Giving Thanks Although It’s Not Needed

broderic on November 24, 2016

Here we are at the tail end of 2016, a year in which we wish it had ended better. We should try not to dwell on it, but look towards to future. I will fight the future like the X-Files. But let’s at this moment be thankful for things…

Thank Kami-sama for Nogizaka46: Akimoto Manatsu, Ikuta Erika, Ikoma Rina, Ito Marika, Inoue Sayuri, Eto Misa, Kawago Hina, Kawamura Mahiro, Saito Asuka, Saito Chiharu, Saito Yuri, Sakurai Reika, Shiraishi Mai, Takayama Kazumi, Nakada Kana, Nakamoto Himeka, Nishino Nanase, Noujo Ami, Higuchi Hina, Hoshino Minami, Matsumura Sayuri, Wakatsuki Yumi, Wada Maaya. The second gen: Ito Karin, Ito Junna, Kitano Hinako, Sagara Iori, Sasaki Kotoko, Shinuchi Mai, Suzuki Ayane, Terada Ranze, Hori Miona, Yamazaki Rena, Watanabe Miria. And my favorites coming into the third gen: Ito Riria, Iwamoto Renka, Umezawa Minami, Ozono Momoko, Kubo Shiori, Sakaguchi Tamami, Sato Kaede, Nakamura Reno, Mukai Hazuki, Yamashita Mizuki, Yoshida Ayano Christy, Yoda Yuki.

Thanks also to AKB48-san and to Keyaki-chan. They’ll always bring a smile to my face.

Thanks to this MacBook Pro. Thanks to Apple. Thanks to food.

Thanks to Mom, Dad, Uncle, Aunt. Thanks to friends, family, and relatives. Thanks to Philippines, Japan, Hawaii, Iceland, Germany — places to visit.

Thanks to President Obama.

I’m sure that this is just a start of a long list. In the end be thankful for your happy, healthy life.

Bookstore Haul: Vol 16 Criterion Sale!

broderic on November 23, 2016

I’m still buying DVDs. I’m still trying to find myself in the bookstore. I’m still trying to find my bookstore girl. This time around I bought 2 more DVDs during the B&N 50% off Criterion Collection sale. It happens bi-annually, so every 6 months I’m buying another couple of foreign or arthouse movies. Maybe someday I will find that girl.

The Makioka Sisters directed by Kon Ichikawa
A Touch of Zen directed by King Hu

At The End There’s A New Album

broderic on November 16, 2016

Thievery Corporation came into their own with the ascendancy of W. Maybe we’ll get more good music with the dumb Republican elect. Fuck that guy. But we need some more good music. Let’s listen and think.

Lonely Brothers

broderic on November 14, 2016

In these trying times of Donald Trump as president elect, we need something to make us happy. Nogizaka46 makes me happy. Here’s a guitar cover version that is pretty great. I’m hoping for many happy Nogi songs for the next 4 years.

The Accountant

broderic on November 12, 2016

Ben Affleck as The Accountant is Forrest Gump if he decided to learn to shoot something. Affleck’s Accountant is both a lethal killing machine and a skillful number cruncher. Why? Because his dad was a psych warfare general and forced his autistic son to be a badass at numbers and at kicking butt.

It was an okay movie. It had a nice twist at the end. I would like to see the accountant take on John Wick.

3 of 5 stars.

Bookstore Haul: Vol 15 Pays to Be A Member

broderic on November 12, 2016

Barnes and Noble is having their bi-annual Criterion Collection sale. That means 50% off any and all Criterion DVDs and BluRays. It’s the best time to stock up on any of the Criterion Collection that you’ve been salivating for. You can wait for few months, mark and spy on which you’ll get, then buy, buy, buy once the sale hits.

I usually buy a few even though I’ve seen most all of the collection I want to see or own. If they find any new Ozu, I’ll be there. But there are no more Ozu. So I’ll make due when something comes along that intrigues me.

But let me get to the big thing. I just bought 2 Criterion Collection BluRays for cheap because of the sale. I mean I got the hookups. Check this out: not only the 50% sale and the 10% membership discount, but also the 15% off one item coupon. So I saw that the Lone Wolf and Cub box set came out. It usually cost $100, but applying all those discounts which finally amounted to a $39 deal. Now it didn’t add up to 75% but that is really good for a Criterion BluRay box set considering that the other disc I bought, Mulholland Dr., sticker price was $40. That disc I got for $18!

So it pays to have been a member of the B&N club. That $25 a year always saves me more than that if you look at the last few Bookstore Hauls. Those are only the few I started to write about. There have been tons more than that…

Lone Wolf and Cub BluRay box set
Mulholland Dr. BluRay

Voted

broderic on November 9, 2016

Woke up at 4 because I’m still getting use to not Daylight Savings Time. But also quite nervous, because I wanted to vote early. Got up, got dressed, swigged some O.J., then headed to my polling place around ten ’til seven. When I got there, the parking lot had spaces, but the line was long. We piled into the building, which made the line turn into a Disney World special. I was close to the door to the polling place, but the line snaked around the corner which was a deep corridor.

It took about 35 minutes before I got my ballot. Five minutes to vote. Then another 15 minutes before I could scan it in the one ballot reader they had there.

About an hour to vote. Hope it turns out good. I’ll miss President Obama. I’m hoping his successor would be just as good.

Bookstore Haul: Vol 14 The Graphic Novel

broderic on November 6, 2016

Before each and every “Bookstore Haul” post, I put some preliminary sentences trying to sum up something I thought of as I browsed the aisles. This is one such sentence.

In reality, I don’t know what I am going to say about the group of books I bought this past trip. Yes, they are comics. I’m hoping that the blue monday one is also a slice of life comic. The Bride’s Story is sort of. It’s really good. I’m hoping that blue monday is as well.

This is a sentence to end this segment. Bye bye!

blue monday volume 1 by Chynna Clugston Flores
Bride’s Story by Kaoru Mori

Miss Hokusai

broderic on November 6, 2016

The Charles is winning me over because they show a lot of anime. One that I was looking forward to was Miss Hokusai. This one is about the painter of that famous Japanese painting about the tidal wave and Mt. Fuji and also about his daughter. She is also a painter and contributes most of the story to the film. What little it was.

The problem with this film is that it is a slice of life anime. Now I love me a slice of life anime, but as a movie, I’m not too sure. It sort of rambled on from one vignette to another in their lives. There wasn’t a story to tell. It started on a bridge, and it ended on a bridge. In between, there wasn’t much story.

Perhaps, I had to go into the Japanese mode of looking at the emptiness. In the empty space, I found some things to like. There was a sequence in a brothel which was interesting. There was the passage of time marked by the growth of a puppy. There was the comedic side kick who wasn’t the best artist. There was the sempai who the daughter had a crush on. Pieces of life that made some sense in the movie.

Hopefully, the next anime at The Charles is a good one, too.

3 of 5 stars.