Well, since I'm being harangued by my listeners, here is my overdue first post on my travels around the states.
First step was moving out. I had a lot of stuff to sell.
I was able to sell a lot of it, and then donated what they would take and threw the rest away. All my remaining possessions (including my motorcycle) was stored in a 10'x10' storage unit. It was both sad and liberating.
The day after I left my townhouse I flew out to Rochester, NY. I stayed with my friend Darren and his wife Kelly in Batavia, NY.
I hung out around town for a day, and then Darren and I drove up to Niagara Falls. Funny thing about Niagara. The American side is totally run down, dirty and dying, whereas the Canadian side is built up, clean and lively. We stayed on the American side for 10 minutes before jumping back in the truck and driving across the border. We walked around town, did the "behind the falls" tour, bought some Cuban cigars (because you can) and drove up towards Toronto.
We got to Toronto in the evening, and realized that we weren't going to find a place in downtown due to some convention in town. Although while heading towards the Holiday Inn just South of Chinatown we drove past this little nook in the wall Japanese restaurant called Asakusa. Well since I will be living in the town of Asakusa in Tokyo we just had to stop. It was a good call as the portions were large, the fish was excellent and the prices were reasonable. The exchange rate was like .9915 US dollars to the Canadian dollar. Sucks for Canadian's who want to buy books, and sucks for American's looking to buy anything in Canada for the normal good values. I love Canada though, it's clean and the people are friendly. We finally just drove out towards the airport and found a room at the Quality Suites for like $135. That night I sent an email to Julie-sensei, since we had made it to Toronto. Unfortunately she didn't get it until after we had left.
We got up the next day, and went over to J-Town to do some shopping. We got bento boxes, and bought a lot of bread at Nakamura bakery. We got a couple An-pan, a couple Curry-pan, a Choco-pan and a Melon-pan. That was lunch. After J-Town we went to Casa Loma, Canada's only castle (apparently). It was built in the early 1900's by this Canadian financier who wanted a castle. It was complete with underground tunnels to the stables and greenhouses as well as secret passages. It was very cool.
After that we went to the ROM, the Royal Ontario Museum. It was a pretty cool museum with a very nice Darwin exhibit that I couldn't take any pictures in.
After the ROM we headed back to the states, and then before I flew out in the morning we drove through downtown Rochester so I could take pictures of a couple buildings that looked similar to Isengard.
Then I flew out to Newark, NJ and was picked up by my friend Tiff and her daughter Chloe. They took me back to Freehold, NJ, where they've got a beautiful house. We wandered around Freehold and then hung out until John got off work.
The next day Tiff, Chloe and I drove out to the coast and walked along the beach at Sandy Hook. It was apparently time for the horseshoe crabs to come in from the ocean and abandon shell, because they were everywhere.
On Saturday we went into "The city" as the locals refer to it. New York, New York! We drove and took the Staten Island Ferry so I could take some pictures of the statue on the way to Manhatten. It was like 95F and very high humidity, and I did just fine. Not at all like 95F in Colorado, where I would just cease to function. It was hot and I was sweaty, but I remained functional the whole day. Our friend Devon met up with us as we toured around the city. We went to the raging bull, Times square, the Nintendo store, Rockefeller Plaza, the Apple store, Central Park and then Kinokuniya. It was Gothic and Lolita maid costume day at Kinokuniya, but I didn't make it down there until like 4pm so unfortunately I missed Michael Pinto from fanboy.com/anime.com who was also there apparently. Now I know what you're saying. "Didn't you just sell all your books? Why would go to a bookstore?". Not to mention the fact that I went specifically to a Japanese bookstore when in less than a month all my bookstores will be Japanese. Anyways, I bought the first Harry Potter book... in Japanese. After that we found this great Cuban restaurant called Havana, NY on 38th between 5th and 6th I think. Then it was home time.
Sunday we're off to Philadelphia, PA for a day of touring the historic district. Marajsky should be meeting up with us, so that will be cool. I'll do more posts soon. Hope everyone else is doing well and Batou and I should be doing a joint show this week via Skype once I get out to Lake Tahoe, CA.
Full album below.
Life: 06/13/08 | Posted By: animepulse | | Tags: new jersey, new york, niagara, toronto
Cross-posted from Anime Pulse
Episode 130 [53:30m]: Play in Popup | Download
We've got a great show this week. We talk about the new server move, do the news, talk about Bleach and review Special A and Le Chevalier D'Eon. We also talk about the new toy we got, the Amazon Kindle.
Special A - Wait until it hits the US and NetFlix it.
Le Chevalier D'Eon - Wouldn't kick it out of bed for crackers.
Show Notes
Music
Intro - Casting Dice by Yuuki Kanno from Amatsuki
Outro - Neko Mimi Mode by Dimitri From Paris from Tsukiyomi Moon Phase
Reviews
Special A
Wikipedia
Anime News Network
Official Site
Le Chevalier D'Eon
Wikipedia
Anime News Network
Official Site
Feature: 05/09/08 | Posted By: animepulse | | Other Internet | Tags: chevalier, kindle, special
On the Dubbing/Subbing Argument, A Consumer Perspective
I originally started to write this as a comment on Someguy's great essay on dubs. Once I reached my third paragraph I realized it had veered in a different direction and figured I should just write my own post. While there are many people who hate dubs or subs, my personal experience is that the current issues with the industry have nothing to do with that, it is in fact a purely market-driven issue.
I have no problem with the principle of dubbing. Great, get it out to more people who don't care enough to experience something in it's native language. My problem with it is a financial one and a market-driven one. The majority of distributors insist that people want the dubs, and that they can't sell them without (Bandai has proved them wrong on that). But yet when was the last time that a foreign movie came over to the US with a dub track? Pan's Labyrinth (Faun's Labyrinth), Amelie, Run Lola Run, House of Flying Daggers, Hero, etc.. all come in their native languages ONLY, with optional subtitles. There are a few, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon as an example that has a English dub. But no one is insisting that Americans will only watch foreign movies if they have a dub track. Only Anime has that distinction.
So the argument is that kids won't watch it? Or that they won't watch it on TV? Ok, the TV one might be valid, but that's not what I'm addressing, I'm talking about DVD releases. Let's start there. What is the most impressionable time in a person's life? Childhood. If you want your kids to grow up to be people that respect other cultures then teach them that experiencing things in other languages are a good thing. I think the same thing about TV, but I don't have any good arguments on that one.. :-)
So my problem with dubs? I don't have a choice. I have to buy DVDs that have dubs on them (except Bandai's). And that means that I have to wait longer and pay more, because they have to charge prices that can pay for the ADR work in addition to the licensing. If I'm going to pay money for a physical object (which I do less and less. I pay for information, not physical objects.. not enough room), then I'm going to pay only for what I actually want, not some package deal that I'm told I should want. I don't buy that BS when I'm buying a car, a stereo, a gadget, why should I buy it when dealing with Anime?
So no one is serving my need. And as has always happened throughout history, when a need is not being addressed by the legitimate market, the black market (bootlegs, fansubs, etc..) does. Attacking consumers because they aren't buying what you feel they should want is not only counterproductive (it's never worked, see RIAA/MPAA/Anime Distributors/history in general), it also engenders a negative attitude towards the legitimate producers, making that consumer less likely to ever deal with that producer on a legal level.
Legal attacks aside, there's the shame attack. I'm referring to the "if you're a real fan, support the industry". This is the argument that makes me the most incensed. Consumers don't "support" industries, they consume. If an industry is serving a need people buy that industry's products. People support things all the time, it's called philanthropy. But guess what? The Anime industry is not a f***ing charity. It is a commercial industry that should be addressing a need in the market. If they can't provide what the consumers desire then they either need to change their focus or choose a different market. This is the crux, consumers will always get their needs met, that's the basis of a market-driven economy. Consumers are in control, not the producers. If you want to capitalize on the consumers, then provide what they actually want, not what you are convinced they "should" want.
My final thoughts. If there is a need for dubs, great. Address that need. But address my needs as well. I want (ideally) just the information, in a format that doesn't tie it to a specific device or piece of software, and has what I want: the video, the original audio and a subtitle track. I will pay for that. I will not pay for what I don't want. And calling me a bad "fan" is just stupid. I'm a consumer. I like something, therefore I will purchase it providing I can find what I want at a price I'm willing to pay (and I'm not unreasonable). If you won't sell it to me, I will find someone else who will. This is our world, love it or hate it, it's not going anywhere.
-Ichigo
Essay: 05/02/08 | Posted By: animepulse | | Industry and Conventions | Tags: dubs, industry, subs
Cross-posted from Anime Pulse
Episode 129 [46:00m]: Play in Popup | Download
We've got a great show for you this week. We review Kure-nai and Macross Frontier. We also do the news and do sweet Evangelion figure giveaway. Check it out!
Kure-nai - Wouldn't kick it out of bed for crackers.
Macross Frontier - Download Now!
Show Notes
Music
Intro - Triangular by Maaya Sakamoto from Macross Frontier
Outro - Neko Mimi Mode by Dimitri From Paris from Tsukiyomi Moon Phase
Reviews
Kure-nai
Wikipedia
Anime News Network
Official Site
Macross Frontier
Wikipedia
Anime News Network
Official Site
Feature: 05/02/08 | Posted By: animepulse | | Other Internet | Tags: frontier, kure-nai, macross
Cross-posted from Anime Pulse
Episode 128 [45:16m]: Play in Popup | Download
We've got a good episode for you this week. We review Love Hina and do an update of Dragonaut ~ The Resonance. We also do the news and talk about Bleach. Check out this great show!
Love Hina - Wait until it hits the US and NetFlix it.
Dragonaut ~ The Resonance - Wait until it hits the US and NetFlix it.
Show Notes
Music
Intro - Resonance by T.M. Revolution from Soul Eater
Outro - Neko Mimi Mode by Dimitri From Paris from Tsukiyomi Moon Phase
Reviews
Love Hina
Wikipedia
Anime News Network
Dragonaut ~ The Resonance
Wikipedia
Anime News Network
Official Site
Feature: 04/25/08 | Posted By: animepulse | | Tags: dragonaut, love hina
