12 posts tagged “anime”

(I mentioned being kicked out a concert over the weekend on Facebook. A little background on this first.)

Halko Momoi is a very popular singer and voice actor, at least in the anime community in Japan. Definitely one of the top five performers of her genre. She's my wife's most favorite performer.

Momoi was approached by Mr. O (not his real name) to perform at this fairly small event. Mr. O with the chairman of Anime Vegas, helped bring her to the event. This decision was made at the last minute. Her dedicated fans, mostly from out of state, including Hitomi and I, made special last-minute travel arrangements (flight, hotel, etc.) as well as worked on a "call book", brought hundreds of glow sticks, etc. We dedicated fans also make an effort to do live internet broadcasts, translate material, etc.

As it so happens, we were allowed to internet broadcast some of the performances at Anime Vegas. But not the concert for Momoi. And although the connection (through an EVDO modem) was physically disconnected, someone it was reestablished again automatically. (Or deliberately?)

Contractually speaking, free live broadcast was not allowed, although live recording was. As it turns out, the chairman got informed that the live broadcast was active. (By whom?) And then convention security was upon, at least, some of us. The guy manning the computer was kicked out immediately. And--by being in the front row with an Momoi t-shirt on?--some of us other guys were told to get out as well. (Not Hitomi, who looks innocent I suppose.)

I had nothing to do with any of the broadcast. I'm just part of this fan club, and I didn't know what was going on. Still there I was out in the hall with the chairman and a couple of other innocent and angry fans during the middle of the performance. Two or three songs later, we were let back in. Hitomi was a bit confused by this and you can read her blog, if you can read Japanese.

Needlessly to say, us fans were upset at all this, and vow not to return. Especially since she was only performing a short one hour set and here I was spending three days in Las Vegas, which is like Los Angeles but a lot more miserable.

...I could also fill this post with a list of things that weren't cool about the event but I will keep it to this.

To make up for all this I did have a lot of fun at meals with her fans. Monday, since Momoi wasn't showing up at all, Hitomi and I went and enjoyed a few short hikes on the outside of town, at Red Rock Canyon.

Friday

Left early in the morning to catch an earlier flight. Hitomi and I were on "standby" since she wanted to get to San Jose for Momoi's afternoon panel. Since I switched later I wasn't sure I'd be on the same flight. Took a taxi ($21 or so) to the Convention Center. According to Hitomi, to reach light rail system by bus takes "forever", even though you can see it's about a half mile away. Maybe after the San Jose airport remodel is done it will be faster.

Got rooms at the Hotel Saint Claire for about $105 a night. James T. was willing to have us stay at a more distant hotel but the hotel wasn't in walking distance.

Met some familiar faces and I tried to remember some names. Just a few Momoi fans from Japan came, and I suspect it was fear of the swine flu that kept them home. A few were rooming with locals, like Kent, who has been a fan since 1998 or so. Momoi's Japanese fans are very nice, but singularly obsessed, really.

Opening ceremonies were a casual affair. Fanime's a casual con, really. There were taiko drummers outside but they weren't too great technically but had showmanship. We mostly hung around until Momoi made a brief appearance.

Momoi's panel for today was titled "Path of the Otaku" according to the schedule but I guess she thought it was about "Seiyuu and Singing", which was supposed to be the theme for tomorrow. As usual, lots of vague, open-ended questions, although there were some specific and interesting ones as well.

Re: Path of the Otaku. As it turns out, I don't think any of the "Momoists" (fans) had girlfriends or boyfriends. (Just a guess.) To me, it seems the path of the otaku is a lonely path, in this respect. It would have been interesting to discuss what does it really mean to live your (entire) life for a particular hobby.

Went to watch Fist of the North Star, following the panel. I saw the movie version. I hadn't watched a whole lot it before, just bits and pieces, so I felt really educated to learn the backstory about exploding heads. Guy running the room hadn't setup the sound properly so I complained. Not a whole lot of interest in older anime these days, it seems.

Dinner...I went with several people in a car to Mitsuwa, a Japanese supermarket. We bought cheap (tasting) Japanese bento and curry. I complained about my katsudon which needed spice or pepper or something.

Saw Detroit Metal City, a parody about a death metal band. First up was the live action version, then some of the animated version.

Saturday

Hitomi left early to catch a movie, which was canceled and replaced with a serious Korean ganster movie. Koreans really love gangster movies. I wonder if Seoul is safe? I slept in a bit and saw some of K-ON!, which is probably the hit of 2009 in Japan.

Momoi autograph session at 12PM.

Following this was a maid life performance on Stage 0. Momoi shows up.

The past few years, Fanime has had a maid--English, not French--brigade, which dresses up accordingly and actually says the sort of lines you'd hear in a Japanese Maid Cafe. (I wonder why not just use formal English?) They also are expected to sing and dance a little on stage, play games with customers at a cafe, and take pictures.

3PM was Momoi's panel, followed by a call workshop. I spent a few hours translating an article for the call book, which was probably more of a souvenier for those that received it, than study guide as it was intended. Ironically, I'm not into learning calls myself, but I have somehow put in a lot of time working on them anyway. The workshop was for practicing calls but turned into more about otagei, which is a related topic. Otagei is pretty straightforward, except for the infamous Thunder Snake technique.

I killed some time looking at cosplayers out front of the convention area. Eventually we congregated and headed out for dinner. Found a Baja Fresh resturant, it lots of empty seating, fortunately.

Came back and watched two hours of "Anime Hell" which isn't really about anime or hell, but a collection of weird animation, clips from Japanese television, etc., that anime fans would enjoy. I guess "Hell" part refers to the black humor aspect. At 12AM was "Evangelion: Endless Debate" which would have been fun to participate in but I headed off to bed instead.

Hitomi's obsession was uploading pictures and blogging throughout the convention. Take a look at her blog...

Sunday

Day of the concert. Serious Momoists were itching to arrive first in line for an 8PM concert at around noon. I spent some time unwrapping glow sticks in boxes.

I went to see the voice actors for Resident Evil 5 at a panel. Saw how they blue (green?) screened it, and did facial motion capture. I was thinking that somehow all or most of the character movement, including stunts, and facial animation was actually animated from hand. But in reality, all of it was captured.

Carl Horn had a panel on manga and in particular Dark Horse Manga. In terms of print quality, they are probably the best. (There are really some terrible importers, like Tokyo Pop or CMX which somehow get by doing a half-ass job, so maybe consumers don't really care?) It was interesting to hear him talk about the printing and proof process. And also the move to publishing combined volumes of manga, which retailers love and saves money for publishers as well. Still, a thick book is hard to read. I was going to ask about slip covers--like why nobody does them--but forgot. (Okay, it's obviously a cost issue but I'd still like to see them.)

Visited the Maid Cafe. It was busy the whole convention. Hitomi had saved a spot for me and was waiting with other Momoists. All the maids were really nice. Our assigned maid was trying hard to interact with everyone but somehow either people were distracted or shy. She drew everyone a picture and we played a simple game. Then they put on a little performance, similar to the one the day before and we had pictures with the group.

Snuck into the Gurren Lagan documentary and watched how animators slave away to create a few seconds worth of footage. Hitomi wanted to see it but went outside to wait in line.

Johnathan, a Momoist, was helping out with the NicoNicoDouga (NND) panel. I was curious and went. NND explanation: People upload funny shit to this site. And then peoples' comments fly across the screen. Also: Japanese have their own set of Internet memes so the same concept is repeated over and over again. And unlike Youtube (which the Japanese do use), NND supports live streaming so the entire panel was streamed as well.

Then saw Baccano!, which was a recommended by some older fans...Lots of 1920s Italian mobsters and families going after each other. However one family in particular seems to have a few immortal people. Immortality comes in handy when you're a gangster.

Went to Anime Music Videos "Best of 2009". Interesting that AMVs have caught on world wide so they have an International community and international competition. Lots of effort to combine footage you don't own with music you don't own either. Sometimes the result is "cool" but the flaw I see most often is they are too overwhelming (lots of cuts) or long. The best are actually kind of repetitive or have a variety of pacing.

I finally make my way outside to the line. Hitomi's camped out. I play Momoi songs on my Blackberry. A girl ahead of me looks uncomfortable, lonely, and unhappy. I'm sitting next to her on a concrete wall surrounding the perimeter of the concert hall. She eventually stands up, as if she might have sat in something sticky, but I couldn't tell what it was.

Filtering in, I secure two seats about 2 rows back from the front. We weren't sitting in the front row but there are bigger fans than us and Hitomi doesn't like to be in front anyway.

Opening act was a anime music cover band, Makenai. They sang well-known songs and did a fairly decent job, but it was obvious the sound was a bit messed up and feedback was obvious. (Amaturish sound technicians strike once again.) They did have a few of their own songs, and the last of these was decent. Momoi fans being who they are were equipped with light sticks and had a few calls coordinted for the well-known songs, so it got pretty lively. But many of us were holding back, since we were preserving energy for the main event.

Needless to say, Momoi being the veteran that she is, put on a solid show. Not all my absolute favorites but many of them. With all the enthusastic jumping and gesturing I was sweating through my shirt. (Maybe from my bicycle training I have built up better endurance but I seem to sweat more even though I'm not straining.) With all the movement, I was a bit wary of landing on Hitomi but we had an extra seat open next to us so it wasn't too crowded.

I tried following the calls, and being a tall guy I knew for sure the people behind me were paying attention. But at times, I found myself paying attention to the first row rather than the performance itself, so I had to let myself go on autopilot.

Ninety minutes sure went by quickly. The biggest disappointment was how she was obviously pressed for time, not even having time to introduce her band members or "MC" as much as she usually does.

Concert's over and we are shooed out of the theater as quickly as possible. Out on the steps of the hall people are taking video, sharing pictures, and fans were interviewing fans about how the concert went. I had FOOD on the the mind but people were inclined to simply hang out. When the front lights went out, it was a sign to get out. So now the roving group of Momoists went to seek food. Not many places open at around midnight in Downtown San Jose, as we discover. Eventually somebody finds out Jack in the Box is open and nearby and people congregate there. I hit up a Tacqueria, grab a burrito, and head on over.

Lots of chatting about this and that. Eventually we're done eating and are taking up space. I head back to the convention center, while Hitomi heads to bed. (Actually, Hitomi heads back to post various videos and pictures.) I discover there's not much to do but hang out in the Pr0n room and watch Night Shift Nurses. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it Fucking Nasty, though I have worse in manga format. Notably, though, what I haven't seen in a manga are public hairs stuck to the face of a woman nor ejaculate in the texture of cottage cheese. Combine sex with violence and suicide and it's a bit of a downer. Most amusing moment of the night: Staffer passes through the video room with a megaphone, asking for everyone for "hand check".

3am and I'm a bit tired. Still we wake up around 9-10am. It's the last day. Momoi's autograph session is one of the few events I go to. 3PM we watch closing ceremonies and the convention's over. Then we spend the last few hours at a Japanese supermarket and bookstore. (Some out-of-towners don't have these I guess.)

東京タワー


Originally uploaded by ochawan

First day was spent getting to the hotel, the same as last time, Dormy Inn in Akihabara. Traveling from the airport was hard with our bicycles, both suitcases being difficult to get through the train stations. Still, we managed a good dinner, in the UDX building, and made trip to the rooftop bath before bed.

Second day was the Halko Momoi trip, starting in the famous resort town of Atami. Hitomi explained it as a hot springs tour, but the style, as stated by Momoi, was more similar to a school field trip. There were about 140 fan club members there, obviously all big fans of her. Most fans were 20-35 year old males (otaku), though a few older and younger. Maybe 20 females? And somebody's parents. And there was actually a fan from Seattle, Anthony, who I had never met, but who had met Hitomi at Anime North (Toronto).

Schedule: Meet for orientation in the lobby. There were a number of "Momoists" who Hitomi had met from different international conventions Momoi performed for in the U.S., Toronto, Canada, and Kassel, Germany. Online they meet and collaborate on fan events and materials, such as call books, some of which I've translated. Hitomi brought a present from her international fans, which was a photo book put together through the internet and she painstakingly assembled prior and during the trip.

Dinner was an enkai, a traditional Japanese style of banquet where you sit on zabuton (on tatami) and eat an elaborate meal off of multiple trays and drink a lot. Given what I read, I thought we might just eat, listen to a couple of words from Momoi, and call it a night. But Momoi talked throughout, discussing how her 2008 went, various funny and frustating events throughout the year. I should have taken notes, but we were told not to post anything online.

When dinner wound down, there were a couple of contests. First was a karaoke contest where fans were asked to come on stage and sing on the karaoke box loaded with her songs, without looking at the lyrics. Of course, first up was a tricky song (from her early days) that even Momoi herself couldn't always remember the lyrics for. And it turned from less of a concert into just people having fun: Momoi helped out a lot and the otagei folk gave their assist. It turned into something fairly reminiscent of her performance in Hawaii where Momoi with her wireless microphone wandered around and a friendly crowd with glow sticks surrounded her and did their calls.

Winding down was a bingo game. Unlike most bingo games I've played, just numbers are read off, not both letters and numbers. Effectively, there was less probability a of bingo per number called. Prizes were handed out. Hitomi got bingo and she forced me to the stage. Winners were asked (by the audience!) to sing or dance. I wasn't quite up for that. I guess I should have memorized some songs. I asked them politely to leave me alone. Momoi was a bit sympathetic as her fans are demanding. I got her signature on a picture frame and a "Thank you!" A hug would have been nice but would have made her fans mad.

Third day: We had breakfast on our own in the cafeteria, enjoying the "Viking" (all you can eat) selection of Japanese and European breakfast food. Around 10 or so, we all boarded buses, which were to take us to Hakone for BBQ. It was less of an American BBQ and really just yakiniku, meat grilled on a gas stove. Momoi ran around making toasts and stealing off of hot plates. We got to see Hakone from the bus, as well as Mount Fuji, but had little time to walk around.

We went off for bowling. It was a good choice of game for 140 or so people on the tour. (Compare to, say, baseball or some other team game.) I'm not good at bowling and neither was our team, but eventually I got the hang of it. A lot of others wore out physically, but I managed to not feel worn out at all. Prizes were handed out for highest team and individual and lowest scores. I felt like I should practice back in the U.S. With a bit more consistency I wouldn't feel as pathetic come next time.

On the bus, we watched a video of Momoi performing in Taiwan. The concert was during a typhoon, but yet her fans made it anyway. Her fans were singing along and doing their calls. (Though as the evening went on, people toned it down.) We were taken to Shinjuku station and made our farewells.

It's hard to choose where to eat in Tokyo since there's literally hundreds of places around the major train stations. We found some sort of "back alley" section near Shinjuku station where restaurants had somehow escaped urban renewal. While wandering around, I found a place run by, literally, a mom & pop, who might have been pushing 70+. And evolution suggests that any highly competitive environment produces species adopted to that environment. Given that, and how Japanese are also obsessive about food (see: Japanese television) and fastidious otherwise, we were in prime territory for a good meal. And cheap as well.

Fourth Day: It was prime weather for bicycling. I set our bikes up in the small room somehow and we set off for a short ride in town. Hitomi wasn't too keen on riding in the city streets, but like Taipei and Seattle downtown, traffic is fairly forgiving, since drivers are more attuned to stopped cars (on the side), pedestrians, and frequent stops.

Eventually we made it from Tokyo to the Emperor's Place near Tokyo station. Initially I was going to find some back roads, but given the number of bridges and odd angles to the streets it was simply easiest to navigate on the major thoroughfares. We road around the palace grounds, took a few photos, and headed toward Tokyo Tower, off in the distance.

Tokyo Tower was overrun by tourists, so after our curry rice lunch, it was back to Akihabara. (We were going to make a bigger route but since I dropped the map from my guide book, we cut the ride fairly short.)

Akihabara is the place of Maid Cafes. The one we went to is located on the top of some building, with gashapon and figures and premade cosplay clothing on lower levels: A layer cake of otaku-dom.

Hitomi bought tickets to angela's concert. They were one of the first bands to come to Sakura-con and perform back in the Hilton at Sea-Tac and since then Hitomi's been a fan and even had attended a concert earlier in the year. Masaki and his new wife, Chiho, as well as Mr. Nagahama, director of several anime were in the same section. We briefly said hello before the performance.

Since we were all late getting tickets, we were in the back but since those in the main audience were on their feet (and jumping) for the entirety of the 3 hour performance I was fairly happy to be in my seat. I guess I haven't gotten into atsuko's singing style in the past, but she's mellowed her voice a bit and I liked her "Domestic Love Band" voice even more. (Band members perform in both bands, which really are just defined by the style of music. The alter-ego band members mawkishly play in a crass, rowdy, hard rock style that simultaneously makes fun of itself and the straight-laced, poppy angela.)

Post concert we were invited backstage and talked a little bit with Masaki, Chiho, Nagahama and were briefly introduced to atsuko herself, and Yui Horie, who I didn't immediately recognize. (I think being tall changes the way people look.) Hitomi helpfully explained we did come all this way to Japan for the concert; a bit of a white lie.

Obviously we were in the midst of a lot of industry people, e.g. producers and performers and the famous, and I was the 190cm tall foreigner so I might as well been a celebrity.

We said our goodbyes and it was back to the hotel, and the rooftop bath before bed.

Fifth Day: Comiket (Comic Market.) Hitomi wanted very much to by Momoi's (first) dōjinshi, which was a collection of articles and pictures and thoughts she put together and left early in the morning to fight the throngs of otaku. Given the crowds, I had considered skipping it entirely and making my way out of town on a train for a bike ride but I hadn't been in many years and felt: Why not?

I took a combination of subway and train to Big Sight, and given I was riding around 12PM it was not crowded at all. Hitomi left me money but I had forgotten it and thus had arrived without any cash. Not a good thing in Japan. Still, eventually I found a Post Office ATM and later Hitomi and was okay. Crisis averted.

What I later realized was the place closed around 4PM and most of the "good stuff" was gone by the afternoon. Still, I had fun wandering around and given how much of a battle it is in the morning perhaps arriving late was for the best. Given the time limit to meet back with Hitomi, I only managed to see one half of the convention area, though I had spent a few hundred anyway. Heading off to the commercial section, I bought my first dakimakura, a body pillow cover from DLSite which will be soon sandwiched between Hitomi and me. (Hitomi's nice to sleep beside but not right next to since she wiggles.)

Dinner was okonomiyaki at UDX, followed by shopping at Tora no Ana, Tachibana Shoten, and back to bed.

Sixth day: To Aomori!

Aki Con, November 7-9, 2008
Hitomi, AKA ochawan

Hitomi and I attended a new anime convention in Everett, Washingon: Aki-con. A first year convention is not without problems, but mostly it went okay.

Unlike most anime conventions it was put on (so I hear) by a number of dealers, meaning it was a for-profit venture. With a handful of staff and many volunteers, they managed to hold a convention that was fairly well attended. Maybe 500 people came? Ironically, for a for-profit venture, the oddest thing was door security was non-existent as it seemed nobody cared if you had a badge or not to enter any room. Further, none of the video rooms or panel rooms had security or staff in them. Video equipment was attached using plastic zip ties to wire cages. My 18 year old+ panel on erotic comics had no door security.

Yes, I did put together an hour panel--really a presentation--on ero-manga. Hitomi helped out, though she pretty much hates ero stuff, by putting together a "mix" of j-pop music on her iPod to liven things up. I can't say it was well attended, though a few people did wonder in and some stuck around. It was an introduction to some of the styles, authors, and common stories of adult Japanese comics. I brought out some of my "bizzare" books, which stories range from off-the-wall funny to cruel and unpleasant. Since I had no projector, I simply talked about each title, then passed them out for people to look through. I was a little worried about books disappearing, but Hitomi was my little helper.

Since it was a for-profit convention, I guess that none of the Sakura-con staff really wanted to help. They usually help with local events and the smaller Kumori-con in Portland. I didn't see many familar faces working staff or volunteering, except for "Big Chris", a big black guy who was working security, and who we run into regularly at local conventions. (He gets lots of hugs from everyone it seems.) And Hitomi and I met Roy and "Yuki". Yuki, who works in Japanese Guest Relations, got herself involved with helping this local band, "Soul Candy".

Actually, one of Yuki's friends was performing with a band "Soul Candy". Her friend sure had had a lot of gripes about Aki-con, since that's all she did. I tried pointing out that pretty much every convention I've been to since Anime Expo 1997 has had its share of disorganization and troubles. It was her opinion that attendees having a bad experience at one local convention will discourage attendees from going to another convention, but it seemed most people were having a good time anyway.

Will I attend next year? I suppose so, especially if Hitomi's wearing some of the great outfits she had this year.

Aki Con summary: Yes, a new fledgling anime convention, conveniently six months or so away from Sakura-con. I can visualize it now: Hitomi and I in some conference room, on metal hotel chairs laced together, catching up on fansub anime. Since the convention is in November, I won't feel so bad about staying indoors all day.

I anticipate the the usual convention screw-ups: Late seating, underestimation of panel and event space, registration problems, video and audio trouble, and last-minute cancelations and schedule changes. I would consider all of these issues canonical for any anime convention, but doubly so for a first year convention. Likely, the convention is being run from veteran staffers from Sakura-con, so I would expect fewer problems.

Thinking about a convention in Everett, brings back memories of driving to Sakura-con when it too was in Everett. This was back when we weren't staff. We have those pictures someplace in our photo album: Was it 2001? Naturally, we met a lot of staff, since staff not attendees were are age, and these relationships helped get us staff positions later on.

For this convention, I'm considering running some panels or a panel, maybe one on ero-manga with possibly a literary criticism approach to the medium. Or a panel on living in Japan, though for me it was a relatively long time ago, still I have a couple of interesting anecdotes to share, and being married to a fellow otaku is interesting. There's also tons of old shows that me and an audience could make fun of. Still, I keep fairly up-to-date on my ero, much more than anime or manga in general these days. Hideki (fellow Sakura-con staffer) could also run an adjunct panel on bishojo games (adult dating simulations.)

I'm guessing Hitomi and I are sure to go, if only because what else is there to do in November?

New thought: I hope Hitomi keeps available whatever goth-loli outfit she wears for Halloween ready for the following weekend for this convention.

Hitomi has a bunch of entries posted from Anime Expo 2008. (Also check out her pictures on Flickr.)

I've been going since 1996. It's never really been run well in the past 15+ years until this year.

Perhaps due to firing the old con chair, or better internal organization, or by using hired professionals and having professional theater people, every event I went to ran on time and had few if any glitches. Of the glitches, there was one I found: Not enough spotlight on Yohko Ishida. I felt more let down by Famima!! which was unable to supply enough onigiri and sandwiches after being thoroughly raided on Friday.

Though, unlike past years, I didn't try to go to many events, aside from concerts. Instead, I spent time at "Artist's Alley" helping with the sale of our doujinshi and T-shirts. Although sales were good, there wasn't a whole lot to sell actually and really what it was was a place to hang out. Hanging out is what all the other attendees are there to do. We know people from Sakura-con and some industry people. Hitomi also now knows some Momoi fans from online that we met up with.

I'm disappointed I didn't attend more events and do more things. There was an industry event that we went to instead of Cosplay (Masquerade) which turned out to be one of those events that sounds good in theory. We were invited to The Edison, an ultra-classy bar with potentially interesting industry people, though the experience was plauged by extra-loud music. The effort required to converse over all that music made it not worth it. Returning back to the hotel, Hitomi met up with some people from a Japanese publication covering Anime Expo and we had an interesting discussion on the state of fandom, in Japanese.

We all agreed that younger fans don't really care much about where anime comes from or the history or old shows or for that matter having to pay for shows. But some other interesting things: Fashion (cosplay) is an important focus of fans; Goth-Loli not Moe' style is popular; Japanese guests aren't that important to fans. With fans getting older, it's become sort of an all-ages, family sort of event. Unlike back in 1996 where I was a college kid and everybody else was too (or just about). 30-somethings are running a convention for teenagers, which might explain why this year was more organized than ever.

I came across Bike Works! which is a non-profit helping Seattle kids earn free bicycles through bicycle repair programs (among other things). There was a link from their web site to a video that the local public broadcasting station KCTS put together describing their programs. Their link was broken and so I surfed on over to the actual KCTS web site and took a look at their streaming video selection, specifically for KCTS Connects.

For the curious, here's the video of Bike Works which I have downloaded and uploaded again. (To download I was forced to upgrade Real Player. Which even post update at version 11 is still a piece of shit: The audio often cuts out and video playback causes my screen to blank out a couple of times.)

... upload failed, all I have is a link.

Paging down through about 800+ clips to find clip 435, I noticed a familiar name in the list: John Keister. He used to host Almost Live! before it was canceled in 1999. Almost Live! was a local Seattle comedy show preceding Saturday Night Live, which I ended up watching, actually I most often taped the program, using the VCR for at my Dad's place, and watched it the following day. Anyway, John Keister's still out there on T.V., on PBS. From the numerous clips I've watched he offers personal commentary on local and national political issues in sometimes a humorous vein. And though obviously still his bald self he looks a bit pudgy and haggard; he's obviously older than last time I saw him.

In some ways I hate the way media's gone totally international. Where's the local television personalities I used to see? I'm to blame, watching more anime, movies, and even YouTube than network television.

I came across a web page for Bike Works!, a non-profit helping Seattle kids earn free bicycles through bicycle repair programs (among other things). There was a link from their web site to a video that the local public broadcasting station KCTS put together describing their programs. Their link was broken and so I surfed on over to the actual KCTS web site and took a look at their streaming video selection, specifically for KCTS Connects.

For the curious, here's the video of Bike Works which I have downloaded and uploaded again. (To download I was forced to upgrade Real Player. Which even post update at version 11 is still a piece of shit: The audio often cuts out and video playback causes my screen to blank out a couple of times.)

... upload failed, all I have is a link.

Paging down through about 800+ clips to find clip 435, I noticed a familiar name in the list: John Keister. He used to host Almost Live! before it was canceled in 1999. Almost Live! was a local Seattle comedy show preceding Saturday Night Live, which I ended up watching, actually I most often taped the program, using the VCR for at my Dad's place, and watched it the following day. Anyway, John Keister's still out there on T.V., on PBS. From the numerous clips I've watched he offers personal commentary on local and national political issues in sometimes a humorous vein. And though obviously still his bald self he looks a bit pudgy and haggard; he's obviously older than last time I saw him.

In some ways I hate the way media's gone totally international. Where's the local television personalities I used to see? I'm to blame, watching more anime, movies, and even YouTube than network television.

I used to read and buy (occasionally) the Japanese Newtype magazine more than about ten years ago and I bought it mostly to enjoy the pictures of the new shows. I also liked seeing the ads, and some of the composite pictures of a particular "anime girl" or mecha against a real photographs. There were also interesting photographs of models and figurines, etc.

I think what happened, when I started to subscribe to the Newtype USA magazine, that I just started to feel overwhelmed with the volume of content, as not only did I look at the pretty pictures but try to read everything. Then, I realized I would never, ever be able to see, or try watching, most of the shows in there anyway. Unfortunately as an "older" fan you have more money than time.

But I still enjoyed the columnists, mostly the English-speaking ones, as often the Japanese column/interview translations were fairly unpolished sounding. And, maybe because I was too busy or not interested, I never could bring myself to watch many of the DVDs. I eventually felt it a waste to buy such a lavish magazine which I did not fully enjoyed and ended my subscription about a year ago.

To me as an older fan, I find myself now mostly interested in about content analysis and the culture. For instance, the anime show reviews, were really at the T.V. Guide level, not professional film critic level. Or at least some of the time they could have sounded, well, college-level. But perhaps this doesn't represent what the Newtype brand really is, which is really visual impact. I can already figure out -- based solely on pictures! -- what a show is 90% of the time anyway, so whatever words they added seemed superfluous.

In the USA version, I was sad that many columnists from the Japanese Newtype never made it in. A few more pages of translated columns would have been nice, for this fan anyway.

In Japan, there's 大人アニメ (Adults' Anime) magazine, which Hitomi occasionally buys. And according to Newtype's Wiki Page, they at least used to publish a magazine of essays.

We subscribe now to Otaku USA. It's better at explaining shows, and other pop-culture trends, at an adult-level. And it has a more holistic view of all kinds of Japanese pop culture and a written, not visual, focus. Giant Robot is also good, though I'm not altogether interested in Asian-American fringe culture, I like a their perspective on what's going on in Asia that's (pop) culturally interesting.

I hope Newtype USA's replacement picks a better direction than Newtype, and can distinguish itself visually and content-wise from its competition.

To me, if I were to publish a Newtype-like, visually-focused magazine, I would do it more in the flavor of National Geographic. Something with a define photographic focus, on very glossy, high-quality paper. It'd look like a coffee-table book, not in size, but in content. Everyone could enjoy it for just the pretty pictures, but then if you could also read more in depth from the accompanying article surrounding each photo spread. Each new anime show would have 10-15 pages to highlight the show's significant content, be it scenes, original illustrations, character art, etc. I'd leave out reviews, columnists, trends, etc., and focus really just on the visual side. And there would not be just shows, there'd also be cultural photojournalism, pictures of studios, bios of creators, etc. What would National Geographic publish about Sundays in Akihabara? Studio Ghibli? Voice actors at work?

Last week was another visit to San Rafael. I went through San Francisco airport this time, hoping it'd be easier for Hitomi to make it into town by BART (transit), compared to Oakland. And this time I went with the car rental company Enterprise, though will not do that again, as I ended up with a car that was heavily scented to cover up cigarette smell. The masking scent made me drive with the windows down, despite the rain outside.

San Rafael stayed rainy the entire week. Either it was rainy or the roads were wet enough to keep me off of them. I had my bicycle set up and inside the hotel room the entire week and I was unable to use it.

In terms of development, I figured out a whole lot of stuff with Maven and Hibernate, so I was a happy developer. JBoss Cache, which we use with Hibernate, had some weird internal stuff which I attempted to rectify. I came up with a high-level change-tracking data structure. It took a few attempts to integrate it, though I did not commit it, since there are several test cases that come with JBoss Cache which intentionally fail, so it's difficult to determine if my changes have caused any regressions

People, on the whole, treated me fairly well. I'm sort of the "innovator" for the next project, and I hope to not get too carried away and get shut down.

Friday night, Hitomi came in fairly late. I walked around San Francisco waiting for her to arrive, scouting out various shops and restaurants in the vicinity. I was walking through a neighborhood reminiscent of Bell Town complete with the drunken mayhem and smokers chatting on sidewalks outside of bars. Hitomi eventually arrived after 10PM, and I was ready for bed.

Waking up hungry put aside plans for a bike ride through town, though it was the first nice day since I came. Hitomi and I headed to the North End district, where she last had coffee -- Italian style? -- in a bowl. Then, we headed off to the Cartoon Art Museum in the Financial district, where their current exhibit was basically a collection of international political cartoons illustrating (literally) the worldwide contempt for George Bush and his cronies. In the Golden Age section were original newspaper strips, often signed by the original artist and addressed to the owner of the strip, e.g. "To Joe Smith", along with some comic book pages and other memorabilia. Absent were Japanese comics, though there were a number of Asian-American artists. I'm surprised, though, in a town with Viz Media, probably the largest importer of manga, there would be none of it.

Hitomi and I were treated by Boon and his girlfriend for lunch at the dim-sum restaurant, Yank Sing, where the final bill for four was $120, where ordinarily such a meal would be $30. Obviously, it was a step up from the usual, but we didn't even order drinks. We discussed the possibility of moving to San Francisco, but I wouldn't move for the weather: I don't hate Seattle's weather, and I don't mind it usually.

We walked back to the hotel, stopping at the ferry terminal for omiyage, walking along the waterfront back to Fishermen's Wharf. I hadn't noticed the sea lions at Pier 39 before, perhaps because of the season, but there were hundreds of them socializing and bouncing on the floating docks. I hadn't seen so many since last summer in Oregon.

The evening we had plans to visit Hidehiro and his wife and baby in the South Bay. Hidehiro was a staff member at Sakura-con and had moved to the Bay Area to work as an intern at Viz Media, in their legal department. His daughter, about three, has been subjected to Japanese idol music, to encourage her to develop into an idol herself, and apparently knows the words to many such songs. We had dinner and rice, and oddly no rice, chatted (in Japanese) about this and that. Hidehiro's wife, not too much into anime herself, wasn't part of much of the discussion. She did mention how afraid people were of losing their children at day care to kidnappers and some other interesting stories about kids in the area.

It was an interesting thought, that Hitomi just picked up on, to have children just so you have an opportunity to relieve, vicariously and directly, things from your childhood, such as holidays, play time, and kids shows. Still, there are many things Hitomi still wants to do before children, and so the years continue to go by. (For example: Mr. Nomoto, who stayed a few years ago in our old house, is planning another kayaking trip on the West Coast, this time someplace in the Queen Charlotte Islands as a private tour we were invited to attend.)

Sunday we had a bagel breakfast, followed by lunch with a fellow who staffed some of the first anime conventions in the Bay Area, Kent. Hitomi and I met Kent at Anime Expo, who happened to be a long time fan of Momoi Halko, and attending the same concert with us. He happens to know many people the game industry, but somehow has found himself at a small company making $12 an hour, which in the Bay Area is effectively poverty wages. We talked for about three hours about game companies, anime conventions, fandom, etc. He really wants to go to Halko's 30th birthday event in Tokyo, but his evil boss won't give him the time off. Again, the thought occurred, why not quit and find a better job through any of his well-connected friends?

Before the flight back, we went to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. My favorite (and Hitomi's) exhibit was of this Icelandic artist, Olafur Eliasson, who builds interesting installations of glass, steel, mirrors, lights, water, and ice. The exhibition artifacts resembled a cross between carnival Funhouse ideas, Buckminster Fuller geometric design, and somewhat the installation style of Yayoi Kusama, though with a sterile, geometric aesthetic sensibility.

The flight back we took separate planes, finally getting home and to bed around 1AM.