Plenty of Nothing

Evangeline Brandt "Wallpaper"

City Apples

Troy Little Chiaroscuro Sketch

Troy Little sketched my book after very tolerantly listening to me blather on about how Cub were better than the Bare Naked Ladies.

Genshiken the Second, Or Third?

Google Translate has been getting a workout this week as news that Kio Shimoku is restarting Genshiken has bounced around the globe. (I had no idea the series was so popular in the Spanish-speaking world.) Many see this as a strategic retreat by Shimoku from the less successful Digopuri, a story about two teenagers raising a baby, which has ended after two volumes. Some worry that Genshiken Nidaime will suffer from author and/or reader fatigue, and that this sequel can never be more than a postscript to the nine-volume original.

I believe there's reason to think that it will work. It's pretty clear that Genshiken Nidaime has already begun, with last year's bonus "Chapter 56" as chapter 1. It's a strong chapter, about Ogiue's doubts during her first recruitment drive as club president, and introduces three new characters. There's enough stuff started here to carry us through to Ogiue's graduation. Live-wire Yoshitake and taciturn Yajima are a natural comedy pair, and the cross-dressing Hato must certainly have back story. I think we'll see the Ohno-Oguie friendship strengthen, and get to follow Oguie's transition into the world of manga publishing.

I have always thought that Genshiken fell into two long story arcs. The first involves the outsider Kasukabe's revulsion at the club's otaku culture, and culminates in her burning of the back issues. The second restates the theme, tracing the course of Ogiue's self-hatred. Both arcs end in acceptance and re-integration. I suspect there's a third arc in the works and it involves Hato.

The announcement in Afternoon states that this run of Genshiken is for a limited time. I take that to mean five or six issues, or enough to make up one volume. Which would be fine, but three or four volumes would be fine too! Douglas

Joe Howe, Orator

When Joe Howe speaks ...

the ladies want to hear ...

but the gentlemen are skeptical.

Third Lanark

Actor Simon Weir wants to resurrect Third Lanark, a Glasgow-based Scottish Football League club that went bankrupt in 1967. The club's ground still exists, though with forty years of forestation and broken Buckfast bottles on the terraces. This is a timely development as Partick Thistle may soon need a cross-town rival in the Third Division.

William Fenwick Williams

Born in Annapolis Royal in 1800, at various times governor of Kars (in Turkey), Nova Scotia, and Gibraltar.

Nice Door

Evangeline Brandt "Ikebana"

Ross County's Greatest Moment

We now come to a point in the soccer season I was dreading, when I would have to find something else to say about a club I've already discussed, and possibly even do research. It had to happen sooner or later, as the Morton play each club in the First Division four times, and in the case of Ross County five, because they met in the Challenge Cup. But I have a plan. Every time an opponent comes up for the second time I'll say something about its Greatest Moment Ever.

But first to summarize my earlier remarks about Ross County FC: their fans are cheuchters.

Though founded in 1929, Ross County did not enjoy its Greatest Moment until April 10th, 2010, when the club defeated Celtic 2 - 0 in the Scottish Cup semi-final. Steven Craig scored the first and ultimately deciding goal. The victory took Ross County to the cup final (which they lost, otherwise that would have been their Greatest Moment Ever, obviously), and ensured that Celtic, who can normally count on winning some kind of silverware in a year, got nothing. (Well, they did win the Fenway Football Challenge against Sporting Clube de Portugal in Boston, Mass. in July.)

Ross County, who eliminated Morton from the Alba Challenge Cup in August, are through to the semi-finals. They play Partick October 10. They were less fortunate with the Cooperative Insurance Cup frenzy, losing to Dundee United on Wednesday.

Ross County sit sixth in the division, only two spots ahead of Morton, but with twice as many points. A win by Greenock would lift the Ton into contact with the middle pack, though they'd still be behind the Staggies. A loss ... well.

[Morton have temporarily acquired Cameroon striker Jonathan Toto, who is headed for Hearts but in transfer rights limbo at the moment.]

[Today is the first round of the Scottish Cup. Non-league teams like Lossiemouth and Civil Service Strollers begin their drive for Scotland's most prestigious trophy. Morton don't join the fun until round three in November.]

[Morton 0, Ross County 0. Morton remain in eighth. Four goals in seven games. Jings!]