My day started with a
trip to BioLife to donate plasma. I was late (I’ve gotten into a bad habit of
doing that), and with the coronavirus scare, the check-in procedures have been
reordered. Today, unfortunately, my protein levels were too low to donate. It
was the first time in months this has happened. But as Scarlet O’Hara said,
“Tomorrow is another day.”
With no excuse to be out
of the Fortress of Solitude, I returned. First order of business: I finished
editing the trailer for Kaiju
Quarantine. I had to bug my fellow podcasters to send me their lines. One
recorded the wrong lines and, for whatever reason, his audio file was a garbled
mess in Audacity. So, I had him send me a new file. Despite Audacity giving me
issues with file locations (an issue that concerns me), I put the trailer
together and posted it in my
podcast’s feed. I shared it with my fellow podcasters for them to
disseminate.
That brought me to lunch
and more UltraSeven with Jarod.
My plan was to spend the
rest of the afternoon grading papers—and the distraction issues plagued me
again (no pun intended). I didn’t get through all of my students’ papers. I
don’t know what it is with me. Perhaps I’ve allowed myself to think I have more
time than I do. Maybe the lack of structure is making me careless. Conceivably
(hey, I needed a synonym, okay?), I’ve been away from school for too long, and
now with everything turned upside down, I haven’t found a new rhythm yet.
(Random aside: Has anyone
noticed how weird the word “rhythm” is? It has no true vowel and is a weird
combination of consonants).
It might be more
necessary than ever for me to keep myself off my phone, especially now that
it’s become my only real source of social interaction.
While eating dinner, I
watched a bit of Super Sentai
Jetman on Tokushoutsu
through the PlutoTV app. Every time I see it I’m shocked at how bipolar it is.
One scene it’s being a silly teen rom-com, the next a hero is slashing his palm
to save his girlfriend. And this was a kids’
show in Japan! Talk about cultural differences!
I punctuated my day with
a new endeavor: video game streaming. I broadcast my playthrough of the game Override:
Mech City Brawl through my PS4 to my podcast’s
YouTube channel. It was one way I’ve tried to provide some much-needed
entertainment for people who are stuck in lockdown/quarantine. I’ve realized
that what artists/creatives provide in troubled times like these is exactly
that: entertainment. We create an oasis in the desert of uncertainty. Listen
to, read, or watch us to forget your worries, if only for a short time. It
helps fight off the depression. It’s a vastly underappreciated service. People
don’t realize how important it is until they desperately need it.
Here’s the video of my stream, if you’re interested in seeing it:
I may do it again. I
(foolishly) tried to play the game on hard mode, so I wasn’t able to finish the
campaign even after four hours. I think I’ll move on to Shadow of the Colossus after this.
What did you do to pass the time today? Let me know in
the comments below!
I don’t know if it was a
mistake or not, but I slept in today. Then again, I was up later than I
expected last night. During my late breakfast, I decided to start a new anime
since I recently finished Code Geass. So, I did
what I should’ve done a long time ago: I started RoboTech,
a classic of anime. Let me tell you, in just one episode, I found myself reveling
in the ‘80s anime goodness.
This was my first week
back to university after the extended spring break, and today was the first post-coronapocalypse
deadline for my students’ paper drafts. From about 11am until 6pm, most of my
time was spent grading papers. I had “online office hours” from 11am-1pm, which
included a videoconference Skype call with one of my students. That was
different. I took a lunch break at 1pm and watched UltraSeven with Jarod.
Unfortunately, I battled
distractions throughout the rest of the afternoon. Friends kept messaging me.
Amusing things kept happening on Twitter. I kept wondering if it would’ve been
easier if I was on campus, but I’m not sure. What was happening probably wouldn’t
have happened if not for the current crisis, I’m sure.
One of the downsides of
being a writer is the constant “what ifs…?”
Regardless, I managed to
get through all of my first class’ papers. Tomorrow I do my second class’
papers.
On a whim, I decided to
try streaming Street Fighter V on my
YouTube channel as practice for when I do it on my podcast’s
channel tomorrow (Friday) at 7pm EST. I was joined by several friends, including
Sergio (who played against me), Josh (who commented), and Mike (who was on chat
for ten minutes).
Here are the videos (with apologies for my mic issues at first):
I think I might try to
make this a more common occurrence.
After that, I got to work
on the trailer for Kaiju
Quarantine, a big watch party being organized by me and several of my
fellow podcasters. (More on that later).
All the while, I never
left the Fortress of Solitude. I guess that makes me a good citizen.
I will admit this
lockdown has made me try new things, and I’m finding that I like them.
What’d you do today to pass the time in lockdown? What
new things, if any, have you tried?
The foggy scene outside my apartment on day one of the Indiana lockdown. (Photo by Nathan Marchand).
As I mentioned on my
social media, with my home state of Indiana in lockdown and my university going
to online only classes, I’ve decided to increase my creative output to
entertain (and hopefully enlighten) all of you True Believers while in
quarantine. We could all use some relief, and this is one way I can help with
that.
When I wrote my blog last week,
I hesitated to put in my political commentary. I make no secret of my political
leanings (I’m a conservative), but I don’t make a habit of broadcasting them to
the world because it always invites trouble. That’s the climate we live in now.
But I left it in because it was part of my frustration. Predictably, I was
accused of being flippant, propagating misinformation, and not taking the situation
seriously. I ended up adding a “retraction” of sorts to the blog and posting it
as an addendum. This came after I did some more reading and learned a few
things I didn’t know before about coronavirus.
The criticism ignited an
old fear that has dug deeper roots in recent years: perception is reality when it should be truth. In other words, the
actions and decisions of others have more control over my life than I do. I
could be objectively qualified for, say, a job, but the employer could still
not select me. In the case of my blog, I didn’t mean to spread misinformation
or offend anyone. Given that I’m something of a public figure (and the internet
is vicious), damage to my reputation could cost me big time. I’ve seen the
destruction wrought by gossip. I know firsthand how ungracious people can be.
That’s why I went into “damage control mode” to mitigate the problem. I should’ve
known everyone, including myself, is on edge with everything happening. It’s
only natural to respond defensively. I stay up-to-date with the latest reports
on the crisis, but there’s a lot of unknowns out there. Humans fear the unknown
more than most things. That’s why coronavirus is terrifying but the flu isn’t.
Sadly, I saw the internet
tear someone else apart this week over this. J.D. Lees, the editor of G-Fan magazine and the organizer for G-Fest,
sparked the controversy of the week in the kaiju fan community when he posted
coronavirus stats on the event’s Twitter page. Yes, it was a bad PR move, but I’ve
rarely seen such instant hate in this fandom. People called him a “clown” and a
“villain” and said they would cancel their magazine subscriptions and their
G-Fest tickets. I know J.D., so I know he meant no harm, which is why I did try
to stem the hate. That and my recent experience made me sympathetic to his
plight. At least no one bit my head off for it.
So, now almost everywhere
I would go is closed. School, the dance studio, bookstores. Heck, even my church
had to start livestreaming services. To say I feel isolated would be an understatement.
It makes me glad my brother
Jarod moved in with me or else I would die of loneliness. I’ve distanced
myself from online communities to focus on real-life relationships, and now
they’re all I have for the time being.
At least I was able to do some work for InstaCart, and they seem to be staying in operation. At this point, I’ll take any excuse to go outside.
On my first day of
quarantine, I drove to BioLife to donate plasma like I normally do. The stuff
is desperately needed, and it’s good money. Appropriately, fog as thick as
peanut butter blanketed the city at 9AM. It made me think of the people’s
blindness and how fog would deter travel. Beyond that, I spent the day raiding
my overfilled cupboards, watching UltraSeven with Jarod,
doing schoolwork, catching up on my TV viewing, and gaming online with my
friend Bill.
One of the goals on my whiteboard
is, “Add more adventure to your life.”
That just got more challenging.
What are you doing to pass the time in self-quarantine?Comment below!
The unintentional “epic films month” continues with 1959’s The Three Treasures (aka The Birth of Japan), but thankfully this episode doesn’t cross the “Kurosawa threshold.” This is a religious epic in the vein of Cecil B. DeMille’s The Ten Commandments except it’s about Shinto. It tells the tale of Prince Yamato Takeru (played by the always awesome Toshiro Mifune), the legendary 13th emperor of Japan (who’s being covered in our 13th episode…oh boy…). Interspersed throughout the film are vignettes depicting stories from Japanese mythology that parallel the prince’s life. Nathan zeroes in on several of the film’s story elements, including the Japanese creation myth, the Imperial Regalia of Japan, and Yamata no Orochi the eight-headed dragon. There’s so much that could be said about this film, Nathan may have to do a follow-up with Rev. Mifune (no relation to Toshiro Mifune) or the guys at The Kaiju Apostle.
Nathan then reads yet more feedback clarifying the Batman Meets Godzilla story treatment—or rather, the Twitter war that almost broke out over it.
Speaking of which, Batman Meets Godzilla, one of the craziest yet most intriguing lost projects made famous by John LeMay’s book, The Big Book of Japanese Giant Monster Movies: The Lost Films (which now has a new “mutated” edition), is being adapted into a fan-made comic book miniseries!
T-SHIRT GIVEAWAY: Everyone who shares the Facebook and/or Twitter posts for this episode (or tags the show when they share it themselves) will be entered for a drawing for a Batman Meets Godzilla T-shirt. (One entry per person per social media). Entries will be taken from March 25 to March 31 at 11:59pm (EST). The winner must then send Nathan his/her shirt size, shirt color, and mailing address to be forwarded to the team at Batman Meets Godzilla. Here’s a link to the Tee Public site with this epic shirt.
In case anyone didn’t see it, here’s an addendum I made to my previous blog:
EDIT: This blog has been edited since it was first posted. After some discussions on social media and a little more research, I realized it had some inaccuracies. The blog was also meant to be a bit tongue-in-cheek, and once again I’ve learned that doesn’t always communicate on the internet. The biggest deletion pertained to the hysteria being manufactured to hurt the Trump Administration going into the election. I had no idea this was something started by President Trump on Twitter. It was a conclusion I came to on my own. I am a self-proclaimed “Trump agnostic,” meaning I’m not part of either the Never Trumpers or the president’s cult of personality, which is why I tick everyone off. (I do think someone needs to take Twitter away from him, though). However, I do stand by my assertion that the media is stoking the hysteria because, as Tim Constantine wrote for The Washington Times, “fear sells.” Since this is new (“novel,” which means “new,” is part of the disease’s name, after all) and relatively unknown, people fear it even though there are diseases out there that are far more common and far more likely to kill someone. Humans fear the unknown. However, I also know human nature well enough to know that there will be those who will try to take advantage of the situation for their own benefit, and that’s especially true for those in power. That’s the big reason why I think the hysteria needs to stop, which is the point I wanted to make with this blog. We need to be safe and watch out for those who are the most vulnerable among us (my younger brother has a form of asthma, so I know), but turning the world upside down like the Black Plague has suddenly returned is an overreaction. My apologies for not making that clear in the first published draft of this blog. (EDIT ENDS)
EDIT: This blog has been edited since it was first posted. After some discussions on social media and a little more research, I realized it had some inaccuracies. The blog was also meant to be a bit tongue-in-cheek, and once again I’ve learned that doesn’t always communicate on the internet. The biggest deletion pertained to the hysteria being manufactured to hurt the Trump Administration going into the election. I had no idea this was something started by President Trump on Twitter. It was a conclusion I came to on my own. I am a self-proclaimed “Trump agnostic,” meaning I’m not part of either the Never Trumpers or the president’s cult of personality, which is why I tick everyone off. (I do think someone needs to take Twitter away from him, though). However, I do stand by my assertion that the media is stoking the hysteria because, as Tim Constantine wrote for The Washington Times, “fear sells.” Since this is new (“novel,” which means “new,” is part of the disease’s name, after all) and relatively unknown, people fear it even though there are diseases out there that are far more common and far more likely to kill someone. Humans fear the unknown. However, I also know human nature well enough to know that there will be those who will try to take advantage of the situation for their own benefit, and that’s especially true for those in power. That’s the big reason why I think the hysteria needs to stop, which is the point I wanted to make with this blog. We need to be safe and watch out for those who are the most vulnerable among us (my younger brother has a form of asthma, so I know), but turning the world upside down like the Black Plague has suddenly returned is an overreaction. My apologies for not making that clear in the first published draft of this blog. (EDIT ENDS)
For the first few months of 2020, the coronavirus (or Covid-19 as the media is now calling it) was China’s problem. It was nasty, but it was “over there,” to quote a goofy Superman comic. It was an issue for the elderly and immunodeficient (spellcheck doesn’t like that word for some reason), but so was the flu.
But like black mold
creeping along your floor, the disease kept spreading until it hit the U.S.
California, if I remember correctly. Then Washington State. I figured it would
be contained. The CDC reacted quickly. But then it cropped up in other states.
Again, I didn’t think much of it. Until a man in Indianapolis was diagnosed
with it. Within a few days, another man in the county next door to me was
infected.
By that point, as the old
saying goes, all hell broke loose.
State and local
governments started mandating that large gatherings be postponed. Restaurants and
schools closed. Movies had their releases or productions delayed. Sporting
events were canceled. People were told to stay home in self-quarantine.
Businesses are losing
gobs of money—unless you’re Clorox or Netflix. They’re swimming in money. Hand
sanitizer is liquid gold now. I saw a listing on eBay where someone was selling
four 30-ounce bottles of the stuff for $500. If I’d known, I’d have stockpiled
it and started a black market.
At least The
Babylon Bee has had a heyday with this pandemic panic.
Not only am I going to
Walmart and grocery stores and finding the shelves empty (thankfully, I have
enough toilet paper to last a while), but it has affected my schooling and my
job. My university has decided to extend its spring break a week and make all
classes totally online for the rest of the semester. I’m taking two as a grad
student and teaching two as a graduate teaching assistant. I’ve taken a few
online classes before (and didn’t like it), but I’ve never taught one. Now I
have to find a way to adapt for the last six weeks or so of the semester. And I’d
just started to get to know my students and looked forward to seeing them. So,
my extended spring break has become an extended working spring break since I
now have to figure out how to re-jigger my classes. Meanwhile, I don’t know
what the classes I’m taking will look like. One professor is totally old
school, with the only online stuff he does being e-mail. The other professor
has one foot in old school and one in new school. I’m more confused than a dog
after he catches a car.
Elsewhere, the ballroom
dance studio I attend has started making students not touch each other in group
classes and has canceled their Friday night parties until further notice.
Now I don’t know if I’ll
make it to G-Fest or Gen-Con this summer.
I thought my small church
would be fine, but Gov. Holcomb has decreased the size of allowed public gatherings
from 250 to 50. Now President
Trump is recommending it be limited to 10. Even my church wouldn’t be able
to meet if that was in place.
With all this mandated “social
distancing,” I’ve joked this is introverts trying to get revenge on extroverts.
Or its social engineering to wipe out extroverts.
You’d think I’d revel in
that, but I’m a freak among the freaks: I’m an extrovert. I drive my fellow
nerds and writers crazy.
Now when I make jokes about this or point out the hysteria, I get pushback on social media. Someone even said I was being flippant. All I could do was shake my head.
I’m not saying people
shouldn’t be concerned. I’m not saying they shouldn’t take precautions. But
this is a disease that, at most, has a 3% fatality rate (and that’s if you’re
old or have an outstanding medical condition). If this was something both highly
contagious and truly deadly, I could understand the fear, but people are
treating Covid-19 like it’s the T-virus. I get it: hospitals
could be overwhelmed with an influx of patients. However, I’ve heard most
people who get it don’t show symptoms. That being said, it doesn’t justify all
the freaking out.
Well, that’s enough of me complaining about my unimportant first world problems.
In the meantime, if you
want some new books to binge read while in self-quarantine, I have plenty. They’re
all on Amazon, which means they can be delivered to your door so you won’t have
to go out. (Although, one features a bio-weapon plague, but maybe it will be
cathartic for you).
Also, I have 12 episodes
of a kaiju (giant monster) podcast you could binge listen. It’s called The
Monster Island Film Vault.
Yes, I’m not beyond using this for shameless self-promotion. That’s why it’s shameless. 😛
What do you think of the whole situation? Is it legitimate or is it hysteria?
It’s been so long since I posted here that I haven’t even shared the latest episodes of my podcast, The Monster Island Film Vault. In which case, here are the YouTube versions of episodes 8-11.
This week I begin my
penultimate semester of grad school. Part of that will be writing a brand new
standalone novel as my creative writing thesis. Amidst all of that, though, I
am also producing a twice-monthly podcast, The Monster Island Film Vault.
The irony is I’ve noticed for a while that it’s become easier for me to do
anything related to the podcast than my writing.
I’m annoyed by this. Some
of it is a time management issue, but I think it goes deeper than that. It certainly
isn’t a lack of passion or ideas (heck, both of my grad school classes this
semester are writing classes). I’ve long joked that I have more ideas than I
have years left to write. I think this shift happened for two reasons: imminent
deadlines and immediate praise.
My podcast’s episodes
drop on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month. Yes, that’s a
self-imposed schedule, but from what I’ve read, the audience comes to expect one
to keep his schedule. This keeps me on my toes and makes me carve out time for
research, recording, and editing. Do I perhaps try to get each episode finished
sooner than it needs to be? Oftentimes. Part of that comes from overestimating
how long it will take. Other times I make excuses like, “I can get more done
editing an episode for 30 minutes than I will writing for 30 minutes.” It’s
illogical, but humans aren’t always logical. (Sorry, Spock!). It simply feels
easier at points to podcast than write (despite the podcast requiring a lot of
writing). I’ve found myself worried that I’ve lost my first love as a creative.
The second reason is
harder to shake off: immediate praise. That isn’t to say that glowing reviews
started coming in within an hour of my first episode dropping or whatnot. However,
as more episodes were posted and I promoted the show, more people listened and
told me they loved it. The positive reviews came faster and more frequently for
the podcast than for any of my books (and it’s not like I don’t promote the
heck out of my books and don’t have readers wanting more of them). There’s a
lot I could say about why my podcast seems to be making a splash in the
kaiju/Godzilla fandom, but those ultimately feed into my need for affirmation.
I don’t consider this a weakness; no, it’s one of the famous “5 Love Languages.” Hearing and
reading positive feedback with every episode incentivizes me to continue. I
think this is why I eventually burned out with my YouTube
channel: I wasn’t getting that feedback as fast or frequently. The
challenge now becomes making sure the praise doesn’t become like a drug. I want
to make this podcast because it’s fun and because I want to be a positive and
unique voice in the kaiju fandom. I can’t let this—or anything, for that
matter—become a crutch for my ego.
Aye, there’s the rub.
All of these combine to
make something that’s new and exciting, so I’m still in the thick of the
novelty of this project. That amplifies the excitement: it’s my “shiny new
thing” right now. Lord help me when I come off that high!
Between grad school, my podcast, and writing, it’s
been a challenge to blog consistently. I’m still endeavoring to amend that.
Regardless, I’d be remiss if I didn’t talk about a certain little movie called Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
Perhaps you’ve heard of it? This won’t be a review, though.
Did I hate it? No, I
didn’t. I was thrilled seeing it the first time despite some concerns it would
retcon The Last Jedi, but after
seeing it a second time, the luster has faded. It has its problems, for sure,
and while I don’t think it undoes The
Last Jedi, I can see what Abrams and Disney did to placate the Star Wars mob.
(WARNING: SPOILERS
AHEAD!)
Emperor Mastermind: Palpatine
did it. Yep. He was behind the First Order. He created Snoke in a vat and used
him as a puppet ruler, I guess. Most likely he used the same technology to keep
himself alive by cloning bodies. Maybe. It’s more implied than explained. As
has been common with this trilogy, this is similar to the original Expanded
Universe (now Legends), wherein the Emperor transferred his soul into cloned
bodies using the Force. The problem is, while I knew going in that Palpatine
would be back, he appears within five minutes instead of building toward the
reveal. Giving that time to develop would’ve helped to make his involvement
more natural. As it stands, he seems to come out of nowhere despite the opening
crawl telling the audience his voice was heard a year before. It could be
argued his inclusion was an appeal to nostalgia.
Rey (Skywalker): I
said before that I liked that Rey’s parents were nobodies. Rise doesn’t walk that back, per se, but it clumsily qualifies it.
They chose to be nobodies. Rey’s
father was Palpatine’s son (which raises a slew of questions about what woman
would be crazy enough to have his child), and they hid Rey to protect her from the
Emperor. While it isn’t one of the theories many fans espoused—like that she
was Luke’s daughter, Han and Leia’s daughter, or Obi-Wan Kenobi’s
granddaughter—it could still be argued that it plays into the old attitude that
one must have a special lineage to be special. Admittedly, the same could be
said of Anakin Skywalker and Luke Skywalker, who were a slave and a farmboy,
respectively, and learned later of their special heritage. This trope is also
used in other fantasy stories. That being said, it almost seems like a
concession to fans who didn’t want to accept the fact that their theories about
her parentage were wrong, and that the Force chose her and empowered her. It
sounds a bit elitist, honestly, for them to think only certain families can use
the Force. If anything, this may have been done in response to the criticisms
that Rey is a Mary Sue (which I will admit is a bit difficult to refute).
However, it does work as a character arc for Rey because she is trying to form
her own identity throughout the Sequel Trilogy, so I’ll give Abrams and company
credit for that.
These were a few things
that came to mind. I may think of others later. It doesn’t ruin the film for
me, but honestly, my favorite of this trilogy is still The Last Jedi for its boldness. (You can stone me later).
Admittedly, Abrams was in an unenviable position with the end of the previous
movie. Maybe he was trying to do the best he could. Much like George Lucas,
they made it up as they went. There are famous writers who’ve made careers out
of that (like Stephen King), but it does come with its own perils.
Unfortunately, the
reactions to this is yet another sign that no one hates Star Wars like Star Wars
fans. Any new media in the franchise is automatically divisive.
(Unless it’s The Mandalorian, for whatever reason. I
guess Baby Yoda fixes everything).
I get it: it’s Star Wars. It’s a big deal to many
people. Some even say it’s modern mythology, and by messing with it, it’s doing
harm to the culture psyche. But perhaps we’ve elevated this franchise a bit too
high. It really is to the point of being a religion. Given that ancient
mythologies were originally religious tales, that’s not surprising. Perhaps
this is a sign that people need to find their meaning in something that isn’t
controlled by the whims of a corporate entertainment empire. Just sayin’.
What did you think of The Rise of Skywalker? Did it continue
the ruination of Star Wars, or is it
a case study in people pleasing? Why or why not?
I was making so merry for Christmas I forgot to share the latest episode of my podcast here! That will be amended! Enjoy!
Merry Christmas, kaiju lovers!
As part of Nathan’s continuing series on films covered in his absence on Kaijuvision Radio, this mini-sode examines Ishiro Honda’s 1955 film Half Human, which is infamous for being banned by Toho. Heck, it was stashed so far back in the Island’s film vault, it took Goji-kun and Bro Kong (the podcast mascots and possibly Godzilla and Kong’s “little” brothers) a long time to find it for Nathan to watch. Strange as it may sound, it’s serendipitous that this episode was released on Christmas Day because the film takes place partly on New Year’s Day. It follows a group of scientists and students investigating the appearance of the Abominable Snowman in the Japanese Alps, where they encounter a savage tribe who worships the Snowman. Nathan’s analysis focuses on the natives, their parallels to the Ainu (Japan’s indigenous people), and how this portrayal got the film banned. He argues that, despite possible insensitivities, Half Human is unfairly censored and deserves to be viewed by a wider audience.
All this plus our first listener feedback letters and the Monster Island Christmas party—wherein Nathan learns that kaiju can sing Christmas carols (or so his intrepid producer, Jimmy From NASA, tells him even though he hasn’t fixed the ORCA yet).
