Michael John Grist

The ruins of Monkey Island

MJG — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 03:16:44 +0000

No, not the game. This particular Monkey Island (‘Sarushima’ in Japanese) is located off the coast of Yokosuka near the mouth of Tokyo Bay, and during World War II served as an artillery battery and first point of defense of the Japanese homeland. After the war the anti-aircraft guns were removed, a ferry service began, [...]

Writing Blog #8 tapestry narratives

MJG — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 02:28:56 +0000

I`m a fan of convoluted narrative styles. I like stories that are chopped up and remixed, especially those chopped and remixed on the basis of character. LOST did this over 6 seasons, Magnolia did it in a 3-hour movie, Orson Scott Card did it between Ender`s Game and Ender`s shadow, David Gemmell did it across [...]

Relics of Camp Drake in Saitama, Japan

MJG — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 02:20:16 +0000

Camp Drake was a joint US Army/Air Force base in Saitama, active until the 1970`s. It contained a hospital which handled troops coming out of Vietnam and also a communications array. Now about half of it remains, an overgrown jungle with only a few remaining buildings set back behind several layers of fencing. The other [...]

Izu roadside haikyo

MJG — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 00:33:13 +0000

Here`s a haikyo I chanced upon almost a year ago in Izu, while haikyoing with Mike (and Jason?). It`s not particularly awesome in any way, it just has some nice peeling red and white paint, and a cool Coke fridge. Front yard. A small cafeteria area. Comfy wicker chairs. Red and white Coke with peeling [...]

Writing Blog #7 the engine of fiction

MJG — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 15:36:58 +0000

Everybody knows, it`s about conflict. Without conflict a story has no reason to be, it`s just a pretty picture, a post-card. I think about this a lot with regard to the Dawn book I`m working on. I went to a writing group on Sunday and took along three different potential opening scenes. They each belong [...]

Izu’s abandoned Jungle theme Park #3 souvenirs

MJG — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 23:46:15 +0000

Across the road from Jungle Park was this smashed-up restaurant/souvenir shop. I`ll guess it wasn`t actually connected to the theme park, though it probably survived on the tourists who came there. Inside it felt inhabited, with clothes hanging on rails to dry, but I didn't run into anyone.