Low-key Tokyo weirdness

Some time ago I bought a copy of The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. I immediately lost the book, so I put off reading it (and I'm sure that sentence would sound strange in translation.) Now I'm remedying that non-achievement.

I'm about halfway through, so there's a lot I can't really predict. I'm definitely interested. And I'll think twice before climbing into any old wells.

Sadly Zeppelin-free Saturday Random Ten

A little more storm preparation today. There's a chance of power outage, so if you like reading you don't want to be caught unprepared. The flashlight I already had runs on batteries roughly the size of a baby's head. Since those batteries aren't sold that many places, and because I had frankly forgotten the right way to hook them up, I decided to buy a new torch. That sent me to Radio Shack, where all they had left were LED lights. So that's what I got. Decent price considering that it comes battery-loaded. The high beam will only last 3 hours, but the low beam is sufficient for most purposes and will last for 72.

What to do if they're advising everyone to stock up on bottled water but you're too cheap? I happened to have an 89 fl. oz. orange juice jug that I'd just emptied Friday morning. I rinsed it out with boiling water and used it to stockpile water from my filter pitcher. The water will taste like... Opportunity!

And of course I finished putting crisscross patterns of masking tape in all my windows, so everyone will know just whose side I'm on.


Also, music.

1. Beck—Modern Guilt
2. Elvis Costello—Tramp the Dirt Down
3. Fol Chen—The Believers
4. Blossom Dearie—More Than You Know
5. Gnarls Barkley—No Time Soon
6. Wes Montgomery—Pretty Blue
7. Roxy Music—All I Want Is You
8. Sly & the Family Stone—Hot Fun in the Summertime
9. The Dave Clark Five—Glad All Over
10. Ladytron—I’m Not Scared

Sometimes I take a great notion to jump...

Given the difference between safe and sorry, I guess overreaction isn't the worst that can happen. Still, as a resident of Providence I feel the need to point out that this isn't Doomsday coming. It's a bunch of rain threatening to hit a city where most of it will run downhill. We may get some flooding, but the odds are way against it being the kind of flooding that carries away mobile homes. So I'm buying a little extra in the way of supplies, I'm putting masking-tape x'es on the windows, and that's really about it. Act like someone who's incapacitated and you may start to believe it. (A propos of nothing, probably a Saturday Random Ten week. I left the paper with the songs on it at work and there are too many gaps in my memory to reconstruct it.)

The worst thing about the storm coming is that it stands to shut down the commercial and social worlds* for a day or two. Annoying, but surviveable.

The best thing is that the writhing and gnashing over Irene will come to an end. And for me, maybe a chance to get to know the neighbors better.

*It's a deregulated capitalist society, so there's not much difference.

Shake rattle and roll over

I swear I didn't feel a thing from that earthquake yesterday. Wouldn't have known about it except for the news reports and a few other people who did feel the tremor. I'm a heavy sleeper, but I was working at the time. So I guess let's just keep this between us.

Monday mood swing

With Ray Bradbury turning 91 today, I thought I'd look around to see if there were any good short films online inspired by him. This one is interesting, not much in the way of plot, but atmospheric. It's adapted from one of the stories in The Martian Chronicles and overlays a Martian feel on its upstate NY locations.

The Visitor from Robert Loughlin on Vimeo.

And on another note entirely, I had no idea Ladytron had appeared on Yo Gabba Gabba. The things you miss by not having kids.

The critters sure seem to like what they hear.

Red-stapled Friday Random Tlen

Watched Office Space tonight. If there's a better depiction of working life in post-industrial America, I don't know of it. Ah well...

1. John Lee Hooker--I'm Gonna Kill That Woman
2. Neko Case--We've Never Met
3. My Brightest Diamond--To Pluto's Moon
4. Gnarls Barkley--A Little Better
5. The Veldt--Juicy Sandwich
6. Blossom Dearie--I Hear Music
7. Roxy Music--A Really Good Time
8. Tom Waits--Jersey Girl
9. Fol Chen--No Wedding Cake
10. Lambert, Hendricks and Ross--Moanin'

Bread and jihads

I like David Letterman, but I'm sorry, no. As far as I can tell, this is not a real story. From his perspective, there's some reason to be cautious for the next few days. But it's probably nothing.

Because, as noted in the link, the threats against the (actually gentile) comedian appeared on a pro-Al Qaeda website. An extremist website attracts humorless rage addicts with extreme beliefs? Shocking! But it's pretty meaningless if the person doesn't have the means to back the threat up. The guy who watches iCarly marathons while touching himself may be a creepy psycho, but he's not much threat to Miranda Cosgrove.

What's interesting is that this story is being promoted after Anders Breivig's rampage in Norway and the post-Mark Duggan riots in London. Those stories raise new questions. This is a rehashing of old aughts business.