The Sansei Shooter

                                                   The Sansei Shooter

Hordes of malcontents leaving tax-payer supplied resort. That's gratitude for ya!

      While working at the pistol range in Powell Ohio back in the 90s, I would often avail myself of conversation with the various clientele. One interesting fellow comes to mind. The only Japanese redneck I've ever met.

      He worked in the offices of a gravel quarry in southwest Columbus. In his late fifties/early sixties, wearing (Depending on the weather.) a worn blue jacket or a ratty t-shirt, he'd come in once a week smoking one of those big cigars of his, to "shoot the bull".

      We always got a charge out of this guy (Sadly, he's no longer with us. Damn cancer.). He'd regal us with tales of the bad ole days of living in the OSU area during the sixties (The National Guard was called out on various occasions, not because of political "activism" but because THE BUCKEYES! won/lost a game. Nowadays it's just 12th Ave. going up in smoke.), or the drawbacks & merits of the various models of Harley & Triumph bikes.

      Invariably the discussion got to politics, particularly gun control. We of course all agreed it was a matter of putting the second round through the hole the first one made & not the lofty non-solutions as proposed by the starry eyed, self appointed, would be saviors of our souls. One quote of his I'll never forget:

      "They say waiting periods (For gun purchases.) are for cooling you down. Bulls--t! I've been divorced from my ex-wife for over twenty years & I still wanta' kill her!"

      On another occasion, I asked why he owned guns. He gave an answer that's stuck with me to this day:

      "I was born in a concentration camp at Tule Lake in northern California. This was where they sent 'troublemakers'. My mom was there because she wouldn't sign a loyalty oath. She said she was an American & didn't have to sign so they sent her there. I may not remember much of it at all but they 'did it' to me before, they're not going to 'do it' to me again. That's why I own guns."

Hey! It's the gummint wot determines who/what's
American, not you pal. Now that we got THAT straight .....

Enjoying tax-payer funded meals. Darn freeloaders!

      This was in sharp contrast to the reaction I got from a regular customer from Yokohama who was in the U.S. for his company. He was a bit aghast when I stated that any of the internees had the perfect right to shoot anyone taking them to a "relocation center". That "go with the flow" mentality I'll never understand.

      Things are different everywhere.

Article copyright © 3-22-2012 Jay Agan

Makes me PROUD to be an Amurikan. An iffen yew don'
think so mebbe yew awtta go someplace lahk Rooshia!

Propaganda film extolling the benefits of "internment" here. The gummint only had the best of intentions & their welfare in mind.

George "Mr. Sulu" Takei puts to rest any misgivings about "internment" here. He has nothing but praise for it.

Pat Morita talks about "internment"s' joys & wonders here.

Ruth Voorhies talks about her stay in a gummint furnished vacation wonderland here.

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Strange Young Lady, Strange Little Movie

                                           Strange Young Lady, Strange Little Movie

                                                                           by

                                                                              Jay Agan

      I was cashiering at an unmentionable, cut rate, regional, merchandising, chainstore where I met an unusual co-worker. I noticed she would dye her hair (Death black, Chernobyl red, Jolly Ollie orange.) at regular intervals. Didn't think much of it at first though it certainly got the attention.

      A couple months into her employment, I found, through a chance discussion about movies, that she liked anime. (That certainly explained the interesting hair colorations.) This rekindled an old interest I had in the genre. By that time I had been collecting movies for a couple years & was seeking to expand in another direction. Anime seemed a colorful way of doing so & I haven't looked back scince.

      It wasn't only anime she was into, but all things Japanese. And she seemed such an intelligent person. She could speak German, & her Japanese was quite good. Not your typical anime geek, otaku, or Japanophile or whatever it was she considered herself. She told me she had Japanese ancestry (Which I found VERY hard to believe.) A chance meeting with her dad in the checkout line revealed she was about as Japanese as Irish stew.

      Getting to know her better as time went on, I would kid her about her interest in "them there furrin' cartoons". At times she would act rather sensitive about it. I'd say "cartoons", she'd say "anime" (Sometimes "ANIME ---- it!"). I'd say "comic books", she'd say "manga". She'd say "Banzai!", I'd say "John Wayne". You get the idea.

      We had this informal, on again/off again, semi-friendly feud for quite some time. I rather enjoyed it though she wasn't always receptive &, at times, rather peeved.

      One day. She did something ..... awful.

      Knowing I was into sci-fi & horror, she suggested I check out a certain Japanese made horror film. As it was a recently made flick, I was somewhat reluctant. I have an aversion to "modern" horror as they go for the gore, leaving plot & story behind. Most of my flicks were made before 1980 as I'm pretty much "old school" when it comes to horror (Price, Lugosi, Karloff, etc.)

      Knowing the Japanese do things differently, (As one fellow stated on the Universal Monster Army message board: "The Japanese are 30% weirder than the west. And I mean that in a good way."), I bought the flick cold, sight unseen. Something I rarely do. Oh yes. Name of the film: Audition.

      This is not a review, but I will say this film is not so much a horror film as it is a horror. The first 3/4 is a slow building psycho-drama. the last 1/4 ..... excriutiating. Agonisingly, tooth watering, ..... excriutiatingly PAINFUL to view.

      I'm there ..... watching. Hands gripping armrests, fingers convulsingly impressing prints into the wood. Sometimes, sitting sideways, hand over one eye. No screaming or yelling. Only little mewling squeals & gurgles welling up from the bottom of my throat, sometimes spasming into "Oh ..... my .....GOD!". My teeth & jaws hurt so much from all that gnashing & clenching.

      I know the guys' intentions were less than honorable, but ..... did he really deserve ..... that? I will never listen to the prelude of Bizets' Carmen the same way again. If you want to find out what happens in this movie, by all means, see it for yourself. Better yet, by all means, DON'T!

      For days (Weeks!) after, my workplace "friend" would taunt me with that weird little sound the movies' psycho-babe made while manipulating acupuncture needles:

      "Deeki deeki deekideeeee!" (Subtitles said, "deeper! deeper!)

      My usual procedure with flicks I'm less than satisfied with is to either give them away (I'd rather a movie is appreciated elswhere, than sit on a thrift store shelf.), or in this case, throw it out (Save the cases when you do that. They come in handy if you're a collecter.). As I was about to toss it, a thought occured to me (Yes, it does hurt when that happens!). I'll give it to a close friend.

      This friend is an interesting guy: Been in the service over twenty years. Well read/educated, PHD in history. Works for the government (So he's not ALL good, what the hey.). Part time college professor. Traveled the world, "Been there, done that." (At least twice.) Seen some combat (Doesn't care to talk about it.) The closest I've seen to a "Renaissance Man".

      So it was with some fascination/amazement/amusement I saw this guy get unhinged over a viewing of The Silence of the Lambs some years before.

      "Jay? ..... Jay! What's happening next!? What now!?"

      Gave him a sing songy, "not gonna tell ya, har har har!"

      "C'mon Jay!"

      "No way! Snicker, chortle!"

      "Agan ----it!"

      "Hee hee hee hee!" So it went. At times, my mind is not well.

      On one of his travels through, I dropped a bag of movies on him, making it a point to see this particular flick.

      Two weeks later, he calls me up for the express purpose of telling me what a vile piece of crud I am. Seems he made the mistake of watching it with his newly married wife. Now she has more doubts about me than before. (Due to the machinations of aforesaid merchandising chain, I missed their wedding & never met her. What George told her about me must have been interesting enough. Audition did not help.)

      Later, he got the urge to "share the love" & lent the disc to someone at his place of work. Now he's looked askance of by a couple other people.

      The world can be a brighter, better place if even only a few of us "pass it forward". I know it has for several other folks. All thanks is due to a rather strange young lady I met at work.

      You didn't think I was gonna blame myself ..... did you?

                                                       Article copyright © Jay Agan

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Dubs n' Subs

                                                                 Dubs n' Subs
                                                                            
                                                                           by
                                                                              
                                                                             Jay Agan

    I grew up on dubs. When I started being cognizant of movies in the late 50s, I noticed lip movement in some wasn't consistant with the heard dialogue. It was explained some flicks weren't made in the U.S. & came from where English wasn't spoken much if at all. The actors' voice was substituted with that of someone who could speak English. As a kid, I was somewhat fascinated by that. If a foriegn flick I might like was on tv, I would ignore the lip/voice inconsistancy & enjoy the show. Getting older, I likened it to the "universal translation device" on Star Trek (tos).

    Then as now, there were good dubs & bad ones. I'm not as stringent as some. If the length of dialogue matches that of mouth movement, I'm ok with it. I've seen really bad ones (long spaces of heard dialogue/no lip movement or lots of lip movement/no sound.) Some were even funny.

     I accept the fact sound is in English & lip movement is in Japanese, Italian, etc. The main thing for me is to enjoy the show. If the dialogue stays within original intent & meaning, things are fine by me (A Film like, Woody Allens' What's Up Tiger Lilly, being a hilarious exception!).

     At times I've found subtitles necessary. A foriegn film with no English track, obviously. There have been times a film has a mush mouthed actor who shouldn't be in movies. Subs have helped there as well.

     As can be seen, I pretty much prefer dubs over subs in general. Other reasons:

     1. I've spoken English all my life thus most comfortable with it. (I've studied Spanish & Japanese in the past. Those are stories for another day.)

     2. Continuity concerns. I find shifting eyes from viewing to reading & back to be somewhat discombobulating. I prefer to do one thing at a time. At times I miss something & have to back up the film to re-view/reread.

     3. Some say if you want to get full meaning & nuance, subs are the way to go. Doesn't seem that way to me. At times they come across as rather "flat". There's a difference between "transliterated to English" & spoken English.

    4. Some anime "should" be in English from the get-go. Black Lagoon, Lady Georgie, & Steamboy come to mind.

    5. There are animes "crude" enough the mouth movement doesn't match Japanese. Why complain if it doesn't match English?

    6. Most anime characters look so "European", they might as well be speaking English. Or Icelandic for that matter.

                                                        Article copyright © Jay Agan


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