The Barer Cave

Labels: 100.3 The Sound, Dr. Demento

I caught a cold at AX, so I've been taking it easy at home this weekend. Yesterday, I watched two movies on video: MASTER OF THE WORLD, a 1961 American International Pictures adaptation of a Jules Verne novel, which was essentially 20,000 Leagues over the Sea; and FROST/NIXON, Ron Howard's 2008 movie about, well, David Frost and Richard Nixon.

At some level, I think, both movies told the same story.

When I was growing up in Southeastern Washington, we'd call a can of fizzy carbonated beverage a can of "pop." Here in SoCal, it's called a can of "soda." In many places, "coke" has become a generic term for the stuff, whether it's Coca-Cola or not.

Here's a chart of generic names for soft drinks, county by county. It confirms that soft drinks in my home county continue to be called "pop," while all of Southern California calls them "soda."

Thanks to Mark Evanier's blog for the link.

Anime Expo 2009 took place at the LA Convention Center from July 2 through July 5. A number of portents could have justified an attendee in suspecting that this AX would be a subdued one, if not an odd one. The economy is in a doldrums. More specifically, the entire DVD industry, and in particular the US licensing of anime for DVD, has taken a nosedive since AX 2008. That was evident in the dealer's room (or, as the organizers called it, the "Exhibit Hall"). AX dealer's rooms were once dominated by Bandai's, Geneon's, ADV's, and Tokyopop's giant booths. This time, the only companies that displayed large booths were Funimation (the blood-streaked survivor in the licensor battles), Crunchyroll (the vanguard of anime's future: online distribution), and the company that will put out the computer-animated ASTRO BOY and GATCHAMAN feature films. Geneon USA has been out of commission for a while (except as an adjunct to Funimation); and Bandai, ADV and Tokyopop did not even have booths. Further, while booth after booth sold character goods and fashion items, few booths actually sold anime dvds.

So, did the Expo fall flat?

Far from it.





The attendance was 44,000 -- a record. And everyone there seemed to be having a great time.

A billboard on the side of a building just north of the convention center gave a hint that the anime-related video game industry, at least, is doing well:



And as usual, a huge number of fans came in astonishingly-detailed costumes.







Although Thursday was mainly devoted to greeting friends, getting event tickets, and haunting the dealer's room, I received a surprise Thursday evening, as I, Amy, and friends were returning from dinner to the Convention Center. A detail of LAPD officers were guarding the front of Staples Center, which had just been announced as the site for the Michael Jackson Memorial. As we walked past a group of officers, one of them appeared to be paying unusual attention to us. Then one of them detached from the group, walked toward me, and called, sternly, "Mr. Barer." I obediently halted. The officer grinned at me, and I saw that his nametag read "Riddick." I suddenly realized that the officer was David Riddick. David, in addition to being one of the pioneers of licensing uncut anime for American video distribution, was a good friend of mine in the Cartoon/Fantasy Organization back in the mid-80's. He recognized me because he had read -- yes -- this blog. (Hi, David.)

On Thursday, we got tickets for my favorite AX event: The Meet the Guests reception, this year held as a Friday breakfast at the nearby Bonaventure Hotel.

For the first time, I went to one day of the AX wearing a costume -- a steampunk outfit. Since the Steampunk photo gathering was set for Friday, I went to the Meet the Guests Reception wearing the outfit. Amy wore her own Steampunk ensemble. Here's a photo of us, from The Manticore Society blog:



The outfit drew unexpected praise from Yasuhiro Nightow (the creator of the manga TRIGUN) and Takashi Okazaki, the creator of AFRO SAMURAI. The MTG reception remains the best way to meet and talk with the guests one-on-one, and hear such interesting stories as Okazaki's delight that the English voice casting for the Afro Samurai movie featured not only Samuel L. Jackson (the voice for Afro in both the movie and TV series) but also Mark Hamill -- two jedi in one cast!

The steampunk photo shoot later that day was delightful. A lot of folks showed up, many carrying ingenious DIY-type inventions. Here's a photo from the blog HOW A GIRL FIGURES:



On Friday night, we went to the Anime Music Videos. I was amused by the sign outside the video hall that forbade photography or video of the AMVs. The AMVs themselves are copyright-infringing compilations of anime (and sometimes videogame) clips set to music, by creators who don't have the rights to use either the clips or music. They are tolerated by the rights holders, because they are generally a good promotional tool for the source material. But for these infringers to sternly warn those who would copy their copies was rather ironic.

Saturday was a big day for photoshoots gatherings. There was a gigantic one for Kuroshitsuji, or "Black Butler." During our 2007 trip to Japan, Amy picked up the first volume of this manga because she enjoyed the art. At that time, almost no one in the U.S. had heard of the property. Neither the manga nor the anime tv series that adapted it has been licensed in the U.S. Yet due presumably to pirated fansubs of the anime, the property has picked up numerous fans, as the photogathering showed. LA Weekly wrote up the phenomenon









Early that evening was the first Hellsing photo shoot Amy was dressed up for it, as usual.




Although there has been a long pause since the last Hellsing video (Hellsing Ultimate 4) was released in the US -- apparently because the negotiations are still on for the licensing of Hellsing Ultimate Volume 5 -- the gathering drew a large, enthusiastic crowd.











After the photoshoot, we planned to eat with friends at the Rock'n'Fish at the L.A. Live complex, which featured a special $9.95 entree menu for AX members. Two of us went there in advance, got there at 6:45, and were informed the joint was closing at 7 pm due to slow business. We managed to persuade them that our party was going to get there before that for dinner, and would make it worth their while. That turned out to be fortunate for the restaurant; by the time it got there our dinner party totaled 14 people.



On Sunday, we went to a panel that featured the creative staff of Adult Swim's hilarious stop-motion animated series ROBOT CHICKEN, including creative force and actor (memorable in both the BUFFY TV series and the AUSTIN POWERS movies) Seth Green.



We ended the day with a second Hellsing photoshoot, this one outdoors.





Amy dressed up for this one too -- and recreated a scene from the final chapter of the Hellsing manga.



We ended the convention by entertaining a group of friends at our house -- who left just as I had to prepare for my court appearance the next day.

As long as the American anime industry survives -- and perhaps afterward -- AX will survive.

Labels: AX 2009

Today's LA Times Calendar section features an article about the fine folks at Hero Initiative, a nonprofit organization that helps down-on-their-luck comics creators. The print version of the article includes photos of ace artist Gene Colan, whom Hero Initiative aided during multiple health crises.

The Comic-Con schedule is gradually being put online, with Thursday and Friday up and Saturday/Sunday coming. Just the two schedules that are up show that the convention, as usual, will feature more unbelievable events and guests than any human being could possibly see without cloning.

For anyone who has read the heading to this blog and wondered what I actually sounded like in court, a recording of my most recent appellate oral argument is up on the web.

Massive kudos to LA station 100.3 The Sound,which for today only has taken on the guise of my favorite LA rock station from my college years, KMET 94.7. KMET radio personalities have been sounding off on the station, and they've also been playing sound clips from back in the day.

As I write, a real voice from my past, Dr. Demento, is spinning the wax. (And the webcam on the station's website shows he's actually wearing a tux. Yes, he dressed up for radio.) His first song? An appropriate one -- "Time Warp."

Labels: 100.3 The Sound, Dr. Demento, KMET

While plans were developing for the Michael Jackson tribute down the street from the LA Convention Center, we spent Thursday through Sunday in the center itself for the annual Anime Expo. More about the experience later. For now, here are the photos.

Labels: AX 2009

A mainstay of the large and small screens for decades. I particularly liked him as Omar Bradley in the movie "Patton."

Now here's something you don't see every day on YouTube . . . .

According to Anime News Network, Kadokawa, the owner of the Japanese rights to the anime TV series THE MELANCHOLY OF HARUHI SUZUMIYA, has been re-showing (aka re-running) episodes of the 2006 series and posting the re-ran episodes on YouTube. This past weekend, Kadokawa put the first eight episodes up with English subtitles -- including the eighth episode, which is actually a new episode that wasn't screened with the rest three years ago (and hence wasn't included on the American DVDS of the show that Bandai released in 2007).

The episode streams until July 5, 2009 -- so until then, I can paste it right here, nice and legal-like:

Labels: Haruhi Suzimiya

According to an article in today's LA Times about Hayao Miyazaki's film "Ponyo" -- which will close the LA Film Festival tomorrow -- ". For the first time in his career, Miyazaki will be appearing at Comic-Con in San Diego in July showing clips from 'Ponyo,' which has made $182.1 million internationally."

There's nothing about this on the Comic-Con's own website, which one would expect to trumpet the news that this most revered of anime directors will appear there for the first time. (Of course, since Comic-Con is completely sold out, it has little to gain from publicity.) So it remains to see if this is an error by the Times, or a legit announcement.

Labels: 2009 Comic-Con, Miyazaki, Ponyo

The San Diego Comic-Con Website has posted its list of the exhibitors that will fill its unbelievably humongous dealers' room.

No wonder some attendees spend the whole con in there.

Two pop icons of my youth, gone in one day. I recall Michael Jackson as the kid from the Jackson 5 in the early '70's. And I had the infamous Farrah poster on the wall of the basement in my family's home.

In 1987, I was working part-time at Graphitti Comics in Westwood. A thin African-American man with a moustache came in and sought to buy a box of Three Stooges trading cards. He wanted to pay with a credit card, which required my boss's ok. I called the owner while "Miko James," as the credit card identified him, browsed the store. The transaction was approved, and Mr. James left the store with a box of Stooges.

Later that day, the boss came in and reported that some kids in the Westwood videogame arcade had recognized "Miko James" was Michael Jackson -- then at the height of his popularity -- in disguise.

I may not have been as fond of his music as others; and I was definitely saddened by the shambles the man's life became as he became more and more of a laughingstock. But still, there's a little sparkle that's gone from the world now that it no longer has a Michael Jackson in it.

Labels: Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson, Miko James

The latest addition to our home decor: A wall-mounted standee of gun-toting vampire Alucard, from Hellsing

If it looks familiar, you might have seen it here:

It was used at the 2005 Anime Expo at the Geneon Booth when Hellsing creator Kohta Hirano signed autographs.

Labels: Alucard, Hellsing

Ah, the wonders of the Internet. Marvel.com has finally brought to the U.S. this bizarre meld of Eastern and Western pop culture, Toei's 1970's SPIDER-MAN live action TV series. Featuring all the trademarks of Japanese live action superhero shows: breakneck pacing, awful acting, mind-bendingly cheesy special effects, and editing that bears no resemblance to logic. Oh, and he's got a transforming giant robot. And a flying race car. And he announces himself to his foes as "An emissary from Hell!" Delirious.

Labels: Spider-Man, Toei

Labels: DVDs, Marvel

My cousin Burl Barer -- radio personality, true-crime writer, mystery-novelist, and expert on many aspects of pop culture -- is interviewed on Carl Brookins's blog. Burl displays his usual quick wit and self-deprecating style of salesmanship.

Last weekend, Amy and I once again bypassed the latest summer movies, and headed to the Aero Theater in Santa Monica for a double bill of Hollywood past's finest swashbuckling: CAPTAIN BLOOD and THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD. American Cinematheque, which put on the program, presented the movies in style; before the first film began, a stage-fencing teacher and his students put on a demonstration of historical and Hollywood swordfighting that was a treat to watch.

As for the films, they remain crowd-pleasers despite being over 70 years old. ROBIN HOOD and CAPTAIN BLOOD are surprisingly different from each other, despite sharing a director (Michael Curtiz) and most of the cast (including lead Errol Flynn; romantic foil Olivia de Havilland; and Basil Rathbone, who has relatively minor role in BLOOD but graduates to main heavy Guy of Gisborne in ROBIN HOOD).

ROBIN HOOD is a straightforward tale of a nobleman whose heroism leads him to become an outlaw (although he certainly seems to have plenty of fun doing it). And it has some sparkling dialogue. (Marian: "You speak treason!" Robin: "Fluently.")


CAPTAIN BLOOD, a historical-fiction epic, is more morally complex, as one might expect since it adapts a 20th-Century novel. It tells how adventurer-turned-physician Peter Blood is unjustly convicted in the Bloody Assizes; sentenced to slavery in colonial Jamaica; escapes; and becomes a Pirate of the Caribbean. Flynn's attempt at an Irish brogue is awful (he and other characters have to keep telling the audience he's Irish; occasional interjections of "Faith!" and calling male characters "darlin'" isn't enough) but his twinkling eyes and devil-may-care grin are magnetic.

Each is marked by fantastic action set pieces, the most wonderful of which is the climactic swordfight between Flynn and Rathbone in ROBIN HOOD -- perhaps the most entertaining one in Hollywood history.

There's no substitute for watching films like this on a big screen, with a cheering audience that's in the mood to be thrilled.

Hayao Miyazaki won the 2002 Best Animated Film Oscar for "Spirited Away"; but Miyazaki himself wasn't at the award ceremony. Well, if Miyazaki won't go to the Oscars, the Oscars will go to him. Sort of.

On July 28, 2009, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences' Samuel Goldwyn Theater will host a rare visit by Miyazaki to Southern California -- Beverly Hills, to be exact.

Tickets go on sale June 25. They're just $5 each, so I expect they'll evaporate like the proverbial expectorant on July asphalt.

This morning I hit the road on my bicycle around 7:45 am; rode over to Santa Monica Beach; participated in a fitness class by the sea from 8:30 to 9:50; had breakfast at Jinky's with Amy; then peddled back.

That took care of the morning.

Now for the afternoon.

After a hard day of work, what brings a smile to my face? How about a photo of a life-size (59 feet tall!) statue of the eponymous robot from the anime series MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM, built to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the still-thriving Gundam franchise. (If we're attacked by space colonies, just hope that there's a 14-year-old introverted genius around to operate the dang thing.)

Or, not quite as tall but perhaps more impressive, is this Popular Science magazine story about an Alaska army mechanic who has built a working -- yes, working -- 18-foot "mecha" exoskeleton that mimics the movements of its operator, who rides inside the chest. It can purportedly raise its arms, bend its knees, and do sit-ups. And it was built for about the price of a car: $25,000.

What will really amaze me is if someone comes up with a giant robot that actually walks. Duplicating human locomotion on a small scale has always challenged robotics engineers. Creating a machine that lifts and drops the equivalent of a grain silo with each step -- and keeps its balance -- seems to verge on the impossible. (And even if it was possible, why do it? Why not put the thing on tank tracks -- as MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM did with one of its more plausible robots, Guntank.)

Labels: Gundam, real life Mecha