Now this is Only My Opinion, Part 3

November 12th, 2006

Thank you to everyone who sent in questions for this round of “Now This Is Only My Opinon.” These were, for the most part, good questions. But I have to apologize, because they were also mostly serious, I wasn’t as funny as I’d hoped to be…

In any case, here we go:

1. Do you think there might be another Yuricon event in Japan?

You never know. I once said, “I’ll never do that again” about running an event, and now, four events later, we’re working on Yuricon 2007, so…

2.If you were stranded on a desert island and could only bring one yuri manga series, what would it be?

I thought about this long and hard and decided on Hana no Asuka-gumi, because it’s the longest. :-) The original series went 33 issues, an omake volume and a novel, and the new series is up to volume 4.

If you had opened it up to novels, the answer would have, of course, been Maria-sama ga Miteru.

3.In your opinion, what was the main cause of the decline of Mediterranean civilizations at the end of the bronze age?

I don’t believe there was a “decline”. There was only the evolution of culture that continually happens as technology and worldview changes. As “anonymous” pointed out, iron changed the dynamics of culture, but cultural shift is a constant, regardless of technology.

4.What color are your socks?

90% of the time, black. Otherwise, white.

5.What hentai fetish makes you cringe?

Excessive bodily fluids. I simply do not get the appeal of a woman drooling, splurting, shooting who know *what* out of her breasts and nose, all at once. And I cannot, for the life of me, understand how that got to be seen as sexy.

6.Have you evern been to a gay bar?

Evern – like ever/even? :)

Two lesbian bars. We ran the very first Yuricon events ever at Meow Mix in New York City. And I visited the Mars Bar in Tokyo with friends, the first time I was there. Oh, wait…now that I think about it, the last time I was there, I was taken to a lesbian party too, so three.

6.Would you turn away from yuri if the fans became as obsessed as say, some yaoi fans? (i.e. Your inbox would be litterally mobbed if you insulted Kanamiko and such.)

You don’t read the comments here much do you? LOL I have been accused of all *sorts* of crimes against fandumb, for pointing out that Kannazuki no Miko is a crappy story with a semi-happy yuri ending so people who have poor critical skills think its “good.” Repeatedly. But I like the series anyway, so I don’t care that it’s bad. And I don’t care that people get angry at me and constantly rail on me for hating it, which I don’t. I know a good story when I see one – and Kaishaku does not, ever, write what *I* consider good stories. :-) In fact, as an editor, writer and publisher, I fancy I have pretty solid “Know a good story when I see one” cred.

I work pretty hard at all Yuricon-related venues, whether the Mailing List, or here or at events, to ensure that the level of emotional and sexual immaturity one finds with other fandumbs is not replicated. I encourage mature behavior, regardless of age.

But I’ll be honest, I don’t involve myself with series-specific fandumbs, because fans are dumb – and I include myself in that statement. :-) They (We, I,) get caught up in things that really aren’t terribly important. I just can’t waste my time and energy explaining why Haruka and Michiru are lovers to someone who is opposed and simply won’t see it. Period. What would be the point?

So, to answer your question – no. I watch and read Yuri *because I enjoy it.* And I don’t much give a fig what other people think. If I did, I would never have started Yuricon back in 2000 when people saw the word “Yuri” and said, out loud, “Ewww, porn.”

8.How did you get such an awesome job? Related question: Will ALC ever hire trans or editors? Stupidly related question: Do I really have to live in NYC or LA to work in publishing? Somehow even stupider question: Should I bother getting a Blogger account?

Job? You mean I should be paid for this? I “got” this job, by, oh, creating it. I’ve been writing this blog since 2002 – the oldest Yuri-related blog in the world. I “got” this job, by creating the world’s first Yuri event/community/publishing/news organization and then by spending hours and hours of my time and more money than you can imagine promoting it. Have you ever bought one of our books? Until you do, it’s not a job.

ALC Publishing has had instructions for editors and translators up on the website for two years. Try reading the ALC Page on the Yuricon site.

If you want to work for a mainstream publishing company, then being in a major city, and being willing to work for peanuts, will definitely help. The latter more than the former.

I like Blogger, but unless you have anything to say, don’t get an account. There’s already too many “Read this, but yeah, I have nothing to say, but want to post anwyay” blogs out there already.

9.What do you think of “The L-Word”?

I’ve never seen it. I’m not really a fan of soap operas.

I do think that the actresses don’t much look like any of the lesbians I know. :-)

10. What is the correct way to use commas and semicolons in English?

From Purdue’s Online Writing Lab (which is a pun, because the acronym spelld “OWL” which is the Purdue “team name”):

Use a comma after the first independent clause when you link two independent clauses with one of the following coordinating conjunctions: and, but, for, or, nor, so, yet. For example:

  • I am going home, and I intend to stay there.
  • It rained heavily during the afternoon, but we managed to have our picnic anyway.
  • They couldn’t make it to the summit and back before dark, so they decided to camp for the night.

Use a semicolon when you link two independent clauses with no connecting words. For example:

  • I am going home; I intend to stay there.
  • It rained heavily during the afternoon; we managed to have our picnic anyway.
  • They couldn’t make it to the summit and back before dark; they decided to camp for the night.

You can also use a semicolon when you join two independent clauses together with one of the following conjunctive adverbs (adverbs that join independent clauses): however, moreover, therefore, consequently, otherwise, nevertheless, thus, etc.

11. What kind of music do you listen to, anyways? Any specific bands, albums or songs you’d feel like recommending? Any all-time favourites? Weird curiosities? Anything else you’d like to say about your taste in music, or music in general?

I like, in no particular order: Classical, Swing, Pop Music in any language but English. I can listen to nearly anything except Country.

I don’t really have favorites, but I am exceptionally fond of Holst’s The Planets, and Battaglia by Bieber. I like anything with a good clarinet riff, and because of Yuriko, I now really enjoy cello concertos, as well. :-)

At work, I listen to a lot of anime OPs and EPs on my Ipod, stuff from One Piece, Sailor Moon, Utena, Simoun, Kannazuki, Strawberry Panic and a host of other yuri and non-yuri series.

And, last but not at all least:

12. What would you do with ALC if you won the lottery?

That is such a difficult question. I know what I *want* to do, but I can’t do that, for several reasons. So I’ll say that I’d put alot more money and manpower into advertising and promotion – and get me some wage slaves to do the production work that I hate the most. :-)

***

Again, my thanks to everyone for their questions – we’ll do it again next year!

4 Responses

  1. Anonymous says:

    Question time may be over, but this is of utmost importance: Which is you favourite of Holst’s Planet? For me, it’s been Jupiter since I was four, but Mars is also good.

  2. Jupiter, of course. :-)

    A few weeks ago I saw a recorded performance of Jupiter by the BBC Symphony Orchestra conduscted by Sir Andrew Davies that was *perfect.*

    The wife and I literally launched to our feet at the end applauding – and we were watching TV. lol

  3. Anonymous says:

    Thank you for linking to the source in the answer about commas and semicolons.

  4. You’re welcome.

    (I assume you’re from the OWL folks. I hope it brought you some decent interest. It’s a darn good site!)

Leave a Reply to Erica Friedman