SAG-AFTRA is voting to authorize a strike on video games, and as with the current strike, I support SAG-AFTRA on this, so I talk about how this might impact my Let’s Plays and other content.
Continue readingCategory Archives: News
I went to see Band-Maid at the Crystal Ballroom last night, so I wasn’t quite able to finish the posts I had planned for this weekend in time for Saturday, so here’s the video for their latest single.
I give a few quick notes about whether the SAG-AFTRA Podcast guidelines (as of 7/29/2023) will impact the Anime Explorations Podcast, and talk about why actors and writers matter, and why we need to keep talking about performances and writing (brought on by a podcast I listen to saying that talking about that is scabbing).
Continue readingGot a whole bunch of stuff to cover this time.
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Vlog: Disability Pride Month
This month is Disability Pride Month – so I’m going to talk a little bit about a few ways that I experience the world with my Autism.
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PSA: Register to Vote
This is me doing an evergreen reminder that, in the US, if you are legally able to vote, to please register to vote, and vote when elections come around – and vote in every race on the ballot. It matters.
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Support Your Local Libraries
I’m occasionally political on this blog. Normally it’s bringing up discussion of the politics of a particular work and how it impacts my perspective on it while I’m reviewing it or Let’s Playing it because, ultimately, all art is political. However, I don’t, you know, get into current events – partly because my audience is kind of international and partly because with exceptions Current Events discussion ages poorly. However, there’s a current political issue going on in the US that, indirectly, puts this blog under existential threat – so I need to talk about that.
Libraries are under attack.
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Final Fantasy XV: Video Game Video Review
As part of the build-up for Final Fantasy XVI, it’s time to give my thoughts on the past couple main Final Fantasy games.
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Let’s Play Tactics Ogre PSP: Part 324 – Perilous Labyrinth II
We manage to get through without Denam getting yeeted into the void.
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Thoughts on the 2023 Anime Awards Ceremony
Crunchyroll has held their 2023 Anime Awards Ceremony – the first one that was in person since the pandemic and the first ever in Japan, and I have some thoughts on the presentation.
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Elric of Melnibone: Book Review
Well, I need to get caught back up with where I was with the Sword & Laser Book Club, in terms of reviews – and that means it’s time to get back into the Elric Saga, with the pick that I ended up recommending (and which a lot of participants bounced off of) – with Elric of Melnibone, the chronologically first novel by Michael Moorcock in Elric’s saga.
There will be spoilers.
Continue readingEpisode Delay
I’m going to end up missing an episode this week due to various delays related to illness and postponed holiday plans. We will have my otherwise regularly scheduled episode of Breaking It All Down next week.
Vlog: 2022 Holiday Letter
Taking it easy a little bit this week, as I wish all of you some very happy holidays, in whatever form you celebrate them.
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Notes on a minor car repair
My car is a 2008 Hyundai Accent, which I got when it was brand new. Over this time I’ve managed to avoid a significant number of car mishaps that could happen to a car owner, but a few weeks ago I had a minor incident occur, which I’ve finally gotten fixed, and which I figured I might as well blog about.
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What Makes This Book So Great: Book Review
A while back, I was pleasantly surprised to see Jo Walton, the author of Among Others, a wonderful book about the power of books and reading and how that can help us when we’re in a tough space, done through a magical realist lens (and which won a Hugo Award) had gotten a book commentary column on Tor.com, and I was equally pleased to see a bunch of her columns collected into a book – What Makes This Book So Great – which I have finally gotten around to reading.
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Twitter Is Dying – Where Can You Find Me?
As the title says, Twitter is on the brink of death, which leads to the question, where can you find me now on social media – should Twitter follow Myspace and Google+ into virtual oblivion? Well, there are a few options.
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Kumoricon 2022 Cosplay Photos
As always at Kumoricon, I took a few cosplay photos – not as much as normal, unfortunately, but I did take a handful.
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Kumoricon Panel Announcement
If you’re at Kumoricon this weekend, come see me! Today! I have a panel – “Anime at 33 1/3 RPM: Collecting Anime Soundtracks On Vinyl” – in Panel Room 5 at 1:30 PM! Don’t be a stranger!
Kumoricon 2022 Announcement
Come to Kumoricon 2022, Nov 11-13th: https://www.kumoricon.org/
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Vlog: I Had COVID
So, I had COVID-19, which is going to screw with my schedule, so I give some quick thoughts on my experiences.
Continue readingQuick Update: Wildfire Season
So, the climate in Oregon is acting like it was 2 years ago when everything was on fire again – Portland General Electric is doing targeted power outages in some areas to prevent wildfires, and we are encountering wildfires on the edges of the Portland Metro area – as of this writing, there is a brush fire that recently started in Milo McIver State Park near Estacada, with Clackamas Community College serving as an evacuation site (CCC had previously been an evacuation site 2 years ago, before turning into a staging area and command post for fire fighters as the fire approached Oregon City).
So, this, combined with my recent bout of COVID-19, is really playing hell with my workflow, so expect some interruptions in terms of my post schedule. Also, if you’re in an area at risk for wildfires, please be safe, and if you can, besides any Ko-Fi donations, please consider donating money to the Red Cross.
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I have COVID
So, I got COVID-19 this past week (specifically starting probably around 8/20), and I’ve been sick and varying degrees of bed-ridden all week. Obviously, this has impacted my ability to keep to my regular schedule of posts (outside of ones that I had scheduled in advance), so consider this my explanation. I will do a post getting into my experiences later, but for now, consider this the update.
Spriggan (2022): Anime Review
A long time back I checked out the Spriggan anime film from the library, on the merits of Katsuhiro Otomo’s involvement in the film in a supervisory position. When I learned that the manga series was getting revisited with a new anime series from David Production on Netflix, I figured this was worth checking out. While the series itself is something of a mixed bat, there is some fun to be had here.
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Nintendo Power Retrospectives: Part 124
We’re finishing Nintendo Power’s ninth year, and we have the results of the Nintendo Power Awards.
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