Quick note....

 an interesting thing is I'm currently on the j-list update list. I find
that the diary-like snipets given by my Payne are great as they
1) feed my lust for trivia
2) give me story ideas
3) if I think what he's saying is wacky I ask my roomate who "lives" in
Japan (She's going to school here but usually spends a month at home.) to
possibly verify.

 Not only does this posting give a "outsiders" (meaning in this case
somone from the West) viewpoint but it is also full of a lot of neat
things that can be taken advanage of...

 as for old books....

 They were showing a special on sexuality in religion on T.V. and showed a
particulair temple with a bunch of giant phaluses (phaili?) my Japanese
roomate had no idea where they were.... but I did.
 I'd remebered them from the book "Pink Samurai"
 So, books in this case provided more infor than an idividual.

 Hell, I thought that the miniseris SHOGUN (based on the book) was total
fiction...

 Nope.
 Based on actual events.

  Japanease Mythology?

 Well I just saw a modern dance program on NHK last night an ALL of the
works were based on mythology. Not because there was a set theme to the
preformences.. just happened.

 Sources and research are pretty important, heck look at a movie by
Takeshi Mike and then by "Beat" Takeshi.. same world different view.
 but if you watch both and then throw in Ozu wowsers...
 (actually Ozu's "Ohaio" "Good Morning" is great for looking back in time
as well and the film is just dying to be remade.....and you could do it on
 almost any  Millitary base or even a fishing village and it would STILL
work.)

 Did you know it's bloody hard for a non-native in Japan to get internet
access early in the morning/late at night without a lot of help?
 - well people trying to buy tickets for the World Cup did.
 After the fact.

    Even "dated" works have a liot of value for getting the feel of a
culture.
 "the Cursathimum and the Sword" (probably miss-spelled) was written
almost a "guide"  for both the millitary and industry in Japan after the
last "world" war. A lot of it is hokey and was dated even at the time of
it's writing but a lot is stil relivant.
 You have to keep your eyes and mind open...

 Heck I really enjoyed (and am now hitting myself because I can't remeber
the title) a series of stories featuring Nabiki writing to an  Anonymous
pen pal on the internet...
 *technicly* it would be pretty doubious to see this muhc home computer
use in Japan at the time of the series... and even to some extent now...
But the story worked.
 This is one case where the story is more important than the "online"
nit-picking, simply this is because this is how the characters would
(possibly) behave and looking at this is more interesting than poking
holes in the fabric of the weave.
 (Hell, they *could* have used letters (like "The Shop around the Corner")
 but they are clasmates and see each other's writing all the time.... this
would have led the stroy to having more holes than a sieve.

 But, glaring errors in information and customs (and for that matter the
striving to be "perfectly accurate") are both things that can harm a
story.

   (does this mean don't let the writing get in the way of the
story....beats me)

 Oh well

 My  $0.02

    Neil


     __________________________________________________________________
                             _____________
            Seraphim, the Restless Angel with a (borrowed) sword.
                               ________

         Nene, Ami,
       Girls with glasses. girls with computers. Pink hair. blue hair
                       _______________________
                 Robyn, Duke of Amber. Agent of Chaos.
 ***************************************************************************



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