Happy New Year

Happy New Year and welcome to 2007.

I didn’t really do anything special on New Year’s Eve. I was invited to a party in the Twin Cities, but seeing as how I had to be at work at 6:30am this morning, I opted not to make the trek down to the cities. I did spend some time looking at an amusing website yesterday (not that this is in anyway related to New Year’s Eve): Engrish.com. I especially recommend the buildings, clothing, and signs/posters categories, but I found amusing pictures in all of the categories.

I mentioned briefly in my last post that Christmas was good. I did receive a couple of nice presents I’m itching to tear into. One was Dashiell Hammett: Complete Novels: Red Harvest / The Dain Curse / The Maltese Falcon / The Glass Key / The Thin Man. As the title suggests this book contains all five Dashiell Hammett crime novels in one volume. I’ve started in on the The Thin Man which was adapted into a really good movie of the same name. The movie spawned a number of sequels the first two are also quite good, the others aren’t as good, but are still okay. I’m also excited about the trade paperback for Marvel 1602 Neil Gaiman’s very interesting re-envisioning of the Marvel universe in the late Elizabethan era. I’m also probably going to spend the next few days putting together the furniture that I got for Christmas (two new chairs that I thought I needed, and one end table that my mother thought I needed).

New Year’s Day seems like as good a time as any to do the traditional taking stock of the last year, and thinking about the future. For my purposes I’m limiting this exercise to the state of this blog. Well my blog has been in existence for five months, I’m pretty sure this beats the hell out of any previous attempt at keeping a journal I’ve ever made. I’ve averaged 3.8 posts per month over the past five months, that’s just a bit lower then what I’d like it to be (I’m thinking four posts a month is a pretty good target or roughly one post a week). Of course if I drop the first two posts which were really just me throwing something up to get this off the ground, then my average drops to 3.4 posts per month which is still better then I’ve ever done in the past. October and November were a bit disappointing as I let myself get too distracted by first City of Heroes, and then by anime, but I’m pretty happy with December’s output as I’m not really watching any less anime yet I still made time to write some posts.

I’m still searching around for what I want this blog to focus on. I’m doing an okay job of talking about the anime I’m watching, although I feel like sometimes I’m really just mentioning it in passing and I should delve into the topic a bit more deeply more like a review. On the other hand, I’m not really sure I want to review anime; still I think I’ll resolve (an appropriate thing to do this time of year) to make sure I’m doing more then throwing out lists of what anime I’m currently watching. I still haven’t talked about either web comics or comic books at all. I have put some thought into doing a web comic post I’ve been thinking something along the lines of linking to individual strips that I found particularly good/moving/funny. Part of the problem with doing a web comic post is I feel like most of the web comics I’m reading are pretty well known (as far as web comics go) so anything I’d have to say about them would be pretty redundant. I haven’t had anything to say about HeroClix either, but that is mostly because August is the last time I did anything with my HeroClix (played a game, purchased more, etc.).

There some things I’ve tried that I’m not so sure about. My short flirtation with listing the number of songs currently in my iTunes library comes to mind as a prime example of what I’m talking about. I’m not sure what I was thinking there, mostly it was just done in an effort to find something to post about. To a lesser extent I also think about the times I mentioned the passing of somebody famous. I go back and forth on this one; I feel I did have some things to say regarding the deaths of Maynard Ferguson and Steve Irwin – mostly about the things I was thinking about when I heard of their deaths as opposed to things directly related to them. I’m not as sure about the post where I mentioned the deaths of Cory Lidle and Buck O’Neil. I certainly had less to say about Cory Lidle’s plane crash then I did about either of the first two celebrities, but then again his unfortunate death didn’t have as big an effect on me as the passing of the previously mentioned people. I’m rather disappointed that I could only muster two sentences about the passing of Buck O’Neil, he was a very interesting guy and I should have been able to say more about him then well he died, and here is a sentence referencing an event that showed his character. I think this is a major reason why I didn’t post anything about James Brown’s recent passing. I know that he was a major musical figure, who had a massive impact on numerous future musicians, but I personally have hardly listened to any of his music. So I wouldn’t have had much to say beyond what I basically just said.

My point here is I’m not a journalist, I’m not writing this blog to deliver news to the masses, so if I’m going to mention a news item I feel like I better have something personal to say about it, or else why am I bothering to post about it. This becomes all the more evident when you look at events with a bit more gravity then the death of a musician. I certainly could have said something about any number of recent events that most people would consider major news. There was the election in November, the execution of Saddam Hussein, and death of President Gerald Ford to give three examples of things I considered, but ultimately decided against posting about. To be fair these three examples all have roots in politics and I view politics as a subject well beyond the intended scope of this blog. I’m quite sure I could have found plenty to say about all three of those topics, but none of it would have had anything to do with my geeky hobbies. Not to say I’ll never talk about a political topic here, it would just likely be something that has a great deal of personal significance to me, otherwise if I feel a pressing need to start talking politics I’ll probably just start a second blog to do so on (a scenario that while not impossible is unlikely).

This brings up the question of just who am I writing this blog for. My first reaction to that is I’m writing this blog for myself, and for my own amusement. That however begs the question: if I’m writing this only for me do I care if anybody else reads this? The answer to that question is mixed. On the surface if I’m writing this blog only for my own amusement, then of I shouldn’t care if anybody else is reading it. However I have told people about this blog, I’ve even asked people their opinions about specific entries proof that I do want people to read this. Ultimately I think that this blog is too personal to hold much interest for anybody that doesn’t already know me, but I’m fine with that. So a more complete answer to the original question would be I’m writing this blog both to amuse myself, and to provide friends and family with a little insight into what I’m up to. If other people read this well that’s great, but I’m not writing this to attract an audience. I’ll keep writing this as long as it amuses me to do so, and as long as I’m writing it I’ll work on making sure it informs the people I know of what I’m up to (which usually isn’t that much).

Okay that’s enough about the status of this blog. I do think I’ll continue this introspective kick I’m on, but let’s shift focus to my bread and butter: anime. I’ve noticed that I am often slightly hesitant to finish anime series, and sometimes I’m reluctant to catch up to the most recent episode of an ongoing series. I think my reasons for doing so, while related, are a bit different in each case. In regards to watching the most recent episode of an ongoing series I think my reluctance is due mainly to impatience. I don’t like stopping in the middle of a story arc, and waiting for the next release. It is the same reason I have a tendency to watch multiple episodes of a series at a time even when I intend to only watch one or two. My reasons for occasionally delaying watching the ending of a series has more to do with me not wanting the story to end. I tend to feel a bit bittersweet about the ending of any anime that I enjoyed. I’m always happy to see a well crafted story through to the end, but I do feel a little melancholy that there is nothing more for me to enjoy. To a lesser extent fear of not liking the ending can also play a factor. Anime seems to have a tendency to leave a question or two unanswered while some of this has to be expected, if you are watching a finite series (usually 13 or 26 episodes) based on an ongoing manga unless the anime breaks with the manga and tells a story not found in the source material it isn’t going to be able to answer questions or resolve plot points that haven’t been answered or resolved in the manga. While I can understand why that happens, it doesn’t mean I don’t on occasion find it annoying.

When you stop and think about it my solution to these “problems” is pretty illogical. In order to avoid having the anime end, or avoid having to wait for the next release I just stop watching it. Never-the-less I actually do this - it is going on three weeks since I watched episode nine of Busō Renkin, I was certainly enjoying the series, but I didn’t want to wait for the fansub of episode 11 so I haven’t watched episode 10. I’m doing the same thing with Avatar: The Last Airbender (not actually an anime, but the principle is the same) it has been at least a month since I watched episode 36, I’ve got episodes 37-40, but I don’t want to finish the second season and have to wait for the third season to air later this year. The only explanation I can think of is I’d rather stop watching an anime by choice then be forced to stop by reality. I’m not sure what that says about me, other than I’m apparently a very silly man.

Leaving behind any pretense of introspection, but sticking with anime I recently finished one series and started watching two more. The series I finished is ×××HOLiC, based on the manga of the same name by CLAMP. First let me say thank you wikipedia for finally telling me how to pronounce that ridiculous name (it’s just holic the ××× is ment to be a variable). I’ve been reading the manga since it first became available domestically through Del Rey, and I quite enjoy it. The anime (24 episodes) is pretty faithful, but slightly less dark in tone (also see below regarding Tsubasa Chronicle). It centers on Watanuki Kimihiro a high school student cursed by the ability to see spirits (and is constantly bothered by them). Fate however has Kimihiro cross paths with a witch named Ichihara Yūko, and for a price Yūko will grant people’s wishes. Kimihiro’s wish is to no longer be able to spirits; the price of this wish is becoming Yūko’s servant until such a time as he’s worked long enough to pay for his wish. I should point that contrary to how my brief description of the setup might read this isn’t a shōjo story nor is it a romantic comedy.

One of the series that I started watching is Samurai 7 which is based on the movie Seven Samurai directed by Akira Kurosawa (also edited and co-written by him). I’ve watched the first 14 episodes and I’m enjoying it. The setting has an interesting steampunk feel to it, and the juxtaposition of the highly mechanical bandits versus the mostly feudal Japan-esque samurai (the character of Kikuchiyo being one obvious exception) is quite interesting. Equally interesting are the contrasts between the obviously feudal political system, and the mostly sci-fi setting as well as the difference between the lifestyles of the peasants verses both the bandits and the residents of the cities. Thus far the anime has been pretty faithful to the movie. Not surprisingly some elements have expanded and others added, but that was basically a necessity the movie is just over 200 minutes long which would only give enough material for about 8 or 9 episodes (a far cry from the 26 episodes in the series). The anime has already got me thinking about watching the movie again, and if I do that (an easy thing to do since I do own Seven Samurai) I’ll probably get the urge to watch The Magnificent Seven again as well (that I don’t own so it will be a little harder to do).

The other anime I started is Tsubasa Chronicle which is based on the manga Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE by CLAMP (they seem to like odd capitalization). I’ve also been reading the Tsubasa manga since Del Rey started publishing the English language version. Thus far there are 52 episodes of Tsubasa Chronicle (two 26 episode seasons with a third on its way probably this spring). I’ve watched the first 12 episodes and I’ve enjoyed them so far. The story revolves mainly around Sakura and Syaoran, characters originally from Card Captor Sakura (although this Sakura and Syaoran are from a different world and thus not the same as the CCS characters). To greatly simplify the set up Sakura is the princess of the country of Clow. Her brother Tōya is the king, and Yukito is the high priest. Syaoran is her childhood friend, whom she is in love with. Through the machinations of an evil wizard looking to obtain the strange power Sakura possess, she loses her soul and her memories. In order to save her life and recover her soul and memories Yukito sends Sakura and Syaoran to a certain wish granting witch named Yūko. Yūko’s price from helping Syaoran restore Sakura’s memories is his relationship with Sakura. Syaoran may be able to restore her memories and soul, but Sakura will never recover her memories of Syaoran. Syaoran agrees to pay that price and Yūko grants him the ability to travel to other dimensions where he will be able to find Sakura’s memories manifested in the form of a feather. I’m skipping over two other characters who each have their own reasons for traveling the dimensions, and make there own sacrifices to Yūko and travel with Sakura and Syaoran, but that is the crux of the story. In both the manga and anime other characters from earlier CLAMP works continually show up (in slightly different versions of their original appearance), and Yūko continues to play a role (the connection to Tsubasa is almost completely removed in the ×××HOLiC anime, but does come up in the manga).

Finally a woot for this being post number 20.