Random Crap Week Part IV

Just thought I’d mention another thing about queries at the agency. While there are more books that take place in Ireland than NY (why?) and more about synesthesia, than about Asia, I get the feeling that the authors who DO write about Asia expect me to be automatically sympathetic as one who studied Asia extensively as an undergrad, having studied IN China and worked in Japan. First of all, let me start by saying I absolutely hated the company I worked for in Japan and it was a miserable time that very nearly made me hate the entire country. Eventually I got over it (Through the magic of samurai movies and giant robots) but that’s neither here nor there. Did I study East Asia? Yes. Did I love to do so? Yes. Does that mean I love every book with a Chinese protagonist or which takes place right outside the DMZ in the ROK circa 1960? Well, no. In fact the other way around. Sort of. Because I love the subject, I’m ultra receptive to GOOD books. Bad books which happen to feature Asia on the other hand really piss me off. I’ll see ones where characters will have two surnames because the writer got confused and thought it was a given name when it isn’t. Shit like that tips me off that I will not be friends with that author. ‘Sides, these books rarely line up with what the agency is looking for. Which is a shame, really. Understandable though. Like I said, I studied it. Would I be in a position to write a book that actually takes place there or something? Hell no. Sometimes knowing a subject well also means that until you’ve examined each facet individually, you don’t know the half of it.

So I just realized that an “old” SRPG is being re-released on the Playstation Network. What is an SRPG? Well, it’s more complicated than this, but it’s chess if chess were also a book. That is, it’s a turn based tactical war simulation WITH A PLOT. Horror of horrors. Why does that matter you might ask? Well, Saiyuki: Journey West is a loose adaptation of The Legend of the Monkey King/Journey to the West which I mentioned on this blog just a few weeks ago. As you can imagine, Eduardo my thesis monkey and Travis, my howler monkey/body double are very excited. Eduardo is angry because it takes liberties with the book. Travis doesn’t care about that. He’s too busy running around the house, screaming at the top of his lungs and declaring himself to be the one of a kind Stone Monkey King, lord of the island of fruits and flowers while hitting things with a big stick (what happened to the speak softly part?) which he claims is his gold banded, as-you-will iron cudgel. In reality, it’s just a stick he picked out of the snow. Either way, they’re making my life hell whether I choose to play it or not. What’s that you say? You finally understand why I’m always talking about Eduardo and Travis? You think they’re the personification of my ego and id respectively? Well, who the fuck asked you?

Speaking of asking you things, I think this past poll was the first one to have a demonstrably correct, universal answer. And no one picked it. Barry Mann is the mann...err, man who put the bomp (in the bomp, bomp, bomp) given that he wrote the song. Have to say I wouldn't have picked a serious answer either. Although I'm a little surprised at how popular the second gunman from the Grassy Knoll was. I guess anything can seem hilarious if it's out of place enough?