wblake2

Pokemon 245: Same Old Song and Dance

Pokemon Company Airdate: April 11, 2002 Summary: Our heroes are still on to Blackthorn but Ash’s stomach directs him to a town… IS THAT JIGGLYPUFF’S MUSIC?!?! Everytime time that pink puff comes in you know some hijinks are about to ensue. As they get into town a purple-haired girl is dancing with some Igglybuff and…Continue reading “Pokemon 245: Same Old Song and Dance”

Pokemon 244: As Clear as Crystal

Pokemon Company Airdate: March 28, 2002 Summary: Our heroes are completely lost as Ash turns back into a person… I don’t understand the physics of this but ok. Our heroes hand Pikachu right to Team Rocket in a classic ruse, and classically they use electrical feedback to use Pikachu’s Thunderbolt to fuel their machine. IContinue reading “Pokemon 244: As Clear as Crystal”

Pokemon 243: Hocus Pokemon

Pokemon Company Airdate: March 21, 2002 Summary: A Murkrow runs at our heroes, spotting Pikachu, who a Pokemon magician named Lily wants to use. Of course she has a magic show where she needs a Thunderbolt.. Now she is talking talking talking but all our friends can think of is how cool (Misty), hot (Brock),Continue reading “Pokemon 243: Hocus Pokemon”

The Stranger-Albert Camus

Published: 1942 (Gallimard) Albert Camus’ novella, The Stranger, follows a man who murdered another for no reason other than the sun. Set in the French colony of Algiers, a French colonist named Meursault attends his mother’s funeral. Not particularly sad or fond of his late mother, Meursault sleepwalks through the funeral arrangements and complains aboutContinue reading “The Stranger-Albert Camus”

Chronicle of a Death Foretold-Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Published: 1981 (La Oveja Negra) Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s novella, Chronicle of a Death Foretold, draws the reader into the recollections and imagination of a town still reeling from a brutal murder. Marquez’s unnamed narrator goes back to the town, 23 years after the murder of Santiago Nasar, to put the pieces together of that fatefulContinue reading “Chronicle of a Death Foretold-Gabriel Garcia Marquez”

Snow Country-Yasunari Kawabata

Published: 1948 (Serialized in 1930’s and 1940’s by Bungeishunjuu and Kaizo among others, translated into English by Edward Seidensticker in 1956) Yasunari Kawabata’s novel, Snow Country, is a beautiful and sobering novel that transports the reader to a place near and dear to my heart, Niigata Prefecture. In Part One of the novel, Shimamura, aContinue reading “Snow Country-Yasunari Kawabata”

Life for Sale-Yukio Mishima

Published: 1968 (Shueisha) Yukio Mishima’s novel, Life for Sale, is a rollicking surrealist novel that follows a young salaryman, Hanio, who fails to commit suicide and then turns to an ad in the paper to do the trick. Hanio, nihilistic and without family, decides that he will sell his life to anyone by any meansContinue reading “Life for Sale-Yukio Mishima”

The Last Tycoon-F. Scott Fitzgerald

Published: 1941 (Charles Scribner’s Sons) F. Scott Fitzgerald’s unfinished novel, The Last Tycoon, transports you back to 1930’s Hollywood where an iconic producer, Monroe Stahr, holds onto his last shred of power and intrigue. The novel starts by introducing our Great Gatsbyian narrator Cecilia Brady, the daughter of Stahr’s co-producer and rival Pat Brady, asContinue reading “The Last Tycoon-F. Scott Fitzgerald”

Pokemon 242: Some Like It Hot

Pokemon Company Airdate: March 14, 2002 Summary: Our heroes are on the road to Blackthorn as they walk through a mountainous volcano, Team Rocket is chilling in the hot springs as they spot the twerps. Our heroes spot Magcargo as Team Rocket is blasted off. A huge Magcargo is blocking the way of our heroesContinue reading “Pokemon 242: Some Like It Hot”

Pokemon 241: Whichever Way the Wind Blows

Pokemon Company Airdate: March 7, 2002 Summary: Our heroes are on their way to Blackthorn City when they stumble upon some hurt Oddish. Brock offers them some Pokemon food, they lead our heroes to a huge tree in the middle of a field. They observe Vileplume and Bellossom competing in a Royal Rumble which BayleefContinue reading “Pokemon 241: Whichever Way the Wind Blows”