| As so, AMA |
[Jun. 20th, 2005|05:12 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  tired | ] |
The short version: Anime Mid-Atlantic rocked. I must say that this is my favorite con. Not so much because of guests programming, or anything else like that, but mainly because it seems like people just leave their drama at the door at this con more than others. Not saying that there wasn't drama, just it didn't feel as purveyant here as it does at some other cons.
And now, the long version.
On Friday, I got up, packed, and around 1,  Donnie picked me up and we headed up to Richmond (With a couple stops to pick up supplies and causing a look of horror to cross the face of the guy at Mens Wearhouse when I told him I'd be wearing a white suit with my Reeboks). Got to the con, saw a few people I knew, and checked in to the hotel. Derek was already in the room and he met up with us int he lobby and let us in while we waited on Gino to deliver us the rest of the room keys. I checked in with ops and Ed handed off the Karaoke disc to me so I could practice. The next few hours were spent shilling out and meeting up with people. The great thing about a small con like this, is you can meet up with people, say "Hey, I'll catch you later" and it actually happens! after dinner at 6 (Mmmm, Chinese) I caught about a half hour nap, rehearsed my karaoke bit, and got into my white suit (complete with hat) and headed down to Main events. many people complimented me on how dapper I looked, but I also got a lot of comparisons to Col. Sanders and Boss Hogg. *grumbles* 8 PM rolled around and it ws time to start opening cerimonies. The lights dimmed, I took center stage, and on my cue, Tech rolled the karaoke of "One night in Bangkok" and I performed my rendition:
Richmond, southern setting
And the city don't know what the city is getting
The creme de la creme of the anime world in a
Show with everything but Carl Macek
Time flies -- doesn't seem a minute
Since the east coast con scene only had 3 cons in it
All change -- don't you know that when you
staff at this level there's no ordinary venue
It's Baltimore -- or Virginia Beach -- or DC -- or --
or this place!
3 days in Richmond and the world's your oyster
The guests are real cool but the reg ain’t free
You'll find a fan in every vid-e-o room
And if you're lucky then the fan’s a she
I can feel Greg Ayers sliding up to me
People seemed to like it, and I only flubbed a little bit of it (Damn guests making me laugh^_~)
After Opening Ceremonies, I hung around all night, went to a room party, attended Guests Uncensored, and hit the rack.
Saturday began with me showering up and heading down to hit the Team Draconia panel and I got distracted by my friend Shadra D and we talked for a bit. Made it into the panel, and the team was doing great. Renee, Gen, Jason and Danny were up with Donnie fielding questions like old pro's </ shameless kissing up>. Jamie had made it as well and there was much surprise to be had by all. After the panel, I snagged Jamie and we rambled on down for lunch at Micky D's and I decided to try taking on the Kevin Lillard role at this con by snapping as many costume pics as I could. Of course, a lot more meeting and greeting done during this time.
About 6:30, got into Coop and headed down to the cosplay where ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=92.1) final_destiny was lassoed into entertaining the crowd and he did a fine job of it (with a little help from me, fory_san, and Derek) Cosplay began, and I just have to say WOW! This was an awesome group of skits. i liked them all, but I do have to go with the judges and say that my two favs were Kabuki Duck Hunt and the Fushigi Yuugi group. Trust me, if there is one cosplay video you need to see this year, go to Chocobo Rancher and get this one. Halftime show went well. We were only able to get one full round of questions in before the judges were back, so we time compressed it with one question each person. Sorry to everyone who didn't get all your questions asked.
After the cosplay, it was time for the dance. Rob Lantz, Kid Amiga, and bam2 did an awesome job spinning, and tonight was also a particularly emotional one as it was Kid Amiga's last dance as an east coast citizen. He was sent off with a plaque, well wishes, and one last victory over Izzy in arm wrestling.^_^ The dance was awesome. I was on the floor for a solid hour and a half. I think I lost some weight thanks to that (my legs were definately sore the next day^_^;;) After the dance, I headed up to a room party and good times were had. We even had the cops called on us, but because we weren't doing anything wrong, all was good^_^ ARound 3ish, I decided that being well rested for the auction in the morning would be a good idea and hit the rack.
Woke up fairly early, got showered, dressed as Brock Sampson (bad thing about being Brock Sampson, it's too much of a casual clothes costume, so unless someone gets up close and checks out my ID badge, then people aren't going to really notice it as such) and headed down for the Art and Charity Auction. Next year, I think we should probably devote 1 hour to Art and 2 to Charity. Just a thought^_^;; Art auction went well, and Charity auction went well as well. I'm not sure how much we raised for Make-A-Wish, but most everything sold at minimum bid (Sandrock figure anyone?^_~) I'd like to thank for her help, and everyone for bidding. After the Auction, it was right on to closing Ceremonies. As usual, much sadness abounded, but people were glad to see the guests one last time, see the AMV winners, and hear the announcement that we are moving to the Richmond Convention center next year. We bid the fans a fond farewell and then came teardown. Because I'm lazy, I went and changed out of Brock, found a few staffers and vegged for a bit just talking about stuff, then went up to the remnants of the artists alley where the Draconia and Chisuji gangs were still having a great time. I napped for about 45 minutes in an armchair, then it came time for the staff and guests dinner. Fun was had by all. At our end, we started singing, and of course, not to be outdone, the Tech crew guys started singing their own songs and it became a duel. finally, after a stirring rendition of Gilligans Island (Or was it Animaniacs?) we gained victory! After dinner, we all said our goodbyes and Donnie and I piled into his car and heded home. Donnie dropped me off right at midnight. I went inside, dropped my stuff, and promptly turned into a pumpkin.
No swag report, as all I got was a couple transformers and a figurine, and no shoutouts, because most of them don't read LJ and I've referenced them here anyway. Just want to say that it was fantastic seeing everyone again. I'll have pics up shortly. Those will have their own post.
But for now, Unwatched DVD time! |
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| Comments: |
It was a great con. It was honestly one of the best ones that I can remember. Everyone was so friendly, and the staff was great. The few problems we had were taken care of promptly and with a smile. In fact, the only complaint I had was that the halls in the convention area were a tad too twisty. And if that's the worst thing I can think of...
I really want to go back next year!
Hey Hoss,
You forgot your release of pressure on Sunday. But yes do have to agree it was a lot more quite compared to last year.
As always it was great seeing you agian and hope to see you at Neko.
Bona na Croin,
Tom aka "Spike" | |
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