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Xmas Report
2003-12-25 10:36:24
Today is Christmas. Here's my report of the holiday at my house:
-Present-wise, I got everything on my list except for one thing: a cell phone. Considering that most of the shopping was done by my mother, who doesn't know a thing about cell phone plans, I can understand why I didn't get one, with the cell phone probably being handled after Florida.
-Meanwhile, my younger brother's Xmas was so-so. On the negative side of things, a lot of his presents haven't arrived in the mail, and it looks like my mother is planning on cancelling the order. However, he still got some presents in the form of the ones that did come in the mail (with includes the first two Lord of the Rings films on DVD and an Angel Sanctuary jewelry set) and the first volume of the Hellsing manga, which I bought for him on Monday.
Tomorrow will be an interesting day, considering:
a. My family is planning to start heading down to Florida tomorrow no matter what;
b. My younger brother may want to do some post Xmas shopping to make up for the cancelled Xmas ordered; and
c. My urge (possibly Aspburger(sp?)-related) to get to the South Carolina ASAP tomorrow (I don't mind stopping at stores, a restaurant for lunch, and South of the Border; but I would like to get to our hotel before 11:00 PM). -
Things That I'm Waiting For
2003-12-23 21:27:12
With Xmas in two days and my annual trip to my grandparents house in Florida happening after Xmas (my family is leaving either Friday or Saturday), here's a list of things that I'm looking forward to in the next couple of weeks:
CHRISTMAS:
-Gamecube. Not only do I know that I'm getting my own Gamecube for Xmas (the one that my family has techincally belongs to my younger brother, thus I rarely play his system despite myself having a few games for the system), but I'm also getting ready for it by picking up an RFU Adapter (my TV doesn't have A/V cable connection), a disc to use for import games (in case I decide to buy one at either Pandora's Cube or an anime convention), and Skies of Arcadia Advanced.
-FF X-2. The other main thing on my Xmas list, although I'm a little uncertain as to whether Mom got it or not (I'm sure she did).
TRIP TO FLORIDA:
-South of the Border. Obvious stop for someone travelling to Florida by car.
-Flea markets. While Melbourne has one itself, my main focus is the one at Daytona, which is a usual stop for my family to and from Grandma's house every year.
-New check card. My current check card is set to expire next year, and with my bank account being in Florida (having live there for six months in 2001), my new card will be sent to my grandparents house. I warned them about the card yesterday and told them not to throw anything for me away (which I'm sure they'll remember, since they held on to the first two issues of Newtype for me year).
-Best Buy. I already got an early Xmas gift in the form of a $25 gift certificate to the store, and while a Best Buy finally opened near my local mall (in fact, I went there Sunday to buy Abenobashi volume w/ box and hep assist a mother whose buying anime for her son), I'm more likely to save it for Florida and use it to buy either a DVD or a video game (either Zelda, Space Channel 5, or Crimson Skies).
-Anime Pavillion. Ever since the Melbourne Anime Pavillion opened in March 2001, I've been stopping there every Xmas, and this year is no exception.
-Adult Swim New Year's Eve. Yep, I'm an Adult Swim fan, and I can't wait for the new episodes that will be airing on New Year's Eve.
AFTER FLORIDA:
The DDR Project 1 & 3/Iron Chef 2003 DVD. With ExpertDV hopefully getting the discs on Friday, the DVD will most likely start arriving at customers' houses next, and with me being out of town next week, I'm definitely going to have to wait until next year to see the third DDR Project in its entirety.
Strong Bad Sings. I ordered the disc last night. While I wanted to ship it via Second Day mailing, the cost of it caused me instead to send it via regular ground delivery, meaning it will likely come to my house while I'm at Florida. -
Anime USA Report
2003-11-23 20:50:30
Here's my comments on this year's Anime USA:
-While the convention is somewhat lacking when it comes to interesting cosplay outfits, there's still plenty of good AMV fun thanks to the AMV Forum showings at the start of each day, the AMV contest, and of course AMV Weakest Link (and I thought last year's Weakest Link was insane).
-Being a small dealers' room, there wasn't that much interesting things to buy (besides the usual manga and anime DVD's). However, there's still one thing that was definitely worth buying: a hand-painted pillow featuring Chiyo-chan from Azumanga Daioh using her pigtails to fly.
-I was a contestant again at Anime Name That Tune this year, and after a somewhat dismal performance last year, I did well this year as I even made it to finals (may give more details of this event later)
-Biggest gripe of the con: Anime USA holding off the the announcement of the AMV winners until the cosplay is over, with no mention about that until AFTER the end of the cosplay. While I do like attend the cosplay contest to see the skits, in the time that I wasted listening to the results of the cosplay before discovering that the AMV winners were to be announced in a ceremony after cosplay, I could have spent my time watching the NES Project, which was playing at the other side of the hotel. -
DDR Online & A New Bed (aka 1.5 Day Until Anime USA)
2003-11-19 23:52:44
Remember when I said that I was picking up a belated birthday present sometime this week? Well, today (by today I mean Wednesday), I picked it up at the mall. As the title suggests, the belated gift is DDR Ultramix for the Xbox (I'm saving Final Fantasy X-2 and maybe Mario Kart: Double Dash for Xmas). I've been playing the game throughout the day. When it comes to graphics and licensed songs, PS2's DDR Max 2 is the better choice. However, the Xbox DDR makes up for that big time with the return of challenge mode and an online mode where you can play against other DDR players in the USA and even download more songs.
That's not the only thing that I got this week. On Sunday, while I was at anime club (wah, only two more episodes of Azumanga and Jungle Guu left before they are finished), my father went to my second-older brother's apartment to pick up his bed. That night, after cleaning the disaster area that is my room, my parents put the mattresses in my room, replacing my old worn out mattresses. The first few nights, it felt that the bed was somewhat slanted. However, with me now getting used to the bed, it feels normal.
Friday's the start of Anime USA. As usual, I need to make my preparations, which includes getting clothes out for Friday, cashing in my wrapped coins (which has always been one of my main methods of funds for conventions) and putting some film in my camera. -
The Big 2-3
2003-11-14 21:22:57
Today, I turn 23 years old. My birthday this year was a quiet one, with my day going around as usual, although I did talk to my mother about Xmas (considering that my birthday and Xmas are about a month-and-a-half apart and I do budget myself for my birthday, I still think about what I want for Xmas even when my birthday hasn't happened yet). For dinner, my family went out to Golden Corral for the all-you-eat-buffet. During that trip, my younger brother called my older brother's girlfriend on his cell phone. This led to a funny conversation between her and my brothers and mother. After returning home, I got my presents. My booty for this year:
-Karaoke Revolution for the Playstation 2
-The Looney Tunes Golden Collection Box Set
-A Christmas Story 2-Disc DVD set with Ralphie Bobble-head
Also, I'm planning to pick up a belated gift next week, as it doesn't come out until then.
One event down, a lot more to go (i.e. a church bazaar, Anime USA, Christmas).
JOURNAL: TnAdct1 (Joseph Klemm)
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