Friday, December 23, 2011

My day with Kawai... Totoro... and life

How often is it that we realize that what really matters in life isn't something that can be bought with money. And yet... it can be? Confused? Well, I'm talking of those instances when we lost ourselves as children in the frolics of Tom and Jerry, cheered Popeye when he gave Bluto a beating and laughed merrily when Charlie Chaplin tripped the bad guy non-chalantly! Those moments are stuff that cannot be bought no matter how much money you brandish. But one can get close! And if you're like me, you can get asymptotically close! You can get the DVDs or the Blue Rays of these cartoon series and atleast for a while, lose all inhibitions and become the child you once were.

I had the wonderful opportunity of doing just that a few days ago. I'd gone over to my cousin's place and she has the cutest and the naughtiest boy on the face of the planet! And he has one weakness - a weakness he shares with me! He loves watching "Tonari no Totoro". If this name means nothing to you and you were born in the eighties or later, I pity you... Your childhood has been depraved! But if you know what I'm alluding to, good for you!

I watched the DVD version of the movie and for the amount of time that it ran, everything was perfect with the world. I envy Satsuki and Mei from the movie! Their innocence is something that children these days seem to lose so fast! And Totoro... my darling Totoro! How I'd love to cuddle up to that huge mountain spirit and sleep like a baby!

And then there's the Catbus! That's hands down the best way to travel wherever one wants to go! And to think that Appa from Avatar was inspired by the Catbus! Excuse me while I have a moment of pride here! :P Seriously though, if we really did have something like the Catbus, wouldn't it be the AWESOMEST thing EVER?!!!!! Why can't it exist, god?! WHYYYYYYYYYY????!!!!!!

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? It's Catbus!!!!

As expected from Hayao Miyazaki, Tonari no Totoro is such an enjoyable watch! The lessons one takes home from the movie are simple but to the heart. And in an age where fairy tales are misconstrued left right and center, one needs to go back to movies like these to remember what fairy tales were really like! This movie literally put Miyazaki into the spot light and he in turn shared that attention with the Japanese animation industry. And the rest... as they say... is history!

And speaking of Anime, I have another source of inspiration to share with you, my darling readers! If you've heard of Kenji Kawai and the kind of music he makes for Japanese animation series and films and numerous other movies and video games, you'll know what's coming up next! If not, don't worry... you don't know what's coming up next but you'll enjoy it none the less!

Kenji Kawai is the maestro who composed music for the Ghost in the Shell series and he infused traditional Japanese Shinto music to Western musical arrangements and the result is spellbinding! I find that the more I listen to his music, the more I am at peace with the world and the more I mourn for those around me... the more selfless I become!





Do give it a listen and you'll know what I mean!

Life's more or less like a see-saw right about now. But hope, I have! Bucketful of Hope! Do you want some? :D

Monday, December 5, 2011

JLPT N4 is finally over!

Yes.... I've done my JLPT N4 exams to the very best of my abilities and as though the gods were happy with my earnestness, I was the first number in the hall, I got to sit close to the tape recorder and there were no graph related questions in the listening section! But still... I'm feeling really tired!

All in all, it was a moderately easy exam. I keep hearing my friends go on that they found it difficult and this is beginning to scare me! Have I really done well or am I missing something here?! And furthermore... are they being honest when they say they found it hard? I know quite a lot of people who just downplay their well written exams because they fear the "evil eye"! That's ridiculously stupid!

Ah... to wait till March... it's agony! (T-T)