Tuesday
I woke up to snow this morning. The local forecasters said that there was “a chance” of snow. That “chance” turned into 0:10 of clearing off my car. Other than that, it was a good day:

  • It was a light day at work… and tomorrow looks like it will be another fairly light day.
  • Dinner at Macaroni Grill.
  • After-dinner coffee and conversation at Borders.

Song of the Day

  • Square by Stevie Wonder, from “Jazz Soul of Little Stevie”
  • Square Roots by Cassandra Wilson, from “Point of View”

NPR and PRI Stories
There were segments on both All Things Considered and The World that featured Shazia Mirza, a female comedian who happens to be Muslim. I found her interviews (The World) to be good and a delightful counterpoint to this post that was shown to me last night.

Quote of the Day
I was walking around the office this afternoon and discovered a roll of Life Savers in my jacket.

Me: Finding Life Savers in your pocket is like finding a little ray of sunshine.

Stray Toasters

  • Mary and I engaged in a round of people watching at Borders. I had almost forgotten how fun (and entertaining) that could be.
  • Tonight was the last episode of Cowboy Bebop on Adult Swim; I’m not sure if they will loop the series and restart from the beginning. But, I digress… It was not what I expected… and at the same time, it was exactly as it “should” have been. (I’ll come back to this later in this post.) Not too surprisingly, there is a link for the show on IMDb. There are a number of quotes from the show, as well.
  • They are (still) accepting applications to be on Junkyard Wars this season. The main difference, however, is that they are not accepting team applications; you sign up individually and get matched with a team, chosen at random.

As I mentioned above, the final ep of ‘Bebop aired tonight. There was a sense of finality to it. And giri. For those who don’t know what that means, it translates as “duty,” “obligation” or “justice.” It’s more than that though. There is a measure of personal honor that comes along with it. More than a measure, really, but you get the idea. (For the comics buffs out there, think Wolverine and his code of honor; Cartoon Network viewers, think Samurai Jack.)

That’s something that I’ve noted about many anime works: Unlike many (most) of their Western cousins, the characters (even the “bad/evil” ones) have complex motivations and drives. They are often three-dimensional characters, not just archetypes. It seems that many of today’s Western toons are watered-down eye candy. Yes, there are exceptions, but some are just fluff and pabulum (Def. 3). Something to keep the kids quiet and entertained and out of Mom and Dad’s hair. *shrug* And people wonder why cartoons (and, by association comics) are often looked down upon.

It comes down to the writing and creating not only a believable world in which the characters live and interact, but also believable characters. Some things are meant to be over-the-top and/or fantastic, but if you build it with structure and give it a bit of plausibility, there’s no reason that it couldn’t be “real.”

::: gets down from soapbox :::

Anyway, I hope that they do restart the series. I’d like to see how it began and how it arrived at the conclusion that I saw tonight.

But, for now… it’s bedtime.

Namaste.