Trippin’ Cross Country
So I moved and am pirating Allamagoosa’s bandwidth until I get a connection. I’m getting slowly settled into my new place, it’s pretty nice.
Her designs may be fabulous, but her cat’s still a snob
She showed me the movie Kiki’s Delivery Service, an animated Japanese film with Phil Hartman doing one of the voices. mostly ad libbing. So yeah, I had to check it out. Very cute, but not smarmy. It’s a perfect kid’s movie – if you’ve got little ones, they would probably love it. Or as Allie says, the best part is that your kids will love it and you won’t hate it, especially if they want to watch it over and over. The flight animations and scenes are particularly well executed.
Allie informs me that in the version currently available, most of Hartman’s ad libs had been sliced out. Still worth watching though. She also has a book about the art, which should surprise no one.
I’ve been wanting to watch Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex for quite a while now. Guess who has the entire series? I’m liking it. The Tachikomas are disturbingly appealing.
The real caped crusader calls his crime-fighting cohorts when he‘s running late
I’ve been returning the favor (if you can call it that) by showing her Big Bang Theory episodes. Sometimes she laughs so hard I think she’s going to run out of oxygen.
Last night, I showed her the first episode of Breaking Bad. She doesn’t know yet if she liked it or not.
Pointless
* “Why do people always want to talk to me when I have something stuffed in my mouth?” – Allamagoosa, eating a cookie.
__________________________________________
* Penny’s Diner in Rawlins Wyoming is awesome. If you ever pass by that way, stop in and be sure to get the chocolate and peanut butter milkshake.
“Make the caption funny” he said – Allamagoosa, who took the picture
__________________________________________
* “I don’t even know what to think of it.” – Allamagoosa
Posted on July 1, 2013, in ...The Hell Is This?, ♫ ♪ ♫, Fun Stuff, Life and tagged ...the hell?, Batman, fun stuff, love letter to japan, music. Bookmark the permalink. 18 Comments.
nightskyradio 
I’m so happy for you two! Good luck with getting all settled in and everything. Give Allie a big smoochie and tell her I said hi.
Mission accomplished. I approve.
I’m glad to get the update! Sounds like life is good for both of you! It’s exciting!
Having a spouse who is a Ghibli fan seems like a real auspicious sign to me. Virtually all Ghibli movies are masterpieces. Too bad you can’t watch them in the original language with subtitles, though. Not sure I could get into dubbed versions after seeing the originals.
Thanks for the news!
I could watch ’em in Japanese with subtitles, I just find it a really annoying way to watch a movie. but there are times when it might be the best way to go, so sometimes I just suck it up and deal with it.
Or are you saying those particular flicks aren’t available with subs?
The fair lady would know better than I, I think (the status of Ghibli movies re: subtitles). I’m probably just being a snotty expat. But I got used to the characters sounding a certain way in Japanese. (I have not seen dubbed versions or subtitled versions myself.) In principle, a dubbed animated movie should be perfectly fine if they find the right voice actors.
Hey they’re having a Ghibli extravaganza on broadcast TV. Last night was Whispers of the Heart, a fine, understated, underappreciated Ghibli production. (Interesting that he makes ordinary urban and suburban landscapes look totally stunning and otherworldly in that flick.)
If you haven’t seen 1) Nausicaa, 2) Laputa: Castle in the Sky, 3) Spirited Away, 4) Princess Mononoke, you gotta see um. Probably 5) Howl’s Moving Castle, too. And 6) My Neighbor Tottoro. 3 and 4 are probably my favorites. You being a comic and visual arts person, I think you would appreciate the achievements of these movies.
The road trip sounds great!
It seems that all but Ocean Waves and Only Yesterday are available here in the States, and unless you’re watching a VHS you can choose from either language with or without subtitles.
Most of the Disney dubs are pretty awful. They have only done three good dubs, Princess Mononoke, Kiki’s Delivery Service, and Nausicaa. Then again I’m very snobbish about dubs.
“If you haven’t seen 1) Nausicaa, 2) Laputa: Castle in the Sky, 3) Spirited Away, 4) Princess Mononoke, you gotta see um. Probably 5) Howl’s Moving Castle, too. And 6) My Neighbor Tottoro.>
He’ll see all of those eventually. No way we’re watching Laputa in English though, it makes me want to find and torture James Van Der Beek.
A bad dubbing of Laputa is a travesty indeed. And NSR might actually like that Ghibli movie the best.
NSR reviews Ghilbi would be a great blog feature! It would be fun to read his reactions, at any rate.
Are ya angling for that vacant Program Director job? ;P
Sorry about that! (Laputa has cool robots in it.)
But, yeah, I had my greedy, calculating eye on that Program Director post for a long time, ever since I read your robot post. When I force through the new constitution, my faction can move in and take it over.
And wait till you hear my plans for your wedding attire! You’re gonna like the way you look. I guarantee it.
…ever since I read your robot post
Which one? I rocked a few robot posts, heh. Not that it matters, I just wanted an excuse to post this video.
And wait till you hear my plans for your wedding attire! You’re gonna like the way you look. I guarantee it
Uh oh…
Another reminder of how out of the cultural loop I am. Daft Punk has been coming up right and left the past week, and I never even heard of them.
I’m shocked that I haven’t seen Ocean Waves and Only Yesterday and didn’t even know the titles. I’ll have to make them part of summer viewing.
Ocean Waves isn’t bad. Only Yesterday is interesting and has a unique narrative structure. Miyazaki didn’t direct either of them, but they are Ghibli films. I am kind of surprised you were unfamiliar with them.
Me, too, since I was such a Ghibli fan, but apparently not a very systematic one.
It’s kind of hit or miss if Miyazaki isn’t directing, isn’t it? His son’s film Ged Senki was awful, and ruined what is probably the best fantasy ever written (Earthsea trilogy).
My kids love Kiki’s Delivery Service. Have you seen Spirited Away? That one is pretty weird. And yes, it’s the kind of thing you can watch with kids without feeing like your brain is melting and you’re committing suicide by Elton John.
Haven’t seen Spirited Away, but Alllie tells me it’s great, so I’ll likely see it soon.
“Suicide by Elton John”… hah! Not sure what the context is there (the preponderance of EJ songs in animated movies that suck?), but it’s a brilliant line.
You got it. I actually like a couple of his songs, but I couldn’t resist the line. 😉
An example from before Elton John sold his soul to Disney…
This one is pretty catchy too. (I took this LP record out of the library when I was 10 or 11!)