Quite the year 2006 was, neh? In F1, we saw the retirement of Slappy Schumacher, the birth of SuperAguri, Massa and Button winning their first races, half the field swapping teams (and the other half wanting to), the change of Midlands to Spyker, Alonso winning his 2nd Drivers Championship, and the death and rebirth of Minardi. Also, Vaucaunson's Duck dropped in from San Francisco and watched the USGP live from The Pond this year, which was remarkably cool of him.

In anime, KyoAni ruled the world with The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Kanon 2006, and Aria, all of which are top-shelf shows (Update: Aria wasn't done by KyoAni. The continuity staff here at The Pond has been sacked). Surprises included Ouran High School Host Club (which I still can't believe I liked so much) and Strawberry Panic (which affected me like a car crash... I just couldn't look away).

Then, there was... Dokuro-chan. The nightmares persist to this day.

I also discovered the joy that was World of Narue and some obscure show* called CardCaptor Sakura... great stuff, both of 'em.

But no discussion of 2006 would be complete without mentioning the acquisition of Chiyo-chan, replacing my 7-year-old computer. Or Oblivion eating up most of my free time.

I'm also thankful for the Panda Express that opened up a month ago.

But mostly, I'm happy that I appear to have entertained my readers for another year. Thanks to Pixy for providing The Pond a home on the 'net.

I'm going to do a Time Magazine-style cop-out here and thank YOU, the readers, for stopping by and actually giving me a reason to write. You all deserve some cookies.

*note: may not actually be obscure at all.

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Please Twins!

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Kintaro Oe. Age 25. Tokyo University Dropout. However, he independently withdrew from law school because he had mastered the entire curriculum.

Since then, he has been changing jobs numerous times, learning about life. Riding his favorite bike, Crescent Moon, he keeps on moving.

And perhaps someday, he may save the anime industry...

...oh, no. I mean, 'even the world.'
--from the ending of Ep 6

Gentle Readers, I bring you the ecchi-est show I've ever seen...

It's hardly a stretch to say that the plot of GoldenBoy is well-used. Young man hits the road, meets people, learns things, and then moves on, leaving those he's interacted with changed for the better.

The hook in this case is that Kintaro Oe, our hero, only seems to end up interacting with smoulderingly hot women. We'll get to them in a moment... first, lets meet Kintaro:

As you can see, the animators weren't afraid to go all over the map when drawing our lad. The upper-left pic, of Kintaro on Crescent Moon, is the usual way he's presented, but the others are not uncommon (save the lower-left, which only is seen in Ep 6... thankfully). As they say, 'SD happens.'

Kintaro is a genius, and I'm not just saying that for his choices in co-stars. The GoldenBoy really IS a 'golden boy.' For example, in Ep 1, he learns how to program computers... using only a "keyboard" that he scribbled on a sheet of paper. Ep 3, he winds up working in a family-owned noodle shop... where he quickly catches onto the art of noodle-making (which is an art... one that's a cast-iron b*tch to get right). Ep 4, he goes from not being able to swim... to being able to keep pace (barely) with an Olympic champion. And Ep 6, he (almost) single-handedly saves an animation company from certain doom. In every case, he's doing things he had NEVER done before... always with a smile, and always with his mantra "study, study, study, study, study...." He's also VERY humble, and most of the people he works with don't realize how brilliant he is until he's gone.

The humor is mostly of the 'cable network' type, blue instead of raunchy, and in a few cases, completely over-the-top (Kintaro has a thing for toilets, for example). There's a lot of humor, but it depends on the viewer if it works for them. In my case, most of it worked pretty well.

I picked up the Essential Anime version of GoldenBoy back when MediaPlay went under (for $9.99! Woo!), and truly didn't expect much more than eye-candy. Instead, I got an engaging story and an interesting character. The first five episodes are all stand-alone, and could be watched in any order without losing anything in the process.

Ep 6, however, ties them all together by bringing all of the people Kintaro helped in one place to help HIM. It doesn't hurt that they all have a soft spot for him... and in a couple of cases, a serious case of the yeehaws for him, too.

Now, lets move onto the fun stuff... need I say that everything from now on is decidedly NSFW? Click below! more...

Posted by: Wonderduck at 11:55 AM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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1 And it gave us Chihuahua!, one of the greatest AMVs evar!!!

Posted by: Pixy Misa at December 30, 2006 01:10 PM (A9tur)

2 Which is where the "Many Faces of Oe" screencaps came from, by the way!

I've said in the past that Chihuahua! is certainly the greatest FIRST amv ever; it'd be in my top 10 or 20 AMVs ever.

I was thinking about mentioning it in the post, but I decided to concentrate on the actual show first. Thanks for bringing it up, Pixy!

Posted by: Wonderduck at December 30, 2006 01:13 PM (0Co69)

3 The way you teased us about it, I was expecting a negative review...

I like the subtitle, Sasurai no obenkyou yarou, or "the wandering studious bastard". Doesn't seem like my kind of show, though; fanservice vehicles demand well-designed female characters, and these look average at best, though I guess the anime studio girl is kinda cute.

Posted by: Andrew F. at December 30, 2006 01:31 PM (aGfYh)

4 Andrew, I was quite surprised by the fact that I liked the show. Oh, don't get me wrong, it's no CardCaptor Sakura. It wouldn't be in my collection except 1) it was deep sale at MediaCircus, and 2) the aforementioned Chihuahua!. I liked the AMV so much, I got the (cheap) series.

I actually DID find the female characters 'well-designed,' (hmmm... must try and use that as a pickup line), particularly the swimmer and the tease. But that's just me.

Posted by: Wonderduck at December 30, 2006 06:40 PM (YadGF)

5 Andrew - seriously, watch Chihuahua! It gives you a good idea of what the show is like - and it's great fun.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at December 31, 2006 01:05 AM (A9tur)

6 Watched!

Enjoyed!

May pick up show sometime in future!

Thanks!

Posted by: Andrew F. at December 31, 2006 08:16 AM (SARav)

7 yep, looks like hentai, but not. haha~. But damn funny.

Posted by: Clazirus at January 01, 2007 02:16 AM (T5pq+)

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The "Just This Side of Hentai" anime post is coming... as soon as I can figure out where Chiyo-chan's DVD player is hiding the screenshot folder.

*grumble grumble grumble*

Update 1226am: Saturday, I swear.

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Busybusybusybusybusy.

I've got a post or two coming, but can't post much more than this right now.

One of 'em will be a review of the closest-to-hentai-but-isn't show I've ever seen. I'll let you guess which series it is!

Stay tuned.

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I wish all my readers a peaceful Christmas, with you and yours...

...and a Haruhi New Year!

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1 Noooo! She's scary!!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you to.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at December 25, 2006 09:16 PM (A9tur)

2 Too.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at December 25, 2006 09:29 PM (A9tur)

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James Brown... is dead.

Sad, sad news from the music world. The Hardest Working Man In Show Business has left the stage for good.

These days James Brown is almost the punchline of a joke... the coked-out, drunk, wild-haired crazy James Brown. But he was called 'The Godfather of Soul' for a reason, y'all.

Check this out: James Brown performing at Live 8 about a year or so ago.

RIP, James Brown.

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I'm getting ready to head over to the Old Homenest for Christmas, so not much time to post... but I'll leave you with this:

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As Christmas is Monday, and I'm getting a visit from Momzerduck and Ph.Duck after we do Christmas at The Old Homenest, today I'm going to be up to my wingpits in cleaning products.

I've been awake for a half-hour and I've already cleaned the bathroom sink, mirror and loo, and have the shower 'soaking' in something that is supposed to be able to remove water stains (had a dripping faucet a few months back that wasn't fixed very quickly).

Need to: swiffer the floor, clean the kitchen (oy!), polish the computer desk, and then dust and vacuum. But my duster has fallen apart, sigh.

I summon Mikuru-Meido-chan!

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In recent conversation via e-mail with a reader I shall leave unnamed, there was shock and surprise that the above picture was of my collection of rubber duckies.

Believe me, nobody is more surprised than myself at the size of my flock... but how did it start? Ah, now THAT is a fine question. I remember that day as if it was yesterday...
(cue 'flashback' music)

I was a senior at Duck U., the very place I work at now, and one of my friends had had a death in the family. She was quite saddened by the loss, and I wanted to do something to cheer her up. I nipped off to We 'b Toys to look for something silly and cute... and found a duckie. It just yelled "I'll help her," so it made the trip back to the dorm and found its way into her hands.

She carried that duckie with her EVERYWHERE for the next week. After the funeral, she presented me with, as she put it, a "thank you duckie." That duckie, named "Scooter," is still in my flock, as a matter of fact... here's a not-so-great photo of him, from the original used above:

After that, people began to give me duckies... for Christmas, my birthday, as a thank you for a 'job well done' after a difficult lighting design, whatever.

That's how the flock began... but it really took off just a few years ago. For example, in one year, I added nearly 50 duckies to the flock. It went from a small group that fit on a single shelf to what you see up top. Nowadays, it takes nearly two hours to clean them; about a third of them need to be cleaned with a (really) soft toothbrush.

So, that's the story of The Pond's Flock. They never fail to bring a smile to my face after a long day, and isn't that the point?

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Princess Tutu

In an unrelated note, this is the 400th post here at The Pond.

Posted by: Wonderduck at 07:12 PM | Comments (9) | Add Comment
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1 400 sounds like A LOT. In all my blogging I only made, lessee... 375 of them:

[zaitcev@lembas ~]$ find lj -name '*.txt' | wc
375 375 7044
[zaitcev@lembas ~]$

Although it does not count Advogato... That's another 188:

[zaitcev@lembas ~]$ grep '' arc/misc/Zaitcev.Advogato.diary.xml | wc
188 188 1880
[zaitcev@lembas ~]$

So, 563 posts since 2000.

Congratulations on the 400th, anyway. What did alert you to the number? Your blog software counts them?

Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at December 20, 2006 09:15 PM (9imyF)

2 Oh ke ke ke. Make it grep "<entry>".

Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at December 20, 2006 09:17 PM (9imyF)

3 Are you taking a look at Tutu? It has an undeservedly small audience and, as you note, a very cute duck.

Posted by: HC at December 20, 2006 09:33 PM (79VS8)

4 Pete, the software keeps track of post count AND comment count, so it makes it real easy to know which/who did what when.

If you're curious, your 'ke ke ke' comment is #738.

HC, I saw the first episode on an ADV screener DVD about 2 years ago and thought it was TOO weird for me. Now, 2 years on, I'm considering it again. If nothing else, it's quite striking visually.

What do you think of the show, HC?

Posted by: Wonderduck at December 21, 2006 01:47 AM (0Co69)

5 http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=1267

ANN hystogram peaks at 2, with a reasonably smooth distribution of 278 votes. This is a very good sign, basically an Azumanga-level vote by the great unwashed, albeit upon a smaller total. Seems like a sleeper hit to me all right.

The only problem is the length. At 38 eps, the SDB's Second Heuristic works against Tutu. Not to mention, it's probably expensive.

Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at December 21, 2006 06:33 AM (9imyF)

6 Actually, it's 26 episodes on DVD. There were 24 15-minute eps and fourteen 24-minute eps; they combine two 15 minute eps into one full-length ep for the DVDs.

...or so I've heard.

Posted by: Wonderduck at December 21, 2006 01:35 PM (YadGF)

7 ANN page says:
Seasons:
1. Chapter of the Egg (2002-08-16 to 2002-11-0
2. Chapter of the Chick (2002-11-15 to 2003-05-23)

This is 9 months of running, or 38 weeks. I dunno, do they show 15-minute episodes by themselves ever, or they always double them up to fill the slot (like, ahem, Dokuro-chan)?

Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at December 21, 2006 04:01 PM (9imyF)

8 OK, the collection at Neowing (aka CDjapan) has 6 DVDs, and the last one ends with ep.26.
http://www.neowing.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=KIBA-862

I welcome the American density in R2, because paying 5000Y for 2 episodes gets old pretty quick. On the other hand, 7140Y is $60 at today's rate. It's still 2.5 times more expensive than we pay.

Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at December 21, 2006 04:11 PM (9imyF)

9 I liked it. It's very stylized - in some ways, nearly as much so as Utena - but if you're in the mood for a cracked fairy tale, it's quite good. Like all good fairy tales, it has a sort of dream-like logic to it. Also, ballet. And the heroine _is_ a duck, so you've got that going for it too.

Posted by: HC at December 22, 2006 01:22 AM (79VS8)

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Paul Stoddard bought a ChampCar team, and is bringing the Minardi name back to major-league racing!

I'm so happy, I can't stand it!

Guido & Ethel are BACK!!! *does happy duckie dance*

Thanks to reader MadMike for bringing this to my attention.

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Over at Chizumatic, there's this:
Elfen Lied begins with a bang, all right. Only difference is that the "bang" leaves behind lots of guts, blood, and gore. Elfen Lied is almost a slasher feature, given how much violence there is and how explicitly the violence is presented, or so I've been told. It's a good thing they created it digitally, because the bill for red paint would have bankrupted them.

The "bang" it begins with is Lucy's escape from the laboratory where she and the other diclonius's (read "demons") were being studied. To escape, she killed all the guards, by cutting them into pieces. Ick... (I've seen screen caps, and you don't want to.)

Elfen Lied is a mixed bag. It is, as Steven says, extremely violent and very graphic in that violence. It makes Hellsing (either version) look like Azumanga Daioh, actually.

But, for all that, I found it to be incredibly absorbing, and I don't usually groove on shows of that style. What ultimately makes it work is the dichotomy of the Lucy/Nyu character... one side is an awesomely powerful creature that thinks nothing of, say, tearing the head off an innocent secretary then using her pens as head-shotting missiles, using her 'arms'. The other side of her is a sweet, caring, brain-addled cutie who can only say 'nyu.' Yes, I know, it sounds awful, but it hooked me.

Look, there's no easier way for me to describe the show's violence level than to tell a story from the Duck U. Anime Club. The Club receives monthly screener DVDs from ADVocates, the ADV club group, and one month had the first episode of EL on it. Nobody having heard of the show, we sat down to run it.

ADV throws up a black screen over nudity and extreme violence on their screener DVDs, and the FIRST EIGHT MINUTES were nothing more than black screen and subtitles (except for brief flashes of non-graphic animation).

Best darn OP ever, though. Bar none. EVER.

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1 Lucy/Nyu sounds like Pai from 3x3 Eyes. Only more so.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at December 17, 2006 05:21 PM (xyVrU)

2 You're not wrong, Pixy. In fact, now that it's been mentioned, I don't know why I didn't notice the similarity before...

It bears repeating: Best. OP. EVAR.

Posted by: Wonderduck at December 17, 2006 05:33 PM (YadGF)

3 I'll agree with you that EL is 'incredibly absorbing'. This was the first series I watched that hadn't been already released, so I had to wait a couple of months between disks. The waiting drove me nuts - I wanted to know where it was going now. I still consider it one of my favorites and rewatch it from time to time.

I'll almost agree with you that the OP is the best. I still rank 'Lain' higher, just because of the awesome BoA tune...

Posted by: astro at December 17, 2006 06:08 PM (FyzEs)

4 According to Wikipedia, Lucy kills 23 staff and guards in the first 10 minutes of the first episode. And she kills all of them by tearing them apart.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at December 18, 2006 10:07 AM (+rSRq)

5 I loved the intro sequence's song and the visuals go along nicely. It's one of the few series whose opening sequences I don't mind sitting through (the others being GITS: SAC season 1 and 2).

Posted by: Cineris at December 18, 2006 01:34 PM (6xvdl)

6 Wow.

One has to wonder, given that policy, why Elfen Lied was put on the screener DVD in the first place.

...then again, I can certainly see that working to get someone interested in the series, so perhaps it does make sense after all.

Posted by: Aaron Nowack at December 18, 2006 01:39 PM (hW9mq)

7 But, for all that, I found it to be incredibly absorbing, and I don't usually groove on shows of that style. What ultimately makes it work is the dichotomy of the Lucy/Nyu character... one side is an awesomely powerful creature that thinks nothing of, say, tearing the head off an innocent secretary then using her pens as head-shotting missiles, using her 'arms'. The other side of her is a sweet, caring, brain-addled cutie who can only say 'nyu.' Yes, I know, it sounds awful, but it hooked me.

Exactly my feelings. The show as a whole is also like that, containing the well-known bloodbaths but also some of the most touching scenes I've seen in any anime.

The OP song and animation are both beautiful (I was actually introduced to the show via the OST), but the ED also bears mentioning. Mainly because it's so ridiculously out of place in a show like this--you see Lucy commit some unspeakable act of violence to end an episode, and then it's "BABY I WANNA BE YOUR GIRL". So delightfully warped...

Oh, and Wikipedia is wrong. She doesn't kill them all by dismemberment. There's the ballpoint-pen-through-the-head guy, and the one who had his heart ripped from his chest. ;-)

Posted by: Andrew F. at December 18, 2006 01:58 PM (/TVYf)

8 I'm seriously considering a post of screencaps from the first 8 minutes, showing the various methods of death.

Andrew, the ED song is completely wrong for the show, and I love it, too. Actually, most of the staff of the Duck U. Bookstore like it, as well... even the ones that don't watch anime. It's just catchy as all heck.

Posted by: Wonderduck at December 18, 2006 02:02 PM (0Co69)

9 Sounds like it's just as out-of-place as the ED for Divergence Eve.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at December 18, 2006 03:26 PM (+rSRq)

10 Elfen Lied was a high stakes effort. To their credit, they kept alot of different plates spinning for quite some time ( horror, ecchi, harem, coming of age romance). Unfortunately, the whole thing came crashing down at the end. It was quite a wild ride while it lasted, though.

Posted by: Mark Brinton at December 18, 2006 06:07 PM (8dVqy)

11 ... and EL has the best OP. I was left speechless.

Posted by: Mark Brinton at December 18, 2006 06:23 PM (8dVqy)

12 It's a good thing you liked it. I posted something on my blog a zillion years back about how EL had a good song (which I translated and annotated, since the munchkins weren't doing it), but that I had no intention of ever watching the show. I know my violence limits, among other things.

And people keep sending me emails to tell me how bad I am for not watching their show! Or for having an opinion about what I'll probably like and what I won't!

*snicker* 'Cause no anime fan ever has opinions or tastes of her own....

Posted by: Maureen at December 21, 2006 11:39 AM (Ct5LW)

13 RE: EL's OP. Yes, it's quite good. But I think the OP for the Hakkenden is still one of the best in all of anime. The series is from 1990. I've seen a lot of anime since, and I can honestly say I've never seen an OP that comes close to comparing.

Too bad the anime itself was mediocre at best.

For some reason I have the entire series on LD. Some of which are still unopened. Heh.

As Steven often says -- everyone's entitled to their opinion. But if you want to see a *real* OP ...

Kidding, kidding.

Posted by: bkw at December 27, 2006 06:52 PM (KhFAm)

14 Hmmm. Just went back and watched the OPs to Hakkenden and Elfen Lied, to make sure I remembered them correctly.

My memory of Hakkenden may be slightly rose colored; it's a little dated, but (imo) still generally superior to the typical j-pop soundtracks. One of the things that I like the most is that it is pretty evocative of the series itself.

This is where I think the OP for Elfen Lied falls down a bit -- I would argue that it fits the tragic aspects of the anime, but misses all the other facets that make up the series. The OP doesn't give you a clue as to what to expect, except that it all very likely ends in tears ...

But anyway.

Posted by: bkw at December 27, 2006 07:17 PM (h/KQ9)

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I find that I don't have much to write about right now... not even last Tuesday's Anime Night inspires me to florid prose. The highlight of the night had to be The Librarian's new hairstyle: short. I've known her for close to 10 years, and her hair has always been longer... I was so surprised that I actually burst out with "My god! Your hair! It's gorgeous!!!"

Surprisingly, the kaiju didn't come out and savage me.

Anyway, CardCaptor Sakura is great, there's a lot of unintentional humor ("Bow-chicka-bow-bowwwww." "Shut up, 'duck." "Nice hair." "Shut up, 'duck."), you should really watch it, Robert's Anime Corner Store has a great deal on the entire series, blah blah blah. Same old same old.

Except for one sentence that I THINK is going to be a major plot point: "People with power are attracted to people WITH power." It was almost a throwaway line in the episode, but something tells me that it explains a lot... such as why Li and Sakura both have the hots for for Yukito (even though we've not seen any sign of magical ability from him... unless you count his skill at carnival games), why Sakura gets all squishy around the new teacher, yadda.

Guess it's that time of year... the holidays have never thrilled me. I'll try and get more motivated later.

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Wow, musta been tired. Last night I decided to take a nap around 8pm.

It's 9am and I just woke up. Guess I needed the sleep.

Should probably think about posting something or other here at The Pond, too...

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SDB: "If Ron Karenga can do it, so can I. The newly-formed Otaku religion celebrates Anime Day on December 25. It's a jenn-you-wine traditional Japanese holiday (that I just made up) which otaku celebrate by putting up life-sized cardboard cutouts of Sailor Moon. We demand that Usagi be placed next to Rabbi Bogomilsky's menorah, and if they won't do that then we'll sue."

Let's think about this. Pikachu, Sakura and Chiyo-chan would be in attendance as prophets, kawaii be their names. Various mecha would have to serve as angels, and the Space Battleship Yamato playing the role of the Ark.

Communion would be given in the form of Pocky and caffinated drinks.

I think Steven's onto something here!

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1 I like Sailor Moon! It's my favorite anime. We should celebrate this!!!

Posted by: Rob at December 11, 2006 07:12 PM (wMSNf)

2 You can go much worse than Serena... ah I beg your pardon... Usagi. And she is iconic.

Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at December 11, 2006 07:53 PM (9imyF)

3 Then I've just lived the ultimate "Anime Day" sacrilege. I ordered 3 DVD sets through the Amazon marketplace and all were bootleg! Is that like getting a lump of coal in your stocking? What kind of "bad karma" do I have to deserve this?

Posted by: madmike at December 11, 2006 08:01 PM (P1mII)

4 Count me in!!!

Posted by: Sir Sefirot at December 12, 2006 12:27 AM (UnABp)

5 That's all well and good, but I'm making popcorn and bringing a chair for when the debate gets to defining the Otaku Virgin Mary.

Posted by: Will at December 12, 2006 03:41 AM (SOx9v)

6 I nominate Rosette Christopher from Chrno Crusade for the Otaku Virgin Mary. It isn't exactly right, but she's probably as close as it will get.

Posted by: astro at December 12, 2006 07:58 AM (FyzEs)

7 The ones you speak of are false prophets, and those who follow them shall be cast into the fiery pit of dub-only edited-for-TV anime. The forces of Haruhiism will not be denied; we demand our own display separate from the otaku blasphemers.

There is no god but Haruhi, and Kyon is her prophet.

Posted by: Andrew F. at December 12, 2006 11:26 AM (tPdFK)

8 > Pocky and caffinated drinks

Heretic!! It's Pocky and Pocari Sweat!!

Posted by: Anon at December 12, 2006 11:48 AM (+qnHA)

9 Otaku Virgin Mary: well, I don't know about the virgin bit, but the Abh can not only provide Immaculate Conception, but Immaculate Gestation! (top that, Yahweh!

And if Kyon is the prophet, does that make Itsuki/Mikurur/Nagato the three wise men^Hpersons? After all, they are the first to recognize the new-born god...(they followed signs to her that no one else could see, too!)

Posted by: Intrope at December 12, 2006 01:43 PM (GljWn)

10 If you guys are looking for an anime virgin, wouldn't that be Chi from Chobits?

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at December 12, 2006 02:13 PM (+rSRq)

11 We don't need weak analogies with Christianity here, so no virgins. Usagi works just fine, it's a respected symbol hailing to us from the dark ages of 1-episode per VHS tape, when true devotees had to walk miles barefoot to get those tapes... Haruris may come and go, true symbols stay the test of time.

Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at December 12, 2006 03:11 PM (9imyF)

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"You! You are NOT Devin Hester!"

Just amazing, he is. New rookie record for kick/punt returns for TDs, with six.

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Fourteen shopping days before Christmas. I was at the grocery store, picking up some Crack for Ducks (aka 'rye bread'), and what do I see?

Some human screaming at a cashier, just going off on her. "I'm not paying that much, that's not what the sign said, you f(censored)ing c(censored)t!"

...and on, and on. Once the store manager got over, he started ripping on him.

Dude obviously had never worked retail.

Look, I know you humans are excitable, particularly at this time of year, but you're not even CHRISTMAS SHOPPING. You're picking up stuff for watching the football games today. Relax. Calm down. It's not that big of a deal.

And, everybody? Heed my words: don't yell at the cashier. For one thing, you look like an idiot. For another, the cashier is able to help you and if you piss them off they're less likely to do so. Remember: the cashier is a person, not your servant.

Nothing you can get in a store is THAT important. It just isn't. And grow the hell up, will ya?

Posted by: Wonderduck at 03:54 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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"Yesterday, Dec. 7, 1941 - a date which will live in infamy - the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan. "
-Franklin D. Roosevelt

It's no great surprise that I'm fascinated by Japan. More specifically, I'm fascinated by Japan's reaction to World War II, and the incredible recovery they have made from their crushing defeat.

But before THAT, I was (and still am) amazed and fascinated by the men, machines, scope and scale of the Pacific War. I've replayed the war dozens, perhaps hundreds of times in games such as Victory In The Pacific (usually in The Game Room at Vaucaunson's Duck's house), and more recently via Pacific War on the computer.

I've read dozens of books, hundreds of websites, and written some long papers on the topic.

But nothing could compare to the half-hour talk I had with a Pearl Harbor survivor that walked into my bookstore some five years ago. I was having a lousy day, up to my wingpits in stuff, and this very elderly gentleman walks in wearing a USS Downes ballcap. I recognized the name from having seen the picture linked to above many times, and he was gracious enough to talk to me about his experiences that day ("lots of noise, lots of smoke, and a helluva lot of bullets...") Unfortunately, his name escapes me now, and considering his age when I met him, I'm fairly sure that he's no longer with us.

He had never managed to forgive the Japanese, and I fear that he would be very angry if he knew of my fascination. I can't help that, but he was pleased to know of my interest in that period of his life. He pointed out that "...kids these days don't know, or don't care, about the history of their country." I'm afraid that he's right.

So in a real sense, this blog stems from that awful day of 65 years ago. The anime and pocky, the faltering attempts to learn the language, the appreciation of the art, theatre and food, all ultimately came from that "Day of Infamy."

May the sacrifices of the servicemen of both sides never be forgotten, so that, perhaps we can learn from them. I saw a story today, relating that there won't be any more Pearl Harbor Survivor reunions, due to their age and dwindling numbers.

I hope that, years from now, people will realize what the USS Arizona memorial means, and that it doesn't become just a tourist spot.

Posted by: Wonderduck at 04:07 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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