Me and a small annoying idiot
Aug. 31st, 2006 10:10 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
imomusPan-European anglophone expat magazine Expatica ran an interview with me yesterday. Or should I say "with me and my rabbit Baker"? Because Baker completely upstaged me, hogging the story's first and last paragraphs, dominating the photo, and getting all the best laughs.
By the way, Hisae would like to correct one detail of the story. The story's author, the very charming David Gordon Smith, described the origin of Baker's name thus: "Momus's Japanese girlfriend originally named him Baka, the Japanese word for idiot, but this mutated into the more affectionate English appellation". In fact, that isn't quite the case. We first decided to call our rabbit Topo, after the character El Topo in Jodorowsky's film of the same name. I had my doubts about this at the time, mainly because of a horrible scene in El Topo where the existential cowboy shoots dozens of white rabbits dead.
In fact, I was the one who started calling our rabbit "Baker". He's called "David Baker", rather in the manner of a British businessman in a TEFL language learning exercise. Sometimes he's also "Debito Baker", as if this business man then travelled to Japan and became part of a Japanese language-learning tape for English speakers. (We could imagine the Japanese associates this man is introduced to stifling their sniggers when introduced to a man whose surname, with a slight twist in pronunciation, means "idiot".)
More recently, I've been calling him Small mukatsuku Baker, (mukatsuku means annoying), or just "Small" for short. For instance, when I come home the first thing I do is sing "the Baker Song". To the tune of the theme music from 70s sitcom "Those Were The Days" I sing "Small mukatsuku Baker, Small mukatsuku Baker, Baker Baker Baker, Bake-ah Bake-ah".
Hisae has never accepted the "Baker" name, and continues to try to persuade me not to call Topo "Baker", referring to the results of the rice experiments I detailed here and reminding me that language has the power to make things turn into whatever they're described as.
"I love the photo of you and Baker... there's a strong bond between you two, with a bit of comical sense but cute," she writes from Osaka, where she's currently trying to get visa stuff together to come and live in Berlin. "A little bit shocking to know that you introduced Topo-chan as Baker again to people, and it's wrong! Can you ask Expatica people to change his name in the article?"
Well, I think it's a little much to ask Expatica to change the article, but I'd like to take this opportunity to tell the world that, back in the days when he was as cute as this, the small, furry, black, irritating little idiot in my arms in the picture was officially named Topo. The fact that he grew up to be a "Baker" is not my fault. And I would like to apologize to David Gordon Smith for the loss of the ribbon page marker in his notebook, which got eaten.
By the way, Hisae would like to correct one detail of the story. The story's author, the very charming David Gordon Smith, described the origin of Baker's name thus: "Momus's Japanese girlfriend originally named him Baka, the Japanese word for idiot, but this mutated into the more affectionate English appellation". In fact, that isn't quite the case. We first decided to call our rabbit Topo, after the character El Topo in Jodorowsky's film of the same name. I had my doubts about this at the time, mainly because of a horrible scene in El Topo where the existential cowboy shoots dozens of white rabbits dead.
In fact, I was the one who started calling our rabbit "Baker". He's called "David Baker", rather in the manner of a British businessman in a TEFL language learning exercise. Sometimes he's also "Debito Baker", as if this business man then travelled to Japan and became part of a Japanese language-learning tape for English speakers. (We could imagine the Japanese associates this man is introduced to stifling their sniggers when introduced to a man whose surname, with a slight twist in pronunciation, means "idiot".)
More recently, I've been calling him Small mukatsuku Baker, (mukatsuku means annoying), or just "Small" for short. For instance, when I come home the first thing I do is sing "the Baker Song". To the tune of the theme music from 70s sitcom "Those Were The Days" I sing "Small mukatsuku Baker, Small mukatsuku Baker, Baker Baker Baker, Bake-ah Bake-ah".
Hisae has never accepted the "Baker" name, and continues to try to persuade me not to call Topo "Baker", referring to the results of the rice experiments I detailed here and reminding me that language has the power to make things turn into whatever they're described as.
"I love the photo of you and Baker... there's a strong bond between you two, with a bit of comical sense but cute," she writes from Osaka, where she's currently trying to get visa stuff together to come and live in Berlin. "A little bit shocking to know that you introduced Topo-chan as Baker again to people, and it's wrong! Can you ask Expatica people to change his name in the article?"
Well, I think it's a little much to ask Expatica to change the article, but I'd like to take this opportunity to tell the world that, back in the days when he was as cute as this, the small, furry, black, irritating little idiot in my arms in the picture was officially named Topo. The fact that he grew up to be a "Baker" is not my fault. And I would like to apologize to David Gordon Smith for the loss of the ribbon page marker in his notebook, which got eaten.
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Date: 2006-08-31 09:09 am (UTC)can see it from the pirate bay
Date: 2006-08-31 09:10 am (UTC)He describes it in this interview: http://www.subcin.com/jod01.html (http://www.subcin.com/jod01.html). Also, American blood is "very sweet," which I guess is less surprising.
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Date: 2006-08-31 09:50 am (UTC)remember that scene from "the wicker man", where the lady, whose daughter is supposedly missing comments on the police officer mistaking her figures of hares for rabbits, saying something along the lines of, i'm paraphrasing: "stupid old rabbit, much beloved hare!"
Walter Murch and Watership Down
Date: 2006-08-31 09:51 am (UTC)Plunging Hen
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Date: 2006-08-31 12:07 pm (UTC)And here was I, naively thinking it was because of Topo Gigio
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Date: 2006-08-31 12:36 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-08-31 12:43 pm (UTC)not sure if that applies to momus himself though!
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Date: 2006-08-31 02:08 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-08-31 04:41 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-08-31 07:12 pm (UTC)Anyway I always thought the mole connection to "El Topo" was because he was literally underground for years.
For what it's worth I attended a lecture by Jodorowsky last fall. He's been having success writing Spanish language books on Tarrot and I think many people know he authored a bunch of French comics in the 80s and 90s. As expected no one wants to fund his films. I wish my 3D animation skills were better. I think 3D animation needs Jodorowsky (or just about anything other than celebrity wise cracking animals).
Anyway as of last fall supposedly the legal issues with former Beatles manager and El Topo owner Alan Klein were solved and he was having Jodorowsky visit NYC to advise on the DVD color timing... though not a good sign was that for his lecture the director himself had to show a video bootleg on DVD-R. He didn't have any quality visuals, just a lot of imagination and frustrating stories.
-nicholas d. kent
(no subject)
Date: 2006-08-31 07:37 pm (UTC)also:
Momus's new album Ocky Milk is released on 10 September 2006 on the labels Analog (US) and Cherry Red (Europe).
isn't the album on your AmPatch imprint in the US? maybe he meant Analog Baroque and forgot the Baroque?
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Date: 2006-08-31 08:23 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-08-31 09:24 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-08-31 09:58 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-08-31 10:23 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-09-01 01:59 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-09-02 03:00 pm (UTC)HI DAVIDINHO
Date: 2006-10-19 04:30 pm (UTC)Im Paulo fron Londrina, Brazili trying make contatact wth you have been long time, so if you are David mine great friend please send me any message
thanks
prgarquiteto@hotmail.com