Sunday, July 29, 2007

FanimeCon '08 Site Up

I just caught the new page for FanimeCon '08, hence the new banner.

I also added a countdown timer for anyone who's keeping track of when it's going down.

BTW, it's going down May 23-26.

Forum Drama Update

First off, I take that comment back about "fucking hitting everyone over the head" for the forum drama. Despite knowing what's going on, there's a lot more things that I didn't know what was going on. If anyone felt offended by that, I'm sorry. But at this point, we really don't know what the true picture is.

I will be home tomorrow morning and back on my laptop. Hopefully I can think over everything that's going on, and see where everything is going to head. I have seen the forums, but I haven't logged in and posted anything. Like I said, I'm waiting to get home tomorrow and then I will deal with this.

There's a lot of things that I know that I cannot say publicly about the things that I know...but by now the people who know should know mostly everything.

At least I'm not directly involved in all of this...all I do is sit behind a table and peace bond...

Forum Drama

The one time I decide to visit the Sac-Anime forums during my trip to LA, I see all this forum shit going down involving Bart and just about everyone else. And from what I read, I couldn't even put together a real response in the forums; it's going to have to wait until I get back on Monday. But from what I saw I just shook my head and went "What the fuck is going on?"

Then I tried calling him in the afternoon and the evening during the poker tournament (which I went out early), and someone else picked up, playing off like this wasn't his number and that there was no George. Now, how can that be when I just left him a message on his voice mail which was him? Either he's trying to lay low and pretend that he's not there to avoid any more trouble, or someone else picked up and was fucking with me.

I swear to god, I just want to fucking hit all of them over the head for all the shit that they're causing, especially when I'm away...like I said, I would love to respond, but I just can't anything together for a response, not when I'm down here.

Sunday, July 22, 2007

Into The Blue

There was something that I wanted to do at Sac-Anime that I did today - jump into a pool after a long day of work.

After work, I went to family birthday party. The first thing I did was say hi to everyone before taking a quick dip in the pool. Oh man that felt good, even if I only swam for about 15 minutes.

At Sac-Anime, I wanted to so jump into that pool that was near everything, but I never did. It would of been nice to wind down after con with a splash at the pool. Maybe I should of taken some time out to go to the poolside gathering...

In other news, I'm waiting on Bart to write up his report, so once that comes up I will put that under the "Reports/Gallery" section. And there's still 170+ days until Sac-Anime January 2008, which will be back at the Scottish Rite Center. It's for three days, Jan. 11-13. And yes, I will be staffing there again.

Edit: Check that, Bart has his gallery up, and write up is in progress.

Saturday, July 21, 2007

EBK's Photos

OK, so I was looking through both sets - Saturday and Sunday - of the pictures EBK took from Sac-Anime. I find it funny that I looked better from the pictures that were taken Saturday, because the ones he took Sunday were from the Masquerade, and for some odd reason when I did my John Woo pose I looked like I was on crack, for reals!

I'm still waiting on other sites to upload since it's been a week, so I'll be on the lookout for more.

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Official Sac-Anime Summer 2007 Report

The journey began for me at 9-10 AM, when I arrived at the Red Lion Inn. I was fully packed and waiting to check-in to the room that I was going to be in. But since my friend George aka Bart wasn't arriving until 11, I decided to help out and get registration ready. Once 11 hit, I went to go pick up Bart, drive him back to the hotel, and he checked in. I got everything up to my room before 12, which was when the staff meeting was going to be held. I stayed for a bit because I was needed at peace bonding, which would be my home for the majority of the con. So from 12:15PM to god knows when (I think it was like 9ish) I sat at that table and worked and worked and worked. Then about 5:30PM I was relieved so that I could go attend the Ouran gathering in the lobby. While there wasn't that many of us (and no Haruhi, she didn't show up until Saturday), we had fun and we all ate cake & drank tea (although I passed since I had 8 bottles of Powerade to work with). Once that was over, I went back to change and see the Dealers Room for a bit before heading back to finishing off the evening. After that, I went to the Green Room (the place where all the staffers could hang out) to eat before heading back down to cover some more. While I was in the lobby, someone had told me that Crispin Freeman was here eating over at the hotel restruant. So after pretending to do security work, I talked to him for the first time, shaking his hand and greeting him to Sac-Anime. Of course, after that I got all giddy because I had just met Crispin Freeman. I would cover at the rave for a bit before turning in everything I had with me for the night.

Saturday started for me at 7:30AM, so for the most part I only had 5 hours of sleep when I planned to be awake for 18+ hours. I did more peace bonding that morning before heading down to Cosplay Chess. Now, for an event that was supposed to be held indoors (it was held outdoors), the event went pretty well the first time. This is where I met for the first time Eurobeat King, one of the most famous cosplay photographers (and does cosplay himself on the side). He took my picutres, and my they came out good. After that it was back to peace bonding until the Masquerade tech meeting. I went there knowing that I would know the order of skits, but when I found out we wouldn't know until tomorrow, I left go to back to work. I was there from about 3PM to 8PMish, but I took a break to go get something to eat, check out Dealers Room again, and to go check out Artist Alley. There I got me a Chibi Badge courtesty of Katie (I think that's her name). The funny thing is that halfway through her sketch, I threw her a $20 and told her to keep the change, since it was $16 for the badge. After I closed peace bonding, I went go to cover the rave again for the majority of the evening, but not after having some fun in the Hot Yaoi Night session. I won me a nice art drawing for $5 and I had some fun with the ladies (and a guy, lol). I was going to be part of the Bingo game, but I got called down to rave and that's where I was. After that, it was off to bed and into Sunday.

Sunday was "my free day" since I worked my ass off to get this day free. But I did work some more in the morning, but it was at 9AM. At 11:30AM, I went to go security work for the Q&A panel for Crispin Freeman, Spike Spencer, and Chris Patton. Needless to say, that was the big highlight of this con. After the panel session was over, I was able to get more autographs, hand shakes, and even a picture of me and Crispin which I am still waiting on at this moment. About 2PM, an hour before Masquerade check-in for the show, I finally sat down and had a nice meal in the lounge. Needless to say, I was chillin'. Once then, it was off to Masquerade...but not after trying to get people in a straight line against the wall to prevent a fire hazard. There were some delays, but the show got on the road. I was #20, and I had a blast doing my skit. Sure, I didn't win anything (even though I was kind of disappointed) but my time will come. After that, I was asked to clear out the hotel and cover at places and do various odd jobs. Finally, at 9:15PMish Sunday, I was dismissed for the con. I was able to go home with my haul and my memories.

60+ hours at the con, and only 12 hours of sleep. Yeah, that works out pretty well.

Camera Pictures

The first one is pretty self-explanatory. This from the Sunday Q&A panel that I was covering in. From left to right - Spike Spencer, Crispin Freeman, and Chris Patton.


This one was taken Saturday night. This was after I reponded to a disturbance in the video rooms, but when I reach the lobby I was told to go back to the rave. But then I look over and I see Lisa Furukawa playing the grand piano in the lobby with Spencer and Freeman listening. So before I headed back to the rave, I listened into her performance and took this picture. Afterwards, all of three of us clapped, and I said hi to all three before going back. BTW, this picture is now part of my wallpaper on my phone.

Monday, July 16, 2007

My Apology

I posted this on the Sac-Anime forums tonight, and I wanted to post this there...

As part of the security staff and the head of peace bonding (I was at the table for the majority of the time), I would like to apologize personally for any problems that may have occured during the process of peace bonding.

I tried to make peace bonding as quick as possible, and I know that many people were angry with the policy but the rules are rules. I was lucky that I allowed people to carry keyblades and other weapons that didn't come with a sheath or a sling, but if it was live steal or a gun then the policy was that it had to be peace bonded to you.

I also did security detail for some events and at the end of the con when we grouped everyone together so that security could have a better check on everyone that was still there and was waiting to be picked up. If you recalled, I was doing my part during cosplay line-up for Masquerade when I told everyone to line-up against the wall and making sure that the aisles were clear so that they didn't pose a fire hazard. If I was rude to you when telling you to clear and make a straight line, I apologize. At that point at the con, everyone was just trying to get everything together so that Masquerade could go on and we could all go home after that.

Despite all of that, many were pleased with the job that I did with peace bonding. After all, my job is to make sure that no one feels threatened and gets hurt while at the con, while at the same time allowing cosplayers to be what their character is. Even everyone got my jokes when I tried to peace bond items that weren't really weapons - like roses for Ouran characters, wands, Death Notes, and even the box that contained Jenova.

If you have any futher concerns about peace bonding and/or anything that I did over the weekend, you may contact me via AIM, MSN, Yahoo!, or e-mail. I will answer all questions to the best of my ability.

I would like to thank BSaphire, Dan, and the rest of the staff for allowing me to work with all of you, and to serve all the fans with the best service I can. I would also like to thank Crispin Freeman, Spike Spencer, Chris Patton, Voltaire, Lisa Furukawa, Eurobeat King, and everyone else who attened this con. For me, this is my hometown con and I would go to hell and back for this con. I have been going since 2005, and I will continue to attend and staff at future conventions.

Sunday, July 15, 2007

End of Day 3, The End of the Con

(Before I get started...right after I posted the last blog, Spike Spencer wanted to use the business center computer to send some e-mails. I said ok, and I let him use it. As I came back to Masquerade, I asked him "Are you e-mailing your agent?" He said, "You can call it that.")

After 60 hours of being at the Con, the journey finally ended when I got home. Luckly, I have enough time to be on here and blogging before I have to go to sleep so that I can recover and go to work in the morning.

I went up after intermission, and I did a good perfomance. Unforuntately, it wasn't enough to win any awards. Eh, I was disappointed, but one day my time will come.

After that, I helped close the con up and do some last minute things before finally heading home about 9ish.

My full report will be up later in the week, sightings too as well.

But all I can say for now is "Mission accomplished."

Sunday Afternoon, Day 3

I have everything packed in my car waiting for me when I leave the con later in the evening. I did do more peace bonding this morning, but for the most part I have been free, covering the panels - if you want to say it like that - and waiting on Masquerade. Currently, there is a line but since I am staff I'm also helping out in line control.

I was able to get more signatures from Chris Patton, Crispin Freeman (again), and Spike Spencer on both my badge and the program guide. I also did take a picture with Crispin Freeman, putting me at a level that only fangirls/boys can dream of. Take that Cille and Kohikki!

So I wait to get into Masquerade...

Saturday, End of Day 2

It is 12:26AM Sunday morning, and we just closed down Day 2. A much better day indeed.

It started when I went to cosplay chess. I must say, it was a very fun. Unforunately, I was last man standing for the white team, leaving me to protect the king - InuYasha - alone. I was taken out by a Wii-mote and then everything ended.

The highlight of my day is when I got a chance for Crispin Freeman to sign my badge and the Haurhi Suzumiya pencil board. He even took my silver Sharpie to use for future signatures. I hope he brings it back tomorrow.

The majority of my day - since I am staffing - is peace bonding. But after that, it was off to the rave to hang out.

Day 3 - the last day - includes the huge Q&A and the Masquerade, which I am in. Odds are, I will post when I get home. BTW, I have to work tomorrow on Monday in the morning. Fuck.

Friday, July 13, 2007

Crispin Freeman

So, someone had told me that Crispin Freeman was at the convention eating dinner over in the dining area. So while making my rounds to the video rooms to check on things, I find Crispin Freeman there.

After I walk around pretending to be checking the dining area for staff, I decide to greet Mr. Freeman (that's what I refered to him as after asking for his full name). I told him my name and that I was a part of the staff here at Sac-Anime. I also time him that it was an honor to meet him and I had a chance to shake his hand.

^_^

I'm On Break

...for right now. I've been at the peace bonding table since 12 this afternoon, and now it's almost 6. I'm going to the Ouran gathering at 6, then change back and head to dealer's room for a bit before finishing out the evening. After that (at 8), I'm out until tomorrow. At least I don't have to work that long...

Crispin Freeman isn't here until tomorrow, but Spike Spencer and a couple of other people are here. Either than that, it's all good here at Sac-Anime...but tomorrow is when everything starts going down, starting with cosplay chess.

Welcome to Sac-Anime!

I'm actually blogging straight from the reg table at Sac-Anime. I got here about 5 minutes ago, and really no one is here...yet...

At least the Wi-Fi connection is good enough to allow me to live blog from this event. I hope to have more daily updates from Sac-Anime than Fanime since the rooms are a lot closer.

Hurray!

Thursday, July 12, 2007

I Should Be...

...recording my audio for my cosplay skit, but somehow I'm thinking I can do it all on Thursday. And I probably will.

Either than that, I'm all ready to head out. All I need to do is pack tomorrow and have everything out by Friday morning.

Monday, July 9, 2007

Dry Cleaning

So I get to go home early from work today after it started to slow down despite an AT&T call center moving in down the street. I look at the clock, and it's only 1:10PM.

I decided to go drop off my Ouran uniform today at Swansons next to my work. No discount, but hey $7.50 goes a long way for that $89 Ouran uniform.

I still need to record my audio, and I plan to do that very very soon...

Saturday, July 7, 2007

Fanime 2008

To be honest, after I found out after everything that had happened at Anime Expo 2007 down in Long Beach I thought to myself "Let's show these GoH what Fanime is really about."

Because if you haven't heard, there was a ton of GoH mistreatment by AX staff and volunteers, and problems such as no hotel to backed-up lines for events (not to mention the delays and/or canceled ones) to audio/visual technical problems to and everything in between. If you went to AX, you'd probably encountered one of these horror stories.

Now, I didn't go to AX, and I don't plan on going in 2008. Yeah, the LACC? It was good for E3, but not for a con that basically runs 24/4 in an area that is virtually unsafe at night and no hotels within a 1/2 mile radius of the center. But just by reading the posts and watching the videos, I can see how bad AX '07 was.

I'm not saying "Let's get everyone who was dissatisfied with AX to Fanime," but it would be nice to really show that Fanime is truely "By Fans, For Fans."

Many say that Fanime was better than Anime Expo this year, and since I didn't go to AX I can't say anything. But still, I wonder how these two will stack up next year.

Banner Update: With the new site for Fanime '08 coming up soon, I will be changing the banner to reflect the new year - and another con.

Work Schedule for Week of Sac-Anime

Along with my huge paycheck, I also got my work schedule for next week. Of course, I have Friday, Saturday, and Sunday off for Sac-Anime. But here's my work schedule for the other four days (starting on Monday)(in my own words):

Open, close, open, open.

That means I can go dryclean my Ouran uniform on Tuesday and get it when I get off of work Thursday, the day before Sac-Anime.

Hurray!

Friday, July 6, 2007

Cosplay Skit Update #1

Last night I got the rough draft of the skit script done. I'll probably tinker with it over the weekend and record first thing on Monday. I clocked myself reading the whole script under a minute, so I have 30 seconds to add on more material or allow for a slower reading when I record. The problem once I get everything down is making sure it burns and that it works since I only have two CDs to work with (3 if I hadn't burned that new T.I. CD I got). I should be fine.

It's Friday, and there's 7 days left until Sac-Anime.

Thursday, July 5, 2007

Re: Cosplay Contest

Good news! I'm in the cosplay contest! I am currently the second one registered for the Sunday Masquerade, so all I need to do is bring the forms to Sac-Anime to sign.

Now I have a laundry list of items to do before Sac-Anime begins:
  • Dryclean Ouran uniform (drop-off/pick-up dates depends on work schedule)
  • Create monologue script for Masquerade skit
  • Record skit audio
  • Burn skit audio to CD
  • Make sure CD works
  • Buy water/Gatorade
  • Clean cooler
  • Pack on Wednesday/Thursday

It's only Thursday, so I might create the script and record sometime this weekend.

Tuesday, July 3, 2007

Cosplay Contest

BSaphire is not accepting applications for the Cosplay Masquerade Sunday. There is a ton of crap to read, and I saw a lot of it at Sac-Con in June. Yeah, we're getting that big.

Anyways, the rules and application are on my hard drive, so I will be filling that out and sending it to her...soon.

Monday, July 2, 2007

CBox

So, the Sac-Anime forums have this thing now called a CBox, a little chat code that enables us to talk within the forums. It's pretty cool since I use it a lot since they put it up on the site. So I decided to put one on the blog (both blogs) so that the same thing can happen, and I think it makes it easier to leave comments.

Either than that, it's dead on the Fanime front for now...

CBox, plus more on Sac-Anime

So, the forums have this thing now called a CBox, a little chat code that enables us to talk within the forums. It's pretty cool since I use it a lot since they put it up on the site. So I decided to put one on the blog (both blogs) so that the same thing can happen, and I think it makes it easier to leave comments.

Speaking of Sac-Anime, it's coming up pretty soon. And as I get ready, more information is coming to me about what I'm doing. For one, I can't cosplay while I'm on the job staffing. That's a good thing and a bad thing at the same time. It's bad because I can't cosplay, but it's good because then I won't be wearing my Ouran uniform and the holsters the whole entire time. It's one thing to wear the uniform 24/4 at Fanime when it's about 70 degrees, but we're talking a Sacramento summer. For god's sake, it's going to be 103 4th of July and 106 the following day! At least then I'll be able to get a breather from my cosplay, even if I am wearing back when I work.

I put in 53 hours of work for this paycheck, so I should be able to cash in a nice paycheck. Then I also remembered that my birthday is the week after, so I might be able to spend a bit more then recover with those funds. Plus, there's another paycheck coming that week too, a week before I go to Los Angeles in the end of July.

July is going to be hectic, just as I like it during the summer.