After last week’s nonevent, Mrs. M and I will head back to the surgical center tomorrow for another attempt to make me the Bionic Medievalist. The Spawn and her Intended are here this time, but since the Spawn is still working this week (from her bedroom as a teenager), and is heading back to Terpville Saturday, she’ll mainly serve the role of poking me with a stick on Friday to make sure that I’m not dead.
So what has gone on in the interim?
***
I picked up the girls Saturday morning in Greenville, and it’s been pleasant having them here. As I said she’s still working this week, which I guess is either a benefit or a pitfall of working remotely. I’m glad she isn’t having to burn any time off for this, particularly as I don’t start recovering until tomorrow. I would have felt terrible if she had to lose a week of time off for no real reason.
Meanwhile, the two of them introduced me to an odd bit of media yesterday, one that I likely wouldn’t have discovered on my own. You see, not only do I not watch much TV (apart from sports), but the show they wanted me to see is an anime. Although I’m old enough to remember when it was called “Japanimation” in my heavy science fiction days, I never really got into it that much. (Admittedly, in my childhood, Japanese animation basically meant Speed Racer; because I grew up on Warner Brothers shorts, I was less than impressed.)
I’ve watched more anime over the years, and while I’ve learned to appreciate some aspects of it — the richness of the backgrounds and the willingness to explore deeper themes — I guess I’ve never really been able to connect with it the way younger folks have. For example, I still find a lot of it rather jerky, and I get impatient with the exaggerated-facial-expression-held-for-an-extended-period, verging on a freeze frame. I imagine at least some of that comes from the Japanese manga conventions, but again, that’s kind of lost on me. And of course, the fact that I’m less into SF than I used to be also makes me a tougher audience. (Interestingly, a show I did like — Ghost in the Shell — worked in sort of a cyberpunk, hardboiled manner. So again, some of it may be generic.)
On a previous visit, they introduced to One-Punch Man. It had certain charms, but after a while I thought the key concept — unprepossessing, seemingly ordinary guy who happens to be invincible — got a little played out. But this time, Em and Dani had a different show for me, and we spent yesterday afternoon (after Em’s workday ended) watching the first couple of episodes.
The show is called Delicious in Dungeon, and it’s pretty goofy. The premise is that a party of three adventurers (in the D&D manner of thief, mage and fighter) lose the fighter’s sister in an encounter with a dragon. The three of them escape — barely — but in the process, lose most of their gear and all their money. They need to go back and rescue their fourth member, but to do so, they’ll have to work their way back down through the dungeon’s various levels, basically scavenging in order to survive. Because they couldn’t afford food at the beginning, this means that they’ll have to eat the various monsters they kill along the way, ideally neither poisoning themselves nor being excessively revolted in the process. Fortunately, they encounter another adventurer with a culinary flair, who accompanies them and provides his cooking skill and nutritional advice.
The episodes, then, show the adventurers working their way through the dungeon and living off (or under) the land. Periodically, the narrative is interrupted by somewhat detailed segments explaining (for example) the appropriate way to deep-fry Giant Bat Tempura (hint: use the oil from a flame trap!) and serve it with Mandrake Kakiage. As I said — it’s goofy. But two episodes in, I’m able to shrug and roll with it; it makes me laugh — and wonder why this sort of thing never came up in my years of roleplaying games.
The show is available on Netflix, in various combinations of dubbing and subtitling.
***
I’ve also spent the middle of my days this week getting acquainted with our candidates for our open men’s basketball coaching position. There are four finalists; unfortunately, I’ll only get to meet three of them, as the fourth comes in tomorrow, when I’ll be vivisected otherwise engaged. I went through a similar process late in the Spring term, as we hired a new coach on the women’s side. I’m not actually a member of either hiring committee, but as a fixture at the games and supporter of the kids, the athletic department is nice enough to bring me in to talk with the candidates and offer any opinions I may form. (What they think of my opinion may be another thing entirely.)
The candidates I’ve met so far have all been impressive, and have successful track records at lower levels of college sport. I think whoever the college hires should be able to assemble teams that succeed both on the court and in the classroom. As I said, I’m not really “on the inside” of this process, but it’s interesting to see how things are playing out, and to see the quality of the candidates we’re attracting. In that respect, it’s similar to hiring on the academic side as well. It’s a buyer’s market, with more qualified candidates than there are positions, even in a relatively small-time setting like Mondoville. I’ll be interested in seeing the results of the process.
***
In other news, this is Mrs. M’s final week of the school year — she’ll miss tomorrow, as she’ll accompany me to the surgical center, and depending on how I’m doing (and the girls’ ability to nursemaid me), she may miss Friday’s final day as well. I’m pleased to report that it’s another successful year in the books for her. She always loves her kids, whether well prepared, well behaved, both, or neither, but she has had an especially good time with this year’s crop. I can’t help wondering if part of that (for her and for me) is the knowledge that we’re getting into the final quarter of our careers. As MacLeish said, “Love, like light, grows dearer towards the dark.”
***
I think that’s enough for now, so I’ll wrap it up with some music. I ran across this track over the weekend, while listening to Chris Carter’s British Invasion show on Underground Garage. The Hanging Stars are from North London, but have a distinctly American vibe, with critics comparing them to groups like the Byrds and the Allah-Las. Similarly, I can hear a little of the Ugly Beats in their music. This track is from their 2016 album, Over the Silvery Lake. Here’s “The House on the Hill.”
See you soon!
Professor Mondo 