“It’s a mistake to believe that war only happens to other countries.” - Asbel, p. 23
In this installment, I’ll talk about volume 2 of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, the one where Nausicaä rescues a baby Ohmu and a Torumekian army from an Ohmu stampede.
“. . . In this harsh world of ours, the sparrow must live like a hawk if he is to fly at all.” - King Jhil, p. 24
In this installment, I’ll be covering volume 1 of the Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind manga. (Nota bene: I’m using VIZ’s Editor’s Choice edition, which is roughly analogous to the Japanese collected volumes.)
Image source: Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hayao_Miyazaki.jpg
Chances are, if you haven’t heard of Hayao Miyazaki, you’ve seen at least one of his films. His film Spirited Away won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature in 2003. That film, along with most of his catalog produced at Studio Ghibli, has been licensed and distributed by Disney in the United States. Animation legend John Lasseter of Pixar cites him as an undeniable influence on the industry.
But if it weren’t for a manga published in Animaze in 1983, he may not have found such success.
“The prophecy didn’t say anything about this!” “Prophets don’t know everything!” –Jen and Kira, the Dark Crystal
I saw Oz the Great and Powerful this weekend. It was an enjoyable but very problematic movie. While I won’t get into the sexism present throughout the movie, I’d like to talk about one plot device in particular that I just can’t stand anymore: easy prophecy.
Within two minutes of our protagonist landing in a forest in Oz, he is approached by Theodora, Witch of the West. “Are you the wizard the prophecy foretold?” she asks. Oz, played lovingly smarmy by James Franco, smiles. “Yes, I am your wizard.”
“The Right Way to Find a File.” Don’t use toddler logic in your code, people. You can read it here.
I’m halfway through my major revisions on The Red Flood, formerly known as Dahlia, my YA SF novel. I’m doing both story changes and line edits, with a focus on the former, as I can pick up any miscreant adjectives in another polish. I had hoped to finish by the end of this month, but it looks more likely that I’ll be done sometime around mid-March.
I also have a new The Daily WTF article, with a groaner of a pun in the story: “A CSV is as Good as RAM, Right?”
I had a very startling experience at a church service recently.
No, seriously, don’t.
On Sunday I completed the first draft for The Coral Gate. I really enjoyed writing it, despite the time it took to finish (81 days!). There were genuine moments of wonder, fear, and humor as I was writing.
There were also the occasional flubs.
It was bad enough that I decided to name one character Simon. After writing “…Simon said” for the twelfth time, I was about ready to murder Simon with that giant wasp I added to the story. (It makes sense in context.) His name makes sense, though – he’s not enough of a rock to be Peter, so he’s still Simon until he gets some character growth. And I can add “Simon said” as an in-joke in-story to make it work, if it comes to that.
Or co-wrote, rather.
GSL Solutions, where I work as a web developer, just launched an interactive storybook about UXO (unexploded ordnance) safety. It was created in partnership with USA Environmental, Inc. and the South Atlantic District of the US Army Corps of Engineers. I was the developer and a co-writer, working with the founder (who developed the storyline) and designer to make the book fun to read.
Here’s the press release, with links to download the book from Apple Store or Google Play.
I like to think my fiction isn’t as self-confessional as other writers’ (I mean, I didn’t write Misery, for better or worse), but there’s way too much of me in what I write that my flaws and quirks are close to the surface. Oh, you’re a neo-pagan now, Erik? You should get on that post-apocalyptic fantasy with wiccan-inspired supernatural entities. Oh, you’re a big string theory nut? Wrap a story around that and no one will notice. (Except you, dear reader. Whoops!) Oh, you like koans? Sorry, your readers don’t.
Well, it’s all fuel for the fire.
One log that refuses to burn, however, is my prior involvement, and continuing fascination, with the Otherkin community. One step above Furries on the geek subculture hierarchy, Otherkin believe that they are non-human souls – such as elves, trolls, and vampires – animating human bodies.
