No country

Once I got onto a dirt road in some random state park that I’ve never heard of, I knew I was nowhere near Jiminy Peak in Hancock, Massachusetts. All I wanted to do was ski, but that was going to be delayed for about an hour as I explored a place so untamed that not even Google knew what was going on. Somewhere from Albany, I had taken a wrong turn.

I had an inkling of how lost I was when I didn’t see the name of the road I was on for half an hour. I called Katie, a wonderful friend and navigator, to look up where I was online. The problem was that most of the side streets weren't listed on Google Maps. Then, I lost my cell phone reception.

Driving through Cherry Plain State Park was scenic, but the unplowed roads and steep cliffs with no guardrails was a bit of a turnoff. I ended up going in circles, so I saw a lot of the area even though there wasn’t much to see. The place was so barren that seeing a home was a highlight. Seeing a business, like a restaurant, was like spotting a unicorn: elusive, mystical and hard to fathom.


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The most important that came out of this was not that I was so late to the mountain that I was able to get the discounted evening rate, which was delightful to someone eking out a meager living as a reporter. Rather, I realized that my fantasy of living out in the quiet countryside is something I don’t want to pursue anymore.

In a city like Bridgeport, where I live, I think a lot of people would want to get away from the crime, the abandoned buildings, the traffic that’s common in the area. None of this really exists in the country, aside from the occasional dilapidated barn or outdoorsmen hunting without a license. With all the problems in Bridgeport, I yearned for the quiet countryside, where I could spend my time hunting rather than cursing at the awful drivers.

I think I still want something like this, but not to the extent I saw it as I roamed these roads I've never been on before. These weren’t even villages I was passing through. It was just the occasional trailer. The outdoors are great and all, but I need places to shop, movie theaters to go to and bars to hang out in. None of that existed in this part of upstate New York.

So I guess I can cross out totally rural areas from the places I want to live in. That still leaves Los Angeles, San Francisco, Phoenix and anywhere outside of the United States as possible future homes. Maybe a summer place outside Cherry Plain State Park would suffice for a couple months a year.

Dutifully done deception

My favorite television characters include a time-travelling Japanese nerd, a crooked cop who murdered an innocent detective in the pilot episode and a charismatic gay thug who robs drug dealers for their money and drugs. A charming bunch of guys for sure, but the character I relate to most is different.

He’s a dedicated husband, a loving father and a likeable goofball. He’s also a serial killer who feigns nearly all emotions just so he seems normal.

Yup, that’s me. Let me explain.

Dexter Morgan (played by Michael Hall) is a serial killer with a heart of gold. He only kills murderers and has a special hatred of those who harm children. He juggles his dark urges with his family and job. Through his voice-over narration, we see that the only time Dexter is really alive is when he’s killing. All other times, he’s trying as hard as he can to act normal. His stepdad taught him a lot about human behavior. The rest he learns as he goes.

Obviously, none of the serial-killer double life applies to me me. I have no sinister urges or sadistic hobbies (honestly). I relate to Dexter and how he has to pretend. I’m not the only one who feigns interest, laughs or empathy at times. Everyone does it, and I think that’s why a show about a serial killer can be Showtime’s highest rated program. We, as in normal people, don’t build our live around pretending like Dexter does. We just sprinkle it around as we see fit.

Just think how often we pretend things. It’s usually nothing serious that we’re hiding. It can be a forced chuckle after an unfunny story. A smile for no real reason. It can even be anger when all you want to do is hug the person. As a reporter, I see the fakeness regularly. Public relations people laugh at my bad jokes. Politicians express sympathy and grave concern over things when it makes them look good.

Now imagine if we all stopped pretending. I tried, but I can’t.

Framing my life with the tale of a serial killer is admittedly a stretch. Maybe it’s because I see my man Dexter as a tragic figure, which is especially true after Sunday’s season finale. No spoilers here. Just check the show out.

So I’ve kicked my anime habit for the most part, but I’ve still been watching them sporadically. Here are the last three I saw.

Nausicaa and the Valley of the Wind
The nerdy side of me quickly realized that the giant insects from the underrated Xbox 360 game Lost Planet were obviously inspired by this film. With all the Hayao Miyazaki films I’ve seen lately, this one might be my favorite. It was his first huge hit and even though it was made in the mid 80s, the only outdated thing in this movie is the awful soundtrack. Everything else, from the animation to the storyline, makes this one a classic.

Paprika
Incoherent, unexplainable perfection. I don’t really know what to say about this thriller film that looks at the nature of dreams. The video clip below makes little sense, but it provides a glimpse of this excellent, bizarre movie. By the way, it’s the only non-Miyazaki film I’ve seen since I started my binge.



Porco Rosso
Brave heroine? Check. Beautiful animation? Check. Distinct lack of villains? Check.
After watching all these Miyazaki films, I’ve realized the common threads between all his films. While they work in the other films, I felt Porco Rosso was lacking compared to the other films.

The main problem is the lack of real villains. His other films, like this one, had gray areas that made them interesting, but in this movie it just creates a lack of tension. The titular character is an ace pilot that was inexplicably turned into a pig during World War I. He’s shunned society and only resurfaces to go to his favorite restaurant and rescue ships that pirates have ransacked. The pirates are all buffoons, and so is the rival pilot they hire to kill Porco Rosso. At the end of the movie, everyone is the best of friends.

One thing I liked is that while the storyline is pure fantasy, it’s set in the real world. Italy has turned to facism, and World War II is on the horizon. That real element adds some depth that Miyazaki’s purely fictional films lack. Despite how chummy all the characters in this movie are, it’s still entertaining and better than most movies. It just comes across as Miyazaki-light.

Perhaps some animes are in order: Volume 1

When I was a kid, I used to really like boobs and gore. I still enjoy such things now and then, but my parents didn’t let me watch R-rated films. To get around this, I would rent graphic unrated anime films. Since they’re animated, I don’t think my parents caught on to my scheme.

The problem with this is that I saw a lot of awful movies. I find 98 percent of the genre to be almost unbearable. All the high-pitched voices, incomprehensible action and general weirdness turned me off, but recently I’ve found myself somewhat obsessed. Five of the last six movies I've seen have all been anime (the only one what wasn’t was Basic Instinct, and that was still awesome).

Plus, almost all of them lacked nudity or violence, but I still loved them. Here’s my first volume of thoughts on the films I’ve been binging on.

Howl’s Moving Castle: Wow. When I saw Coraline in 3D a number of months ago, I left the theater overwhelmed that artists could be so creative. The plot was OK, but it was the world that stole the show in that film. That same can be said about Hayao Miyazaki’s film. Three of the four films have been by this director, and his reputation as a genius is well warranted.



Like Coraline, the storyline here is decent enough, but it’s the world and special effects that make the movie so good. Like some of Miyazaki’s other films, there are some heavy-handed messages about war, although it's not too obnoxious when there's a beautifully drawn moving castle that sort of resembles a chicken walking around the countryside.

Princess Mononoke: I actually saw this Miyazaki film when it came out more than 10 years ago, and while I recall liking the animation, I remember losing interest in the story as the film went on. The same thing happened here.



While things become less exciting as events lead up to the environmentally-friendly ending, the characters stand out. Considering the awesome animation that shows samurai battles and massive boars possessed by demons, this is no small feat. One interesting thing about Miyazaki’s films is that the enemies are almost always portrayed sympathetically.

In this film Lady Eboshi is the pseudo-villian. She clear cuts the forest and kills animal gods just to make her town’s iron business more profitable. At the same time, she’s taken in prostitutes to work in the town. They’re considered more essential to the town’s survival than the weak men. Also, she’s taken in lepers when nobody else would. Of course, it’s for selfish reasons that she bandaged them and had their wounds tended to, but it makes her a compassionate, yet occasionally cruel, mistress.

Eventually, the film devolves into babble about the Forest Gods, but this film is still worth watching. After all, it was Japan’s highest grossing film into Titanic came along.

My Neighbor Totoro: I saw this when I was about ten years old, and while I didn’t remember what happened in the movie, some of the images have remained memorable in my mind. The cat bus. The creature Totoro waiting at the bus station with a umbrella on his head. The stunning vistas of post-WWII countryside.



This is probably the first anime I’ve ever seen, and I think its one most kids should see. As the past two films, it’s also directed by Miyazaki. I watched an old DVD version put out by Fox, so the full-screen format disappointed me. Also, some of the voice acting was a bit grating. Still, the quality of the film made it easy to overlook some technical problems.

That's all for now. Soon I'll post my thoughts on yet another Miyazaki film, in addition to an anime that wasn't even directed by him.

My Life, Your Entertainment

I think there might be something wrong with me.

I went home from work to pick up a couple things before an offensively long meeting and my street was blocked off by the police. A couple people got shot, which isn’t a terribly rare occurrence in my new neighborhood. This excited me.

My first instinct was to talk to people and report on it. This is the kind of hard stuff that’s missing at the newspaper I work at now. Sure, shootings happen fairly often in cities like Bridgeport, but each one is something that most people affected by it will never forget. There’s a story here aside from the obvious who what where when why and how.

The Connecticut Post described my neighborhood as “notorious for crime and violence” but I feel like the real story hasn’t been written yet. What about the families that live on Coleman Street? How do they feel living in a place like this? Did the absurdly high living costs of the county force them to live here(which is my situation)? What can the police do to fix the problem since the station is only a few blocks away

Maybe I’m just burnt out on long meetings about money. Maybe I’m just excited to have been affected by a violent crime, which really hasn’t happened to me before. All I know is that, right now, I’d love to pound the pavement and report on the streets.

Here are a couple articles on the incident.

No arrests in Bridgeport shooting

Cops probe Bridgeport shooting