FRIDAY
So yeah, the Energy fest was this past weekend, and I was there for almost half of it, starting Friday night, which was also a GNG (the event’s one year anniversary actually). It had a really decent turn out, though the Anime perhaps did much to bring out the girlies.
They had Katamari displayed on a large screen, and there was a healthy number of confused onlookers the whole time, which was good. What was not so good was the larger, unhealthy number of onlookers for Rumble Roses, the clear hit game of the night. The game does look as bad as everyone’s saying; the mud wrestling component looked especially bad, and was just a really poor excuse to get all the girls’ bodies to be just one skin toned color. At one point I saw some kid no older than either at the controls; I’m assuming he shaved off about 6 months on his road to puberty that night.
Of course, the real reason to go to any of these events is to mingle. I chatted with Jeremiah, aka Nullsleep, early on. Apparently him and few other chiptune artists (no doubt the other guys in 8bit Peoples) are going on tour soon, which sounds pretty hot. I caught Job, the event’s organizer, right in the middle of explaining to some guy the controls for Katamari, which still doesn’t make any sense since it has some of the most drop dead simple controls out there. Plus Dave Goldstein stopped by; he was there to maybe get New York-Tokyo involved in I-Con somehow. I think I really strengthened Dave’s pitch by emphasizing to Job how awesome it was to have a steady stream of college students to wait on hand and foot (especially when they were uber cute cosplay chicks).
Also, it dawned on me that evening precisely how hard Job’s job is. Case in point, three kids came up to him enquiring about some free stuff. Apparently, the first few folks in line that night were supposed to get something. When Job asked how they felt about the show, or what they favorite games were, they were totally nonplussed; all they cared about was their free shit, damnnit (their fave game ended up being Rumble Roses, of course). When Job later joked how they would only get something if they played one game of Katamari, they all turned silently pissed. Well the jokes on them cuz they ended up getting that new shitty Godzilla game as the “prize”!
Later in the evening, Jeremiah played a set, and when he performed some Depeche Mode, Job and I both went nuts.
SATURDAY
Got up super early (for a Saturday) and headed to Brooklyn for the Jim Henson retrospective at BAM. I really wanted to see the first Muppets Movie and the commercial & experimental shorts program, but both were sold out, so I had to contend with seeing just the Muppets Christmas special and Muppets Take Manhattan.
Up first was a Muppets Family Christmas, which is still my fave Xmas special of all time (yes, even more so that the Charlie Brown special). Watching again for the first time in years not only reminded me of how much a genius Jim Henson was (which seriously goes without saying), but really made me realize just how poor children’s television is these days. It just seems that these days all the stuff for kids are by folks who have no idea how to talk to kids, so they simply rely on stupid pop culture references and cynicism to look cool. Plus it usually goes at such a breakneck pace that there’s no time to soak in the material (and realize that it’s just not good). The pacing, the character interactions, the jokes in the Xmas special are just so unbelievably solid… comedy is the hardest thing to do, so to produce something which not only appeals to kids, but can speak to adults, and which transcends time is near impossible, but the special does it all and with seemingly very little effort.
And it also goes without saying that the special is a must see for any Henson junkie since it features the Muppets gang and the Sesame Streets gang all fully interacting, plus the Fraggle Rock gang (its still the only time in which all three have gotten together). Its just so utterly awesome to watch Fozzie play off Bert & Ernie with random chickens in the background.
Afterwards some additional holiday related clips were shown. First was a clip from the Ed Sullivan show with reindeers which was pretty funny. After the performance, a very young Henson came out to shake hands with Sullivan and everyone in theatre gave out a pleasurable gasp. Next was a segment from Sesame Street from the 70′s. It was all the adults, a few kids, plus Big Bird and Oscar and the Grouch picking out a Xmas tree, walking down the street, skating, riding the subway, and going back home. Perhaps it’s common knowledge, but I never realized that Sesame Street is supposed to be in Manhattan (and near the 86th Street Stop). Next was the twelve nights of Christmas as sung by the Muppets and Bob Denver from a late 70′s special, (at the time, Bob Denver was the biggest star on earth, believe it or not). The program ended with some addition Sesame Street clips and something I had never seen before centered on a Xmas toy (no doubt from the Jim Henson Hour).
Jerry Juhl, the show’s writer, came out to do some Q&A and was briefly joined by Caroll Spinney, who did the voice of Oscar (and of course he said a few lines as the grouch and everyone loved it). Found out that a Fraggle Rock DVD set is coming out sometime in 2005 and that the person who first played Oscar’s “feet” in those instances when he was mobile was none other than Herve Villechaize!
Next was Muppets Take Manhattan, my second favorite Muppets movie, right after the very first flick. Also, I had never seen a Muppets movie on the big screen, so watching Manhattan that day was close to a religious experience for me. As dumb as it may sound, the song which they all sing to each other as they say goodbye always manages to choke me up.
After the movie Martin Baker, one of the film’s producers, had a brief Q&A and he touched up a few interesting things. I finally got to ask a question that I’ve been dying to ask to the appropriate person; will the Jim Henson Hour ever make it to DVD? Unfortunately the answer was less than encouraging… for each of the hours, Disney owns the rights to the first thirty minutes (since Kermit and Piggy appear in them) and the Jim Henson folks owns the latter thirty minutes (which featured a rolling assortments of different things… including the Storyteller which is already on DVD). So until something can be worked out, the answer is no. Another person asked if there would ever be a live Muppets show since one live performance did take place in LA not too long ago (I wondered this myself at the time actually) and again the answer was no, it was just a one time only deal.
Afterwards I then went home to get some rest for later in the evening. I had plans to check out of the showings at the Energy fest, plus there was some chiptune performance/interactive installation going on in Willamsburg. But I was still feeling pretty shitty so I ended up staying home. Besides, the majority of what was scheduled for the evening at the fest wasn’t that interesting (especially when I found out ahead time from Job what the TBA film was) and despite any potential for coolness at the chiptune thing, I probably would have been annoyed to high hell by the Willamsburg hipster crowd. At very least, I passed along some info on the show to Jeremiah, so he can tell me what I missed.
SUNDAY
After yet another 14 hour sleep session, I managed to make it to the Energy fest for the last day’s programming. I invited my friend Barry to check things out, since I’m working on an Anime & Manga related project with him (more on this later), plus I had a ton of fun explaining what was what when he invited me along to an Anime con in the city years ago (“See that? That’s a furry, which is a grown man dressed as an animal… yeah I know it’s supposed to be a girl raccoon, but I’m almost certain it’s a guy under that.”).
On the last afternoon they showed a bunch of shows, including…
Naruto – It’s the biggest thing in Japan right now, on par with the Dragon Ball Z in terms of popularity apparently. So far, I really haven’t been impressed by what I’ve seen. and I don’t know why. I guess because it’s such standard, cookie cutter fare: its about a boy in ninja school who’s a total screw up and most feel he’s doomed to failure, though he does have friends that support him and can see past his crass, wise cracking exterior (which hides a secret!). Man, can you get any more clich?d than that? Though the crowd certainly ate it up. It’s also worth noting that there was plenty of Naruto cosplayers to be seen.
Samuri Champloo – Another big hit in Japan right now, from the creator of Cowboy Bebop. It’s a fusion of samurai fiction and hip-hop sensibilities for a rather compelling package. Plus again, you have the guy who was behind Cowboy Bebop, perhaps the very first genuinely good animated series every to come from Japan. I’d been hearing about this show for forever, so I was happy to finally see the damn thing.
Question: what’s more annoying that gamers? Anime fans of course. While 75% of all gamers are morons, only 25% is the case with Anime geeks, but the problem is, that 25% is far more annoying than the first group’s 75% could ever be, even on their worst day. And during the screening, Barry & I happening to be sitting right next to that entire 25%. I just love how such idiots have no problems with a show starring a young boy who befriends a little yellow creature. But give them a show starring a young boy who befriends a little purple creature, and they become extremely confused. The point is, the way the action is presented in Samuri Champloo is non-traditional, but not at all hard to follow (if you’ve seen a movie made in the past…. say…. 40 years, there should be no problems). Yet everyone near me could not figure what the hell was going on. Now, if I’m watching something and am hit with a serve, I’m usually pleasantly surprised and will simply sit back, relax, and let the whatever take me along for the ride. But not these idiots. All they could do is angrily scream at the screen “What the fuck is going on? “ “I don’t get it?” “What just happened” and the such. They only seemed interested when there was a fight scene. Fucking retards.
Paranoia Agent – Out of everything shown in the fest, Paranoia Agent is what I wanted to see the most. It’s a new show by the creator of Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress, and most recently, Tokyo Godfathers, Satoshi Kon. I’m a huge fan of all his work, which is completely unlike the fare you’ll find from Japan. There’s no large robots fighting in his work, just people, realistically and carefully crafted, in stories that are both fantastical yet very relatable.
This latest offering was the first part of an X-Files-eque series that revolves around a mysterious young boy that attacks people with a bent golden bat. It easily blew away Barry and myself, and not surprising, most of the people in the theatre really did not like it. Well, Kon’s work is a big flop in Japan as well, so I guess it wasn’t a big surprise. I can’t wait to see future episodes.
After the episodes screening there was a break, so I hung out with Job again. He had a DS with him this time, which he just got from Jersey. Got to play around with some mini-games that he unlocked with Feel the Magic, and as expected, it was awesome. Not sure if it was my poor health, or the fact that I’m just out of shape, but the candle blowing game in which you literally blow on the DS nearly took out one of my lungs.
Next was multiplayer Mario 64. One of Job’s friends had a DS and I played against him on just his cart. Even though it didn’t work on the first try, we did connect on the second, and I’m still amazed that it’s possible. And it was crazy fun; Nintendo was actually able to add some fun enhancements to an already perfect game.
After a quick lunch at McDonald’s (for the second day in a row, there was nothing else in the area foodwise, and again it was fucking horrible and tore my stomach up bad) was a screening of the live action Cutey Honey flick, but before that was an episode of the cartoon. Maybe I just don’t “get it”, or perhaps I’m gay, but I’ve always found the character to be pretty dumb. It’s just a chick that fights crime or whatever wearing dozens of different outfits, and that only serves as a means for her to get constantly naked between changing. If I was a girl, I think at the very least, I’d find it all highly annoying.
Anyway, regarding the live action film, it started as one being so bad its good and ended with being so bad its bad. It had it’s moments, such as the really spirited opening and a fun title sequence, but things get way too serious as the film progresses, much like most SNL based movies. I’m glad they took the time to flesh out here character, like making her an overeater and the such (much like another great girl’s hero from Japan, Sailor Moon), but as soon as the karaoke scene kicked, I caught on that the folks behind the movie had no clue where to take things. I guess that might explain why certain subplots, like the possibility that revenge might take total hold her, never got developed, or how the manner in which the four henchmen were eliminated were less than satisfying. I expected a totally sappy ending, but it was just too much for me. Though I have to admit the weird live action/stop motion fight scenes, dubbed “Honeymation” certain did look cool, and is sure to pop up again in the near future.
And that basically was my weekend…
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… There’s not much to report since then due to my illness, unless you count the insane amount of yellow gunk I’ve coughed up (which is well into the range of pounds). After sleeping for 14 hours for the fourth night in a row, but with no sign of improvement, I finally went and saw my doctor (ask my friends and they will all say the same thing: I have a very bad habit of not seeing a doctor as soon as I should, like the time my leg broke after getting hit by a cab) and found out that I have bronchitis. Nice.
If there’s been one plus to this is that my appetite has been completely destroyed, which means that I’ve lost some good weight. Not the healthiest means to loose weight I know, but perhaps one can see why I didn’t really mind too much when I got e. coli. Plus I got a nifty party out of it! This time around, MK was sweet enough to get me a small hot water dispenser to make tea and soup since she knows that I really can’t use my kitchen at home. Plus she got me a case of Cup of Noodle. Nothing sayings lovin’ like ramen!
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and like I’ve done each year for the past eight or so years, I’ll be spending it with Dave’s family in LI. Afterwards, the rest of the holiday will be spent with MK in Jersey. So a weekend filled with turkey and Wawa’s chicken sandwiches. Can’t wait!
