1Q84 English Translation Liveblog

I spent about a month preparing material for my liveblog of 1Q84 when it was released in 2009. I had bits of translation from his works, pieces of interviews I’d translated, write-ups about the beer I was drinking, and other fun links. I’ve got none of that this time! As with Murakami Fest 2011, my liveblog of the English translation will be fast and loose…and hopefully not too boring. (On a side note, this past year I’ve noticed that English professors love using that term “fast and loose.”)

Comment away. Check me out on Twitter to see action updates when I leave the computer. I’ll start with the same caveat with which I began my liveblog of the original: What we’re doing doesn’t make sense, but we’re not doing it because it makes sense. Continue after the break for liveblog madness all weekend.

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How to Japanese Podcast – Episode 1 景気を付けて

I’ve been interested in doing a podcast for a while, and I was finally inspired to start one by my last post about 景気を付けて, which really only makes any sense if you can hear it, so go ahead and check out the first How to Japanese Podcast episode and hear me do my fierce 祭り yell.

Podcast Contents:
1. Intro (0.00)
2. 景気を付けて (1.11)
3. Plugging the liveblog (5.37)

How to Japanese – Ep1 景気を付けて by howtojapanese

And yes, I will be liveblogging my reading of the English translation of 1Q84 this weekend. I liveblogged my reading of the original Japanese novel (at least the first few hundred pages of the first book) when it came out in 2009, and it was a lot of fun. I may not be the first to read the translation, and I definitely won’t be the last to read it, but I sure as hell will be the best to read it.

The little shamisen/violin thingie I stole for the section break sound in the podcast comes from Estradasphere‘s song “Those Who Know…” which refers to the most excellent Japanese saying 知る人ぞ知る – those who know know…motherfucker. I’m on the lookout for some sort of sound that will evoke Japan and be usable under Creative Commons licensing or whatnot. Any ideas? Anyone willing to lend some catchy shamisen or shakuhachi notes? Bueller? Tanaka?