Saturday, March 07, 2009
Chromosomal Coin-Flip Complete
We could have gone outside today, with the rain having let up and having no particular plans, but it turns out Mako and I couldn't come up with a good enough reason to get ourselves out the door. It's OK, since I had so much to do in recent weekends, it was nice to have a quiet day at home for just the two of us. Well, three if you include the TV.
I'm kidding! Three includes the tiny baby gestating inside Mako's womb. As of yesterday's doctor visit I can finally declare...it's (going to be) a boy! I know, huge surprise right? I mean it was either a boy or a girl - there were no real third options. Anyway, I'm thrilled to finally have a proper pronoun to use for the baby instead of "it." You just can't fall in love with an "it." There's an affection gap that saying "he" or "she" erases.
I was surprised at how much time I spent on Skype this afternoon. First The Trout called and we spoke about, um, everything for a good two hours. Then Chad called while we were watching the World Baseball Classic (Japan beat Korea in a rout). And just as we were preparing for bath and bed, my mother called! It's great to catch up with so many people but after a few hours my headphones really pinch my ears.
There was one outrageous thing on TV today that I can't just let go. I expressed my anger via Twitter but that's just not enough. We were watching a special about the new Yatterman film which is based on a old Japanese cartoon. One of the film's stars flew to New York for a screening and also did a bit of asking around about the popularity of anime/manga in the United States. Now while Yatterman is no household name in America, there are certainly a few Japanese titles that are getting quite big. Hell, that awful-looking Dragonball movie is only a week or so away. It's actually opening in Japan ahead of the US, a fact that actually drives me nuts when you consider how many movies sit in limbo while I wait for them to open on these shores.
OK, I'm digressing. No more anger about movie release dates. Today I was angry about a quasi-interview with some guy concerning the rapid growth of Japanese comics and animation in America. This stuffed suit actually had the temerity to claim that the rise in interest had something to do with the September 11th attacks. If I had been drinking a beverage I would have spit it out in total disbelief. I know "9/11 changed everything" but are you fucking crazy? Comic books? No, no, no.
It's pretty simple: Japanese stuff has been slowly building an audience in the US over the past twenty years. When my friends and I were buying poorly-dubbed VHS tapes of Fist of the North Star and Golgo 13, we were simply ahead of the curve. By the time I was in college there was a full-fledged anime club. And before the millennium there were already regular TV airings of Dragonball Z and Pokemon all over American television. You don't need to be a media expert or a marketing genius to figure out what happens next: popular imported entertainment breeds more importing. But you do need to be a total asshole to imply that the long-term entertainment needs of children were somehow influenced by the murder of 3000 people in a national tragedy.
Yes, I know this guy was only doing his job as a shill in trying to over-hype the importance of manga in the US and this clueless schmuck has the same bad habits we all do in trying to attribute greater meaning to unexplainable phenomena. You won the lottery? It wasn't chance, it was a MIRACLE, I know...but my rage is pretty straightforward. Linking massive destruction and an upswing of interest in Naruto is beyond irresponsible. It's tasteless and downright rude. Obviously the Japanese broadcasters didn't bat an eye because 9/11 just isn't thought of in the same way around here. They don't even mention it on the "history timelines" I see in elementary schools, despite prominent inclusion of the atomic bomb droppings and the...2002 World Cup coming to Asia?!?
Dammit Japan, can't you take anything seriously?
Tonight's meandering message was yet another Write or Die collaboration.
I'm kidding! Three includes the tiny baby gestating inside Mako's womb. As of yesterday's doctor visit I can finally declare...it's (going to be) a boy! I know, huge surprise right? I mean it was either a boy or a girl - there were no real third options. Anyway, I'm thrilled to finally have a proper pronoun to use for the baby instead of "it." You just can't fall in love with an "it." There's an affection gap that saying "he" or "she" erases.
I was surprised at how much time I spent on Skype this afternoon. First The Trout called and we spoke about, um, everything for a good two hours. Then Chad called while we were watching the World Baseball Classic (Japan beat Korea in a rout). And just as we were preparing for bath and bed, my mother called! It's great to catch up with so many people but after a few hours my headphones really pinch my ears.
There was one outrageous thing on TV today that I can't just let go. I expressed my anger via Twitter but that's just not enough. We were watching a special about the new Yatterman film which is based on a old Japanese cartoon. One of the film's stars flew to New York for a screening and also did a bit of asking around about the popularity of anime/manga in the United States. Now while Yatterman is no household name in America, there are certainly a few Japanese titles that are getting quite big. Hell, that awful-looking Dragonball movie is only a week or so away. It's actually opening in Japan ahead of the US, a fact that actually drives me nuts when you consider how many movies sit in limbo while I wait for them to open on these shores.
OK, I'm digressing. No more anger about movie release dates. Today I was angry about a quasi-interview with some guy concerning the rapid growth of Japanese comics and animation in America. This stuffed suit actually had the temerity to claim that the rise in interest had something to do with the September 11th attacks. If I had been drinking a beverage I would have spit it out in total disbelief. I know "9/11 changed everything" but are you fucking crazy? Comic books? No, no, no.
It's pretty simple: Japanese stuff has been slowly building an audience in the US over the past twenty years. When my friends and I were buying poorly-dubbed VHS tapes of Fist of the North Star and Golgo 13, we were simply ahead of the curve. By the time I was in college there was a full-fledged anime club. And before the millennium there were already regular TV airings of Dragonball Z and Pokemon all over American television. You don't need to be a media expert or a marketing genius to figure out what happens next: popular imported entertainment breeds more importing. But you do need to be a total asshole to imply that the long-term entertainment needs of children were somehow influenced by the murder of 3000 people in a national tragedy.
Yes, I know this guy was only doing his job as a shill in trying to over-hype the importance of manga in the US and this clueless schmuck has the same bad habits we all do in trying to attribute greater meaning to unexplainable phenomena. You won the lottery? It wasn't chance, it was a MIRACLE, I know...but my rage is pretty straightforward. Linking massive destruction and an upswing of interest in Naruto is beyond irresponsible. It's tasteless and downright rude. Obviously the Japanese broadcasters didn't bat an eye because 9/11 just isn't thought of in the same way around here. They don't even mention it on the "history timelines" I see in elementary schools, despite prominent inclusion of the atomic bomb droppings and the...2002 World Cup coming to Asia?!?
Dammit Japan, can't you take anything seriously?
Tonight's meandering message was yet another Write or Die collaboration.
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Labels: anime, family, Japan, manga, pregnancy, Write or Die
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I agree--attributing the popularity of anime (etc.) to 9/11 is absurd. And, to date myself, had this guy never heard of Speed Racer, Ultra-man, and Kimba? The difference between my generation and yours is simply that yours *knows* this stuff is Japanese. Mine didn't. In the end, it doesn't make a difference.
# posted by 
: 08 March, 2009 09:50
: 08 March, 2009 09:50
Oh--I forgot--congratulations on "it" being "he." This makes the name choice pool half as large, if that is any consolation!
# posted by : 08 March, 2009 09:52
: 08 March, 2009 09:52
I didn't know that the cartoons I loved as a boy were Japanese until years after the fact. The realization was pretty mind-blowing at the time.
And thank you! We're almost settled on one name, but I'm not telling anyone until I say it to his little face in June.
And thank you! We're almost settled on one name, but I'm not telling anyone until I say it to his little face in June.
Try and do this in order...
Congrats I look forward to meeting him. Steer clear of those Anime names, sure its cool at first but I don't think that as I reach 30 I would have appreciated He-Man or Flash.
Isn't it Yataman? Or were you using what they are calling it America?
I will tread carefully here as I am not American... 9/11 though understood as a tragedy the world over I'm sure is not felt with same depth or gravitas as it no doubt is in the US.
I would suggest in Japan that a lot of this is due a very limited international press, supplemented by Hollywood's rapid conversion of the event in to entertainment. Japan in truth lack a lot of the effect of the terror of the event, muting the emotional impact. When you then see all of the movies, however sensitively handled, glamorizing (and I use that word knowing there must be a better one) the event I can see where there is confusion.
That said manga and anime popularity linked to 9/11 is strait ignorant if not set with the idea that ALL entertainment experienced a spike around that time (esp. porn) as people tried to forget about the horrors of the event.
Very glad we didnt watch that though, Miki treats the TV as a truth dispenser and would have taken me a lot of time to explain to her he was talking out of his arse.
Congrats I look forward to meeting him. Steer clear of those Anime names, sure its cool at first but I don't think that as I reach 30 I would have appreciated He-Man or Flash.
Isn't it Yataman? Or were you using what they are calling it America?
I will tread carefully here as I am not American... 9/11 though understood as a tragedy the world over I'm sure is not felt with same depth or gravitas as it no doubt is in the US.
I would suggest in Japan that a lot of this is due a very limited international press, supplemented by Hollywood's rapid conversion of the event in to entertainment. Japan in truth lack a lot of the effect of the terror of the event, muting the emotional impact. When you then see all of the movies, however sensitively handled, glamorizing (and I use that word knowing there must be a better one) the event I can see where there is confusion.
That said manga and anime popularity linked to 9/11 is strait ignorant if not set with the idea that ALL entertainment experienced a spike around that time (esp. porn) as people tried to forget about the horrors of the event.
Very glad we didnt watch that though, Miki treats the TV as a truth dispenser and would have taken me a lot of time to explain to her he was talking out of his arse.
DoFuss: Yeah, Mako has shot down all of the totally excellent names that I originally came up with. "Kenshiro Feit" would have been EPIC. It's OK, we've got a good one in mind now.
And I get why Japan isn't totally on top of what 9/11 means in America. But that guy flapping his gums on TV was obviously an American and quite possibly a New Yorker as well. He should know better.
コメントがあるちゃう？ Type something, please. It's less work for me.And I get why Japan isn't totally on top of what 9/11 means in America. But that guy flapping his gums on TV was obviously an American and quite possibly a New Yorker as well. He should know better.
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