KATSUCON REPORT -- Day 2, 6:30-12:30

While I've managed to prove to these people that my light amount of excess weight and caucasian heritage, I AM in fact capable of DDRing better than about 60% of them. However, when it comes to the vocal variant, Karaoke Revolution..well, there I just plain rule.

Unless, of course, I'm trying to do "It's The End Of The World As We Know It", which is the vocal equivalent of Legend of MAXX at 3x speed boosted. Xx;;

Still, I got some cool stuff done. I learned how to make my own arcade console for one thing...THAT was cool. ^^

I also learned that Megatokyo artist Fred "Piro" Gallagher is cursed, easily distracted, and most surprisingof all, no longer a bachelor. (Yep. For avid fans of the comic, he and Seraphim got married recently. d^^b Deuces Up, you two!)

The occurances at Fred's overflow discussion panel (designated for those who missed/didn't get to ask something at the first one) was pretty interesting. He talked about his recent trips, including the one to Vegas that had a temporary stop at a wedding chapel apparently, then opened the floor to questions...giving me the first one simply because I was in the back.

I got two questions in during the time, both of which I'd been wanting to ask him for while. FIRST: I asked if he knew there was a town about 45 miles away by the name of Largo, Va....numerous comments shot up from the crowd, and then Piro brought up something about a car he could see Largo owning...something called, I s@#% you not, a "Naked"...which apparently he's working into his other project, Warmth. Wow.
SECOND: I'd been curious for months about a strip where Miho's sitting at her computer with a little cat by it...was it just me, or was that little furball Belphegor, the dark conscience kitty?

There was another guy who had a really cool question...he asked Piro to sign a prop he'd brought with him: Shirt Guy Dom's head a la piñata! ...The head continued to distract and bug Piro out for a while, which in itself was worth it.

However, we all had to curse Piro for one thing...he mentioned during the spiel about his Vegas trip that the day after he and Seraphim got married, it snowed for the first time in a long while there.
Guess what started falling from the sky a short time later (or at least, what we all THOUGHT had started falling...when I left there wasn't any on the ground.)

After that, I finally decided (from the sudden "burnt out" sensation I got) that it was time to call it a night and head back to the room to check out the stuff I'd gotten...then I remembered I still had 4 shots left in my 3rd camera. Fortunately, there were 3 groups I hadn't gotten a picture of, as well as someone in the cosplay outfit I'd sworn I'd never see: The Succubus from Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. I swore that nobody would ever do it for one simple reason: There's no way they'd be allowed to get the outfit right. If you check Konami's official artwork of that creature, you'll notice her clothes do NOTHING to cover anything other than her ribs. (Un?)Fortunately, this gal had the mindset to wear a bit more.

Well, that's it for Day 2...I'll be back tomorrow to give you the scoop on the final day of KatsuCon.

KATSUCON REPORT - Final

Well, all good things have to come to an end some time, and Katsucon 10 is no exception. The first part of my morning, as well as various moments throughout the day, was spent loading out my last camera on snapshots of people's cosplay outfits...unfortunately, however, I ran out of people to get pictures of, as well as time to take them, and I still had 2 photos left...so, when I get all these loaded online, the last two shots will be of me, facing the rather reflective walling they used on the escalators...one just a casual shot, and the other with an extra finger showing. ;b

Anyway, The day was kinda short, 10am to 3pm (not including the final hour, which I'll get to later). From noon to 2 I was watching the last two game shows..first was the 25,000 Yen Pyramid (it turns out the one I thought was the actual SHOW was in fact merely the tryouts), where I got to meet voice actrors Monica Rial (who is absolutely AWESOME both behind the mic and in real life) and Vic Mignogna (who apparently either has something to do with Homestar Runner or just does a real good impression of the characters, I couldn't tell.) After the 25KYP was over, I sat around for The Otaku's Wild (a spoof of the old "The Joker's Wild" slot machine-styled trivia game)...didn't play in either one, but it was still fun.

After that, however, things got a little hectic....the lobby, the entirety of the main floor, was shut down because of the elevators weren't working! We were all STUCK on the 2nd floor!! I think my description of the situation was pretty accurate when I called it "baka with a side of beef". I mean, for crying out loud, when an escalator stops moving, it isn't out of order...IT'S A FREAKING STAIRCASE!!

Anyway, that situation was resolved about 10 minutes later, and I finally got downstairs to finish all my shopping wants (I now have an 3V1L/L33T sweater and a "Capture t3h B34R" shirt from Wizzywig and the entire Excel Saga series....and have realized I went 200 bucks over what I intended to spend as a result. W1|_ |_ - (|-|4N N0 B4K4!! *thumps head on desk*

After that, I darted off to the main programming room to catch the last few minutes of the ADV/Funimation Q&A session, which lasted until 3...then finally, the moment we'd all been dreading:
Closing Ceremonies.

(Well, I had ANOTHER reason to dread it...a certain glompy goth found me. Sure, we put the occurances of last night behind us and have made it clear that there's not really much between us besides that pic, but she still decided to jump me nonetheless...at least she's figured out how not to put all her weight on my shoulder! But anyway..)

They gave out awards for people's cosplay outfits, and I must say, those awards were very well deserved. These people really know how to put a costume together. They also gave a thank you to all their guests, workers, security personnel, and of course, the fans.

So, one final Deuces Up for everyone who attended and/or worked KatsuCon 10....it wouldn't have been anything without all of you.

d^^b

Well, now if you'll excuse me, I need to finish packing...I'm outta here. Cya when I get home!

POST-KATSUCON REPORT -- The damages

Well, here I am, back in my room at the barracks, sorting out all my new stuff, checking my bank account....and doing a double take.

I don't know how, but it seems that whenever I go to a convention, I'm unable to avoid spending less than a set amount. And unfortunately that amount has 4 digits. O

Yep, that's right. I went from $1,500 to $465 in the span of one weekend apparently. Oo!

So, between the condition of my shoulders, my legs, and my checkbook, I think it's safe to say I can now sum up how I am in one word:

HURTING.

But still, if I had to choose between this and spending the weekend still being stressed about work last week (which I can't even remember the REASONS for anymore), I'll take it!

Besides, finding out one has a fangirl in the world is a rather cool experience. ^^