Meme Dictionary Update

I have published on a separate page a list of (almost) all the subjects my meme dictionary will cover.

You can access it by clicking here.

By the way - like the banner?

Acts of Cultural Vandalism - One Piece at a Time

Here's something from the draft pile.

Johnny Cash "One Piece at a Time" (1976)

Welcome to another act of cultural vandalism. Today is a sort of small act of vandalism as the subject in question is small. It's the song - "One Piece at a Time" by Johnny Cash. A song about an assembly line worker who decides to get a free car by stealing parts from the factory one piece at a time over a period of a couple of years. It seems a clever idea. The factory could (back then) afford to lose a piece or two a day. It's probability. But this scheme had one huge flaw - where he was working - Cadillac. Why is that a problem? Cadillac is a part of General Motors, a company notorious for the practice of planned obsolescence - the practice of making products that only last a set amount of time in the hope of making customers buy the next new model. Its something many people have raged against since it first came to public attention in the 1930s and attacked in a number of adverts from European carmakers, such as Volvo.

"Beat the System" Volvo ad (1971)

If the man had been working in a factory making, say, Volkswagen Beetles it wouldn't have been a problem. He would have a car that was no different to the ones leaving the factory, as these classic car ads from the iconic DDB Volkswagen campaign clearly demostrate.

Volkswagen ads from DDB (1960s)

But he worked for Cadillac. He desired a Cadillac, like most Americans then. It was this engineered desire (in the form of high quality engineering and shiny chrome) that made Cadillac the aspirational brand. It was the car you saved up for. Its the car you bought to show off that you made it in the world. Its the car rich texans attach bull horns to. You get what I'm saying, don't you? Cadillac was the car everyone wanted if they had the cash. If you made or saved enough, you bought the Cadillac (which may be the reason why Cadillacs are mostly driven by old these days - they saved enough to afford one).

One thing that fuelled that desirability was Cadillac's habit of redesigning their cars every year or so. This made the newest Cadillac look fresh and exciting while the older models (which can be bought more cheaply in the second-hand car market) looked dated and something from yesteryear. It was this that was the biggest flaw in the factory worker's plan. Without realizing, he wasn't collecting the parts to make one single model, he was collecting parts for multiple models of car. Considering the changing shape of the Cadillacs from 1949-73 its astonishing that the factory worker didn't notice the problem until the very end. I mean, I would have noticed that I got a left front wing that has two headlights and a right wing with just one let alone that only one rear wing has a tailfin. But he had the parts and built a car with them anyway. The result was a mutant Cadillac. 

So what did this mutant Cadillac look like? Although a fictional object, an actual car was commissioned for promotional purposes. It featured in a music video for "One Piece at a Time".

Music video with mutant Cadillac

In case the video is no longer available, here's a photo of it.

Incredible, isn't it? Although the parts weren't made to fit, with some bodging and tinkering, you can make a car out of any collection of mismatched parts. The very car from the video is currently a museum piece in the Historic Auto Attractions museum in Roscoe, Illinois.

So why this subject you ask? Its because of Cat's gift to Ian. You may remember that Cat destroyed Ian's Ford Cortina by in May 2013 and soon afterwards he was beaten to a bloody pulp by Ian. He had spend months in medical care to recover and during that time decided to make a peace offering. This peace offering is...

It's better that I showed you....

Yelp. What better gift to make up destroying an old Ford than a new Ford made from old Fords.

It took him years, but was it worth it?

CAT - Look, things had been busy with....

IAN - Five years Cat! Five years!

CAT - It's my first time building a car.

IAN - You didn't need to. I bought a new car since you destroyed my old one.

 ----------------------------------------------------------

Yeah, when I first wrote this back in 2013, I was thinking of featuring Cat in a "final sketch" at the end of each post. I had sketched out the car back then. It's only today that I finally drew it!

Five years to finish a joke. 

Hope you all liked the "Frankenford"

Acts of Cultural Vandalism - Objects Have Soul

Ikea "lamp" ad (2002)

The subject of this post was first prompted by this scene from the manga Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan.

Pages 122-9 of volume 16 of Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan

(first published by Shueisha Inc. in May 2011, 

translated to English and printed by Viz Media, LLC in August 2013)

(As far as I know, this scene has never been animated. If I'm wrong, please tell me in the comments.) 

This scene involves a very interesting idea from the supernatural.... the Tsukumogami. A tsukumogami is a type of Japanese Yokai that only comes into being and self-aware when a manmade object becomes 100 years old. Depending on the treatment the object gets during their pre-Yokai life, it can be a nice Yoaki (which can be the case for most dolls that belonged to girls who didn't have the bad luck of having a brother who had pleasure torturing them) or an evil Yokai (which can be the case for most cars made by British Leyland).

That well known scene from the "Gourmet Night" episode of Fawlty Towers (1975)

That Austin 1100 Countryman would definitely become an evil tsukumogami if Basil continues battering that poor defenceless thing. It's not his fault his ignition system wasn't assembled at Toyota quality standards. (Before you brand me for taking a shot at Toyota for its recall saga a few years ago, I like to point out that (at the time of writing) I drive an Aygo, a car that wasn't affected by the recall at all :-).)

Wait a minute! I just remembered. Remember that scene from Treehouse of Horror XVIII where Groundskeeper Willie beats up his tractor....

Can't find clip.

Now that is an evil tsukumogami.

The tsukumogami are a notable staple in Japanese popular culture, especially manga that feature supernatural themes, like Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan (as seen at the start of this entry). In the scene pictured Kiyotsugu (head of the Kiyojūji Paranormal Investigation Squad and student council president of Ukiyoe Middle School of Ukiyoe Town, Tokyo) explains the concept of the tsukumogami while he leads the KPIS in a research trip in Nishikigoi Flea Market. One of their crew is Tsurara Oikawa (a Yuki Onna or "snow woman"). She was there for a different reason. In fact, the KPIS just showed up and spotted her there a page earlier. I won't say why she was there, as it'll take forever and reveal too much of the plot of the manga, but I will say that the the black-haired male Yokai who was teasing Tsurara on page one was Gozumaru. While there Tsurara noticed on sale some old small glass bowls used to serve iced desserts. Liking one dating from the Taishō period (Japan's equivalent to the roaring 1920s) she buys it and soon after purchasing it she makes herself some shaved ice. While enjoying her selfmade cold snack, the glass dish talked and turned into a little female figure - a tsukumogami. With an association of ice between them, the little lass who began her life as a fancy "penny lick" (that was the term those glass serving dishes had in the West and its not a double entendre) called her "master." This made Tsurara think.  She decided to buy all the "penny licks" the stall had and awakened the tsukumogami they became. She was down before, but now she has an entire army of mini Yokai behind her.

While writing this description of the scene, I pondered about all the lonely children, teens and adults out there that are lonely and only have a collection of dolls, plush toys, and figurines as company. Their probably reading this (or the manga I referenced) and now wishing that their "friends" could actually come to life. Sadly, they can't. Objects have to be over 100years old to become tsukumogami, so unless your a serious plangonologist or arctophilist who has managed to acquire figures of the right vintage, it ain't going to happen.

I know, the idea of tsukumogami seem to be just an Asian one, but if you think about it the idea that inanimate objects have souls is a universal one.

Think about it. Think of Toy Story. Think of the people who worship objects, like religious relics or Apple products (imagine that broken iPhone scene from The Cleveland Show (from this episode)). Think about those stories about people who have developed a love interest with (and married) a building.

In fact, think of what came to my mind while I read that scene......

I Know You Got Soul - Machines with That Certain Something 

by Jeremy Clarkson (2005 [pictured 2006 Penguin paperback edition])

Yes, Jeremy Clarkson believes that some machines have a soul. I Know You Got Soul is his praise for over 20 machines from around the world and history including Concorde, the Millenium Falcon, the Hoover Dam, the Arthur satellite dish in Goonhilly, the AK47 assault rifle, the battleship Yamato and (been the patriotic Brit he is) the Supermarine Spitfire. It's probably the only book written by Clarkson that a Guardian reader can read without vomiting (with rage).

Looking through it, the machines he has chosen to cover in this book are machines that do have... what you might call ... charisma. Some "essence" that makes them stand out from the others. It can be easily explained for individual machines, but its hard to sum up generally.

For example, take cars.... (Yes, we're steering towards Top Gear territory.)

Compare the Austin John Cleese beat up earlier with a Trabant. Two cars that (looking at the front) look about the same to the non-car person.

Note: The picture of the Trabant was taken by me inside
Glasgow's Transport Museum years before it moved to the Clyde for its river views. The Austin pic is a random one I found online.


Nearly uncanny isn't it. But which is more attractive? I give you some time to think....

Thought about it? Which one do you like most? 

Based on prejudice against plastics and two-stroke engines (despite it having a better mileage) the Austin will win. The Trabant is not a well-loved car (except to people nostalgic about the the Cold War and the time Germany was split into two countries). They were ugly machines that they were forced to have due to lack of choice and, when the Wall came down, most former East-Germans abandoned them for something better.

And speaking of two-stroke engines and Trabants, here's an interesting Channel 4 documentary from 1997 about them presented by Robbie Coltrane. In it, he is forced by the producer to take out the engine in a Trabant to demonstrate its ease of maintenance. He claims to have done it in less than 23 minutes, but how can we be sure? 

"The 2 Stroke Engine" Coltrane's Planes and Automobiles (1997)

End entertaining tangent.

The Austin, on the other hand, was quite a popular car at its time - the best-selling in Britain. 2.1million Austin 1100s (and its other incarnations made by BL) were sold from 1962-74. Why? Apart from advanced features, like front disc brakes and hydrolastic suspension, or the spacious interior that was about the same in volume compared to the larger Ford Cortina, the Austin looks.... cute. That isn't a surprise, considering that it was designed by the same man who bought the world the cute little Mini. Although the Trabant has a cute face on the front similar to the Austin, it is hindered by the lack of chrome (humans like shiny things).

Why is this relevant to the idea of objects having souls, you ask? Well think about it. In the world of cars some models have an iconic status and these cars are well looked after by their respected owners clubs. As a result, a huge number of these "iconic" cars have survived and are well cherished. But this number is tiny compared to the many more "unloved" models that are slowly dying out every year due to rust and lack of love.

For every Porsche with a careful owner that is safe in a garage they are thousands of Protons with owners of a no-care attitude left out in the rain.

This point hit me recently when I encountered this slideshow from MSN.com entitled 100 popular cars vanishing from UK roads. The last slide was a shock for me, as I have a thing for machines. According to this webpage, the last surviving SEAT Málaga on British roads "died" in 2017. Looking at How Many Left?, they were once hundreds of Malagas in 2001. One of the many millions or so everyday cars made in the 1980s and were still going by the start of this century. 

Although the SEAT Malaga isn't (or should I say "wasn't") a particularly special car, the fact that no example of it exists anymore should be a pain in the heart. Especially for the many people SEAT employed in the 1980s to design it, build its prototype, tool its factory, manufacture it, test it, and then finally sale it. The physical proof of all their work and ingenuity ... no more.

If the SEAT Malaga had been a sports car or a car that defined a time and place in history, its story will have been different. But this story is not unique to cars. It can happen to any human-made object. Clothing, gadgets, furniture, buildings, books, records, they are all subject to the same cultural forces that made the SEAT Malaga disappear, preventing it from becoming a tsukumogami. 

The concept of the tsukumogami came about in a time when very few people had the money to buy new things for the sake of it. Most people owned things that were hand down generations and were only replaced when they finally broke beyond repair.

Then William Painter invented the disposable crown bottle cap and inspired a Mr King Gillette to create his safety razor, featuring cheap replicable blades made to only last a few shaves. Soon manufacturers realized that they could get away with selling people the same product every few years or so with little innovation by just changing its styling. Then they worked out ways to force us to buy the next model (even though we were not that fashion-conscious) by engineering when it'll finally break ... and they won't be able to fix it because only the manufacturers had the right tools and had the monopoly on spare parts, making repairs more expensive than they should. 

I know some like this state of affairs on the grounds of providing employment and guaranteeing that we all get the latest innovations as soon as they become possible to make, but I personally hate it. Not because of the very obvious environmental problems it causes, but also because I hate when an object that once took someone(s) hours or even years to make gets thrown away just because no one wants it or because a bit broke off it. I prefer it (if possible) if that object able to find another owner than buried under a pile of soiled nappies in a landfill site. But that's the world we find ourselves it.

"We have this idea that stuff from the past lasted a long time. But that is because we can only see the stuff that has lasted a long time. We forget about all the stuff we threw away because it was rubbish.  …. Most of us only really know what happened because of what we can see, therefore Medieval England must have been full of cathedrals. It must have been amazing." - James May, The Reassembler (2017)

What is the oldest object you own? I bet most of you own nothing made before the 1980s. And fewer own something made before the 1960s. And fewer still before World War II. So very few of us will have the chance (if it was possible) to experience seeing an object become a tsukumogami. What to know my answer? Its this.....

a 1920s portable typewriter I bought on eBay

So, we have established that thanks to fashion, certain business practises, education, nostalgia, accident and a general sense of an object's time of usefulness as technology changes, the chances of an object made since 1900 becoming a tsukumogami is very slim. Technically, right now (2018) any object made before or during World War I should be now a tsukumogami. Apart form museum pieces, they are objects over a century old that are in the caring hands of the friends and family of their original owners. You may occasionally see them in one of those antique restoration TV shows. So we can assume that most of them will become good tsukumogami. The ones that would have become evil tsukumogamis may have been destroyed by time or carelessness a long time ago.

When I first encountered the tsukumogami back when I read Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan a few years ago the idea of an object becoming a living being after a certain amount of time intrigued me. But the problem I had picturing it was the 100 year rule. Because its now 2018 the objects that will become tsukumogami are objects from a time period way different from the present. I mean, how many of us have seen (for real) a Hammond Typewriter or a phonograph cylinder? If tsukumogami were real, I have to wait a very long time for objects I'm very familiar with to become them. We have to wait until 2081 for DeLoreans and the first IBM PCs to become them. I bet the artists in Japan who created the many brush strokes depicting tsukumogami would not have imagined that centuries later tsukumogami would be able to perform up to a million instructions per second and travel from 0-60mph in 8.8seconds in a stainless steel shell.

And another thing. If tsukumogami existed, it would make TV shows about antiques look like dramas about human trafficking. And if it did you may think twice before sending your old PC to the recycling centre where it could end up been shipped to the third world to be "recycled." 

Act of Cultural Vandalism - The Regular Pattern of Nostalgia

Recently, I have been thinking about something about our current culture. We (in the 2010s) are in the mist of a cultural-mining of the 1990s. This has come in many forms, especially in the form of childhood nostalgia. Kids who grew up in the 1990s are now hovering about the age of 30, so its no surprise that many of the things kids of the 90s liked, like Pokemon and Sailor Moon, are experiencing revamps or revivals in recent years. But this cultural mining has also led to the creation of new culture that will become the defining features of our collective culture of the 2010s, mostly in the form of Seapunk and Vaporwave. (How many of you guys have heard of these genres until now?)

All of this has made me think about how we regularly mine the culture of the past. We Westerners have been doing this for centuries. I think this can go back to when the first farming communities began to think back to the days they were hunter-gatherers, before that pesky farming forced them to stay in one place and break their backs harvesting the crop.

But I have noticed a pattern in our attitudes towards the past and its cultural artefacts. And looking at our culture in the past 50 years this pattern has been quite regular. Here's the pattern I have noticed....

1. A meme (which can be any brand new thing, from a gadget to a work of art) enters our culture. If enough people like it and adopt it it'll thrive. If not, it'll become a fringe meme that only a few fans like. But some of the fringe memes do eventually break out and become "mainstream."
2. After a while (a few months to a decade) a meme's popularity begins to fall as it becomes "old hat" or "that naff thing we use to like."
3. After the "naff thing" phase the old meme enters a bit of a renaissance as it enters the "childhood nostalgia" phase. This period can start as early as 10 years after meme's birth, but it usually begins when a meme is 20-30 years old. 
4. After the "nostalgia" phase ends a meme enters the "curiosity from the past" phase. This is when a new generation discovers the meme and explore it, usually to answer the question "Why was this a thing back then?" This period of a meme's life can happen between 20-50 years after meme's birth.
5. After the "curiosity" phase comes the most interesting phase in a meme's life. Depending on various things about the meme (it beauty, popularity in the past, association with noted people and so on), a meme can experience a number of forms of cultural appreciation. And this is possible because its during this phase direct examples of it become rarer. This is when things, like furniture and ornaments, start to become "antique." This is the ultimate test for a meme's long-term survival. If a meme proves to be a vital part of its culture of its day it'll last forever. If it proves to be more forward-thinking than it was thought to be back then it'll have some immortality. But if a meme proves to be just a trivial example of its time it may "die" - unless it gets rediscovered by chance and experiences a revival. If a meme proves to be very backward (even if it was very popular in its day) it'll just become a footnote only bought out in history lessons as something to laugh at or as something to scare people into behaving good. In short this is when nostalgia becomes "history" in the big sense of the word.

So that's the pattern I have worked out. But I guess you want examples of this pattern in action.

• The 1960s style revival - Thanks to TV dramas like Mad Men, the styles of the 1960s have experienced a revival in the past decade. What is interesting is that back in the 1960s (in the UK at least), there was an revival of late-Victorian and Edwardian culture. This was when Art Nouveau was rediscovered and was finally recognised as a pioneering modern design style, proving the pattern I have discovered.
• American Graffiti - When this movie was released in 1973 it had been a decade since the year it was set (1962). This film is credited for the creation of America's fascination for the 1950s and early-60s, leading to creation of Happy Days and the film adaption of Grease. It was also here when American cars from the 1950s started to become desirable collector's items.
• 1970s punks who wore Nazi stuff - These teens wore them because they wanted to shock their parents. At the time, World War II was something that happened over 30-35 years ago, so it wasn't something taught as "history" in history class at school let (unlike today). It was something their parents talked about and saw on TV as entertainment. They were not taught the reality of it. Until they were finally taught the facts (leading them to give up wearing them), the swastika was a curious artefact of a time before they were born, not a symbol of racially-motivated mass murder. This generational-divide is exampled by a famous 1978 episode of The Tomorrow People.
• The Wonder Years - When The Wonder Years first aired in 1988, it was set exactly 20 years ago, beginning with the year 1968. By 1990 it had entered the 1970s, beginning TV's fascination with the decade, paving the way for....
• That '70s Show - This show lasted eight seasons, compared to its "indirect" spin-off That '80s Show, which only lasted one season in 2002. Why was this? I think one reason it failed was because it was too early for a sitcom set in the 1980s. And I got proof - in the form of a family in Philly called The Goldbergs. 
• Curious about past tech - Right now technology from the 1970s and 80s have become curiosities. A prime example of this curiosity can be seen on the Techmoan YouTube channel.

That's all the examples I can think of right now.

Additional - There is some science behind our return to the 1990s (and nostalgia in general). 

Sneak Preview 7 - The Pokémon 20th anniversary special BIG act of Cultural Vandalism

Here's another sneak preview of the upcoming Pokémon 20th Anniversary special

The Worst Season Ever?

It is well noted that many fans see the Diamond and Pearl arc as the worst "season" in the anime's history. Combined with the complaints people had with the games and the designs, Gen 4 in general gained a lot of haters. Its very easy to find such haters. So easy I'm not going to bother finding one for you. However, this "unfair" ruling by many on the anime can be easily explained by two things - 

1. The cast change back in 2006.
2. Many of these critics are older fans who remember the first Kanto era (through one of the most dangerous things that can affect memories of past events - the nostalgia "rose-tint" lens filter).

Yes, if you take the time to look up these haters you'll find that most of them were in their late-teens or 20s during the years Diamond and Pearl aired. People who got into Pokémon during Gen 1 or 2. So what. you ask? Simple really. They are judging it by comparing it to an "ideal" that is created by half-forgotten memories of the original series. Unless they took the time to re-watch the original series (which very few have, including me) their memories of seeing it years ago may be flawed by rosy retrospection. Neuroscientists have noted that negative memories tend to fade faster than positive memories. Overtime this leads to people having flawed memories that make them believe that the past is "better than the present" (Yes, this is all backed by science). In other words, these critics are bias in thinking that "the original series is best" and cannot be trusted fool-heartedly with their criticism. I know this is true because I don't see Diamond and Pearl as that terrible. Hell no. Even though I could have easily fallen for the nostalgia trap that caught those critics I didn't get caught because I never fully rely on my memory when I write these posts. I take the time to watch or read the synopsis of every episode, providing me with a clear non-bias picture of the series as a whole. And from what I see is that those critics are too quick to judge.

I could write a large paragraph explaining why these critics are wrong, but I found someone who agrees with me. Here's a video by YouTuber Riyogaa that explains a very convincing case for Diamond and Pearl, with particular emphasis on Dawn been Ash's companion.

Why Dawn was the Best Thing to Happen to Pokémon 

[And Why Diamond & Pearl was the Best Season]

by Riyogaa (2012)

To save you from looking up what episode 9 is, its "The School of Hard Knocks."

(Yelp, that one, people who remember it.)

David Bowie (1947-2016)

UPDATE - For those expecting a more wordful Cultural Vandalizing tribute to Bowie I'm afraid my Pokemon big act (due to be published in late-February) has taken a lot of time for me to make one. 

Also, uber Bowie fan Adam Buxton has already made a great one back in 2013 on BBC Radio 6 Music.

Adam Buxton on David Bowie
(BBC Radio 6 Music, 31st March 2013)

Also (for the same reasons) I apologise that there won;t be an Alan Rickman tribute too.

In fact, apologies for lack of tributes for all those who have (or about to) die since New Year. Lady cancer has been busy so far - that bitch.

Sneak Preview 4 - The Pokémon 20th anniversary special BIG act of Cultural Vandalism

Here's another sneak preview featuring something I think the world must know NOW!

I have noticed that many online sources have made the mistake of confusing pictures of Tsunekazu Ishihara (president and CEO of The Pokémon Company) with that of Satoshi Tajiri. In fact its so widespread that if you did a Google search for an image of "Satoshi Tajiri" you'll find that the first few images you'll get are of Tsunekazu instead of Satoshi. It's like when people confuse Samuel L. Jackson with Laurence Fishburne. This potential confusion (which is made worse by Satoshi's reclusive nature) has to stop. For the sake of future video game history scholars, here's a helpful jpeg....

The SALR are a new thing for the Internet Sketchbook.

I only just came up with the idea of it today.

You heard it here first.

Act of Cultural Vandalism - A casting suggestion for a camp grim reaper

Just recently, I watched the first season of the anime Black Butler. I have read the manga (I tend (most of the time) to read the manga first before watching the anime) and liked it a lot. Watching the anime (English-dub) I was impressed with the casting.

J. Michael Tatum's performance as the lead Sebastian Michaelis was magnificent. I believe that this is the role that will be the one that defines him (like Edward Elric defines Vic Mignogna). And there is a very good reason for that, (as revealed in the audio commentary of the DVDs). As a child, in Texas, Michael had a stutter and the speech therapist that treated him was British. Learning this trivial fact, you can understand why I think Sebastian will be the role that will define him as a voice actor. It's thanks to that speech therapist that he was capable to pull of a convincing British accent. He does other accents too (he plays France in Hetalia: Axis Powers).

The only complaint about the dub I have is the voice of Mey-Rin by Monica Rial. I find it a bit too exaggerated and I think people could easily tell that it is an American trying to play a Brit. Sorry Monica, if your reading this, but that's my opinion. Don't shoot me (really, don't).

But this isn't the reason why I'm writing this. The reason for me writing this is regarding the character of Grell Sutcliff. Just seeing an image of him will tell you that Grell is the campist depiction of a grim reaper ever devised by man (or, in this case, woman).

One simple Google Image search will prove this.

The best frame in the manga I can think of that truly sums up this character is this one....

p 120-121 from Chapter 56 of Black Butler volume 12 

(2011 (Square Enix), translated 2012 (Yen Press))

Three guesses what this scene's a parody off?

Also, feel sorry for the young fellow reaper who is playing 

Leonardo's part here who has to work with him.

Note - The creator of Black Butler has been vocal against people on the internet pirating her work. With this observation, I like to point out here that using the scans from a book to illustrate a blog to explain something is, technically, okay under copyright law. This is known under American law as "fair use." It's like quoting passages from books or articles in an essay or speech. If its to explain something, like how camp a character is in a manga is, it is fine. If its just for decoration or the sake of showing it to others, that's a no-no.... unless you got the creator's (or the creator's legal representatives) permission to do so.

You know when you read things a voice speaks to you in your mind. When reading a comic you tend to use voices that fit the characters or the situation the character is in. When it came to reading the manga of Black Butler the voice of Stephen Fry spoke in my mind when it came to Sebastian's obsession with cats (Especially the scene with the tiger in the Noah's Ark Circus story arc.).

p 26-33 the tiger scene from Chapter 24 of Black Butler volume 6 

(2009 (Square Enix), translated 2011 (Yen Press))

I dare you not to try picturing Stephen Fry as Sebastian during that scene....!

Back to Grell. Admittedly the voice that spoke in my mind when reading Grell's dialogue was sort of like... (in the best way I could describe it) a menacing male version of Howard's mother in The Big Bang Theory. More like Howard's impression if his mother. That and a drop of Eric Stuart's voice of James from Team Rocket. That was my idea of what Grell's voice sounded like, prior to seeing him animated. Then I heard Daniel Fredrick's voice for Grell in the English dub and all that changed. From the moment the first sentence was processed in my mind a new image poped into my mind's eye. I now bang my head in shame of not thinking this before. When I watched the anime for the first time and saw Grell Sutcliff praising his love for "Bassy" in a style not out of place in a performance of Shakespeare, the picture that entered my mind was of.....

Christopher Biggins

For everyone outside the UK, Christopher Biggins is an actor and TV presenter well known for his "Bubbly" personality. He's mostly known these days in his theatric performances in pantomimes
(which is a concept that'll take me forever to explain to anyone who has never seen a pantomime as a child). But for the sake of this argument, it does involve a lot of cross-dressing, and Christ is well noted for doing just that.

For everyone who is still not sure about my observation just watch the That Butler, Performer OVA
and judge for yourself. It came with the first season DVD box-set I bought and watched. After watching it you will notice the similarities between Grell and Biggins.

With that I will proclaim this. If (in the future) I make a high budget motion picture (I'm not taking about cheap YouTube videos here) that features a camp grim reaper, Christopher Biggins will be my first choice of actor to play that role. I hope that when that day comes he'll be still alive to do so, even if its just to pose for a photograph for a prop in a movie or TV show.

Well, that's that off my chest. But I am a bit worried about calling Grell "camp", but don't worry readers, I'm ready for him....

They are ways of saying things without actually saying them. 

Something worth thinking about.

Act of Cultural Vandalism - 25 Years and they haven't aged a bit - Why?

Unless you have been living in an nuclear fallout shelter in the past 25 years because you really thought the bomb will drop (like Brendan Fraser in the movie Blast from the Past) you will have heard about The Simpsons plus the fact its their 25th anniversary (well, 27th if you count the shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show).

Since "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", the show has become a pillar of American TV culture (particularly the one holding up the Fox network, due to its shoddy foundations). It's success has led to a series of comics books, a number of video games, a few music albums, a number 1 hit single, a movie, a wheelbarrow's worth of Emmys, and even the ultimate accolade - a ride in Universal Studios (and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame).
It has gained a lot of cultural power. It has introduced a number of words and phrases in the dictionary, most notably D'oh! and the idea that the French are "Cheese-eating surrender monkeys."

(I like to point out that, according to history (and Stephen Fry), the French have had a successful battle record in the 19th century. According to another source of historical accuracy (the Hetalia: Axis Powers web manga series) its the Italians who deserve to be called cheese-eating.. I mean, pasta-eating surrender monkeys. Don't blame me, blame Hidekaz Himaruya for pointing this out.)

The Simpsons are everywhere (in over 200 countries in fact). They have been seen on T-shirts, slippers, fridge magnets, TV ads for butterfingers, Even Marge made an appearance on the cover of Playboy magazine. You have really made it when you appear on the cover of Playboy (like Drew Barrymore and the Commodore PET).

With such cultural power The Simpsons has had a huge influence on TV. The show is credited for resurrecting animation as a medium on prime-time television. It's thanks to The Simpsons we have Family Guy, South Park, The Critic, King of the Hill, and (especially) Futurama. There's even a Georgian "copy" of The Simpsons (the ultimate accolade for a successful show - been copied by another country).

"The Simpsons created an audience for prime-time animation that had not been there for many, many years ... As far as I'm concerned, they basically re-invented the wheel. They created what is in many ways—you could classify it as—a wholly new medium." - Seth MacFarlane, Vanity Fair (2008)

But its influence isn't limited to to animation. It has influenced live-action show too. British director Edgar Wright (for example) has admitted that his sitcom Spaced was "an attempt to do a live-action The Simpsons."

One reason for its influence is its longevity. The show has been a staple on Fox's schedules since December 1989. This has earned the show the world record for world's longest running animated TV show. However, this actually depends on what you mean by "long-running". The show first gained the world record when it's episode count surpassed The Flintstones in 1997. In 2004 it gained the longest running sitcom title by surpassing the episode count of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. But then it briefly lost the longest animated show title to Scooby-Doo, but got it back when execs cancelled the dog show (for a while). In 2009 it gained the record for longest running scripted prime-time show on US TV - chronologically. It took the record from Gunsmoke by been on TV for more years than the western did. But if The Simpsons manage to stay on screen every year until 2018 it will been Gunsmoke in episode count. 

That is, if you exclude the "non-American" parts of TV land. The record for longest-running animated TV show outside the US is the Japanese weekly anime Sazae-san, which is as old as Monty Python (Really, they both began broadcasting in the same month - October 1969). I highly doubt The Simpsons will beat Sazae-san's 20-year head start. I can't think of over 3,000 possible plots for The Simpsons (Sazae-san aired its 3,000 episode in 2008), despite the claim of this episode of South Park. But the longevity of Sazae-san does prove a point I remember been said by either Jimmy Perry  or David Croft (the creators BBC sitcoms Dad's Army and Hi-de-Hi!) about how to achieve a long successful comedy show - set it in the past. The jokes will last long as they will be already dated. 

On the subject of aging jokes, despite been on for 25 years, the Simpson family themselves have never aged. Its the classic cliche about animated cartoons, as observed in this classic clip...

Bart watches Pokemon while doing homework in "Postcards from the Wedge" (2010)

There's even a Doctor Who crossover fan fiction that tackles this very issue. It's worth reading (despite been unfinished by the time of writing). 

However, as The Simpsons continue to appear on our TV screens, I am aware that there is a huge debate that the quality of the show has fallen since the late-1990s, with a noticeable shift from character-led plots to crazy antics. Admittedly, I am a fan of crazy stuff, which is why unlike a number of early fans, I have endured the show's later years, including the Family Guy crossover show. But even I know everything can't last forever.

So, how come a show set in the present lasted for so long? This video may provide an answer....

The Simpsons explain why they are still on the air (1992)

History note - In 1990 Fox (seeing the success of their yellow family show) decided to create headlines by moving the show to the same time The Cosby Show was on NBC (which was the highest rated programme on the US TV at the time), thus creating  ratings war. Because of this, they are a number of references to The Cosby Show in the show, most notability the character of Dr Hibbert. 

I thought you like to know this, so you can (while reading this) ignore what has happened to Bill recently, as it is IRREVERENT TO WHAT I'M SAYING HERE.

So, what can we learn from The Simpsons longevity? Mike Scully has said this in an interview in 2007 "Lower your quality standards. Once you've done that you can go on forever." Enough said.

But things can't last forever, no matter how low its quality quality, which is why I like to say this. I have a feeling that the show's end is coming soon. I have no concrete evidence of this. I haven't got access to North Korean hackers who could break into Fox's computer systems and get validation of this. I'm basing my gut feeling on one observation - the plot of this episode (airing in January 2015) was first written by Judd Apatow back in 1990. The writers must have been desperate for ideas to salvage this one from their "ideas bin." What better sign you can get for a long-running TV show coming to an end than recycling an idea they had once rejected back during their "pre-shark-jump" years. 

Fortunately, if the end is coming soon, Al Jean has a plan for the perfect ending of this long-running show. 

So there you have it. 25 years of Do'h!s, Mmmmm!s, Aye Curumba!s, suckle suckle's and... "If anyone needs me, I'll be in my room."

And now the final sketch, and its a sketch with a story...

Back in 2009 (during the show's 20th anniversary) their was a competition to design a poster celebrating it. I had a great idea for it, but because, at the time, I was in college creating two interactive apps for my multimedia course, I wasn't able to make it. I did plan to have it made as an Illustrator gif by Christmas that year as a gift to all my friends, but time caught up with me and it laid unfinished... until now. I had been busy this year so their was a chance this couldn't have been made in time for Christmas. But I did it, thanks to a big decision - its not an Illustrator gif (that will have taken forever to make). It is in my classic hand-drawn style (kind of like when The Simpsons were first made back in 1989, long before computers took over). I admit it is a bit rushed, but its a bit more fitting don't you think? Adds authenticity (if you consider Photoshop as a hand-tool).

Happy Holidays everyone!

A Whovian Christmas to you all

It's mid-winter again, and its time for my annual christmas card. To begin with I had no idea what to do for this year's card. Then I remembered Doctor Who is 50 years old this year! So this year's card has a Whovian theme. (Actually its a tribute picture that I have kind of paperclipped with a christmas card, but it doesn't matter as it's my blog and I can do whatever I want whenever I want!)

And Here it is, my tribute to Doctor Who.

It was a bit of a headache to do, considering it was December and the fact this happened.

Back then I had Cat to help me. 

Which reminds me, his gift to Ian is almost finished

 (according to a text I got from him recently).

Where was I? Oh yes....

You be amazed how Doctor Who and Haruhi Suzumiya mixes well in the world of fan fiction. I know, because I read a few and here's a link for you to read for yourself.

Doctor Who and Haruhi Suzumiya crossover fiction

But the best of them all (personally) is a trilogy by American ADdude

Timeless

The Promise to Haruhi Suzumiya

Time After Time (Incomplete as of December 2013)

And if that's not enough to make up for the lack of activity for the past few months here'a a selection of more Dr Who themed material I found.

From Futurama Issue 67 (May 2013)

I had a big hoot when I saw this joke.

Happy now?

I'm off to see my parents now. Bye.