I've returned from Anime USA unscathed. I forgot to mention I was going. It was the first time I was staffing a convention, although I did help clean up a bit at last year's Anime USA. I will be writing a report, and I expect to have it completed within two weeks. It will probably be my shortest convention report, as I was mostly just hanging out with friends. I staffed the Con Suite, so I didn't have that much work or running around assigned to me (but I did volunteer for a good amount when I wasn't doing anything else). Anyway, hanging out doesn't make for an interesting story so much, and I've forgotten most of the details, thus the short con report. I'll post here again when it is completed (naturally).

In the meantime, you can look at this.

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I often find myself passing up quality live-action stuff for anime. Somebody once asked me, "Why do like anime so much? Is it better than live-action stuff?"

My response was something along the lines of "No, it is just a different medium of presentation. I think the attraction to anime comes from the exaggeration of everything. A character's emotions are easy to read in anime. Everything is more visually represented. The voice actors play it up as well, often putting more emotion into their roles than their live-action counterparts. With such a medium, characters and their relationships are much easier to develop. Aside from all that, it's the pure abandonment of the requirement for realism. In a live-action, if someone said something ridiculous, and everyone else fell down, it just wouldn't work."

My response was actually much shorter, and less charismatic, but I think it got the point across. I could tell from her blank stare that she understood me perfectly.

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I have received spam advertising anti-spam software. I am never buying anything ever again. It's time to embrace anarchy.

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Mist was creeping in through the crack under the door, thick fog off the bay. It was probably like this every morning. You could see it in the wooden boards, raggedly holding the shack together. They wouldn't silence a gunshot, and on these hills the sound would carry far and wide. But I could see that look in his eyes, as he held that gun in his sweaty hand. He wasn't think about getting away with it. He was too focused on the situation at hand.

"Do you mind if I smoke?" I asked calmly. He wouldn't fire the gun at me as long as the conversation remained pleasant.

"G-go ahead," he replied, his voice obviously shaking. I wondered if he had ever held a gun before in his life. He'd probably never been in a fist fight before, either. The more embarassing thing about getting shot here would be that it was my own gun that killed me. It's amazing how a simple slip of the hand can change your fate so dramatically.

I pulled out a cigar from my coat pocket. I don't smoke cigarettes, only the good stuff. I looked up at him before drawing my lighter. "Do you want one? They're Cubans."

"N-no... thanks..."

"Well, you're not much of one for conversation, are you?" His hand began shaking the gun more violently in his hand. "Well, are you going to shoot me or are you going to just shake that thing at me all day?"

I sat down in a chair. Maybe he took this act as a threat somehow, because he backed up a few steps. Then the look of panic on his face strengthened. He extended his arm a bit, tightened his grip, and fired. The sound rang loud throughout the bay. Someone would be coming soon, now. He didn't know that.

"You missed," I stated, blatantly pointing out the obvious.

"Shutup. SHUTUP!" he shouted angrily, the beads of sweat beginning to run down his face like Niagara. I prayed for a second shot right now. I knew he would miss.

Instead, he threw the gun at me, hitting me square in the face. Maybe he couldn't get a bullet to draw blood, but he turned my nose into a fountain. He ran out the door, breaking its hinges as he went. I pulled out a handkerchief and jammed it up my nose to stop the bleeding, then chased after him.

I quickly discovered that running after someone with a bleeding nose is a bad idea. The faster your heart rate, the more blood comes pouring out. My handkerchief was soaked in under a minute. No matter how much better of shape I was in, I couldn't catch up to him. I began to feel dizzy and out of breath, as I swallowed blood between gasps. Blood dries quickly.

I couldn't give chase after him. I raised my gun and squeezed off a couple rounds. They had no chance of hitting him, I just wanted to spook him, force him to make a mistake.

After I caught my breath, I walked slowly up the hill. His trail was an easy one to follow; he doesn't pick his feet up much when he runs. I kept on after the broken sticks and scattered leaves for a few minutes, then came to the bridge. It's a narrow bridge, and up about 50 feet over the water. There's really no room for pedestrians. Either he tried to cross it and a truck came, or he's a bad swimmer, because he was face-down in the bay, floating. I wouldn't be getting any answers from him now, but at least I didn't have any new holes in me.

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I finally got Sting's new album "Sacred Love" today. One thing I like about Sting, besides his voice, is that he never disappoints me outside of that random Country song on each album since Ten Summoner's Tales. It's probably a good Country song, I just don't like Country music. Regardless, the new album fails to disappoint me as well. I guess Sting is a bottomless well of talent.

The new album is more upbeat than previous albums. I have no problem with that, being that my favorite kind of music is Heavy Metal. It's not too much for people who like Easy Listening, but it's certainly not Easy Listening. There isn't a Country song this time, which for me improves the album as a whole over the last few. There is a techno version of "Send Your Love", but I'm okay with techno as long as it's not too repetitive.

Personally, I'm against the use of digital instruments that emulate real instruments in professional music. If you've got the money, hire some people to perform the music. Don't settle for some cheap imitation. It reduces the quality of the music. Fortunately, there's not much of this, but I thought it was a valid point to bring up. It makes the most difference on "The Book of My Life", where there's some digital instruments used inappropriately.

If you liked the last couple Sting albums, you'll like this one just as much. Yeah, some things could have been better, but I could say the same of Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon", which I consider the best album ever made. It's certainly better than all the other new music I've heard.

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