The Passengers Will Please Refrain

Japan is weird.

That's a heads-up for those of you, reading this post now, who feel some measure of cultural Japanophobia. However, for those in that group who are also railfans, you may be interested (disturbed) by what follows.

Japanese popular culture has had two oft-maligned trends in recent years which I'm about to discuss: moe anthropomorphism and obsessive fandom (the otaku). I'm mainly going to discuss the former, and yes, I will get to the latter and railfans in good time.

If you ever needed a name for the trend of things Japanese to end up indisputably cute even when it's unnecessary, you'd be best served by the term 'moe anthropomorphism'. It's the trend of personifying inanimate objects as incredibly cute ladies, such as 'Mecha Musume' which features fighter aircraft. Also of note are the 'OS-tans', who are a group of characters first personifying Microsoft's operating systems, and later some programs and websites including Firefox and Wikipedia.

You know that header indicating a Wikipedia article needing cleaned up? Guess how and when it goes away. 

There are many examples in popular anime series, but one notable title consists entirely of this by way of nations; this would be the infamous Axis Powers Hetalia. I have no idea what it's like, but any nation-state entity you can think of seems to have been personified somewhere in its canon. An aside; Hetalia's personifications are all male.  

And, apparently, Japan has its share of railfans. Guess what they do to their beloved trains?

You guessed it - they picture them as incredibly adorable girls. I picked this group to represent this phenomenon because the trains they personify are depicted alongside, and you can see the resemblance. I do recall a few American railfans attempting to personify the EMD F40PH, but I also recall being unimpressed with the result. 

And If You Feel A Little Left Behind

Second in the series of New Stuff CDs, this disc was another product of my sophomore year at Penn State. This may have been the first installment burned on my first laptop computer. If so, that would place its date at very early 2006. 

New Stuff CD 2

1. What I Say & What I Mean – The Like
2. Everything Is Alright – Motion City Soundtrack
3. Fearless – The Bravery
4. I Predict A Riot – Kaiser Chiefs
5. Decent Days & Nights – Futureheads
6. TKO – Le Tigre
7. Bom Bom Bom – The Living Things
8. The Bucket – Kings Of Leon
9. Soul Meets Body – Death Cab For Cutie
10. Stars & Boulevards – Augustana
11. DARE – Gorillaz
12. Helicopter – Bloc Party
13. Wings Of A Butterfly – HIM*
14. Niki FM – Hawthorne Heights*
15. Rock ‘N Roll Queen – The Subways
16. Earthshine – Rush
17. One Way Ticket – The Darkness
18. Breakin’ – The Music
19. Pressure Point – The Zutons
20. Dance Dance – Fall Out Boy*
21. Nowhere Again – Secret Machines
22. Vertigo – U2

*Suck, suck, and suck. Why did I ever think any of these were good songs?

Vanity On Parade, Fake And Frantic And Strange

Recently I stumbled on a photo of Jayne Mansfield that raised at least 1.3 of my eyebrows. 

The image uses the 'large' display setting. Does it really need it?

In case you couldn't tell, it's also a picture of Sophia Loren, who appears to be staring at Mansfield's ample cleavage. That's quite the expression Sophia has right there. Turns out it's a death glare, for Mansfield's  upstaging of Loren at a dinner party in the Italian star's honor. According to Wikipedia, Mansfield's career began to fade in the early 60's and as a result she occasionally bared her ample assets to snag headlines - mainly tabloid headlines.

Interestingly, Mansfield and other blonde bombshell actresses began to fall out of favor in the late 50's, at the same time as the larger and heavier autos built throughout the decade. Smaller autos like the Nash Rambler were in demand and slim actresses and models such as Audrey Hepburn and Twiggy began to rise in popularity. Rock'n'roll even entered a slow period that would only fully recover with the arrival of the Beatles; Elvis was in the army, Buddy Holly had died, and Chuck Berry would end up in prison by 1960. And amid all this, there was a minor recession over the change of the decade. Funny how so many pages turned all at the same time.

We're Told To Hold Fire Until Unfriendly

It's like The Da Vinci Code, but with Led Zeppelin instead of Da Vinci. 10 Mind-Blowing Easter Eggs Hidden in Famous Albums

Interesting discussion of why there won't be any more Middle-Earth movies after The Hobbit is complete. Concerning Christopher – An Essay on Tolkien’s Son’s Decision to Not Allow Further Cinematic Licensing of His Work

Damn you, former employer; stop being so interesting! A McD's built for the sole purpose of shooting commercials. Fake TV McDonald's

In Soviet Russia, train set runs you! From English Russia, an interesting Russian HO-gauge setup. Railway Modeller Forum - English Russia

The Roads Are Empty, Trying To Avoid Myself

Since BOTCB is taking up all of my free time, I figured I might as well give Drew a hand in looking for the source of a mystery song he posted back in 2010 and has written about before. Drew downloaded it from Audiogalaxy back in 2001, where it was listed as 'Autobahn' by Karate. It's mislabeled, as there is a band called Karate, but they don't have a song by that title. It's actually not a bad song. I will reproduce the lyrics as well. 

I put up to my shoulders every now and then
No matter how I try I’m always halfway there
The roads are empty trying to avoid myself
No matter what I do I’m always halfway there
I am [inaudible] before I have a shot
The blissful ignorance will [inaudible]

Chorus:
Why would I need another day?
I try to find another way
It’s just I don’t know what to do and no one else seems to know it
I’m not yourself and that’s more frustrating than knowing you’re undead

[Inaudible] play for keeps are rolling under me
All this distance, still I’m always halfway there
Yes I had a bad day they know I can do better
A safe return forever from now on this is downhill
I guess I had a bad day they know I can do better
A safe return forever from now on this is downhill

Chorus

I will be alone when it's cold
Yeah I'll be here to hear when it's closed
Yes, damn the doors, and all of them will be closed
Damn the doors, all of them will be closed

The rest of my life I will always drive and drive
The rest of my life I will always drive and drive
The rest of my life I will always drive and drive
The rest of my life I will always drive and drive
The rest of my life I will always die and die

Pushing In The Pin

I was reminded, by this BOTCB post, about a company with a certain web address, similar to those described in the post, but not mentioned. Here is that web address.

http://www.penisland.net/

Yep.

That, logically, is the website for a custom print pen company called Pen Island. (Get your mind out of the gutter.) Funny enough as it is, but then I saw this on their front page:

What.

That was all I could handle.

This Is Tyson's Favorite Song

So... On a recent solo trip to the South Side, and Dee's Cafe in particular, I noticed a trend that was most irregular and a bit disconcerting. You really had to squint to see the hipsters.

Not that they were in urban camo or anything; they just looked more subtly hipster-fashioned than I am used to (Thanks a lot, Joe Mande). Next to none of the usual hipster spotting features* were visible at a glance. Case in point: I noticed That One Really Hipster Dude You Always See looking surprisingly normal, aside from retaining his glasses and mustache, while I swear I also saw That Girl That Always Looks Like An Egyptian Princess looking decidedly un-royal and with a lot less makeup than I remember.

It's possible that a lot of the obvious markers are rendered invisible by the onslaught of winter, hipsters' general dislike of bundling up in the elements notwithstanding. Sure, there were a lot of knit caps out, but in a Pittsburgh winter they appear on a lot of non-hipster heads as well. Same goes for tattoo-concealing wear, especially flannel. Skinny jeans have always been uncommon around here, but last night was ridiculous. Maybe they insulate less than the ol' boot-cut.

I do wonder if, indeed, this is just winter getting serious and the hip malcontent crowd is indeed keeping warm, and for some reason that means dressing more conservatively. I mean, nobody wants their obituary to say that the cause of death was 'went outside'. But I also, in a slightly paranoid fashion, am considering the possibility that the hipster is sublimating into some new form. Whether that's a renewing phase, or a slow disappearance, or a watered-down version, I don't know.

Is Pittsburgh the hipster retirement home?

* Yes, the railfan in me said 'spotting features', rather than the more reasonable 'signifiers' or 'giveaways'.

We'll Look At Some Pyramids And Check Out Some Heads

I've always been fascinated by Egyptian art. I was poking around the web the other day and found some excellent surviving pieces, mainly tomb paintings. A few of these actually came from a slideshow I had to do for a class at Penn State. Enjoy. 

Wait, what?