The Lost Chronicles, Part 2: Minneappolis-St. Paul International without the shame

Austin, MN, August 18-21

My last big outing for the summer was a jaunt up to good ol' Minnesota for my cousin's wedding (on Dad's side). This was actually my second cousin to get married this season, the first being on my mom's side (got hitched to a former panel organizer for Otakon w007!) Instead of leaving together, my dad left a week beforehand to hang out with his brothers. I originally thought my mother, brother, and myself would leave on the day before the wedding, but we were gonna shotgunnit up North the morning of the wedding day. Since the ceremony was around five or so, we had to leave at about 6am... granted no contest to the 4am wakeup run to LAX, but that's not something I like to do very often. The flight was relatively uneventful, and we arrived at the Minneapolis-St. Paul terminal on schedule. The fun part came next--driving the rental car from the airport to my grandma's house in Austin. Thank God I brought my good ol' TomTom GPS (available in a BestBuy near you! *pander*pander*) so the trip was pretty smooth despite the heavy rain. On an eerie note, this was about two weeks after the I-35 bridge collapsed in Minneapolis-St. Paul. Apparently, my cousin that was getting married usually commuted across the bridge every day. That day, August 1, she, for whatever miraculous reason, decided to avoid traffic and dodge the bridge entirely--inadvertently averting the entire catastrophe.

Aaaaaaaaanyway, I managed to get Mom and Bro back to Grandma's house safely and on time, and sure enough Dad was waiting there ready to throw us into our monkey suits. Funny thing, since the cathedral was literally a block away (small town, Austin.) The service was marvelous--Dad and his brothers sang the hymnals and various arrangements with live piano and trumpet accompaniment with a harmonious sound that filled the cathedral. It was great seeing the family together again, especially since we're all partiers--couldn't wait until the reception ;3 After the service, Brian, the father of the bride, got Shane to ride shotgun with him in his old convertible. The weather was far from perfect for having the top down, but that didn't stop him. I rode with Mom and Dad, and I got some great video of the guys passing us, hair and suits whipping in the wind. They beat us to the country club, of course. The reception was the usual -- bunch of family, scattered around the room in different groups, intermingling, drinking, and a DJ that would play "Celebrate!" without fail. Though, I will admit, it was good times. This was the first chance I had to drink with my relatives, so I tried capitalizing on that. I didn't have too many drinks (one can only drink so much when your parents are there too), but I enjoyed every single one I could with my cousins. After a bit of encouragement, my brother and I finally jumped onto the dance floor and made asses of ourselves, like everyone else. Good times, good times.

The rest of our stay in Minnesota was pretty much "meh." The rain that saw our arrival didn't want to quit, so there really wasn't much else to do. Come to think of it, if there isn't a big family thing going on, then nothing else really is either. Small towns kinda have that affect, and my cousins would agree. Luckily, our cousin Kevin helped Shane and me keep our sanity. We finally got a chance to see The Simpsons Movie at the local mall, which was nice. The high point (after the wedding) was the following Monday, when we ventured over to his house. I failed to mention earlier that our grandmother's house doesn't have the internet at all. Shane and I basically slept constantly and went to bed early because there wasn't any good excuse to stay up late. Kevin's place had a high-speed connection, so what did we all do? Download and install StarCraft, duke it out over the LAN, and watch ATHF:MFFT and 23. We didn't get back to Grandma's place until around 9pm or so, but we had our fill. Homeword bound, we got to bed early in preparation for leaving the next morning. I couldn't sleep--little surprise. I ventured over to the satellite TV and had myself a good perusing around for anything interesting. Much to my amusement, I stumbled across a QVC erotic novelties channel. Yeah, that's right: over-the-phone sex toy shopping from the convenience of your own home! They had everything: the phone numbers, the prices, various phallic objects of every color, shape, and size all waiting for you, and it was only a phone call away. They even had two cute young women holding them up and commenting on how squishy or soft the vibrators were, and how they would make a "great gift." My God, this world still manages to surprise me.

The Lost Chronicles, Part 1: Pennsylvania closed due to AIDS

Wow, it's been awhile since I last updated--consider it a testament to my ensemble of bad habits resembling faux-ADD. I also blame DELL, really -- I was on a roll with the blog, but when I got to Pennsylvania, some power problems I'd been having with my laptop finally manifested themselves into something coherent and my AC adapter and battery were toast. That, and I also got an early case of the "con crud" and was temporarily bed-ridden for half of the first day of the con. Anyways, here's the first part of my travels after the wonderland of California:

ANTHROCON, PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, July 5th-8th

For those of you who don't know what Anthrocon is, good--get out while you still can. It's an annual convention held in Pittsburgh, PA in celebration(?) of the furry fandom. If you're still confused, think Disney's animated Robin Hood movie from way back when. People have different reactions to furries (most negative), but there are a million different kinds, some who don't deserve the heat they get. For the most part, though, it's hard not to make fun of alot of them. It's like any anime convention, really: you see all the different strata of nerd and geek there, from the serious to the casual, from the cosplayer to the gamer. I'd always wanted to go to Anthrocon since I was a Freshman in high school (shameful, I know), and since I was single, I figured I might as well go before I have any relationship to damage.

I literally left for PA the second I got back from California. Dustin's mom picked us up from BWI, dropped me off at my dorm, I grabbed my car, got my friends, and left. I was kinda annoyed, but not from traveling; the two guys comin' with me decided that it was a good idea to bring almost all of their possessions to the convention. I'm surprised I didn't facepalm through my head. In retrospect, if the hadn't, then they wouldn't have brought one of the things that kept me sane those four days. After cramming everything into my Explorer, we hit the road. I got full use out of my TomTom GPS as we headed up through Central Maryland. We were starving by the time we hit Western Maryland, and ended up stopping in Frostburg at a Pizza Hut for a quick bite to eat. Some how, what was going to be a routine stop for food turned into a little adventure itself. The staff at the store that night were a real trip, and we ended up just chatting and having fun. One of the waitresses popped out of no-where with some plush animals from behind the counter and we got caught up in a plushie war. No one was spared, but it was a blast! I wonder how they're doing now... they were a fun bunch.

When we finally got into Pittsburgh, it was pretty late in the evening. The con was supposed to start officially on Friday, but of course everyone was there on Thursday getting all geared up. I parked in a crappy parking garage not too far way from the hotel, and we dragged some of our stuff several blocks to the venue. I was amazed: the hotel was very nice, and I felt a little better about staying there. According to my friend, we had to wait for the guy who we were staying with in the hotel, so we all took a seat in the lobby. There were already people walking around with ears and tails, a few fursuiters here-and-there, just chilling on the sofas and enjoying free wi-fi. For some reason, I didn't feel nearly as phased by all of this as I thought I would. The costumes I'd seen so far weren't at all disturbing, so I was somewhat impressed. My friend caught sight of the guy we'd be staying with, and we started moving up to the room. Now, I failed to mention two things: one, I had no idea about the sleeping arrangements--I was only told we had a place to stay; two, we were staying with a good... five other people? Never--NEVER--let a friend arrange for a room and not tell you any of the details. Luckily, everyone was at the convention for different events, so it was never all 8 of us in the room at once. THANK GOD.

We spent most of the night wandering around, chatting, hanging out with the other con-goers in the lobby and checking out The Zoo, where alot of artists hung out. We ended up talking with 2 the Ranting Gryphon, who I would describe best as Lewis Black + Howard Sturn, but a furry (check out his webpage or Podcast... good stuff). Confusing, yes, but damn he's frickin' hilarious. All of us just stood around exchanging stories and experiences, and it felt like a pretty close-knit group even though we were all basically strangers to one another. I didn't get to sleep until around 6am or so the next morning... on the floor no less. I got something resembling a cold (the "con crud" so I've been told) and thanked God profusely when everyone left the room. I jumped into one of the beds and slept until around 2 or 3 in the afternoon and updated the blog. I didn't do much else, since my charger and battery stopped working, so I was forced to go and check out the convention.

I don't remember the sequence of events at the convention so much as the events themselves. I remember checking out the zoo a couple times to see if I recognized any artists. Of course I was scared stiff half the time, like when a kid sees Goofy at Disneyland or something. Although I consider myself somewhat of an artist, I consider the others to be far better than me, and I get nervous because of that XD. I managed to get by this feeling thanks to a few friends from UMD that I saw at the convention, as well as my little book. I got this great book made out of bamboo and leaves from this new-age store near College Park, and I wandered around Artist's Alley asking some of my fav's to doodle/autograph the book. I got quite a few great sketches, and might try doing the same next time I go to an anime convention. It was a great conversation piece when talking to the artists, and I even got to invite one of my favorites to come play Halo 2 with me. Oh, and FURRY MASTER CHIEF (heresy never felt so good).

What kept me sane during the entire convention was Halo 2. Since my friends packed everything, they brought their projector and my Xbox as well, which turned out to be the best idea ever. I set up random games of Halo 2 at various times in different locations around the convention--anywhere that could support a projector. The first night I tried this I set up near the rave (the raves were amazing, btw -- the DJ's they had playing spun out some incredible mixes) and attracted a few players. The next day that I tried it, I set up the Xbox near the zoo and ended up attracting a decent crowd. We switched off the best player every two games, which worked out nicely. Met a few decent people this way, though there were of course a few odd-ones. The highlight of my con experience was when I got one of my favorite artists, Meesh, to play Halo 2 with me. He was pretty good, but some of the other players trounced us. I spent the remainder playing with this other artist and another fur, and I annoyed the hell out of him with a shotgun-punch combo. I almost felt kinda bad... almost.

The convention was, overall, an amusing experience. I didn't feel as shocked or out-of-place as I thought I would, and made a few spiffy friends during my stay. There were some foam boards set up near the Zoo for anyone to post messages, but a fair number of doodles and jokes got posted there... along with a grilled cheese sandwich. It was like I was walking through the internet the entire time I stayed there... though I was surprised to see less disturbing than amusing things at the con. Would I go again? I'm not entirely sure... probably not. But do I regret going? My autograph from Rob Paulson, Pinky, from Pinky and the Brian, says not at all.

Homeward bound

I couldn't sleep. I mean, I slept, but only for about 2-and-a-half hours. My cell phone said 3:30am, and my body refused to rest any longer. Since we were supposed to get up at 4:00am anyway, I stayed up and worked on my computer for a little bit. Katie's parents didn't come down to get us until 4:30am, and they were completely surprised to see me awake. I wandered around, checking if I had everything while Dustin and Katie were still getting up. They both kept falling back asleep, refusing to get up until necessary.

We finally managed to get up and out, taking some food with us for the flight. When we got to the airport at around 5:00am, there were long lines at the luggage checks and security stations. This was a large change from the seemingly barren airport we experienced when we flew in--though baggage claim areas are usually less-populated anyway. An announcement floated over the PA system, mentioning a security breach that called for tighter security procedures. The lines were long, but there wasn't much different when going through the metal detectors. We still got through security quickly, so when we lined up at our gate we had a good hour-and-a-half to kill. Dustin spread out on the floor with Katie and I watched some Paranoia Agent on my iPod.

We eventually boarded the plane, hoping that our forward position in the C-grouping would give us some advantage while picking seats. There were no three seats adjacent one-another, but I managed to get a seat right behind Dustin and Katie. I tried sleeping on the flight, but it proved immensely unsuccessful. Though I was incredibly tired, I could not get to sleep for more than an hour at a time. Giving up, I took out my iPod again and tried watching Flight of Dragons. When that ended I tried occupying myself looking at the magazines they had, only occasionally bugging Dustin and Katie. While flying over the Grand Canyon, Katie managed to get a great picture using the digital camera. I'm glad that I was awake for that.

I can't decide whether I was bored or if time went quickly. On final approach I noticed that Dustin and Katie were playing Solitaire on both of their computers. I whipped out my iPod and, with its last little bit of battery power, started playing Solitaire with the iPod between them. Katie chuckled and I tried playing a few games, but sooner than expected we arrived at BWI. Dustin's mom picked us up and took us back to College Park. Dustin spent the entire stay in California without his usual extra sweetened Lipton iced tea, so we went straight to McDonald's and he ordered a large cup of it, eagerly drinking it immediately. We got to the Grand House of Funk, thanked Dustin's mother, and I transfered my luggage to my car. I stepped in to say hi to the crew, and to say goodbye to Dustin and Katie. With that, I went back to my car and drove over to the Commons at UMD for a quick shower and pick up my passengers for the next journey.

And the Defilers red glare, Big Shootahs everywhere

Happy 4th of July! We spent most of the day lazing around again--the sky was overcast for the first time since we arrived the week before. Katie's parents did get us up and going to Fry's for a sale and the potential for 25-cent hot dogs and soda. There was an Independence Day sale on SD cards and other lovely gadgets, but the hot dogs were MIA. We tried going to Costco to pick up some food for dinner, but the place was completely closed. Conceding defeat, Katie's father made some chimichangas, corn dogs, and pizza. I was kinda hoping for something a little more appropriate for the festivities, so when I found out Katie was going to Vons to pick up ice-cream, I tagged along. While we were out, Dustin, Charlie, and Zach started up a game of Warhammer 40k outside around the train set. Fireworks blasting in the distance echoed all over the valley, adding another dimension to the game--Dustin loved every minute of it. Katie and I got back with steak and Polish sausage and fired up the grill. As the coals warmed up, I ventured up to the roof, taking my DV camcorder with me in hopes of filming some of the fireworks. The camera turned on for a second and immediately died; the battery ran out somehow while it was still in the case (the switch was probably turned when shifting around). I paused to enjoy the view, then returned inside, cursing my camera.

The 40k game went on for quite awhile, stopping only for a moment when the steaks finished cooking. I brought my laptop out to play music while I cooked the meat, but I went ahead and left it on to add to the atmosphere. Katie and I chatted a little bit when Dustin and the guys went back to their game. We walked over every now and then to check on their progress--Dustin's Tau were making Charlie's Orcs suffer, while Zach kept bombarding the Tau forces. We stayed up until around 1:00am, despite having to wake up at 4:00am for our flight out. However, I was still in no hurry to go to bed... it was nice just sitting around and enjoying the warm night air while celebratory explosions thumped in the distance. I wasn't quite ready to go home yet, but I have a feeling I'll definitely be returning to California some day.

One shall stand, ten shall fall

Our stay in California started winding down. We've been spending most of our time chilling out at the house now, playing games or installing software. Nothing much was said, though we were all thinking the same thing, as though in telepathic conversation: Whaddaya wanna do? I dunno, whaddayou wanna do? While sitting outside and enjoying the air, I saw a shadow walk over me. I raised an eyebrow at this, since my chair was up against a wall and there was no way someone could be behind me. I looked up and saw Katie standing on the wooden overhang above the patio. She waved at me as she walked around, checking that everything would be alright for the 4th of July. We were hoping to sit on the roof and watch fireworks shoot up over the horizon that night. Out of curiosity I went upstairs to check things out, and she showed me the best point of entry to the roof and whatnot. I didn't try it out yet--I was leaving that for the next night. In the mean time, I had an idea for something we could do.

My cousin John moved out to California from Oregon some years ago to pursue a career in film-making. Since I was out here, I thought it'd be cool to hang out with him, so I gave him a call a few days prior and tried to work something out. I went ahead and dropped him a line one more time since time was running short--both for the day and the trip. He mentioned before that he might have plans on Tuesday, but they fell through, so we decided it was time to meet up and hopefully figure out something fun to do. John live sin Orange, CA, so it took a while to get here in afternoon traffic. When he got to the house, I introduced him to Dustin and Katie, along with Katie's family, and we stepped out to the back patio and played catch-up. After chatting for a bit, Dustin and Katie stepped out back with us and we began discussing plans for the evening. We figured that trips into downtown LA or Hollywood were a little ambitious, but maybe a trip to the mall at Redondo beach would be good. Thinking a bit further, we found out that John liked Lucky Strike, the bowling lounge Dustin, Katie, and me had experienced the night before. Since John hadn't seen Transformers yet and we had no problem seeing it again, we decided on going to Del Amo mall once again for a bit of bowling, drinking, and Transformers. It took us a little longer than expected to leave the house, however--it turned out that my cousin had never played Guitar Hero before, so Katie let him have a shot at Guitar Hero II. He got the hang of it very quickly (he's always had a musical gift) and became hooked. John, Katie, and Dustin took turns at the game for a while before we set out for the mall. I think we all had Trogdor stuck in our heads even when we got to the mall.

We all grabbed a bite to eat at the eatery, and I stayed as far away from Mexican Express as I could. While eating, Dustin pulled a Jurassic Park quote, and soon he and John were quoting the movie ver batum until we decided to go. Lucky Strike was next on the schedule; we managed to surprise the bouncer again, and after seeing Dustin's Maryland ID and John's Oregon ID, as he took mine he sarcastically said, "...And Kansas." While waiting for our lane arrangements, John noticed a contest notification on the counter. Apparently, a red bowling pin would drop in a random position every time the pins reset. If the red pin is in the first, front center position and someone gets a strike, then they win a free game for up to 16 people. We reasoned that, should anyone win, then the coupon would go to John, since he actually lives in California and has a Lucky Strike near him. After a few minutes we managed to get a lane and ordered a few drinks. Katie mentioned a drink a few nights before called a "Surfer on Acid," which the bartender that evening happened to know. I ordered the concoction and everyone placed their respective requests before starting the game. When we started, I actually managed a strike on the first try, which blew me away. Sure enough, it'd be my only strike the entire night, but for Dustin it was a different story. he managed a couple strikes, but then started bowling gutter balls for almost three rounds. When it was his turn again, the red pin came up center. I went ahead and grabbed a bus-boy nearby to act as witness, just in case. Dustin picked up the ball, saying, "You know I'm not going to make this..." He stepped forward, let the ball roll and made it. Wait, he made it?! We started cheering and he dropped to his knees in surprise. We went ahead to the front desk and John filled out the coupon, as we had agreed upon earlier. After that, we were very excited during the rest of the game, the magic of the moment lingering for quite a while. Upon finishing our drinks and our game, we got a table near the bar and ordered a few more. I had another two Surfers on Acid, enjoying the cinnamony-coconut taste. We talked about video games for a little bit, a bit about movies, and then at quarter-to-eleven decided to line up for the movie theater across the lounge.

When we got to the AMC theater, our hearts sank. The line for Transformers wrapped around the side of the cineplex, past the escalators, and around the balcony. It was technically opening day for the movie, and everyone who saw the pre-release (like us) told everyone to go watch it, so no big surprise. Not long after we got in line, however, a worker at the theater came over and told everyone to get into three lines based on the theater the movie showed in. The lines were shorter, but we still managed to get the a spot at the end. We stood around, talking about WoW and whatnot, and finally the line started moving. When we got inside, we had the same problem as the night before, in that there were plenty of seats but not enough adjacent seats for our group. We ended up splitting up in groups of two, with Dustin and Katie in lower seats and John and me in higher seats. During the previews, the silly trivia and advertisement slides were still on, so they mixed with the footage on screen. They were actually kinda funny, though--everyone started booing until they showed the title for I Am Legend and in the corner was a giant magnifying glass with the words "The Plot Thickens" plastered over the screen--then we started laughing. The lights suddenly turned on when the movie actually started, so we started raising a ruckus again until the lights turned off. Once the movie was underway, everything went smoothly. It was just as good the second time, though I was a little sleepy from the drinks and because it was a little late. We had another lively audience, giving the movie that great accent of applause. After the movie, we spent the entire walk back to the car praising the movie and discussing the state of modern computer animation. I'm glad we decided to go out that night.

Bah weep granah weep ninny bong

Today was a pretty relaxing day. Actually, it was nerd-tastic: we spent most of the time lazing around the house while Dustin worked on his Java project, Katie laid back and read, and I spent most of my time agonizing over trying to get Linux on my iPod. Why in the world would i want to do that? It's because then I could play Doom on my iPod. The idea sounded great at the time, but the iPodLinux support wiki gave out bad installers and none of the forums were of any help. Putting the nightmare aside for a moment, I gave grilling another shot. We still had a bunch of uncooked steaks left over from the other day, so I threw some fresh coals on the grill and tried lighting them up. I didn't let the lighter-fluid soak, though, so I basically kept having to relighting the grill and the lighter-fluid ran out. This proving just as annoying as the iPod thing, I left frustrated and took a shower while the coals (hopefully) started warming up. By the time I got back, Katie had managed to find some more fuel, soaked the coals, and got the sucker lit. After a few minutes I threw the steaks on and grilled 'em up--they weren't half bad. Normally at this point I'd be wondering what we're doing, why we're not out exploring the great bounty California has to offer, but I didn't care--we were going to watch the new Transformers movie that night at 8:00pm, and that's all we needed.

The movie was showing at Del Amo mall, the sixth largest mall in the United States according to Wikipedia. Inded, the shopping center was enormous, stretching across several blocks with sky-walks over a few roads. Unlike the Mall of America, which has about four levels and an amusement park, Del Amo has about two floors, including an outdoor section, and simply expands out over Torrance. The mall was pretty nice, especially the outdoor part of the mall, sporting contemporary architecture and a neat glowing-fountain. Signs everywhere denoted new attractions under construction, as well as proclaiming Del Amo mall "fashion central." Unfortunately, they took this statement too seriously: looking at the mall directory, a good third of the mall's stores were clothing oriented, and had only three electronics stores. What're three geeks to do? Well, the movie was going to be starting in a little over an hour, so we went ahead and grabbed some food. We each grabbed something from different establishments in the eatery and sat down together. I was in the mood for Mexican food, so I went to Mexican Express... but after seeing them microwave it in front of me, I was even less sure about the quality of my meal. After I made a few unflattering comments about the food, Dustin made a valid point: "Think of what Mexican food basically is--now put 'express' at the end of it." Oh well, at least we had fun with the salsa they gave me.

We left for the mall's theater shortly afterwards, hoping to get decent seats. There were lines gathering outside for the 9:00pm and 10:00pm showing of Transformers--ours already went inside. We ran into the theater and found ourselves in an interesting situation: there were plenty of seats, but they were scattered about everywhere. It was next to impossible to find three adjacent seats where one of them wasn't being saved. Luckily, we managed to find some in the back right corner of the theater with a good view of the screen. When the movie started, everyone was glued to their seats. We had one of those audiences that woulud yell and cheer when something great happened--sometimes it makes a movie difficult to watch, but this just galvanized the awesomeness of the experience. The theater roared with applause when the title showed, and erupted whenever one of the robots transformed. I was afraid that the movie would be one of those fans-only flicks that wouldn't appeal to anyone but those familiar with the franchise. I was completely wrong. Transformers was an all-around great movie, and at no point did I ever wonder what time it was, or how long the movie was going on for. The movie's momentum refused to stop until the credits finished rolling. By the time it let out, everyone basked in the afterglow of a communal nerdgasm. I mean, Transformers wasn't better than sex, but it beats the hell out of masturbation.

The rest of the night floated down in a gentle deneumont. Dustin, Katie, and I visited a bowling alley and lounge adjacent the theater to wait for Charlie, who hit the 10:00pm showing. I thought the alley was like any other I've been to, but there were bouncers at the door checking I.D.'s. Once inside, I noted the low lighting, live music, trendy couches and groups of club-goers among the lanes. Basking in the cool ambiance, we each got a drink and some chicken tenders, saying very little, simply because there was nothing that needed to be said (we had expended the phrase "Transformers is AWESOME") . After drinks and whatnot, Katie and I managed to convince Dustin to come and explore the area neighboring the mall. Unfortunately, there was no such thing as night life in Torrance, so we headed back to Del Amo and enjoyed the cool night air together.

Would you like Fry's with that iPhone?

When I said I was burned out on Friday night, that was an understatement. Pete, Dustin, and I technically got back to Katie's at 4:00am on Sunday morning. I had pretty much fallen asleep in the car, then stumbled blindly into the house and made straight for the couch. Dustin and I managed to get up sometime around 10:00 or 10:30am, but neither of us were truly awake. Some Katie-made bacon helped us a little bit, and then her father came around and offered to take us on a trip to the Apple Store to see the iPhone and then to Fry's electronics. Despite our haziness, Dustin and I gave no protest.

What can I say about the iPhone? It's incredibly spiffy. The multi-touch technology that Apple incorporates reminds me of a couple demo videos I once saw when the technology was still under development. And now, here, I had it in my hands for a good fifteen minutes. The GUI was smooth, as always with Apple, and it rotated based on the screen's orientation. Sometimes it got a little out of hand, however--the window would flip when you didn't want it to, or it wouldn't rotate when you wanted it. The touch keypad was a bit of a nuisance, but the backspace key was strategically located so corrections are quick and simple. Web browsing was a blast, especially scrolling with fingers and controlling magnification by either pinching or spreading your fingers. Flash was not yet enabled on the phone, but it might be soon. While I was having fun with the iPhone, Katie used the camera on another demo iPhone to snag a picture of me.

When we finished playing with the phones, we went across the parking lot to Fry's Electronics. Katie called it, "A toy store for adults," and how right she was. It had everything you could ever want from any electronics store, from computers and games to tools and component parts. Each store has a theme, as well--the one we went to in Manhattan beach was jungle themed. We danced around the aisles for a bit, taking in all the shiny objects. To pay me back for the EDC tickets, Dustin told me to find something in the store that was around the ticket price and he'd get it for me. I ended up getting a nice Motorola bluetooth headset and couldn't wait to play with it when we got back home. We grabbed a bite to eat at Weinerschnitzel, a hotdog-themed fast food restaurant with chili on everything, and then relaxed at the house for the rest of the day.

Pushing up the electric daisies

Well, Friday burned me out. We did so much that I spent most of Saturday writing about it. At least I had a chance to relax a bit before heading out to the Electric Daisy Carnival with Dustin and Pete in the evening (Katie was gonna relax at home). In the mean time, we went ahead to Vons grocery store to get some 3-dollar steaks. At the store I not only encountered cheap red meat but also another wall of liquor, even grander than the last (and at discount prices!) Once we got back, Dustin and Katie played Diablo II while I made my first solo attempt at cooking steak on the grill. Katie's brother Zach and their friend made hotdogs and sausage on the grill not long before that, but like a genius I got distracted and tried grilling when the coals were mostly spent (her brothers like cooking with lots of fire, too--check out the burn holes in the wire mesh overhang where the grill used to stand under). I threw a few handfuls of coal onto the grill, doused 'em with lots of lighter fluid and watched the flames lick the raw beef. I could hear the sizzling, but it died down before the steaks even started to cook. I gave the coals a few more good spurts using the pyro's grilling method, then sat back and waited. The coals finally started getting white, but after turning the steaks over, I found that they still had a ways to go. I continued squirting lighter fluid every now and then, but on one of the spurts I kept the stream going for too long... a few good arm hairs died that day. Oh well, I hope that Dustin and Katie like their steaks with fire, and lots of it.

Pete came around later after a little adventure around L.A. He accidentally got lost and ended up in Long Beach, so Pete gave me a call and I gave him live turn-by-turn directions using Google maps. When he arrived we grabbed our glowsticks and the TomTom ONE GPS then ran out the door. I forgot the receipts for the tickets so Dustin ran out and grabbed 'em. Suddenly he jumped back in the car yelling, "Quick! They're on to us!" Pete was on the phone and incredibly confused while I sat shotgun and laughed my ass off. Once we got going, I keyed the directions into the TomTom, but Pete needed to fill up the van's tank first. When we got to the gas station, Pete got a card from Dustin and stepped out to tend the pump while Dustin and I chilled. Dustin was trying to tell me a story when Pete poked his head into the van to ask about topping the tank off instead of using 20-bucks worth. After telling him sure, Dustin resumed the story when Pete popped in again to ask, and Dustin again said, "Yeah, I don't care, I'm telling a story." He continued the tale when Pete popped in again, uncertain if Dustin really didn't mind. I heard Dustin sputter in surprise and go "Wha, bah, gah, I don't care! If people behind us wanted gas, they could have some too! Lemme finish the storeeee." Pete left, but the story was put on hold for awhile on account of Dustin and me laughing too hard. Soon afterwards we started heading out for the carnival. Pete popped in a techno CD and we got ourselves warmed up. As the song played, I noticed motion out of the corner of my eye and saw Dustin pounding his arms rhythmically with a distressed look on his face. He was trying to psych Pete out, but every time either of us looked back, we all broke out laughing and couldn't keep the pattern. Pretty soon all of us started this odd, twisted dance to the music, hoping that some poor driver would see us and ponder the destiny of humankind.

Once we got to EDC, I thought I as suffering a bad bout of deja vu. I kept seeing things I experienced the day before at AX: as we got closer to the event, we saw more and more people dressed in costumes and wild clothing, with hair all the colors of the rainbow. We stood in line behind two guys from Texas dressed as the bowler gang from Clockwork Orange--I can't believe I didn't take a picture. We all talked a bit to break the boredom while standing in line, but people-watching proved just as fun. The whole event is comprised of several stages, each playing a different style of electronica. We could feel the bass just walking in from the parking lot. While in line, though, we could also see nearby trees glowing orange and blue, with periodic strobes of green coming from beyond the entrance. Once we got through security, I immediately felt like I wasn't walking through stainless steel turnstiles, but pearly gates.

Everywhere was teeming with activity. A stage off to the right had lasers and strobe lights going off constantly to heavy beats while people let loose with glow-sticks. Others chatted or head-bobbed while waiting in line for the rides--this was a carnival after all. Pete, Dustin, and I headed towards the main stadium where Paul Oakenfold was playing. Once we entered the stadium walls, we stood atop stone stairs looking down on the field, where the pulse and twirl of glowing from countless ravers. Straight ahead at the far end of the stadium was an enormous stage with towering screens playing psychedelic imagery, and to the left and right near us were more carnival rides with huge lines. Dustin and I got into line for the tall tower that, after raising you high above the crowd, gives you up to gravity and lets you fall. Since Pete had heart surgery recently, he went ahead and explored the area. While waiting in line, we raved a little bit. Unexpectedly, one of two girls standing behind me asked for something. I had no idea what she was saying because of the music, though by the eighth time I realized she was asking me to give her friend a lights show. I took some twisty glow bands from earlier and wrapped them like gauntlets around my arms while walking to the stadium, I had two glow sticks in my collar, and I took one more blue glow stick in each hand and gave her friend a little demonstration. They seemed slightly amused, though overall I think they felt a bit uncertain of what to do at the carnival. A girl started dancing on the platform part of the ride, twirling her glow sticks and doing lots of deep bends... I swear if there was a pole she'd feel at home.

When Dustin and I got onto the platform and closer to the ride, we'd catch the blast of air displaced by the ride when it gets to the bottom. Having danced a bit the breeze was a relief from the warm night air. We jumped into the seats, secured the harness, and started waving our arms and legs around to the music. A clunk rang out when the lift latched onto the seats and up we went. Everyone began shrinking as we rose higher and higher into the evening sky--even the loud techno music sounded more and more muffled as we ascended. Once we hit the top, we let out a yell and the seats dropped. With a loud "BYAAAAAAA!" we shed any fear we had, then leaped triumphantly from our seats at the end of the ride. After that, we lined up for the other greatest attraction there--the porta-johns. Then, with the hope of making the carnival a little more interesting, we lined up for the bar. After a good fifteen minutes of the line (if you could call it that) not moving, and also the steep prices, we skipped out on it and decided to try the other ride in the stadium. Unfortunately, it was broken, so we went ahead up the crowded stadium steps and out into the madness to explore.

In front of the stadium were more rides, but most of them had incredibly long lines. Dustin managed to spot one that looked like fun and had a relatively short queue, so we went ahead and waited with everyone. The ride was kinda like the tea cup ride, where you have four people sitting across from one another in a circle, and in the middle there's a disk that you use to spin yourself around. We sat with a pretty cool couple, and Dustin and I had fun making them sick by spinning the ride every-which-way. When the madness ended, we walked along the concourse some more. Dustin talked me into going on the slide ride, which, I will admit was fun; he found an extra blanket no one was using for the slide and wore it as a cape on the way down. Walking away from the slide we came across a large, metallic dome with protrusions of varying size and geometry. Various sticks were attached to the sculpture by wire, and people were free to pick them up and bash the hell out of the thing. As everyone banging on the object got a feel for each other's rhythm, we eventually got some really good percussion going. As I joined up with Dustin, I saw a guy running out from inside the dome holding his ears and groaning while his friends laughed. The sounds of the drumming faded as we neared one of the stages outside the stadium. Dustin and I soon stood facing a flood of blue light and blaring bass. As though by instinct, we pushed forward into the crowd and raved until we couldn't dance anymore. Soon afterwards we ran into Pete while grabbing some Gatorade, and found out that Pendulum had already started their set. Pete walked us over to their stage, and then he and I left for the Infected Mushroom concert that'd be starting shortly.

Walking through the crowds at EDC compared to navigating between Scylla and Charybdis; stray from the course and you would end up torn from your party and swallowed up by some form of electronic ecstasy (okay, maybe the allusion isn't entirely apt). After passing hordes of revelers, Pete and I arrived at our destination. Within minutes, the stage lights went down and Infected Mushroom got on stage. Most of the sets that night were either DJ or playlisted, but this was completely and utterly live. Besides the two principle members of the group, they also had a guitarist and drum player on stage, adding more depth to the whole experience. The entire area around the stage for a good 50 yards was completely packed. I managed to get into the middle of it, following people here and there. I was hoping to twirl a few glow sticks while at the concert, but I could only safely move my arms either up or down, so I stuck to jumping up and down while prominently displaying the rock-salute. I was hoping to catch a dance or two with some girls, but the best I got was with a pair of lesbians... so it wasn't a total loss. As the night progressed I didn't care too much about who I danced with. The bass completely flooded me, making every hair on my body, every beat of my heart pulse with energy. It was all about the moment, about feeling one with everyone while the musicians literally rocked our world. I guess what I'm trying to say is, it was freakin' sweet.

His name is Leeroy Jenkins

Pulling into the convention center, we spotted a huge line winding its way around the street and into the parking lot itself. We felt immensely relieved that we decided to get our tickets the day before, but the relief masked fear, like seeing a car smashed in the highway and thinking, That could have been me. The Long Beach Convention Center's arena grew taller upon our approach, and at its base milled hundreds of anime fans posing, taking pictures--a couple even doing a para para dance. Failing to find anything substantially amusing, we went ahead and got tickets for the opening ceremony. Charlie had no interest in the ceremony, so got in line for the dealer's room to get a leg-up above the crowd. Unlike yesterday, there was no line at all, so we walked right into the stadium and grabbed a few seats.

Not long after we sat down, the lights dimmed, the audience cheered, and a series of spots came up to reveal a podium standing stage left of an enormous table covered with microphones. Someone representing the AX staff came up to the podium and began outlining the events. It was a bit dull, but things picked up when he started introducing the guests of honor. Apparently, the voice actresses of the S.O.S. squad from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya were going to be coming, but there plane didn't arrive yet from Japan. In there place was a neat little short with them, the characters from the anime, apologizing for not coming sooner. During the introduction for each seiyuu (voice actor), the representative and video crew kept missing their cues, so the speaker kept getting interrupted by the introductions and visa versa. The ceremony got back on track quickly, and they introduced the voice actor Mary McGlynn, who's the voice for countless characters, including Major Kusanagi from Ghost in the Shell. Then came the Japanese ska band, Oreskaband, who each said a few words about themselves in the cutest Engrish I ever heard. The other guests were great as well, including Anna Tsuchiya (J-pop, themes for NANA), Chiaki Ishikawa (theme for Gundam SEED), Halko Momoi (Queen of Akihabara, insanely cute), Eisaku Inoue (animation director for One Piece), Masaru Kitao (character designer for Death Note), Tetsuro Araki (director of Death Note), and Michael Arias (software designer for Studio Ghibli). After all the J-pop artists and singers, the guys seemed a little nervous--maybe a little unused to being center of attention. However, Eisaku received thunderous applause when he said (and this is paraphrased), "I heard that One Piece in America has been edited beyond the original work. I'm going to make it right, and that is the main reason why I'm here."

After all the guests of honor took their places at the big table, we had a special demonstration by an animation and voice acting school visiting from Japan. The professor set up a few of his students on stage with a couple microphones in front of a video monitor. On screen they played a piece from an animation student, and they did the voice acting live on stage. Unfortunately, they had to stop the demonstration when they realized the monitor wasn't working. The actors moved to the audience to try and use the big screens we watched instead, but the stage monitor worked again by the time the professor set up his students in the bleachers. Finally, they got back on stage and gave an amusing performance. Once the group walked off stage, the opening ceremony concluded with Eisaku drawing an eye on a daruma doll for good luck. As it turned out, the entire class of 200 Japanese students was going to hold an interactive voice-acting demonstration, so we followed them on the way out of the arena. We weren't sure where everyone was going at first, so Katie spoke with some of the students in Japanese and found out they were heading to the convention hall for the demo. It was neat hearing all the students talk among each other, even though I had no idea what they were saying. I'm sure many of them haven't been to the 'States before--I wonder what there impression was? The answer became even more uncertain when I heard a fit of gasps and giggling. Katie pointed out that Man-Faye was walking not far ahead of us. Like someone told there was a bloody car-wreck, I craned my neck around and, sure enough, met the sight of a hairy ass in way-too-tight yellow booty-shorts. I think I have erectile dysfunction now.

We entered the convention hall from Artist's Alley, though very few artists were set up quite yet. I saw a giant mask of Richard C. Mongler propped up on a table and snagged a photo of it before moving along. A plethora of cosplayers were walking around us, but I try to limit photographs strictly to either extremely good costumes or obscure web-comic references. When we got to the top of the stairs just before the voice-acting panel room, I saw Pantsman and Dr. McNinja. I managed to get a picture of Pants-man, but I had to chase down the illusive Dr. McNinja before getting a shot. I met up with Dustin and Katie at the voice-acting panel, which began promptly. The professors introduced themselves in Japanese while a translator, well, translated. Again, the students went first to warm up, then we all got into groups according to which character we wanted to voice. Katie went ahead and joined Chibi's group, Dustin with the principal the ruffian, and I teamed up with "big-eater," as the name translates. I managed to get some video of us screaming our lungs out at the screens. We did several sessions, each time the professor gave us helpful tips on how to improve and make our performance dynamic. His explanations, though in Japanese, came out just as animated as the video they had running. He seemed like a fun teacher to have.

Coming out of the room, a revelation hit us all--we're starving. Dustin, Katie, and I followed the crowd out the convention center and towards nourishment. I saw a guy dressed as Kaneda standing at the bottom of the stairs, so, in the best Tetsuo voice I could muster, I shouted "KANEDAAAAAAA," then asked him for a pic. Across the street from us was "The Pike," which had a Borders, movie theater, and various eating establishments. Somehow we gravitated towards Jake's Wings--probably because it was right in front of us--and waited in line for awhile.
The menu choices were oddly captivating--nacho wings, for example. I decided to be a little daring and ordered the PB&J wings, which were covered in peanuts and served with jalapeno jelly dip. In the spirit of celebration, I was in the mood to have some beer, so I looked over the cashier's shoulder at their selection. My intention was to go for something I couldn't get in Maryland, like a true, local micro-brewed beer. All such thoughts were cast aside when I saw Arrogant Bastard Ale. My order placed, they gave me a huge frosted mug and the bottle of ale; it looked smaller from a distance. The place was packed, but luckily someone had just left before I finished my order, so I grabbed the table and called Dustin and Katie over. We marveled at the bottle before us, standing at 1 pint 6 oz. I poured the dark concoction into the mug and gave it a try--it was strong and bitter as anything. I started making my criticisms, when Katie read the back aloud. There's a note on the bottom, which reads, "Questions or comments? If you don't like this beer, keep it to yourself --- we don't want to hear from any snivveling yellow-beer-drinkin' wimps, 'cause this beer wasn't made for you." I just bit the bullet and finished off the whole bottle before my food came. To make things interesting, I didn't eat anything except for a few crackers that morning, so I got pleasantly buzzed. There was a girl dressed up as Ness waiting in line, so I got her picture real quick before sitting back down. As it turned out, she was hanging out with Katie's friend Buck, who came to our table for a chat. We had a few good laughs, especially when I found out that he frequented 4chan. I asked him if he was going to crash the Gaia Online meeting at AX (Gaia Online and /b/tards don't mix); he said he might, but the pool at the Hyatt was definitely going to be closed. The food finally came and we were all pretty confused. Jake's menu separates its "original" wings from the "boneless" wings, so we all assumed they would have bones. Instead, the wings were boneless and gigantic. I immediately regretted getting chicken chili nachos on the side. I got pretty full really fast, and I was still a little tipsy from the ale. I ended up walking around the con with a bag of food for quite a time before I gave up and threw it away (the PB&J wings were good as long as there was sauce, but that ran out quick).

Having eaten our fill, we walked back to the con to enjoy some of the events. Katie and I went to check out the dealer's room, and Dustin hit up the showing of Wild Arms. There was no line to the dealer's room, so we walked right into a gigantic open area. The stores were very spaced out, so there was plenty of space to meander--might explain the lack of a line in the front. The merchandise was a little cheaper than at Otakon, probably because it has to travel less between Japan and the Californian coast. Also, some of the booths went all out and had entire scenes from anime on display, like life-sized dioramas; there was an alright One Piece scene, but the beset was for Hellsing, and they had cosplayers posing for pictures inside it. Otherwise, it was the usual fare that you would see at any other convention: art books, animation cells, collectible figures, swords, goggles, t-shirts, tails... The only major difference was in the layout: it was incredibly spacious, and there was literally a giant cube of t-shirts that you could walk inside. I did come across the Red vs. Blue booth and got a copy of Trocadero's Roses Are Red, Violets Are Blue autographed by Grif and Tex. It was kinda neat seeing this little slice of Grif's life as he watched his daughter play around the booth, seeing her grow up little by little. Before that, I found a booth selling some gauntlets and tails. I was tempted to get a tail, but I thought they were too short. Later on, Katie found a booth that sold longer tails. When I got there, I saw a few custom tails getting sown, as well as photos of face painting and other photos to suggest that the booth operators were furries. I asked the woman at the booth if they were going to Anthrocon in a few days--she said no, but her husband is going to hit FurtherConfusion later, so my guess was confirmed. Hoping not to risk further temptation, I went ahead and made my way to Artists Alley.

Oh, here's another big difference between Otakon and AX: I had no idea where I was most of the time. It took me about ten minutes to get out of the dealer's room alone; the entrance was blocked off to anyone trying to exit. Even when I got outside, I couldn't figure out how to get to Artists Alley. The Long Beach Convention Center is made up of several huge buildings, including an arena, a theater, and an exhibition hall--not to mention events held in local hotels as well. After wandering around for a little while, I ran into three guys dressed as Spartans from 300. They weren't walking statues like the guys in the movie but definitely worthy of wearing the Spartan's crimson and bronze. After taking their picture, I gave 'em a quick, "What's your profession again?" before leaving. I walked up to the street, then back down the stairs before getting turned around by a security guard who told me where I could find all the artists. Finally, I was making some progress.

I was getting more than a little frustrated at this point. My laptop case was threatening to take my arm off, the heat was getting to me, and I was mostly lost. Also, I was still lugging around a bag with lots of food left over from Jake's Wings. Part of me wanted to share it with some of the starving artists at Artists Alley; it could offer a great chance to sit around and hang out with fellow artists, but I decided against it--no one deserved the burden of three-hour old soggy chips and chicken. Finally, I reached the entrance to the complete other side of the convention center (several blocks away) and started walking around the tables. Every artist there had a variety of goodies on display. Some had posters, pins, drawings, commission fliers, everything. There was one table, though, that caught my attention. One of my objectives at the con was to get an autograph from the creator of Left and Right, but I had no idea what he looked like or what to expect. However, only two guys were sitting at the table, one with a laptop and tablet, the other with a sketch pad--no more, no less. I had a feeling the guy with the laptop was the one I was looking for, but filled with uncertainty, I went ahead and checked out the other tables. On the walk back towards the front, I caught a glimpse of the artist's computer screen and saw an orange, three-panel comic field. Bingo. I went back around and asked if he was the creator of Left and Right, and, very surprised, he said yes--he probably didn't expect many people to come by. I went ahead and struck up a conversation, asking him to doodle on the back of my card. Also, just as I thought, the guy next to him with the sketchpad was MOMO, the creator of U.F.O. I knew he was going to be at the convention, however his website didn't say where he was going to be. He doodled on the back of my badge as well, and once all was said and done, I said bye and went to go wander a bit more.

I needed something to drink badly, so I hit The Pike once more for a large soda. Afterwards, some con-goers had just left an outdoor table that I quickly occupied. I gave my old wings and chips one last chance; after one bite they went into the trash. The breeze winding between the stores felt great, so I simply soaked in the sites and sounds for a little bit until I got a phone call. Pete, our friend from Maryland, was originally going to be driving us to California, but he had heart surgery not long before our planned departure date. Like us, this didn't stop him from going to California and he flew down with his father instead. He told me a few days prior that the goa trance band Infected Mushroom would be playing this weekend, but we had no idea when or where. However, while I was sitting at a nice table outside of a random pizza place, he told me: the Electric Daisy Carnival, on Saturday. I was glad to hear this, since I was worried that I'd miss out on AX's dance party. I got off the phone when Dustin called, telling me to line up for the anime music video contest before it was too late. The walk over to the line was short, but the line wasn't--the queue stretched about as far as the one for registration. When I came upon my crew, Dustin was sprawled out and staring at the sky while Katie was chatting with old friends. Charlie and his friends were playing some Uno, and Buck, Tami (Ness from earlier) and their friends were mingling with Katie and Charlie. Tami asked if I wanted in for the next game of Uno, referring to me as "Goggle Lord" for the pair of goggles I had perched on my forehead. I played for a little bit until I was the second to win. After that, I pulled out my laptop along with the WACOM tablet and started drawing a bit. Dustin cursed me as he took out his own sketch pad, saying that I had unleashed the suck. Buck joined in the action as well, drawing Moot from 4chan. Tami started drawing once she got rid of her Uno cards, making a great sketch. She let me keep the drawing, which I put in my computer bag. Unfortunately, my tablet died, so I switched into all-range mode and started playing Starfox 2 on the zSNES emulator. The game was never released, and for good reason. Not only did they decide to devote development to Starfox 64, but the game just didn't feel like the first game at all. It was a combination of Starfox Command and being stuck permanently in first-person/all-range mode; it lost the arcade quality. Meanwhile, Tami started drawing again, this time making funny random doodles. Soon afterwards Matt and Robert pulled out their laptops and began prominently displaying the funniest and worst pictures 4chan had to offer. Time was slipping by, and before we knew it, the sky started getting dark. Apparently, the SKIN concert ran over time, so instead of getting seated at 7:00pm, we entered the arena at around 9:00pm. How could it get any worse?

Here's how: someone stole the AMV contest master DVD. Of course, we didn't find this out until after sitting around in the stadium for another half-hour. At least Dustin kept me entertained--I started doodling random stuff on the back of the AMV ballot while he told me what to draw. We ended up with a hairy guy in a robotic snorkel mask swimming around toxic waste in his underwear while reading the paper. WHAT HAS SCIENCE DONE?! Needless to say, the doodle scared Katie. When the convention administrator came on to tell us the bad news, we were all far from amused. In the end, we watched the AmTV category--which I still don't know what it stands for--along with a few other, random videos. Fortunately, the videos were pretty funny and the sound in the arena roared beautifully. One music video was for the song Code Monkey, which decently describes Dustin. When all the videos ended, Dustin, Katie, and I met up with Charlie to drop our stuff off in his car and go to the dance. Things got a little confusing, however: Dustin strained his leg from sitting in line for too long, so he was limping all over the place and in no condition to dance. While trying to figure out the ride situation at Charlie's car, we went through several possibilities and ideas that ultimately led to Charlie taking his friends home and then coming back for us. After he left, I went with Dustin and Katie to find food.

Most of the restaurants were either closed or closing when we got to The Pike. The only places still open were a pizza place called Extreme Pizza and a Dave-and-Buster's-type place called Game Works. We got in line for pizza when I ran into David again from the other day. We had a short chat, but then he left soon afterwards with his friends. Katie found a nice, comfortable table and fell asleep while Dustin and I waited for food. After standing around for a while, I got a little antsy. I felt the need for a tasty alcoholic beverage more so than actual food, so I kept playing around with the idea of going over to Game Works. Finally, I just said, "Alright let's do this!" and ran out of the pizza place yelling, "LEEROOOOOOOOOOOY JENKIIIIIIIIIIIIINS!" I found out later that Dustin did, in fact, say, "Oh my God he just left," like in the video. When I got to the Game Works across the street, I was completely geared up and ready for a stiff drink. They let me in, but, unlike D&B's, there's a cover charge that goes towards a $12 game card. I went ahead and paid the cover, b-lined it to the bar and ordered two mojitos (not at once, gawd). After drinking the minty-goodness, I decided to try and expend my game card as quickly as possible. I played a few shooters, then got inside a VR go-cart game that actually throws you around every which way. Mojitos and dramatically over-driven physics engines don't mix. Dustin gave me a call not long afterwards and let me know that Charlie was on his way back. Since we weren't going dancing, I jumped onto the DDR machine and played a couple songs before heading out. By the time I met up with Dustin and Katie, though, I found out that Charlie actually hadn't left yet, but was just leaving from Torrance down to Long Beach where we were. Seeing a window of opportunity, I once again exclaimed, "LEEROOOOOOOOOOOY JENKIIIIIIIIIIIIINS!" and ran over to the Renaissance Hotel where the dance was held. When I got into the room, I was a little disappointed. They were playing primarily industrial rock as opposed to electronica, and from a play list instead of doing a live set like a Katsucon. Also, the room was a bit small, but despite the large number of con-goers to AX, there were barely any at the dance. I made the most of it, jumping around like an idiot as gracefully as I could. I even joined in a big train led by Cloud that ran around the room. When I got the call that Charlie had finally arrived, I had no problem leaving the dance.

Anime Expo was pretty neat overall. The convention has a multitude of interactive events and panels, as well as some of the best cosplayers in the world. Their guests were definitely higher-key than the ones at Otakon, and the venue was huge. However, on the whole, I would rather go to Otakon; it feels like a big convention because everyone is crammed into one place, which also forces the con-goers to make a more personal connection with others. Dustin and I both agreed that, had we gone to California just for AX we'd be disappointed. Ultimately, because we only paid $25 for one day and had plenty else to do in California, we had a blast.

The waiting game

I've started a sleeping patter; because I've been getting tired at around 11:00pm local time, Katie's bros are usually up and still playing games, so I retreat to the den upstairs and pass out on the couch. Then, sometime in the early morning, I get up involuntarily and go back downstairs to sleep on the super-comfy couch. The fun of this is that I usually hear Katie and her mom talking around 9:00am or so. My consciousness kinda drifts into the conversation, I listen for a little bit while enjoying a little extra sleep, and then I strategically jump in at some point. Today I confirmed Katie's guess that I grabbed a towel as a blanket simply "because it was there," and no other reason... really. After getting up, we all discussed the order of the day. Her brother Charlie was going out with a couple friends to register for Anime Expo, the biggest Japanese animation convention in the country. Dustin, Katie, and I decided we were going for just one day, and Charlie pre-registered, so we were in no real hurry to go stand in line for hours on end in the heat for registration. Upon further deliberation, we realized it'd be way better to stand in line all day today, as opposed to stand in line all day the one day we were actually going--there wouldn't be any time for fun. Well, off to Long Beach we go!

California weather rarely disappoints; the sky was perfectly clear and blue, and a constant sea breeze kept us nice and cool while waiting in line. We almost didn't, however--while looking for registration, we were told that only those who preregistered could complete registration today, and anyone else would just have to come either Friday or the day they are going. Inspired, Katie figured we could just find a wireless connection somewhere and preregister while waiting in line. We went ahead and worked on getting the three of us registered, while her brother Charlie, along with Robert, Matt and Dustin, played a rousing game of Risk 2210 on the asphalt. After ten minutes of fighting with the registration server, I returned to the group and met some other friends, David, Jackie, and Amanda. At this point it was well past noon, so I went with the girls to grab lunch while everyone continued playing Risk. Jackie and I silly-walked a bit through the crowd and, having broken the ice a bit, we discussed the brilliance of Adult Swim.

Upon returning with food, the registration line had increased significantly. While it only doubled back on itself three or four times on our arrival, it now stretched all the way down the street. Fortunately, the line started moving not long after the global war raging on the cardboard map ended, so we had been sufficiently entertained. It moved rather slowly, but we conintued to amuse ourselves by shouting "Play Freebird!" to a fanboy walking around with a guitar. He recoiled in mock terror, and we continued shouting requests for Stairway and Carry On Wayward Son, which were also refused. Dustin remarked, "Stairway--denied!" in allusion to Wayne's World--best. movie. ever. As we continued our slow and convoluted track around the registration line, David jokingly asked Jackie to give him a piggy-back ride so he could sleep. I offered to carry him instead, so he hopped on--Dustin immediately thanked me for cleaning his phone memory and took a nice shot of David taking a nap on my back. I offered Jackie the same service, but she politely declined.

We finally got to the end of the line about an half-hour later. The actual registration went very quickly, and we had our badges within five minutes. Katie and I were afraid that Dustin's registration would cause problems, since we could not find his confirmation number and a few other errors that cropped up while at the website earlier. Surprisingly, the only problem was that we used his college address and not the home address on his license. When it came my turn, I remarked at how easy I was going to be, to which Katie replied, "Dean, you're always easy." The girl at the counter laughed and asked, "Oh, yeah?" I retorted, in a mock-seductive tone, "Wanna find out?" All I got was a "Don't push your luck."

After spending several hours in line, I wanted to hit the beach, but we were all ready to go home at this point. We said our good-byes and see-ya-tomorrows, then hopped into the Urban Tank (Katie's van officially recognized as "rust-colored" by the DMV!) and took the freeway back. I tried using my TomTom ONE to help Charlie navigate the road, but we didn't get any GPS signal until much later. To help relieve the stress of driving through Long Beach highway traffic, Robert plugged in his iPod and started playing Mad World played by Gary Jules--Dustin immediately started head-banging, and I felt compelled to join in. The only thing that topped this on the ride home was the van erupting in chorus to Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen. Party on.