So here’s my book cover for My Year of Meats. Enjoy!
(The Japanese writing behind her is an assortment of chapter headings from the original text of The Pillow Book, something that both female protagonists are influenced by.)

Filched from my Asian American Lit blog. Interesting how Uncanny Valley just keeps turning up. New Media Studies, the recent adaptation of Beowulf, Asian American Literature… perhaps this is an issue that will become increasingly relevant as our technology advances. Is it time to re-address the issue of replacement? Can people celebrate art while feeling threatened?
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I can’t believe that nobody has posted about this before now, but hey, more fun for me! Asian ball-jointed dolls are a fascinating phenomenon, and their popularity is now widespread in this country as well. …

I was image hunting for Gardner’s 295 class, and happened upon this priceless picture:

Giggling a little, I googled the title and found out more. Ready for the tagline? “Unwittingly He Trained a Dolphin to Kill the President of the United States.” No, I’m really not kidding. Also described as “the most amazing outdoor adventure ever filmed,” and with IMDB keyword “exploding boat,” this is one movie I don’t want to miss. Anyone seen it?

Yes, I’m obsessed with film. So it was inevitable that eventually I’d give in and let that obsession merge with the content of this class. Lists of “best foreign films” are often dominated by European films, probably because these have received more attention over the years. This is unfortunate, because Asian cinema is not something to be overlooked.
So here they are, my 3 favorite Asian films:
Princess Mononoke (Mononoke Hime) (?????)

I’m a big fan of Hayao Miyazaki’s films. Although I love each and every one of them, my favorite is …