Writer's Block: What's under Snape's cape?

[tabular_rasa]

[Error: unknown template qotd]

I would pat down Remus Lupin, because 1) in my head he's hot (less so in the movie, but eh) and 2) at the very least I'd get some chocolate out of it, since he apparently carries it on his person at all times . . .

This question is awesome.

However, the new TSA sexual assault pat downs and THE BAN ON SENDING PACKAGES OVER 1LB INTO THE US FROM ABROAD AND THUS PREVENTING ME FROM SENDING THE CHRISTMAS PACKAGES I WAS GOING TO SEND THIS WEEKEND are decidedly not awesome.

Edit (9:55): Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I comes out tonight and guess who has no idea when she'll be seeing it or if she'll be seeing it? )-:

Edit (10:11): Japanese 3D singing hologram Hatsune Miku becomes nation's strangest pop star:

"2018 12 28 Scuol Neil POV 1" (Watch on YouTube)

So, um Japan can do this, but no one has central heat or a clothes dryer?

Nevertheless, I predict her career lasts about as long as any other Japanese idol's, which is about nine months before they find someone younger and more currently trendy.

Comments

[learnmygame.livejournal.com]

I agree with you! Lupin is HOT, and the movie got it WAY wrong. He's my favorite character.

[ko-mo-re-bi.livejournal.com]

...Wow, that video is really weird. That's a hologram?

[elfinecstasy.livejournal.com]

Hello! I came across your journal through a mutual LJ friend - hope you don't mind me adding you :-)
Blessings, Gemma "ELF"

[juushika.livejournal.com]

That really is the point and purpose and destiny of a Vocaloid, and I'll be damned if that video doesn't absolutely make my day.

Miku's actually been ridiculously popular for years now. That may not mean longevity as an idol (not much can, right?), but her career is already pretty long term.

I feel a must-listen-to-Vocaloid-music-all-the-time phase comin' on.

[tabular-rasa.livejournal.com]

I didn't realize she'd been around for so long. The first I'd heard of her was two days ago :-P But I'm not really up on the Japanese music scene. (Nor the . . . musical hologram scene?). I do think the technology behind her is interesting, though. (Though I kind of wish, since she is a hologram, that they stretched the imagination a little bit and let her do things on stage that a normal idol couldn't do). And the song's not half bad either, and say that as someone generally not into this type of sound.

I'm mostly just projecting other negative thoughts on the video. The return of the cold and a rather sobering conversation I had with a coworker the other day has just made me realize something rather cynical, that the technological priorities in this country seem to have far more to do with entertainment and escapism rather than practical developments that might actually make real life enjoyable instead of just something to endure between fantasies. And even as someone who does spend most of her time checked out of the real world and engaged in her own fantasies, I think that's really depressing.

[tabular-rasa.livejournal.com]

He's one of mine, too (: Most of the casting for the movie pissed me off, actually, lol. But Lupin was particularly disappointing.

[tabular-rasa.livejournal.com]

Apparently! I'm not sure what else it would be . . .

[tabular-rasa.livejournal.com]

Welcome! I added you back.

[elfinecstasy.livejournal.com]

Thank you, and welcome to my journal new friend :-) I am so glad you added back.

[juushika.livejournal.com]

Vocaloids are singing synthesizers. In a stoke of brilliance, each voice was also given an appearance and name, which has lead to huge fanfollowings for Vocaloid overall and for individual Vocaloids—of which Miku is the most popular. It also helps that there's a lot of great Vocaloid music—the software is flexible and exhaustive enough that it's largely just limited by the user's skill.

It's all a bit strange, and yet pretty damn fascinating. I listen to Jpop, so I'm biased, but the music is also pretty addicting—the electronic sound of it can be offputting at first, but it grows on ya. (I also collect fanart of some of the Vocaloids, because ... well, honestly, because the character designs generate a lot of pretty, vividly colored pictures, and also because I am a major dork.)

Anywho, Wikipedia has tons more info as always.

It sort of makes sense that Miku looks and dances mostly like any other idol because in a similar way that the music is almost a distillation of Jpop—its style, sound, purpose—Vocaloid is a distillation of an idol. I do take your point, though.

You thoughts may be negative and may be projections, but I think they're also entirely valid. I hadn't considered things that way before, and I don't live there and so can't personally make that reality check and compare, but it sounds reasonable and it is a bit depressing. I also think that's what makes so much of Japanese culture fascinating to those across the ocean: the power of a really over the top, indulgent fantasy is strong.

[tabular-rasa.livejournal.com]

The Vocaloid sound itself doesn't really bother me; it's not even so different from the autotuned human voices on Top 40 radio these days. (And I think it actually offends me less because it makes no pretensions of being anything other than electronic! XD).

I do like that Japan does have a strong fantasy culture, it's just disappointing it comes at the cost of a rather bleak reality.

I also think that's what makes so much of Japanese culture fascinating to those across the ocean: the power of a really over the top, indulgent fantasy is strong.
Oh, definitely. Japan does fantasy (as both a genre and in the general sense of "illusion") very well, and so I think anyone who's seeking that sort of no holds barred escape and knows where to look for it often ends up in Japanese media. Unfortunately-- and this could be its own rant entirely-- but it can make for some terrible stereotyped images for those who then never spend much time in Japan, or disillusionment for those who do. Traveling in Japan is not representative of Japan, because travel is part of fantasy in the culture here, so no expense is spared on beautiful hotels and hot springs, heated rooms, amazing food, and servant-like service that makes you feel like a celebrity even if you're staying in the budget accommodation. And while some foreign residents manage to keep one foot elsewhere so Japan still feels like a fantasy playground, I've invested in myself enough here and have enough empathy for the people who have made their entire lives in Japan to realize that the reality of daily life here is quite bleak. And so it starts to annoy me when I encounter American high schoolers who intend to move to Japan and live this amazing fantasy life as a manga artist and marry a Japanese sex god(dess). Real Japan just doesn't work like that. All you can hope for is to read about it in a manga or watch it in a drama like all the Japanese people themselves do.