Anime Opinion

Popping in with some fun stuff. Thanks to an internet reviewer JesuOtaku, I've recently become aware of a cool new anime to watch called Jinrui wa Suitaishimashita, Humanity Has Declined. Before I get in to what it's about, here's the intro, song by nano.RIPE.

I like the interesting take it has on apocalyptic events, instead of living in mechanical wastelands, humanity has gotten smaller and lives in small rural areas. Alongside humans are the fairies, and that's where the main character comes in. Her grandfather was the mediator going between the fairies and humans to keep peace, but now it's her job. One of the things I liked about this anime is the lack of names. The main character is nameless, going by titles only, as does her grandfather and her assistant. Very few people have names that aren't titles of what they do. The show can get dark at times with it's humor, but it's understandable considering humanity is dying out, and a few of the characters have a grim outlook on life.
The episodes can be a bit confusing at times with figuring out where they fit. The first few episodes seem to go by in a linear order, but then the next episodes are like flashbacks to things that happened before the start of the series. But it doesn't tell you in the beginning that it's from X years ago, you have to figure it out on your own through subtle story cues. It can get confusing, especially when the main character is tricked into time traveling by the fairies. I'm hooked on it already and can't wait until each episode airs. Here's a clip from episode 1.

I'm always looking for new things to watch, leave a suggestion in the comments below. I've moved on to Durarara, heard some good things about it, I'll update you next time!

Merriment Monday

Introducing a new segment today. I'm on the internet a lot these days, and I'm always finding some hilarious thing or another. So once a week I'll be posting some of my favorites to cheer you all up for the coming week.
The first one is something I found reading GeeksareSexy.net. It's from the Portraits in Dramatic Time series, this one is Alan Rickman making a cup of tea, slowed down, and to a track from inception.

Next up is a link from the Set Phasers to LOL section of the I can has Cheezburger site. Someone compiled all of this gentleman's tweets about reading the Robocop remake script into one picture. You can go see it here - Robocop Remake Will Likely Be Terrible.

This one a few people have shared on Twitter, and so I share it here with you all, Bat Cat. Clicking on the link below will take you to a cute little animation.
http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2011/255/e/b/bat_cat_by_neoslashott-d49iof2.swf

This next fun item is more of a cute funny thing I'm probably going to buy from Kawaiification Creation, it's one of her charms of a Crying Tofu.

And we'll end this Monday with 2 fun videos. The first is a clip made from something discussed on JesuOtaku's Saturday stream one time, A Wild Miaka Appears.

I'm going to hear those sounds in my head whenever I watch that series now. ^_^

Lastly is something Oancitizen posted on Twitter, Rachel Bloom singing the Seasons of Love in Klingon.

Hope you all enjoyed and that your week is just a little brighter.

Starving Artist Convention

My local comic book shop, The Encounter, does a lot of fun things. Card game tournaments, board game night, and today I got to check out what they call their 'Starving Artist Convention,' where local artists all get together in the back room to sell their merchandise. There's usually a wide assortment of items, from artwork and comics to clay and perler beads. Due to work today I didn't get there until a bit before closing, and only 3 were left, but they were awesome.
First up was Chris from Ninjas Don't Knit. Funny comic, and at the shows he's usually selling perler/hama bead sprites. I acquired 2 super cute Lemmings magnets.
Next was Tiffany of Tiffany's Shop.Link takes you to her etsy store, she had quite a bit of it there, I picked up some tiny clay nail art pieces. Even though I work with clay, these millifiore pieces were just so tiny, I don't think I could ever work that small. Here's a picture from her shop to show how small these are.

Lastly we had Mina from Call Me Mina (check out her blog, link in the name) and Michelle, a writer with a new book just out, Worldpool. Link will take you to where you can buy her book.
Mina has some fantastic artwork and prints available, I could only justify one thing, so I went for her book she had and got a doodle in the back of her cooking up some chicken, so cute! Below is a doodle posted on her blog, be sure to check it out.

Apparently many more artists were there that I didn't get to see, check out the Expo's facebook page to be notified of the next one. https://www.facebook.com/LVStarvingArtistExpo

Time Traveler's Weekend

So this past weekend was amazing. You've already heard about MusikFest, so we'll move to Sunday. The day started out badly actually. Woke up at 6-ish to finish the jewelry for my costume. Halfway through I sit back and start thinking 'I'm not going to have any fun today.' One quick raid and costume change later, I was ready to go. And boy, was that the best decision, since having extrapolated the fun I had interacting with people, versus what comments I would have gotten before changing (none) really made my day.
Secret time! I told a few people, but now I'll tell you all. I am not a Trekkie, I just dress like one. ^_~ I'm a huge Star Wars and Doctor Who fan, but I use what I have on hand, and I knew enough about ST to pass, especially with all the death comments. Honestly, the one time someone went past that joke to the Prime Directive, I had to google that. Seriously, I had no idea what it was, just that it was the golden rule of the series.
Sorry, just needed to get that out of the way. Onto the Merriment! Once we got there, we met up with CK, who'll go by Amy for the rest of this post, as that's what she dressed as.After walking around for a bit and seeing an excellent 9th doctor cosplayer, we caught the first Buckle and Swash show. These guys are fantastic, and I try to see at least one of their shows every time I'm down there. But this time I actually got all of our group to watch, and they enjoyed it very much. Check out some of the youtube videos and be sure to like their facebook page for news and announcements of where they're going to be. Definitely a must see for all ages.
After that we split up until lunch, where I got my photo with Rory, as his group suggested considering my outfit and his story arcs in the show.(spoiler free zone people. Unfortunately I have friends who still haven't seen the new series yet.)
Now the rest of the day was spent just wandering around until the Joust, and while that part was also action packed, I feel I shouldn't discuss it all? The parts I can discuss are already part of the photos here.
The final Joust was amazing, I haven't been able to see one of those since we went with my dad when I was little, the drivers since then have always left early due to not driving in the darkness. They've really added some special effects in since last time, was not expecting explosions and fire during a routine joust over who'll be the Queen's playwright and who'll be banished from the country/shire.
In short, if you have a chance to go to the PA Renaissance Faire, you should go, it's awesome.
(Reminder, links above take you to where I tell you to go. Do it. Do it now. :P  )

MusikFest part 2

My mother is up in the area and staying over at our place for the Renaissance Faire tomorrow. Since we had the whole evening free, we decided to go to Musikfest and walk around, catch a free show or two. We had a great time, being just the two of us, and some cool things happened.
Remember I told you all about Cast in Bronze a post ago? I got to see another show, and picked up 'The Bell Man – The Autobiography of the Man Who Created Cast in Bronze,' and was able to get it signed by the author. Awesome!
Afterwards, we were walking around the Handwerkplatz section, looking at all the vendors, when we came to one selling dichroic and lampwork jewelry(info later, too tired to try and find them in the guide right now). As we're looking, I'm telling her what the jewelry is made of and how the artist made it (the glass work was awesome by the way) and as I'm simplifying the lingo for her to explain how they did the Lampwork beads, one of the ladies behind the counter said I should come work for them. Unfortunately knowing and doing are 2 different things, and lampworking is one of the crafts I'm never going to do, since it involves working hot glass over an open flame.
So tomorrow's the Faire, I've made a steam punk-y hat to wear for the Time Travelers weekend, if it goes over well enough, tutorial to come Monday after work.

Comics

I'm not usually going to post on comics here on my blog since I feel that there are other places more qualified and better for reviewing comics than me. I tend to stick with my favorites, no matter how bad they might be sometimes, and am so far down the rabbit hole for them anything I say would be a bit on the fangirly side. But I'd like to take a moment to talk about 2 new comics I picked up today.
This first one's a little old, coming out back in April, but I just found out about it, Fanboys vs. Zombies. The cover caught my eye, so I picked it up to take a look.

At first I thought it was interesting, so I flipped the cover just to take a look at the first page. I believe my thoughts at the store were 'It opens in SDCC? I might have to check this out.' So it has a good openings, setting up the area this will be in, and minor backstory of a group of friends who go together every year. After that It gets a little confusing, with jumping to the person they were talking about just before to set their personalities(?) up. Then they finally all get together again, just in time for the zombie breakout. I like this one, even though it's a bit too dramatic at times. I never remember having time to talk that much while at a con, I keep getting distracted running after people to get pictures before they disapear forever. But that's just me and my opinion.
The second comic I got is Deadpool #58.

I know I'm going to get chastised for this one, but I' not ashamed. When he first came out, I was getting more into the Legion of Superheroes and didn't have the money to get more than one or 2 comic series with my allowance/spending money. After I did have the money for it, I never heard anything good about it. Not that I heard bad things about Deadpool, just that in my circle, nobody talked about him. I picked it up for two reasons. One was that the cover intrigued me, and two, by shocking coincidence, when I got home one of the fb pages I follow had a pic up from team up 886 with him wanting to be Hokage. After asking around, I found he's apparently awesome, and decided to pick this one up. Momentary confusion on why he doesn't look hideously scarred (Amon anyone? ^_^) is quickly put to rest by the 'previously on deadpool' third page. Also, this is the first part of the story arc that's going to be happening, so that's a good of a place as any for me to jump in. It seems interesting so far, Only one battle and flashbacks to the battle prep when necessary. I'm definately getting the next issue after Finding out who's going to be in it. I get to the last page and I'm all, 'Ahh! I know this guy! I remember him from my childhood!'
So that's what's new around here.

Musikfest 2012

Double post day since you're all awesome. I did go to Musikfest like I said I was, but only stayed for a few hours since it was so hot out. I did get to do the two things I went there for, so yay!
After walking around and seeing where everything was and who all was there this year, I sat down to wait for the carillon performance from Cast in Bronze. Once again, they did not disappoint. If they're going to be in your area, you have to go check it out, it's amazing.

Here's a video from YouTube someone took with one of my favorite renditions of the Phantom of the Opera. I get teary every time. Check out the site, any and all of the Cd's or DVD would be a great purchase, I have all but the newest two Cd's, and they are all excellent.

Next up is the group Runa Pacha Wind Rhythms. They play a wide array of songs from around the world using Native instruments from throughout the Americas.

After I was done listening to them for a bit, I started the trek back up Main Street to get my bike and go home while I still had the energy to get home. Halfway there I ran into a street performer in the midst of setting up her act. I have a weakness, a fondness really, for random street performances, so I stopped to watch. The performer's name is Lindsay Benner, and she put on a comedy show with juggling. It was extremely entertaining, and I couldn't pry myself away. Now, since her act can't be purchased on CD/DVD, I didn't take video of her performance, just the preshow, since people supporting her at her shows, well, supports her. She does have a video on her site, and there are YouTube videos other people took that you can go see.
There are many other free performances from other bands at Musikfest, but due to time and temperature constraints, this is all I was able to experience today. If you're in the Bethlehem area or nearby, you have to go walk around, and if you aren't, check out the artists sites I linked to above and go see them when they're in your area.

Year 1

So a year has passed since I first started this blog, originally created just for con info and links for people to check out. I've spent this year trying to figure out a design layout and color schemes for my little slice of the Internet, and it keeps coming back to logo/mascot stuff. I've thought for a long hard time and still have only come up with 2 different ideas for it, and neither of them seem to fit. Hopefully the music washes sense into my poor addled brain tonight at Musikfest. It runs from August 3-12 this year, I'll be there for quite a few of those nights.
I'll also be going to the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire on August 12, the time traveler's weekend. I was going to go as Amy Pond since I have a red wig and most of an outfit, but then I thought it was a bit boring, dressing in normal clothes and hoping someone got it. So I was hit with a flash of inspiration wandering around the other day, to dress as another one of my favorite time travelers. No, it isn't Bill or Ted. and also not Magenta or Columbia. You'll have to wait and find out!