Anime Mid Atlantic 2:
Like Camping Indoors!

Anyways...  As I was looking over my prospective convention schedule for this year, I saw AMA 2’s dates and figured, why not?  I made a one-day of it last year, so I decided to make another swing.  Close enough to justify leaving right after work, if I didn’t mind getting there late.


Friday:

Ouch.

So far, this is twice that I’ve had a helluva time going to AMA.  Avoided the infamous Mixing Bowl, but hit about a hundred lights on the secondary route.  And it rained all day.  And I had trouble finding some food, until I got right on top of Richmond.  I was hoping for better weather, this being Yamiko’s first time taking me to a convention.  Yes, a new car.  I thought about taking Ai-chan, as it’s still ok.  Don’t worry Ai-chan, Otakon’s next month.

So...

It was the kind of trip that made me appreciate an in-dash 6-CD changer.  It was also the kind that made me appreciate having a destination.  Anyway, I luck into finding a parking spot VERY near the registration area, and bump into the York crew in the process.  Then I find JC (rather, he found me) and got the room taken care of.  Had the wisdom of bringing an air mattress.  Looked over the video schedule, but it’s all commercially released stuff, and a lot of that I had already seen.  I’m tired, so I’m calling it a night.

Not sure what I can label my new attitude towards convention-going and life in general, but it’s working out a lot.  While I haven’t done much at this convention so far this weekend, I’m having fun.  Feeling good, and hanging out with friends, it’s very casual here.


Saturday:

“I go to conventions so I can get MORE sleep!”

A sad comment, but for me it’s somewhat true.  There was a party going on, but I was wiped out for the day.  So Saturday has begun, as everyone heads out, leaving me to take a shower.

Music video contest:  Not too big, not too small.

Went into the AMV contest with JC, who had an entry.  A well-done one, at that, and not just because I know the man.  When that was over, we went and raided the dealers room.

(Upon JC purchasing a Doremi plushy and commenting the character likes steaks)
JC:  I’ll have to teach Remi that it’s not good to eat dead cows.
Me:  Ah, she’ll just sneak out all the time to go to steakhouses.

A salute to...

After I claimed some goodies including a Rabi-en-rose plushy, I hung around with JC in the con suite for some free munchies with Andrew I., who while a little younger than me, has almost definitely been to more conventions, and worked at most if not all of them, doing you-name-it.  He doesn’t care about any convention politics, he’s there to help out and keep things running.  People like him are good for fandom.  Rock on, bro.

Mmm, Arby’s...

Dived back into the dealers room on a trinket binge, then went out for something more substantial to eat.  When I got back, Chris and Mikhail were watching some anime on a laptop.  Not the best, but it was quite good considering it was made by one man on a computer.  After awhile, I went with JC to stand in line for the cosplay.  I gave myself about 45 minutes, planning on getting a seat near the back.

Mmm, easy cosplay...

Y’know, there cosplays I really like to tape have a couple qualities.  One, is being able to fit it on a normal T-120 tape.  Check.  The other is getting a clear shot of the stage.  Check!  Lighting was iffy, but I’ll live.  Not many skits, which isn’t a bad thing, but a lot of “brought to you by Budweiser” gags.  I’m actually wondering, since a lot of cons are starting to go to for-profit.  Eh, oh well.  Stuffed my tripod in Yamiko’s trunk, and thought about how much junk I’ll have to stuff in tomorrow.  In the meantime, I’m listening to my Pillows CD.

Instead of going to Plushy-con, I’m in the dance, not so much to dance, but tending to my somewhat inebriated friends.  After that’s under control, I’m going to bed.

While I’ve learned to appreciate the subtle joys of having an entire room to myself, there is also the fun that can only be had by a bunch of friends sharing the same room.  Plus it’s a helluva lot cheaper.  It’s hard to beat $45 for the weekend, even if it means floor patrol.  Even then, a good air mattress makes that very manageable.  Just as long as I have a room key, a chance to shower, and have just enough room for me and my stuff, I can be content.


Sunday:

Ack!  Where’d all this con loot come from?  Oh yeah...

Woke up in a mad flurry of repacking luggage and getting it all out in one trip.  Oh, how I wish I’d get back into the practice of bringing an empty cardboard box.  Or at least that Great Smoky Mountains Park canvas bag I picked up several years ago.  It’d work better if it was empty...  Anywho.  Kinda hungry, gonna get breakfast or lunch or something.  In the meantime, checking out some AMV’s, mostly replays from the contest.

It’s a chibi-me!

Saw them here and there, and I wanted one too.  It’s an ID badge, with a goofy SD version of me on it, and some basic information.  It’s done by Robert DeJesus, you can find him at a lot of cons.  Right after I got that, I picked up another Jpop cd.

Hail Diet Ginger Ale!

Stuffed some potato chips in from the con suite, and then wandered about and got some footage of a girl acting like Excel (forgot your name  T__T) and then some footage of Andrew comparing himself with an empty can of diet ginger ale.

For me, it’s Sit Sit Revolution  ^_^

I dunno...  there’s only a couple hours of the con left to go, but there’s the DDR Project.  I check that out, which is like an AMV that runs over an hour long, but worth it because the idea is to dance around to it, so it’s a good idea, especially if you like DDR/Eurobeat music.  People are sometimes dancing around to it, I’d join in if I didn’t have such a bad feeling about my knees.  Sometimes I get warning signals, but usually it’s when I least expect it.  Best not to tempt fate.

And my car says, “Hey!  What are you waiting for?” and I said, “To say my goodbyes...  you’ll learn.”

Such as it were, I plunge into the dealers room one last time for some Noir keychains.  Yamiko-chan is just outside and ready to go, parked close enough for me to be able to trip the locks with the remote.  Can’t remember a con where I was parked close enough to the doors for that to happen.  We head home after spending a few minutes in closing ceremonies.

And so ends for me, another Anime Mid Atlantic, another convention.  Had fun this year, that I did.  Watched no anime, just cosplay and music videos and such.  But not any anime.  It really wasn’t about anime this weekend, just more like an indoor camping trip.  Friends telling stories, eating quasi-edible foods, there was a groove this weekend that didn’t quit.  This is why I keep going to conventions, why I keep rearranging my work hours, and drive for several hours in unsavory conditions.  Could the weekend have been better?  Maybe, but I’ll take what I got and go with that, because it’s more than what I was looking for.

As one of my friends who didn’t go said, “Why should I go to this convention?”  Well, why not?  It was there, it was cheap, and it was fun.  It’s rare for me to get worked up over guests, but I will say that I can’t remember any other con where Carl Macek was considered a headlining guest.  Years ago, I jumped off the bandwagon of demonizing the man.  Think about it, even though many consider his early dubbings to be almost blasphemy, it’s that work he did on Robotech that planted the seeds of fandom for many.  Would there be an anime fandom without him?  Not likely, but if so, it would be vastly different than what we see today.


Things that make you go “hmm”:

Attendance:  Somewhere around a thousand, I guess.  I think.  Someone know?

Highs:

It was a good con for me, in many ways.  It was the first con I initiated using an air mattress, which had very good results.  Must remember to take that with me for the next con I go to that has many people in the room.  Room was cheap, too.  Forgot the last time I spent this little on a room share.  The general attitude for the con was very casual.  It’s hard to define the very peak of the convention, in fact that’s getting harder to do.  It’s all kinda spread out over the weekend.  Found out that people actually do read these reports.  ^_^

Lows:

There were a few, to be sure.  There always are.  Some within the control of the con, others not.  One is the lack of new and unheard of anime in the theaters.  Sure, there was Excel Saga, which is a show that reverts me to fanboy level, but I have the DVD for that now.  And the other thing, which falls in that “outside con control” category, is that I hope that somehow, next year when I go to Richmond again for this con, that the weather and traffic will somehow be more behaved.  If it rained one day that week, Friday was it.  And I’m packing a lunch.

Food:

Various fast food, junk food, and quasi-food.

Cost overview:  While nowhere near as much was spent here than at Animazement 5 a few weeks ago, I sure did spend a lot for a convention this size.  Then again, I didn’t spend as much due to the fact that I didn’t pay for a suite all to myself, and this was closer too.  Certainly a larger proportion of stuff vs. operational costs.  Total out of my pocket:  a bit over $500, which is still less than a monthly payment on Yamiko-chan.  -_-;

To go again, or not to go.  It’s an easy question, really.  As long as I have fun, and some extra bucks to spend, I’ll keep going for as long as I can.  This applies to any convention, especially any that are within a few hours drive from home or work.

Next convention:  Otakon!

Boogity!