So another week has gone by without me posting anything here other than my pre-entered, twice-weekly quotes. So let me go back for a very quick recap now that it’s Friday–sheesh…

Starting with last Friday, I had a wonderful Japanese Tea Ceremony lesson in Westhills. This is something that I have wanted to do for a very long time because it fascinates me. Sadly, after giving it some thought and in light of upcoming expenses and events, I won’t be able to give it the commitment necessary so I’m putting it off until 2012.

Last Saturday I spent the day in Anaheim at the So Cal Smackdown wargames convention where I ran two of the strangest Boxer Rebellion/Siege of Peking games I’ve ever seen. It was a lot of fun/work and each side won a game. Through the miracle of eBay Second-Chance Offers, I was able to sell my PS3 to the next highest bidder (the winner flaked) who actually lived in Anaheim and came to pick it up at the convention site in person. On the way home I had a lovely dinner at The North Woods Inn (yummy!). The rest of the holiday weekend I spent recovering from the convention (I’d practically lost my voice), working around the house, Sunday dinner at my sister’s as usual and then Monday doing Audio recording work.

I did receive and watch a new anime Blu-ray disc for a series that I thought was incredible: Night Raid 1931. Set in Shanghai and Manchuria of the 30s, it was a fascinating look at the early Showa period and Japan’s expansion into China ending with the creation of the Manchukuo puppet state. The animation–particularly the backgrounds and settings–was spectacular, the story and characters were all great. This is another of those anime that is so rich in content and “jumping-off points” for further study that it has quickly become one of my favorites (just like Mirage of Blaze did for similar reasons). I can always tell a show connected with me when as soon as I finish it I want to go back and immediately watch it over again! If you’re a fan of historically-based series, then this would be a no-brainer for you to pickup, and it’s gorgeous on Blu-ray with an excellent English dub. This is another review that I really hope to get to very soon; in the meantime, click these links to see the ANN Encyclopedia entry, the entry on Wikipedia and a good review on ANN.

So now I’ve got to get ready for a big meeting today at work, then I’m leaving early for my first cortisone injection in my knee. Hopefully that and some physical therapy will make me feel better and be able to limp along (literally and figuratively) until the end of the year when I hope to have saved up enough money for my surgery.