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The Coolest Thing I Did This Year

The Arcade Fire, Reflektor

I have a bad memory.

I feel like this is at least in part due to my heroic intake of aspartame via diet coke from my early childhood up until a few years ago, when I kicked it more-or-less entirely. I’m certainly hoping that someone draws a link between aspartame and memory loss, because I am DOWN for some of that sweet class-action money–my diet coke intake was so prodigious that it even got a shout-out in volume 4 of Scott Pilgrim.

But I digress.

I have a bad memory, and so when someone asks me how my summer was, or to reflect on my year, or “so what was the coolest thing about your trip to Japan?” I get a little scared because I can never pull that info up. I’m bad at it. I try to rehearse a few key things so I have something to do other than stare blankly. Japan trips in particular are tough, because I’m usually pretty depressed when I come back from Japan, and the trip itself has smushed together into a warm fuzzy comforting blur, and the disparity between those two states of mind, and my aformentioned poor memory, tend to obliterate details in their entirety.

So, we were talking about music at work, and cool music we liked this year (This was a month ago, when that discussion would’ve made sense, but I’ve also gotten shitty at blogging in a timely fashion so here we are, February!). I mentioned that I really liked the new Arcade Fire, Reflektor, and then I remembered how I came to own it, and it was one of the coolest things I did this year.

You see I was in Japan, and I was there for three weeks. Long trip! I knew I wanted to travel and get out of Tokyo, my last bunch of trips had been confined to Tokyo, and while I love the city, Japan has lots for me to discover, and those discoveries tend to come more quickly when I travel outside of the city. So I bought a JR Pass, a rail pass good for free travel on the national train lines anywhere in the country. And I decided that I would either go to Hiroshima, I’ve never been, or go back to Hokkaido (and Sapporo in particular) because I’d only been once and loved it there. I’d let fate decide, I had a bit of business I could do for UDON with the good folks at Crypton (stewards of international virtual idol sensation Hatsune Miku), headquartered in Sapporo. If they wanted to meet with me, I’d go to Sapporo. If they were unable, I’d go to Hiroshima.

I should note, at this point, I fully intend to go to Hiroshima, I just haven’t been able to commit to it, it’s huge in my head… I don’t know how else to describe it, it’s too big, and sad. Seriously. I went to the war museum adjacent to the highly-controversial Yasakuni Shrine, and I was bawling by the end of that. Meticulously catalogued death, I could not deal. So, yeah, I’m going to go, but I just need to psyche myself up for it. Next time.

As you may have guessed, I went up north to Hokkaido. I spent the night in Hakodate, a lovely little town with great history, food, and lots of onsen. Super cute trolleys running through the town too. It was a great stop, and now I want to go back there, too.

Anyway, I’m getting ahead of myself a little here.

The main island of Japan, the island that Tokyo and Osaka and Kyoto are on, is called Honshu, And the island north of that is Hokkaido, and that’s the island that Sapporo is on, and they brew beer there. Actually, I have a lot more to say about Sapporo than that, including that I love it there and could totally live there for the three summer months that Tokyo basically becomes unliveable thanks to the 105 degree heat, digress digress digress.

To get from Tokyo to Sapporo, most Japanese just fly. It costs about $100, $150 to do so, round trip. It’s about an hour and a half. Like flying Toronto to New York. It’s like… 9 or 10 hours by train, I think. But, if you’re going to Osaka and Kyoto and wherever else in Japan, where you would have to pay for train tickets anyway, it becomes free to go up to Hokkaido… if you bought a train pass. Frankly, I can use some time to decompress, I’m a little busy usually, a 5 hour stretch on a train actually sounds lovely. Except, as I mentioned it’s a separate island. But, amazingly, the Japanese government built a railway and drilled a tunnel underground to connect the two islands, under the Tsugaru Strait, called the Sekai tunnel, and it goes underground and underwater for nearly 24km. It goes 240m below sea level, and 140m below the seabed. If you have fears of things related to those two ideas, it is intense. It connects Aomori, on Honshu, with Hakodate, on Hokkaido.

Also, it now becomes relevant to point out that for like 8 bucks a day you can get a sim card for your iphone with unlimited data, unlimited local calling, and a bunch of free international calling, for your trip to Japan. There’s nothing like decompressing on a train for 5 hours when you can just read infinite tweets.

So I’m in Aomori, and I get on a train named SUPER HAKUCHO, and via Twitter I read, and am reminded, that The Arcade Fire released their album the day prior.

So I go to iTunes, which works just fine, and I see it’s there.

And as my train is hurtling at high-speed towards a 24km tunnel under the sea in Japan, I purchase, and download the complete album on my phone. It completes in about 8 minutes.

I start listening to the album as we enter the tunnel. I’m 240m below sea-level on the other side of the world, listening to my favourite Canadian band on my phone.

I smile, because every aspect of that moment is something that I had wished for, longed for, really, since I was a child and first became enchanted by the promise of technology, and travel, and Japan as a gateway to these ideas.

I get that this is a stupid, small moment, and one that I’d seemingly forgotten until last month, but looking back at it, it’s just so… cool. The perfect encapsulation of the life I’ve wanted for so long, and now it’s here, and isn’t that great? 

Anyway, just thought I’d share. Hope you had some cool stuff happen to you this year as well.  🙂

– Chris
P.S.: I really liked the album, obviously.

 

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2013

It was a very good year and a very tough year, all things considered. I am very fortunate though, that the highs of the year were spectacularly high, that I got to see as much of the world as I did, and that I have a good man to share it with.

Here’s a little of my 2013, and here’s to all of us having a good 2014.

– Chris

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November


December

See ya in 2014!

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Remember, Remember, the First of December [repost]

Style Webcomic #2 - © Bryan Lee O'Malley

Once upon a time I lived with Bryan Lee O’Malley and this other guy, and we used one of the rooms in the house for our office. It housed all of our computers. I was kind of poor, so I had a pair of hand-me-down speakers for my computer and no headphones, wheras Mal and Other Guy both had pretty bitch’n headphones. So it made sense to me that I could just play the music I wanted because they couldn’t hear it anyway. About the time Christmas rolled around and I started listening to Christmas music 24 hours a day, I was informed that my music could in fact be heard, and was in fact intolerable.

That did not deter me. So Bryan made me a comic strip.

I still consider it a tribute, rather than a threat.

– Christopher

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Apply for Slate’s “The Cartoonist Studio Prize”

Last year, The Slate Book Review and The Center for Cartoon Studies teamed to create The Cartoonist Studio Prize. It’s actually two, $1000 prizes awarded to cartoonists for their graphic novel or their web comic of the year. Eligible works are English language, published between January 1 and December 31 of the previous year.

They’re continuing the award this year! http://www.cartoonstudies.org/index.php/studio-prize/

I’m very happy to announce that I was asked to be the featured guest judge this year, and I’ll work with Dan Kois of Slate, and James Sturm and the faculty of the Center for Cartoon Studies, to determine a winner. I’m also very glad that it’s a largeish group deciding on the best book, as it will minimize the recrimination. 🙂

If you’re interested in submitting your work for consideration, head to http://www.cartoonstudies.org/index.php/studio-prize/ and check out the appropriate forms.

Thanks to Dan, James, and everyone for the opportunity. 🙂

– Christopher

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And I’m Off…!

Hey folks,

If you’re reading this I’m travelling right now. If you’d like to say hello while I’m in your neck of the woods, drop me a line at chris at beguiling dot com.

Here’s where I’ll be:

Oct 15-17, 2013: Manchester, England

Oct 18-21, 2013: Kendal, England. Lakes International Comic Arts Festival

October 23-November 10, 2013: Japan (Tokyo, Kyoto, Sapporo) Various Events

I’ll be a guest of The Lakes International Comic Arts Festival, which you can find out more about here: http://www.comicartfestival.com/

TCAF will be exhibiting at Kaigai Manga Festa in Tokyo Japan, and I’ll be there just after for some of the follow-up events. You can find out about that here: http://torontocomics.com/news/tcaf-to-japan-kaigai-manga-festa-october-20th-2013/

All in all, I’ll be travelling for about a month, and completely circumnavigating the globe for the first time! I’m beyond thrilled, and very fortunate to be able to do some cool things and spread the good word of comics all over the globe. I still feel, too, that the best is yet to come. 🙂

Thanks for reading,

– Christopher

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Takeshi Murakami’s Magical Girl Anime

I tend to be very interested in the crossover between Japanese Pop Culture, specifically anime and manga, and the world of fashion and cosmetics, which is usually a few light years away. I like the tension between mass and niche appeal, and mostly I like seeing really great looking products thanks to nearly unlimited fashion/cosmetics budgets. The latest collaboration to catch my eye is the above collaboration between Japanese artist Takeshi Murakami, already renown/reviled for re-appropriating anime and manga ideas into the fine arts sphere, and cosmetics giant Shu Uemura.

The result? Like the title says, it’s Takeshi Murakami’s Magical Girl Anime.

Yowza.

– Christopher

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Ghibli Museum – Significant Overseas Ticket Price Increase!

Hey everyone!

I got a comment on my blog that reminded me about something that I’ve been meaning to post. The Ghibli Museum, a must-visit spot for anyone going to Japan, is still an amazing space and incredibly inexpensive to visit, at only 1000yen!

However, JTB, Japan Travel Bureau, the only way to purchase Ghibli tickets from overseas, has taken to charging customers exorbitant rates, with a ridiculous currency exchange AND huge ‘transaction fees’! Basically that 1000yen ticket (about CDN$10.58 by today’s exchange rate) now costs nearly $40! That’s $13.00 +tax for the ticket, and a $25.00 transaction fee!

While I think this is unacceptable and plan on mailing off a letter of complaint to the good folks at the Ghibli Museum about what their business partner is up to, this is pretty much the only game in town for foreign visitors at the moment. So read on for my suggestions for a Japan-bound traveler on what to do.

Comment Submitted on 2013/10/09 at 6:49 pm

Hi,

I’ve been enjoying your blog as of late as I prepare for my trip to Japan at the end of October. I really want to visit the museum but was wondering about the ticket situation. To buy the ticket from the states, it would cost $40. To buy it in Japan, it would cost $10. I’m a bit of a cheap-arse. Kinda hard to swallow the markup. Do you think it’d be prudent of me to purchase the tickets in the states? How difficult would it be to acquire the tickets in Japan? Great blog! Thanks for the help.

– Jerry

Hey there Jerry,

Thanks for your comment on my blog!

To answer your question–yes, the new ‘transaction fee’ that JTB is charging is insane.  I don’t know that I can 100% recommend either the “buy early, pay through the nose” method, or the “take your chances in Japan” method as being a good deal though.

Here’s what you’re looking at:

Buying Ghibli tickets in Japan:
– Only 1000 yen!
– You can only buy them from a Japanese electronic vending machine, only at LAWSON convenience store, and the machine is Japanese-language only!
– The machine may or may not take your foreign Visa/Mastercard. This has been iffy for me in the past.
– Tickets bought in Japan have an “admission time” on them, meaning you MUST enter at that time or within an hour afterwards, or your ticket is invalid.
– Tickets sell out QUICK, so by the time you get to Japan, all the tickets for your dates may be unavailable.

Buying in North America:
– $40! Highway robbery! a 400% markup is unacceptable for an ‘administration fee’.
– International tickets are good all day, no ‘start time’ so you can plan a flexible schedule!
– You can buy international tickets months and months in advance.
– It’s way easier to plan your trip when the tickets are confirmed early.

So! If you’re the type to fly by the seat of your pants, then good, go for the cheap option! Otherwise, swallow your pride (and $30 that could go towards 2 great bowls of ramen) and pay for the convenience. If you need to have your trip set in stone, pay the money for the peace of mind.

Though, frankly, the third option is the best: Beg a friend of yours in Japan to buy them for you!

Thanks,

– Christopher

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Headed to Lakes International Comic Arts Festival

I’m quite happy to note that folks that live around the above picturesque area, the Lakes District in England, north of Manchester, are holding a comic book festival. It’s called The Lakes International Comic Arts Festival, and they’ve got a robust website at http://www.comicartfestival.com/. The show is just around the corner, scheduled for October 18-20.

The show is being put together, near as I can tell, by Sean Phillips, Brian and Mary Talbot, and some wonderful people who live in the Lakes District. The idea behind the show? It’s a little like TCAF in terms of scale (and name), and a little like Angouleme in terms of their desire to bring the whole town to life with the medium of comics (in this case, the town’s name is Kendal). I find this thrilling. One of my most fervent desires in administering TCAF since its second year has been to more thoroughly involve Toronto in the Festival and the medium of comics, and just in their planning alone these fine folks seem to be doing in their first year what we haven’t quite managed in 10. Granted, Kendal is beautiful and lovely with a population of 28,000, and the Greater Toronto Area is perhaps 100 times that big, but that’s still a hell of a lot of moxy and I’m impressed.

I’m happy to be travelling to Kendal to take in their first show and, where possible, offer any advice or assistance gleaned from running TCAF for the past little while. Mostly though, I’m excited by a strong slate of programming and I’m looking forward to getting reacquainted with guests including the Talbots, Ed Brubaker, and Darryl Cunnighamn, and meeting some of their other fantastic guests including Charlie Adlard, Sean Phillips, Gary Pleece, Kurt Busiek, and more besides. Hell, I don’t think I got to meet their guest Glyn Dillon (The Nao of Brown) when he was at MY show this year!

Now, it’s probably too late for most of you to plan and book a trip to England in two weeks, but if you happen to be in the country I sincerely hope you’ll consider making the trip to see some of the many very cool events taking place, and meeting some of the exhibitors. That website address, again, is http://www.comicartfestival.com/.

If you do see me, feel free to say hello. I won’t be anywhere in particular at the event, just wandering about, but looking in the pub probably isn’t a bad idea. 😉

Best,

– Chris

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A little bit on Villains Month

From the Villains Month FAQ 2.0 that DC sent out yesterday:

5. Why didn’t DC print at least as many copies of each of the 3-D motion cover issues as they do on the regular monthly series?

Orders greatly exceeded DCE’s expectations. We did not anticipate that the demand for these covers would be as large – or larger – than the demand for each monthly series. The 3-D motion covers also required a much longer production time than normal covers, so we had to set print runs on these issues out of cycle. As more retailers saw sample copies, orders continued to build beyond the print runs we had set. There was also a physical limit to how many copies we could print due to availability of the special cover stock.

So there’s a few things in there worth unpacking.

– They printed FEWER total of the special issues than of their standard issues, which means, assuming that everyone who wanted Green Arrow #23 also wanted Green Arrow #23.1, there were always going to be cuts or allocations. This strikes me as exceptionally poor planning.
– This was their two year anniversary month for the new 52.
– This means that for their two year anniversary month, they deliberately planned to sell fewer copies than they normally would be able to sell, on their anniversary.
– And didn’t tell anybody beforehand.

Who goes into their anniversary month saying “Hey, I’ve got a great idea, lets sell fewer comics this month, guaranteed, than we did the month previous!” ? It strikes me as an exceptionally poor business practice from inception through execution, even with the higher unit-price on these books (Villains Month books were about a buck more than usual). If there were “physical limits to how many copies [they] could print due to availability of the special cover stock,” then they could have taken any number of steps to compensate, including fewer overall titles.

I tried to stay out of this because it seems like a pretty standard problem–retailers under-order on books all the time, and in this case, a publisher under-ordered. Fuck-ups happen, you take responsibility, and make it right. But what galls me is the complete lack of contrition, or of someone at DC stepping up to say “Hey, this was me, my fault.” is… it’s upsetting.

I respect people who make mistakes and admit to them. I make mistakes all the time, because I go out there and I try to do different stuff and sometimes it fails. That’s life, but more importantly, that’s business. Ventures fail, or are only partially successful (I guess). But this? Closing ranks and corporate speak? It’s disrespectful, it’s not what I want from a publishing partner.

– Chris

P.S.: If you don’t know what any of this is about, I apologize for not taking the time to create the proper context but you can Google this situation pretty easily. Also, I think the covers look super neat, and it’s a shame that everyone who wants them won’t be able to get them.

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My friend Deb Aoki has a new website!

Congratulations to my very good friend Deb Aoki, previously of manga.about.com, on the launch of her brand new website today.

http://mangacomicsmanga.com/

Manga/Comics/Manga is where Deb will be continuing her interests in manga and Japanese culture, but not shying away from all of the other sequential narrative that she enjoys.

She’s even launching the site with an important license announcement, a particularly breaking news item that should be of interests to fans here! Seriously, go check her work out, and bookmark/subscribe to the new site however people do that sort of thing in 2013.

– Chris