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<- 2007 updates
February 3, 2010

One of the nice things about running a site no one reads is you can disappear for five months and no one is the wiser.

After five months without an update (six if you don’t count Pocky Blog), I’ve finally managed to write something! But I have a good excuse, and most of you married guys will understand if you think back to the day of your nuptials. That’s right, I got married.

On October 3rd, 2009, I became a married man, finally tying the knot after over eight years of dating with my now-wife, Christy. Of course there’s an article about the event, and this is reason things took so long. I promised myself I wouldn’t update until I finished this article, and that ended up taking about four months after the fact to get done. The planning alone killed most chances of pre-wedding updates, and when you consider the article is (WARNING!) twenty-five typed pages (or over fourteen-thousand words for you web heads), it should be worth the wait.

This wouldn’t have been much of a problem getting done at a solid clip if it weren’t for my other major time sink: GarasuNoShiCon. Yep, that anime convention I’m heading is already murdering what little time and motivation I have, and it doesn’t look like I’ll have any time for Pocky Box until it’s done, and it’s in July, so that’s another five months of delays. Fortunately, I have a lot of articles started (like the write-up from last year’s con), so there’s a lot of content coming. I just have to finish it. And I've decided to break tradition and not feature a New Year's article, because that's just depressing at this point.

If you’re interested in GarasuNoShiCon 2010, head over the official website. You’ll see not only what I’ve been pouring all of my time into (the web design, graphic layout, and content is once again mostly all me), but also all of the awesome things we’ll have going on. We’ve certainly learned a lot and have grown in the areas we need to, and this year will be even better. And I’m not going to talk about it, because I’m starting to think Pocky Box and GarasuNoShiCon are two parts of my life best left separate for the most part, like a wife and a mistress who are occasionally curious about coming together, but quickly realize each wants me all to themselves after the passion cools down.

That was probably not the best analogy to make for an update dedicated to my wedding. I'm just joking, Christy! I love you! Don't check my cell phone records!
August 18, 2009 Wow, two updates in one year! We're getting back into the swing things!

Well, don't get too excited, since this isn't really much of an update. I just slapped on a little update box for Pocky Blog so you can get to the latest updates immediately. And there are three new entries, so at least you'll have something to look at.

I'm working steadily on an article about GarasuNoShiCon, as well as dozens of pics with some commentary for your bemusement.

Speaking of GNSC, head over to the site and check out the forum for the latest news and throw around your two cents!
June 16, 2009

Hi.


I certainly didn't promise that we would get back on track any time soon, but a seven month delay in updates is a tad much. If you want to see where all of my Pocky Box time has been going to over the last four months, look no further than the menu bar, where you'll see a shiny new sponsor.  If you haven't put it all together or the image disturbs you too much to even click on it, let me summarize: I'm putting on an anime convention.

Well, not just me, but considering I’ve done ninety-five percent of the work so far, it’s pretty darn close. I’ve discovered firsthand the countless frustrations awaiting those who attempt putting together a convention, including print deadlines, motivating unmotivated people, begging vendors and sponsors to help us out, and dealing with making arrangements to use the college I work at as the host site, an uphill battle when you’re dealing with people are around twice my age (putting a foot in the grave, I realize now) who have marched themselves comfortably into the conservative zone, far enough they don’t feel the need to cater to a group of people who scream at the top of their lungs to overpower the sounds of violence coming from the video games they’re playing in the student activities center.

However, the construction of the convention has proven to be worth it all. I always get a boost whenever a vendor signs on or someone shows excitement to help. I’ve had a lot of fun designing the website, which gave me a chance to branch out from Pocky Box (not on the technical end, since it’s basically the same layout, but why mess with things when they’ve already been done right?). I’m also looking forward to connecting with the local anime fan base; not the frivolous group I advise that contains mostly whiny high school escapees who will turn their backs on anime the moment it ceases to be brought to them directly to entertain them, but the fans who went through all the trouble to shell out $12.50 for the national première of Sword of the Stranger, the kind of fan that supports anime and goes to it. I’m fortunate enough to work with a couple of people who are dedicated to making this happen, validating this pursuit which can best be described as outlandish. Overall, this has been an amazing experience so far and I can’t wait to see where things go.

I need to make a quick note about the mascot. I never made much use of him on Pocky Box, so Big Uncle Fuku made the jump to convention mascot where he truly belongs. While it’s not the exact design I’ve come to love, this wonderful artwork drawn by artist Josh Smith and colored by me brings a lot of the random, unapologetic spirit my friends and I used to carry on with to the modern masses. It’s great to see BUF out there on the con scene again.

As of this writing, the convention is through, and you'd better believe there's a lot to talk about. Maybe next time. Check out the site for any updates and go to Spiked Punch Studios to see the pictures.

Sadly, convention planning directly translates into less time and energy for Pocky Box, something I absolutely despise, but feel is necessary. Not that I’ve ignored the site completely, as there are a few changes being made this update.

First, you may notice some very minor changes to the graphics. It’s been on my plate for a while, so I decided to start eating my vegetables and revamp the site very subtly. Not too much, mostly cleaning up the code and some of the graphics. It was a long and annoying process, but I finally got the pixel-tastic main logo smoothed out a bit, and the tear under it was cleaned up as well. I’ll be implementing this change slowly throughout the site, so don’t expect a big change since it’s not really all the necessary.

I've also started noticing some sections missing links to their respective articles, meaning the only way you could get to them is through the update news. This has since been fixed.


I’m also proud to introduce two new features. I know, I know, I’ve been pulling a lot of Segas and introducing features I haven’t kept up with, but I’m hoping at least the first one will be my Dreamcast and actually be an asset to the site and not shoehorn me into writing specific content I don’t feel like writing. Pocky Blog is a rant journal where we just rant about random things. While that might not seem all that different than our normal articles, these rants are short pieces without a whole lot of meaning attached to them and without the formatting required for an article. You get the content, we have less work, everybody wins! Hopefully this isn’t a Saturn.


If you haven't noticed, Pocky Blog now replaces the old Mail Box on the menu. Don't worry, the mail archives can be found in Pocky Blog, so get over there and check it out if you're that into reading other people's mail.



Next up, we have eBay eDiots: The Feature. I was tired of cramming any new incidents of my dealings with e-fools when I buy and sell, so I decided to break that portion away from the original article and give you folks a clean, easy way of finding your favorite eBay eDiot. All I have up right now are the older enteries, but new content should be added next time around. Believe me, I have it.

Even though I was busy, I've been writing as much as I've had the time and energy for, and I’ll be publishing a lot of back articles I’ve been working on, mostly Halloween ones. I hate releasing articles that aren’t somewhat timely, but with my schedule as it is, I can either release them late or not at all, a crime against literature, you’ll agree. So a lot of article may be way too late, but at least you’ll get to read them.


Over in Random Acts of Nerdness, we have a selection of Halloween articles. While my traditional Halloween article absent for the moment, the story of my horrifying trip with the future-in-laws to the Mansfield haunted prison and my subsquent inspiration of setting up a haunted porch at home should tide you over. Also on decayed hand is an piece analysing the metaphoric significance of zombie movies. Yes, movies like Undead Alive starring Chris Kattan have deep, philospical undertones which comment on the alienated state of our society. Okay, maybe not this movie, but you can bleed other turnips in the patch fairly easily.

Even though it was a horror to work on at times, my precious anime basement and the biggest reason I purchased a house (not to mention yet another hurdle in my writing) was completed in December. This momentous occasion is docemented here.

Even though it's six months late, check out 2009's New Year's article for what it's worth.

Well, see you next year! Jeez, that's not even funny...
November 4, 2008

Blarg. It's not like I actually thought the Fall would be kinder to my schedule, but this is ridiculous. With Fall classes starting up and members from both clubs I'm advising on campus actually wanting to do stuff, it's all I can do to not set fire to my house in an attempt to fake my own death and turn to a life of nerdy seclusion in some unmarked apartment in Japan. I would never do this because it would cost way more than the insurance money I would get for the house to move all my stuff over there, and the remaining money would be blown on buying a single anime DVD, because they're a lot more expensive over there, and I wouldn’t be able to understand most of it.

Weekends are no help. For the past month, I've apparently been classified as a senior citizen, because I've fallen asleep before midnight on Friday and stay there for twelve hours sometimes. These were the nights I would stay up until my body shut down on its own, and now I'm clocking out before Saturday comes. If I start voluntarily getting up before nine in the morning, I'm officially retiring and spending the rest of my days sitting on the front porch on a rocking chair and yelling at passing kids to get off my lawn.

But on to the site. You may or may not have noticed that we're now located on GoDaddy's server. AOL, in a sign of the times, decided to close down its Hometown service today, sending me scrambling to find some new web space for free. I tried a few "ad-free" (yeah, right) options that didn't work out until I found out GoDaddy offered a nice free hosting package for its members. While the banner you're staring at is way too big, at least it doesn't intrude on the design like before, and the price is right. It's not like any of you have offered to spare us a dime to support any sort of web hosting, so consider a loud banner at the top of the page your cost for free entertainment. Still, I can't believe I miss the days of pop-ups.

The update might seem kind of rushed despite the fact it's been four months in the making, and you can rest assured it is. I have a lot of Halloween articles this year, none finished, and I really wanted to slam out something for Election Day. I'm even working on this AFTER work hours. Don't say I'm not dedicated to you guys. Big surprise, I support Obama, but you can read more about that in the article.

Since the last update, I've become a new car owner. We'll, I've had it since late June, but I haven't had time to write about it, so that statement is technically true. Read all about it here.

Someday we'll get back on track. Someday...
July 4, 2008

Did anyone actually miss us?

First off, we're trying something new and dropping the professional-sounding third person charade I've presented for the update news and starting to use a first-person reference because, let's face it, no one thought I hired someone to write these updates, and since I'm the only one who has ever written the update news, it would be more aesthetically pleasing and less pompous to bring it to a more personal level. I'll stick with this up until the point it gets annoying. I'll keep the third-person stuff for the article descriptions for now.

So, where the hell have we been for the last four months? While I've covered it in two separate articles, I'll spoil the surprise and reveal that I'm once again a dog owner and have become a first-time homeowner. Do not let anyone tell you these things don't take a lot of time an energy, especially if you ever tackle both. Couple this with my job, and I have a routine that consists of getting up at 7 AM, working until 5 PM, getting home around 6 PM, working on the house while listening to complaints from my girlfriend when the tension of her life builds to a point where she tells me I either don't do enough around the house or I don't spend enough time with her and/or listening to the complaints of an irate and slightly insane mother as I scrub dog pee out of the carpet, and then I get to go to bed after 11 PM and the entire thing starts over. So you can probably examine why I haven't had the drive to do an update lately.

Anyway, check out those two articles for the sordid details.

The house itself has taken a lot of my time. Though I would have just let things go until Christy nagged me to get things going, she lit a Fat Man-sized fire under my butt (that is NOT a fart joke, mind) and announced that she was having her graduation party at the house, which was a repo and therefore didn't have much of anything outside of a few crappy shelves and an old microwave. But who am I do complain? You only get to celebrate your high school graduation once.

Just kidding, she's out of four-year college, so you astute readers and/or FBI agents can back off if you did the math using Da Vinci Code-style clues found in various articles and determined I started dating her when she was ten or eleven. Only in hentai, people.

Speaking of high school graduation, I may have finally graduated from high school in my mind after visiting my ala mater and discovering all of the demonic corruptions to my childhood memories known as renovations. But I did get some good out of it, as you can see for yourself in this piece.

C, who hasn't really written anything for me in a long time because he's now in Egypt, managed to slam out the most arrogant piece ever: his memoirs. Inspired by my own summary of my life, he covers his life up to this point in an insanely long piece that might sputter if you're still using dial-up, as well as radio for your primary information gathering source and a phonograph as your version of the iPod. He also gives us a fitting memorial for comedian George Carlin.

Bug is off track again. Maybe next time when Zasada isn't so exasperated with dogs and houses.

So take what you can get, because the way things have been going, we'll see you guys next year.
March 6, 2008 Zasada presents us with a series of stupid mistakes that shows that despite the fact he operates a sophisticated website where his opinions are valued by world leaders, he can make mistakes.

First up is the traditional New Year article, posted a fourth of the way through the year. We can hardly blame him, though, since he had to shrug off his trip to Cleveland and the purchase of an iMac.

Fans of Bug can take comfort in the fact that the strip is finally back on track.

You may have also noticed a slight change over to the left on the menu. We changed our update section New Pocky to Used Pocky. It's a play on the old Pocky boxes, a joke that was overlooked when the site was originally created, but since we had some spare time and motivation, we decided to correct this oversight. Note that the link names are changed as well, so if you had any reason for bookmarking the link, it won't work anymore.
Februrary 1, 2008 This update is dedicated to Sandy Zasada, the Zasada's furry little friend who died because of cancer. Chris dedicates an article to her memory and the latest Bug is dedicated to her memory. She will be missed..