Lost In Translation

Brief Encoutners With Che Guevara

I really enjoyed Brief Encounters With Che Guevara by Ben Fountain. The stories take place in exotic locales like Haiti, Columbia, and Myanmar and they all have some sort of epiphany that enlightens the protagonists. Some stories are more compelling than other and Fountain knows more about Haiti, so that country has prominence in being the setting for three of the stories. My favorites were the opening story of the committed bird watcher, “Near-Extinct Birds of the Central Cordillera”, the story of the opportunist golf pro, “Asian Tiger,” and the collection’s namesake: ”Brief Encounters With Che Guevara.” I look forward to more from Fountain. One note about the Harper Perennial edition-it had a really interesting section at the end called P.S., with interviews, essays and a selection of book reading suggestions from the author-I wish all books had these extras.

Interview: Bret McKenzie of Flight of the Conchords

The Onion AV Club has an entertaining interivew with one of the duo from Flight of the Conchords, a new HBO series that is quite entertaining. They write and perform some really funny paradoy songs and engage in some low key comedy as well:

Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement—better known as "New Zealand's fourth most popular folk parody band," Flight Of The Conchords—have been performing together since 1998, but until about two years ago, when their stellar HBO One Night Stand performance aired, they were virtually unknown in America. Then again, it takes a while for comedy so quietly absurd to ripple across oceans. Onstage, McKenzie and Clement are low-key: Sitting on two stools, guitars in hand, they trade deadpan banter between pitch-perfect send-ups of everything from Marvin Gaye to David Bowie to hip-hop.

Those songs naturally play a big role in Flight Of The Conchords, their sly, funny half-hour comedy for HBO. In it, McKenzie and Clement play Kiwi bandmates Bret and Jemaine, perpetuating the roles they played in the BBC radio series Flight Of The Conchords, and onstage in infrequent but hilarious live performances. McKenzie recently spoke to The A.V. Club about translating their live act to television, working with friends, the creepiness of MySpace, and living in the shadow of Cop Rock.

Click here for the interview.

BONUS: Here's their HBO One Night Stand on video.

Junebug

Junebug is a compelling drama. I wasn’t sure what I’d make of it after reading the plot synopsis, however, I remember that it was well received among critics. I found it to be an unusual and unpredictable family drama. It seems a bit foreign to me since it takes place in the South, a place that I have never been to, and a place known to have it’s own traditions. I guess I would relate most with Embeth Davidtz, who I think gets overlooked due the great performance by Amy Adams, but she plays the role of the well meaning outsider who doesn’t fit in with a great precision. All of the performances are convincing and real. I think anyone that has moved away form a smaller town to live in the city can relate to this film. Your hometown will always be there but it is no longer home, so there is a sense of relief when you leave it again and return to your regular life, but that’s not saying that it still isn’t a big part of who you are remains an importance in your life-even in your absence from it. I think there was the possibility of carving out Southern stereotypes, but I found the characters nuanced and the film kept surprising me throughout the course of the film. It’s one of those films that made a lasting impression in that I found myself thinking about it several times after seeing it.

What I've Been Listneing To

Here a list of some stuff that I’ve been listening to lately:

Joan Jett and The Blackhearts/Bad Reputation-What a cool punk rock inspired classic. I guess I remember the single, but felt compelled to get it after watching Freaks and Geeks, which uses the tune as it’s theme song during the intro. I always thought she was way mainstream, but shows that she did have an edge at one time.

Gang of Four/Entertainment! I really liked the song “Natural’s Not It,” which was on the Marie Antoinette soundtrack, so I tracked down this album that is said to be a post punk classic and I have to concur.

The White Stripes/Icky Thump-I thought I was over these guys. I didn’t even get Satan’s Pilgrim, but I have been hearing good things about his album and I have to admit there are some good tracks on it.

Spoon/Ga Ga Ga Ga-I got a bunch of their stuff awhile back and a lot of it’s quite good. I still don’t know this one too well. I guess I need to listen to it some more.

Lloyd Cole/The Collection-I was a huge Lloyd Cole fan back in the day, but somehow he didn’t make the transition to CD in my collection. "Lost Weekend" is brillant.

The Rushmore Soundtrack-I think this is one of my favorite films and I really love Wes Anderson’s choices of songs in this film: “Here Comes My Baby” & “The Wind” by Cat Stevens, “Making Time" by Creation, “Ooh La La” by The Faces, “Nothin In The World Can Stop Me Worryin’ ‘Bout That Girl” by The Kinks, “Oh Yoko” by John Lennon, “A Quick One While He’s Away” by The Who.

Rushmore inspired these choices as well: The Kinks/Something Else, Creation/How Does It Feel to Feel, The Who/Who’s Next.

My friend Eric inspired me to listen to the Violent Femmes/Violent Femmes with his "what I'm listening to" list.

The guys at Flowering Toilet inspired me to listen to some old Husker Du/Candy Apple Grey & Warehouse: Songs and Stories.

The guys at Flowering Toilet are big Love fans and seeing Wes Anderson’s Bottle Rocket again reminded me what a great song “Alone Again Or” is. So it led to Love/Forever Changes.

Korakuen: LaQua

There's a lot to do at LaQua (which is located in Korakuen across from the Tokyo Dome), a carousel, roller coaster, restaruants, shopping, ice cream, etc...

A Savage War of Peace

Alistair Horne’s seminal book on the Algerian War, A Savage War of Peace: Algeria 1954-1962, is a thorough look at a war that closely resembles the current conflict in Iraq. I read a couple of really interesting articles on this book earlier and felt compelled to read it. Terrorism, civil war, torture: these things also took place in Algeria and it would seem that there are some lessons to learned, but it seems they have not been heeded. It was a very long and complicated book, but not without its rewards. Apparently it has been read by Bush and several of his advisors. I think it would have been more meaningful to me if had a better grasp of the conflict and French history since 1945 in general, but that being said there was a lot of interesting information about this conflict. Terrorism, de Gaulle, France, and other conflicts like those in South Africa, Ireland, and Indo China. I think this paragraph sums up the situation pretty astutely:

One is left with the controversial role of de Gaulle, criticized both for going too slow and too fast. As far as the latter reproach goes, in the last stages of negotiations he suffered from the lesson not learned by Kissinger in Vietnam, or perhaps by Israel vis-à-vis the Arab world, or by the South Africans; namely, that peoples who have been waiting for their independence for a centenary, fighting for it for a generation, can afford to sit out a presidential term, or a year or two in the life of an old man in a hurry; that he who last s the longest wins; that sadly, with the impatience of democracies and their volatile voters committed to electoral contortions every five or four years, the extremists generally triumphs over the moderate. Just keep on being obdurate, don’t leave deviate from maximum terms, was the lesson handed down by the F.L.N. (Front de Liberation Nationale) and remains as grimly valid today-Northern Ireland or the Middle East or southern Africa. One after another de Gaulle saw his principles for peace eroded in the face of the F.L.N.’s refusal to compromise. As his disillusion grew, so did his resolve to liquidate the war with all the speed. In his final haste injustices were perpetrated, such as the exclusion from the peace talks of any representative Algerian faction (e.g. the M.N.A.-Mouvement Nationaliste Algerienne)) other than the F.L.N. Yet de Gaulle did liquidate that savage war.

August: Month of the Dead

Sawa Kurotani, of Behind the Paper Screen in The Daily Yomiuri, has an interesting column about the meaning of the Bon holiday in Japan and her personal attitude toward it:

In most parts of Japan, the series of events to commemorate deceased ancestors, Bon, takes place in mid-August (Aug. 13 to 16). I grew up in an urban area where people paid only casual attention to traditional customs, and my family (with the exception of my grandmother) wasn't religious at all. Even then, Bon was one of the more visible annual events. Bon Odori dances are held around this week at nearby shrines, school grounds and other public places, and one can hear the faint sound of Japanese folk music and taiko drums almost every night. As the first day of Bon approached, you'd find small bundles of straw at the florist's shops and supermarkets. On the first day of Bon, the dead are said to find their way back to their families by the light of burning straw (mukaebi or "welcoming fire"). On the last day, straw is burned again (okuribi or "send-off fire") for the dead returning to their own realm.

Japanese companies typically close their offices during this week, and give their employees a paid Bon vacation. When I was young, most of my friends went to their ancestral part of inaka (the countryside) to visit grandparents and other relatives. They looked forward to these fun-filled visits, and they also participated in more traditional and extensive Bon observances, including a visit to the family graves.

Japan's modern history also added tragic memories to August. The days leading up to the anniversary of the atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki (Aug. 6 and 9, respectively) are filled with thoughts of brutal mass deaths inflicted upon literally hundreds of thousands of civilians. Closely following is the anniversary of the end of World War II on Aug. 15, when those who died during the war are commemorated. Aside from many public ceremonies and continuous media coverage, many Japanese families have more personal connections to these anniversaries and memories of losing their loved ones.

And a lot of people seem to die in August--that was the impression that I always had growing up in Japan. In the neighborhood where I grew up, neighborhood associations posted notices and announcements on bulletin boards along the main streets, including funeral announcements. In August, there always seemed more funerals than any other months of the year. We would also notice, on the street or in a train, people clad in black, a tell-tale sign that they had just attended or were on their way to a funeral. The heat of midsummer is hard on the elderly and the ill, my mother used to reason, as is the extreme cold of winter. Therefore, one would notice more funerals in February and August.

I don't know if there is any truth to my observation or my mother's folk explanation. Such impressions are notoriously unreliable, and perhaps a study of death statistics would prove us completely wrong. As I look back, however, I wonder whether we noticed more funerals in August because we are already made conscious of death during this month.

As we go about our daily lives, we tend to keep the thought of death outside our consciousness. Japanese seem to be particularly intent on this, to the point where they find the idea of a living will distasteful, and more generally, avoid discussing matters related to the death of family and friends as much as possible.

But in August, death becomes closer to us, as there is one event after another, whether it is religious or historical, to keep death in our minds. Because we are already thinking about it, we recognize signs of death more readily than usual.

Or perhaps, it is the stark contrast that catches our eyes. August is a month full of life--bright sunlight, robust growth of plant life and active insects all around us. The darkness of funeral announcements and all-black attire becomes so much more obvious against signs of life at this time of the year, reminding us that, even at the height of life, death comes upon us without hesitation.

I don't go home in August often, but this year, I'll be in Japan during the Bon Festival week. I think I'll go out to the small yard of my parents' home with my mother, and make mukaebi together. If death is part of life, it's good for us to embrace it, at least for a few days a year.

Early Summer Film Roundup

Summer break has begun and I’ve been catching up on some movies, so I thought I’d do some capsule reviews of recently seen films:

Hot Fuzz is a film by the same group, star Simon Pegg and director Edgar Wright, that made Shaun of the Dead, a very funny and entertaining film. I made the mistake of watching this one in parts, the first hour sets up all the jokes in the second hour, so I was disappointed by the first hour finding little of it funny. But the second hour more than makes up for it by satirizing cop/action films mercilessly. That being said I think they could have cut to the chase in amore efficient fashion, but completely watchable.

The Wind That Shakes the Barley is a realistic look at Irish war with Britain in the 20s from a small town’s perspective by veteran filmmaker Ken Loach. The cinematography is gorgeous-it brings to life the lush Irish countryside and the characters come alive as historical types. Cillian Murphy is impressive in his role as radicalized country boy drawn in to the conflict. It takes an investment as viewer since the film clocks in at over 2 hours.

Darwin’s Nightmare is a fascinating and depressing look at globalization in the world as the film focuses on the fishing practices of Lake Victoria and the sociological, economic, and ecological fallout. The people who live there fish and ship the fish to Europe and Japan; however, they cannot afford to eat it themselves. Rampant poverty is manifested through street children sniffing chemicals, young women engaging in prostitution, and the ecological effects of introducing a fish that was not native to the lake and the effect it ahs had on the at ecosystem. It is not a pretty picture, but that is how most of the world lives to serve the first world.

Sherrybaby is a sort of acting tour de force by Maggie Gyllenhaal, since she single-handedly carries the film. The other performances seem small in comparison. It is the story of a onetime junky trying to get her life back on track so that she can reconnect with her daughter and take over as her legal guardian, but it is harder than she expected and she realizes that she cannot do it alone. It is always pretty, but believable and unpredictable especially the ending, which has no clear resolution.

This Film Is Not Yet Rated is an engaging look at the politics and implications of film ratings by the MPAA. An unfavorable rating can be financially disastrous for a filmmaker since it won’t be shown in certain markets or carried by certain chain retailers. Furthermore, the people who do the ratings have no particular standards and seem to find violence less offensive than nudity. There’s a little too much Michael Moore like shennanigans, for example, sleuthing around the offices trying to find out who the members of the board are. However, it is successful in revealing who the memebers are. The appeals board has members who have a financial stake in the marketing of films, so that is also a flawed aspect of the process. It is a provocative look at the uniquely American institution.

Dr. Fischer of Geneva, or The Bomb Party

I read another slim volume recently, Dr. Fischer of Geneva, or The Bomb Party by Graham Greene. I am huge Greene fan and really have enjoyed everything I‘ve read by him, but this slight novel is minor Greene. I guess he makes some rather cynical observations about the wealthy and some rather idealistic observations about true love-two concepts in opposition to one another. Dr. Geneva is a bit of a conundrum, but his lackeys, known as “the toads” are a collection of stereotypes. The love affair between Fischer’s daughter and Alfred Jones seems inexplicable and unlikely-but it is the key to the action, since their marriage is what drives Jones into the life of Dr. Fischer and his toads. From there he is able to observe the sycophant behavior and greed, as well as the party to end all of these parties. The ending had some unexpected events, but it wasn’t as satisfying as some of his classics like The Quiet American or The Heart of the Matter.

No Longer In Use

A building in Itabashi.