Conventions have a bad habit of leaving people exhausted, and dare I say Anime Expo 2004 was no exception. I have always referred to AX as the "social con" of the year, simply because over the years there has been a steady decline in the quality of the programming on all levels. The guests were good this year, but their panels were over packed, the video rooms felt very sponsored and industrial, and the dealer's room felt like a trade show. This isn't a bad thing, instead simply a statement of fact. I heard some bad things about the backend of some of the larger events, and I do dearly hope that masquerade backstage wasn't as bad as it sounded and that an AMV wasn't completely skipped due to AX messing up. Overall, the convention was about an eight out of ten.
Special words, thanks, and more (If you see an asterisk * next to their name, it means I don't think they read this, so send them over!)
Shiru, Henry You made awesome suitemates! And thank you so much for helping with the checkout and everything. We seriously need to room again. I'm sorry about the do-rama (stole the word from Christine), but be rest assured it won't be happening ever again. I also didn't get to hang out nearly as much as I wanted to with you. And to make it worse, I even forgot your pie plate! And I packed it too- darnit.
Hazard Awesome Hina, and I am so glad despite all the car stuff that you actually made it out here! That's one heck of a drive to be making for Anime Expo, but I'm so glad you did it. I suppose this means I'm due out at ACen. Remember, listen to the Red Panda.
H Con Operation triumph! You're going to have to keep us all posted in StudioGLOMP about how things are going. We can always use some fun gossip in the channel.
C I never did read any of the procured doujin in your room. It called to me, but then I went "damn, wait, no, I'm hungry," which kept it unread. Thanks for buying the ramen too- was a really nice thing to do. Ani-magic mayhaps? I'm slowly amassing a group.
Emma * knock knock "Who is it?" "Uh... um... candygram?" I'm sorry the sword had to be dumb and not allow for itself to be massive (silly glue). Your costume was awesome though! I never did find out how many people recognized it though.
Jenn T-REX! Oh god, we never slept I swear! Thank you so much for the help with Kuro's collar, the pinning and then the loaning of your water bottle for at-con modifications when the spray paint gave me the middle finger. And thanks for keeping me company while I was a slave to the aluminum tape. The water bottle made a beautiful rolling pin. I think I shall adopt the "carry water at all times" model for the next con as well.
Eric * You had a cuthulu plushie! It even had a place to put your hand so you could make it move and attack people! Thanks for kickin it on the 817 side with all the "cool" people. I hope I didn't kick you at all when sharing the bed- heh.
Hoshi Thanks for the offer of a place to crash pre-con up there. Was a nice drive down to the world of SoCal.
Panda So, this is the elusive Panda that everyone talks about, and I finally met you. I suppose this is a good thing since now I can finally put a name with the face and will know who everyone is always talking so much about.
Seiji Uguwaaaa! Con was so much fun! You were an awesome person to have crashing around, going to parties with, and otherwise terrorizing the sane. You were also great company on the drive back while singing Savage Garden, talking about Aya (who tastes like Miyavi), keeping me awake over 152, and otherwise listening to my silly boy babble at random parts of the convention. You're a really cool person, and I promise we will make happen that which was talked about over dinner on the drive home. Heh, heh, heh... I still can't belive you shot an entire Blue Raspberry. Go you!
Athena * Remember, if you feel the urge to kill, just be sure you clean up all the blood when you are done.
Jessa * Anchor > All. 'Nuff said. I can't believe there is someone else who likes lemonade in their soda suicides! These people really do exist! I hope you are feeling better after all the sulfur and smog that hung over Anaheim that Sunday. And now, in the con off-season, it is time for more bondo, spray paint, sanding, etc. The anchor is a neverending project- but where shall you keep it?
"the boys" * Over the entire con, I think I heard your names maybe twice. You seemed like really cool people though! Hopefully I will get to see you around while up in east bay for the RECCA stuff.
Andrew, Rachel * I only saw you twice during the convention somehow, which given my running around seemed somewhat odd. Andrew, you make a great Chocolate!
Jason Meee-stor Eb-naaaah! I'm so glad you came down to AX for a bit. The room party was awesome, and I'm glad I could help out with the Fanime "situation" on Saturday night. Thanks for inviting us to the Sunday night party, it was nice to have a casual party where I didn't have to be thinking about mixing drinks.
Garett * You covered costs for us at the party - therefore, you are so very cool. Hopefully we can plan this sort of thing at other cons as well.
Nessa YOU DID GAU! I didn't even get to say hi since it was during your gathering, but your Gau was neat, and it was the only time I saw you all convention that I saw you. I look forward to seeing your con report.
CJ * How you didn't bake and die in Setzer amazes me, as I was already melting in mine- and I intentionally vented it to try not to overheat. Hardcore, dude- hardcore. Given the group you were with though, the over-the-top attention to details makes sense.
Sana-chan, Alexis, Zac * I didn't know you beyond mutual friends until the con, and then the picnic was really cool. Hopefully I'll see you all around at other conventions hopefully. Last I knew, I was helping ReyRey with some stuff at Ani-Magic, but I'm not entirely sure what that entails yet.
Chris T. * I didn't get to see your Masquerade costume! I heard it was really good though, so now I have to hunt for pictures of it. Was good (as always) to see you around at the con. I swear, out of everyone, I seem to run into you the most.
Rey-Rey, Jean Rey: Room party was awesome, thanks so much for coming! Truthfully, you were one of the last people I ever thought would walk through the door that night. I'm glad you did though. Nothing beats a Flaming Rolo. Jean: It took me a year, but I finally got you those CDs!
Rachel T Your "Gum" was so awesome! Thank you so much for coming around and talking with industry with me. Shame the others couldn't come, but I suppose that's the breaks. The club summit was really cool as well, though you kept stealing my mic. If you are going to Ani-Magic, we shall conspire for another panel- but most certainly conspire for the next Fanime panel. So very good to see you again, and I finally got you the CD spindle. Though by Fanime, I will probably have a whole other set at this rate.
Jared * I am so glad you came to the room party! I'm sorry I couldn't make the dinner, I was helping someone sew a piece of their costume. I'll make the dinner this October though, because hanging with THE pimp is always a fun time.
MelMel * Thank you so much for coming to the room party, it was a lot of fun! I am thinking I might work to do something like that next year as well, the Clarion suites were not only affordable, but came with most of the same things as any other room (and then some).
Zach, James When I guess it's Zach on the phone, it's James. When I guess James, it's Zach. I wish we had hung out more though- Ani-Magic for sure.
Lanzer Great panel, great booth, and great social once again. I'm sorry the reg lines cut so deep into the panel; next year targeting the Saturday morning slot might be the best. Good luck on getting the load balancer moved from cluster.* to www.*. Oh, and sleep!
l0cke I'd hit you with a funnoodle, but that would (over the net) require effort. Great as always to hang out and talk with you. I hope you got pictures of your airplane graveyard.
Ling Ack, I want the picture you took of the silly fang! I hope you put everything up shortly.
darknrgy I wonder how many people looked and / or asked about the SQL we penned on the gaia booth. Hope you enjoyed sleeping!
VO * Thanks for the ZZZ. Poor dark in his at-con sleepy state never saw it coming.
James * I'm sorry I was moving around so much I didn't get to catch you at the con too terribly much. Thanks for taking over for Gill in helping us organize everything. Hopefully, I'll see you at some other conventions too!
Amanda Thank you for bringing me on board for the Gaia stuff this con, it was a lot of fun, even if my car wasn't a fan of having 34 pallets of soda in the back. Fanime is going to be a lot of fun to do, I think we should use the same location as last time.
George Thanks once again for helping out! I'm glad we could rally enough people to move Sodas from point A to point B. Need a handtruck next time though. Was good seeing you!
Will * Amidst the chaos of the gathering, I never did get to fight you at the gathering like we had hoped. Maybe next year?
Rover!Will * SLEEP DAMNIT! Man, you are hardcore like that, running around at all hours of the day / night / dawn / evening / times of the con working. If you come to help at RECCA, I am most certainly planting your ass down and making you eat food and rest for an hour or two somewhere amidst the day.
One Piece Cosplayers Thank you everyone for coming to the One Piece & Kaizoku Fansubs gathering! And thank you even more for listening to me as Kuro with my sharp pointy claws. The gathering went a lot better than last years as far as organizing and keeping all of us in the shade. (No death by sun for us!)
Kimi I feel really bad for not noticing you because your hair was so radically different! If it wasn't for the mention of One Piece and Tiff, I probably would have never guessed it. I'm amused most of the people I first met when I started going to conventions I met this year at room parties, not out and about at the convention.
Wayne Never did get a chance to play with you. Collectible card crack is bad on your pocketbook.
Wayne #2 Good to catch you amidst all the chaos in registration! I didn't get to see you much after that (except at a long distance). Were you there for the whole con? I would've invited you up to the room party except when I wanted to find everyone Friday afternoon, everyone was gone!
If you aren't on this list, it's because I am still half asleep and have been working on servers since about 7 this morning. I'll talk about the con day-by-day either tonight or tomorrow. There's still lots of excitement from room do-rama to trying to stay awake on the 152 while taking people home. When you are so tired that it hurts to stay awake, you know you are exhausted. I had to pull over 3 times on the way home to take small naps so I didn't fall asleep at the wheel.
In response to "Anime Expo 2004 Photos and Convention Report":
I shall teach you about CCG soon. Maybe AM X_X
If I’m not swamped with duties there....
Okay maybe not.
X_X
We shall see. :D
I’ll bring my decks anyway