2020.05.08 Dispatches From the Wasteland – Entry 40

We’re at the “I’m going to watch Naruto from the beginning” stage of quarantine.

Greetings from my hovel on the shores of the Bow.

This might be the isolation speaking? but… I’m thinkin’ about trying my hand at painting miniatures? I bet the bride’s got brushes I could use, I just need to order some paints? and a miniature what to paint? Do they make robot miniatures? I don’t really care about Orcs and shit, but I’d paint a mecha all day.

There is also the “painting and weathering some of the Gundam models I have” option. That might be fun too. I’d have to clean off this desk and probaby get a better light… ooh but then maybe I could also set up m’webcam to stream it. This is starting to sound more like one of those projects where I have a great time getting everything set up and then once it’s ready the actual project falls by the wayside because what I REALLY wanted to do was sort out the supplies and whatnot. We’ll see, I guess.

Very little to report this week in the way of any sort of READING ICCULUSNESS so not going to bother with a post. I’m about halfway through 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA, it’s fun. I have also read some manga: Vol 2 of CRYING FREEMAN and the first volume of BLACK CANVAS: MY SO-CALLED ARTISTS JOURNEY. Both are great. Expecting a bunch of books in the mail next week so maybe next friday we’ll have more to discuss.

Currently Playing; I’m watching Naruto, so just the theme from Naruto I guess.
Currently Reading: I just told you that.

2020.05.07 Dispatches From the Wasteland – Entry 39

Those next gen XBOX games sure do look like current gen XBOX games, don’t they?

Greetings from my hovel on the shores of the Bow.

I ordered a baggie of elastic bands for the bride to bundle up some of her new stuff for her etsy shop (which has a url and I’m going to find out what it is and tell you about it some day) but mistakenly sent them to the office and not to the hovel. I’m mostly surprised I haven’t done that more often.

The tiny anarchists who live in my house have discovered Pokemon Go and are now patrolling the house seeking out AR monsters at which to fling virtual pokeballs. It’s an improvement from their usual antics of patrolling the house seeking out the bride and I to fling any and everything to hand at. And the cost? Why only a live feed of their GPS coordinates to a giant shitty corporation! WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG?!

If they could read I’d buy them Switch lite’s and Sword and Shield. At least then they could play an actual game instead of the dumbshittery that is Pokemon Go. Oh, well… I need to lay down.

Currently Playing: Heinali – “A Wave Crashes”

Currently Reading: 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA, Jules Verne

2020.05.06 Dispatches From the Wasteland – Entry 38

I felt lousy this morning and went back to bed after about 2 hours today and am only just now getting spun back up again at 4:00. Gonna be a long night, I think.

Greetings from my hovel on the shores of the Bow.

For some reason I am feeling like I want to rewatch Wrestlemania 17. I’ve seen that show many times since seeing it for the first time live in a movie theatre with a bunch of other screaming, excited adolescents, but I feel the urge to see it again… Have thusfar resisted walking over to the shelf with the dvd on it, but suspect I’ll only be able to hold out for so long.

At the time I remember the TLCII match being the most amazing thing in the universe. When I’ve revisited it later I find it VERY hard to watch. There is basically no psychology, it’s a giant stunt show and the stunts and bumps the wrestlers take are HORRIFIC. There are moments in this match seared into my memory but seeing them again they’re always more terrifying than I remember. The fact that any of these men are still walking is incredible (though at least 2 of them had to retire early due to concussions or neck issues). Don’t. Do. These. Matches.

Currently Playing: Machinefabriek – “Stillness Soundtracks”

Currently Reading: 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA, Jules Verne

2020.05.05 Dispatches From the Wasteland – Entry 37

My Asuka Neon Genesis: Evangelion Funko Pop arrived today. So now I’m a guy who buys anime toys? This seems like it could be very dangerous. Fortunately there is no Misato funko pop and there’s no way I’m putting Shinji on my desk, I mean comeonwearecivilizedhereimeancomeonhahahahaahahaha… Maybe a body pillow?

Greetings from my hovel on the shores of the Bow.

I built a little Spirited Away puzzle but it was missing a piece and I’ve been apoplectic about it for a day now. The worst part is I’m not sure if it was truly missing a piece when I unwrapped the package or whether this is the work of the tiny anarchists who live in my house. We may never know for sure. Thankfully my friend Michael used photoshop to insert the missing piece for me so I got to look at so my brain would stop melting! Thanks, Maggle!

Jigsaw puzzles are great, but for a long time I couldn’t do them. Years ago, before my medications were all better balanced and whatnot doing a jigsaw puzzle would send my OCD into overdrive and I’d sit there, steam billowing out my ears, all muscles positively vibrating with tension, for HOURS until the last piece was finished and then I’d collapse. It was really sad because I liked doing puzzles in the before times, the times before my myriad mental illnesses all exploded at once. It was so nice to test the waters with this little Ghibli puzzle and discover I’m in a mental state that allows me to actually find the relaxation and fun in doing puzzles again… at least until that piece was gone. Thanks again to Maggle for solving that one.

Puzzles, Model Kits… maybe next I’ll get into paining miniatures! You can never have too many stupid hobbies that take up all your space/money/bride’s patience!

Currently Playing; Stevie Ray Vaughan – “Couldn’t Stand the Weather”
Currently Reading: 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA, Jules Verne

2020.05.04 Dispatches From the Wasteland – Entry 36

Remember the Galaxy Rangers? That was the best show…

Greetings from my hovel on the shores of the Bow!

Today in “get some better problems, Joey” I ordered the first 5 volumes of PARASYTE by Hitoshi Iwaaki but only volumes 1, 4 and 5 have arrived. I wanna reeeeeeeeeeeead. Now I’m stuck reading one of the other 7,000,000 unread books and comics in this house.

It’s now been long enough that I need to clean up my home office area. Weird how that happened… I’ve got stacks of papers, manga, sound equipment, synthesizers, mixers, computer equipment, office supplies etc etc and they’re now being joined by anime funko pops. Once the Gundams start nesting you know Spring has arrived.

Currently Playing: The Sorority – Pledge

Currently Reading: 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA, Jules Verne

2020.05.01 Dispatches From the Wasteland – Entry 35

Everything is on fire and I hurt my neck and wrist in a semi-related, cushion-punching incident.

Greetings from my hovel on the shores of the Bow.

Counting down the seconds until I can leave this chair and go lie down. It’s been a week, ladies and gentlemen! This is tough all over, I know, but this is my blog so I’m gonna whine on it…

I started another book about Miyazaki: MIYAZAKIWORLD by Susan Napier. So far it’s great, much more the type of book I was looking for when I read the Helen McCarthy one. That book was fine, but was clearly written at a time where Miyazaki had to be explained to people. This one came out post-WIND RISES so has no need to bury the lede and can get right into the stuff I want instead of recapping movies I’ve seen 35 times each. In the last 8 days I’ve watched 8 of the 11 Miyazaki features. By tonight that number will be 9. I haven’t rewatched Totoro on this journey yet, but I’ve seen that movie roughly monthly since I had children (often weekly and sometimes daily) so it’s less pressing for me. The other one I haven’t rewatched recently is Castle of Cagliostro, mostly because it’s the only one I haven’t got on blu ray. I had a dvd once upon a time, but I think I foolishly parted with it in the great “oh, shit my wife is pregnant I gotta sell some of this shit and buy furniture” purge of 2012. The second I can get the blu for a reasonable sum I will correct this error.

Currently Playing: ZANDAR ZAN – “HDK 18 † Thug life in Tsargol”

Currently Reading: MIYAZAKIWORLD, Susan Napier

2020.04.30 Dispatches From the Wasteland – Entry 34

Watched the original OP for One Piece 5 times this morning with one of the tiny anarchists who live in my house. We’re cool guys with cool interests.

Greetings from my hovel on the shores of the Bow.

For the last week and change I’ve been rewatching all Miyazaki’s films. So far I’ve done Nausicaa, Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, Castle in the Sky and Howl’s Moving Castle. Today is Kiki’s Delivery Service and tomorrow will probably be Porco Rosso. I really need to get a bluray of Castle of Cagliostro as I cannot for the life of me figure out where the hell I put my old DVD copy.

Considering wearing a big red bow on my head like Kiki from KIKI’S DELIVERY SERVICE. I can see no downside to this and expect it would only improve my life. Not really a cat guy, but I’d get one if he had the voice of Phil Hartman (yes, I like to watch the dubs. Shut up).

Tomorrow, bandcamp is doing another one of their days where they waive their share of the profits of all sales. Going to spend some time trawling through the wishlist and seeing about an order.

Currently Playing: GNOLL – “HDK 38 † Zargo’s Lords”

Currently Reading: HOUSE OF MANY WAYS, Diana Wynne Jones

2020.04.29 Dispatches From the Wasteland – Entry 33

From my cold basement, I type at thee…

Greetings from my hovel on the shores of the Bow.

I’m watching some wrestling in preparation for a new project. There is a real shortage of people talking about wrestling on podcasts so I am taking matters into my own hands. More details to come probably next week.

Speaking of pummeling people, there’ a new Streets of Rage game out tomorrow. I am not really sure what, if anything, I want or expect out of a new Streets of Rage game, but the bits and pieces I’ve seen in some streams today make me at least curious to check it out. The “beat-em-up” is really a genre that has fallen by the wayside in the last… well 25 years. There have been cool things here and there, but they mostly feel like they trade mainly on nostalgia? and I’m not sure that’s enough. The beat-em-up bundle that Capcom put out a while back was pretty rad, playing Metal Warriors for the first time was a real joy and made me want a new Mech beat-em-up… I guess that’s what I want in a new beat-em-up: Giant Robots.

Currently Playing: Yuzo Kushiro – “Streets of Rage 2 Soundtrack”
Currently Reading: THE HOUSE OF MANY WAYS, Diana Wynne Jones

2020.04.28 Dispatches From the Wasteland – Entry 32

I’m gonna get killed in an avalanche of books/comics/manga as I keep piling them higher on this desk down here, and that’s how I’ve ALWAYS wanted to go out.

Greetings from my hovel on the shores of the Bow.

Someone talk me out of buying a Gigantor Tetsujin 28 Vinyl figure! HURRY. I like his little pointy nose and those wrist band thingies. There is also a funko pop figure, at the best of times Funko pops don’t really look great? but this one in particular is annoying me.

Like… Gigantor’s huge body and tiny head are like… that’s the whole iconic THING about Gigantor… Look at this stupid thing!

Now I want a whole shelf of cool robots from movies and animation… The guardian robots from Castle in the Sky, the NES R.O.B., Johnny 5, Gigantor, Astro Boy, Android 13…. Yeah… Robots are rad.

Currently Playing: Aesop Rock – “Music From Freedom Finger”

Currently Reading: HOUSE OF MANY WAYS, Diana Wynne Jones

2020.04.27 Dispatches From the Wasteland – Entry 31

Yeah, I’ve been thinkin’ about gettin’ an ottoman.

Greetings from my hovel on the shores of the Bow.

I spent some time trying to find a youtube video of a kid eating a radish because they thought it was an apple. I didn’t find it yet, but I did see a bunch of kids eating onions like apples. These kids are just going to town on these onions no matter how much it hurts their eyes or makes them cough… they are going to do okay in life. They’re gonna be ready. Good for you, kids.

For some reason searching for baby eats radish also yielded a Dragon Ball Z clip of Bulma trying to punch Goku? I like to think YouTube is just worried I might get bored after 2 or 3 baby videos and is trying to look out for me. Thanks, YouTube. Now stop giving white supremacists a platform!

Currently Playing: Phish – “Sigma Oasis”
Currently Reading: CASTLE IN THE AIR, Diana Wynne Jones