Talyesin's Tales

I'm looking at next year's schedule, in terms of travel plans. It's starting to look like I'm heading to California at least twice (maybe three times) - once for the twins' graduation, once for Cindy's wedding, and hopefully, once for the Nerd Prom, Geekapalooza itself, San Diego Comic Con.

But then there's the (relatively) local cons: Ad Astra in March, which I have to (willingly, gleefully even) attend because it's the launch of my short story, "The Mysterious Case of Spell Zero"; Polaris in July... World Fantasy Con in Calgary in November conflicts with Cindy's wedding, which I'm not going to miss. It's unlikely that I'll do Anime North next year, despite the good time I had this year. It's a good con, though... I dunno. It all depends on my finances, ultimately.

Kaleidoscope next year conflicts with my 20-year high school reunion, but I'm not missing KG again if I can absolutely help it. I'll go up for the few days leading up to the reunion on Saturday, drive home for the reunion (missing the Bardic, alas), drive back to KG afterwards. AND San Diego Comic Con is the weekend before KG... I'd have to get off the plane and drive right to the campsite, LOL!

Of course, in order to go to all these conventions and festivals and events, I'll need fifteen days of vacation at least. And the money to pay for them all.

Selling a novel would take care of the money...

Did I forget to mention that all this in the midst of having convinced myself that next year I absolutely, without fail, will go camping at least once a month come summer? LOL...

Solty Rei, dammit.

That's the anime I was looking for, all those months ago.

I think...

Remember a few months back, I was watching Utena the series, and got to the end, and was all hulk-out-ingly pissed off because the end built up to all kinds of promised explanations and then explained nothing?

So sandman7 send me an email, saying, oops, he didn't give me the final episodes, because he was missing the final DVD. Turns out I watched all the way up to episode 36... of a 39 episode series.

No wonder it didn't make any sense.

Anyhow, so now I've watched the ENTIRE series.

It's good. I like it. A lot. It's weird. A lot. But not like, Evangelion-nervous-breakdown-inducingly weird. But weird enough to keep you guessing.

Verdict? I'd own it one day... after buying all kinds of other stuff first. Most notably Cowboy Bebop the series, which seems to have disappeared from any kind of availability whatsoever. And Escaflowne, which was just gorgeous and all kinds of cool.

Man I feel old and tired today... dunno why, just do. *shrugs* Maybe it's because I spent all afternoon searching through 15,000 file folders for three that were missing... and no, we didn't find them.

So I was listening to my Final Fantasy VIII soundtrack at work today. Man I loved that game. Crap... imagine being nostalgic about a game. I miss it. The music brings back all kinds of memories and emotions. Just the music! Damn!

Yeah, pretty sure I'm a geek alright...

In other news, a new girl started in my department today. Little blond cutie (she's got a boyfriend, relax) who seems pretty smart and will fit in pretty well.

Let's see... random stuff... went to see my roomie's and a gang of my friends' art show at their studio right after work. Great stuff guys! You need a website so I can link you!

Life is a journey, not a destination... I keep telling myself that. Even though lately it seems like I'm at one of those rest stops on the side of the highway, watching all the other cars go by.

Anyhow. Maybe beer will help.

So the last few months (pretty much ever since I first saw Kill Bill vol.1) I've been studying anime. I've seen lots. Not lots and lots, but lots. Also watching some old kung fu type movies. And renting Crouching Tiger a lot. Last night I watched Kill Bill vol.1 again, and this morning The Last Samurai.

Then this morning a thought struck me: I think I want to go to Japan.

This is a new experience for me.

So, okay. I'm watching Revolutionary Girl Utena.

I don't want to know the end. Don't tell me, let me watch and see. What I want to know is, somebody, Rene, Julie, Jen, Marc, Karine, SOMEBODY, tell me there's a point.

Tell me it's not weirdness for the sake of weirdness.

Tell me, at some point, there is an episode where somebody says something and suddenly ALL THE PIECES FALL INTO PLACE and I say OH MY GOD THAT'S IT!!!

Because I gotta tell ya... it's pretty fucking weird. Not like, "Akira!" "Tetsuo!" *SLO-MO EXPLOSION* *weird brain-tentacle thing* *GONG* level of weird... Not anywhere CLOSE to Evangelion's nervous-breakdown inducing levels of seriously fucked up.

But you know, weird.

I found that Sci Fi Anime place (called "Sci Fi Anime") and rented a bunch of anime.

sandman7, you'll be pleased to know that the guy there remembers you - I told him you recommended his place, and he said, "Oh yeah? That bum?"

So! On to the Anime review!

Okay, Hellsing? Is VERY cool.

And Cutey Honey is nice innocuous fanservice...

Still waiting on Dirty Pair...

And have I mentioned Witch Hunter Robin? ROCKS!!!!

ROCKS ROCKS ROCKS MY SOCKS!!

Okay so... am I the last to know this?

They're developing an animated film based on Final Fantasy VII? A sequel to the actual game? And they've redesigned the characters more realistically instead of the chibi style they had in the game?

Ooooooooooo... Sephiroth... how I hated him.

Almost as much as I hated Seifer. But enough about my hate! Let's talk about the geekgasm I had when I found out about Final Fantasy: Advent Children (which is the name of the upcoming film, due out next year some time)...

Okay, truthfully? I don't like the chibi style for Final Fantasy games. It's... I dunno. Silly looking. Considering the generally speaking serious story lines of the FF games, seeing a chibi Cloud whisper his dying profession of love just doesn't have the same impact as if it were the more realistic Squall. So that they've redesigned the characters more realistically is A-Okay with me!

*sigh* Only a year until the release...

OH by the way...

Witch Hunter Robin ROCKS!!

I love it. I will own it one day. Oh yes... oh yessssss...

So Huckle at work lends me the Escaflowne soundtrack to listen to while I dig through the various mortgages that make up my regions...

I put it in the player and the opening chords start up and suddenly I'm there, the beauty, the tragedy, the joy, the sorrow, the magic and wonder, the horrors and terrors...

And I realize that I could own Escaflowne. *nodly nods* Yep. If space and money were no factors, I would enjoy having Escaflowne in my DVD collection. Alongside Cowboy Bebop and Read or Die, of course.

It got me thinking about other Anime I'd perhaps consider owning. Blood The Last Vampire was very good. Project A-Ko is hilarious silly fun. Evangelion is just the right amount of typical giant robot anime and weirdass fucked up anime to make it interesting, but I'm not sure I'd want to own it. Utena, now... Utena is ownable.

But my Anime education is yet incomplete! Where to turn now?

Okay so... I won an eBay auction on the 28th. I've sent the guy three emails (the Final Fantasy 8 soundtrack, I know you're dying to know) and he hasn't replied at all.

How long do I wait until I report him to eBay?

Second last disk... brain beginning to melt.

Last disk.

Brain melted. Eyes bleeding. What the fuck...?

Question: Did they run out of budget?

Initial notes on Evangelion:

Saska is HILARIOUS. She kills me.

The Angel designs are freakishly odd. But, as I currently understand it, they're ALIENS, so they should look... you know, alien.

The Eva units needing extension cords to get around is kind of smart and kind of really dumb. The line is so narrow really...

You know, some of this scientific technobabble is really tightly woven... and maintains inherent cohesion, which is nice.

Uh oh... Episode 16 and things are getting weird. Shingi is inside the Shadow Angel and he's talking to his multiple selves...

So I'm watching Evangelion. Yes Julie, for the first time.

My brain hasn't started dribbling out my ears, as I had been warned would happen.

Although, I haven't yet started the "Nervous Breakdown" episodes. I'm only on Disc Four. The really weird shit starts on Disc Five, or so I'm told.

So far I like it. Not "Oh my gods I MUST OWN THIS" good, but entertaining.


Continuing my Animeducation, I also borrowed the first story arc of Utena. It's girly, but it's fun. If I don't find out what Niki is timing with his stopwatch soon, I may be FORCED to take DRASTIC action.

O Ancient and Nameless sandman7!! O Sensei! Where might I turn next?

Geeks Assemble! What Anime should I peruse now?

Oh Thou, Tough Love Muse and you, Mighty Alpha Geek! Your copy of Perfect Blue wouldn't register on my DVD player... Alas!

After spending a long weary day as scan-monkey for the programme because our prgramme layout guy's scanner is on the fritz, I went and spent the evening at the Ceri the Tough Love Muse and her husband Scott the Alpha Geek's place watching Cowboy Bebop with them and t! and the Ancient and Namelesssandman7... I borrowed a metric buttload of DVDs and graphic novels from them, including Evangelion and Utena and Kiki's Delivery Service, and Transmetropolitan and Queen and Country.

It was a wonderful evening watching Anime and geeking out with good geeky friends. Kudos to all!

(I borrowed all this stuff from them because I figure I'll be needing a tie to my geek cohorts since the next month will be overwhelmed by THE SHOW... Updates as Evangelion melts my brain)

Hey I just realized - all my California Grrrls are getting together for Drunken Sushi Bad Anime Night, and I'm doing a GeekFest Anime Night here in the bitterly cold Canadian city of Hoth (I've renamed the city I live in, dammit...)

It's as though the stars have converged and are FORCING Anime on us! WOO!

Or it's just a coincidence!

Or it's all part of the Templar/Illuminati Conspiracy!

YES TEMPLARS THERE I SAID IT!!!

"I am the girl from the Mystic Moon... and my name is Hitomi Kasaki!"

Whoda thunk it that I'd be getting chills and such from a line like that?

Just to say...

I sat through the entire series of Escaflowne.

I loved it. It rocks.

Ceri - I liked the Escaflowne design better than Scherazade. And thanks very much! I'm going to watch it all again, it was that good.

BUT! I saw Master and Commander. Which was VERY cool.

AND! I now am OFFICIALLY a geek... I own anime. Read or Die, to be precise. On DVD.

*much with the geekily nodding*

So I spent almost forty minutes looking for Labyrinthe yesterday, in a blizzard I might add, walking up and down Ste. Catherine Street when it suddenly hit me. Labyrinthe is one of THOSE stores. You know, the stores you only find when you need it most, or least expect it. Because every time I find it it's always a case of "Labyrinthe is here? " Anyhow, I'm going out in the blizzard again to maybe find it today.

Speaking of blizzards, it's been snowing for about twenty four hours now. I looked outside at my neighbour's snow-covered cars and thought "Suckers!" This snow looks to be the winter's here to stay snow. Which is just as well, really, because dead grass and dead leaves was getting a little depressing.

Speaking of depressing, it sucks to be single. Just thought I'd get that out there. Although I met a very cute pagan geek girl last night, who's anthropology thesis is on, get this, geeks. More specifically, on how science fiction culture influences the future. When she told us this I sat there in complete awe of her. With my luck she's taken or lesbian or both. *sigh*

Huckle from work got me to play Warhammer 40,000 with him yesterday. I really liked it. I think I'm going to wind up purchasing a Tyranid army, for three reasons: 1) They're scary looking, and intimidation is actually a big factor in the game; B) Their main strategy is overwhelming numbers of ravening hordes of scary looking aliens coming to rip your army to shreds and eat the pieces, which sort of appeals to me, it has a certain je ne sais quoi; and 3) Their flying units are called Gargoyles, which, well we all know why I have to buy them now.

Oh, and speaking of geeks and last night, last night at Ceridwen's Birthday Party Extravaganza we watched Read or Die. I LOVE THIS ANIME!! It SO ROCKED!! CINDY! Your costume was PERFECT!! *rushes off to add Read or Die to his Interests list*