=MisterCat

MORITURI TE SALUTANT

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About Me Official Beta Tester Journalistic Photographer Joseph A. Haran, Jr.65/Male/United States

Recent Activity Deviant for 3 Years
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The 43-years-old traveler

This artwork is made of ivory and stands 13.97 centimeters, or 5.5 inches, tall. I purchased it in the Base Exchange at Kadena Air Base on Okinawa in the Ryukyu Islands back in 1966, whilst enlisted in the U.S. Air Force Security Service. As best I can recall, the object cost about $50US, which was a lot of money in those days. I cannot, unfortunately, recall exactly where it was crafted; and the sticker which was on the bottom when it was new has long since fallen off. But I'm sure it was crafted somewhere in Southeast Asia -- perhaps Thailand. A 43-years passage of time can blur one's memory!

What's sad, of course, is that in those days the artists themselves and we who purchased such objects did not appreciate the impact all this was having on ivory-bearing animals. Thankfully, we know now. Although I paid around $50US for that item, the artist was probably paid $1US -- if he or she was lucky. It's a beautiful piece, of course; but it's also a lesson in exploitation.

In the event, I bought this artwork as a gift for my paternal aunt Mary. Apparently, upon Mary's death in the mid-1970s, my paternal aunt Lillian was given this object. When she died some years later, it was given to yet another person; and last year it came into the possession of my brother Terence.

He, in turn, gave it to me; and so the object's circle of possession is nearly closed. All that remains is for it to end up in the hands of the artist who made it; and although that seems unlikely, stranger things have happened.

The Soldier

THE SOLDIER
This is a very-short story about Yoko Ritona: a young woman who is a freedom fighter, a revolutionary, a soldier in a war for liberation.  After the war, she became a schoolteacher and later a principal.
We've been walking across rocks and sand for six hours now.  Combat patrols always move out in the dark here.  I don't mind getting up in the middle of the night to prepare.  I don't mind soldiering.  It's what I want to do, to help end this stupid war.  It's what  I can do.  I'm a good shot.  I'm friends with nature

Yoko Ritona a.k.a. Yomako-sensei is the lead female character in Gainax's 27-episode 2007 anime series Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann directed by Hiroyuki Imaishi, in the 2007-2008 manga series Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann illustrated by Kotaro Mori, in Konami's 2007 video games Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann Chōzetsu Hakkutsu ONLINE and Nintendo DS Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann, in the 2008 spin-off manga Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann: Gurren Gakuen-hen illustrated by Kikkawa Kabao, in Gainax's 2008 music-video series Gurren Lagann Parallel Works, in Hiroyuki Imaishi's 2008 feature film Gekijōban Tengen Toppa Guren Ragan Guren Hen, in Futabasha's 2008 spin-off manga Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann 4-koma Kingdom: Yoko no Oheso-hen, in Hiroyuki Imaishi's 2009 feature film Gekijōban Tengen Toppa Guren Ragan Ragan Hen and in Gainax's 2009 premium box set Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann Kirameki * Yoko BOX ~Pieces of Sweet Stars~ directed by Atsushi Nishigori.

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New-to-me computing system!

Sat Oct 31, 2009, 10:39 PM

Yay! I've been saved from the semi-depths of despair by the arrival of a new, to me, local machine which works like a charm. Her name is Yoko (of course) and she's an IBM Lenovo R52 1847 CTO ThinkPad.

Please click on the image to view its full size.

An acquaintance from a message board which I frequent heard of my computer woes and came to my rescue, bearing the gift of a working machine! He is, perforce, a real-life friend now.

Once again I can see on-line pictures which aren't covered in bunches of tiny lines, or so dark they all seem to depict nocturnal scenes bereft of artificial lighting. We are happy!

=^..^=

5 Comments | Previous Journal Entries

Mood: Euphoric
Listening to: The Beatles, ''Here There and Everywhere''
Reading: Jörg Friedrich, 'Der Brand' (Munich: 2002)
Watching: Joss Whedon's 2005 film 'Serenity'
Playing: The 'Yoko to the Rescue' game
Eating: Spaghetti
Drinking: Coffee

deviantID

I was born at New York city and have lived in various places both Occidental and Oriental. Subjectively-chosen highlights: U.S. Air Force Security Service, 1965-69; University of Oregon School of Journalism, B.Sc., 1973; Lane County Chapter, Vietnam Veterans Against the War; worked in positions of increasing responsibility within the journalistic media of magazines, newspapers, radio and television; retired.