Conooga Convention 2013

(Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel, TN)

 
Valentine's day is over and spring is just around the corner, you may be experience a slight withdraw from the sunny day's of seasons past and wonder if you will ever live to see another Con. But wait, you can still get your Con on March 2nd through the 3rd ! Just check out Conooga in Chatanooga Tennesse! I'ts a first ever event and will prove to be an exciting Con Destination to add to your list! Conooga will feature Fantastic guest form many different entertainment venues and an awesome after party!

"CON NOOGA is Chattanooga's first and only Multi-Fandom (Multiple Genre) Convention covering everything from Celebrities, Artists, Authors, Film Makers, Sci-Fi, Horror, Fantasy, Anime, Comics, Paranormal, Haunting, Costuming, Concerts, Shows, Contests, Gaming, Console Gaming, Seminars, Workshops, Families, and Fun.  Not to mention the numerous DEALERS, and EXHIBITORS in our 40,000 Square Foot Exhibitor Hall.  Over 100+ Special Guests, dealers and fan groups help to make Con Nooga complete.  Enjoy 3 Days of Programming, Seminars, Workshops, Concerts, Acts, and Fun based upon numerous genres and fandom.  " http://www.connooga.com/

Guest :

Temuera Johnson (Star Wars' Jango Fett)

Daniel Logan (Star Wars' Young Boba Fett)

Savanna Wehunt (Walking Dead Zombie)

Larry Mainland (Walking Dead Zombie)

Sonya Thompson (Walking Dead Zombie)

John Russo (Writer "The Night of the living Dead)

Georg Kosana (Sheriff" The Night of the Living Dead)

And many More!

Don't worry if ya can't make J84 will cover the event and post the highlights afterward.
Later Days,
DJ

We Are Criminals, Always Have Been - Batman

The Dark Knight Returns Part II is based strongly on Frank Miller's comic series from 1984 . It continues from part I of the series where Batman comes out of retirement to take out "Two Face" , adopts a female "Robin" and brings down a mutant gang.

Things seem to have gone from bad to worse in Gotham and the rest of the DC world as well. The gangs in Gotham have began a vigilante rampage in Batman's name while a new commissioner steps up to take Gordan's place and the Joker massacres Gotham citizens at a local carnival . Batman is blamed for all the events taken place and is called to surrender him self to authorities. Mean while the Us battles with Russia threatening a full out nuclear war. The only one (it seems) left to pick up the slack is Superman who apparently has a very patriotic view of his duty's and take orders from the government to help fight in the war against Russian and to take down Batman.Of course Batman would never go down with out a fight so there is a huge battle with Superman.

This one is a must have, its got all the goodies you love with a dark,bloody Anime style and epic DC Character confrontations all rolled into one.There was not enough dialogue in the move, Warner Bros Animation did pack allot of story in the second part, Id like to have seen it draw out in to a third movie.

Oliver Queen (Green Arrow) also has a brief role in the story as well ,but again, "I would have liked a bit more elaboration on that part of the story, how did he lose his arm, what happened that was so tragic in the JLA, when did superman become a military tool? I guess I'll have to brush up on some old DC comics to find out!


Later days, DJ

Nashville Anime Day or Bust

Bust!

I got an early start this morning and headed out of Knoxville,TN to Murfreesboro, TN to the Anime Day convention at the Clarion Inn Hotel. I grabbed my camera, checked the weather, made all the preparations for the 4 hour drive. I stopped by a gas station and filled the tank and grabbed some breakfast at Hardee's to eat on the way. I  headed down the Highway and notice a few flurries but didn't think anything of it .
In a matter of seconds, the roads were covered with snow! Unfortunately I had to end my adventure moments after it started .

I hope everyone who made it to Anime Day Nashville has a great time . Drive carefully!

Later Days,
DJ

Anime Con 2013!

J84 will also be attending these cons soon:

Con Nooga

March 1st -3rd  2013

Chatanooga Choo Choo Hotel

NashiCon 2013

April 13-14, 2013

Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center 

Columbia, South Carolina

JabeCon 2013

May 25th 2013

Lebanon, TN 

Akai Con 

October 11th - 13th

 Murphfreesboro, TN

Meri Kurisumasu メリークリスマス

"In recent years, thanks to the marketing prowess of the folks at Kentucky Fried Chicken, the Christmas Chicken Dinner has become quite popular. Many Japanese even make reservations for their "Christmas Chicken" ahead of time. People line up at their outlets to pick up their orders. As a result of KFC's brilliant advertising campaign, most Japanese now believe that Westerners celebrate Christmas with a chicken dinner instead of the more common ham or turkey."

"The Japanese celebrate Christmas Eve by eating a 'Christmas Cake' which the father of the family purchases on his way home from work (or his wife does in the case where he has to work on Christmas Eve). Stores all over carry versions of this Christmas cake and drop the price of it drastically on December 25th in order to sell everything out by the 26th. This has resulted in a rather interesting expression in which young girls are referred to as a 'Christmas cakes': marriageable until their 25th birthday and requiring heavy discounts to get married after their 25th birthdays."

 "The Christmas season comes during the month of the year-end parties. Company groups, hobby groups, sports groups, etc. often book a section of a restaurant to have drinking parties, known as 'bonenkai' [forget the old year parties]. This phenomena leads to streets, subways, and trains full of people in varied states of intoxication during this season.
Christmas lighting and displays are often up at the end of October and this year many stores have displays featuring Teddy Bears. There is also a trend developing for make-it-yourself presents.
The New Year's holidays, which constitute the main holiday season for the Japanese, come closer to the American-European idea of assembling family and friends. Christmas seems to be closer to the Western concept of St.Valentine's Day. "

 Excerpt from:
 http://tanutech.com/japan/jxmas.html

Three new shows have been added to the new Toonami line up. That makes a huge line up of all the best anime and cartoons out there. 13 different shows run from 9:00 pm to 5:30am starting every Saturday night!

New on the List:

Tenchi Muyo! GXP

A very clumsy high school student Seina Yamata lives with his parent in japan , while taking a bike ride he encounters a space ship crashing into a lake that knocks him out. He awakens to find the pilot of the ship and ends up (unfortunately) signing up for the Galaxy Police .

Sym-Bionic Titan

Sym-Bionic Titan is a new cartoon about two teenagers  facing your typical high school issues .....oh yeah they also happen to be able to form into a giant robot to fight aliens. Lots of martial arts and fighting , reminiscent of Samurai Jack  characters.

Thunder Cats

Thunder Thunder Thun.....hack...hair ball.....This version of the thunder cat has some amazing art, the characters are re imagined and look great while holding very true to the classic version. The story line is basically the same with a few minor adjustments on the story and some elaboration on how things came to be the way they are in Thundera.

Toonami has knock this one out of the park! Now ....I just have figure out how to stay awake till 5:30am!

PEELANDER-Z

Wow, my good friend Kim sent me some awsome shots of  PEELANDER-Z, the Japanese Action Comic Punk Band, performing at the Cider House in Knoxville, TN. Thanks Kim!

"At its live shows, Peelander–Z guarantees intense audience participation and a chance to exercise. You’ll see the band in colorful costumes reminiscent of Japanese anime, though they describe their outfits as their skin. You’ll also see The Red Squid, human bowling and all around insanity. A Peelander–Z performance is a rare occasion for the entire family to rock out and have a great time."http://peelander-z.com