Categories
cosplay SciFi and Fantasy

Spinning Up for Otakon 2011

Over the last week or so, I’ve had no less than two convention related dreams. So there’s no doubt my subconscious is pretty excited about going to Otakon as I am when I’m awake! A few months ago, I wasn’t even sure I was going to be able to go, but it appears that the Lord has blessed me with that much, and more this year.

I always seem to have a few more dream cosplays to do and again thankfully, it looks like one of those is going to debut at Otakon in a few days. My Star Trek: Original Series Uhura is going very well! I was really worried last night after making a number of mistakes and things just not looking right. But this is usually the case because I intentionally make my costumes slightly too big first and then refit them after trying them on.

Uhura Cosplay Progress PicFinally, around 2am or so this morning, I put everything on after the refit and got that “OMFG this is cute!” moment that comes when the costume has really come together. It was quite a relief after having so many doubts and flubs. But it all works! I just have some wig work to do and makeup related things I hope to improve on, but I think I’m going to love this!

After making this costume, I have new respect and awe for Bill Theiss, the costume designer for Star Trek. On standard definition TV, Uhura’s minidress uniform, beyond being sexy, is not all that interesting visually. But when you put it together from the official pattern found in the Star Trek Technical Manual, you can see the fine details that make it a work of art. The front and back of the dress are formed from 3 segments whose seams converge on the insignia. It’s truly a work of futuristic beauty that I’m honored to have the opportunity to wear!

Categories
cosplay SciFi and Fantasy

Hailing Frequencies Still Open

With Otakon little over a month away, I’ve kicked off one of my dream cosplay projects. After every cosplay project I wonder if it’s going to be the last one. Is it time to retire from cosplay? Is it time to “grow up”? Well one advantage I had, having started cosplay in earnest at a later age, is that I’m already grown up. Grown up plenty! So to paraphrase one of my lolita friends, as long as my body and looks hold up, I’ll likely keep doing cosplay!

This hobby is just too much fun to me right now and all of the angst and drama that younger people have to contend with is mostly behind me now. It’s kind of funny that so many parents encourage various hobbies and pursuits for their kids as they are growing up, but then seemingly want them to abandon them once they pass some arbitrary age.

Nichelle Nichols as UhuraOkay, enough of that! The new cosplay project in question is Uhura from Star Trek: The Original Series, which to me is just plain ol’ Star Trek. While stuck in bad traffic and rain, I decided to detour to a JoAnn’s on route and when I came out I had most of what I’d need for Uhura’s red minidress uniform. They even had the perfect ribbon for the gold braid!

Today I ordered gogo boots and a uniform insignia. I know you can buy this costume, but it’s more fun for me to make my own. I’m going to use the pattern in my old Star Trek Technical Manual. I’m thinking of making a tricorder prop that I can combine with my iPhone and a custom app I can write to complete the image. I still need to buy a wig and earrings and the right makeup too.

I’m not really planning for this to be done in time for Otakon, but if it is I’ll take it. I’d really like to take this cosplay to Dragon*Con. But it’s not likely I can do that this year, who knows? In any case, Star Trek was my first fandom and oddly enough, Uhura will be the first character I’ve cosplayed where my skin tone actually matched! Not that that is a concern of mine, but it does mark an interesting milestone for me. So cosplay continues. Hailing frequencies are still open sugah!

Nyota Uhura

Categories
Anime, Manga, Etc cosplay

ACen Aftershocks: Extended Edition End

Friday had turned out to be a good start for the con. Saturday would prove to be the greatest challenge on an almost existential level. I’ve been coming to Anime Central with my family since 2004, so this was our 8th ACen. It always managed to be a fun time, even with the occasional drama that can happen sometimes when you stuff your family into a hotel room half filled with costumes and plushies.

But sadly, my wife wasn’t having as much fun as the rest of us. So I decided to make a concerted effort to find some things to do that she would enjoy. I should have known that this was simply doomed to failure because at the end of the day my wife is not a nerd. An intellectual, yes. Indeed, she is a scholar in the best of ancient Chinese tradition. But she is not a nerd or a geek. Moe and mecha mean nothing to her. And, well, cosplay goes right up to the line. Crossplay crosses over that line and crashes hard into the bottom of a deep deep chasm of the unmentionable.

As has become our custom, the family arrived at the worst time on Saturday morning, right in the middle of the AMV contest, and later we played some unintentional hide and seek in the dealers room. We finally got together in time to go the Khaotic Kouture fashion shows with Sixh and h.NAOTO after a candid little interview with the Cosplay in America guy! I thought the fashion show was pretty cool, the wife, not so much. She just wasn’t into it. Afterwards we went on a little photo run and then had some late lunch together.

acen2011-061

In the end, we decided that this would be her last ACen. She and our oldest daughter just aren’t very interested in anything at the con. So next year it’ll just be me and the 3 youngest. My sons and younger daughter are all hardcore gamers and anime fans. They had a great time playing in the video game tournaments and cosplaying. So I cannot wait until next year!

acen2011-090

Last year I didn’t get in line early enough for the masquerade, so this year I took no chances. Still I ended up all the way behind the Hyatt standing on a muddy lattice of bricks that was pure hell in heels.  But it was all good. The masquerade was pretty good this year. I liked the MCs and I liked starting with the walk-ons rather than the skits. When the skits go first, there’s usually a rush for the door once they end which I think is unfair to the walk-on cosplayers. Cosplayers often put a lot of work into their costumes and we all want people to see it! Having the half time show hosted by the popular Zak and Voltz was another good move. In the end I think this was one of the best ACen masquerades in some time. No awful yaoi skits, and I actually found the occasional explosion of T and A in some of the walk-ons quite enjoyable.

While my Stocking cosplay did not feature any T and A, it must have been convincing enough to some.  While going to the bathroom and fixing my makeup, in the men’s room of course, I encountered a hotel security officer. I looked at him, he looked at me. No words were exchanged and I left. He came out a short time later, looked at me some more. Still no words were exchanged. I guess someone thought I was in the wrong bathroom and called security. I guess I’ll take that as a compliment, LOL.

I decided to skip Karaoke Madness in favor of the Soap Bubble dance because I’d gone on Friday night and was a little disappointed that so few anime themed songs were done. I know some people were complaining about this on the ACen forums, but I can understand the desire to open up the fun to more people. Still it is kind of funny to see the tension between the more extreme Asia-philes (aka weeaboos) and more mainstream con-goers. I think over the years ACen has moved in a more mainstream direction. I’ve seen this in the music at the dances too. Sadly, imho, one rarely hears anime themed music mixes there anymore.

Luckily I did not have to wait in line for the Soap Bubble for very long. I liked the music for the most part until the dubstep stuff started. Sorry, just couldn’t get into it. So I decided to get some water, sit, and people watch for a while. There was the cutest couple dancing close to each other off in their own world. The guy was a tall chubby Asian guy, almost the epitome of the stereotypical image of an anime fan boy. And the girl, also tall and wearing a sailor fuku, the spitting image of the cute anime nerd girl. I’ll never forget how cute they were together!

I had thought about going to the Panty and Stocking photoshoot, but decided against it because I’m still a little shy about photoshoots. It’s silly, but maybe I’ll be ready in time for Otakon. After the dance, I reluctantly went to bed. The biggest day of the con was over. T_T

Sunday is always somber. It’s nice not having the work of getting into costume, but that also means not having the fun of getting into costume and just being me. I don’t cosplay because I don’t like being myself. Cosplay is just more self to be!

Breakfast with the family was nice and we got checked out without too much delay since most people were still sleeping. Wife and kids went back to Chicago and I made my final rounds. I was happy to get to the Robotech panel with Steve Yun. Robotech was one of the series that reignited my interest in anime.

I’m already planning for next year’s ACen. The dynamic is going to be a lot different and I plan to try some new things or do things differently, including going to photoshoots! Sometimes I wonder if cons are more fun with the spice of drama mixed in. I wonder…

Mima

Categories
Anime, Manga, Etc cosplay

ACen 2011 Aftershocks: Extended Edition

LOL, late with this as always. So here it goes! After about a month of commuting about 100 miles roundtrip everyday for work, I was really looking forward to this year’s installment of Anime Central. And, to make things sweeter, my AMV, Shinji Listen!!, was in the Drama Category finals for the AMV contest!

acen2011-001

Since my commute requires that I leave by 6 am anyway, I decided it would be a good idea to leave as usual on Friday morning in order to beat the traffic. Luckily, I’d finished my work on my daughter’s Hitsugaya cosplay and wouldn’t have to stay up late working on that. I really enjoyed making that for her because I knew that it was going to bring her a lot of joy to wear it at the con. My youngest daughter is a super high pressure over-achiever, just like mom. She needs to have as much fun as possible to blow off steam. It felt really good to be able to help her have a good time away from the pressures of school.

Leaving early paid off and I was able to get a good space in the Hyatt parking lot. And check-in was no problem. The super small room though, presented the first  challenge. But the hotel quickly sent up a roll-away bed at my request. It would be a tight fit for 6 people, but we would only be sleeping there on Saturday night. Friday night it was just me, so not really a problem.

I had plenty of time ahead of me, so I unpacked and set about ironing my costumes. Friday was to be split between my Mahoro and Tohya cosplays. Saturday would be all Stocking all day. I had decided to skip the opening ceremonies because the AMV contest was scheduled to begin at the same time in the Hilton. After rushing over there, not easy in a maid costume, I discovered that in true ACen fashion, the contest had been moved to another hotel and the early showing canceled. It looked like there was some kind of professional conference going on in the Hilton that day. The place was filled with middle-aged white guys in suits who were probably wondering what the hell this maid was wandering around for.

Anime Central has never been the best organized of the cons I attend and this year things seemed a bit more disorganized than most. Apparently a good number of panel scheduling did not meet the program printing deadline. So it was pretty dicey being sure that anything was happening where or when you thought it would. And given that the con was spread across 4 hotels and the convention center, it was quite a hike getting from one event to another.

acen2011-002

With the AMV contest a no go, I headed to opening ceremonies. After that I headed over to the Dealers Room and Artist Alley in the convention center to take pictures, my first pass shopping, and to say hi to some friends working there. For me the main Friday events were to be the FLOW concert, Karaoke Madness, and the Hardcore Synergy dance.

Before the concert I changed into my Miho Tohya costume. Nothing like motorcycle boots and a short leather skirt for a concert ya know! FLOW did not disappoint, they were awesome! They played all of their best anime themes and some other kick-ass songs I didn’t know. This was easily the best concert at ACen since the Pillows played a few years back. Ooh I wish I could get some of their music for Rock Band!

Next up, Karaoke Madness. As expected, there were a ton of people there. But for the most part things went smoothly. Unlike many anime cons, you can sing whatever you want at Karaoke Madness rather than just anime or Japanese video game music. I have mixed feelings about this. I think it’s great that it opens it up to a lot more people. But I really missed the chance to hear people sing some of my favorite themes while waiting for my turn to sing. And through an oversight, my turn to sing was skipped over. But it was okay, I got my chance to sing and I guess maybe I added a little bit more emotion to my rendition of Lion, from Macross Frontier, than I might have otherwise. I wish I hadn’t missed the Saturday night session as I heard they had more people singing anime songs that night. In any case, I still had fun and cannot wait to do it again next year!

After singing, I rushed off to shake it at Hardcore Synergy. I must say though I was kinda disappointed. I just couldn’t get into the beats they were pumping out. I got there during the last couple of DJs and just found the music undanceable. I don’t know, maybe it’s just me, but modulated noise just was not working for me at all. Other people were enjoying it, so it’s just my taste I guess… Next year I going to devote all of Friday late night to karaoke.

So my first day ended. I could hardly wait for the next day to begin. Saturday the rest of my family would join me, which is always fraught with challenge. One of my goals this year was to find some way for my wife to enjoy the con. Sadly, I would mostly fail in that challenge.

Categories
Anime, Manga, Etc cosplay

ACen, Blue Cards, and Poopcakes

Almost on cue, I had a weird pre-con dream last night. All I can remember now was needing to get some item for my dad. The item turned out to be some blue metal data card that was noticeably heavy. It was also somewhat worn. I got the card from a dealer in the dealers room. The card was very important. So much so that I remember choking and threatening more bodily harm to someone who had tried to trick it out of me. I told him, “A joke is a joke, but sometimes it goes too far! If you don’t give it back, I’m really going to hurt you!” The dialogue in my dreams could use some work.

The same dealer, I think, also had these pastries that I knew were not of Earthly origin. They were made by these creatures that poop out cake. Yeah, poopcakes. Apparently, some people couldn’t get over this fact and derided me a bit as I ate the cake. The cake itself was just so so. It could have been sweeter and the chocolate was a little flat.

Near the end of the dream, I remember looking down and seeing that I was in my Stocking cosplay. I wanted to be sure to strike a good pose for someone taking a picture.

Categories
Anime, Manga, Etc cosplay

Anime Central 2011 Crunch Time!

ACen is just around the corner now! I’m really excited for this one for a couple of reasons. First, my job commute has been grinding me into dust, so I really need a break from that! And second, my anime music video entry made it into the ACen AMV Contest finals this year!

I was so excited when I learned that my video had made it into the main competition! I put a lot of crazy insane work into that one, even putting off filing my taxes to that last minute. Yeah, I actually had to drive down to the main post office in Chicago to get them in on time! But it was worth it! I started making AMVs 4 years ago and this is the first one to make the ACen finals. It’s also, I think, the best one I’ve made. So I’m very happy.

On the cosplay front, my costumes are more or less ready. But I’m helping my daughter with her Hitsugaya Toushiro cosplay, so it is now officially ACen Crunch Time! She’s styling the wig and working on props while I sew together the rest. It’s actually a pretty simple costume, so we should get good results. A few weeks ago, I made the tunic for her Latin Olympics Artemis costume, so I guess the pump is primed.

Hitsugaya Toushiro

This year, it looks like the older kids have some friends at ACen too. So my Friday night might be a little more complicated than I had originally planned. But that’s okay. I want them to take hold of their own lives. One of the great things about ACen, is there’s something there for pretty much everyone. This will be our 8th Anime Central, so they already know their way around quite well.

Well, I’d better get crackin, lots to do today!

Categories
Anime, Manga, Etc cosplay

Oh My!: A thinking man’s guide to crossplay

Oh My!: A thinking man's guide to crossplay
Oh My!: A thinking man’s guide to crossplay

Over the last couple of years, I’ve noticed increased interest in the how to’s of male to female crossplay. After participating in many of these online discussions over the years and contributing what I’ve learned from my own experiences, I was inspired to write a comprehensive little guide! (Click here to download for Nook, Kindle and iPad versions coming soon!)

This is for any guy who has thought that they might want to dress up in drag for Halloween, or perhaps has been tempted to cosplay as Sailor Moon at an anime convention. I think it hits all of the important bases with straight talk and a bit of humor. There’s a lot of information spread all over the web which makes it hard to get a handle on things if you’re just beginning. So I hope this guide will be a gateway to what I think is one of the most fun and rewarding forms of cosplay.

Update: The Kindle version just went live! Click here to download.

Categories
Anime, Manga, Etc cosplay

Hello Monday!

A new week begins! My big goal this week is to finish up a new eBook I’ve been working on. I think it will be a popular subject so I’m excited to get it finished and out the door. Anime Aftershocks seems to be finding an audience, all on the Barnes & Noble Nook eReader for the most part. Whatever the reason, I’m happy that sales are growing!

Categories
Anime, Manga, Etc cosplay

C2E2 2011 Day One

I just returned home from C2E2 and it’s probably a good sign that I’m hungry for more, quite literally. I’m waiting for a pizza to come as I write this. But seriously, I had fun. I got a good number of cosplay pics, though still not as much as you’d see at ACen or most anime cons. Still, I’m enjoying the comic con side of life quite a bit.

The center of a comic con like C2E2 is definitely the exhibit hall with the dealers and artist alley. Panels are not as big a component, but that’s cool. I’m taking advantage of that focus shift to spend more time talking to the artists and dealers, and of course buying stuff too! I had some great chats about the future of digital comics with the guys at comiXology and Dark Horse. And I met the author of Girls with Slingshots, Danielle Corsetto and got an autographed copy of volume one of her web comic. I also got this cool strip Scrabble poster for my wife, a huge Scrabble fan!

As for cosplay, I went casual, donning my Star Trek: TNG uniform. I snapped as many pics as I could manage without tying up traffic and I think I got a lot of good costumes. Still, I’d love to see even more cosplay, but I’m sure I’ll see that tomorrow. Friday is always less dense just because a lot of people have work and school.

Well gotta get that pizza now!

Categories
Anime, Manga, Etc cosplay Media and Entertainment

C2E2 And The Con Dreams Begin!

The second Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo (C2E2) begins on Friday! I’m looking forward to an even bigger con than the inaugural event last year. This year I got  a 3 day pass and am really looking forward to seeing the second of the Evangelion reboot movies, 1.11 and 2.22.

I don’t cosplay for C2E2 because I don’t really have anything that would fit the event. Super Heroes aren’t really my thing, though Star Wars and Star Trek costumes are pretty common at comic cons too. Maybe I’ll through on my Next Generation uniform just for lulz. McCormic Place Convention Center is pretty close to where I live, so no hotel costs to pay makes C2E2 pretty cheap for me. Still, I think it triggered a pre-convention dream last night. In this dream I’m at a con sharing a room with some friends, but somewhere along the way I’ve lost all of my luggage. I have absolutely no memory of how it could have happened.

I was pretty distressed about the situation in the dream. Not so much about the lost stuff as much about having no memory of it. Once I woke up and realized it was only a dream, I felt much better. It was only when I started to think about blogging about C2E2 that I realized that the dream was probably related to it. Since I don’t need a hotel for C2E2, that explains the lack of luggage and not having a memory of it. I love staying at con hotels, so breaking that pattern probably triggered the dream on some level.

As always, I’ll take as many pictures as I can of cosplayers! Last year I got a pic of some cute kids cosplaying from Avatar: The Last Airbender (the awesome Nicktoons original, not the horrid movie) and Time Out Chicago Kids used it in last month’s magazine! My first printed media photo credit! I’m sure that this year will bring out even more awesome cosplay!

Avatar Kids Take Two!

Categories
Anime, Manga, Etc cosplay

Ohayocon 2011 Aftershocks II

Time to finish this up! I’ve been mad busy over the last month and now with C2E2 coming up in two weeks, I might as well put my Ohayocon thoughts to bed.

Saturday remains my favorite day of a con. I get out my new cosplays and look forward to the masquerade, dance, and hopefully karaoke. And at Ohayocon in particular, the guests! For the most part Saturday went very well. No major problems with my Stocking cosplay and even had a guy with a professional looking camera take a couple of pics that looked pretty good in the lcd display.

One of the best panels I attended was the Chris Sabat dubbing workshop. People from the audience would dub bits of Dragon Ball Z under the direction of Sabat and his awesome engineer would magically make it fit the video. Knowing a little bit about editing video, I was totally impressed at how fluidly the dubbing was proceeding, all in real time!

The masquerade ended up being a bit of a let down. There were a lot of good cosplays yes, but most of the skits were terrible! I’m pretty forgiving generally, but I kept waiting for a really good skit to come on,  but with a couple of exceptions, that just did not happen. A lot of so called skits were actually nameless, yes literally nameless, dance performances.

After that, headed off to wait for karaoke. The room it was in had a K-Pop dance panel going on that was rather interesting. And while waiting I found a Stocking fan, yay for hugs! Karaoke was fun, even though I totally blew my song. My contacts had dried out and I was having a lot of trouble reading my song lyrics. Plus I hadn’t done Silly Go-round in ages. Derp!

If I’d been in the con hotel as originally planned and booked, I might have stayed to sing another song. But I really wanted to go to the dance, which meant I needed to dump my stuff first. So I had to grab the shuttle bus back to the Capitol Square, sigh. I did meet some fun people along the way, so it wasn’t all bad. I had thought of splitting the day between Stocking and Miho cosplays. But Stocking was a lot of fun and was holding up well, so I decided to take her to the dance.

I got to the dance pretty late so there was no line to get in, but still plenty of people there and the music appealed to me mostly. So I had a great time! I had my double wig pinned down pretty good and everything stayed in place. A random woman even complimented my on the wig and took a pic! Totally wasn’t expecting that. After a couple of hours dancing in heels, insistent dehydration forced me to leave. But I’d had a good fill of fun. And as a bonus, before my bus came, I got an eyeful of round naked inebriated voice actor ass! She wasn’t one of the official con guests, but I recognized her from other con appearances. No, I’m not going to mention names here!

As is often the case, Sunday was pretty quiet for me. I hit the dealers room right away to shop for the family and say hi to my friends working there. Then I made a few more picture taking runs before finally deciding to head for home.

So another Ohayocon in the books. I may return next year, but after the masquerade let down and the hotel issue, I’m thinking about looking into some new con in that time slot. Naka-Kon in my home town happens a few weeks after Ohayocon, and Katsucon is another con I’d like to get to eventually as well.

Categories
cosplay

I Love You /cgl/!: The Music Video

The net is alive with the sound of music! And love is in the air as spring is poised for its long awaited descent upon us! I happened across an interesting love fest taking place on 4chan’s cosplay and elegant gothic lolita board, /cgl/. The final poster suggested an appropriate soundtrack to the thread, a song I’ve really fallen in love with, “I Like You. I Love You!” with vocaloid Kagamine Rin. So I created the following video of the thread.

Categories
Anime, Manga, Etc cosplay

One Big Long Runway

One of these days, I’ll finish my Ohayocon 2011 report… But first I have to gush a little about Paradise Kiss! Paradise Kiss is an anime series about a young woman who decides she doesn’t want the academic life insisted upon by her mother and stumbles into a modeling career. I finally finished watching it and must say that I enjoyed it a great deal because of its interesting characters and an underlying story that has a realistic amount of grit to it. In Paradise Kiss, the fashions may be gorgeous, but people’s lives are not.

One of the shows climactic moments is during Caroline’s (Yukari) runway walk in the big fashion show. She’s worried about all of the things that could go wrong, like stumbling or falling down. But at the same time she is overflowing with energy, confidence, and excitement! It reminded me in a powerful way of the first time I walked the runway in a cosplay fashion show. I was so worried about falling off the stage, but at the same time, in that moment I felt like the most beautiful woman in the world!

That turned out to be the crowning moment of a fabulous day of cosplay that began with a most wonderful compliment of my costume no sooner than I’d left my hotel room. So in a sense the runway walk had already begun, hours before my turn to strut across the stage. For cosplayers, I think the whole convention space becomes one big long runway. The whole world is watching YOU, the most beautiful person in the world!

Categories
Anime, Manga, Etc cosplay

Ohayocon 2011 Aftershocks

Another Ohayocon is in the rearview mirror as I reflect on what happened and what it all means. The drive to Columbus was uneventful. I covered the 350 miles in about 5.5 hours and had no trouble finding the hotel. The Hyatt Regency had overbooked due to construction and moved a number of us to the Hyatt on Capitol Square with Saturday night for free. The free night helped my budget, but being remote would prove to be a real pain and a dampener on my fun.

Checkin was fast and after getting to my room, I did a quick turn-around to get to the convention center and pick up my registration badge. I had to ask around about where to catch the shuttle to the center. Feeling that this was going to be trouble for some, I went to the front desk to suggest that they put up signs. I had a pleasant talk with the manager, but in the end, no signs were placed at all. I guess it just wasn’t worth their effort. Lack of adequate signage would also be a problem at the convention center for many of the panel rooms.

Garterbelt

On the plus side, the hotel upgraded the shuttle service to 24 hours and I think the drivers did a really good job moving tons of people back and forth. Still, I like being in the middle of the action, so having to figure shuttle time into everything was a headache. At least picking up my badge in the short pre-reg line was fast as usual and I got my first cosplay pic of a Garterbelt cosplayer!

After picking up my badge I headed back to the hotel, picked up a couple of Subway sandwiches and then began the arduous task of ironing my very wrinkled Mahoro costume. I really hate hotel irons! They just never seem to be up to the job. I really need to start packing my own irons!

The first cosplay usually takes me at least 2 extra hours to get ready. This is something else I need to work on. To top it all off, I was still very tired from the drive and in a bit of a fog. But I was determined to make it to the Chris Sabat Roast, the AMV Contest, karaoke, and the Friday dance. I’d already missed opening ceremonies which is why I was wishing for a  couple of extra hours.

I finally got Mahoro to the AMV Contest a little late and dropped off my first set of flyers promoting Anime Aftershocks. Ohayocon wasn’t spread out across the convention center this year, which was great for getting to things, but left a lot fewer places to dump flyers. I love AMVs, but I gotta say that I was a bit disappointed with the contest entries this year. A number of entries had pretty bad visual quality using footage that was clearly either recorded from TV or came from fansubs. Most AMV contests generally reject videos like this, but I guess they were short on entries. The best video in my opinion was Me, Myself, and Me by HalOfBorg. I laughed my ass off! And it reminded me of why I need to get it in gear and make some new AMVs myself!

The Chris Sabat Roast was the number one must see event for Friday. So I lined up early and was able to get a good seat. If you go to Ohayocon, you’ve got to see the guests. They have always been the best part of my Ohayocon experience. Part of it is the sheer talent they have, and the rest is how much fun they have with each other. The roast did not disappoint as not only was the target, err, guest of honor, mercilessly destroyed, but each and every other guest as well! These weapons of mass destruction included anecdotes, video, and an original song which included the term “crotch yogurt”!

I ended Friday hunting around for cosplayers to photograph and some fun hours doing karaoke. If I’d been in the Hyatt Regency, I probably would have gone to the dance, but taking the bus all the way back to Capitol Square to drop off my bags was just too much for me. So I decided to save some energy for Saturday and call it a night.

I’ll finish this up in the next posting.

Categories
Anime, Manga, Etc cosplay

Of Work and Cosplay

Ohayocon is just a few more days away and I’m looking forward to it with the usual mix of excitement and stress. This year’s soup of emotions has the added spice of great uncertainty mixed in. Mmmm, that’s good soup!

The last few months I’ve been busy looking for work and getting my software development business off the ground. I’ve actually been busier than I was at my previous job, having also taken on many childcare and home tasks in order to keep expenses down. Seems kind of crazy to be still making costumes and going to cons, but I’ve tried to keep things relatively normal. Besides, now I’ve got a bonafide business related reason for attending anime cons, promoting my book, Anime Aftershocks. And I’ve got one other convention related project in the works that I hope to complete before Otakon. If all goes well, the ROI should be very good!

Hone Neko Plush Doll
Hone Neko Plush Doll

Cosplay plans for Ohayocon are pretty much set. Mahoro for Friday, Stocking for Saturday, and Miho for Saturday night or maybe Sunday depending on how things work out. If I can find the materials around the house I need, I’m going to do my best to make a Hone Neko plush for Stocking today along with some business filings and doing more work on the data storage for my current iPhone app project.

Despite the challenges, or perhaps because of them, I’m really excited about Ohayocon and should come away with a lot of new energy to pour into my projects!

Life is too short to get down and depressed about anything. I’m workng hard, playing hard, and things are going to be alright.