Stuff We Done: Vol. 2
Time for our occasional round-up things of culture that we’ve been doing lately.
We read: NonNonBa by Shigeru Mizuki
This comic book (graphic novel, manga, whatever you want to call it!) is a memoir detailing Mizuki’s childhood in Sakaiminato, Japan. His grandmother (the NonNonBa of the title) moves in to the family home and tells him many scary and funny stories about the spirit monsters (yokai) that live, unseen all around them.
The drawings are incredibly detailed and beautifully done and the stories offer a fascinating insight into Japanese folklore as well as life in Japan in the interwar period of the twentieth century.
We listened to: King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – I’m In Your Mind Fuzz
We were first attracted by the excellent name (what a name!) but have quickly fallen for King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard‘s musical charms. Their latest album I’m In Your Mind Fuzz is a big woozy psychedelic mess of guitars and hypnotic jams. King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard are based in Melbourne in Australia and are going to be touring all over the place in the next few months – we are hoping to catch them somewhere in the UK as their live shows are said to be wondrous.
Below are two of their videos – Cellophane is from I’m In Your Mind Fuzz and Hot Wax is our favourite track (that has a video!) from their previous album, Oddments which is also excellent.
We watched: The Fabulous Baron Munchausen (1961)
A Czech fantasy comedy film (Czech: Baron Prášil) with amazing special effects, combining live action and animation. The story is completely nuts and involves an astronaut being taken back in time to Ottoman era Turkey by a mysterious Baron on a flying ship. They have an absolute ton of adventures including spending some time in the belly of a whalefish and riding cannonballs.
The director, Karel Zeman must have been a genius because the way he uses animation, perspective and props is very clever and gives the film a wonderful dream-like quality.
This brief documentary gives you an idea of some of the techniques used in his films. You might think it would take away some of the magic of the film, but we think it actually adds to it.