believe how many otaku showed up. So cool!!!
There was art on silent auction in the back room (I bid $50 for a Fullmetal Alchemist cover signed by the entire English dubbing cast, no word yet on who won it), and a bunch of voice actors in the front sitting to sign whatever the fans brought. There was a tip jar at the beginning of the line with more than a few $20 bills in it. Wow. I love the anime crowd. They have so much love in their hearts.
All proceeds went toward rebuilding Japan, so everyone was very generous. I chased down the lady selling raffle tickets just before they stopped selling them, and bought $20 worth. I won a “small prize,” which turned out to be a bag of anime dvds! Awesome!
badass
Ergo Proxy (complete series)- This has been on my amazon.com wish list for… I’m gonna say a year. So the fact that I got to donate to Japan and got this in return is pretty much the definition of serendipitous. Win!
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Kannagi: Crazy Shrine Maidens (complete series)- This looks kind of adorable. Looking forward to watching. And I always like owning the complete series of anything.
we're 12 years old! hooray! lol
yikes
Gurren Lagann (season three)- This looks like complete trash, first of all. Maybe the synopsis is just awful. Second, season three? What am I supposed to do with this, LOL! I said, “Why would they give away season three of anything? Why would they do that?” Boyfriend: “Because it’s free.” Oh. Right.
The Story of Saiunkoku (season one)- This is going to be what fills my Fruits Basket void. Something completely silly and so thoroughly anime, it’ll make make my eyes bleed. Can’t wait.
Afterward, Boyfriend and I got ramen downtown at Daikokuya. Delicious. They had a box on a chair near the door for donations for rebuilding Japan. My heart is breaking for the people over there. The last death toll I read about a few days ago said 3,500. This morning’s toll: 7,000, with 10,000 still missing. I wish I could fix it.
My 100th (public) post, and it’s about Japanese music. I am pleased.
I just discovered Genki Sudo, a retired MMA fighter/author/musician/Buddhist. Did I mention he’s easy to look at? Oh, and he can dance like a mother fucker. He was apparently known for his flashy entrances into the ring before a fight. I’ve watched a few videos where he was waiting for his opponent to strike, and just started popping and locking to pass the time and mess with them. Pretty slick. I’m totally amazed by this guy. Talk about a Renaissance man. So cool.
This song is completely overrun with Buddhist philosophy. It’s all about how everything is an illusion, and enlightenment is letting go. Pretty nice. There’s one line that someone translated as, “I look up at the stars, and the darkness in my heart disappears.” /smile
I’m watching some Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. Still not sure how different it is from the original series, although it looks like Ed does some growing up, so maybe it turns out like Naruto Shippuden?
Anyway, in it, Winry wears a bunch of earrings, and a couple ear cuffs. They just look awesome, so it’s got me thinking of getting some more ear decoration myself. I’ve always thought about getting more than one earring, but the extra holes never really go away visually. Then I found this website!
purty
Cool, right? Apparently the lady who makes this stuff ships all over the world, but is based in Estonia. Wait… shit, where is that? First guess, eastern Europe. Now let’s have a look… WIN! Winwinwin! It’s just west of Russia, and north of Latvia, Lithuania, and Belarus, which I would also have had a shameful amount of trouble locating on a map. Unless they host an Olympics or a war, Americans will not be informed of (or care about) their existence. Sorry, other 60% of the world!
Sister’s fiance (let’s call him Carpenter, since that’s what he was for a long time) dry heaves whenever anyone mentions vomit or poop. Just saying the words will send a visible shiver down his spine. It’s pretty priceless. Carpenter can be a pretty tough guy, but then he’s also allergic to a ton of stuff (like tomatoes), and has a ton of old injuries that make him wince whenever he stands up, sits down, jogs, coughs, etc. He’s like an old man at mid-thirty. Sister used to run cross-country, so her knees are shot, and her finger knuckles are all permanently swollen from cracking them all the time and jamming them while playing basket ball. The two of them. Fallin’ apart.
Still, in a pinch, they’re both totally on my zombie apocalypse survival team for their self discipline, intelligence, and short-term physical abilities. Regardless of their rapidly deteriorating bodies, they’re very coordinated and physically capable people. I figure by the time their joints fail us, we’ll have already set up an impenetrable base of operations, been airlifted to safety, or eaten alive. But they’re both pretty bossy. That would be a lot of people trying to pull rank on each other. Hmmm… I’ll have to give that some thought.
Speaking of body parts going bad, I was at kung fu last night and while I was doing a sweep, my left shoulder slipped almost out of its socket. I felt it start to go, heard a click and relaxed my body to take pressure off of it so it would go back in. It’ll hurt for about a week, it isn’t the first time this has happened. I need to start doing some exercises to strengthen both my shoulders. They click when I sleep on my sides. Bleh.
Just made an appointment to test drive a Fiat 500 tomorrow afternoon after Office Job. They apparently have three models: Pop, Sport, and Lounge ($15,500, $17,500, and $19,500 respectively). The Pop is what I’m looking at because it’s cheaper, but they only have one automatic transmission Pop model at the location I’m doing my test drive. I might have to wait around, driving Dad’s old Exploder until more arrive. The guy said they sold three yesterday, “Boom! Gone!” but translated from car salesman speak, I’m guessing that means four test drives and one sale.
WAAAAAANT
If this Fiat doesn’t work out… I’m going to regret selling my Pontiac. It would have been so much more economical to keep it that I’m still panicking about selling it. But when I mentioned that to my friends last night, they all sang out at the same time, “Nope! That car always had problems, you made a good choice!” Maybe they were right.
Cost of Pontiac: $9k
Cost of Pontiac with upkeep: probably around $11k
Sold for $2,200
So I end up $8,800 in the hole. I had it for three years. That’s about three thousand dollars a year. Yikes. Not a very good investment. I should have hung onto it.
BUT NO! I found the front right headlamp had fallen out of it’s place, and was dangling from it’s wires over the front fender once, for no reason! And every time it rained the light would go out and I would have to take it to the shop to get replaced! And Dad had to manually install a switch to turn off the security feature that caused it to stop recognizing my key, and occasionally not start! And the snap-crackle-popping noises coming out of the rear speaker were so bad, I had stopped listening to music at all! And only half of the speakers worked! And every time I looked at the dented fender, it made me feel bad about myself for being a bad driver while sick! And the fuel pump broke within the first year just like my first Pontiac (not cheap), but this time I was on the freeway… in the fast lane… on my way to Medieval Times for a friend’s birthday party, which I ended up missing RAAAAAGH I’m still angry/sad about it! And the doors were really heavy because the coupe was too long, and I was never able to find the the rear center seat belt, and the middle seat was rock hard anyway, and there was a small crack on the windshield from a tiny pebble hitting it on freeway on the way back from Pomona, and it was such a dark green that it was hard to see in the dark and was unsafe and was sweltering hot in the summer, and the AC wasn’t great, and neither was the heater, and the front right blinker hasn’t worked in forever, and Dad had to duct tape part of the door bumper on (before I took it to the shop and they forcibly screwed it back on), and the volume control on the stereo didn’t always work, and when Carmax sold it to me and I had my mechanic have a look at it, he pointed out (among several other problems) one part under the hood that was being held on with twine! The brakes sucked (they made a horrible, deep whining sound when I had jam down on them), the pickup sucked (there was a full 1-2 second delay from when I hit the gas, and the car would speed up). And it was about to hit 100k miles, which means its value would have plummeted if I hadn’t sold it when I did (it was at 99,964).
Things I liked about my dark green Pontiac Grand Am GT:
-red light-up display
-thick steering wheel
-enormous trunk space
-can’t think of anything else.
UPDATE: March 15, 8:56pm
Did the test drive. Loved it. The ride is pretty smooth, there’s plenty of room for two people with some small dogs in the back seat, and groceries in the boot. Look at that. I’m calling it a boot. Because it looks like it was snatched off the very streets of London. It looks so much like one of those black cabs they have, it’s uncanny. Larger on the outside that I thought, which I like (safer). Cramped for head and legroom for anyone taller than me in the back, but fine in the front, so I don’t care. Loads of standard features that are actually attractive. USB hookup, remote lock, etc. Good shit.
A 8.9 earthquake is really, really huge. The scale America uses is scary because the intensity of a quake is measured with exponential values. Meaning a 4.0 quake isn’t twice as intense as a 2.0 quake, it’s eight times more intense. Now look at the number again: 8.9. On a scale of 0-10. Scary. Plus, you’re a coastal country, so the tsunami that inevitably follows a quake of this magnitude only exacerbates the problem.
Japan is going to make it through this because the world needs their economy to get back on their feet, but also because the Japanese are an amazing group of people. Period. Who blogs about the amazing ideas Russia comes out with on a daily basis? No one, because Russia sucks. The Japanese have a repressed culture that somehow allows its people to think outside the box in ways the rest of the world marvels at. And for that, we love them.
In honor of how awesome Japan is, here’s a list of ten reasons why I love Japan, in the order they occurred to me:
1. Anime
Paprika made my brain melt
Who the fuck would think that there could be billions of tiny, diverse ghosties floating around that effect us (Mushi-Shi), or that dreams could be your next form of therapy (Paprika), or that a young girl could work in a bath house run for (and by) spirits (Spirited Away)? And who else would write a fully-realized, philosophically-driven, action packed science fiction series on the future of human-cyborg robotics (Ghost in the Shell) that actually makes sense? The Japanese direct my imagination in directions I would otherwise never explore. Thank you.
delicious
2. Sushi
I realize that raw fish has been a celebrated dish for (tens of?) thousands of years, but it was the Japanese who spread it across the globe for my pretentious Los Angeles palate to enjoy. It’s a simple pleasure that always makes me think, “Wow, the Japanese are geniuses. And bears. Bears who eat salmon all day and sleep all winter. Fucking genius.”
3. Cars
I’ve had two Pontiacs, and I’ve had trouble with them both. My roommate has had her Honda for over a decade, and she bought it used, and it’s still running just fine. Am I buying American again? No way. The Japanese know how to make a damn car.
adorable
4. Maru
The cutest, and most famous cat in the world lives in Japan. He has his own website, loads of YouTube videos, and millions of fans. His owner keeps us up to speed on his newest toys, favorite napping spots, and intense fear of crows. He’s the only life form (other than his owner) who I feel like I’ve kinda gotten to know over the past year, so his well-being was one of the first things that occurred to me when I heard about the earthquake and tsunami (sorry humans!). Turns out he’s safe, yay!
epic
5. Samurai, Ninjas, Martial Arts
Where do I begin? The samurai bushido “way of the warrior” will never be replicated en masse the way it was in feudal Japan. The intense philosophy that ran throughout every aspect of the samurai’s life from the way they fought to the way they ate and slept is just incredible.
Raise your hand if you never wanted to be a ninja. You, you, and you; you’re all liars. EVERYONE wants to be a ninja at some point. I just learned recently that ninjutsu is not a martial art, but an art of war. Yikes. Awesome.
I’ve been practicing martial arts since I was 14. I earned two black belts, and now I work at a dojo where I get to teach kids how to be polite, work hard, and beat the shit out of their siblings who are too stupid or unlucky enough not to be included in class. With all my experience, I can safely say that everyone on the planet would benefit from learning a martial art (especially a soft style like hapkido or aikido).
6. Nintendo
It’s not just some 8-pixel side-scroller. It’s a virtual world. My generation grew up with the gray-box Nintento, and Mario was as real a character as any idiot on reality TV today. Nintendo set the bar for video gaming. It started an entire sub-culture. With a video game. Cultural references to the original Mario Bros. will never end. There will always be a “Sorry, Princess is in another castle” joke for unforeseen failure. Coins will always be shiny, floaty thing we all yearn for. Stars will always look like a chance at temporary invincibility.
ruuuunnnn!!
7. Godzilla
Haha, oh my god. I can’t believe Godzilla is #7. Where was my brain. The Japanese took fear of giant monsters to the ultimate extreme. So classic. I still haven’t seen this movie, btw. Must remedy soon!
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woah
8. Noh
If you don’t know anything about the theater of Edo era Japan, wake the fuck up. The makeup, the masks, the nuances, the costumes, the stories… amazing. Google it. It’s the oldest form of theater (even older than the famous Greek tragedies). Kabuki centered around drama, love and all that mushy crap. Kyogen was mostly comedies. The actors were huge celebrities. Some even had trading cards. It’s true! And one of my favorite comics is based on the masks worn during these iconic plays.
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i will never understand it
9. Sumo
I wonder if this should go under martial arts… haha just kidding! Can you picture one of these guys rounding a corner in full battle gear? Hilarious! But seriously, there’s a ton of ceremony that goes into every match, which are fun to watch. Giant dudes pushing brutishly each other out of a small ring? While the referee holds a fan and wears traditional robes? And the attendees get crushed whenever one of the sumo guys tumbles off the platform? What a sport!
10. Takeshi’s Castle
This is a little-known series that aired in 1989 that started the wave of shows that put normal people through ridiculous obstacle courses for the world to laugh at. America has a show called Wipeout that does the same thing. Genius.
I want to write more about each of these but I’m at work, and no one wants to read that much about this stuff (including me). Suffice to say, the Japanese people have my adoration and respect. Now if they could just give a serious apology about invading Korea, and the whole “comfort women” thing, that’d be great.
UPDATE: March 15, 5:32pm
Wait! I thought of another reason to love Japan: the Polysics!
I mean people do fun, silly stuff people do in music videos. The Japanese are clearly no exception, and for that, I love them.
They’re ready! My new glasses are ready to pick up at the optometrist! But I can’t make it because I’m covering for a sensei friend! Craaaaaaaaaaaaap!
a little hipster
They’re not my usual thin-rimmed specs. I figure I already have a set of those, why not push myself out of my comfort zone a little? And if I end up looking like a hipster, that’ll be hilarious, so why not? The frames are Salt. brand. I didn’t know they were Japanese when I picked them out. I’m such an egg.
UPDATE: March 15, 12:19pm
They’re super cool. Boyfriend calls them my “sexy glasses.” I really like them. So glad I branched out. And they’re made of acetate, which is the same stuff vinyl records are made of nowadays. When I told Dad about the acetate, he responded with, “Hm. Highly flammable.” THANKS DAD.
There’s this movie coming out, Sucker Punch. It could be amazing. The main and central supporting characters are all women. They’re armed with various guns, axes, swords, and huge imaginations, and supposedly do some really cool stuff with all of them.
ComiCon, you have your next costume contest
Like I said, it could be amazing.
It’s directed by the same guy who did 300 and Watchmen (Zach Snyder), both of which I found visually tingling, if a bit overdone.
So here are the parts where it could suck. It’s easy to confuse these for reasons it might be awesome, so try to focus:
-Fire-breathing dragons
-An army of bad guys in gas masks
-Giant, gatling gun-wielding samurai robot
-Zeppelins
-An evil stepfather
Bear in mind, all of these things are presumably defeated by a tiny, non-muscular woman armed with nothing but a samurai sword, a skimpy sailor costume and copious amounts of peroxide to keep that hair looking fabulously, naturally blonde.
If it works out, I’m going to see it with some martial artist friends of mine. Naturally, we’ll all be pissed we weren’t cast for this, given our extensive training and dashing good looks. I’m not even an actress, and I can tell you right now… nah, never mind, who the fuck wants to be an actress? Acting is hard. No, wait: good acting is hard. Doing an action sequence over and over while having the right expression on your face must be exhausting and downright challenging. So fuck it, I wish all these ladies the very best.
Still, I work with some pretty beautiful, talented martial artist/actresses. Sure would be nice if someone hired someone with a martial arts background to do an action movie for once.
PLEASE SEND ALL JOB OFFERS TO TIGERLILYTOPH@GMAIL.COM
Turns out I’ve already posted the other blogs I wrote for the comics website on this, my very own blog as well. All but this one about manga, which is hilarious and was totally topical in May of 2010 when I first wrote it.
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If you don’t read manga, I don’t blame you. But here’s one reason why you might want to check it out (or do any other number of crazy things): a pretty lady.
ABORT ABORT ABORT
There’s been a small fuss raised over a mangaka (Japanese comic book artist) recently. Mostly because she’s cute. And because she’s a she (those of you calling “Screenshot or it didn’t happen!” can see evidence of said cuteness here). Which is a big deal because when people think of manga, they picture something like Wing Bird (see horrifying cover art at right). Then when you tell them it’s not all nudity and violence, they call you a liar and an otaku freak, and the horribly scarring pointing and laughing ensues.
Here’s an example of a conversation I’ve had with an average, non-manga reader (let’s just call him Some Jerk):
SJ– [nose crinkle] Man-guh? Me– Yeah, it’s like comics, but they’re little books, and they’re black and white. And they’re Japanese. SJ– Oh, Japanese? Like hentai? Eew, tentacle penis monster! Me– No no, that’s not what manga is! SJ– Yeah it is, I saw that one Parasyte once, gross. Me– Here, lemme show you something different… Um… here, Fruits Basket, that’s like the opposite of Parasyte. SJ– [pause] WTF is wrong with their eyes? Me– Nothing. What do you mean? SJ– They’re huge. And where are their mouths? Me– Um… I dunno, actually. SJ– [blank stare] Dude. Yikes.
i like how the lady watching this man's face come apart barely reacts
Not all manga is good, I’ll admit that, and it’s not for everyone. But if you read comics, your brain is already prepped for this stuff, and it’s unlike any American comic you’ve ever read. The characters are expressive and often hilarious. I’ve never been so shocked at what’s after the next page turn. Once, I got so scared at what was on the next page that I burst out laughing, shut the book, and had to go watch the Food Channel for a while.
So I challenge our readers to do something stupid in the name of a pretty girl who authors some manga of her own. Pick up a copy of Mail or The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service. They’re some of the more popular manga out there right now, and as comic readers, you’re ready. It’s time to branch out, kids. Be brave. Be stupid. Do it for the girl.
Be Random, Be Clear 
