Looking Back To The Future

With May just around the corner, I've been preparing for final exams, the summer months, and most of all my Memorial Day vacation. From May 21st through May 25th I will be in San Jose, California for the 2009 Fanime Convention. Anime, Manga, Cosplayers, J-pop, and everything else you can think of from the Land of the Rising Sun. I already have my list of Anime, Manga, and other items I'm hunting for myself and for some friends. I've also got a few plans to hit some museums, the mall, and other local attractions while I'm down there. This will be my second time going down to Fanime and my third Anime convention. I went down the first time in 2007, skipped 2008, and am excited to return again this year. So, as I gear up once again for all that fandomonium, I pulled out a few photos from my trip to Fanime 2007 and SacAnime 2007 to help me get into the vibe of things. This year's convention should be even better than that last one since I'm more experienced, better prepared, and have way more cash to spend :D I am looking forward to it!

Three Things I Can't Find With Google

After starting this blog, I decided that I'd better update my Google account profile and make sure that everything was accurate. Like most profiles, it asks the basic "what are your likes?", "what are your dislikes?" and so on. One of the entries that you could fill in was "something you can't find with Google."

1. Amelia Earhart - My father's side of the family is from Atchison, Kansas, the hometown of Amelia Earhart. So, I grew up on stories about her escapades as a female aviator. To this day, her disappearance during her circumnavigational flight in 1937 has never been solved. I've always thought of her disappearance as one of the last great historical mysteries. Maybe with a new movie underway about her life, a new spark of interest will start and the mystery might one day be solved. Though, I'm content enough to leave this one unsolved since it adds such a great air to the whole story. She knew of the dangers and embraced them fully. I think in some ways this was the best way to end her legacy. "Please know I am quite aware of the hazards," she said. "I want to do it because I want to do it. Women must try to do things as men have tried. When they fail, their failure must be but a challenge to others."

2. Clank - One of my all-time beloved game characters, Clank has always been the faithful side-kick, following Ratchet across the galaxies and venturing into dangerous scenarios. Yet when Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction came out in late 2007, Clank was shoved to the forefront of their adventures. As the mystery unfolded even more in Quest for Booty, Clank's disappearance has yet to be solved. With the next iteration, A Crack in Time, coming later this year it looks like we might finally be able to unravel the mystery and find our buddy Clank before it's too late.

3. Inverted Jenny - Another story from my father's side of the family. My grandmother before she died showed my father a stamp that she had been saving that could have possibly been worth around $100,000. That stamp was an Inverted Jenny, a rare misprinted stamp depicting an upside down bi-plane. My father asked her to give it to him so he could keep it in a safe place, but my grandmother was always so stubborn and wouldn't let it go. After she died, my grandfather, father, and aunt, scoured the entire house trying to find this one stamp. Unfortunately, they could not. Though, I'm not too bothered by losing the money (My father was and still is, lol), I'm more curious to know what happened to it. Some lucky person might have found it in a purse they bought at a garage sale and might not even know what it is.

The Price Of Going Blu

I find myself gauging my age by how many times I've had to change media formats. First it was the cassette tape to the CD, then the VHS to DVD, the CD to MP3, and now I can add one more conversion to the list - DVD to Blu-Ray. Every time I have to upgrade equipment, re-purchase, and replace all of my current collection with the new format, I always wonder if it's really worth the price of upgrading. Cassettes to CDs was easy since most of my cassettes were just hand-me-downs from my brother. Ripping my entire CD collection was painless for my wallet but took up much of my precious free time. Then there's the act of replacing all of my family's VHS tapes, which I'm still working on. And right when I thought I was about done swapping out my old movie collection for a new one, another brand spankin' new format appeared - BD.

I have to admit out of all the formats and iterations of different media I have seen, BD is probably my favorite. It has great storage capacity (no more 50 disc Anime collections), being able to go online right from from the disc is great, and you can't beat the high definition detail that it brings. But there is a huge downside to BD like no one seems to use it's great storage capacity (they still only put 3 episodes on a disc), going online is a pain because you need to register for each distributor, and the biggest drawback of all is the price.

Granted with all new formats, they are initially quite expense. Blu-Ray Discs started at around $35 when they first released but now that they have been out for a while (and won the format war) they are . . . still $35?! What's wrong with this picture? Blu-Ray has been out since June 2006 and three years later the price is still the same. Granted, I can find older titles for $20 and places like Amazon.com and other online retailers sell them for as low as $15. But for me to pick up the newest release on BD, it's still $35 at any of the local retailers. So how much is too much when going Blu?

My other dilemma is what to do about all those DVDs I've been acquiring. How many should I upgrade to Blu-Ray and how many should I just leave alone? For the most part I've only been getting the newer titles and movies I don't own on BD. There are those great action flicks though that probably look and sound ten times better on BD. The Bourne Trilogy is one of my favorites of all time and I'd love to pick up the snazzy three-in-one bundle. But since I already own all three on DVD, I'm a bit hesitant to shell out extra cash for movies I already own. Even if I traded in the DVDs, they probably wouldn't even cover the tax on the new set let alone help pay for it.

Another genre I think Blu-Ray makes better is animation. Being able to see a movie/show in its original aspect ratio as well as the crisp look and clear sound makes me drool just thinking about it. I've picked up a couple stand along Anime movies and have found that it does wonders to the genre. But Anime, even on standard DVD, isn't cheap. You are looking at anywhere from $25 to $35 a pop just for a single disc with 3 to 4 episodes. And because publishers haven't seemed to take advantage of BD's large capacity, you are still seeing the same amount of episodes on each BD. The price is horrendous as well. Samurai 7 box set on DVD goes for around $40 but Samurai 7 box set on BD goes for $150. That is an amazingly drastic price difference for the same amount of episodes and bonus content. Hopefully with Blu-Ray players becoming cheaper this year, we'll see a price drop in the actual discs as well. Because right now for me, the price is too high for me to go Blu.

First Time For Everything

The 2008-2009 NHL Regular Season has come to a close. Eighty-two hard fought games have been played and now it's time for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The San Jose Sharks are going to their fifth consecutive playoff, but this one seems special. With a league leading record of 53-18-11 the Sharks are the newest recipients of the President's Trophy, given to the top team in the regular season, but most importantly they receive home ice advantage for their entire journey on highway 16W.

The Sharks also set numerous other franchise records including having four different defensemen with 30+ assists, another 40+ win season for Nabokov, six different forwards with 20+ goals (two have 30+ goals), four different players with 10+ power play goals, and an eleven game power play goal streak. But all of that means nothing now, the regular season is over and all that matters now is the playoffs.

For the first time two California teams will meet in the first round of the playoffs. It's SoCal versus NorCal as the Anaheim Ducks salvaged their season and made a playoff push to secure the 8th and final seed in the Western Conference. I have to say I hate the Ducks, I love to hate the Ducks, and I have been waiting for this moment for a long time. Great rivalries are created in the post-season and the Sharks/Ducks rivalry is about to take it to the next level.

Of the six games played between the two teams in the regular season, the Sharks won four. But that doesn't mean this round of the playoffs will be a walk in the park. Most of the games were hard fought and one-goal games. With one of the toughest blue-lines in the league, the Ducks aren't a team to underestimate. Their power play ranks 4th in the league (The Sharks rank 3rd) and have a killer first line. Adding to the drama is ex-Sharks player Teemu Selanne who is a Shark killer, always seeming to score those big game-winning goals. The Ducks have some great netminders as well, with Giguere's game being "off" in the regular season, back-up goalie Jonas Hiller took his place between the pipes and did so well that he finished off the regular season. I don't know who will be in goal for the first round but I do know who ever it is, they will be hard to beat.

And you can't underestimate the toughness of the Ducks as well. I can't think of a single game without a fight breaking out (The Sharks Enforcer, Jody Shelley is always up for the job) and a few scrums here and there. This will be a great test for my beloved San Jose Sharks as they try and fulfill another first - winning the Stanley Cup. That's a long ways off still but if they keep truckin' along like they have in the regular season, score on the power play, use their speed five-on-five, stay strong in their own zone, and have Nabby pull off those game-wining saves - I feel that this year is their best chance to go all the way.