Things to do this weekend! January 29th - 31st Edition.

Hey everyone! There's no club meeting this weekend, but there are still several cool things that you can do instead!

The Global Game Jam is this Friday at 5pm and will end 48 hours later. The last list of participants I saw had myself and Waldo on it. So we'll rep the club while we make games. The GGJ is a 48 hour collaborative event that happens WORLDWIDE and involves making games with others and networking. The first one was held a year ago and it was quite a fun time. This year's Orlando GGJ will be held at Full Sail University. There will be presentations at the end(I think) of the work we did throughout the weekend. I'll be post progress updates on my Twitter and Facebook accounts.

This Saturday is Orlando Anime Day. I have no idea what is going to happen and it's all the way in Kissimmee. I predict this event to be a bust. It's not even well advertised and the website has very little information to go on. It is $3 to get in if you are really that curious. Fuzzy said he's going to go during his lunch break. If you happen to be attending, let us know what went down when we have our next meeting.

Now if you would like to do something else on Saturday, our good friends at Anime Sushi are holding a meeting in which they will be showing live-action kung-fu cinema. They usually meet and show the newest anime on the first and third Saturdays of each month, but this is a fifth Saturday so they will do something a little different. I really wish that I could go but I will be knee deep in the GGJ. They will be meeting at 5pm at FX Plastics on 400 W. Comstock Avenue in Winter Park, FL. They are hidden behind P.R. Tacos which is in-between Pennsylvania Ave and New York Ave on State Road 426(Aloma Ave). Tell them I said hello!

This is also the last weekend Florida Oriental Trading will be open D:

Quan will have the store open Friday through Sunday from 1pm - 6pm. We all know how to get there by now so have safe travel!

Next weekend, we'll be bowling and celebrating Zak's 19th birthday! Man does that make me feel old!

Guide to MegaCon 2010: Karaoke

The Propeller Anime Club will be handling karaoke at MegaCon this year on Sunday, March 14th from 4pm to 6pm in W224B of the Orange County Convention Center. This will be one of the last anime track events at MegaCon this year and a grreat way to wrap up the convention experience. We keep updating our karaoke track list every convention so we will have some new songs in addition to a lot of old favorites!

Here are some guidelines:

Karaoke is first come, first serve. Make sure you show up to the event early and sign up as soon as you can so you can get the chance to sing.

You may sign up for another song only after you have sung your song. We will know if you try to sign up several songs at a time.

We try our best to have as many fun karaoke songs as we can, but it is not guaranteed that we will have everything.

We will not play your CD or hook up your MP3 player. That takes time and we really want to get in as many people singing as possible. What we have is what you get to choose from.

If you smell bad, we will kick you out so that people who have had the decency to shower get more of a chance to sing.

Due to the always high demand of the karaoke event, we have decided to check passes at the door for those who want to participate in the event. We feel that it sucks to turn away people who paid to go to MegaCon because we couldn't fit them in the alloted time provided while those who did not get a pass get to sing.

Propeller Anime Club, Anime Sushi, MegaCon, and the Orange County Convention Center are not responsible for any lost or stolen items that you have left unattended. Please be responsible for your personal belongings.

Karaoke is a fun event, we hope to see you guys there! The vast majority of our songs are in English. It is rather hard to find .cdg karaoke tracks of popular anime and J-Pop songs but we will try. If you have any requests for what tracks for us to acquire, please comment on this post. Try to keep your requests to a few songs, and check back every now and then to see if we got it. I'll simply reply to your comment as soon as progress has been made.

Recap of today's meeting! 1/24/10 edition!

HEY EVERYONE. IF YOU DIDN'T SHOW UP TO TODAY'S MEETING, THEN YOU HAVE MISSED OUT!

We showed Summer Wars, which was released in Japanese theaters last April. It was produced by Madhouse and directed by Mamoru Hosoda(The Girl Who Lept Through Time). I don't even know what happened while we watched it. However, it was FANTASTIC! This is the kind of new anime that Japan needs! Spread the word about Summer Wars because the people need to know that there is more to modern anime besides all the shonen and moe crap out.

Oh, we also watched There will be Brawl, Guin Saga, and some weeabo on American Idol. Her name is Mere Doyle and we had LULZ at her expense.

Club meeting this Sunday, January 24th at 1:30 p.m.

Hey guys!

I feel like a Slowbro because I just realized that I have not formally announced that there will be a club meeting this Sunday, January 24th. Well, there will be one at 1:30 p.m. in FS3B-113. We will show the final episode of There will be Brawl, some Guin Saga(for reals this time), Gungrave, and something democratic! Last meeting, we voted on what feature we would show this time. Special Duty Combat Unit Shinesman won the popular vote as Noah has that on order. If it shows up on time, we shall watch it! If not, I recall Summer Wars winning the runner-up vote. Sounds good to me, either way!

We really didn't get photos from Hard Knocks, but fun was had! Some of us got in some good rounds of laser tag and a lot of console and PC gaming was done as well. We all went to FOT one last time and we got some great group photos. I have posted them up on the FaceBook page and they will be on the blog eventually. I think I may have to look into a photo gallery site soon as we get more photos!

See you guys this Sunday!

Guide to MegaCon 2010: Quickdraw! Contest

This year's Quickdraw! Contest will be on Sunday, March 14th from 2:00pm to 4:000pm at Megac=Con 2010 in room W224C. We will have three 20 minute sessions that you can participate in! Each session will have a different theme that you will use to create a drawing. We will break up artists into novice and advance categories based on what you think your skill level is. At the end of each session, the judges will pick the top three novice and advance works and then we will announce them at the end of the contest.

Pencils and paper will be supplied by the Propeller Anime Club but you are welcome to bring your own if you wish!

The first place winner of each session - both novice and advance - will get to pick from our prize pile. This will include items like manga, dvds, figures, posters and other anime merchandise. We will scan the the top three entries for each session from both categories and post them online for everyone to see and enjoy!

The Quickdraw! Contest is definitely a great time for artists to get together and create some interesting work and share them with their peers. The contest is fun for everyone and we look forward to seeing you there!

UPDATE: We have recieved word that the Quickdraw! Contest will now take place in W224C! Post has been updated to reflect that!

Guide to Megacon 2010: Ninja Olympics

Do you and your buddies want to become supreme ninja masters? Of course you do! Being a ninja means you get to stand on a mountain top, play guitar, and make people’s heads explode with the sheer power of your awesomeness! The first step in the way of the ninja is to compete in the Ninja Olympics. Test your abilities in events of stealth, cunning, strength, and endurance against other ninja teams!

There will be many challenging events in the Ninja Olympics that your team of three ninjas will participate in, and some even require teamwork to win. Choose your fellow ninjas wisely! The team with best harmony will be the supreme ninja masters who take the golden shuriken home to their ninja village! Not only that, the top ninja teams will win prizes provided the ninja elite of MegaCon!

An update on the Hard Knocks field trip.

Hey everyone!

The Propeller Anime Club is hosting a "field trip" to Hard Knock Orlando and Florida Oriental Trading this Sunday. We will be leaving from Full Sail Building 3B at 12:30 p.m.

So we've learned that gaming at Hard Knocks is free all day for Full Sail students with a valid ID from Sundays through Thursdays this month. Yesterday, it came to my attention that there is another stipulation that you may not like. In order to enjoy the free gaming at Hard Knocks, you have to be a registered member. Some of you already are and have nothing to worry about. However, myself and others will have to sign up in order to play. The Defcon 4 membership is $10 and the Defcon 3 membership is $25 semi-annually.

We are planning another trip to Hard Knocks in February for combat laser tag, so there is some value to getting the pass. I hope this new development does not affect anyone's plans. If you cannot afford to pay for a Hard Knocks membership, please let me know and I'll see what can be done!

See you this Sunday!

Hard Knocks and FOT field trip!

We will be doing a club field trip on Sunday, January 17th to both Hard Knocks Orlando and Florida Oriental Trading!

Hard Knocks Orlando is doing a special for Full Sail students(with student IDs) that allows us to play free console and PC games from Sundays-Thursdays all day in January.

Hard Knocks is located at 5707 Dot Com Ct. Oveido, FL.

Florida Oriental Trading is an anime and asian merchandise store located in downtown Orlando. They are closing this month but will be open Fridays-Sundays from 1pm to 6pm.

Florida Oriental Trading is located at 1217 E. Colonial Drive, Orlando, FL 32803.

So we shall go to both on Sunday! Hard Knocks opens at 1pm so we will meet at Full Sail University in front of building 3B and at 12:30 p.m. leave in a caravan of vehicles. We'll game at Hard Knocks until about 4pm, have food somewhere nearby, and then travel to Florida Oriental Trading for some shopping and Pocky-eating!

Fun times will be had and all are welcome! For more information about the Propeller Anime Club, check us out at http://propelleranimeclub.blogspot.com!

Facebook Event page

Recap of tonight's meeting! 1/10/10 edition!

Okay, I'll make this short and sweet!

• We discussed MegaCon 2010! Members of the Propeller Anime Club - including myself - are responsible for running and hosting eleven action-packed events! Huzzah!
• We will be meeting next Sunday, January 17th, at noon in front of Full Sail building 3B to go to Hard Knocks for free Full Sail student gaming! Make sure that you have your student pass or else you do not get free gaming!
• We may have time for a trip to Florida Oriental Trading.
• We watched episodes 8 & 9 of There will be Brawl! That Poke'mon theme cover was pretty sweet! Only one more episode to go!
• The entire Read or Die OVA was watched and it was frikkin sweet! Such great action, art direction, mechanical designs, and soundtrack! We need more good anime like this in the world!
• We watched episodes 7 & 8 of Gungrave. Brandon and Harry are moving on up in the world and it looks like some sinister plot will begin to unfold next time!
• During episode 8, we all got distracted by the creation of our first club logo! oh YEAH!! Great job, Waldo!
• We never got around to watching Guin Saga. The meeting was that action packed! We will next time for sure!
• Jean "Rehab" Louis has returned after a mysterious 2 month disappearance! It was a joyous moment!
• We experimented with democracy to determine what we will show at the next regular meeting and Shinesman won the popular vote!

We have a logo!

Corey "Waldo" Waldusky has been working hard this meeting at making a logo for the Propeller Anime Club! I am very proud of him because this is as awesome design! I seriously can't wait to make good use of this! Emilio is pretty excited too and ideas are booming! Back to watching Gungrave!

Guide to MegaCon 2010: Convention Survival

I have recently introduced MegaCon and what to expect. The convention is pretty cool but it is very big. If you’ve been to a MegaCon or big anime convention before, then you know what to expect and how to prepare. This survival guide is about to get real. All caps will be used when it is necessary.

The first thing you may want to do is get a MegaCon pass. They have day passes and weekend passes. The pass gets you into the Exhibitor’s Hall that has much of what the convention has to offer. You will also need a pass in order to attend anime track events such as the Anime Costume Contest, Cyberia, Karaoke, and other events that we will determine over the next month or so. There may be events from other tracks going on that require you to have a badge. It won’t be known until prior to the convention. In all honesty, if you don’t get a pass to MegaCon and get all huffy when you get turned away from an event, we will not feel sorry for you. Thousands of other people bought a pass; what makes you so special?

You can buy your pass at MegaCon, but the wait in line for that is ridiculously long. I recommend pre-registering if you can. Some people scoff at the pre-registration because you only save a few bucks, but the saving in time is the real benefit. You can pre-register to purchase a pass online.

If you want to get a free pass, volunteering helps. The Anime Events Track needs help with many things, including Thursday setup, Sunday teardown, along with Saturday setup with the Anime Costume Contest and the Cyberia Dance party. There are other events that will probably need volunteer help as well. Contacting me or Anime Sushi is the best way to get connected as a volunteer. We always need good people who are willing to help the anime events succeed!

WEAR DEODORANT, WEAR CLEAN CLOTHES, BRUSH YOUR TEETH, AND BATHE EVERY DAY OF MEGACON! I AM BRINGING THE FEBREEZE CANNON TO MEGACON AND WILL SPRAY YOU WITH IT IF YOU SMELL BAD! YOU WILL FEEL EMBARRASSED AND WILL WANT TO CRY.

Guide to MegaCon 2010: An Introduction

This will be the first of many installments in the guide to MegaCon 2010! The guide will introduce you to what MegaCon is, how to prepare for the convention, and how to enjoy the convention to its fullest.

MegaCon is Florida’s largest geek convention, covering comic books, science fiction, anime, gaming, and anything else considered nerdy! The event takes place from Friday, March 12th to Sunday, March 14th at the West Building of the Orange County Convention Center in Hall D. Thousands of fans will be at the convention along with nearly a hundred entertainment industry guests and lots of merchandise vendors.

The main section of MegaCon is the Exhibitors’ Hall, also known as the Dealers’ Room. The Exhibitors’ Hall will feature many things, including:

• Vendors selling comic book, anime, sci-fi, games, porn, and lots of collectible merchandise
• Anime merchandise includes manga, DVDs, BluRays, figures, statues, music CDs, posters, wallscrolls, hentai, doujinshi, Japanese candy and drinks, and much more.
• An Artist Alley featuring professional comic book artists and aspiring amateurs
• Beating people with padded weapons in "Barbarian Battles" tournaments
• Console videogaming featuring casual play and tournaments
• Autographs and photograph sessions with media guests.
• Lots of people wandering around aimlessly

MegaCon is known by regulars as a “Dealer Room” convention, implying that there is nothing else to do at MegaCon besides buying comic books and anime stuff. Having worked in the anime events track at MegaCon for the past three years, I know that is not the case. One of the main reasons I am writing this guide is so that people are aware that there is far more to do at MegaCon, especially if you are an anime fan. I’m actually tailoring this guide specifically to anime fans(this is an anime club, after all), but hopefully any comic book or sci-fi fans who have stumbled here may find these upcoming articles informative.

Full Sail Students game for FREE at Hard Knocks in January!

Lan gaming center Hard Knocks(5707 Dot Com Ct. Oveido, FL) will be offering free gaming to Full Sail students for the month of January from Mondays through Thursdays! Make sure you have a valid student ID! We'll talk more about this at the upcoming club meeting this Sunday and figure out when we should carpool!

More details here.

Update on Florida Oriental Trading

A few weeks ago, I informed you all that Florida Oriental Trading, one of the last non-corporate stores in Orlando that sell anime, would be closing at the beginning of this year. This was very bad news since most of you were away on Winter break when this would happen. Well, FOT is not completely done, but they are nearing their last days.

Florida Oriental Trading will be open for the remainder of this month, but only on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. They will be having closeout sales with most of their merchandise being sold 20% to 50% off. That is not bad at all.

We will do a field trip to Florida Oriental Trading later this month. We will buy some cool stuff and say goodbye to Quan, who has done well in servicing the Orlando anime fan since what feels like the beginning of it all.

Florida Oriental Trading is located on 1217 E. Colonial Drive, Orlando, FL 32803.

Club meeting this Sunday, January 10th at 5:00 p.m.!

We shall be having a Propeller Anime Club meeting this Sunday, January 10th at 5:00 p.m. in FS3B-113. Well that is the plan. It is Full Sail's open house that day and scheduling likes to reserves all the rooms on campus that day for BTS use even though most of the rooms aren't being used and the open house ends by 5:00 p.m. anyways. We will meet regardless!

We shall be showing the Read or Die OVA as requested last time. I watched some video of it recently and it looked cool. We will also be watching Guin Saga(which we are halfway through) and Gungrave. There will be Brawl finished on the interwebs so we will try finishing that before the month ends.

We will also be talking about Megacon, which will be from March 12th to March 14th! We have some events and panels approved and I am working on the schedule! We shall discuss this more in detail on Sunday! I hope to have a guide to Megacon up sometime this week. The guide will be multi-part, covering what the convention is about, how to prepare and survive, and what to see if you like anime(I am assuming you all do).

We have other plans to discuss but we'll get to that when the meeting comes. See you all then!