Category: Miscellaneous

NYCC 2013 Day 1

Let’s see… a very early but extremely pleasant train was followed by a bit of shopping in NYC. Notably, I think I purchased the last ever volume (#30) of Guyver at Kino. End of an era, etc.

It was chilly although the forecast rain did not appear. I was being ‘that guy’ in shorts and when it came time for lunch I positively inhaled my chicken soup:

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The con started at 3, but our VIP tickets meant we could skip lines, so we didn’t head down until just prior. A bit later someone would tell me the lines to get in for the normal tickets were 4+ hours… and it’s still only Thursday!

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We were already a bit tired by now (4 hours of NYC shopping…) and the first day of this con is always overwhelming because of how big it is. So we wandered, and probably didn’t come close to really seeing most of it.

I played the new Zelda game on a 2DS (which is very comfortable to hold):

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I posed with a crazy (and heavy!) Monster Hunter sword:

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And a pretty girl (she made her own costume!):

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I bought a bunch of stuff; some for me, some for you. Including one of the new blind box vinyl doctor figures:

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Of course I wanted Pertwee. I got Tenant.

Here’s Artists Alley, which still had quite a few empty tables (again, Thursday):

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And here’s the autographing area, which is unused until tomorrow. I’ll upload another shot of this place in a day or two:

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As I mentioned on twitter, we went to the Kotobukiya panel which was great, and then they handed out via a raffle well over $1k in prizes, and then also gave every person that attended a $14 set of Star Wars chopsticks! Lots of smiles in that room πŸ™‚

It was dark when we walked back. Here’s our hotel with the Empire State Building in the distance:

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Tomorrow we’ll spend the entire day at the Con. It promises to be a spectacle πŸ™‚

Home Improvement

This post is a bit delayed… but a couple of weeks ago we upgraded our TV, and mode of sitting to watch it!

Here’s the old recliner, that most of you have at some point sat in:

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This guy kept us comfortable for over ten years, but had gotten a bit long in the tooth and the mechanism had broken in at least one place. We probably should have replaced it long ago but… it was still comfortable.

At any rate we finally got around to replacing it with…

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…an updated newer model! The biggest change is no leather. Word of advice: if you live where it gets cold in winter, avoid leather couches!

The new guy is stupid comfy and reclines even better and we love it to death. Which is good since we have a good reason to sit on it, a new TV!

Here’s the old guy:

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It’s almost 8 years old now and still very good but lacking certain features (such as 1080p) that are standard today. At 39″ it was also a bit small, even though it was massive when we bought it.

So we replaced it with this:

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It’s a 55″ smart TV with 3D as well. It’s gorgeous, and we’re already spoiled with the picture. Now this we definitely should have done sooner!

Incidentally that dude on the screen is Jensen Ackles playing Dean in Supernatural. We’ve been marathoning all the seasons recently since KLS acquired the Blu-Ray box set. We watch 2-4 episodes a night, and are about 120 down, 40 or 50 to go πŸ™‚

For Your Eyes Only

Operation ‘First Fleet’ is confirmed.

Operatives ‘Slim Dusty’ and ‘Banjo Patterson’ will disembark at Mascot in 81 days. Though their transports will be different, they have synchronized their schedules to arrive near simultaneously. While their identities are a closely kept secret, here are artists sketches (SD on the left):

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Shortly after arrival they will rendezvous with their local contact, ‘Henry Lawson’, who will provide a safe house from which the operation will be carried out. Lawson’s current appearance is uncomfirmed, but he is believed to have not changed much since this photograph was taken:

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The operation will last for roughly three weeks, and the principle mission objectives are:

– Interact with locals, especially those working as vendors in fast-food restaurants
– Determine via personal experimentation the sugar content of local sweets and toroidal baked cakes
– Carry out rigorous experiments to estimate payout percentages of local lottery tickets and gambling machines
– While not performing the above, activate ‘profligate wastrel’ disguises to keep mission objectives secret

Operatives will regularly report on progress via this or a similar channel. Stay tuned…