It's been a LOOOOOOOOOOOONG time since my last entry... I attribute that to being insanely busy, sick, stressed, lazy and many other things, but the important thing is that I'm here now.

Last weekend was Anime Evolution, in Burnaby BC at Simon Fraser University. Now, I've gone to AE every year for the past three years, and this year's was HORRIBLE! I'm not kidding! The organization was terrible! It pains me to say it, because conventions are really hard to organize, and our anime club is embarking on that fun, and daunting task right now... I hope that out of the bad experiences we had this year at AE, a phoenix will rise out of the ashes and help us to make ours run smoothly by learning from the mistakes of AE '06...

Highlighting some of the worst scenarios this year, include the lack of informed staff at both the Registration Desk and Information Booth. Though they were friendly, and did what they could, the fact remained that many were illinformed of such important information as the Cosplay contest, room locations, and so on. Plus, they were in the WEIRDEST location this year, almost at the back of the con away from the front doors! Weeeeeeiiiirrrrddddd.....

My favourite event, the Cosplay Contest, was a farce... We had to BEG to have the full 4:32 to perform our skit, and yet ONLY 27 or so groups signed up, with a good 8 not even bothering to show up at the actual event... This happens every year, and I have a feeling it's because of the harsh restrictions they place on the time limit and so on... But that's for another time... The actual judges never bothered to show either, so two girls who normally take care of the cosplay pictures were asked to take thier place... They were really nice, and asked informative questions, but in the end they broke a major rule. They handed out two prizes to one group, which is against the rules in the AE manifesto...

Though I did not see it myself, I'm told the Walk-Off was a write off... It was lewd, disgusting, and went FAR beyond the boundries that any contest such as it should have. There was an elementary school tour taking place during some of the pinnacles of indecency and they walked right past the stage where it was taking place, which isn't really the con's fault, but it was a case of bad timing... The walk off is supposed to be a fun, competitive comedy...not a strip show...

I heard Idol was run much like American Idol... Unlike Otafest Idol, which allows ALL contestants to perform for the judges, AE only allows 10 to go on to perform at the con after sending in auditions that a panel of judges chooses from... This is not fair in the least, as home made recordings are not that great depending on the quality of microphone or recording program you use... I myself was forced to use a karaoke machine and rely on a friend to mix vocals and music together... I was also told I was personally snubbed because I chose to perform a song sung by Ayumi Hamasaki, and I am a guy...so they don't seem to like that. I'll remember that next year when I enter once again with a song sung originally by a girl, and I'll knock their socks off!!

The vendors room was fantastic. Nice and big, easy to find, and everyone was friendly. I liked that there weren't too many major store names there, giving other businesses a chance to shine. The deals were good, and they had some REALLY rare stuff {I now have MUCH revered Sailor Moon Stuff!!}.

Artist alley was well done this year as well. It seems every year, more and more artists come out to the con to sell their goods, and the quality always improves too. The Art Gallery also yielded very very good wares, and I took home two Inuyasha pieces!!

Taking heed to the flaming on last year's ASSAULT AND FLATTERY forum, the con organizers made sure there was a LOT of food available! The vending machines were well stocked, and there were more restaurants this year to keep everyone happy! Bubble Tea and Mr. Sub were probably the luckiest for this! The cash machines were kept well stocked too!! A must have for any anime fan at a con!!

Security was lacking a little in different areas, but I think that's because of the lack of volunteers... One of the cons of running a convention...

I missed out on Karaoke this year, but from what I heard it was great. There wasn't a lot of attendance though, but that meant more singing for more people! That's a plus! There's always next year I guess!!

Aside from the convention, our group hung out a lot at the pool side and at eachother's rooms in the hotel. That sense of group unity was great, minus the fighting and strange things that ensued...but it's all fun right? We went shoppipng at Metrotown and Crystal Mall, specifically in Sakura Media... Got a bunch of new CD's for the radio show, which on a side note, I've applied for a two hour show slot!! We'll see what happens there!

We left from the con on Monday, and got back into Kamloops in the evening. Daniel had to leave that night, which made me sad, but we're set to do it again next year, just not with such a big group. Also, it really pumped me up to get our convention plans underway for June 2007, and also to get our Cosball Cosplay Dance underway for Halloween of this year!! Then there's Otafest in May...and the magazine and so on, so I'm pretty busy for the next little while!

~Jeremy~

Well, it seems that Anime News Network has finally put to rest the rumour I was previously referencing, where Fox had allegedly gained the rights to a Live Action Sailor Moon Series in North America...

It seems that the thread I had also referenced earlier on the Anime Evolution Message Boards has been alive with responses. Most glad, and so on.

Personally, I'm both happy and sad reguarding this. I mean, I KNOW FOR A FACT that IF they had brought a North American View on the Sailor Moon Series, that it would have been crap... Dumbed down to a child's level and whatnot, but let's just say FOR THE MOMENT, that IF they had brought it over, and IF it was given to a GOOD REPUTABLE company... Maybe... Just MAYBE it wouldn't have been totally a$$ fuc&ed many times over...

I know it's a long shot, but again, I AM a HUGE Sailor Moon fan, so I always try to look at the bright side of things when I hear rumours...

Alas, the North American society as a whole is fickle...

But I digress...

For now...

...or do I...?

~Jeremy~

Recently, there was an online rumour that Fox had picked up the rights to adapt a Live Action Sailor Moon series featuring North American actresses {non-asian} in an American spin on the series... The original article can be found here: http://www.moviehotties.com/2006/04/lindsay_is_sailor_moon.html#more

In response to this, a Sailor Moon fan devoted website known as www.genvid.com, posted the following, which I hope they don't mind me re-posting... {Please visit their website, it's fantastic!!}

"There's an unsubstantiated rumor  that Japanese magazine Animage has announced that Fox has picked up the rights for a live action Sailor Moon flick starring Lindsay Lohan. I'll pick up a copy of Animage this weekend and see if they actually say anything, but I'm currently rolling my eyes at this..."

Furthermore, the article was continued a few days later:

"Regarding the unsubstantiated rumor that Japanese magazine Animage has announced that Fox has picked up the rights for a live action Sailor Moon flick starring Lindsay Lohan, the May issue of Animage says nothing. I read through it myself. ANN is looking into the April issue and could write about that as early as tonight."

Anime News Network { http://www.animenewsnetwork.com } has yet to respond... hopefully we'll get the final answer on this soon...

In the meantime, this topic is currently a hot debate on the Anime Evolution forums { www.animeevolution.com }.

As many of you know by now, I am a HUGE Sailor Moon fanatic. I've taken the meaning of 'fandom' above and beyond anything most would. I've even crossplayed as Eternal Sailor Moon before. I like to keep up on any and all SM related information, and comment on it when I can. Since I've been lacking in updates as of late, I figured this would be an excellent topic to discuss. So, I will now post my responses reguarding the rumour, AND my personal views on the CRTC and FCC, which I hold responsible for MOST of the stupid things that happen to anime dubs that are brought over to North America... Hopefully this will help people realize it's not entirely the dubbing companies faults...

"I remember back in the day when it was reported that Melissa Joan Hart was going to be Sailor Moon and Geena Davis was to be Beryl. I'm pretty sure this article is fake. The folks at www.genvid.com {A Sailor Moon themed site, who even published a textbook based on Japan using many Sailor Moon references} have been looking into it, and have so far proven the website's claim that the rumour can be found in May's Animage to be FALSE. Anime News Network is checking the April Issue, but I doubt anything will come of it. Chances are, someone read one of those 'Who We Think Should Play This Role' articles, and decided to go with it and thus the rumour spread like wildfire...

Remember, Takeuchi Naoko didn't like how Sailor Moon was handled in North America, so that's why as soon as all rights reverted back to her, she decided not to renew the overseas liscence. I think we're more likely to see the Musicals start up again in Japan before any Live Action series will come here. Either that, or the ACTUAL Japanese Live Action Series from 2003/04 may be picked up and dubbed, but again, that's VERY unlikely. The Japanese Musicals are currently on hiatus... "

And here is the second part, in response to replys in the same thread...

"Sailor Moon has a very time honoured and complex storyline throughout the serial's run. However, noting that the CRTC and the FCC like to a** rape anime series when they come over to this continent to be dubbed, I agree that IF they did a North American version, it would probably not last very long...

Internet rumours are just that...rumours.

HOWEVER, that's not to say that I'm against such a thing as a North America adaptation, so long as it does not resemble the HORRENDOUSLY EVIL Saban attempt {twitch twitch} back in the early 90's.

There's NO contest that if they did release one in North America, that it would be dumbed down to a child's level, but if they did it right, the series could at least make a full season...

Of course, if the FCC or CRTC decided to "allow" a live action adaptation aimed at the proper age group that Sailor Moon was originally made for {young adults} and allow for the in-jokes and so on, I don't think it would do too badly either. If they used GOOD actors and actresses and not necessarily big names, that would take away from it, and good effects, the series would stand a really good chance. {How long has it been since the networks have ACTUALLY released a GOOD live-action series?}

Again, I personally think this rumour is false, kind of like the Live Action Dragonball Movies supposedly starring Hugh Jackman as Goku... Jessica Alba as Bulma, etc... Probably started by fans who have a vivid imagination, and lend too much belief in a system that is responsible for SOOOO many screw ups {Namely the FCC AND CRTC!!}

If I was ever Prime Minister in Canada, one of the first things I'd do would be to dis-ban the CRTC, and maybe then, we could actually see anime dubbed PROPERLY on television! Well, I suppose it also depends on the voice actors and their emotional training, but at least the translators and script writers could do away with the stupid, cheesy 'in' lingo and focus more on staying closer to the original lines, and story. Not to mention, we'd probably have less episode cuttage!! Now that would be a plus!

Remember, you can't fully blame the dubbing companies, as it is the FCC and CRTC that set the standards... They're also the ones who make it so that it's alright to see a plane hitting the WTC Over, and Over, and over, and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over... etc, but heaven forbid we see a nipple... the whole world would just fall apart if we did!! <sarcasm...

In a nutshell, they're basically condoning violence, but stating that the human body is a disgusting thing, and should not be celebrated in any way, shape or form; in a way, it's almost as if it's an anti-human way of thinking! Show bodies and devistation more so over the human figure alive and vibrant...

Okay, I'm done. Sorry about my tendancy to go off topic periodically. I just feel REALLY strongly about this... "

I am interested to see what kind of response this generates, and will probably keep this blog updated on this topic... YAY!! FINALLY something I can MAYBE regularily update with!!

~Jeremy~

I have been SOOOOOO bad in terms of updating this space regularily, and I know that I bitch about it all the time, and RARELY do I actually do anything about it... So, I'll just continue updating whenever I find time, or anything somewhat noteworthy to talk about! So, on with the show...

Next month, I am heading out to Calgary for Otafest!! I'll be dressing as Eternal Sailor Moon again and taking part in, not only the cosplay contest, but also Otafest Idol! I will be performing 'M' by Hamasaki Ayumi... Yes, I know what you're thinking, whey would this idiot want to embarass himself {and everyone else} by going up on stage and bellowing out what SHOULD be a nice, mellow song, horribly ass raping it and destroying the sanctity that is Ayumi... Well, I actually think I've been doing pretty well in terms of practicing for it! I'm entering the contest to have fun, and to see what people think. I've been interested in entertaining people for a long time now, and I figured, why not!? lol. Well, if anything, please wish me luck!

Last month, I turned 23... Scary huh? My car and I are the same age, and in two more years, it'll be considered a classic... That's just another word for Antique... a whole quarter of a century old... Well gee, what will become of me then? Will I wither away into the nothingness of 'old age...?' HAH! Yeah right... I am NOT going to go down so easily... There is P*L*E*N*T*Y more spunk left in this tired old facade! And if anything thinks my Cosplay days will be over... HAH! NOT BY A LONG SHOT!! {Everyone reading this dies a little inside :p}

DIGRESSION IS A GOOD THING!!!

Moving along to the NEXT order of business... The AE trip this year is coming along nicely, EXCEPT that people are BITCHING about certain room arrangements and car pool arrangements... BAAAHH!!!! It's driving me UP THE WALL! People need to learn that they CANNOT be so picky and choosy as to whom they travel with or share a room with for the weekend... It's NOT the end of the world people! GROW UP!! In any case, aside from that, at least we're not leaving everything to the last minute... like last year... a heh... heh... heh................................heh.....................

I have been so RETARDELY EXCITED about this upcoming trip, you have no idea! I was also looking on www.youtube.com this evening and found that our cosplay performance from last year was on there! HOWEVER they listed us as the Kelowna Anime Club... WRONG!! THIS IS KAMLOOPS PEOPLE! So while I thank the person who put the video up there for doing so, I offer this advice: DO YOUR HOMEWORK SO AS NOT TO LABEL THINGS WRONG NEXT TIME!! AH DDDDDUUUUUUHH!!!!!!

This weekend is the 3rd Step Mania Tournament at work... I REALLY hope that all goes well. We have a Light, Standard, AND Heavy tournament this time! It should be exciting!! Hopefully, it's not too busy... Or I will have to kill someone... bwahahaha! Just kidding...

Until next time kiddies...

JA~~~

~Jeremy~

Well, once again I'm falling behind on my updat-tion of this blog... I'm sorry to those who actually stop by and bother reading it!! lol. Seriously though, I've been INSANELY busy as usual. However, I have a press release announcing the status of our Anime Convention: Animensity. Hopefully, I will be able to update here more regularily...

Oh yeah, and I'll be 23 on Monday... Happy Birthday to me... oy...

In any case, without further ado...here is the news item I wrote myself...

Any questions? Please e-mail us at: kamloopsanimeclub@gmail.com

NOVEMBER 29TH, 2005!? Yes, it would appear that was my last entry to date before this one... Where have I been? What have I been doing? Well, in a nut shell, here are recent events:

*December saw White Shit, also known as snow. The month itself wasn't very interesting other than it was my mom's birthday, and of course, Christmas as well. Daniel came out here to visit and we went to the Fun Factor Christmas Day!! That was fun! I OWNED Samurai Showdown V... again... Step Mania was on free play, and I actually got physically sick playing it so much!! lol. That was great. I think that my cat's birthday falls in December, but I'm not entirely sure. So, a happy belated birthday to Gizzie!! We planned more on the TRU Anime Club preliminary stuff, which leads us to...

*January. New Year's was rather uneventful, considering I had the day off, Thank God. I didn't have to deal with druggies or drunkies either on New Year's Eve, so that was a plus. More White Shit {again that's snow}, was seen and I panicked as usual. My dad got Pneumonia, I got a cold {which I STILL have}. My mom's husband's sister's husband shot himself in the head for reasons still unknown at this time... Arthur asked me to come up with a Step Mania Tournament, so I enlisted Amber's help for that. We're still working on it currently. Bo and Hope's son Zack was killed on Days of our Lives. My mom got two new puppies, Zeus and Lucy... Um... We're getting our ASSES in gear in terms of putting together the convention. It may not be HUGE, but at least it'll be something... I hope... Dear GOD I hope it works out alright. Oh yes, and I started to put together the Cosplay dance for AE this August...

*Thus it is now February... Ground Hog's Day to be exact, and apparently the damn thing is calling for 6 more glorious weeks of hell... white shit...er snow... Oh hurray... I now have a deviant art account, so I've been posting there on and off, and it seems I can keep a journal there too, so entries here may become even more sparse if you can believe it!! But we'll see! Until the next time!! JA!!

~Jeremy~

Hey min'na!! Just wanted to know what your thoughts were on Utada's latest single "Passion," which is the theme song for Kingdom Hearts 2...

I personally love both the song and the music video. It's right up there with a lot of Utada's english stuff... Not a lot like her previous Japanese music, but it is a very well done ballad of sorts. I love the hint of electric guitar in it, and the randomness of the music and singing style. Also, in the music video, I love how the beginning is anime and then leads into Utada singing live action style as she walks along a corridor of faceless drummers, and into a gorgeous citadel of sorts where she 'creates' faces dancers with REALLY long sleaved sweat shirts on... I like the dress she wears too, though my brother says it looks like she sewed basket balls into the trane... It ends rather randomly as the whole citadel like scene fades into wild horses running in a prairie like setting and finally Utada standing in the field as the camera moves ever upwards moving away from her...

Passion is a perfect follow up for Hikari {Or, Simple and Clean in the english version of KH}. I can't wait for the CD release on December 14th!! I'm hoping to play the song on our radio show "Ani-made in Japan Insanity on the Radio" this Sunday... SO if you'd like to hear it, tune into www.thex.ca

But, I'd like your opinions!!

Prepare yourselves, this is going to be a depressing entry of sorts... it may also come across as a bitch fest among other things...

Lately, things have been getting worse, and worse, and RETARDED!! I honestly don't have a means of conveying my thoughts other than this blog which I'm sure no one pays the time of day to... But, again, I'm not good with putting my feelings into words so to speak...

Let's start with recent events... First on Tuesday of last week, {Nov. 8th} it was Daniel's birthday and I couldn't afford to get him anything. Then at the BP meeting, I thought Ashley was going to need to go to the hospital. She was suddenly experiencing IMMENSE pains for no apparent reason, but they THANKFULLY eventually subsided... Not sure what happened... Then I had a weird dream about my Great Uncle Ted on the Wednesday night I spent at Lee's house, only to find out on Thursday of last week {Nov. 10th} my mother called and informed me that my great uncle Ted had passed away on Daniel's birthday {November 8th}. That was very sad, and from what I understand, he had a painful death, having to be medicated just hours before he passed on... NO one should EVER have to go that way. Furthermore, mom seemed upset at this news, only to call me this previous Monday {November 14th} to inform me that she would be pulling Steven out of school and they would be going to Indiana because an aunt of Michael's passed away... A nice gesture, and ironically sad that there were two deaths in a row that they had to deal with, but the catch being that mom was going to a funeral of a person she didn't even know, and yet Ted passes away, and she couldn't even come up for the funeral {which was held on November 11th, Rememberance Day so as to remember him as a veteran of war}. This, for some reason, deeply disturbed me... Maybe I'm just retarded? Don't know...

The rest of Thursday was spent with me having the day off and not really doing much... And then it was Friday... Much of the same thing, though it was hell at work with SO MANY young kids being annoying... Asking annoying questions, you know, the works... But, it wasn't TOO bad... Throw in a bit of my worry about Dad and his continuous kidney stones and a few other things on my mind, like Lee begging me to get a place, which I feel deeply guilty about since I DID say that I'd like to have one by October, and it's now November... Stupid me, again retarded!

And then it was Saturday November 12th... Now, Saturday's house our Anime Club Meetings at High Octane Comics downtown... It was also the day that Kelly began her new job at a used bookstore called "At Second Glance Bookstore..." On her first day, she had a bookshelf fall on her... How fun and not so fun at the same time!! The meeting went pretty well, though I think we scared some girls away with the insanity, but meh, is to be expected...A lot of us headed over to the Fun Factor {Of course my place of work} and were having fun, until Cody, suddenly came off the DDR and checked his heart rate, which was calculated at around 134 BPM and that's INSANE!! He sat down for a while, and suddenly for about 20 minutes, he was out of it. His hands were shaking, his eyes were in the back of his head, he was breathing erratically, his palms were warm but his fingers were cold. Thus, Ashley called the Nurses Hotline, and they put us through to the Ambulance service. An ambulance was immediately dispatched, but by the time they got there, Cody was coherent again, and merely thought he was asleep... When we told him what had happened, he thought we were all on crack. The attendants told him that he could either go with them to the hospital willingly or by police force, and thus he went willingly, and Amber went with him. Tests were done, and he was sent home, and I picked them up at 12:30 AM and met up with Cody's dad and sister to take him home... Then, Amber and Ashley and I went to Tim Horton's and I got home around 3 AMish to find Dad up, and dealing with ANOTHER kidney stone {Oh joy}. He was stoned out of his mind, and was almost crying... It was weird to have to witness this. He began talking about how his life is a failure and how he doesn't understand why all this bad stuff is happening to him:
1)Develops Sinusitus and can't taste or smell for the past 5 years, and also, has to deal with an endless mucus problem...
2)Mom decides to leave him after meeting Michael on Yahoo Chat, and take her half of the business earnings, which helped cause the Go-Kart track to close down...
3)Mom moves to Calgary with Daniel and Steven, BUT he can still visit them... Until mom finally moves down to Massilon Ohio, and now she and Steven can't come back up here until ALL of the paperwork is filled out, which is bullshit because Steven should have been allowed to come out for Christmas
4)Lawyers might need to be involved...oh joy again.

Well, Halloween was Fantastically delicious!! We ran the Haunted Laser Trek at the Fun Factor, and all was well... Aside from a few of the vests not working as they should have been... but that's to be expected every now and again... We raised SOME money for the S.P.C.A. and our raffle will HOPEFULLY bring us some revenue in for our trip to AE next August!! I may extend it to 2 weeks, depending on how we do... Apparently you're supposed to have a liscence hold a raffle which is complete bull shit, but that's society for you these days!!

I am SO relieved that Amber and Lee are on speaking terms again! I hate it when my friends disagree... But it's all in the past now!! I went as Eternal Sailor Moon again, and got some... interesting comments from people lol!! There were lots of cosplayers this year, but I don't remember what a lot of them went as... in other words, I'm not really familiar with the characters from the series they went as... Ashley went as Witch Hunter Robin, Kelly was Krappica from HunterXHunter, I know that. Anika was someone from Naruto... Amanda went as Princess Mononoke... ah... I can't remember the rest!! Lee went as a Scottsman and looked good too!!

Now we have the fun task of taking the decorations down... Thankfully Anika has come over to the Fun Factor a few times this week and pulled most of them down... They seem to come down a LOT easier than they went up... but that's reletively normal... I find I'm filled with the same sadness I felt when Anime Evolution was over... I really have fun with our little get togethers... USUALLY everyone can get along pretty well, though there are a few people in our group that are annoying... they shall remain nameless should they read these ramblings of mine one day...

Last night was interesting to say the least. Someone came in to ride the Coaster Rider simulator, and halfway through the ride, the fuse blew, and thus it stopped, as well as the Can Alley, the Humpty Dumpty, the Galaxia Theatre, the Whack-a-mole and the Coin Basketball thing... 'Twas interesting. I figured I could fix it by just going to the fuse box and reseting it, but when I went back there, it said that nothing actually blew and everything was working fine... Then why the HELL wasn't anything on!? I checked the extension cords and power bars, and they were alright too... Hopefully my boss can fix them... It was weird!! I wish they'd move the fighting games up front to get them some exposure... Games like Street Fighter and Samurai Spirits... I wonder if it shall ever happen? Hmm... We'll see... I'll keep pressing for it!!

Crap, I love to ramble don't I? LOL!! Well, I guess that's my cue to leave for now!! I just wanted to come here and update with SOMETHING!! As I've said before I'm so bad with keeping up with it!! Now that the Halloween Party is over, we can focus on the Convention plans!! I'm REALLY EXCITED!!

~Jeremy~

This may be an odd post compared to some in the past...lol. Odd is my middle name after all! In any case, I got to thinking today about all of the websites I CONSISTANTLY visit and/or contribute to. Thus, to keep up with actually updating this blog REGULARILY, I've decided to not only list the vast majority of them, but it also acts as sort of advertising them!! Please check them all out, they are great!!

Kamloops Anime Club