Random Thoughts of an Otaku

Evening of Day 2 at Expo

2008-07-05T16:49:46Z

I have forgotten to mention a few things from the last two days, so I am going to put them into this post. The big thing of last night is that I went to the Geneon Premiere panel. Nobody quite knew what was going to happen with that panel because of the current Geneon mess. That has moved towards resolution with Funimation being the distributor for Hellsing Ultimate. A couple of hundred people got to see Hellsing Ulitmate IV in English dub last night. I was one of the lucky people who got to see it and it rocks. For those who have read the manga and/or watched the original series, it is the epic battle with Rip Van Winkle. It was epic and very good. I can't wait to buy this disk later this year. I really enjoy the OVA series and this volume didn't disappoint.

I also was at the Anime Expo Forum Meet and Greet yesterday at the noontime hour. It was alot of fun and I now have an Anime Expo hat because of it. It is an AX 2007 hat, so people may think that I have been there before. There were games and a chance to meet people that I had only seen on the fourms. Also, I had the opportunity to sit down and have Lunch (well almost Breakfast because of what I chose) with the forumers, also. We took over the Denny's on 8th and Figueroa streets. I got to meet so many people that I have never gotten to see in person before.

There are two true strengths of this show: 1. That you don't have to run around like a madman to enjoy things and 2. the community of the forums is the strongest in fandom (outside of myspace and Livejournal). This is what makes fandom work and grow. Community is at the heart of a great fandom. Comic Books doesn't have that sense of community that Anime and Science Fiction does.

I do have one other thing I did on Thursday night and that was BBQ at Spring Street Smokehouse. I will talk more about that after I get the pictures developed. I will say one thing it is a true dive with great food.

I have a busy day with Shokotan's concert, trying to help the US economy and the Masquerade. I am going to do now instead of talking about con. One final thing, I want to wish a couple of days belated birthday to tkunsman who had his on 7/2.

Having a blast at Expo

2008-07-05T02:57:22Z

I am just having a blast at Anime Expo over the last day plus. Over the last day plus, I have been to so alot of events and met so many new friends. This is what I was hoping for during SD Comic Con last year. I met Hazelchaz from Anime Los Angeles, hung out with the guests of honor of the con at Breakfast and other things. I have not spent a dime in the Exhibit Hall, but will tomorrow.

The Guests of Honor Breakfast has been the highlight of my fannish life. I know Science Fiction Cons have Meet the Guests reception where hundreds of people talk to the guests. The Meet the Guests Breakfast was different. It was only for 100 people in the VIP Lounge of the Nokia Theatre. People got a chance to spend 15 minutes with each guest of honor. I spent time with five of them including Masahiro Ando, Hiromi Kato and David Hayter. I got regailed with stories about life at Madhouse studios, living the life of a public blogger (Shoko Nakagawa's question) and how David Hayter got writing credits on the first X-Men movie. This only cost $20, so they weren't making money on it. They were making people's weekends with that sort of access.

Anime USA (part of our Sponsor membership) and Sakura Con ($50, I think) are notable exceptions to this rule of no Guest of Honor receptions. I applaud them for it. You don't get VIP access like this at many other media cons unless you are willing to spend $275 for these passes. If you ever go to Anime Expo, you should have breakfast with the Guests.

One other brief note, I will be on Anime USA staff for this year. I will explain more next week in a non-high staff capacity (no pre-con work), but am looking forward to trying something totally new. Have a great 4th of July and I hope your weekends are going well, also.

At Anime Expo

2008-07-03T15:16:04Z

I had the longest single day I have ever had. I started out at 4 AM ET/1 AM PT and it ended at 1 AM ET/10 AM PT. The flight was uneventful, but I got lucky and got my luggage just in time to get stuck in the middle of a bomb threat. I got off the property and got a cab quicker than I had ever expected. He gave me the flat rate of $42.00 to downtown by law and I gave him $60 for being so helpful. Treat a cabby well is an urban rule.

Check in for my badge and event tickets took about an hour total. That is pretty good, but not as good as Otakon. Otakon has mastered it, by the simple thing of having it controlled by a person instead of a machine. At AX, you scan your confirmation (which most people had) and then got your badge. It worked okay for it's first year's use. It will get better as time goes on. They are a 42,000 person convention, so thinking Worldcon (starting badge pick up three days before con) doesn't work.

I then got roommates their room keys and had dinner with Anime Music Video (for Kevin Standlee and Sci-fi fans) Creators. I am not an AMV creator, but decided that Japanese is a good way to have dinner on a night before AX. They are all friendly folks and let me in as part of their community. Community is a strength of this convention. It has the strongest fannish online community out there and is something Worldcon could learn from. Have a Worldcon forums or Myspace could be very useful to them. If AX ever decided to close their forums, It would hurt the event itself. Forums provide a community to people who share interests.

I went to bed at 10 PM and had an okay night's sleep. I got about 7 AM and got to showering, exercising and having breakfast. I am going to get some lunch packed and get the convention center for opening ceremonies. Talk to you all later.

Quick Goodbye before Expo

2008-07-02T00:50:22Z

In literally 8 hours, I will be in a cab to BWI. That means I must make my goodbye very brief. I hope to have some more to say tomorrow afternoon post landing. See you on the other side of the trip, if I don't see you there.

Things to watch out for at Anime Expo

2008-06-29T19:16:28Z

Since I am not sure that I will be able to post much more before I get to LA, I am going to get you ready for Expo and I think the big stories for this year. There really isn't a big guest story at AX this year. This is in contrast to Otakon having Kappei Yamaguchi or Worldcon having Lois McMaster Bujold. There is no guest of honor that is impressing people this year. They do have Shoko Nakagawa (singer of the theme from Gurren Lagann) and Toshihiko Seki (Gundam wing's Duo Maxwell). This is what I think the stories of Expo this year (in order of importance):

1. How does the economy affect Anime Expo? Will it lead to a drop in attendance? The pre-registration numbers aren't public for a variety of reasons, so we won't know the full affect of this story until weeks after con. You will hear about by talking to people like Steve Lin of Anime Pavilion. The vendors drive this con's success because they come back to it through good and bad. Steve Lin makes most of his money from conventions. The dealers have been down about 20% since middle of last year. Does the stimulus checks help that or Is it going to young adults gas money? Gas is $4.50 to $4.75 in LA at this time and over $4.00 in all of California (approaching $5 in Kevin_Standlee's area).

2. How does the economy affect the industry? The industry is down 40% since 2005 according to ICV2's most recent report. How will that affect the titles licensed? I think we may have five to ten titles announced from all of the anime companies combined at AX. I would be surprised if ADV Films announces any new licenses. Manga Entertainment (licensor of Ghost in the Shell movie and series) is an online only company now and Geneon is totally dead it looks like. If the business of anime is dying, how much longer can the fandom keep going?

3. How does the new convention center help or hurt AX? AX had a rough year (by many people's accounts) last year at the LBCC. There is a significant undercurrent of people who want Anime Expo to fail this year due to it not being in Anaheim and in response to last year. It is also in Downtown LA, which has a unsafe stigma attached to it. It is unfair, but that has driven lots of post on AX's forums. Ax is providing shuttle service due to the mile's length between the con and the con's hotels.

There are also great benefits to the location. Nokia Theatre is the main events hall and has served as home to the American Idol Finals in it's first year. This will make Nokia Theatre probably the best venue for a Masquerade in any fandom. A strong Little Tokyo and Chinatown are there. Dodger Stadium and Hollywood are short transit rides away. It makes for a great vacation location. I can't wait for Expo even with all the stories. I think AX has an opportunity to broaden it's appeal. Take itself in a new direction like Otakon has a broad agenda. That will help Expo in the long run.

Weight Watchers and getting ready for Expo

2008-06-28T15:27:31Z

I went to Weight Watchers this morning for the first time in two weeks. My car was with mom at work last Saturday. I am very happy right now as I have now lost a total of 51 pounds at 318 pounds. I was thinking before the meeting that if I didn't make this lifestyle change I would be 400 plus. I started out at 369 pounds. I don't think in terms of healthy body weight. I have to think as 10% at a time. It is one way I keep the morale up on the way to a new me.

This weekend is about relaxing and getting ready for Expo. I have confirmations to print, contact information to get together, all those little things that make the trip worthwhile. I have a packet of critical information (Roommates cell numbers, Reservation number, Flight information, hotel number and other things) that I get ready for a longer convention (more than three days). I also give a page with hotel number and flight information to mom in case she needs to reach me.

There is also the packing and all those other things I need to do. It is going to be a busy weekend.

A busy week for me

2008-06-27T13:39:58Z

As you may all know, this week is the busy week for me at work. That means I haven't posted at all since Sunday. I need to get out the door to work soon, but just wanted to say hi. I have alot ahead of me this weekend in preparation for Anime Expo, but I will try to get my plans up. It doesn't look their is going to be a con runners dinner at AX. I guess that will get worked out in the next few days. Will talk more tomorrow.

Walking for my health and other things

2008-06-22T12:49:45Z

I have been walking close to every day for the last four months to get myself into better shape for life. I had started a longer walking route recently through my neighborhood. I had never really measured my route through a pedometer, so I drove out last night around the route. According to the mileage thing on the car, I walk 1.5 KM (.91 miles to the rest of us). That is right I am walking almost a mile a day. That does help and will help walking around BCC and LACC in a few weeks.

As you all know I went the Ironbirds game last night, the Ironbirds won last night 3-1 to improve their record to 3-2 (lost the home opener on Friday, my apologies on that) against the Brooklyn Cyclones. I had a couple of diet cokes, but I didn't eat anything at the game due to the dinner of Turkey sausage and peppers I had. The stadium is nice as usual. I got to talk to people I don't see except during those games.

Two weeks before Anime USA, New York Anime Festival will be getting Yoshitaka Amano. He was at Worldcon last year and has done work for Gatchaman and the Final Fantasy games. It will be a draw to Baltimore/DC people who will take the Megabus for under $40 round trip to meet him. I am thinking about going for the day. I won't know if I am going until closer to that weekend, so I can find out when his autograph session is. This brings a legitimacy to New York Anime Festval that it didn't have last year.

Aberdeen Ironbirds and vacation

2008-06-21T15:17:08Z

Aberdeen Ironbirds season began on Tuesday and my first game is tonight. Ironbirds are 3-1 on the young season after another win last night for their home opener. It finally feels like Baseball season. The weather has been baseball weather for the last few weeks, except for all that rain in May. It is that feeling that my team is playing today. It is nice to see the Orioles do well, but I care about the Ironbirds much more than the Orioles.

As you know, I am going on Vacation to Anime Expo in 11 days. I am starting to get excited about the vacation. I haven't taken a full week off since 2003. I also will be getting to see Deal or No Deal (the new daytime version) when I am out there. I can't wait. I really enjoy the show and have never been to a TV taping where you may actually see me. I was at the American Anime Awards at NYCC in 2007, but you probably never saw those (unless you have Anime Network).

Just to give you a heads up, don't expect alot of posts out of me. I am probably going to do a lot of posting through backdating after con. I don't want to spend a $100 on a laptop and I will probably post on three times during the trip due to cost of a computer at the Westin's business center.

I should also be hanging out at the convention runners dinner, but hazelchaz
had no idea which convention to put me under for the dinner. I told him to put me under Anime USA. Anime USA is on my radar to work this year and that mildly scares me. I think it is a good sign that work isn't going to kill me this year. I had feared that with my new position. I will be doing something different that I think I will enjoy than I had originally planned. That reminds me I need e-mail Greg in Main Events about it, today.

Things that make con runners angry

2008-06-17T01:50:30Z

FedConUSA was a total failure last weekend. http://community.livejournal.com/con_central/ for the full information. I hate this sort of stuff. This was a mess and it showed. If you can't make a show happen, you cancel before hand and refund money. They ended the show at 11 AM on Saturday of the convention. They had no help. The foreign convention that was helping them out pulled out several months ago.

There are smart cons out there who don't live beyond their means as start ups. They don't have many guests and build towards a full weekend con. Zenkaikon has been built on this model. They are having musical guests for the first time this year. They have about 12 guests this year and are a two day con. They have a clue and work inside a budget. I think they are smarter than alot of start up or early on cons by not being three days. When the become a three day con, they will be as big of a success as Anime Boston.

I have thought about starting a con like Anime USA, Zenkaikon or Anime Los Angeles. Friendly cons who focus on programming like Balticon does. I also know that Baltimore/DC is saturated with anime cons. That makes starting a new con impossible. The market can't bear another anime con. It wouldn't break even for a variety of reasons. Reading stories like those at FedConUSA make me want to not start a convention even more.

A busy Saturday

2008-06-15T16:44:41Z

I had a very busy yesterday with traveling to Weight Watchers and visiting my Aunt Mary. I am now down a total of 46 pounds from 369 to 323. I am starting to look better and slowly feel better in clothes. I want to keep the weight off I have when I am on Vacation and with some Pre-planning I think I can.

After I did that, I got a sandwich and some fruit for lunch at Wawas and headed up to Aunt Mary's. I don't talk about the family, not because I hate them I just talk more about fandom than I do family. My aunt was doing well and I had two interesting experiences throughout the day.

The first experience was going to an "Amish" Market in Shrewsbury, PA http://www.marketsatshrewsbury.com/. This is a place that most people will never see, but you see some in my area due to how close I am to Lancaster Country, PA. Most people never get to see an Amish Market. You could have a field day for a sociologist at one of those places. NASCAR collectible stands next to fresh produce stands. I would have done fruit, vegetable and lean meat shopping there, but I forgot the cooler.

I also saw a Log Cabin. It was so nice I almost wanted to find a piece of land and buy the log Cabin. The website has a link to the people who sell them. They even had a horse barn for sale. http://www.penndutchstructures.com for some pictures.

I also went to Friendly Farm Restaurant http://friendlyfarm.net/. Friendly Farm Restaurant is a family style restaurant that serves large portions and all of the sides you can handle. They do great French Fries, Corn and Green Beans along with 10 other sides. The way they do is things is everything is included in the price: Drinks, Main Dish, Sides and Desert. I had the Fried Chicken and along with the sides I had a big meal. I took two pieces home with me for Lunch today. If you are ever want to eat good home cooking, you should go to this place. That restaurant and gift shop preserves 200 acres of land in Northern Baltimore County. They don't need land preservation funds to keep the farm going.

Wow is it getting expensive to fly

2008-06-13T12:31:06Z

That is my feeling when three out of the big seven will start charging for bags in August. http://tinyurl.com/4ddyf6 for the full details. I am glad I am flying US Airways before they start charging for baggage. I was thinking about flying US Airways to Providence for Providence anime conference over Amtrak (Six hours on a train is a long trip), but I have to consider aiming towards Anime USA or NY Anime Festival over that event. The airfares were the same as the train.

I think it will get where I can only go to cons by train or bus. It is ashame as I do love to see other parts of the country like I am doing for Anime Expo. When airlines aren't profitable by their simple business model, it makes you wonder whether High Speed rail would be better for domestic travel over airplanes. It almost makes me want to fly Southwest, but I don't want to pay for two tickets.

The Boy Scouting Tragedy

2008-06-13T01:23:02Z

If you did not hear yesterday or today, Four Boy Scouts died at a Boy Scout camp due to a Tornado. Scouting prepares you better for life. I am a Life Scout and I am proud for those who saved lives. Those kids are amazing. It is a sad day for Scouting. Pray for their families.

Otaku Parliamentary Debate and other things

2008-06-12T01:58:15Z

I am hoping to get a team for Otaku Parliamentary Debate at Anime Expo. A little known bit of my history was that I was a Collegiate public speaker. I made it to nationals in my senior year at Towson. I am excited to try my hand at something I deeply loved from my college days. Parliamentary Debate is very different from Cross Examination Debate that is popular here.

The thing is I need a third person for a Parlimentary Debate team. http://forums.anime-expo.org/index.php?showtopic=8744 is for more information about the event itself. If there are people who are interested, please contact me through e-mail or by responding to the thread. You are free to repost this on your blogs, also.

I got my Dodgers ticket today and it was the seat they had claimed it would be. That is one less stresser on my mind. I was wondering what other cool things I should see while in LA. I know about the Japanese American National Museum, Little Tokyo and Chinatown. What other cool things should I see (besides the obvious)? I am leaning towards putting most of my time to Anime Expo, since there are days that do have interesting things at them.

Could've been a Triple Crown Contender and other things

2008-06-07T23:20:33Z

Big Brown became the first ever Triple Crown contender to end up last in the Belmont Stakes. I was so disappointed because I still had my ticket of Big Brown from the Preakness. I wanted to see Big Brown win the Triple Crown today. It would have been one of those things I had never seen before in my life to cross off. I still haven't seen the Orioles win the World Series (when I was five doesn't count) nor a Triple Crown winner. It didn't reduce the great time I had at the Preakness and I can't wait to be part of it in 2009. One final thought, I should have put $2 on the Exacta and made my Anime Expo money today.

It has been a quiet week for me overall at work and in life. I guess that It is now a waiting game and to getting the last money together for Anime Expo. There is also that part of me that is wondering how do I make sure that I can have the Anti-San Diego. San Diego felt so unfriendly and I still fear that for Anime Expo. I will be going to meet and greets that fourmers are having throughout the time I am there.

Anime Expo seems to be all about the industry and doesn't have a fan panel to speak of. I am not going to change convention plans at a month before con. You don't disappoint roommates, but there is that part of me that says "Should I just show up for Forums Meet and Greet, Shoko-tan concert and Masquerade and just tour LA Thursday, most of Friday and Sunday?" Everyone says you should put Anime Expo in a seperate pair of viewers than Otakon. When Otakon is your first and biggest passion, It is near impossible to do. Otakon is the measure of every anime con I know of. How does one adjust their expectations for Anime Expo lower than that of this year's Otakon?

Tickets to the Baltimore Mariners game on Next Saturday

2008-06-07T00:49:40Z

I have two tickets to the local indoor football team (the Baltimore Mariners) on Next Saturday June 14th at 1st Mariner arena. The tickets are on the lower level by the home end zone Section 114. They are free for the taking, as long as you actually go to the game. This team needs people to see it. I can't make it due to an outing with mom to see my Aunt at a time other than during the family events. It should be a nice day, but it will exhaust me (especially after Friendly Farm for Dinner). All you have to do for the tickets is to respond to this post or E-mail me.

Another reason to hate the Dodgers

2008-06-03T13:55:13Z

I am starting to get things lined up to do on July 6th and 7th after Anime Expo ends. People say you should see Dodgers Stadium once in your life. I called the Dodgers to buy my ticket for the July 7th game. All I could get was an automated system, not a person. I pressed 0 several times and it didn't work. The only way I could buy tickets was through an automated system. I prefer to have an end seat when I go to any event because when I leave I minimize the interruption to others.

At least, Baltimore/DC Ticketmaster has a person at the other end of the line when you buy any ticket. If I don't get the ticket, I am going to challenge the charge on my Credit Card. It is no way to treat a person that the only way you can get a ticket over the phone is by an automated system. I wish the other team on July 7th was the Giants, so I could boo without fear.

Happy Brithday Fausti

2008-06-02T12:01:34Z

Today is Fausti (Mark Pope's) Birthday. May have a good 30 something and I hope his birthday party went very well. A wish I give everyone on their birthday is May this year be better than the last. I hope this year is better than the last for Mark.

Indy 4 Thoughts and other things (spoilers)

2008-05-31T21:35:14Z

This has been a busy week for me with end of month at work coming to an end. I have a long post I want to put up about what I want to do next in fandom, but I think I will save it for when I can edit it some. It is a page's worth of thoughts and that may be too long for even my regulars to read.

On to Indiana Jones 4, I saw it today at a 12:15 show. The theatre was about half full. I think theatres shouldn't put movies into four screens per theatre. I wouldn't be surprised if Muvico 24 in Arundel Mills has five films on multiple screens. It leads to shorter times in theatres due to a variety of reasons.

Indiana Jones 4 was okay. It isn't the best of the series, but it wasn't the worst of the series either. The Temple of Doom was the worst in my view and Last Crusade is my favorite one of the series. Last Crusade made me a fan of the movies. The Science fiction part was fine. I don't think it will get nominated for a Hugo, but that isn't the point of a film like Indiana Jones.

I think they should have killed Indy in some way. He becomes near immortal in Last Crusade through drinking the grail's water. It should have been a passing of the torch movie, but I think that the next one will pass the torch. I think trying Harrison Ford did his best in convincing people that he could hack it in his 60's. I disagree. He didn't have the snap and the punch of a younger Indy. It was still a fun way to spend two hours and worth renting or going to a matinee at least of it.

Writer's Block: The Only True Question:

2008-05-30T01:18:17Z

If you could go back and fix your most regrettable decision, what would it be, and what would you do differently?

Or:

Pirates or Ninjas?

View other answers

This question is part of the anime scene for a year or two. I don't know where this exactly started from. In my opinion, give me Ninja's any day of the week over Pirates. The Ninja can defeat a pirate because they are able to be stealthy. You can't defeat invisibility and speed. It is that simple.

I couldn't resist this question for the fun of it. I can't wait for the fantasy fans to try to prove that pirates can defeat ninjas, but you can't defeat the speed of a ninja. Will write a more indepth post later this weekend?

Balticon Report

2008-05-26T12:48:30Z

I had a blast at Balticon over the weekend. I only did Saturday and yesterday due to money and Anime Expo coming up. It is always a good con for me because I get to do things that anime and most comic book cons don't do. I don't get to see Debcaehir (Greg Wright) or many of my non-anime friends.

I also got to play games, which most anime cons only do Yu-Gi-Oh or other anime related games. I forgot to bring my deck with me of Whack a Catgirl. I must bring that with me to Anime Expo. I really enjoy that game and it is fairly quick game to learn and play. Fluxx is alot of fun and I wish they had an anime related version of that game.

I also got to help out Cindy Shockey with Green room, again. I will have proof as I bought the Balticon masquerade DVD. I can't wait to see the DVD in about four to six weeks. Dr. Gandalf (who is Tech head of Balticon, I think) does DVD's of the main events. I was wanting to go to parties, so I only saw part of the masquerade. I can't wait to see Sue Shambaugh's costume on stage. It looked great on her in the green room. I also saw a Sailor Moon costume from this year's masquerade. She is a former convention runner from Pittsburgh and is very excited about Costume Con coming to Baltimore next May 1-4.

I also partied on Saturday night. I got to see a very interesting bid for Worldcon that will be selected at Anticipation next year. A bunch of fans from Portland, OR (who can't have a Worldcon there due to lack of hotels) are doing a legitimate bid for Reno, NV in 2011. People on this bid also include Deb Geisler (Noreascon's 4 Chair) and Ben Yalow (the fanish hotel liasion expert). The site does have some humor to it. Travel advisories to Tattoine make fun of themselves Seattle in 2011 is considered the leading bid at this point, but you could have a Denver bid (last minute bid that surprises people and wins) in Reno. Do not laugh this bid off. Seattle hasn't tried to go after the east coast vote, yet. Mass, MD, NY, PA and VA are among the top 10-12 states usually going to Worldcon and will have a big presence in Montreal. http://www.rcfi.org is the link to the bid.

I did get to same panels along the way of SMAFing, helping out and having fun. I got to see Peter S Beagle talk about writing TV and movie scripts. I got to hear about how to do a one person podcast, which intrigues me as I think about what I do next in Fandom.

It is always a fun weekend and I can't wait to see who they get for Balticon next year. They didn't have a flyer announcing who they are bringing, but we do know they will be at the Hunt Valley Marriott on Memorial Day weekend.

Happy Memorial Day early

2008-05-25T23:50:15Z

I am back from Balticon and I will talk more about it, tomorrow. I had a great time. As someone who had family in the military, I wanted to remember those who gave all in times of war. On Memorial Day weekend, I am reminded of a Billy Ray Cyrus (before he gave birth to Hannah Montana) called "Some Gave All". I feel this is a better way of remembering our troops than my words could ever express.

Here is the song as an embed for my LJ for tonight:

Away at Balticon

2008-05-24T01:11:06Z

I will be getting an early sleep because I will be getting up at about 7 AM to get to Weight Watchers and Balticon. I will be there Saturday and most of Sunday leaving about 5 PM or so. I can't wait to see Eva and other BSFS'ers and convention fans. I also got an idea that I want to throw out there. All my ideas get squashed, but it would be nice to try. Maybe, I will say something about it sometime.

Summer Convention Update

2008-05-20T01:37:21Z

The summer convention schedule became clearer today when my request for Friday of Otakon weekend was cleared. The fall schedule is still a muddy mess, but will include at least one more convention before end of season in Early November (on the east coast) thanks to Anime USA being earlier. This is where you can see me during summer 2008:

May 24th and 25th-Balticon-This is tradition for me. I truly enjoy this convention. I can't wait to play in the gaming room Munchkin and bring Whack A Catgirl to a Science Fiction crowd. Helping out Cindy Shockey in the Masquerade Green room. Now, if the would only get the pocket program guide on the site, I could see what I can't miss.

July 2nd-8th-ANime Expo-This is the real vacation of 2008 for me. I have wanted one of these for eons. How is Anime Expo a vacation? I am probably going to go a couple of the unofficial events such as BBQ night and 21 plus M and G. It is going to be a chance to meet with West Coast fans I didn't get at SDCC last year. With the cost of flights, I think it may be a rare con I can fly to. I hope to see Jay Leno or Jeopardy live.

August 8th-10th-Otakon-This could be a great Otakon. This is traditional for me to be at. I am registered and have signed up to be a gofer (am a sucker for punishment, I know). I can't wait to get to the convention. It should be a great time and a chance to see the arena for something besides the Blast. It is the biggest anime con on the east coast and one of the reasons Baltimore/DC is the best fanish area of the country.

Don't ask me what the fall will bring because it is such a muddied picture due to conventions on 5 out of seven weekends from September to early November. It is just a mess that I probably won't figure out until at least late July or after Otakon. Here is the con schedule in the Northeast from September 1st until November 15th:

September 5th-7th T-mode Arlington, VA
September 14th X Japan at Madison Square Garden
September 26th-28th New York Anime Festival New York, New York (run by NYCC folks)
October 3rd-5th Providence Anime Conference Providence, RI (run by Anime Boston Folks)
October 10-12th Anime USA (the con I used to be staff on)
October 17th-18th Zenkaikon Metro Philadelphia (looks interesting small con)
November 7th-9th Nekocon Hampton Roads, VA

That doesn't include Capclave and Baltimore Comic Con into the mix. You see the mess this is going to be for a Northeastern/Mid-Atlantic convention fan this fall. People are going to have to make hard choices and a couple of conventions are possibly going to see drops (maybe all of them) because of this schedule. This will be an interesting fall indeed for convention fans.

Preakness Report

2008-05-18T19:18:12Z

I went to the Preakness yesterday and I had a good time. It is much more fun (non partying type) in the Grandstand over the Infield. I play the ponies on occasion, so it was more of my type of group to see an event like this with. I saw a Stealth Bomber and the Clydesdale horses in their best way (trotting along the dirt track). I must start taking more pictures (I brought a camera with me) at events like that. The seats were about 500 feet from the start line and had a massive TV infront of it. You can't see the backstretch on Preakness day like you can at Timonium or during the rest of the year.

There is no bigger excitement than the lead up to the Preakness. It is loud, passionate and exciting two minutes of racing. This is probably the first time a sporting event was better in person than on TV. The energy on TV can't be matched. Big Brown won the race by 5 Lengths. I think he will win the Belmont Stakes to win the Triple crown for the first time since I was a two month old (1978). You can bring in on your own food and you should ($6 for a cheeseburger without fries). I only bought drinks at the race.