Chess Meet

The chess meet had a pretty good turn out. People enjoyed the company of others without the pressure of competition. I even got a chance to play with a couple of my fellow co-workers. I learned that I need way more practice and to keep better focus. We will be picking up the chess fever in November, so please feel free to join us at our other fun activities we have planned out. And thank you to everyone who joined us last Saturday!

Reviews

Want to know what the latest trend in books, music, and movies are? Well, you can submit a review to us and we'll post it here for others to see. You can review books, anime, manga, CDs, and movies. Just send them to rosenbergya@gmail.com, make the subject of your email "Blog Review", and we will post it here.

DVD review

This weekend I watched the video "Gettysburg" which I'd originally seen a few years ago on TV. To those interested in the Civil War I would encourage you to watch this video as it is as good a reenactment as there is of a real battle. Starring a host of actors portraying real characters, it gives you not only a feel for how the battle started and ended with Pickett's charge, but also an insight into the relationships of the leaders of the battle. Most interesting was the relationship between the Confederate Armistead and Union officer Hancock. Though divided by the war each thought of the other during the battle. Death came for Armistead from troops led by Hancock. The movie is 4 1/2 hours but goes swiftly as the movie grabs you and keeps your attention to the end. Gettysburg was in fact a pivotal point in the war. If indeed the Confederates had won the battle the war very likely would've ended favorably for the Confederates. Also of importance was the character of the Union's Joshua Chamberlain whose men successfully defended the Little Round Top.

I would highly recommend this movie. It's not quite as graphic as "Private Ryan" or "Pearl Harbor" but still gives you a feeling for the nature of the battle.

Event Reminder!!

Little reminder, we're having a chess meet on Saturday, September 25 at 2 pm. We have changed the location to the adult DVD area on the 2nd floor. You can still sign up by leaving a comment here, signing up at the reference desk, or RSVPing on Facebook.

Anime Showing

Thank you, everyone, for showing up for the viewing! It was really nice spending time with you guys and gathering ideas for future events. I hope to see you again at another upcoming event and definitely the next anime showing. We will be continuing Samurai Champloo on October 16. Same time, same place.

Anime Reminder

We will be showing the winning action/adventure anime, Samurai Champloo, on Saturday, September 18 at 2 pm in the Board Room (3rd floor). If you're planning on attending, you can either sign up by commenting here, visiting the Reference Desk, or RSVP via Facebook.

Chess Meet

Have you ever wanted to participate in one our chess tournaments, but you felt uncertain on your skill level? Well, this is your opportunity to just play for fun and brush up on your skills. You can learn some tips and tricks of the game. Or perhaps you're new to the game and want to learn. We will be meeting on Saturday, September 25 at 2 pm in the Randall Room (1st floor). If you want to join us, simply leave a comment here, sign up at the reference desk, or RSVP on Facebook.

Battleship Tournament Winners!

"You sunk my battleship!"

We had a decent turnout and it seemed like a lot of thought was put into every manuver. We commend everyone who participated in the game. When the war was over, Devin Fischer took home the grand prize. Dylan Fischer snagged second and Kelly Thomas picked up the third place prize. We hoped all of you enjoyed yourself and that we will be seeing again for the next game!

Upcoming Anime Conventions

For all you anime, Japanese music, video game, and comic book lovers, here's a list of upcoming anime conventions in the Texas.

Realms Con
[Official Site]
Date: October 1-3
Location: AmericanBank Center in Corpus Christi
Registration: $40 weekend ($35 before Sept. 13); $20 Fri; $20 Sat; $10 Sun
Featured Guests: Christopher Ayres (Voice Actor / ADR Director, ADV Films / FUNimation Entertainment), Greg Ayres (Voice Actor), Yaya Han (Cosplayer), Irwin Keyes (Actor), Heather Scott (Artist, Dragonmun Studios)


Oni-Con
[Official Site]
Date: October 29-31
Location: Marriott Westchase in Houston
Registration: click here
Featured Guests: TBA


DFW Hedgehog Show and SoniCon
[Official Site]
Date: November 5-7
Location: Southfork Hotel in Plano
Registration: $45 after Sept. 1; $50 weekend; $40 Fri; $40 Sat; $40 Sun
Featured Guests: ALSDEAD (Band), Pete Capella (Voice Actor), Happy! Project (Band), Yoko Molotov (Artist, Demented Dragon), Lisa Ortiz (Voice Actress)


YuleCon
[Official Site]
Date: November 12-14
Location: American Airlines Training & Conference Center in Fort Worth
Registration: $30 by Oct. 31; $40 weekend
Featured Guests: Christopher Ayres (Voice Actor / ADR Director, ADV Films / FUNimation Entertainment), Tia Ballard (Voice Actress), Terri Doty (ADR Director / Voice Actress, Evil Tofu Productions), Carli Mosier (Voice Actress)


BanzaiCon
[Official Site]
Date: November 26-28
Location: Howard Johnson Express Inn in South Padre Island
Registration: $25 until Oct 2; $35 until Nov 2; $45 weekend
Featured Guests: Troy Baker (Voice Actor), Edward V. Contreras (Martial Arts Expert), DJ Brian Definitive (Disc Jockey), Clarine Harp (Voice Actress / DVD & Blu-ray Manager, FUNimation Entertainment), StarSlay3r (Professional Gamer)


Ikkicon
[Official Site]
Date: December 31-January 2
Location: Hilton Austin in Austin
Registration: $30 until Sep 25; $35 until Nov 25; $45 weekend; $30 Fri; $30 Sat; $15 Sun
Featured Guests: Johnny Yong Bosch (Voice Actor), Eyeshine (Band), One-Eyed Doll (Band)

Event Reminder!!

Remember on Saturday, September 11 we will be holding a Battleship tournament. It will be held on the 2nd floor near the adult DVDs at 2 pm. There's still time to sign, all you have to do is either comment here, sign up at the Reference Desk, or RSVP on our Facebook.

Ice Cream Party & Chess Tournament Winners

On August 28, we had an ice cream party and discussed some of the upcoming events for the fall season. Hopefully, you guys will enjoy the selection of events. We conversed among one another and read our "Share a Story" which was rather amusing and weird. If you missed out on this creative little story, perhaps we will have another writing event!



After the party was over, we gathered in the Randall Room for the chess tournament. It was an interesting and surprisingly short match. A lot of strategy was put into each match and you could tell the players were taking the game very seriously. In the end, Ryan won first place, Andrew won second place, and Justin won third.


On Saturday, September 11, we're having a Battleship Tournament. So, make sure you enter and you can win fabulous prizes!

Battleship Tournament

Have you ever heard the classic game called Battleship? It's a pretty easy game that takes just as much strategy as it does with checkers and chess. We will be holding this tournament on the 2nd floor near the adult DVDs area on Saturday, September 11 at 2 pm. We will be giving prizes to the winners like before. If you're interested in joining, you can sign up by either commenting here, signing up at the Reference Desk, or RSVPing on our Facebook.

Also, don't forget to vote for an action/adventure anime. The voting ends Friday and we'll be showing the winning anime series on the following day at 2 pm in the Board Room.

Share a Story: "The Thing About Thingy"

    No one knew where the thingy came from or even what it was. It showed up most unexpectedly at the top of the highest tree where a bald eagle looked at it most inquisitively, tilting its head left and right, pecking at the little round furry ball, squawked at the top of its lungs before remarking, “What the heck is this thingy?”
    The thingy shuddered suddenly, making a low wispy noise before going still again. The eagle spread its wings in surprise, flapping them in quick downward strokes, stopping only when it saw the thingy had not moved again. Cautiously, it peered once more, closer to see what it was. The thingy’s colors changed slowly, it noticed now, almost like a chameleon who couldn’t quite make its mind up. The eagle gasped, “Maybe I should see if someone else can figure out this…thingy.”
    The eagle flew away and found a fly and the eagle said, “Hey fly, come with me and see this thingy.” The fly said “ok” and they left towards the tree with the thingy. When they reached the tree, the fly said, “I’m sorry eagle, I don’t have a clue to what it might be?” The thingy shuddered and started to sprout wings.
    That was before they realized the wings weren’t wings at all but small leaves as many vegetables would have. The thingy was a thingy indeed…unlike any thingies ever seen. It looked like a toy with its small, round, furry, purple self but it had a huge set of teeth and puppy eyes. What is this thingy? It sniveled and growled; it rolled, bounced, and turned incessantly as a child would when excited. If this thingy can’t fly why then does it reach for the sky?! The Eagle and the fly decided that man might know what thingy is and why it bounces so. They invited the thingy to follow them stared before asking: what thing are you thingy? And the thingy shuddered and growled and sniveled…it had not learned any other language than that of thingyling.
    The Eagle and the Fly sat there watching this strange thingy, then looked at one another. “Umm…how do we get this thingy out of the tree?” Fly asked, looking over the branch towards the ground. “Maybe it can use those leafy wings to float down,” The Eagle suggested, watching the thingy continue to move around and speak in its own tongue. “Or you could carry it to Mars in your strong talons,” Fly said, crawling over towards Eagle’s feet.
    The strange thing about strange thingy was his utter contempt for human languages. Why never had he heard such nonsense and pure, unadulterated drivel!
    He proceeded to lead a protest movement among different animal species which ended by incarceration in Freedom Jail just south of Bailout Wahoo Bar and Grill. Luckily, a sympathetic finger named Rollo busted them out.
Rollo was a nice old chap and was completely unjudgemental and very charitable. So much so that every Sunday he bought ice cream for all the kids in town at the good old ice cream shop. Then one day as Rollo was eating ice cream with Janet and Billy; mean grumpy Diesel walked up to Rollo and said through clenched teeth, “You’re in my seat!”
    So Rollo being kind moved to the other side of the table and continued to talk to Janet and Billy while eating ice cream. As Diesel sat down he turned and glared at Rollo and said very huffily, “You’re sitting at my table.” So Rollo being the kind old man moved two tables over with Janet and Billy who by now did not like Diesel.
    So everybody got up and left but before that Diesel walked towards Rollo and said, “Hey let’s go to my place and have a little talk.” Rollo with some hostility said, “Sure.” So the two walked to Diesel’s house and entered the building. The door closed and Diesel ran up and slapped Rollo to the ground. “What the heck, man?” Rollo screamed as Diesel dropped his pants down.
    “What are you doing?” said Rollo as Diesel crept closer. Rollo tried to crawl away as Diesel was pulling his pants off. “Stop, stop. What are you doing?” Rollo cried as Diesel was dragging him. “Now I am going to make you squeal,” Diesel said. “What do you mean by…oww…oww. That hurts stop it. I am too pure for this!” Rollo cried as Diesel got behind him.
    Diesel tugged Rollo’s shirt away roughly and tossed to the side with an evil grin. Rollo rolled over on his back to see what the other was plotting and his eyes widen at the sight of a large bright pink feather. Diesel smirked, pinned him down, and began tickling his underarms with feather. Rollo pleaded and tried to hold in his laughter, but failed and immediately burst into laughter, squirming uncontrollably underneath Diesel as he smirked down at him. Rollo’s sides began to ache from all the laughter and breathing became increasingly difficult as Diesel showed no sign of easing off the tickle attack. He started coughing and pleaded once more for the other to stop.
    Suddenly, Rollo was drenched with water and he bolted up from the floor, looking around quickly. He glanced up from the floor and noticed his mother staring down angrily with an empty metal bucket, tapping the side with her nails impatiently.
    “I know there’s a heat wave, but it doesn’t excuse you from doing your chores!” his mother yelled, before reclaiming her spot on the couch in front of the oscillating fan.
    Rollo groaned, forced himself up, and picked up the broom that laid beside him. He dragged toward the kitchen and resumed sweeping the bread crumbs from the tile, wondering what his hallucination meant.

The End