October 18, 2004
Godzilla Stomps Kansas
The University of Kansas has been celebrating Godzilla's 50th Anniversary with a film festival, exhibitions, lectures and so on. Good on them!
Posted by Innocent Sidekick of Evil at 10:19 AM | Comments (0)
October 04, 2004
All Your Bases Belong To Us
Among the cool stuff I saw at SPX on Saturday was a series of 50 cent "Pocket Editors", little pocket-sized (natch) grammar guides. I remember these because one of them in particular fixed the grammar of the infamous Zero Wing video game (of "All your base are belong to us" fame) Although I didn't buy one, I did remember the URL on the back - so here, for all to see and enjoy (and possibly pick up some grammar points from): Pocket Editor #2.
Posted by Innocent Sidekick of Evil at 09:44 PM | Comments (0)
October 01, 2004
A silent Move
This blog is now running in MySQL. Pardon our dust.
Posted by Innocent Sidekick of Evil at 10:06 PM | Comments (0)
September 30, 2004
testing
My categories have disappeared!
:edit: aaaaand now they're back. Stupid template typos.:) magic resumes.
Posted by Innocent Sidekick of Evil at 11:58 PM | Comments (0)
We've moved!
Presenting... the new and improved Screaming Into the Vacuum. It took a lot of sweat, tears and bad unuseful dreams to get here, but I made it.
Please bear with me as I stretch my wings. A few things may be knocked over in the process while I get used to this new blog, but I will do my best to keep them small.
Yoroshiku onegai shimasu!
Posted by Innocent Sidekick of Evil at 10:09 PM | Comments (0)
September 14, 2004
toy story
I was amused to see a commercial for the new "Tokyo-A-Go-Go" line of the Bratz skanky plastic moneyspinners fashion dolls the other day. How far we have come from a few years ago, when Mattel launched a new Barbie line (the "high school Barbie") and one of the dolls had a manga as an accessory. But it wasn't Barbie, oh my no. Can't have our all-American blondie associated with that foreign stuff, now can we?
It's funny to see toy manufacturers blindly leap onto the trend bandwagons without really understanding the trends. I remember seeing (during the Harry Potter explosion) a line of "teen witch" Barbies (of which Barbie was one) wearing frothy gothy velvets and complete with cauldrons, wands, and spellbooks. (Ah, here's a link from SFGate....Secret Spells Barbie. Funny stuff. PG-13.) I wonder how those went down in Peoria.... more than that, though, I am seriously curious about how Wiccans reacted.
:edit: oh-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho... it's not just Secret Spells Barbie, it's Secret Spells Barbie and the Charm Girls. Mm yup. This was a real product line.
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Posted by Innocent Sidekick of Evil at 01:15 PM | Comments (0)
September 10, 2004
Yomiko Readman, meet Flynn Carsen
USA Today reports of "The Librarian, an "action-adventure hero" named Flynn Carsen, whose job involves "protecting mythological items, including Excalibur and the Ark of the Covenant, in a repository beneath the New York Public Library." Carsen is played by Noah Wyle, who surely doesn't mean to offend geeks everywhere when he says "Instead of having the protagonist be a cool, dashing, heroic type, he's more of a brainiac."
What, you can't be a brainiac AND be cool, dashing and heroic?
Also, this reeks-of-failed-pilot-TV-movie smacks far too familiarly (is that a word?) of R.O.D.'s premise. Let's hope Carsen doesn't unexpectedly develop the powers of paper manipulation besides his apparently supernatural mastery of the Dewey decimal system (the way they hype this up it's like the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle of library organization. Folks, it's not that hard. Unless of course you've never even been in a library.)
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Posted by Innocent Sidekick of Evil at 01:09 PM | Comments (0)
August 28, 2004
Sakura Wars 5 cast
The Sakura Taisen mailing list has been buzzing lately since the names and faces of the New York Kagekidan for the 5th game were revealed... the consensus seems to be they're boring. Looking at the seiyuu talent lined up it looks like most of them are in an alto/contralto range and play generally calm, un-genki 
characters (the seiyuu for the main character, Gemini Sunrise, played Hikaru no Go's Akira Touya in another life)- with the exception of Momiji Souma's seiyuu, who plays yet another hyper character - so it'll be interesting to see what the result will be. Although on reflection, a nice low-pitched range of voices would surely be better than a bunch of sopranos squeaking throughout the game.
The only person I was really interested in was Ookawa Shinjirou, the player character replacing Oogami, and it turns out that not only is it Oogami's nephew, but he's a naval lieutenant (Oogami started out as an ensign). He's supposed to be 19, but they're drawing him really young and pretty. I thought he was one of the girls until I read a translation.
Perhaps an effort to bring in female players...? (although technically Shinjirou would be seen very rarely.)
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Posted by Innocent Sidekick of Evil at 09:33 AM | Comments (0)
August 16, 2004
truths of downloading
If you start 2 Bittorrent downloads of 2 episodes of the same series at the same time, the later episode will always proceed 40% faster than the earlier episode, and finish 4 hours ahead.
*sigh*
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Posted by Innocent Sidekick of Evil at 09:07 PM | Comments (0)
Uichi Buredo?
Anime news sites are buzzing about the news that Gonzo is going to produce an anime based on Top Cow's Witchblade comic property, but will replace Sara whatserface (a NYC cop I think - one of those gritty urban professionals) with a Japanese character. Gee. Wonder if all those otaku who scream bloody murder whenever a foreign property is adapted with a blonde gwailo replacing the lead character are going to squawk about this one. (not that I'm saying it's right to replace the lead character willy-nilly to attract a whider audience.)
Personally, I always regarded Witchblade as one of those comics that displays busty women armored with +20 Bulletproof Nudity to get adolescent males to buy them. I understand there was a TV show, but then the lead actress checked into rehab, and... yeah. 
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Posted by Innocent Sidekick of Evil at 04:26 PM | Comments (0)
August 11, 2004
Kinokuniya dotcom observations
I've just noticed that Kinokuniya's New York site is all in Japanese - indeed, all their US BookWeb location sites (East Coast and West Coast) are entirely in Japanese.
Whereas if you go to their various other country locations (S'pore, M'sia, Thailand, Oz) they're all in English. (Searching for Japanese books brings up Japanese results, though.) Most puzzling. I guess the US stores are more tightly targeted at a Japanese-reading audience.
A note for those visiting the Rockefeller Center Kinokuniya in NY - the manga is UPSTAIRS. I wasted a good half-hour searching for the manga section (having only a precious hour before closing time!!!) before finally noticing the stairs. I suppose it's so that grown-ups can browse the manga without getting funny looks. 
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Posted by Innocent Sidekick of Evil at 09:47 AM | Comments (0)
August 04, 2004
Chef Sakai :: Welcome
Welcome indeed! This appears to be the official Iron Chef Sakai site.
ChefSakai.com
That reminds me, I've been remiss in stalking Morimoto and Kobe. I need their autographs to complete my Iron Chef book.
Then of course I will also need to get the autographs of Rtd ICs Nakamura, Ishinabe, and the elusive Michiba. Thank goodness there's always only been one Iron Chef Chinese - and I got his autograph already!.
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Posted by Innocent Sidekick of Evil at 01:08 PM | Comments (0)
August 03, 2004
Practically on my doorstep!
More and more it seems, the stars are aligning in a path that points towards home.
Goerge Lucas opens Singapore studio (Reuters UK)
Although it remains to be seen if the studio will be merely a glorified sweatshop.
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Posted by Innocent Sidekick of Evil at 02:06 PM | Comments (0)
August 02, 2004
Washington Post Express, are you listening?
Scott Kurtz is offering PVP to newspapers for free.
This is the PERFECT opportunity to replace that back page Monty imitator.
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Posted by Innocent Sidekick of Evil at 11:48 AM | Comments (0)
July 29, 2004
to hear some people tell it...
... you'd think no girls were reading comics before manga came along.
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Posted by Innocent Sidekick of Evil at 11:37 AM | Comments (0)
Regarding Kabuki
I had a good time at the Kabuki performance at the Warner Theatre last night. I didn't understand half of what they were singing, but it was a very dynamic and colorful performance. Also, stage samurai are way underrated.
I think, though, that Ticketmaster should require ticket buyers to state their height ahead of time. I thought we had pretty good seats until a 6-ft 300-pound person sat in front of me, forcing me to crane my neck at a 45-degree angle for 2 hours. Nevertheless it was a good show.
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Posted by Innocent Sidekick of Evil at 10:47 AM | Comments (0)
July 26, 2004
Penny Arcade speaks for all of us!
There are three people whom I would gladly see publicly and abjectly humiliated at a convention:
1) Kevin J. Anderson
2) Stephen Foster (ADV) and
3) Rob Liefeld
Thank you, Gabe and Tycho.
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Posted by Innocent Sidekick of Evil at 02:22 PM | Comments (0)
Dang! Our secret is out!
From USA Today's report on Comic-con:
'These are the fans you want to impress,' said star Lance Henriksen. 'Because if they don't like what you show them, you're cooked. These guys know how to use the Internet.'
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Posted by Innocent Sidekick of Evil at 10:17 AM | Comments (0)
3rd Star Wars movie titled
Revenge of the Sith.(washingtonpost.com)
Well, at least it's not as dorky as The Phantom Menace or Attack of the Clones. A carrot of hope?
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Posted by Innocent Sidekick of Evil at 10:11 AM | Comments (0)
July 22, 2004
DC's CMX previews
DC's manga line starts distro in October with 3 titles. So far the most interesting appears to be Land of the Blindfolded.
on a completely unrelated note, isn't Supergirl, er, dead?
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Posted by Innocent Sidekick of Evil at 11:32 AM | Comments (0)
Japanese kids' names today
An article in the Japan Times Online points out the evolution of children's names in Japan. It's interesting that many of the names mentioned in the article that started gaining popularity in the 80s (for children born in the 70s) appear in manga and anime, though it's really not that unusual, since a manga creator woud want to subliminally imbue their characters with positive qualities. (and just more proof that the Japanese are still hung up on the 80s!)
Also interesting is that Emma and Emily, currently both top girls' names in the US, are also catching on with fashionable Japanese parents - but ..."graceful linen"?
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Posted by Innocent Sidekick of Evil at 10:23 AM | Comments (0)
July 21, 2004
Elegy for a Sonata
So I finally got my act together to make a Shia costume since Koge Donbo is coming to Otakon. (although I'm not sure if he will be flattered by this or run screaming in terror.) Alas and alack, as I was sewing last night, the needle of my trusty Singer Sonata encountered an unfortunately placed pin and went awry. I replaced the needle, but the impact must have thrown something internal out of alignment, because it will no longer catch the bobbin thread. Result: One konked-out Sonata, and a costume in peril.
Oh well, it was 14 years old when I got it... I should be surprised that it worked at all.
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Posted by Innocent Sidekick of Evil at 10:28 AM | Comments (0)
July 19, 2004
Warm fuzzies on a Monday morning
Several major players in the US anime/manga industry have teamed up with Anime News Network to form Project: New Future, a noble effort to get otaku off their couches and out to help cheer up kids with cancer.
Among the participants are TOKYOPOP, FUNimation, Bandai Entertainment, Dark Horse Comics, Urban Vision, Animerica, and The Right Stuf International. The idea is that otaku go spend time with kids at the hospital or at a camp, and then send their experience to ANN, who in turn sends them a gift.
The cynical part of me wonders how many otaku will lie to get free loot; the genki part of me thinks this is a great idea, although really it shouldn't take a promise of free loot to get people out to help the less fortunate. But if that's what it takes, well...
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Posted by Innocent Sidekick of Evil at 09:45 AM | Comments (0)
July 15, 2004
"Something Like An Autobiography"
Ever since I found out that Akira Kurosawa's birthday was the same as mine and my dad's, and that he was the youngest child in his family like me and my dad, I've felt a certain ....kinship with him. Yes, I know, it's weird, especially since I have nowhere near the same talent nor discipline as Kurosawa-sensei. (Or my dad for that matter.) Nonetheless, I feel strangely pleased at this odd little coincidence.
I'd been wanting to read "Something Like..." for a while, but it proved surprisingly elusive. I finally picked it up at Kinokuniya while in New York last month and have been reading it veeerrrryyy sloooowly. Not because it's bad, but because it's so good that I don't want to finish it; it is the only actual Kurosawa biography, really, and so reading it is like glimpsing the soul of the man himself.
I don't know if this is true of all the legendary filmmakers, but Kurosawa-sensei was one hell of a writer. His words flow smoothly from the page, and yet they resound with a individualistic voice that carries echoes of wise old sages. (I'm also currently reading Anthony Yu's translation of Wu Cheng-Ern's Journey to the West, and it surprises me to see how similar the language patterns in both books sound. Maybe it's something to do with the Sino-type languages.) Bouquets must also be flung in the direction of Audie E. Bock, who did the translation - it must have been difficult to preserve the rhythm and meter of the master's surely unique voice in legible English.
"Something Like..." begins at a fairly early point in Kurosawa-sensei's childhood and ends shortly after the premiere of Rashomon. He went to school, got in trouble, went to calligraphy class, got in trouble, went to kendo, got in trouble, and generally lived a normal and somewhat rambunctious childhood; was good at art; got a little older, and was introduced to film (and revolutionary politics) by his older brother; then he happened to see a newspaper ad for film staff, and that was where it all began.
It's fascinating to see the many influences on his life. The first, of course, was growing up in Taisho-era Japan - a bustling period familiar to fans of Sakura Wars, but not often referred to in the West. (As far as most Westerners are concerned, Japanese history apparently started in 1941.) The great Kanto earthquake, which destroyed the town by first shaking it to its core and then burning what was left in the resulting fire, was a key turning point in young Akira's life: in the quake's aftermath his brother Heigo, for reasons unknown, took him to see the heaps of dead bodies, and told him to remember. This brother later introduced him to the world of Western films, and it soon becomes clear that without the influence of his older brother the world might never have known the name Akira Kurosawa. (Let this be a message to the older siblings of the world. You can nurture greatness. So for heaven's sake, don't screw it up.)
The one strong sense I get from the book is that Kurosawa-sensei himself felt that he was a hack. (Somehow it's a little comforting to know that such a great moviemaker could still see himself through humble eyes. I can think of one who needs that kind of perspective, and his name rhymes with Lodge Mucus... but I digress.) The way Kurosawa-sensei described his life - at least the way that he remembers it - it's as if fortunate things just happened to him. By his own account, he was a lazy slob who always happened to be in the the right place at the right time. It isn't false modesty either - it's stated just the way he saw it. And yet it's obvious that there was more than simply the hand of fate at work - Kurosawa-sensei refers only obliquely to this, but it's fairly clear that he worked pretty damn hard to get to where Fate could find him.
Kurosawa-sensei came from an era before film school, when fledgling directors entered the business armed only with a love of film and the willingness to work hard. I think that's what's missing from film school curriculums these days - at least the film schools that the current crop of directors come from. They spend all their time with their eyes glued to a viewfinder, and never seem to look up and experience the real world and let it inform their storytelling. But I digress again.
At the end of "Something Like..." are a few random notes on filmmaking, appropriately titled "Some Random Notes On Filmmaking." The final random note goes:
I am often asked why I don't pass on to young people what I have accomplished over the years. Actually, I would very much like to do so. Ninety-nine percent of those who worked as my assistant directors have now become directors in their own right. But I don't think any of them took the trouble to learn the most important things.
With this book, he has taught them. Now it is up to them to listen, and to learn.
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Posted by Innocent Sidekick of Evil at 10:18 PM | Comments (0)
July 14, 2004
Gaiman vs McFarlane
Technically manga-related (wherein manga=comics): this case summary of Neil Gaiman's suit against Todd McFarlane regarding the ownership of Spawn makes for an enlightening but more importantly engaging treatise of work for hire. Judge Posner sure knows his comic books.
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Posted by Innocent Sidekick of Evil at 11:37 AM | Comments (0)
July 13, 2004
codec soup
It's probably totally unreasonable of me, but I wish the fansubbers would just pick one codec and stick with it, instead of switching to a new codec every week. It's not like the new codecs are doing anything to reduce file size or improve image/sound quality.
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Posted by Innocent Sidekick of Evil at 06:31 PM | Comments (0)
July 10, 2004
New on BitTorrent
Episodes 3&4 of Samurai 7 (is it 2 or 3 episodes that were aired Saturday night? I'll never be able to keep up with their crazy broadcast schedule). Lunar must have started subbing them as they were airing or something.
AF released a good episode 5 of Samurai Champloo. (There was an earlier version that was apparently translated to French first and then to English. It shows.)*
And Seichi quietly released Sensei no Ojikan 7.
I'm glad to see that the rash of dating-sim-based shows seems to have subsided for now... Hurrah for the antihistamines of good taste!!!
*You know a fansub is bad when even I can tell.
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Posted by Innocent Sidekick of Evil at 09:34 PM | Comments (0)
What I'm Watching/Reading
So I thought I should begin by posting a list of the anime and manga I'm currently following.
(A) = Anime (M) = Manga
| Purchasing: Azumanga Daioh (A) Comic Party (A)(M) Last Exile (A) Chrono Crusade (M) Pitaten (M) Kindaichi Case Files (M) Aria (M) Hikaru no Go (M) (Gensoumaden) Saiyuki (A)(M) Master Keaton (A) ROD The TV (A) | Fansub/Scanlation: Samurai Champloo (A) Samurai 7 (A) Sensei no Ojikan (A) Hikaru no Go (A) Kurau Phantom Memory (A) Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou (M) Yotsubato! (M) Aishiteruze Baby*(A) |
* Frankly, I'm watching this with the same sickened fascination that one has when watching two trains hurtling towards each other.
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Posted by Innocent Sidekick of Evil at 10:07 AM | Comments (0)
