After our escapades in the dealer's room, it was time at last to check out the artist's alley. I went by each table to look more closely at all the offerings. Granted that the majority of art there were by amateur mangaka and illustrators, but that's a good thing. It's nice to see us "little people" being represented so well. A handful of artists were present with more high quality work.

At the back of the "alley" I found Coey and a whole slew of her high quality prints. As I flipped through her portfolio I noticed that she was quite accomplished, and when I came upon her FLCL fanart I just had to buy one. Unlike the dealer's room, the artist's alley was very affordable. For $10 the print was now going home with us.

Be sure to check out her Deviant Art page, and her website. Though the site is currently down for maintenance, I do hope it will be back up soon. She had a small print of a Game Informer cover as well, though I don't recall ever seeing that particular one. Maybe it was a mockup? In any case, thanks for the great art Coey, and maybe we'll see you again next year.

One other table that had caught my eye showcased some very well done anime art carved into wood panels. It was done in a quite detailed way, and the wood was of good quality protected by a nice coat of varnish. Novelty factor aside, I thought the images looked very strong when presented this way. It gave all the contour lines a bold look.

As we moved on, we realized that we didn't have any way to carry the nice print around with us and didn't want it to get damaged, so a trip to the car was necessary. Upon our return we went over to see the art show that was in place close to the game room. Work was hung salon style, though the majority of it was not framed. Similar to what we saw in the artist's alley, the works there were primarily by non-professionals. Again, a select few pieces were of higher quality than the rest.

I think it would be a good idea to get some of our art into this exhibit next year. Our hope is also to get enough things put together to get a table in the artist's alley next year as well. Just got to remember the registration deadline.

Booth after booth was filled with all sorts of goodies, from toys to DVDs and games to weaponry. Almost anything was there and could be ours for the low price of a few limbs. I peeked at some artbooks, but didn't really see anything I couldn't live without. I was rather tempted to buy Nikki a cute Lain-style bear hat from Genki Hats, but we were slightly deterred by the price. So we circled around until I had a good idea of all the vendors, at which point we were mostly chatting with Nick and occasionally throwing an eye over the vendor tables.

That's when I found the game vendor. I saw several old Playstation games there, but was quickly put off by the prices. A copy of Silhouette Mirage was marked at $49.99. A ridiculous sum considering you can get it for $20 or less online. I was almost tempted by a copy of Rez for the Dreamcast, but once again the price made rethink that idea. Though still curious, I asked the vendor if they had by chance a copy of Lain for Playstation, a rare Japanese game. "Oh yeah," said the man excitedly and pulled it out for me to look at. For a split second there I was debating the possibility. Could it be that there was any chance at all that this game may at last come into my possession? Nope. I almost let out a ridiculing laugh when I saw the price sticker of $173. Sure it's rare, and collectable, and an import. But there's no way I'd pay that much for it. No way. And judging from their other price hikes, I would guess that even now the game was attainable for under $100, assuming you can find it, online.

In other words, the dealer's room offers a chance for some rare and cool goodies, but you better be prepared to drop a small fortune on most things you buy there. As for me, I'll continue to shop online for most of my anime and manga related needs. If you want to get a fair deal I suggest you do the same.

As the staff announced the closing of the dealer's room, I already felt satisfied with having seen it. And that only lasted about fifteen minutes, so I'm not sure if that's good or bad. Given the chance, I probably would have spent a little more time in there, but I still doubt I would have bought anything. In the last few minutes we had been joined by another friend, Ming, and we all made our way to the exit.

As we got off the interstate, I was happy to find the convention center so easily, and had no trouble finding parking either. Somehow I had expected to get lost along the way, and be circling around to find parking for a while. Luckily that part went very smoothly, so kudos to the Animazement people.

With camera and Nalgene in hand, we made our way towards the front entrance, skirting past all manner of cosplayers. The registration procedure was quite painless, with the exception of the $30 admission for each of us. Yet once we got those little passes around our necks, we promptly forgot all about how much money we had just dropped.


Since we had planned on meeting a couple of friends there, we headed straight for the video game room. Nick had told us to look for him there, and as we entered we began scanning the crowd for him. Sure enough, there he was playing what else but Street Fighter. I gently let him know we had arrived, between rounds, and waited as he finished getting his ass handed to him by his opponent. Apparently the guy he was going up against was a tournament player.

After our brief reunion, Nick took us on a little tour of Animazement. Since this was our first time at the convention, we figured that we'd let the veteran show us around. Apparently our arrival was just about a half hour before the close of the dealer's room, so we hurried on through to get a glimpse of it's last operating moment that day. I briefly glanced at the tables in the artist's alley as we hurried on through and got into that large hall filled with all manner of anime, manga, and game paraphernalia.

We spent a little time going around to get an idea of the dealer's offerings, though I found nothing I couldn't live without. Most things were also quite overpriced, and soon the room was ready to close. We went back out, without disappointment at having had only limited time to browse. My interest was more focused on the artwork, and we spend additional time looking at each table in the artist's alley.

The majority of work there was done by fans and amateurs, but a few more seasoned artists were present as well. We decided that it was time to see the rest of the convention, and headed back towards the game room to see the art show on the way. The art room was right next to the game room, and it mirrored our experience in the artist's alley. Once again much of the work was decent, though admittedly not of professional quality, while a select few works stood out as being particularly well done.

Now that we had seen a good deal of everything, I was ready to head back into the game room. We split up and checked out the various games, representing just about all game systems, and eventually even played a little. Of course we too were easily defeated, but that was to be expected.

Eventually we just began wandering around, almost aimlessly, snapping pictures of cosplayers here and there. We watched a little of the JET! dramatic performance, though it was constantly interspersed with shouts of obscenities from the crowd. We peeked into the video rooms, but saw little more than mech battles on screen. All in all it was a very enjoyable experience, though certainly not a flawless one.

I think that for the high price of admission, we did not get our moneys worth. That is certainly one more lesson learned. We should have come on Sunday, with admission costing $15 a person, and we would have had the opportunity to partake in more interesting events. So I think our timing was partly to blame. Better luck next year.

Even when we lived in "the triangle" we missed the Animazement convention a couple of summers ago. Now, though we don't live as close anymore, we still really wanted to go. Our plan initially was to get a table and be there as artists.

As is often the case, life got in the way of these plans. We didn't get the art together that we had planned on taking there, and then ended up missing the registration deadline. At least that meant a little less pressure. Though we were still planning to make the trip out there, and just see it and have a good time with friends.

We drove out to Chapel Hill on Friday morning, and surprised Joe in the store. After a few moments of catching up and some game-talk, we made our way over to storm Sarah's castle. Making it past her ferocious feline defenses, we then proceeded to ninja all her phat lewt! Or something like that. Actually we just abducted her for lunch. We dined at the nostalgically awesome Weaver Street Market (pictured above), and had Rice Dream Pies for desert. Yum.

Later that night, back at Joe's place, we gathered with Joe, Misty, Sarah, Ed, and Michael for some more relaxed conversation. It was wonderful to see the few friends we had actually made in the whole state once again. I wanted to give them all a big hug, but I thought that would have been a little too enthusiastic. After all, it's not like I'm needy or lonely or anything silly like that.

We made some tasty dinner, wonderful hearty soup courtesy of Misty-dono, to fill our empty bellies. Afterwards we geeked out on some more anime and various other minutiae, until I decided to subject everyone to Casshern. I think we all loved this wonderful movie! This was especially evident when Sarah cheered for the death of the protagonists fiancé, as well as the big sigh of relief everyone let out when the film was over. Ah well'awell.

Saturday morning Nikki made us all deliciously fluffy pancakes, and we had them with Misty's wonderful maple syrup from Maine. Yum again. Since Joe was forced to serve out his sentence of working the whole weekend, we wanted to spend time with him during his off hours. So the plan was to hit Animazement after he left for work. We ended up playing a fair amount of Guitar Hero that morning, and then went out to have lunch with Sarah and Ed again at Carrburritos. Yum number three.

On the way out of Chapel Hill we all hit the store in U-Mall again. They were having a tremendous sale on certain items, and we got a copy of W3: Frozen Throne for $10, as well as FFXII (Collector's) for $30. I'd say that was a pretty darn good deal, even though I know we're not supposed to shop there. So, after all these reunions, gluttony, and game shopping, we took our trusty Subaru back out onto I-40 and at last made our way to Animazement.

When we talk of "deserving," the inevitable concept that goes along with it is value. As value is ascribed to one thing, the value of another thing diminishes. So too we ascribe value, or "worth," to people.

When a person is worth something, it determines their treatment. If we perceive someone to be worth a lot, we treat them well, while those who we believe to be worth little get treated less well.

In order for the system of worth to function, we inescapably must apply it to ourselves as well. Because for someone else to be worth little, we must project greater worth upon ourselves.

Every interaction takes, sub-consciously, into account the status of our worth in relation to whomever we are interacting with. This means that our worth is relative depending on whom we are surrounded by. Some people make us feel like we are worth something, while others make us feel worthless.

If it is in fact true that all humans are inherently of the same worth, thereby being equal at birth, then this would contradict the self-worth inspired way of being.

While we may hold to the ideal of being equal, our actions are based on judgment of the worth of our selves and others. This, I would argue, means that self-worth, and its consequent system, is little more than a construct of the mind. It is an illusion by which we obscure the equality of all beings.

Realizing this I find liberating. Catching the machine at work each time it happens, is a monumental challenge, and a long time pursuit. Yet in the awareness of this process, we may find the power to break free from it.

For ERA's "The Vice Squad" exhibition I ended up drawing infidelity as my vice. As previously mentioned, I wanted to work with the broadness of its definition with my image.

The inspiration came from Rurouni Kenshin, and the character of Tomoe in particular. For the uninitiated, she is the widow of a nobleman who was killed by Kenshin. She then searches for Kenshin with the intention of revenge. Yet after staying staying with him under false pretense, Tomoe begins to fall in love with Kenshin. She wrestles with these emotions, the guilt of betraying her dead husband's memory on one hand, and the love she has found in knowing the true heart of Kenshin on the other hand.

In the end I hope that I managed to create an image which can have many different meanings, and will allow for as much variety in its interpretation as the people who will view it. You can also see it on Minitokyo.

Here are some recent posts of mine from Indygamer, for those who don't get over there very much or at all. Though if indy games are your thing, I suggest you take at look at the site. There is news about the scene every day.



Blumenmacht

Initially the screenshot itself caught my eye, especially because of my interest in art games. After reading a little more about the concept I was eager to try Blumenmacht (German for "flower power"). What I found is an intriguing twist on the top down shooter model.

The twist is in fact rather substantial in that the game has become largely non-violent. You're no longer actually shooting down enemies, but engaging in a dance which fills the respective "ballerinas" with happiness. Some will undoubtedly be put off by this motif, while I was glad to see a game with such a unique artistic vision.

I found the game to be a little frustrating at first. The amount of visual stimuli can certainly be overwhelming, and it took me many tries to actually figure out what I was doing, despite an in-game tutorial. In a way, this is to be expected with a new or revised game concept. After some time, however, I realized that it was not quite as difficult as I thought it to be initially.

If you bear with it, and learn the ropes, you'll find a very unique, stimulating, and enjoyable experience in Blumenmacht. Granted the game can see some improvements, and many have been suggestion in the forum thread. Yet there is something very good and appealing in its cacophony of colors and additional challenges will continue to present themselves in later levels.

You can also view a gameplay video here, via YouTube.



In Other News

Blazing Wings is a remake of the Amiga shooter Wings of Death. Aligarion has put a lot of effort into ensuring the accuracy of this remake. Sprites have been resampled at double the original resolution, and music is being remixed by Nils Schneider. [French Blazing Wings website]

Heyufool1 has released a demo of a simple but fun little concept called Avoider, which builds on the snake game model. By adding mouse control, the mechanics have become much more interesting, and enough additional changes been made to give Avoider an original feel.

IGA Struts has a new demo showcasing all of it's classic platforming glory. The Castlevania influence is strong, and the mechanics pretty solid. Nice sprites and various small details give the game a polished feel already, so this is certainly one to keep an eye on. [Thernody's page, IGA Versus]

On May 18th, a new show's opening up at ERA, downtown Wilmington. The focus of the show, as you might guess, is the vices. Each artist randomly drew one of the vices on the list to create a piece specifically for this show.

My vice turned out to be "infidelity." I initially assumed the common definition and went with that. But at some point I decided to look it up on Wikipedia (link), and found that the definition was much broader than I had realized. Apparently, infidelity is a "breach of faith" in any type of relationship, personal or professional. Knowing this helped with my design, and now I feel that my painting can be interpreted in as many ways as the definition itself.

I also feel privileged to be in this show with other very prominent local artists. Many of them I know personally, and names like Dan Brawley, Sullivan Dunn, Bonnie England, Chet Fisher, and Dixon Stetler have continually come up in the art community here.

Most who will read this I know don't live close enough to see the show, but I will post my finished painting and some additional photos of the opening here after the fact. For those who do live close by, I hope to see you there. I think this show is going to be very interesting indeed.

Update: With The Hate's blog no longer up, her letter is also unaccessible. I apologize for the dead links.

A current post by The Hate is "teh letter" she wrote to Gamestop/EB corporate in an attempt inform them of how their policies have made it an unsafe company to work for. The letter is one of resignation. It has been dugg here, and I urge you to drive this one as high as you can.

You may wonder why you should care, and I can tell you why. Chances are that you or someone you know shops at Gamestop or one of it's companies. Do you really want to support a corporation that makes it unsafe for their employees to work in order to line their own pockets?

A manager was killed in Texas as a result of recent company policy changes. Now they only refer to this as "that incident." Let's get this straight, her name was Amber Belken, and she was 24 years old. She opened the store alone! When others have raised their voices in concern of their safety, district and regional managers ignored them. Letters were never answered.

Just as The Hate, I too must ask why anyone should risk their life for a company that cares nothing for them. So one by one Gamestop drives away good people. People that I have had the honor and privilege to work with. Though I cannot tell you if I am one of the "good" people, I am certainly one who has worked for Gamestop. But no longer, and never again.

We may be dismissed as mere disgruntled employees. Yet the fact remains the Gamestop's track record is less than impeccable. Their JobVent profile is in the negative. We may have been disgruntled before Gamestop had injuries that resulted from attacks and a fatality under its belt. I think this has gone beyond disgruntled.

So, the Walden's Books in the mall is closing down this month. They've got seven days left to unload a ton of books on the public. Last night, Mike and I splurged on manga books. :D There was actually an enormous section of manga there, and several artbooks by some of our favorite Japanese artists. I love, absolutely love Yoshitaka Amano and Yoshitoshi Abe, and I was drooling over their large-format artbooks last night. We stuck to the paperbacks, though, and got a pretty sweet deal of 40% off. I wonder, if we go back there on the day before close, if there'll be a better discount.

We also picked up FLCL, volume 7 of Blame (which we can't read yet, since we still need volumes 5 and 6...), and a couple novels based off the game .hack. I'm halfway through one of those novels already...I've been reading for a couple hours this morning, after eating my delicious breakfast and sipping tea. That, folks, is what you call a Good Morning. :D

Just finished watching Read Or Die, and I thought it deserved a post. I was itching for some new anime last week and remembered that still hadn't watched R.O.D., as it patiently waited in my collection for over a year. I wasn't sure if it was going to scratch this particular itch, but I gave it a shot anyway.

I started with the OVA episodes, which did a good job of setting up the background story. Then I quickly moved on to the series. I must admit that the first third or so was fairly slow. It took a while for the characters to start becoming interesting and the story to generate a little more intrigue.

Eventually the pace quickened a bit, and I was looking forward to each successive episode. My overall impressions after having finished are somewhat mixed. I enjoyed it as a whole, but there are shortcomings I wish to note. In general it's a fairly formulaic anime, with a standard scenario. A special group of people fight against a misguided organization that vies for control of the world in order to change it. That aspect is what weakens Read Or Die for me, as it offers little in the way of surprise.

What remains one of the show's strengths, however, are it's characters and their side stories. I think some of the most moving moments occurred during the interactions between the characters when they did not particularly relate to the grand scheme of things. In particular, the episode which fleshed out how the three sisters met was probably the best. Though I must also say that Anita's moments at school, and her relationship with Hisami are among the most complex.

Ultimately it's all the relationships between the characters which kept me watching, while the main plot felt less important and even trite at times. If you're looking for a decent show, with some of the best female characters out there, then give Read Or Die a chance. At least get half-way through the series before you make up your mind. If a more well rounded anime is your cup of tea with high polish in all aspects, a la RahXephon for instance, then you may want to pass on this one.