I'm Back Yet Again

Back in September I wrote a post called "I Love Movies and Here's Why" and then I didn't write anything for months and months.  I took a hiatus from blog land and I don't even fully remember why.  I think it was mostly because I just generally felt like shit, struggling through a sales job which I hated and with no direction in life whatsoever.  But let's not get into that stuff here.  That's in the past and anyway it's not relevant to this post, as Zombie Baby has always been a platform from which I blogged about the nerdy shit that I was into, not about my personal life.

So I'm back to say that I want to stay with this place and to keep it going.  I know I already said that in a similar post again back in September, but I honestly am serious now.  Here's the thing: I wrote a lot when I was in school and writing grew to become something that was just a natural part of everyday life for me.  And now that I'm out of school I miss having the opportunity to write everyday because it feels like a part of my personal expression is gone.  This is stuff that, when I was around eighteen or nineteen, I never in a million years thought I would ever think.  I hated papers in school because they were on topics that were often arbitrary and frankly they just felt like a chore.  Now I'm not saying I miss writing papers, don't get me wrong, but I will say that I do miss the intellectual stimulation of college (which sounds fucking pretentious, but it's honestly true).  

I remember I discussed this topic with my friend El Lobo a month ago in Chicago when I visited him and he agreed with me.  It was a cool moment, not just because I felt validated, but also because it felt oddly "adult" to be discussing the topic of college as if it was a thing of the past (which it is).  

In some ways I feel sorry for those child prodigy oddballs who miss the stages of life that the rest of us go through (high school, college, the soul-crushing corporate world, etc).  But to be fair this is probably an extremely naive view of what it's like to be a super-talented prepubescent.  After all, their exceptional talent probably opens doors for them to opportunities and experiences that I can only dream of.  So at this point I'm going to shut up because I feel that I'm talking in circles, but you get what I'm getting at.

I Love Movies and Here's Why

I normally pride myself on being an even tempered and exceedingly rational person.  That said, graduating college a few months ago kicked up a bunch on emotions for me both positive and negative.  Feeling all these mixed emotions really threw me for a loop as I am so used to wandering the Earth with a rather mellow and unaffected state of mind.  In fact, so confident I was in my unwavering emotional stability that I thought I'd graduate college angst free and painlessly transition into a productive adulthood.  But that was not to be the case.  Instead I have experienced the whole gamut of emotions post graduating.  From a sense of accomplishment and elation at having finally finished my stint as an undergrad to a sense of aimlessness and hopelessness after having lost the identity I lived with for the past few years, I have cycled through a dozen or so various mental states since this past May.

And now don't get me wrong, I'm not necessarily complaining.  I feel like the media loves to portray the post grad experience as one of angst plied on top of angst, but I haven't necessarily felt this way.  No, no, my experience has been more comprised of highs and lows.  In the high points I feel a sense of freedom and possibility that I never had when I was still toiling away in the confined hallways of academia.  The lows come from a sense of directionless.  While the promise of freedom is great, I can't help but sometimes feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of options and opportunities out there.  And truthfully I am often frustrated that there are so many opportunities out there and yet I'm still rotting away in the dungeon known as suburban America.  I often feel like Luke in A New Hope, wistfully watching the two suns set over Tatooine as the rest of the galaxy passes me by.  Now I know it is childish to think that everyone else in the world is out having a blast whilst I'm stuck rotting away in the hills of PA, but it's how I feel sometimes, y'know?

So with that last paragraph taken into account, it will surprise no one when I say that one of the things I have struggled with the most post-college is fighting that overwhelming and crushing sense of boredom that comes from having a lot of energy and no idea of what I should be funneling this energy into.  There is one thing that I have found that can sooth this chronic existential boredom that I feel on a daily basis and this magical cure all is film.  My friend El Lobo (whom has been a great resource and sounding board for me as I've attempted to navigate through the emotional minefield of post-graduate life), recently wrote a post about how Madonna songs have helped him to experience a sense of joy and pure happiness.  Well, I know what he means, but my personal media drug of choice is more The Texas Chainsaw Massacre than "Like A Virgin".

Movies mean a lot of things to me beyond mere entertainment.  One of the purposes the medium has taken on in my life recently is that of a wonderful escape from the blandness that surrounds me and exacerbates my crushing sense of boredom.  But "escape" isn't really the right word as I feel like a good movie doesn't let me escape my feelings and senses, but rather heightens them.  I look to film for a glimpse of situations, characters, and images that make me open my eyes and expand my imagination. For example, I love movies like Tokyo Gore Police, The Machine Girl, and Meatball Machine, not just because these three films happen to posses exquisite senses of humor (though they do each contain a truly unique blend of satire, slapstick, and black comedy that makes me laugh every time), but because beyond their humor they exhibit genuine flashes of true imaginative genius and creativity.  No really, as weird as it may sound I feel like a better person for having watched these Japanese splatter flicks as they each contain images that blew my mind open and alerted me to how truly wild and wonderfully unhinged the human imagination could be.  Over a year ago I wrote a post on my blog about an uber-bloody and weird Japanese short film, Meatball Machine: Reject of Death.  In this post I called watching the short a "transcendent" experience and I totally and unironically believe in that idea.  Watching a movie that shows you something you could have never possibly seen or even mentally conceived of prior to a viewing is a truly life-altering experience.  When you experience something like this you are basically taking a stroll through someone else's imagination, and what form of human communication could be more moving and life-enriching than this?

I have only touched upon all of the stuff that I wanted to cover in this post, but I'm tired and have written enough for the night.  I want to continue expanding upon the ideas I began to form in this post in future writings on this blog, so stay tuned if this kind of stuff appeals to you.  But for now...I'm out.

I'm Back in the Game

I don't remember when and I don't really even remember why, but some time ago I told my friend El Lobo that I would abandon my Zombie Baby Nursery blog and move on to greener pastures.  Okay I lied.  I'm back.  The truth is that I just hated to see something I sunk so much time into rot away all abandoned and alone.  I hated to watch my people suffer and die while I discussed this invasion in a committee (did I just reference The Phantom Menace?...yuck).

The Scar of Remembrance!!

So here's what's going on right now: I still totally want to keep my blog up and running because it is a fun outlet for me and a great way to communicate and stay in touch with my friend Juan del Lobo.  But you know how back in the day I would structure posts so that I was writing about a particular topic or theme (example, one post might be a review of a specific movie or another might be about my favorite movies of the previous year)?  Yeah, well, I'm throwing all that shit out the window and instead I'm going to focus on just writing for the sake of it and to have fun.  Way back when when I started this blog I harbored faint dreams of it achieving an audience, however small and cultish that potential audience might have been.  I'm pretty much over that now, to be totally honest.  Now, I just want to sit and write whatever happens to pour out of my brain.  I want to throw word vomit up onto the wall and see what sticks (and what slowly slides off onto the floor).

What changed my approach?  Well, as a recently minted adult I have become more particular about my online image, but I still wanted to have my own little Internet corner where I could kick off my shoes and have fun and just do write whatever without having to worry about proofreading or how my stuff sounds, or whatever.  I wanted a virtual pasture where I could frolic among nature and shit like that.

So here I am.

Star Wars: The Manga

Over the weekend I had the pleasure of revisiting the four part manga series retelling the story of Star Wars: A New Hope.  While the manga was originally published in 1998, I first discovered the series around the mid-2000's when I was still a snot-nosed teen.  The premise of the series alone was enough to pique my interest.  After all, Star Wars and manga are both staples of geek culture and to put the two together seemed like a perfect blend of ingredients (a la peanut butter and chocolate).

And to be fair, a lot of the lasting appeal you'll get from reading the Star Wars manga comes simply from seeing such beloved characters as Han, Luke, and Threepio represented in a whole new light.  Sure, the Star Wars manga sticks pretty closely to the film's original script and doesn't provide the reader with any new story material.  But, c'mon it's anime Princess Leia!  And while one would expect the novelty of the series to wear thin pretty fast, it actually never feels stale or tired.  Part of the credit for this has to go to the artist Hisao Tamaki.  While I am completely unfamiliar with the artist's work outside of this Star Wars adaptation, here he does a commendable job both with capturing the characters and environments of the Star Wars universe, but also with lending a sense of movement and life to the imagery of the comic.  The latter is where the book really shines.  Since it's an adaptation of a special effects and action heavy film, it is essential that the climactic scenes of the film are represented here with the same sense of excitement and movement that they had in their original presentation.  Thankfully the book's artist and editors were up to the task of adaptation, and the story's action sequences retain their fluidity and excitement in the transition from screen to page.

The strongest volume in the series would have to be #3, in which the duel between Darth Vader and Obi-Wan is given spectacular treatment.  Vader's character design makes the transition to manga surprisingly well, and he has never looked more badass and imposing than he does here between the pages of the Star Wars manga.  The showdown between Vader and Obi-Wan also seems to have drawn some inspiration from samurai lore (an inspiration that works to wonderful effect).

If I had to add a caveat to my recommendation of this title it would have to be that this is a book for a very niche market.  And if you have to ask whether or not you're in that niche market, then chances are these really aren't the books for you.  The only other aspect of this book that makes me slightly hesitant to recommend it would be the fact that the book's contents were "flipped" for its American audience.  Meaning that the book publisher assumed that Americans would be resistant to reading the book right to left in the Japanese fashion, so they created a mirror image of the original artwork.  Unfortunately in this case this means that images from the film are reversed (ex- if Threepio was on the left in a scene in the film he would now appear on the right).  From a purist's standpoint this is a significant faux pas on the part of the publisher.

If you can handle the minor flaws that I just mentioned, by all means give this one a shot.  If nothing else it makes for a great curiosity piece for Star Wars enthusiasts.

Japanese Movies in the Year 2012

In my friend El Lobo's post on New Year's Resolutions back in January he mentioned wanting to watch more weird Japanese films.  I myself had already decided to embark upon a quest this year to watch an absurd amount of movies (read about that here) before El Lobo posted his New Year's thing, but I still found something worth emulating in his suggestion.  So heeding the advice (well, I was not technically "advised", but I took it that way), I made a decision awhile back to watch more Japanese movies this year.  Unlike Juan I am not limiting myself to the "weird" variety of Japanese film, but I'm not going to stay away from the offbeat stuff either.  OK, so truthfully most of my Japanese film consumption for this year has been of movies of the bloody/campy/horrific variety, but I wouldn't necessarily turn down an Asian rom-com if it crossed my path.  Get it?

So far my quest has led me to discover some true gems.  I've already talked about my experience with the 1990's horror film Splatter: Naked Blood a few posts back, but some other notable Japanese films I've watched this year would include Horrors of Malformed Men, an exquisite cult film from the 1960's that was banned in its native country, and Jigoku, a classic Japanese horror film about Hell and those who suffer in it.  There are more movies I could highlight of course, but I am sensing that such a list would be best left to a separate and longer blog post.  Seeing that my last few posts have been a bit bloated I'm trying to keep things brief tonight so I'll save that content for another day.

Horrors of Malformed Men

So perhaps then it's best that I end this post from a clip of a Japanese film that I watched recently, Takashi Miike's Dead or Alive.  Dead or Alive is essentially a yakuza film taken to absurdest heights and jam-packed with shock value and black comedy.  When I watched the movie the other day I was particularly floored by its opening sequence.  Seriously, that's how you grab a viewer's attention!  Watch what I'm talking about here.

Overexposure: Three Things That Have Grown Tiresome

Okay, so I would consider myself to be a pretty positive person and I generally think that the content of this blog reflects this worldview.  That said, I do go on petty rants once in awhile (as evidenced by posts such as this one and that one).  So as you could probably guess I have decided to eschew rationality and fairness  tonight in favor of a good old-fashioned Internet bitch fest in which I complain about things that I am really in no way whatsoever qualified to have an opinion about.  And the objects of my ire tonight are any pop cultural objects which I personally deem to be overexposed.  This is the stuff that might have had some value at one point, but has simply sat in the limelight for so long that it has lost its novelty and its ability to thrill.  There's a lot of stuff out there that could fall into this category, but I've narrowed it down to three things (some of which I used to love, some that I've always had a distaste for).  Join me in counting down the tedium of these expired artifacts:

1.  Zombie Related Humor: There was a point in time when I devoured anything zombie related.  Hell, this blog's very name stems from my zombie-philia.  So you can know for certain that when I say that I'm sick of zombie related media and merch that zombie stuff has truly oversaturated the marketplace.  And is there anything out there that has become more stale and uninspired than the zombie comedy?  Whether it's in film, print, or on the vast plane of crap known as the Internet, the zombie comedy has definitely run its course.  I think that the year 2009 was the last time that I had any interest in consuming any new "comedic" zombie stories. For me it was Pride and Prejudice and Zombies that was the last straw.  I was so totally behind that book just from the title alone when I heard about it on a zombie related podcast that I was listening to at the time (yes, I used to listen to 2+ hours of zombie talk a week, that's how into the genre I used to be), but when I read it I was disappointed.  The book read like a sloppily written cash grab (which is what it was) and the disappointment I experienced while reading it turned me into the humorless and cynical husk of a human being that I am today.  Okay so I exaggerate, but my point is still clear.  There have been so many shitty contemporary zombie comedies attempting to capitalize on the current interest in zombie fiction that I have become burned by the subgenre.  Sure I'll treasure Dead Alive to my dying day, but right now I'm ready to move on.  It's time for the genre to go into hibernation, only to be dug up again when enough distance has been placed between the public at large and crimes like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

2.  The Hunger Games: Alright.  Where do I even start on this one?  I am fully aware that as someone who has never read and/or seen The Hunger Games that I really have no place to be talking about it.  And I'd totally be cool with just leaving well enough alone and letting the tweens have their fun.  And yet the media is so oversaturated with Hunger Games crap right now that I have been drawn into talking about it against my will.  I think what bothers me the most about all the Hunger Games hype is that it's really just another symptom of America's obsession with the young.  Seriously, how else can you explain the fact that the hit media property at the moment in America is something that was written for 12-year olds (and whose central characters are primarily children or teenagers)?  It's cool if you're a kid who is into this stuff, but it kind freaks me out to watch adults obsess over things like this.  The Hunger Games film is 2 hours and 22 minutes.  In that time you could watch Citizen Kane and still have over twenty minutes to spare.  Actually there's a whole lot that you could do with those 2+ hours that would be a more fruitful use of your time as a full-grown human being.  And I hate to be the stereotypical nerd, but Battle Royale totally did this first and it's inevitably better than this Primrose Everdeen shit.  Now again I don't want to seem overly venomous against the property in and of itself (I've never read or watched it after all), I just want the media at large to stop bombarding the marketplace with Hunger Games hype.

3.  "Nerd" culture/pride: This one might seem weird.  First off, it's the most abstract of my three grievances.  Second off, I myself am rather geeky in the capacity that (a) I adore Star Wars and (b) I'm actually dorky enough to blog regularly about books and movies and the like.  But this is one (like zom-coms) that I actually like in small doses, but has grown tiresome and overexposed.  Since it's gotten to the point that people like Megan Fox are declaring themselves to be nerds, I think we can safely say that the term has become distorted and virtually devoid of meaning.  Therefore I have a problem with people calling themselves "nerds" simply because I find it to be an empty and incredibly unproductive term.  After all we live in a media saturated environment so it makes sense that most people would be enthralled by storytelling of some kind.  And as I stated in my last post, the Internet has made it incredibly easy for people with niche interests to follow their passions.  So basically its easier than ever to be obsessively interested in the minutia of a media property or segment of culture, so of course we're all nerds nowadays!  Therefore it is no longer really informative to describe yourself as a nerd.  Let's all move on.

Whew.  Glad I got all that off my chest.  Next time around will surely be a post detailing my favorite things, such as snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes and Japanese films that involve auto-cannibalism.

Hooray for the Modern Age!

What's up, my friends?  Today's post has been a long time coming.  Not for any good reason, mind you.  It's not that this post took a long time for me to crank out because it's some kind of masterpiece, but rather because I've been lazy and occupied with other things.  C'est la vie.  Anyway, today I was thinking about writing a response to my good friend Juan del Lobo's old post about the Victorian Age.  I had been wanting to post a rebuttal for a while now, but I was too lazy to do so.  But here I am now.

It should be no surprise to people who know me that I (respectfully) disagree with El Lobo's viewpoints.  I honestly believe that there has never been a better a time to be alive than the here and now.  I could explain my viewpoint by citing benefits of the modern age such as advanced scientific knowledge or civil rights, but since this is a pop culture blog first and foremost I'd like to make my case that there has never before been a time when it was easier or more pleasurable to pursue one's geeky passions to the nth degree.  And yes, this is a good thing.

The Internet has clearly been instrumental in breaking down the barriers that previously prevented people from achieving geeky bliss.  I remember as a child in the nineties dreaming of the far off day when I could watch the original Gojira in its original uncut Japanese-language glory.  Actually at that time the idea of watching any Godzilla film subtitled in its original language seemed pretty far off (granted I was 11 at the time and lacked imagination, but still) and now you can pick up both the Japanese and American cuts of the film on DVD in one package.  I bring up this story not to simply illustrate the joys of being a Godzilla fan in the 2000's and beyond, but as a symbol of how accessible the Internet has made various forms of culture.  With the vast information available on the Internet it has now become easier than ever to immerse oneself in whatever niche catches one's fancy.  Now that a plethora of music, videos, texts, and lectures have become available on the Web, the only real excuse for long term intellectual boredom is an inability to access a computer.

Some might argue that the our access to this unprecedented crap-load of media goodness can be paralyzing.  The consumer, they might argue, becomes overwhelmed by the sheer amount of choices on display and simply shuts down.  While I agree that this can be an issue, and while I have previously grappled with the idea of "wasting time on the Internet" (see my last post for more on this), I ultimately believe that the vast quantity of choices available to the modern geek is a good thing as it allows him/her to be exposed to a greater quantity of stuff, thereby increasing the likelihood that they are exposed to really niche stuff that they love, but wouldn't have otherwise discovered through a more limited or conventional media diet.  Another example from my life: when I first got Netflix I would paw through the DVD listings at random and add stuff to my queue that simply sounded cool.  Sure, such a method increases my likelihood of being exposed to irredeemable cinematic shit, but it also simultaneously means that I have a greater chance of finding that diamond in the rough.  As it happened I was able to use this method to discover the awesome Japanese zombie comedy Wild Zero as well as some "so bad they're good" gems such as The Apple and Blood Freak.  Now I'm not saying I couldn't have made these discoveries outside of the Internet, online retailers do have an undeniable advantage in that they can simply carry a bigger stock than the brick and mortar stores of yore (I wrote about this on my Tumblr awhile back).

Oh, and one last thing that we have that the Victorians did not is TAB.  You of all people Juan should appreciate the significance of this.