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Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in
Karaoke Kaizoku-dan's LiveJournal:
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| Friday, October 16th, 2009 | | 1:47 pm |
Friday Shouts Out
Some of you folks may know and remember ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) lifftchi from Open Mic at Fanime and AX, with his spirited renditions of X Japan songs. He's also taken some pictures for AOD in the past. Well, he has just co-authored a book on Xen, an open source sysadmin tool . Check out his book here. Also, the LA Weekly had an article yesterday on AX2003 Karaoke Contest winner Stephanie Yanez: http://bit.ly/2GENn9 | | Friday, September 4th, 2009 | | 3:17 pm |
We need to add these songs to the karaoke library
A song about Rugby, and Street Gangs...only the Japanese can mix the two and make it work. LOVE IS ALL: I think part of the reason why rugby is so unappreciated here in the States is because it lacks good accompanying music. The NBA has its hip hop/rap, and of course there is the famous iconic music of NFL Films. Japanese rugby has...Bonnie Tyler. | | Monday, June 8th, 2009 | | 1:16 am |
Most Requested List From Fanime '09
These were the most requested songs from our main karaoke library during Open Mic this year. 1. Ready Steady Go 2. Simple and Clean 3(tie). God Knows 3(tie). I'll Make a Man Out of You 5. Still Doll 6. Pokemon Theme Song (English version) 7. Paper Moon 8. Tonight Tonight Tonight (Beat Crusaders/Bleach) 9. Still Alive 10(tie). Cha-La Head Cha-La 10(tie). Cutey Honey Variants were combined. Does not include the separate American popular song library, or music that the attendee provided themselves. | | Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009 | | 2:15 am |
You never realize how long that song is, until you do it in front of a crowd that hates it
I am so getting this book. Reasons:
- It the first book I've ever seen about karaoke that's not a song book.
- The first chapter (available for free reading here) is interesting once you get past the largely boring story of his childhood. Liked the bit about how his friend evaluated song books.
- I've actually been to Village Karaoke, the place in New York he talks about in the first chapter.
- The author knows way too much about bad English karaoke videos. I wonder though if he's seen Japanese ones.
- It has Don't Stop Believin' in the title. Do I really need another reason?
Now if I had written this book, I think I would have called it Simple And Clean: How Karaoke Changed Convention Fandom And Overcame My Sanity. Or something like that. p.s. AX Contest Signups are coming this week! I leave it in the capable hands of catsonmars to announce on the AX Forums. | | Wednesday, May 27th, 2009 | | 1:30 pm |
| | Thursday, May 21st, 2009 | | 11:07 am |
Nostalgia
It's probably been years since I've stepped inside a video room at a convention, but I got an advanced look at Fanime's video schedule, and they are dedicating a full video room just for older "classic" titles. Among the offerings are titles such as Lupin, KOR, Macross, Space Adventure Cobra, Video Girl Ai, and (gasp) even Rose of Versailles and Legend of the Galactic Heroes (although they put the latter in a crappy time slot). There's also several titles from the "Age of just when anime was finally becoming popular here" such as Fushigi Yuugi, Lain, and Evangelion. All stuff I like, or liked. It's as if they went through the boxes of VHS fansub tapes I have in dusty storage somewhere and picked out a bunch of titles. Different generations of anime fans consider different titles to be their vision of "old school". If you're a newer fan, it might actually be Cowboy Bebop or Outlaw Star. If you're really an old time fan, it might be Cyborg 009 (the original 1968 version) or Kimba the White Lion. I'm sure one day, a not yet born generation of fans will look upon Bleach and Naruto with detached wonder, and think, "Wow, that's so old! My Dad used to wear those funny headbands!" Hope to see some of you at Fanime. We'll be in the usual location. | | Monday, May 4th, 2009 | | 11:23 am |
Fanime Contest signups-
We set a record for Fanime Karaoke contest signups- the 25 spots were snapped up in about 25 minutes last night. We'll still be taking 10 people at con as at-con signups. Assuming we are renewed for 2010, we'll definitely be expanding the Fanime contest. | | Wednesday, February 18th, 2009 | | 6:06 pm |
| | Saturday, February 7th, 2009 | | 12:36 am |
Historical Article On Anime Conventions
Most folks today consider Project A-kon to be the first anime convention in the US. While A-kon is the oldest convention that is still currently running (this year will be A-kon #20), there were at least three events before A-kon dedicated to anime. This insightful article takes us back to those events and interviews some of the original organizers. Highlights include: Dealers room diagrams drawn by hand! $3 registration! (or $5 for two days!) A program guide created with a typewriter! Read the original articleOkay, back to finishing the AOD schedule. | | Thursday, January 29th, 2009 | | 9:46 pm |
Had to take a moment to acknowledge this...
Heard that Kimono My House is closing down its physical store (but will continue as an online shop). KMH opened as an anime/japanese toy store in 1980, back before there were even anime conventions. That's how old school the place was. For those who remember anime before the age of eBay, Adult Swim, manga shelves at Borders, and convention dealer rooms, there was a distant memory when KMH was one of the few places outside of Japantown in my area to buy the latest anime stuff from Japan. And KMH got it straight from Japan- no middlemen, no Diamond Distributors. When you visited, you could ask them "hey what's new" and they'd tell you what they'd brought from their latest trip to Japan. Getting there was a quest not unlike what you'd find in an RPG. One had to brave the industrial backroads of Emeryville (near where the Ikea is now), navigate your way through blocks of unmarked non-descript buildings, find the right portal (sometimes marked by a white weather-beaten sign), and then finally climb several flights of creaky wooden stairs all the way to the summit. Only then, sojourn complete, did you now earn the right to buy the stuff there. In many ways, that trip was representative of what one had to do in those days to do anything anime-related, whether it be acquiring tapes to watch or finding a club, but that's another topic for another post. I spent many a dollar there- they liked the same kinds of shows I did, so we got along well. For those of you who've seen my Harlock t-shirt and skull-and-crossbone pin that I still wear to cons today, that's where I got 'em. Many of the items there were special enough that I still have not seen them available anywhere else. Nikaku had a better selection of posters and videos/DVDs but KMH was great for just about everything else. They used to sell at Fanime Con also, but iirc seemed to have faded from the convention scene just as Sailor Moon hit the airwaves, remaining an enduring but distant icon of the early days of local anime fandom. Mabye I'll pay them one more visit in tribute, and raise a glass of red wine to them. | | Friday, January 9th, 2009 | | 2:01 am |
| | Tuesday, December 23rd, 2008 | | 2:03 pm |
| | Sunday, December 21st, 2008 | | 12:10 am |
| | Monday, December 8th, 2008 | | 3:39 pm |
Fanime 2009
We've been officially "renewed" for Fanime '09. We'll be doing the open mic and contest as usual, as well as reprising the Gong Show. | | Saturday, October 25th, 2008 | | 2:22 pm |
Interesting Article On Cosplay In The Olden Days
Just about all of this was well before my time (I'm old but not that old) but it was very interesting nonetheless just to see how far back cosplay (and anime fandom) goes in the States. It really puts things into perspective considering that some folks nowadays consider the late 1990s/early 2000s to be "old school". Would make a good documentary program. Cosplay That Time Forgot | | Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008 | | 3:53 am |
| | Thursday, July 31st, 2008 | | 9:29 pm |
Naruto Invades The Corporate World
Silly Corporate ProfilesBy the way, if you haven't heard of it yet, Kayak is actually pretty neat for finding travel fares. It searches 100+ travel sites as well as the airline sites (except for Southwest, of course). Ironically enough, I heard about Kayak from a co-worker who just left to go there. | | Tuesday, July 8th, 2008 | | 11:15 am |
| | Monday, July 7th, 2008 | | 11:17 pm |
| | Sunday, June 22nd, 2008 | | 4:40 pm |
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