MARINES WE ARE LEAVING
Jul. 2nd, 2007 10:36 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kyburgI'm going to hold complete reviews of AX until tomorrow. That's only fair - con's still going on, but some of us have to work.
A couple of caveats - I got comp'ed in. I did not pay to attend. I did pay more to park than any other singular cost during the entire weekend. Seriously. More than food. More than anything in the dealer's room. Just to put a car someplace where it would not 1) get stolen, 2) towed, 3) worse.
Long Beach is a perfect venue for this con. The main room at the Westin for karaoke was nothing short of gorgeous. I spent most of the time I was there in karaoke, with one short foray into the main convention floor on Sunday.
That - was AWFUL.
I'll hold everything until tomorrow - but there's one thing I want to discuss.
I'm not going to go look at the weapons policy on the AX website. I want to ask this of the group at large.
How the hell do you 'peace-bond' a STICK?
Think about this a moment, and then try to get it to fit into the idea of peace-bonding props as a concept. It won't go.
The whole practice came about in an attempt to render props that could do damage, inert - you zip-tied the trigger of a gun so it could not be fired. You tied something to its holster so it could not be drawn.
But you never, ever could tie a bokken, a bo, a stave - those props could not be allowed on a convention floor. (The year I did Fanime, those props were returned to rooms, cars or the attendee left the con with them. Period.) Reason? The whole zip-tie thing is not to prove you got permission from the convention - that they knew you had the thing - it was to make certain you - or someone who took the prop FROM you - could not use it in a fashion incompatible with a large group of people.
And I saw zip-tied "sticks" of all kinds - with zips of all kinds of colors. Also, not kosher - anyone can go to Fry's and get zip-ties. A con that can issue armbands - seriously, they did - for staff to wear - can get their own flavor of zip-ties.
If they actually cared about the concept, of course. Instead of just doing it because - well - I don't know. I don't think anyone who was peace-bonding sticks was thinking either. I mean - what were you DOING, exactly?
The corker, though?
They had volunteers with these things staffing entry and egress points. This is outside the Dealer's Room - the only place I actually ventured outside the karaoke areas during the con.
To get to the Dealer's Room? You had to go past the Info Desk. The main entry point into the con. And then?
The lines to get into the Dealer's Room queued up through - DIRECTLY THOUGH - Artist's Alley.
No, this is not an opportunity to browse and schmooze or anything of the kind. If you could see anything of the artist's tables, it was the portions they were able to hang over 6' up. PACKED SOLID, it moved at the pace of the 405 in rush hour.
And this is how you got in.
There were volunteers inside the doors, outside the doors - and you had what looked like convention hall security checking badges.
NO AX RED VESTS ANYWHERE.
And the way in? NOT THE WAY OUT. The way out - was across the hall itself, and dumped you nearly in the loading docks, away from everywhere else.
The din was incredible, but then again - hello dealer's room, no surprise here - but looking up, I didn't see the large pavilions I'm used to seeing at an AX.
OH. They're going to Comic-Con. ALL OF THEM. INSTEAD. Got it.
What's left is small shops, distributors and the like. Of course, with a huge Borders across the street from the convention center, you'd better do something, yah? $10 manga went for $8, yahoo.
I had a short list, found the items and GOT OUT. AGAINST THE TIDE.
Seriously, I'd had enough - in less than half an hour - to go from accommodating to Bitch On Wheels LET ME OUT OF HERE NOW.
I gave myself a couple of hours afterward. Acoustic Karaoke Contest was absolutely the best part of the weekend - but I had a headache that would not leave the building, nothing helped, and instead of getting cranky and worse...went home at 8:30 PM.
Without a job, I really didn't have a thing to do.
More stuff tomorrow, once the con closes. Oh yes, there's more.
A couple of caveats - I got comp'ed in. I did not pay to attend. I did pay more to park than any other singular cost during the entire weekend. Seriously. More than food. More than anything in the dealer's room. Just to put a car someplace where it would not 1) get stolen, 2) towed, 3) worse.
Long Beach is a perfect venue for this con. The main room at the Westin for karaoke was nothing short of gorgeous. I spent most of the time I was there in karaoke, with one short foray into the main convention floor on Sunday.
That - was AWFUL.
I'll hold everything until tomorrow - but there's one thing I want to discuss.
I'm not going to go look at the weapons policy on the AX website. I want to ask this of the group at large.
How the hell do you 'peace-bond' a STICK?
Think about this a moment, and then try to get it to fit into the idea of peace-bonding props as a concept. It won't go.
The whole practice came about in an attempt to render props that could do damage, inert - you zip-tied the trigger of a gun so it could not be fired. You tied something to its holster so it could not be drawn.
But you never, ever could tie a bokken, a bo, a stave - those props could not be allowed on a convention floor. (The year I did Fanime, those props were returned to rooms, cars or the attendee left the con with them. Period.) Reason? The whole zip-tie thing is not to prove you got permission from the convention - that they knew you had the thing - it was to make certain you - or someone who took the prop FROM you - could not use it in a fashion incompatible with a large group of people.
And I saw zip-tied "sticks" of all kinds - with zips of all kinds of colors. Also, not kosher - anyone can go to Fry's and get zip-ties. A con that can issue armbands - seriously, they did - for staff to wear - can get their own flavor of zip-ties.
If they actually cared about the concept, of course. Instead of just doing it because - well - I don't know. I don't think anyone who was peace-bonding sticks was thinking either. I mean - what were you DOING, exactly?
The corker, though?
They had volunteers with these things staffing entry and egress points. This is outside the Dealer's Room - the only place I actually ventured outside the karaoke areas during the con.
To get to the Dealer's Room? You had to go past the Info Desk. The main entry point into the con. And then?
The lines to get into the Dealer's Room queued up through - DIRECTLY THOUGH - Artist's Alley.
No, this is not an opportunity to browse and schmooze or anything of the kind. If you could see anything of the artist's tables, it was the portions they were able to hang over 6' up. PACKED SOLID, it moved at the pace of the 405 in rush hour.
And this is how you got in.
There were volunteers inside the doors, outside the doors - and you had what looked like convention hall security checking badges.
NO AX RED VESTS ANYWHERE.
And the way in? NOT THE WAY OUT. The way out - was across the hall itself, and dumped you nearly in the loading docks, away from everywhere else.
The din was incredible, but then again - hello dealer's room, no surprise here - but looking up, I didn't see the large pavilions I'm used to seeing at an AX.
OH. They're going to Comic-Con. ALL OF THEM. INSTEAD. Got it.
What's left is small shops, distributors and the like. Of course, with a huge Borders across the street from the convention center, you'd better do something, yah? $10 manga went for $8, yahoo.
I had a short list, found the items and GOT OUT. AGAINST THE TIDE.
Seriously, I'd had enough - in less than half an hour - to go from accommodating to Bitch On Wheels LET ME OUT OF HERE NOW.
I gave myself a couple of hours afterward. Acoustic Karaoke Contest was absolutely the best part of the weekend - but I had a headache that would not leave the building, nothing helped, and instead of getting cranky and worse...went home at 8:30 PM.
Without a job, I really didn't have a thing to do.
More stuff tomorrow, once the con closes. Oh yes, there's more.
