Parasols Optional (But Recommended)

All across the nation
Such a strange vibration
People in motion
There's a whole generation
With a new explanation
People in motion
People in motion
-"San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)"

The above-quoted 1967 flower child anthem might seem odd musical choice to be blasting on loudspeakers for the sunny August 15th ribbon-cutting ceremony for the glitzy glass-fronted New People complex in San Francisco's Japantown... and, well, yeah, it was. Especially considering the festivities to follow at the J-Pop Summit - Girlpunk bands, Loli-Goth fashion designers, and edgy Japanese artists. That's really about as far from the let-it-all-hang-out tie-dye aesthetic as you can imagine.


Could the song have been a deliberate reference to Viz Media CEO Seiji Horibuchi's hippie past? Probably. But it could also be a mission statement for New People iself, an if-you-build-it-they-will-come destination for those interested in a newer brand of Japanese culture and merchandise than the usual samurai swords, woodblock prints, and tea sets. And judging by turnout on opening day, these "New People" are already here. Lots of them.


A three-storey shopping center devoted to modern Japanese design, New People is the first of its kind in the United States. It has an art gallery, boutiques featuring Harujuku-style fashions, and a theater in the basement level that shows contemporary Japanese films. There are art books and jewelry, designer trinkets like dry-ice puffing smokestacks for the home (I really wanted one of these), baroque picture frames, and glitter-bedecked Lucha-style wrestling masks. Really fun stuff. But as a shopping experience, New People is - as yet - a bit too... new. When I finally got a look inside the building, a week or so later (entrance on opening day being a ticketed event, and thus impossible for anyone who didn't seriously plan ahead) there was a library-like hush to the place. Browsers wandered in a daze, apparently too intimidated by the pristine atmosphere to even ask questions, let alone, y'know, shop.


Will New People succeed? I'd like to think it will - the J-Pop Summit Festival was a rousing success (Red Bacteria Vacuum is now on my iPod playlist - Japanese punk rocks!), and I'm really eyeing those tabi-style shoes, but online reviews of the place have been mixed. Those who "get it," presumably the healthy sampling of American Lolitas who waited in line for hours to get a chance to attend a secret tea party with the Baby, the Stars Shine Bright designers, seem to love the place; others, probably like the bemused older crowd I saw on a quiet weekday morning, find it a letdown, not edgy or crazy enough to justify a special trip. Amusingly, though, most of the online criticisms I found sounded exactly like experiences I've had in Japan. A strangely slow elevator ride to an art gallery that turns out to be closed, for no apparent rational reason? Check! Confusing game of "find the theater box office"? (Tip: it's the cafe.) Check and check!

So yeah, if an "authentic" cultural experience is what you're really looking for - hey, this is it. And without buying a ticket to Tokyo.

Welcome to the Future!

In which we roll out the red carpet, throw open the doors, and hang up the "Grand Opening" sign...

The most obvious question is, Why another blog? But that's easy. No matter how overcrowded the proverbial blogosphere may be, or how much the term "blogosphere" sounds like a cage match event from American Gladiators, or how many people are already out there offering their thoughts on every subject under the sun, none of them are us and they're not voicing our thoughts. This deficiency in the mediaverse has now, at long last, been corrected.

And then, Who are we? Your current keyboardist is Mark, a sometime writer and artist and giant robot consultant. Sharing the spotlight will be Julie, writer and editor extraordinaire. We love comics of every flavor and nationality, science fiction and fantasy and spooky horror, social satire and steamy romance and fuzzy animals.



And finally, What's with the site name? "Thrill Power" is an homage to the venerable British sci-fi anthology comic 2000 AD, whose every issue is jam-packed with weird ideas, punk attitude, and hyphenated "thrill-power" by the bucketload. After thirty years, its futuristic title has become somewhat anachronistic. But perhaps, for those of who grew up in the waning decades of the twentieth century, the year 2000 is as much a state of mind - an unattainable vision of The World That's Coming, always around the corner but just out of reach - as a number on a calendar. Or maybe it's just too late to change the title, who knows?



In any case, it was 2000 AD that more or less formed Mark's world view when he was an impressionable British schoolboy, and it set a standard of weirdness and creativity and sly wit by which all else is to be judged. It's just one of the many many things we plan to talk about on this blog, but as we go on to explore strange new corners of the storytelling universe, we'll return periodically to the pages of this awesome anthology to sing the praises of Pat Mills and ponder the etymology of catchphrases like "zarjaz" and "scrotnig." What's more, the name we picked for this site serves as something of a mission statement, expressing our intention to talk about things we find Thrilling and Powerful and just plain cool.

And finally, the domain name was available. In this day and age, isn't that the greatest miracle of all?