Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Defending the Indefensible
Two recent stories jumped out at me this weekend. Initially unrelated, the more I thought about them the more I realized they touched on the issue of "free speech" and the curious habit of people on the Internet leaping to the support of people/organizations that don’t need (or deserve) any help.
First off, Kevin Smith was thrown off a Southwest Airlines flight because he looked too fat, emphasis on "looked" because he flew on that same airline later in the day without losing any weight. This frightens me because the airline has done this before and it wasn’t any more justified then than it was this time; some ignorant staffer just made a gut decision that a paying customer didn’t safely fit in one seat without actually confirming said suspicion. Any situation where people are being denied service because they look fat is of obvious concern for me, even when the discriminators are operating a business 5000 miles from my present location.
Given that Kevin Smith is famous, it didn’t take long for the PR people at Southwest to realize that they needed to respond to this mistake. However, they made the curious choice of apologizing for mistreating him while simultaneously asserting their right to do so. That’s like Denny’s refusing to serve a black guy and after they apologize, insisting that "in our defense, you really are black and we’d rather not have your kind in our restaurant."
The other details thus far are irrelevant (talk of safety concerns, standby status, and how many seats were purchased doesn’t matter when the person in question clearly fits in the allotted space) but what nags me are some of the comments on the Southwest Airlines "apology" page. More than a few people are in favor of ejecting passengers who appear obese, with one crazy person even citing the corporation’s right to "free speech."
While the right to refuse service is a logical one, as it protects businesses from legitimately unruly or disruptive customers, should we really accept that people are subject to superficial discrimination like this? Sure, Southwest has the option to remove fat people from their airplanes, but even if you’re not overweight this should be disturbing news. I don’t think an airline should be allowed to decline a passenger based on how they look any more than a hotel or a landlord should.
We’ll get back to that, but let’s get to that second news story that caught my eye: someone made threatening remarks over Xbox LIVE and the police were called. Again, there are commenters jumping to the defense of the angry young man, asserting his right to "free speech" and lamenting Microsoft’s meddling into the privacy of its customers. Even the article initially used the verb "rats out" in its headline before softening its stance.
Never mind the fact that the First Amendment to the Constitution doesn’t apply to private forums, it’s frightening to me that anyone alive today would take a stand against investigating threats of violence. If the 1999 Columbine massacre is too hazy in their memories, perhaps they can recall the Virginia Tech massacre in 2007? Aggressive statements and actions should never be ignored. I don’t know whether this guy was serious or not, but if he’s going to announce his intentions to kill people I want him questioned by the authorities.
How do these two disparate stories connect? In both cases, defenders of the wrongdoers rally behind "free speech" as an excuse for unconscionable behavior. This offends me because the more often people incorrectly cry that their rights are violated, the less impact legitimate complaints have. Call it The Boy Who Cried Free Speech; eventually people stop listening even if you’re telling the truth.
The basic misconception at work in both these situations is that free speech does not equal consequence-free speech. Just because something cannot be outlawed doesn’t mean it cannot go unpunished. I have the right to declare aloud "God hates fags" in San Francisco or proclaim "I hate niggers" in Harlem, but the anger that would follow could not be waved away with the Bill of Rights.
Southwest Airlines may have the right to turn away fatties and this angry Xbox user may have the right to shoot his mouth off, but they both need to face up to their actions when the outraged response arrives. Citing policies or the Constitution is not a defense and I cannot fathom why outside parties would weigh in with such statements.
Perhaps I’m reading too much into this. Any statement on the Internet, no matter how ignorant, is bound to draw at least one friendly response. It just puzzles me to see strangers defend discrimination and potential violence by citing the same lofty source.
つづく...(Click here to read more)
First off, Kevin Smith was thrown off a Southwest Airlines flight because he looked too fat, emphasis on "looked" because he flew on that same airline later in the day without losing any weight. This frightens me because the airline has done this before and it wasn’t any more justified then than it was this time; some ignorant staffer just made a gut decision that a paying customer didn’t safely fit in one seat without actually confirming said suspicion. Any situation where people are being denied service because they look fat is of obvious concern for me, even when the discriminators are operating a business 5000 miles from my present location.
Given that Kevin Smith is famous, it didn’t take long for the PR people at Southwest to realize that they needed to respond to this mistake. However, they made the curious choice of apologizing for mistreating him while simultaneously asserting their right to do so. That’s like Denny’s refusing to serve a black guy and after they apologize, insisting that "in our defense, you really are black and we’d rather not have your kind in our restaurant."
The other details thus far are irrelevant (talk of safety concerns, standby status, and how many seats were purchased doesn’t matter when the person in question clearly fits in the allotted space) but what nags me are some of the comments on the Southwest Airlines "apology" page. More than a few people are in favor of ejecting passengers who appear obese, with one crazy person even citing the corporation’s right to "free speech."
While the right to refuse service is a logical one, as it protects businesses from legitimately unruly or disruptive customers, should we really accept that people are subject to superficial discrimination like this? Sure, Southwest has the option to remove fat people from their airplanes, but even if you’re not overweight this should be disturbing news. I don’t think an airline should be allowed to decline a passenger based on how they look any more than a hotel or a landlord should.
We’ll get back to that, but let’s get to that second news story that caught my eye: someone made threatening remarks over Xbox LIVE and the police were called. Again, there are commenters jumping to the defense of the angry young man, asserting his right to "free speech" and lamenting Microsoft’s meddling into the privacy of its customers. Even the article initially used the verb "rats out" in its headline before softening its stance.
Never mind the fact that the First Amendment to the Constitution doesn’t apply to private forums, it’s frightening to me that anyone alive today would take a stand against investigating threats of violence. If the 1999 Columbine massacre is too hazy in their memories, perhaps they can recall the Virginia Tech massacre in 2007? Aggressive statements and actions should never be ignored. I don’t know whether this guy was serious or not, but if he’s going to announce his intentions to kill people I want him questioned by the authorities.
How do these two disparate stories connect? In both cases, defenders of the wrongdoers rally behind "free speech" as an excuse for unconscionable behavior. This offends me because the more often people incorrectly cry that their rights are violated, the less impact legitimate complaints have. Call it The Boy Who Cried Free Speech; eventually people stop listening even if you’re telling the truth.
The basic misconception at work in both these situations is that free speech does not equal consequence-free speech. Just because something cannot be outlawed doesn’t mean it cannot go unpunished. I have the right to declare aloud "God hates fags" in San Francisco or proclaim "I hate niggers" in Harlem, but the anger that would follow could not be waved away with the Bill of Rights.
Southwest Airlines may have the right to turn away fatties and this angry Xbox user may have the right to shoot his mouth off, but they both need to face up to their actions when the outraged response arrives. Citing policies or the Constitution is not a defense and I cannot fathom why outside parties would weigh in with such statements.
Perhaps I’m reading too much into this. Any statement on the Internet, no matter how ignorant, is bound to draw at least one friendly response. It just puzzles me to see strangers defend discrimination and potential violence by citing the same lofty source.
Labels: free speech, I hate people, Internet issues
つづく...(Click here to read more)
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Mourning the Blue Dragon
A great athlete retired last week.
Not because he was too old or because he wanted to pursue other interests, but because he made one too many mistakes outside of the ring. His biggest mistake of all might have been dominating a sport that is too short-sighted to recognize that a great champion is a great champion, period. No amount of "controversy" can justify the Sumo Association pressuring Asashoryu into retirement. Not at the age of 29 and not on the heels of his twenty-fifth tournament championship (in Japanese, yusho).
For those unaware of Asashoryu's accomplishments, I can offer some perspective. His twenty-five yusho qualifies him for third place on the all time list, with first place being a mere seven yusho away. Given the rate at which he won and his relative youth, it was a question of "when" rather than "if" he would find himself on top of that list.
More significant is what his victories represent: his stature as the undisputed best wrestler in sumo of the decade. For three straight years he was the sole yokozuna, the top rank in the sport. This is the longest such period in sumo history.
The title of yokozuna is only bestowed upon wrestlers after winning two consecutive tournaments. During his 2004-2007 solo reign Asashoryu won an incredible sixteen of twenty-one tournaments, including an unprecedented seven straight from November 2004 to November 2005. No one had ever won six yusho in a single calendar year before, let alone seven in a row. He single-handedly ensured that no one else could reach his level because there was no chance for other wrestlers to string two yusho together.
As it turns out, all that winning wasn't good enough. Sumo is unique among professional sports in many areas, but perhaps the most unusual aspect is how strictly a wrestler's lifestyle and public persona is controlled. They never appear outside wearing any modern clothing. They are not supposed to drive themselves. They live, eat, sleep and train together in so-called "stables."
Asashoryu had a "controversial" reputation as a "bad boy" but I don't think there are quotation marks big enough to qualify those terms when one of those "controversies" was Asashoryu celebrating a yusho by raising his arms in the ring. The NFL may have some absurd ideas about what qualifies a celebration excessive but in sumo, it seems any celebration is too much.
Perhaps his sole legitimate transgression was skipping out on a exhibition tournament in 2007 by claiming injury and then competing in a charity soccer match in Mongolia. For his crime he was suspended for two full tournaments and subjected to relentless media attention. I'm guessing the latter hurt more than the former, because during that time he reportedly sought treatment for depression and his wife left him.
What was the incident that pushed him over the edge? Asashoryu got drunk during the January 2010 tournament and allegedly got into a brawl. The more salacious details (death threats?) are the stuff of tabloid rumors and completely unconfirmed. The matter was settled without any lawsuits or criminal charges, though it's generally assumed that the other party received financial compensation for getting beaten up.
I know all of these issues snowball over time and these high-profile screw-ups are Asashoryu's own damn fault, but is this seriously enough motivation to throw someone out of a sport? Especially when said sport is teetering on the brink of irrelevance?
Sumo wrestling may be right up there with ninja and samurai as foreign images of Japan go, but these days there's not much popular interest in the sport. Baseball is far and away the national pastime, with soccer closing in fast. When I talk to my students about their dreams of the future, no one ever says "I want to be a sumo wrestler." Not even the ones who look like sumo wrestlers.
Asashoryu was the face of sumo. When I conducted a (non-scientific) survey about sumo in 2006, asking college students and older adults alike to name their favorite wrestler, he was the practically the only active wrestler anyone could name. Most people thought of champions from the past like Takanohana or Wakanohana. When I watch sumo with my in-laws, they look to me to identify who's who in the ring because they can barely read the elaborate ring names the wrestlers use.
Is sumo dead? Hardly. Is it in danger? Big time. Besides Asashoryu's non-controversies, the Sumo Association has seen some serious scandals in recent years. A number of wrestlers were fired after they tested positive for marijuana use (no laughing matter in Japan). A trainee was beaten to death by his stable master who then tried to cover it up, claiming he died of exhaustion. Combine that incident with the general strictness of the sumo lifestyle and it’s no wonder recruitment is at an all-time low.
Sumo as a sport (and a business) is not in a position to turn away fans or potential athletes right now, and in shoving Asashoryu out the door the Association is are doing both. Nobody cared when Chiyotaikai, a veteran wrestler with a longer tenure than Asashoryu, retired last month. There were no news stories outside of sports coverage and no chatter on the afternoon talk shows.
Meanwhile, Asashoryu was the talk of the television for weeks, starting when the alleged brawl took place and running straight through the end of the tournament and into last week’s Sumo Association election. No, it wasn't all positive news but it was news, something that no struggling sport can refuse.
The fictional Bela Lugosi once said "There is no such thing as bad publicity." I’m not positive that's true, but forcing your star performer and current champion to retire because he was too "ontroversial" is insane. How often do those two qualities overlap? What sport would willing drop both at the same time?
Would Major League Baseball suspend Derek Jeter if he was photographed jogging in a Fun Run while on the disabled list? Would the NFL ever ditch Peyton Manning or Tom Brady for getting drunk after a game? Hell, Michael Vick was convicted of multiple felonies, went to prison and was still welcomed back into the league upon his release (if not by the same team).
Asashoryu broke no law, committed no crime and violated no sacred trust of sumo. He is not Pete Rose, Shoeless Joe Jackson or even Dennis Rodman. Yet the Sumo Association treated him as if he was all three and tossed him to the curb. They should have protected and celebrated his achievements as if he were Michael Jordan.
MJ had a gambling problem, by the way. There's a reason no one cared.
つづく...(Click here to read more)
Not because he was too old or because he wanted to pursue other interests, but because he made one too many mistakes outside of the ring. His biggest mistake of all might have been dominating a sport that is too short-sighted to recognize that a great champion is a great champion, period. No amount of "controversy" can justify the Sumo Association pressuring Asashoryu into retirement. Not at the age of 29 and not on the heels of his twenty-fifth tournament championship (in Japanese, yusho).
For those unaware of Asashoryu's accomplishments, I can offer some perspective. His twenty-five yusho qualifies him for third place on the all time list, with first place being a mere seven yusho away. Given the rate at which he won and his relative youth, it was a question of "when" rather than "if" he would find himself on top of that list.
More significant is what his victories represent: his stature as the undisputed best wrestler in sumo of the decade. For three straight years he was the sole yokozuna, the top rank in the sport. This is the longest such period in sumo history.
The title of yokozuna is only bestowed upon wrestlers after winning two consecutive tournaments. During his 2004-2007 solo reign Asashoryu won an incredible sixteen of twenty-one tournaments, including an unprecedented seven straight from November 2004 to November 2005. No one had ever won six yusho in a single calendar year before, let alone seven in a row. He single-handedly ensured that no one else could reach his level because there was no chance for other wrestlers to string two yusho together.
As it turns out, all that winning wasn't good enough. Sumo is unique among professional sports in many areas, but perhaps the most unusual aspect is how strictly a wrestler's lifestyle and public persona is controlled. They never appear outside wearing any modern clothing. They are not supposed to drive themselves. They live, eat, sleep and train together in so-called "stables."
Asashoryu had a "controversial" reputation as a "bad boy" but I don't think there are quotation marks big enough to qualify those terms when one of those "controversies" was Asashoryu celebrating a yusho by raising his arms in the ring. The NFL may have some absurd ideas about what qualifies a celebration excessive but in sumo, it seems any celebration is too much.
Perhaps his sole legitimate transgression was skipping out on a exhibition tournament in 2007 by claiming injury and then competing in a charity soccer match in Mongolia. For his crime he was suspended for two full tournaments and subjected to relentless media attention. I'm guessing the latter hurt more than the former, because during that time he reportedly sought treatment for depression and his wife left him.
What was the incident that pushed him over the edge? Asashoryu got drunk during the January 2010 tournament and allegedly got into a brawl. The more salacious details (death threats?) are the stuff of tabloid rumors and completely unconfirmed. The matter was settled without any lawsuits or criminal charges, though it's generally assumed that the other party received financial compensation for getting beaten up.
I know all of these issues snowball over time and these high-profile screw-ups are Asashoryu's own damn fault, but is this seriously enough motivation to throw someone out of a sport? Especially when said sport is teetering on the brink of irrelevance?
Sumo wrestling may be right up there with ninja and samurai as foreign images of Japan go, but these days there's not much popular interest in the sport. Baseball is far and away the national pastime, with soccer closing in fast. When I talk to my students about their dreams of the future, no one ever says "I want to be a sumo wrestler." Not even the ones who look like sumo wrestlers.
Asashoryu was the face of sumo. When I conducted a (non-scientific) survey about sumo in 2006, asking college students and older adults alike to name their favorite wrestler, he was the practically the only active wrestler anyone could name. Most people thought of champions from the past like Takanohana or Wakanohana. When I watch sumo with my in-laws, they look to me to identify who's who in the ring because they can barely read the elaborate ring names the wrestlers use.
Is sumo dead? Hardly. Is it in danger? Big time. Besides Asashoryu's non-controversies, the Sumo Association has seen some serious scandals in recent years. A number of wrestlers were fired after they tested positive for marijuana use (no laughing matter in Japan). A trainee was beaten to death by his stable master who then tried to cover it up, claiming he died of exhaustion. Combine that incident with the general strictness of the sumo lifestyle and it’s no wonder recruitment is at an all-time low.
Sumo as a sport (and a business) is not in a position to turn away fans or potential athletes right now, and in shoving Asashoryu out the door the Association is are doing both. Nobody cared when Chiyotaikai, a veteran wrestler with a longer tenure than Asashoryu, retired last month. There were no news stories outside of sports coverage and no chatter on the afternoon talk shows.
Meanwhile, Asashoryu was the talk of the television for weeks, starting when the alleged brawl took place and running straight through the end of the tournament and into last week’s Sumo Association election. No, it wasn't all positive news but it was news, something that no struggling sport can refuse.
The fictional Bela Lugosi once said "There is no such thing as bad publicity." I’m not positive that's true, but forcing your star performer and current champion to retire because he was too "ontroversial" is insane. How often do those two qualities overlap? What sport would willing drop both at the same time?
Would Major League Baseball suspend Derek Jeter if he was photographed jogging in a Fun Run while on the disabled list? Would the NFL ever ditch Peyton Manning or Tom Brady for getting drunk after a game? Hell, Michael Vick was convicted of multiple felonies, went to prison and was still welcomed back into the league upon his release (if not by the same team).
Asashoryu broke no law, committed no crime and violated no sacred trust of sumo. He is not Pete Rose, Shoeless Joe Jackson or even Dennis Rodman. Yet the Sumo Association treated him as if he was all three and tossed him to the curb. They should have protected and celebrated his achievements as if he were Michael Jordan.
MJ had a gambling problem, by the way. There's a reason no one cared.
つづく...(Click here to read more)
Thursday, February 04, 2010
Happy 2010 already
Don't know why I put off my first post of the year for so long, so I'm writing this on my phone to get it over with.
つづく...(Click here to read more)
Fact is, the future of feitclub.com is in doubt. Blogger has decided to end publishing via FTP, and since I use my own domain that's precisely how I put this blog together.
I want to continue writing and there are options on the table to migrate this project of mine to a new host or another publishing platform (Wordpress?), but nothing's going to be easy. It's fair to say I won't post much of anything here until I sort this out.
I'm trying to remain positive about this. I've wanted to overhaul the site for years as it's grown increasingly ugly by web standards. It was never pretty but it was, for a while, NOT hideous. Now it looks like less polished MySpace page. Ugh.
In the meantime, I'll continue to use Twitter and Facebook as usual. Notice that I've stopped the automated messages regarding feitclub.com. From now on, I'll just tweet about updates myself.
TTFN, I guess. Feit...out.
Labels: moblogging, site news
つづく...(Click here to read more)
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Goodbye, Double-Oh Decade
Hey everybody, I just want to drop in here and say a few words before the year is up.
First off, the vacation is going great. I was nervous about the baby but it turns out he loves America and everyone in it. Strangers and family alike delight him, he is being spoiled with toys and clothes at every turn, and he is sleeping here like he never sleeps back home. Not necessarily at night, mind you, but a happy, well-rested baby is a hell of a lot easier to manage than a cranky, crying baby.
In professional writing news, Wired Game|Life has been posting best-of lists recently, several of which I got to vote for and contribute towards. While I recommend all of their fine work, readers looking specifically for my words should direct their attention to Top 5 PlayStation 3 Games of 2009, The 10 Best Videogames of 2009 and The 15 Most Influential Games of the Decade. I'm particularly proud of that last one because I got to write about two of my favorite games of the last ten years, both of which will be appearing in my love/hate 00s countdown.
Speaking of which, the countdown is on hold but not over. I haven't had much time to write on this trip, so I'll finish my thoughts about my favorite and most disappointing things of the past decade after it is complete.
In the meantime, enjoy this final day of the 00s. For those of you in Japan, the year is nearly finished, but here in the US we've got nearly an entire day to get through. Wherever you're at, have fun and I'll see you in 2010 (digitally speaking).
つづく...(Click here to read more)
First off, the vacation is going great. I was nervous about the baby but it turns out he loves America and everyone in it. Strangers and family alike delight him, he is being spoiled with toys and clothes at every turn, and he is sleeping here like he never sleeps back home. Not necessarily at night, mind you, but a happy, well-rested baby is a hell of a lot easier to manage than a cranky, crying baby.
In professional writing news, Wired Game|Life has been posting best-of lists recently, several of which I got to vote for and contribute towards. While I recommend all of their fine work, readers looking specifically for my words should direct their attention to Top 5 PlayStation 3 Games of 2009, The 10 Best Videogames of 2009 and The 15 Most Influential Games of the Decade. I'm particularly proud of that last one because I got to write about two of my favorite games of the last ten years, both of which will be appearing in my love/hate 00s countdown.
Speaking of which, the countdown is on hold but not over. I haven't had much time to write on this trip, so I'll finish my thoughts about my favorite and most disappointing things of the past decade after it is complete.
In the meantime, enjoy this final day of the 00s. For those of you in Japan, the year is nearly finished, but here in the US we've got nearly an entire day to get through. Wherever you're at, have fun and I'll see you in 2010 (digitally speaking).
Labels: family, number one son, site news, travel, video games, Wired, writing
つづく...(Click here to read more)
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
En Vacances until 2010
By the time this post goes live, I'll be on my way to New York with my family in tow. Maybe Go will fall asleep on the plane and maybe he won't. Either way we will be spending the next two weeks in the United States.
I am, understandably, nervous about this trip. Even taking the airplanes out of the equation there's going to be a lot of traveling and I have no idea how Go will respond. Will he become jet lagged and sleep all day while keeping us up all night?
Ultimately it's up to me whether this trip is enjoyable or not. Go is going to do what he's going to do - it's out of my control. We're taking him to America so his grandparents and extended family can see him in person. It reminds me of last March when we took Mako's parents to New York. Their needs trumped ours, because they could not function without our assistance. Did I still enjoy myself? Hell yeah.
The key difference this time is that Mako's parents are, once provided with food and shelter, self-sufficient. We could bring them food and leave them in their hotel room for an evening. Go would not enjoy that.
So I don't know what to say. Am I excited? Of course? Am I nervous? Very much so. Am I scared? Nope. Worst case scenario, I go without sleep for two weeks while surrounded by friends and family. That beats spending another New Year's in Japan in front of the damned television, forced to watch an endless parade of celebrities sing and congratulate each other.
Also, I cannot predict my availability online. I'm bringing my netbook but I can't say how much time I'll be able/willing to sit in front of it. I hope to keep writing my list of my favorite and most disappointing things of the decade, as I'm only a third of the way finished.
So please forgive me if I miss out on Twitter or Facebook chatter. I'll see many of you in person soon. To everyone else, I'll catch you right here next year. FEIT...out
つづく...(Click here to read more)
I am, understandably, nervous about this trip. Even taking the airplanes out of the equation there's going to be a lot of traveling and I have no idea how Go will respond. Will he become jet lagged and sleep all day while keeping us up all night?
Ultimately it's up to me whether this trip is enjoyable or not. Go is going to do what he's going to do - it's out of my control. We're taking him to America so his grandparents and extended family can see him in person. It reminds me of last March when we took Mako's parents to New York. Their needs trumped ours, because they could not function without our assistance. Did I still enjoy myself? Hell yeah.
The key difference this time is that Mako's parents are, once provided with food and shelter, self-sufficient. We could bring them food and leave them in their hotel room for an evening. Go would not enjoy that.
So I don't know what to say. Am I excited? Of course? Am I nervous? Very much so. Am I scared? Nope. Worst case scenario, I go without sleep for two weeks while surrounded by friends and family. That beats spending another New Year's in Japan in front of the damned television, forced to watch an endless parade of celebrities sing and congratulate each other.
Also, I cannot predict my availability online. I'm bringing my netbook but I can't say how much time I'll be able/willing to sit in front of it. I hope to keep writing my list of my favorite and most disappointing things of the decade, as I'm only a third of the way finished.
So please forgive me if I miss out on Twitter or Facebook chatter. I'll see many of you in person soon. To everyone else, I'll catch you right here next year. FEIT...out
Labels: family, predicting the future, site news, travel
つづく...(Click here to read more)
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
I Love the 00s: Three from Tarantino
Next on my list of my favorite things about the 00s is Quentin Tarantino. When the decade began he was MIA, curiously quiet after the lukewarm response to Jackie Brown (1997). Once he got back into the movie-making business, business was good. Very good.
His first film back from hiatus was Kill Bill (2003, 2004), an epic kung-fu/revenge picture that was forcibly split into two films by the studio. The end results made me wonder how Volumes 1 and 2 were ever part of the same picture, because the two films felt so very different.
Vol. 1 was a raucous splatterfest of swordfighting and rage, while Vol. 2 was a more restrained look at the characters left standing from Vol. 1. The final showdown between The Bride and Bill is emotional, not physical, and when she takes her revenge there is real sadness in the air.
One of the unsung triumphs of the movie(s) is the soundtrack. Cobbled together from other films and even a few television series, the music in Kill Bill is different than the pop-heavy mixes of Quentin Tarantino's earlier movies. Even though I couldn't recognize most of it, the use of instrumental music accentuated the film's numerous homages. When you hear Ennio Morricone, whether you can place its exact origin or not, you're going to think of spaghetti westerns.
It was three years before we saw another Tarantino movie, but it was worth the wait. Death Proof was the second half of the double-feature Grindhouse (2007), two films shown back to back with intentionally cheesy trailers preceeding each picture. I noted on my blog at the time that it was one of the best moviegoing experiences I've ever had - and that still stands. While the first film, Robert Rodriguez's Planet Terror, was just as over the top as those trailers were, Death Proof opened quietly by focusing on four friends just hanging out. It's a slow burn, teasing the audience with glimpses of Stuntman Mike before eventually revealing that he's not just an over-the-hill stunt driver. The car chase at end of the film was one of the most exhilarating ones I've ever seen, right on par with classics like Bullitt and The French Connection. More so, perhaps, because those movies didn't have a woman strapped to the hood of the car during their chases.
Finally there's Inglorious Basterds (2009), a movie I've already written about several times since I saw it last month. I don't know if it's my favorite Tarantino film but it's certainly my favorite of the last ten years, as the opening conversation between the Colonel and that dairy farmer was so tense I almost couldn't stand it. That extended showdown of two men talking for I don't know how long was more tense than any clash in Kill Bill or crash in Death Proof.
I suppose it's selfish of me to wish that Quentin Tarantino could work faster. In the last ten years he made three films, while during that time we've had seven Coen Brothers movies, five Christopher Nolan movies and, ugh, five Michael Bay movies! Please, Quentin, don't rush things but don't leave us hanging for six years again. It's just cruel.
This represents Part 7 in a series of 25 posts about my favorite as well as the most disappointing entertainment properties/trends of the last ten years. To Be Continued!
つづく...(Click here to read more)
His first film back from hiatus was Kill Bill (2003, 2004), an epic kung-fu/revenge picture that was forcibly split into two films by the studio. The end results made me wonder how Volumes 1 and 2 were ever part of the same picture, because the two films felt so very different.
Vol. 1 was a raucous splatterfest of swordfighting and rage, while Vol. 2 was a more restrained look at the characters left standing from Vol. 1. The final showdown between The Bride and Bill is emotional, not physical, and when she takes her revenge there is real sadness in the air.
One of the unsung triumphs of the movie(s) is the soundtrack. Cobbled together from other films and even a few television series, the music in Kill Bill is different than the pop-heavy mixes of Quentin Tarantino's earlier movies. Even though I couldn't recognize most of it, the use of instrumental music accentuated the film's numerous homages. When you hear Ennio Morricone, whether you can place its exact origin or not, you're going to think of spaghetti westerns.
It was three years before we saw another Tarantino movie, but it was worth the wait. Death Proof was the second half of the double-feature Grindhouse (2007), two films shown back to back with intentionally cheesy trailers preceeding each picture. I noted on my blog at the time that it was one of the best moviegoing experiences I've ever had - and that still stands. While the first film, Robert Rodriguez's Planet Terror, was just as over the top as those trailers were, Death Proof opened quietly by focusing on four friends just hanging out. It's a slow burn, teasing the audience with glimpses of Stuntman Mike before eventually revealing that he's not just an over-the-hill stunt driver. The car chase at end of the film was one of the most exhilarating ones I've ever seen, right on par with classics like Bullitt and The French Connection. More so, perhaps, because those movies didn't have a woman strapped to the hood of the car during their chases.
Finally there's Inglorious Basterds (2009), a movie I've already written about several times since I saw it last month. I don't know if it's my favorite Tarantino film but it's certainly my favorite of the last ten years, as the opening conversation between the Colonel and that dairy farmer was so tense I almost couldn't stand it. That extended showdown of two men talking for I don't know how long was more tense than any clash in Kill Bill or crash in Death Proof.
I suppose it's selfish of me to wish that Quentin Tarantino could work faster. In the last ten years he made three films, while during that time we've had seven Coen Brothers movies, five Christopher Nolan movies and, ugh, five Michael Bay movies! Please, Quentin, don't rush things but don't leave us hanging for six years again. It's just cruel.
This represents Part 7 in a series of 25 posts about my favorite as well as the most disappointing entertainment properties/trends of the last ten years. To Be Continued!
Labels: Grindhouse, I love the 00s, Inglorious Basterds, Kill Bill, movies, Quentin Tarantino
つづく...(Click here to read more)
Monday, December 21, 2009
I Love the 00s: Chuck Palahniuk
I wasn't much of a reader as a child, a bad habit that continued well into adulthood. Thankfully I've begun reading a lot more books this decade and at least part of the reason why is my fondness for one particular author: Chuck Palahniuk.
Like a lot of people, I first heard of Chuck's work when I saw the movie Fight Club (1999) which was based on his 1996 novel. I didn't actually get around to reading it until 2004 though, shortly after I saw him speak at my university. I thought the book was terrific, even if I felt the movie had a better ending. I later read Survivor (1999) which was, frankly, an even better tale about the lone survivor of a cult trying to assimilate into (but ultimately recognizing the absurdity of) our society.
But those are 90s books and this series of mine is about the 00s. Chuck may not churn out books at Stephen King's pace but he's been busy in the past ten years, presumably thanks to the tremendous publicity a Hollywood movie can bring.
The first book I read after Fight Club was actually the one Chuck came to UAlbany to promote, Haunted (2005). It's a short story collection bound by a creepy main story about a group of people who attend a secluded writer's workshop inside an old auditorium. The doors are locked and the windows are sealed under the assumption that cutting themselves off from the world will allow them to concentrate on their work, but the situation quickly deteriorates as they intentionally spoil their surroundings so that the ordeal can be more dramatic. I can't say I found all of the short stories to be engrossing but most of them were superb, as was the master story about the lengths to which humans will go to draw attention to themselves. For a book about writers I suspect he was also taking a shot at reality television in tha regard.
Other books written by Chuck that I enjoyed were Choke (2001), the story of a man who pretends to do just that so people can save him, Lullaby (2002), about a poem that can kill, and Snuff (2008), a cringe-inducing story set inside the waiting room for participants in a gang-bang. I can't say I really thought much of Rant (2007), for while it was well-written the science-fiction angle just never grabbed me. I have yet to read Diary (2003) or his latest work, Pygmy but I hope to pick one of them up when I'm next in the States.
It's not easy to explain what it is about Chuck's books that I find so fascinating, but I guess it's in the details. His books are packed with little factoids, such as the recipe for napalm in Fight Club. That one happens to be false as his publisher insisted that the real ingredients not be disclosed to the public, but he's always slipping in little things like that into his stories.
Furthermore, he routinely describes things that are positively disgusting and that I would never want to contemplate let alone witness, yet his stories draw me and make me feel closer to that grime than any other writer. While I read Snuff I could picture that room as if I was standing in it, so much so that I felt like I desperately needed a shower. And I defy anyone to read "Guts" in Haunted without laughing out loud or gagging, depending on your tolerance for awful stories about masturbation.
If you've never read his work, I'd recommend either of his 90s works above as a starting point, but I'm certainly a fan now and I look forward to more. Supposedly all of his books have been optioned for films at this point (I didn't see Choke) but as great as Fight Club was on-screen, I think his stories lose their urgency in the adaptation process once his writing style is removed. It's a contradiction: his books deliver such vivid descriptions that I can vizualize myself in them and I would love to see more of his creations in theaters, yet I am aware that any film version will ultimately be compromised because it will not be delivered in his distinctive prose.
I guess that's what books are for.
This represents Part 6 in a series of 25 posts about my favorite as well as the most disappointing entertainment properties/trends of the last ten years. To Be Continued!
つづく...(Click here to read more)
Like a lot of people, I first heard of Chuck's work when I saw the movie Fight Club (1999) which was based on his 1996 novel. I didn't actually get around to reading it until 2004 though, shortly after I saw him speak at my university. I thought the book was terrific, even if I felt the movie had a better ending. I later read Survivor (1999) which was, frankly, an even better tale about the lone survivor of a cult trying to assimilate into (but ultimately recognizing the absurdity of) our society.
But those are 90s books and this series of mine is about the 00s. Chuck may not churn out books at Stephen King's pace but he's been busy in the past ten years, presumably thanks to the tremendous publicity a Hollywood movie can bring.
The first book I read after Fight Club was actually the one Chuck came to UAlbany to promote, Haunted (2005). It's a short story collection bound by a creepy main story about a group of people who attend a secluded writer's workshop inside an old auditorium. The doors are locked and the windows are sealed under the assumption that cutting themselves off from the world will allow them to concentrate on their work, but the situation quickly deteriorates as they intentionally spoil their surroundings so that the ordeal can be more dramatic. I can't say I found all of the short stories to be engrossing but most of them were superb, as was the master story about the lengths to which humans will go to draw attention to themselves. For a book about writers I suspect he was also taking a shot at reality television in tha regard.
Other books written by Chuck that I enjoyed were Choke (2001), the story of a man who pretends to do just that so people can save him, Lullaby (2002), about a poem that can kill, and Snuff (2008), a cringe-inducing story set inside the waiting room for participants in a gang-bang. I can't say I really thought much of Rant (2007), for while it was well-written the science-fiction angle just never grabbed me. I have yet to read Diary (2003) or his latest work, Pygmy but I hope to pick one of them up when I'm next in the States.
It's not easy to explain what it is about Chuck's books that I find so fascinating, but I guess it's in the details. His books are packed with little factoids, such as the recipe for napalm in Fight Club. That one happens to be false as his publisher insisted that the real ingredients not be disclosed to the public, but he's always slipping in little things like that into his stories.
Furthermore, he routinely describes things that are positively disgusting and that I would never want to contemplate let alone witness, yet his stories draw me and make me feel closer to that grime than any other writer. While I read Snuff I could picture that room as if I was standing in it, so much so that I felt like I desperately needed a shower. And I defy anyone to read "Guts" in Haunted without laughing out loud or gagging, depending on your tolerance for awful stories about masturbation.
If you've never read his work, I'd recommend either of his 90s works above as a starting point, but I'm certainly a fan now and I look forward to more. Supposedly all of his books have been optioned for films at this point (I didn't see Choke) but as great as Fight Club was on-screen, I think his stories lose their urgency in the adaptation process once his writing style is removed. It's a contradiction: his books deliver such vivid descriptions that I can vizualize myself in them and I would love to see more of his creations in theaters, yet I am aware that any film version will ultimately be compromised because it will not be delivered in his distinctive prose.
I guess that's what books are for.
This represents Part 6 in a series of 25 posts about my favorite as well as the most disappointing entertainment properties/trends of the last ten years. To Be Continued!
Labels: books, Chuck Palahniuk, I love the 00s
つづく...(Click here to read more)
Thursday, December 17, 2009
DoFuss and the Wave
Can't believe I'll be in New York in less than a week. This trip is either going to be a nightmare or an extremely good time, and a lot of that is up to Go. Will he sleep on the plane? Will he adapt to the time shift? We'll all find out soon enough.
I was fortunate enough to be a guest on Alex's podcast The Dofuss Show again, although due to this being my third straight show he jokingly dubbed it "The DanFuss Show." I liked what we talked about but my voice sounds tired and I made a far too many pauses when I spoke. I don't know if it was the late hour or just nerves. Last time we did this I had just come home after a few drinks, so maybe I should make it a habit of loosening my lips with a spot o' booze in the future.
The show notes are on Alex's site this time, after we worked on them together using Google Wave. Have you heard about this thing? I got a random invite a few weeks back and let the service sit because I didn't know what to do with it. Now that I have friends on there as well as an entire community of Bitmob writers, I'm checking my waves daily to see what's going on.
In this case, Alex wrote the notes before we talked as an outline for our discussion. After we recorded I edited them, adding specific topics we brought up or articles we referenced. then put those into a wave that he and I could view. I added links to each item as needed while he was editing the show. When he was done, he looked at the notes and edited them to better reflect what made the final cut and what didn't. In the end, he was able to copy and paste the material from the wave, links and all, right onto his site. And unlike last time, the wave allowed us to collaborate and get the notes ready to be posted alongside the show. It's pretty cool.
Sure, I haven't seen anything in Google Wave that couldn't be done over e-mail, but the online nature of Wave makes collaborations like this a lot easier. Some of the stuff we're doing for Bitmob would be way too much of a hassle to attempt via e-mail, as dozens of different people are reading and responding in a single conversation would become an illegible mess of quoted text.
If you're on Google Wave, look me up. You can already guess what my username is. If you're wondering what it's like, you can ask me for an invite. Please note that you need a Google account to use Wave, but if you have Gmail that should count.
つづく...(Click here to read more)
I was fortunate enough to be a guest on Alex's podcast The Dofuss Show again, although due to this being my third straight show he jokingly dubbed it "The DanFuss Show." I liked what we talked about but my voice sounds tired and I made a far too many pauses when I spoke. I don't know if it was the late hour or just nerves. Last time we did this I had just come home after a few drinks, so maybe I should make it a habit of loosening my lips with a spot o' booze in the future.
The show notes are on Alex's site this time, after we worked on them together using Google Wave. Have you heard about this thing? I got a random invite a few weeks back and let the service sit because I didn't know what to do with it. Now that I have friends on there as well as an entire community of Bitmob writers, I'm checking my waves daily to see what's going on.
In this case, Alex wrote the notes before we talked as an outline for our discussion. After we recorded I edited them, adding specific topics we brought up or articles we referenced. then put those into a wave that he and I could view. I added links to each item as needed while he was editing the show. When he was done, he looked at the notes and edited them to better reflect what made the final cut and what didn't. In the end, he was able to copy and paste the material from the wave, links and all, right onto his site. And unlike last time, the wave allowed us to collaborate and get the notes ready to be posted alongside the show. It's pretty cool.
Sure, I haven't seen anything in Google Wave that couldn't be done over e-mail, but the online nature of Wave makes collaborations like this a lot easier. Some of the stuff we're doing for Bitmob would be way too much of a hassle to attempt via e-mail, as dozens of different people are reading and responding in a single conversation would become an illegible mess of quoted text.
If you're on Google Wave, look me up. You can already guess what my username is. If you're wondering what it's like, you can ask me for an invite. Please note that you need a Google account to use Wave, but if you have Gmail that should count.
Labels: Alex, Bitmob, friends, Google Wave, podcast, The DoFuss Show, writing
つづく...(Click here to read more)
