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Chonmage

Maybe my next hairstyle should be something like this one (japanese link, but just go look at the pictures). Of course, I probably can't find someone with 10 years of experience in this neighborhood. And, oh yeah, it would probably look ridiculous on me. Sigh...

Movie Review: The Blind Swordsman's Cane Sword (Zatoichi tekka tabi)

A simpler entry in the series, here we get Zatoichi trying to give up his gangster life when he discovers his sword is at the end of its life. Of course, things don't work out so easily and Zatoichi gets drawn in to try to save the town from a corrupt official. I like the Zatoichi movies that more directly address Zatoichi's central conflict of being most proficient at killing people. If force is your most powerful skill, it seems, you will always wind up using it eventually. Even if you attempt to use it carefully, innocent people will be hurt, and you just hope fewer get hurt than if you didn't get involved. If only real life were as simple as Zatoichi movies, and if only the most powerful were always so pure in their intentions...

Movie Review: Zatoichi and the Fugitives (Zatôichi hatashi-jô)

You knew as soon as Zatoichi became friends with the doctor in this movie that he is going to get injured worse than normal. And, like most of the Zatoichi movies themselves, this one doesn't disappoint. Corrupt officials, ruthless gangs, saving innocents - this has all the classic elements, although not as much gambling. Zatoichi uses his reputation to help save a woman enslaved at a silk factory, but this of course leads to people trying to kill him and more innocent people being affected. The scene where Zatoichi attempts to remove a bullet from his shoulder without any help must have been a huge influence on whoever wrote that scene in the Rambo movie. And Zatoichi coming back to get the official that ordered his death was nicely done, with Zatoichi's style changing to a minimal effort, get out of my way attack. Nothing too spectacular in this episode, but a solid entry.

Movie Review: Samaritan Zatoichi (Zatôichi kenka-daiko)

I was a little confused when I started watching this Zatoichi movie. It reminded me of the first movie, where Zatoichi is unquestionably a gangster. It was surprising to see him actually kill someone for no reason other than because the local boss asked. It was also surprising to not only see him lose at dice, but to see him actually try to cheat. This seems to go against the style of most Zatoichi movies - if his heart is pure, he always wins. Maybe this was an attempt to get the series into a darker, more "realistic" territory. Unfortunately, this movie also includes a silly fight scene where Zatoichi is wrapped up in a mat and has to hop around. And this could have been such a good entry in the series - the scenes between Zatoichi and Osode were really well done, with both actors being convincing as Zatoichi spends the whole movie trying to make up for his mistake at the beginning. But ultimately, this one didn't work for me.

Moving

I'm still sort of in the process of switching things over here, but I think most stuff is OK now. I still have a huge pile of things I should write about here.

Good thing I have a few brownies and rice krispie treats left to keep me energized!

War

Well, it looks like another war has started. Sometimes the optimistic part of me hopes we are moving beyond the need for wars, and sometimes I am reminded that war is one of the few constants in human history.

At least this time there is a chance of getting a little less filtered news from an Iraqi living in Baghdad and a reporter posting directly from northern Iraq. Maybe if enough people around the world start interacting with people from different parts of the world we won't resort to violence so easily.

Book Review: Pattern Recognition (Gibson)

Once again, William Gibson reminds me that he is one of my favorite authors. The book started a little slow for me, but once I got into it I had to read it straight through. I love the main character's most obvious trait - an allergy to certain popular brands - and how it isn't exploited or used as the only defining characteristic for the main character. The book is a gentle reminder of the prevalence of advertising and advertising strategies everywhere in our lives. But it is also a reflection on people's need to search for things, especially origins (who made this thing I find fascinating?) and resolutions (what happened to the person that disappeared?). The payoff for this book isn't the actual answer to these questions, which avoid the more obvious sci-fi aspects of most of his other books, but do rely on Japanese otakus and mysterious Russians and a few too many coincidences. The payoff is the emotional scenes in the middle of the book, where the main character isn't sure what is going on, isn't sure who to trust, isn't sure what to do next, but knows that she needs to keep going anyways. She is a very sympathetic and likeable character and it is enjoyable to see her confront obstacles and overcome what she can. The conclusion does get to be too expository, but maybe that is why this book got categorized as a mystery - the final resolution scene with all the players gathered together by someone who knows what is going on. But even if the end was a little too nice and neat, it didn't detract from my enjoyment, it felt like a solid resolution to what had happened. And the book makes me think I should pay more attention to the details of what is going on around me, because there is always something interesting to be learned.

Taxes

For the first time in a long time, I got my taxes done earlier than the weekend before they were due! Go me! Final results this year: better than last year. But I should donate more money to charities.

Ultimate Egg

I am very lucky that my favorite girl is an expert in advanced food technologies. With a little help from these people I received a chocolate filled egg:

What is shea butter?

According to this BBC article it isn't just shortening, but the product of an African nut.

Color Blind

It's always nice to know that I don't appear to be color blind.

Comic Review: Quit Your Job (Kochalka)

I am a big fan of James Kochalka's comics. He has a great way of capturing the emotional feel of everyday events and expanding it a little to make the world seem like a more interesting and magical place than it often seems. This is a very brief story about a snowstorm, a magic ring, a coffee shop, someone quitting, and a trip in the space shuttle. As usual for these things, initially it doesn't seem to be an entirely coherent storyline. Some of it is obviously based in truth, some obviously based in fantasy, but it is hard to understand why they are combined together the way they are. I worry about putting too much meaning into all of it - maybe it isn't really meant to be analyzed deeply. But some scenes really work, regardless of the rest of the story, and make the whole thing worthwhile - especially the scenes where Magic Boy gets sad about Kitty leaving.

Perhaps the most disappointing thing was that the cover promised an introduction by Jeff Smith, but there was none. Maybe that was only for the first edition? Oh well. Maybe I need to buy more Kochalka Quality hot sauce so they can afford to put the introduction back in next time.

Making Yogurt

Someday, I will make my own yogurt. And if that goes well, I would love to try and make my own cheese. Mmmm...

Concert Report: The Mountain Goats, John Vanderslice

The Mountain Goats are one of my favorite bands. Bottom of the Hill is one of my favorite places to see a show. So imagine how lucky I felt to go with my favorite girl, introducing her to the excitement that is a Mountain Goats show! and my favorite show-going friend met us there, although he has seen them before.

We missed the first two bands and arrived in the middle of John Vanderslice's set. It sounded better than last time I saw him - the drummer was just totally on today. Was that the same drummer as last time? They wisely had his set-up at the front of the stage so everyone could see him rocking out. I also realized I have all of John's CDs, so I knew every song he played. The version of "Do You Remember" was awesome. As they were leaving the stage they said they'd be back to play more with the Mountain Goats. What? That sounded potentially cool, but not the typical MG sound.

But then it was time for the Mountain Goats! And John started the set as usual, with a guitar and a chair and a "Hi! We're the Mountain Goats." He played some good stuff, and the crowd was very into it, as always. Then it came time for a bass player to join him, someone from Discothi-q. It definitely made the sound fuller, but they played a few slower songs which aren't my favorites. But they picked it up a little (the Old Granddad had kicked in...) and played a lot of stuff from the more recent CDs. He did a bit of "I wonder where our love has gone" acapella while his guitar got retuned, although it felt a little rushed this time. And he refused to play "Cubs in Five" despite lots of people hoping for it. Oh well. He did a really nice version of "Source Decay", complete with a nice but sad intro story.

John Vanderslice and his drummer (forgot the name...) came up, and they really rocked out, you couldn't really hear John's guitar but he screamed over the top of everything and the crowd actually got moving a little. They pretended it was the last song, but we knew it wasn't. They eventually came back and played "The Best Ever Death Metal Band In Denton" which was awesome. John's vocals were clear even though the band was rocking, and the whole crowd joined in the chorus. Lots of fun! I was convinced, the Mountain Goats as a real band could be a good thing.

They finished things out with just John and the bassist, though, doing "The Monkey Song", "Going to Georgia", and "The Sign". (OK, I'm not sure those were really the final three except for The Sign, since I am never good at remembering set lists.)

Mountain Goats shows always seem to short, and this was no exception. I was glad I got to share it with someone special, though, who finally understood why I put all those MG songs on the CDs I make for her.

Vacation

Sorry for the little break here, but I have a very important guest visiting. Website updates have to wait while I am trying to treat my favorite girl to an extra-nice weekend full of food and snuggles and mountain goats.