Today's Acen forecast is cloudy with a chance of Inuyasha
oi ladies and gents! I haven't updated in a week I know, sorry about that. The rest of the week was fairly stressful (having to worry about my paper and various assignments and staying late for work and all that junk) but the clouds parted, and my weekend at ACEN rocked! Time to fill you guys all in, so sit back and enjoy the ride (though I'll probably end up writing way too much lol).
After packing on thursday, woke up early to get ready and we eventually got to the Rosemont around 10ish or so. They wouldn't let us check in 'till 1 30 (so much for "early" check in >.>) so we decided to go to the convention center and get registered. Registration took about 3 hours, and was purgatory lol. After we got registered everybody else went back to get into the Akatsuki cloaks, whereas I was already in my Prince of Tennis costume so I didn't have to go back. Jeremy and I walked around in our outfits in the dealer's room, looking at all the stuff that was there and getting pictures. By the end of the weekend, I picked up a Bebop Wallscroll, a champloo wallscroll (best champloo merchandise out as of now), Prince of Tennis poster, Kingdom Hearts II poster (it looks so great, and I love KH ^_^), a knuckles plushie (he's about a foot tall or so, looks really cool, and only cost me 25 ^_^), a shikamaru figure (in the thinking stance no less), a fuzzy D20 (supposedly it actually works too, I have every intention of using it ;) ), and 2 pillows, 1 Naruto and one Prince of Tennis. Most of the stuff was initially bought on Friday, then on Sunday I just ended up binging lol. I don't regret it at all though :). after shopping on Friday we went to totally lame anime that evening, which was just a showing of a lot of bad anime that's been released (like Dracula, Frankenstien, Transformers, Titanic......that's right, I said Titanic the anime) which was just downright hilarious. How often do you see a clip of Dracula mugging a guy, then eating a hamburger with the money? lol. There were a lot of other funny clips too, it was a great laugh. Afterwards we went to anime hell, which it where they just show a bunch of random clips (ranging from Gun VS Katana to the old D and D commerical in the 80s) some of which sucked, but others that were hilarious. Both anime hell and totally lame anime were really great, some of the best laughs I've had in a long time. Afterwards Midnight Madness started, where they showed all the paradies. Fisting of the North Star made its debut, which was funny, but the joke wore thin after a while. Afterwards they showed something from a series I'd never seen, and I could tell just by looking at it that it was going to suck :/ So I left lol. unfortuntely, I found out they showed Fanboy Bebop right after it (something I SO wanted to see :( :( :( :() along with Re-Death (classic) and one making fun of Lord of the Rings and Inuyasha (probably was worthwhile as well). So I wished they hadn't mucked up midnight madness like that for me, but oh well it can't be helped I guess. After leaving Midnight madness I went down to the gaming room and played a few rounds of Naruto and Smash Bros, which was pretty fun. Unfortuntely, not a lot of the Naruto players knew what they were doing, so most of the time I was down there I was winning 7 games in a row or so (the rest of the gang had a similar experience lol). Around 3 or so I decided to pack it up and headed back for the room and went to sleep.
Saturday I woke up around 7.....and it was freezing. I forgot to steal a blanket off the beds, and it was catching up to me. Decided to go down to the gaming room for a bit and have a few more rounds while everybody else woke up, and lo and behold it was fairly similar to when I was down there last time. Afterwards I went back to the room and put on my Shikamaru outfit. It looked really solid, but I didn't nearly as much support for it as I'd hoped. Since the outfit was from the manga, most people didn't even recgonize it, and unfortuntely since I was wearing black......people thought I was Iruka, ick >.>. Plus not being in a group didn't help much (one of the bigger reasons Jeremy and I got pictures when we did Prince of Tennis was because we were together), after all I got more pictures when I was walking around with Alex. Anyways once everybody else woke up Alex and I went down to shop some more and kill some time until the Steve Blum (voice actor of Spike Spiegel in english, among many other roles) and Beau Billingslea (voice of Jet Black) autograph signing was. I got in line around 1 10 (20 minutes early) and the line was HUGE >.>. They signed stuff until three, and I didn't get an autograph at the time (heck it wasn't until 2:45 or so that I even got into the signing room). however, they decided that they'd come back later at 4 to sign for the rest of the people that got into the room, so they handed us all tickets to hand in later. I ran back to the dealer's room to pick up a bebop wallscroll (was originally gonna have them sign a champloo one, changed my mind) and then went straight back. We waited in that line for about.....1 1/2-2 hours still, but it was fun because I struck up a conversation with a few people in line. There was a guy named Joe in front of me who was pretty cool, and a guy named John and his cousin Kristine (I'm 99% positive it was Kristine, I should have looked at the name tag a bit better ^^'') behind me. She was doing a Yuna X-2 cosplay, and quite frankly looked amazing :). We all just chatted and had a good time talking while we waited, which was good because if it wasn't for that I probably would have lost my sanity lol. At least I can officially decalre myself a good Bebop fan though ^_^. Eventually we got to go in and meet them and get out stuff signed, which was really nice, both of them were really cool guys, I'm glad I got to meet them. Plus they were willing to stay the extra 2 hours or so for us, which was really considerate of them, and if it wasn't for that I wouldn't have gotten anything signed, so I'm really happy about that. After the signing I went with Kristine and John to go get some subway, which was really tasty (haven't had a meatball sub in a while ^_^). They were both really cool to hang out with, and I wish I had gotten to meet more people like them. After all, one of the great things about conventions like these IMO is that hopefully you can meet cool people who share your interests and just have a good time, and I wish I had gotten to do more of that (remind me to make sure I get out more and meet more people next con, and if I don't point to this entry and slap me around a few times). After we grabbed dinner I went back with John to get ready for my Naruto tournament and just sat down and ate with him and Cliff for a while. Eventually the Naruto tournament started, which was a bit crazy but a lot of fun. First two rounds I slaughtered my opponents, but third round I ended up playing the person running the tournament, and get my butt kicked. He was good, he knew how to setup combos in a way so that once he got off the first hit the rest were guarnteed, similar to what Cliff can do with Jiraiya. Everybody else in our group did ok, best was cliff in final 4, but in the end the guy who ran it won (so I can say I lost to the winner, that's worth something right? ;) ). Afterwards I stayed there and just played with some of the people who stuck around, and again went back to slaughtering masses (I think I went 12 games straight). Afterwards I went back to Nate's room and just played some naruto with our group for a bit, and around 3 AM or so just crashed because I was exhausted. felt a bit mopey because my shikamaru didn't get the recognition I'd hoped, but what's done is done and I knew I did a good job with the outfit. I may try doing it at Anime Iowa (if I go, atm I really want to) because by then the outfit will be in the actual anime so people may recognize me more.
Sunday we all woke up and packed (actually got a blanket and good night's sleep lol). We all went down to the dealer's room for a last hurrah, Jeremy and I went together as Prince of Tennis again and got a lot of pictures, just as much/more than we did on Friday. Prince of Tennis is getting a fairly large fanbase, it's exciting ^_^. we bumped into somebody cosplaying Kaidoh from the series as well, so I got a few pictures with him too which rocked. Plus Jeremy and I did some action scenes. We were about to all get going, but.....we found out that Lee had been escorted off by security. Turns out he tried to pickpocket a keychain, and got caught doing so. Bad Lee :/. We had to wait about an hour and a half just for him to get out of there. Once that was done we all packed up and headed to Friday's to get some lunch/dinner together, which was a great time reflecting on the convention and just getting some much needed food. Afterwards I got dropped off, tried to wake myself up a bit (I was so dead lol) and then managed to finish the rest of my paper. Afterwards I went into my room and put up 2 of my new wallscrolls and put my pillow on the bed. I'm now able to use a different pillow instead of the one mandy gave me, and I replaced the Rei wallscroll she got me with the Bebop one I got signed by Steve and Bleau. It feels kinda good to get rid of those, because it's just a memory I'd prefer not to dwell on, it's unhealthy to look into past matters like that you know? Ironically enough I saw her while I was at the convention, but it seemed the one time where we made eye contact she swiftly turned around. I personally don't see why my presence is such an eyesore, but hey to each their own. As for today, had a brief meeting at crown, handed in my paper, wasted time in both my classes, and spend most of my time at work just messing around and trying to wake myself up. Have to do some stuff for psych tonight, but once I finish that and a few other things I'll be free! 2 more days of class!! it's exciting ^_^. well, that's the update for now, maybe I'll add more on the ACEN experience later (it's worth of a huge post in my opinion, I really had a great time :) ). Either way, stay tuned ;)
After packing on thursday, woke up early to get ready and we eventually got to the Rosemont around 10ish or so. They wouldn't let us check in 'till 1 30 (so much for "early" check in >.>) so we decided to go to the convention center and get registered. Registration took about 3 hours, and was purgatory lol. After we got registered everybody else went back to get into the Akatsuki cloaks, whereas I was already in my Prince of Tennis costume so I didn't have to go back. Jeremy and I walked around in our outfits in the dealer's room, looking at all the stuff that was there and getting pictures. By the end of the weekend, I picked up a Bebop Wallscroll, a champloo wallscroll (best champloo merchandise out as of now), Prince of Tennis poster, Kingdom Hearts II poster (it looks so great, and I love KH ^_^), a knuckles plushie (he's about a foot tall or so, looks really cool, and only cost me 25 ^_^), a shikamaru figure (in the thinking stance no less), a fuzzy D20 (supposedly it actually works too, I have every intention of using it ;) ), and 2 pillows, 1 Naruto and one Prince of Tennis. Most of the stuff was initially bought on Friday, then on Sunday I just ended up binging lol. I don't regret it at all though :). after shopping on Friday we went to totally lame anime that evening, which was just a showing of a lot of bad anime that's been released (like Dracula, Frankenstien, Transformers, Titanic......that's right, I said Titanic the anime) which was just downright hilarious. How often do you see a clip of Dracula mugging a guy, then eating a hamburger with the money? lol. There were a lot of other funny clips too, it was a great laugh. Afterwards we went to anime hell, which it where they just show a bunch of random clips (ranging from Gun VS Katana to the old D and D commerical in the 80s) some of which sucked, but others that were hilarious. Both anime hell and totally lame anime were really great, some of the best laughs I've had in a long time. Afterwards Midnight Madness started, where they showed all the paradies. Fisting of the North Star made its debut, which was funny, but the joke wore thin after a while. Afterwards they showed something from a series I'd never seen, and I could tell just by looking at it that it was going to suck :/ So I left lol. unfortuntely, I found out they showed Fanboy Bebop right after it (something I SO wanted to see :( :( :( :() along with Re-Death (classic) and one making fun of Lord of the Rings and Inuyasha (probably was worthwhile as well). So I wished they hadn't mucked up midnight madness like that for me, but oh well it can't be helped I guess. After leaving Midnight madness I went down to the gaming room and played a few rounds of Naruto and Smash Bros, which was pretty fun. Unfortuntely, not a lot of the Naruto players knew what they were doing, so most of the time I was down there I was winning 7 games in a row or so (the rest of the gang had a similar experience lol). Around 3 or so I decided to pack it up and headed back for the room and went to sleep.
Saturday I woke up around 7.....and it was freezing. I forgot to steal a blanket off the beds, and it was catching up to me. Decided to go down to the gaming room for a bit and have a few more rounds while everybody else woke up, and lo and behold it was fairly similar to when I was down there last time. Afterwards I went back to the room and put on my Shikamaru outfit. It looked really solid, but I didn't nearly as much support for it as I'd hoped. Since the outfit was from the manga, most people didn't even recgonize it, and unfortuntely since I was wearing black......people thought I was Iruka, ick >.>. Plus not being in a group didn't help much (one of the bigger reasons Jeremy and I got pictures when we did Prince of Tennis was because we were together), after all I got more pictures when I was walking around with Alex. Anyways once everybody else woke up Alex and I went down to shop some more and kill some time until the Steve Blum (voice actor of Spike Spiegel in english, among many other roles) and Beau Billingslea (voice of Jet Black) autograph signing was. I got in line around 1 10 (20 minutes early) and the line was HUGE >.>. They signed stuff until three, and I didn't get an autograph at the time (heck it wasn't until 2:45 or so that I even got into the signing room). however, they decided that they'd come back later at 4 to sign for the rest of the people that got into the room, so they handed us all tickets to hand in later. I ran back to the dealer's room to pick up a bebop wallscroll (was originally gonna have them sign a champloo one, changed my mind) and then went straight back. We waited in that line for about.....1 1/2-2 hours still, but it was fun because I struck up a conversation with a few people in line. There was a guy named Joe in front of me who was pretty cool, and a guy named John and his cousin Kristine (I'm 99% positive it was Kristine, I should have looked at the name tag a bit better ^^'') behind me. She was doing a Yuna X-2 cosplay, and quite frankly looked amazing :). We all just chatted and had a good time talking while we waited, which was good because if it wasn't for that I probably would have lost my sanity lol. At least I can officially decalre myself a good Bebop fan though ^_^. Eventually we got to go in and meet them and get out stuff signed, which was really nice, both of them were really cool guys, I'm glad I got to meet them. Plus they were willing to stay the extra 2 hours or so for us, which was really considerate of them, and if it wasn't for that I wouldn't have gotten anything signed, so I'm really happy about that. After the signing I went with Kristine and John to go get some subway, which was really tasty (haven't had a meatball sub in a while ^_^). They were both really cool to hang out with, and I wish I had gotten to meet more people like them. After all, one of the great things about conventions like these IMO is that hopefully you can meet cool people who share your interests and just have a good time, and I wish I had gotten to do more of that (remind me to make sure I get out more and meet more people next con, and if I don't point to this entry and slap me around a few times). After we grabbed dinner I went back with John to get ready for my Naruto tournament and just sat down and ate with him and Cliff for a while. Eventually the Naruto tournament started, which was a bit crazy but a lot of fun. First two rounds I slaughtered my opponents, but third round I ended up playing the person running the tournament, and get my butt kicked. He was good, he knew how to setup combos in a way so that once he got off the first hit the rest were guarnteed, similar to what Cliff can do with Jiraiya. Everybody else in our group did ok, best was cliff in final 4, but in the end the guy who ran it won (so I can say I lost to the winner, that's worth something right? ;) ). Afterwards I stayed there and just played with some of the people who stuck around, and again went back to slaughtering masses (I think I went 12 games straight). Afterwards I went back to Nate's room and just played some naruto with our group for a bit, and around 3 AM or so just crashed because I was exhausted. felt a bit mopey because my shikamaru didn't get the recognition I'd hoped, but what's done is done and I knew I did a good job with the outfit. I may try doing it at Anime Iowa (if I go, atm I really want to) because by then the outfit will be in the actual anime so people may recognize me more.
Sunday we all woke up and packed (actually got a blanket and good night's sleep lol). We all went down to the dealer's room for a last hurrah, Jeremy and I went together as Prince of Tennis again and got a lot of pictures, just as much/more than we did on Friday. Prince of Tennis is getting a fairly large fanbase, it's exciting ^_^. we bumped into somebody cosplaying Kaidoh from the series as well, so I got a few pictures with him too which rocked. Plus Jeremy and I did some action scenes. We were about to all get going, but.....we found out that Lee had been escorted off by security. Turns out he tried to pickpocket a keychain, and got caught doing so. Bad Lee :/. We had to wait about an hour and a half just for him to get out of there. Once that was done we all packed up and headed to Friday's to get some lunch/dinner together, which was a great time reflecting on the convention and just getting some much needed food. Afterwards I got dropped off, tried to wake myself up a bit (I was so dead lol) and then managed to finish the rest of my paper. Afterwards I went into my room and put up 2 of my new wallscrolls and put my pillow on the bed. I'm now able to use a different pillow instead of the one mandy gave me, and I replaced the Rei wallscroll she got me with the Bebop one I got signed by Steve and Bleau. It feels kinda good to get rid of those, because it's just a memory I'd prefer not to dwell on, it's unhealthy to look into past matters like that you know? Ironically enough I saw her while I was at the convention, but it seemed the one time where we made eye contact she swiftly turned around. I personally don't see why my presence is such an eyesore, but hey to each their own. As for today, had a brief meeting at crown, handed in my paper, wasted time in both my classes, and spend most of my time at work just messing around and trying to wake myself up. Have to do some stuff for psych tonight, but once I finish that and a few other things I'll be free! 2 more days of class!! it's exciting ^_^. well, that's the update for now, maybe I'll add more on the ACEN experience later (it's worth of a huge post in my opinion, I really had a great time :) ). Either way, stay tuned ;)