Tag: conventions

Reflecting on past September 11ths

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

I was combing through some old bookmarks, and I came across a link to an old convention acquaintance from back in the day, Nikkou. She had some notoriety back then as one of the two people responsible for bringing the infant internets the Anime Web Turnpike, the at-the-time largest weekly updated conglomeration of anime-related links from all facets of anime fandom.

Apparently, a lot like me, she cherished her nerdy friends to to where she would go through the effort to put up some sort of page of reminiscing of past days, going so far as to mention me by name and by an old sketch I had done, portraying an old Otakon web design panel that I was somehow a part of. It was at this panel, or rather afterward, where I would actually meet Nikkou, and she saw it fit to rectify the issue that hadn’t been an Anipike Guest Author, like my peers on the panel. My old collection of links actually exists to this day, on an Anipike classic archive section, which broke on September 11, 2000. To no real surprise, almost 90% of the links I posted 12 years ago aren’t valid anymore, ironically including my own website, which happened to be on a different URL then.

Regardless, this was 12 years ago. 12 fucking years ago.

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Mafia Graves gun complete. Ready for Dragon-Con now.

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

A little too close for comfort, but I am officially finished with the Mafia Graves gun, before the start of Dragon-Con.  In addition to learning about the wonders of Shell Shock, I have recently learned just how great stuff like WonderFlex is, as it’s what’s used as the gold trim accents to the gun’s wooden components.

But yeah, the gun’s officially finished, and for the most part, I am satisfied with this being my fairly novice foray into making a prop, with chemicals and pretty badass materials.  There are a few details omitted due to time and lack of foresight, but I’m not going to point any of ’em out to face scrutiny.  Maybe I’ll address them another time.

So with that done, I’m ready for Dragon-Con now.  Mafia Graves costume comes out on Saturday afternoon.  La Parka’s appearance is up in the air.

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Yes, there was a stripper pole in the dealers’ room

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

I mean, there’s really not a whole lot I can really add to that.  There was in fact, a stripper pole inside the dealers’ room at Otakon.

Looking at the writing on the base of the pole stand, it’s marked something about “pole fitness,” and I don’t deny for a second that it takes a tremendous amount of physical exertion and training to be able to work a stripper pole like well, a stripper, but I’m not sure who this dealer thinks they’re kidding when they’re displaying a stripper pole in a merchants’ exhibitor hall.

When I saw this, my jaw kind of lowered half an inch.  I know Otakon has grown to massive proportions and being so big, they’re exposed to a ton more merchants who want to peddle and market their goods at the convention.  The presence of obvious booth babes was no surprise, given how big the convention has grown and the cheap tactics some dealers will employ to get customers to them instead their competitors, but when I saw a place marketing stripper poles, complete with hired Panty & Stocking cosplayers to parade around the display model, I was kind like “wow.”

Honestly, I don’t really know what to think.  Not that I’m some authority on decency or anything, but I can’t help but think the whole thing is tacky and kind of inappropriate.  It’s minutely amusing, but I kind of wonder what goes on through the heads of the numerous parents who were roped into being at Otakon with their kids; I’m sure the dads were thrilled, but conservative parents probably had aneurisms when they saw a stripper pole in the dealers’ room.

I guess in the end, this is another one of those “I guess I done got too old” moments.  I remember Otakons, and conventions in general of the past, having dealers’ rooms where people banked on having the rare items, the things they couldn’t find anywhere online from the 13 official dealers listed on Anipike or had ads in Animerica.  The advent of the internet has easily changed that landscape, turning today’s dealers’ rooms into glorified show rooms for people to look for what they want, and then hunt for it online at a better price.

And now we got stripper poles and booth babes all over the fuckin’ place.  Ahh, how the times have changed.

Photos: Otakon, sort of

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

The last time I went to Otakon prior to this past weekend was literally ten years ago.  In 2002.  I decided to go this year after such a gigantic hiatus, because I was already going to be up there for Hacksaw Jim Duggan night, I had decent fun delving back into some conventions, at Neko-con and Animazement in prior months, and pretty much everyone I would have wanted to see pretty much runs Otakon now.

I guess looking back at the weekend, if I could have done it all over again, I probably wouldn’t have bothered going if I knew what it was going to be like nowadays.  Not to say the convention is bad, on the contrary, it’s run better than it’s ever been run nowadays, it’s just I realize how much of a cup of tea Otakon is not for me today.

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Photos: Pictures from Animazement

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

Alrighty, since I know definitively that there are people waiting to see these pictures, I may as well sadistically save them for last.  Or maybe I’m just going in chronological order?  Whichever.

So Saturday was really the only day that I took any pictures at Animazement, and over half of them are after I got drunk and it devolved into typical drunk people antics.  It’s fine, because as I alluded to while brogging from The Flying Saucer, I’m too old for this anime con shit, and there’s very little for me to do there, really.  Nevermind the fact that a miscommunication faux pas led to me actually paying for con admittance; something I haven’t done in like over 12 years, and that I essentially had a free room too, but there’s really nothing for me at anime cons, aside from hanging out with my friends, supporting my friends/acquaintances, and then boozing.

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Photos: Minor League Ball in Zebulon, North Carolina

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

For the most part, I ditched the first day of Animazement, because I wanted to go watch some minor league baseball instead.  I took like a total of maybe 3-4 photos from the con itself, but the rest of these photos are from the quaint and surprisingly large Five County Stadium, twenty-six miles east of the city, out in a place called Zebulon, North Carolina.

Overall, I liked Five County Stadium.  I won’t elaborate much, since I don’t really have a ton to say outside of my ballparks site, but I can’t say it was a bad experience at all.  Well worth the travel out, even if it meant forfeiting a potential night of drunken debauchery with my friends.

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