This video is by the same people who made the sushi video I posted a long time ago. It shows you the correct way to express your shame in various situations, including bumping into someone in public or violating the Code of the Ninja.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4bMM73-qHo&
I had what was probably my most unusual reference question ever today.
A rather large and somewhat scary young man came in with a friend and asked what we had in the way of Japanese literature. This seemed straightforward enough, but as further conversation revealed he was specifically interested in the oni (demons or ogres) and more specifically was looking for artwork depicting such...because he needed some reference images for a tattoo.
I'm not totally sure if he wanted to GET or GIVE an oni tattoo -- he did have several large tattoos on his arms and legs already, but I later heard him talking to a student worker and it sounded like he actually works at a tattoo parlor.
This guy was lucky he came in on my watch, because I don't think anyone else on staff would have known enough about this particular subject to give him much help. He had a specific type of image in mind (ogre-like oni with large teeth), and said he'd already looked on the Web with no success. We probably spent 45 minutes looking at different books of Japanese artwork. I also found a few good images on ARTstor. None of the pictures were exactly what he wanted, but in the end he went away with 8-10 photocopies or printouts of scrolls and statues depicting oni. Oh yeah, and a Tsukioka Yoshitoshi woodblock print of a Japanese warrior on top of a giant skull with bulging eyes, which I have to admit would make a pretty badass tattoo.
What's funny is that this guy was from out of town, and apparently was not very familiar with the college at all. For all I know he was wandering from library to library looking for anyone who knew anything about depictions of demons in Japanese art, but I guess he finally came to the right place.
The following pointless but somewhat amusing dialog occurred at work this evening.
Student worker: Did you see that?
Me: What?
Student worker: A girl just came through here carrying a rice cooker.
Me: I didn't see her.
Patron: I didn't either.
Me: Maybe you imagined it.
Student worker: I didn't imagine it! She was real!
Me: Okay, I believe you. I mean, that would be about the world's most boring delusion.
I still don't know why anyone would have a rice cooker in the library, though.
While looking at this and that on YouTube, I found this clip of author Neil Gaiman at a convention answering the old "Where do you get your ideas?" question.
The interesting thing to me is that about a minute in he starts talking about alphabetizing his books as a kid, and how by the time he was seven he was agonizing over such issues as whether books by Roger Lancelyn Green should go under "L" or "G".
Sound familiar, anyone? Does it in fact sound EXACTLY LIKE YOUR OWN CHILDHOOD? Because it sure sounds like mine!
This makes me think that either Neil Gaiman has missed his true calling as a manbrarian, or that I should have become a bestselling author adored by 17 year old girls who wear black all the time. (Sound familiar, anyone? Does it in fact sound EXACTLY LIKE YOUR JUNIOR YEAR IN HIGH SCHOOL? Because it sure sounds like mine!)
Speaking of librarians and wearing black all the time, I've got another YouTube clip as a sort of lagniappe for this post:
Ninja Librarian!
Move over dictionary.com, there's a new kid in town (new to me, in any case). I'd like to point out my new favorite website: Ninjawords. It's a really cool program, so pretty and simple; however, the definitions come from a "wiktionary" so don't go citing this shit anywhere important.
I'm sure you all remember Bonnie Tyler's 1983 worldwide hit "Total Eclipse of the Heart", or at least the 1994 Nicki French remake. What you may not remember is the original music video. Actually, I should say "what you may not have seen", because this is the sort of thing that sticks in your mind.
Not quite as good as "I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper", but definitely memorable -- if only for the chillingly literal interpretation of the line "turn around bright eyes".
Oh yes, and the video also appears to be set at the Neverland School for the Sexual Exploitation of Boys.
And there's a brief scene with ninjas (!) about 1:15 minutes in.
