Chicago Features Its Best at the 5th Anime Midwest

For its 5th year in the Chicagoland area, Anime Midwest focused on the more musical and dance side this year. On top of the great panels, awesome voice acting guests, and cosplay events, Anime Midwest continues to evolve and make itself more unique every year.

[Click on any of the following pics to see the videos]

Some of the things already that set Anime Midwest apart from most conventions include:
The Date Auction [where a portion of the proceeds go to the St. Jude's Children's Hospital]
The ConSweet (where attendees and guests can get an unlimited amount of free ramen, rice, soda pop, and now oatmeal throughout the weekend)
The recently added Fleur Maid Cafe (recently added last year and has been a regular at the AnimeCon.org conventions)


This year's focus shifted towards more music and dance this year.
Two Chicago bands were featured at this year's Anime Midwest including V is for Villains and Kid Yuki and the Otakus. Other Key music guests included Steam Powered Giraffe, The Pillowcases,  and Frenchy and The Punk just to name a few.

Dance was featured during the opening ceremonies and that was only a sample of what was to come. There were a lot of dance performances by the Fleur Maid Cafe throughout the convention to help advertise the limited time slots left available to experience the maid cafe. The Raves and Formal Ball were still key featured events at the convention as well.
The one special addition was the Nippon Academy Media hosted K-Pop Battle that took place Anime Midwest. With the huge K-Pop craze growing it was fitting to have a dance battle with some of the best talent in the area with the audience being the judges.

Only time will tell what to expect from Anime Midwest and what is to come in the following years, including their December sister convention Con+Alt+Delete. For more information, go to www.conaltdelete.com.

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Celebrity Birthday Whiz Jeremy Horn Turns 30!

The tables have finally turned on Jeremy Horn.

The pop culture fanatic--who remembers all of his favorite celebrities' birthdays-- is celebrating a milestone of his own today! 

Jeremy has finally turned 30 and he is celebrating with family and friends! Some of his celebrity acquaintances include members of the Jackson family-- many of whom follow him on Twitter. (One year, he had the opportunity to speak with Mrs. Rebbie Jackson Brown and her son, Austin, on the phone)
 

Austin Brown, Jeremy, & Prince Jackson

As a concerned resident of Chicago metropolitan area, Jeremy has worked tirelessly to make things safer. He has attended many anti-violence and mentoring events and created awareness for important issues on his social media pages. Through it all, Jeremy maintains a positive attitude which improves the spirits of all those around him.

Go Zack wishes Jeremy Horn a very happy 30th Birthday today! 

Check out his cake! 

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Church Members Mourn Shocking Loss Of Teen Musician

According to his Facebook profile, he called himself "Drummer Boy". To family and friends, the talented 17-year old was Vonzell Banks. 

Earlier today, Banks was fatally shot at Hadiyah Pendleton Park  in Chicago's Bronzeville neighborhood. (Ironically, Pendleton--for whom the park is named-- was a victim of the same violence 2 years earlier.) 

Banks was a member of Cosmopolitan Church of Prayer in the Woodlawn neighborhood where he played the drums for the choir. He was also a rising senior at Dunbar Vocational Career Academy.

Bro putting in some #SlightWork
Posted by Anthony SoundBased Benion on Thursday, September 11, 2014

In a Facebook thread, choir members from Cosmopolitan Church of Prayers shared memories from as recent as Thursday night-- the last time Banks rehearsed with them.

One choir member wrote "[Banks] danced and shouted" after the rehearsal during a moment of praise. Additionally, his friends posted special memories about him on his Facebook page.

On behalf of Zack's TV, we extend our condolences to The Banks family, Dunbar Career Academy, and the Cosmopolitan Church of Prayer. 

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