Will the Vocaloids outnumber the Narutards?

One can hope.

The Wichita anime festival moved to a venue within easy bicycle distance this year. I’ll probably spend most of the weekend there with my camera.

Here’s the first batch of snapshots.

Continue reading “Will the Vocaloids outnumber the Narutards?”

More claret

The rains have stopped for the moment, and my Echinocereus triglochidiatus finally opened. The grey blotches on the epidermis are due to the workers who painted the house last year, who painted the cacti, too.

Blossom gazing

Cherry trees bloom in Wichita as well as Japan. The one above is the variety “Kwanzan,” which has large double flowers, not the single blossoms that constantly turn up in anime. It’s not as elegant, perhaps, but it is very eye-catching.

Given the frequency with which cherry blossoms occur in anime, one would assume that the trees are in bloom half the year. I doubt that’s the case.

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Astro says, “BTW your top ten is flawed because it doesn’t include AzuManga’s Yukari. Probably because she’s the best anime babe ever, and you were just trying to make it competitive. *astro shakes his tiny fist*”

Nobody mentioned her when nominations were open. I plan to start the third and last of the preliminary rounds of the Who’s the Babe? this weekend. Should I add Yukari to the candidates? And while I’m at it, should I also add Motoko Kusanagi from Ghost in the Shell, another possibility whom nobody nominated and I forgot about?

Update: the nays have it.

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Bonus nonsense: Subtitles — They’re not just for anime. (Via Dustbury.)

Fall, winter, spring, winter, winter, winter …

I’ve lived in Wichita for the better part of my life, and I still don’t know what normal Kansas weather is. Does this look like spring to you?

That’s the view from my front porch this afternoon. Aside from a few patches of green at ground level, it looks like February, not April.

There are more hard freezes predicted for tonight and tomorrow. I wonder if this will be another year without lilacs. Here are pictures of the last few daffodils. They most likely will be gone Tuesday.

Continue reading “Fall, winter, spring, winter, winter, winter …”