I recently (finally!) made the time to watch this epic samurai anime, and even at 1 3/4 hours it didn’t let me down for a moment. There never was a dull moment, that’s for sure! I was sort of spoiled by the Samurai X: Trust and Betrayal OVAs, and thought that this movie could only rank a distant second in comparison. Boy, was I wrong! While it may not quite be at the same level as that masterpiece, I found it to be highly entertaining. Expertly directed by Masahiro Ando, with animation courtesy of Studio BONES, and a majestic score by Naoki Sato, the attention to detail was top-notch, the story involving to a pitched degree. The direction during the sword fights and battle scenes was highly orchestrated and choreographed; combined with the awesome backdrop scenery and settings these scenes in particular had my attention riveted.
As a teaser, here’s a (poorly-subtitled) trailer:
The story focuses on Kotaru, a boy who, with his faithful dog Tobimaru, is on the run from the soldiers of the Ming, who have pursued him into Japan for his (most-unwilling) participation in a scheme for immortality. They encounter the Stranger, who while being quite a formidable fighter, keeps his sword sheathed and “sealed” with a trinket that he kept from an incident that shaped his remaining days up until now…
That doesn’t mean that he won’t fight! Check out how he uses “found items” rather than use his sword! Violence, bloodshed and etc follows; wimps and the squeamish need not apply
There were so many great details running behind the animation, such as the musical score, background characters’ detailed movements, scenery that seemed alive, and the changing of the season; the beautiful-but-ominous falling of snow that slowly begins to fall until all is shrouded in white. It lends such atmosphere that you become unaware of it until it is completely covering everything. Especially at the end…
Here’s a video of one significant scene near that end; it (thankfully) cuts short before the battle is resolved so that you won’t be spoiled. I wish all vid-makers were so courteous! But check out the direction, movement, expressions, soundtrack, sound effects, and setting in particular; it’s truly breathtaking!
If you’re in the mood for some seriously well-animated swordplay in a feudal setting, do check out both Sword of the Stranger and Samurai X: Trust and Betrayal. You won’t be disappointed! And a tip o’ the hat to Max, who recommended it! (Check out his website Ani no Miyako, reachable through the blogroll, for informative reporting by someone who knows his stuff.)
So, my “samurai” genre in anime is slowly growing with these two aforementioned shows. Now to work on my mecha…
It’s that time of year again, where we have/use ONE day in order to give thanks. One measly day? Wow. We have ALL of these days in the year; wouldn’t it be so much nicer to feel thankful for at least a few more of them? We do have so much to be thankful for, right? Just an idea: let’s be thankful every day for what we do have. Because as bad as it seems, it could be so very much worse. We don’t have to look very far to see that…
I won’t go over all the things that Really Matter which we take for granted; I’m sure that you’ll be more than likely to come across them written up and collected in newspapers, blogs, websites, books, magazines, and various other encounters that you might have face-to-face today. Besides, you know very well what they are anyway! (hint if you don’t: THINK!)
Take a moment alone when you can find it. Find yourself a beautiful, peaceful place outside, and sit, away from man-made things like steel, concrete and plaster. Close your eyes for a moment, near the providence that that Hand has gifted us with, or, if not so inclined, in that Place where we have found ourselves landed; feel the grass and ground beneath your fingers; smell the scent of the Earth in the air; then open your eyes and take a look around; live. “Feel, see, and breathe…” mmh, yes.
One of my most-favorite Poets, Jack Micheline, wrote this poem on his last day on Earth, while riding a BART train in the San Francisco Bay Area. It’s just called “Poem”…
POEM
To capture the feeling
To feel its pulse
To see the stream has been muddied
I am busy reshaping the stars
I cannot be bothered with your
Earthly pleasures
All these rantings and ravings
Have nothing to do with poetry
Have nothing to do with magic
Only the ears of butterflies
And birds
And the delicate moths
Matter
Let the Angels in
Let them into this Market
Now
Feel, see, and breathe
(Jack Micheline, February 25, 1998)
Soony gives thanks for YOU!
Yes, we live in ” This Ugly Yet Beautiful World,” but rather than focus on its ugliness, as the media, politicians, cynics, skeptics and naysayers wish you to, just, for a few moments, see what it is that is beautiful. There is much to be seen if you look for it, and listen to it, and honestly attempt to feel it. Then give quiet, silent thanks in your heart that we are able to live in these “interesting times.” And if you want to make these perilous times even more interesting, try to do something to effect a change… in the world, in your family and friends, and in your Self. Change really isn’t so scary; things are changing all the time, right? The scary thing about change is when it’s all out of control. Kind of like now.
So, take control. Be fear-less. Make a change that will benefit the world, even if it’s a small thing: any positive thing or even thought will be of good use, because after all, “thoughts are things.” Especially in these cynical times, what the World needs now is Love. We can do that, right? It comes in so many flavors and facets and facilities…
And then we can add that to the things for which to be Thankful
Another poem by Jack Micheline:
Only Rare Things Create
When love creates
When tenderness creates
It is the greatest of all sounds
When man and woman creates a baby is born
When fear creates anger is born
When loneliness creates despair is born
When business creates hype is born
When newspapers create politicians are born
When art galleries create money is born
Cemeteries don’t create
Museums don’t create
Hospitals don’t create
Prisons don’t create
Power don’t create
Only love creates
and it is the rarest thing of all
Ain’t that the Truth? It may take a Poet to see it, but it takes a You to feel it
Happy Thanksgiving! And I’ll just add that I am most Thankful for You, so… Thank… YOU! :-D
… my cat was a GRUMP! Gone four days and I thought she’d be happy to see me, but NOO-oo! Pennie just sulked in “her” chair and didn’t even get up when I came through the door. Some cat :-/
But as soon as I mentioned “kitty toy” and “mousie”, that did the trick, and she trotted over to see what I’d brought for her. Obviously, a kitty toy that is a mouse. A catnip-filled mouse, yet! THREE OF THEM. In about fifteen seconds all was forgiven.
So, I’ve returned, and what a great trip I had! A few months ago a vacation was the last thing I was expecting to take, but thanks to selling my Hulk #1 comic book for $1500, my trip was enabled just in time for a very wonderful and warm reunion Otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to go, given my shaky financial state. THEN I would have been really depressed! Funny how some things come along at JUST the right time, huh? Now I’m broke again, but (a) I would’ve been anyway sooner or later, and (b) a wish that I’d wished for for years was granted, so the money was totally a secondary concern because it enabled everything
Dee met me at the airport and proceeded to show me a great time; we had so much fun that it was as if the twenty years between being in touch were as but a moment. Another return to each other’s embrace; it was so sweet She’s still the same awesome girl that I remembered from what were among the happiest days of my life. True, much water has flowed under The Bridge, but the taste was as sweet as it always was. So… thank you Dee
Dee's smile is as bright as the Sun
That’s my most favorite picture
After spending the first day reconnecting, on the second day we drove to where I used to live on the Puget Sound. I got the chance to go to my old house, look around, and go through the things that I’d left with one more chance to remove the smaller items that otherwise I’d have left. The house is almost sold so this was probably my final opportunity. Then we visited my former place of employment where I said hello (and goodbye) to my co-workers, some of whom I’d missed giving my parting sentiments. Finally we toured the island and stopped at a large park that is on the point, covering the whole northwest corner.
No beach today; VERY high tide!
On the way out a few deer decided that we weren’t worth running from. They kind of look like statues, no doubt due in large part because I forgot to turn off the flash!
Sightseeing deer pause for refreshments
That night Dee fixed me a great meal with salmon as the main course. Believe it or not, this was the first real home-cooked meal I’d had in eight years :-O And it was so fitting and sweet that she was the one to provide it for me. Very much contented, we called it a night.
The next day we visited her sister, whom I hadn’t seen since the ’70’s, and who since has raised a wonderful family and landed in a very nice part of the state, and on a large spread that is nicely isolated from neighbors and such commotion. Lovely farmland near river-country, with grass-covered fields and a rushing creek that ran through a corner of it. I met her husband ( who was great fun to talk to), and her two children, a very brave and bright boy of around 8, and a daughter who, at age 12, already shows great promise as a writer (among about a dozen other things)! (Names are withheld to protect the innocent ) They make for an excellent case for Home Schooling, let me tell you!
AND ANOTHER HOME-COOKED MEAL, W00T! Her sister prepared a delicious pot roast, yum! It was a lot of fun getting together, and it truly was a happy house. Which is very nice to see, and to feel, especially in these considerably shaky times. And seeing Dee interacting with her niece and nephew was heartwarming for me; it was so good to see her genuinely happy
On my last day we had a fair amount of time before the flight back, so she took me to tour the surrounding area, which was a lot larger than I expected. One of the places we drove to was the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, but we didn’t cross it, just approached it where I took this pic, because the angle was intriguing to me:
Looking at the seemingly-intertwined twin bridges of the Tacoma Narrows
And then, finally, it was time to go…
All went well with the flight except that the jars of Jalapeno jam that she made didn’t make it through security. DAMMIT!!! I was so looking forward to my delicious jams
And so to Home… where THIS awaited me:
"Oh... you're back." *snif*
She’ll want me when it counts :-/
Anyway, I’d like to send a big Thank You to Dee for taking care of me, entertaining me, and making it more than worth my while to make the visit at this shaky time. I’m so glad that I did
Looking forward to our next reunion… and return ;-)
Life is funny, sometimes… you just never know what it has in store. Which is good, if you like surprises
Well before finding myself perched atop the highest mountain peak of my existence, I’d already endured trying trials of endurance, fortitude, and faith. It was the latter I’d been having trouble with. Lily too, come to think of it! Quite some time after the seeds of my novel, UNBOUND, had been sown, I’d found myself trapped in a hostile work environment and struggling to find time and energy to write the story. Not to put it over-dramatically, but the torments I stubbornly tolerated over the years threatened my health, sanity, and constantly tried to break my spirit. But I was bound and determined not to lose to the invading forces that always were battering at my Doors of Perception (pretty literally, as it turns out). The more they battered, the stronger my resolve became to wait them out; it was the principle of the thing. But would my faith in the story, and in myself, be sustainable?
It might not, I feared. And so I fought my way out, engaging The Enemy in his own court at his own game. At which I proceeded to get my ass kicked even more. My faith in my ability to outlast them wavered, although the ideas that had sprouted from the Story’s seed were taking root and growing through the impacted earth of the battlefield. These I was able to scribble down on stickees, collecting them like butterflies, and placing them in a box. But I couldn’t stop either to write or to smell the roses, as I was being constantly harrassed…
What had happened: I’d hurt my back after volunteering for a job that should have been done quicker by the proper department, but the Branch Manager wanted it done more quickly. So, I was tasked with moving a heavy desk that slipped off its transport, and when I moved to save it, wrenched my back pretty badly. (The nurse at the hospital took one look at it and exclaimed “oh my God!” when she saw how my spine looked.) You’d think that that things would go smoothly, it obviously being a Workmen’s Comp case. They did not, due to clever and malevolent machinations; management became determined to fire me or force me to quit. I resisted (to say the least), which only made things worse. Much.
So, after years of increasing incidents the number of which I will spare you, I began to get battered down. I was still able to write down ideas and sketches of my Story, but they became fewer in number as the constant battles at work went on. My back got worse, as so did their attacks. Eventually, seeing that I was not going to leave of my own accord, they piled on desk assignments, duties and responsibility, eventually giving me three desks that had formerly been handled by one person full time. And all were backlogged. I was ordered to get them caught up, with no mistakes tolerated. And if I had a problem with that, then I should know where the door was. Yeah, I did. AND, I did. So, I stayed, and fought, and worked.
You might be wondering: WHY did you stay? Well, because (a) I was doing good work and contributing to my community, (b) I was valued there, (c) I felt I was doing a small part to make this oftentimes cruel world a better, kinder place, and (d) I enjoyed being part of the Justice System, flawed as it might be. My mother, in my younger days, and alarmed at all the demonstrations and protests I took part in, and my “hippie lifestyle” (LOL), told me that “if you want to change The System, try to change it from within.” So, I thought I’d give it a try…
“They sentenced me to twenty years of boredom/for trying to change the system from within,” oh yes…
Well, I’ll tell you: The System doesn’t WANT to be changed, and will chew the shit out of anyone who tries. And so, upon discovering that, I became resolved to be a stone, and break their teeth whilst they gnashed at me. They monitored me like vultures would a ripe carcass, and picked what meat they could when they could, which was often. Soon enough, I was barely more than a skeleton’s worth, and fought not only them but my continual back pains, pneumonia, chronic bronchitis, and major depression, all brought on my their cruel tactics. I knew that it was time to change mine… but how?
One night while lying on my back on the floor, because there was nowhere else I could feel comfortable, I was in complete despair. Finally broken down, I curled into a fetal position and let the tears come; I couldn’t care anymore. I tried to ponder my options but couldn’t; there weren’t any. Trying to live in San Francisco without a good job was impossible. Things were bleak… and nothing but darkness was ahead on the road.
But then… in that particularly dark moment, ”She” came to me… that voice which I attributed to the one faithful and devoted being to have kept me company throughout these years while she teased me with snippets of a story she wanted to be written; that of my beloved Muse, who calmed me as I listened, ever grateful for her presence. And she said (more or less)… “Extricate yourself from this present situation, and then you may write our Story when you’re free. Have faith in me; keep it for your self and persevere. Do this and get it out into the World, and then all good things will come to you, and She will come as well.” (The “she” mentioned refers to That Special Person.) From that point on I worked at these goals, although it took some years to manage. Never once did I mistake this “still, small voice from within” for madness or hallucination or the like, so convinced was I of its sincerity, and what followed was and is the proof.
And to be sure, once I did escape and set about to writing, everything flowed as she said. Not only that, but the longer I lived “keeping the faith,” the more that positive encounters and events popped up along the way (aside from economic/unemployment matters, which sucked). The negativity and malicious beasts of my recent past had been left behind. Encouraged, I kept spotting signs of beneficent illumination provided by these signposts and marking my way as I climbed up the Mountain…
Then, I reached the top, when all of the creative work was finished. Time to return down to Earth, so as to present our offspring to the World! I reflect upon my Muse’s words and that prediction and that promise…
Navigating the treacherous waters surrounding the publishing industry, looking for somewhere to land… And now, after my query letters have finally begun going out in quantities hopefully sufficient to gain an opening in the Publisher’s walls, “She” has showed herself! You might have read about Lily here, and her conceptual designs/inspirations, and my mention of “Dee” being one of them. She is indeed Special For many years we’ve been apart, and I’ve fruitlessly searched for her by as many means as I had at my disposal. One recent day I was on a social networking site and thought, “what the hell; might as well try here.” And what do you know? She responded to my PM and sure enough, it was her! After nineteen years we’re going to have a reunion this week, and if she’s as joyful about it as I am then it’s going to be wonderful
Something she shared with me:
Choose your own analogy/symbology/metaphysics
So far, the Way of Living Through Faith has been unpredictable, scary, strenuous, exciting, exhilarating, and always interesting; this Grand Experiment of mine is coming alone fine. All that remains is to find that Agent or Publisher willing to be the conduit through which the Story is delivered… and so we’re working on that
Yep… life is funny, sometimes
on the water
Welcome to Alastor's Reflection, the re-imagining of Fingal's Cave; a much more suitable environment than that poor soul's indwelling. Fingal resumes his journey in the pages of UNBOUND, while another solitary Spirit remains in this Place to muse with his Muse on the pursuit of "Life, Joy, Empire, and Victory," and the beauties therein...
