Not number 3...

The temperature plunged or so I thought. I am wearing three layers again and fell asleep like a rock after I came home from work. Maybe it's just the interrupted sleep, the fractured dreams, catching up to me. Or maybe I'm feeling sick again.

When I feel sick, I feel the need to do something, the burst of frantic thoughts and hopes, because I can't do much when ridden with fever or cold. There is the sense of feeling trapped, trapped by the inability to accomplish and watching the clock tick away. That is a prison as surely as any closed space. And I am touched by the spurs of fear, but without the energy, there is not much that I can do.

That is what illness does to me.

7/7 & 13: The Crush from the Crushing Loneliness

The root of Haruh's pathology came from the diminishing moment during the game at the Hanshin Tiger's stadium.To be so insignificant and regular crushed her psyche. Carrying these feelings, Haruhi snuck out of her house and into the middle school to leave the simple message: "I am Here". She needed affirmation of her existence, then met John Smith, a high schooler who helped her (abet not quite willingly and with a lot of hollering) and gave her hope that

• he guessed that Aliens were real.
• he wouldn'd be surprised if Time Travelers also existed
• and that psychics were everywhere.
• Most importantly that there was someone at North High who believed.

John Smith brought her from those depths and let her know that she was there. That is what he meant to the thirteen year old Suzumiya Haruhi on July 7th.

Haruhi Season 2 Episode 1: Tectonic shift

The 2nd season of Haruhi kicked off with it's usual surprise, much like the first season opened with Episode Zero. According to limulux, season two began with a sneak attack on the fans. During another run of the series, the new episode was slipped in during the chronological order without any announcement. It had a cold start, so there was no warning from a new opening sequence.

These people still know how to take risks.

The animation quality was up to par with the old episodes and the directing clever. Most of it followed the novel, though the opening bit about studying was skipped.

I believe that there was a significant shift. It was small, but it was strong. While the episode showed a lot more Asahina than usual, the biggest scene belonged to Yuki. At the end of there three year status there is a look exchanged between Kyon & Yuki that says so much without words.

I'm hoping for more soon, though there was no episode preview.

She's Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!

Haruhi is officially back: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2009-05-21/new-haruhi-suzumiya-anime-episode-airs

The series starts out with the Bamboo Rhapsody. My fanboy fires have been reignited. I was feeling on point today. At first, I thought that it was from the ginseng or the nap during the safety training, but it was the return of the Goddesses of the Otaku. Welcome back, your Graces.

Let sleeping Gundams lie

Spoiler Alert.

I've been reading the MS Gundam novels by Yoshiyuki Tomino, who was the mastermind behind the original anime. They are really what the compilation movies should have been. Even when I was watching the compilation movies, I often thought that there was a lot of filler and far too many robot models. Granted, even the creator of Gundam was forced to admit that his creation is "only a cartoon". I blame this on the voracious marketing and merchandising department.

I do not fault them for creating merchandising, after all it reinforces the rewards for creativity. However, the series was rolling out goofy models every third point of each movie and even had a chicken footed monstrosity with a cannon in it's crotch and verniers up its derrier:

The Big Zam was reported to have a walk-on role in "Orgazmo",
but that was left on the cutting room floor.

And let's not talk about the Gundam Hammer. There's really not much to say on that topic.

The first part "Awakening" keeps the mecha madness under control and smooths out the storyline. Instead of descending Earth-side, the action seamlessly plays out in space. This trajectory mercifully cuts out the scene where Char has an extended conversation with Garma, while was standing around in his briefs. Tomino also leaves the kids and Fraw Bo out of the action. By cutting down on the themes of youth and innocence that dominated the first compilation movie, the lean prose lets the focus fall on the Newtypes.

The book gets into the characters' minds and fleshes out the transcendental interactions between the Newtypes. In the compilation movie, the battle between Lala Sune and Amuro Ray was expressed in a Kubrick-esque trip. The book was able to tackle more directly and get into the characters' experience.[1] Tomino uses his third look (original series and compilation movies being 1st and 2nd) to create a far more grown-up work. I hope that volumes 2 & 3 play out as well.

The title of the post comes from the elated feeling that comes with imagining the space battles and suits. Since there was an anime, I tried to imagine the Gundams, Zakus, and the colonies in live action, drawing on B5, SF Channel's Dune, and all the other shows I've seen to construct it. While caught up in the massive constructs of Tomino's mind, I began to wonder: what if they made a movie-

I caught myself in time. No, no more calls for remakes, especially live action ones. I refuse. Much would probably be lost in translation. And I shudder to think about what Hollywood would do to the tragic relation of Lala Sune and Amuro Ray. In fact, I'd give her even odds on surviving. So no, I ax the idea of a movie or even a mini-series. I'll enjoy the book and let sleeping Gundams lie.

= = =

[1] A movie can express a mind meld, but it's harder. We have

1. the Kubrick trip, which leaves more of an impression rather than precision.
2. The characters can talk about it during the event or afterwards, but that creates a separation between the audience and the event that doesn't exist with the book.
3. The characters can also talk directly to the audience, but breaking the fourth wall also breaks with the rest of the work. That's a wrinkle that has to be managed.
4. alternately, words can appear on the screen a la End of Evangelion.
5. etc.

Likewise, a book has a more difficult time than a movie dealing with rapid jumps between characters and scenery. A picture is worth a thousand words all at once. Each jump in a written work expends sentences shifting the scene. I contend that each sentence, paragraph, and page has an impact that is affected by the overall length of the work. In a room full of talking people, being heard is that much more difficult.

Each medium has its own strength and weakness. Not every story works well as a movie.

Paying da billz

I have one active credit card, and I always pay off my balance every month. After all, idle plastic is the Devil's new playground. Every time I open the bill, I try to recall what each charge is. Such as a charge to Right Stuf: Dai Guard and the Monster & Swan mangas. Or Amazon: Remember the Kangi I. Lunch at Van Allen's farm: Pork sandwich, Chicken Salad, chips & iced tea. I remember this, not completely b/c I'm OCD, but because I split the cost & food with a comely coworker.

Even though plastic looks like funny money, it's still a real outlay. If I don't remember the nature of the charge then it either wasn't a good purchase or, worse yet, the spending was more important than the purchase. That sounds strange, but it's the impetus behind impulse buys.

This month was a shock-ah in terms of size (new tires), but I remembered every charge, so I won that game this time around.