Ghibli Films, Isocracy, RPG Updates
Jun. 28th, 2020 09:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tcpipThe weekend evening festival comes to a point where I have now watched all the Studio Ghibli feature films. This weekend was the charming re-telling of The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter as The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, the other-worldliness of When Marnie Was There and finally, with all prior warnings of not being a happy film at all, Grave of the Fireflies. At the end of it all, I remain with my earlier opinion that Princess Mononoke is the best of the set with its clash between traditional beliefs and early modernism and complex characterisation. I was also particularly taken on a personal level by The Wind Rises which dealt well with the curse of the engineer; that their work, inspired by a love of turning scientific knowledge into real and practical things, are all too often funded and appropriated for the killing of fellow humans. It is now some six years since Studio Ghibli has released a feature film, and I do wonder whether what will almost certainly be Hayao Miyazaki's final film How Do You Live?. At 79, I hope he does complete it, and I hope that it is a wonderful capstone to a life dedicated to promoting the issues of environmentalism, anti-militarism, and feminism through animated film.
The past few days (when I haven't been working!) has also seen the publication of a 1500 word article that I've been composing mentally for a couple of weeks, Isocracy is an Antifa Organisation, a response to President Trump's declaration that AntiFa (not an organisation) is "terrorist organization". Of course, with the campaign team making use of the symbol for Nazi political prisoners in promoting this idea it is clear who is threatening terrorism, and for that matter, fascism. It is remarkable to think that in such a deep economic and health crisis that has now killed more than 128,000 people in the United States that the head of state runs the place as a kakistocracy. I am also currently in the process of composing articles on the "All Lives Matter" debate and symbolic value of statues, which apparently is the latest front in the culture wars.
In other matters I finished the Indonesian tree in Duolingo, the first one I have done in six months, bringing my total of "golden owls" to fifteen. I've also had the opportunity to do a bit of gaming over the past few days, with RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha today and Lex Occultum on Thursday night. I have also made a few sales from my vast collection in the past couple of days as well, with a special visit from Glenn K., on Friday to collect a pile for a younger individual who has gotten into gaming. My review of Pantheon has also been published on RPG.net. Finally, there is a major announcement coming soon from the RPG Review Cooperative, but the committee has to sort out some of the finer details before I am prepared to go public on it. Life, apparently, has been busy.
The past few days (when I haven't been working!) has also seen the publication of a 1500 word article that I've been composing mentally for a couple of weeks, Isocracy is an Antifa Organisation, a response to President Trump's declaration that AntiFa (not an organisation) is "terrorist organization". Of course, with the campaign team making use of the symbol for Nazi political prisoners in promoting this idea it is clear who is threatening terrorism, and for that matter, fascism. It is remarkable to think that in such a deep economic and health crisis that has now killed more than 128,000 people in the United States that the head of state runs the place as a kakistocracy. I am also currently in the process of composing articles on the "All Lives Matter" debate and symbolic value of statues, which apparently is the latest front in the culture wars.
In other matters I finished the Indonesian tree in Duolingo, the first one I have done in six months, bringing my total of "golden owls" to fifteen. I've also had the opportunity to do a bit of gaming over the past few days, with RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha today and Lex Occultum on Thursday night. I have also made a few sales from my vast collection in the past couple of days as well, with a special visit from Glenn K., on Friday to collect a pile for a younger individual who has gotten into gaming. My review of Pantheon has also been published on RPG.net. Finally, there is a major announcement coming soon from the RPG Review Cooperative, but the committee has to sort out some of the finer details before I am prepared to go public on it. Life, apparently, has been busy.
