#Nostalgia -Vita Mechanicalis- | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

kunstmull · 7 months

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Captain Save-A-Hisashi rides again!

I don't know if the comment got eaten by the spam filter; or if it was another case of "did not understand my sense of humour"; or if the blogger has fallen into a black hole on the way to Andromeda, but I did actually save the text, and wanted to post it somewhere, in case anyone ever has any response.

{Comment followed a thread where a random googler had asked for explanation of the Greek letters in Buck-Tick's Nostalgia - Vita Mechanicalis. CP responded to the effect of, don't read too much into it, Imai is not very well educated and the whole thing was just a reference to some Steampunk phone game.}

((Further edited to add: yes, it's entirely possible that this is just a reference to a game, and Delta-Iota-Lambda-Xi refers to nothing more complicated than:

There is indeed both a Delta and a Xi in these characters))

The comment I left in response:

It’s true that Imai is an art school dropout, and his monotropic brain simply cannot hang on to information he doesn’t have an interest in, such as penmanship or random prefectures of Japan. It’s such a SHAME that there is literally no place on Earth or Andromeda where one can come across Greek symbols other than high school maths class!

Chapter 1: amidst the profusion of Imai interviews I’ve absorbed recently, I came across one where our boy mentioned reading James Gleick, so it’s clear he actually does read popular science. (Sorry I can’t footnote it for you, my monotropic brain has never got the hang of footnotes.) Something clicked, as to why the ill-fated tour for Cosmos was named CHAOS: it’s a pun, a synthesis of the “Anarchy” meaning (another long-term preoccupation of Imai, hence the most obvious) and the “complex, self-organising systems” meaning – manifesting in the post-Gleick mid-90s as a pop-science fascination with Fractals. On the chance Imai was fibbing about reading a big book about maths, the ideas popularised by Gleick were widely discussed and heavily used in the fields of Videogame design and Animation – fields Imai has well-known and documented Special Interests in. Knowledge absorbed from pop culture is still knowledge.

Chapter 2: Imai got online in the mid-90s, as documented in his seminal “log off and touch grass” song. What was he arguing about on Usenet? Same things as the rest of us early internet geeks: “Dinosaurs, CT scanners, love, that girl's tooth prints, Klein bottles etc.” Your translation of “いわゆる全てに共通する図形“ is lost, but Google misTranslate is giving me "So-called common-to-all shapes" something that looks suspiciously like set theory or platonic solids? The ~Science Side of Tumblr~. Imai was soaking in it!

Conclusion: living on the net, reading popular science books, imbibing sci-fi, it is not inconceivable that Imai either *does* know the common maths/physics meanings of the Greek symbols he chose; or he lifted them directly from someone who does. (Edited to add: this is the thing; even if he did just lift it from a game; games designers are notorious for adding esoteric references as Easter Eggs. Coming from a game does not mean that it is not meaningful.)

So let’s look at these symbols and see how they link to other common geography of Hisashiland

Δ Delta – this is the easiest one. Delta is the rate of change, usually over time. Everything changes. The only constant over time is change. (The second law of thermodynamics, entropy fans.) ((Edited to add: if I look through my Tumblr archives, I probably can find a long post I made about the relationship between the Second Law of Thermodynamics and Einstuerzende Neubauten's Sehnsucht.))

Ι Iota – the smallest possible amount. How often has Imai referenced scientific words for the concept of the most tiny? Atom Futurist No. 9 (Democritus theorised the Atom – indivisible – as the smallest, infinite, indestructible building block of nature before the Victorians smashed this to pieces with the discovery of the Electron.) Quantum I & II – quantum theory smashed the idea of the smallest building block of nature the way Rutherford smashed the indivisible atom. Iota is another science term for the same thing: the tiny indivisible.

Λ Lambda – the Cosmological Constant. Since the Big Bang, the Universe has been constantly expanding (see section Delta – change!) Lambda is a little mathematical fiddle that Einstein added to the Theory of Relativity to account for the fact that the expansion of the universe is always accelerating. Why? Dark Matter? Dark Energy? This is hotly debated in physics, but in Hisashiland the metaphor of Dark Matter or Dark Energy is repeatedly employed as a necessary corrective for the Blue Sky of conformity.

Ξ Xi – this one was the hardest to crack. At first I thought he’d mis-transliterated the Greek Chi which is the standard mathematical X of the unknown. Xi is the Riemann Function. What’s he about? He’s usually associated with non-Euclidean geometries, surfaces that are impossible outside of multidimensional spaces – moebius strips, Calabi-Yau manifolds (the working model for superstrings, another way of trying to understand where all the extra dark energy/matter is hiding in 10-dimensional space, see Lambda for what Dark Energy means in Hisashiland), and… Klein Bottles, which Imai was getting in flame wars over on the early internet. To understand the true scientific nature of reality, one has to think outside the mosquito net – outside the constraints of the human limitations of three-dimensional perception. In Riemannian maths, dark energy can fold up to hide inside extra dimensions within infinitesimally tiny spaces.

Now these letters may have been chosen stochastically, but all four of them refer to concepts that recur again and again in the hermeneutics of Hisashiland. And one of Gleick’s most profound insights is that randomness isn’t actually that random. Even chaos follows its own cosmological order. Imai may be dirty and strange, but he’s nowhere near as cute-and-dumb as he looks!

#imai mon amour #Nostalgia -Vita Mechanicalis-#things that were in my brain and they are better out of my brain #long post is long

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patowinds · 5 years

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BUCK-TICK Tour No.0 Final at the Budokan

It was a concert that took my heart and buried it with all kinds of feels.

Doors were supposed to open at 5PM but it was about 5:20 when we were let in.

This was my first Budokan experience and I’m a sucker for history so being in a venue with such a high profile was pretty cool in and of itself.

I had a second floor seat but really it wasn’t so bad, especially compared to some other balcony seats I’ve gotten for other halls. It was pretty nice having that bar actually so I could move around a bit during songs without having to be careful of not toppling over. The two screens on either side of the stage were huge so even on the second floor you could see closeups of the members.

I don’t have perfect memory so forgive me for errors. I don’t remember the order of songs but I’ll try list all of the ones they played.

The opening projection was really cool and used

Nostalgia Vita Mechanicalis. ノスタルジア　－ヰタメカニカリスー

We get things started with Gustave and Baby I want you. This was a pretty solid start. People got warmed up. I mean, it’s Gustave. You kinda just gotta get with it ヽ(ヅ)ノ

The setlist was a hybrid of the hall and live house tours. Zangai was out but later on Gesshoku was in. The sound for Gesshoku wasn’t too great but I’m happy they kept it in! It works well with the other songs and I just love that song. After Gesshoku was Babel which is as dramatic as always. Ophelia is back in after being taken out of the standing live house setlist. BIshuu Love, Salome Femme Fatale, Moon Sayonara Oshiete, Barairo Juujidan Rozen Kreuzer, Igniter, and Hikaru no Teikoku were all played.

Hikaru no Teikoku again brought out Sakurai’s old school style sideways peace sign which you get to see in all its glory as he draws his hand across his face. There were cheers, it was great. (＾▽＾) Memento Mori was played, and Mr Darkness and Mrs Moonlight too. Memento Mori is always a crowd favorite. Cuba Libre got a pretty good response from people including those up on the second floor. In my area people didn’t just clap but they also danced/swayed a bit!

Boy Septem Peccata Mortalia wasn’t as easy for people on the second floor to get into but at least a few people in my area (and myself) rocked it enough for everyone else. I adore Boy.

Die was also kept in and is a nice one to go out on.

For the first encore Reishiki Juusan-Gaga “Ai” , Guernica No Yoru and i think Tainai Kaiki were in here (Tainai i’m blanking a bit on the order).

Before he sang Guernica Sakurai said 夢を見ました。 “I had a dream”.

It was the perfect start to a wonderful song.N

Guernica no Yoru is so special live. I said it in another post and I’ll keep saying it - it’s just magic. The commitment to the delivery is insane. Every drumbeat, every guitar note, every word out of Sakurai’s mouth, you feel it all in your chest. The song builds, Sakurai sounds increasingly frantic and you can’t help but just stand still and have your heart be pulled along with him.

I really like Tainai Kaiki and I’ve noticed this one is always more of a challenge for him to sing. This evening he sounded like he was struggling a little bit. At one point he had difficulty getting one word out and he put his hand on his chest. However he fought for it and pulled off the song. It was pretty moving. In fact, the whole live kinda felt like it was Sakurai trying to say “hey, I*m okay, i can do this”. Sometimes he sounded out of breath or he didn’t have the power that you might be used to but he pushed through all the way to the end including a second encore. This man, this band...professionals with pride.

The second encore had Tango Swanka and Oh MY GOD. Sakurai just went all out. Legs up, striking a pose, pointing at his thighs and slapping them like “hey, please look at my amazing legs. Do you see them? Good.”

The camera often zoomed in on them and so now you have two giant screens in the Budokan filled with Sakurai’s thighs （⌒▽⌒） it was kinda surreal.

In the second encore Sakurai addressed the crowd some more and he thanked everyone for the letters. He received A LOT.

When he introduced the band members Toll did a drum solo and started it off with just his hands!

When Sakurai got to himself the crowd cheered and clapped for him so hard. He apologized again, thanked everyone including the staff and his band mates and again said he wouldn’t make excuses. I think the crowd just wanted to shout SAKURAI DON’T WORRY JUST TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF ლ(ﾟдﾟლ)

He tried to thank the people watching on WOWOW but he didn’t know which camera to look at so he just kinda looks around saying “eeer but where...i don’t know where to...” and the crowd were chuckling.

Shared thought from everyone seemed to be “ah, kawaii”. （＾ｖ＾）

i heard a guy behind me say it, it was wonderful.

狂気のデッドヒート was kept too and one more that is escaping me. House lights went up and Sakurai wandered off. It seemed like that was the last song but the rest of the band kept playing I think a little of 禁じられた遊び Adult Children before transitioning to Yume Miru.

Sakurai sang once more as if to say “nope, I can still do this, let’s meet again”

Overall Sakurai seems to be doing better than before so hopefully with more rest his condition will continue to improve.

#buck-tick #buck tick #budokan #tour no.0 final

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drkreviews · 5 years

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Album Selection of 2018 | March

Plastic Tree - doorAdore (07.03.2018) [★★★★★] (REVIEW)

TRACKLIST

Ongoku (Remote country)

Koi wa haiiro (Grey love)

Existentialism

Uchuu yuuei (Swimming under the rain)

Silent Noise

Search and Destroy

Zanei (Remission)

Irotsuki (Irritability)

Nenriki (Spirit)

Scenario

Nocturne

Shizuka no umi (Calm sea)

Kamijo - Sang (21.03.2018) [★★★★★] (REVIEW)

TRACKLIST

Dead Set World

Theme of Sang

Nosferatu

Bloodcast -Interlude-

Vampire Rockstar

Emigre (Migrated)

Mystery

Mademoiselle

Delta -Interlude-

Castrato

Ambiton -Interlude-

Sang I

Sang II

Sang III

Buck-Tick - No.0 (21.03.2018) [★★★★★]

TRACKLIST

Reishiki 13-gata “Ai” (Type-0, type-13 “Love”)

Bishuu Love (Beautiful Love)

Gustave

Moon, sayonara wo oshiete (Moon, tell me goodbye)

Barairo juujidan -Rosen Kreuzer- (Rose cross)

Salome -Femme fatale-

Ophelia

Hikari no teikoku (Empire of light)

Nostalgia -Vita Mechanicalis-

Igniter

Babel

Guernica no yoru (Night of Guernica)

Tainai Kaiki (Womb regression)

Far East Dizain - Altered Dizain (28.03.2018) [★★★★★]

TRACKLIST

The Altered Begin

Dystopia

Beyond These Walls

A Day To Remember

Nadir

The Strength Mind

Double Down

Inhale

On The Edge

Wind’s Call

Rasen ori (Spiral weave)

Nocturnal Bloodlust - Whiteout (07.03.2018) [★★★★]

Solstice

Whiteout

Live to Die -rearrange ver.-

Mogidou (No-way road)

-HONORABLE MENTIONS-

Reol - Kyokou shuu [Fictitous collection] (14.03.2018)

TRACKLIST

End

Heimenkyo (Plane mirror)

Missing

Cult

Akayoroshi (Red fortune)

My First Story - The Premium Symphony (28.03.2018)

TRACKLIST

Itazura fiction (Narrative fiction)

Reviver

Love Letter

Monologue

Kyogen NEUROSE (False neurose)

The Puzzle

Zero Gravity

Tomorrowland

Kao=S - Amrita (19.03.2018)

TRACKLIST

Sekai no asa (Morning of the world)

Amrita

Sakura kaoru (Smelling a cherry)

Sakura no oni (Oni of the cherry)

Saijin (Rite)

Mime

TO BE CONTINUED...

#plastic tree #kamijo #buck-tick #far east dizain #nocturnal bloodlust #reol #my first story #kao=s #jrock #visual kei #metalcore #jpop #folk #album selection

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