Con Diary: Sugoicon 2005 - Covington, KY (basically Cincinnati, OH) Friday

11:45am: Arrive at Northern Kentucky Convention Center, and spend a 20-minute epoch waiting outside the rest room as Carrie changes into her “funk-ay” con outfit. Spot first FMA Edward cosplayer.

12:10am: Hit the registration line, which is only a few people deep, with a few other of “our people” scattered around the room. Become rather smitten with the girl at registration desk, whose enthusiasm sort of reminds me of Chisa from Comic Party. Feel sorry for Convention Center employee in her 50’s who’s also been dragooned into working the desk. In contrast to the object of my affection, she seems to approach her work with resigned stoicism. Spot another Ed cosplayer, though it may only count as half of one due to the cheetah kitty ears and other non Ed-like attire clashing with the red cloak. Scout out the area, finding the artist alley somewhat barren this early on and the vendor hall doors still closed.

12:20pm: Opening Ceremonies. To my disappointment, there is no gong involved. Instead, the ceremonies are a laid-back affair with an audience of about thirty people. Hershey Kisses are thrown. Jokes about fouling the hotel’s new carpet are made. All speakers, including (somewhat ironically, I thought) the voice actors seem to suffer from purely tuned microphones.

12:45: With the vendor hall not opening until one o’clock, we go to get checked into the hotel, which is not the one connected to the con center but is still located conveniently enough across the street. Admire excellent view of the Ohio River and Paul Brown Stadium (home of the Cincinnati Bengals) and the Great American Ballpark across it. Already have “Welcome to the Jungle” in my head, thanks to a comment Carrie made and passing Paul Brown on the way in.

1:15: Go in search of lunch, which we find at the café adjacent to our hotel across the street (we aren’t staying at the one connected to the con center). The painting on the wall disturbs Carrie, which partially makes up for the flak I take from her for revealing my crush on the registration desk girl. Return to the hotel room to prepare to begin con-going in earnest.

2:15pm: Though the artist alley is still sparsely populated, the vendor hall opens with what appears to be a full slate of dealers present.

2:40pm: After a couple of circuits sizing up the situation in the hall, we begin seriously considering purchases. Have discussion of cheesy old sci-fi movies inspired by “The Philosopher’s Stone…is people!!!” T-shirt for sale, in which I am forced to reveal that I have led a sad deprived life and have never seen Soilent Green or even Planet of the Apes. Nosebleed over Doug Smith’s art.

3:00: Talk to woman and dealer about anime loan thievery, in which said woman relates how her son let a girl at school he probably liked borrow his FLCL DVDs and never got them back. Women. Realize that all my hobbies seem to have a serious problem with theft.

3:30: Leave the vendor hall, declaring that the hunt was good and the gods are pleased.

Swag:

-R.O.D. the TV Volume 1 aquired on special discount. Have been jonsein’ for more R.O.D. ever since seeing part of it on G4’s Anime Unleashed months ago. How can anyone not like a series called “Read or Die”? It sounds like a literacy campaign sponsored by P. Diddy. How can anyone not like a series where the British Library Association has a special ops division?
-Bitchin’ Cowboy Bebop T-shirt, the same one I was eyeing on the internet but for a good bit less money. To quote one of the greatest philosophers of our time, Carl (as we have been all day long): “Friggin’ awesome.”

Still considering several other items, including other shirts, R.O.D. OAV DVD (gah, alphabet soup), and numerous possible gifts for Chey.

3:45pm: Return to hotel room and use roll pillow as bat for FLCL and Paranoia Agent impersonations.

4:00pm: Am dispatched to the car in the parking garage to retrieve Carrie’s cosplay outfit and a pair of binoculars (don’t ask). Press wrong button on elevator and end up in the deepest bowels of the parking garage with no idea which direction the car is. Use cell phone to call the room for advice. When this proves fruitless, I head back up to the lobby to start over. Realize my mistake on the second ride down and actually locate the car this time.

4:20pm: Return triumphant to the room and correct my sister’s assertion that I was “losing it” when lost in the parking garage.

4:30: Try out hotel’s “business center” and its woefully inadequate internet access, which allows me to check my e-mail but little else. No message forums for me.

5:00pm: Depart for dinner, replicating my elevator error to prove unsympathetic family members would have had no more success in the belly of the parking garage than me.

5:10pm-6:30pm: Procure food, wandering Covington (and, after accidentally making a wrong turn and ending up on the bridge, the edge of Cincinnati).

7:00pm-8:00pm: Lay around and admire the view. Suggest con diaries and Carrie starts hers’.

8:00pm: Commence writing this report and agonize over my inability to piece together a timeline from memory.

8:45pm: Depart for Anime Hell, feeling some trepidation after noting other con-goers’ apparent enthusiasm for it.

9:00pm: Anime Hell is scheduled to start.

9:10: Anime Hell has not started. Various teaser screensaver-ish material parades across the projection screen.

9:30pm: Anime Hell still has not started. The screensavers have been exhausted. The screen image alternates between the scintillating “DVD video” logo, a blue square of doom, and nothing at all. Guy a row behind us rues how it takes forever to get anything going at small cons because there’s no regular technical staff.

9:45pm: Anime Hell starts. Sound quality much in the same pattern as the continuing microphone tribulations. But feel the joy of Corn Pone Flicks’ masterpiece “The Phone” and the Mortal Kombat-with-stick figures brutality of “Rejected.” Around the time the show begins, the floor begins to throb rhythmically. Is the mothership landing on the roof? Would anyone be surprised? The answers are “No” and “Probably not.” In fact, this is an undeniably impressive effect of the D’espairsRay concert going on at the same time. Given that the concert was also scheduled for 9:00pm as well, they’re apparently doing no better at staying on schedule than Hell is.

10:15pm: The DVD begins to skip, forcing the production to a grinding halt. The frustrated crowd is a powderkeg, with some of the pent-up tension ending up venting itself in the form of a cross-aisle plastic lightsaber/prop sword fight.

10:20pm: The DVD gets kicked into gear again. Sound issues still make the punchlines of many jokes unintelligible. (To me, at least – most of the rest of the crowd seemed to have no trouble hearing, but a good many of them seemed to have bits memorized.) But the sheer beauty of the material shines through. Highlights: A classic World War II U.S. Army “Private Snafu” cartoon featuring bits that would be familiar to Warner Brothers fans for decades to come, and a day at the job for for Klaus the German forklift driver, whose misadventures may be the greatest thing ever to appear on film.

11:00pm: Anime Hell staggers to intermission with a preview of the upcoming Midnight Madness and a shower of candy. Alas, the second half of the show and Midnight Madness will not be experienced by us. Some of us were up until 3:00am the night before, after all.

11:30pm-1:30am: Cleanup. Unwinding. Partially-unsated munchies. Con diary updates. Sleep time.

Saturday

9:45am: Rise and...well, rise anyway. Slight cold or flu in evidence the day before has gotten worse.

10:00am: Breakfast in the hotel. Overhear conversation on how InuYasha has no coherent plot anymore, followed by “I think I threw up last night, I’m not sure.”

10:30am: Vendor Hall Assault II: The Sequel. I purchase R.O.D. (the OVA). Carrie wastes her money on a “grab bag,” the highlight of the contents turning out to be a small NGE clock. Overhear conversation on how they haven’t yet managed to translate boob to plushie form, to which I contribute, “Give them time.” Hem and haw over what gift to get for friend. (Kakashi wood-burned box has been sold.) Nosebleed over Doug Smith’s stuff some more.

11:30am: Return to hotel room so Carrie can change into her cosplay outfit.

11:45am: Return to con. Get stopped so people can take pictures of Carrie twice before we get across the street.

11:45am-12:45pm: Wander the con. Am forced to stand around and hold Carrie’s stuff while she’s glomped and has her photo taken. Decide she has to enter the cosplay contest after all, since she’s such a hit and all. Come close to kicking ass of one overzealous photographer who keeps trying to pose her in ways she says make her underwear show.

1:00pm: “Whose Line is it Anime?” starts off with a round of “World’s Worst.” Topics: Worst con panel, worst DBZ commercial, worst con name, worst pocky flavor, worst action scene, worst romance scene, etc. The game goes somewhat down hill from there.

2:00pm: Return to hotel again so Carrie can change back into “normal” clothes, since cosplay judging isn’t until the evening. Lay around, feeling the effects of my cold/flu getting worse.

3:00pm: Head over to the Mock Combat for Cosplay workshop with Chris Ayres. Plan only to watch, end up sparring with a partner. Enjoy myself greatly despite sucking at everything, though I strain muscles in my back and leg and the whole thing probably wasn’t that smart in my condition.

4:00pm: Depart the workshop during the part on swords, as my partner is already gone and I’m wiped out.

4:00pm-11:00pm: Feel like crap. Nibble on various snack foods. Dose and watch football. In between, Carrie comes and goes twice, the second time in costume. Upon her return, she informs us that she gave up on the cosplay contest as they showed no signs of getting to her group any time this year. Feel post-con letdown depression already setting in.

11:30pm: Watch FMA on Adult Swim.

12:00am: Bedtime. Vomit.

12:15am: More vomiting. In between, watch Kakurenbo in AS, wondering, as I do about most things in the horror genre, “What’s the point?”

12:30am: Try to sleep.

1:00am: Vomit.

1:15am: Finally fall asleep.

Sunday

9:45am: Wake up feeling much better from a vomiting point of view, but paying the price for the exertions of the combat workshop.

10:00am: Breakfast again, eaten with a random fellow con-goer.

10:30am-12:00pm: Hang around the hotel.

12:30pm: Head back to the con center for the last time. Vendor Hall Assault III: The Reckoning. Procure gift for friend and bamboo shinai practice sword. Nosebleed once again.

12:45: Talk to Chris Ayres and discover that yesterday’s mock combat workshop was actually the first one he’s ever done at a con. Vow to campaign for Ohayocon to bring him in for a session next January.

12:45pm-1:45pm: Wander, out of things to do but unwilling to leave.

1:45pm: Finally depart for home, pleased but wistful.