Otakon 2005: Full Disclosure
As I said in my bio, I go to anime conventions. Conventions are a great little distraction; a vacation far from the ordinary. They are a chance for me to meet and socialize with my fellow nerds, and a space far from those who would not understand our obscure Japanese sense of humor, geeky references, and our obsession with computers and video games. It's a chance to dress up like your favorite anime character, just for the fun of it. It's an opportunity to let loose and be as oddball as you like, because it's expected there. It's a good place to hug a stranger. It's that kind of atmosphere.
The rest of this is just personal diary kinda stuff, so skip that if you're not interested.
I got to the con Friday morning and hung out with some people I didn't know. Shuichi, Miroku, and gang, you guys were awesome! I hit the dealer's room without buying anything, grabbed some lunch, and then got the call from my group. They arrived a few hours after me, so I headed up to the room and met one of the girls I hang out with in Maryland. Dascha, you're cool, too! She and I went to the dealer's room again, where I found some ultra-rare doll she had been looking for forever, and ended up spotting her the cash for it. She paid me back quickly. Next step was unloading my stuff into the room, followed by hanging out for a bit. I went fursuiting in my panda outfit for a while. Very few of the anime fans realized the panda was supposed to be Genma Saotome from Ranma 1/2 -- I need to spruce up the outift for next time. I de-sweated and cooled off, and then we headed out for Sushi. There were some reservations problems, so I ended up walking back to the hotel and picking up some kabobs with my homie the Pimp Moogle. She liked them, too - Baltimore has very good kabobs.
Got back, grabbed some cola, and headed to the rave. I met up with a character I had seen at the Nation a few nights previous, whose name always seems to escape me. He was doing some awesome lightstick dancing in the middle of a circle of fun-loving ravers. See here for Jesus raving. I don't know if that's blasphemous or not. probably a little, but the guy was not playing an alternative Jesus or anything. He didn't say anything that struck me as over the line, and we know Jesus enjoyed the music of his time. Didn't He make rave music, too?
After the rave I hung out with Mark, who I met right after the DJ's stopped spinning. Mark, you're a cool kid. He was a lot of fun to talk to; we discussed everything from Stepmania to yaoi to what-have-you. I eventually went back to the room, hung out with the guys, and went to bed.
Next day was full of fun stuff. Got up, nabbed some leftover sushi Tim brought me for breakfast, and went to check out the Red Octane booth. Mark had informed me that Inspector K was there, and being totally starstruck, I had to go meet him. I hope I didn't act like a hopeless fanboy, and I wish I could have had a conversation as just two guys, but he was kinda busy and on 'public mode,' and I was just another customer. I bought the game with free t-shirt and got Smiley to sign both. It was awesome. Following that, I looked for people, and tried to catch my sister for lunch. Failing that, I grabbed some more sushi and decided to head out in panda costume with the Pimp Moogle and her ho. We got seperated pretty quickly, but I got at least one good picture. I marched around and got photos for an hour or so, then headed back for de-sweating. I grabbed my dj gear and looked for an opportune spot, but didn't find one. I hung out with the guys and accompanied them to listen to Mitch do karaoke - he did great. Met up with Miroku again, whom it was good to see.
After that, it was time for dinner and raves. Joe Kopasek was spinning, and damn was he awesome. I missed Tony, but met him on the dance floor. I wasn't around for Jeremy Sin (I needed a lot of water - pizza and coke ruined my ability to retain it) and I missed Scott Henry to hang out with my group. I got to watch some of the girls from our crew do some break-down lesbian dirty dancing, and then headed back for a night shower. I DJ'd for our group while they got drunk. Played a whole Jet Set Radio set, and then went through some basic trance stuff, which they were trashed enough to really enjoy. It was fun.
After that, I packed up my stuff and got ready for the long drive to Indiana. It was a long haul, but I didn't have as hard a time seperating from the parents as I did last year. I'm glad the transition was easier - it was pretty rough the first year I went to college.
I guess that's it. It was an awesome Otakon, and I got some great pics. I'm still deciding whether or not to put them on public display; after all, I hardly had model releases handy. But it all went well.
Good night!
The rest of this is just personal diary kinda stuff, so skip that if you're not interested.
I got to the con Friday morning and hung out with some people I didn't know. Shuichi, Miroku, and gang, you guys were awesome! I hit the dealer's room without buying anything, grabbed some lunch, and then got the call from my group. They arrived a few hours after me, so I headed up to the room and met one of the girls I hang out with in Maryland. Dascha, you're cool, too! She and I went to the dealer's room again, where I found some ultra-rare doll she had been looking for forever, and ended up spotting her the cash for it. She paid me back quickly. Next step was unloading my stuff into the room, followed by hanging out for a bit. I went fursuiting in my panda outfit for a while. Very few of the anime fans realized the panda was supposed to be Genma Saotome from Ranma 1/2 -- I need to spruce up the outift for next time. I de-sweated and cooled off, and then we headed out for Sushi. There were some reservations problems, so I ended up walking back to the hotel and picking up some kabobs with my homie the Pimp Moogle. She liked them, too - Baltimore has very good kabobs.
Got back, grabbed some cola, and headed to the rave. I met up with a character I had seen at the Nation a few nights previous, whose name always seems to escape me. He was doing some awesome lightstick dancing in the middle of a circle of fun-loving ravers. See here for Jesus raving. I don't know if that's blasphemous or not. probably a little, but the guy was not playing an alternative Jesus or anything. He didn't say anything that struck me as over the line, and we know Jesus enjoyed the music of his time. Didn't He make rave music, too?
After the rave I hung out with Mark, who I met right after the DJ's stopped spinning. Mark, you're a cool kid. He was a lot of fun to talk to; we discussed everything from Stepmania to yaoi to what-have-you. I eventually went back to the room, hung out with the guys, and went to bed.
Next day was full of fun stuff. Got up, nabbed some leftover sushi Tim brought me for breakfast, and went to check out the Red Octane booth. Mark had informed me that Inspector K was there, and being totally starstruck, I had to go meet him. I hope I didn't act like a hopeless fanboy, and I wish I could have had a conversation as just two guys, but he was kinda busy and on 'public mode,' and I was just another customer. I bought the game with free t-shirt and got Smiley to sign both. It was awesome. Following that, I looked for people, and tried to catch my sister for lunch. Failing that, I grabbed some more sushi and decided to head out in panda costume with the Pimp Moogle and her ho. We got seperated pretty quickly, but I got at least one good picture. I marched around and got photos for an hour or so, then headed back for de-sweating. I grabbed my dj gear and looked for an opportune spot, but didn't find one. I hung out with the guys and accompanied them to listen to Mitch do karaoke - he did great. Met up with Miroku again, whom it was good to see.
After that, it was time for dinner and raves. Joe Kopasek was spinning, and damn was he awesome. I missed Tony, but met him on the dance floor. I wasn't around for Jeremy Sin (I needed a lot of water - pizza and coke ruined my ability to retain it) and I missed Scott Henry to hang out with my group. I got to watch some of the girls from our crew do some break-down lesbian dirty dancing, and then headed back for a night shower. I DJ'd for our group while they got drunk. Played a whole Jet Set Radio set, and then went through some basic trance stuff, which they were trashed enough to really enjoy. It was fun.
After that, I packed up my stuff and got ready for the long drive to Indiana. It was a long haul, but I didn't have as hard a time seperating from the parents as I did last year. I'm glad the transition was easier - it was pretty rough the first year I went to college.
I guess that's it. It was an awesome Otakon, and I got some great pics. I'm still deciding whether or not to put them on public display; after all, I hardly had model releases handy. But it all went well.
Good night!
posted by Agius at 8:34 PM
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