It's long sure, but you'll live

Today was the first day back to work after a fabulous week-long vacation! I didn't go anywhere, and when people asked me what I was going to do, my answer was unequivocally "nothing" (thank you very much!).

But I'm back now and I'm refreshed. In all irony today's Ze "The Show" was about why I am feeling so good. I'm about upper-medium-stage-RTC . If I ever turn into a PDJ or PFOA - remind me that I'm not vacationing correctly.

It turns out though that I did a TON of stuff. It's also true to say that it's only stuff I would care about doing.

I played World of Warcraft. I made it to Stone Guard PvP rank (tres awesome) and Exalted Frostmaw Tribe reputation, and revered UC - not that any of that means anything to most of you, but there it is. I also joined a guild. Guilds are group of players that agree to be in the same group, help each other, hang out, pick up after themselves, just be generally awesome. Some guilds are better than others. On my last server I was on a guild that I pretty much liked...you know, liked except for the jerks and the whole elite behavior - that sucked. So, I tend to be rather picky about my guilds. But, I'm also shy in WoW, I tend to keep to myself, do my own thing and only seek help when absolutely necessary.

So, there I was repeating in the LFG (Looking for group) channel that I need other people to go to this dungeon with me (see, one of the complaints I have in the game is that when hit the high levels you HAVE to group with other people to do the quests - no more soloing. May not seem like a big deal, but when you're as shy in game as I am it's an important detail.). And no one was responding. Meanwhile, I am considering joining a guild if I can find the right one - and I stopped being nice about my questions really. When someone sent out a "wanna join my guild message" I knew exactly what I was looking for - I wanted a mature guild that was doing the end-game stuff and raids, but knew I had a life and would not be trading it up to be in their guild. The guild leader, Nikagore wrote back "most of us have jobs and families, don't sweat it" and I decided to give it a shot.

In WoW there are 2 factions the Alliance (elves, humans, gnomes, dwarves) and the Horde (undead -which is what I am - orcs, trolls, taurens); the two sides are NOT good an evil, the mythology of the game is far more complicated then that.

The guild name? Dirty Horde (say it outloud and laugh like I did)

And they are awesome - they have been SO helpful! They're a really cool group, they're helpful, they're interesting, and intelligent. So, my point (yes, I have one of those!) over my vacation I did a couple of new game things I've NEVER done before and they were awesome and I got cool loot!! So, yeah, I had fun with that.

But that's not all!!!

I got a good start writing on an idea I had. It's turning out to be quite interesting.

I spent a day tooling around Brattleboro with Larisa, and, of course, everyone was talking about the nudists and the fact that Dr. Phil himself was going to interview them (isn't a bit chilly now to be nude in Brattleoboro?).

I got a facial and hot stone massage spa day (Jay is awesome).

I also got half a blanket knit while I was watching movies.

Which movies? Japanese horror and things of weirdness that must be seen to be believed!!!

So, what have I watched lately (man, that's been awhile):

Jisatsu Sakkuru (Suicide Circle) - Have you seen Se7en? You know that twisted American movie that uses a homicide investigation of a series of connected grisly deaths to make a point about modern culture - yeah, that's Se7ven. Well, in a way, that's also Suicide Circle (SC) - it's just that Suicide Circle is less gory and funnier and is out to make a different point - the vehicle, a homicide investigation is also what moves SC.

It all starts when 54 giggling schoolgirls are standing on a train platform in Shinjuku station (Tokyo), as the train arrives, they line up, hold hands, and - with an eerily positive A-One-A-two-A-Three - the entire group throws itself in front of the train. There's blood, there's a few random body parts and pandemonium.

Then there are the detectives trying to sort out what happened. The deaths, of course, don't stop. There is a linking element to the suicides - except for one, a group of high school kids who jump off the roof of their school, which is fascinating commentary on the Japanese fad culture. Actually the whole thing is, fascinating that is, taking an extreme look at fads and youth and more (I don't want to give it all away).

There's a twist to this movie too. I will give it credit that I didn't guess the twist until very near the end, which is a feat since I can usually predict stories with some accuracy quite quickly.

The cinematography is amazing - the director (this is an indie Japanese film at that) uses several different styles of filming for the various shots and it's gorgeous and revolting and depressing and funny in turn. The pacing is very good, the story is fascinating and given certain similarities between the Japanese and American cultures the social commentary is not lost in translation. Not to mention you may well find yourself singing those damn songs!! The one Genesis sings is STILL stuck in my head and I think I'm going to find an .mp3 of it to get it out!!


(EDIT: Yeah, go download 'em. This is one I really like although the scene is nearly impossible for me to watch again despite it's intended absurdity. Get it here.)

I recommend this one. Highly.

The Booth - Ignore that the DVD box says "Tartan Asian Extreme", please, just ignore it. Because this movie is awesome. There is no gore, there is lots of suspense, atmosphere, creep, and superb storytelling. This is a ghost story that I think we're going to have to watch for our Halloween Animeniacs show - it's not an anime, it is live action, but it's really very good.

This only came out last year, and it's nice to see that it's a J-Horror WITHOUT any white-faced ghost children or stringy-haired female ghosts. This one is different and NOTHING is lost in translation.

From the back of the DVD box (because I can be lazy too): "Shogo is an arrogant and condescending star of a popular call-in radio show. While his new studio is being remodeled, he must temporarily broadcast out of Studio 6, a creepy and dilapidated booth abandoned since its last DJ committed suicide. Suddenly, he beings receiving disturbing call, the voices on the line whisper "liar" over and over." I don't need to write the rest. Yes, I know it sounds like another trite ghost story plot, but believe me when I say that this one is told differently and the end is AWESOME!! OMG, I didn't even see that twist.

Another recommendation from me.

Kairo (Pulse) - this one was ok. I was entertained, since I've gone at length on the ones I've loved I'm just going to leave it there. There is an American version of this being made. In terms of scare-factor, I'm going to expect a lot more from the American version; there was lots of creep in it, but then there were great build-ups that ended up going nowhere in terms of both story and scare.

Mutant Aliens - I like Bill Plympton. I like him a lot. This was weird, this was offensive, this was funny, this was certainly, um....original. I'm still processing my thoughts on this animated feature film. I don't know if I would recommend it to just anyone, no I'm pretty sure I wouldn't.

Silent Hill - I ignored the warnings of complete suckage and when Jay rented this one, I watched it. Man, I really liked those games too. The filmmakers seemed to have decided to skip the scare and go for the gross-out. That sucked. However, credit given where credit is due - the young actress is spectacular as are the sets.

What I read lately (over my vacation):

Good Omens (again)

Snow Crash (again)

Fight Club (rocks!)

Haunted (eeeeurgh - I love it!)

Call of Cthulhu (classic!)

Death Note (I heart DN!!!)


So, the upshot of it all is.....I did nothing over vacation that anyone other than me would want to do.