An Era of No Trust or Too Much Trust?

I find myself pondering on how we live in an increasingly confusing time for most people. With trust in governments foundering world wide and growing here in the United States, uncertainty in the future is increasing the distrust of authorities. Well, that and their corrupt actions with Weiner being only the latest public figure to go down in flames. But on the other hand, there is still too much trust in the wildest of conspiracy theories and even more insidious to my thinking, the so called “experts” on any given subject.

The inability to sort fact from fiction has become something of a hallmark of our entertainment driven culture. Reality television is often very scripted (often at a pro wrestling level of sophistication) for one example. Hollywood has always distorted history in favor of drama and that has continued unabated in its junior sibling, television. 

Watching Citizen Kane and the accompanying documentary, talking to some friends about the new Area 51 book, and reading various stories in newspapers that spin facts into fiction has me thinking hard about people’s ability to discriminate what really is going on. I had hoped the worldwide Web would make it easier to find out the truth about things and it has to a very limited degree. With arm chair and accredited experts willing to make stories up out of whole cloth and/or lie to promote an agenda, there are far too many unsubstantiated “facts” available on the Internet. To counter this, it takes skill and an understanding of logic to sort out what is factual versus what is not. That’s a big problem.

Most people don’t make or have the time to dig deeply into a subject even if they knew how to. Human tendency is to leave work to others and then listen to an expert in the field. This is easier and far more convenient than jumping into trying to understand an unfamiliar subject. Add in the catastrophic failure that is our public education system that churns out illiterates from our high schools and colleges when we desperately need critical thinkers… Ugh.

Meanwhile, it is a big assumption to trust that an expert really does know what he is talking about in the first place. We have a lot of theoreticians espousing theories as proven facts or science all over the media. That’s how we get specious junk science such as anthropogenic global warming, mercury in vaccinations causing autism, and Keynesian financial stimulus packages. Note that all three have had proponents with a financial interest in their theory being accepted.

On a lesser, but still disturbing level are conspiracy theories that have gained considerably traction. Examples include Obama not being born in Hawaii, Trig Palin being Bristol’s child, the CIA being behind JFK’s assassination, AIDS being created by the US to wipe out Africans, and any number of chain emails that end up in your inbox. It seems like there is rarely a week that goes by that I don’t see some easily disproved thing in an email. But woe be unto you who try to counter with the truth!

The more dramatic the lie, the more easily it seems to be believed. And once that lie is believed, the harder it is to convince someone of the facts. I know a lot of good people who believe things that are completely untrue and get very upset when informed otherwise. Not upset at being deceived, but at me for challenging things. I admit that I’m burned out on trying to straighten things out and don’t try to as much as I once did.

So people are putting a lot of trust into untrustworthy things even as their trust of institutions dwindle. It makes me wonder if there is such a thing as a law of conservation of trust, where trust lost in one thing has to be transferred to another. We are choosing to trust in things we shouldn’t as a reaction to having our trust in institutions broken.

One thing is for certain, I’m seeing a lot of fear in people’s eyes these days and it really shows up when you start bringing up facts. It may simply be that people are running away from reality.  With a culture mired in perpetual adolescence, I really shouldn’t be surprised by this. So the moral of the story is that we need to be more skeptical and really devote attention to the things that matter. We have entered a time where running away may not be an option for much longer.

In Which I Write About Non-Disastrous Weather

It is nice to talk about the weather and not be complaining. The sun is shining and it is around 65 F out as I type this out.  Or more accurately, typo this out – thank you Windows Live Writer’s spellchecker. A week ago we were suffering from high 90’s and hit 100 on Tuesday with humidity to match.  Today is supposed to hit 75 F with 51% humidity which makes it nearly an ideal day, especially since it isn’t raining.  I’ve had enough rain this year to make me think I live in Seattle.

Snooky, our resident white cat, is wanting me to hold her again. This happens many times a day and she can get quite persistent about. The suggestion to go play outside was ignored, so I’m ignoring her in return.

But back to the weather! It has been a strange year with spring barely making an appearance and the transition to summer being abrupt. So it is nice to have temperatures as low as we are having at the moment. Well, nice for humans, not so nice for plants in the garden or crops in the field.  We hit 48 F for a low yesterday and are seeing lows in the 50’s.

From what I’ve been reading, wheat and corn crops are in trouble this year, so expect shortages and price increases. The wet and low temperatures have set back planting badly in the Midwest, while drought and flooding down south are adding to the woes. Not quite disastrous, but worrisome nonetheless.

Last year, I didn’t get to enjoy summer very much thanks to my health and I’d hoped for a better year in getting outside. So far that hasn’t worked out between health and rain. On good days it rains, on bad days it is sunny out and it seems I can’t win. I am turning into a literally whiter shade of pale.

At least the mild temperatures will allow some more time in painting miniatures and models upstairs in the un-air conditioned work room!

Misleading Ads and Dayton’s Shadow PAC

Starting this week, I’ve been getting targeted ads in several places I visit on the Net.  They all say “Tell Sen. Jeremy Miller to stand up for the middle class.”  Next to the white text on a somber black background is a poorly dithered grayscale portrait shot of Jeremy with a “Click to learn more.”

Click on it and it takes you to a dishonest video attacking Senator Miller and extolling our rather strange governor’s plan -- which isn’t a balanced budget but instead features massive spending increases.  It is fascinating seeing a rookie Republican State Senator come under attack this way. To me, it shows he is doing a good job at being fiscally responsible in a very bad economic situation. That’s more than I can say about Governor Dayton as he’d rather have a shutdown than not pander to the special interests that got him elected.

This soak the rich campaign shows how utterly out of touch the socialist Democratic Party people have become. You will never hear someone talk about how a poor man gave them their job… Wait, there is one way for that to be true. Overtax and over spend and pretty soon everyone will be poor except the politicians and unionized government workers.  Technically, the public is supposed to be the employer, right? So if we are all poor… Well you get the picture.

Funny how the Alliance for a Better Minnesota is a union funded PAC out to help Mark Dayton. Are they looking out for the best interest of the people of Minnesota or their own pocket books? The answer is pretty clear.

Senator Miller is standing for the middle class, the people who have to balance their budgets and don’t have infinite credit to borrow from.

Comic Books and Economic Realities

Back in high school, I was a serious collector of comic books. Financial problems for the family compelled me to sell off my collection for a pittance in 1987 and that always haunted me.  But after reading this article at The Weekly Standard, I don’t feel so bad now.

It is a very good article on the perils of speculation and what happens when the bubble bursts. The lessons of it apply to many types of industries and even government programs.  Loose credit is a dangerous thing when it artificially boosts business with nothing concrete to back it up. 

The money quote of the article:

As painful as it was for some of us, the comic-book bubble teaches two important lessons. First, bubble-mania is not always the fault of buyers and sellers. Sometimes it’s caused by intermediaries. Second, sometimes markets don’t “come back.” People who owned blue-chip comics took a hit in 1993. People who owned modern-era comics were wiped out, the value of their collections never to return.

That’s something to keep in mind. The same thing happened to baseball card collectors around the same time period. As mentioned, housing may see the same results and that will take a lot of banks down – not to mention people’s futures. Go read the whole article.

Oh and I had that #1 issue of The New Teen Titans too.

The Last Airbender

or How to Completely Screw Up an Adaptation

Watched The Last Airbender, the live action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender animated series, last night on DVD.  If I felt flippant, I’d say I was recovering from the trauma.  But the truth is that the movie isn’t just bad, it is also utterly boring.

Listing the cons first:

The casting was terrible and the actors looked like they had no clue as to what they were doing in the movie. Wooden doesn’t begin to cover it with only the actor playing Soka even looking like he was trying. But I’m not going to blame the cast for it.

The directing by M. Night Shyamalan was absolutely terrible. Not only did he fail to get the best out of the actors, the camera shots ranged from pedestrian to very bad while the pacing was glacial. Which was an amazing feat given how much stuff was shoved into the film.

The fights were terrible and slow. Not just slow motion bits, but the actual fights took forever for each move to be executed.  The bending took way too many moves to make an element “bend.”  One scene in particular typifies how ludicrous it got:  a group of Earth Benders do an elaborate series of moves that takes a small eternity to make one small rock the size of a melon fly through the air. Oy…

The effects were okay, but suffered from “look at me, I’m in 3D!” syndrome.

The ending was 180 degrees from Aang’s emotional state in the original material. Instead of being utterly enraged, out of control and becoming an object of terror, he was made a pure serene pacifist. But that also reflects the lack of lessons learned that made the series so endearing.

That leads to the lack of character development in the movie. Avatar was heavy on character development and well defined personalities, neither of which are present in the movie.  Aang gets the worst of it. He was a stubbornly irresponsible kid always looking to have fun and constantly laughing in Book 1: Water. Here he is presented as a guilt ridden and morose boy. When you botch the main character, you blow the whole concept.

Finally, there was no sense of adventure or fun. Part of the appeal of the cartoon series was exploration and discovery. There was none of that in this as it was a race from plot point to plot point, often with dull voice over narration. How the movie pulled off being shallow and too serious is something I can’t quite comprehend.

The Pros:

None.

I’m going to stress again that I don’t hold the cast responsible. With a better script and director, this could have been something special. Instead it is a boring mess that was tedious to sit through. The movie bombed at the box office and deserved to.

M. Night Shyamalan’s career has to be viewed as a cautionary tale. I can’t recall another director hit such heights only to completely fall apart as a story teller. It is hard to believe the same man directed The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, and Signs.

The Last Airbender is not even worth renting to make fun of. Go watch the television series for a real treat.

This Is Tuesday, Isn’t It?

When I got up, I could have sworn it was Wednesday, the hardest day of the week to spell.

It is going to be blazingly hot and humid, so I’ll be working on reviews for the blog.  Fractale Episode 7 will most likely be finished today, while Citizen Kane is on hold until I watch the documentary on Disc 2.  Then I’ll get on the half a year delayed TRON: Legacy review. At least I’ll be able to include screen captures now.

---

After being frustrated with my Ruger P94 being inaccurate, I’m going to tinker with it a bit.  Hogue finger groove grips are on their way, but I suspect the sights are off since I’ve seen reports of the exact same problems I’m having. Currently, I have to place the front sight dot on top of the rear dots in a pyramid layout to hit anywhere near what I’m aiming for.  While there are aftermarket adjustable sights for the pistol, the goal is the cheapest out to fix the problem.

---

The deer ticks are out in force this year.  I’ve pulled at least twenty off of our white cat, Snooky. She is also shedding at a rate I’ve never seen a cat do before.  Of course, I would have to be wearing an old black T-shirt today.

---

I’ve rejoined Netflix after two years of absence. With the current focus by the company being on streaming, to get DVD’s mailed added two dollars to the subscription. We only have a 1MB connection at the moment, so streaming looked like a poor option.  But being adventurous, I tried the streaming on a variety of movies to gauge performance.  The chief target is the low resolution of our old pre-digital television set.

First was an animated movie, Batman: Under the Red Hood.  I watched it on my PC and Netflix defaults to 720P in its attempts to stream.  Blocky to extremely blocky. Yep, time to check out the TV performance. It was entertaining, but nothing special and soon forgotten.

For a modern effects laden movie, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time was selected.  Slightly better than VHS levels of quality were obtained, but with blocking becoming readily apparent during the more complex scenes.  Good movie, by the way – that surprised me.

Godzilla Raids Again, the second movie featuring the radioactive reptile, was chosen to represent older black and white films.  Performance was good enough, even if the movie was awful.  I assume this was the cut from the United States as it had all the monster scenes sped up to look like cat fights.

UHF was a test of a relatively normal movie (technically; it is insane otherwise).  Performance was okay with occasional blocking.  Still a lot of fun after all these years.

Finally, Brigham Young (1940).  An old school classic Daryl Zanuck production, it did just fine.  The movie itself was surprisingly good, if filled with historical inaccuracies and being very Hollywood. The sub focus on the United Order made it feel like a National Recovery Act film, but the acting was top notch and the script well done.  I may review this in depth in the future.

Final analysis:

Streaming to the PC is terrible at 1MB.

Streaming to the TV is much better.

Modern effects extravaganza’s and anything with really complicated imagery is going to perform poorly.

B&W movies of yesteryear work great.

Netflix streaming has better potential, but Hulu’s is superior for a lower speed connection.

We’ll be primarily using the DVD through mail option.

While I’d love to have a faster connection, it isn’t financially viable at the time.  I think 2MB would be adequate to the old TV set, but 3MB would be needed to the PC.

All I Have to Say on Rep. Weiner

Looks like the House will have more to say.

Pic and idea conveniently, if not shamelessly stolen from Ace of Spades.

Health and Attitude

I’m missing church for the second Sunday in a row and am not pleased with that.  Having lived with chronic illness for so long, the pain and discomfort bother me far less than the inability to do something I enjoy. For me, church isn’t a chore or a bore, but a place to get spiritually recharged by the Spirit and have a lot of fun.

Fun, you wonder?  Yes, I have fun at church. I love discussing the scriptures and practical principles of the gospel.  While there are a lot of people I’m fond of there, that and feeling the Holy Ghost are the main reasons why I go. I’m something of a purist when it comes to faith, so I do not mean to belittle my fellow Latter-day Saints – enjoying their company is a wonderful experience in its own right.

Heh, I wanted to write about how bad health doesn’t have to equal a bad attitude and I got sidetracked. It is a Sabbath day after all and still has my focus on God. Looks like I’ll be listening to conference talks, audio versions of the scriptures, and hymns here at home today.

But back on topic, or at least finally starting the topic!

I’ve felt physically terrible this week, more so than the usual thanks to the shingles flare up and aftermath. A lot of things I wanted to get done couldn’t get done.  So did I have a bad week?

The answer is no, not really.

Some people might think that strange and I admit it amuses me intellectually that there can be such a divorce between emotional and physical health.  Our current pop psychology influenced culture is so focused on victimhood and our medical culture on pushing off real ailments as being mental disorders that it has become an alien concept. Having had CFS for over twenty years now, I long ago recognized that I could enjoy things and be happy without feeling good physically. Thankfully, I listened to the old saying about taking pleasure in the simple things in life and took it to heart.

I do have my bad days like everyone else and loneliness is ever a challenge for those who are disabled by illness. But it doesn’t take away my capacity to enjoy things or appreciate how beautiful the world is. Once you allow yourself to feel the good on a regular basis it does wonders for your life.  When my life was first derailed by Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, I can safely say I didn’t see it that way. Anger, sadness, and bitterness dominated my soul.  But I’m a problem solver by nature and while I could never “solve” the illness, I did come to an understanding of what I could control.

That would be my attitude. Attitude matters in every facet of life and a bad attitude makes for a miserably difficult life. A good attitude makes for a happier, if still challenging, life. Even pain can be reduced by distracting yourself from it and there are good things that can do that. Helping others, reading something that makes you think, watching a movie that makes you feel good, exercising faith in God, and the simple joy of communicating with others for fun are all examples of things that are positive distractions.  There are many more.

At the moment I’m typing this, I hurt a lot through out my physical form. My body is being temperamental from my sinuses to my bowels and the itching isn’t quite gone from the shingles outbreak that has faded. I can’t go to church, which I enjoy so much. But I’m in a good mood.

Little things this week added up to having a good week for me even as I was frustrated by health induced limitations. While a tough month financially, I got through it and actually had discretionary funds for some bargains. My finances have improved enough I can afford to subscribe to Netflix again, get work gloves for when I have moments of physical ability to trim trees and bushes (rare, but I enjoy them), and obtain some used books I wanted badly. I even managed to get out and do some home teaching, get seeds for the garden, and groceries. My efforts to start writing again have born some fruit as I’m finding it easier to write blog posts. All are little things in life.

Gratitude.  That’s what is needed for a good attitude.

There is a LDS hymn, Count Your Blessings, that goes:

When upon life’s billows your are tempest tossed,

When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,

Count your many blessings; name them one by one,

And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.

To survive the difficulties of life, you need to be grateful for the good things in it you have. That may not be easy to do. In fact, I’ve found it takes active effort to recognize them.

Are you ever burdened with a load of care?

Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?

Count your many blessings; ev’ry doubt will fly,

And you will be singing as the days go by.

I can testify to the benefits of appreciating the little things in life. While I may not be getting any of the big things in life, a lot of little things do add up to something greater. Sadly, I can’t carry a tune in a bucket, so I’m not singing my way through the days. But I can do other things depending on how much energy I have on a given day – and choose to do those things. They carry over into the days I can’t.

In the end, I’ve chosen not to allow my health to keep me down. It is an active choice using my God given agency to take action (yes, I’m listening to Elder Robert D. Hales talk from October) by being grateful for and attentive to the little blessings in life. I am grateful to the Lord for what I have received.

I didn’t expect to give a testimony in this post, but it is fast and testimony in sacrament meeting on the first Sunday of each month. During these special services, members are encouraged to take the pulpit and give their testimony, or expression of faith. So I suppose it was something I was supposed to do even if I couldn’t make it to church.

When Too Many Rules & Regulations Kill

This is obscene.  Watching someone die for an hour because you won’t violate the workplace rules is morally and ethically wrong.  People will say he was killing himself so it didn’t matter, but the guy chose one of the slowest and easiest stopped methods he could. If that wasn’t a desperate cry for help, I don’t know what is. Oh and it was shallow water to boot.

I can’t help but think union rules were involved in the formulation of the regulations, given that this is San Francisco. The firefighters who were on scene are subscum. Wait, I take this back. That’s an insult to the lower varieties of scum. Their failure to act was truly evil.

This is also an object lesson of why one shouldn’t put faith in their government to save them or do the right thing. Sadly, the body was recovered by a civilian who swam out.  That says a lot about the direction the country is going, especially if you look to California as a model for the future.

Judging the Judge

Not talking about politics, but about the Taurus Judge handgun.  The idea of creating a short revolver that fired .410 shells for self defense sounded appealing when I first read about it, but the initial testing results I found on the Internet were not impressive.  To be effective, you needed to fire .45 long Colt out of it, not the shells and that kind of removed the reason for the firearm’s existence.  But it is a popular firearm and has branched out into carbine form lately.  Now specialty shells are being made for it and I’d hoped it would live up to its potential.

So Box of Truth revisited the Judge recently for further testing with a 3” barrel and the new rounds.  You can check out the results for yourself.  Me, I wasn’t impressed.  Maybe there is no potential to live up to after all.  For that size of a hand cannon, there should be more penetration.

I’ll stick to my .40 S&W Ruger P94, even if it need some work on its sights.

Muddlin’ About

Finally over the bout with shingles for the most part and a little frustrated with having even lower than normally low levels of energy. My hands have been too shaky to paint miniatures or work on plastic models, so that has rankled a bit too.

Just finished watching Citizen Kane for review purposes and once again was blown away by what a great film it is.  I’ll have to watch the documentary on the second disc, then do screen captures from both. It is a nice change of pace from the fantasy and science fiction I’ve been writing about and well needed.

Also received a Frank Herbert omnibus with Whipping Star, The Dosadi Experiment, The Santaroga Barrier, and Soul Catcher complete and unabridged in it.  Only read Soul Catcher many years ago and am looking forward to reading about the Bureau of Sabotage in the first two novels.  Glenn Reynolds mentioned the concept of it in a post over at Instapundit earlier in the week and I had to look it up.  Fortunately, I found a cheap used hardcover on Amazon and got it today.

I suppose I should write something positive about some of the good manga and anime out there soon, but I feel like procrastinating on that. It is too easy for me to get burned out on a genre if I have to deal with it for a lengthy amount of time.

Only Now Are They Getting It

There has been no economic recovery.  People need to get that through their heads.  The stimulus was based on the mad idea that you can spend your way out of debt when you have no savings to fall back on. Needless to say, it failed utterly.

Via The Drudge Report, CNBC has a headline that tries to downplay the content of the article.  What Drudge had up is the quote of the article that should have been used.

We’re on the verge of a great, great depression.

Duh. We’ve been in the opening stages of one for years now.  Smoke and mirrors can only get you so far and it looks like people are finally tumbling to the disaster that is already upon us. Take the latest job reports for example. Captain Ed at Hot Air has a good summary of what is going on with that.  Instead of 177,000+ jobs added to the private sector, 38,000 was the figure for May.

It isn’t surprising that the stock market is down from the latest data. What is surprising is how long it took for them to start noticing there was a problem. But I wouldn’t be surprised if they buried their heads in the sand again.  Look at the tone of the first article begging the bears not to rock the boat. It strikes me as desperate.

A great depression is the best case scenario, in my opinion. We may be seeing the eventual fall of the Modern West.

It Appears to Be Shingles, Again

Or how I despise the Herpes Zoster virus.

I’d preferred an allergic reaction, but now that I’m hurting like a band around the chest I recognize the symptoms.  At least it is a light case of it compared to the last time – that episode really hurt. It may be that the pain management I do is helping as well.  So I will have to ride this out, since I hate what prednisone does to me.

Now most people would go to the doctor over any little thing, but I don’t unless I can’t get an illness to end (exempting CFS, of course).  Bronchitis, pre-pneumonia, and sinusitis I’ve had so many times that I’m a pro at dealing with them.  That and antibiotics barely working on me anymore makes the choice to endure rather easy. Not to mention it doesn’t waste more tax payers dollars than necessary.

The itching is at a minimum, at least!

As much as I hate whining, perhaps it would be wise of me to document my health issues for posterity here on the blog.  Somehow, I doubt I’ll be consistent on it. Spreading negativity isn’t my idea of fun and it is inconsiderate of others. But hey, there aren’t that many readers, right? Have to find a silver lining somewhere…

Memorial Day 2011

It feels strangely like the calm before a storm and I’m not talking about the weather.  A feeling of melancholy lingers in the air as I listen to 60’s music while writing this.

While it has been decades since the Vietnam War ended, Memorial Day is reminding me of it and other conflicts, past and present. Names like Bosnia, Gettysburg, Mogadishu, the Ardennes, Bougainville, Restrepo, Fallujah, Normandy, Okinawa, and many more flit through my distracted mind, but Vietnam keeps coming to the fore.  I suppose that is because of my half-brother Steve, who served two tours there.  While he came back unlike those we honor today, he didn’t come back undamaged.

So many have made the ultimate sacrifice for their country and I’m deeply grateful for the lives they led and gave.  In an era of fewer and fewer serving in the military, a price has been paid by the general public.  That price is detachment from the sacrifices made as the burdens have fallen on a shrinking number of families. My prayers and thanks go out to those families.  Let the deaths of those soldiers not just be remembered – let them be not in vain.

Yarg.

Ill again, this time with a spotty rash that started on the face last night after midnight but has spread to the chest and back.  I feel punchy at best and while not having a fever I’m staying put until it clears up.  Hopefully it is an allergic reaction of some kind rather than something communicable.

This is what I get for going out to do things two nights in a row, I suppose.

Thor (2011)

I just got back from seeing Thor in 3D at the Spring Grove Cinema tonight.  It was better than I expected and Kenneth Branagh proved he can handle a big budget action film better than most directors. Clearly his directing got the most from all the actors and nobody acted like they were sleep walking through their part.

The cast was excellent and Chris Hemsworth was perfect as Thor.  But the real scene stealer was Tom Hiddleston as Loki, which is appropriate since Loki is always a scene stealer in the comic books and even the original Norse mythology.  I even like Natalie Portman in it, which is a first for me!  Anyone complaining about Idris Elba playing Heimdall just needs to go see the movie – he captures the gravitas of the character and is a proper guard of the Rainbow Bridge.

While there are plenty of explosions, vicious fights, and effects galore, the main story is very Shakespearean. At the heart of the movie is a classic story about two princes trying to be worthy of their father, Odin the king.  One is fair and foolish, the other dark and cunning, but both crave their father’s love and approval.  A shaky truces between races, old age, and intrigue complicate things enough, but the brash arrogance of Thor starts a tragedy.

Having proven himself to be stupid and vain, Thor gets himself a one way ticket from the realm of Asgard to Midgard, aka Earth, as punishment. Stripped of his powers and rank, he has to prove himself worthy to regain his godhood.  That sets up some of the drama and all of the comedy as we get to see the now mortal god deal with being a mere man. It also is chance for him to gain some humility and find out what really matters through his interaction with Dr. Jane Foster (Portman) and her colleagues.

Effects were excellent, if overwhelming at times.  One scene did annoy me greatly and that was because the humans hit with shattered glass came out of it uncut.  Nice 3D effect, but come on!  The 3D wasn’t that exciting to me and certainly not up to the standards of other films I’ve seen in the format. At least it wasn’t distracting.

Now for some comic book geekery.

The Destroyer was interestingly and well done.  In the comics, it was an engine of destruction capable of taking on gods and it lived up to that. It was a little fragile in this rendition, but it was faithful to the look and menace I remember as a kid.

The art design was a loving tribute to Jack Kirby’s designs and I saw hints of Walter Simonson’s renditions as well. Asgard and Jotunheim were both sufficiently alien to be believable.

The Warriors Three translated well into live action and were the characters I always enjoyed.  The SHIELD agent description of them and Lady Sif cracked me up.

The way Mjolnir was used was faithful in all ways to the comic and we pretty much got to see every variation except one: the ability to transport across dimensions.  Even the twirling was used multiple times.

Hawkeye’s unnamed cameo wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.

All in all, Thor was a good movie. Not a great movie, but a good one. Worth seeing and stay after the credits for a very big hint about The Avengers movie it sets up.

What a Tsunami Does to a Nuclear Power Plant

Over at The Mainichi Daily News they have some amazing photos of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant being hit by the tidal wave. The car being throne up into the building is particularly impressive and give an idea of scale.  It truly shows how gigantic the wave was and it was amazing that events weren’t worse at the reactor – even as bad as they were. 

Looking at this and other articles there, I realized that I want to post about such events here and not on Facebook like I did in March. Things get lost there and aren’t easy to find again for posterity, since it is a very superficial place. Events like the devastation of Japan by the tsunami is not something to readily forget, but human memory is what it is and that is limited.

It will be interesting to see if I can divorce the reality of what happened there from the fantasy of Godzilla movies the next time I watch one. Watching the footage and viewing the photographs was surreal, because in a way I’d already seen things like that happen in Japan thanks to the movies.  These photos did not help with that and I wonder if I’ll be able to enjoy those films again.

Good News for the World

The butcher of Srebrenica has finally been arrested after all these years. Ratko Mladic, the rat who commanded the Serbian troops, was captured by Serbian intelligence and will be extradited to face war crimes charges. While the timing is suspect, since Serbia wants to join the European Union and had plenty of opportunity to nab him, it is still glad tidings.  I remember ranting at the Clinton administration to do something about “ethnic cleansing,” which was a brand new phrase at the time and waiting for a small eternity to see action taken.

For people who think modern countries can always peacefully work things out internally, the disintegration of Yugoslavia should be a cautionary example. It is a very fine line between civilized and barbaric behaviors – something that should never be forgotten and carefully monitored.

Mama’s, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Otaku’s–Part 3

Pandering to an otaku audience goes to far when you make them the stars of the show.  Everything becomes too incestuous and closed to outsiders, which eventually leads to both moral and financial decline.

Part 1 can be found here.

Part 2 can be found here.

There is a great danger when any group only “preaches to the choir” whether it be in religion, politics, art, entertainment or business.  One thing that a lot of outsiders to manga/anime notice is how almost everything is currently set in high school or the protagonists are high school age.  It is as if the only valid beings in existence are teenagers.  But there are some reasons for this and it doesn’t have to do with the physical age of the audience the producers are catering to.  It has more to do with their emotional age and the curious attitude that life ends when you become an adult in modern Japan.

While young protagonists have always been part of the genre, they were often university students and you used to see more adult characters in the casts.  That’s what I remember from the 1980’s and 1990’s, so I looked through archives on the Internet to see if I was misremembering things.  It turns out that I wasn’t and that things had started changing around the turn of the century.

Perhaps this is the end result of a declining population and an entertainment driven society, but I also suspect that the pressure to succeed and conform is a major factor. Rather than deal with reality, the plethora of media to distract has become a potent drug, much like Aldous Huxley predicted in Brave New World.  The otaku’s represent this more than the average citizen, I expect.

But back to the changing protagonists.  They are nearly always high school (or sometimes middle school) students and quite often are perverts.  By this, I mean they are into sexually deviant behavior such as peeping, collecting pornography, exhibit sado-maschistic tendencies, and collect harem’s.  This includes both male and female characters in both shounen (boy) and shoujo (girl) stories. 

To make things worse, the shounen leads usually fall into two types:  rude idiots or wimpy whiners.  Sometimes they manage to blend the two, but they are usually outcasts at school.  Gone are the strong good guys out to save the day at the first opportunity; instead they have to be dragged into taking action or doing good at all.

Does that sound like a bunch of emotionally arrested anti-social misfits?  Ah, that would be the main consumer of this dwindling market, wouldn’t it? 

If that wasn’t direct enough pandering, many series are now featuring otaku’s of both genders as leads or main cast members.  Even mangaka’s (comic book creators) have become the focus of series! I’ll give a pass to Bakuman as it has been a great expose on how the industry works while still managing to be entertaining.

So what has happened is that the pandering of the industry to its dwindling customer base has resulted in a self perpetuating limit, since more and more you need to be a die hard otaku to get all the references and in jokes. But a problem with having such closed community is that things get boring fast as only very formulaic stories get purchased, achieve high ratings, or get votes.  Yes, voting is a big factor in manga success.

Because so many stories are printed in weekly magazines such as Shonen Jump, the editors rely on sent in votes from the readers on what titles are succeeding.  At least the comic books in the United States are stand alone titles and sink or swim on their own merits.  In Japan, a tiny amount of readers hold vast sway over what lives or dies.  These are the most motivated and obsessive otaku’s who have been handed immense power over the content published – simply because they bother to vote when most readers don’t.

No wonder things have gotten to such a point.

Getting back to boredom with content being a problem; there are only a few ways to break that.  One is new and innovative stories and ideas, but the otaku’s aren’t really interested in that.  Their behavior is that of a drug addict instead.  What they want is a more intense high, or in other words, the same old tropes but taken to ever greater extremes.  So more sex, more perversion, bigger battles, and anything else that is titillating to break the boredom.

Don’t get me wrong, there are good series of manga’s and anime’s being produced.  But much like the decline in television shows here, it is like panning for gold in a sewage treatment plant.  I don’t foresee things improving at all in the short or long terms.

So parents, check out what your children are watching or reading, especially on the Internet.  A lot of people view comic books and cartoons as innocent fun, but those days are long gone.

Well, after writing this extended rant, I’ll have to be fair and do some writing about some of the nuggets of gold I’ve found in manga and anime.  But that will have to wait for another day.

Follow Up on the La Crosse Tornado

Much to my relief, there were no serious injuries. But there is a lot of property damage as can be seen over at The La Crosse Tribune’s gallery of pictures.  From what I’ve heard back from church members, one had his work trailer crushed by a tree and possible house damage.  I know someone who works at the damaged K-Mart and he wasn’t working that day, but I imagine it will make his job interesting for awhile.  Given what happened to Joplin, which is roughly the same size city, I’m very grateful things turned out the way they did.

La Crosse probably won’t get federal disaster relief but Governor Scott Walker has toured the damage. 

Locally, I still haven’t gotten out to see any of the damage near Caledonia, but might today. 

Meanwhile, the people of North Minneapolis and Joplin need our prayers.

It was a tense night and early morning following from wondering how people I know in the area fared.  Most I contacted didn’t suffer any damage and only a few haven’t gotten back to me yet.  This is one of few times no news being good news is true, I think.

Tornado Hits La Crosse

What had been a good weekend turned ugly this afternoon when a violent storm system ripped through the area.  While where we live in Yucatan was close to the path of the tornadic part of the storms, but we got off light with one tree limb down on the property.  I’ve been through intense rains, many storms, and a tornado before but this was the heaviest rain I’ve ever seen.

Reports are still coming in but it appears nobody was killed or seriously hurt despite tornados touching down in multiple places in Fillmore, Houston, and La Crosse counties. It sounds like there was a tornado near Houston, barns destroyed near Hokah, and damage north of Caledonia.  Also, power line poles were knocked down around Valley High west of Hokah. 

South side La Crosse took a lot of damage though, with K-Mart and the Pepsi bottling factory having their roofs torn off.  Lots of trees and power lines are down in the initial reports.  Thankfully, the gas main leak was contained quickly near Gunderson Lutheran Hospital and evacuations were rescinded.  I am concerned about the homes near the K-Mart being said to be badly damaged as I have friends who live in that neighborhood.

Meanwhile, North Minneapolis, MN and Joplin, MS got hit by other tornadoes today.  It looks like the damage was extensive, especially in Joplin.  One fatality reported in Minneapolis, an unknown amount in Joplin, but so far none locally.

All I can do at the moment is pray for all involved.

Mama’s, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Otaku’s–Part 2

The amount of perverted behavior in manga’s and anime’s is astounding.  This is not healthy imagery for our children and teens to be exposed to.  Parents need to be aware of this.

Part 1 can be found here.

Diving into the world of the otaku’s was an unpleasant experience and downright nauseating at times.  I quickly learned that I was better off reading spoiler filled threads in fan forums before even sampling an anime or manga.  Explicit sex, rape, naked girls who look ten or younger, incest, sadism, bondage, bestiality, and other perversions all can be found – and is readily available through fan translations of material not imported to the United States.

Don’t expect me to name titles; I’m not going to help the kiddies using search engines to find smut.  I will, however, go into some plot lines that are out there in successful shows and comics.

And just after I posted Part 1, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government announced the first titles they state have to be moved to 18 and over categories.  One involves a comedy manga about a 24 year old married to a 12 year old and depicts child rape. Another is very popular (and one I accidently stumbled upon to my horror) about a high school brother and sister who are having an affair .  That is the tip of the iceberg for that title, as it is far, far worse than just that.  The rest all involve sex at school, rape, group rape, and incest.  Such cheerful and amusing topics.

No doubt somebody will come along and read my posts with growing outrage that these topics are considered bad or damaging.  One of the most disturbing things about reading posts in the fan communities is the amount of support for all these perversions, especially the lolicon (pedophile) stuff.  The argument of it being fiction, and cartoon fiction at that, is often bandied about with the insinuation that it doesn’t really hurt anyone.  They should have to deal with real life victims of such things and then say that.

That said, there are people raising concerns and complaining about the content, not to mention the declining quality of stories as the publishers pander to the otaku’s. That illustrates why manga and anime will never be big in the United States, as we still have some of our morals intact – at least where it comes to protecting kids.  Though I’ll sadly admit that’s declining too as we have outfits like Ambercrombie & Fitch selling padded push up bikinis aimed at seven year olds.

It is the focus on underage girls that has caused the local government in Tokyo to crack down.  With the immense power of being the main market in the country, this will effect the entire industry. The sheer amount of prepubescent looking females in scanty attire in anime and manga is mind boggling.  Add that to most of the females being teenagers in the genre and it becomes clear that they are pandering to a bunch of perverts.

One of the more insidious and less obvious showcases for this is the “magical girl” subgenre.  These stories feature girls who magically transform into costumed super powered heroines fighting evil.  The most famous series would be the Sailor Moon anime adaptation that was so huge more than a decade ago.  For the U.S. airings, there was quite a bit of censorship that Americans were unaware of, including cutting the lesbian content.

Interestingly, the “magical girl” characters have changed over the years.  Originally, they were teenager who turned into adult forms to fight evil but somewhere along the way it changed to loli’s (derived from lolita) turning into teens and finally into loli’s turning into skimpily dressed loli’s.  The transformation scenes have been known to have hidden frames with the character completely nude.  Since the producers of this material are pandering to their audience, it says a great deal about said audience.

Yet otaku’s wonder why they have such a bad reputation.

Personally, every time the Governor of Tokyo, Shintaro Ishihara, slams the industry it makes me smile. Those who do the right thing will always be vilified and he is truly hated by the otaku’s worldwide.  He may be a bit of a loud mouth, but he gets it.

Part 3 will wrap things up and cover how the pandering has hit ridiculous heights as protagonists have changed over the years.

Debunking Myths: Mormon Edition

Over at LDS Living, there is a good article on some of the Mormon myths that have sprung up within the faithful members of the church. I highly recommend reading it as I’ve been told some of them.  We have a duty to be truthful in all things and I’m glad this article has been published.

There is one myth that has been spread quite a bit of late amongst politically minded Latter-day Saints and that is the Joseph Smith prophecy about how the Constitution of the United States of America would “hang by a thread” and be “saved by men from the church.” While I understand the human need to find comfort in dark times, relying on something that isn’t official church doctrine or even accurate in the first place is not a good thing.

Finding out the origins of this particular piece of Mormon folklore was a pleasant surprise this morning.  With it having emerged fifty years after the Prophet Smith’s martyrdom, I have to wonder how many times those dismayed with the country’s direction have repeated it at any given time. Certainly we are in times that make the myth very attractive again.

For me, the following quote from the article says it all:

President Joseph F. Smith, who spoke after his son at that conference, re-emphasized his son’s remarks by calling the content of the prophecy “trash.” He said, “It is simply false. That is all there is to it.”

So I hope those LDS faithful who think our country is guaranteed to be saved at the last possible will open their eyes – especially to the faults of candidates they might vote for simply because they are fellow church members.

Mama’s, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Otaku’s–Part 1

If you are a parent with kids interested in Japanese anime (cartoons) and manga (comic books), you need to be looking very closely at what your kids are into.

What is an otaku? Simply put, they are obsessive fans of pop culture, but I’m specifically writing about the ones involved in manga, anime, and video games. Of late, otaku has assumed negative connotations due to just how extreme the subculture has gotten. This is for very good reasons, which I will go into later. In the United States, the word mainly self-applied by fans of Japanese culture and hasn’t become such a negative term. Hopefully, it will become a negative term amongst parents given what I’ve run into online. There are far too many anime’s and manga’s that are pure sleaze masquerading as comedy or action.

I always wondered if the Japanese comic books and cartoons were really more intelligent and sophisticated than American efforts as their fans claimed.  The other point I’d read and heard since the 1990’s was how more accepted they were in the culture and were, in fact, respectable.  So as an ex-comic book collector and aficionado of things foreign, I decided to delve into the otaku world while going through two bouts of bronchitis earlier this year.

It wasn’t like I was a complete stranger to the genres involved, since I remember Robotech from the late 1980’s and Battle of the Planets from a little earlier.  Due to glowing reviews everywhere, I watched Spirited Away and became an instant fan of Studio Ghibli. Younger friends had introduced me to Bleach, a typical fighting anime that at least had interesting characters.  While I had Netflix, I sampled some anime series to get an idea what teens were into and did find some quality productions.  In fact, that led to an automated recommendation that became the first anime box set I purchased, Area 88.

So I don’t come into this with a hatred for anime or manga as a format. Well done comics and cartoons can be just as emotional or complex as a novel or theatrical movie.  In fact, I dare anyone to watch Grave of the Fireflies without shedding tears. But most of this, just like American comic books, is no longer for children. The main audience has become terminally arrested adolescents in their twenties to forties.

It is also a dwindling audience both here and in Japan.  With the Japanese birth rate well below replacement rate, there simply aren’t enough children being born to keep things afloat and industry sales have decreased.  Here in the states, the manga and anime boom peaked around 2005 and has imploded since then.  Unlike Japan, those who consumed anime and manga outgrew it in their later years.  So the great dream of mainstream acceptance went up in a puff of smoke.

There are consequences to shrinking markets in entertainment and one of the most interesting is what happens to a niche market.  Just like comic books in the U.S., it shrinks to specialty shops and a ever smaller and more hardcore clientele. At some point,  the whims of that small group begins to exert more and more control over the product put out.  While not nearly as bad off in Japan as it is here, other cultural factors have produced an even more disproportionate influence by the hardcore fans over manga and anime.

I should note that video games are very intertwined with manga and anime.  Many properties are adapted back and forth between all three media types.  The peculiar popularity of dating and pornographic romance simulators in Japan is something we don’t have here in the States.

Why am I bringing this up?  It has to do with many Japanese males dropping out of adult society, ones who have no real social lives, no wives, and no girlfriends.  They spend their days as NEET’s, playing video games, reading manga, watching anime, and avoiding growing up at all costs.  I’ve always liked the saying that “idle hands are the devil’s plaything” for good reason.  Too many men with nothing to do is never a good thing. Combine a culture that is far more permissive in regards to sexual mores with pornography centered around school girls and you may get an idea of what I’m talking about.

To be a little more clear, we are talking about arrested adolescents who fantasize constantly about teen and, appallingly, preteen girls.  With their disproportionate influence as very vocal consumers, the producers of anime and mange pander to this group constantly.  This is called “fan service.”  Jiggling breasts, sex jokes, nudity, and the ever popular camera shots of highly detailed panties are a staple of the medium. 

But that’s just the beginning of the problems. 

In the next post, I’ll go into how the themes of misogyny, incest, and pedophilia have become mainstream.  Thankfully, the Japanese government has finally moved to do something about this but it still applies to what has been put out.

Smallville Final Episode

Just finished watching the finale of Smallville and, as I suspected, it was fairly anticlimactic.  They setup so many things in the tenth and final season that it became a footrace to cram every loose end into the last two hours of the series. It figures that the same problems that plagued most of the season finales would be present in the final episode.

Far too much time was spent on the wedding in the first hour, which compounded the problem.  There was a heavy overdose of second thoughts, doubts, and generalized wimpiness from Lois and Clark dominating what was supposed to be the big debut of Superman. It also dragged out and didn’t get interesting until the battle that, of course, derailed the wedding at the last moment.   After that, the second hour was much better but things were crammed into that short span that would have benefited greatly from more time.

 

 

SPOILERS AHEAD!

The return of Lex Luthor felt as rushed as could be, but no surprise there as they weren’t sure the actor would be involved.  The death of Tess was no surprise, nor was alternate universe Lionel Luthor becoming the host for Darkseid in an ultimately disappointing appearance as the big bad guy. 

What surprised me was that we never got the iconic Superman pose or a clear full on shot of Tom Welling in the costume.  That is utterly baffling as fans have waited ten years for this.  Yes, he was seen in costume, but blurred, obscured, or CGI’d the entire time.  That and he wasn’t officially called Superman until the seven years later segment really annoyed me.

Smallville was never deep or consistent in quality, but it usually was entertaining.  It was too much to expect a really well done ending, I’m afraid.

Now for some more positive notes. 

Apokolips was very well rendered and the red skies were a nice tribute to Crisis on Infinite Earths. 

The omega symbols being revealed as part of the Anti-life Equation was a nice nod to the comics. 

Jonathon Kent handing the costume to Clark was very nicely done as the two fathers sent their son off to be a man.

Chloe and Ollie apparently having a son in the seven years later bookends was kind of sweet.  Better yet, Chloe didn’t die!

Lex having his memory erased by Tess as she was dying at least explains how he wouldn’t know Clark was Superman in the future.

Jimmy Olson MK II was the surprise cameo at the end in the seven years later bit.  So the little brother at Jimmy’s funeral did replace him in the mythos.

Still, it was a disappointing end to the series and felt more like a setup for something more.  It lacked the emotional impact that Superman’s first public appearance should have given us.  They simply fumbled the ball one yard from the end zone.

A Faux Expert Opines on China’s Stealth Fighter

One of the problems with the modern media is that there are many vaunted “experts” on any given subject who simply don’t know what they are talking about.  The Australian military aviation specialist Carlo Kopp is a prime example of this, which is why you should never quote him in a serious aviation forum – you’ll get laughed off the message board.  Yet here he is, getting the spotlight once again by proclaiming the Chinese J-20 is equal to the F-22A Raptor.

Worse yet, he claims his “analysis” of the prototype shows it is more stealthy than the F-35 Lightning II from certain angles.  This is the same guy who argued for upgrading ancient F-111 Aardvarks with the F-22’s engines!  Another one of his ideas is a F-22 fleet for Australia and he’s still championing that despite the simple fact the country can’t afford them.   Anything that threatens that dream is attacked, so Kopp has savaged the F-35 every chance he can.  Fortunately, the Australian government is more sane and want the JSF as it suits there needs quite well.

Now I’ll admit the J-20 will be a serious threat to our allies in the Pacific, but the F-35 will outclass it in stealth, avionics, and weapons.  That’s my armchair opinion based on the history of competing weapon systems over the years and Lockheed’s proven track record with stealth warplanes.  But don’t accept me as any kind of expert and do the research yourself.  You’ll probably come out more informed than Mr. Kopp.

Osama Bin Laden Really Is Dead Now

Courtesy of the U.S. Navy SEALs.

Good roundup of the events here.

I received an email from a friend about it just before going to bed last night and I was too tired to feel much about it.  At the moment, I feel satisfaction that we finally got the butcher after 18 years from his attacking the United States.  By that, I’m referring to the first World Trade Center bombing in 1993.  It has been a very long time coming.

The fact he was living in luxury an hour away from the capitol of Pakistan was no surprise to me.  He always had close ties to their government through the ISI security service and I’ve long thought he was being sheltered there.  Also no surprise that we did this solo without Pakistani cooperation as they cannot be trusted.

What is surprising is how the White House is refusing to give the Pakistani government any kind of political cover on this. For all their vaunted efforts at reaching out to Muslim countries, they have shown themselves to be diplomatically tone deaf.  This operation most likely will make already difficult relations with Pakistan openly hostile in the future.

I expect the near future to see more calls from both the Left and Right to withdraw from Afghanistan now that Bin Laden is literally sleeping with the fishes. In an era of highly personalized attack politics, we just removed the figurehead for the enemy and so support for the war will evaporate quickly. The Left are anti-military and anti-Bush, while the rising specter of isolationism is firmly entrenched within the Right. 

Meanwhile, I can’t help but contrast how Saddam Hussein was dragged from a hole in the ground to Bin Laden being gunned down in a compound at a luxury resort area. The irony of the guy thought to be hiding out in caves going out that way while the dictator of many palaces was found wallowing in mud is profound.

Maybe now Trump and the Birthers Will Go Away

 

Obama’s long form birth certificate has finally been released and you can download it here.

One of the red herrings that has had conspiracy theorists going nuts has been the lack of a full birth certificate being released.  Foolish dreams of President Biden and a public spectacle of a resigning president have just gone up in smoke. This whole issue has been ridiculous to me from the beginning, since a local newspaper had his birth recorded at the time.

Hopefully, Donald Trump’s ego and celebrity driven candidacy can go up in smoke as well.  He’s no conservative and a constant failure at business, which is precisely what we don’t need.  The only thing he’s been good at is promoting himself and trading in wives for younger models as they get older. That’s cold reality there, much like Obama being a natural born citizen.

Why did the White House wait so long to release it?  Mainly to avoid other records being released as the President made it clear to the media his family was off limits to them.  The suspicion that his grades weren’t great is a valid one given his performance in office so far. But it is his wife’s dealings and family’s dealings in Chicago corruption that are the real issue, in my opinion.  It also has been a great distraction from dealing with the real issues with his presidency and split independents from the Republican party.

In the meantime, the “birther” movement has made themselves look like idiots and that has been to the benefit of President Obama for some time.  With the latest polls showing an increase in people believing he isn’t a citizen and Trump unofficially launching a candidacy, something had to be done to reign it back in. 

By the 2008 election, we entered an era where people can’t tell what the differences between truth, lies, and speculation are. Now demagogues from all facets of the political spectrum are running rampant and things are becoming nuts as a result.  Time to stop being so emotional people!  Coldly focus on what needs to be done or there will be no hope of fixing anything.

What a sad joke our country is becoming.

State of the Blog Statement

or a Redundant Post Title and Some Anime Recommendations

As I’m trying to improve my health and rearranging my priorities, I’ll be posting more reviews rather than politics.  There are many blogs on politics worth reading right now and I’m just static on an already crowded tuner.  So my writing here will be more for exercising my skills than attempting to change the world with my limited energy.  Looking at the long view, things are going to get pretty bleak for the world fairly soon and I have limits to how much complaining I can endure from myself.

So I’ll be reviewing all eleven episodes of the anime Fractale and eventually finishing the review of TRON: Legacy that I started in December. There is an off chance I might write some original fiction and put it up here, but nothing anytime soon.

While I’m not impressed by anime as a genre, I’ve done some exploring of it of late while being hammered by two bouts of bronchitis and have found some ones I deem of merit.  Fractale has already been mentioned.  Others of recent vintage are:

Shinryaku! Ika Musume aka Squid Girl – A humanoid girl with tentacles for hair decides to invade the surface in revenge for ocean pollution.  What follows is a very funny, silly and sweet comedy anime that is utterly charming.  Suitable for most ages; beware of squidding amounts of punning and the most annoying theme in history, degeso.  I can’t wait for season two.

 

The Japanese preview for Season 1

Kimi ni Todoke Seasons 1 & 2 – A letter perfect adaptation of the brilliant manga about the slow moving and heartfelt romance between an ostracized shy, scary looking girl and the most popular guy in her high school class.  While it sounds formulaic, the characters are fully realized and utterly believable which is a true rarity in anime. Sawako and Shouta are one of the best couples in any form of literature and the supporting cast are wonderful in their own right. There is no way I can heap enough superlatives upon Kimi ni Todoke.  The concentrated goodness in it is the perfect antidote for when the poisons of the world get you down. Suitable for 14 and up.

 

The opening theme for Yumekui Merry

Yumekui Merry aka Nightmare Merry – Magical girl falls on high school boy and adventures ensue.  I can’t stand this kind of thing and it has been done many times in the genre, but this series is different.  Discordant camera angles, surreal imagery, and a disturbing soundtrack make this a very stylish and attractive anime but it really shines with its likeable and stereotype defying characters. Merry herself is a marvelous character, a rare feminine tomboy instead of a tsundere (look it up).  She also is a lost and amnesiac dream demon trapped in the real world fighting her way to get back home.  The dream world segments are very reminiscent of Tim Burton films. Very talky and slow compared to most fighting animes. Suitable for older teens and up, not aimed at kids.

The Long Hard Road

It has been a hard winter, in regards to weather and health.  So it is my hope that spring finally arriving will herald better times for me, at least in being more productive.  I’ve had to shift priorities to seeing to my health and trying to put my house in order since last year. So far, results have not been good in either case.  Having to face the fact that my health will probably decline, not just stagnate as I get older has been a sobering realization.

One of my major flaws is that I always put others first and don’t care very much about my well being.  A person can get away with that as long as they have resources of health, wealth, and a network of friends and family to rely on.   Since I’m at a deficit compared to normal people on all those things, my reserves are totally shot with no easy or fast replenishment possible.  In the past few years I’ve had to give up a lot of volunteer work because I’m simply unable to do it anymore.  In fact, all my activities have taken large hits.  So my task now is having to learn to be more selfish in order to survive and be able to do anything at all for others.

Galling doesn’t even begin to represent how this makes me feel. It isn’t easy to go against one’s nature, especially when the only comfort in life is found when helping others.

But life isn’t about the way you want things to be, rather it is about dealing with the way things are.  Like having to go to the dentist’s office today for another unpleasant cleaning…

…at least it isn’t root canal.

Fractale 11 Final Episode Thoughts

Or who is Phrynne?

Fractale was an interesting and underrated anime series that finished this past Thursday.  I’m not going to give a comprehensive review, but I am going to write about the final scene because I’ve seen a great many misinterpretations of it on the Net.  So if you don’t want spoilers on this complex and flawed series that fell short of being a masterpiece, don’t read this post!

Series home page on Hulu. Warning, not for kids. Older teens and adults only due to mature themes.

Final episode on Hulu.

SPOILER SPACE

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

The last scene is of Phrynne awakening after being in a coma for one year after merging with Nessa, the regressed mind of the original Phrynne who lived 1000 years before.  Her immediate dialogue, tone of voice, and expressions seem to indicate that the Phrynne we followed in the series is dead and her mind replaced with Nessa’s.  Clain’s reaction to her is the same as the viewer’s and while showing relief that he hasn’t lost both Phrynne and Nessa, there is a tinge of disappointment in his face and actions. When he addresses her as Nessa and she responds with something like an affirmative, the boy starts going down the stairs to fix breakfast. 

That’s where downloading the fansub to double check made a huge difference for me, as the clearer audio showed a distinct change in Phrynne’s tone as she urgently calls out to Clain to thank him -- then tells him she loves him too and had from the moment they met. That wasn’t Nessa speaking, folks, that was the poor tortured soul of the girl we met in the first episode finally feeling able to confess her heart to the boy she loved.

Clain’s reaction of dropping his MP3 player and rushing to embrace her was another big indication that he recognized the girl he loved wasn’t gone. The tears that he hadn’t been able to shed as he watched Phrynne sacrifice herself to restart the Fractale system flooded out as he embraced the surprised girl.  Watch how she slowly returns the embrace and a smile crosses her face.  Nessa would have been exuberant and childish in response, but this isn’t what happens.

It took a third viewing and a fansubtitled version for me to clear up what I feel was a bad translation by Funimation.  In it, Phrynne essentially calls Clain a baby in a softly affectionate barb, showing some of the prickliness of the difficult girl we had followed for eleven episodes.  In the streamed translation, it was translated more as an astonished reaction to his crying, but the voice actress’ tone doesn’t correspond. That did not help with such a complicated resolution! As the show ends, Clain is beginning to laugh between sobs as the camera pans over the the group photo while zooming on the two.

To me that clinches that Phrynne is still Phrynne with a heavy dash of Nessa now in her personality.  Instead of Nessa replacing her like she feared so greatly, Phrynne is instead completed by the ten year old’s mind.  All the wounds to her soul have been healed between the fusing with Nessa and the love she had found.  Clain hasn’t lost the love of his life after all and the promise that the three would be together forever was fulfilled.

In fact, all three wishes by the main characters were granted.  The first was Phrynne’s wish that Clain would regain his smile and smile forever. The second was Clain’s wish that he wouldn’t be lonely anymore.  The final one was Nessa’s wish that the three would live together forever.

In the end, Nessa was the catalyst that allowed both Phrynne and Clain to be healed and completed.  The possibility that the original sexually abused sixteen year old Phrynne is finally getting her chance at a life is there too, since Nessa was her regressed mind recorded a millennia ago. 

To my relief, this was a kind and good ending for Phrynne when it was looking like a tragic outcome was guaranteed.  She turned out to be the main character of the series as I had suspected from episode one.  The opening sequence and a translation of the main theme contained major clues to that as the theme is about a prickly and untrusting girl, a hedgehog. 

Unlike most people in online forums discussing the show, I’d picked up that Phrynne had been sexually abused from the very beginning.  Having been around women that had that happen to them, the telltales were obvious in the girl’s behavior and statements.  I found myself worrying over this fictional character a great deal, which is a credit to the makers of this series.  Maybe it was that or the anniversary of my mother’s death which that caused me to shed tears at the ending, but this flawed series will always be a favorite of mine.

While the series wandered a bit in the middle, I loved it, especially after that ending.  I wrote this on the fly, so I hope it is coherent enough for those who watched the series and if you haven’t… 

… Why did you just read this?

The Violent Hypocrisy of the American Left

In the fall out of the shooting of Rep. Giffords and others at her public meeting in Arizona, the politics of demonization of the political right has been quick and ruthless by the political left. Their puppets in the news media have been quick to try to pin blame on the Tea Party, Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, and Republicans. Claims that violent rhetoric from Republicans inspired this has become a chanting point. while the real facts that keep trickling out show that the shooter, Jarod Loughner, was a pot smoking, anti-religion, anti-war left winger with an obsession with Giffords dating back to 2007.

Definition:

1. feigned high principles: the false claim to or pretense of having admirable principles, beliefs, or feelings
It would be sheer hypocrisy for them to turn around and do what they criticize in others.

Warning: NSFW in some cases -- Michelle Malkin has an astounding and very long list of the violence called for and perpetrated by the left in the past ten years.  Read through it and the definition of hypocrisy above is well proven, I think.  As I mentioned, beware foul language and crude imagery at the link.

The desire to vilify the right has trumped anything approaching fairness or rationality on the left. Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit fame has an editorial at the Wall Street Journal that further points out the hypocrisy going on.  I will quote him:

To be clear, if you're using this event to criticize the "rhetoric" of Mrs. Palin or others with whom you disagree, then you're either: (a) asserting a connection between the "rhetoric" and the shooting, which based on evidence to date would be what we call a vicious lie; or (b) you're not, in which case you're just seizing on a tragedy to try to score unrelated political points, which is contemptible. Which is it?

Frankly, I don’t expect an honest answer from the left on that one. But I don’t expect honest answers from them on anything these days.

This rant by krakatoa at Ace of Spades pretty sums up how fed up we are with this.  It is horrible that the acts of an extremely mentally ill young man are being used for attempted political gain by the left.  Appalling barely begins to describe it.

I used to defend people on the left as being well intentioned if misguided.  The events of the last several years have taught me otherwise.  Dishonesty, intolerance, and hate is all I’m seeing out of them and it is getting worse.  This trend cannot be good for the country and will lead to real conflict down the road.

Congresswoman Shot in Arizona

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/01/08/arizona-congresswoman-reportedly-shot-public-event/

I was hoping to post something more light hearted than this, but it is big news.  My prayers go out to Rep. Giffords, her family, and the families of all that were shot or killed. Details are very murky, much like the Fort Hood shooting and there has been a rush to blame the Tea Party, Glen Beck, Republicans, and conservatives on left wing blogs. Given her stance on tightening security on the border with Mexico, she was getting a lot of flack from the left of late so I find such accusations to be very presumptuous.

Rumors are flying that the police are looking for a second suspect, but once again things are too confused to know what is really going on. Previous rumors claimed an Afghan war veteran shot her and the others. My worry is that this might be a spillover from narco-terrorism in Northern Mexico, where shooting politicians is getting to be common. Anyway you look at it, this is a very bad day in Arizona and the United States.

The willingness of people on the political left to paint the Tea Party as responsible is extremely disturbing and polarizes the country even further.  People need to sit down, take a breath, and wait for the facts to come out.

UPDATED:

The shooter is a white male, 22, name is Jared Loughner.  Someone may have fired back at him from the crowd. One gun with an extended clip is being reported, which sounds like a 9mm or 5.7mm to me and explains why so many survived. Rep. Giffords is out of surgery and was responding to verbal commands before despite being shot in the temple. A federal judge appointed by President Bush was also wounded. 18, not 19, shot. One more arrested and a third man is being sought by authorities.

This video screed may be by him, if so it shows a lot of signs of serious mental illness and hatred of government.  Also, it looks something like a suicide note.  He looks to be one sick puppy.

UPDATED:

Just viewed his YouTube videos and profile and he’s a left wing anarchist with favorite books including the Communist Manifesto and Mein Kampf.  One of his videos about being a terrorist includes flag burning as he doesn’t recognize the Old Glory as being constitutional. He also claims the Constitution is brainwashing and has another video on how to be a mind controller.  His hatred of religion comes through very strongly as well. 

He also is very clearly deranged.

Being a Disciple of Christ in the Christmas Season

The following is the written version of a sermon I gave earlier today at church and is my personal Christmas message to everyone this year:

I was asked to speak on what it means to be a disciple of Christ during the Christmas season.

As a child, I couldn’t wait for Christmas to come along. It was a time of family gathering together, cookies, games, television specials, and the best thing of all: unwrapping gifts to reveal all the toys I’d be playing with for the next year! It was almost too much to handle – all that waiting for the goodies I’d been coveting. Of course, I had to endure getting things like clothes from mother and hand knit slippers from a grandmother who didn’t understand what Christmas was about. They clearly didn’t have a clue! Oh how the years have gone by since then and oh how much I’d like a pair of new slippers knitted by my grandmother to keep my feet warm – especially during this bitterly cold winter we are having.

Age and the knowledge acquired over those years have changed my perspective mightily. A greater understanding of what is truly important in life makes for a very different feeling about Christmas time. While it is still much about family, the holiday season doesn’t fill me with anticipation the way it once did. Of course, being raised in a secular household that had no spirituality or faith made it more of a material holiday back then. Having found faith in Jesus Christ, it has different meaning to me now. Sadly, many I see are still caught in the material trappings of the season that have little to do with the Savior. We must not forget Him in the midst of all the blinking lights, frenzied shopping, distractions, even decorations and trimmings of a very commercialized and ever more secular holiday.

To be a true disciple of Christ, first one must understand what a disciple is. In the Bible dictionary, a disciple is defined as the following: “A pupil or learner; a name used to denote (1) the twelve, also called apostles, (2) all followers of Jesus Christ.” Most people think of the Apostles when ‘disciple’ is used, but the word applies to all of us who take on the name of Christ and follow in his path. In Acts 11: 26, we read “And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.” So Christian is another word for disciple. But there is more to it than that.

There are things that followers of Christ must do. In D&C 41: 5, it says “he who does the law is the Lord’s disciple.” We also read, “But my disciples shall stand in holy places, and shall not be moved;” in D&C 45: 32. Moving to section 84 of D&C, the Lord proclaimed, “Whoso receiveth you receiveth me; and the same will feed you, and clothe you, and give you money. And he who feeds you, or clothes you, or gives you money, shall in nowise lose his reward. And he that doeth not these things is not my disciple; by this you may know my disciples.”

Much is asked of those who would be disciples of Jesus Christ. It isn’t meant to be easy and I found the following scripture interesting. When the Lord visited the remnants of Israel in the Americas he set apart apostles there as he had in Israel. “And now it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words, he said unto those twelve whom he had chosen: Ye are my disciples; and ye are a blight unto this people, who are a remnant of the house of Joseph.” 3 Ne. 15: 11-12. Being a blight on others sounds harsh, doesn’t it? But those who make a stand for that which is right, good, and holy are something of a pain to those who don’t. It pricks them deeply, but shouldn’t stop us from doing what’s right.

We are asked to be obedient in Matthew 10: 24-25, “The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord.” We are asked to sacrifice in Luke 14: 33, “So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.” Most of all, we are to love others. In John 13:34-35 the Savior declared, “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” Love. To me, love is at the heart of being a true disciple of Christ.

We live in a materialistic world, where things often have more value than people do. To me, no time of year more embodies this than the holiday season. Perhaps my saying this disturbs you, but I’ve watched the incredible amount commercialization take over Christmas more every year. The constant sales pitches, the people running around and even fighting with each other to buy the latest and greatest time killing toy, for child or adult, seems to me to have nothing to do with the true love of Christ. By that, I am speaking of charity, of course.

There are so many who need love and help, especially in this often lonely time of year. While we need to strive to be true disciples every day of the year, the expectations and stresses of this increasingly frenetic holiday season are a sore trial for those who have little and even those who have much. No matter what part of society we inhabit, we should remember that all people are our brothers and sisters, all children of God. That includes our family members, a known source of stress – well, at least in my experience.

Charity takes many forms and while we are often mindful of the physical needs of others around Christmas time, there are other ways to show Christ like love. My words are utterly inadequate, so I will quote from President Thomas S. Monson’s address to the General Relief Society Meeting earlier this year. The sisters will be familiar with it but I think it applies to the brethren as well:

“I consider charity--or "the pure love of Christ"--to be the opposite of criticism and judging. In speaking of charity, I do not at this moment have in mind the relief of the suffering through the giving of our substance. That, of course, is necessary and proper. Tonight, however, I have in mind the charity that manifests itself when we are tolerant of others and lenient toward their actions, the kind of charity that forgives, the kind of charity that is patient.

I have in mind the charity that impels us to be sympathetic, compassionate, and merciful, not only in times of sickness and affliction and distress but also in times of weakness or error on the part of others.

There is a serious need for the charity that gives attention to those who are unnoticed, hope to those who are discouraged, aid to those who are afflicted. True charity is love in action. The need for charity is everywhere.

Needed is the charity which refuses to find satisfaction in hearing or in repeating the reports of misfortunes that come to others, unless by so doing, the unfortunate one may be benefited. The American educator and politician Horace Mann once said, "To pity distress is but human; to relieve it is godlike."

Charity is having patience with someone who has let us down. It is resisting the impulse to become offended easily. It is accepting weaknesses and shortcomings. It is accepting people as they truly are. It is looking beyond physical appearances to attributes that will not dim through time. It is resisting the impulse to categorize others.

In a hundred small ways, all of you wear the mantle of charity. Life is perfect for none of us. Rather than being judgmental and critical of each other, may we have the pure love of Christ for our fellow travelers in this journey through life. May we recognize that each one is doing her best to deal with the challenges which come her way, and may we strive to do our best to help out.

Charity has been defined as "the highest, noblest, strongest kind of love," the "pure love of Christ . . . ; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with [her]."

"Charity never faileth." May this long-enduring Relief Society motto, this timeless truth, guide you in everything you do. May it permeate your very souls and find expression in all your thoughts and actions.”

It is my hope that we will find ways to show charity to others this season and to also find ways to be better disciples of Christ during it – and beyond. As we go forth into this final week leading to Christmas, may we remember to love one another and express it often. Let us never forget the love of the Savior and what Christmas is truly about during the whirling madness going on about us.

Christ loved us so much He went through the unimaginable pain of performing the Atonement. Our Father in Heaven loved us so much He sent His most beloved son to be sacrificed so that we would be able to come back home to Him. We should remember this charity shown us during the season celebrating the birth of the Savior. I testify of this love and end this talk in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1

Time to review the movie as I promised to earlier. 

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was a large book packed with far too many events to wedge into one movie, which was a problem with some of the previous films. Thankfully, Warner Bros decided to split the book into two movies and even then there is barely room for most of the story.  Interestingly, I’ve been reading reviews claiming that the magic has gone out of the Harry Potter movies.  I disagree and the review will explain why.

First, The Deathly Hallows is about Harry and his friends being forced to grow up.  They end up alone in a bleak, frightening, and apparently hopeless world where Voldemort has taken over the Ministry of Magic and is terrorizing the magical world.  Keep an eye out for propaganda that resembles that of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union; the movie isn’t subtle about those references.  This isn’t a kiddie story anymore, instead it is about the beginnings of a war that doesn’t look winnable.

Deaths occur from the very beginning of the movie, which gets to fast start depicting the preparations by Harry and Hermione for the coming war.  Emma Watson has really grown as an actress and her scene with Hermione erasing herself from the memories of her muggle parents is well played.   Daniel Radcliffe’s Harry seems more uncertain and stubborn than ever, even as events start spiraling out of his control.  His wandering through the now vacated Dursely home is as symbolic as Hermione’s of having to leave home and become an adult.

There are moments of the humor so present in the previous movies, but it is clear this is a grimmer affair as the ending to the first action piece demonstrates. Blood is shed, characters die, and a momentary lull for a wedding doesn’t last long.  Quickly, Harry, Hermione, and Ron Weasely are on the run for their lives while trying to finish the late Dumbledore’s quest to find and destroy fragments of Lord Voldemort’s soul – the horcruxes.

One complaint will be made by many and that is the extended time in the wilderness being boring. Once again, I’ll disagree as this gave the young trio of actors wonderful character moments and conveys that they can’t count on older people to bail them out of trouble.  Rupert Grint as Ron shines brightest during these events as he has the greatest trouble adapting to the hardship. Ron always did lag behind the other two in maturity and it becomes painfully apparent that he has the most growing up to do.  This leads to conflict and a splitting of the trio as jealousies explode into the open. 

Along the way to the tragic ending of the movie, we are treated to an animated sequence that recounts what the Deathly Hallows are.  That part is pure magic, no pun intended.  It is a brief respite before the darkness comes and heroism fails.  The magic isn’t gone, but it has grown up.

The ending I liked, because it was a perfect place to split the material and because it reminds me a little of how Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back ended – except with less hope.  It left the audience I was with wanting more.

Was this the best of the films? No, but it was one of the best.  Seeing the change from school days to early adulthood in the main characters is something that added depth to the Harry Potter series and I appreciated seeing that greatly.  Harry, Ron, and Hermione are now having to make adult decisions and fend for themselves and in the end, that is what this movie is about.  Of course it is all set up for Part 2 as well.

There is blood, gore, and one “romance” scene that definitely makes this movie not for young kids.  The pervasive gloom of the story is punctuated by frightening battles and attacks, so expect lots of tears for nights to come if you make the mistake of taking a young child to it.

As a footnote, I have to say the special effects are the best by far in the series.  Watching it in digital HD, I was stunned by the effects involving a certain house elf.  The CGI masters have come a long way since Gollum!

If you are a Harry Potter fan, this is a must see film. 

Harry Potter Midnight Screening

The last thing I expected to be doing today was going to the midnight opening of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1.  Okay, it was the second to last thing I expected.  The last thing would have to be going to it in the small town of Spring Grove, Minnesota. 

But this, in fact, is how my day ended.  Assisting my father in an aborted microwave installation in the afore mentioned town resulted in our passing the local state of the art movie theater several times. The first time I did a double take at what was on the marquee – after all, they don’t show first run movies, much less something this popular.  Upon returning home, a check on the Spring Grove Cinema’s home page verified that I hadn’t been hallucinating and that they would be showing it every night for two weeks.  An email reservation was required and on a lark I sent it in, the catch being that you have to show up fifteen minutes before show time or your seats might be sold.

The crowd wasn’t huge but along the numbers I’d seen at The Lord of the Rings midnight showings in a much larger city of La Crosse, Wisconsin.  It was a cheerful crowd that skewed young and the mood was good.  At six dollars a ticket it was more than a bargain.

So how was the movie, you wonder? 

A full review will wait until I’ve had some sleep, but this was one of the best entries in the series.  Fans of the book should be pleased at how faithful it was.  The performances were the best yet from the cast and there was a palpable feeling of dread throughout the film.  Also, it is not for small kids as there are deaths and gory maiming's in it, so please don’t think about taking them to it.

Somewhat off topic:

Two trailers stood out for me and they were for Tron: Legacy and Green Lantern.  Having seen both on the Web, only Tron had impressed me and Green Lantern disappointed on the small screen.  I’ve changed my mind about the latter after seeing it on the big screen and it looks dazzling.  Still not happy with the humorous bits that ring hollow, but the more serious parts look very good indeed.