Hey, it's December. Woot.
I was asked to translate a Japanese editorial relating to the two Japanese diplomats who were just killed in Iraq, which I have done here. This took most of the time that would have gone into a regular post, so those of you not interested in politics or world affairs get a day off. Yay!
I watched Mimi o Sumaseba again today, this really amazing Studio Ghibli/Miyazaki movie that, like most Miyazaki movies, is about more or less nothing and has almost no plot. The basic story is that this junior high girl meets this junior high boy and they fall in love. Woot. On the way, however, they sing "Take Me Home, Country Roads" in ridiculously lovable Japanese voices and translations and generally make you want to take them home and mount them on the wall. The movie is about two hours long, and the entire reason to watch it is this five-minute section in the middle where the boy and girl sing a strikingly sweet and innocent impromptu rendition of "Take Me Home, Country Roads." It's a little hard to explain, but just as My Neighbor Totoro would be worth watching even if only to see Mei cavort in a field for five minutes or so, the entire movie is wrapped around this one scene, and the goodness of it is so great that it extends for about an hour before and ahead of itself in time to give you a dreamily content feeling through the entire movie. This is a power that I have found in no movies but those produced by Studio Ghibli. I'm not sure if it's available in America or not, but I think it would be translated "If You Listen..." In any case, if you get your paws on a great Hong Kong bootleg of the Studio Ghibli Collection off Ebay like I did, you can watch it whenever you want. Trust me, it's worth it.
- Gyaa! I'm give up
Naka-ku, Hiroshima
730-0803
JAPAN