Anime North 2009 - Sun-Mon-Tues-Wed
I'm back after a few days off from work. Let's see what I still remember.
Sunday
Sunday the first thing on my agenda was the Yuu Watase panel, with the same folks who were on the Fushigi Yuugi panel. I can't remember what we were doing before that, but I had a little time to refresh my memory on the plot of Ceres, and we finally started the .moon Round Robin for this con. Better late than never? When I went down to the panel, I passed the notebook on to Chaos so he could participate... a move that turned out to be somewhat regrettable. >.>
The panel went well, from what I can recall. I was able to participate a fair amount despite having read only four of her titles, and there was a much bigger crowd than we'd had at Friday's panel. Again I left eager to read more of Watase's works when I can. :)
After the panel, nephthysmoon (Kasey) and I hopped into the car to seek out the elusive Western Union. shel_b_129 (Shel) came along with us. It turned out to be really far away, a lot more than the couple of blocks we'd been told. I was glad we'd given up the night before, heh. We got Kasey's money and returned to the con, where we had only a bit more than an hour before the Sailor Moon panel, which was also the last panel of the con. This was the first chance we'd had to hit the dealer's room and artist's alley, and at this point, it was our only chance. We got some hot dogs from one of the street vendors and rushed through both rooms at top speed, with mechaboydos (Dos) joining us partway through. There wasn't enough time to look at everything, but I did pick up some manga I'd been wanting, a nice Azumanga Daioh wallscroll Dos sold me on, a few fun fanart things, and an unexpected Perry Bible Fellowship collection. I was somewhat alarmed to find the latest volume of Pet Shop of Horrors printed on stock barely half a step above newsprint. I know companies are trying to save money, but come on. That stuff's not gonna last, especially with the way aisle campers treat manga in stores.
Before long I was rushing back across the street and to the far end of the hotel for the Sailor Moon panel, also filled by the usual crew of friends. ^_^ Kasey, Shel, and Dos attended this one, and I saw csi_tokyo3 (Nightbreak) in the audience as well. Now this was a subject I was solid on, although I really should reread the manga before being on another panel. For the most part, the questions were on pretty basic things that I knew well. In fact, afterwards I wondered if I had hogged too many of the answers. ^^;; I may be quiet much of the time, but sometimes I talk too much. :|
By the end of the panel, it was also the end of the con. I was on one of the first and the last panels, heh. We headed downstairs where I got my registration refunded, since I'd been on enough panels to qualify for it! Hooray! Kasey, Shel and I were pretty hungry by this point, so we headed over to Sushi-Ya Japan down the street where I would spend my newly acquired refund. Dos came along with us, and misscheeveeuss (kelleh) joined us halfway through. I taunted her with my PBF book. >) And tried sushi for the second time. The first try hadn't gone well, something about the texture bothered me, but I was more prepared for it this time and the experience was much more enjoyable. :)
After eating, we went back to the (now much quieter) hotel for general hanging-out fun. kelleh was staying with us for the night so she'd be ready to go to the airport the following morning, and Shel joined us in the room as well for a girly slumber party. But first, there was chatting and movies and writing and stuff with Dos as well. I spent forever detangling my Pluto wig, as usual, and I should have finished up some other cosplay details as well while I had everyone there, but I reeeeeally didn't want to. It was decided that I'd take Shel's Saturn dress home with me, make the alterations I didn't have time for, and mail it to her later. Kasey's Serenity dress was finished enough for her to take it home, minus the makeshift bow.
We scarred Kasey and gave her nightmares by watching Paprika. (sorry ;_; I'm still kicking myself for not thinking of Tokyo Godfathers when we were picking out anime to bring.) We also passed around the Round Robin some more, and I took it down to Chaos' room so he could get another turn in - and discovered the Fanboys after-party was taking place right at the end of our hall. I had known Chaos and Mel were down there, but not that those rooms were the planned party location. So I got to see some of the crowd again, including jelynne, happily, since I felt really bad about having to rush off on her before. I got to see the pretty quilt she'd made, too, which was even more impressive in person. :)
On a break downstairs, Kasey and I slipped across the street to Harvey's and got some poutine, which Shel had been interested in and never tried. And we were up too late being giggly girls over subjects nobody could remember the next morning. The best girls' nights end that way. :D
The Round Robin, however, is a DISASTER. It's still unfinished and quite likely unfit for posting on .moon. :|
A few final cosplay pics!
Monday
Monday we all had to get up early (although not as early as last year) so I could take Dos, Shel, and kelleh to the airport. We were all tired, but that went pretty smoothly, and they were all flying on the same airline at around the same time, so they were able to spend a bit more time together at the airport. I, on the other hand, went the wrong way for what I'm pretty sure was the second time in a row, and ended up wasting half an hour getting stuck going the wrong way on the 401 before I hit an exit where I could turn around. -_- When I finally got back to the hotel, I drove by some of the Fanboys crew on their way over to Perkins for breakfast. It hit me then that that was probably the last time I'd ever see them, and I got a bit teary-eyed. ;_; I'd run into Nightbreak in the lobby on the way out with everyone earlier, so that was something at least. (Curse my wrong-way return fail, though. Kasey and I could've crashed the breakfast if I hadn't messed up.)
When I got back upstairs, I found that Kasey had pretty much packed up the entire room while I was gone. ♥ It took a few trips to load up the car, but we were done well before check-out time. I'd been overcharged a bit for the last night of our stay, but the front desk straightened it out. It was too late for the hotel's breakfast buffet, so after checking out we drove over to Perkins ourselves. The Fanboys were on their way back to the hotel by then, but we honked the horn and waved, and I felt better having been able to say some sort of goodbye. :)
Then there was food, and driving. Lots of driving. To make the trip more interesting, I like to go back to Minnesota through Michigan's Upper Peninsula, and since there isn't much civilization up there, there's no point in trying to get across the Mackinac Bridge on the first day. So we were able to take things relatively slow on Monday, getting a late start after breakfast (which was eaten at lunchtime; that's cons for you).
We stopped at a service centre on the way out of Canada with a particularly geeky pinball machine.
It's hard to see here, but the figures and detail in this thing were impressive.
Not much else to report about the drive. The traffic at the border was painful - could have been worse, but still a full hour wait - but when it was finally our turn the border guard let us through with hardly any questions asked. Everybody and their best friend's grandma was heading south through Michigan after the holiday weekend, but we were heading north, so no problem there. And we stopped at a Cracker Barrel for a yummy dinner of pot roast and veggies, cooked campfire style in a packet of tin foil. YUM. It was close to the longest store I've ever seen. Have a picture!
Long store is long. I took this picture while waiting for Kasey to emerge from the Gas Station Unisex Restroom of Doom. Don't ask.
On our way north through the state we began to notice disturbing web nests in some of the trees. At a rest stop, Kasey confirmed my worry. Army worms. FUCK. I was aiming to take Kasey on a side trip to my northern hometown, but there was no point in going there if it turned out to be a goddamn army worm year because I would not be setting foot in the woods under those circumstances. So I called my mom, who said she hadn't seen any army worms around that area, and held on to hope. But I was still worried. Damn army worms. >|
We made it all the way up to Mackinac City before stopping for the night. I was concerned about hotels there because of the holiday weekend, even though it was Monday, but we found a reasonable one close to the road with breakfast included.
Tuesday
I overslept a little on Tuesday, but I went over and got some of the hotel breakfast for us before it closed up. Then we hit the road again, hoping to make good time. Since I was aiming for my hometown, we were traveling almost exclusively in the U.P. instead of going south through Wisconsin like I had in the past. The U.P. is pretty, but BORING. Uninhabited and boring. Even forests get old after a while. Kasey took a picture while she still thought the woods were pretty, and there were a few neat towns, but by the time we finally crossed into Wisconsin and neared the Minnesota state line we were both ready for the drive to end.
The army worm nests disappeared early on, but the leaves on many trees were looking scant and I couldn't tell if they'd been eaten or if they just hadn't grown in yet. I was worried all the way up until we reached Minnesota, when we discovered for sure that there were no army worms in my hometown area, the leaves were just slow growing in. Hooray! Of course, this was probably because it was COLD. The temperature had fallen like a rock by the time we stopped for dinner on Monday, and army worms need warm temperatures, so the unseasonable chill that had the leaves coming in late probably also saved the upper Midwest from being hit by army worms this year. That probably means we'll have them next year, or even later this summer, woe. ;_; But yay, I was free to show Kasey around in worm-free comfort! :D
It was late afternoon when we got into town, and a chilly day with a bit of light rain, but we were still able to make it up the North Shore to Gooseberry Falls. I was determined to get there, since Kasey had told me she'd never seen any waterfalls. Also, birch trees.
I love Gooseberry Falls because you can walk on the rocks and right up to the water, even to the edge of the falls if you want to.
Scared Kasey is cold and scared. D:
Secret tunnels!
Through the mountains!
It's safer behind these walls...
Kasey's had enough of y'all staring at her. ;P
When we got back to town, I tried to drive up to some scenic roads but a fog had settled in. :\ So we went to dinner, went over to the sand beach so Kasey could see what I meant last summer when I talked about the difference between our sand and Florida sand (and found they'd built an annoying lengthy walkway to access the beach for no reason, grr grr), and checked into a motel I know for the last night of our trip.
After a little break, I got to work on the last piece of the Serenity dress that needed fixing before Kasey could take it home. The hem of the skirt's transparent layer. It took forever. Far longer than I thought it would. That skirt is BIG, and hem tape doesn't go on very swiftly. I think we were both about ready to pass out by the time we were able to go to bed. :\
Some shots of the finished product. I had to trim off a lot of frayed edge, and I have no idea how the skirts look now when the dress is being worn, hopefully it's okay.
Bodice closeup. The line of pearls is pretty much straight when the dress is on a round shape, although the bottom row could stand to lose one or two.
Back of the bodice. I ditched the original zipper plan in favor of hooks, to hold it tighter.
With hem tape attached. The edge was more subtle without it, but it had to be done.
With that finally done, it was sleep time. Precious, precious sleep. Always over too soon.
Wednesday
The last day was pretty much a straight drive back to the Twin Cities and directly to the airport, with a brief stop at the halfway mark for yummy and fancy donuts. Kasey made it in plenty of time for her flight, and I went home and fell asleep on the couch. Ta-dah, the end, finito. :)
Now I just have to make time to finish up the lingering bits of Shel and Kasey's costumes so they'll have them ready for this year's AFO. @_@
Anime North has been... really comfortable. I can't think of any better way to describe it. The programming might not be as refined as some cons, but the atmosphere is very relaxed, and I've felt at home and comfy there pretty much since the first year I went. And the multi-panel focus on writing and fandom itself is unlike any other con I've been to. First and foremost, though, attending this con has always been about the people. I'll miss going to AN, but the number of .moon friends that went this year was very much a one-time thing, and if hanging with the Fanboys is out, too, there's really no point. :\
Happily, this trip was a good one. ^_^ Thanks, everyone; it was great to spend time with you all. ♥
Sunday
Sunday the first thing on my agenda was the Yuu Watase panel, with the same folks who were on the Fushigi Yuugi panel. I can't remember what we were doing before that, but I had a little time to refresh my memory on the plot of Ceres, and we finally started the .moon Round Robin for this con. Better late than never? When I went down to the panel, I passed the notebook on to Chaos so he could participate... a move that turned out to be somewhat regrettable. >.>
The panel went well, from what I can recall. I was able to participate a fair amount despite having read only four of her titles, and there was a much bigger crowd than we'd had at Friday's panel. Again I left eager to read more of Watase's works when I can. :)
After the panel, nephthysmoon (Kasey) and I hopped into the car to seek out the elusive Western Union. shel_b_129 (Shel) came along with us. It turned out to be really far away, a lot more than the couple of blocks we'd been told. I was glad we'd given up the night before, heh. We got Kasey's money and returned to the con, where we had only a bit more than an hour before the Sailor Moon panel, which was also the last panel of the con. This was the first chance we'd had to hit the dealer's room and artist's alley, and at this point, it was our only chance. We got some hot dogs from one of the street vendors and rushed through both rooms at top speed, with mechaboydos (Dos) joining us partway through. There wasn't enough time to look at everything, but I did pick up some manga I'd been wanting, a nice Azumanga Daioh wallscroll Dos sold me on, a few fun fanart things, and an unexpected Perry Bible Fellowship collection. I was somewhat alarmed to find the latest volume of Pet Shop of Horrors printed on stock barely half a step above newsprint. I know companies are trying to save money, but come on. That stuff's not gonna last, especially with the way aisle campers treat manga in stores.
Before long I was rushing back across the street and to the far end of the hotel for the Sailor Moon panel, also filled by the usual crew of friends. ^_^ Kasey, Shel, and Dos attended this one, and I saw csi_tokyo3 (Nightbreak) in the audience as well. Now this was a subject I was solid on, although I really should reread the manga before being on another panel. For the most part, the questions were on pretty basic things that I knew well. In fact, afterwards I wondered if I had hogged too many of the answers. ^^;; I may be quiet much of the time, but sometimes I talk too much. :|
By the end of the panel, it was also the end of the con. I was on one of the first and the last panels, heh. We headed downstairs where I got my registration refunded, since I'd been on enough panels to qualify for it! Hooray! Kasey, Shel and I were pretty hungry by this point, so we headed over to Sushi-Ya Japan down the street where I would spend my newly acquired refund. Dos came along with us, and misscheeveeuss (kelleh) joined us halfway through. I taunted her with my PBF book. >) And tried sushi for the second time. The first try hadn't gone well, something about the texture bothered me, but I was more prepared for it this time and the experience was much more enjoyable. :)
After eating, we went back to the (now much quieter) hotel for general hanging-out fun. kelleh was staying with us for the night so she'd be ready to go to the airport the following morning, and Shel joined us in the room as well for a girly slumber party. But first, there was chatting and movies and writing and stuff with Dos as well. I spent forever detangling my Pluto wig, as usual, and I should have finished up some other cosplay details as well while I had everyone there, but I reeeeeally didn't want to. It was decided that I'd take Shel's Saturn dress home with me, make the alterations I didn't have time for, and mail it to her later. Kasey's Serenity dress was finished enough for her to take it home, minus the makeshift bow.
We scarred Kasey and gave her nightmares by watching Paprika. (sorry ;_; I'm still kicking myself for not thinking of Tokyo Godfathers when we were picking out anime to bring.) We also passed around the Round Robin some more, and I took it down to Chaos' room so he could get another turn in - and discovered the Fanboys after-party was taking place right at the end of our hall. I had known Chaos and Mel were down there, but not that those rooms were the planned party location. So I got to see some of the crowd again, including jelynne, happily, since I felt really bad about having to rush off on her before. I got to see the pretty quilt she'd made, too, which was even more impressive in person. :)
On a break downstairs, Kasey and I slipped across the street to Harvey's and got some poutine, which Shel had been interested in and never tried. And we were up too late being giggly girls over subjects nobody could remember the next morning. The best girls' nights end that way. :D
The Round Robin, however, is a DISASTER. It's still unfinished and quite likely unfit for posting on .moon. :|
A few final cosplay pics!
Monday
Monday we all had to get up early (although not as early as last year) so I could take Dos, Shel, and kelleh to the airport. We were all tired, but that went pretty smoothly, and they were all flying on the same airline at around the same time, so they were able to spend a bit more time together at the airport. I, on the other hand, went the wrong way for what I'm pretty sure was the second time in a row, and ended up wasting half an hour getting stuck going the wrong way on the 401 before I hit an exit where I could turn around. -_- When I finally got back to the hotel, I drove by some of the Fanboys crew on their way over to Perkins for breakfast. It hit me then that that was probably the last time I'd ever see them, and I got a bit teary-eyed. ;_; I'd run into Nightbreak in the lobby on the way out with everyone earlier, so that was something at least. (Curse my wrong-way return fail, though. Kasey and I could've crashed the breakfast if I hadn't messed up.)
When I got back upstairs, I found that Kasey had pretty much packed up the entire room while I was gone. ♥ It took a few trips to load up the car, but we were done well before check-out time. I'd been overcharged a bit for the last night of our stay, but the front desk straightened it out. It was too late for the hotel's breakfast buffet, so after checking out we drove over to Perkins ourselves. The Fanboys were on their way back to the hotel by then, but we honked the horn and waved, and I felt better having been able to say some sort of goodbye. :)
Then there was food, and driving. Lots of driving. To make the trip more interesting, I like to go back to Minnesota through Michigan's Upper Peninsula, and since there isn't much civilization up there, there's no point in trying to get across the Mackinac Bridge on the first day. So we were able to take things relatively slow on Monday, getting a late start after breakfast (which was eaten at lunchtime; that's cons for you).
We stopped at a service centre on the way out of Canada with a particularly geeky pinball machine.
It's hard to see here, but the figures and detail in this thing were impressive.
Not much else to report about the drive. The traffic at the border was painful - could have been worse, but still a full hour wait - but when it was finally our turn the border guard let us through with hardly any questions asked. Everybody and their best friend's grandma was heading south through Michigan after the holiday weekend, but we were heading north, so no problem there. And we stopped at a Cracker Barrel for a yummy dinner of pot roast and veggies, cooked campfire style in a packet of tin foil. YUM. It was close to the longest store I've ever seen. Have a picture!
Long store is long. I took this picture while waiting for Kasey to emerge from the Gas Station Unisex Restroom of Doom. Don't ask.
On our way north through the state we began to notice disturbing web nests in some of the trees. At a rest stop, Kasey confirmed my worry. Army worms. FUCK. I was aiming to take Kasey on a side trip to my northern hometown, but there was no point in going there if it turned out to be a goddamn army worm year because I would not be setting foot in the woods under those circumstances. So I called my mom, who said she hadn't seen any army worms around that area, and held on to hope. But I was still worried. Damn army worms. >|
We made it all the way up to Mackinac City before stopping for the night. I was concerned about hotels there because of the holiday weekend, even though it was Monday, but we found a reasonable one close to the road with breakfast included.
Tuesday
I overslept a little on Tuesday, but I went over and got some of the hotel breakfast for us before it closed up. Then we hit the road again, hoping to make good time. Since I was aiming for my hometown, we were traveling almost exclusively in the U.P. instead of going south through Wisconsin like I had in the past. The U.P. is pretty, but BORING. Uninhabited and boring. Even forests get old after a while. Kasey took a picture while she still thought the woods were pretty, and there were a few neat towns, but by the time we finally crossed into Wisconsin and neared the Minnesota state line we were both ready for the drive to end.
The army worm nests disappeared early on, but the leaves on many trees were looking scant and I couldn't tell if they'd been eaten or if they just hadn't grown in yet. I was worried all the way up until we reached Minnesota, when we discovered for sure that there were no army worms in my hometown area, the leaves were just slow growing in. Hooray! Of course, this was probably because it was COLD. The temperature had fallen like a rock by the time we stopped for dinner on Monday, and army worms need warm temperatures, so the unseasonable chill that had the leaves coming in late probably also saved the upper Midwest from being hit by army worms this year. That probably means we'll have them next year, or even later this summer, woe. ;_; But yay, I was free to show Kasey around in worm-free comfort! :D
It was late afternoon when we got into town, and a chilly day with a bit of light rain, but we were still able to make it up the North Shore to Gooseberry Falls. I was determined to get there, since Kasey had told me she'd never seen any waterfalls. Also, birch trees.
I love Gooseberry Falls because you can walk on the rocks and right up to the water, even to the edge of the falls if you want to.
Scared Kasey is cold and scared. D:
Secret tunnels!
Through the mountains!
It's safer behind these walls...
Kasey's had enough of y'all staring at her. ;P
When we got back to town, I tried to drive up to some scenic roads but a fog had settled in. :\ So we went to dinner, went over to the sand beach so Kasey could see what I meant last summer when I talked about the difference between our sand and Florida sand (and found they'd built an annoying lengthy walkway to access the beach for no reason, grr grr), and checked into a motel I know for the last night of our trip.
After a little break, I got to work on the last piece of the Serenity dress that needed fixing before Kasey could take it home. The hem of the skirt's transparent layer. It took forever. Far longer than I thought it would. That skirt is BIG, and hem tape doesn't go on very swiftly. I think we were both about ready to pass out by the time we were able to go to bed. :\
Some shots of the finished product. I had to trim off a lot of frayed edge, and I have no idea how the skirts look now when the dress is being worn, hopefully it's okay.
Bodice closeup. The line of pearls is pretty much straight when the dress is on a round shape, although the bottom row could stand to lose one or two.
Back of the bodice. I ditched the original zipper plan in favor of hooks, to hold it tighter.
With hem tape attached. The edge was more subtle without it, but it had to be done.
With that finally done, it was sleep time. Precious, precious sleep. Always over too soon.
Wednesday
The last day was pretty much a straight drive back to the Twin Cities and directly to the airport, with a brief stop at the halfway mark for yummy and fancy donuts. Kasey made it in plenty of time for her flight, and I went home and fell asleep on the couch. Ta-dah, the end, finito. :)
Now I just have to make time to finish up the lingering bits of Shel and Kasey's costumes so they'll have them ready for this year's AFO. @_@
Anime North has been... really comfortable. I can't think of any better way to describe it. The programming might not be as refined as some cons, but the atmosphere is very relaxed, and I've felt at home and comfy there pretty much since the first year I went. And the multi-panel focus on writing and fandom itself is unlike any other con I've been to. First and foremost, though, attending this con has always been about the people. I'll miss going to AN, but the number of .moon friends that went this year was very much a one-time thing, and if hanging with the Fanboys is out, too, there's really no point. :\
Happily, this trip was a good one. ^_^ Thanks, everyone; it was great to spend time with you all. ♥