Published on Thursday August 7, 2008 .
I was casually perusing some books at Barnes & Noble on my lunch break when this duo (brother and sister, maybe?) of white trash psuedo-goth teenagers (it’s a strange breed to describe but they are rampant in the south and if you’ve seen them before you know what I am talking about) rush the manga shelves and start making a bunch of noise. I wasn’t really bothered by them, but they (particularly the girl) were loud enough as to catch my attention. I guess the fact that she was loud wasn’t as obnoxious as the fact that she kept repeating everything she said until her counterpart paid attention (”Robbie, it’s over here. The big manga section. Over here. Robbie. Robbie. Robbie, it’s here. The manga section. Over here, by the comics. Robbie.. Robbie..etc.”) Later on I crossed paths with them again:
Girl: “Oh my god, look. ‘Manga For Dummies!’ Look. Manga. For Dummies. MangaForDummies!”
Boy: (silent)
Me: ….
Girl: (holding up book) “Manga For Dummies!”
Boy: (still silent)
Me: That’s certainly repetitive!
Girl: “I know– what’s ‘repetitive’ mean?”
You don’t know what “repetitive” means? These kids were easily 13 years old. Maybe older.
I don’t feel one way or the other about manga. I don’t know much about it. I do know that every time I go into one of the “big box” bookstores I always seem to see a collection of dorky kids languishing on the carpet and reading manga for hours. This bugs me a little, but I don’t think its damaging to society or anything, though I think that you would get your ass kicked out of the store if you were doing that mess in a real comic shop.
Kim, on the other hand, sees another side of manga at her job. Kim views manga the way that parents viewed American comics in the 1960’s: They’ll rot your brain, make you even dumber than you already are and they have no redeemable value. She’s hypothesized that manga is a ploy created by the Japanese to get America back for the H-Bomb (actually I think I was the one who came up with that ). Her venom for manga is serious and to me its seriously entertaining to watch her get all worked up about it. I think she really snapped when she saw something like this, but really she probably just has a better understanding of people that are checking manga out of the library. After my little run-in with the dumb kids at Barnes & Noble, I kind of see how easy it is to generalize them all as dumbasses.
Published on Wednesday August 6, 2008 .
It really should be a bigger story, but, surprisingly, a lot of people haven’t heard about the totally batshit-crazy brutality that occurred on a Greyhound Bus in Canada a few days ago. Suffice to say, some whacko snapped and brutally stabbed this 22-year old kid a gazillion times (one eyewitness said 40 to 50 times) with a Rambo knife and then cut off his head and displayed it to the terrified passengers outside of the bus (they did the sensible thing and ran the fuck off of that bus, anyone who says they “could have stopped him” are exhibiting a severe case of “Armchair Quarterback Syndrome.” Sure, 37 people might have subdued him, but these are normal folks riding a Greyhound, not a paramilitary police force. One fatality could have easily turned into two or more fatalities and who really wants to be the guy who gets stabbed while 36 others jump on this guy and “kick his ass.”)
According to the myspace profile of the victim, Tim “Jokawild” McLean was an Insane Clown Posse fan. I mean how crazy is that? ICP has like a kabillion songs about decapitation. I haven’t heard much ICP, but I’d say decapitation was at least mentioned in the half-dozen or so songs I have been exposed to. The probability of this kid getting randomly decapitated on a bus in Manitoba has got to be be on par with an Ozzy Osbourne fan actually becoming possessed by demons.
I had planned to only take a few days off this month when my boss swaggered into my office boasting about his 100 accrued hours of vacation time. “I’m definitely gonna take some time off soon,” he said.
“Well I have 71 hours and I am only taking three days off.” I replied.
“Wow, 71 already? You should take the whole week off.”
So I am.
I just bought a bus ticket for a short trip to NYC to visit some friends from college. I don’t know if I will get to see everyone I’d like to see, honestly, I’m not sure that matters. I, of course, want to see every one of my pals that I don’t get to see often but I really just want to get away from this area for awhile. NYC is about as far from Norfolk, VA as you can get, as far as scenery and overall vibe, without going to the west coast. I just need a damn break.
Unfortunately, Kim won’t be coming a long, but this gives her a break from my nonsense too. When I come back we’re having a “staycation” in Ghent. She says I have to bring her back some Italian cookies like the ones we got in Brooklyn last time we were up there. I won’t be staying in Brooklyn this time, but I am sure I’ll find something.
I am travelling with a small charter bus company (i.e. not a Greyhound) and the price is a ridiculous bargain. If it works out well I might do this more often.
Brett: since I just remembered that I forgot to call you, this is my formal announcement that I am coming to the City and if you can make it out, I’d love to meet up.