August is a fun time of year for us fan-service people. We go down to the marvelous state of Maryland and spend our time devouring hamburgers and drawing pictures in the wondrous "convention for the Otaku generation" known at Otakon. I'm not sure what the "Otaku generation" is, nor do I think I'm a part of it, but it's an awful good excuse to spend three days in a foreign city with your friends, drinking in the sights and making dashing plans to devour all sorts of seafood that never really come through.

Last year was a sizably weak excursion to Otakon. Skabs spent the entirety of the time in his hotel room with his girlfriend, we didn't get an art table so we had no communal ground on which to hang out and berate other people from. Sambo was there, and we got pretty drunk and ended up scaling walls all over the convention center... that was pretty fun. But a conspicuous lack of our good friend Andrew at the convention was the final nail in the coffin. Last year's Otakon was okay... but not nearly as fun as it could've been.

What also didn't help was Bare's lackluster CD player and my lackluster off-brand CD-Rs didn't see fit to get along with each other. I work so hard on compiling these mixes and this crap happens and then we have to rely on the one or two legitimate CDs I managed to slough into the car. Let me tell you, I like Le Tigre and Bad Religion, but I don't think I "3 straight hours in a car" like them. Without a good dose of Fray (and Andrew) my Otakon was very sad.

Fray takes a totally new spin on the Morrowind theme, which have mostly been orchestral stuff that I just can't get into. If I don't get my fair share of 'ph4t b33ts' during the weekly grind then I quickly start to loose the luster that makes me so damn lovable. This man saw fit to light my darkest hour and take care of me in a way that I could never ask of another man. Nor would I want to ask, but that's sort of how it happened anyway.

The song sounds out as unthreatening as you'd expect it to. But at 0'15 those oft-feared 'ph4t b33ts' come in an proceed to rock the house. The melody at 0'41, which basically continues through the song, is like the sweet nectar that my soul so desperately craves. A softening in the minute and a half range soothes the listener into a gentle reverie for awhile, letting him reflect on past times and good friends. The piano only enhances the mood, like a warm blanket during the coldest night of winter. Fray is here to take care of you, and he'll do it well! The piano will make its solo debut around 2'40 and the already shattered remix aficionado will fear his weeping. Not to worry! At 3'11 the synth comes back and reminds you that thing song is all about having fun with your homies, should you have any homies to have fun with. After that, not much else needs to be said, if Fray can carry the song this long then the next 2 and a half minutes shouldn't be much of a problem!

This year at Otakon is going to be the best one yet, of this I am quite sure. More beer, more Andrew, and a hell of a lot more Fray. If there's a better combination, then I probably shouldn't be privy to it. I have quite the addictive personality.

But Could I Drive To This?: While Bare's car might summarily reject the low price alternatives to CD Burning, that in no way precludes other mobile forms of listening to this music. In not much more than a day I fully intend to rock out to this headed south in Joel's car, whether he likes it or not. It's no longer his choice. I'm a slave to the music and even Joel's malefecant massivity isn't enough to put silent what Fray has wroght.

It's gonna be a good trip.