Dragon Con is turning into one of my can't miss conventions. This was my third year attending, but the first with a contingent of fellow New Englanders (many of whom drove down to Atlanta. 19 hours. I commend your bravery. Or insanity) There are so many things to do while at the convention, there is a fandom for each particular person. Plus, the costumes. 20,000 people dressed in zany outfits is a sight to see. (Dragon*Con's so big, it got front page CNN website coverage. Also helps that CNN's world headquarters is down the street)

( Thursday: ) ( Friday: ) ( Saturday: ) ( Sunday:  )
Monday was a packing up day for us all, the noon check-out time was insanely helpful.  After scoping all of the dealer's areas and artist places, people made their seperate ways to the airport, and to hit the road.

Dragon*Con is one of those cons that must be experienced at least one in a lifetime.  But, and my poor wallet fears, that it will be more annual for me.  We came up with a ton of ideas for next year, and if I had the money or time, I would start already.

He's Out of my life...
He's Out of my life...
I don't know whether to laugh, or cry...
I don't know whether to live, or die...
And it cuts like a knife...

He's out of my life.

I feel awful for Farrah Fawcett's family, because her death will be totally overshadowed.  To put it into perspective, I work with international staff on occasion.  When MJ was heard to be dead, the entire staff was shocked.  When the news of Farrah's death got around, it was "I vaguely remember her..."

Damn.  My dance school used to use MJ songs all the time for routines.  Thriller for Halloween, PYT for Jazz, Bad for tap.  It was a great ride home from work, when almost every radio station was playing his songs. (Even the oldies station.  Wow)   50 is such a weird age, it feels far too short.  It feels like a piece of my childhood died.  Sure, he may have been creepy, plus the skin stuff, but damn if that man couldn't put out a good song. 

*sniff* Now if you excuse me, I'm gonna put on some LPs.

There's something about going with a con with friends. Many times, it is these people who will make or break your weekend. I believe, without them, PortCon would not be nearly as entertaining and fun as it was this past weekend. Because it is such a small con, it's here that I see a lot of people I miss at the huge conventions like Anime Boston. There was an attendance cap of 2000, but I doubt it made the total attendance of last year's 1650. One major deterrent was the extreme monsoon that occurred on Friday. Since Fridays tend to be one of the larger days for people to come, it's not surprising that it felt much smaller. PortCon also had several events scheduled for Pre-reg people on Thursdays, making this a 4 day con.  Maine's laws make it somewhat restrictive, the bars close at about 12:30 as last call is 1 on the weekends, and 12 on weekdays.  The convention itself was unable to run events after Midnight.

PortCon has always seemed to be more of a gaming and boffa con, with some anime to attract more people. It's not that it's bad, but it's far more diverse than other anime cons in New England. (I don't count Connecticon in this, since they're specifically designed as a multi-genre con. They're much more a web-comic con than anything else) After moving back to their previous hotel, the convention set up a very large tent for main events. As would be learned, there were several problems with this situation.

( Thursday )

( Friday )
( Sunday )
Portcon is not a con purely for anime fans.  It's much more laid-back.  It's far more helpful to go with PortCon with friends, or make some along the way.  It's not purely outstanding, but has its little quirks which make it loveable.  It ran into some bad fortune with the weather, but that couldn't be helped.  If you're looking for an anime con, PortCon isn't your thing.  But if you want less structure and more friend-building, give it a try.

Thanks to the wonder that is youtube, I have re-discovered the awesomeness that is... Jem!




Sure, the outfits are completely dated, but tell me that this wasn't an animated soap-opera. The show had story arcs, more costumes than CC Sakura, and complicated plots. Plus, it was animated by Toei, of all places!

I swear, this song is begging to have an interpretive dance skit made for it.



Remember, this is a girl's show.  I'm impressed that it wasn't butchered by executives.  Of course, it was purely made for selling toys, but I tell you it worked.

Costume Con is not for the faint of heart, especially if you plan to compete. It is an intense eye-gasm of color, beading, detail, and fabric. It is where the normal outfit is an endangered species, and beads, bangles, and thread are eaten for breakfast. (With the occasional alcoholic drink as a chaser) It is where the words "holy shit" ring out like an hourly prayer. This is not an anime con. It's not even a sci-fi con. The best way I can describe it, is as a costume con.

Firstly, to explain a few things, the way it is run is completely different than most cons I've attended. There are two types are programming, workshops and panels. Workshops come with a price, and usually run longer than panels. They go into more detail on how to complete a project or learn new techniques. For example, one workshop was "How to Build a Victorian Bustle." The fee was explained, what the participant needed to bring and what would be supplied at the workshop. A panel was more related to a specific topic, such as "Color Theory" "Designing a pattern from media or historical sources" or "How to do a presentation" These panels are very informative, and often feel like college classes with intense research. All of these panels were finished between 5 and 6 PM. This gives a break for the attendees to get food, plus to change into costumes that will either be presented in that night's Masquerade, or will be worn in the audience.

And as for Masquerades, there were several contests throughout the weekend. There was the single pattern contest on Friday, which took a pattern from somewhere like McCalls or Simplicity and allowed people to alter it while keeping the basic shape of the pattern. It allowed for a *lot* of creativity on what people did with the patterns. (There were 2 patterns this year, a Medieval robe with long sleeves, and a cowboy overcoat with a shoulder covering) Saturday night consisted of the Fantasy and Sci-Fi contest, which could cover just about anything that people liked. Sunday afternoon was the Future Fashion show, which consisted of drawn patterns sent in months before and selected by a panel of judges. Either you could do a pattern you designed, or something that another person came up with. Sunday night was the Historical competition, which either went for accuracy or interpretation. Plus there's the Hall contest, which unlike anime cons, is when judges/staff from the con hands you a ribbon stating they like your outfit. The closest thing that I can refer to this is like the Anime Boston staff voting contest, save there's only 1 vote and no signing sheet for the ribbon.

Another thing that was different from Anime Cons, is the existence of a con suite. Usually, this is a small location in the hotel which offers things like snacks and drinks. It's something that I would wish could happen at an anime con, but the logistics would be impossible, plus the exploitation would be quite easy. Just wishful thinking.

Anyway, onto the review:

( Friday )

( Saturday )

( Sunday )

Monday was spent at some last minute panels, the dealer's room was dismantled by Sunday evening.  There was one panel on presentations from past Costume-Cons and Worldcons which had made their mark.  It's amazing how easy one's point can be made in 30 seconds.  It really makes me think on how I'm gonna do my own presentations.  By then, it was past 1, so I made my way to the train so I could get to the airport to get home.


So, how do I sum up Costume-Con?  AMAZING!   It was so different than anything I had been to before.  Of course, they have had nearly 30 years to perfect how to run a con, but the differences were huge.  Would I do it again?  Shoot, I'm already planning on costumes for Costume-Con 29 in NJ in 2011.   It just felt so refreshing to go to a con that was so personal, but yet professional at the same time.  (Without it being related to school or work)  The dynamic was completely different than the last time I went to Baltimore, and when I will return again for Otakon.  Give anime cons 20 years, maybe they'll evolve into something like this.  However, Costume-Con isn't for everyone.  If you're not into making a costume, or viewing how a costume is made, it would bore you to tears.  If you're into skits, this is not the con for you.  There are no skits here, merely presentations.  But if this is your niche, and if you feel like cosplay is about the effort and construction of the piece, then I'd say give Costume-Con a try.

Now then, I'm gonna catch my breath.  And some zzzz's while I'm at it.

I had told folks that I was going to do a review of Arisia, and here it is:

( Review Inside )
Overall, I'd say my experience was better this year than the last.  I just know from now on, I'm gonna be a panelist at Arisia.  No need spending for a badge when attending panels that you would go to anyway, plus get the badge for free.  I'm willing to go again; but like any con, it's best to go with people who you know.  Just so you have those moments of making your own fun.

Remember, she was this close to being a cancer-surviving 72-year-old heartbeat away from being President.

I missed you!  I missed In Living Color!

I'll put up an AAC report later.   

This is primarily a review for those of my New England peeps who couldn't make it down to see it for themselves. It's also a general recap about what I did for the long weekend.

Let me give a little info about Dragon*Con. It's a multi-genre convention, seperated into fan tracks. Each track is settled into a specific area around 4 hotels (they added the 4th this year) in the downtown Atlanta area. For example, the Star Trek track was in the Sheraton, the Anime track was in the Hyatt, the Costuming track was in the Marriott, etc. Each track can have guests that are related to it, plus overall guests that many people would come to see. It has been going on for over 20 years, taking over the area. They have maintained a relationship with local vendors; many food places in the downtown mall will stay open late. (The Dairy Queen remained open past 2 AM on Saturday night) They had a shuttle or two to transport people from outer hotels to the host properties, and even had a discount deal with AVIS. The numbers average to about 30,000 per year, which makes it one of the premier events in the country.

It also made for an interesting clash when fan(atics) from college football going on that Saturday clashed with fan(dom) around the same area.

I'm gonna break it down by days, to make it easier.

( Thursday )
( Friday )
( Saturday )

Mini PortCon blurb as I can't sleep for work at the moment.  I got best in show for Craftsmanship!  I'm still stunned about that. (Judges said it was a pretty easy decision when discussing it after the Masq)  I found our skit on youtube already.
Timing got cut out due to laughter (It was so bad, that we momentarily lost our spot due to not hearing audio)

Bad news, someone stole/took my suitcase on Thursday night getting into the hotel.  Which had accessories of costumes.  Which means I'll have to redo things.  I was a bit miffed about it, but when I got home I realized how little I lost.  Besides, I made the things once.  Now that I know how, I can do it better!

If people need clarification on parts, let me know and I will add in lines.  Maybe eventually, I'll put up the clean audio version.

Meet: Wipeout.  It  looks like a combination of MXC and Sasuke (Ninja Warrior to all you G4 watchers) 

Dear goodness, this may actually work.  It's being hosted by the dude who does Talk Soup and one of the Sportscenter guys (I just wish it was Kenny Mayne)  I happen to like Sportscenter, it should be interesting how the humor translates.

I was somewhat inspired by the annual Disney Princesses gathering at Dragon*Con every year, and decided "How come the villains don't get any love?" (I think my inner Ursula is starting to come out)  So, I'm gonna open this up and call for all those baddies who tormented you in your nightmares, or just made you laugh at their ineptitude.  I haven't decided on a day, a place, or whatever, but I'd love to annoy those prissy little brats to no end! 

If people are interested, I'll make a list of who plans to do what.  I'd prefer no overlap, but if it happens, it happens.

Now, how the heck am I gonna get that huge thing down to ATL without breaking my bank!?

Oh, and for those seeking inspiration, there's an entire list here.  Wiki does it again.