Wait, what was that guy wearing?
Jul 4, 2010 17:34:04 GMT
Post by gertie on Jul 4, 2010 17:34:04 GMT
Ok, I'd post a few of these here but I'm having trouble reducing the size to something the viewer can manage. If there are instructions for showing what is a larger picture elsewhere to nominal size here, that'd be great. Otherwise, here are some of our pictures from A-Kon. drivemeinsane.com/cgi-bin/pictureindex.cgi?directory=/akon21
My daughter loves anime and drawing, so we try to attend a few each year. We are lucky to have A-kon held near us, as it is the longest running anime fest in the US, and very well organized and run. This year we were able to spend the entire weekend, and had a blast.
For the uninitiated, A-kon is an Anime fest. It is kind of hard to explain an anime fest to those who have never been. Imagine that Halloween comes on a random weekend and is designed mainly for older teens and young adults. It lasts an entire weekend, and many activities and amusements are planned, most with a Japanese flavor. Costumes vary greatly, but those based on Japanese anime and manga are generally most highly prized. Activities usually include costume contests, concerts, and a "formal" dance.
Another popular ingredient is something called "panels". People get up and give presentations and talks about all sorts of subjects at least vaguely relating to Japan and Anime. If you can stretch a string between your subject and anime or Japan, you can probably find or give a panel on it. It is probably the only place you will ever feel vaguely uncomfortable in common street clothing.
A-kon is held in the downtown Sheraton hotel in Dallas, Texas. This year it had grown so much as to also take over a good part of another hotel, particularly the attached convention center. 14,000 were expected and even more showed up. Quite a feat in the current economy, but then again...Costumes! Silliness! Ramen! haha What's not to like?
In past years I followed my daughter around keeping the usual parental sharp eye out, but as she is now 16 I decided I had to cut the apron strings a bit. I cast around for a solution to something for Mom to do that would allow her to at least keep a bit of an eye on her and finally settled on volunteering for the convention. A friend has been doing this for a few years as it saves her paying for a ticket to the con. She does Volunteers Unlimited, which is a group that provides people for those random, one time events or to fill in for people that don't show up as they should. My girlfriend assured me she spent most of the time hanging out in the VU room waiting for someone to need something and playing card games, which didn't sound so bad.
Little did I know! Five minutes after I showed up, the director of the convention showed up needing "someone more mature than 21" to fill in as he was short an assistant. I ended up running all over the place, making sure stuff that needed to happen happened and stuff that did not did not. Yikes! I had worried about how I was going to get my exercise as I have been doing great on an exercise and weight loss plan for about six months now, but it turned into a non-issue when the normal start of a shift was running from the offices in the north tower all the way to the convention center of the other hotel.
Even so, it was the most fun I've had in a while, and I even got to meet a couple who's online comic I have enjoyed for sometime. www.twolumps.net/ is a great comic, especially when you have a couple of crazed cats of your own!
My daughter loves anime and drawing, so we try to attend a few each year. We are lucky to have A-kon held near us, as it is the longest running anime fest in the US, and very well organized and run. This year we were able to spend the entire weekend, and had a blast.
For the uninitiated, A-kon is an Anime fest. It is kind of hard to explain an anime fest to those who have never been. Imagine that Halloween comes on a random weekend and is designed mainly for older teens and young adults. It lasts an entire weekend, and many activities and amusements are planned, most with a Japanese flavor. Costumes vary greatly, but those based on Japanese anime and manga are generally most highly prized. Activities usually include costume contests, concerts, and a "formal" dance.
Another popular ingredient is something called "panels". People get up and give presentations and talks about all sorts of subjects at least vaguely relating to Japan and Anime. If you can stretch a string between your subject and anime or Japan, you can probably find or give a panel on it. It is probably the only place you will ever feel vaguely uncomfortable in common street clothing.
A-kon is held in the downtown Sheraton hotel in Dallas, Texas. This year it had grown so much as to also take over a good part of another hotel, particularly the attached convention center. 14,000 were expected and even more showed up. Quite a feat in the current economy, but then again...Costumes! Silliness! Ramen! haha What's not to like?
In past years I followed my daughter around keeping the usual parental sharp eye out, but as she is now 16 I decided I had to cut the apron strings a bit. I cast around for a solution to something for Mom to do that would allow her to at least keep a bit of an eye on her and finally settled on volunteering for the convention. A friend has been doing this for a few years as it saves her paying for a ticket to the con. She does Volunteers Unlimited, which is a group that provides people for those random, one time events or to fill in for people that don't show up as they should. My girlfriend assured me she spent most of the time hanging out in the VU room waiting for someone to need something and playing card games, which didn't sound so bad.
Little did I know! Five minutes after I showed up, the director of the convention showed up needing "someone more mature than 21" to fill in as he was short an assistant. I ended up running all over the place, making sure stuff that needed to happen happened and stuff that did not did not. Yikes! I had worried about how I was going to get my exercise as I have been doing great on an exercise and weight loss plan for about six months now, but it turned into a non-issue when the normal start of a shift was running from the offices in the north tower all the way to the convention center of the other hotel.
Even so, it was the most fun I've had in a while, and I even got to meet a couple who's online comic I have enjoyed for sometime. www.twolumps.net/ is a great comic, especially when you have a couple of crazed cats of your own!