Tim's Anime Boston 2006 Report

Part 3: Sunday


Okay, well...I didn't actually go on Sunday. As I've mentioned, by this point I've already seen pretty much everything that I wanted to see, so I wouldn't have done much while I was there. Plus, the convention was ending around 4:00pm, which means by the time I got there I would've only been there for a couple hours, which in comparison to the previous two days would've zoomed by too quickly. In addition, the Red Sox were playing an afternoon game, which meant parking would've been more of a hassle than usual...and I wasn't looking forward to paying upwards of another 30 bucks to park. Plus, I hadn't had any other real plans besides 1) stop by the gaming room and pick up another free figure or two, and 2) attempt to subtly promote my comic some more. Except, like I mentioned, Sym broke. I did think of a sneaky, underhanded way to promote, but I'll keep that secret in case I attempt it for ConnectiCon. Which I'm pretty sure I'll be going to...it's mid-July, when I get my bona-fide vacation. Stay tuned for that!

One last costume I forgot to mention for Saturday...I did see a symbiote-costume Spider-Man. And now I'm kicking myself for not having gotten a picture. In fact, I'm kicking myself for not having taken any pictures...I am not a shutterbug. Oh well.

But, Sunday wasn't a total wash. Well, okay, a partial wash, since I did clean my car of any bird poop and tree spunk that has been accumulating.

Plus, I saw X-Men 3: The Last Stand. I guess on my own personal scale, I'd give it a 4 out of 5. One the one hand, it was everything I have come to expect from the X-Men franchise. I didn't particularly miss the absense of Singer, but then again, if I were more of a movie critic/student, I'm sure I could spot the differences. I was pleased by the effects and the more liberal use of mutant powers (which I guess is one of those differences, since Singer focuses more on characters). And something I've realized...these movies are awfully violent - from all the stabbing and slashing Wolverine does to the rather gruesome way Jean/Phoenix deals out punishment at the end.

They say this is the last X-Men movie, that it's only going to be a trilogy. On the one hand, I think that's bunk. But on the other hand, typically any more than a trilogy and the quality declines rapidly. Though they've done such a good job with this franchise that I can't imagine that happening...unless they go for one of the more outlandish storylines. I've also heard that while there may be no more X-Men films, they may do a Wolverine film. Which is disappointing, because let's face it - haven't they all felt like Wolverine films?

Next stop: St Louis, for the Comic Genesis Cookout! *squeee*
posted by Tim at 2:22 AM

One other thing before I forget. Included in the bags they gave out with the programs and schedules and such is a 14-day trial CD for World of Warcraft. Which I felt was a pretty evil thing to do.
posted by Tim at 1:44 AM

Tim's Anime Boston 2006 Report

Part 2: Saturday

Ventured in with my brother along for the ride. Upon getting him registered and settled, it was a quick poke around the videogame room and the convention hall before getting in line for the first of the panels I'm actually interested in attending - the Dominic Deegan Q&A. Mookie is quite the personable guy...he seems like he'd be really cool to just hang out with. The audience was very enthusiastic and knowledgeable, and didn't ask too many dumb questions (or at least questions Mookie couldn't answer - spoiler type stuff). A nice mix of story questions and process questions. Sure, he was up in front of a few dozen people, and has probably met hundreds over the last couple years in all the cons he's done, but I really felt like I got to know him...despite the fact that I'm practically nothing next to him. Not that I'm putting him on a pedastal (though one girl at the panel said he looked like "an Euro-centric Jesus"), but more of a dig at my own status in the webcomic world.

Next, the "How to Create a Successful Webcomic" panel. Which we got into late because there was a line of people who somehow didn't realize the panel had already started. In any case, it reminded me a lot of the webcomic panel I went to at Arisia a couple years ago...the panelists were all "professionals" with their own websites and traffic and whatnot. So, their definition of "successful" was "making money off of it". Which I have a problem with, personally, because that's not my ultimate goal of my webcomic. They did mention starting off with free hosting on sites like Comic Genesis or Drunk Duck, but they made it sound like it was just there for hosting and that the next step is to buy your own domain and hosting. Which for some part is true, but there's so much more to take advantage of with Comic Genesis. But then again, I may be biased. ;)

There was a drawing workshop, but we figured that was going to be too much of a hassle to get into (besides, if I want to practice drawing manga, I'll buy a book...I know they're out there). So we poked around some more. Eventually, we came upon the Steve Blum/Vic Mignogna panel, so as a bit of a consolation to myself for missing the autographs, we stopped in. Now, this was a much different atmosphere than Mookie's panel. It was equal parts hilarious and excruciating to witness. These people are much more hardcore anime nerds, and their questions reflected it. First, let me begin by saying: a lot of the questions posed by the audience started with "I have a question for you." Well, DUH, that's why you're at the panel. Anyway. It seemed the majority of the questions were just a flimsy attempt for Blum and Mignogna to say a line or quote from whatever they happened to be talking about. Which, to their credit, they did...but you couldn't help feeling they were just being made to jump through hoops. There was the occasional intelligent question thrown in, such as "What was your favorite character to play?" and such, but there were a lot more dumb "if Spike could have any girl in the anime universe, who would he have?" or "I know it's gonna start a war, but I have to ask: pirates or ninjas?" or "Final Fantasy or Naruto?" (which doesn't even make sense, because that's comparing two separate things! >:( ) So we kinda snuck out early (but not before the FullMetal Alchemist movie trailer) and got some dinner.

Upon our return we went back to the gaming room and played a couple games of Pirates. And it was encouraging to see some people playing it at the next table, and others stopping by our table and recognizing the game. Remember, I'm coming from an experience of having played the game with a grand total of 4 people over the last 10 weeks, so to meet people who have heard of the game is super for me. On our way out I wanted to stop by Artist's Alley, which we did, and I was able to say hi to Mookie personally. He happened to be drawing a sketch with I think was going for the raffle the convention was holding, but he was friendly and graciously accepted a piece of fanart I drew for him (which I'll show you later when it's up).

I should also mention I spent most of the day in costume...as myself. Specifially, with Sym...you can see an older picture here. I also brought some "business cards" with me...just a quick sketch and the name and URL on a slip of paper. I got a couple questions about the alien on my shoulder, so I handed out a couple...so my plan worked! Unfortunately, after being fidgeted with for most of the day, Sym got tired and...well, kinda broke his spine. And that's something I'm not too sure how to fix right now, short of a quick fix of duct tape or something. So I'll have to see if the costume is something worth fixing for tomorrow...provided I still decide to venture back tomorrow. Stay tuned!
posted by Tim at 12:00 AM

Tim's Anime Boston 2006 Report

Part 1: Friday

I wasn't originally sure if I was going to attend Friday. But I decided to, for a few reasons. One, to get acclamated to the area and to get comfortable where things are. Second, since I had Friday off from work, I figured I could pay for a weekend pass and it'd be cheaper than buying two days' worth. (Parking nonwithstanding :S) So, I braved the con alone.

I went casual...I knew ahead of time most of the stuff I wanted to do was going to be on Saturday anyway. Upon the ascent from the escalator into the Prudential Center, I caught my first cosplayer...a Yuna (from Final Fantasy X, but you already knew that). Then another one. And another. It was all I could to from busting out laughing. And I knew it was going to be an interesting day, at the very least.

Now, of course, I'm not laughing at these cosplayers. I'm just laughing since I recognize these characters, and some of these costumes are really elaborate. Amongst the hundreds of nerds (and I mean that in the nicest way possible, because let's face it, I was among them myself), I saw: some Yunas, a Rikku or two, a couple Clouds, a couple Tonberries and Moogles, Lulus, quite a few Soras in every appropriate outfit, some Roxas-es, with Hayner and Seifer, quite a few from Organization XIII including a fully-red-bandaged Ansem (and let me say, I was a little surprised by the number of Kingdom Hearts II cosplayers there were). A few Links, a Princess Peach, a couple Marios and Luigis. An elaborate ProtoMan. A couple Kings of All Cosmos. Quite a few Ed Elrics, plenty of State Alchemists - even a Major Armstrong (with disappointing lack of sparklies)...there was even a Chimera Nina crawling on all fours. Envy seemed to be the most popular homonculus, with Lust in second place. In fact, aside from one girl who may have been Sloth, no other homonculi. *shrug* More Naruto ninjas than you could shake a shruiken at. A few Vash the Stampedes (or is that "Vashes the Stampede"?), including one balancing a box of Dunkin' Donuts on his head, which I didn't get until my brother explained it to me afterwards (Vash apparently has a love of doughnuts). A couple Sailor Scouts. Some Inuyashas and fellow characters. A couple Spikes, and one memorable Valentina (or whatever her name is). There were plenty more characters whom I didn't recognize, like some suited guy carrying a giant striped cross, and your assortment of winged characters. And of course, plenty of generic cat- and fox-girls. Pretty simple, really, to put on a headband with ears or hang a tail down your back. I might revise this list if I remember any more.

I lucked out in deciding to buy the weekend pass on-site, because the pre-registered line was pretty long. And a good thing too, since on Saturday the opposite was true. Most of my first day there was exploring the various areas of the convention, traveling back and forth between them two or three times.

There was the video game room. Which I was perfectly happy just standing back and watching others play. It was mostly set up as consoles (locked up, natch) and a bunch of TVs on tables. Some old consoles, surprisingly, such as Saturns, Dreamcasts, an NES, an N64, etc. Though, now that I think about it, I didn't see a Sega Genesis. Hrm :( Of particular note were a couple of rhythm-style games...like DDR (there was In the Groove 2 there) but hand-based. Both looked like Japanese imports: one had a DJ turntable setup, the other was just a large console of 9 buttons. Though that's just the thing...it's hard enough to worry about 4 buttons on DDR...but to keep track of 9 on some of these upbeat J-pop/techno songs is just insane.

Manga reading room? Meh. Karaoke? No. Anime viewing rooms? No thanks. Dealer's room? Yeah, that's a lot of stuff, but a lot of it, too, is just repeating through all the booths. Artist's Alley? Pretty nice...just kinda breezed through it the first day. Did happen to meet Kel McDonald of Sorcery 101 at her table, which was kinda cool. A little awkward, since there wasn't much to say. I'm hoping to remedy that in the future, we'll see.

When I first arrived, and after the first bit of exploring, I made my way up to the 3rd floor where they were setting up for autographs. This session was for Vic Mignogna (aka Edward Elric) and Steve Blum (amongst lots of cool voices, most popularly known as Spike from Cowboy Bebop). However, the line was starting to snake around the corner and down the hall. Even after the 90 minute allotment they were still taking in people and setting up tickets/appointments for the next day. To which I thought, "Yeah, it'd be cool to get an autograph, and I'm a fan, but I'm not that big a fan." Which pretty much describes my feeling about the convention as a whole. Since I'm such a casual anime fan, it's hard for me to get into a majority of the things they offer, and I'm not that willing to wait in long lines for the things I am remotely interested in.

Poked into the Live Gaming room. Nothing interesting (for me) going on, aside from a bit of boffing battles (or whatever it's called - you know, whacking each other with foam bats). But I did happen to get some free stuff...mostly for promotional purposes, of course, but still, "You mean, I can really have this? Right off the table?" is cool.

So yeah, like I said, most of my Friday was going back and forth between these areas and watching all the cosplayers in between. Which, quite honestly, was probably the most fun part for me. A quick bite at California Pizza Kitchen, and to home I returned.
posted by Tim at 10:55 PM

A last couple thoughts until the next ones:

A quick congratulations to my sister, who over the weekend graduated from Northeastern University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration. Huzzah!

How Business Administration is a science, I'm not sure. Well, more of a science than an art, I guess.

If you haven't already read it on the main page, I plan on attending Anime Boston this year, being held Memorial Day Weekend at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston (duh). Since it is in Boston, I may even try to make it both Saturday and Sunday (I'll be working Friday...like I do every Friday evening...*sniff*). What I hope to do/accomplish there:

• I'll probably be cosplaying at least one of the days, so I hope to drum up a little attention/traffic for the comic
• I plan to hang out some in the Gaming room, hopefully playing some Pirates
• I'm going to try to work up the nerve to say hi to Michael Terracciano
• I'm going to look into some of the voice actor panels (if they're not too crowded) ...preferably Vic Mignogna (aka Edward Elric). Or however they work if not panels.
• And, because it's anime, I'd like to see if I can get my picture with any hot cosplaying girls. (I don't know if that's a contradiction in terms, but we'll see when I get there.)

Speaking of Pirates, since I last mentioned my adventures in gaming here on the blog, I've been lucky enough to have actually met a few people and played a game or two! OK, granted, I've lost those games, but I'm still learning all the nuances and trying to figure out how best to play with what I've got. Besides, I still have an overall winning record. (due to having shown up and automatically winning more often than playing games ¬_¬)

posted by Tim at 11:35 PM

Time to get a bunch of "things I want to blog about" out an into the actual blog...

Now I can't say I'm not a cultured person for never having been to the theater. A while back my family went and saw Spamalot. OK, so it wasn't exactly Broadway, but it was a super fun time nonetheless. Now, of course I think Eric Idle is one of our great comedic minds, and everything about the show was brilliant...but for some reason I want to complain that the show got a little self-referrential, especially in the second half. But I can't, because that was just as brilliant as everything else. And the show did suffer a little bit of the same thing I experienced with the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy movie, in that I was so familiar with the dialogue that I pretty much knew what was going to happen and where things were going. But, not as much as the H2G2 movie, because of the whole "re-writing a lot of it to work it into a Broadway musical, plus make the story flow better" thing.


The only new movie I've seen in recent weeks is Ice Age 2. (That should change soon, with the summer blockbuster season upon us). Overall, I was entertained...as long as you can ignore some of the plotholes.
*SPOILER ALERT*
Such as: if the whole point of the first movie was to make it to a safe place before the Ice Age begins, why has it appeared that no more than 10 years have elapsed between movies? I mean, that must be the shortest Ice Age ever. Also, when the glacier finally crumbles, where did all that water go? And why didn't it drown any of the mammoths that came through the crack it flowed through?
*END SPOILER ALERT*


Looking at the ads for the new Lara Croft: Legends game, I can't help but think: is it me, or is Lara Croft beginning to look more and more like Angelina Jolie?


Why does it seem like Comedy Central puts together some kind of "Blue Collar Comedy Weekend" every other week? Granted, they have a lot of material to work with, but c'mon guys...space 'em out a little further apart. Let me forget the last one.


At work, one of the new phones set up in our once-and-future conference room (it had to be made a makeshift lab while we're renovating, and I'm assuming it'll return to being a conference room) is a two-handset cordless dealie. Much snazzier than the standard model most people have that have been part of the same phone/voicemail system for the past 30 years. Anyway, this snazzy phone has some feature called "CallerIQ". Which is just a funny thing to be called. As if when someone calls, the phone will display "The person calling you is an idiot.", so you can mentally prepare before answering the phone, or something.


One of the new songs the kids are listening to these days is "Girl Next Door" by Saving Jane. I'm not 100% sure exactly what kind of message I should be getting from this song...I mean, I understand the point ("I feel jealous of this other perfect girl"), but she just complaining about this other girl? Or is she trying to get over her insecurities and feel better about herself?
Let's take a look at what the song says about this other girl:
homecoming queen / lovely / perfect skin, perfect hair / perfumed hearts everywhere /prom queen / cheerleader /Miss America / Senior class president /A backseat debutaunt / Everything that you want / etc...
The picture she paints of this girl, I think "Meh...", as if she's too perfect, like she's gonna be high-maintenance or too busy for you or something. Perhaps it was the kind of high school that I went to, where the parameters of popularity are a lot more vague than Hollywood's standards. (Also, now that I look up the lyrics... "backseat" debutaunt?)
Now, on the other hand, we have our "girl next door". Well, she doesn't say much about herself, except that she's in the marching band. Given the tone of the whole song, my heart just goes out to her, since I am the shy geek type, and this girl would most certainly be more my type than the cheerleader. Besides, I've known some pretty hot girls in marching band...

Also, is it really fair to write a song like this when Marti Dodson (the lead singer) is so damn hot herself?
posted by Tim at 2:13 AM