A very basic understanding of doing Data Analysis

It has indeed been quite a while since I've had these "monkey banging on a typewriter" moments.

An Odd Day Out.

I'm chewing right now on a KFC chicken burger that I bought around 7 in the morning and totally forgot about until right now. I had today planned out supposedly, as I was set to attend The Great Philippine Book Cafe aka the second  Manila International Literary Festival at the Ayala Museum. around 9am I was already inside the lobby, waiting for the opening ceremonies to start up, and wow, I found myself really inadequately dressed--with my gray t-shirt, black pants and mud caked rubber shoes--and in the presence of the big names in Philippine Literature (most of them I hardly knew, sadly).  I wasn't planning on staying the whole day, even if the registration was 800 for one day, the faster I could haul ass out of there the less inadequate I would feel for every moment I did stay.

As I sat there with nobody less than Junot Diaz chilling behind my seat, sipping complimentary coffee and indulging in chit-chat with his fans and other authors and that made me feel even more of an outsider than I felt the moment I passed security, with nobody to talk to and nobody in the crowd that I could recognize. 

God I couldn't wait to get out of there. 

In the middle of listening to sir Resil Mojares' keynote speech and disagreeing to his short comment on Rizal not coming back to his own language (tagalog), a curious woman wearing a strong cinnamon perfume and  her hair short, in a gray cocktail dress and a black top underneath, with zebra print boots asked if the seat beside me was taken. Without making much of a sound I indicated it was free and she sat down. 

when sir Resil's speech had ended, the woman asked if I could watch her bag for a bit while she got in line for the complimentary coffee with everyone else. Again, I didn't make any eye contact and said sure. I never got up to get my coffee, being the stick in the mud that I was so I spent the next thirty minutes just skimming over the program for today. When she got back she started to strike up a conversation which sort of disarmed me and yet at the same time made me glad that someone was actually willing to have a conversation with me. 

Okay cool, I thought. She was fishing around for the usual details: where I'm from,Why I'm here, and Who sent me which I all answered without question. At the moment she didn't give me much details about her but she ,and proceeded to talk about the programs for Day 1 and which ones I would attend. When she heard that my plan was to just stay until 12, she convinced me that it was worth staying for the rest of the day for the lectures.

"You're gonna tag along with me today, darling."

Next thing I knew, she was introducing me to some great poets and writers and holy shit I felt really sorry for myself for not being a wide reader. But  she kinda eased me out of that 'outsider' feeling I had as the day pressed on, from lunch at coffee bean and tea leaf to introducing me to some of her other friends and basically disarming me from my anxiety of being there.

 We kept talking about life and writing, joined her for lunch with friends at Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf and she basically picked out the lectures I'd find very useful, "In Search of the Next Great Philippine Novel" with sirs Jose (Butch) Dalisay Jr., Charlson Ong and, CripYuson, and "Talk to the Litcritters" with sir Isagani Cruz, Ferdinand M. Lopez and ma'am Priscelina Legasto who gave a 15 minute or so crash course on literary theory. She even introduced me to Carljoe Javier while she was in line to use the ladies room. Man, he's shorter than I imagined, and quite friendly.

After the events of the day wrapped up I hung out with her for a while at a restoas she took her smoking break. I didn't bother to remember the name of because my mind was still catching up to what the hell just happened today, and yet I didn't care, I was out with someone cool who just picked me up from my isolation in the event and started becoming a friend to me. Hardly anyone does that, and I found her weird, yet insightful and really charming. She taught me not to be afraid of the silence in between two people and to not doubt myself too much. She amazingly made me drop all my regrets for the day and just freakin' live in the moment.

My whole day was drastically rearranged but it didn't matter, today was fun. I'll manage the rescheduling of things after I finish writing this down or I could just say fuck it and ride the wave, but all in all, this chance meeting with a complete stranger actually turned out quite well and I did get to meet some new people along the way. I should take her advice and actually live more. I don't even care right now that this day-old KFC chicken sandwich is so soggy.

Oh yeah, I told her I'd google her name when I got home, to find out stuff about her after I'd actually spend the day hanging out with her and getting to know her on the spot. I did, and-

Wow. 

Testing out a new background

Just posting up some shots using this new background I'm using, which is a silver colored pvc sheet. Might use this for review pictures from now on.

hyperlinking.

here comes my experience with TVtropes (or really any wiki-type site). the thing is when you enter the homepage, or look up a term on google and it leads to an article on a site like that, the experience is like opening a door into a room filled with more doors. it's strange and at the same time enticing, you're given a situation where in front of you are more doors to open and without any guarantee that you'll end up where you want or back into the room with more doors. 


one does not simply walk into more doors.




anyway i started with moeblob on google. it linked me to moe. from there i ended up in this article, and then here. then here. and here. at this point it was getting ridiculous, but at the same time fun. and i haven't done any link jumping until i hit this thread on /toy/.


it's one of the things i enjoy about information on the internet, and it weirds me out how quickly i get sucked in. oh well time to look up hypertexts.   

something i did for my thesis which needs honing. at this point i'm not sure how this piece factors in, but it works as a proposal of sorts. sorry if it comes off as rambly. comments and corrections are encouraged, and any links related to this study is very much appreciated! 

Scale Model Photography-  The Dynamic Philippine Gunpla Scene.

There are two terms related to this study that have resonated in the past few years between participants in the growing local  plastic scale modeling scene; PlaMo and Gunpla, the former is a portmanteau or shorthand for Plastic modeling while the latter is an offshoot genre of the parent activity, and is shorthand for Gundam Plastic Models, which has through the years grown to become the definitive standard for all other lines of the Mecha narrative, be it in fiction or in the physical scale models built. Growing up in the 90s I am almost positive that at least once in my generations’ childhood all the boys bought and built a gundam kit, either through exposure to the animated show on local networks or through simply being attracted to the aesthetic design of the models. Some may have outgrown these things as quickly as they built them, others may have been stimulated by the complexity and myth (and I use the term in a general sense) that makes up the background of the models that they pursued them through each successive series put out, in some ways I am part of the latter, and there are several individuals (whom I shall talk about further into this research paper) who have made this series an outlet for their creative energies.

 By and large the manufacture and the propagation of these kits and their accompanying series has become one of the symbols of Japanese pop culture (Tatsumi,2008), often meriting it’s own grand events overseas with events like the Gundam Caravan touring the local malls in the Philippines showcasing the works of Filipino modelers or contests like the BAKUC (Bandai Action Kit Universal Cup) which pits these modelers and their works against others from Singapore, Hongkong, Japan and other Asian countries.

As a genre, Mecha and consequently Gundam contains several appealing aspects to it that make it attractive, namely I include: design and technological sensibility (Tatsumi, 2008), Narrative power and Masculine symbolism (Lunning, 2007), and Branding / Brand Nationalism (Iwabuchi, 2010). All of which factor into my study of Filipino Gunpla modelers and how they attempt to integrate or circumvent these  aspects when bringing their own vision into the mix, in terms of presentation.

Post-War and Fictional War Narratives

Mecha as a genre emerged in the 70’s with shows like Mazinger Z, Voltes V, Daimos and many others, with narratives centered around a war between man and monsters or usually aliens,  many times character driven as well, with the robots only being there to attract the attention of the children with their vibrant colors and many gimmicks. Indeed, it can be said that these shows had with them a toy mentality in mind, with the ulterior aim of making profit from the shows through merchandising, but towards the end of the 70’s and throughout the 80’s into the 90’s mecha began to focus heavily on narratives of war, and politics as well, still just having the robots in the background serving as indicators of a technologically advanced (while politically contemporary) society, and consequently grounding them as plausible machines of war, between nations of human beings fighting other human beings, as was the case in Mobile Suit Gundam (Tatsumi, 2008).

Narrative aside, when the design aesthetics of giant robots changed from colorful gimmickry to something plausible, as a platform for engaging in warfare, consequently shifting from something almost fantastic or whimsical to something found in “soft” science fiction,  Tatsumi favored it as something that appealed to the sensibilities of the time,  “ Tired of agonizing over the abstract problems with no solution or conclusion, people were entranced by a technology that symbolized such stylish agility--the mobility to outflank any opponent”(2008).

My take on this statement is that the design of it attracts in a way that mecha technology at least in fiction is treated as an assimilation and extension of the human body, elevating its physical capabilities and giving an overall advantage to the soldier-pilot which to me is a very appealing humanistic fantasy, and this fantasy is reinterpreted, or rather recaptured through the scale model, and consequently retold in model photography, bringing into the single frame the political climate, technological milieu, and majesty of the future war narrative, re-telling an event that never happened and making it seem real. Interestingly and more often than not, the protagonists of these series have no explained nationality in them, often implied to be white Caucasian or if not, part of a genetic mix. Considering these narratives were made in a post-war Japan that has since opted to embrace an identity no longer having roots in tradition but rather defined by their cultural outputs (Iwabuchi, 2010), this in turn can open up the appeal of Mecha and Gundam to about almost any nationality, seeing as it is set in a future where the national boundaries of today aren’t as prevalent,  yet seemingly familiar. As Margaret Higgonet put it, “Toy Narratives are always set within a play of simulation or mimicry that is highly social…toys in war stories are often likenesses of humans that invite us to see humans as likenesses of toys, as automata.”  These models give us a glimpse of a world that is hopefully not to come, both attractive in their visual appeal and yet horrifying as simply being another tool to harm others with.

 The Mecha as the Masculine

Going back to the narrative appeal of mecha, it is almost always a staple that the protagonist is a young male, often inexperienced whose parent or parents took part in the development of the machine he is almost destined to wield for his faction, whether he has clear political identifications with it or not. The mecha then in this case becomes a right of passage for the child, a crutch for him to deal with the bigger world before him (Lunning, 2007), something that is best seen in Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (Gainax, 2007).  In the context of Gundam though, which can be said to have began the trend of the unsure child-hero, there is still that small element of proficiency with the protagonist, implying a quality akin to a prodigy, that has yet to meet his fullest potential, and through continual use of the mecha and exposure to the harsh world at war, they become hardened, and more mature, entering the machine as children and leaving it as men, giving the mecha a transformative aspect, as far as character is concerned.

Briefly looking back at design though, Lunning posits its conventions as usually masculine, designed in a way to be an exaggeration of the male physique, exhibiting tremendous strength and mechanical capability, contained within a streamlined metal shell, housing the heart of a child and child-pilot (2007) interestingly as a contrast of my own personal observation of female mecha aesthetics as overly sexualized and curved, as close to the ideal female form as possible in opposition to the exaggeration, hard-lined and battle worn aesthetic of “male” robots.  This brings into consideration it’s appeal to the (usually) male scale modeler, who in several stages builds up this image of overcompensation, from build, to composition to photography, always seeking to position the model in its most dynamic and masculine, striving to make it exude as much fantastic power as it merits in its narrative depiction.

How I view it is another form of posturing in the context of the modeler, in a way showing off and trying to appear as someone with great creative and technical skill (which often rings true anyway), but expressing it in a forum that is composed of fans or, “Otaku” attempting to either break away from the stereotype or positively reinforce it, with the genre they’re practicing in being riddled with ironies; the show (gundam) and franchise was considered a failure as a children’s show and instead was saved by older  male viewers in japan (Galbraith, 2010) and in a way here in the Philippines as well, becoming a niche for modelers with an otaku sensibility, in a hobby that is often considered mature with its cars, planes and battle tanks. Where the often considered awkward individual steps up, steps into the mechanical shoes, and emerges as an entirely different individual, just like in the show, masculine symbolism and tropes in tow and exhibited for all to see, behind large acrylic cases.

Brand Nationalism

In brief, the third aspect of this genre that I am presenting in this paper that helps sell Mecha in the Philippine setting is derived from Koichi Iwabuchi’s concept of Brand Nationalism. When he speaks of this he means it in terms of japan’s banking on a new cultural identity not found on tradition (while it does play a part in it) but instead in its impact on global pop culture (Olmos Titos citing Iwabuchi, 2008).  Iwabuchi’s term of Soft Nationalism entails with it a culture of vanity found in the cultural exports of Japan, making it a means of “—uncritical, practical uses of media culture as resources for the enhancement of political and economic national interests, through the branding of national cultures” (Iwabuchi 2010). Local Otaku celebrate and know Japan through whatever Japanese products the find in stores or watch on their televisions or read in their manga volumes or computers, using Japanese phrases in their group gatherings and generally loving this “Cool Japan” phenomenon (Iwabuchi, 2010).Gundam and Gunpla is considered part of the “Cool Japan” phenomena—part of the Japanese “Brand” and lauded for it. Thus, with these standards set before him the Filipino modeler has two options at hand, the first is to follow the sensibilities of the Brand Nationalism of Japan in terms of making his or her model, or to break the norm and reinterpret the model in their own cultural terms and sensibilities.  These are the positions which this paper seeks to explore,  and eventually document as a practice that explains how the Filipino modeler alternates from or permanently transcends the mimicry and uniformity inherent in Scale Modeling.

Works Cited

 Galbraith, Patrick W. "Akihabara: Conditioning a Public "Otaku" Image." Mechademia 5 (2010): 210-30. Project Muse. Web. 6 July 2011.

Higonnet, Margaret R. "War Toys: Breaking and Remaking in Great War Narratives." The Lion and the Unicorn 31.2 (2007): 116-31. Project Muse. Web. 10 Aug. 2011.

Iwabuchi, Koichi. "Undoing Inter-national Fandom in the Age of Brand Nationalism." Mechademia 5 (2010): 87-96. Project Muse. Web. 10 Aug. 2011.

Lunning, Fenchy. "Between the Child and the Mecha." Mechademia 2 (2007): 268-82. Project Muse. Web. 6 July 2011.

Olmo Titos, Antonio. "Considerations about the Nature of Japanese Cultural Exports." Birkbeck, University of London (2008): 1-6. Web.

Tatsumi, Takayuki, and Christopher Bolton. "Gundam and the Future of Japanoid ArtResponse." Mechademia 3 (2008). Project Muse. Web. 6 July 2011. 

this simultaneously made my day and made me pissed.

i really don't want to sound like some token weeaboo, but man i wish i lived in japan sometimes.

 just browsing Wonder Festival  to see all the cool figures and garage kits (both licensed and unlicensed )

and to take some home would be pretty cool.

ah well, i'll wait and see if pre-orders for the anarchy sisters will be up. but i just want panty though. :l