Worry vs. Donuts

Tracks: 12

Tracks that are actual songs: It depends… is a printer a valid musical instrument?

Most bizzare lyric on the album: Hard to narrow it down to one, but “Find it pick up stop yes!” is a good start, right?

Instrument to receive the most abuse from the artist: A guitar with the strings loosened to the point that they rattle against the guitar body

People who should listen to this album: College radio junkies, robots, people who don’t need their music to make sense

People who should avoid this album: If you think that Japanese music is nothing but pop idols and visual kei, this album is guaranteed to make your brain explode within 3 minutes of you pressing the “play” button

Grade: Not his best, but Cornelius sticks with a merger of the maddening and the melodic that eventually works itself out. People with fragile musical tastes need not apply. (Read the article)

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De-construction: Was it just me, or did 99% of the people who were at Otakon simply vanish between 2 and 4 PM? I’ve never, ever seen a convention center empty that quickly.

Join the cult: One of the things that really distinguishes the Otakon crowd are the random gatherings of people doing little more than gathering for… the sake of gathering. Over the weekend, I witnessed two conga dances, three line dances, a few sessions of “let’s bounce a beach ball around the lobby, guys” and numerous expressions of song, dance, and so on. Some of these were less welcome.
Example: the guy walking around with the Blue Army flag needs a nap. A long nap that we force him to take if necessary. We know you’re a member of the frigging army, we can see so on your flag. You don’t need to scream at everyone.
However, many were just groupings of fans having fun together. Some people are annoyed by that, but conventions are for convene-ing, so I appreciated it for what it was.

After Dark: Spent the dead dog hours hanging out with Justin, Jon, David and Tom walking the pier and attempting to play pool. Good way to relax post-con^-^.

Number of mistakes made with our meal at ESPNZone: 18. I wouldn’t be shocked if they had just tossed Dick Vitale in the back room to cook for us. “That’s some nasty eats, baby!”

Number of hours of sleep I wanted: 7

Actually got: 5 hours. This augmented how certain beverages affected me later.

Overall: I liked this convention. I like hanging around and acting geeky with the fans. Moreover, I had a blast with the other ANN staff people. I’ve never been so happy with a job in my life. Can’t wait until NYAF^-^.

Last batch: Last batch of recs! The first two artists appeared in the video:
Solemn Wishes - Appears in the video as the girl with the wings. I actually purchased the sketch that she was drawing when we filmed.
Hac-studios - PACMAAAAAAAAAAAN.
Akuhen - Pretty cute Devil May Cry character designs. The whole cute vs. macabre theme ages well.
Grace Ming Yun - Simply fantastic shading work on the black and white artwork. Less of a manga style, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t fantastic.
Hieng Tang - ONIGIRI BUTTON.

Next up: The one, the only AnimeIowa! Less than two weeks away. OOG.

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Highlight Reel (ANN) There’s dancing in this one.

Our video crew: Is so awesome. I’ve had a ton of fun hanging out with them this weekend, editing videos and taking random film. Hell, they’re awesome for just putting up with us.

Harry Potter: They were selling it in the Dealer’s Room. Insert your joke here.

Crab Cakes: We went out for a nice dinner on the Inner Harbor, and it was unbelievably good. It will be a long time before I have a dinner that good again. It’s also nice to see the mix of anime fans and locals in the Harbor area - people were generally decent to each other and most people seemed impressed with the people cosplaying instead of being afraid of them.

Hours I spent in line for Starbucks: One. A full hour. UGH.

Most bizzare quote from the day: “Ya know… I don’t think I could get into it.. the kids stuff. But I could get into the films, ya know… the pornos.” - Response of a security guard when we asked the question “Does seeing [the scene at Otakon] make you curious about Japanese Animation?”

Recs? Well, how about this? The artists were REALLY tolerant of our intrusive question-asking.^^ Constructive, harsh criticism appreciated.

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Highlight Reel (ANN)

Meitantei Conan!: Sure, Conan (Case Closed, Detective Conan, whatever you call it) isn’t my favorite anime of all time, but it is one I enjoy watching. Getting to meet one of the directors, Kodama Kenji, and the show’s producer Suwa Michihiko and chat with them was pretty awesome - you can tell they’ve worked together for a long time and still enjoy the work as much as they always have.

Idolizing: I want to thank all the cool people who made my assignment to cover Otaku Idol so much fun. You people are fantastic performers that put the “opening act” to shame. For those that were not there: these people were excellent performers. It’s a shame that not so many people were there.

Recs in Effect: You knew they were coming. Lavish these people with attention!
Bonnie Tang - Excellent NANA fan art! She’s also part of the strange Canadian invasion…
Manga Candy - Doing a way better job of promoting fan art than I am.
Sudoru - Best use of Katamari in an art piece. Ever.

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Here we go again: Third con of the month for me, and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t burned out. There’s this slight tinge of sleepiness that tends to come and go at random intervals. I’m ambivalent about continuing to stave off an “I want to nap” impulse with coffee and other similar caffeinated media.

That sounded nerdy!: Yes, but not as nerdy as some of the random conversations I’ve picked up on while wandering the convention. It’s like a seedy internet BBS came to life (whether that’s a plus for you is all a matter of perspective).

Lateness: Everyone’s flights arrived late. I spent 2 hours at the Baltimore Airport yesterday, and while it wasn’t awful, not a whole lot of places were open. BWI has failed me.

Going to: The Artist Alley. Right now. I could be optimistic and say, “I’ll spend less!”, but we all know that is a dirty lie. Art recs later.

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今日は日本語・英語を合わせてカキコします。特ですね。

OKAY, posting in two languages today. We’ll start with… English.

I’m between conventions now and, quite frankly, I can’t believe how tired I am. Even after 6 hours of sleep, I’ve been droopy all day. I came home after visiting House on the Rock with Soo Young and Melanie and pretty much passed out on the bed after I tumbled through the door. Still, it was a fun day trip that had nothing to do with conventions, so yay for that. Next weekend is Otakon. As for Anime Expo, I finished the last of the transcriptions on Monday. I can’t help but feel I’m going too slow… but then again, I have nothing to compare my work to and the only feedback I get is “you’re doing fine,” so I guess I should stop whining. :p

And then we change the languages just like こんな風に

なぜと分からないんですが、チョー疲れています。コンベンションがない間ですから疲れているかな。とりあえず、現在仕事が。。。多い。翻訳はたまたまに難しいと思いますが、その他に「私は人間としてゆっくり働くタイプかな」とよく考えています。なんか、能力が低いか自信がないという悩みが多いね。周りの人はいつも「エバン上手」とほめるけど、本当かな。

まあ、その不安はあっても、オタコンを楽しみにしています。面白い職場相手と会えるしね。

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Been a while since I posted a list of random links for your entertainment. SO HERE YOU GO. 久しぶりの変なリンクのポストです。エンッジョイしてね☆

フラッシュ猫： Put a cat on your webpage. Anywhere. Why the hell not?  ホームページ用のにゃんこです。面白いよ。

Lose the Game (thanks Ben): You just did.　日本語で遊ぼう。

マットのおかげさまで、これを見つけた。For those of you who are fans of the whole Blendtec series, you should enjoy this one. I’m ashamed to say that this made me want a smoothie.

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Yeah, I’m combining two days for posting. I was too tired to post Saturday, as many of you can attest to. ANYWAYS:

Neopolitan: I’ve begun to think of CONvergence as the chocolate ice cream of conventions. With anime cons, things tend to be tossed around every year and you’re never sure what you are going to get. CONvergence is pretty much the same every year - and it’s always delicious. Even when you think you might be getting tired of chocolate ice cream, whenever you have a bowl of it, you remember just how good it is. Great con - I’m bummed that AX will probably fall on the same weekend next year.

Torched Wood: The post-torchwood Torchwood room party was the stuff of LEGEND. Getting to hang out with everyone again, dance, drink, and act stupid was a fantastic experience and encapsulated what I miss most about living in Minneapolis. Speaking of wood, my apologies for the cookies. I’ll try to make them look correct next time I make them. Thanks to Jess and Dian for re-naming them… I think^-^.

Sunday Night: I’m pretty thrilled that I was actually able to get people together for post-con shenanigans. If I ever run a con party, I may run a sunday-night-only party to keep people around.
Next up: Otakon, in less than two weeks. Oog.

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Culture Shock: Honestly, the only thing that Anime Expo and CONvergence have in common is the fact that both events call themselves “conventions.” In terms of people, activities and mentality, CVG is lightyears away from AX. Long Beach was a long weekend of long lines, official sounding banter, tons of younger people and surviving for 10 hours off a spice cake from Starbucks. Now I find myself in a place of no lines, conversations about anything that could potentially be called “geeky” (there’s even a panel for Mythbusters, if you can believe that), an age range that stretches over 80 years or more and free food everywhere.

No, seriously: Convergence is the only con I’ve been to where, between room parties and the consuite, you can actually eat and drink for free all weekend - if you play your cards right. A sampling of what’s out there: rice, sandwiches, pizza, alcoholic slush drinks, microbrewed beer and root beer, pasta, and enough candy to make Willy Wonka pass out. There’s a free espresso bar with a menu that rivals most coffee places. Yes, lattes all weekend for free.

Room Party Science: I am at this convention essentially to hang out with friends, and what better way to do that than help with a room party? The Torchwood Institute, a room party dedicated to the Doctor Who series of the same name, is where I am spending my evenings. Jo, Lxri and many others are responsible for setting the whole thing up, and it is running beautifully. I’m grateful that they let me help out - it gives me a chance to break out my bad british accent.

Best way to get people into your room party: When they pass the door, tell them to turn left (or right, depending on direction). Works BEAUTIFULLY.

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Waking up slowly: Well, I tried. The aftermath of the partying on Sunday night was something. Apparently 6 people crowded into my room at 5am and it didn’t wake me up. Perhaps I was a little tired?

Dance like you want to win: I saw a bunch of musicians and dancers gather in the event hall long after the Dealer’s Room/Exhibit Hall closed. They were there watching someone play Cowboy Bebop songs on the Sax and a few people dance along. Nerdy? Yes. But it was a lot of fun to watch, and everyone was just hanging out and having a good time. That’s always nice to see, and it almost makes one forget all of the…

DRAMA: Everyone seems to be pissed off at AX, and they have an arsenal of good reasons: delayed events, messed up event ticketing, angry Japanese guests, facilities problems, sunburned attendees (since they were forced to stand in lines outdoors all day…), and more. How AX wins back the trust of people - the industry, the fans, the Japanese representatives - will be an interesting thing to watch. Heck, will they win back that trust? I guess we’ll wait and see. Me, I’ll be paying attention to the wankery from a distance and remembering the good times because, hey - that’s the kind of person I am.

MORE ARTS: Last batch of Art recs. Go give these people some love!
Hakumo - She’s also visiting Otakon. Otakon’s Artist Alley will be all the better for it^-^.
Barlee - Someone actually asked me what industry booth I got her art from. Impressive, huh?
Clovera - See that featured art on the top left corner of the page? I bought that.
Rubberyjido - Sold me a print that isn’t featured. Sadness…
Thanks to all the artists who chatted with me and to all my coworkers for putting up with my tendency to apologize for random shit. Onward to a much different flavor of con: CONvergence…

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