Well, time to get a PS3

IGN: Prince of Persia First Look

can, can you do the can-can?

It's election time again, I think.

Someone has been driving their promotional car around my block for the past hour and a half, blaring out campaign mumbo-jumbo. It would usually tune this out, except in the background of their speech, they're playing the CAN-CAN!

How can you not pay attention when you hear the can-can? I think of be-stockinged legs kicking high from under frilly skirts! Or, I think of Carla's cell phone suddenly ringing out its can-can ringtone during an especially somber scene at Shakespeare in the Park!

But now, I'll think of nonsensical propaganda. THEY ARE RUINING IT.

Death Note is tame, and every kid has a black book of enemies

Apparently, one of the Death Note movies (yawn, old news) is coming to US theaters at the end of the month, and conservative parents are flipping out. One of my biggest pet peeves is the western world's often skewed view of all-things Japanese (let's talk about how much I hated Lost in Translation). Here are some highlights from a recent Wired article about it (emphasis my own).

Death Note Manga Spawns Movie, Crime Wave
By Lisa Katayama 05.19.08 | 5:30 PM

Okay, really, CRIME WAVE? Not exactly...

It wasn't until the anime was distributed outside Japan that the copycat crimes began. The first Death Note-related controversy took place in China in 2007: Students took death notes to school, prompting the government to ban products and conversations related to "scary magazines based on popular Japanese stories."

"Copycat crime?" Kids everywhere like to buy show paraphernalia. Hell, when I was watching the show, I wouldn't have minded having my own sleek Death Note to use as a daily notebook.

A few months later, in a case local police like to call "the manga murder," two human thighs and a matching torso were found on a Belgian hiking trail next to a handwritten note that read, "I am Kira" -- a phrase used in the original manga. Some suspect a serial killer was involved; others call the incident a grisly prank played by med students with access to spare body parts.

I don't really see what this has to do with any of the deaths in Death Note, just a tag that shows that the person involved is a fan. BIG DEAL. It has a broad following - some of the followers are guaranteed to be crazies. It has even less to do with "manga" as a whole, so I hate that they call it "the manga murder."

Then, students in South Carolina, Virginia and Alabama were suspended for carrying around death note replicas that listed their enemies.

Some parents and teachers are furious that such a morbid idea is being marketed to children, and some have called for Death Note, in its various incarnations, to be banned in the United States.

Alright, I can see how this might be worrisome, but it's not uncommon for students to have a list of people they hate. I think the Death Note is actually a pretty obvious metaphor for the common notion "he's going in my black book" or "she's going on my blacklist."

I agree that it probably shouldn't be marketed to very young children, but I don't really think it is. The majority of older kids who watch it can handle it. Parents, it is your responsibility to notice if your kids are in the small percentage who cannot watch violence without being adversely affected. If your child is locked in their room watching it all day long, or carrying a "death note" to school, you can then ask the obvious question: "Is my kid a school bomber in the making, or is he just a very impressionable consumer/otaku?" I mean, this goes for any overt obsession with violent media, a la Marilyn Manson or Grand Theft Auto.

To boot, unlike in most violent songs or games, the killer here is morally scrutinized throughout and (SPOILER!) earns his due punishment/goes batty. Also, the way the city shows a polarized reaction to the "killer who only goes after bad guys" is nothing less than social commentary (see Showtime's Dexter).

I do, however, love the final quote from the director, which echoes one of Cher's more brilliant lines in Clueless.

Kaneko, the movie's director, says he thinks it's ridiculous that there's a controversy about the franchise.

"If preventing them from seeing this movie is going to make kids better, then why not prevent them from watching all bad news?" Kaneko says.

Conclusion: If you haven't watched Death Note or Dexter yet, you should.

This is why I love anime

Because they get ZERO credit on the official website or in the trailer, you should know that animation studios involved (fuck the directors!) include:

Madhouse
This studio does EVERYTHING from old classics like Vampire Hunter D and Ninja Scroll to the newer adaptations of Satoshi Kon's films (Perfect Blue, Tokyo Godfathers, Paprika). They've also contributed to the animated The Boondocks cartoon, the Ghibli film Howl's Moving Castle, and a host of other regularly syndicated anime.

Production I.G.
Another amazing animation studio. They've worked on the Ghost in the Shell movies and TV series (way better than the movies, in my opinion), FLCL, Patlabor (oldie!), and the Evangelion movies. They were also brought in for that animation sequence in Kill Bill vol. 1.

Studio 4°C.
They have Spriggan and Tekkon Kinkreet under their belt, and did a few of the shorts featured on The Animatrix. They've also done music videos for the likes of Glay, Ayumi Hamasaki, Utada Hikaru, Linkin Park (remember "Breaking the Habit"?) and Kanye, apparently.

SO EXCITED!!

Batman: Gotham Knight - Official Site

another booyeah

Gay marriage legal in California. For good.

YAY US!!

happy dinner

I was going to try a new ramen place with a friend yesterday, but she had to cancel. I was a tiny bit sad until it started raining cats and dogs outside (thunder and lightning, finally!) and I made myself (more like I assembled) this delicious dinner.


Look how freakin colorful it is! Many colors usually means healthy but... I'm not so sure in this case.

Here's the most important thing you can know about Japan before coming: they refuse to crisp bacon. You can tell the restaurant, "I want it crispy, cook it until it BURNS!" but you will get mildly chewy strips at best. SO, I caved and bought some fat-ass strips of bacon at the deli and crisped the crap out of them. Grabbed a heaping of fresh lettuce, a lesser amount of onions, a few giant slices of tomato... loaded it all into two toasty slices of homemade whole wheat (booyah!)... and voila! Perfect BLT.

The only thing that could have made this better is homemade sourdough whole wheat, but let's just say I gave up my sourdough efforts for the time being. Sigh. Too many variables for such a weird cooking environment.

Strawberries were on sale - a basket for 200yen. This might sound ridiculous but it's not bad for Japan. I am also excited about some slightly green on-sale mangoes I got that are waiting on the sidelines.

On the way home, I made my first visit to an Italian-style pastry shop that I never see anyone go into... and yet I know it's making business somehow. I picked out a lemon curd tart, saving the panna cotta and tiramisu staples for next time. I ordered it by the Italian name on the label, surprising the Japanese pastry chef who had to check which item I was pointing to.

I really, really love treating myself to nice desserts. A crap dinner is all but forgotten with a sublime dessert. There is a nice French patisserie on the way home as well, so maybe I'll have to alternate week by week.

Nerd evolution, 98% complete

I finally gone and done one of the more nerdy things I've ever considered doing in my life...which is to say, I've joined an anime fansubbing group! Heh heh! It's only been a day and I've already learned a lot about the process. Anyway, this will be a really interesting way to keep my Japanese from getting rusty. Man, I had to listen to and translate an audio clip to audition as a translator, and it was hard! Well, the hardest part was transcribing the audio without visual cues. I would instinctually think they were trying to say one thing, but the grammar would tell me otherwise. Blah. I'm hoping that even though the show contains a lot more technical jargon and keigo, it'll be easier to translate with situational context (and I wouldn't be working alone).

The anime is Saiunkoku Monogatari (season 2). It's quite good, especially if you're interested in the culture and style of government present in medieval China (i.e., oodles of erhu music and chrysanthemum tea, ahhh). I know no one who reads this is as big of an anime nerd as I am, but I'll just say that it reminds me more of the political intrigue of Juuni Kokuki than the fluffy romance/drama of Fushigi Yuugi. Yep. An empty comparison for all.


In other news, and I think I'm in love with Vampire Weekend. "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" is the shit!

Vietnamese coffee pwnz j00

I brought back a bag of Trung Nguyen #3 from Vietnam, mostly as an afterthought. I figured I'd need it, since I'd be jetlagged and I had finished off my last batch from Beethoven before setting out.

Well, I'm so glad I managed to stuff it in my suitcase, because this iced coffee I'm drinking now kicks some serious ass. Melted Haagen-Dazs, anyone? It was worth it even though it took an eternity to brew (metal drip), and even though it'll probably keep me up all night. But who cares when we're getting five earthquakes a night anyway?

Next I'm going to try it through the AeroPress with a long wait and double filter, because what's more fun than brewing with the AeroPress?

Can I get a hallelujah?

In Google reader you can now add a comment to shared items. That pretty much seals the deal; my shared feeds will gradually replace this blog. I spend a few hours a month blogging compared to several hours a day reading feeds.

I could profess my love for Google reader some more, but I do have to say it's draining to come back from travel and see 1000+ unread posts. It's a good thing I don't have a real job.

Check my shared feeds here and also up and to the right.

home is where the convenience is

I barely registered leaving Singapore this morning on a 6AM flight. I've been sleeping intermittently through flight, movies, meals, regular trains, bullet train, subway since then. (Ooh, I did get to see Jumper and a fantastically cheesy bollywood movie called Aaja Nachle. They really have the weirdest mix of movie selection on Northwest flights. Home Alone 3? Phonebooth? Why?)

I got into Sendai a few hours ago, and it actually feels really good to be back in Japan...if not a little weird. It's weird being the tourist amongst the Japanese again, when a few days ago I was having fun picking the Japanese out from the other East-Asian tourists.

Anyway, it was good that we transited through Singapore between Cambodia and Japan. At least, there's less sticker-shock that way, though no less culture-shock going from ethnic melting pot to near-homogeneity.

I've been sifting through mail, laundry, and photos for the past couple hours, but I should be sleeping. I'll probably lie awake with regret, because I really should have eaten more mangosteens.