Ahoy, I'm Peter Tatara. In brief, I'm left-handed, a vegetarian, and my blood type is A. I work for the New York Comic Con and New York Anime Festival and have a cute girlfriend and a Space: Above & Beyond boxset. I'm generally a happy guy.
- Created By ptatara
Celebrate Spring with NYAF!
Ahoy! Spring has finally come to New York City, and with it the blossoming of thousands of cherry blossoms. Now, at the highest of cherry blossom season, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden proudly presents their 27th Annual Cherry Blossom Festival -- Sakura Matsuri!
Sakura Matsuri takes place this Saturday and Sunday across the full expanse of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden -- with performances, exhibits, and workshops going on from 10 AM to 6 PM both days. Samurai drama troupe Samurai Sword Soul (who performed at NYAF 07) will be at Sakura Matsuri, too, and they're just the start of a schedule that includes taiko drummers, koto recitals, and even some guests who've come all the way from Japan.
I'll be there wandering about with a backpack full of NYAF goodies, and if you come to Sakura Matsuri all cosplayed up, odds are you'll walk away with some Anime Festival chopsticks.
Learn all about Sakura Matsuri right here...
http://www.bbg.org/exp/cherries/sakura.html
I hope to see you there!
New York Anime Festival Tickets Online!
NYAF 2008 tickets are now online! Head over to newyorkanimefestival.com to order your tickets now and be done in time for tonight's all-new Doctor Who and Battlestar Galactica! Once you've picked up your NYAF tickets, come on back and let me know your guesses on the final Cylon. My money's on Starbuck, but is she too obvious?
NEW YEAR! NEW NYAF! NEW SITE!
So, Adam gives me this little World at theO. Of course, I forget my password and don't type for months and months. Then I run into Adam at the New York Comic Con just before he interviews T.M.Revolution and he's all "Dude, why don't you write on my site?" and I'm all "I would but I totally don't remember how!" We laugh. We cry. Adam resets my password. Now, I'm here to talk.
New York Comic Con 2008 just wrapped, and this means it's time to get back into the New York Anime Festival. First up? A new newyorkanimefestival.com! We've taken our favorite elements from last year's site, added what we learned from suggestions and research, and also thrown in a few things we wanted to do just because. We're taking a similar approach to this year's New York Anime Festival, too. We know what worked in '07 and what didn't. We're building off of the best aspects of last year's NYAF, including what's been recommended from both exhibitors and attendees, and also taking some risks that probably won't pay off but will be a lot of fun along the way.
The 2008 New York Anime Festival takes place September 26-28, dates that are right now pretty far away. As such, as you click through the site, you'll find a number of Coming Soon pages, but because "right now" will very quickly become yesterday, last week, and last month, you'll be seeing these Coming Soon pages replaced with information, announcements, and out-of-focus photos sooner than you think.
We're serious about the out-of-focus photo bit, too. One of the sections already online is NYAF's Downloads page. We've got the essentials -- banners, avatars, wallpapers, and logos -- online, but we're working on expanding the area to include some photo galleries, MP3s, and admittedly-ugly sketches. None of this stuff is critical to either an anime fan or an anime convention, but they're things that make us feel good making them and hopefully make you feel look taking a look.
You know you can't wait for the Random Photo of Office Furniture of the Week.
And, if you have anything you'd like to contribute, we're listening. The New York Anime Festival team is also the New York Comic Con team, meaning we had all been scrambling to make sure this year's Comic Con -- April 18-20 -- didn't explode, implode, catch on fire, or generally suck. Come April 21st, though, we entered into NYAF mode. No, wait, come April 21st, we were asleep. Come April 22nd, we hit NYAF mode.
So, throughout the lead up to New York Comic Con, we were listening, plotting, and planning, and now with NYCC over, like Vampire Hunter D springing upon a Noble, we're launching into action. Was the D reference kinda forced? Probably was. Why's it there? Don't know. Maybe it's a hint. Or maybe I just like Vampire Hunter D.
And with these words I encourage you to come, play, and explore at the new NewYorkAnimeFestival.com.
