Anime Los Angeles is this weekend.

It’s probably the only other anime convention in California besides Anime Expo and since I’m not going to that, I’ll be attending this. I went a few years ago and I had fun. It’s getting better every year too. I haven’t really looked at the event schedule for this year and I haven’t really been keeping up with what’s going on so I don’t know what to expect this year. If anything, it’ll be enough to take pictures of cosplayers and pick up a few trinkets.

I just went to the sickest arcade.

While I was looking for arcades in my area that had Tekken, I stumbled across Round 1 in the Puente Hills Mall. I have to say that it is the coolest arcade in the greater Los Angeles area. First of all, Round 1 is a Japanese arcade company and we all know that the arcade scene in Japan is light years ahead of America. That alone is nearly enough to make this place legit. It has some cool Japanese games that I have never seen in America. However, that’s not all this place has to offer. Round 1 is not just an arcade. It’s also a bowling alley, has ping pong tables, karaoke rooms, sticker picture booths, dart boards, and a bar. This place could keep me entertained for hours. Even if this place only had four of these things I could still probably spend a whole day at this place. I spent my time today playing Tekken and a little bit of Street Fighter so I didn’t get to take really good look at everything, but the bowling lanes looked like they were taken care of and the place was clean. I know that I’ll be definitely heading back again some time in the near future

Hello Kitty chicken!?

A Hello Kitty chicken!? Fucking classic. This is the last one I’m going to post from Small Gift L.A. but you can check out the rest of the photos I took on flickr.

Sanrio Supper

Sanrio is celebrating their 50th anniversary in L.A.

In their 50th year, Sanrio is currently having an event in Santa Monica in Hangar 13 and goes on until November 21st. You can check out the actual site here for more details. I just found out about the event yesterday so I went to check it out today. Here’s the map so you sort of get an idea what it’s all about.

The entire thing is aimed at young children, but there’s still a lot of stuff worth checking out. The golf course and the ferris wheel are pretty neat, even though I wasn’t going to get on either. The coolest part though, is the art gallery with Sanrio inspired pieces. I’m working on getting some of those pictures up right now, but you should go check them out for yourselves if you can.

The Pacific Media Expo is this weekend.

After ignoring the e-mails they've sent me for the past few months, I just realized that PMX starts tomorrow.  If you're unfamiliar with it, it's an Asian culture convention.  This year it's at the Pasaden Hilton from Friday to Sunday.  I've been before ('07 and '08).  I only remember it because it's one of the conventions that a lot of anime fans go to.  I'm not sure if I'll make it out this year though.  I missed pre-registration rates and now it's $20 for just one day, which is a little much for a man on a budget.  I did miss last year's Anime Expo and I'll be missing the next one, so I might just settle for this convention.  At least it will be a good opportunity to make fun of geek culture.

I went clubbing in Hollywood last night.

I’ve spent my whole day playing video games while nursing a hangover. I was never really one for clubbing. It’s just too expensive for me to do in L.A. regularly, but I did go fairly often in Korea. I figured I should at least go once while I’m back. I got pretty shitty, so it was a fun night even though my memory is a little hazy.

Who I'm excited to see the most this NBA season:

I like sports, but I'm not a huge fan.  I won't be able to tell you a team's history or anything.  I'm from L.A. though, and basketball is sort of a huge deal here.  There's been a lot of hype leading up to this season [even just on my facebook news feed].  Anyway, here's who I'm looking forward to this season, not because of what they're going to do on the court, but just because:

• Ron Artest because he's absolutely ridiculous.
• Yao Ming.  He really seems like a nice dude and I like hearing him speak.
• Charles Barkley.  One of the funniest sports commentators of all time.
• Lamar Odom because he's probably one of the funniest guys in the NBA.
• DJ Mbenga.  Congo Cash has left the Lakers, but he'll always be one to me.

The World Cyber Games

So the World Cyber Games finished yesterday. I only attended day 2, but I followed a lot of the matches in the tournaments. A lot of the events turned out the way I thought they would, like America winning Guitar Hero. However, there were a few major surprises, like Jae Dong losing to flash in the Starcraft semi-finals and China not even taking a medal in Warcraft III.

There aren’t any surprises in what e-sports athletes look like, though.

Law and Order: Los Angeles premieres tomorrow.

I’ve been seeing the hype for this on TV since I’ve been back and I’m really excited for this. For one thing, I am a huge L&O fan. I even own some box sets. There’s also the fact that it’s set in LA, which I think will have it’s own unique effect on the show. However, I can totally see this going really bad, but hopefully Terrence Howard will be enough to save the show.