I hope you're doing well and enjoying the spring. After a long, grey winter, the sky's turned blue again and -- gasp -- I think I can even hear a few birds sing in between the honks, whistles, and rustles of Manhattan. I'm excited to have spring here as it means warmer weather, flip-flops on casual Fridays, and the start of the lead up to the 2009 New York Anime Festival.

I'm very proud to announce that tickets are now live at newyorkanimefestival.com. We got tickets up early this year, and all are available at special, discounted prices. Online, Friday tickets are $35, Saturday tickets are $40, Sunday tickets are $35, and Weekend tickets (good for all three days) are $55. At the Javits Center, all tickets will be priced $5 higher. Further, if you pick up your ticket online, you'll be able to bypass the registration lines on-site -- meaning registering online will save you time and money.

And, for the first time, I've got a special bonus for all fans who sign up for tickets at www.newyorkanimfestival.com -- two free weeks of premium service at anime video portal crunchyroll.com through a special offer located in NYAF's registration confirmation e-mail. If Crunchyroll is new to you, it's an online video community that offers licensed, legal full-length episodes and movies including Gintama, Naruto Shippuden, REBORN!, and Shugo Chara! We're excited to be working with the good folks at Crunchyroll this year and hope to do a good deal more with them this spring, summer, and fall.

Expect news about guests, VIP packages, contests, and programming in the coming months, and to make sure you stay on top of things, keep your eyes on NYAF's official website (www.newyorkanimefestival.com) and blog (www.mediumatlarge.net).

Now, though, I've got to go as I've got to pick out which flip-flops I'll be wearing on Friday.

Hashin!