(no subject)

Numbered lists mean I don't have to think about making things cohere.

Not that things cohere anyhow.

1. I am still (STILL!) sick. Am still sick of being sick. Am still sick of main laptop not working and will therefore take it in to be fixed. Am grumpy and tired because of above factors. Head also feels like it has been stuffed with cotton.



2. Saw Stomp in the city yesterday with K. and yuneicorn, who have both been very kind in ferrying me around to places in the city (I am so far too scared to drive there). It was very fun and I need to make a separte post about it later (I find that I have been splitting posts up more and more because of the Memories function so things are categorized nicely).



3. Someone at work decided they did not want a Dogbert stuffie, so now he sits on my computer! Muhahaha! coffee_and_ink, I have an evil white overlord as well!



4. I have been getting lots of compliments on my outfit today (shirt I bought for my bday -- black v-neck sleeveless with a gorgeous 4-inch-wide silky magenta sash sewn on the bottom that ties at the side and floats around -- and black skirt), which makes me feel very vain and happy. Hey, I might feel awful but at least my shirt is happy and bright!



5. I want more icons! *whines and flails* Now that I have more icon space (thanks rilina!), I have been dying for more icons, but Photoshop is on my main laptop, which is down! Tragedy! Also, I have been scared to look for VMars and Farscape screencaps for fear of spoilage.
   
   Want icons for: LJ meta, clothes, fooding, anime/manga, BPAL. And probably a whole lot more, once I think of them.

I want to go home already. Sigh. But will probably have to stay later because I overslept and got in way too late today because I am stupid like that =(.

Saiyuki and Journey to the West

Note: So far I have only read up to Saiyuki vol. 4. Spoil me and die. Or, er, get virtually glared at an awful lot. *virtually glares*

My mom was super nice and gave in to my repeated requests (aka, annoying whining on the phone) to buy me all of Minekura Kazuya's Saiyuki in Chinese and mail it to me. Joy! It's very interesting rereading it in Chinese -- I read vols. 1-3 in English while sitting in Borders, but I don't remember much of it. Also, I find that reading them in Chinese makes me read much, much slower, so I actually have time to digest the images and the words at the proper pace.

The bad thing is that when I get tired, I start skimming and not realizing that I didn't understand, oh say, the last third of the book.

( In which I digress and talk about translations )

As you know, Bob-people, Saiyuki is based on Journey to the West. And by "based on," I mean Minekura retells it like she's a fanfic writer who decided to create an AU by naming all the characters the same and keeping the same skeleton plot but otherwise completely doing what she wants. Not that this is a bad thing, because I am entertained! And by that, I mean in a good way, not a snicker and roll my eyes way. Er. Not that I would ever do that. Er. Yes.

Note: I used to read Journey to the West in English translation so long ago that I don't even know who translated it. I also have vague memories of my mom reading aloud a comic book form to me and my sister. I haven't read it for years and years so my memory is very, very fuzzy.

I am, of course, very amused that Genjo Sanzo is a gun-toting Buddhist priest of sorts, as opposed to the all-too-holy Triptaka that I remember. I used to get very annoyed with Triptaka because he'd always lecture Monkey, Sandy and Pig (Goku, Gojo and Hakkai equivalents) and just flail around and be saved by them like a damsel in distress. What actually surprised me the most were the personality transplants for Gojo and Hakkai.

Originally the Gojo character was a fearsome river demon who had lots of skulls around his neck and was fierce and scary. I don't actually remember much about him, but I do think that he cleaned up fairly nicely once Triptaka/Sanzo got him aboard the sutra mission. But Hakkai! The "Cho" of "Cho Hakkai" is "pig," and in Chinese, Cho Hakkai (pronounced "Zhu Bajie") is used as a way to call someone a dirty slob (or it might be more insulting, I am not sure). The character was greedy and always chasing after women and never was quite as good a disciple as Monkey (way powerful) or Sandy (way nicer) were. So I am very amused that Gojo turns out to be the drinking womanizer while Hakkai is the nice polite guy who never seems to say too much but always seems to be hiding something.

Also, am curious as to why Hakkai calls himself Hakkai instead of his past name "Gonou." Checked Wiki and found that Gonou was indeed the Buddhist name that Triptaka gave to the character in Journey to the West. Plus, Goku and Gojo are both using their Buddhist names, so why does Hakkai deny his and insist on people calling him "Hakkai"? I wonder if "Cho Hakkai" is used as a synonym for slob in Japanese like it is in Chinese. Hrm hrm.

I was also sad to find that Goku is very not a main character! I mean, he is, but Monkey is the star of Journey to the West! I mean, the book starts with him being born and everything! I liked Monkey a lot too -- he was this great trickster character like Anansi or Coyote who was always getting the better of people but would always get caught some way or the other. So the childlike Goku is a bit odd as well, although I do like that they hint about his relationship with Sanzo going back somehow. I also looked up Journey to the West on Wikipedia and was amused to discover that Goku's youkai inhibitor headband was actually something Triptaka gave to Monkey to keep in him control, as Triptaka could tighten it and give Monkey horrid headaches.

Was also happy to find that what is translated as "Shangri La" in the published version is actually "Tougenkyou" (Tao yuan xiang) or "Spring/source of the peaches" which probably no one cares about but me. Lalala. Anyway, "Tao/tou" is "peach," "yuan/gen" is "water's source" and "xiang/kyou" is "hometown or village." Anyhow, it looks a lot like "tao hua yuan xiang" (peach blossom land), which is this sort of utopian paradise -- some guy wrote about it way back and told a story of a fisherman who accidentally sailed into Peach Blossom Land and found people living in harmoney, but then could never find it again (alas, I cannot remember the author! But I remember I had to memorize it!). So it amused me that this was used as the demon/human Shangri-La. Plus, I draw even more wacky connections because the whole reason why Monkey was imprisoned in that rock for Triptaka to find was becaus he wreaked havoc in heaven and ate the peaches in the Jade Emperor's peach orchard. Anyhow. The peaches, they are important! I swear! Well, at least in the stories they are peaches of immortality.

And while having the bodhisatva Kanzeon (aka Kuan-Yin/Guan-Yin/Kannon) be a hermaphrodite is sort of shocking and fun, it also makes sense in a wonky sort of way... I think the original figure of the bodhisatva was male in the sutras, but since s/he was the bodhisatva of compassion, the Chinese eventually made him/her out to be a female figure. Hee.

Also cheered when I saw Nataku/Nezha in the story, as he is one of the main people sent to battle Monkey when Monkey was wreaking havoc in heaven. I wonder if this Nataku and Goku have some sort of hidden history.

No ideas about Gyuumaou, except that in Chinese, his name means "Demon Cow Lord"! This amuses me.

Am also amused by the random bits and pieces that Minekura decided to stick in, like the spider demon ladies and Goku's collapsible metal rod of doom! (Monkey stole it from a dragon. I'm not sure where Goku got his.)

Wish I remembered more of Journey to the West, because I'm sure there are a whole bunch of injokes or something that I'm completely not getting =(.

Want to see an episode of Goku and the banana leaf fan! I only vaguely remember that story, but I remember it involved a whole bunch of fire and that I liked it.