Sunday afternoon wNoodle lent me the first set of Naruto anime episodes. For almost a year now both him and Marmalade Girl have been raving over the show, mostly to my blank expressions of confusion. But I decided to sit down Sunday night and check out what all the hub-bub is about.

I proceeded to watch the entire 3 DVD set in under 24 hours.

Oh boy … someone get me a kunai and a metal plate headband, stat!

I regret not buying this poster when I saw it at the convention.

Such a beautiful design, but how would I ever carry the thing in that sea of cosplay humanity? Not even the best poster in the world looks good when it’s all wrinkled and bent.

I spent last weekend at the Canadian National Comic/Science Fiction/Horror/Anime/Gaming Expo with the usual solid cast of friends. Much geekery was had on Saturday and Sunday, leaving me wiped out come Monday’s 5:00AM wake-up call for my morning shift at work. Oy.

The cosplay was in full effect, with all aspects of the mixed con being represented. Of course the Anime fans made up the majority of them, but there were a few stand-outs. The Dalek was impressive, as was the remote control R2-D2 running about (although note to the owner of that thing: standing two feet away from R2 with a huge remote control kind of kills the illusion there buck-o). I swear the Listerine Man was walking about and the “zz zz/!” guard from Metal Gear was quite amusing. And then there was skinny little Nancy Callahan, probably one or two years younger then the actual character … there’s wrong and there’s wrong and then there’s this!

I saw many a celebrity, most of whom wNoodle has done a very good job of listing. Also ran into my old friend Tyrone, author and artist of Corduroy High fame. I also attended a couple of “Voice Acting 101″ sessions which were each informative in their own way. Perhaps I should give up the illustrious field of IT and Software development for my chance at being Pikachu’s voice … an interesting though indeed.

I sadly do not have that many pictures to show you. This is only my 2nd con so I’m still working up the courage to whip out that camera and take pictures of complete strangers in costumes. I also have very little to show in the merch department … which is probably a good thing since a lot of the stuff I wanted was quite expensive. Looking forward to next year’s Expo and that madness that comes along with it.

I don’t know how I missed this but get yourself a copy of Google Earth. I wasted at least one hour at work yesterday spinning the 3D globe around, flying from location to location.

Be sure to activate the “Buildings” feature when you’re in a major American city. Pretty spiffy don’t you think?

If the idea of a “Pimp my Case” television show excites you, check out the story behind this Case Mod here. At work my version of this mod is having a Bender Wind-up standing ontop of my PC. I am so hardcore.

• Any of the t-shirts worn by Jayne on Firefly. I’ve seen the Blue Sun Shirts, but I would prefer some of the more interesting graphics instead.
• The flying daggers from House of the Flying Daggers. I’ve found 99 movie replicas but these bitches ain’t one. I saw the movie recently and I am obsessed.

More to come as I think of them. Anyone have any suggestions?

I do love this shirt from Threadless.com. Very Battle Royale-esque don’t you think?

And no it is not because of all the pictures of cute girls with guns wearing the shirt. Sheesh … I reserve that sort of fanboy-dom for cute guitar playing pop stars thankyouverymuch.

I have four (4) tickets to the upcoming Franz Ferdinand show in Toronto. The concert takes place Tuesday, October 18th at the Rioch Center. The seats are in Section 116, Row FF which puts them somewhere on the first few rows off the stage in the back of the arena, stage left.

You can have all four (4) at cost, but could be tempted to sell them just at face value minus the ridiculous service fees I had to pay Ticket master. I’m also willing to break them up into pairs of two (2) if need be.

Leave a comment or send me an e-mail if you’re interested. From personal experience I can say that FF puts on an amazing live show. Oooh, TV on the Radio and Cut Copy will be opening for them as well! Get these tickets while they’re hot!

A big congratulations goes out to my cousin Anna-Gail and her new husband Harris. After six years together its nice to see them finally get married … however being that they’re my age this sets a very scary precedent in my family. Time to fend off the “when is your turn” questions from my aunts.

Another big congratulations goes out to them for making the greatest entrance to a wedding reception I had ever seen! Picture a good sized banquet hall full of guests ready to celebrate a new marriage. The MC begins to announce the bridal party. Each couple heads to the main table, doing a little dance to the R&B music playing as they cross the dance floor. Finally the MC announces the happy couple and all eyes are glued on the doors where the rest of the party had entered.

The DJ starts to play “Yeah” by Usher. Suddenly the curtains in front of a window near the front of the hall start to raise up. As they clear the window the crowd cheers as a white stretched limo pulls into the banquet hall. Cameras are flashing, the kids are cheering, the driver leans playfully on the horn a few times but we all know where the center of attention is. Just like movie stars the bride and groom emerge from the back of the car, and head straight to the middle of the mist covered dance floor to dance beneath a light shower of bubbles.

I feel sorry for the cousin who decides to get married next. How the heck are we supposed to top that?!

Function dictates the need for a larger bag. Something I can carry my lunch in on top of the books and other knick knacks I’ll need during a workday.

Fashion dictates a shoulder or messenger bag. Baby I was sporting these things well before they were in.

Familiarity dictates the need for a yakpak bag, preferably this one. My current bag comes from them and I love it to death. Their lifetime warranties and exchange policy also helps season the pot.

Finance dictates the extra $35 dollars for shipping/handling/cross border fees is way too much. *le sigh*

Futility dictates I look locally for a new bag.