Category: Site News

To everything, there is a season.

Ever since I reached this decision a few months back, I’ve been agonizing over how to make this announcement.  Probably best to simply tell it straight…

Sword Art Online - YuunaWith the end of Fall 2022 season, we reach the end of weekly anime coverage here at the Lounge.

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I opened the Lounge with the intent that weekly coverage of seasonal anime would be it’s centerpiece.  And for six years, for twenty four straight seasons, I’ve (more-or-less) managed to do that.  It’s the longest sustained effort I’ve ever made that wasn’t a job or my marriage.  (And just shy of 10% of my life to date!)

And along the way, there’s been a lot of laughter, tears, and good times.

But after the twin family emergencies of 2019 and the long years of COVID lockdown…  Well, I haven’t yet really recovered from either.  And the stress of having to think about every episode I watch and getting a post out each week hasn’t abated.

For my own mental health, something has to give.

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Mind you, this is not goodbye!  I’m still planning on some seasonal coverage.  Anticipation posts, first impressions, mid season reviews, and season wrap ups…  Plus, I have a couple of drafts for Photography in Anime, a ton of songs to cover for my Anime Playlist series, and the long stalled Looking Back series of seasonal reviews.

There’s more than enough stuff to keep me in posts a couple of times a month for years to come.  And I’ve still got things to say.

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Thank you to Dawn, to Wing, to HAL, and all the other commenters.  Y’all bring this place to life – and I hope you and everyone else who wanders by will keep coming by.

Thank you to the many other bloggers who’ve inspired me over the years.

Thank you to Bless-senpai, who was my inspiration and whose stepping back on weekly coverage was the original impetus for opening up the Lounge.

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I’ll see you in a few days – after all, the Winter 2023 season begins today.  And this weekend, after we see if Gundam Mercury sticks it’s landing, I’ll have my Fall 2022 wrap up post.  After that, it’ll take a while to work out my new routine, please bear with me while I do.

A quick note!

Contrary to appearances, I’m still here.  Life just took a few turns that kept me from being able to sustain the mood and energy for writing – and then we went on vacation for a week and a half.

The vacation by the way was awesome.  I got to hang out with all my siblings for the first time not at a funeral in nearly fifteen years.  My brother married his partner of many years.  (Delayed in part by the aforementioned funerals.)  I ate my way across the Piedmont and stuffed myself on food not available out here.  (I had Lexington Style BBQ on five of the nine days we were in town.)

If UPS’s tracking page isn’t misleading me – the package I shipped home, with stuff I can’t easily buy out here, should arrive today.  I mean yeah, mail order is a thing, but it’s expensive and there’s very few reliable sources for what I could pick up off the shelf at a grocery store while I was there.  Luxury stuff is easy to get, staples not so much.

Anyhow…  back to the point.

I’m waiting of a couple of final episodes to wrap up my season coverage of Summer 2022 and have written probably 80% of the rest.  I’m starting on my anticipation post for Fall 2022 – and it’s gonna be a doozy.  There’s a lot of sequels and not a few new anime to look forward to.  I should have that out by Friday PST…  Just in time for the bulk of the new stuff to start dropping on Saturday PST…

Thank you for continued patience!  I’ll be back on track shortly.

If it’s not one tham ding, it’s another…

If you follow me on twitter, you’ve got the gist of it…  But the last week or so has kinda sucked.  And it’s going to suck for a while yet.

Basically, my desktop died last week with my post only half written, so no post came out last week.  Thanks to an IRL friend, I’m back online with an ancient (circa early 10’s) Mac Mini…  But it’s slow, and quirky.  (And this small screen isn’t easy to work on.)  I also can’t quite figure out how to take screenshots.

So, the plan is this:  Later this week, I’ll get a mixed Week 7/8 post out and resume regular coverage next week.  Because this machine doesn’t work quite like my normal (Windows) desktop, they’ll probably be text only and likely short.

The new machine is due in sometime in late June, and things should return to normal.  (“Normal” is of course used advisedly around me!)  It’s taking that long because the various demands on my computer mean I have to buy a customized one because no prebuilt suffices.  (Not to mention the various ongoing impacts of the pandemic.)

So, bear with me folks…  I’m still here, just working with one hand tied behind my back.

Worth Watching – Silver Spoon / Weird Al!

Between a regular commenter talking about the manga coming to an end, watching quite a few favorite episodes, and an upcoming Anime Playlist post… Silver Spoon has been on my mind the last couple of weeks.

So, because it’s what I often do, I headed over to YouTube to seek out AMV’s, and came across this gem:

I have to admit, this left me laughing. The maker matched the animation clips to the words really, really well. (They even matched the lip flaps.) Instant bookmark, instant fave, and I just had to add it to my Worth Watching list and share it here.

Give it a watch and enjoy!

As always, feel free to comment here, but be sure and let the original maker know if you enjoyed it.

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Also a quick note on this/next week: This week is crazy with IRL stuff… We’ve got plumbers coming in for a leaky hot water heater, and I’ve got to take my van to the body shop because I dinged it up on a lamp post… And my wife has been on staycation, so I’ve not been that motivated to work on the blog. So, I’m going to be skipping this week and covering all the penultimate and finale episodes next week.

Also in work is the Fall 2020 anticipation post, hopefully a Looking Back post or two, and an Anime Playlist post or two.

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Enjoy!

Favorite Anime OP’s & OP Bingo contest! – Introduction

00A - Anime OP Bingo - Full Blur.png

This should be fun and different!  A little while back, there was a thing going around on Twitter about making a Bingo card with your favorite anime theme songs…  And I’ve decided to turn it into a bit of a contest here at the Lounge.

Hit the jump, read about the contest and see what you could win!
Continue reading “Favorite Anime OP’s & OP Bingo contest! – Introduction”

Less of a hiatus, more of a staycation

Honestly, I think it’s time to pull the plug on weekly coverage this season…  Ever since my hiatus (due to family emergency) back at the beginning of the season, I haven’t been able to get my feet under me…  And after the press of a busy holiday weekend and the upcoming Medieval Faire the prospects for doing so before the end of the season look increasingly dim.

Not to worry though!  I’m not going anywhere.   I’m going to spend the time working on some feature content…  I’ve still got this season’s Looking Back post, some tag posts I’ve been meaning to get to forever, and a five part special to finish.  (Which I think you’ll like!)  I also have a long awaited update to my anime playlist post.

I’ll be busy and I won’t long be absent from your screen.  Look forward to it!

Hey! Now I’m a third year!

Well, I guess sticking to it pays off – today is officially the Lounge‘s second birthday!

Beating Sword Art Online.png

I’d originally planned a much longer entry in the more traditional style…  all about the stats and stuff, but what the h_ll.  Nobody wants to read all that stuff anyhow.  Right?

And besides, that makes it all about me…  and it’s not all about me after all.  It’s also all about the readers, commenters, folks who’ve linked to me, folks who’ve retweeted my posts…  all the folks (and they’re way too many to list) who work so hard to make me look better than I am.  Without all of you, there’d be no community.  Without all you do, this community wouldn’t rock as hard as it does.

A huge heartfelt thank you goes out to all of you!

Shirobako - Kampai!.png
Ok, speech over – time to paaaar-tay!  The bar is open and drinks are on the house!

2018 beats out 2017!

Like most of us, I don’t obsess over stats.  Doesn’t mean I don’t pay attention though.  Checking them today (when I should be working on tomorrow’s post) I found pleasant news indeed.  Sometime in the last couple of weeks, my total views and visitors for 2018 blew past the total for all of 2017!
Significant Milestone - 2018
Even more surprising…  I was convinced that my output was down for the year.  But with almost all of a quarter left to go, I’m closing in on last year’s total.

Let’s celebrate!!!

 

(And when I went searching, I did not expect to find an AMV using a disco era song…  But there it is.  So you get to watch an AMV rather than a disco era music video.)

Just for today, it’s an open bar here at the Lounge!  Drinks are on the house!

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