A little catching up

Well, after last week's viral fiasco, I'm finally able to post without having a virus scan or pop-up slow me down, I'll take the time to write one of those personal 'catching up with Jon' posts. My trip to Hawaii was great, caught up with old friends, and ate onolicious ('ono' means 'hella good') food almost every day. I remarked to a friend of mine that it's great taking a vacation to a place you've lived or been to enough (in my case, the former) because you can just relax and enjoy yourself and not get stressed out from all of the tourist itineraries, running from one sightseeing spot to another.

Speaking of the Minutemen (we weren't, but whatever), I recently borrowed several of their albums from a friend mainly for the nostalgia but I've really found myself listening to them with fresh ears again. Glad I got to see fIREHOSE, the Minutemen's successors, in '92. Rock on in heaven, D. Boon.

Back on track (ahem), I'm really happy about the recent announcement by Criterion/Eclipse films to release a boxset of Mizoguchi's films which will be titled "Kenji Mizoguchi's Fallen Women", available on October 21st. Mizoguchi, along with Mikio Naruse, was one of the few Japanese filmmakers who accurately captured the trials and tribulations of the women in modern and postmodern Japan. This set will include four films, the last of which, I believe, has never been released in North America: Street of Shame, Sisters of the Gion, Osaka Elegy, and Women of the Night. I'm slightly bummed that I just recently picked up a copy of Eureka's edition of Street of Shame but I love Mizoguchi enough to double-dip. Now, if only Criterion would release more Naruse films, I would be a happy man.

Speaking of being happy (and spending money), I'd been waiting for several years and finally got myself a cheap copy of the Wonderswan game, Uzumaki. I haven't had a chance to play the game yet but I am looking forward to some swirly horror game goodness. From the back of the box, the game looks like a genre that the Japanese call a "sound novel", basically the game is told with lots of text, audio clips, and minimal graphics. To tell you the truth, these sorts of games tend to be pretty boring, I'd much rather have some sort of action game in which I play Kirie, running from sliced naruto, snails, and renegade washing machines. If you are a little puzzled about what I'm talking about, check out the manga and/or movie and get ready for some supreme wacked out fun.

That's all for now!