Backlog of Musings

Drinks:

I bummed around a university here in Osaka and saw something new:



That's smartwater right there. There's pictures of SCIENCE all over it. I haven't seen it sold anywhere else.

For this reason, most of all, I love Japan's ubiquitous vending machines: you can always find something new, something rare, out there, and the Japanese love to imbue drinks with supernatural properties, like berry soda that makes you smarter, or Oronamin C, which in sufficient quantities causes you to be illustrated by KC Green.

Which is an honor, obviously, but not all that pleasant.

So if you choose to buy into that sort of thing, which I obviously do, then walking around Japan becomes a search for rare magical potions. Mountain Dew is all the sweeter when you have to have someone draw you a map to the places where it's sold.

Omizutori:

I headed back to the temple in Nara with all the deer for a yearly fire festival called Omizutori, where a giant ball of oily fronds is carried all around the outside of the temple.



It wasn't easy to get a good picture, but even at that size... does it remind you of something?



Except instead of exploding when its hit points are low, it drops ash that people pick up to use as a lucky charm. I'm not sure how you're supposed to bring out the lucky properties of the ash, but then I'm a little clueless on Japanese mysticism in general, at least outside of its magical, magical soft drinks. I've been keeping my Victory Charm in its original paper sleeve inside my wallet, and I'm pretty sure you're supposed to keep it hanging out in the open. But it stays cleaner this way, and it hasn't failed me yet.

There's even more news on the supernatural front: this pond I passed by after Omizutori, clearly, is a danger to children. But what is this strange, ethereal smoke that rises from its waters?



Could it be anything but a hazy mass of the departed spirits claimed by the fathomless waters? Could it be my breath, visible in the cold air, as I exhale into the air in front of my camera?

Theater:



This is a poster I saw in Shinsaibashi, for a theater troupe made up entirely of women. It's a rarity in Japan, where traiditional theater, like Kabuki and Noh, is performed entirely by men.

After they're done with whatever's being advertised here, they're apparently doing a performance based on the Phoenix Wright games, commissioned by Capcom. So all the characters, including that one overweight, unshaven loser cop, are going to be played by chicks.

And while some people might object to that, perhaps loudly, perhaps while standing up and pointing an accusing finger in the direction of the troupe, I'm in favor of it. I've always said that all fictional characters should not only be played by women, they should all be women. I want to see strong, heroic women saving weak, helpless women from evil, heartless women, and I want to see nothing else. Bechdel's only flaw was a failure of ambition.

Just to prove I'm right: isn't The Sarah Connor Chronicles better than any of the Terminator movies? I have no idea, because I sure as shit don't watch it, but you see what I'm getting at: female Terminator. She'd be protecting Joanna Connor if the show's producers had the courage of their convictions, but still, it's a step in the right direction.