9/14/2014 review of Nan Desu Kan

Hello! This blog is an attempt to put links to all my Twitter threads into a "table of contents," but also give the threads a little more context, updates, etc.

This post is related to my September 14, 2014, Twitter review of the Nan Desu Kan convention. Here's a link to the thread.

This review shares a thread with my review of the TEDxMileHigh Convergence event, which I covered in my previous post.

Nan Desu Kan is an annual anime convention held in Denver. It's the largest anime convention in Colorado and the 13 surrounding states. The 2018 Nan Desu Kan event takes place August 31 through September 2nd. Here's a link to the event.

One part of Nan Desu Kan I loved in 2014 was the fan vids. Here are some of the fan vid artists I saw at Nan Desu Kan. Here is a video by Vivifx.

Here is a video by lolligerjoj.

Here's is a fan vid for Mawaru Penguindrum by Brianna King. I don't think this was the Mawaru Penguindrum fan vid shown at the 2014 Nan Desu Kan, though.

By now -- even in 2014 -- people knew that fan vids, AMVs, are works of art in themselves. They can be really beautiful, really funny, etc.

I also watched a panel on Sailor Moon while at Nan Desu Kan. I didn't actually know that Sailor Moon had had a live-action TV show! Wow!

I hadn't actually known until researching for this blog post that there had ALSO been a plan for a live-action American TV show of Sailor Moon! Looks like it would have been wonderfully awful -- something like the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers meets Limozeen: "but they're in space!"

My Twitter thread also talks about a panel put on with Japanese lolita fashion label Angelic Pretty. I really liked them, so it was cool to see them. Here's a link to the Angelic Pretty website.

While at Nan Desu Kan I also met with the band Kazha. They have a J-pop style, but sing in English. They're really cool people -- I chatted with them for a bit. I also bought their album Evolution. Here's a song from that album.

Apparently Kazha has very recently announced a comeback. That's pretty cool! I definitely wish them a lot of success. They're really awesome people. I hope to meet them and watch them and chat with them again one day.

9/14/2014 review of TEDxMileHigh Convergence event

Hello! This blog is an attempt to put links to all my Twitter threads into a "table of contents," but also give the threads a little more context, updates, etc.

This post is related to my September 14, 2014, Twitter review of the TEDxMileHigh Convergence event. Here is a link to the Twitter thread.

TED talks are, of course, ubiquitous by now. I actually hadn't known until talking with my friend one day that TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, and Design. I'd previously always thought they were just named after some guy named Ted. Or maybe Teddy Ruxpin.

TEDx talks are -- as everybody probably knows -- independent TED talks that take place all over the country. We have a few here in my home state of Colorado, including the Denver-based one, TEDxMileHigh.

2018's TEDxMileHigh is coming up soon. Here's a link to the event's website.

In my Twitter review of the event, I referenced a few of the talks.

Here is the talk by Brad Buchanan, on the connection between rural and urban spaces.

Here is the talk/performance by cellist Ian Cooke.

Here is the talk by Heidi Heissenbuttel on the benefits of increased inclusiveness in all levels of education.

And here is the talk by Susan Chandler about the connection between our physical sense of motion, emotion, and our cognitive capacities.

Susan Chandler's talk discusses the martial art of Aikido. One of the organizations at the 2014 TEDxMileHigh event was the Colorado Aikido group Rocky Mountain Ki Society. They're pretty cool. Here's a link to their website.

Another organization at the TEDxMileHigh event was the Denver Public Library. They were there to push their program Volume, an online library completely comprised of Denver-based musicians and groups! This is an incredibly valuable resource. And it just shows what a great music town Denver is. Here is a link to the DPL's Volume program.

To promote Volume, the Denver Public Library had a little stage set up for performances by some of the acts on the Volume roster. I watched a set by The Outfit. They were a really great band, though I think they disbanded in 2017. Here's a link to a great set of music they did for Daytrotter on July 21, 2014.

You'll notice in the Twitter thread that I also did a review of an event called Nan Desu Kan. My next blog post will relate to that event.

This blog project is a work in progress. So please feel free to give me feedback. Thank you.

8/24/2014 review of Kurt & Courtney, by Nick Broomfield

Here is a link to my August 24, 2014 Twitter review of Kurt & Courtney, by Nick Broomfield.

The Twitter review is rather short. But Nick Broomfield's documentary Kurt & Courtney is really good.

Broomfield's documentary style is a lot like that of Michael Moore's style in Roger & Me. Broomfield doesn't shy away from asking questions, even if he feels those questions will anger people a lot or get him in deep trouble. In this case, the documentary basically ends with a kind of ugly confrontation between Broomfield and Courtney Love.

Here is the trailer for Kurt & Courtney.

In my thread, I also mention Nick Broomfield's documentary Heidi Fleiss: Hollywood Madam. I think it would be worthwhile for theaters to re-screen this documentary today, as it makes a lot of important points about how sex is used in the context of blackmail -- when it really shouldn't be.

I actually got started watching Nick Broomfield's documentaries by watching his documentary Fetishes, which is wonderful. Broomfield has done a lot of other documentaries, including two on serial killer Aileen Wuornos, as well as Biggie & Tupac, on the lives of the Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur.

I was also excited to learn that Nick Broomfield has another documentary out: Whitney "Can I Be Me", about Whitney Houston. I need to see it!

Another thing I mention in my Twitter review on Kurt & Courtney is Charles Kingsley's book The Water Babies, which is a lovely book -- especially the illustrations by Jessie Wilcox Smith. Here's one illustration.

8/24/2014 review of Sally Ride: America's First Woman in Space, by Lynn Sherr

Here is a link to my Twitter review from August 24, 2014, of Sally Ride: America's First Woman in Space, by Lynn Sherr.

The Twitter review summarizes my feelings about how Lynn Sherr's work describes Ride's space journeys, effects on the course of NASA, and personal life.

Sally Ride: America's First Woman in Space was published in June of 2014. Here is a link to the Simon & Schuster page for the book. This page includes a few videos about Sally Ride, as well as Lynn Sherr, who was a close friend of Ride's.

Here is one of the Sally Ride videos from the Simon & Schuster website.

8/13/2014 review of Behind the Burly Q, by Leslie Zemeckis

Here is a link to my Twitter review from August 13, 2014, of Behind the Burly Q, by Leslie Zemeckis.

My review mostly summarizes Zemeckis's process of tracking down the great living burlesque stars, some of the stars she spoke with, and some interesting quotes.

You can find Leslie Zemeckis's book Behind the Burly Q at this link.

Also, as I mention in my Twitter review, Zemeckis's Behind the Burly Q is also a documentary. Here's a YouTube video of it.

It might also be worthwhile to note that Zemeckis has some other awesome-looking works out that I haven't seen or read yet, including Goddess of Love Incarnate: The Life of Stripteuse Lili St. Cyr.

Zemeckis also apparently has another book coming out this year called Showgirls. It sounds like it will be scandalous and fun!

8/10/2014 review of Robert A. Heinlein in Dialogue with His Century, by William Patterson

This is a link to my Twitter thread from August 10th, 2014, on the second volume of Robert A. Heinlein in Dialogue with His Century, by William Patterson.

https://twitter.com/PreemiMaboroshi/status/498598881404678145

This volume of Patterson's work discusses Heinlein's life from 1948 to 1988. My thread discusses some of Heinlein's political ideals, his support of America's space program, some of Heinlein's travels, and some of the celebrities Heinlein met.

Here is a link to more info on the book from the publisher, as well.

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780765319630

Also, here's an interesting link to a page by the Cato Institute on the book. It includes a YouTube video with Robert Heinlein.

https://www.cato.org/events/robert-heinlein-dialogue-century