Return of the Kings!

After months of painstaking procrastination hard work, I, your Lord and Master, Zeke, have gotten the aniRAGE.com servers back up and working.  Things are still a bit shaky, but I’ll be trying my hardest not to let them go down for a couple months again.

What have we been up to in that time? Lots and lots of preparation for Khaotic Kon!  That’s right, this past weekend was yet another brand new con to the Florida con scene, and aniRAGE was there to kick it off in style!  We had three amazing panels, our aniRAGE Wrestle Rumble, aniRAGE Remembers: Saturday Morning Cartoons, and our marquee event, Whose Line is it aniRAGE!  We were very pleased with the turn out, and we thank everyone who came by to see us perform. 

The next few months will be light as far as cons go, but stay tuned for more great pictures, awesome videos, and compelling articles right here on aniRAGE.com!  We’re back, baby, and if I have any say in it, we won’t be going down any time soon!

-Zeke

aniRAGE Trivia Challenge: EXP Con 2011

Our brand new interactive game, the aniRAGE Trivia Challenge!, debuted at EXP Con 2011! We’re proud to show the fruits of our labor, and present to you both part 1 and part 2 of our video! Didn’t make it into the game this time? Make sure you’re around when we do it again!

aniRAGE Trivia Challenge: EXP Con 2011 – Part 1

aniRAGE Trivia Challenge: EXP Con 2011 – Part 2

Con News! Shadocon in 1 week…plus unwrap aniRAGe this holiday season!

Greetings loyal minions! Zeke here with some excellent news!

First of all, Shadocon’s 2nd year is kicking off in one week down in Tampa, Florida! aniRAGE is super excited to be going back for our second time, and we have some amazing panels planned out for you guys…including a panel concept that’s been long discussed, but we’ve yet to do! So make sure you are there to check it out! You can find out more info about Shadocon at http://www.shadocon.com!

Next, we are proud to announce that we will be guests, and performing, at the first ever Holiday Matsuri convention, coming to Orlando this Xmas season! It’s a great new convention that has teamed up with Toys for Tots and aniRAGE is very honored to be able to help out with this wonderful event. For more information, check out http://holidaymatsuri.com!

We hope to see everyone both at ShadoCon and at Holiday Matsuri, and as always, stay tuned to aniRAGE.com for more great stuff!

-Zeke

Fright Night (2011) Review: aka David Tennant is a Bad-Ass MoFo.

I’ve never been a huge fan of horror movies, but when I heard that David Tennant, the most amazing 10th Doctor from Doctor Who, was going to be in the remake of the 1985 cult-classic Fright Night, I knew there was a very good chance I was going to go see it. The story revolves around a boy who, after shunning his nerdy friends and being “cool” in order to get a hot chick, discovers that his new neighbor is a vampire! This vampire, played quite well by Colin Farrell, is slowly eating his way through the neighborhood. And when Charley Brewer (played rather meh-ly by Anton Yelchin)’s best friend “Evil” Ed (played by the always wonderful Christopher Mintz-Plasse) is taken out, he knows he has to fight back. It’s a fun, action-filled story with a menacing Colin Farrell, a boring Anton Yelchin, and hot chicks aplenty. But, as I assumed, David Tennant’s performance as Peter Vincent, stage-magician and surprise real-life vampire expert, took over the show.

The show just how much love Mr. Tennant has, the moment he arrived on screen, the crowd in the theater erupted into applause. He stole the show every time he was on scene. Then again, I might be a bit biased.

Don’t judge me, the bible says not to.

All kidding aside, the movie was very enjoyable, even if you aren’t a fan of gorey horror-suspense type movies. I might even purchase it once it’s out on DVD/Bluray (though more realistically, I’ll just stream it if/when it comes to Netflix). I give it 4 Sonic Screwdrivers out of 5.

-Zeke

The Walking Dead – Season 1: Walkers Gonna Walk

This weekend I had the pleasure of watching the first season of The Walking Dead. Based upon Robert Kirkman’s graphic novel series of the same name, this AMC series is an excellent addition to any zombie lovers library. While I do plan on picking up the title in print, this is about the TV series, which will start it’s second season in October of this year. This review does contain some spoilers, so be careful

The series centers around Rick Grimes, a sheriff’s deputy in King County, Georgia. He is your typical everyman, who wants to help everyone, but is helpful to a fault. People flock to him because of his confidence, and he takes that responsibility hard. He always wants to do the right thing for everyone, which sometimes leads to dangerous situations. But people respect him and look to him for leadership. While Rick spent most of the start of the zombie panic in a hospital, trapped in a coma-like state due to a very damaging gunshot wound, he manages to bring himself together in time to make it to his house, and meet a man and his son. While they are initial scared of his wounds (assuming it was zombie-inflicted), he gains their trust and takes them to the sheriff’s department station for hot showers, guns, and ammunition. Despite splitting ways so that the father could teach his son how to use a gun, he gives them a walkie-talkie so that he can keep them posted on if he finds survivors, and safety. There are several scenes of him at dawn, trying to reach out to them.

There are many characters that are introduced throughout the season. Some are there for the long haul, like Rick’s wife and son, as well as his former partner from the police force, Shane. Shane is an interesting character, a conflicted hero. He lied to Rick’s wife that Rick had died, in order to get her and Rick’s son to safety. However, the two bonded over their grief and grew closer, which only hurt him more when Rick arrives at the refugee camp, and the wife basically shuns Shane from that point on. You can tell that he is happy to have his old partner and friend back, but he sees the way that the wife and everyone else flocks to him, and his jealousy quickly grows.

The rest of the refugee camp is full of colorful characters, from a racist hick whose crossbow skills end up making him an invaluable addition, to a hispanic family just trying to survive, to a mechanic whose family died, and it takes a severe toll on his mentality. There is a pair of sisters who have more survival skills than you might assume at first, a kind old man who seems very comfortable with a gun and has an RV. There’s also a family whose father is quite abusive to his wife, and potentially child…but karma has a way of giving him some hard times.

The story really is about the humanity, or lack thereof, of the refugees, and the other people you meet along the way. During an outing into Atlanta, Rick and his group runs into a group of thugs, who act tough and savage, but in reality are the only thing keeping a group of old folks alive, after they had been abandoned and left to die. The redneck who seemed to just hate everyone actually becomes an invaluable member of the group, often being one of the best in the fights against the undead, despite his personal feelings towards others. The story really draws you in to each character, and while the zombies play a big role in the story, it’s more about the people. It makes you really care about them, suffer with their loses, and cheer on their successes.

The first season was over before I knew it, and I was desperate for more. I plan on marathoning the graphic novel soon, and I look forward to the second seasons this fall. If you love zombies, you definitely need to watch this. I’m not sure what took me so long, but it’s definitely worth the watch!

-Zeke

WWE Summerslam!

While I make it a habit to watch WWE’s monthly PPV endeavors, this one holds a special place in my heart. Why is that, you ask? Well, this more or less marked the one year anniversary of my trek across Florida, and moving to Jacksonville! One year ago on the 16th (two days after the PPV), I packed up some stuff, moved in with my friend Jacob, and the very day I moved in, I went to our good friend Ashley Clark (aka Animebelle)’s house to watch my first group-PPV in a long, long. It was so fun, that we’ve done it just about twice a month for the past year! But enough of my silly reminiscing. Let’s get to the action!

Match 1: The Miz, Alberto Del Rio, and R Truth vs Kofi Kingston, John Morrison, and Rey Mysterio.
R Truth is one of the greatest things happening in WWE right now. Well, his matches aren’t anything spectacular, but on the mic he is a riot! That being said, this was your standard “put multiple people into a match together to give them screen time”. Plus, Rey was hurt, so he needed screen time plus a bit of protection. All in all it was a good match, but nothing really stood out. The Faces won in the end, which I accurately predicted! 1/1

Match 2: Mark Henry vs Sheamus.
IT’S A SHAMEFUL THING….LOBSTER HEAD! Ok, with that out of the way, they seem to be turning Sheamus face, which I’m ok with. He makes a good heel, but he’s good on the mic and always seems to have a good match. But Smackdown needs some people to go after the world title, and I guess a Big Scary Monster Henry is the best thing they have at the moment. I’d have liked to see Sheamus back up his words, but with Henry having taken out Big Show, Kane, and Kozlov recently, having him lose so quickly would’ve hurt. Now we can get a fun program between these two. Winner: Mark Henry, which nobody predicted. 1/2

Match 3: Kelly Kelly vs Beth Phoenix – Diva’s Championship.
I really don’t think anybody expected Kelly Kelly to walk out of here with the Diva’s title. Then again, it’s the Diva’s title, not the Women’s Championship, so who gives a flying fark, eh? The match was a typical diva’s match, but then again, nobody went to the bathroom. Mostly because we all wanted to see Kelly Kelly get squashed. Don’t get me wrong, she’s very hot and I gotta give her props for being from Jacksonville…but come on, Beth Phoenix. Kelly won, which nobody predicted. 1/3.

Match 4: Wade Barret vs Daniel Bryan.
Pretty much the best thing Booker T has done since coming back to WWE to be a commentator is the coining of the phrases “Fav Five” and “D-Bri”. Which I shouted constantly throughout this match. Was it a good match? You bet. Did D-Bri put on a hell of a show, and Barret keep up wonderfully? Yeah. That being said, Barret somehow won, and the only two chicks were the ones ones to predict that. Lame. 1/4.

Match 5: Randy Orton vs Christian – World Heavyweight Championship.
Everyone was pulling for Christian in this match. Don’t get me wrong, I love Orton, and the RKO is one of my favorite non-submission finishers…but the way that they have treated Christian these last few months is abysmal. I won a bonus point for calling Edge coming out, and I’m glad I specified “even if he doesn’t interact in the match, Edge’ll be there”. the match was decent, and Orton got pretty busted up…but he really needs to shave and stop smiling. Smiley bearded Orton is CREEPY. AS. FARK. Orton won, which only 2 people predicted (I don’t remember, because I wasnt’ one of them). 2/5.

Match 6: CM Punk vs John Cena – WWE World Champsionship Unification.
This was the match that everyone was looking for. Literally across the board, everyone predicted CM Punk to retain. Maybe predicted isn’t the right word…hoped/prayed/dreamed? It was a very entertaining match, and Triple Haytch didn’t make it all about himself. In fact, the only thing he really did out of the ordinary was refuse to do a double count-out, which I applaud. CM Punk won in controversial fashion, as HHH didn’t see Cena’s foot on the rope, but it was a spectacular victory. And there was no overturn, no false finish, no “oops, I made a mistake, let’s restart the match”. Nope, two men entered, one man left, with the title. 3/6.

Match 7: Alberto Del Rio cashed in Money in the Bank vs CM Punk.
And this nobody saw coming. I knew SOMETHING had to happen, as we still had about 10 minutes left on the PPV. So when Kevin Nash came through the crowd and Jackknife Powerbombed CM Punk to oblivion, we knew something was up. Triple H was like “OMG WTF BBQ?” and then ADR’s music hit. We all knew what was about to happen, and while we were sad that CM Punk didn’t have the title anymore, we knew that the RAW the next day was going to be awesome, with some great storylines opening up.

At the end of the day, we had a 4-way tie, with me, Kerby, Ashley, and Kayla all bringing in 3 points. I think that was the least amount of points that has ever won one of our “PPV Prediction Grids”, but it is what it is! At least I didn’t lose, mwua ha ha.

All in all, it was a great PPV, and shows is a great alternative to the constant disappointments from last summer. I look forward to see what the next month brings.

-Zeke

aniRAGE just got a bit more Khaotic.

aniRAGE is proud to announce that they will be at Khaotic Kon!

Khaotic Kon is a brand new, first-year convention taking place in Tampa Florida. It will be at the Double Tree Hotel, and is taking place April 13 through 15. Definitely head over to their website for more information!

Current Guest Lineup:

  • aniRAGE (*fanfare*)
  • Chris Sabat
  • Todd Haberkorn
  • Team Four Star
  • Shadofax
  • Stephan Daniels
  • Crazy Random Happenstance
  • Ashley Clark
  • Heroes Alliance
  • Aya Knight
  • 91.8 The Fan
  • CosmoP Justy
  • Florida Blood Services

With so many great guests, you’ll definitely want to be at Khaotic Kon!

-Zeke

Metrocon 2011 is in the books!

Man, what a weekend! I had to take a few days to collect my thoughts after such an action filled weekend. What happened? Buckle up and find out!

Thursday rolled through with a nice half-day of work for me. On our way down to Tampa, we made a pit stop in Ormond Beach to collect an old friend whom we hadn’t seen in almost two years: Eevee! She had moved to Oklahoma and it was nice to be able to spend a con weekend with her. She brought along her brother Parks, who was quiet at first. But anyone who has ever hung out with aniRAGE knows: that didn’t last for long! The road to Tampa was calm, and we soon got to our hotel room and settled in. We did our typical pre-con ritual: order pizza. Steak + pepperoni = massive win, in case you were unaware. Highly recommended.

Friday opened up with some practice for Animebelle’s Japanese Fairy Tale Theater. For the third year, we brought the con-goers some great fairy tale reenactments, and it was an amazing show…but I’ll get to that later. Soon it was off for Opening Ceremonies, and Animebelle had quite the plan for that. Both myself and Miroku got to emerge from The Gate and join Animebelle on stage to help pimp out Fairy Tale Theater…it was definitely an awesome experience…one I hope to do again!

Following that, I made a surprise appearance as Ninja Tech Support ™ at the Sasori vs Kankuro panel, put on by our friend Chris our very own Miroku. They needed a computer, and i delivered! I got quite the pop when I entered the room and announced Ninja Tech Support was there to save the day (if I do say so myself). Their panel was quite hilarious, and Sasori ended up trumping Kankuro at the end.

After joining Kayla at a Crispen Freeman meet-and-greet, we got a bite to eat before getting ready for the Metrocon Fantasy Masquerade. There was a lot of preparation to go into that event, and it was all hush hush because someone was in for a surprise. After getting dressed as Lupin the Third, and Kayla joining me as Fujiko, we were able to witness our very own Jeshua Cook (aka Miroku) get down on one knee and propose to his (now) fiancee in front of the whole crowd. Needless to say, the crowd went wild, and it was definitely a special night. You’re welcome, buddy!

The night ended with some delicious cheeseburgers, and a not-so-delicious redneck whistling at the helpless food workers that his “food was getting cold” as they were preparing his order. Thankfully, we didn’t have to put up with that for very much longer.

We got up early once again to do more Fairy Tale Theater preparation. Afterwards, yours truly crashed for the next few hours. But I still managed to make it out to catch the AMV contest and the costume contest. Congrats to our good friend Shella Maxhimer for winning “Best Instrumental” in the AMV contest, and Lottie Warren for “Best Convention Photo” in Metrocon’s “Picture This!” contest!

Then it came the big moment, it was the third year of Fairy Tale Theater. I always love performing in this event, and not just because I get to take on some awesome roles in timeless Japanese Fairy Tales. I also have, for pretty much 3 years now, been in charge of the Manzai Comedy bits. Manzai Comedy is your standard straight-man/silly-man comedy duo, and it’s a heck of a lot of fun! This years, we did 4 manzai bits, one of which was a recurring joke throughout the whole show. It was a lot of fun, and if you missed it, you missed a ton of fun! Despite some technical difficulties, we managed to do a hell of a show, and if you wanna catch it again, stay tuned for our next big con! It was definitely a fun way to end the day.

Sunday began as all sundaes do at Metrocon…sleeping while everyone else is busy packing! Go go gadget: leaving monday morning! Definitely makes things less stressful! We got up in time to make it to the Sunday showing of the Metrocon Original Anime Human Chess Match! After last year, we were a bit worried, but this year was awesome, and it definitely got me pumped up. After the Chess Match, we got to kill some time before closing ceremonies, and we definitely got excited to hear that next year will be the 10 year anniversary blow-out, and that Metrocon is going to be working with the Japanese Embassy to get some high-class guests! And not only that, but the theme for next year is Agents vs Outlaws. Outlaws you say? Lupin the Third, my newest favoritest cosplay is an outlaw, hmmm? Perhaps he’ll be in the show…and perhaps I might just throw my name in the hat to play him. Mwua ha ha.

It was definitely a fun year…and we are busy at work here at the aniRAGE Home Base to get our awesome Pictures and sweet videos out for you guys to enjoy, and to relive an awesome weekend. So stay tuned!

-Zeke