Otakon Report 2003
Baltimore Convention Center
August 8, 9, 10
*Most of the times are approximate... I tended to write these entries after they'd happened. -_-;;;
Wednesday, 6 August 2003
8 pm -- Drive my car - my lovely white Toyota Avalon - down to the Redding train station by my house and park it for the weekend. It makes sense to leave it there because May and I have planned for the return trip to get off at that station instead of the Danbury one so that we don't have to wait for anybody to pick us up. We can all just jump in the car and I can drive everybody home without any hassle. [Haha.]
Thursday, 7 August 2003
6 am -- Wake up for last minute packing into my nice *little* suitcase, dressing, and waking of mother who is asleep down in the recliner in my family room. She says we're leaving at 6:45 to get to the Danbury station for the 7:50 train. I think we're leaving a bit early to catch a train that's so nearby.
6:13 am -- Must remember I've put my car key in my purse front pocket so as not to forget it and end up stranded in Redding despite planning.
6:50 am -- Changed the contents of my suitcase over into a much bigger one so I can put nearly all my little bags in there for less awkwardness. I don't know how I'm going to get around the train with all this crap... and I intend on coming back with more than I left with.
7:06 am -- Arrive at the station... a bit early. Don't see anyone around that look anything remotely like May, Shelly, or Bryan (Shelly's younger brother). So, Mom decides to turn around and stop off at the ATM to get me cash. Of course, I thought I had plenty. [In hindsight, $70 is SO not enough cash for 3 days in Baltimore with much anime celebration around. Am utterly grateful for Mom getting me that extra bit of cash.]
7:30 am -- Been sitting at the station not knowing where May and Shelly are. We move to the other side of the parking lot... and they appear standing beside the station. Heh. So, I unload, go over to the automatic ticket machine, and am highly impressed by its niftiness. Shelly's top hat is wonderful and we begin sharing the usage of wearing it. Can't wait to see her whole costume.
7:50 am -- Train arrives and Shelly and I have some difficulty getting our suitcases (amongst other objects) onto the train. This difficulty makes me worry about what might happen later on. [Again, in hindsight, I should have paid more attention to this little hunch. Keep that in mind.]
8 am -- On train to Stamford. Bryan is a little disconcerting... His hair is one thing, dyed with magenta dye from Hot Topic... and it seems to be very cheap dye, as the shoulders of his shirt are turning pink. Not to mention, this is a Thursday and we're traveling with all the morning commuters on their way to work. Methinks the four of us (two of us with bright magenta hair -- me as well -- one with a giant wooden sword wrapped in tin foil, and one with a big beautiful top hat) are freaking out the poor souls dressed so conservatively in their suits. Feel much sympathy for them, but speak loudly just the same.
8:40 am -- Have reached Stamford station. We have approximately 40 minutes until our train to Baltimore. Find a little TV monitor that says our train will arrive on Track 3 and make our way.
9:20 am -- Have been standing at Track 3 for about the entirety of this 40 minutes when a man, his wife (I'm assuming) and their baby walk by. The man looks utterly perturbed about something and begins to curse under his breath about screwy train system making him think he was supposed to be on Track 3. Getting slightly worried, we send May off to find out what he was talking about. Shortly after, she comes running back yelling, "Track 2! It switched to Track 2!!!" Chaos momentarily ensues and we reach the correct track just in time. (Ironically, while May, Shelly, and I have been wearing the top hat alternately, we've been getting a load of looks from random passersby showing their look of "...What the hell...?")
9:30 am -- Have boarded the train and see there are only separate seats left. Damn. Hope we can sit together within the next couple stops.
10:20 am -- Have pulled into New York and had everyone switch seats. Of course, most of the commuters have disappeared and we must hurry to grab our own seats before the next flood of riders. Now we can sit together! Am mostly glad... however, I must sit next to Bryan. Not really comfortable around him, not sure why. Oooh! Shelly gave me Pixy Stix!
1:40 pm -- FUCKER!! *ahem* Pardon my obscenities, but here's the drill: Train pulls into Baltimore. May and Bryan struggle with getting Bryan's and my stuff down off the overhead racks, and then May tells us, "I'll help Shelly with her stuff. You guys go ahead and get off the train. We'll be out in a sec." [May's Famous Last Words. I'll make sure to write something similar to that on her epitaph and in my eulogy to her.] So, Bryan and I get off the train and wait at the door... which CLOSES soon after... and then the train starts MOVING. That's right, May and Shelly are still on the train. My thoughts? "@#$%^&;* $*&;^%$#@!!!" I realize that we each had a role in this foursome: May = meticulous 'Tatsumi' planner with all details on the hotel and the trains; Shelly = our contact person who knows her way around and knows who we're supposed to meet; Bryan = younger brother... and only that; me = mindless follower on her first time through everything here. All of a sudden, I'm supposed to be the leader?!? May and Shelly are headed straight for BWI and I'm stuck with Bryan who know little to less of what I know of what to do.
1:50 pm -- Asked one of the Information Desk people what I'm supposed to do now that we've lost two of our people. "Are they minors?" "Um, no, they're 20..." "Then just wait. They'll probably know what to do." Gee, she seemed helpful. She also seemed a bit bitchy. �_�*
2:30 pm -- Oh, thank God. May and Shelly found a nice conductor and got a return train with no extra cost. Well, we've started off with a bang. [As well as ended with one.] Now we're an hour late to meet Shelly's cousin, Katie. So... we walk.
3:10 pm -- *breathless!* Holy Christ! I wish they could tell you on maps whether or not you're going to have to go uphill or downhill. The walk was AWFUL. So hot and humid, am dripping with sweat. And Bryan's started complaining... have a sinking feeling about that. Katie seems pretty cool. I love her 'How to be a Villain' book. Must get one of my own! But now, we must plan dinner, and get to pre-registration so we don't have to stand in line tomorrow.
3:45 pm -- Mmm, Stouffer's Mac and Cheese. Hotel deli is stocked. Opened my suitcase to find a Ginger Ale had exploded, but luckily the plastic bag saved all my clothes and my costume.
Somewhere around 7 pm -- Woohoo! Off to the Baltimore mall to see the big and beautiful Hot Topic! Then pre-reg. Hopefully, the rest of the weekend will go better than today has. We even got lost on the way to the mall -- "East or west? EAST OR WEST?!?"
9:45 pm -- "We've reached the END of Baltimore?!?!" Yeah, that's right, the END. We tried following a street, hoping it would turn into something else, but it never did... and we entered a place that May continually refers to as 'seedy'. Then the fence -- a chain link fence at the end of a seedy stretch of road with NOTHING on the other side. It was like that movie, 'The 13th Floor' where they keep driving and driving until they reach the end of the 'digitally programmed' world. Of course, we didn't get to pre-reg, but the mall was GLORIOUS. Got two shirts from Hot Topic and two rings (to replace my many lost Cladas and Ankhs). [And for future reference, one of the shirts I bought had "I (heart)" and a picture of John Cusack from 'Sixteen Candles' on it. Remember this.]
10:20 pm -- Back at hotel. Am exhausted. Must sleep. And, copied from Shelly's Report...
Quotes for your viewing pleasure (and confusion if you're not in on it):
"Soiled Linen Drawer."
"Pratt Street. *snerk*"
"Weren't we just here...?"
"Light Street didn't turn into anything!!"
"This place looks seedy."
"I need to see a hooker for my life to be complete. It's not like I have to buy one."
"Boy hooker = man-whore."
"We've been parallel to it [the street the hotel is on] the whole time."
"Gay Street! X3"
"Stop sign! Stopsignstopsignstopsign!"
"Turn left!"
"We can't turn left!"
Friday, 8 August 2003
6:30 am --Wake up to shower and get costumed. Notice that the pillow Bryan used has turned from white to hot pink. Now we know that it was cheap dye.
7 am -- Gee, Kyo (May) is clothed, Vanessa (me) is clothed, Noir (Shelly) is half clothed, and Bryan and Katie are generally 'clothed', but not costumed yet. In fact, Katie will not don costume until tomorrow, I believe. And then... Fecking fire alarm sounds. We're on the 16th floor. So, we try to find a stairway down, and end up finding a claustrophobic little cement stairwell that I am CONVINCED was a service stairway. In fact, there was no one else in the stairway but our room. We even came out in the garage.
7:10 am -- Met a fellow con-goer who recognized Vanessa and Kyo. He then tells us that there is a KoF ('King of Fighters', the video game Kyo and Vanessa are from) photo shoot tonight at 8. Awesome. It'll make me feel famous. When we go back in, elevators are not working and we try to find a set of stairs -- other than the garage set -- to bring us back (though am not sure poor me can make it up SIXTEEN flights) and find one disappearing up on the side of the lobby. Turns out to be FAKE. It leads NOWHERE. Eventually, we got into the elevators and arrived on our floor. Took long enough.
9:30 am -- Finally set off for con on foot. On our way, a random 'non-con-goer' stops us and asks us what the commotion is all about. She says she's a reporter but doesn't have anything on her to take down notes and such. She asks us each who we're supposed to be... even Katie who was only dressed as herself. ^__^ Anyway, we reach the BCC. The line was sooooo long, and then we find out it was the wrong one... When we reached the real line, it was even LONGER. �_�*
10:20 am -- Have gotten badges to enter, and we get to choose our own. I got one drawn by *Fred Gallagher* himself! That's right, the 'MegaTokyo' animator himself! While in the line, we already saw sooo many fantastic costumes. Got a call from Mom saying she, Dad, Chrissy (my sis), and Laura (her friend) have arrived safely. Suddenly realize that if we got lost on our own, then they, with the GPS in our car, probably didn't have much luck with the streets either. Went to find them and they were still in line... Turns out Chrissy (who went as Koenma from 'Yu-yu Hakusho') has already lost her pacifier and left her blue shirt at home. Sounds like their trip is going just as well as ours.
1 pm -- Got to the Dealer's Room... Oooooooh! So many awesomeness things! 'MegaTokyo' table... got the graphic novel, and two shirts. Katie bought so much manga, she is now officially on a spending allowance ordered by me and agreed to by Shelly.
2:30 - 4 pm -- Oh my god. AMVs (Anime Music Videos) are the most WONDERFUL things in the world. Must say the 'Top Gun Theme' and 'Danger Zone' songs along with 'Top Gun' audio put to 'Macrosse Plus' footage is PRECIOUS. Nothing could ever beat it.
4 - 6 pm -- Yeah... for some reason, we ended up watching 'E's Otherwise' which we couldn't really see. So I think I read my graphic novel. [Can't really remember what happened within those two hours... Hm, intriguing.]
6 pm -- It is time to vote: Eat nearby, come back and chill a bit, then KoF photo shoot? Or shall we return to the hotel, shed this added weight, eat fast food, then return for photo shoot? ...... Hotel it is. Thank god. Am getting tired of Bryan complaining about all his stuff that he just *had* to buy. And I've never seen clothes actually fly off a person before until Noir entered our hotel room and suddenly disappeared as Shelly re-emerged. Damn. Apparently she was hot under all that clothing. Gee, who'd have guessed that under about four layers of black in mid-80's heat that anyone would be the least bit warm? ^_~
8 pm -- Photo shoot!! I felt so famous! It started with about 20 or 30 of us in a big group doing awesome poses (me being new at this, did not have a wonderful pose) and only like two or three photographers. As the first few flash bulbs went off, suddenly there came a flood of people with cameras! I went blind for about 20 minutes because of all the flashes. There are many pics from our group of me and May... I mean, Kyo and Vanessa.
8:30 pm -- OK, Shelly has been excited about this for a while today, so I guess it's a big deal. 'Mystery Anime Theater 3000'... I guess they take a cheesy anime movie or show and make fun of it like on 'Mystery Science Theater 3000'? So, we sit and watch... It was pretty damn awesome! They made fun of this anime called 'Crusher Joe'. "Wait, what's the name of this show again?" (Eye catch 'Crusher Joe' -- an eye catch is the flashy thing that tells you the title of the show/movie and it repeats a couple times -- appears) "Oh yeah!" "Eye catches make violence happen." ^_____^
10:30 pm -- Katie makes us go watch 'Ragnarok'. It's not that bad at all. In fact, it has some cuteness and creepiness factors in it that could make it great if I watched more. The first episode has this creepy doll that's possessed or something and it has this REALLY weird laugh/cry something that makes me shiver. And her eyes made me freak too.
12:30 am -- Was going to go see 'Animatrix', but am way too tired to get there. Kyo has gone of with her friend named Hiroshi (and that's his real name, not his cosplayer name) to watch 'Battle Royale' (a movie about the overpopulation problem where they send all the school children to a deserted island and give each of them some kind of weapon and let them proceed to kill each other to lessen the population problem... sick, ne?) and we're currently waiting for them just above the stone lobby. There was some kind of commotion beneath us that we still have yet to figure out. I am so tired that I collapse to the floor in a quite comfortable position... for me. Apparently, I look dead in this position because a random man came walking by, saw me, and started walking toward me to make sure I was okay. (He couldn't figure out that by the very unconcerned nature of my group of friends surrounding me that I was just laying down.) The moment I looked up, he jumped. He really thought I was dead! ^-^
1 am -- Yay, back at hotel. To sleep, perchance... never to wake up again.
Saturday, 9 August 2003
8 am -- Thank god for waking up later today. Couldn't meet with all Shelly's friends yesterday, so hope to meet up with at least Savannah today. Of course, there were unfortunate circumstances involved, so it's not like I'm upset we didn't meet up.
Between 9 and 10 am -- Savannah appears out of thin air and glomps May (whose eyes nearly pop out of her skull) in joy. Soon, Steve and Becka are found as well (both Shelly's friends who I have never seen before in my life). Yay, have whole group now. And I only talk to three of them at most.
10:30 am -- We go to the 'Myths of the Sword' panel on Steve's wish. Sounded interesting at first; I mean, myths of the sword sounds awesome. Unfortunately, it's more on how to make them, how to use them and all factual crap like that. Turns out all of us (but Steve and Becka) are too loud for those anal enough to be interested in this and we leave them to their precious panel. Then comes the creepiest part of our journey: a man around his forties passes by all the males in our vicinity and approaches us. (We are the only 'prime of our lives' females in the area, I noticed later.) He asks us if we can help him into his (apparently) tedious Inuyasha costume (which is also nowhere to be seen). We all exchanged looks, obviously thinking the same thing: "RED ALERT!" So, we begin to ask SPECIFIC questions about what exactly he was asking us to do. He tells us that the person he came with the day before suddenly disappeared last night while he was sleeping, but that his room is paid for. This person was supposed to help him into his costume, but since the said person is AWOL... he asks us. Allegedly, this costume is so elaborate and specially made that one person cannot get into it by her/himself. Eventually, we tell him we're waiting for our friends in the panel and that we cannot leave without them. "Sorry. Hope you have better luck elsewhere." [My parents now look at me with pride whenever I tell that story. They raised such a wonderfully cautious daughter that her alarms would go off the moment he said 'costume'. My instincts also immediately shot off saying, "Where the hell is the costume anyhow? All this guy has is a Dealer's Room bag!"]
Around noon -- More Dealer's room and looking for a You Higuri art book. That's the artist that did 'Seimaden', the manga that Shelly perverted me with. Went to admire much manga with Katie. One of the staffers commented on her 'Hogan's Heroes' shirt, then saw me and said, "'Sixteen Candles', eh? Even more abstract." ...... *shrug* [No, this is not the reference to the shirt yet. That comes later.] Also saw this adorable little plushy called Ryo-Ohki. It's from 'Tenchi Muyo' people tell me. They also tell me they don't make them anymore -- Kelly notices this is the last one on the shelf and makes the (however long-winded) decision to bring the adorable little cabbit home. ^_^ Somehow, we all end up meeting at the exact time and place we'd planned. Am utterly shocked, but proud. (Actually saw a walking version of Ryo-Ohki go by. I love cute cosplayers!)
1 pm -- It's decided to go to Harbor Place for lunch. (Thank god it's nearby.) Am surprised by seeing so many cosplayers out in public doing normal things like drinking coffee and eating sub sandwiches. (Shelly neglected to mention there was a HUGE fudge shoppe in Harbor Place that we just happened to 'walk' by. I say 'walk' because while everyone else actually just walked by, I was literally dragged.) Most of us get some yummy Chinese food and proceed to look for a seat. May-chan and Hiroshi have found a lovely two-seater table... The rest of us (all five of us) walk all the way round to find a table and end up circling like vultures around this one table where the people had finished eating and were just sitting there. Once we sit, we discover our food has nearly cooled. �_�;;;
2:30 pm -- Have gone to Barnes & Noble and I got 'Sorcerer Hunters: Vol.3' (in English). Yay! However, I must find Vol. 1 someday, for Shelle-chan only started me on number 2. Somehow, we lost May and Hiroshi again. Now on our way to TM Revolution concert. Haven't heard much of their stuff, so I'm not sure if I'm gonna like this.
2:40 pm -- Oh my god... they actually put a sh*t load of tape all over the floor (in soooo many areas of the BCC) to show where the line is supposed to follow. And the people (I guess they're volunteers) get real upset at us if we skim on the end when rounding the corners. (It's mapped up much like a close-knit game of Snake. We're not supposed to be *this* anal, are we?) Oh, but there is one staff man who's dressed up and everything in bondage bishie prettiness... Am in love. (Tried to take pics, but he just wouldn't stay still!) And a mother actually tried to steal my plushy! From my own hands! (Not seriously, but she definitely had her eye on it and mocked a sneaky hand or two at him. *pout*)
3:40 pm -- Ugh, I hate opening acts. Kristine Sa was all enthused and such, but come on. When you're an opener for someone like TMR, do you really expect to be able to sing something in English and get a good response from the audience? She kept trying to get everyone to stand, but each time she said it, the crowd that actually stood was drastically lessened. (And that same mother was in front of me asking if she could buy it off me and where I'd gotten it... GET YOUR OWN!) When, at last, TMR came on... it was BEEEAUTIFUL!! Hot Asian man in a kimono and a bird-like hairdo playing like a god on a beautiful guitar with a glorious voice. That just about sums up the concert. Much raving and such. ^________^
5 pm -- Ah, the group splits, possibly never to see one another again. Albeit, we planned to meet up for the Masquerade, but who knows where we're supposed to go? May, Hiroshi and I go off across the street for Burger King food. (Mmmm, American cuisine.) Hiroshi, I notice, is quite attractive, but very quiet. How cute. As we get up to leave, a group of con-goers yell out, "Hey! John Cusack shirt!" I turn to see a group of hot mixed with nerdy boys asking me to lower my purchases so they can admire my shirt. How peculiar is it that I get more recognition from this shirt than my costume? [Told you to remember that shirt, didn't I?]
7:30 pm -- Um... have no idea where we were supposed to meet. So May, Hiroshi and I head off to the gamers room to watch. Oh, dear. Not only are there several versions of Dance Dance Revolution being played, but also there are quite a few people in line for it. However, May and Hiroshi are attracted like moths to the flame to the Capcom vs SNK game. WOW is all I have to say. WOW.
11:30 pm -- Finally meet up with everybody in the lobby. Must wait while May goes to find someone else and returns later.
Midnight -- Back at hotel. Too tired even to change into pjs, but must anyhow. Much early packing to do in morning.
Sunday, 10 August 2003
9:30 am -- Don't want to wake up. Too tired.
10:15 am -- Bryan leaves for a game design panel. Hopefully he'll be at the meeting spot in time. Train leaves at 2:07 pm. [This time is important.] Also hope we have enough room in Katie's car. Also have discussed who we will be for next year's con: May's 'Rogue' characters (though I'm not sure she's too thrilled about that): Bryan = Azrael or Gabriel (not quite sure yet); Katie = Michael; Me = Artemis ^_^; May = Lucifer; Savannah = Raphael; Shelly = Uriel.
11:30 am -- Have packed, cleaned, rechecked the room, and checked out. May will go with Katie in the car to park at the con for quick departure while Shelly, Savannah and I walk to McDonald's for 'breakfast'. I'll buy May's food too.
12:20 pm -- Have food and have arrived at con. Katie tells us May forgot to give them back the keys and is walking back to drop them off alone. Today has already gone a bit pear-shaped and it's getting late.
1:10 pm -- May and Katie left for the station. Bryan and I must wait behind for there is no room for more than two people in that car currently. Katie will return shortly for us.
2 pm -- Um... no sign of Katie. Going to miss train. May's gonna freak, yet Bryan and I are strangely calm.
2:10 pm -- Katie finally arrived and we discover that the Baltimore traffic lights are bent against us. Apparently Baltimore does not want us to leave. Get to station (while I notice May's Gackt poster in the back of the car... apparently she missed it when unloading everything) and notice poor May is standing with all our stuff crying and screaming at us in anger. "We've just missed our fucking train!" It's not our fault! It was fate, I tell you! Fate!!
2:30 pm -- Oh my god, we're lucky bastards. Train was delayed 20 minutes. We board train with the knowledge that someone is watching over us... as well as the knowledge to get our stuff off the racks long before the train opens their doors. There were no seats on this train, though. And I don't mean there were none together: there were NO EMPTY SEATS. May sits in the car we entered, while Bryan and I had gone on a literal journey all the way to the food car about ten cars away. There are even groups of kids sitting in the area between cars with all their luggage. Bad booking on the company's part.
Somewhere en route -- This damn trip is getting worse: the train was late; there were no seats; the train stops en route for a 'routine check up' (which worries me on its own); going into NYC there was only one track in use, so we had to stop and wait for about six other trains to go before we could even get in. Is that about an hour added onto our trip right there? I think so.
6:20 pm -- Have arrived in Stamford. Must rush to get tickets and find our train.
6:25 pm -- May: "When's the train to Redding?"
                   Woman behind counter: *blinkie* "...You just missed it."
                    May: O.o "What? When's the next one?"
                   Woman: "9:15."
6:35 pm -- May and Bryan called home. May's Dad insists on coming to pick us up. But the traffic (that we can see) is awful. I feel the need for a donut.
10:30 pm -- We were picked up, but I proceeded to give him awful directions to find the station where I parked my car. Got lost twice. My parents called my cell wondering why they were back before me. Told them the awfulness that was our trip. And to think we're going to try to do this again next year. Hahaha.
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