I like anime conventions. I can almost physically leave reality at an anime convention.
So, since Katsucon 5 was within a couple hours driving distance, it was only logical
that I would go. Rarely do I keep track of what I do, but since I was a wee bit curious
this time around, I kept a little journal of what I did for the 12th anime convention
I've ever been to. It all began... Last week.

Thursday: Prepared by gathering muchies and soda for the weekend. Discovered the
Subaru can still handle more than one person. Did most of my packing, but fatigue got
the best of me. A little nap should do...

9:00: The phone rings. Eric calls me from his cell phone, telling me to open the front
door. I curse to myself for oversleeping, grab a quick shower, put some clean clothes
on, and finish packing. Kevin calls me to tell me he'll arrive at the house late. That
bought me time for final necessities, and hanging around with Eric and Corey.

10:00: Since I'd end up driving four people and luggage home, my Subaru was out. That
left my sister's <ulp> station wagon, in all it's beat-up and stripped-down glory. After
several tries, it started! Needs a tune-up.

10:15: Stopped at a gas station for last minute goodies, as well as gas.

11:00: followed Corey and Eric to pick up Mike. We split up for the rest of the trip.

11:30: Reached the hotel quickly and without problems, due to complete disregard for
traffic laws. Hotel check-in lines were fine at first, but grew long quickly. Got rooms
on the fourth floor, thank God. Pre-reg lines went much faster. Simple program book,
no video guide. From my experience, that's a bad sign...

12:30 p.m.: After unloading the beast-wagon, kicked back and enjoyed some
sandwiches and Mountain Dew with the gang. Divided the room costs in a fair,
peaceful, and civilized manner.

2:30: With the Eva movie LD box set in our sights, Eric, Kevin and I sat in the dealer's
room line. They were expected to open at around 4:00. No movement expected, so I
took off my shoes, used them for a pillow, and took a nap.

4:30: Got in the dealer's room! Yay! But no one had the Eva movies... They said it was
too big to carry. Well, I know there would've been one less they would've had to carry
back. Instead, I picked up the "Adventures of Mini-Goddess in the handy 'Petite' Size"
instead, and helped Kevin out with getting the "Advanced Variable Geo" LDs. Also
snatched up an import PSX game, for less than most domestic games. And it was legit,
too! Still miffed about the absence of the Eva movies...

5:15: Chugged more Dew. Outside, it rained like an SOB, complete with thunder and
lightning. Makes me feel a little better about staying in the Hyatt. Hope I left the
windows up in my sister's car.

6:15: Checked out the Artist's Alley, said hello to some of the regulars. Eric was
pressed into duty for assisting with pre-reg for Otakon 99. I wasted no time in taking
care of that matter. They also had some Otakon 99 t-shirts ready! I snatched one of
those quickly. Video programs finally arrived, much of which I've seen before. Three
theaters, one or two adult shows very late at night. Plotted out what I wanted to
watch anyway.

The convention itself: Considering Otakon was here mere months ago, it would be
reasonable to say that Katsucon would try to use the same amount of area. Wrong...
The massive acreage that was the dealer's room for Otakon was taken up by something
completely different. So, Katsucon's total area was a little over half of what Otakon
was. I dare say I'm a bit disappointed... Maybe because of what I didn't get in the
dealer's room. But it could've been much, much worse. The all-night theaters are back,
which makes up for the lack of room. I think there's hope for this convention.

8:00: Drank more Dew. The entity that is the Psionic Psychotic is beginning to emerge.
A "La Blue Girl" art book spotted earlier in the dealer's room inspires a fanfiction of
comical proportions.

9:00: Wandered around with the intention of watching some anime. Nothing caught my
interest, so sat around with Kevin, Eric and some assorted Otakon staffers.

11:00: Went to the bar, and since EK couldn't be here, had a couple Alabama Slammers.
Expensive, but potent...

11:30: Caught the tail end of "Welcome to Lodoss Island", then settled in for "Lupin
III: Tokyo Crisis". Never saw a Lupin movie I didn't like, and this was no different.

1:30 a.m.: Decided to call it a night. This convention is turning out better than
originally percieved. Still feeling a little numb from the drinks earlier.

Reflections: I've noticed before, this time confirmed. I think there's a time warping
effect at anime conventions. Friday lasts forever, Saturday goes by at a normal rate,
and Sunday is over before I know it. Even the trip home is usually shorter. (There have
been exceptions.) I've also discovered that a recovery day after the convention helps
out. Makes that readjustment to reality that much easier.

10:45: checked out the dealer's room line. Waay too long for a Saturday morning. Dave
showed up, and we discussed how the only way we could go to A-kon was if we could
pull plane tickets out of our rears.

11:15: Curious as to how slow it was moving, I got in line just to see how far I'd get
in 15 minutes. Moved much faster than I thought.

12:00 p.m.: Slowed down a bit near the doors. Made the most of my wait, picked up a
bunch of things I promised myself. I think I'm done spending now.

1:20: Didn't think there was a whole lot going on, then realized the music videos were
coming on soon. What am I doing here in the room then!?

4:00: All done after standing and sitting for equal amounts of time. Some good, some
not so good. A couple crapped out entirely, with blue screen through half of one. Many
videos seemed to rely heavily on AMG and Golden Boy footage. Estimated to be about
four or five for each, and large doses of Rurouni Kenshin as well.

Con tip: Please, if you're going to make a music video, make sure the source material
is stable enough to handle another generation of copying or two. And, please do the
recording in SP mode. This lets the playing VCR track better.

4:15: Video schedule changed. The one in my pocket is effectively obsolete. Found out
that Trigun was on around 11:30 tonight.

4:30: Power-napped, then had muchies and a big sandwich with Kevin, Eric, and Dave,
who actually showed up several hours earlier.

Con tip: If you possess the wisdom of bringing your own food with you, remind
yourself that perishables are just that. Know where the ice machines are, so the
cooler can do its magic. Even though McDonald's food is chock full of preservatives, 18
hours at room temperature is the upper limit for them.

5:45: Decided to put Brad's digital camera to good use by seeing how many cos-players
I could snapshot. Line for Cos-play was HUGE. Luckily, someone was taping it for me.

7:00: Returned to the room, where Dave, Kevin, Eric and I exchanged yaoi slurs. ("Ah,
he looks like an angel when he's asleep! Kawaiiiii!!!")

7:45: Went to check out "Chibi Go Nagai", but Video 3 was running way behind. Video 1
was eventually used for Cos-play overflow with a live video feed. This pushed the Eva
movies to Video 3, cancelling "Chibi Go Nagai". At least I got to see part of "Encounter
of the Spooky Kind" with Sammo Hung.

8:45: Since I saw the Eva movies umpteen times already, and Video 2 was showing
God-Knows-What, and Video 1 was busy trying to watch the Cos-play, (operative word
is TRYING) I hung around outside looking for picture ops. Few and far between.

9:30: Headed up the escalators, when I heard a staffer say into his 2-way radio, "The
last act is up, so it's the last chance for elevators for 2 hours." Trotted back down to
find a picture-taking bonanza. Cos-players went back in for judging, I went to my
room for grub and of course, Mountain Dew.

So far, this convention reminds me of an old, beat-up car. It can still move under it's
own power, but I can't explain how. It's either the end of Cosplay, Eva movies in
questionable condition, or what was originally supposed to be Sakura Wars, replaced by
GKW.

11:00: P-napped for an hour, then headed out. Dammit, I missed "Trigun".

12:00 a.m.: Checked out the English dub of "Shinesman". At the time, no one was sure
if it was done by fans or professionals, until the end credits, and even then there was
still doubt. Nevertheless, real freakin' funny.

1:00: Checked out the Otakon party. Not much going on, but found Corey. Wandered
around and BS'd until about 3. Theorized that Eric got drunk and passed out in the
stairwells.

2:30: Dave said goodbye, and left. He also asked me to pick up some artwork tomorrow
that he bid on.

3:00: Kevin, Corey, and I, out of a mixture of mild boredom and intensely morbid
curiosity, went to Video 3 for a showing of "Erotic Torture Chamber". It ran early, due
to a previously scheduled tape getting twisted. Didn't miss much of ETC anyway.
After that, there was "Sex and Zen II". By then, I was almost completely exhausted. I
haven't stayed up late like this for a long time. Damn, I'm getting a headache.

3:45: Time to go to sleep. Eric's got the room at just under 60 degrees. I know he
likes it cold when he sleeps, but is he trying to hibernate?

This is one of the hardest days of a convention for me, because I know I have to return
to reality. The repacking, saying good-byes, watching stuff close down, and it all goes
by so fast. The convenience of the hotel room also disappears around noon, turning
most of the attendees into nomads.

10:30: Nothing to really watch. Made one last swing into the dealer's room, found a
CD-ROM. There was still a line to get in. Discovered "Shinesman" dub was legit.
(STRONG case for dubs!)

11:15: Found the artwork Dave bid on. Since he left, it was up to me to buy them for
him. He gave me his badge, should I need it.

11:30: Managed to get everything to the car in one trip. I was impressed with myself.

12:00 p.m.: Checked out of the hotel room, then talked with friends for a bit.

1:00: Corey and I checked out the art auction. More fun to watch than I thought! Saw a
pencil drawing of Ifurita go from $12 to $102 in minutes, thanks to two openly rabid
fans. Not much cash left, so I didn't bid on anything big.

3:15: Went to pick up Dave's artwork. At first I thought someone outbid him on one of
the pieces, so I only bought the one. (discovered later that the artist had it pulled
because she knew Dave left, to make later arrangements.)

3:30: Sat in on the gripe session and closing ceremonies. Standard complaints about
video programming, and video room placement. For our last trip in the elevator, Eric
and I hit every button right before stepping out.

5:00: Corey stayed at the hotel for another night so he could be well rested for his trip
back to Michigan. The rest of us went home. Had to remind myself that I was driving a
great, big, sloppy-handling station wagon, and not a ground-hugging small import.
Dropped off Mike at his place. (Tip: When in the DC/Baltimore area, drive like you
mean it. Drive, or be driven over!)

Traffic was less of a problem than I thought. A beat-up 2-ton station wagon can carry
a lot of stuff, and even more respect from other drivers.

6:30: We were a little hungry, so we stopped at Waffle House.

7:15: Almost home... Dropped off Eric first.

8:00: At long last, set foot in the house. Unloaded the car quickly. Kevin and I talked
for a while. Got a call from Eric--he lost his credit card. Guess I'll be the one to buy
the Eva LDs...

9:15: Kevin left for home. For me, the con and its effects were almost over, but there
were still a couple loose ends to tie up.

For me, there is what is known as the dealer's room factor. The less there is to do at a
con, the more time is spent in the dealer's room. I could've spent a lot of time there,
but instead used that for either eating, sleeping, and meeting friends. The result was,
I had a better disposition, and money left over! Real money, enough to last the rest of
the week! Experience is always the best teacher.

Also, learned to control my impulse buying. Bought some goodies first, but made sure I
had enough for what I intended to buy left over. Kept time in the dealer's room down.
While I didn't always succeed, I tried to find something to do at the con. Found out
that freshly released video tapes don't really cost that much less at cons, unless
buying in quantity. For one or two tapes, a trip to a Suncoast store should take care of
that. Keeping that in mind, if you have access to such a store, and you're torn between
that new tape you've wanted to see and the cel of roughly equal value, go with the
rarer item. The tapes can almost always wait, unless you waited for them at a con,
like me.

Highs:

Picked up stuff I intended to get
Met old friends I rarely see
24 hour video rooms are back
let myself go

Lows:

Didn't get everything I wanted
Mostly the same dealers and shows
Still not much that's new to me
hard on me physically--probably coming down with the flu now.

Personal high point: Watching "Shinesman" and trying to figure out if the dub was for
real or not.
Main nourishment: cookies, coffee cakes, ham n' cheese sandwiches, an entire case of
Mountain Dew, and Gatorade. Better than what I've subsisted on for past cons.

Winning music videos, from 3rd to 1st place:
"A-team" theme and BGC footage
Offspring/Pretty Fly for a White Boy and Golden Boy
Pink Floyd/Mother and Neon Genesis Evangelion

** Please, use STABLE footage when making music videos.
* If you want caffeine to have its full effect, abstain from anything caffeinated for
about a week. Then at the con, chug away!
* On the subject of caffeine, don't have too much if you're going to be taking pictures.
** When bringing food with you, keep it cold, or you'll regret it.
* Rather than spend a lot of time in the dealer's room, use the opportunity to eat
something or take a nap. You'll thank yourself later.
** Power naps can work wonders.
* When in the DC/Baltimore area, drive like you mean it. And get gas outside of town!
* Shower early in the morning, before everyone else wakes up.
** Art auctions can be fun, even if you just watch!
* Buy the more common stuff like video tapes later on, if you have the luxury.
** If you can't find something to do, make something to do.
* Share the room with friends, even if the room's in your name. When they pay their
share, it's like a cash advance on a credit card, but without the surcharges.
* If you don't have any friends at the con, make some.
** Intending to buy a lot of stuff? Bring either a nice-sized cardboard box or an
extra-large suitcase. (I've spent much time making repetitive trips to my car at previous
conventions because all I had were little plastic bags.)
* Leave some money AT HOME, roughly what you'd normally spend in a pay-period.
** The video schedule is NEVER carved in stone.

A week after the con: I've returned to normal, in a liberal sense of the word. Got a
little sick afterwards, from physically pushing myself in the middle of flu season. Not
enough to keep me down... Regarding the Eva movies on LD, ordered them a day after the
con, and recieved them a couple days later. Big happy! Also picked up a couple other
things that I wanted, but couldn't get at the con. Mandatory (yet welcome) overtime is
helping with expenses incurred. Plans underway for attending Otakon, possibly A-kon
if finances permit.

This concludes the Psionic Psychotic's personal experience of Katsucon 5.

Up next:  Otakon '99!
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