John Zeitler

I managed to get most of the game systems binned up for the trip to Kurokiiro Festival tonight, and also got the metal DDR pad into the car early (as I wasn’t sure if it would fit– fortunately it does). Overall I’m really looking forward to the festival.

Then again, it is 11:30p and I am gibberingly tired, so, yeah.

So, in lieu of sticking to a coherent theme or narrative structure tonight, I’ll just run down some of what’s on my mind.

First, Kurokiiro Festival is coming up, and as I’m helping to staff the Video Game Room this year (read: The Collection serves one of its intended purposes), I needed to double-check some things. The big one was getting a replacement A/V cable for the Dreamcast. Shortly after I’d picked up Twinkle Star Sprites at Otakon, I accidentally ripped the old, flimsy A/V cable out of its socket. Anyway, I’d forgotten about that incident during the move, and when it came time to unbox the retros and get them ready for transport to the festival, I found that little hiccup. Anyway, I ordered a new cable on Saturday from eStarland, a place that Slipgate had recommended on many an occasion. I have no reason to doubt him further, as the cable arrived today, and for the money it’s perfect. It’s an S-Video cable as well, meaning a somewhat nicer picture (and it looks incredible on the big screen TV). So I got my Twinkle on, then set it aside.

Next, in terms of anime, since I’ll be doing things that are not watching anime at the festival, I’ve been trying to get caught up a little more on some series that I’ve had on the stack. I mentioned to some friends that the current DVD set in the player is Slayers Next; this evening I reached the halfway point of the series. It still astonishes me to note the level of progress we’ve seen in made-for-TV animation in just fifteen years, after an equal period of stagnation. Anyway, Slayers Next is a hell of a lo of fun, even when the series is deliberately trying not to be funny. Incidentally, I can see (and hear) exactly why everyone was so happy to hear that Xellos’ voice changed in the dub for the new seasons (I’m on the English track because, quality or not, I can’t associate Lina’s character with any voice but Lisa Ortiz’s for some reason). He’s the most flaming not-really-bothering-to-hide-that-he’s-evil character ever.

Games… well, I ran across a couple of really good deals lately, including my third-ever Super Famicom cartridge. It’s bizarre that a city so far removed from any kind of an anime mecca could manage to be where I’ve collected two out of my three SF games (the third was Seiken 3, picked up at Otakon this past year). Anyway, straying from the beaten path has brought me a decent share of deals, including a game that, just going by its release date and meager print run, I should never have even seen (You Don’t Know Jack Mock 2). If this keeps up I may have to start a second row of PS1 discs. Which reminds me, as soon as I get a shelf or chest of drawers for the retros and the portables, I need to snap a photo of The Collection so you fine folks can see the glory of its new configuration.

As for yesterday’s post– yeah, the back pain is mostly due to my nocturnal contortionism, but the scientific process cannot be denied.

Finally, as it turns out, I picked up a cookbook that I wish I would have found three years ago. It’s entitled “Okay, So Now You’re A Vegetarian” and it details just what each of those scary-sounding things in the meatless section of the Market District really are, and how to use them effectively. With that in mind, I have a new mission: vegetarian gyudon (“beef bowl”), using seitan, sweet onions, and a few other ingredients. I’m sure it can be done; the question is: how? Actually, a better question is: how many fire extinguishers should I have on hand?

Night, all.

Today was simultaneously busy and relaxing. I knocked off two short story-mode clears this morning while waiting for a couple of phone calls, and handled a few minor little housekeeping things. Key among them, or at the very least key among them for our purposes, was finally getting around to modding my SNES to enable import games to be played without trouble. For those of you keeping score, this meant using the diagonal cutters to cut out two itty-bitty tabs on the machine. That’s it. The reason I did this was because I now own a copy of Seiken Densetsu 3 that I wanted to give a quick run through, with the ultimate result being that it works and I still have no idea what’s going on. But at least I’ll be able to snag a translated version somewhere and give that a play through without feeling guilty or violating my personal ethics. (This code of ethics is the same thing preventing me from really going through Mother 3, honestly, until I can grab a physical cartridge.)

On the recommendation of Kat and Andrew during the con, I’ve also started watching through Gakuen Alice. The short description of this series is “What if the Japanese had come up with the idea for X-Men, but decided not to play it in the slightest bit seriously?” Overall I’m really digging it, but I wish it would start coming to some semblance of a plot soon. It’s got some undercurrents that are showing through here and there but the characters aren’t strong enough after five episodes to really hold up that sort of minimalistic storytelling. Though I will admit that Hotaru’s “Idiot Gun” and “Idiot Cannon” are hilarious and I hope they’re not just one-episode gags.

Even though this year I spent the least amount of time at the convention out of any that I’ve attended, I still think it was a) worth the registration and b) a good time. I’m probably going to register next year as well, particularly because the location we’ve staked out makes travel between the con and the room a lot easier, and therefore ducking out for loot drops or quick breaks becomes a much more appealing option. I’ve also always come back from cons feeling exhausted but really, really happy. This year is no exception, on either front.

Catch you folks tomorrow.

I’m back from Otakon, and while it was a very fun experience, it was truncated due to the jackass who set off the fire alarm during the middle of Saturday– as in, the time when the con is usually in full swing. Oh, and it probably completely disrupted one of the highlights to the con (the Hetalia premiere).

I’m also ridiculously exhausted right now, so I’ll spare you the details until later. But let’s just say that it’s a good thing I don’t eat meat anymore or else Fail Pig would have been bacon. Oh wait– he was, AND IT STILL DIDN’T HELP ARGH

I’ve got a little bit to talk about, but the first thing of any real interest is that I’ve got to get a new suitcase. See, the last time I needed a big suitcase, around the size needed to check, was back in 2008. After I got home, I put it into the storage unit at my apartment, whereupon it was promptly stolen. So yeah, when I took my trip last year I thought, “Oh, I can make do with a duffel bag!” and almost broke my back hauling it around. Thus, hardshell case that is NOT going into storage kthx. I’ve found a couple likely candidates and will be picking it up this weekend.

Tomorrow I’ll give my thoughts on Deathsmiles.

So it’s time for me to start making preparations for a few big events… one later this week, and one closer to the end of next month.

This is going to be one busy summer, boys and girls.

This week, in lieu of actual content, I’m going to give a quick set of overviews of some– but not all– of what I picked up during my recent trip to Tekkoshocon. I got games, manga, and a couple of sets, so there’s plenty to cover here until I can get some life stuff back in order and some time together to start writing again. Today we take a very brief look at a couple of manga picked up during the course of the con, even if– for inexplicable reasons– they weren’t bought at the con.

I talk a lot about how cuteness pretty much rules my life, but in the end it turns out that not every adorable little thing is as sweet as it looks. Case in point would be Arina Tanemura’s manga The Gentlemen’s Alliance Cross. Don’t get me wrong, I like it. The artwork is fantastic, the storyline is interesting, and it’s fully translated and done, so it’s just a matter of one book a week from here on out. But the story goes dark really fast, and it seems to be the bearer of one of the worst cases of mood whiplash I’ve seen in a long time. The main character herself is pretty much the embodiment of this, as she’s a former delinquent/gang girl who went straight due to… well, it’s not clear, because she’s still quite hot-tempered even while playing the part of social star. That’s what makes it interesting, because there’s a tale in there that I want to read.

On the other hand, I also picked up the first omnibus volume of Fushigi Yugi, long hailed as a classic of manga, and I have to say… it’s not really grabbing me quite yet. It’s hard to get a real bead on where the story really lies there: it’s a character-driven plot about Miaka, or it’s historical fiction about ancient China, or it’s a fantasy tale about time travel, or whatever. Granted, it’s just the first volume, and this series is almost twenty years old so some pacing hiccups are to be expected, but it’s still feeling mighty slow and ponderous. Fushigi Yugi is a manga with a lot of weight behind it, both critical and simple physical, and as a result it’s easy to feel a little intimidated by it. Still gonna try to get through it.

Oh, and as a final little coda to this, Rick discovered that in volume 14 of Hayate the Combat Butler, the translators must have taken a side trip to Pittsburgh. One of the main cast’s younger siblings is apparently a Yinzer (spelled “y’ins” here– not like there’s an entry in ol’ Noah’s book for the word anyway).

Most people are exhausted after a long week of what really just amounts to “geek partying”. And, unsurprisingly, I am. The thing is, though, all this expenditure of energy has taught me that, quite frankly, my priorities at a con have shifted greatly, and that it’s really time I stopped partaking of conventions and started participating in them. Not that I didn’t have fun, mind you– I had a blast– but really, I’m of the opinion that it would be better to help others enjoy the con atmosphere rather than just wandering it myself. I tried last year with the import panel, but now it’s time to take the plunge to full staff. If for nothing else than the experience for rewriting Inconsequential.

I’ve sent out an e-mail volunteering for Kurokiiro Festival 2010– which is going to be, in short, just as big as Tekkoshocon was last year, but in November. Not gonna do a panel, but– if I’m accepted– going to staff the game room and/or a video room.

Yotsuba loves you. Unfortunately, this video features Notsuba, her sister, who is from the Uncanny Valley and is, in fact, watching you. Right now. Yes, right behind you. No, don’t bother looking, she’ll just hide. She ALWAYS just hides.

Or, it could be that she’s just the artifact of some not-yet-mature 3D rendering software severely limiting the creative capabilities of whoever made this otherwise really awesome video, but do you want to take that chance?

I ran this video on the previous iteration of the blog, but I love it enough to warrant showing it once more.