What I'm Knee-Deep in Right Now

I'm still not sure what I'm supposed to write about here, on my Umpteenth Blog, but my last blog-post got some decent feedback and more attention than anything else I've ever written for the anonymous Internet Mass, so I thought I'd start a small series of posts to talk about what sorts of things I'm doing (specifically with things like books, movies, games, music, caribou hunting, etc.), what sorts of things I'm currently "knee-deep" in [oh whoa that's what the title is! wow!!]. I use the really weird phrase "knee-deep" to insinuate that maybe whatever I'm currently invested in might not be so interesting as much as something I'm having to dredge through... But maybe that won't be the case? We'll see?? And hopefully these posts will take advantage of my poor attention span and convict me to spend more time being thoughtful about what I'm interacting with. In the spirit of that other post [shameless link], I will try to be brief and use my words carefully to express what I'm thinking about that Thing.

So here's hoping it's not terrible and that you guys will be encouraged to return on the weekly basis I'm aiming for (very ambitious, yes, mmhmm)! If not to keep up with Me, then maybe to find out about really cool things that exist out there for You and Me! Anyway, here goes.

Takagi Masakatsu - The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness (Original Soundtrack)

(Oooh, look, I embedded a post from my own Tumblr! The world is truly truly Big and Magical.)
I mentioned in my previous post [another shameless link--have you read this post yet???] that one of my favorite films of 2014 was "The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness", a wonderful documentary following the final year of production on another wonderful film, but did I mention much about the scoring of the film? Maybe a little. But I was bashful to talk about something so beautiful without getting a better chance to listen to it as a separate entity. It has just been released and boy oh boy oh boy I highly recommend checking this out if you're into doing Literally Anything While Listening to Music.

Takagi Masakatsu might be familiar to you if you saw 2012's Wolf Children, as he did the scoring for that too. Somewhat of an eccentric, Masakatsu is a somewhat of a secretive musician. Lord knows it was difficult for me to find him in the first place, and waiting for his album to release (missing several dates) was tantamount to torture, but alas here he is in all his glory. The track I chose is somewhat of a flagship for the album, as though the name itself didn't give you that idea. Beautiful piano melodies that make you feel as though you're sitting in Ghibli's veranda garden, sunlight filtering through the gingko leaves onto your slightly unbuttoned shirt, giving you that "devil-may-care" look, as you drift in and out of a good ol' snooze... that's what this album is. Easily worth the $10. I highly recommend it, it's my favorite, let it be your favorite too, please, yes, okay, alright!!

If you like it, here's his SoundCloud and his website, both of which are intermittently updated when he feels the need to do that.

Ni no Kuni DS - Level-5

wow look at that don't you feel the need to get in on that, gosh wow!

Keeping with the Ghibli theme, this has been something I've been working through for about a week now—and it's been ever so loverlyy (sp?? ). For those not savvy, this is the latest joint effort between Studio Ghibli and a Video Game Company (Level-5), the previous (and only other) being this ~wonderful~ artistic interpretation of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, wherein you are Nausicaä's Mehve and fly around shooting the sacred flying Ohmu. Please, please, please tell me you cringed. That was supposed to make you cringe if you have seen the film/read the manga and don't have shell-shock.

whoa! am i seeing double??!! well actually you are, it's okay, sorry

I digress. Basically, Ghibli worked on the visuals and the arts and the cools that fill this game to the very brim and all that runneth over into our own reality. [beat] If my attempt at creative writing there didn't make much sense, that was to say that they made a real-life Companion Book of sorts to accompany the game, a Wizard's Companion as it's called, which you could use to read up on the magic creatures, items, and spells (which you could draw on the touch screen to cast!!!). Filled with different illustrations, and its own magical language, the book itself justifies the rough $30 it costs to import it. Which brings me to an unfortunate truth if you are reading this blog in English and are, sadly, limited to that language... the DS version of the game, the only version that includes the physical book, was only ever released in Japan. The PS3 version boasts impressive cel-shaded visuals and is worth considering if you MUST understand the game/want to read the book in English, but Level-5 unfortunately could not justify the localization/publication costs to make a physical book and resorted to a glorified PDF of sorts which you could control with the dual-shock analog sticks. [audible shivers run down your spine]

All that being said, I don't really understand a lot of Japanese (but I'm learning!!!!!) and am able to get by just fine! There are several guides online that you can find to  help guide you as well if you need, but a lot of the game is really self-explanatory thanks to a lot of (really well-designed) visual cues. Though you might argue that the PS3 would be the better version to play, being in your own respective language/region, let me remind you that you could play both and have different experiences due to various plot differences and entirely different gameplay elements. Where the PS3 version could be likened to Final Fantasy XII's battle system, the DS's could be just as well likened to early Dragon Quests (both, obviously, with their own twists). And the art in the DS's version is also really, really, really worth checking out.

Anyway, I've said too much. It's good, I'm about 8 hours in and really enjoying it.


What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami

I'm a bit predictable if you've read any of my other posts (there's only one, and it's this one), so seeing Ghibli and Murakami on the same page shouldn't be that surprising to you (and hopefully this is something that will not be so frequently stated in the future, maybe I can shrug the shackles of these incredible influences). But this one is very different from his other books, as it's not fiction at all! Rather a nonfictional chat about creative processes and Stuff. If you've ever read a Murakami book before (if you haven't you should because he's the best omg), then remember how he depicts everyday life. It's simple, relaxing, patterned, and oddly satisfying to read. This book is basically his philosophies on how to live like that; how to eat white fish and vegetables, why it's important to keep in shape through daily exercise, how to think well. That last thing is something I've been wondering on for a while now, and it's a treat to hear someone, whose writing I so admire, talk at length about.

He talks a lot about running, which is his running metaphor throughout the book (hehehehe), and shows excerpts from articles and books he's written that exemplify the qualities discussed. If you're like me and looking to find your nook in life, to find that comfortable pattern that suits you best and ultimately works to make you Better, then you should probably check this book out. It's pretty short, I'm 3/4s of the way through after about two days of light reading, so it's not much of a commitment! Though if you plan on applying some of his thoughts to your lifestyle, it could become much more of a commitment. Maybe, maybe even ~life-changing~.

Anyway, I think I've written enough for one week. Hopefully I'll get back to you next week (probs Friday, I want this to be a Friday thingy) with other things I'm enjoying or destroying. If you liked this post/the idea behind it, let me know! If you don't wanna hear about my opinions any more, then, well, yeah, lemme know about that too, but let me down easy. Thaaanks.