Injected and Negadon: The Monster from Mars

I knocked myself out of a running start on the first day of NaNoWriMo, the National Novel Writing Month. And it's my own fault: I received my free flu innoculation at Indiana University's medical center. While serving in the U.S. Air Force, this was a yearly event, and airmen had no choice. It was an order. I would take the injection, turn white as a ghost a few hours later, and usually got sent home by my boss for bed rest. Much the same happened to me yesterday, so I was in no shape to start writing my Used Starships story.

One grim little secret about the flu shots in the 70s was the possibility of a fatal allergic reaction. Every year, out of the 5000+ men and women who received the injections at March Air Force Base, two or three would drop dead within a few hours. The victims were usually middle-aged men. I know this to be true because, working in the Public Affairs Office, I was involved in issuing the press release about the fatalities. They always failed to mention that the deceased had received a flu shot, under orders, just before perishing. No surprise, it wasn't something that the Air Force wanted to widely publicize.

Today I'm feeling much better, thank you very much, and I have no excuse not to begin pounding the keys and write, write, write to meet my NaNoWriMo deadline.

I gave myself a Halloween treat this week: A screening of Negadon: The Monster from Mars. Here's the Wiki intro:

Negadon: The Monster from Mars (Wakusei Daikaijû Negadon - 惑星大怪獣ネガドン - literally "Great Planet Monster Negadon") is a 2005 tokusatsu-style CG-animated anime 40-minute film from Japan. Created by Jun Awazu and his independent company Studio Magara, this animated film captures the "Golden Age" of tokusatsu cinema of the 1960s. The film has a high-tech modern edge added for good measure, but tries hard to maintain the "hand-crafted" feel of classic tokusatsu movies. Production of this film actually started in 2003. It has also been broadcast across Japan by the anime satellite television network, Animax.

If you enjoy the classic Toho kaiju giant-monster movies, Negadon is worth renting or borrowing from your local library. Billed as Japan's first fully computer-generated feature, it is very reminiscent of director Ishiro Honda's Godzilla and science-fiction stories.

Okay, back to work, back to writing. I have a NaNoWriMo deadline to meet!

Do S'Vadaniya,

Viktor Kuprin


Technorati tags: science fiction,movies, Godzilla, films, Negalon, kaiju, NaNoWriMo,

A Trick or Treat Goody: Godzilla Attacks Russia

Here's a Halloween treat, the Austin Wind Symphony playing a medley from the soundtrack of King Kong vs. Godzilla. Yes, Captain Kosmos is a fan of the Big G, but also a fan of the late Akira Ifukube, the great Japanese composer who scored so many of Japan's classic films, including Toho Studio's kaiju giant-monster movies. King Kong vs. Godzilla had most of its original soundtrack replaced by stock Universal Studios' horror-film music when it was exported to the West, so it was a special choice by the concert organizers to showcase this particular Godzilla movie.

Godzilla's appearance gradually changed from one movie to another, but this one is one of my favorites: a huge, bulky rock-iguana style head and humongous, powerful, almost-Sumo-like legs.

Not many Americans may notice, but Godzilla's first battle in the film occurs on Russian soil! The army base he attacks is on Sakhalin Island, just north of Japan, and, unfortunately for the Red Army, he's not in a good mood after being buried in ice for seven years, after the events of Godzilla Raids Again, a.k.a. Gigantis the Fire Monster. His radioactive breath, crushing feet, and swinging tail make short work of the Stalin tanks sent out against him. If you watch the film, look closely and you can see red stars on the tanks as they roll out from the base to fight Godzilla.

So, enjoy this giant monster treat from the Austin Wind Symphony. I only wish they would play my favorite Toho science-fiction film soundtrack sometime in the future: The Mysterians.

Technorati tags: science fiction, sci-fi, music, movies, films, monsters, Godzilla, Toho, Russia