Japanstuff

Well Now I Am Home

The plane ride back was pretty good. Sat next to a guy that I started theorizing was an "older me", sometimes I try to figure this sort of thing out. Same sort of physique, same sort of attire, he was reading a book but reading it with this strange level of interest where it was more like he just wanted to read something and also wanted to read this but maybe they weren't quite aligning but he was still enjoying it on some non-superficial level, which I find myself doing and probably projecting onto strangers on a plane. He did the same sort of thing later while watching the new Tron movie.

Also had this weird bit of hyperparanoia about losing my luggage. I mean the sort of thing does happen, right? Where I was sitting on the plane I could see where they were loading up the luggage and it was almost circuslike in its unprofessionalism. They had these little train platforms with the big luggage containers on it and each platform would rotate to facilitate sliding the container along lengthwise onto the loading thing. I hope this is at least somewhat descriptive. Anyways the things would never lock properly and would keep spinning and they'd have to chase it around to stop it in the right stop. And then the one side of the container would open up and a bag or two'd spill out and they'd shove it back in and try to seal the container again but that would cause the platform to start spinning again. They kept giving up on some platforms and then going back to them and generally looking like comically frustrated. The worst is that there was an identical platform with container sitting some distance away just getting totally ignored by everyone, and I kept thinking first that they'd forgotten it and then that it was probably "flagged" or something and was being deliberately left behind, and the only good case - that it was empty - seemed way too optimistic to be feasible. I just wanted someone to acknowledge it, too look at it, to go near it, but they were all ignoring it as if it was horribly disfigured, or if trying to maintain some innocence for when they'd have to justify forgetting it later, etc, etc. I dunno. Over the 12 hours of the flight I had completely accepted the fact and even began to see the few positives that came from having lost all my new anime junk and a lot of my clothes. But then it did eventually show up and I was so visibly surprised at it showing up and still being full that I guess I looked like a smuggler.

Hey what if I was a smuggler?

So the more I look at ebay listings and such for the various things I bought the more I realize just how powerful having a captive market can be. Tiny niche but very discerning tastes and it's the demographic with the most disposable income and oh man, I can just straight up "flip" this stuff if I want to.

But I don't want to because I have procured the most adorable objects on Earth. And they will remain mine for all time.

Speaking of "all time" got my King of Limbs newspaper album and I thought it was strange how they go out of their way to talk about how quickly the newspaper will degrade and how fast the plastic will degrade and such. Well not strange actually pretty typical of Radiohead but yeah, found it sort of poignant maybe. The whole thing is very, very cool at any rate. The aesthetics of this album, especially the visuals, might be my favorite since Kid A, if not all-time for Radiohead.

Anyways the newspaper album is likely something else I could "flip". Strange thing is I'm sure I'll starve to death before I mar my collection. This is known as "priorities being out of whack". Like how I'm talking about Radiohead, which I'll want to talk about anytime and will never ever forget, when what I ought to do is keep trying to get everything I can down about what I think about Japan, since I can never go to Japan for the first time again and thus my opinions now are more fleeting???

Gonna talk about other stuff anyways: Madoka

Actually nah not even gonna try to tackle Madoka now. I just want to get down three anecdotes for "hype" like >implying people have been waiting at the edge of their seats for what I have to say about the Madoka finale/show in general (when really they have been waiting on the edge of their seats for my best albums of 2010 list). The first is one that happened like the day after the finale aired. NHK or someone was interviewing people who were volunteering for relief areas near the epicenter of the earthquake. They were asking if they were worried, what with the possible aftershocks, the possible radiation effects, etc. One guy, stereotypical otaku looking (after having seen many in Japan I feel I can say this), says with confidence that he knows he will be okay, and even if he isn't that's alright, because he's seen the Madoka finale. Magnificent.

A guy on reddit was commenting on this same article and offered a story about his friend who had been out of work for a long time now and wasn't really even making much of an effort to look anymore. He had still way too high standards about his position and refused to take any job that was "beneath him". The commentator was worried that his friend would end up completely broke and desolate if he kept refusing to work. One day, his friend completely reversed his stance and began seriously looking for any work that was available. When the commentator asked him why, he replied: "So I can afford the Madoka blu-rays." I can relate. I bought the first blu-ray in Japan, granted, it was far cheaper than if I had tried to buy it here, but I knew that once I had I was committed to buying the rest, and probably importing them, which would be expensive. My first thought was "I guess I'll have to get a job or something." Such is the power of this show!

Final anecdote is that one day while in Japan I was wandering around in a computer store when I saw a bunch of people crowding around one of the laptops. I figured I'd check out what the big deal is and yup, Madoka finale. I don't want to spoil the content of this greatest episode of any show ever for anyone, but for the people who have seen it, it was at what I think most people would agree was the greatest moment of the episode (and greatest moment in artistic history). Anyways yeah everyone was just transfixed even though I'm sure they'd seen it before, even though huddling a laptop with tinny little speakers is so far from the appropriate way to watch that seen, everyone was just completely and 100% focused on this scene. I was too. It's like, full-on chills down the spine and shivering just watching pretty much any footage from this show. Also, they were using a North American raw provider's raw for it. Thought that was sorta funny.

That's all for now because I was distracted by watching things relating to Madoka