-I watched Ponyo! Not one of my absolutely favorite Miyazaki movies but I enjoyed it greatly. I even got used to the dub once I got over "That's not Sosuke's mother! That's LIZ LEMON!"
Sosuke's mom is pretty great. If I ever fear that Miyazaki is too nostalgic towards a rural idealized past, and all the baggage that brings with it, it's kind of refreshing that here is a mother who drinks beer, yells at her husband in blinky-light code, serves her kid cup noodles, and leaves her very young child alone in a ferocious thunderstorm to go check on the people at the senior center -- and none of that makes her a bad parent.
Also I cried.
-I've been watching old episodes of Futurama on Netflix streaming! Some I didn't remember at all, which is great. Being a science fiction comedy in the way that Futurama is a science fiction comedy means you can do pretty much whatever you want and not have to justify any of it with ridiculous things like "logic," and sometimes that actually seems to be what's necessary for the very finely honed storytelling of the best episodes. Real life is messier, and you don't usually want that kind of tidiness in a novel, but in a short story it works, and I'm glad to grand them the concessions to make it work.
Fry's old neighborhood is very near where I live (we're both by the Newkirk subway stop). I find this AWESOME.
Also some of the episodes were really getting to me, emotionally, and I thought I'd better not watch the one about Fry's dog. And then I did. It was a bad choice.
-I meant to see Harry Potter today but I didn't realize it was 2 and a half hours long and I didn't want to get home that late. Will try again another day! I haven't been watching the movies -- I just saw the first and second -- but I feel like seeing the last two.
-What major work of modern Japanese literature should I make a resolution to read next year? I was thinking The Makioka Sisters / Sasameyuki but now I'm not so sure. I don't really want to make it my 5th try reading Temple of the Golden Pavilion.
Sosuke's mom is pretty great. If I ever fear that Miyazaki is too nostalgic towards a rural idealized past, and all the baggage that brings with it, it's kind of refreshing that here is a mother who drinks beer, yells at her husband in blinky-light code, serves her kid cup noodles, and leaves her very young child alone in a ferocious thunderstorm to go check on the people at the senior center -- and none of that makes her a bad parent.
Also I cried.
-I've been watching old episodes of Futurama on Netflix streaming! Some I didn't remember at all, which is great. Being a science fiction comedy in the way that Futurama is a science fiction comedy means you can do pretty much whatever you want and not have to justify any of it with ridiculous things like "logic," and sometimes that actually seems to be what's necessary for the very finely honed storytelling of the best episodes. Real life is messier, and you don't usually want that kind of tidiness in a novel, but in a short story it works, and I'm glad to grand them the concessions to make it work.
Fry's old neighborhood is very near where I live (we're both by the Newkirk subway stop). I find this AWESOME.
Also some of the episodes were really getting to me, emotionally, and I thought I'd better not watch the one about Fry's dog. And then I did. It was a bad choice.
-I meant to see Harry Potter today but I didn't realize it was 2 and a half hours long and I didn't want to get home that late. Will try again another day! I haven't been watching the movies -- I just saw the first and second -- but I feel like seeing the last two.
-What major work of modern Japanese literature should I make a resolution to read next year? I was thinking The Makioka Sisters / Sasameyuki but now I'm not so sure. I don't really want to make it my 5th try reading Temple of the Golden Pavilion.