Lost In Translation

Battelstar Galactica Season 1

A friend has been raving about the new Battlestar Galactica, and I have to say that I was somewhat reluctant to watch it. My friend is a fantasy/adventure/Sci-Fi enthusiast and so was I, about 20 odd years ago. But I can appreciate a well-made genre piece like Batman Begins, The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, Donnie Darko, The Matrix, Gattaca, etc…and I had seen some positive buzz about it on the internet. So I can’t say that I was totally surprised by its quality. But I had vague recollections of the original series being a poor copy of Star Wars with lame special effects. Well, they have totally re-imagined the look of it, particularly the production details of set designs, background, and CGI Cylons and space ships-very impressive for a mere TV show. The special effects enhance and frame the drama rather than overpowering as it often happens in films. They have totally reinvented it as a reality-based SF drama with strong writing, acting, and production values. They explore themes like the role of the military, destiny, religion, torture, democratic values, among other themes and motifs. In addition, they have spiced it up by re-inventing some of the main characters as females and introducing Cylons that look like humans-some of them particularly attractive. Starbuck proves to be a multifaceted and interesting character, one that was a male in the original series. The internal psychosis of the Dr. Gaius Baltar who sees the mainfestation of the Cylon that seduced him, Number Six, who has some mystical and provacative knowledge to bestow to Baltar. I guess it's another series I’ll have to try and keep up with.

Pizza Mia

Metropolis reviewed Pizza Mia in their last issue. This is a restaurant owned by an aquaintance and I've been to it a couple of times. Good authentic Italian food at a reasonable price, however, a bit out of the way near Kojimachi station. I agree with the reviewer when he says:

The big test, however, was the pizza. The best way to assess the quality of a pizza, our companion decreed, was to order something simple, in order to check the quality of the dough. We chose the famous Margherita (¥1,850)—tomato, mozzarella and basil matching the red, white and green of the Italian flag. This pizza was first created for Queen Margherita of Savoy when she visited Naples in the late 18th century, we learned, and our own Margherita was soft and fragrant in true Neapolitan style.

Click here to read the whole review.

Book Notes: Armed Forces

Armed Forces by Franklin Bruno, is the first book in the 331/3 series that I’ve read that is a critical study of the album chosen. Elvis Costello has long been one of my favorite artists because his music is usually rife with metaphors, challenging lyrics, and catchy choruses and guitar hooks. 1979’s Armed Forces is one of his masterpieces and luckily Rykodisk has been re-releasing his albums with added tracks that were recorded in the sessions but didn’t make it onto the album or were kept off the original album. It also includes the excellent live versions of “Accidents Will Happen” and “Allison” recorded at Hollywood High that was originally a special edition single that came with the first 1000 pressings of the American release of the album. Bruno has Ph.D. and writes about this album with the technical and critical precision of a musician/historian as he examines the music, lyrics, and themes of the album that was going to be called emotional Fascism. The structure is a bit haphazard as he jumps around from point to point. He discusses the musical references that inspired the music, everything from R&B classics to Abba, and Cheap Trick. He also examines the record in context to his career, and the social and political climate from which it was born. He also discusses quite thoroughly the fascist references and imagery used in the album (“You’ll never make a lampshade out of me.”/”…just another white nigger…”/”Two Little Hitlers”/"...is this the final solution?"). He also spends a lot of time discussing the infamous “Columbus” incident where Elvis Costello got into an argument with Stephen Stills' band and insulted James Brown and Ray Charles to upset his American antagonists. He lists references from such diverse sources as Adorno, Barthes, Sontag, and Arendt. Throughout the book he boldfaces words that act as a sort of A-Z of the album. It is a fascinating and thorough look at one of the best albums of the last 25 years. I’m looking forward to reading more the volumes in the series.

100 Notable Books

The New York Times has run a list of the 100 most notable books of 2005-there are a lot of interesting titles, I've only read the new Cormac McCarthy, but I plan to read Collapse and Freakanomics at some point in time.

Update: I looked at the list again and noticed How Hungry We Are by Dave Eggers and Kafka On The Shore by Haruki Murakami, which are two other books I've read this year as well. I guess I got thrown off by the number of non-fiction books-all my reads were fiction.

Are Japanese Schools Better?

There's an article in the NY Times that suggest that Japan has answers for the education problems America is facing:

Americans tend to roll their eyes when researchers raise the Japanese comparison. The most common response is that Japanese culture is "nothing like ours." Nevertheless, the Japanese system has features that could be fruitfully imitated here, as the education reformers James Stigler and James Hiebert pointed out in their book "The Teaching Gap," published in 1999.

The book has spawned growing interest in the Japanese teacher-development strategy in which teachers work cooperatively and intensively to improve their methods. This process, known as "lesson study," allows teachers to revise and refine lessons that are then shared with others, sometimes through video and sometimes at conventions. In addition to helping novices, this system builds a publicly accessible body of knowledge about what works in the classroom.

The lesson-study groups focus on refining methods that improve student understanding. In doing so, the groups go step by step, laying out successful strategies for teaching specific lessons. This reflects the Japanese view that successful teaching is the product of intensive teacher development and self-scrutiny. In America, by contrast, novice teachers are often presumed competent on Day One. They have few opportunities in their careers to watch successful colleagues in action. We also tend to believe that educational change would happen overnight - if only we could find the right formula. This often leaves us prey to fads that put schools on the wrong track.

There are two other things that set this country apart from its high-performing peers abroad. One is the American sense that teaching is a skill that people come by naturally. We also have a curriculum that varies widely by region. The countries that are leaving us behind in math and science decide at the national level what students should learn and when. The schools are typically overseen by ministries of education.

If this is true, then it is something that should be followed, but I never saw this kind of support and development in the two years I worked as an Assistant English Teacher in junior high schools and elementary schools in Saitama in the late 90s. It has caused some controversy with letters to the editor. As someone who has been inside both countires' educational institutions, I still see America's as superior, but not perfect. There is a lack of emphasis on critical thinking and problem solving in Japan. But there is a greater societal emphasis on pre-collegiate learning given the parent's interest and participation in their children's schooling. You can also see it in the number of cram schools that children attend in order to improve their chances of passing entrance examinations to get into the best high schools and then the best colleges. So I agree they are better at taking standardized tests, which is what the Bush administration's educational policy is really about, but if we truly care about improving education it would invlove more teachers, smaller schools, and paying teachers what they deserve.

Young and Hip in Bangkok

The NY Times reports on the Bangkok cool quotient. It's one of my favorite cities:

By MATT GROSS Published: November 20, 2005

TO the untrained eye, the Au Bon Pain at J Avenue, a strip mall on Soi Thonglor in Bangkok, doesn't look like much. On a recent evening, a group of university students in jeans and studded belts were "studying" their textbooks and showing off their new cellphones. At another table, four office types were examining floor plans. A mother brought her children in for snacks. A young woman quietly smoked a cigarette.

It could have been any Au Bon Pain in any minimall in any city on the planet. But this wasn't just another fast-food franchise. This was, according to Krissanaphong Kiattisak, the epicenter of creativity in Bangkok.

And Kris, as everyone calls him, should know better than perhaps anyone in this city of 5.6 million people: He is the editor in chief of Wallpaper* Thailand, the new spinoff of the international design bible (and only the second foreign franchise, after Russia), and this cafe - a wide-open place that feeds the see-and-be-seen desires of hip residents - has become something of a second office to him and his staff.

"You can sit here all day and talk to photographers and stylists," said Mr. Krissanaphong, a former architect and interior designer whose response to the city's overwhelming heat that day was to wear a blue-and-gray striped sweater.

Just then, a group of young men with stylish black glasses sat down outside and waved through the plate-glass window at Mr. Krissanaphong and his creative director, Nontawat (Moo) Charoenchasri, and editorial coordinator, Chidlada (Louise) Chananon.

"We know everybody," Mr. Krissanaphong said, smiling.

These days in Bangkok, "everybody" is a significantly larger group than it once was. The people you meet at parties, clubs and cafes seem to be graphic designers, or architects, or fashion photographers, or producers of TV commercials and short films. (Or they give parties for those people.) What's more, their influence is starting to be felt far beyond the borders of Thailand.

Click here to read the whole articled.

In The iPod: Alive & Wired

In the liner notes of the Old 97's latest release, guitarist Ken Bethea writes: “…the thing that makes me most proud is that we’ve always been a smoking live band.” Having never seen them live, I cannot attest to this statement, but in this 30 song two disk collection, recorded in two nights at Gruene Hall in New Braunfels, Texas in June of 2005, provides ample support for the power of their live shows, which I would like to witness at some point in time. However, I have seen guitarist/lead singer Rhett Miller’s 2002 solo tour for the underappreciated “The Instigator” album, and can say that he was a charismatic and energetic live performer. Somehow The Old 97’s, long critic’s darlings have been overlooked, while erstwhile alt country compatriots Wilco have gone onto mainstream success. Like the former, they are capable of high-minded compositions (such as the dark ballad “Salome”), as much as swaggering rocking stomps (like the explosive “Time Bomb”). The Old 97’s have used this album to showcase their career trajectory from their early alt country origins to their recent power pop compositions; there are only three songs from 2004’s eclectic “Drag It Up” release, and only one new song-”Iron Road.” This could almost pass for a greatest hits album, if not for the omissions of some of their best songs like “19” and “Weightless.” There are some surprises such as the obscure B-sides “The Villain” and bassist Murray Hammond’s cover of Merle Haggard’s “Mama Tried.” Overall, it provides an excellent introduction to one of the most entertaining and vital bands around.

Indochine

I've found a Vietnamese restaurant, Indochine, near my station, Myogadani, it is opposite the station on Kasugadori toward Korakuen. I hardly ever go that direction, since my gym is the other direction toward Otrsuka. I've passed it before, but didn't give it much notice until I stumbled over a reference to it on the net. It is quite authentic, however, a little expensive.

These fried spring rolls filled with shrimp are just like I remember from Vietnam, however, they work out to more than $1 a piece-which I think is a bit dear.

I've never had these noodles before, but they looked tasty in the menu. They remind me of Tan Tan Ramen, which is a spicy noodle soup from the Schezuan province in China which is near Vietnam. The soup has chilis and gorund chicken and beef with a type of noodle that I am unfamiliar with. It was very thin, soft and not so long. It's not a glass noodle and it's not like any of the Japanesne ramen style noodles. This was much more reasonably priced. I washed it down with ba-ba-ba beer, which is 333 Beer. So all the Vietnamese I know is a number.

Individuality=Indiscriminate Acts of Violence?

Kimiko Manes is at it again with huge leaps of logic and broad generalizations in her U.S. Culture column. She often chooses interesting cutural differences between Americans and Japanese and then justs goes off base. Consider this:

Japan is a group society, so it is difficult to get out of the group from which one belongs, such as the school or the company community. Indeed, people fear being an outsider. Therefore, Japanese people sometimes have difficulty articulating their own views if they are different from those of others.

In contrast, in an individualistic society, the groups are transient and issue-oriented, so it is also the individual's choice to join or leave the group.

Therefore, North Americans tend not to hesitate to voice their thoughts. If one is pressured uncomfortably, or put in a position not in keeping with one's beliefs, there is always the choice of simply saying "no" and removing oneself from a group and joining another.

In such situations, Japanese seem to instinctively avoid saying "no." In contrast, Americans are proud to be able to say "no." To a country that was established by people who escaped oppression by seeking freedom in the New World, the freedom to say "no" is a keystone of the United States, and still runs strong in the blood of its citizens.

Just because people do have more freedom, however, doesn't mean that anyone can join every group. In a group that works under a leadership, if people are not on the same wavelength they do not get included from the beginning. People who are not social, or bad at marketing themselves are not allowed to join particular groups in the first place.

This is American-style bullying or ijime.

In Japan, no matter what one's intention or philosophy, organizations or groups will automatically include all individuals. Therefore, nobody gets left out.

On the contrary, in the United States, it is inevitable that the exception will occur. Not being included, people who get pushed to the corner of loneliness start to perceive the whole of society as their enemy, and can end up engaging in indiscriminate acts of violence.

In the United States, such acts of violence not only occur in schools, but also in other public locations and workplaces. When people are constantly excluded and depressed enough to commit suicide, they might take out their anger on society through shooting sprees.

A sniper who allegedly had ambitions of assassinating a president is said to have a similar psychological state and is a subject of the CIA's psychological profile analysis. The CIA and FBI are trying to use the know-how accumulated from the profiles of such individuals to prevent further incidents of random violence.

Japanese ijime is different in that someone within a group is excluded or somehow mistreated. Interestingly enough, from the victim's perspective, the perpetrators are identifiable. Japanese bullying ultimately consists of pushing a person out of the group.

So basically she's saying that if you bid to pledge a frat fails, you go out and indsicriminately start killing people. I just read about a 15 old Jaopanese boy who killed a classmate, because she had stopped talking to him at school. Of course the amount of violence in Japan is much less in comparison, but this is a huge generalization. Furthermore, many Japanese choose to turn the violence upon themsleves, there is a disturbing trend of kids who are bullied killing themsleves. furthermore, some people who suffer from "hikiimori" withdraw completely from society-even their families locking themsleves in their rooms with their computers and comics.

Essentially, I agree that in-group behavior is different between the cultures, but I don't think she has used any good examples. I think less extreme examples of the behavior like avoiding direct/opinonated statements, adoptation of the stauts qo to preserve harmony, or lack of constructive criticism might be more illuminating rather than focusing on how American always "go postal" or become Travis Bickles if they don't fit in-they find their group or rebel in positive ways-starting a punk band, playing video games, or whatever. There's certainly more pressure to conform in Japanese society, but people have found nonviolent ways to rebel, too; by becoming "freeters" (contract part-time workers), dressing up in Gothic clothing styles, or moving away to another country to study a foreign language.

Click here to read the whole article.

Beavis & Butthead: "Beckett-like"

Beavis & Butt-Head are out on DVD and I was pleased to hear that one of Mike Judge's favorite episodes was "Cornholio." I probably won't be collecting these, but I reckon they'd be worth renting. Here's what one reviewer at Slate says:

The new DVD set, Beavis and Butt-Head: The Mike Judge Collection, is the best anthology yet of the MTV series. That said, it's still bound to disappoint truly obsessive fans of the original show. While there have been several previous attempts to release the B&B material on DVD, none of these earlier compilations has included the music videos that constituted the heart of the Beavis and Butt-Head show, which consisted of videos intercut with animated segments. Since issuing the full-season box sets would involve securing the rights to literally hundreds of music videos, the show's creator, Mike Judge, has chosen instead to go the "best of" route—selecting his favorite two-thirds of the animated segments, along with whatever music videos Paramount can wangle the rights to, and issuing them in three successive sets. Of the 199 total episodes of the animated series, 40 are included in this first collection, along with a paltry 12 music videos with the boys' inimitably vacuous commentary.

In the making-of featurette (irresistibly titled "The Taint of Greatness"), one of the show's writers reflects on the unique challenges of "writing stupid": "You have to go back to the place where thinking begins and stay there." To truly appreciate Beavis and Butt-Head, you have to watch from a similar place, a Zen rock garden of peaceful imbecility. There's an almost Beckett-like purity to the tedium of Beavis and Butt-Head's serenely empty lives; in one short, "Killing Time," the boys wait out the two hours until something good comes on TV by staring at the gas meter outside Butt-Head's house. "Time sucks," Butt-Head finally observes. Beavis' response: a chuckle, then silence.

Click here to read the whole article.