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| Monday, November 5th, 2007 | | 1:19 pm |
Done with Youmacon.
So this last weekend was my final one staffing Youmacon. It came down the wire to me on Wednesday that my responsibilities would be limited due to “A host of complaints by staff, guests, and attendees against me over the last two years” which first I thought was weird because with exception of a couple of things I couldn’t think of much that I could have possibly done, let alone that if there had been complaints about me why would they wait until two years later the day before the con to bring them up, why not after year 1 or after year 2 or any of the times I went to staff meetings. But I said “Oh well, I’m here to do a job and will do the job I’m assigned” I was told I would take care of Bob Dejesus and could not go into the Green room. Sad since that’s my favorite place to be but oh well. Thursday rolls in and I get to the con. No one says anything to me other than the usual so I grab my room key and unload my stuff and wait for a job, after about an hour I’m told to move to a different room because their trying to consolidate people. So I grab all my stuff up and follow the DH Jimmy to my new room. room 358….The room ADJACENT to the Green room…..ok, weird. So I wait in the room, walk around the hotel come back and the room is packed with other peoples stuff, ok. Then after guests start arriving I’m sent on a food run to get breakfast materials for the guests since the only thing in the room is Chicken, Pork chops & Pancake Mix and low-fat syrup. Leon made the chicken which the guests went berserk for it was so good while I prepared to head out, the Guests make a breakfast list and I’m sent on my way, course the Head of the green Room can’t find any of the money men to get finances, but after 2 years of that I came prepared with $400 for the green room. a Run to Krogers and we had all our stuff. Then I find my self the only one IN the green room to watch it. I interacted with some of the guests and tried to keep my nose clean, I didn’t have anything to alcoholic to drink and when one of the guests (Jeff Nimoy) asked for beer I provided him so from my own supply which made him happy since there wasn’t any booze in the room yet. Then on Friday night before I was getting ready to go to bed Jimmy approaches me and states that Morgan is angry that I’m in the room next to the green room, At that point I finally got mad and said that If I really had done anything wrong then Morgan should either tell me what it is or come down here and talk to me other wise I’m in the room I was MOVED to and I’m doing my job. Friday Morning I woke up and used some of the new appliances we had been provided to start making pancakes and bacon for the guests, unfortunately none of the guests arrived around the time I had said I would be cooking breakfast so a lot of the food had gone cold by the time they arrived and I’d cleaned up, so I crack out the stuff again and made a second breakfast for the guests. Then around lunch-time they came back but weren’t too happy with the pre-packaged sandwich meats we had. Some made PB&J and other went foraging for food. I changed into my costume and roamed the hotel getting pictures taken and being asked by under-age fangirls for hugs (What started that trend?) Then changed back into my Civvies by 6 PM (Skipping the KH Photo Shoot) to make the Guests dinner Leon and I cooked up a whole bunch of Chicken until the hotel complained so we moved the grill out to the balcony, thy guests had their fill of chicken and were happy there, but then they started asking for alchohol. Word came that a list had been given to Morgan on Thursday but no finances had come down to get the materials. So I took our room bartender and made a liquor run, which took up a big chunk of the money I’d brought and we went back to the hotel and unloaded the drinks. Guests were made mixes and drank beer and I remained Sober. Later on Eyeshine and Lemon demon had their concerts while I watched the green room and participated as Dave tried to teach one of the guest how to play Uker and drink Faygo since he wanted to know how to act more mid-western for his in-laws. I continued to be the only one watching the green room for several hours until all the guests but lemon demon had left, at this point it was about 1:30 in the morning and I wanted to go the sleep so I found Jayson the head of green room staff and brought him up to close down….Then one of the guests over-heard of White Castle which none of the bad had EVER had and wanted. So at 2 AM I made a white castle run and returned with 60 burgers in 2 crave cases. The guest got an experience of a life-time and one of them had so many that I think his genetic structure was re-arranged. THEN it happened, someone noticed that inside one of the crave cases was instructions of how to build a Flamingo out of white castle boxes…..so we did, guests and staff for an hour until our Flamingo was completed. Morgan then swung in for a few minutes at 3 AM making me nervous but he didn’t say anything and left. I too went to sleep. Saturday morning rolls in and I start making breakfast again. Will is asleep on the green room couch which makes Bob Dejesus turn tail and head for DeSotos so I kick him out and start cooking. People start fooling with Wills Mod Box which starts playing Power Ranger, Lego Star wars until finally stopping on Garo and going from there, Guests kept coming up and asking for more and more breakfast, at one point a Bard called me her “Shiny Golden God” for all the cooking I was doing. By the time I cleaned up I had been cooking for almost 4 hours, then some of the guests wanted to go to Guitar center and other wanted certain foods. We sent a runner for the Foods and I took Eyeshine and Mike Sindernicholas or however it’s spelled and took them guitar shopping, the wandered around and bought stuff for 2 hours while I waited in a place I had no business being (what with the tone-deafness and all). When we returned I monitored the green room for a bit longer, then it happened. Anyone who knows me knows I hate Matt Moylan, he hurt my friend Hillary and she asked me to torture him when ever possible which I have for 2 years. A knock was heard on the green room door and two people entered in. at first I didn’t recognize Matt but knew I knew him from somewhere so I looked at his badge, first I noted it was an attendee badge so he had no place being in the green room then I saw the name and said “Hey it’s that guy I’m supposed to kill” The girl with him shoots me this look of death and they both take off….”CRAP!” I thought, but then the bards came in and make a food order for Quiznos across the street. Me and another staff member went over there to find out they were closed….at 4:30(!!!!) They closed. So we went back to the hotel and got another order from an Indian restaurant. We got there and THEY were closed, but only for another 20 minutes so we decided to wait it out. As we’re waiting word comes to me that Morgan is looking for me WITH security….GREAT. so after waiting 20 minutes, and then another 30 for the food we head back and I give the bards their food and then am send down to Con-ops. The $400 and change that I had spent was reimbursed and then I was told I was done. That I had threatened an attendee and was done. I basically said “No”. I told them that they had to break down why I was being let go because one little comment was hardly enough to kick me out after all my hard work. After about an hour of talking I found out that the “complaints against me” boiled down to a bunch of rumors that were either complete lies or were something that happened and by the time had reached Morgan ears were so distorted they weren’t true, And complaints from two other staff members that I did have to acknowledge I had done but really came down to I had annoyed them. So I quashed all of the rumors with the Facts and apologized to one of the staff members (never seeing the other one the entire weekend) Also Jimmy went to bat for me and Jayson said flat out “I NEED this man” & “I can’t run the green room without him” Owen the head of Security kept saying they would assign security guardS (Plural) to take my duties but Jay said “NO….I NEED HIM” So after a long discussion it was decided that I would be allowed to stay on for the remainder of the weekend if I kept my nose clean. I went back to the green room stayed there until ANOTHER food order was made by the Bards. I went out and got that and then drove Eyeshine to Rams horn for the Guests dinner. Rams Horn SUCKED, the food was terrible but I sat across from “Wayne Grayson” one of the guests who I had not seen the entire weekend to date and we started talking about comics, turn out he’s as hard core as I am and completely up to date. The discussion went on for awhile and at one point Caitlin Class said “I don’t know what I’m hearing” to which Grayson responded “Just site back and enjoy you’ll be a better person for it” The food came and sucked! But we ate and then headed over to gameworks. Eyeshine warmed up in my car for 2 minutes since being from California they couldn’t handle 50 degree weather. Jimmy had said he would follow me to Gameworks but then left before me, so I followed my GPS and at one point we had to dodge a Deer which is nothing for someone from the mid-west but scared the CRAP out of Eyeshine. We arrived at Gameworks and Jimmy called me up to say they had gotten lost and were heading back to the hotel. So I dropped another $100 on Eyeshines game cards. They played for over an hour before heading back. The green room was packed with people and drinks were going around. The bands started watching their rough cut DVD and I started playing a poker game with Dave, Dejesus and the ACen staff that was there including their Con chair and Guest Relations head. The game went on for hours but without Alcohol to fuel my power cells I lost bad. Several times I had to clear the room of people who had been invited up but weren’t supposed to be there, then one of the Guests complained that it was too crowded in the room I removed 4 more people who weren’t supposed to be there but then noted there were 6 security members in the room who Are allowed in and were taking up a lot of space so there wasn’t anything I could do about that. More white castle was brought in and more drinking ensued, I got cleaned out and went to bed….sober. Sunday began and once again I made Breakfast, by now the Guests knew it was here and came running. We finished off every little bit of food we had left, one of the members of security came by and stole the eggs we had left, two of the green room staff girls said that that guard had grabbed them by the shirt and roughed them up the day before which I told them they should report, I finished breakfast and then went to subway to get food for Caitlin Glass, having to go to two different subways neither capable of making what she wanted (Store A. had no Meatballs and Store B. had no white bread) so I got as close as I could and she thanked me. Then I watched some of the Detroit game till Eyeshine was ready to take off, my Car couldn’t fit their instruments so I had to take Jimmy’s care which I did NOT fit into. I dropped off eyeshine, they shook my hand and each of them hugged me….(little weird) and went to their flight, I got back and found out that one more staff member had a flight out so I would need to take her BACK to Metro, so I decided I wouldn’t stay for the Dead Dog wrap Party. I said my goodbyes to everyone, and the guys from ACen stated they wanted to talk to me about having me on staff since they said they were so impressed by how Jay and I ran the green room they wanted to “rip it off.” So they gave me their contact info and we’ll see what becomes of that. When I got home I noticed my Staff privileges on the Web site had been revoked so I guess I am officially off Youmacon staff. During Year 1 I had no training and no direction. Morgan said welcome to Youmacon….GO. I made a LOT of mistakes and regretted some decisions. But none of them were anything terrible and none of them were the “Complaints against me” During Year 2 I had a much better idea of what I was doing, I still made some mistakes and The green room was a disaster because we had ZERO budget and the guests were not happy Leading to the “Brett Weaver incident” and me being in the Maid Café’ for over an hour waiting for Morgan to give me some money to get the guests real food and booze that they were demanding, my waiting around in the event and being were I wasn’t supposed to be let to my annoying the head of the event which was the “Complaints against me in year 2” which I cop to but I wouldn’t have been there if we had a more streamlined system for departments getting finances . Year 3 started with a bunch of Drama, but THIS YEAR I KNEW what I was doing, I knew that assurances that “The green room is already handled” would turn out to be crap so I brought hundreds of dollars which got used. There were improvements such as a griddle, toaster and banquet heater being provided but again I wound up spending all my time in there keeping it going with the wonderful help of the Guest Relations Staff. One little comment ended it all for me, but really the guy I said it to was a jerk who should not have even been in there. In retrospect I almost feel like I was being set up. But I got to finish the con out and I made no real mistakes except the one. It would have been preferable that any complaints had been brought to my attention and dealt with when they were FIRST reported so that it hadn’t become this huge continuous “thing” but I feel GREAT and hold no animosity towards the con, and did my job so well that ACen, my home base con, took notice and hopefully good things will come from that. Year 4 will be at a new hotel and a Hyatt no less, hopefully it will rock and maybe even the idea to model the program booklet after the White castle crave case will come up again (not my idea but one I love). It’ll be interesting to actually ATTEND a Youmacon next year. | | Tuesday, August 7th, 2007 | | 6:25 pm |
I Am a Racist
I’m apparently a huge racist.
I’m not sure when I achieved this status as I’ve always been disgusted by any segregation of people due to race or religion. In fact I’ve avoided using terms like African American and black most of my life because it’s just a word that segregates, But in the last week I’ve begun to feel very ill of the black community on the whole. In the last week I have been told that realistic depictions of black people in settings which they actually exist are offensive. I’ve been told that programs which dramatize what I previously saw as negative stereotypes of black people as funny and all through it I’ve been called ignorant for not understanding the problem. And now Sitting here trying to wrap my head around the problem trying to figure out what I was missing this last week I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m an ignorant racist. The problem started last week (actually three weeks ago) with the premier of the trailer for Resident Evil 5. ( http://youtube.com/watch?v=ILuP43jcaXw ) The trailer is set in a tropical climate community (either Africa or the Caribbean’s… Capcom hasn’t said) which depicts a third world community being afflicted by the zombie plague which has run it’s course across 5 Resident evil games previously. These games were set in the Midwest for the first 3 games, an artic research center in the 4th and a fictional Spanish speaking country in the 5th. Now Resident Evil 5 (which is in fact the 6th game) has moved to this new setting, and black people were immediately pissed. Actually that’s not true very few seemed to care when the trailer debuted, for 2 weeks there was nothing but the occasional “Uh-oh” on a few message boards. Then Last week an article appeared on the Website www.Kotaku.com which featured an article by an African woman who claimed the game was a tool to teach children to hate black people. “The new Resident Evil video game depicts a white man in what appears to be Africa killing Black people. The Black people are supposed to be zombies and the white man’s job is to destroy them and save humanity. “I have a job to do and I’m gonna see it through.” This is problematic on so many levels, including the depiction of Black people as inhuman savages, the killing of Black people by a white man in military clothing, and the fact that this video game is marketed to children and young adults. Start them young… fearing, hating, and destroying Black people.” Despite the fact that it is clear the writer is unaware of either the M-rating of the game or the fact that the game has previously shown that no race is free from Zombie infestation the game was now trust into the hot seat and many people took up arms about this, Keith Hayward who is a guy I know was also up in arms over the matter. But why now? Why not two weeks prior? And what was it that was found offensive? Few could really say. In fact as the discussion went on all viewpoints other than “Yeah this is offensive” we’re summarily dismissed with no refuting explanation other than “Your missing the point” or “You don’t get it”. Later in the day a second article popped up online which attempted to present a more rational take on why the game was offensive. http://microscopiq.com/2007/07/blackface-goes-hd/ The article states that the offensive nature stems not from being a “White guy killing blacks” but rather the depiction of black people living in a third world setting. Despite many predominantly black inhabited lands such as Haiti, Puerto Rico and many African countries being third-world crime riddled lands it is now seen as offensive to show these locations as they accurately are. However once this post was presented later in the day my friend Keith suddenly was able to explain why he was offended in a smidge more detail. However his comments remained annoyingly brief and continued to state:
A) the contents of the 4 paragraphs in the second article
B) continually stating that we were “Missing the point” & “Didn’t get it” However I still failed to see how a realistic depiction of people’s environment was racist simply because they were black. In fact in “Resident Evil 4” the Spanish speaking Ganados were depicted as being equally poor and living in shambling houses with little food and filthy facilities. At www.TeamFremont.com a person commented on how Spanish people should have been equally offended by the depiction in Resident Evil 4. Keith response was “It wasn’t the same”. At this point in the week is when I became upset. How could the depiction of two different races in the same setting be seen as racist in one case but not in the other. My inquiries were met with: “I didn’t get it”. The final crux of the situation then came on Friday (8-3) when Keith posted a preview of Boondocks Season 2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQoXMbNgUC0) indicating his excitement over the coming season. While I too love the Boondocks on Adult Swim it’s always baffled me how the show is appreciated by so many black people. The Martin Luther King Episode was called out by Jesse Jackson after it aired in which a fictional reality were MLK survived his shooting only to awaken from a coma years later spoke out on national TV how the black community as a whole had become something sickening to him. That after all he suffered and the equality he worked for the people of his time justifiably deserved, the African American community had become a group of “Lazy, complaining, foul-mouthed clichés’” that they used the strife of their ancestors and even the generation right before them as a crutch to hobble through life. The episode was seen as offensive to leaders in the “Black community” and their offense was parodied later in the show. But while the Boondocks does feature many though provoking episodes it also features a cast of characters that are caricatures of Black Stereotypes. The cast includes a child who wishes to grow up to be a drug dealing gangster/rapper so he never has to do a hard-days work and trains to be the “First one to outrun the police on COPS” a revolutionary wannabe who blackmails officials with lies and builds home-made illegal devices. An old man who proudly proclaims the work he did during the civil rights movment, which flashbacks show he had little to no part of. And the list goes on. The preview itself depicts Blacks as violent foul mouthed law breaking citizens. Yet people are EXCITED for a second season. Why? Would this show be as good if it featured the same cast, the same story, the same animation style, the same music…. But series creator Aaron Mcgruder was white? I have to ask if that would make a difference. If in an alternate reality were the creator was a different color would the same show be seen as offensive? I guess “I don’t get it” Which brings me to my final point of this essay. The fact that “I don’t get it” the phrase seemed to really POP up earlier in the year during an episode of “South Park” a show know for taking a topic into the most offensive areas possible to make a point. The show began with the character Stans father on “Wheel of Fortune” the final puzzle was missing only one letter spelling out N_GGERS. The character became notably upset because he didn’t want to utter the word, and in fact we were treated to a shot of the black camera man on the show looking irritated by the puzzle. The obvious word was eventually blurted out on national TV only for the word to end up being NAGGERS. The episode then featured two story lines where the character Randall had to continuously apologize to the black community publicly for a simple error in judgment while his son was ostracized by his black classmate Token. When asked why he was so offended by a simple mistake Token continually replied “You don’t get it” offering no other explanation no matter how hard he was asked. The show culminated in the revelation by Stan:
Stan: “I get it….I don’t GET it!”
Token: “Now you get it” The dialogue and show were made to show that members of other races can’t truly understand the trails of others. And I understood that. But this last week has made me realize something else, It’s the company line. Racism is a real problem in this world and is not going away quickly and Black people have had to suffer much in the past but that has greatly changed. Segregation is no longer legal and is in fact criminal. The most direct examples of it now come from ignorant individuals, but the racism against black people flag is thrown over topics all the time now. And the response you hear more often that not is “You just don’t get it” instead of an explanation. A show created by a black man is seen as funny while a game created by the Japanese is seen as racist, but the game wasn’t seen as racist until Black people were TOLD it was. Two weeks the trailer was out and only after the original article came out were they offended. Black people seem to know have to be told what to be offended by by their representatives. Once person a few months ago called Jesse Jackson a terrorist because he would inspire thousands of his followers to hate what he personally found offensive. The new century features a new level of equality but it seems as though Black people can’t accept that and need to hunt racism wherever it can be found or made to look like. The trials of other races are seen as trivial in comparison as depicted by Keiths previous statements about Resident Evil 4, and cries for explanations are greeted with “You don’t get it”, the only people who “Did get it” were the people who agreed with Keith and the article despite any well thought out arguments to the contrary. So why bother with writing this? Because “You don’t get it”. But who is You? Who is I? Who is We? Who are those of us who “Don’t get it” ? Apparently it is anyone who doesn’t blindly follow the offense at any perceived racism against the black community. Which as Token said is all of us. “We CAN’T get it” and that is the most racist thing I have heard all week. That we are all ignorant to the plight of the blacks, that we all no matter what nationality have no concept or counterpart to what they must suffer through every day. The economically poor, filthy Ganados in Resent Evil 4 were no comparison to the economically poor, filthy Africans of Resident Evil 5. Their plight is so terrible their lot in life so poor. They can never be equals with us because they REFUSE to be. The past must always be remembered, the present must always be ignored, and the future must always be seen as something they will have to fight us all to achieve. WHY? I don’t know! I’m a racist Irishman who “Doesn’t get it” | | Tuesday, March 20th, 2007 | | 7:09 pm |
| | Monday, February 19th, 2007 | | 8:03 pm |
| | Monday, August 22nd, 2005 | | 11:58 pm |
| | 12:33 am |
| | Thursday, May 5th, 2005 | | 12:05 am |
| | Saturday, April 30th, 2005 | | 11:51 pm |
| | Friday, April 29th, 2005 | | 1:09 am |
| | Wednesday, April 27th, 2005 | | 9:05 pm |
| | 1:20 am |
| | Thursday, April 21st, 2005 | | 8:31 pm |
Oh what a Viewtiful Morning, Oh what a Viewtiful Day
After 6 months of owning it, I've FINALLY defeated Veiwtiful Joe 2, Just as with the first game It took me 6 months of playing to beat it on kids mode, and probably even longer to beat it on adult mode, however Joe 2 doesn't offer the replay incentives that Joe 1 did, so who knows. Best Line's Jet Black: Joe....I AM YOUR FATHER !!! Joe: Yeah Dad...I know that already. Ice Leo: I am Tony the *EDIT* TIGER!!!! Now bring on the third and Final Game. | | 12:17 pm |
| | Thursday, April 29th, 2004 | | 3:39 pm |
No! It can't be! But it is!!!!
So I'm walking through the West ave. Kroger today. (probably the 4th time in my entire life i've been in there, And as I walk down this aisle, what do I see?!? A PVC Megatron with a LazerBeak perched on his shoulder!!! TIS MINE ONCE MORE!!!! | | Tuesday, April 6th, 2004 | | 1:43 am |
| | Wednesday, May 28th, 2003 | | 11:31 am |
And now part 2
Well My Second Semester is over. Got a pretty good score this time too. Advertising 4.0 Sales 4.0 Managment 3.0 Busines law 2.0 (I thought for sure I would fail this one!) Which means that my GPA is finbally above a 3.0, those PC classes from 4 years ago are finally starting to go bye-bye. | | Saturday, December 14th, 2002 | | 2:35 pm |
| | Tuesday, November 26th, 2002 | | 12:39 pm |
4 down......how many more to go?!?! (breaks down crying)
Ok well I Got my first grade ever as a college student today!! 437 points, 85%, a 3.5....BOO-YAH BABY!!!!! oh yeah Marketing ain't nothing on good ol' salesman me...and to top it all of good old Kris sent me a nice congrats too. Kristin says: wow that's awesome!! YAYAYAYAY for trevor! PEACE OUT!! Update a week later Got my "Intro to Busniess" grade today 442 88% 3.5 say what you like I am the master of my own destiny, all shall behold me and....go about thier business cause i'm just an average Joe trying his hardest and no one needs to behold me. 8 =) Update a month later. Got my Report Card. English: 4.0 Cultural Connections: 4.0 YES!!! Current Mood: accomplished | | Tuesday, November 19th, 2002 | | 12:36 pm |
1 down......how many more to go?!?! (breaks down crying)
Ok well I Got my first grade ever as a college student today!! 437 points, 85%, a 3.5....BOO-YAH BABY!!!!! oh yeah Marketing ain't nothing on good ol' salesman me...and to top it all of good old Kris sent me a nice congrats too. Kristin says: wow that's awesome!! YAYAYAYAY for trevor! PEACE OUT!! Update a week later Got my "Intro to Busniess" grade today 442 88% 3.5 say what you like I am the master of my own destiny, all shall behold me and....go about thier business cause i'm just an average Joe trying his hardest and no one needs to behold me. 8=) | | Thursday, June 20th, 2002 | | 6:02 pm |
From the posterial lobe of Steve
This essay is a continuation of my previous report of the Cartoon Network's decision to show the anime Hamtaro on it's Toonami block. By now, all of you have seen the show and gotten a good idea of what the show is really all about. It should be apparent to everyone that read my previous essay that my conclusions were correct. The decision to place Hamtaro in the Toonami lineup was done to save editting costs and to increase the target market group of Toonami. This is obvious by the fact that episodes of Sailor Moon air at 3:30, right before Hamtaro. But now a new question is raised by this turn of events: What happens next? Yes, what happens next. Now that the phenomenon known as Hamtaro has been exposed to American audiences, what will be the outcome? Will Hamtaro be a success, or will it be a horrible failure? And what will be the results to anime in America? I've thought long and hard about this issue. It keeps me up at night, so I had to write down my feelings on this matter. I can come up three possible answers to this question. I'll address these one at a time, in no particular order. Answer #1: Hamtaro is a horrible failure. Hamtaro will just not blend well with the other Toonami fare. People will see the show as 'cutsy' and 'cartoony', but will just not care to follow it long enough for any real plot and story development. Ratings will plummet for the time slot, and sponsers, who at first were extremely eager to jump on the bandwagon, will pull out and cancel contracts. Cartoon network executives will be force to replace it with some other show that's been known to show better results. My bets are on Thundercats or an extra half hour of Dragon Ball Z. Hamtaro will continue on Cartoon Network at its 7:30 AM timeslot until another suitable replacement can be found. In two or three months, Hamtaro will be just a faded memory in the minds of the viewers. At first thought, this answer seems to be the most logical. Let me explain why. American audiences are extremely fickle, especially kids. They don't like change. They like things to remain the same for as long as possible. Why do you think that certain sit-coms remain on the air in the same timeslot for so long? If a show doesn't last more that five years, it's not remembered by people. And what's the most popular show on Toonami right now? Yes, Dragon Ball Z. Probably the longest running anime series currently on American television. And the kids will continue to watch every single episode, day in and day out. So when a show like Hamtaro shows up, kids' reaction will be of immediate disdain. Granted, a small percentage of the girls will continue to watch it because it is 'just so cute.' But the majority of the current Toonami viewers will not tune in to watch this show. There is a past example of this that can substantiate this claim. Cardcaptors was a big success on the Kids' WB Saturday morning block. But when it was attempted to be placed into the Toonami block, it failed miserably. So it was dropped within two weeks of its start. If a show like Cardcaptors failed on Toonami, what chance does Hamtaro have? But remember, I said this seems like the most logical answer. If the history of television has proven anything over the years, it's that the hit shows always come out of nowhere. Who would have ever thought that Pokemon would have become such a huge hit? Or who could have imagined that Dragon Ball Z would be so popular in America? This answer seems like the most logical, but most likely, it won't happen. Answer #2: Hamtaro is a hit. The shear 'cutsy' and addictiveness of the show causes people to continue to watch it. Pretty soon, there's a run on hamsters at the pet shops. Hamtaro merchandise fills the shelves. Everyone has a virtual pet 'hamster' keychain that lets you interact your pet with all of your friends. Hamtaro video games are rushed to the market to capitalize on this new fad. Hamtaro completes its run of 50+ episodes in America and the movies are licensed and released to theaters where they receive moderate box office ratings. Soon after, the run on hamsters begins to lessen. The sale of Hamtaro related merchandize begins to weaken. Within a few more months, Hamtaro bookbags, keychains, and novelty items begin to fill the bargin bins at Wal-mart. Eventually, Hamtaro is moved to a less intrusive timeslot, and after a few more months, is finally taken of the air. Hamtaro will be checked off as yet another kid's fad that has come and gone. The show will fade from memory and anyone who paid $100 or more for the first edition Playstation2 video game on eBay will be beating themselves silly. This is another logical solution to this issue. Why? Because it has happened so many times before. Anyone remember Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? What about Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers? Or even more recently, Pokemon? It's happening right now with Dragon Ball Z. This is the trend. A show comes out of nowhere to become the major new 'thing'. It rides its run for several years. Then it tapers off, and soon falls from grace, and disappears into history. Of course, some of these fads come back into style as 'retro'. This happened with Transformers, and may soon be happening with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. But they never quite return to the peaks of their 'hay-day'. Is this the future of Hamtaro? Who's to say? A lot of companies try to predict what the future fad will be, and a lot of companies have failed to do this. Any one remember Swat Cats? What about The New Adventures of Johnny Quest? Or the ill-fated Captain Planet? These were all supposed to be the next 'big thing'. But they all failed, as did any company that put their faith, and money, in them. So will Hamtaro be the next big thing? Only time will tell. Answer #3: Hamtaro destroys the universe. Don't laugh, I'm serious about this. Let me try to explain this simply and quickly. Anime fans in America for many years now have been striving for mainstream acceptance of anime in America. Anime started as a totally unknown and foreign concept to most people in America. By the increase of shows like Robotech, Voltron, Starblazers, and Battle of the Planets, the knowledge of anime grew to a cult following. Now with the advant of shows like Pokemon and Dragon Ball Z, the knowledge of anime in America has advanced to 'Japanese cartoons'. As anime clubs and conventions continue to pop up all over the country, the knowledge of anime continues to grow. Now, most video and retail stores all over the country have an 'anime' section. Even though most peoples' opinion of anime is still "You mean like Pokemon/Dragon Ball Z?", most people are still aware of what anime is. Anime fans in America have been waiting and hoping for that one show or movie that will completely turn the tide and turn anime into mainstream in America. Many people thought it would be Princess Mononoke. Some people thought it would be Metropolis. Others are betting on the forthcoming Spirited Away. But what does this have to do with our discussion of Hamtaro? Simply this: What if Hamtaro is such a success, that it actually causes peoples' opinion of anime to regress? Don't forget, in America, the word 'cartoon' implies 'anything that is animated'. This would include anything, whether it was created in this country or not. Even though the word 'anime' in Japan has a similar definition as 'cartoon', anime fans in America have our own definition of the word 'anime'. We define it as 'any animated program created in Japan by Japanese creators for a Japanese audience'. Two examples of shows that NOT anime are Powerpuff Girls and Transformers. Powerpuff Girls looks very anime-ish. It is also shown in Japan and is very successful. But it was created in America for an American audience. So it is not an anime. Transformers was an American creation, but it was animated by Japanese artists. But it was created for an American audience. So, again, this is not an anime. Anime fans in America have come to accept this definition, and we strive to get mainstream America to accept this also. We try to get them to accept that anime can be more that 'Pokemon' and 'Dragon Ball Z'. Anime doesn't have to be just for kids or pornographic. Anime can't be lumped together into one genre. But again, what does this have to do with Hamtaro? If Hamtaro becomes a huge success, it may cause mainstream America to think of anime as kids' shows again. Soon, any anime on television that is more violent that Hamtaro will suddenly disappear from the airwaves. The anime fad market we are currently in will come to an end and all of the anime distribution companies in America will go out of business. Anime will be reduced to a cult following again. This will enrage many anime fans. We will all band together and attack an American military base and steal a nuclear warhead. We will build a rocket out of spare parts from our useless DVD players and attach the warhead to it. We will then launch the rocket into the sun. The warhead will explode near the center of the sun. The shock waves will hit the helium core of the sun and disperse the excess particles. This will cause the sun to implode on itself and form a blackhole. As planet after planet spiral into the blackhole, debris is launched out into the solar system, causing the asteroid belt to scatter in all directions. These large chunks of rocks spread out to the far reaches of the galaxy, causing massive chain reactions. Soon, gravity and inertia causes all planetary bodies to collide and within a few thousand years, the universe is returned to its original state of pure energy and masslessness (see I Have A Theory by Cody Litzer). So that's how Hamtaro will bring about the end of the universe. Okay, maybe that last part is a bit overboard, but you can see that Hamtaro does pose a threat to mainstream acceptance of anime as a legitimate art form in America. But there you have it. The three answers as I see for what the future holds for Hamtaro. A failure, a hit, or brings about the end of anime in America. So which one will happen? I have my thoughts on the matter, but it's just my opinion and not necessarily what will happen. And I'm sure you have your own opinion on the matter as well. Perhaps it's one of the options addressed here, perhaps it's something totally different. Either way, no one really knows the future. All we can do is wait and see. Until then, I'll continue to buy my anime DVDs and manga volumes, attend my local anime club, and journey to all the closest anime conventions. Mainstream acceptance or not, anime for me is here to stay. |
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