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amused ]

You know, in the middle of all the eulogizing of Michael Jackson, I think we may have forgotten one of the best things he ever did . . .

Launching the career of one Weird Al Yankovic. (YouTube wouldn't let me embed the videos, dammit).

Have tomorrow off from work for the 4th of July. Counting down to Otakon. Lost the bottom button of my Allen Walker coat and looking for a replacement. (I was hoping the original would be in my suitcase, but no dice). Doing the Fan to Pro podcast tonight, a couple of days early, because of the holiday. And that's about it!

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impressed ]

So my local cable company put in this ginormous wifi network which it is offering free of charge to all subscribers of its Internet services. (Most likely their way of saying, "Please don't leave us for Verizon FIOS.") So I'm giving it a shot today, and it's DAMN good. The speed is more than decent - I'm sitting out here in a park not only posting to LJ, but also listening to Internet radio. I'm definitely impressed. (And, hey, just in time for summer!)

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nostalgic ]

Okay, I was never exactly a fan of Michael Jackson - though to this day, I think the old Jackson 5 records were some of the best teenybopper pop ever recorded. And I think his personal life was, to put it charitably, highly questionable. But you can't deny the massive impact he had on the worlds of music and music video - the long-form "Thriller" video, structured as a mini-musical, was partly responsible for bringing the movie musical back from the dead.

When I first heard of his passing, ironically, the thing that went through my head was not one of Jackson's own recordings, but Miles Davis' take on "Human Nature" (and if you haven't heard it, and you like jazz at all, you should), which removes all the "Whacko Jacko" mistique and hype and allows the simple beauty of the tune to shine through.

RIP Michael (and Farrah, and Ed - they really do die in threes, don't they?)

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geeky ]

Yes, I know it's been forever since I posted in this thing. Here's what I've been up to as of late:

1. Fan to Pro has just had its third podcast, and I have to say it's a very fun experience. We talk about the geeky news of the week and then a chosen topic (this past week, it was the evolution of the anime industry). Plus, the blog itself continues to roll on, with both News of the Day and "content" posts.

2. Roleplay: I've been involved in both Atia Amat Omnes and its "cousin" community, Microcosm. I joined Atia mainly out of sheer curiosity (I originally planned to just see what it was all about and then leave, really) but I ended up sticking around because of a few amazing people I ended up playing against.

3. Real life events: I've been watching the events in Iran unfold with fascination. After years of media images that seemed to paint all the residents of that country as passive followers of the Islamic Revolution, what an eye-opener to see people in the streets, literally fighting for their freedom, holding up signs in English angrily asking what happened to their votes. I want to see them get the democracy they crave badly, and I think they're going to get it – because they've proven they want it, and deserve it.

And, yes, I'm thinking of taking the plunge into Twitter. It's increasingly becoming a necessity for both business and personal use, really. Through Fan to Pro, I've watched it evolve from an amusing novelty to a force to be reckoned with (just look at its role in the aforementioned Iranian demonstrations). Media is using it for newsgathering, companies are using it for recruiting, families are using it just to keep in touch with each other . . . it's something that just can't be ignored anymore.

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WTF?????? ]

So last year, Radio City decided to send me "preview sale" notices for its annual Christmas Show in August, and I thought that was early.

I got one today. And it's a little more than one week into June. We're not even halfway through the year yet.

Can you say "jumping the gun," boys and girls?

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	[ Music	|	9th Revolver-alice nine.-Alpha [Limited Edition] ]

As you probably know, dragonscholar and I have been doing Fan to Pro, the Blog of Professional Geekery over the past year. Well, a few days ago, we tood the next step in the blog's evolution by recording our first podcast, which we're going to be doing on a weekly basis. In the first edition, we discuss E3 and various other geek news items of the week (like the possibility of an Android netbook).

I've long had an interest in radio and logged a lot of time on my college's radio station, so I'm thrilled to be a part of this podcast!

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geeky ]

I just officially preregistered for Otakon (after forgetting to do it for weeks on end!) And I got clearance from my boss to take that Friday off, even though we're proofing a directory that week, so I can come down Thursday night!

Now, I just need to book my train and pray Amtrak isn't made of the same PHAIL as last year! (brightdreamer and animalboything can tell you about the series of frantic text messages they got last year when I was stranded on the train for hours due to mechanical PHAIL).

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tired ]

Got back from Anime North last night. It was an awesome experience, especially since it was my first time doing any really serious cosplaying. (I wore Allen Walker Friday and Saturday afternoons – I went to both D. Gray-Man photoshoots – and Sancia d'Aragon from Cantarella for the Moonlight Masquerade ball).

So, here's some highlights:

( Under the Cut! )

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bouncy ]

Okay, it's been weeks since I posted here, I know. Buuut, I'm just about packed to go to Anime North right now! Tightly packed is the word – I've never traveled with cosplay before, and it does take up a lot of space! (Allen's boots = half my suitcase. I'm taking the smaller suitcase because when I take the HUUUGE one, I tend to get smacked with overweight charges).

Thanks tons to everyone who offered help with the costume! This is my first major cosplay effort (other than Saori from Saint Seiya at AN and Otakon about five years ago), so we'll see how it goes! I'm hoping to get some sort of Timcampy when we're at Pacific Mall to go with the costume. (Yes, there will be pictures).

And the weather is supposed to be good tomorrow, so hopefully, no weather-related delays, knock wood!

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hopeful ]

Cosplay help needed: I'm trying to find wide-width black boots for a first-version Allen Walker cosplay that do NOT cost $150. Not picky about being exact, since the long coat will hide most of them anyway; standard black rain boots will do. Anyone know of any good online sources?

(Yes, folks, you read that right, I'm cosplaying for this year's cons!)

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WTF????? ]

Bill would sentence hostile bloggers to prison: Apparently, some congressional types have introduced a bill designed to put people who bully others online to jail. Never mind a small technicality like, say, the First Amendment. And if such a thing were to pass, well . . . the online population would be waaaay smaller once they got done chucking all the wankers and flamers behind bars.

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determined ]

So the hysteria over the swine flu is threatening to kick an already-hurting travel industry in the butt. Since I worked for a travel agent publication for so long. I still keep an eye on these things, and I winced at Joe Biden's statement that people shouldn't take airplanes (they later backpedaled and said he was talking specifically about Mexico).

I'm not going to let the porkapolypse stop me from going to Anime North, unless it gets so bad they close the U.S./Canada border. I'll travel with hand sanitizer and, if necessary, a face mask. I went to the con the year of the SARS scare, and Toronto was ground zero for the North American infection of that disease. (Of course, I came home from the con with a cold that year, which led everyone around me to say, "OMG SARS!!!!!")

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WTF???? ]

So, DGM is on hiatus again. And we only got a hint toward the long-promised Kanda past, but at least it's a hint that'll keep the fans speculating (and, therefore, maintain fan interest) until Hoshino's hand is well enough to start drawing again.

Although I'm wondering if that poor woman should start leaving the drawing to her assistants and just write the scripts. The art of DGM is very involved, and it's very obviously taking a toll on her. I'm sure her assistants can pull off her style perfectly by now.

And, totally unrelated, I bring you an extreme WTF from this post on Roleplay Secrets – it's secret #8. Um, that's just all kinds of . . . special. o_O

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geeky ]

Ack, it's a little over a month until Anime North now! Time flies faster than you think, right? The first stage of the fanfic contest is over; the entries are in, I'm just waiting for the results from the judges now. We had less overall entries than last year, which, sadly, doesn't surprise me all that much.

Surprisingly, the fandom most represented among the contest entries was One Piece. I was expecting it to be Naruto or one of the hot fandoms of the moment, Hetalia or Reborn. And, no, we didn't get a single fic from my primary fandom, but we didn't get any DGM fics last year, either.

In addition to the fanfic contest awards, dragonscholar and I are going to be doing a Fan to Pro panel (hard to believe the blog is almost a year old now, it was launched at last year's AN) and I might be doing a couple of panels for Yaoi North (I put in to be on the DGM Yaoi one).

And I get to spend my birthday at the con again this year, yay!

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geeky ]

So, Easter was supposed to feature my family going out to dinner. Except that half the people involved got sick, so we ended up cooking a rib roast and stuffed mushrooms instead. Also, woke up at 4 a.m. with one hell of a hangover after having consumed too much Australian Shiraz.

And Amazon, as it turns out, is now blaming a glitch for erotic novels being stripped of their sales rankings and positive works about homosexuality being shoved into the adults only designation. Okay, how many people sense backpedaling, big-time?