Ghibli Museum

Are any of you fans of Hayao Miyazaki ? You know, the mastermind behind Studio Ghibli, the animation studio that has produced classics such as Spirited Away, Ponyo, and Howl's Moving Castle?
Well, if you are, you might want to check out this BoingBoing article.

It seems that in a suburb of Tokyo you can find an entire museum dedicated to the works of Studio Ghibli. It is apperently very hands on (you can touch pretty much everything), and they have giant models and repilcas of props and characters.

They also appear to have English speaking tour guides, so if you ever find yourself in Tokyo, you may wish to head over and check it out!

Nintendo's 3DS

Now here's something you gamers might find interesting: Nintendo's newest handheld will come with 3D capabilities. And you won't even need any glasses! Check out this preview from E3 for some more info:

This new handheld will also have a 'background connectivity system', which can automatically seek and connect to wireless networks sending and downloading information in the background while in sleep mode or while playing a game. This connectivity system will also allow fellow 3DS owners to exchange and share content automatically in a 'Tag Mode' - similar to having a Pokewalker without having to wip it out each time you find someone else who has one.

Some of the games currently listed for release on the 3DS are:

Animal Crossing

Assasin's Creed: Lost Legacy

Kingdom Hearts 3D

Kid Icarus: Uprising

Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D

Paper Mario 3DS

Star Fox 64 3D

and many more. Just check out the 3DS page on Wiki.

Being an avid handheld gamer myself, the entire idea of this console is mind blowing. This is the future, people! Sony and Microsoft are going to have to bring their A-game if they want catch up to Nintendo at this season.

I don't know about you guys, but you'll proabaly find me lining up for the midnight release of this thing - and I don't do that unless I really want it.

Cheers,

Jess

Teen Read Awards

Here's something for those of you who read novels along side the usual heaping dose of manga.

Indigo is hosting the 1st annual Teen Read Awards, which allows teens to vote on the hottest characters, the dreamiest kisses, and even your fave read of the whole year. There are various categories to vote on and you can even win prizes along the way.

I highly suggest checking it out: not only for the chance at winning prizes, but you just might come across some interesting books you haven't read yet.

Check it out here.

The Last Airbender

For those of you who are fans of Nickelodeon's Avatar: The Last Airbender, you might (or might not, in some cases) be happy to find out that the live action movie came out yesterday, July 1.

I have provided the trailer for those who are interested:




While I'm not trying to get my hopes up - due to the long running history of movie adaptions - the effects look amazing, and the kid playing Aang is adorable in my opinion. I guess I'll have to wait until I see the movie to lay down any judgement.

Edit: Okay, my verdict is in: not worth it. I found it painful to watch. It lacked humour, personality, and continuity. And that just an overall general verdict - I won't even get into fan mode and tell you what was done to my much beloved Nick series. The only thing I found good about this movie was the graphics and some of the action sequences. But overall, definitely not worth the $14 I paid to watch it in 3D. But if you have your heart set on watching it, I'm not stopping you. But really, do not watch it in 3D. The movie wasn't actually made for it; it's a waste of money.