Live from my parent’s basement on Christmas morning - it’s the boring Christmas update!

First of all, Merry Fucking Christmas. If you are reading this on Christmas, you probably need a hug. Sorry, I can’t hug you. I’m out of state, sequestered in the basement of my parents home, writing my dim candle light. (Which is admittedly pointless.)

Some important podcasty stuff!

1) A podcast will make it out this week. It’s not a traditional podcast, but I think you guys will enjoy it. I had hoped to have it out this morning, but alas, it was a larger undertaking then I had originally anticipated, which requires additional editing and recording. I Don’t think you’ll be disappointed though.

2) Guests: Well this one isn’t working out exactly like I planned. Alot of people enthusiastically said they’d love to come on the podcast but then changed their minds and went into the witness protection program as soon as I attempted to take them up on the offer. And as much as I just want to have some awesome random fans on my podcast, I’m not sure that interesting to listeners… You know what, fuck it, if you listen to the podcast and you feel you have something to contribute, maybe you want to do a head-to-head review of an anime with me? Contact me, and lets see what you’re made of. (Please be aware that you may be edited mercilessly in post-production!)

3) Other projects: I’m working on a sister site, which will produce serialized science fiction/sci fi podcasts. It’s nowhere near ready, but in the next six months I’ll have to split my time between both projects. Looking to launch the project website officially in the summer. More to come as it is developed. If you feel its been too long without an episode of Northern Virginia Anime With Ataru - shoot me a line, put a fire under my ass and I’ll make something.

4) I’m way behind on my anime watching - I need some quick good recommendations. There was one that Konaka Chiaki was involved with that I wanted to see, but I can’t recall its name. -_- What are the kids talking about these days? If you don’t post, I’ll just review Ebichu every damn episode.

Now go, spend time with your family and resent them because you could be watching anime instead!

-Ataru 

Saturday

Breakfast

It’s the most important meal of the day, and as such, I ventured over to the hotel continental breakfast buffet. I deftly navigated my way past a fourteen year old Naruto and Sasuke. Upon my entrance , I was visually assaulted with a bemused cross-section of Hotel Staff and non congoing guests. One business man in particular, fresh off a plane, with his bags still in tow walked into the dining area only to grimace and and do an about face. “Look, I just want to sit by myself!” sums his sentiment up well. So obligingly, the hostess sat him next to the guy who was completely painted blue.

Food was the standard affair, though I still don’t entirely understand this whole ‘I’m going to eat while wearing the very delicate and one-of-a-kind costume you worked on for six months’ thing. Look, I like your costume, but please, no need to bring your nineteen foot glittery and expansive entourage of clay deities, to hang from your shoulder as you dine. I half hope one of those little guys falls down into your cream of wheat.

Panels (Wooden is my Favorite)

As many of you know, I generally don’t go to panels. It’s not that I don’t want to go, as there were many interesting panels and speakers. I just don’t end up going, unless a serendipitous turn of events pushes me to down into a seat. Actually, I wanted to go to Ghost In The Shell: A Discussion but after dropping over one-hundred dollars on sushi and sake, it seemed wise to retire to something less interactive. (Like the bathroom.)

Eventually, I will have some sort of panel or table at one of these cons, and I fear no-one will care to stop by because, well, panels are boring! Let us begrudgingly cross that bridge next year.

Dealers Room Part II (Empty Wallet Cometh)

Let me get it out of the way: I’m a sucker. I bought a twenty dollar grab bag from the Anime Sekai booth. I ended up with a Death Note fan, Fruits Basket mouse pad, a deck of cards from some random anime, a mini Godzilla key chain, and an Evangelion figure. All of which, I can use practically on a day-to-day basis. Well worth twenty dollars, in my opinion! -_-*

I did score an awesome Famicom Music Compilation which contains one of the most interesting arrangements of the Super Mario theme I’ve heard to date. I was drawn towards the cd because of it’s clean yet enticing packaging. Doesn’t it just make you want to buy it?

I also wish to share with you one of the worst Hentai DVD covers I have even seen in my dear life. How can you go wrong with a title like Milk Money? Oh, here’s how.

Game Room

The air in the game room was thick and wrought with a distinct spritz of bawls and unwashed male testicle (not to be confused with the rare and oft sought female testicle.) With the assistance of an outside vendor Anime USA pulled all the stops this year with the next gen systems and flat screen televisions. Sadly, missing from the game room were several dance and rhythm game staples (including any kind of actual arcade unit) that should be at every convention. In the Groove was to make an appearance, but in an apparent last minute foible by a truck rental company the arcade machine could not make an appearance. Some games from previous years that were missing in action: Para Para Paradise and Taiko no Tatsujin.

Artists Alley

The Artists Alley wasn’t as centrally located as it had been at Tyson’s corner, and inevitably there were artists who sat in dark obscure corners. I had a chance to sit down at one such obfuscated table with Cosmos and Hunter from Cosmos Studios. Since no one was buying anything from them, I took the opportunity to make myself comfortable behind there table, where I began attempting to create free hand drawings and sell bookmarks! By the nights end I had somehow managed to sell my unfinished drawing to a nice woman who had already purchased three bookmarks an hour earlier. Want to know the best way to sell a bookmark?

Ataru: ‘Excuse me sir! Do you read books?’

Confused Patron: ‘Why yes! Yes I do!’

Ataru: ‘Me too! But I always would loose my spot, and if I lost my spot, I’d have to start the book all over again, I’m still reading Moby Dick. This is where the new state-of-the art bookmark technology comes into play!’

*Ataru Picks up book and places bookmark at page 480*

Ataru: ‘Oh no! I’ve lost my page, however will I find it? Was it page 210? No. It was 316? Curse this dangerous dystopic future! Oh here it is, page 480.’

Confused Patron: ‘I’ll take eight!’

Cosplaying and Randomness

In the afternoon I donned my increasingly infamous Amy Rose costume. I met up with Cream and we walked the circuit confidently. Without peripheral vision. This was the fourth time I wore Amy, and it seems I’m pretty easy to pick out. I was constantly lost in a sea of people shouting “AMY.” I think the gig is up though. Enough people were yelling “There’s a dude in there!” to soften the surprise of a man being under the suit. I received many comments this time around. Most notable were, “Wow, it must be hot in there!” (No Shit!) and my favorite “You are so Warm!” (Thank you?)

Fellow podcaster Tyler from Rangercast caught up with me while I was in costume and wanted to provide his listeners with an update of “That guy in the Amy Costume from Katsucon.” As usual, I ran at the mouth, and I can’t even remember what I said. Look for his Anime USA podcast sometime soon, hopefully, I’ll make the cut.

The Podcast

Despite going analog and lo-fi I’ve got some great audio which I hope to dump and edit this week. I hope to have it out and edited shortly after Thanksgiving. Until then, tide your hunger by downloading last years Anime USA podcast.

Please send any pictures and or video you’d like to share with me at Ataru_@_Atarumoroboshi_.com

-Ataru

Friday

Yes, I know. It’s Saturday, and you are all wondering where the hell I was yesterday. Well, let me tell you. I didn’t feel like paying 10 dollars to get internet access in my hotel room. Cheap Bastids!

Last week, I stayed in a nice waterfront Hilton in North Carolina. It was quaint, going through some renovations, and despite drunk marines having fist fights at 3:15 am on a Sunday morning outside my door, I HAD FREE INTERNET!

So again, apologies.

Arrival

Within 10 minutes of arrival, before I could check in and in true Anime Convention style the dreaded DRAMA Monster (also known by some scientists of ‘craziess bulshiticus’) ran over birthed a steaming death baby at my feet. “Oh what a fun weekend this is going to be” I thought.

I checked in, and quickly got to doing some hand held recording. Got some great interviews, and talked with some great people. More on that later though.

Hotel Setup

Anime USA is in a new hotel this year, and frankly, I hate the Crystal City location. Not the hotel itself (which suffers from the usual con deficiencies - like being stuck in elevator hell!) but the parking, driving, and space situation. This Hyatt location only offers valet parking for their guests. In a packed D.C. Suburb, parking is limited, and if you aren’t a hotel guest that means you get to pay 30 dollars a day to park somewhere else! If you are like me and freak out about people driving your car, and further more stealing your pennies from the ashtray then you’ll understand how quickly and gingerly I handed my keys over to the valet.

Tee Morris Talks!

I never do panels, mostly because I’m walking around. Almost entirely by accident I walked by Tee Moriss’ panel, and found myself sitting, both entertained and informed for the better part of an hour. Tee Morris is a science fiction/fantasy writer, who interestingly enough is probably most well known for his Podcasting for Dummies Book. I spoke to Tee in passing last year, a mentioned that I was beginning a podcast (this one!) He had nothing but words of encouragement and he was happy to provide some new creative inspiration and drive to some side project I have brewing.

I’ll admit it, I haven’t read any of his books (not even his podcasting books, though funnily enough, he is releasing a book for ‘advanced users’ which suggests the use of my personal and current favorite mic the AKG Perception 200 ) It was a great panel, I also met and spoke with other podcasters who share some valuable information. If Tee’s presence as a speaker contains the same amount of energy and humor as his books do, then I think I’ll be in for a treat when I find some time to sit down and read.

Pirates Vs Ninjas Dance Off

The Pirates Vs Ninjas Dance Off was originally an unofficial ‘in-the-hallways’ event at Otakon 2006 by some of the people at cosplay.com Since then it has been parlayed into an officially sanctioned con event across the Virginia area which  garners enough attention to fill a main events room. I had NO plans to be involved in this when Reptile himself appeared in an elevator door, and in his slithery voice asked me if I too was going to the dance off to represent the ninja nation?!

The rest as they say is “uneasy coercion, followed by crying.”

Before I knew what I was doing, I was dance battling against the pirate team in a room full of about 200 people. I’ll boast here for a second and say I single handedly won the second round for the ninjas At one point an opposing pirate lost his shirt to reveal his chiseled physic and six pack abs. Not one to be outdone, I quickly responded by exposing my doughy, hairy, non-chilsed body to a room a screaming fan girls (and some boys?)

But alas, in the end, the Pirates were victorious. So perhaps next year, when this certain ninja may loose his pants. Anyone who has pictures or video of the event SEND IT TO ME!

Dealer Room

Did anyone else get the distinct impression that you had just walked into your grandmothers basement? The dealer room seemed to have the requisite stations, though there was an overabundance of Yaoi and associated wooden paddle. There was one dealer in particular I did like, that had almost exclusively Visual Kei merchandise. Much of it I wanted, such as a couple Merry albums.

Domestic and Import games were showing pretty strong but none of it was reasonably priced. For the last time, a ps2 Best Hits is a re-release (ala greatest hits) in Japan. It should not sell for 70 dollars USD. The highest Japanese street price for these games 20 dollars, though I’ve seen them for as cheap as 15. Out in a strong force was ‘old-school’ merchandise of all kinds. One vendor, Asylum Anime had all kinda of great old Rumiko Takahashi, and Urusei Yatsura posters.

I’m going to make a second pass on the dealers room today and see what else I can find.

More to come! -Ataru

Ladies and Gentlemen, Anime USA is nigh.

Seeing as I actually have a hotel room this year, I’ll be able to connect to the internet on a somewhat regular basis. What does this mean you ask? (What? You didn’t ask?) It means I’ll be posting through until Sunday!

Stay tuned, I have treats in store, and you wont want to miss it. You may cringe at times, you might even want to look away, but trust me. It’s worth it! Think of my live blogging attempts as a form of death torture.

Like Death By Snu Snu!!

Oh yeah, it going to be one of those weekends! -Ataru