Azumanga Daioh X Peanuts, Some Ruminations

A "crossover" of sorts. The Azumanga Daioh bunch drawn in the style of
the Black Lagoon anime. Sorta kinda what Charles Addams would have
done had he been Japanese.

                                            Azumanga Daioh X Peanuts

                                                 Some Ruminations

                                                             by

                                                                 Jay Agan

      While spending a Saturday afternoon at Armagedicon 6/Anime Punch last April, I spent too much time at the Aardvarktees booth watching You Tube anime spoofs. The majority of them parodies of Azumanga Daioh. The semi-demented proprietor of Aardvarktees, Weatherly Hardy, remarked that Azumanga Daioh was what Charles Schulz would have done had he been Japanese (Or was it that Peanuts was what Kiyohiko Azuma would have done had he been American? Oh well.). That thought had occured to me off & on as well.

      Charles Schulz & his creations were well into "slice of life" way long before the term was even invented. With his alter ego, Charlie Brown, he explored the everday world through the eyes of his child characters giving not only laughs, but also insight into how the world & human nature interact. At times biting & even harsh, other times thoughtful or comedic. Always having one nodding ones head in knowing aknowledgement.

      It is through the characters of both works that we see the goings on of the workings of the world. It is where I have drawn a few parallels between the two franchises (I left out Yukari & Minamo as they are older versions of Tomo & Yomi respectively. The less said of  Kimura the better.).

1. Sakaki/Charlie Brown- Withdrawn, shy, at times indecisive. Things don't always go well. Both have hang-ups & passions/obsessions that lead to distraction. Cats don't like Sakaki. Charlie can't keep a kite in the air to save his life.

2. Tomo Takino/Lucy van Pelt- The seven deadly sins & then some. Meanace to one & all. Personal motto: "Head games r' fun!" Viscious, nasty, mean, cruel, spiteful, bullying, LOUD, manipulative, offensive, insulting, & at times violent. Oh yes, rotten. Insert any other negative adjective here.

3. Chiyo-chan Mihama/Linus van Pelt- Incredibly smart & insightful though quite naive. Easily manipulated off onto tangents & can be quite emotional. Both have their "refuges": Linus has his security blanket. Chiyo her detatchable pigtails (YES! It's true! They ARE detatchable. We've all seen it. Just ask Osaka. She sees every {any} thing!).

4. Koyomi "Yomi" Mizuhara/Schroeder- Contientious, studious, considerate, patient, but both have their limits. Schroeder retaliates with his piano. Yomi lashes out with an uppercut to the jaw.

5. Ayumu "Osaka" Kasuga- In her own little world (It's OK. They know her there.). Depending on what she's doing, dreaming, saying or thinking(?), she could easily be either Snoopy or (Philosophically speaking.) Pigpen.

6. Kaorin/Woodstock- A couple of messed up little birds. She has anxiety attacks & hyperventalates. He twitters & flitters.

7. Kagura/Peppermint Patty- Outgoing, friendly, energetic, & athletic. Optimistic & encouraging though bewildered by the dejection of others. Particularly of Sakakis' "otherness" or Charlies' indecisiveness.

Peanuts as teens anime style. L-R Lucy van Pelt, Linus van Pelt,
Charlie Brown.

      You can probably come up with some comparisons of your own. Have fun.

                                     Article copyright © 6-29-2011 Jay Agan

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DISCLAIMER: All images used on this blog are strictly copyrights of their owners. I do not claim credit/ownership for any images used here in my blog unless stated otherwise. If I have offended anyone by posting any images on my blog, please contact me via email and I will remove specified image(s) ASAP.

First Buck, Last Light Something for the Fourth of July

Lest we forget ..... You are remembered.

                                    
                                                  First Buck, Last Light

                                          Something for the Fourth of July

                                                               by

                                                                   Jay Agan

      The six-pointer, creeping in wraithlike motion, hesitated in entering the waning southeast Ohio light. Neither old pro or novice, the buck cautiously peered from the shadows over the small clearing, its brown eyes taking in all possible detail. Several autumns of wary experience lent to the animal’s keen sense of survival. One learned in the wild or one wasn’t.

      Two other sets of eyes ceased their scans. Both focused on the sudden prey creeping methodically to the clearing's edge. The older pair shifted slightly to gaze on the owner of the younger. He sensed the apprehensive eagerness clawing for dominance in the small frame. The kid had been with his dad before, but it wasn’t the same. Not like when the lad was younger. This time, Jimmy held the gun.

      Not a boy any more, not quite a man, the lad did all he could to suppress any trembling. And succeeding. In spite of excitement boiling within, he sat rock steady, motionless. Anticipating a surer opportunity, he held the H&R Topper at the ready, patience and resolve finding renewal.

      Jimmy had his mother’s green eyes and red hair. The rest was his dad. A determined set to the jaw accented the long, straight nosed face topping the medium built frame. That shuffle of the genetic deck never ceased to amaze the father to no end--the kids' mother was such a tiny thing.

      "Kid’s doing all right," the father thought.

      Sniffing critically, the deers' sensitive nostrils revealed only the forests' damp earthen scents. Tender fronds at the foot of an oak partway into the clearing beckoned with leafy promise. Warm evenings and such food getting sparser, no telling when such a pleasant prospect would come again.

      Senses receiving nothing amiss, the buck edged out. Pale light changed the creatures' hide from dark to gold dappled hue, scarlet streaks accenting the form.

      The sudden jolt rattled the man. So abrupt it seemed after failing to notice the gentle press of his sons' finger on the trigger. One ounce rifled slug spun through its trajectory to the form some yards distant. A hit! And down!

      His hands' pressure on his sons' shoulder communicated confidence and pride while tempering an almost overpowering excitement. His sons' first deer. On a single hit!

      He watched the young man rise and break the single shot open, expended shell tracing its arc behind. Noting the youngster walk carefully to the prostrate animal, he knew Jimmy had taken to heart warnings about antler and hoof.

      With red flecked breath, the buck shook feebly, survival instinct asserting itself. Shock and a solid hit to the heart combined for its downing. The shaking ceased as they reached it, the form still.

      Beaming proudly, the father advanced to help his son with the task of dressing down the kill. No buck fever here. The lad neither balked nor flinched, the shot true. The job finished with nary an indication of the misplaced sentimentality that got to some on their first kill. Kid was all business. Work to be done.......
                                   
                                                      ....................

      Maloderous, putrefying, heat. An all too familiar and oppressive heaviness, at first lingering on edge of consciousness, hit mind and body full force. Ponderous gloom of where he lay reshrouded the now semi-sentient mind. Bare splintered wood of the pallet ground scabrous flesh into points and ridges of bone threatening to knife through.

      Long past the physical ravages of thirst and hunger, the fevered mind psyche perceived a need of something to be slaked and satisfied.

      But what, in this living death? A captivity making the most mundane of dreams the wildest fantasy. A hunt in cool autumn forest of exotic vegetation and not a shoot of bamboo or palm frond to be seen. References of another life with family, wife and son. Nothing in memory could resemble that. Such things happened on completly different worlds. Not ..... real .....

      Reality ..... Heavy field work, guards/dogs, "reeducation", beatings, so-called "food", more reeducation, little sleep ..... illness. Plodding, cloying, sickness. Debilitating in inches ..... Reality .....
Dreams. In such minute detail, to the last blade of grass and leaf on ground and tree. Breeze and sunlight on his face and tree bark under the touch. An alien language spoken between him and that strange boy. So coherent during his delirium under, but now....

      He couldn’t afford delusion. There was no life but that he was "living" now and couldn’t but since remember. Facing it with what vestigial dignity he still posessed.

      The excrutiating reality of the sparse present. A present of crippling disease rendering him incapable of even the lightest tasks. Of placement in this stygian cell out of the camp’s main stream, usefulness at an end. No "food" or water for seeming ages now, depleted body drawing on nonexistant reverves.

      Periods of conciousness fewer, deliriums longer. Same dream haunting him, more fantastic and unreal at each recurrence, with senses piqued and amplified beyond limit. And a feeling of peace he hadn’t known since .....

      How often these other-worldly illusions plagued him and how often he was conscious was beyond his calculation. Time ceased being felt long ago. Wallowing in confusion though he was, he summoned what resolve he could, determined not to be afraid.

                                                      ....................

      He inched upward, painfully drawing himself off the rude pallet. The heaviness, heat and darkness assailed him though not anywhere near so oppressively as before. And subsiding! First gradually, then faster.

      The man staggered to the cells' center, legs feeling steadier with every step. Stretching, less exertion than usual, he yawned, flushing his lungs with sweet, cool, air. Legs and back straightened, he continued crooking and extending his arms in mild exercise. No pain at all, he noted they weren’t as emaciated and frail-looking as before. Unbelievely they looked down right healthy.

      With deeper breaths, the brisk autumn air was savored, the expanding chest taking in ever-increasing amounts. Standing fully, surges of youthful power ran through a filled out frame. Limbs and body receiving messages from a clear, illuminated mind. No dream or illusion. Only the reality of ..... now .....

      A chance backward glance revealed a frail, withered, dead, thing. Delicate, paper flesh-covered skeleton, lifeless and still. Sightless eyes, filmed and dim.

      "Could something like that ever have been alive?" He thought. "Deader than the deer we’re dressing down!"

      Looking to where Jimmy and the deer were, he noticed the young man staring oddly at him.

      "You all right, dad?"

      "Yeah ..... sure. Something wrong?"

      "You act like you got knocked on the head or something," the kid exclaimed. "Sure your’e OK?"

      The father looked back over his shoulder. Only whispering trees and fading autumn gold met his gaze.

      "Nothing wrong with me, son." He turned back, a smile cracking his face. "Never felt better. Now let’s get your tag on this fellow. We've got to get him to the checking station."

                                       Article copyright © 6-25-2011 Jay Agan

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Tripping Academia: The Wild Bunch

William Holden lets the critics have it in The Wild Bunch.
Warner Brothers 1969

                                   Tripping Academia: The Wild Bunch

                                                            by

                                                                Jay Agan

      Ohio Wesleyan University has a "film series" they sponsor every Spring for student body & the locals. They get an "eclectic" mix of movies shown at the Strand Theater in downtown Delaware, Ohio. Something old, something new, something wierd & something not so wierd. Usually there's nothing in the lineup to interest me but for one exception a few years back. The Wild Bunch. A film I always enjoy & to see it on the big screen ..... Well I had to go!

      A blurb in the local paper mentioned there would be a discussion after at The Mean Bean, a nearby coffee house. Oh?

      I've read quite a lot of reviews over the years & I've often felt that many review(er)s were badly in need of reviews themselves. Especially ones seeing things that weren't there. You know, hidden messages & psychosexual subtext.

      Maybe there are SOME films having that, but some critics see "it" always, no matter what flick it is. There's a "school of  thought" that a film has a message always. Eg. any film from the 1930s is a critique on capitalism & 50s flicks are commentaries on "McCarthyism" & cold war paranoia (The parlor pinks & cocktail commies have to face the fact they lost that one. Live with it!).

      A few days before the showing, I talked to a friend of mine about attending. The plan was to "disrupt" the after movie discussion by trying to steer it into the realm of "symbolism" & sexual overtones & see how the participants would react (After all, everone knows what guns are REALLY about. Yeah, right!). I wanted to see how serious the "academics"  would take this & what tangent they would go off on. Bill couldn't go the theater because of his business though he did attend the discussion.

      Bill is an interesting fellow who builds thriving businesses, sells them, & goes on to build other thriving businesses. An ex-serviceman, he's been all over the world, "been there/done that". In his younger days he had the choice of making lisence plates or the Navy & chose the latter. He was able to avoid basic training altogether, a story in & of itself. A real life Captain Tylor.

      The theater experience was wonderful, The Wild Bunch being a great film & all. A western as only Sam Peckinpah could do. The "kids" were quiet & attentive (No fratboy "superiority" there!) with the MC busily jotting away on his clipboard. Coke (The kind you DRINK.) & popcorn making it complete.

      I'm one of those neanderthals who watches movies for the sheer joy of it. If  it's subtext you want to gab about, find youself another boy.

      We all arrive at the upper room of the coffee house later & the discussion was on, me waiting for Bill & looking for an opening.

      I was greeted WARMLY by the MC & a young lady. During the proceedings I was offered cookies & hot chocolate/coffee. While putting in my two cents (Didn't make my move yet.) I was treated nicely & deferentially.

      I'm thinking, "wait a minute! I can't do what I'm planning. They're being nice to me! You can't do dirt on someone nice to you! Dang!"

      They were not playing fair.

      Bill arrives & I take him aside, telling him why I couldn't go on with it. He agrees & informs  me the MC is someone who patronizes his restaraunt. We settle in & participate like normal people. Normal people is not something I do very well.

      It was interesting enough. The young'uns mentioned how long some of the scenes were (One is about 8 min.) & most films today try not to go over an average of 4 1/2 min. per. Some of the folks were a mite confused about  the "modern" gadgets in the film (Horseless carriages, automatic weapons, etc. One doofus referred to the 1911 Colt semi-auto as a "Beretta" & the 1917 Browning MG as a "Gatling gun".).

      Toward the end, the aforementioned doofus gets up & started spouting off  on the symbolism of violence & firearms (Uh! Oh!). As he ranted he referred to the climatic gunfight with the Browning MG as a kind of  "orgasm" & being very passionate about it! The students found this to be quite funny & laughed audibly as did yours truly. The very thing I had originally hoped to instigate as a joke was taking place for real!

      I challenged the fool with the statement about firearms being tools & nothing more, wherupon he got preoccupied with the word "tool". This jerks' head was worse than the Quagmire characters' on Family Guy. Giggity! Giggity!

      The soiree broke up around 11PM, fun had by all but the would be intellectual.

      I learned a few things:

1. Don't be mean. Be nice.

2. "Kids" these days (They're not children at that age.) are smarter than you think.

3. If things really are as weird as you think, it doesn't need any "help" from you.

                                    Article copyright © 6-24-2011 Jay Agan

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DISCLAIMER: All images used on this blog are strictly copyrights of their owners. I do not claim credit/ownership for any images used here in my blog unless stated otherwise. If I have offended anyone by posting any images on my blog, please contact me via email and I will remove specified image(s) ASAP.     

     

     

     

Beyblade, Babe Lights, Big Stinkin' Difference!



Beyblade: Does this look like "babe lights" to you?
Credit: Madhouse


                                Beyblade, Babe Lights, Big Stinkin' Difference!

                                                                   by

                                                                       Jay Agan

      I'm working at an unmentionable, cut rate, mid-west merchandising chain (Not Big Lots. They were nice to me.) in the toy dept. I like toys. If no one's looking, I have fun. This place was not into fun. They wanted you working every second, which meant straightening shelves that didn't need it. I was in the "process" of doing this when I'm approached by this matron looking for "Babe Lights".

      "Babe Lights?"

      "Yes! Babe Lights. Do you have them?"

      I suggested she try the infants dept. but she insisted they were in toys. OK. So we start looking in the more younger oriented section & coming up zero. Babe Lights? She didn't know what they were but knew we had them (I sure didn't!). What were they? Something from Wham-O?

      As the search dragged into long & fruitless, I call in the manager. They get to talking & getting nowhere even faster. FINALLY she says something about it having to do with a "cartoon".

      The manager asks, "could you mean Bey Blades?"

      "That's what I said! Babe Lights!"

      "( @!#$%*! )"

      I immediately led her to where we had the related item(s).

      This was a show I only knew of in passing & has come & gone. Shoot. I may not know much about a lot of things but if people would pronounce words correctly, I can at least retrieve/point things out. Geez!

                                 Article copyright © 6-21-2011 Jay Agan

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DISCLAIMER: All images used on this blog are strictly copyrights of their owners. I do not claim credit/ownership for any images used here in my blog unless stated otherwise. If I have offended anyone by posting any images on my blog, please contact me via email and I will remove specified image(s) ASAP.     

Let's Party! Arnold Schwarzeneggers' Commando



Lobby card featuring a young as springtime Alyssa Milano & "der Arnold".
Credit: 20th Century Fox

                                    
                             Let's Party! Arnold Schwarzeneggers' Commando

                                                                by

                                                                    Jay Agan
     
      Commando is only one of two Schwarzenegger flicks I have (Conan the Barbarian being the other.) & it's really God-awful! But I like it!

      A really nasty bunch of bad guys force Col. John Matrix (Arnold Schwarzenegger) in doing an assassination for them by kidnapping his daughter Jenny (Alyssa Milano). (As it turns out later, in spite of all their resources & more than considerable manpower, they couldn't hit the broadside of a barn even if they were all standing in it at once. Hence, they had to get someone else to pull off the hit.)

      Knowing they'll kill her anyway, he kills his "escort" & leaves an airliner ..... in flight & without a parachute! He then sets out to find Jenny before it's too late. Along the way he picks up stewardess Cindy (Rae Dawn Chong {Tommys' kid}), kills several henchmen, trashes a shopping mall, robs Surplus City for "toys", finds where they're hiding the kid & mows down an army of stuntmen & extras in a "bullet ballet" that falls far short of the one in The Wild Bunch, culminating in a fight with wierd "uncle" Bennet (Vernon Wells). All the while, der Arnold takes EVERY opportunity to show off his considerable physique.

      This flick is punctuated by Arnolds' under the top, non-acting (He never really had to act. He's very good at taking up space though.) offset by Chongs' animatedness. The inane, yet crazy dialogue coupled with the whacky violence makes the film more a comedy than a serious actioner. I remember audiences in rapt attention wondering what those two would do/say next, with lots of yucks & chuckles all around.

      All in all, a great little time waster. A popcorn flick I watch once a year.

                                Article copyright © 6-16-2011 Jay Agan
     

Addendum: I'm sure you've all hear by now about the "Governator" & his affair/coverup. I do not excuse (As if he needed that from me.) or condone it. If I had to dump every movie I had because there was a "connection" with something reprehensible, I wouldn't have any movies at all.

Commando trailer here.

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Shovel Ready/Shove It Ready, Hyuck! Hyuck! Hyuck!

      Well, it's good to see SOMEONE is able to laugh off this fiasco of a presidency! You're a funny guy Mr. Obama. You should be in absolute, total hysterics by November, 2012. I too can laugh. As well as vote. And I'll be laughing all the way to the voting booth.

      ABO - ANYBODY BUT OBAMA!

      Have a nice day, sir.

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Pokemon ..... Uh ..... Yeah

If the show was more like this ... I might have watched it!

                                       
Pokemon ..... Uh ..... Yeah

                                                           
by

                                                               
Jay Agan

     

I don't hate Pokemon. I have no BIG feelings toward it one way or the other. Small negative ones, yes.

I paid it no mind when it first came out in the 90s. I noticed it in ads & hobby stores & pretty much dismissed it as a kids' show/card game. This (And the execrable Sailor Moon.) was what a new generation of anime fans cut its collective teeth on. Was a little curious about that "tiger piglet" though  (Turned out to be an electric rat.).

At one point it started to get a little pervasive/oppressive to some. I remember talking with a fellow behind the counter at Hobbyland on Sawmill Road in Columbus, when a bunch of kids came charging in screaming about Pokemon cards. The guy looks at me & says, "gimmie a grenade!"

I also rember the "Pokemon Effect". Seems in one episode, the creators inadvertantly used the "right" shade of red & flashed it in the exact timing in one action scene to cause bad reactions in some people. A scene in the film The Andromeda Strain illustrates this well. I some times think of Pokemon as some kind of virus as well.

In 2000, I worked a few months at a "distribution center" (Warehouse!) dealing in all sorts of junk. Some of which was "all stuff Pokemon". As a picker, I got to know more about the show than I cared to. I can still recognize a lot of the characters 'n critters.

"Lets see ..... ONE Poliwhirl plushie, check. ONE childrens book, Pikachu I Choose You!, check. ONE Pokemon stickers activity book, check ..... " Etc. & so on, grumble, grumble.

This was around the time Cracked magazine made parody Pokemon cards (Psycho Duck, Jiggly Tush, etc.). I toyed with the idea of slipping a few into the decks. Should have done it. Dang!

The job in & of itself wasn't bad. The headgames & wierdness from the "higher ups" had me climbing the wall. Self appointed thought police were everywhere keeping things PC & cozy. Incessant meetings/rah rah sessions on productivity kept everyone from being productive. Other stuff they put me through too numerous to count. I finally understood why "violence in the workplace" happens from time to time.


For some this is Misty.

     

For others ..... this ..... is ..... MISTY!

It's a little hard for me to shake the mild negativity I have for the show. Lingers. If your'e into it, fine, though if your'e past puberty I can't help but wonder about you. Maybe it's those late teen/twentysomethings cosplaying as Misty/Kasumi keeping you interested. Or that creepy hentai.

Article copyright © 6-14-2011 Jay Agan



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DISCLAIMER: All images used on this blog are strictly copyrights of their owners. I do not claim credit/ownership for any images used here in my blog unless stated otherwise. If I have offended anyone by posting any images on my blog, please contact me via email and I will remove specified image(s) ASAP.

On Purchasing Anime Online: Caveat Emptor, Buyer Beware

     
      I've come to realize, in these tough economic times, if  I'm to expand my movie/cartoon collection, I'll have to do it on the cheap as much as possible. Cheep with a capitol cheep (Yes, I spelled it "correctly". That's how cheap ..... er ..... cheep it's got to be.).

      There are the usual sources: Dollar stores, thrift shops, Goodwill, Salvation Army & Big Lots. As these are pretty much "catch as catch can", I gave online retailers a try.

      One anime merchant looked pretty good. They didn't have the particular title I was looking for at that moment, but they did have two others I was interested in. Starship Operators & Death Note. At 60% off, it was less than a buck an episode with some series so I placed an order.

      They arrived in two days. VERY prompt service.

      When I opened the package, my heart sank. Why was the packaging mostly in Kanji? Why no company marketing logo? Uh Oh! I popped the discs in the machine to check performance.

      Though the two shows were originally marketed here by two different companies, the menu "template" was the same (PLAY, CHAPTER, SETUP, EXTRA). PLAY of course, played (Wouldn't go to MENU just started playing first ep.). CHAPTER consisted of two rows of thumbnails. SETUP: audio English/Japanese, subtitles English/ Chinese. EXTRA consited of only the opening credits sequence & would automatically play it. While you could go from one ep to the next on the chapter menu, you couldn't advance in steps (You could fast forward/rev.) Closing English credits on the shows revealed they were of the original marketers here in the states.

      I will say picture & sound quality were excellent. No way can I complain about that.

      I had originally thought they were selling "closeouts" a la Big Lots. This is what happens when you don't "look before you leap". As in any business, you get what you pay for. Considering the price, I did.

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SKUNK!

      Great! Just stinkin' great!

      It's 11:12 PM. Hottern' heck out. Got the windows wide open. Sniff, sniff, what the ..... !

      There's a skunk hanging out in the alley below and I don't have to look to know.

      Leave windows open & hope he goes away? If I try to close 'em he might shoot.

      Decisions, decisions .....

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Another Shooting Range Herp 'n Derp

Yeah! Cheetos! Lots 'n lots of 'em!

                                   
                                      Another Shooting Range Herp 'n Derp

                                                                 by

                                                                     Jay Agan

      Some of you might remember Eric Rudolph.  He was on the run in the mountains of the Carolinas for the bombing of  a couple of  abortuaries, a lesbian bar & planting one at the '96  Summer Olympic games. No, this is not a "political" commentary or rant. Read on:

      It was a Sunday, last day of my work week at the gun store/pistol range & looking forward to my "weekend". Dan, a fellow movie fan, worked there on Sunday. He had an interesting sense of humor & usually a joke or two to tell.

      I get in at 10AM & he came up with a quick one that fell rather flat. Now the "giggle button" on me gets rather large (Actually positively HUGE!) by the end of my week & it doesn't take much to get me going. But this ..... ?

      You've probably heard it youself. A rather vulgar one involving a recent retiree going to see the doctor. Seems he was having trouble with a certain part of his anatomy turning orange in color.

      The doc asks, "so what have you been doing since you retired?"

      "Watching porno films & eating Cheetos©."

      Yeah. Lame with a capital lame. Not seeing much of a reaction, Dan shrugs his shoulders & we go about the business of the range.

      A few hours later, a fellow comes in, & knowing I liked to discuss "politics", strikes up a conversation about Eric Rudolph. I quote a news report about him last being seen "checking out videos & buying food."

      It was at that moment Dan walks past me behind the counter, crud eating grin on his face, says ..... "Cheetos" ..... & walks on.

     The guy on the other side of the counter must have thought I was having a seizure! I swear. You don't have to lay a hand on me to beat me up! Getting a good laugh out of me will do for a pummeling. It was several minutes before I could catch my breath, ribs aching.

      "Dan! ..... Don't you ever ..... do that again! Bwa! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA!"

      For several minutes. All I could see ...... was this vision ...... of the most wanted man in North America ...... In his secret mountain hideout. "Watching porno films & eating Cheetos!"

                                     Article copyright © 6-7-2011 Jay Agan

Shooting Rang Herp 'n Derp here.

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DISCLAIMER: All images used on this blog are strictly copyrights of their owners. I do not claim credit/ownership for any images used here in my blog unless stated otherwise. If I have offended anyone by posting any images on my blog, please contact me via email and I will remove specified image(s) ASAP.

Sanctimonious Do-Gooders From Outer Space

"Hi. We're from the United Federation of Planets, & we're
here to help you." Oh, yeah? Get lost, ya creep!
Gort & Michael Rennie in The Day the Earth Stood Still
Photo credit: 20th Century Fox

                               Sanctimonious Do-Gooders From Outer Space

                                                               or

                               Just Who the Heck Do They Think They Are?!

                                                                by

                                                                   Jay Agan

      This is a tale of two movies. Both on the same "message" but handled quite differently.

      I dislike "benevolent" aliens. Or "benevolent" "adults"/authority figures for that matter. Nothing yanks my chain more than someone doing me a bad turn "for my own good".

      "You don't understand," they chide. "There is a geater purpose/good to be served. Something far greater than your petty, selfish concerns. Something only we (Insert name of self selcted, "morally annointed", special interest here.) know the full scope of & you cannot. Therefore, we must curtail, attenuate, penalize, tax & restrict you. You will, one day, come to the realization it is all for the best (Having your best interest at heart.) & profusely thank us/beg for forgiveness for it.

      Never mind I think for myself & use common sense. Never mind I deal noncoercively with others on a one for one, value for value basis. Give no credence to the facts I have a mind & life of my own. Their vision of heaven on earth & my subsidizing of it must take precedence.

      Take for instance The Day the Earth Stood Still (No, not that recent abortion with Keanu Reeves.). Michael Rennie plays a smug, yet impatient emmisary from a planetary alliance concerned with the possibility of earth bringing its' "stupidity, petty jealousies & suspicions" (Along with atomic power.) beyond our solar system. Of course, the film shows him to be entirely justified (The only reason I still have this flick is Bernard Herrmanns' film score.).

      There are already too many influential people with Klaatus' mentality involved in our national affairs. This is one of many reasons why our country has lost its' greatness & has become the "worlds' policeman" (And, for that matter, why NASA continues to be underfunded & fulfil the role of "global cable guy".).

      Another, but much better film, is War of the Satellites. A "crappy" little "B" movie Roger Corman cobbled together in a few weeks. The aliens are pretty much the same, even going so far as to sabotage our space program through violent means (Our own politicians prefer to do that legislatively.). They claim we're "not ready" but humanity eventually shoves them aside & goes on being humanity (Oh! The humanity!).

      It would be wonderful to one day shove aside the "aliens" among us (On both sides of the aisle.). & get on with mans' destiny of real exploration & expansion, on & off the earth, in & outside ourselves.

      Ready or not, universe. Here we come!

                                Article copyright © 6-5-2011 Jay Agan

The Day the Earth Stood Still trailer here.

War of the Satellites trailer here. So what if it's not the greatest sci-fi film made. Its' "message" (If any.) is much more positive than that of the big budget one.

Go to Main Page here.

DISCLAIMER: All images used on this blog are strictly copyrights of their owners. I do not claim credit/ownership for any images used here in my blog unless stated otherwise. If I have offended anyone by posting any images on my blog, please contact me via email and I will remove specified image(s) ASAP.

Azumanga Daioh: Well THAT Was Dumb

Don't know what ad this is a parody of. Also didn't know Minamo & Yomi were
 "Stoners". L-R: Ayumu "Osaka" Kasuga, Chiyo-chan Mihama, Kagura, Sakaki,
Kaorin, Yukari Tanizaki, Minamo Kurosawa, Tomo Takino, Koyomi "Yomi"
Mizuhara. Character Credit: J C Staff

                                   
      No. Not the show. What I did.

      I like Azumanga Daioh. Cute. Funny. Sometimes simple. Other times sophisticated. It doesn't try to offend or insult your intelligence (Eg. Upskirt shots of underage characters every five minutes, etc.). It was one of the first of the post 90s "schoolgirl" genre & undoubtedly the best. As it's not my usual kind of anime, I had initial misgivings when I first You Tubed it, but then left by episode three. I like it enough to own but not enough to shell out the bucks for new DVDs.

      While browsing at the Bethel Rd. Half Price Books (Columbus, Ohio), I came across disc 3 in the series (Sakaki cover) & snapped it up. Two weeks later, I found discs 1-3 at Half Prices' Reynoldsburg store. The covers (Pre-opening "jump ups" before the opening credits.) didn't "match" the previous #3. As I didn't want to "break" the set, I bought all three, leaving me with an extra # 3.

      Almost a month later, I'm "leafing" through the clear plastic cases & examining the extra info/illustrations on the other side of the slip covers (Nothing like little extras to make something more than complete.). Funny how the "inside" of disc 3 looks like the outside of .....

      Well THAT was dumb. In any event, the local colleges' anime club is getting a freebie this fall.

Go to Main Page here.

A couple of Azumanga articles:

Where Are They Now?

Azumanga Daioh Abridged: An Episodic Review

DISCLAIMER: All images used on this blog are strictly copyrights of their owners. I do not claim credit/ownership for any images used here in my blog unless stated otherwise. If I have offended anyone by posting any images on my blog, please contact me via email and I will remove specified image(s) ASAP.