Lost In Translation

ESPN 30 For 30: Volume 2

ESPN 30 For 30: Volume 2 is a continuation of the landmark series that celebrates 30 years of ESPN. There are some great documentaries in this volume, but it might be weaker overall than the first volume, but taken as a whole it is a great enterprise. The first episode in volume 2, "Two Escobars" about the drug lord Juan Escobar and his influence on soccer in Colombia and one its greatest stars Alex Escobar who was killed by the drug element that infiltrated the game. It is a portrait of two men, a country, a great upset, and a great fall. This and the OJ Simpson episode are my favorites from the series. Some the other great episode for me were: "Into The Wind" (The Terry Fox Story), "Once Brothers" (Yugoslavian NBA players Drazen Petrovic and Vlade Divac and the ethnic tensions that destroyed a friendship), "The Birth of Big Air" (Matt Hoffman and the birth of X-Games), "Four Days In October" (about the great Red Sox comeback against the Yankees in 2004), "Fernado Nation" (the meteoric rise of the Mexican pitching sensation) "The Best That Never Was" (the story of the non-career of Marcus DuPree), and "Pony Excess" (college recruiting scandal that killed the SMU footbal program). There were several that were flawed for various reasons and might have been better in in another director's hands: "LIttle Big Men" (about the Kirkland Little League World Champions which suffers from pretentious narration), "One Night In Vegas" (Tupac getting shot at a Tyson fight, which has strange poetry slam narration and comic book panels), "Jordan Rides The Bus" (Jordan's return to baseball, which is respectful but un-insightful), "Unmatched" (about the great rivalry between Chris Everett and Martina Natravalova, which plays like a rom-com-complete with a Natalie Merchant theme song). I just didn't have much interest in a few epsiodes this time around: "The House Steinbrenner Built" (not a Yankee fan), "To The Limit" (Tim Richmond-again little interest in car racing), and "Press Pause" (Marion Jones doping scandal seemed to have a bit of an agenda).

Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk

The latest David Sedaris book, Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk, which is a collection of modern animal fables with the Sedaris treatment. It seems that, from the reader reviews, this one isn't as universally acclaimed as his earlier works. I have to admit that it is probably my least favorite book as well. There are some good stories and some funny bits, but there is a sort of underlying hostility or overtly dark humor pervading that borders on sadism. However, it was a small investment in time and I thought the overall premise was attractive enough to have gone ahead and read it-and as I mentioned before-there are a few gems in it as well. 

13 Assassins

13 Assassins (2010) by acclaimed director Takashi Miike is about as conventional and mainstream as he can get. He is known for violent over the top films like Dead or Alive, Ichi The Killer, and Audition.  Therefore, the excessive cartoon-like violence should come as no surprise. This film is a remake of Eiichi Kudo's 1963 black and white film. There is a lot of great acting, well-crafted cinematography, and spectacular action scenes. There are several similarities to Kurosawa's Seven Samurai, but it is a product of Miike's imagination and vision. I particularlyly liked Goro Inagaki as the evil Lord Narisugu and Koji Yakusho as the leader of the band of assassins Shinzaemon. I found it to be a very well-made and entertaining film.

Ukiyo-e Memorial Museum of Art: Utagawa Kuniyoshi

Utagawa Kuniyoshi is one of the great masters of ukiyo-e wood block prints and is being featured at the Ukiyo-e Memeorial Museum of Art in Harajuku. It is an impressive display. Unfortunately, it closes on the 28th-only two day left, but worth a trip for the impressive and creative prints.

Daydream Nation

Daydream Nation (1988) recorded by Sonic Youth, and written about by Matthew Stearns, is one of those seminal albums that led to the modern rock explosion. Or as one documentary, "the year that punk broke." It's funny but I didn't realized that it was a double album, since I had it on CD, but that seems significant as they were playing with classic rock traditions in their conception of the album as Stearns points out. There are Led Zepplin-like Germanic symbols on the sleeve and contains a song trilogy, but was more in the vein of double albums from the likes of SST bands like The Minute Men (Double Nickels On The Dime) and Husker Du (Zen Arcade).  Pitchfork called it the best album of the 80s and in 2006 the US Library of Congress added it to the permanent archives of the National Recording registry deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically important," and which "informs or reflects life in the US." Stearns does a good job of providing background information and clues about the genesis of the songs as well as their meanings. "Teenage Riot" is famously about J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr., but I had no idea that "Silver Rocket" was inspired by Andy Warhol and is so oblique in its lyrics. It was interesting to hear that "Sprawl" was said to be influenced by Kim Gordon's reading choices, which included Southern gothic writer Harry Crews and William Gibson's tech-punk Sprawl trilogy: Neuromancer (1984), Count Zero (1986), and Mona Lisa Overdrive (1988). And "Eric Trip" was inspired by a character in an Andy Warhol film, Eric Emerson in Chelsea Girls. "Hey Joni" was inspired by Joni Mitchell and Jimi Page ("Hey Joe"). And the complete phone message from Mike Watt (The Minutemen and firehose) and back story was recounted for "Providence." Again I enjoyed revisiting the album and learned to appreciate it more for the experience.

Funny Face

I recently watched Funny Face (1957) with the idea of using it for a comparison contrast discussion with The Devil Wears Prada, which is the film I'll be teaching for this year's Summer Intensive English Seminar at Meiji. I read an article by the translator for the accompanying book with translation that mentioned it as a source of inspiration for The Devil Wears Prada. There are several similarities in theme and the characters of Jo (Audrey Hepburn) / Andy (Anne Hathaway) and Maggie (Kay Thompson) / Miranda (Meryl Streep).I think it would also be a good opportunity to discuss "the ugly duckling"-make over trope that has been done in so many films and is a min part of both films. Funny Face is essentially a musical comedy. And I can' t say I'm that much of a musical fan, however, I am a fan of Audrey Hepburn, who is immensely popular in Japan. It is also known as a kind of classic film since it was well-loved and apparently Hepburn's fashion was inspiring to many women who saw the film.

In The iPod: July 2011

I feel as though I've been too busy to seek out new music, but one way around this is by listening to NPR's All Songs Considered. So one of the new tunes I found via the podcast was "How You Satisfy Me" by Spectrum (a former Spaceman 3 spin off) on the album Soul Kiss (Glide Down), which is a great track, however the rest of the album is not my cup of tea.

Another act I heard on the podcast was the song "Belong" from the album of the same name name by the band The Pains of Being Pure At Heart (the name is a mouthful...). It has that Ride/My Bloody Valentine vibe, but tends to be a bit repetitive. However, there are some other good tracks like: "Heaven's Gonna Happen Now," "Anne With An E," "Even In Dreams, " and "Girl of 1000 Dreams."

During one of the podcasts I came tot he realization that although I had several LCD Soundsystem albums, I did not have the one that has perhaps their greatest hit, "Losing My Edge" from the eponymous first album. It also has some other great tracks like: "Daft Punk Is Playing At My House," "Never As Tired As When I'm Awake," "Disco Infiltrator," "Great Release," and "Yeah (Crass Version)."

The Strokes have a new one out this year, Angels, which is more of that retro good ol' New York punk/new wave. I particularly like: "Machu Piccu," "Under The Cover of Darkness," " Taken For A Fool," and "Gratisfaction."

A friend also got me an Avett Brothers Live Album No. 3. I am a big fan of their great album Emotionalism. However, I haven't been keeping up or going back to their catalogue, so I'm not sure where the songs I don't know come from, but there are several I really like. My two favorites are: "Pretty Girl From Matthews" and "Kick Drum Heart." Other standouts include: "Talk On Indolence," "Shame, " "The Perfect Space," and "Distraction 74."

Betrayed By Rita Hayworth

Btrayed By Rita Hayworth (1968) is manuel Puig's celebrated first novel that was inspiration for Wong Kar-wai's masterpiece In The Mood For Love. In fact, I started on my reading quest of novels by Puig due to Wong's endorsement of them and his constant referrals of them in relation to his own oeuvre of films. However, this book like the other I have read The Buenos Aires Affair and Heartbreak Tango is a complex pastiche of un-objective fragmented narratives often told in stream of consciousness combined with other artifacts like letters, essays, one sided dialogues, and other novel conventions. Wong who employs a similar magpie approach to film making was drawn to this style of story telling, which does seem fresh and inventive, but also confusing and obscure at times. It focuses mainly on a young sensitive boy, Toto, in a provincial Argentinian town. It is a depiction of the boredom, petty gossip, and limited choices of the townsfolk of the late 30s and early 40s. Movies provide a choice for escape outside the two typical modes: the church and the state.

Japanese Summer: Double Suicide

Japanese Summer: Double Suicide (1967) is one of the films in the Criterion Eclipse Series 21: Oshima's Outlaw Sixties series. It is a visually impressive film with great framing shots and something of an allegorical film, although I'm still trying to work out exactly how. There seems to be some obsession with the Japanese "death drive," but the lone female played by Keiko Sakurai is obsessed with sex and she cannot find fulfillment with the suicidal AWOL soldier played by Kei Sato. Several of the other characters of the gang that are looking for violence seem to represent certain aspect of the society-the aging yakuza with eh gun, the gun crazy 17 year old, Television, the bandit, the "oni." Then there's the troubling Caucasian foreigner who is randomly killing people which is referred to being like the assassination in Dallas by the commenter on the TV. It is a curious film-one that I'm not sure I fully understand. At some point I might have to give it a second viewing, but there's a stack of movies waiting in the meantime.

Mokuola Dexee Diner

Mokuola Dexee Diner is one of the new shops in the newly renovated station complex at Sasazuka station. There were a lot of Hawaiian choices like moko loco and poke, but I settled for a burger and strawberry yogurt smoothie for my first visit-I'm sure I'll be back to try some of the other dishes.