Thank you, President Regan, for Transformers.

 

 

 

Ronald Reagan was a controversial presidents in many ways.  You either love him or hate him, and this often depends on if you are a conservative or not.  Throughout his career, he led America though turbulent times and made many difficult choices.  The Iran Contra scandal, Grenada, and the whole thing with the airport unions is what we all remember.  However, there was one particular controversial policy that Reagan supported, which most of us may not remember but many of us do benefit from.

Kazuo Umezu - Prince of Horror

This post is dedicated to Kazuo Umezu and his wonderful work, Fourteen.  You can read his brief biography here at Wikipedia.  Okay, done?

Kazuo Umezu is revered as the "Prince of Horror" in Japan.  He started publishing stuff in the 1970's and has continued to work making horror shows, though he has retired from manga (more on that later).  His is not too well known in the states; his most famous work in the U.S. being "Cat Eyed Boy".  It's a shame, because this guy's horror is really good.  However, before I go on,  I must also say that some of his books are kinda twisted and would never, ever be translated in America.  This is probably the reason why he is not too popular here.

Chinese-Owned Japanese Restaurants 

Japanese food has not gone away in America.  Since the introduction of sushi in the 1980's in L.A., Japanese food has only gotten more and more popular.  With this popularity comes opportunity for profit, which brings me to the topic of today:  Chinese-owned Japanese restaurants.  Many people who are unfamiliar with Asian food don't see the big deal, but it is a very strange phenomenon if you think about it.

In any major city, you will find Japanese restaurants popping up, but almost none of these are owned by Japanese people.  Japanese food is perhaps the only ethnic food in America that suffers from this.  Would you walk into an Italian joint owned by a Chinese guy?  How about a Mexican place owned by an Italian?  I'm not saying the food can't be good in such places, but it just doesn't happen with any other type of ethnic food.

Of course, the distinction is not merely a question of authenticity.  If the Chinese owners and staff can deliver a good dining experience, then it would be no big deal.  However, when Chinese people run Japanese places, they also bring along Chinese sensibilities - and you get some really heavy Japanese food.  Also, these Chinese run places tend to cut corners - serving ramen cold to cut down on heating costs, using old oil for the tempura, etc.

So, when you decide to check out a Japanese restaurant, some tips:

-Is the inside decorated with all sorts of kitschy Japanese stuff like mini samurai armor?  It's mostly run by Chinese.  A Japanese run place won't have all that gaudy Japanese tourist stuff all over the place.
-Do they specialize or do they try to serve everything?  Most Japanese run places tend to conentrate on a specific type of food - ramen or yakitori, for example.  Chinese run places will try to serve everything, from sushi to ramen to izakaya style
-Do they have side dish menu?  Most Japanese run places with have a side dish menu serving home-styled cooked food.  Chinese run places will never have this because they just tend to stick to the well known recipes.
-Finally, if the place has a cheesy name such as "sushi a go go" or "zen garden", you know you're in for a ride.

Comics Review - Get Jiro

It's not every day that you read a comic book written by a celebrity chef, but that's just exactly what Get Jiro is.  This graphic novel written by Anthony Bourdain is definitely offbeat.  Get Jiro takes place in a dystopian future where America's economy is stagnating and the only sector with any kind of growth is food.  Thus, the food industry becomes very important and as a result chefs wield strong political power.  The main character is a master sushi chef who gets entangled between two warring restaurant factions. Sounds strange enough?

More Gun Control talk

Well, here we go again.  Another week, another shooting and more posturing from our politicians.  As everyone knows by now, there has been a rash of shootings in 2012.  There was the Oikos University shootings, the  Aurora shootings, the Sikh Temple shootings, and the now infamous Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings.  Not to mention all the other shootings where only a few people people were killed (Millard South High School and University of Alabama).

I'm sure many have already pointed this out, but new gun control regulation will have little effect on gun crimes.  America, being the homeland of gun, cannot be disarmed.  It would be next to impossible to go door to door and take guns away from American citizens, and we all know that going door-to-door is the only way to really "control guns".  In addition, any government regulation seeking to limit the 2nd Amendment is bound to hurt only law abiding citizens and not criminals.

Since I live in California, we have the strictest gun control in the Union.  I heard someone say that we have over 10,000 gun laws in California, but I don't know if it is really that much.  I looking it up and only counted 20 some odd:

California Gun Laws - All 50 pages.  Still pretty damn convoluted.

It's interesting to note that a nunchaku is outlawed along with guns under Penal Code Sec. 12020(c)(3).  It's defined on page 6 as "an instrument consisting of two or more sticks, clubs, bars, or rods to be used as handles connected by a rope, cord, wire, or chain."  This is in the same section which covers sawed-off shot guns, which kinda makes carrying a pair of nunchucks just as bad as a hiding a sawed-off shot gun in your coat.

Nunchuck skills

Omega the Unkown 

Another excellent post-modern, deconstructionist comic.  This time, about an obscure Marvel character that is figuratively and literally unknown.  This is a comic book about alienation.  The title character, Omega, behaves in a way that would be diagnosed today as Asperger's.  Instead of a dashing hero or some rugged bad-ass, Omega is a drifter and a loner.  He rarely speaks, and when he does, it is often to himself.

Strange concept, but perhaps I should provide some background.  The original Omega was published in the 80's and written by Steve Gerber.  During those days, comic book creators did not have any ownership of their characters.  The original Omega was shoe-horned in between other superheroes at the time, such as the Incredible Hulk.  The full potential of the superhero was never realized.  You can tell what Gerber was going for, but the project was killed off before the story properly concluded.

Kung Fu is a lie

This topic has been on my mind for quite some time, so I thought I'd get it out there.  What do I mean by saying that Kung Fu is a lie?  It is because the tradition of Kung Fu wants you to believe that fighting is a beautiful thing.  Kung Fu wants you to believe that fighting is not a life or death struggle, but some kind of artistic ballet.  This is a complete and outright lie.
 
Fighting is dirty and brutish.  It's something that every man must do at some point but let's not kid ourselves that it's anything pretty.  While there have been few fighters such as Mohammed Ali who can make the sport look good, few of the top fighters in the world are known for their artistic grace.  The top fighters finish their opponents as quickly and efficiently as possible.  No flowerly bullshit.  This is the true essence of fighting, is it not?

Somehow, Kung Fu got sidetracked into a performance art.  This is understandable once you realize that many Kung Fu practioners in medieval China made money by giving street performances.  It would make sense for certain styles to take on a showy approach, to better draw in crowds and tips.  Modern day Sanshou or Sanda is basically Kung Fu's attempt at modernizing, and it looks more or less like kickboxing.  Here is the "King of Sanda" Liu Hailong before he was sent to prison for roundhouse kicking a man to death outside a night club in China:

Comic book review - Brat Pack by Rick Veitch

Welcome to the Leper's Hovel.  In here you will find rantings on current events, off beat entertainment, and other contrarian views.

For my first blog post, I would like to talk about a very underrated graphic novel by comic book artist Rich Veitch: Brat Pack

This has nothing to do with the 80's teenage movie genera.  I suspect that the name may be responsible for this comic's relative obscurity.  

First things first, this comic book is a post modern take on super heroes.  Much in the same vein as Watchmen, it tries to de-construct the American comic book genera.  Also like Watchment, it is straight up satire, and very dark satire at that.  Unlike Watchmen, however, Brat Pack is genuinely insightful into the superhero genera.  Watchmen, although a very good attempt, suffers from being a story told from an outsider's perspective.  Watchmen's creator, Alan Moore, was a part of the "British Invasion" in comic books along with Grant Morrison and Neil Gaiman.  The story of Watchmen, therefore, was essentially a Brit's attempt at deconstructing a quintessential American art form.