In a rather brilliantly creative move, James Kennedy (Nara-ken, 2004-06), author of the acclaimed young adult novel The Order of Odd-Fish, has developed a classroom guide for the novel which is intended to be used by school teachers in class with their students.

In James’ own words:

Some schools have put The Order of Odd-Fish on their reading lists. That’s great!

So I’ve put together a classroom guide for Odd-Fish. It’s 44 pages of discussion questions, lesson plans, and projects. It also features Odd-Fish fan art by enthusiastic readers—art that was featured in our Odd-Fish gallery show in Chicago in April 2010.

This curriculum does the strangeness of the book justice, I think. Aside from the chapter-by-chapter worksheets, there are also activities such as inventing your own Odd-Fish specialty, writing your own articles for the Eldritch Snitch, researching Japanese rituals that inspired the Odd-Fish festivals, baking avant-garde pies, creating urk-ack music, and inventing one’s own Eldritch City mythologies.

It’s also gateway to other fields of study. The knights of the Odd-Fish are, after all, scholars as well as warriors. This curriculum touches on topics as disparate as cockroach anatomy, Shinto and Hindu mythology, the KGB, Wikipedia, foppery, real-life historical eccentrics, and more.

Download the guide for free here. And of course, I always enjoy visiting schools, either in person or by Skype.

Go pester your teachers now! I’m doing this for you, people!

And in JetWit’s opinion, while the novel is in the young adult category, it’s also one of the funniest books you’ll ever read as an adult.  To read more JetWit posts about James, click here.  And watch the below video to see James doing an extremely dramatic reading from the book at last year’s JET Alumni Author Showcase in New York:

“Thanks to Mark Frauenfelder’s writeup about Tonoharu: Part One on Boing Boing, the book has made it into Amazon.com’s Top Ten Bestselling Graphic Novels today!”

Here’s the link to the review:  http://www.boingboing.net/2010/08/27/tonoharu-excellent-g.html

Here’s a quote from the review:

“Published in 2008, and a winner of the prestigious Xeric Award, Tonoharu is a story of isolation, frustration, and mystery, with just the right amount of black humor to keep it from being depressing.”

For fans awaiting the next installment, Tonoharu:  Part 2 is due out in December.

Aaron Woolfolk (Kochi-ken, 1991-93)

Aaron Woolfolk (Kochi-ken, 1991-93), director and writer of the Kochi-based film, “The Harimaya Bridge,” recently won a director’s award at the 2010 Pan African Film Festival.

Click the link below to read the article and learn more about Aaron and his acclaimed film.

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/08/12/18655970.php

with support from the Consulate General of Japan in New York

Presents

A Special Play Reading of critically acclaimed Off Broadway Play

SAKE WITH THE HAIKU GEISHA

Graphic by JET alum Amber Liang

The JET Alumni Association of New York is pleased to present a limited one-night reading of the critically acclaimed play “Sake with the Haiku Geisha,” written by JET alumnus and playwright, Randall David Cook (Fukui-ken, 1991-93).

Date: Friday, August 13

Start time: 8:30 p.m.

Location: Tinker Auditorium (between Park & Madison Aves.) 22 E 60th St, New York, NY 10065, (212) 355-6100

Cost:

• $5 in advance ($10 at the door) for JET alumni
• $10 in advance ($15 at the door) for Friends of JET

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE TICKETS ON-LINE VIA PAYPAL

“Sake with the Haiku Geisha” premiered Off-Broadway in 2006 and was based on the collective experiences of three JETs who were placed in Fukui-ken from 1991-1993: an American from South Carolina, a Canadian from Nova Scotia and an English woman from Devon. The structure of the play is inspired by the classic Noh play: an opening ceremony, five acts (each of which uses a different speaker and a spirit or ghost), and a closing ceremony. The show starts on at a farewell party for the visiting JETS, and first three acts are told from the perspective of the visiting JETs, and then the tables turn, and the final two acts are told from the perspective of two Japanese: the supervisor of the Canadian JET, and the geisha’s story, which closes out the play.

The first act, “Sushi and Scones” was a finalist in five major festivals in the USA and England, won the “Best Play” award at the Southeastern Playwrights Conference and was taped and broadcast by as a BBC radio play in late 2005. See a full review of the play in the New York Times.

This event is being organized in cooperation with the Consulate General of Japan in New York.

Recently he interviewed two members of the cast of “The Last Airbender” movie during their promotional visit to Tokyo, asking them for their views on the “racebending” controversy surrounding their film. He also covered an insect show now running at a Tokyo museum, reviewed the manga “Otomen,” and weighed in on a couple of other movies now playing in Japan. Here are some excerpts:

“Last Airbender”

In the United States, some fans of the anime-style cartoon on which the movie is based have protested against the casting of Jackson Rathbone and Nicola Peltz, who are white, in roles the fans saw as Asian.

Asked to comment on that, Rathbone said: “I originally was a finalist for Prince Zuko [a Fire Nation role that went to Slumdog Millionaire star Dev Patel]. Almost a year later, I was brought back in for the character of Sokka…I think what they were really looking for was the qualities that people represent, not so much focusing on race…All these characters [in the cartoon] have so many different features, you can’t really say that they are one race…It’s a shame that people really focus on the race thing and they don’t understand that it’s a story for everyone.”

“And there are over 120 different types of people in the film,” Peltz added.

“In terms of a big-budget film, it’s the most ethnically diverse cast there’s ever been,” Rathbone agreed.

Read the rest of the interview here.

“Insects festival”

Open your window on a hot summer day and you may hear a sound that caught the ear of haiku poet Matsuo Basho in the 17th century: the voices of cicadas, seeping into the rocks. Of course, Japan today is a lot more urbanized than it was in Basho’s time, and cicadas are more likely to sing against a background of asphalt and cement. Yet year after year, the buzzing bugs never fail to show up, even in the heart of Tokyo.

Visitors to Insects Festival, an exhibition now running at the Edo-Tokyo Museum in Ryogoku, Tokyo, are reminded of such persistence right away with a display of six-legged critters that live in three different Tokyo zones: mountains, fields and downtown areas.

While city-dwellers often resent sharing space with the likes of cockroaches and ants, the emphasis of this show is on seasonal outdoor insects whose diverse shapes, bright colors and occasional songs actually enhance city life…

Read the rest of the article here, or visit the exhibition’s site here.

“Otomen”

Anyone writing a graduate thesis on the presentation of gender in Japanese pop culture will find abundant material in the manga series Otomen. Readers looking for laughs will also find what they seek in Otomen, but rather less abundantly.

The main characters are a trio of high school students, with the focus on Asuka (a boy who has a name more common for girls), who is in love with Ryo (a girl who has a name more common for boys). Their would-be romance is complicated by the constant presence of their friend Juta, who tries to play cupid, but is more often a third wheel.

Asuka is the captain of the school kendo team, and is admired by everyone as a “real man.” But he is secretly an “otomen,” a boy who is into girly things, such as cute stuffed animals and delicate pastries. He is at least as skilled at cooking and sewing as he is at sports, but he keeps that side of himself hidden. Ryo is Asuka’s mirror image in that she has been raised by her socially inept father to follow in his footsteps as a martial arts champion, but she strives to put up a feminine front at school. Juta has a secret, too, as he is actually a best-selling manga artist who is using the couple as a model for his stories…

Read the full review here.

Also playing…

You can read Tom’s review of “Inception” here, and his review of “Zombieland” here.

Recently he reviewed movies, “Crazy Heart” and “Brothers.” He found poetry in both of them. Here are some excerpts:

“Crazy Heart”

Country music singer-songwriter Bad Blake (Jeff Bridges) smokes like a chimney, drinks like a fish, sweats like a pig, and urinates into a plastic jug while driving from town to town. As I watched him perform under hot lights at a variety of small and unglamorous venues in the movie Crazy Heart, I could almost smell him. He didn’t smell very nice.

…

On the bright side, Bad’s personal problems are grist for the mill. One of his most popular songs looks back on a dissipated life with the refrain, “Funny how fallin’ feels like flyin’/for a little while.”

Anyone who doubts that country music is the primary home of modern American poetry should meditate on that line. “Funny how fallin’ feels like flyin’” is alliterative and catchy, but also trenchant. And Bad has flown and fallen quite a way…

Read the rest of the review here.

“Brothers”

In William Shakespeare’s play about his life, King Richard II is forced to surrender his crown to his usurper cousin Henry IV. In doing so, Richard compares himself and Henry to two buckets in a well: “The emptier ever dancing in the air,/The other down, unseen and full of water:/That bucket down and full of tears am I,/Drinking my griefs while you mount up on high.”

The title characters in Brothers, although they dwell in an American suburb rather than an English castle, are not unlike the tragic royal cousins.

Sam (Tobey Maguire) is an upstanding husband, father and U.S. marine who is about to be separated from his family for a tour of duty in Afghanistan. On the eve of Sam’s departure, his surly brother Tommy (Jake Gyllenhaal), a ne’er-do-well with a drinking problem, rejoins the extended family after a stint in prison…

Read the rest of the review here.

Here is a practical list of organizations, market guides, and networking opportunities for jump starting your writing career.  My apologies that it is heavy on the America and Speculative Fiction side, but that is who I am and what I write, so that is what I know best.  But hopefully everyone can find something useful from this list:

Your best friend for meeting publishers and agents is writers’ and fan conferences, especially if you can get one-on-one consultations!  Every state in America has at least one per year.  The one I always attend is the Oklahoma Writers Federation Inc. conference the first weekend in May (http://www.owfi.org/).  Next year it will be May 5^th-7^th.  It`s one of the best in America.  If you happen to live near the Oklahoma area, there is also Tulsa Nightwriters, CrossRoads Writers Critique Group, Oklahoma Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers, Fellowship of Christian Writers, and the Conestoga conference, all of which can be googled.  If you live in other areas, simply google “(your state/province/country) writers” and you will no doubt come up with a host of organizations, conferences, and events. 

Here are some groups in Japan:

Osaka Readers and Writer`s Club: Meets every Saturday to read and critique:

http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=84878668917&topic=13137#!/group.php?gid=35793654598&ref=search

 Nagoya Writers: http://nagoyawrites.wordpress.com/

Tokyo Writers Salon: http://ja-jp.facebook.com/posted.php?id=16353897846

Japan Writers Conference: http://www.japanwritersconference.org/ (This year being held in Tokyo October 10^th-11.) 

The best writing reference, in my humble opinion, is Writers` Market.  It comes out every September and you can get it at almost any bookstore (where English is the main spoke language; and where not, you can buy it online).  It features over 8,000 book, magazine, script, and poetry editors and agents to buy your writing. You have to get the latest one because it becomes totally obsolete in six months. For a more fluid, long-lasting reference, you can subscribe to www.writersmarket.com.  There`s a similar one for Christian Writers called Christian Writers` Market Guide: http://www.stuartmarket.com/ and for kids and teens called Children`s Writers and Illustrators Market: http://www.cwim.com/

Libraries often host events for writers and contests.  By winning a number of these contests, I’ve gained some really useful contacts. 

A really prestigious sci-fi/fantasy writers group is Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America- commonly called SFWA. http://www.sfwa.org/  In order to join you must have sold three short stories, a novel, or a screenplay in one of those genres to be in it, but it`s really worth it.  Even for non-members they are a vast resource for markets and other information.

This is a link to Australian Speculative Fiction markets: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~mslee/mag.html.  And this one is international: http://www.sff.net/people/julia.west/markets.html

Fangs, Fur, and Fey (http://community.livejournal.com/fangs_fur_fey) is an online community for urban fantasy/paranormal authors.  They’re great for networking and critiquing.  The Absolute Write is another great online group of critiquers for any writer.   

Some agents with very helpful blogs about the industry are Nathan Bransford, Miss Snark, and Kristin Nelson.  They actually tell step by step how to submit your work and write a professional query letter, including examples, along with other essential writing, selling, and marketing tools.  The Guide to Literary Agents blog is my personal favorite, especially the new agent alerts! http://www.guidetoliteraryagents.com

The international Writers of the Future Contest is how a lot of sci-fi, fantasy, and horror writers are getting started these days.  If you win (hard, but doable) they really promote your work and send you to a week-long conference with dozens of agents and editors present.  http://www.writersofthefuture.com/   

For more general genres, there is the international Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest held in February every year.  The odds at winning (with 5,000 entrants in both adult and young adult categories) are very low, but even making it to the quarterfinalist round is something you could put on a resume or a query letter to a publisher/agent.  That goes for all contests, actually.

Four small to medium press publishers interested in fantasy, science fiction and horror are Zumaya Publications, Yard Dog press, Double Dragon, and Baen Books.  They don’t require an agent to submit work to them.

Society of Children`s Book Writers and Illustrators is one of the most prestigious international writing groups in the world and is for authors of work for toddlers to teens. There are three levels of membership depending on your level of publication. They host events, critique groups, and conferences all over the world.  I am a member of both the Tokyo and Oklahoma chapters.  Here is their website: http://www.scbwi.org/.

For freelance writing opportunities, try checking caigslist: http://www.craigslist.org/about/sites.  I`ve had a number of friends who got gigs this way. Here`s a link to an interesting submission request for science fiction writing out of Osaka: http://osaka.craigslist.jp/wrg/1780784902.html. Elance is another one that looks to be quite useful to us writer sorts.

And hopefully that will keep you busy for awhile!

Laura Popp (Mie-ken, 2009-Present) is a current JET who writes fantasy and science fiction for children and young adults, and is an occasional playwright/film maker.  Her short work includes a short story titled “In theShadow Realm” and a documentary she made in Malawi.  To read about her amazing adventures all over Japan, go to her blog at laurajanepopp.blogspot.com. (And check out the Authors/Books section of the JetWit Library for a list of more writers in the JET-o-sphere.)

Tired of submitting queries to agents and editors and simply getting form rejection letters or worse, NO RESPONSE?  Wondering if they`re even bothering to read your stuff?  Frustrated by wanting to submit to publishing houses that only receive submissions from agents and “referred” writers? Consider meeting publishers and agents at a conference!

Recently I returned from a writers` conference in my home in Oklahoma and came back with some great success stories to tell.  Even better than the wonderful presentations on writing, polishing and marketing were the opportunities for networking and industry contacts. One literary agent asked me for the first fifty pages of my middle grade novel Dargon, another agent requested a proposal for my young adult novel Treasure Traitor, and a publisher from Simon and Shuster asked to see the full manuscripts of BOTH. A travel publisher also requested a proposal for a non-fiction travel-essay book on Japan, and best of all, a Christian magazine publisher accepted one of my stories on the spot! Of course, most of these are just birds in the bush, if you will, but they are certainly a good start.

So how did you do it? you may be wondering. Well, let me tell you…

Do your homework

Many conferences post information about editors and agents who will be attending in advance. Research them and pick the ones that look like they may be interested in your completed fiction projects or non-fiction ideas. Note that most agents and publishers will ONLY consider finished fiction works and proposals for non-fiction articles and books.

Try to make an appointment

If you have the option to make an appointment, get one early because they tend to fill up fast.  If you can`t make an appointment, join them for lunch or dinner. If all else fails, try to catch them after or before a presentation but NEVER corner them in the bathroom. Try to be considerate. They are probably worn out from traveling and busy thinking about their upcoming presentations, so try to catch them at a time when they`re relaxed and not stressed out. At the hotel bar during happy hour is always a great option. You`d be surprised how many deals are made over a beer.

Practice your pitch

Write a two to three sentence pitch that reveals the main character, the main conflict, and the audience for your book.  A good way of formulating these is the “Wrath of Kan meets The Little Princess” method, only using books the editor has published or the agent has previously represented. This shows them you know about them and aren`t just throwing your stuff out there to anyone. You don`t have to do it this way, in fact I find it far too formulaic.  Here`s two examples of pitches for my books:

Treasure Traitor: Fifteen-year-old Renagada wants nothing more than to live in peace with her best friend.  There`s only one problem.  Her best friend`s a vulture.

Dargon the Human Slayer: Dargon dreams of becoming a Master Human Slayer like his grandfather.  What more could an awkward adolescent dragon want? But when he meets to human siblings who accidently traveled back in time to his prehistoric home, his whole world turns upside down.

From these two pitches, what do we know about the books?  In the first one we learn the main character and her problem and also figure out this is probably going to be a book for young teenage girls who like birds. In the second one we learn the main character and his problem and that this is going to be a book most likely to appeal to adolescents who like dragons. There`s our hook and our market, all in one. That`s what the publisher wants to know most. What makes this story interesting and who`s going to read it?

Now the first one is actually a science-fiction/fantasy novel, but I was pitching it to a publisher whose emphasis lies on angsty female teens and their tumultuous relationships.  So that`s how I pitched it and when I got into the fantasy elements during our conversation, they didn`t turn her off because I had emphasized the core conflict of the story as Rena`s relationship with her bird.  If I were to pitch the same story to a fantasy publisher, I would start with something more like this:

Fifteen-year-old Renagada lives in a pre-industrial world of superstition, where a woman’s only hope of power lies in her ability to control animals and use them to fight in the horrific war tearing her world apart.  Rena longs to live up to this legacy, but when she forms a particularly strong bond with a carrion-eater bird named Acha, whom her people fear and hate, she must choose between a life of honor and a life on the run.

Same book but totally different emphasis. These aren`t the greatest examples, but hopefully they give you an idea. If the publisher likes action adventure, put that spin on it. If the agent likes strong female protagonists, throw that in. Practice your pitch until you have it memorized and can say it slowly but with measured enthusiasm.

Stay calm

Nothing ruins a good pitch like an author who simply rattles it off at torpedo speed.  Just breathe, smile, and be sure to give the publisher or agent a friendly handshake when you say hello and goodbye.  Eye contact is also important, of course.  If you stare at your notes while you`re rattling off your pitch, you won`t make a good impression.  A very wise agent once told me that ten minutes is not enough to know whether or not he likes a book, but it is enough to know whether or not he likes a person and will want to work with them in the future.

Listen!

After the pitch, it`s a good idea to explain the main plot points of the story in its entirety (don`t make them guess at the ending), but keep it brief! Try to shoot for less than a minute. Allow for a conversation to begin; that`s where the gold lies.  Allow them to make comments on your story and ask questions. If they aren`t thrilled, don`t be discouraged! It might not be for them, but this is a golden opportunity to receive professional comments about how you can improve the story or your pitch.  And be sure to ask questions of them!  What is their favorite book, how does their editing process work, do they actively promote the careers of their authors? You too want to make sure this is someone you want to work with on your life-long dream!

Jackpot!

If all goes well, the publisher or agent will ask for one of three things:

1.) A proposal (and be sure to ask exactly what they want because it does differ)

2.) A partial (up to fifty pages or five chapters of the manuscript)

3.) The full manuscript!

So be sure for fiction works that you have the full manuscript already completed! Most publishers will give you only a six week window to submit after the conference. Be sure to keep to whatever deadline and guidelines they give you. Doing so shows you are a professional and will be easy to work with.

And there you have it! Happy conferencing!

He recently interviewed Shane Acker, director of the animated film “9” and Richard Kelly, who most recently directed “The Box,” a thriller starring Cameron Diaz. He also reviewed the manga “Hot Gimmick.” Here are some excerpts:

Shane Acker

[The characters in the movie are all animated dolls with numbers instead of names.]　A different personality aspect is dominant in each one. Rigid orthodoxy is represented by leader 1 (voiced by Christopher Plummer), creativity by inventor 2 (Martin Landau), bravery by warrior 7 (Jennifer Connelly) and so on. Elijah Wood does the voice of 9, the truth-seeker of the group, and John C. Reilly voices his timid friend, 5…

The most amusing character is 8 (Fred Tatasciore), who embodies sheer physicality. In one scene, he achieves a moment of strange bliss by stroking his head with a large magnet, an activity that Acker called “degaussing himself.”

“In film school, especially in the days of video, if you had a videotape and you wanted to just wipe it clean, there’s a degaussing machine, which is basically like a supermagnet, and you would wave the videotape over the degausser and it would just take off all the footage that’s on there,” Acker explained. “So that’s the kind of idea, he’s sort of wiping his memory banks. You realize why he’s so dumb.”

Read the full article here.

Richard Kelly

Imagine that a mysterious stranger has just handed you a wooden box with a red button on top. He explains, rather convincingly, that if you push the button two things will happen: Someone whom you don’t know will die, and you will receive a payment of 1 million dollars…

In writer-director Richard Kelly’s movie The Box, based on a short story by Richard Matheson, the stranger’s name is Arlington Steward (Frank Langella), and he is conducting a high-stakes social experiment by visiting the homes of middle-class American couples and offering them the choice of pushing the button or not.

“Tonally this movie crosses a lot of genres,” Kelly, who previously wrote and directed Donnie Darko (2001) and Southland Tales (2006), told The Daily Yomiuri in a recent phone interview. “It’s a science fiction film, it’s a domestic melodrama, it’s a suspense film, there’s elements of horror in it, and there’s also some black comedy inherent…The conceit of pushing this button on this contraption and someone you don’t know dying is very mischievous. Anyone who would build this contraption and make this offer is smirking when they do it. And Matheson was smirking, I’m sure, when he wrote this short story.”

…[The story is set in the 1970s because] the mysterious stranger is a character type whose day has passed, according to Kelly. “When I set out to write this screenplay, I initially was trying to figure out how to make it work present-day, but when you introduce modern technology and the Internet, social networking sites, Google maps, satellite maps, reality TV, just our media-saturated world that we live in…there is no such thing as a real stranger anymore. Everyone can be found on the Internet. You can find anyone’s house, you can go onto a satellite map with a 360-degree view.”

Read the full article here.

“Hot Gimmick”

[In this manga, a high school girl’s seriously unhealthy relationships with her would-be boyfriends is presented as perfectly normal.]

For example, the day after one of her suitors is unable to reach her by phone (for reasons that are no one’s fault), he slaps her across the face so hard that bystanders rush to offer first aid. But Hatsumi chases after him to make the following speech, which he receives in stony silence: “I’m sorry. For being so clueless. For…never being able to get your calls…I’m so sorry. I’m really sorry. For not understanding how you feel about me. I’m sorry.”

Later, when one of the boys proposes to her, she thinks, “Maybe if we got married, he’d finally be nice to me.”

She seems unaware of some basic principles of healthy human interaction, such as this simple standard: If a friend arranges for you to be gang-raped, that person is not really your friend.

Read the full review here.

Many successful titles and even a PBS miniseries later, Feiler is back with another personal account on his experience after he was diagnosed with cancer.  The young father of two daughters set off to write to them with the advice of six guiding men in his life.  The group of his college roommates and childhood friends, penned “The Council of Dads,” provide the wisdom that he seeks for himself and his family.  The rest of his personal battle with chemo therapy and lingering fears for his family unfold in his latest book: The Council of Dads – My Daughters, My Illness, and the Men Who Could Be Me.

As an early reviewer from United’s Hemispheres Inflight Magazine noted: “The book’s power comes in part from Feiler’s willingness to delve into emotions—including feelings of tenderness not only for our children and spouses but between male friends—that aren’t often spoken of with such candor.”  And it’s not surprising, because for much of his career as a writer, he has lead readers through both the clamor of a JET classroom and the Biblical journey through the steps of Abraham.

Check out his extensive speaking event schedule for May and June.  He’ll be hitting bookstores and cafes in California, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, and Pennsylvania in two months!

Follow him on Twitter or Facebook, and here’s a trailer for his book.

If you are interested or knows of someone that is capable, contact me for details.

Daniel Stone
danone19(AT)gmail.com

His two latest articles are movie reviews, one of “The Wolfman,” and one that discusses “Moon” and “Shutter Island” together. Here are some excerpts:

THE WOLFMAN

In most werewolf movies nowadays, it is standard to show a person’s nose and jaw elongating into a snaggletoothed lupine muzzle when they transform from human to wolf. [Makeup artist Rick] Baker has done that before, but in this film he pays homage to Lon Chaney Jr.’s furry but still humanoid look in the 1941 film The Wolf Man, on which the new film is based. Then and now, the title monster has modest fangs, a woolly forehead, a beard that goes up to his eyes and a nose that darkens at the tip.

Our first glimpse of Baker’s version of this classic face is literally over in a flash, as we see it illuminated by a pistol shot during a nocturnal battle. (In case you missed it the first time, the scene repeats a moment later, with a larger gun.) Later scenes reveal the monster’s face at greater length.

Read the full review here.

MOON and SHUTTER ISLAND

Teddy Daniels and Sam Bell are men who love their wives. They are also the respective protagonists of two new movies, Shutter Island and Moon, that take us far enough inside the characters’ heads to see each man passionately embracing his wife in a dream.

But when Teddy awakes, he finds himself trapped on his movie’s titular island, unhappily remembering that his wife has been dead for years. And when Sam awakes, he finds himself trapped on his movie’s titular heavenly body, unhappily remembering that his wife is on Earth, and he has not seen her for many months.

Teddy (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a U.S. marshall investigating the disappearance of an inmate from a prison hospital for the criminally insane on Shutter Island, Mass., in the 1950s. Sam (Sam Rockwell) is the solitary human staffer of a mining facility on the dark side of the moon, possibly in the 2050s.

The settings are very different, but both are ominous, isolated places in which intense psychological drama will unfold. In both movies, the protagonists have high-stakes confrontations with themselves, and with the powers that be.

Read the rest of the review here. The review is deliberately spoiler-free, but you can read Tom’s further comments about the endings of “Moon” here and “Shutter Island” here.

Laura is a current JET who writes fantasy and science fiction for children and young adults, and is an occasional playwright/film maker.

Namaskaram! Greetings from India! Ever consider volunteering abroad? With all our JET paid vacation time, there`s lots of opportunities. It looks great on your resume, and it’s a sure way to give you inspiration for your writing! Why stick to the touristy spots you can read about? You can get a feel for “the real thing” by helping out in the rural villages and slums, and see a part of the world you might never see otherwise.

I definitely just got a feel for the “real India” after spending ten days in Andhra Pradesh building houses and teaching the children of Dalits (untouchables) with five other English teachers through Longitude International. What an amazing experience! The moment we entered Chuvuru village we were greeted by drums and dancing. The people welcomed us into their homes and there seemed no end to the smiles, laughter, and chai tea! 

We spent our mornings helping build new cement houses that would stand the tempest of the fall monsoons, and our evenings teaching and playing with the children. In the beginning they were shy and called me “madam,” but within a few hours they completely opened up and called me “sister.” “Sister, one more song, one more photo, one more dance!” Boy, did they love to dance! We taught them the hokey pokey, the Macarena, head-shoulders-knees-and-toes, everything we could think of, and in return they showed us their “Bollywood moves.” They also loved my fife and recorder. Whenever I brought them out, they instantly began shouting requests.

During a game of “let`s travel,” one of the kids asked me, “Your village?” I didn`t know how to respond. Temple, Texas, where I was born? Owasso or Tulsa Oklahoma where I was raised and went to school? Nabari, Japan, where I live now? Malawi, Africa, where I left a huge part of my heart with the AIDS orphans? Or right there in Chuvuru where I felt so at home? 

It was a bit of an identity crisis. I asked myself if I really “belong” anywhere. For weeks I`ve been nervous about my upcoming visit back to the States and wondering if it has “changed,” or more importantly, if I`ve changed. Will I feel “at home” in the place my friends and family consider to be my “home?” 

After puzzling over it I came to a rather relieving, though somewhat clichéd conclusion. The world is my village. Perhaps that sounds cheesy, but I really think so. Not that I would be welcome let alone feel comfortable anywhere in the world, but I think wherever I do go where there are welcoming hearts and warm smiles, that place will be my home, my village for as long as I am there. And the villagers of India really are so welcoming, so loving that you feel like one of them from the very beginning. There is no insider/outsider. Only friend and family.

Of course, the trip wasn`t all fuzzy feelings. It was very difficult to see how some of the people suffered. Thirty years ago in a nearby village, the government gave the Dalits land to farm, but are now taking it back. This forces the villagers to migrate long distances through dangerous roads or hire themselves out as domestic servants where they are physically and sexually abused. Disease is still a major problem, claiming many lives.   

So a lot of people have asked me, why did you bother going to India? There`s not much you can do to help anyway; why not just send money? Sending money is great, but if I`m traveling anyway, I might as well make a difference as I do and experience the “real world.” I can already tell you, those kids and that place are already showing up in my fiction!   

We were the first volunteer group to visit Chuvuru, but this is only the beginning of their brighter future. Hopefully many more teams will come to help build and teach, continuing the cause of awareness, human rights, and global friendship. Who knows, maybe you`re next? If you`re interested in learning more about longitude and their work, you can visit their website at http://www.golongitude.org/. 

For more details, pictures, and videos about Laura`s adventures in Asia, visit her weekly blog at laurajanepopp.blogspot.com.

Do you work in bankruptcy or restructuring?  Now you can join the JET Alumni Restructuring & Bankruptcy Group on LinkedIn.

Additionally, if anyone would like to take a stab at translating the cartoon into Japanese for JetWit’s Japanese fans out there, feel free to post in the comments section of this post.  Some cultural explanation might be helpful as well, given that Japanese bankruptcy laws are very different than the U.S.

The discussion takes place this Friday, March 26, from 10:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown Hotel. More info can be found under “# 69″ here: http://www.aasianst.org/annual-meeting/2010/Friday.pdf

Philly-area JET alums are encouraged to swing by and say hello.

Hi, Brainstorm Crew!

Hope everyone’s enjoying the start of spring (a link to JQ’s new issue is here in case you haven’t seen it yet).

Thanks always for your contributions and ideas and feel to link the new issue to your own sites/blogs to help promote us.

We are also taking on new writers if you’d like to provide some “local international coverage” of your chapter to appear in our pages. Contact me at magazine@jetaany.org for details.

Some of you have already signed up for stories at our quarterly meeting in February, so the below deadlines are the same (let me know how those stories are coming along). Here are the ideas needing takers for our May/June 2010 issue and beyond. De wa…
Deadlines are as follows:

FRIDAY, APRIL 2: Registering a story assignment with me at magazine@jetaany.org, or pitching an idea of your own for approval. First come, first served, and all suggestions are welcome. We’ve been picking up more new writers with each issue, and I encourage all first-timers whether you consider yourself a seasoned writer or not. (Just mind the deadlines!)
FRIDAY, APRIL 23: Deadline for submitting a final draft of your story. Extensions will be granted on a case-by-case basis, less so for new writers.
I would also greatly appreciate added assistance for the following:
REVIVE THE SOCIETY PAGE!: Are you a superJET who’s up-to-date on what’s happening in the lives of our members here in New York and elsewhere? I’d like to bring back the JETAANY Society Page with your help. I would carry this feature in every issue, to run at least half a page (600 words). E-mail me for more details and we’ll talk.

COPY EDITING/PROOFREADING: For those of you who like reading this thing cover to cover. Multiple times.

AD SALES CALLS: More sales means more JETAANY-sponsored events.  It takes under two minutes to get an answer in most cases.  Write for more info.
YOUR OWN STORY IDEAS: Anything’s fair game! Some of our most interesting material comes from suggestions from our more dedicated readers.

Now the fun stuff. Below are the story ideas. Thanks for reading and providing your support, and e-mail at magazine@jetaany.org with any other questions/ideas.

**************************************

CONSULATE GENERAL JAPAN CARAVAN

TOP PICK FOR A STORY! Help out the consulate to teach more young people about Japan . This is a decade-plus program run by New York ’s Consulate General of Japan that sends consulate staff (American and Japanese) to New York high schools and junior high schools to introduce students to Japanese culture. Back in January, I participated as a volunteer and enjoyed taking part in a Q&A with a very enthusiastic anime/manga club and faculty. The purpose of this article will be to increase awareness of the program so more JETAA members can get involved.

J-CATION AT JAPAN SOCIETY REVIEW – APRIL 10

From Japan Society’s homepage: Feast on everything Japan Society has to offer at j-CATION, a day-long event taking over Japan Society’s theater, gallery, lounge, and classrooms.
Take your taste buds on a trip to Japan as the first-ever j-CATION digs into the theme of Japanese food.  Feast your eyes on Edible Cinema, drool over innovative bento box creations, and enjoy how-tos, tastings, and unexpected pairings of speakers throughout the day.  Authentic and unusual drinks and bites satisfy cravings of the curious.  The evening explodes into a feeding frenzy of music as the delicious sounds of Asobi Seksu deliver the main course.  A D.J.’s mouthwatering, sweet beats rock j-CATION into the night.

http://www.japansociety.org/event_detail?eid=39639237

LUCKYRICE FESTIVAL REVIEW – APR 29-MAY 2

For JET foodies! Attendees will receive a 10% discount by the promoters.

This festival—which is all about Asian food and will be held over three nights in different Manhattan locations—is being produced in collaboration with an acclaimed Culinary Council of chefs – Daniel Boulud, David Chang, Eric Ripert, Tadashi Ono and many more–and is focused on celebrating the influence of Asian culture and cuisines in America.

www.luckyrice.com

SALON SERIES/SAKURA MATSURI @ BBG – MAY 1 & 2

Salon Series is an ongoing program of informative and educational lectures, lecture-demonstration and performances aimed at those who are interested in deepening their knowledge of the performing arts of Japan . The series is held on Sunday afternoons three times a year at Tenri Cultural Institute, and will perform at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden ’s annual Sakura Matsuri in early May.  I can put you in touch with SS’ president, who is also an accomplished Japanese dancer and performer.

Sakura Matsuri is New York city ’s “rite of spring,” a phenomenal weekend celebrating Japanese culture with over 60 events and performances. Enjoy contemporary and traditional Japanese music and dance, taiko drumming, ikebana flower arranging, Japanese DJs, presentations on the art of manga, tea ceremonies, and workshops for all ages.

JET ALUM RUNNING FOR CONGRESS

JET alumnus David Boling has announced his candidacy for the 2nd congressional seat in Arkansas . Support your fellow alum with a profile and a story about his campaign efforts!

www.bolingforcongress.com

JAPAN INFORMATION CENTER

Profile. Take advantage of Japan Information Center to promote Japan !
The Japan Information Center (JIC) is the cultural and public affairs section of the Consulate General of Japan in New York . The JIC’s Services:
- Distributes educational materials, posters and pamphlets on Japan
- Provides speakers on various aspects of Japan to the schools throughout
this region
- Provides information on the Japanese Government Scholarships & the JET
Program
- Distributes the e-newsletter Japan Info
- Loans videos/DVDs and cultural artifacts
Please sign up to subscribe Japan Info here:
http://www.ny.us.emb-japan.go.jp/en/c/index.html
For more information and to contact JIC, please go to the website here:
http://www.ny.us.emb-japan.go.jp/en/b/01.html

ASIA SOCIETY

Earlier this year NYC’s Asia Society held a concert called “Hogaku,” or Japanese folk instruments played with modern flair. We’ve never profiled Asia Society, so this would be a great time to find out more about how they select their Japanese attractions and exhibitions. www.asiasociety.org

Japan Society’s Spring 2010 Performing Arts Schedule – Kyogen, etc.

This season features kyogen (this weekend!) live theater and music.  Am open to profiles/reviews of any of the following listed at the page below.

http://www.japansociety.org/performingarts

Exhibit: Kuniyoshi Monster Prints‏ at Japan Society – REVIEW

Graphic Heroes, Magic Monsters: Japanese Prints by Utagawa Kuniyoshi from the Arthur R. Miller Collection, March 12-June 13, 2010, at Japan Society Gallery

Thrashing sea creatures, samurai warriors, and a giant, looming skeleton are among the distinguishing subjects of the brashest of Japan ’s Ukiyo-e masters, Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797–1861), whose populist oeuvre is to be presented by Japan Society Gallery from March 12 to June 13, 2010.

Fresh from its spring 2009 showing at London ’s Royal Academy of Arts, where it was the surprise smash hit of the season, Graphic Heroes, Magic Monsters: Japanese Prints by Utagawa Kuniyoshi from the Arthur R. Miller Collection marks the first major exhibition of Kuniyoshi’s work in the United States in nearly 30 years.  The exhibition has been organized by the Royal Academy in collaboration with Arthur R. Miller and The British Museum.  The vast majority of the 150 color woodblock prints on display are from the Arthur R. Miller Collection, New York , generously loaned to Japan Society by the American Friends of the British Museum .

INTERVIEW CLAIR’S PROGRAMME COORDINATOR

Sacha Battrick works in the JET Programme Management Department
for the Council of Local Authorities for International Relations (CLAIR) in Tokyo . If you’ve ever wondered just what a Programme Coordinator does, here’s your chance to do a profile and tell the rest of the JET universe.
http://www.clair.or.jp

JET ALUM/SAKE EXPERT JOHN GAUNTNER

John is a noted lecturer on sake who travels the world to speak all about this appealing beverage. He just published a new eBook entitled Japan For Sake Lovers. Profile John by e-mail and maybe he’ll send you a gratis copy of the book to help boost the piece!

www.sake-world.com

ISSHONI LONDON – JET Alum Vanessa Villalobos

London JET alum’s blog: events, news, review and interviews. I met her back in December and this would be a good Q&A piece for any JETs wanting to learn more about how our alumni groups operate overseas.

http://www.isshonilondon.co.uk/

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Isshoni-London/119415767689

http://twitter.com/IsshoniVanessa

SAMURAI BEAT RADIO

This site deals with J-pop and culture in the U.S. They hosted this neat event at Kinokuniya in December. Profile.

Rate J-Pop Christmas Songs at Kinokuniya: Sat. Dec 19th!

Samurai Beat Radio will be participating in Kinokuniya Bookstore’s big Christmas Raffle event on Sat. Dec 19 starting 1pm.

It’s “Samurai Beat Radio presents Rate the J-Pop Christmas Songs!”.

Vote online now! Find and hear the selections here on SBR blog!!

http://blog.samuraibeatradio.com

info@samuraibeatradio.com

JAPAN NITE 2010 AT BOWERY BALLROOM

Annual concert featuring indie acts from Japan , which just wrapped up last week in Manhattan after swinging through the SXSW festival. I can put you in touch with the organizer if you’d like to do a profile on the show itself or any of the individual bands.

Lineup: Red Bacteria Vacuum / Omodaka / JinnnyOops! / Okamato’s

http://www.boweryballroom.com/event/4053

BAND PROFILES: ECHOSTREAM/SUPERGLORIOUS

Echostream appeared at last spring’s New York Anime festival.  Their singer is Japanese and they’ve performed at such venues like Bowery Ballroom.  Profile.

Superglorious is an NYC based event producer that produced the FETES ’09 rock concert following last September’s New York Anime Festival.  They live events with music lovers in mind with a Japanese twist.  From their homepage: Music is energy, music is spiritual.  Our goal is simply to push the limits of what is being done live and blow minds…

Hayden Brereton

www.superglorious.com

A CRITICAL JAPANESE ASSESSMENT OF ‘HEROES’

I’ve never seen the hit show, but I understand that it’s featured several prominent Japanese and Japanese American actors who speak plenty of Nihongo as the scenes call for it. Any fans of the show out there who care to do a commentary of whether or not it’s authentic and/or a good example of “cool Japan”’s soft power in the American mainstream?

JETLOG: LAURA POP (PROFILE)

Laura is a current JET (Mie-ken 2008-) who writes fantasy and science fiction for

children and young adults, and is an occasional playwright/film maker.

Here’s one of her short stories titled “In theShadow Realm” –

http://www.viatouch.com/learn/Storystation/Stories/in_shadow_realm.jsp

Here’s a documentary she made in Malawi (on

YouTube):  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApdQpfi4i7E

To read about her amazing adventures all over Japan , check out her her blog:  http://laurajanepopp.livejournal.com

JET ALUM IN JAPAN STEPHEN PALANIK

Stephen (Fukushima-ken, 2004-08) is currently living in Japan post-JET, and has helped JetWit.com honcho Steven Horowitz in posting jobs that are currently up for grabs in Japan . Would make a nice JETlog profile.
MATT SCHLECHT, EDITOR OF NYABlog

Matt (Akita-ken, ’98-’99) is the editor of online art listings and reviews site NY Art Beat (www.NYArtBeat.com

). Even though it covers the NYC art world, it has a strong connection to Tokyo . Profile.

TEAMTEACHERS.COM

An innovative telecommunications site for Team Teaching, founded by a JET. www.teamteachers.com

JOB PROSPECTS FOR JETS, CIRCA 2010

I’m interested in a piece that talks about the challenges new returnee JETs face after coming home and looking for work in this economy, as well as other JET alums considering new jobs or just looking for work.  This could be as simple as anecdotes (along the lines of our “How’s the Economy Treating You?” feature from fall 2008), but I’d like to turn this into an actual feature story, with at least three volunteers providing the details. And if you happened to have found a job in this economic climate, share the joy to give the rest of us some hope!

JETSET – CANADIAN JETS IN JAPAN

Melissa C. runs JETset, a site for Canadian JETs in Japan and the number one Web site for JET participants. Site profile. http://www.jetsetjapan.com

JET ALUM KIRK AKAHOSHI / QUARTERLIFE CRISIS

Kirk Akahoshi is a life coach and NLP (neuro-linguistic programming) practitioner who is also currently pursuing a marriage and family therapy license. He leads the “Quarterlife Crisis Workshop” and would make an interesting subject for the self-employed/entrepreneur JET alum angle.  www.QuarterlifeCrisisCoach.com.

JETlog: DAN DOOHER

Dan is a prefectural advisor in Akita-ken.  Would make a good profile (to learn just what a PA does) or JETlog profile piece.

Is this another example of ‘gaitsu‘–Japan being affected by foreign pressure?

Column is here:  http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/features/arts/20100319TDY11101.htm

Rock & Roll Jihad

Robert Schroeder (Shizuoka, ’92-’93), a JET alum and journalist based in Maryland, has released a book he co-wrote called Rock & Roll Jihad: A Muslim Rock Star’s Revolution (Free Press/Simon & Schuster).  After Schroeder wrote a piece in The Wall Street Journal profiling the Pakistani musician in 2007, the star asked him to be his writing assistant on his memoir.  And now, just a few months after publication, the book has already garnered high praise, both from celebrities like physician Deepak Chopra and Amazon readers.

The memoir follows the life of Salman Ahmad — founder of the “U2 of Asia” Sufi-rock band Junoon, a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador, and teacher of South Asian poetry — who is now credited as the first musician to bridge the gap between the West and the Muslim world.  He brought chart-topping rock & roll riffs to new ears in his home country of Pakistan, but also reined in listeners from around the world, including those at the UN General Assembly and the Nobel Peace Prize concert.

Ahmad, with the writing assistance of Schroeder, chronicle the cultural and political intricacies of navigating the politically tense Middle East, along with the post-9/11 world as a whole, as he continues to educate through music the true diversity of the Islamic faith and its art to the rest of the globe.

Schroder himself is not new to crossing national borders.  A former NHK producer and now reporter at Marketwatch, he has contributed pieces about Japan in numerous American periodicals, including a review in The Washington Post of a Virginia inn with Japanese style ofuro baths and traditional breakfasts.  Another first-person piece in The New York Times Magazine recounts the shock of eating whale sashimi in Ayukawa.  To read more of his pieces, click here.

To preview the first few pages of the book, read here.

He also writes movie reviews. Here is an excerpt from a recent review of “I Love You Phillip Morris,” in which Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor play Steven and Phillip, the lead characters in a gay romantic-comedy/prison-break film that is based on a true story. It opens March 17 in Britain and April 30 in the United States, but is already playing in Japan.

McGregor’s sweet and naive Phillip is totally believable. Harmlessly meek and far too trusting, yet somehow uttering the lion’s share of the laugh lines, he makes you want to protect him, which is also how Steven feels. “You only see the good in people,” marvels Steven, whose own outlook is far more cynical.

Carrey, who does appear in good movies now and then, is not always as believable in his role, but this is appropriate since he plays a chronic fake who is always trying on new identities and tells lies to everyone he meets. Late in the movie, when Steven tries to prove his love by revealing his true self to Phillip, he can’t really do it.

Steven is a criminal who went to prison because he belonged there. But his scams are amusing because his wealthy victims are entertainingly depicted (fairly or not) as crude, pompous fools. And his various prison escapes are amazing. In one, he uses felt-tip markers and toilet water to dye his prison uniform green, enabling him to walk right out in the guise of a visiting doctor…

Read the rest of the article here.