I saw one of these in the middle of the day by Kamogawa the other day. Odd bird. Also, I think that the rat in our house is this. Somehow this makes it less scary. The Wikipedia entry says that rat isn't in Japan, but my Japanese "Living Things of Japan" guide, says it is.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Thursday, May 28, 2009
More Zevoness
Posted on 11:18 AM by Unknown
Another funny tidbit about the biz in the Zevon biography:
At one of his early NY concerts, when he was the critics favorite, Billy Joel was wandering around hassling people trying to find out how to get a tour booked. Success is so random.
At one of his early NY concerts, when he was the critics favorite, Billy Joel was wandering around hassling people trying to find out how to get a tour booked. Success is so random.
Grand Torino
Posted on 11:03 AM by Unknown
One of the high points of my ill-fated Florida trip was flying ANA to America. War ANA. In addition to good food and service they have the new 777s with the personal TV system that allows you to watch a ton of movies and TV shows and your own speed. You can pause and jump between programs. They also don't censor the movies. It had the entire first season of 24, all of the Ocean's Eleven movies, including the original Sinatra version and a Clint Eastwood marathon. If I haven't said it before, Clint Eastwood is one of my very favorite directors of all time. From The Eiger Sanction on through Unforgiven, I love it all (with the exception of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, which sucked.) So I was excited to get to see Grand Torino. I haven't liked a movie so much since......when......This is England maybe. The Dark Knight? It struck me as one of the rare movies that reflects an America that looks familiar to me. An odd scary America with a lot of heart and uncomfortableness. I liked it more than I can say. That being said, I had no interest in the dramatic arc or ending. I could have done without it. I think the movie would have been better if it had just been guys hardware shopping. But that is me. I loved John from Cincinnati.
They also pass out Haagen Dazs on ANA. United just passed out resentment.
They also pass out Haagen Dazs on ANA. United just passed out resentment.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Odd
Posted on 11:40 AM by Unknown
Watch this all the way through. I am not sure what is going on but it is very strange and I actually laughed through my despair.
This Motherfucking Life
Posted on 10:08 AM by Unknown
I just got the mail saying I have been turned down for the scholarship that I blew a few thousand dollars applying for and was sure I would get. Why was I turned down? Who knows. While trying to avoid self pity it is the same wonder I feel at being turned down for everything I get turned down for. I think in some ways I am easy to reject. Not initially, but I picture in the final stages they look and think, "Well, he'll be okay without this." But I'm not. I am at a complete loss for what to do. I have been highly motivated basing everything around this, including a substantial chunk of my self respect. Fancy yourself the academic you say. I was so confident I had it, but I felt the same way about film school and the high school teaching job and the...... I suppose I should get used to the idea of being a junior high teacher. What was that I was saying about Warren down there earlier? I take it back Warren here I come.
(UPDATE)
The consulate actually mailed back and said there were two reasons:
1. There were a lot of applicants.
2. My research seemed unfocused.
2. Is odd because I came out of the interview telling everyone, "They were very friendly but didn't seem very interested in my research." They really didn't seem to grasp what "Environmental Economics" might be and kept bringing it back to "Can you understand doctors in Japan?" As I was trying to explain quantifying "Quality of Life."
Very frustrating.
(UPDATE)
The consulate actually mailed back and said there were two reasons:
1. There were a lot of applicants.
2. My research seemed unfocused.
2. Is odd because I came out of the interview telling everyone, "They were very friendly but didn't seem very interested in my research." They really didn't seem to grasp what "Environmental Economics" might be and kept bringing it back to "Can you understand doctors in Japan?" As I was trying to explain quantifying "Quality of Life."
Very frustrating.
I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
Posted on 7:37 AM by Unknown
Actually I am sleeping until 3pm every afternoon as the school won't let me come back to work until Saturday as I might have Gaikoku Flu. Yesterday I finished reading I'll Sleep When I'm Dead , the biography of Warren Zevon by his ex-wife Crystal Zevon.
Somewhere between him trying to make his wife have sex with his girlfriend while their newborn daughter cries in the next room and him forcing a groupie to have an abortion I began to question my love for him as an artist. Insert Ezra Pound equation. In the end, he probably does enough to make his excesses somewhat palatable. I think I am most empathetic and understanding with artists not being able to fit into the conventional world. There is that. Then there is being a narcissist and a drain on society. The life of an addict. It made me go back and rethink whether his talent actually justified the people around him's tolerance. I started to compare him to other artists. Is he a better songwriter than Blake Schwarzenbach, Ben Folds, Lance Hahn, Joe Strummer or Bob Mould? (that is a very random sampling) No. I think he isn't. But....then again, the age and time and place are a little different. I went back and watched some clips and he definately was quite a talent.
(A note on the Excitable Boy clip: I started out laughing at what everyone looked like and then realized how great they were playing and felt kind of bad.)
I base my thoughts around punk rock the way scientists base their worldview on evolution so it is no surprise that I will fall back on it here and say that part of Zevon's issues was the scene he was in. His friends were Jackson Brown and Bonnie Raitt and Don Henley, so he saw himself as rejected by the industry even though he was on the cover of Rolling Stone and constantly on Letterman. I think J. Robbins or Bobby Sullivan are every bit the songwriters Zevon was, but who knows what bank account they are digging into now. But, what does a corrupt industry really owe you anyway? And that is another place where the book makes me slightly ill. Rock and roll is just another power structure where sucking up to money helps your path to success. Fuck it. The way music is depicted as being made and the odd ways that money are thrown at it and the politics invovled makes you see music legends for what they really are; non-threatening chums.
Nevertheless, it is a book worth the read and you will feel for Warren and those around him and you will reconsider his music, which is the most important part anyway.
Somewhere between him trying to make his wife have sex with his girlfriend while their newborn daughter cries in the next room and him forcing a groupie to have an abortion I began to question my love for him as an artist. Insert Ezra Pound equation. In the end, he probably does enough to make his excesses somewhat palatable. I think I am most empathetic and understanding with artists not being able to fit into the conventional world. There is that. Then there is being a narcissist and a drain on society. The life of an addict. It made me go back and rethink whether his talent actually justified the people around him's tolerance. I started to compare him to other artists. Is he a better songwriter than Blake Schwarzenbach, Ben Folds, Lance Hahn, Joe Strummer or Bob Mould? (that is a very random sampling) No. I think he isn't. But....then again, the age and time and place are a little different. I went back and watched some clips and he definately was quite a talent.
(A note on the Excitable Boy clip: I started out laughing at what everyone looked like and then realized how great they were playing and felt kind of bad.)
I base my thoughts around punk rock the way scientists base their worldview on evolution so it is no surprise that I will fall back on it here and say that part of Zevon's issues was the scene he was in. His friends were Jackson Brown and Bonnie Raitt and Don Henley, so he saw himself as rejected by the industry even though he was on the cover of Rolling Stone and constantly on Letterman. I think J. Robbins or Bobby Sullivan are every bit the songwriters Zevon was, but who knows what bank account they are digging into now. But, what does a corrupt industry really owe you anyway? And that is another place where the book makes me slightly ill. Rock and roll is just another power structure where sucking up to money helps your path to success. Fuck it. The way music is depicted as being made and the odd ways that money are thrown at it and the politics invovled makes you see music legends for what they really are; non-threatening chums.
Nevertheless, it is a book worth the read and you will feel for Warren and those around him and you will reconsider his music, which is the most important part anyway.
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