Be thankful today. Tomorrow. For the future.
It starts with the idol group from Japan, Nogizaka46. Thanks for the beauty, the songs, the magic.
It ends with family, friends, cohorts, acquaintances. Thanks for being there.
It continues with you, my readers. Thanks for visiting.
Dankeschön.
I posting this although I’m going by memory. Watched a few months ago, perhaps end of September early October, right around the time of the re-release of Perfect Blue. It’s a critique of the film, but also of the idol culture upon which the film builds upon.
Does the author build a case against Japan’s obsession with idols? Does the author understand what idols mean to the Japanese? Is his criticism of idol culture just a hook into the horror of the film? Watch it and find out.
I think there are cultural differences between the West and Japan that muddy the waters. There are good things and bad things to idols. Certainly, the participants are open to exploitation, but as in many public pursuits this isn’t specific to idols. Certainly, the fandom can be toxic, but fandom can breed bad fans in any corner of the world. Certainly, the focus on youthfulness can be taken read as something unseemly for the olds to obsess over, but the case may be overstated.
Last week, my mom asked why I was obsessed with the young girls in Nogizaka46. I still haven’t found an answer that would satisfy myself. It is a thing that is me at this moment in life. But really, I have never seen such a concentration of beauty in all my life. So beautiful to make me cry.
If you have the chance or the channel on your set top box, make sure to check out Nogizaka46 on the NHK World program, Songs of Japan. You’ll find them as endearing as I do.
First Man is an intimate portrait of the first man to walk on the moon, Neil Armstrong. Intimate is the key to this film. It’s not an epic like The Right Stuff or mission movie like Apollo 13. It’s a film about how Neil Armstrong felt being an astronaut.
We really don’t get into his head though. We get up close and personal. The director chooses to frame his subject in close up most all the time. The spectacle around him barely shown. We are in his personal space. We are close in.
I found the film slightly frustrating because of this choice. I wanted spectacle. I wanted a focus on the mission. I wasn’t prepared for the personal. So it rubbed me the wrong way. I was bothered, but that is me. The movie is good. I say watch it again.
3 of 5 stars.
Are you still googling? Dude, it’s, like, almost 2019 and you’re still playing like it’s the late 1990s! Ditch Google. It’s for the best.
Get rid of Chrome. Chrome is the IE6 of the teens. Chrome is junk. I put it on my MBP and ran it for 3 minutes before it punked out and crashed. Needless to say I deleted it immediately. I don’t often go into the Application folder to do that, but with Chrome that janky piece of … I did!
That being said. Ditch Google, said by the guy who’s an Apple homer.
https://lifehacker.com/the-comprehensive-guide-to-quitting-google-1830001964
I can not wait for the 22nd Single to come out…
“Why couldn’t McCovey had hit the ball just three feet higher?”
Charlie Brown – Peanuts (December 22, 1962)
I know you’re saying to yourself, “BrowserMetrics, it’s kind of late in the day for a link to visit, dontcha think?”
Sure. Sure.
But any time is a good time to talk about ramen.
Tonight’s link takes us to the introduction post for a series by the now non-anonymous, Ramen Lord, as he tells us what we’re gonna learn about making ramen. I’m not sure I want to make ramen, but reading his take makes me more appreciative of cooking a good bowl of ramen.
I’m hungry. I feel like a bowl of…
https://thetakeout.com/ramen-lord-perfect-bowl-of-ramen-mike-satinover-1830128673
Number one with a sword is everyone’s favorite: Seven Samurai. It’s mine as well, and one I consider in the top 5 of greatest films ever made, top 3 of the best films ever, and numero uno as the GOAT. Maybe. But that’s my opinion.
Let me know what’s yours.
http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20181029-the-100-greatest-foreign-language-films
Have I got a treat for you. One of my favorites.
「ロマンティックいか焼き」
“Romantic Grilled Squid” from Nogizaka46’s fifth single. This version is from their 2015 National Summer Tour in their home stadium, Meiji Jingu. This is Nogizaka at the cusp of their step towards stardom. In the video, you get a few of the graduates who didn’t make it to Tokyo Dome in 2017, and you get graduates from afterwards, and you get those ready to graduate. So good to see them all — like before they were stars.
They end with the future double centers of the fall 2015 single, Nanase and Maiyan. “Kira!” And they are on our way to be the great idol group that I love.
I apologize for the awkward framing of the video. I still don’t understand this WP Gutenberg editor…
