Sunday, 9 August 2009

Uncle Yo, Learning Express, enV-ous

**All links open in a new window, click on pictures to enlarge, etc**


First of all, I'd just like to call attention to my first post. I finally embedded a video from the cosplay picnic that I meant to include earlier but forgot. It's nothing special, don't expect it to make your day... I just wanted to let you know it was there.

Second, this post is dedicated to Ying because I miss her so much and she's missing so much [lol].

So let's get started, shall we?

My Saturday morning and afternoon was uneventful, mostly because I was asleep all day. All that to-do with drawing on Dan's back and watching Hostel: Part II really wiped me out. Also, I'm a lazy fatass. So when I finally showered and decided to leave the house, it was three-ish. We were having a block party! It was fun and I got to talk to Ying's little brother [who doesn't remember me =( oh well, I didn't expect him to, haha, but her dad did and he said hi to me before I even realised who he was (weird seeing people out of context, i.e. Ying's dad without Ying)].

Around 4:30 I went to pick up Viggi, but that took a lot longer than it should have. First, getting into my car, I realised I'd forgotten my glasses - hold up number one. Then, when I drove down to the end of the street, I realised that they blocked the street off with cones, so I had to park, get out, move the cones, drive four feet, park, run back, replace the cones, and continue driving. Then there was usual Saturday S. Liv. Ave. traffic. And then, up by McClellan, I saw the adorable Jenny Wang [from band!] and we chatted for a while, during which I was stopped illegally, blocking a driveway, halfway in the road, no flashers, talking to a girl three years my junior who is standing in the street... hmm... so naturally, when the cop drove up behind me I cut off our conversation with an, "Oh shit," and a "Goodbye!" and drove away. So I picked up the Vigg, and we headed back to my house. After waiting a few minutes for Mum to get ready, we were OFF TO NYC!!

The journey there was fun. We listened to the Watchmen soundtrack, which, if any of you have ever had the extreme pleasure of riding in my car while listening to this album, you should know, include a fairly epic moment at the end of the disc. That moment, of course, is blasting Wagner's The Ride of the Valkyries at max volume and rolling down all the windows. We got to do it at a tollbooth! Awesome! We also listened to some Sinatra while trying to find a parking spot.

However, in NYC, we got held up by a GIANT BIKER PARADE WITH A POLICE ESCORT. Not even joking, we were there for like fifteen minutes just waiting to turn left. Vigg estimated a good 3 miles of bikers. Check out these photos:


The venue itself was in a basement, under some other store or restaurant. The place was called Drom, and the photos on the website made it look a lot bigger than it really was. Not a problem though. The food is really cheap, but kind of strange in taste. I don't know. We got a fantastic table front and centre - okay there was one table between us and the stage, but it was still right there and perfect. And better than standing. The pink-haired rock star [or something? you can find him in some of my photos of the cosplay picnic! he's the guy dressed as Shu from Gravitation] opened for Uncle Yo, and he was alright. He seemed nervous and his special effect video thing didn't work [:(]. Suddenly, Uncle Yo appeared behind him and everyone was very happy [and relieved, eh].

Here's a photo of the menu, of Vigg, and of both comedians together on stage:


UNCLE YO WAS GREAT. Let me just say that. A lot of things made this performance awesome. This was a non-con performance, so he had liberty to speak about non-anime / non-gaming things. Of course, it was mostly geek things, but still, when he wanted to talk about his life in the restaurant business, or gripe about New Yorkers with strollers, he could. It didn't seem out of place. Second, he knew his jokes better. At AnimeNEXT, I got the feeling that he'd written many of them quite recently. This time, he seemed much more confident, and though he kept checking his paper, it didn't hinder anything. Third, he did use some of his older material, but he used the good ones - like the Safety Sanity Box!! Ah!! - and didn't rely on as many old jokes as other times. This 'review' style thing makes me sound like an unsympathetic 'ho, but, well I'm sorry >_<;; My point is, he was fantastic. I don't remember many jokes because, well my brain is useless for that sort of thing. Some good ones, however, included his Tetris / Birds & Bees thing, but using the mic stand to demonstrate, and his shock at what one might find in a girls' [home] bathroom - "This is the one that makes her hair smell nice! And this is the one that makes her skin feel so soft! OH! Where's the one that makes her go CRAZY once a month!?!?" [general lolz] "I'm going to THROW IT INTO THE SUN." Standing ovation. Oh, also, he had more time than at ANext. I did, however, miss the singing =(

Enjoy some photos of the performance [they're blurry because "not blinding the comedian" was one of the rules]. He heard music, so he danced, he got a plastic bag on his head, I discovered he has a lot of blurry body parts, but mostly I just like his funny faces and poses. He was also mad about getting upstaged by a woman with a dog on her belly, and he spoke about his hopes for the apocalypse [if you're wondering, he hopes there will be zombies]. And at the end, some other guy put a weird blue hat on his head and [I don't get the reference] Uncle Yo just says, "Oh my God it's from Geass." Here you go, enjoy!


After the show was over, I got to speak to him very briefly and, yeah you guessed it, get another picture to add to my collection. I've got three now. In your face, Ying ;D Vigg wouldn't be in it though. And, I forgot to mention, I brought the Cube along! Sorry guys, I tried to get some action shots, but it just didn't work out. But when I brought the Cube with me to speak with Uncle Yo, his face lit up and he shouted, "CUBE!" and I laughed. Hence, photo. [Well this sucks - I really thought the "In your face, Ying," bit was the perfect ending to this part of the entry, but it doesn't fit anywhere besides where it already is, so now you get this awkward aside instead.]


Oh, a funny little anecdote. As we were leaving, Mum noticed a basket as Vigg and I were half way out the door. She turns back to get a mint, and is greatly surprised when she realised the basket is not full of mints. It's full of condoms. Yup.



So today was a totally new day.

It was my last day working at The Learning Express. And it was busy. WTH? It's never that busy on a Sunday, but I was on my feet for hours straight. Charlie came to visit! As a result, I never got to finish my book, but eh, Charlie > Dorian Gray. I also discovered that the breaking part of my phone is now the broken part of my phone. Ex-phone. I gave up, couldn't last that one more week... I bought an enV Touch. I'm too used to the enV, so the keyboard is a little awkward, but that's the same reason why I absolutely couldn't imagine getting a 'normal' phone. Eh. I'm happy, but I don't think this warrants a photo. Oh yeah! You'll be glad to know that I got a case for this one. Especially after how the last one turned out -____-;; Other than that, I had dinner, did my laundry, read some manga, and did this. My poor dog, Tilly, she's getting so old. She was so excited over the prospect of food that she completely misjudged the edge of the porch! She fell off three times, but luckily she's okay. I don't want her to be old :( Oh, also, I got that unlimited texting rumour cleared up. I do have unlimited texting, so please, text away!! ;D

3 comments:

  1. What the hell you're posting like a madwoman now. And Uncle Yo too...your life's almost as exciting as mine in Toronto =P

    ReplyDelete
  2. If I have things to write about, I will write. But do not get used to this almost-daily thing. It will not last; I have years of xangas and private diaries to attest to that.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I MISS YOU TOO. <3 But I'll be back tomorrow. ;P Can't wait to see you babe. I feel so special, having a blog post dedicated to me.
    You are not a lazy fatass!
    I've listened to quite a lot of Sinatra within the past 5 weeks. People at work like to put their Pandora on.
    Watch the amazing Code Geass and you shall understand the hat reference. ;)
    Have you noticed all my notes on Facebook have awkward asides? It's mostly because I write from "stream of consciousness."
    The unlimited texting was never a rumour to me. It was cleared by your sister after all! Does the enV have a thingy for dangly charms? (reply on FB please because I don't check back to your blog for replies, only new entries)

    ReplyDelete