Hour of Gold, Hour of Lead
Posted on April 26th, 2006
Filed under: Music News — Karl Olson @ 3:10 am
So, the BCC student newspaper, the Jibsheet, ran a review of Revision4920, a surprisingly glowing review at that, though it’s not the first time I have recieved ink from them, and I suppose it’s the result of people expecting nothing, thus making any achievement seem interesting by comparison. I mean, I listened to an NPR review of Ghostface Killah’s lauded new CD, Fishscale, and the few clips interspersed with the over-intellectualized-though-accurate review are amazing. I might have to get that disc just for the Spongebob Squarepants references, the outstanding production and the raw acuity in the vocal delivery. Anyway, the fellow from the newspaper really dug my CD, and even enjoyed the remixes. Pretty cool deal on the whole, right? It even gets me thinking I could send the CD out to some local newspapers. Maybe Seattle Weekly or something. Just bundle it with a press packet and go.
Meanwhile, I get out of class and their is wrecked car sorta behind my car, partially parking me in but not completely. I try to pull out, but I graze the car to the left of me. I pull back into the park spot, stop, check the damage, freak out, get back in the car, re-adjust the steering and pull out cleanly, and then I’m weighing my options as to what to do next. Do I just leave? No, that’d be a really punk move, and having had my own tail light smashed-in w/o a note by some anonymous nare-do-well, I really grasped what a horrid and mean move that’d be. However, waiting for the person to comeback wasn’t necessarily feasible either, as I had no ETA on the owner of the vehicle I scraped. I check again to see how bad it is. Maybe paint will just rub off? No. It’s not damaged beyond paint rubbing off on the other vehicle, but that paint is definitely on there and it’s not easily removed. It’s not body damage, but still, it’s not easily remedied. I really screwed up. I decide after calling home to leave a note with my contact info, but even that left me feeling like an idiot and a total jerk. I probably should have just left my car at BCC and taken a bus rather than trying to get out.
Basically, any endorphin boost I might have received from that positive review was more than shattered by my own incompetence and ego. Very icarian I guess. If a claim is filed and my rates are bumped, I think I’ll cancel my trips (AX/Comicon and Comiket/Korea) this summer. I can’t justify those trips if my folks are suddenly stuck an extra 1000 bucks a year on insurance. It’d terrible of me to go to LA, San Diego, Tokyo and Korea after forcing the insurance rates up via pure idiocy, especially since my parents are already so nice to me.
I mean, it’s already looking anything beyond AX is out between my budget and my lacking a place to stay in LA for 5 days after AX, and I really hate that fly-in-fly-out stuff. I mean, I guess I have to do AX for Toon Zone cause they need the extra people (maybe Jim should just go for me, I can get him the credentials) but if I do, and the claim is filed, I’m not taking any extra spending money or anything. Just the most barebones, minimal essentials for food (and no eating out – I’ll hit a grocery store for a bag of generic cereal, some cheap bread, a jar of cheap peanut butter and a few gallons of distilled water to which I can add some gatorade mix,) shelter (hotel cost) and airfare (I should look into online deals now if I’m going to do this before the fuel cost makes airfare stupid expensive.)
I guess on the plus side, I’ll be around this summer if everything does fall through. No chance of missing out on the nerdcore documentary interview nor PAX that way.
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What is this, some kind of photoblog?
Posted on April 20th, 2006
Filed under: Pictures,Videos — Karl Olson @ 2:05 am
Of course, all pictures are courtesy of Jim from Anime Kingdom, and for those who don’t know, the girl in the blond wig is Rai, and the girl with bat wings is Lucy. One last piece of exposition: Photobucket flipped the order of the pictures, so we’re going reverse chronologically here.
And of course, we need a gratuitous movie clip with silly audio.
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Am I earning street cred or selling out with this post? Read and decide!
Posted on April 9th, 2006
Filed under: General — Karl Olson @ 2:30 am
So today (ok, Saturday,) with the aid of Lucy and Rai from Anime Kingdom, I dressed up all EGL (with the top hat from the pic below and more) as did Lucy and Rai, and Jim from AK was in toe shooting off (literally) hundreds of photos. The intent was to attend this gathering of folks who went by the name of the Seattle Glitterati Club, but since we were less interested in eating and chatting, and more interested in shooting pictures and such, we split off after only briefly saying hello to them and as they made their from a cafe to a place with food. At that point, we hit a bunch of store around Capital Hill, and then we all posed for pictures in the park, yielding a lot of very cool shots (expect a new and intentionally misleading myspace picture, just because I can and I’m silly.) Then, we decided that since are all totally lame otaku (and freezing,) we’d hit Kinokuniya/Uwajimaya for manga and eats. We go into Kino, and while I’m browsing the manga with Lucy and Rai, this dude comes up to us and hands us each a flyer for Club Noc Noc, a goth club downtown (well, they have other nights with other music but that’s not important,) because we are apparently dressed appropriately and thus must be down with that whole entire scene. Of course, jokes on him because, I’ve never dressed like that before, and thus is about as into that scene as I’m into recreational septic system maintenance (IE: not at all – well, ok I’ve listened to Industrial and EBM, and I can usually tell the difference, but that’s electronica nerd side showing,) and Rai and Lucy are 19 and 17 respectively, and thus couldn’t get into this 21+ goth club anyway.
Now for the it’s a small world twist – two weeks ago I’m hitting SakuraCon, and around about midnight between saturday and sunday, I start feeling hungry and thirsty, and I don’t want to pay the rip off prices charged at the soda machine in the convention center. So myself, a few friends from BCC (IIRC, Grace, Misu and Blake) and one of my friends from Toon Zone (Pepperidge aka Jesse) decide to strike out and find a convenience store that’s still open. With the aid a homeless fellow who gave us directions and then asked for change (great move, because he got it,) we found a convenience store that was still open. Oddly enough, it was right across the street from Club Noc Noc.
And that sort of begs an odd question, because there was a line to get into that club when I walked by it two weeks ago. Why would a guy be plugging a club that’s already so chic you can’t even get into it at 12:30am in the morning?
Anyway, back on topic, after eating at Uwajimaya (mmm.. metro mint water,) we hit Gossip for some good bubble tea (I had strawberry,) and on our way out of Gossip, we ran into this very nice lady wearing a kimono who Rai conversed with for a bit in Japanese (I should really take a course in that someday) and then Jim snapped pictures of us with. She was really supportive of our style (though I’m sort of loathed or atleast ambivalent on calling it my style cause it was more acquired than created by me I think.) And now I’m tired. Of course, it’s after 2am, so I suppose have an excuse outside of being on my feet for the better part of 4 hours. After all, I was on my feet for more time than that during SakuraCon (otoh, I’m still recovering from SakuraCon.)
Meanwhile, pics will be forth coming (even if it’s just another lo-rez flickr gallery,) and at Rai’s behest I’ll be turning out all EGL at Anime Kingdom this Friday barring something unexpected. By the way, Rai says it’s EGL, but I’m not as sure, so don’t take my word for it – come see it (because I won’t have the pictures up before friday.)
PS: It was not crossplay EGL. I won’t inflict that on the world unless someone is paying me, as John Ledford from ADV once aptly put it, “drunken pirate money,” IE: millions of dollars.
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There’s More Of This Coming Soon
Posted on April 8th, 2006
Filed under: Pictures — Karl Olson @ 12:19 am
Coming Soon: Tony n’ Karl, only on 4kidsTV!
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Yes, More SakuraCon Photos
Posted on March 31st, 2006
Filed under: Pictures — Karl Olson @ 4:00 am
Though this set is composed of a fraction of Jim’s shots.
The shots were too good, and so I had to jump the gun. Besides, sooner it’s up, the sooner they can be attached to my write up for Toon Zone.
Everything to the Pirate vs. Ninjas battle to what if Iron Chef Sekai was a young woman is resolved in the pictures linked there. Also, we see the Dee Dees from Batman Beyond singing the OP theme to Excel Saga, Mini Stun-Gun Millie, a VA in cosplay, the Ultimate Battle Between FMA and Bleach, A Guilty Gear Massacre and the Fantametal Alchemist team.
You heard right, Fantana cosplayers who happen to be with a pair of state alchemists. Fandom, you never cease to amaze and disturb me with your wicked sense of humor.
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More SakuraCon Photos!?
Posted on March 30th, 2006
Filed under: Pictures — Karl Olson @ 2:27 pm
Well, atleast these are the good photos out of the stuff I shot:
Karl’s Flickr SakuraCon 2006 Gallery
I’ll probably talk to Jim from AK on Friday about making a temp Flickr for the stuff he shot, because he shot more, and the shots are of a higher quality. Thus, they should be seen.
By the way, if you are one of the people in those photos, and you’d like your name in the description or tag, email me or leave a comment with the pertinent info and it shall be added. If you’re not one of the people I know in real life or someone whose name I actually learned at the con (so basically, if you’re not the Haruko cosplayer or one of the Dark Horse reps,) link me to or email to me a photo of yourself in plain clothes so that I that I know who you say you are. Weird set of rules? Probably. But I’d rather not have people claiming they are some cosplayer they aren’t. That’s not cool.
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Likely the first of many photos.
Posted on March 28th, 2006
Filed under: Pictures — Karl Olson @ 7:42 pm
Courtesy of Jim “Cosplay Hunter” Betts.
Making Ends
Making Friends
Courtesy of Me:
Me and Hideyuki Kurata, creator of Read Or Die. He thinks I look like Napoleon Dynamite.
Me and Jessica Boone, best known for being the dub voice of Chiyo-chan.
Seriously, there were probably be more. I’m pretty sure there was a camera on me when I started freestyling over the drummachine and guitar duo that was wondering about. Keep an eye out on Google Video and YouTube.
PS: I was right there when Tycho went to buy Harry Potter Slash Doujinshi for his wife. A weird experience, but interesting nonetheless.
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Country roads take me home to the place where I belong.
Posted on March 12th, 2006
Filed under: Reviews — Karl Olson @ 3:12 am
So, I recently acquired the latest wave of Ghibli films on DVD, namely My Neighbor Totoro, Howl’s Moving Castle and Whisper of the Heart. Howl I caught in the theater, so I’m not hot to watch it right away, but I did watch Totoro and Whisper saturday night. Totoro was quite a fun family film, and undoubtly the best film to introduce kids to Ghibli (and animation in general even,) but it’s definitely an upbeat, straightforward family picture.
Whisper, on the other hand, really connected with me in ways I’m not even sure I can properly describe. The characters in that film, particularly Shizuku and Seiji, resonate really solidly with me. I can completely understand the mindset that drives them, that holds them back, that gives pause to doubt themselves, that makes cry and that makes them smile. This is not only as a creative person striving to hone craft like the characters I mentioned, but also as a person who has been through that feeling of having to better oneself for the sake of another. Further still, the musical elements of the film hit me on multiple levels, and the advice Nishi gave to Shizuka hit me in the same way. The overall ability of the film to wordlessly capture both mono no aware (the pathos of things) and the genuine connections that can form between human beings was simply stunning. Unless Only Yesterday manages to ring even more exactingly with me, Whisper of the Heart is probably my favorite Ghibli film ever.
“Country Road, tomorrow, I’ll be the same, you know
I want to go home but I can’t, farewell, Country Road.”
-from the Japanese lyrics of Country Road.
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Eventually, this site will have hours of music.
Posted on February 27th, 2006
Filed under: Music News — Karl Olson @ 11:20 pm
For now, my back-catalog repository (which may end up growing to into something more at some point in the very distant future,) Nekodashi.com only hosts one measly CD (revision 4920,) albeit in a better quality of mp3 than I could host on the limited account I have this site on. Eventually, the rest of my back-catalog (which will be broken down by album when possible) will be up there. At point, I might end up radically tweaking things here or there for greater integration, but for now it works. By not using a ready made blog system at nekodashi, I’m getting a lot more experience with php, and at somepoint, I’ll probably either change that or I’ll build a program that allows me to automatically generate pages, but for now, it’s keeping me sharp.
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Documentary’d and stuff.
Posted on February 25th, 2006
Filed under: Music News — Karl Olson @ 3:53 am
Yeah, I’m going to be in this, and I am excited about it. I hope the camera man doesn’t get stuck filming me in boring panels all day when it comes to the convention though (actually, I like panels, I just doubt me asking questions of a rep makes for great footage.) Granted, the whole idea of being press being filmed is sorta weird. It’d be like someone making documentary about a war reporter, thus having a camera filming as scene being filmed. Very recursive or Escher-esque I suppose.
Hopefully, my second CD is actually done by the time the director flies out to shoot interviews and such because that would be a nice little boost to my over all perception of being a nerdcore artist to have more than just one CD. It shows a commitment to the genre in my opinion.
Meanwhile, I hung out at AK, went with a group of those folks for food at Crossroads, then capped that at Denny’s with the BCC crew. Very fun stuff. I mean, Chicken Teriyaki, Peppermint Earl Grey Tea, Smothered Fries and Hot Cocoa, all with a side of great friends? That’s a lovely evening, even if it freezing outside. All in all, I think I could get used to this kind of social interlude. Really unwinds me for the weekend, allowing me to attend to other things because I’ve gotten my destressing from the week’s worries. Certainly did today…
…Well, atleast until I heard news of 4kids getting Pretty Cure, compounded by the CEO of 4kids repeatedly saying at an anime con “kids don’t read,” apparently ignorant of that whole Harry Potter thing, apparently ignorant of the success of manga, even in the target demographic he’s after. There goes my leisure because I’m going to have to camp the Toon Zone Anime Forum this weekend to put out fires. I guess that’s balance for ya.