Worry vs. Donuts

Number of presentations I did today: Six

Kind of a bummer that: No one showed up to the “Parent’s Guide to Cons” panel, especially since someone had previously requested it. Oh well, it gave me some extra time to unwind before doing the J-music panel.

Chicken Pizza: One of the duties I was asked to perform this year was to “host” the “Evening with the Guests” panel (as much as an event of that sort can be hosted). One of the questions I asked was for the guests to say a line that they wish their character could say, and replace any swear words with a food name provided by a member of the audience. A young boy in the audience selected “Chicken Pizza” - sure, it was cute at the time - but as a result, half the convention was using “Chicken Pizza” as a swear word for the rest of the weekend. If this becomes the next “Chair”, I’m going to scream.

MAS is Love: Friendship is having friends that are willing to save your dumb ass when your opening ceremonies skit falls through. Honestly, the end result turned out more beautiful than what we originally planned. YOU PEOPLE RULE.

Most Unusual Panel of the Day: Who Wants to Marry an Evil Empress? was good fun. Josh was really paranoid that I couldn’t just stand in the background and remain mostly silent, but I think it went really well. The Empress, Jeff, and Josh’s tragic death in the first 5 minutes of the panel time were just a few of the highlights. Yeah, we do all sorts of wacky stuff in Iowa.

Art Recs: Tomorrow, when I actually have time to go.

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Reflecting has become, for better or for worse, a necessary component of my pre-AnimeIowa routine. After all, this is the convention that is indirectly responsible for giving me the job I have, introducing me to so many of my friends, and… you get the idea. This is the 11th AnimeIowa, and the oldest anime convention in the midwest is no longer the ONLY anime con in the midwest (or the biggest, for that matter). Still, the con is finally moving into the hotel that was actually designed by Iowa City/Coralville developers with THEM in mind.

Oh yeah, the hotel: It’s amazing. Sure, it’s not the kind of five-diamond experience of, say, the Hyatt at Otakon, but it’s less than a year old, the service is fantastic and everything is gorgeous. Every room has a plasma screen TV with hookups for pretty much everything you could think of that are built into the desk. This place is going to be great^-^.

Number of panels/presentations/whatnot I am doing this year: Thirteen. Yes, thirteen. Should be fun!

The Muffin Room: Spent most of the day hanging out in the hotel, shopping around town, and hanging out in the Concierge lounge at the hotel (a.k.a. “the muffin room”, to quote Greg Ayers). The Concierge Lounge attendant, Jeremy, is a gaming geek. Hopefully he’ll take a break and join the madness that will be taking place in his hotel this weekend…

We’re not as bad as: Maxim, apparently. According to a few hotel staff, the magazine of evil (see this post) held some kind of party at the hotel. The result: someone bodyslammed a marble divider and broke it off the wall in the men’s bathroom, and someone else rolled up a giant carpet and tried to take it out of the hotel. The carpet bandit failed because he didn’t take some basic math into account (carpet = wider than the door) and didn’t realize that he could have carried it through in many other ways. Any time I hear anyone complain about people at anime cons, I intend to share this story with them.

On that note: If only there was a way I could convince the Westin Long Beach to host a Maxim party. God, that would be hysterical.

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The AnimeIowa posts will follow this one. - Ed.

Dear Madison, WI:

We need to talk. I know, I know…that sounds really bad. But we need to chat. Don’t think I have any less love for you - I enjoy all your charming, fun qualities. Hell, I can even appreciate the drunks on State Street for mere entertainment value. However, there’s a serious disservice you are doing to your student population every year in the middle of August. Don’t walk away from me - you know what I’m talking about: Moving Day and Homeless Night. (Read the article)

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FOR YOU, our valued customer. A few serious things followed by some silly ones.

Japan: LDP loses Upper House Majority: やった～！It’s about time.

Rant about Maxim: Some of my friends read Maxim magazine. I read it once, and I still wish that I had the 5 minutes of my life that I spent reading it back. This blog is run by Elliot, a guy I knew growing up in Richfield when I was younger/geekier than I am now. Basically, this article sums up all the stuff about Maxim that makes me weep for humanity. I don’t read the other magazines mentioned either, but it’s still a swell rant.

Anime Expo BLAH BLAH BLAH: Trust me, I’m as tired of the whole “OMG ANIME EXPO IS IN TEH GHETTO WE WILL ALL DIE IN A BALL OF FLAME” rants as you are (or should be). While a lot of people like to whine about AX as if there aren’t any other anime conventions in the world (hint: there are!), it makes me smile when someone actually takes the time to use modern technology and make a handy map of the area, complete with hotels, food, and reference points for mass transit. It doesn’t solve any of AX’s problems, but it does make an attempt to make the best of a bad situation while reminding us that anime fans are an intelligent bunch that will find a way to have a good time even if they scheduled AX at the bottom of the ocean.

And that leads us into the geeky stuff!

Rockman Hare Hare Yukai: Instead of the SOS concert, Anime Expo should have simply shown this thing. Haruhi and Megaman fans should watch this now. The rest of you should watch it… eventually.

8-bit Link: I have infinite respect for this person, since she not only did the masquerade, but participated in Anime Improv IN the Link outfit. Considering the small size of the halls at AI last year, that’s quite an accomplishment.

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