Sugoi Con - Round Up & an Open Letter to Tama

Photos: Me (as Luke) & FICE. Dustin (as Prof. Layton) & Me (as Mio Akiyama)

I'm lazy to rewrite all the last SugiCon stuff and repost all the pictures here. So, I'm just going to link to Dustin's comprehensive post which has all the day 2 recap, photos, and links to video footage. Or you can just look up the photos on facebook. You all should go check it out! Brief Post Con Reflection: I really enjoyed this con, it being smaller than OhayoCon. I could walk and breathe and had a much lower level of anxiety. Only disappointment was in the lack of variety in the panels. But that was made up for the by the performances of 3 major Japanese music acts! Oh, and fancy cosplays are nice and great, but very inconvenient and stressful if you're trying to change in the bathroom or car and not a hotel room. Packing everything you need the night before is good, and always double check. Oh and another major plus was the lack of tons of stupid people; I didn't run into any drunk, high, stupid socially awkward yet highly obnoxious teens who were away from home for the first time. Also made a couple new friends.

Loot List: Really cool Tokyo Pop t-shirt (will post pic later) and a cute Card Captor Sakura wand cell phone charm. I bought Dustin a couple figures from his favorite game Star Ocean 4. I really didn't spend too much at the con--that could also be contributed to the fact that the dealers' room closed early on Saturday.

Okay and now, having while away my weekend and procrastinated per usual, I have to put together a 15 minute presentation on the Emancipation Proclamation, read two journal articles, research and start writing a bazillion million papers, and read the Knight's Tale and criticism on it. To help me do the first and most pressing task, I am attempting to enlist the aid of my best friend and semi-Civil War expert Tamela!

Dear Tama,

You know, we've been like best friends since 7th grade. It was so awesome to find out that you did Civil War Reenacting with your whole family; I think that was one of the coolest things about you. I have this you know, kind of big deal yet low key presentation on the Emancipation Proclamation due tomorrow at 4 PM...well actually it's like 5:30 PM because that's when we move from class discussion to archival presentation. Your dad has all kinds of nifty Civil War stuff, books, and knowledge as I know do you. Therefore, I think you should take off from your job, bring your dad, and all your civil war gear and come up to Louisville. It's only a 3 1/2 hour drive. We should also call the Abe Lincoln look-alike and performer that we met at that one reenactment we went to.

Then we'll all dress up in fancy Civil War clothes, Abe Lincoln will read the Emancipation Proclamation, and it'll be so fun and amazing that it will distract everyone so they forget I was actually supposed to discuss it. If there are questions from my professor, I will simply say, "I defer to knowledge of my expert" and point to your dad who can answer anything and everything. It's a guaranteed A for me and way for us to get to spend some quality time together. We can go out the next day and take your dad to the Frazier Arms Museum to check out all the 19th century weaponry they have. My professor is the nicest person and one of the most knowledgeable people about the Civil War. She would love you and your dad. It's fail proof. You have no excuse not to come. Just tell your boss you've got to go help your best friend get an A on her civil war presentation; no one can fault you for being a good friend. See what a great idea this would be? I'm so glad to have a best friend who I can count on for anything and who conveniently knows a lot about the Civil War. See you tomorrow!

Love,
YOUR BEST FRIEND
Lanny

Sugoi Con Day 1

Whew, majorly exhausted from our first day at Sugoi. Our original goal was to get up at 8 AM leave the apartment by 9 AM, maybe run a few errands and grab lunch. We didn't leave the apartment until 11 AM, and running last minute cosplay errands took longer than expected. We got to the con around 2 PM, and were glad to know nothing had started. No panels started until 4 PM. So we registered and while in line had a conversation with a mom whose 15 year old daughter was going to an anime con for the first time. She was really uncomfortable with the idea of leaving her daughter by herself mainly because she saw the huge variety in age groups a.k.a. tons of older, creepy looking guys. Dustin and I talked to her about cons and attempted to alleviate some of her concerns. Dustin said the woman was totally trying to push us into being chaperons for her daughter; I totally missed that. 

 
After registering, we ran across to the supermarket to pick up some last minute items needed to help finish or make our cosplay function. Dustin "Macgyvered" his Professor Layton tophat using posterboard and clear packing tape. Note: Gorilla Glue does NOT equal craft glue or work on fabric. We could've used some of Billy May's "Might Mend It." We both changed into our cosplays and then headed to the Ghibli Worlds Panel. It was an interesting panel, though it could've been better if there weren't technical difficulties. Some neat points I took from the panel were: Miyazaki in almost all his films has an environmental theme, and he focuses on strong, female characters because he feels they are underrepresented in Japanese culture and too often relegated to stereotypical, weaker roles like housewife. Following that, we went to Con Safety run by Greg Ayers with his fantastic hair. We had some downtime, and I was going to change into my Mio cosplay, however I realized, I had packed everything but my wig. -_-; Nevertheless, I was content to remain in my Luke cosplay largely because it was so comfortable. Dustin and I got a lot of recognition together; it was really fun when people asked us for pictures. It was really hilarious when one woman said, "Oh you're from that mystery game, "The Mysterious Village." I just solve the puzzles, I don't know the names. It's a mystery."

We grabbed a couple hot dogs and container of nachos and headed into the Duct Tape Sewing Panel. It was more specifically a panel on how to use duct tape to make a pattern that you could later add fabric onto or trace onto fabric and cut out. It was run by two older ladies in their fourties, who were pretty funny and spunky women. It was cool to see the things she created using simply duct tape, tin foil, and newspaper and cardboard. It got a little tedious though and the fact there was a loud, major tool in there didn't help. Dustin left maybe 15 minutes before the panel ended, and I followed him a few minutes after. We went to the concert being held and saw the last couple acts of FICE and stayed for three songs of the band Zetki. I found the girls of FICE absolutely adorable; they had so much energy and it caught on fast. I didn't think I would like Zetki, but I was pleasantly surprised. They impressed me and reminded me of JAM Project. Dustin got so excited when they performed "Desert Punk." I really liked the second song they sang, though I have no idea about the name. 
 
After leaving the concert, we skedadaled over to History of Fandom. This was my favorite panel of the night. I really didn't know what to expect. However, the guy running it, named Mark (I think was his name) was AWESOME! He was so well prepared and only used powerpoint to bring up basic points. He gave a detailed, well researched account of the anime industry and how the fandom evolved. He broke it down by generations, saying every two years a new anime generation/fandom was formed. He talked about when the first anime conventions were formed and how they're different from current cons. He credited the internet with being largely influential in shaping the anime fandom. He was so laid back and funny but his intelligence clearly shined throughout his presentation. Probably his most important point was that now is the best time to be an anime fan because of all the resources we have access to and the dramatic lowering in the cost of anime and manga (as compared to the 90s). Such a great panel and panelist; I'm definitely going to hunt him down tomorrow and talk some more with him. 

Lastly, we went to the Cosplay 101 panel. It was informative; always nice to get cosplay tips. I didn't gain a great deal of new information on cosplaying; what I took from the panel was knowledge about different vendors for patterns and wigs. For me, there just wasn't anything particularly striking about the panelist or the information she presented--since I knew most of it already.  

 

Dustin is uploading video footage. We're going to head to bed soon. Thankfully, the first panel we want to attend starts at 1 PM. We get to sleep in. Plus, there won't be any running around for extra cosplay stuff. Post pictures and videos tomorrow. :)

I've Got Mail!

My blue v-neck sweater came in today! I ordered off ebay for a Luke Triton cosplay. Now all I need is a white collared button up shirt, blue newsboy cap, and suspenders.  Dustin and I are dressing up as Luke and Professor Layton for Halloween. Well, actually it's one of our costumes because we'll be at Sugoi Con for Halloween weekend. Also my styled wig for my Sakura cosplay came in! It's beautiful, and well worth the money! I'll have to post pictures later. Right now, I'm tired from a combination of allergy medicine, lack of sleep over the week, and from being out at the Granville--though I didn't drink.

Been a fairly, uninteresting week, so I haven't blogged much. I ate Jason's Deli once again today; I could write an entire ode or epic long poem about this place--if I was any good at poetry. Then for dinner, I had BW3s (Buffalo Wild Wings--don't ask how the three comes into play, I don't know) compliments of my friend and co-worker Jackie, who is super awesome!