A mask, a-masked, oh my!

I tend to look up things on Etsy on a whimsy, more to window shop than to actually seriously buy. This time, with autumn - and the Halloween season - approaching, my thoughts turned to masks.

There are some seriously cool pieces out there, and though most of these price tags make me wince, there's no denying they're amazing nonetheless. Here are some of my favorites:

TheSixthPetal's Stone Face Half Mask ($36 USD)


BedfordFalls's Caillech Mask ($70 USD)


Pilgrimage's Fire Elemental Leather Mask ($125 USD)

A rant on the American manga industry.

As I find myself falling back into manga yet again, I inevitably find myself wondering once more, why are the books so bloody expensive!?

With each volume costing $9.99 USD + tax, and many of the more popular series having more than 15, 20 volumes and still ongoing, it's no wonder so many people look to scanlations instead of buying. I have yet to figure out what can justify that price tag for a volume... especially when I've seen Chinese translations of the same volumes going for $40NTD, roughly $1.25 USD. It's unfortunate, especially because scanlations are no guarantee for quality. (And yet, I remember the Prince of Tennis officially translated manga, and the liberties which Viz took to editing it. So perhaps official manga aren't as much of a guarantee either.)

Undoubtedly, translation costs might be more expensive in the US, as well as licensing costs. One might also argue that the companies here use better paper - and yet, I'm fairly sure most fans would prefer a cheaper version with slightly poorer quality paper. Does that all add up to $9.99 USD though? Or is this just a holdover from the idea that all comics should cost that much - when most American comics are full-colour and really do cost more to print. I'm sorry, but I just can't see a single manga volume being worth that much. Perhaps it's even to support those series that are losing money. Guess what, though! If you made it cheaper, likely more people would be willing to fork up the cash. Heaven knows I do for regular novels. Surprisingly, fans actually do want to support the series they like! It doesn't help my disgruntlement that companies will pick up a series, and then drop it before they finish it completely. Now, it's marked as licensed, and yet those last few volumes will never get translated.

Please though, change my mind. Tell me why I should pay this $9.99 price tag, instead of, say, buying Chinese volumes and then reading scanlations. Tell me why I should support these companies that just seems to want to rip me off. I'm really, honestly curious.

Really, what's a fan to do? I'll just be over here, buying used volumes instead.

And she returns!

Well, that was a bit of an unexpected hiatus, as summer lessons and then jet lag ended up slightly overwhelming. But I'm back in California, folks! And I'll hopefully have more time for this blog.

In the meanwhile, I'd just like to say that I have discovered maple candy, and I am enamoured. The brand I got my hands on is made by Brown Family Farm, and you can buy some for yourself at their website here. Do be warned that the candies are rather sweet - it's like a maple sugar cube just melting in your mouth - so if you've not got much of a sweet tooth, it might not be for you. Otherwise? Delicious.

Quick Bookish Thoughts

Graduating has meant having more time to start on that giant "to read" list I've been compiling. It also means having the time to go through those impulse books I end up buying whenever I wander through a book store.

Some quick thoughts so far:
The Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan - I admit, I decided to check out the series because the movie poster looked interesting, and well. Greek myths! How could I not? And though I ended up not watching the movie (ticket lines being ridiculously long + hot and humid Taiwan evenings), I did get my hands on the first book after all... and then marathoned through that, went back to the bookstore for the second book the next day, and eventually marathoned through the entire series. My poor wallet, but it was so, so worth it. It's fun! It's heartwarming! The Greek gods are truly all too human, as they should be. (The portrayal of Hades in this series was awesome.) I love the entire cast and now I'm really curious what the follow-up series in this 'verse will be like.

Druids by Morgan Llywelyn - First Greek mythology, and then the Celts. As of now, I'm halfway through Druids and somewhat ambivalent about whether I want to pick it back up. The first half was intriguing, with the protagonist Ainvar starting to develop into himself as a person, with the book beginning to unfold the different conflicts between the Romans and the Celts and the Germans, with the worldbuilding in general. As a protagonist, Ainvar is intensely flawed - he's selfish and seems willing to do almost anything to get what he wants; undoubtedly some of it is the symptom of his youth and the mantle of power he has yet to grow into. But it's also the fact that he's so selfish that has me a little wary of progressing in the book, now that it's dealing with him and his women troubles, and him wanting his cake and eating it too. Because the book is written in first person from Ainvar's point of view, there's this automatic implication that the actions Ainvar takes are good or positive choices, when as a reader some of those choices are absolutely cringe-worthy. It's a tone issue that's not terrible enough to keep me away, but at the moment, it's making me reluctant to get back to it.

The Kingdom Beyond The Waves by Stephen Hunt - I have... yet to get past the second chapter, to be honest. Which is really sad, given I was hoping for a fun steampunk read and instead got something that made me really uncomfortable thanks to the book's narrative tone. The problem is I'm also having difficulty trying to pinpoint exactly why I have such a problem with the book, and I just can't. I'm sorry.

Nine Gates by Jane Lindskold - After reading Nine Gates, I somewhat suspect it is in fact part of a series, and not the first book besides. Despite that fact, it lessened none of my enjoyment of the book; indeed, it was easy to get into and pick up what the situation was, even if I didn't know firsthand some of the events the characters referred to. It was easy enough to get a general gist from context. This was another book I couldn't put down once I picked it up, and even more delightfully, it had not a few strong female characters. (In fact, they truly stole the show, I thought!) My only real issue with the book was the names. Yes, for the Orphan Earth branches, maybe they really do call themselves "Pearl Bright" and such. But I can't imagine those from the Lands introducing themselves as "Righteous Dragon" or "Waking Lizard" when the language they'd be speaking would have them pronouncing it as, you know, Chinese. (Nor are all Chinese names so neatly translated so!) I ended up with the impression that the author was just trying to make them sound more ~exotic~. Which for former famous actress Pearl Bright is one thing, but for the rest of the cast, is more than a little silly. Still, will I be looking for the rest of the books in the series? Oh, definitely.

The Demon's Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan - What can I say? I knew I loved Brennan's writing and that she could craft a strong plot, based on having read her previous, more fannish projects. Indeed, I was not disappointed at all by her first original work. Here you had a book that refused to fall into the tropes common to many young adult literature, that focused on familial bonds despite how difficult that could be at points. I was delighted by the fact that the romances weren't really a point of the book at all; they were just there, as yet another aspect of their lives. The plot was well-paced and never boring, and with the strong cast of characters, this book is definitely not something to miss out on. (Also, I am giddy about the fact that we have a homosexual character to whom being homosexual is nothing remarkable. Just, yes, I want more of this, please. Sometimes, being gay is not a big deal! Ideally, being gay shouldn't be a big deal, just like being straight isn't!)

Conclusions: I need to get the next book in The Demon's Lexicon series, as soon as it's out in paperback, though waiting will be frustrating. Same goes for hunting down the other books in Lindskold's series and Riordan's. I'll be giving Druids another chance when I get in the mood for it, but I think at this point I'm giving up on The Kingdom Beyond The Waves.

o7/o9/2o1o - 奇哥 Chico @ XinYi's Eslite

It turns out that XinYi's Eslite store (4th floor, music section) brings in live music acts every Friday from 8-9pm, as I discovered while browsing their quite decent indie section. (They even have vinyl! Bloody expensive vinyl, but still!) Today's turned out to be a bass- and violin-wielding duo going by the name of 奇哥 (Chico). I suspect they were father and daughter, but I'm not... actually sure? But even if they weren't amazing, they certainly weren't terrible either, and at the very least, they were really, really bloody entertaining.

They kicked it off with an original song called 晚安, which was lovely to listen to even if the lyrics didn't seem to scan well in some places. It wasn't bad until the song apparently reached a section that consisted of the vocalist/bassist speaking out "Good night!" in different languages, most of which were pretty accented and kind of squashed together to fit into the song besides. I'm sorry, but I just couldn't think of it as anything but utterly hilarious.

What followed after was a somewhat scattered monologue on how much he loved playing bass and also how he was Very Sad that Germany lost in the World Cup. Keep this in mind, because this was essentially his theme the entire hour the show ran when he wasn't playing music - how bass was awesome and also rambling on about the German football team. He even attempted to teach us how to say "Out!" in German (Weg, if you're curious), holding up a red card he'd written the word on as he did so. He really was just really entertaining, even if by then I was slightly sceptical about his music.

I'd like to say right now though, that the violinist was awesome. And I am sad that she does not play on the CD I bought from them afterward.

But continuing on in the vein about how he loved to play bass, Chico regaled us on a story about how he used to play guitar! And decided he liked bass better. And then decided to see whether he could play Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven on bass. He could, he learned, and so he figured it out on the bass, and then decided he could play it for the public! But given his public was Taiwanese, he realised, he needed to translate it! So yeah, it turned out he'd prepared to play for us Stairway of Heaven, with the lyrics translated into the Taiwanese dialect - which let me tell you, the translation doesn't exactly fit into the song's measures in the first place.

I was staying pretty much for the entertainment value at this point, but after, the show really seemed to begin. There was still hilarious chatter about his love for the bass and such, but the original songs they began to play then were actually pretty nice to listen to, especially with the violin. (Really, the violin meshed with the bass so, so well.) The lyrics were still somewhat iffy in places, but they weren't ridiculous, which at that point I thought was good enough. The second to last song played - 磨菇之歌 - was my favorite.

Overall, I thought they had strong instrumentals but the lyrics could be much, much improved. Nor does the CD really show how awesome the instrumental is, because it's only the dude and his bass! Which is very sad, in my opinion. Still, it was pretty awesome, considering I wasn't even expecting to see a live show tonight. (And now I have Cats On Fire's album "Our Temperance Movement" to listen to, too!)

Silian Rail & By Sunlight - A/SUNG SURRENDER

Apologies, this post has been awhile in coming.

Silian Rail and By Sunlight introduced a joint EP during their recent May tour, which included two new songs from each band. A/Sung Surrender does well to serve as a sample of what kind of music to expect from both bands, especially if one is new to either.

After having heard Silian Rail live, what came tumbling through my computer speakers was almost disappointing in comparison. There just wasn't the same sense of intensity, like when the music charged forth at the ~1:50 mark in "A". Obviously, one can't reproduce the live experience in a record; still I was expecting a bit more impact than I got. Nonetheless both "A" and "Faith NC" were

What had drawn me to By Sunlight in the first place had been their lyrics as much as their style; in this regard, both "Sung Surrender" and "No More Miracles" more than satisfied me. For example, "We turned to disguise all our moves and murmurs/With closeness kept you hypnotized/I lost you there in a sung surrender/As movement stilled and slowly died" scanned brilliantly and was some lovely imagery to boot. On the other hand, as much as I loved the lyrics of "No More Miracles," I felt the song as a whole was too drawn out. In general, I tend to be of two minds concerning By Sunlight's longer songs - I love the pure instrumental that comprises of half the length of these songs, but at the same time I think they overdo it. Even with one of my favorites - "Twilight Shy" from their previous album - I felt that cutting it off at the six minute mark would have made the song stronger. For "No More Miracles" it took five minutes to reach peaking point. With such a slow build-up, the song definitely would have been better off ending at the climax than spending another three minutes breaking down the tension again.

Perhaps I'm missing the point.

Still, I like the EP well enough, both bands' sides of it. And hey, if you're a fan, or merely want to sample their music, it's a good place to start.

Stornoway - Beachcomber's Windowsill

Stornoway's debut album has turned out to be a treasure of a find since I first stumbled upon it at my local record store.

Beachcomber's Windowsill is eleven tracks of absolutely charming songs. Labeled as indie/alternative pop, the Oxford band's songs in truth are more flexible in identity, showing elements of folk and rock amongst other genres. There's something pure and joyous about these songs and the way they celebrate simple love and life.

Musically, Stornoway has taken full advantage of their resources. Not content to limit themselves to the traditional guitar-bass-drums(-keyboard) combo of a typical band, Stornoway brought in guest musicians to add brass and strings for several of their tracks, in addition to the band's own considerable skills both vocal and instrumental. I was delighted the first time I heard "I Saw You Blink" and its chorus with intertwining vocals. As well, both "We Are The Battery Human" and "Here Comes The Blackout...!" clearly showcased how well the members of this band harmonized with each other. "The Coldharbour Road" was hauntingly beautiful and made good use of strings.

Overall, Beachcomber's Windowsill is both foot-tapping fun and slower, poignant beauty. If you are able, I hope you do pick up the album. (Details of where to buy it can be found on their Myspace page, which I've linked at the start.) I look forward to seeing what this band will do in the future.

Beachcomber's Windowsill tracklist:
1. Zorbing
2. I Saw You Blink
3. Fuel Up
4. The Coldharbour Road
5. Boats And Trains
6. We Are The Battery Human
7. Here Comes The Blackout...!
8. Watching Birds
9. On The Rocks
10. The End Of The Movie
11. Long Distance Lullaby