Mystery Contest Winner!

We've got a winner in the mystery contest! ^_^ The mystery character is...

Fakir from Princess Tutu! Kolibri was the first to send in the correct answer, so she's won a $15 Amazon Gift Certificate. (She's also a fellow blogger! You can see her blog here.)

I'll try to write up a profile explaining a little bit more about Fakir and the anime he's from. If you've been reading from the beginning...you've probably noticed I'm a fan of the show. And Fakir's my favorite character...so...yeah, that's why I decided to play him in the RPG. (He's a pretty difficult character to play, though..)

Anyway...congratulations Kolibri! I hope everyone had fun with the contest!

The American Anime Awards

Hey all,

I'm still not completely better (and I still don't know what's wrong with my head...but it's not a blood clot, CAT scan came back negative), but I wanted to at least do a post on the American Anime Awards.

I wanted to get this up last night, but...Blogger wouldn't let me sign on again. ^^;; Anyway...it's a minute-by-minute reaction to the live stream of the American Anime Awards. I typed this out as I watched it...and I haven't edited it..at all. Raw! Uncut! Wow!!

I've heard you can still see the recording if you go to the website: http://tv.ign.com/animeawards2007/

7:15pm -- Appears to be starting soon. I'm getting tired of the jazz music. I guess that's so it appears 'classy'? Seems like they're going to have some Taiko drums starting soon...

7:19pm -- Ahh, finally starting. Oh, it's not just taiko drums, it's a whole group of traditional Japanese instruments, looks like.
I wonder if they're going to do like the typical TV Awards show does, where they'll zoom in on, say, Crispin Freeman laughing at a joke because..."Hey! Look! It's a celebrity!"
Actually, I wouldn't mind if they did. I want to see Chris Patton in the crowd.

7:21pm -- Ah. Here's the drums. I was starting to wonder if it would just be the flutist. I wish my volume would go up louder so I could hear it better.

7:30pm -- more setting up of stuff. I wonder if the Academy Awards have pauses in the middle like this?

7:33pm -- Oh. Luci and Hiliary's dresses are actually quite nice! I wasn't sure when I heard the gal from Next Top Designer or something would be doing the dresses...I was worried they'd do something too...crazy.

7:43pm -- Furuba and FMA won! Yay! Greg Aryes didn't win for best comedy. ;_; Disappointing...I haven't really watched Zatch Bell enough to know if Dave Wittenberg would've gotten my vote...

7:44pm -- ...And Debi "Derryberry" (...they spelled her name wrong, I think) won for Zatch Bell. ...Really? Not Hilary Haag? Or Luci Christian? ...Toonami fans?

7:45pm -- Whoa. Jessica Boone's dress is..pretty...wow. XD Well, just as much as Kraehe, I suppose.

7:48pm -- Rewrite won for best theme. I can't be too surprised...FMA stands to sweep the awards.

7:49pm -- "If you were nominated you're still a winner." And then shelley Calleen-Black makes a (probably scripted) crack about it. Yeah. Poor Chris Patton. ;_;

7:50pm -- Advent Children won for best movie. ...Not my choice but...at least it was something that came out this year! XD

7:52pm -- Project Runway. Not Next Top Designer. Hahahaha. Anyway, the dresses seem to work pretty well, regardless. Best Package Design, now....the winner is...Fullmetal Alchemist! I would've gone with Hellsing Ultimate, but FMA has some nice package design, too.

7:55pm -- Okay, I like Guyver. XD That's a pretty cool presenter...is it just me, or are all of the comedies but one...not from this year?
Ahh, FLCL won best comedy. Not from this year...but still a great series.

7:59pm -- The voice of Speed Racer is getting a special achievement award. Considering how many people were introduced to anime by Speed Racer, it's not undeserved.

8:03pm -- Good point about the actresses 'reinventing the roles and making it their own'. I hope Luci gets the award....come oooon...Mary Elizabeth. Okay, that's not too bad. I'd rather Luci get it, but...I wasn't expecting Luci to win since poor Chris Patton didn't even get in the finalists. I'm just glad she got in the finalists! And that was a great choice.

8:05pm -- GREG AYRES. Nice hair, dude. XD Awww, I'm so sad he didn't win...okay, Best Actor time. Come on, Vic! VIC MIGNOGNA!! Aww, how sweet! He was crying. XD How sweet! Go Vic, we're proud of you!!! He thanked God and the fans (giving a shout out to the Risembool Rangers, his fanclub). How sweet! I scared my mother for scream-cheering when he won. XD

8:10pm -- FLCL got best short series. I dunno if I would've picked that, but it IS a great series.

8:13pm -- Best long series...is....Fullmetal Alchemist! YAY! Was that lady in the audience just a random Japanese lady...or Hiromu Arakawa?

8:15pm -- Show's over...that was short...but well worth it...just to see poor Vic cry. XD Gosh, I could just give him a big hug.


So, anyway, my reactions a day later? Happy for Vic. Love Greg's hair. Surprised by Zatch Bell. Everything else was kinda 'meh', but...that's because I'm not a HUGE shounen fan, so oh well.

Also...MORE HINTS. Because I'm still going to do the contest. >>;;; Please guess. Before I start making readers with spoons to guess. XD Remember, you can guess as many times as you want, so send me your guesses at HaleySings@yahoo.com ...or, you can leave a comment here on my blog to ask any questions about the character. Don't forget, the person that guesses right gets a $15 Amazon Gift Certificate! You could even...try out this anime!

The anime this character is from uses at least one piece of classical music for the score
He wears a mask at one point in the series
The character is a knight

Extended Hiatus

Okay...so...you guys are probably wondering where I disappeared to. ^^;; Well...I've got some kinda bad news.

About two weeks ago (the day of my last post, actually), I slipped on some ice and fell. I didn't feel too bad at the time (my head and neck just hurt a little), so at the time I didn't really worry about it.

Well, since then I've been really dizzy (and nauseated because I get motion sick), and about a week ago double vision started. At first I thought it was just some sort of flu (don't ask me why, I just didn't connect the fall to it at first), so I just told myself I'd rest a little and eventually I'd be feeling better.

Ahahahahaha, no.

I went to the doctor yesterday since this wouldn't go away. The doctor looked at me like I was crazy when I told him I had fell and hit my head and didn't get it checked out until now. ^^; Turns out I probably either have a concussion, or a blood clot on my brain. (Yeah. I'm an idiot.) I won't know for sure until my insurance approves a CAT scan.

I don't think it's a life-or-death situation (my doctor probably would've just sent me to the hospital right away if that was the case), so don't be too worried about me...but until I can get this all cleared up, I'm really feeling too bad to update much (if at all). x.x;; I know I'm already pretty far behind with reviews and articles I need to do, so I'll try to get back into the habit of posting as soon as this is cleared up.

I'll try to at least put up more hints for the Mystery Character Contest periodically...I'd really like to see that contest continue (even if nobody's even guessed yet!). Here's a few hints for you guys right now:

This character has a birthmark on their torso
The anime this character is from takes elements from fairy tales
The character is an orphan

Most of these will probably only help you if you've seen the anime in question, but...remember...you can use ANY website besides livejournal to help you. Yes, you could even go around on message board and say "I'm looking for an anime that takes elements from fairy tales and has a character that's an orphan..." if you really wanted to.
Remember, send any and all guesses to my e-mail (HaleySings@yahoo.com). I'll still be checking my e-mail everyday, even during the hiatus, so if you think you know who it is...send it in! There's no limit on how many times you can guess, either.

Okay, that's all. I hope to be regularly posting again some time soon!
~Haley

American Anime Awards Finalists (Warning: Angry Fangirl)

Well, the finalists for the AAAs have been announced--basically the nominees that made it in the top five after voting. You can see the full list here.

Now, I'm a bit sick (which is why my posting has slowed once again), so I might be overreacting just a tad to this. And, admittedly, I'm a Princess Tutu fangirl, as well as a huge fan of Chris Patton...so I'm biased.

But, in my opinion, Chris Patton should be in that finalist list. His performance in Princess Tutu was one of the best of last year, for sure. It's not that the others on the list are undeserving. It's just Chris was very good...and I still think that anime that wasn't being released last year shouldn't have been available for nomination. (I loved Hayworth as Kenshin, don't get me wrong...but that's an old dub. It's like nominating Tom Hanks for Forest Gump...this year.)

And if we're going to say "best of all time", why not 'David Lucas' for Cowboy Bebop? Or Spike Spencer in Neon Genisis Evagelion?

At least Luci Christian got in the list for Princess Tutu--which is really a bit of a miracle, considering that it's a shoujo show that hasn't appeared on a major TV network.

Still, it's disappointing that the nominees are (for the most part) more the 'most popular' than what was truely the best.

I guess I'm rooting for Vic Mignogna for Best Actor, now. (Actually, Vic's my favorite anime voice actor--I was just really, really impressed with Chris Patton Good luck to all the finaliests!

Well, anyway...to make up for being behind with the clues, here's *three* clues for the contest! This should help soothe any of you that are Chris Pattons fans like me...maybe.

The town this character lives in was based on a real German town.
This character talks to a tree in one of the episodes of the anime.
The show this character is from was first shown within the past ten years.

Good luck! Remember, e-mail me at HaleySings@yahoo.com with your guesses, and you can also ask questions in the comments!

New Anime in Production, TOS Fangirling

So I feel like I posted something useful today...here's a list from ANN of some new anime that's in production: click here.

The one I'm super-uber-excited for is the Tales of Symphonia OVA series...I'm a HUGE fan of the anime, and I'm really hoping Tales of Phantasia does well enough here that they'll bring over this one as well. Maybe even bring back Cam Clarke as Kratos? (Pretty pleeeeease?) He was really, really great in the video game...although he doesn't work in anime dubs much, so I don't know how likely it really is that he'll do it.

That's the extent of interesting things I have to say on the subject...not really feeling well today.

However, an entry's an entry, so here's a new hint for the Mystery Character Contest:

The series the Mystery Character is from has been licensed by ADV.

The plot thickens! So now you know a bit about this character....enough for you to send in a guess yet? No penalties for guessing, you know!

Random Musings...oh, and a new hint!

Here’s a entry of a bunch of random musings I think may (or may not) be interesting to readers…but are too short to each have their own entry. What does this have to do with anything? Nothing, but you’re getting a hint out of this, so smile and nod and be polite.

First of all, has anyone seen those new McDonald’s ‘snack time’ commercials? You know, one of them has the guy digging out of the office with a spoon?
Is it just me…or is that guy Spike Spencer? The one with the spoon, I mean. Maybe I’m just going crazy, but it really LOOKS (and sounds) like the guy to me.
If it’s him, I’m glad he’s finding work in Hollywood. You hear so many things about how hard it can be to find a job as an actor…although, I’m sure he’d rather be working on a TV show or a movie, but work’s work. (Writers are sort of similar in a way…I want to be a novelist, but I might end up writing…for example…instruction books for TVs or something.)

Okay, next topic: my brother recently got Fullmetal Alchemist volume 11, and I decided to read some of it today. Hiromu Arakawa, like a lot of other manga-ka, starts off each volume of Fullmetal Alchemist with a little note. This is the note for volume 11: “True story – when I went to get a shiatsu massage after making my last deadline, the masseuse said to me, “Your right shoulder is really tense.” I almost replied to him, “That’s because it’s auto-mail!” because I was sleepy and my head was in a daze as I was thinking about some ideas for the next chapter.”

Now, I’m sure you all find this really funny…and it is…but you know what the sad thing is? I’ve kind of done that before.
When I was a kid, I was telling a story about something that happened to a friend and me. “And he said to me ‘Look, Lidia…’—“

“Lidia?” one of my classmates asked. “Who’s Lidia?”

Me: “*confused pause* Oh…I’m sorry…that’s one of my characters. He said ‘Haley.’

Classmate: …One of your characters?

Me: Yeah.

Classmate: ………BWAHAHAHAHAHA. YOU JUST CALLED YOURSELF A NAME OF A CHARACTER FROM ONE OF YOUR STORIES?!

Me: ._. Is it…that weird?

*A few hours later, during study hall*

Classmate: Hey! Lidia!

Me: *looks up* What?

Classmate: BWAHAHAHAHA. YOU DID IT AGAIN!

Yeah, that classmate of mine was a bit snobby. I have to admit, though, it’s a relief to know I’m not the only one that does something like that.
I wonder if that’s not just a writer thing? Do actors ever accidentally call themselves their characters or think they’re them? Does Johnny Depp ever answer if someone calls him ‘Jack’? Does Vic Mignogna wake up in the morning and wonder where Al is?
…No, probably not. Writers tend to be a little more…insane than actors, it appears. (…Well…then again…)

Another new topic I just thought of: You know that new iPod ad that has color in the shadows now? I like that one. It’s funny, though, with color you can see more details in the clothing…like you can see the argyle on one of the sweaters.
I wonder how much a wardrobe department has to worry on a commercial like that? Less than the typical ad, or more?
“NO you fool!! This pair of jeans has the wrong fading! We need four whiskers, not three!”
Okay, now I’m just getting really random, I better stop.

EDIT: Okay, I just saw something REALLY awesome, so I thought I should edit here and show it to you guys.
I just noticed that on a few recent Bang Zoom! dubs, one of the actors is credited as 'Jack Bauer'. I have no idea who it is--I haven't seen any of those shows recently enough to remember the voice--but whoever it is, they're awesome. Best pseudonym ever.

Okay, now I'm done.

As promised, you’re getting another hint for the Mystery Character Contest! All because you sat here and listened to me.

Your new hint is…
The mystery character has green eyes.

Now there’s a hint that’s actually useful, eh?
Don’t worry, as time goes on, I have some hints that will narrow it down considerably, as well. I'm just holding off on using those for a few days so it won't be too obvious at first. Hopefully that doesn't narrow it down TOO much...

See you next post!

Right Stuf sales!

Hi everyone! I've just found out about some great sales that Right Stuf is having!

For the first one, until Febuary 7th all items from Mythwear are 30% off! I actually use a Mythwear bag as my bookbag for college (this one, I think). I got it last summer, and it's survived being stuffed full of heavy text books and being held by the top handle, as well as being used as my "purse" at NDK last year, and still looks GREAT and hasn't broken at all. If you know how I abuse my bags sometimes, you'll understand how sturdy these things are. XD (And no, I don't have any endorsement payment or anything from this company. I just love the bag!)

Their second sale is that until February 11th all of Media Blaster's items are on sale--40% off for DVDs, and 33% off manga and other items. I haven't seen a lot of the anime they've licensed, but I've seen Rurouni Kenshin and it's a classic for a reason...plus, they have Invader Zim as part of the sale, which is one of the best cartoons Nick has EVER had on their channel. (I might have to pick up one of the DVDs...)

I've ordered from Right Stuf before during one of their sales and got a great deal from them with good shipping. Never had any problems from them, probably one of the better stores you can order online from.

I'll try to remember to tell you guys from now on when they have other sales ^^;

Oh, and before I forget...it's time for another hint in the Mystery Character Contest!!

Your new hint is....
The anime the Mystery Character is from has 26 episodes on the DVDs

That narrows down the field a bit, doesn't it?

Mystery Character Contest!

First of all, I know, I know, I’m not updating again. I’ll be blunt: I’m lazy. But, I think I have an idea that will keep me posting regularly…and get some of you guys involved, as well!

See, it happened last night while I couldn’t sleep. I slipped on some ice the other day at school and hurt my neck somehow, and I had also stayed up too late the previous night participating in an RP, which meant I took a (too long) nap during the day. Between my neck, and having slept too much during the day, I couldn’t sleep. And then the idea came to me.

Why not a contest?

Yes! That’s right! I’m going to have a contest for you guys to guess which character I’m playing in the RPG I mentioned! Here’s how it will work:

At the end of every entry, there will be a clue about who the character is. I will be posting at least one entry a day, so you’ll be getting at least one hint a day. You can also comment on an entry or send me an e-mail to ask a question—however, if I feel that the answer would give too much away, I won’t answer it. Also, any questions that are e-mailed to me, I’m answering in an entry on my blog so everyone can see it (and no, those entries won’t have hints at the end as well).

If, after a week of no one guessing the right answer, all of the wrong guesses will be listed to help you guys eliminate who it’s not.

When you think you know who the character is, send me a guess at HaleySings@yahoo.com. The first person to correctly guess the answer wins!

Also, my dear readers, this lucky person will not go away empty handed. The winner of this contest will receive…a $15 Amazon.com gift certificate! (Your choice on if you want it in an e-mail, or the snail-mail paper version.)

Of course, there are a few rules:

1. If you’re my friend, and I’ve TOLD you what it is…you can’t guess. That’s just unfair. :-P However, you guys CAN help with answering questions in the comments if you want, just keep it vague.

2. You can use search engines, message boards, friends, Wikipedia, and so on in trying to figure out the hints. However, there is one website you can not use. Do NOT use LiveJournal at all to figure out the character. I’ve mentioned it in my personal LiveJournal, I’ve mentioned it on a community on there, and the RPG is actually located on LiveJournal. This is going on the honor system, but if I catch any of you guys using LJ you’re disqualified. It’s no fun that way! (Some of these hints will be kind of obvious, anyway...)

3. HAVE FUN!!! ^_^

More rules will be added if I see the need, but that should be plenty for now.

Now, to start you off, I’m giving you guys TWO hints. Aren’t I generous?

First hint: The character is from an anime
Second hint: The character is male

Vague? Yes. But don’t worry not all the hints will be this vague. This is just so nobody gets it IMMEDIATELY.

I will also be posting another hint later today with another entry, so...get ready to guess! Good luck everyone!