Kiddy Grade, odd but good anime series

This show is one of the strangest things I have seen yet in the world of anime. The stars are two lolitas, and I do mean lolitas, oine pre and one post-pubescent. The young one wears a totally sexy gothic lolita outfit that is seriously twisted on a girl that young. This show just proves my point that the japanese are actually aliens. The title says it all, Kiddy Grade, as in Kiddy Porn.

Once you get past the inherent wierdness in the show it is actually quite entertaining. Here's the plotline: In Star Century Zero-One-Sixty-Five, the Global Union was born. To provide an impartial mediator to the various planetary governments of the G.U., the Galactic Organization of Trade and Tariffs, or G.O.T.T., was simultaneously formed to settle economic disputes amongst the member planets. Existing in the shadows of the G.O.T.T., the ES Force serves as the G.O.T.T.'s primary law enforcement organization. ES Force members Eclair and Lumiere are on the front line, pursuing all manner of criminals and bringing them to justice.

I give this show 4 out of five stars just on weirdness alone. Although it is obviously aimed at tween girls, I don't think you want your 11 year old to watch it.

J Geils Band Proto-Ska

When I was 13 a guy brought the new record by J Geils Band http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_J._Geils_Band, Bloodshot, to school. I was impressed by the red vinyl pressing and the first song, House Party. I was more impressed by the girl he was trying to impress, Robin Greenwald. But, that's another story. That record contained a song that later became a somewhat successful hit, Give it to Me. That song was the epitome of what white boy ska came to be. Most amazing in that band was Magic Dick AKA Richard Salwitz, the harp player extroiadinaire. he still ranks as one of the finest electric harp players of all time. Just the fact that they were Snoopy and the Sopwith Camels in the early 60's just makes it cooler, I had the snoopy and the red baron album when I was like 5!

I am all ferklempt about this revelation. I am putting Give it to me on the list of formative Ska, Biker music and other. Check me if I'm wrong.

Grace Park - Number 8, Number 1!!!

Yes this is a straight fan post. Grace Park, better known as Boomer to Battlestar Galactica http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battlestar_Galactica_(2004_TV_series) fans, is a super-fine Korean-American-Canadian actress who not only stars in BG but also has been in numerous Canadian shows including Edgemont http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgemont_(TV_series). She was born on March 14, 1974 in LA and was raised in Vancouver from the age of 22 months. Unfortunately, she is married :(

Her first film role was in Romeo Must Die http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romeo_Must_Die in 2000 with Jet Li, and in 2003 she landed the role of her life, Sharon Valerii and other copies of herself in Battlestar Galactica. Really, this post is just an excuse to post a picture of this amazing woman! Oh yes, something is also bugging me. In Season 4 episode 2 Starbuck is given the Demetrius, a sewage freighter, to take to try to find Earth. Why would they need a sewage frieghter? They have the whole of space to dump sewage, why would they need to haul it around? Afraid of polluting infinite space?

New comprehensive copyright Information site

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) www.eff.org, Electronic Information forLibraries (eIFL.net), and other international copyright experts joined together today to launch Copyright Watch -- a public website createdto centralize resources on national copyright laws at http://www.copyright-watch.org .

Copyright Watch is the first comprehensive and up-to-date onlinerepository of national and regional copyright laws. Users can findlinks by choosing a continent or by searching a country name. The sitewill be updated over time to include proposed amendments to laws, aswell as commentary and context from national copyright experts.Copyright Watch will help document how legislators around the worldare coping with the challenges of new technology and new businessmodels.

(From EFFector 22.33)

All the Anime you can Watch, and More!!!

OK, I admit it, I love cartoons. Not your Saturday morning He-Man and Pokemon cartoons, but real animated stories for adults, sort of. I am talking Anime here, stuff geared for teenagers who probably shouldn't be allowed to watch it.

I've been focusing on three sites for my fixes, Hulu, Funimation and Anime Network. Hulu is all free and has other shows besides anime like Sons of Anarchy (friggin awesome dude!), Funimation has tons of free shows and others they try to get you to pay to DL or buy, and Anime Network is a subscriber service that also has a lot of free shows. Some are totally free, some you have to register with the site for but are still free, and some you can only watch if you subscribe for $6.99 a mo or $14.99 for a quarter, the best deal. You can probably get plenty of kind toons from the freebies, though. Here are some of the ones I've especially liked so far. I will be reviewing more in the coming weeks. So, get your anime on!

Jyo-Oh-Sei http://www.hulu.com/jyu-oh-sei?c=Animation-and-Cartoons/Anime I had to watch this one from start to finish. This is on Hulu only so far, and it's worth the watch! Two young boys are dropped on a wild planet where they have to survive a ruthless bunch of warring tribes.

Death Note http://www.hulu.com/death-note?c=Animation-and-Cartoons/Anime A young man finds the Death Note, a book that kills whoever's name is written in it. He sets out to change the world, and the greatest detective in Japan sets out to solve the mysterious killings. I was glued to all 37 episodes for over a week, subtitled but worth the effort. A fantastic story line and great animation!

Baccano! http://www.hulu.com/baccano?c=Animation-and-Cartoons/Anime Another really different one. This one involves warring mafia families, one consisting of immortals, prankster robbers, and street urchins all fighting each other on trains and in the streets. It's set in 1930's US in an unnamed Chicago-like city. Truly unique and another one worth watching from start to finish.

Gunslinger Girl, Gunslinger Girl II (El Theatrino), Gunslinger Girl OVA http://www4.funimation.com/video/?page=show&b=36 http://www.hulu.com/gunslinger-girl-il-teatrino?c=Animation-and-Cartoons/Anime http://www4.funimation.com/video/?page=show&b=286 I've only started watching GSG II so far, I love it! The whole premise is insane! Little girls whose bodies are destroyed by violence or accident are rebuilt into cyborg killer hit-waifs. Only the Japanese!!

Kite Liberator http://www.hulu.com/kite-liberator?c=Animation-and-Cartoons/Anime A teenage crime fighter wipes out evil and corruption in Tokyo. so far only a 1 hour movie. I hope they come up with some more episodes!

Coyote Ragtime Show http://www4.funimation.com/video/?page=show&b=18 So far Funimation only has 4 episodes posted for free, it's a real tease because this is a really fun show. An arch criminal named "Mister" has broken out of prison and teams up with the daughter of the King of the Pirates and a band of raggedy pirates to find the King's booty and save the planet Graceland from total destruction. But here's the coolest thing: A team of Killer Robot Gothic Lolitas! It just doesn't get any better than that!

Mezzo http://www.theanimenetwork.com/Anime/Mezzo/Watch I really like this one. There's a teenage fighter girl, a 20 something slacker and a middle aged guy who's obsessed with noodles, they are the Danger Service Agency. They hire out to do various dangerous jobs, the girl is the one who does all the work! It's funny and has good story lines. All you have to do is register on Anime Network to watch this series, keep your Yen.

Devil Hunter Yohko - http://www.theanimenetwork.com/Anime/Devil-Hunter-Yohko/Watch This is kind of traditional, with a distinct Chinese style to the heroine's dress and kung-fu fighting. The story line is kind of traditional too, a magical demon fighter girl with a kind of dorky teen girl sidekick. Great production values but subtitled only that I've seen. Unfortunately for subscribers only on Anime Network.

Elfin Lied http://www.theanimenetwork.com/Anime/Elfen-Lied/Watch This is really different. Nyu is a childlike waif found by a couple of teenagers naked on a beach, little do they know she is a dual personality mutant with a vicious killer living inside her. touching, charming and very gory! First episode is free, the rest are subscribers only.

Koi Koi 7 http://www.theanimenetwork.com/Anime/Koi-Koi-Seven-Subtitled/Watch This series riffs on the old power rangers style of fighting teams, there's stylized posing, teen panties and of course, giant robots piloted by schoolgirls. Shows like this make me realize how twisted the Japanese really are. Subscriber only on Anime Network

Steam Detective http://www.theanimenetwork.com/Anime/Steam-Detectives/Watch Steamboy spinoff about a teenage boy detective in a steam powered world. Entertaining and there's no giant robots or full metal suits. Well there are some robots, but they're steam powered and not at all like the typical full metal stuff. Pretty wholesome and one of the few that would be good for the kids! Subscribers only on Anime Network.

Planet Gong, US tour Kent Ohio 1977

Psychedelic music fans, especially in the UK and Europe may know about Gong via bands like Ozrick Tentacles, and Steve Hillage's System 7, but I was there in 1977 and the reality of it was something else! Gong was doing what the Grateful Dead was doing on our continent, but different. They had a totally improvised format, and the concept of Free Floating Anarchy. This is the most beautiful political theory ever created, because it has NO RULES.

As far as the music goes, Tim Blake was sequencing Mini Moogs and Echoplexes to make the Crystal Machine, the basis for the Ozrick Tentacles sound, but on a much more primitive level. Steve Hillage strapped a massage vibrator onto his hand creating the style known as Glissando guitar! You had to be there to appreciate it.

Gong rolled in to Kent Ohio at 8 a.m. and me and my 17 year old buddies were there to meet the bus. busses, actually. It turned out there were more people on the entourage than there were who bought tickets at the college. There were all these cat people with whiskers painted on their faces, I knew this was going to be an interesting day. Gilly Smyth, AKA Shakti Yoni, was wearing a designer outfit made of garbage bags, kind of an elf, punk, christian dior thing. She was the first to approach me while everyone was milling around, we had a nice talk about the comparative boredome of the UK vs Midwest US.

First up was Daevid Allen's Gong. Steve Hillage on guitar, Diedier Malherbe on sax, Pierre Moerlin on percussion, Tim Blake on the Crystal Machine. and Gilly Smythe on space whisper. Next was Pierre Moerlin's Gong. Hypnotic percussion oriented Jazz. very nice. Gilly Smythe did a set after that, and Daevid Allen joined her for some songs from Magic Brother, Mystic Sister. This was one of the musical high points of my life. Then Hillage came on for a set of Submarine Captain Spillage songs, and Allen came back with the rest of the band to finish for Master Builder. Seriously, this was the formative musical experience of my life. Everything else was just gravy.

This kind of story is why I can't really do Twitter. I hope someone reads this and enjoys it. Peace in!

Steve