w00t w00t booyah

We always approach this time of year with some trepidation, and I'd have to say it's well-earned. Since Xander's arrival, attending and participating in this local anime convention requires logistics and no small amount of money. The first year, it was over a grand in child care costs alone and I ended up in the doctor's office the next morning coughing up blood - for the chance of taking a nap in an unmade bed in peace. That's about it.

Karaoke kicked me off to Cosplay the next year.

Who sat me in the dark, alone at an info booth table nobody really needed - but the con required. Next to the peace-bonding station. Which, if you think about me and my history with security at cons, is amusing. Sort of sideways.

This year, I got a spot in the Cosplay office - and really got a better look at how they work this type of event. I've actually competed in a Masquerade once - about 1979 or so - but haven't been back inside to see how things have improved since then, and man. It's a pretty slick operation nowadays.

For just being on hand to do data entry (really really) - this was a really nice gig. I actually had my lead check my work Sunday morning (this is what I did - is that all you wanted to have done?) - stressful? Really?

I actually could set up the laptop, beat the moths out of it and get my Sims 2 game running smoothly again.

Day one, someone came in claiming that Justin Bieber had shown up, unannounced, and con security had locked the place down while he was shown around the place. Riight. I told anyone who cared to listen that if he'd shown up, fine. If his mother was with him, SHE was the one I wanted to talk to. People looked at me funny, then the light bulbs went off over their heads. Mommy wants to talk to da Mommy - seriously. If I ever get a chance, mind you.

What had actually happened? Some bright penny had left their stuff unattended in the food court. And that whole 'I don't KNOW what that is - it's going to be DEADLY has to be' mentality took over and suddenly it was a goth lollie BOMB. And cleared the hall.

That's the vibe you have working here. You're being shooed out of part of the convention center, it's because Justin Bieber wants your space. Only reason. I am much amused.

The rest of the con ran much as it had been expected to. Food? There are gourmet catering trucks outside (the GOOD ones, mind) and I went home at night. I tried to bring back breakfast food each morning, and kept the cuisine both topical and tasty. Krispy Kreme Day One, Japanese pan Day Two and Hawaiian breads Day Three. Day Four, leftovers.

It's all office supplies, doncha know.

I have to remember that switching mental gears like this is both necessary and fun. Sunday, I'm noticing that I haven't worn the awesome green satin jacket I've had hanging in the closet. It's got embroidered roses and dragons all over the back and is wicked cool - and I haven't worn it at all. For a long time. It's good to put clothes like that on again. And dance on your toes until 2:00 AM.

I really loved the Masquerade this year, though. Knowing that much more about the back office gave me more to work with out in the green room getting people ready - and knowing which group was what - and just being more ready and grounded. It also wasn't as large a show as last year, which could be taken both to the good as well as the bad - less acts meant more time to spend with the ones left, but a shorter show.

The happy ending story was one gal who had her group drop out on her - and she entered by herself anyway, lacking a group or skit or music at all. And really, looking at the other groups - got more than a little scared. But by herself? Costume was gorgeous. Props were fantastic. Put together like whoa. Very young - novice class, for sure.

"Hon, this whole thing started out as a fashion show and don't you forget it. Go out there, hit your mark, show 'em your shit - smile, wave and get out of there. You'll be fine. REALLY."

I talked her, the MC talked to her, the stage manager talked to her - we all had a bit of hand holding (the good kind) to do. But she did it, rethinking it up to the very last minute.

The crowd absolutely loved her. And she won. TWICE.

This is me, backstage fist-pumping with both hands, running in place. Sometimes, the good guys win.

And of course, to balance that out - we had one entry who was so sure she was going to win? (Because you know these things are fixed.) Not to be racist, but I've retagged them Imelda and Ferdinand. The behavior after the contest was horrible. Security was on hand. People were dragged out of bed in the middle of the night.

Last I heard, they were rewarded by a sound banning. Fixed, you betcha. We can certainly fix THAT for you.

The downside is that Jim got Xander the entire weekend without a break - and I didn't see anyone who didn't march into the office.

Friday, fetching lunch for Jim, I somehow dropped my wallet on either the desk or the floor - and it had gotten kicked under the desk. When it came time to go home, I couldn't find it.

And retracing my steps didn't locate it. Went home thinking my wallet had been picked off - and was gone. Cancelled all the credit cards, reported them stolen and wondered just how the hell I was going to get to work on Tuesday. Let alone get home after Masquerade Sunday night.

Saturday morning, I dived under the desk looking for a badge and found it. But I am without a debit card or any of my other credit cards. Well, that's one way to make your budget if you can't spend anything I guess.

I just have my driver's license back and without my passport handy, that's the only valid ID I have. Will have to fix that at next paycheck. In two weeks.

And I think I'm going to make myself a backup copy of my ID cards. Funny, even Starbucks will reissue cards if you have them registered and move the balances over to new cards if they're lost.

I really don't want to have that experience again, mind you.

Kid had a blast playing with the peeps - who I was thrilled to see, but barely had time to hug them before they ran off and I ran the other way.

And of course, having a reason to be home and in bed every night before nine can REALLY put a kink into your kink. As in, forget about it.

Well. There's the next one.

This was a good one. I'll take it.

We always approach this time of year with some trepidation, and I'd have to say it's well-earned. Since Xander's arrival, attending and participating in this local anime convention requires logistics and no small amount of money. The first year, it was over a grand in child care costs alone and I ended up in the doctor's office the next morning coughing up blood - for the chance of taking a nap in an unmade bed in peace. That's about it.

Karaoke kicked me off to Cosplay the next year.

Who sat me in the dark, alone at an info booth table nobody really needed - but the con required. Next to the peace-bonding station. Which, if you think about me and my history with security at cons, is amusing. Sort of sideways.

This year, I got a spot in the Cosplay office - and really got a better look at how they work this type of event. I've actually competed in a Masquerade once - about 1979 or so - but haven't been back inside to see how things have improved since then, and man. It's a pretty slick operation nowadays.

For just being on hand to do data entry (really really) - this was a really nice gig. I actually had my lead check my work Sunday morning (this is what I did - is that all you wanted to have done?) - stressful? Really?

I actually could set up the laptop, beat the moths out of it and get my Sims 2 game running smoothly again.

Day one, someone came in claiming that Justin Bieber had shown up, unannounced, and con security had locked the place down while he was shown around the place. Riight. I told anyone who cared to listen that if he'd shown up, fine. If his mother was with him, SHE was the one I wanted to talk to. People looked at me funny, then the light bulbs went off over their heads. Mommy wants to talk to da Mommy - seriously. If I ever get a chance, mind you.

What had actually happened? Some bright penny had left their stuff unattended in the food court. And that whole 'I don't KNOW what that is - it's going to be DEADLY has to be' mentality took over and suddenly it was a goth lollie BOMB. And cleared the hall.

That's the vibe you have working here. You're being shooed out of part of the convention center, it's because Justin Bieber wants your space. Only reason. I am much amused.

The rest of the con ran much as it had been expected to. Food? There are gourmet catering trucks outside (the GOOD ones, mind) and I went home at night. I tried to bring back breakfast food each morning, and kept the cuisine both topical and tasty. Krispy Kreme Day One, Japanese pan Day Two and Hawaiian breads Day Three. Day Four, leftovers.

It's all office supplies, doncha know.

I have to remember that switching mental gears like this is both necessary and fun. Sunday, I'm noticing that I haven't worn the awesome green satin jacket I've had hanging in the closet. It's got embroidered roses and dragons all over the back and is wicked cool - and I haven't worn it at all. For a long time. It's good to put clothes like that on again. And dance on your toes until 2:00 AM.

I really loved the Masquerade this year, though. Knowing that much more about the back office gave me more to work with out in the green room getting people ready - and knowing which group was what - and just being more ready and grounded. It also wasn't as large a show as last year, which could be taken both to the good as well as the bad - less acts meant more time to spend with the ones left, but a shorter show.

The happy ending story was one gal who had her group drop out on her - and she entered by herself anyway, lacking a group or skit or music at all. And really, looking at the other groups - got more than a little scared. But by herself? Costume was gorgeous. Props were fantastic. Put together like whoa. Very young - novice class, for sure.

"Hon, this whole thing started out as a fashion show and don't you forget it. Go out there, hit your mark, show 'em your shit - smile, wave and get out of there. You'll be fine. REALLY."

I talked her, the MC talked to her, the stage manager talked to her - we all had a bit of hand holding (the good kind) to do. But she did it, rethinking it up to the very last minute.

The crowd absolutely loved her. And she won. TWICE.

This is me, backstage fist-pumping with both hands, running in place. Sometimes, the good guys win.

And of course, to balance that out - we had one entry who was so sure she was going to win? (Because you know these things are fixed.) Not to be racist, but I've retagged them Imelda and Ferdinand. The behavior after the contest was horrible. Security was on hand. People were dragged out of bed in the middle of the night.

Last I heard, they were rewarded by a sound banning. Fixed, you betcha. We can certainly fix THAT for you.

The downside is that Jim got Xander the entire weekend without a break - and I didn't see anyone who didn't march into the office.

Friday, fetching lunch for Jim, I somehow dropped my wallet on either the desk or the floor - and it had gotten kicked under the desk. When it came time to go home, I couldn't find it.

And retracing my steps didn't locate it. Went home thinking my wallet had been picked off - and was gone. Cancelled all the credit cards, reported them stolen and wondered just how the hell I was going to get to work on Tuesday. Let alone get home after Masquerade Sunday night.

Saturday morning, I dived under the desk looking for a badge and found it. But I am without a debit card or any of my other credit cards. Well, that's one way to make your budget if you can't spend anything I guess.

I just have my driver's license back and without my passport handy, that's the only valid ID I have. Will have to fix that at next paycheck. In two weeks.

And I think I'm going to make myself a backup copy of my ID cards. Funny, even Starbucks will reissue cards if you have them registered and move the balances over to new cards if they're lost.

I really don't want to have that experience again, mind you.

Kid had a blast playing with the peeps - who I was thrilled to see, but barely had time to hug them before they ran off and I ran the other way.

And of course, having a reason to be home and in bed every night before nine can REALLY put a kink into your kink. As in, forget about it.

Well. There's the next one.

This was a good one. I'll take it.

Probably one of the best AX weekends in recent memory - no kidding. The Los Angeles Convention Center is a perfect fit for this event. With a couple of caveats, and man - those are HUGE.

They closed all of the food concessions every night at 6:00 PM. No, I am not kidding. You wanna eat dinner? Not going to do at the convention center, bub. Hop a shuttle to a hotel and eat in their restaurant - and suck it up, cost-wise. Anyone who had known ahead of time, could have made a killing with a ramen cart or some such. TRY getting pizza delivery there, BTW. I saw them delivering to the bus stop outside South Hall.

Across the street is not much to write home about. Certainly nothing to eat. Open after 6, and on a holiday weekend? Pfft.

I haven't pounded candy bars for dinner like that since college. Do not even wish to entertain the excuses of 'this is the first year for the venue' arguments. Not even. And the stories I heard about the vegetarian 'offerings' for staff chow? EPIC FAIL.

Guys, you don't tell someone who fed a Type I diabetic for 15 years that there's NO FOOD UNTIL THE NEXT DAY at the dinner hour. Ghad, this is basic. My head is still spinning.

And then there was the parking. That closed after dark - no, you can't get back in even if you DO wish to pay another $12. Went out for dinner...and then had to go home. THANKS.

I already mentioned the lack of intelligent design when it came to designing queues. HINT: do not cross the streams, thank you.

Next year - they'll be back to LACC - and I'll be bringing a microwave and a couple of cases of ramen.

The real dilemma now is if I have time to do more than complain - and if that's cryptic, good. It's meant to be.

Today? I'm about 60% - being away for four days really helped flush the RAM of everything I was doing last week before showing up there.

UM.

Not enough alcohol this weekend. Not by half. But I had a really good time and wished the days were 12 hours longer to allow for more sleep.

I know I have nearly native or native Japanese language people on my FL. Help me out. I'm stuck actually working this morning and have no time to puzzle this out:

http://blog.tsutaya.co.jp/momo-i/

I understand the entries are about AX - and they aren't complimentary. Curious, schadenfreude, take your pick. I wanna know.

I know I have nearly native or native Japanese language people on my FL. Help me out. I'm stuck actually working this morning and have no time to puzzle this out:

http://blog.tsutaya.co.jp/momo-i/

I understand the entries are about AX - and they aren't complimentary. Curious, schadenfreude, take your pick. I wanna know.

I'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.

God, it's so good to feel better. I had no idea how far down I was -

Getting things done today easily. Amazing.

I now have Skype if anyone can find me while it's active - only my laptop will run it. And you know how often the laptop is in range of internet service - so if you can find me when 1) it's turned on, 2) connected to the internet and 3) has Skype running - go play the Lotto as well. That's going to be one rare instance.

AX is a week from this weekend. FUCK ME. I used to look forward to this weekend - now, it's *shrug* and I start thinking about packing lunches. Best hotel room I ever had was at an AX - and it was the one year I had to do it alone. (Back then, it made sense to get a room. Now? PAY ME SUCKERS. And no, I don't want your damn tickets.)

If I had any sense, I'd put something together so classically Sims2 nobody could think it was street wear - but I'll most likely wear some textile art from Peacecraft instead. Or haori -

I'll be in the karaoke room - probably with laptop playing Sims.

God, it's so good to feel better. I had no idea how far down I was -

Getting things done today easily. Amazing.

I now have Skype if anyone can find me while it's active - only my laptop will run it. And you know how often the laptop is in range of internet service - so if you can find me when 1) it's turned on, 2) connected to the internet and 3) has Skype running - go play the Lotto as well. That's going to be one rare instance.

AX is a week from this weekend. FUCK ME. I used to look forward to this weekend - now, it's *shrug* and I start thinking about packing lunches. Best hotel room I ever had was at an AX - and it was the one year I had to do it alone. (Back then, it made sense to get a room. Now? PAY ME SUCKERS. And no, I don't want your damn tickets.)

If I had any sense, I'd put something together so classically Sims2 nobody could think it was street wear - but I'll most likely wear some textile art from Peacecraft instead. Or haori -

I'll be in the karaoke room - probably with laptop playing Sims.

Another AX hits the circular. w00t.

First off, I haven't been here since posting Monday. If you've got something I should see - clue me in. I'll try to get back as far as I can, but it won't be quick.

Folks, your condolences mean more than you know. The more time passes, the more clues to "something wasn't quite right" keep coming to mind. If it's rationalization, it's pretty hard to deny that there were emergency room visits in the last six months, behavior changes that made her nuts to manage (never happy, never comfortable), and the fact she bulldozed her way through three cinder blocks to get out that night when she'd never much cared one way or the other (opportunistic, yes. Escape artist? Not until now). I can point to the fireworks...somewhat. They'd been "taste-testing" them in the neighborhood for weeks...and in my neighborhood, they never really go away completely. So laying it entirely at the feet of the holiday doesn't really fly either.

Little dog rolled a one. And after that, it's just a done deal. She's gone. The biggest thing I've noticed so far is the lack of constant, continual noise. She was verbal. She was insistent. And I mentioned the lack of appeasement as of late. She scratched on the doors, the windows - inside and out. Scrabbled on the kitchen floor. Barked. All. The. Time.

The silence is eerie. It's been thirteen years and I hadn't noticed how much I'd kept an ear out for the noise and had paid attention to it.

No more dogs, for now. The back yard has to be made secure to a fair-thee-well. This is the second dog I've lost to traffic, and I'm going to have to accept that this is something I'm going to have to be stupid about. Crating the dog every time I left the house didn't seem fair. I'm gone long blocks of time at a stretch. What kind of a life is that? Tie the dog up. Please. That dumb mutt had her own harness in a knot so convoluted I had to cut it off Sunday morning, and she hadn't been tied to anything.

No more. Not right now. Nothing worked good enough. I'm done for now. It's just not what I expected - not from this animal.

*sighs*

AX. This was the year of the Really Tall Fan. Seriously. Friday night when we went down to pick up badges, the first cosplayer we walked into was a Vash that was taller than Jim. No platforms. This is not easy to do when Jim is 6'4". And he wasn't the only one.

And ghads, the females. I was so struck by the change in demographic from the first AX in 1996 when I was often the only female in any kind of range, let alone Anglo. The group then had been Asian and male - this year? Holy cow. Females who liked being girly. Cross-dressed a lot. Females everywhere I looked, doing every kind of thing around. It was refreshing. Okay, sometimes the mixing of Celtic knotwork into yukata wearing was a bit jarring, but this was also the first year I saw women wearing kimono correctly. Nisei Week is coming -

And of course, you have your requisite "life lessons" wandering about. The job I want at AX next year? I want to be the guy enforcing the sign policy in the dealer's room where it appears they only put security on the outside of. Karaoke room made it stick - I wonder what Tommy has in his collection. You bring a sign into the room, it's his. And so it was. This was my first experience with them - and the only job I want next year is one with a staff badge with removal permissions. I see a sign, I take it AND the badge and send the attendee home. That, actually, was written as policy - and outside the dealer's room, it was adhered to.

Dealers? Had hired their own security. Pathetic.

I brought my own food, or went off-site for something edible. Parking was nucking futz and I still have a Anaheim Convention Center shuttle pass for two days ready to use. I ended up parking at the Disneyland Hotel one day - that's how bad it was. (Good exercise though. In 101 degrees, not so fun.)

Tell me how the AMV show went. I have not a clue.

I did take advantage of getting sets completed without having to pay shipping - so we're set until Christmas, methinks.

My weekend, as it was. Back to work, now in progress.

We still object to the ticketing policy.

"How do you get a ticket?
There are two ways to obtain tickets to the events named above:

1. Line-up in Hall E at 1pm for tickets on the day of the event, based on availability.
2. Reserve a hotel room under any of the three hotels in the Anime Expo room block by May 31, 2005 and get one ticket per registered guest to one event of your choice (up to a maximum of 4 tickets per room), based on availability."

Uh, nope. Better than last year, but still no dice.

The only policy that is acceptable, by theory? The first one. Reasonable? Oh, hell no.

A legitimate policy would take that very, very good registration program they use, and allow it to issue tickets at the time of registration - and allow the registree to choose one event at that time.

Then open it up at 1:00 PM on the day of the event for leftovers if you want to do more than one.

Fill it up at registration? Suspend the event - it's sold out, too bad so sad. Make other arrangements.

But tickets for hotel stays? No. Not when I will never use a hotel room for AX again.

See ya next year!